Live data from Hacker News

Inventor harvests methane gas from ditches and ponds to power his moped

notechmagazine.com

1–10 of 181 posts

Re: Inventor harvests methane gas from ditches and ponds to power his moped

#4
post #2

Please note that this is an art project and not a serious invention.

Well... if it gets a few people to learn more about this topic then that's serious enough for me. Many have very strong opinions about energy and fossil fuels, but few really understand what they're talking about. For example they don't understand that natural gas is actually a very potent greenhouse gas and he's doing the world a favor by burning it. On a larger scale, we could certainly do more to stop methane from reaching the atmosphere, where it's economical.

Re: Inventor harvests methane gas from ditches and ponds to power his moped

#5
post #2

Please note that this is an art project and not a serious invention.

Well... if it gets a few people to learn more about this topic then that's serious enough for me. Many have very strong opinions about energy and fossil fuels, but few really understand what they're talking about. For example they don't understand that natural gas is actually a very potent greenhouse gas and he's doing the world a favor by burning it. On a larger scale, we could certainly do more to stop methane from…

> he's doing the world a favor by burning it

i.e. transforming it into carbon dioxide and water - both greenhouse gasses.

Re: Inventor harvests methane gas from ditches and ponds to power his moped

#8
post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well... if it gets a few people to learn more about this topic then that's serious enough for me. Many have very strong opinions about energy and fossil fuels, but few really understand what they're talking about. For example they don't understand that natural gas is actually a very potent greenhouse gas and he's doing the world a favor by burning it. On a larger scale, we could certainly do more to stop methane from…

> he's doing the world a favor by burning it i.e. transforming it into carbon dioxide and water - both greenhouse gasses.

True, but methane has a much stronger greenhouse effects than the resulting CO2 and water vapor. So that's still net-positive.

Re: Inventor harvests methane gas from ditches and ponds to power his moped

#10
post #8
post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> he's doing the world a favor by burning it i.e. transforming it into carbon dioxide and water - both greenhouse gasses.

True, but methane has a much stronger greenhouse effects than the resulting CO2 and water vapor. So that's still net-positive.

Actually, H2O is the most potent common greenhouse gas, then methane, and then CO2. If you burn methane (CH4) you end up with 2 molecules of H20 and one of CO2. Which to me would seem to be worse than one molecule of CH4 - but I might be wrong. Perhaps someone more knowledgeable could comment?
Post reply on HN