Mitigating Methane: Emerging Technologies To Combat Climate Change’s Second Leading Contributor

Abstract

Methane (CH) is the second greatest contributor to anthropogenic climate change. Emissions have tripled since preindustrial times and continue to rise rapidly, given the fact that the key sources of food production, energy generation and waste management, are inexorably tied to population growth. Until recently, the pursuit of CH mitigation approaches has tended to align with opportunities for easy energy recovery through gas capture and flaring. Consequently, effective abatement has been largely restricted to confined high-concentration sources such as landfills and anaerobic digesters, which do not represent a major share of CH's emission profile. However, in more recent years we have witnessed a quantum leap in the sophistication, diversity and affordability of CH mitigation technologies on the back of rapid advances in molecular analytical techniques, developments in material sciences and increasingly efficient engineering processes. Here, we present some of the latest concepts, designs and applications in CH mitigation, identifying a number of abatement synergies across multiple industries and sectors. We also propose novel ways to manipulate cutting-edge technology approaches for even more effective mitigation potential. The goal of this review is to stimulate the ongoing quest for and uptake of practicable CH mitigation options; supplementing established and proven approaches with immature yet potentially high-impact technologies. There has arguably never been, and if we do not act soon nor will there be, a better opportunity to combat climate change's second most significant greenhouse gas.

Methane Mitigation: Methods to Reduce Emissions, on the Path to the Paris Agreement

“…This means manure tanks, lagoons, heaps, and stores are attractive first targets in efforts to mitigate agricultural emissions. Widely present, at sites like feedlots, barns and milking stations, they are localized and contained sources of high-methane air where emissions can be mitigated by careful manure management in oxidizing settings, including drying manure, using anaerobic digestion, or by catalytic oxidation (Pratt & Tate, 2018). Van der Zaag et al (2018) investigated two options for reducing emissions from manure-(1) separating solids and liquids and (2) anaerobic digestion.…”

“…All rely on well‐understood technology and are well proven, with the exception of some options discussed in section , such as the application of methanotrophy to remove ruminant emissions. For a review of frontier ideas and technology, many of which are likely to become economic to apply in the next decade, see Pratt & Tate () and Jackson et al ().…”

Geo-Agriculture: Reviewing Opportunities through Which the Geosphere Can Help Address Emerging Crop Production Challenges

“…It also does not account for the carbon footprint of crushed volcanic rock application to farmland, which Edwards et al [11] estimate to be 20% of gross GHG reductions. With these considerations factored-in, it appears that enhanced weathering of crushed volcanic rocks in tropical farmland could mitigate approximately 1% of total global emissions, which are about 50 Gt CO 2 equivalents/year [125]. Although this magnitude may seem negligible, it is in the vicinity of total emission estimates for a number of industries considered to be 'big emitters' (e.g., cattle farming, rice production).…”

“…Methane (CH 4 ) is the second greatest contributor to climate change at an emission rate of approximately 8 Gt CO 2 -equivalents/year with agricultural sources responsible for almost half of these emissions [131]. One of the most significant agricultural CH 4 emitting activities is rice farming, which produces about 1.25 Gt CO 2 -e/year [125]. Iron oxides, which are a ubiquitous and diverse class of geological minerals, have shown promise to mitigate CH 4 emissions produced by this industry.…”

A Study on the Implementation of Nanotechnology in Enhancing the Environmental Changes

“…The effective abatement is largely restricted in high concentration sources which include landfills and anaerobic digesters. CH 4 's emission profile is not represented by these factors (Pratt & Kevin, 2018).…”