Methane, an odorless and colorless gas, can be found everywhere from swamps and rivers, cow guts, termite nests, volcanoes and natural gas wells, landfills and sewage treatment plants to landfills and sewerage treatment plants.
Scientists suspect global warming may be wetting tropical wetlands more, leading to increased methane emissions – but don’t understand why emissions have spiked recently.
Hydrogen
Hydrogen as a renewable energy source has gained increasing attention from media reports and research efforts, but several issues must first be resolved for hydrogen to become a sustainable alternative to fossil fuels – these include creating efficient and long-lasting fuel cells as well as the capacity for storage, transport, and use on an industrial scale. Furthermore, infrastructure for producing and dispensing hydrogen will need to be built.
Hydrogen production currently relies on steam reforming natural gas, an finite resource. Furthermore, carbon dioxide emissions increase due to steam reformation process, leading to greenhouse gas emissions. Furthermore, producing sufficient hydrogen from renewable sources to meet global energy demands remains difficult; hence it is imperative that alternative sources be sought out as they might offer better alternatives than coal or natural gas-based energy production sources.
Matrix reforming, an emerging technology used to produce syngas from methane using atmospheric air, makes the production more environmentally sustainable and energy efficient than its counterpart, traditional methods. Furthermore, this process consumes significantly less energy while yielding much higher value products like methanol which can serve both as an efficient fuel and chemical raw material; its production can even be accomplished at competitive cost making this alternative energy source attractive to businesses and governments alike.
The United States holds an unparalleled opportunity to lead the world in cutting methane emissions that contribute to climate change. Last year, President Biden signed legislation reinstating Obama-era rules designed to minimize methane pollution from oil and gas operations. This decision marked an important advance in combatting climate change and will help keep harmful pollutants out of our atmosphere. The US should continue supporting such measures as should other nations across the globe. Renewable and clean energy sources, including hydrogen, are integral to creating a more climate-friendly economy. Their implementation requires cooperation among value chains, customers, and countries – perhaps through long-term offtake agreements or intergovernmental partnerships – which will speed up adoption of clean, renewable energy.
Methanol
Methane is a fossil fuel, composed primarily of carbon dioxide, water vapor and heat when burnt in air. Methane can be used as a heating and cooking gas because its combustion produces less carbon monoxide than coal or oil when burned; additionally it’s an invaluable raw material used for fabric production, antifreeze production, plastics manufacturing and rubber manufacturing – not forgetting powering steam turbines engines generators in pulp paper plants, food processing facilities, petroleum refineries as well as stone, clay and glass working companies!
Notable is that methane hydrates (a class of natural gases that form crystals), are present worldwide and thus represent an energy resource with considerable potential. According to some estimates, large deposits exist beneath ocean floors and Arctic permafrost regions.
Methane, in addition to being used as an energy source, is also an air pollutant with an extremely short atmospheric lifecycle, making it one of the most potency greenhouse gases after carbon dioxide. Therefore, countries should implement policies and actions which minimize methane emissions from fossil fuels extraction and storage operations such as oil and natural gas extraction and storage facilities.
Energy sector emissions currently account for around 135 million tonnes of methane emissions annually worldwide, due to leakage and incomplete combustion of fossil fuels and bioenergy, as well as livestock production systems emitting methane through fermentation.
At present, 146 countries have joined the Global Methane Pledge and pledged to reduce methane emissions from fossil fuel production operations by at least 30% by 2030. Initiatives are underway to increase efficiency during gas exploration and production processes while simultaneously minimising methane releases through better equipment or processes at point-of-use.
Longer term, cheap nuclear energy could allow direct conversion of methane to syngas using oxygen-free plasma chemical methods that should prove more economically attractive than current processes based on hydrogen that require costly liquefaction technologies.
Syngas
Methane, a carbon-containing hydrocarbon and greenhouse gas, is an energy source. Emitted by both natural and human-influenced sources alike, it contributes to our climate system and influences global climate dynamics. Methane emissions come from landfills, oil/natural gas systems, agricultural activities such as coal mining, stationary/mobile combustion units and certain industrial processes; furthermore scientists worldwide are actively trying to understand methane emission rates so they can reduce them and better predict environmental change.
Syngas is a mixture of carbon monoxide and hydrogen gases produced through gasification of carbon-containing feedstock at high heat, pressure, and oxygen-depleted conditions. The process may use natural gas, petroleum coke or biomass. Syngas can then be used as an intermediate in the production of synthetic natural gas (SNG), ammonia or methanol production or even directly to reduce iron ore into sponge iron.
Syngas is becoming an increasingly popular source for chemical synthesis, as its rich source of hydrogen and carbon monoxide enables production of an array of products ranging from polymers such as polyurethane and nylon to solvents, acids and ethers.
At present, fossil fuel industries are the primary emitters of methane emissions with gas extraction accounting for roughly one-third of total methane emissions worldwide. New technologies allow companies and communities to significantly reduce these emissions cost effectively through initiatives such as the Environmental Protection Agency’s Landfill Methane Outreach Program which assists communities in turning methane gas into electricity or other forms of energy at over 600 locations nationwide.
Recent research indicates that methane emissions from shale and tight gas drilling operations could be reduced by as much as 75% using current technology, representing an important opportunity to combat climate change while simultaneously growing domestic economies. Annual investments of about $11 billion would be required to implement methane abatement measures within oil and gas sector operations; with return times within less than ten years.
Methyl radicals
Methyl radicals can be used to create ethylene, an invaluable building block of plastics and polymers. Additionally, they can combine with carbon dioxide to form syngas as a fuel that can either be burned for energy production or used to power vehicles and equipment – an exciting development which offers potential alternatives to fossil fuels that currently form our primary sources of oil and gas. This process has become the focus of intense research.
Methane is another natural compound found in the atmosphere that forms when methyl radicals react with oxygen molecules. Methane is a colorless, odorless, flammable gas much lighter than air; it forms part of natural gas while also being found in coal and petroleum fossil fuels; additionally it can also be produced during fermentation processes such as wastewater digestion.
While methane may only exist at low levels in the atmosphere, it still acts as a greenhouse gas and contributes to climate change. Although its release might seem minimal at first, over time its emission can have similar effects as saving money in a savings account.
Methane emissions must be decreased because they are an extremely potent greenhouse gas with profound climate-altering potential, lasting in the atmosphere for extended periods and having significant climatic ramifications. They also contribute to ground-level ozone levels which aggravate lung problems like shortness of breath while worsening existing health conditions like asthma, emphysema, and chronic bronchitis.
Methane emissions can be easily reduced through technological innovations and better management practices, with up to three quarters of current anthropogenic methane emissions avoided at net cost by adopting measures providing financial incentives for the private sector. Unfortunately, poorly functioning energy markets and financially insolvent utilities and municipalities continue to impede efforts at reducing methane emissions; but these hurdles are currently being overcome.
