Methane is an energy source that can be utilized as a clean energy source and help improve health by decreasing ozone formation, which exacerbates respiratory conditions like asthma and emphysema.
Methane (CH4) is an invisible, colorless, odorless and tasteless gas with the chemical formula CH4. Composed of one carbon atom covalently bound to four hydrogen atoms, methane is one of the primary constituents of natural gas.
It is a natural gas
Methane is an abundant natural gas with multiple uses as fuel, and produced through human activities including burning fossil fuels, livestock production and oil and coal extraction. Furthermore, its global concentration has increased, leading to increased global warming impacts – it acts as a greenhouse gas with greater short-term warming effects than carbon dioxide while dissipating faster than its effects. Therefore, cutting methane emissions is key to mitigating global warming.
Methane fuel reduces harmful emissions from fossil fuel combustion, including nitrogen oxides and sulfur dioxide emissions, which react with other atmospheric substances to form ground-level ozone, harming plants as well as humans. Methane has simple molecular structure and burns with only water vapor and carbon dioxide emissions – making it a cleaner energy alternative than fossil fuels which release complex compounds harmful to the environment.
Methane can be extracted from earth deposits and stored as methane hydrates in the Arctic. It’s also produced when cow manure is turned into biogas and forms part of natural gas; its production can also result in its storage as a component. Odorless, colorless, and highly flammable; methane belongs to the paraffin series of hydrocarbons; can be transported through pipelines; used as raw material in plastic manufacturing and fertilizer production processes. Furthermore, thermochemical conversion processes exist that allow methane’s conversion into methanol.
Methanation can be used to extract methane from coal mines through the process of methanation, which involves protonating methyl lithium or a methyl Grignard reagent and protonating them together with water to form methane gas, which is then dissolved into water to produce methanol before being removed by distillation to obtain pure methane fuel for boilers and gas turbines.
ADB-supported projects are turning coal mine methane into clean energy for thousands of households and hundreds of businesses, such as Li Fumang’s work at China’s 148-room Yangguang Hotel in Shanxi Province. He no longer needs to gasp for air every day at work as two fully automated steam boilers run on methane from nearby coalmines to convert methane into electricity and heat for his hotel, previously powered by both coal generators and electric generators.
It is a greenhouse gas
Methane is an influential greenhouse gas that disrupts global climate by trapping heat in the atmosphere and trapping it there for several years at most, unlike carbon dioxide’s centuries-long stay in our atmosphere. Methane also contributes significantly to ground-level ozone pollution which threatens human health and results in over 1 million premature deaths each year, including many associated with human respiratory illness and premature deaths from other causes.
Methane emissions come from sources including agriculture, natural gas production and transportation, landfills, fossil fuel combustion and coal mining. Of these sources, agriculture accounts for the greatest portion of total anthropogenic methane emissions while energy sector activities (oil & gas exploration/production/use and coal burning) represent another.
Other sources of methane emissions include tropical and northern wetlands, methane-oxidizing bacteria in termite colonies, volcanic eruptions, seepage vents of the seafloor, seepage vents in soil as well as methane hydrates trapped along continental shelves or permafrost regions. Natural sinks for methane emission include soil itself, ocean water with dissolved methane content as well as methane hydrates trapped along continental shelves or in permafrost regions.
Scientists worldwide have collected data that shows anthropogenic methane emissions have grown at an astonishing pace over the last 20 years due to rising global demands for meat and crops as well as expanding use of biomass fuels and biofuels.
Scientists use various metrics to measure methane’s impact on our atmosphere, with each choice having significant ramifications for policy decisions and climate science research. Professor Jessika Trancik at MIT’s Institute for Data, Systems and Society says that methane measurement choices have an enormous influence on climate research – “if one considers methane equal to carbon dioxide levels then everything changes”, as she puts it.
Trancik reports that more scientists are starting to model the warming effects of methane emissions over a shorter timeframe, rather than over centuries, so as to better anticipate whether humanity will overshoot global-warming targets.
It is a pesticide
Methane (CH4) is an abundant natural gas found both naturally and as the result of certain human activities, making up four hydrogen atoms and one carbon atom. As one of several alkane hydrocarbons known as greenhouse gases it contributes significantly to climate change.
Methane emissions are a serious problem and need to be reduced, as they harm both the environment and humans alike. Methane gas emissions contribute significantly to global warming by trapping heat in its atmosphere and warming up Earth quicker than would otherwise happen without methane present.
Global methane concentrations have seen a dramatic surge in recent decades, growing at a faster rate than carbon dioxide emissions. Most of this rise can be attributed to human activities, particularly fossil fuel extraction and combustion; also farming activities with livestock; waste management practices like landfill decomposition (when bacteria release methane when decomposing waste materials); agricultural activities; production by livestock such as dairy cattle or cattle, waste disposal (ie when bacteria decompose waste products in landfills) etc.
Though small amounts of methane might not seem significant to the atmosphere, their release can have serious long-term repercussions that have an adverse impact on temperature regulation – leading to melting ice sheets and rising oceans as well.
The United States can take several steps to curb methane emissions. They should focus on decreasing their use of fossil fuels and adopting technologies that help mitigate methane pollution, as well as working together with their allies on creating laws and policies to protect their environment from these pollutants.
Methane is an extremely potent greenhouse gas, trapping 86 times more heat in the atmosphere than carbon dioxide and causing health problems for millions living near oil and gas operations. While we must work towards stopping methane pollution, we also must find cost-effective and practical solutions.
It is a credit card
Methane is a potency greenhouse gas, yet its impact on climate change is shorter-lived. Therefore, it’s vital that methane emissions be rapidly reduced in order to limit their potential adverse impact. Methane abatement also presents opportunities for economic development and job creation within developing nations.
The United States is at the forefront of global methane reduction efforts. It is working to mitigate emissions from agriculture sources through improved manure management, anaerobic digesters, new livestock feeds and other measures; its president has asked Congress for additional funding in this regard; while its Administration also works towards mitigating emissions from fossil energy production by offering incentives for plugging or remediating orphaned oil, gas, coal wells or mines that have gone unused or abandoned.
United States and European Union officials are working together to establish an international methane monitoring network and improve data quality, while unifying fossil energy importers and exporters to reduce methane waste, including measures that measure and verify emissions, limit venting/flaring practices and require companies to detect/repair leaks. Additionally, United States funds the UNEP International Methane Emissions Observatory (IMEO).
Other countries are increasing their commitments. The Global Methane Pledge now involves 150 nations, and several of them have developed national methane action plans and set ambitious methane emission reduction goals as part of short-lived climate pollutant national action plans such as Bangladesh, Cote d’Ivoire Morocco Nigeria Chile among others. Furthermore, both the US and EU continue enlisting countries to join this pledge at Major Economies Forum on Energy and Climate.
GE Money’s credit card allows customers to offset their carbon footprint by contributing to green projects of their choosing, providing another example of how companies can utilize assets to advance environmental sustainability.
