Friday, August 31, 2018

Who are methane's foes?

I'm not a climatologist I should say that first off. I'm just a scared and concerned citizen.

Before you continue reading remember to please please please call your governor and state representatives and tell them you want action on global warming, especially that you want to see more investments in energy efficient buildings, especially factories, and also renewable energy like solar and especially wind.

Anyway, I'm scared about methane and carbon emissions at the Arctic at the moment and I want to give myself some hope, so I'm just giving myself some homework about it. 

What are some ways to disrupt methane from messing up this planet?

1. By feeding garlic and seaweed to cattle:

California scientists hope feeding cows seaweed will make them less gassy — which could be great news for the environment
  • Researchers in California are testing whether seaweed in cow diets can reduce climate pollutants.
  • The state's livestock sector — mostly the dairy sector — is responsible for an estimated 55 percent of methane emissions in the state.
  • Methane is created in cattle production when cows burp, pass gas and poop.
  • Preliminary findings show a touch of seaweed added to the cattle's diet may reduce cow gassiness by "well over 30 percent."


2. With methane-eating microorganisms in freshwater wetlands: 

The study results are published this week in the journal Nature Communications by biologist Samantha Joye of the University of Georgia and colleagues.
The researchers report that high rates of anaerobic (no oxygen) methane oxidation in freshwater wetlands substantially reduce atmospheric emissions of methane.


3. "by positively charging gold nanoparticles"
While methane adsorption depends on the gold charge, oxygen adsorption does not, so tuning the gold charge provides a way for researchers to independently tune the methane absorption. By making the methane adsorb approximately three orders of magnitude more strongly than the oxygen, the researchers could perform delicate methane oxidation on gold at low temperatures and pressures, which is a requirement for many environmental and economic applications such as producing useful chemicals.

Read more at: https://phys.org/news/2013-09-delicate-oxidation-greenhouse-gas-chemicals.html#jCp
While methane adsorption depends on the gold charge, oxygen adsorption does not, so tuning the gold charge provides a way for researchers to independently tune the methane absorption. By making the methane adsorb approximately three orders of magnitude more strongly than the oxygen, the researchers could perform delicate methane oxidation on gold at low temperatures and pressures, which is a requirement for many environmental and economic applications such as producing useful chemicals.

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