UK has unveiled the first images from a new satellite which can see through clouds and image the Earth round the clock to help stop oil spills and illegal shipping. NovaSAR-1, the first Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) satellite made in the UK, can detect oil spills in the oceans, help spot suspicious shipping activity and monitor the effects of deforestation. “This ‘eye in the sky’ can capture an image a dozen times wider than the Strait of Dover and the data it provides can h

A lot of green technologies revolve around efficiency. Normally it is about making more with the same amount of energy. Sicco Kamminga of the company Nortek BV does the same, only he makes data more efficient. With a technique called SeaDarQ, a radar-based tool, it is easy to spot oil spills from a large distance, making the cleaning process much more effective. “With SeaDarQ you can detect the oil before it washes ashore. Cleaning up oil when it floats on water is much easie