Combatting Climate Change By Swapping Greenhouse Gases: Study

PALO ALTO, CA — Turning the tide on climate change and into an economic benefit may seem a tough task but has been simplified in a Stanford study suggesting converting one greenhouse into another, the university news service reported.

The study, published in Nature Sustainability on May 20, describes a potential process for converting potent greenhouse gas methane into carbon dioxide, a maneuver designed to reduce the effects of global warming.

The idea of intentionally releasing carbon dioxide into the atmosphere may not pose as a solution, but the authors of the study argue that swapping methane for carbon dioxide provides a big benefit for the climate.

“If perfected, this technology could return the atmosphere to pre-industrial concentrations of methane and other gases,” said lead author Rob Jackson, the Michelle and Kevin Douglas Provostial professor in Earth System Science in Stanford’s School of Earth, Energy & Environmental Sciences.

The basic idea is that some sources of methane emissions – from rice cultivation or cattle, for example – may be very difficult or expensive to eliminate.

“An alternative is to offset these emissions via methane removal, so there is no net effect on warming the atmosphere,” said study coauthor Chris Field, the Perry L. McCarty Director of the Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment.

In 2018, methane – about 60 percent of which is generated by humans – reached atmospheric concentrations two and a half times greater than pre-industrial levels, according to the news service.

Methane is challenging to capture from air because its concentration is so low. However, the authors point out that zeolite, a crystalline material that consists primarily of aluminum, silicon and oxygen, could act essentially as a sponge to soak up methane.

“The porous molecular structure, relatively large surface area and ability to host copper and iron in zeolites make them promising catalysts for capturing methane and other gases,” said Ed Solomon, the Monroe E. Spaght Professor of Chemistry in the School of Humanities and Sciences.

The process of converting methane to carbon dioxide could be profitable with a price on carbon emissions or an appropriate policy. If market prices for carbon offsets rise to $500 or more per ton this century, as predicted by most relevant assessment models, each ton of methane removed from the atmosphere could be worth more than $12,000, the study dictates.

While reducing greenhouse gases in the atmosphere to pre-industrial levels may seem unlikely in the near future, the researchers argue that it could be possible with strategies like these.