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NASA finds super-emitters of methane

smithsonianmag.com

271–280 of 387 posts

Re: NASA finds super-emitters of methane

#271

All of the emissions reductions in the US aren’t going to do anything if China keeps emitting at pace. We should not be doing anything unilaterally.

It's a leaky ship. Arguing over who has to fix their holes first is pointless dithering and finger-pointing.

Re: NASA finds super-emitters of methane

#272

Earlier quoted context omitted.

True, but then you have a different problem: you incentive people to generate more trash. There must be a balance.

Never have I felt “incentivized” to produce trash. Most of my trash is because the government doesn’t curb overpackaging of products.

Well, if you want to look for alternatives, join /r/zerowaste.

https://www.reddit.com/r/ZeroWaste/wiki/index/

Re: NASA finds super-emitters of methane

#274

Have they published a global map we can look at?

They are still in the process of mapping: https://earth.jpl.nasa.gov/emit/mission/destination/ I posted the original NASA article a few days ago, which has better info than this Smithsonian article: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=33349999

Note that the map they produce will be of surface properties (like mineral composition), not methane.

The surface properties are the main intermediate product on the way to the climate-related overall goal (https://earth.jpl.nasa.gov/emit/science/objectives/). Namely, does the dust lofted from these deserts heat or cool the Earth?

Re: NASA finds super-emitters of methane

#275

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Looks like Marathon Oil is the company

True story. I have worked oil and gas for a while and am familiar with this area. It can easily be a well not properly P&A'd (plugged and abandoned) - quite common down there. It is most likely a Marathon well (HARROUN COM #002), or it could be Eastland Oil (HARROUN A #007). If you want to get a better idea for yourself, you can check the EMNRD - https://ocd-hub-nm-emnrd.hub.arcgis.com/

Is there a way to IDK 3d earthen print a geodesic dome over the site and capture the waste methane (natural gas) into local tanks?

TIL about CBG: Cleaner Burning Gasoline

From https://twitter.com/westurner/status/1564443689623195650 :

> In September 2021 we covered a new "green gasoline" concept from @NaceroCo [in Penwell, TX] that involves constructing gasoline hydrocarbons by assembling smaller #methane molecules from natural gas

From https://www.houstonchronicle.com/opinion/outlook/article/Opi... :

> The Inflation Reduction Act imposes a fee of [$900/ton] of methane starting in 2024 — this is roughly twice the current record-high price of natural gas and five times the average price of natural gas in 2020.

> These high fees present a strong incentive

... "Argonne invents reusable [polyurethane] sponge that soaks up oil, could revolutionize oil spill and diesel cleanup" (2017) https://www.anl.gov/article/argonne-invents-reusable-sponge-...

FWIU, heat engines are useful with all thermal gradients: pipes, engines, probably solar panels and attics; "MIT’s new heat engine beats a steam turbine in efficiency" (2022) https://www.freethink.com/environment/heat-engine

Re: NASA finds super-emitters of methane

#276

Earlier quoted context omitted.

While I sympathize with the sentiment, that creating some kind of censorship dystopia will magically solve the problem, the idea has no traction when most of the people doing so make less than $1 a day somewhere in a remote corner of the world. This is the problem I have with climate activism. The best way to reduce pollution is to raise the standard of living for people around the world. People who are wealthy can a…

We are not talking about energy, we are talking about waste disposal. And not having money is not a excuse for burning trash. In part, because burning some types of trash (pretty much anything other than yard trimmings, including food) will make you and your community incredibly sick, causing you to spend more money in the end. It's already illegal to burn trash in almost every jurisdiction on earth. I am just callin…

Oh, really?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dry_dung_fuel

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/21/climate/sweden-garbage-us...

Re: NASA finds super-emitters of methane

#277
post #269

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In general CO2 is a far less potent greenhouse gas than CH4, largely because there is already a permanent low level of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. In a few decades the methane will oxidize to CO2, but in the meantime it’s like 40 times more potent. Better to burn it. (Not sure if CH4 is inherently stronger than CO2 because of more possible quantum states, but I suspect atmospheric abundance is the main factor (…

My layperson understanding was that the more atoms/bonds a molecule has, the less transparent it was to IR. Diatomic molucules like oxygen and nitrogen were pretty much transparent, molecules like CO2 and H2O were in the middle, and bigger ones like CH4 were less so.

I have a hazy understanding from the atmospheric radiation course I took a decade back, but if I recall correctly the vibrational states of a two-atom molecule are simply not at affected by infrared. To be a greenhouse gas, you need the, uh, rotational states provided by three or more atoms. Or something like that? I was always more of a dynamicist and barely scaped by in atm chem (it’s almost all free radical chemistry). Anyway you definitely need a third atom.

Re: NASA finds super-emitters of methane

#278

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We are not talking about energy, we are talking about waste disposal. And not having money is not a excuse for burning trash. In part, because burning some types of trash (pretty much anything other than yard trimmings, including food) will make you and your community incredibly sick, causing you to spend more money in the end. It's already illegal to burn trash in almost every jurisdiction on earth. I am just callin…

Oh, really? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dry_dung_fuel https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/21/climate/sweden-garbage-us...

They don't incinerate waste in open air, unlike backyard burn barrels. Also, burning happens at high temperatures, and emissions are captured.

It's a completely different process than simply just burning trash in a barrel.

Re: NASA finds super-emitters of methane

#279
post #65

If things get really bad and these things are deemed bad for the planet, could a nation demand the facilities be shut down or else be destroyed by military strike?

Neal Stephenson's latest novel sort of explores this idea. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Termination_Shock_(novel)

In a (without spoiling too much) remarkably ironic way vice this article's concern!

Re: NASA finds super-emitters of methane

#280
post #214

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What would happen if this information was public?

If the information was public, after remedying all of the methane leaks, we would still maintain above normal temperatures for a decade or two, then we would normalize temperatures around 2050, if all of the leaks were capped by tomorrow. Due to the toxic nature, I still wouldn't recommend sunscreen without knowing exactly what is in it.

> Due to the toxic nature, I still wouldn't recommend sunscreen without knowing exactly what is in it.

What? Are you a bot?

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