I keep getting ads saying things like "landfills produce more methane pollutants than 56000 cars" or "tell Congress to fix this one methane leak." I also hear people bring up farming cows as a counter-arguement for any climate action (but not as a "let's fix this" type arguement sadly). So my thinking is why aren't people trying to harvest methane and use it for something? Is it inefficient? Are they stupid?

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[–] 19 points 6 months ago (2 children)

Methane was rebranded as natural gas and is used to generate electricity, heat homes, and cook food. Among other uses.

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  • [–] 11 points 6 months ago

    afaik it's used as fuel a lot, natural gas stuff like LNG and CNG

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  • [–] 6 points 6 months ago

    a couple of the larger cattle operations near me actually do have the manure go to a 'digester' where the methane is captured and pumped into the natural gas distribution system.

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  • [–] 5 points 6 months ago (5 children)

    It's too bad we can't get animals (including ourselves) to hold it all day then dispense it into a fuel tank for home use.

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  • [–] 4 points 6 months ago (4 children)

    what if we kept the animals in a big dome

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  • [–] 5 points 6 months ago (2 children)

    What if we kept them underground. We could build a city above it. It would be a hub for trade, exchanging methane for other goods. We could call it Bartertown.

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  • [–] 1 point 6 months ago (3 children)

    Harvesting methane from landfills and livestock waste is done, it’s just not nearly as efficient as getting it from the ground.

    And while it’s a potent greenhouse gas it breaks down much faster than CO2 in the atmosphere

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  • [–] 5 points 6 months ago (2 children)

    And while it’s a potent greenhouse gas it breaks down much faster than CO2 in the atmosphere

    Incorrect. Methane breaks down into CO2. After it causes the atmosphere to retain significantly more heat. As CO2 it continues to contribute to climate change.

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  • [–] 2 points 6 months ago (1 child)

    isn't it more like methane creates CO2 if burned (CH4+2O2->CO2+2H2O)? methane released from cows for example wouldn't be burnt, how would that change to CO2? (i don't know much about this, please correct me if i'm wrong)

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