*When the atmosphere tells a different story than your spreadsheet*
Just days after President Trump dismissed green energy as “a scam” at the UN, the confusion around environmental data has never been greater. Politicians argue. Investors demand ESG clarity. Regulators raise penalties. And through it all, the atmosphere keeps an unbiased record.
Every executive knows the moment: you’re presenting carefully calculated emissions numbers when someone asks, “But are they verified?”
It’s a fair question. Traditional inventories often miss the mark—sometimes by an average of 80%, according to recent satellite studies.[i] That’s not a rounding error. It’s a fundamental disconnect between what companies report and what the atmosphere records.
And that’s the problem Floodlight solves.
The Checkbook vs. Bank Statement Problem
Think of traditional emissions reporting like balancing a checkbook by hand. Every entry depends on human accuracy. Miss one line, swap a decimal, or overlook a leak, and the totals are wrong.
Floodlight’s approach is like checking your bank statement online. Our satellite-verified measurements show what actually “cleared” in the atmosphere. One method hopes for perfect bookkeeping; the other captures reality.
The difference isn’t theoretical. In 2025, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency analyzed satellite data from 70 landfills and found methane emissions were understated by a factor of four on average—and sometimes by ten. [ii]The EPA has since opened a rulemaking to rewrite its entire landfill reporting program.
Why Smart Thermometers Beat Guesswork
Traditional inventories were designed for a data-scarce era: multiply activity data (fuel purchases) by generic emission factors. It’s like estimating your home’s temperature by adding up heating bills.
Floodlight works more like a smart thermometer—directly measuring what’s actually happening at the smokestack or field.
Where inventories go wrong:
- Human errors in units, factors, or double counting
- Incomplete coverage of backup generators, leaks, or third-party sources
- Reliance on proxy data instead of measurements
What satellites capture instead:
- Overlapping, independent instruments that cross-check each other
- Direct readings of greenhouse gas concentrations above specific sites
- Detection of short-term events like leaks, flaring, or maintenance spikes
What It Means When Floodlight’s Numbers Differ
When clients first compare Floodlight’s satellite-verified measurements to their inventory totals, the numbers don’t always match. That’s the point—they reveal where reality diverges from assumptions. And differences can cut both ways.
When Floodlight’s numbers are lower than your inventory:
-Your grid mix may be cleaner than the default factors assume
– Equipment may have run fewer hours than planned (our time series detects quiet periods)
– Flaring or venting controls may be working better than expected
– You may be using overly conservative emission factors
When Floodlight’s numbers are higher:
– We capture unmetered sources like temporary boilers or small generators
– Fugitive emissions, by their nature, are unknown until directly measured
– Event-driven spikes—maintenance, construction, or leaks—get smoothed over in inventories
– Third-party operations inside your boundary may be visible from space but invisible in your purchasing records
Either way, the takeaway is the same: Floodlight doesn’t just produce a number, it shows why numbers differ and what that means for your operations. The goal isn’t to point fingers—it’s to give you clarity, confidence, and control.
The Capital-T Truth Question
When multiple satellite platforms converge on the same emissions rate while bottom-up inventories diverge, the weight of evidence favors the atmospheric record. Climate TRACE, which aggregates feeds from several satellites, consistently finds corporate disclosures averaging only one-third of satellite-inferred totals.[iii]
This isn’t about blame—it’s about physics. Molecules don’t care about your methodology. Satellites don’t lie.
Why First Movers Win
The shift is already underway. The International Energy Agency’s 2025 Methane Tracker now matches satellite detections to thousands of facilities. Dairy farms, cities, and oil fields are all being mapped from space.
Organizations that act now gain three advantages:
- Better decisions from better data – Banks can price climate risk accurately, and planners can target interventions where they matter most.
- First-mover credibility – While competitors struggle with flawed inventories, you’re already operating from ground truth.
- Lower costs – Satellite monitoring delivers continuous, automated updates at a fraction of traditional measurement campaigns, fully aligned with GHG Protocol and ISO 14064.
Follow the Money, Not the Politics
Here’s the ultimate inconvenient truth: while politicians debate soundbites, investors are already voting with their wallets. In 2024, Texas—the reddest of red states—attracted over $50 billion in clean energy investment, nearly double California’s total. Cheap land, abundant wind and sun, and business-friendly rules won out over ideology.
Corporate America understands this. The largest infrastructure investments in history aren’t about polar bears—they’re about economics. Renewable energy is now the cheapest power source in most markets. And accurate, satellite-verified emissions data is becoming essential for everything from insurance rates to supply chain partnerships.
The Bottom Line: Truth Wins
Spreadsheets can be debated. Politics can swing back and forth. But the atmosphere keeps its own record. Floodlight ensures your reporting matches it—verifiable, defensible, and trusted by stakeholders across the spectrum.
Satellites don’t lie. And with Floodlight, neither does your reporting.
Works Cited:
[i] Chevallier, F., Broquet, G., Zheng, B., Ciais, P., & Eldering, A. (2022). Large CO₂ emitters as seen from satellite: Comparison to a gridded global emission inventory. Geophysical Research Letters, 49(4), e2021GL097540. https://doi.org/10.1029/2021GL097540
[ii] Nesser, H., Balasus, N., Cusworth, D., Jacob, D. J., Maasakkers, J. D., Scarpelli, T. R., … & Sulprizio, M. (2024). High-resolution US methane emissions inferred from an inversion of 2019 TROPOMI satellite data: contributions from individual states, urban areas, and landfills. Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, 24, 5069–5091. https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-5069-2024
[iii] Climate TRACE. (2022, November 8). More than 70,000 of the highest emitting greenhouse gas sources identified in largest available global emissions inventory. https://climatetrace.org/news/more-than-70000-of-the-highest-emitting-greenhouse-gas
