methane
How Much Cleaner Is Natural Gas?
The ascendance of natural gas over coal during the past decade has been driven primarily by fracking technology that has provided large quantities of the stuff at low prices. But beyond that, there are environmental issues as well. Natural gas emits 50 to 60% less carbon dioxide when combusted in a new, efficient natural gas power plant compared with emission from a typical new coal plant. It appears to be a win-win situation.
Fighting Methane With Bacteria
Bacteria may have an important role to play in the effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. A group of researchers at the University of Alberta are genetically engineering non-hazardous bacteria that consume methane and turn it into fuel.
Finding Methane Leaks With Lasers
Burning natural gas instead of coal is considered to be an important way to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. In principle, it is. Gas combustion produces much less carbon dioxide than coal combustion.
New Year’s Resolutions
2018 is just around the corner. Popular resolutions for the New Year always seem to include things like improving health, traveling more, spending less money, and so on. But one resolution that isn’t as popular but could collectively have a major impact is committing to living a cleaner and greener life.
CO2 Emissions Stalled
For the third year in a row, global emissions of carbon dioxide have remained unchanged. This indicates that efforts to reduce emissions have had an effect, but that there is much more to be done. It is essential to reduce emissions, not just cap them.
Fuel From Greenhouse Gases
Carbon dioxide and methane are the two greenhouse gases that are having the greatest impact on the global climate. There are basically three ways to prevent them from getting into the atmosphere: don’t emit them, trap them and store them away, or turn them into something useful.
Another Unconventional Fossil Fuel Source
It has only been about 10 years that fracking has been a big deal in the energy world. With it, a largely inaccessible source of fossil fuel became relatively easy pickings. And both the economic benefits and the attendant environmental problems have been grabbing headlines ever since.
[Read more…] about Another Unconventional Fossil Fuel Source
Fossil Fuel Companies And Renewables
There is a tendency to think of the changes in the energy industry as a pitched battle between fossil fuel companies and renewable energy. There is some truth to this, but only to a certain extent. The multi-trillion-dollar fossil fuel industry is made up of businesses dedicated to growth and increased profits. And like businesses in other industries when major changes occur, fossil fuel companies may read the tea leaves and change with the times.
Cows And The Environment
There are many environmental problems associated with ruminant livestock and these problems continue to grow as the demand for meat-rich diets increases around the world. One of the biggest problems is that cows emit methane through eructation (or belching) as they chew their cud. Methane is a powerful greenhouse gas, some 25 times more potent at trapping heat than carbon dioxide. More than a quarter of all human-originated methane going into the atmosphere comes from raising livestock.
Americans And Beef
There’s ample evidence over the past decade or so that Americans are gradually changing their diets, driven by health concerns among other factors. But there’s one change that really stands out. According to a study by the Natural Resources Defense Council, Americans have sliced their beef consumption by 19% between 2005 and 2014.
The Largest Battery Storage Substation
At the end of last year, Southern California Edison turned on the largest lithium-ion battery storage facility in the world in Ontario, California. It is a substation with 80 megawatt-hours of capacity, enough energy to power 2,500 households or charge 1,000 Tesla cars a day.
The Methane Riddle
Most of the blame for climate change has been placed on the growing levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, but methane also plays a major role. Estimates are that about 1/5 of greenhouse effect warming is caused by methane in the atmosphere. There is far less of it than carbon dioxide, but methane is tremendously more effective at trapping heat.
Disappearing Arctic Ice
The top of the world is turning from white to blue in the summer. The ice that has long covered the north polar seas is melting away.
Finding Methane Leaks
The boom in natural gas drilling by conventional methods and by fracking has led to a spike in methane emissions from pipelines, storage tanks, processing facilities, and other parts of the natural gas system. Natural gas is mostly composed of methane, so these emissions constitute waste and lost revenues. But they also represent a serious environmental problem because methane is 25 times more effective in trapping atmospheric heat than carbon dioxide.
The Hottest Month (Again)
NASA data show that the Earth’s temperature in July was the highest recorded since record-keeping began 136 years ago. It was also the 10th straight month of record-breaking temperatures and was .18 degrees Fahrenheit higher than the previous hottest July in 2011.
