That’s because natural gas is about 90% methane. So, natural gas leaks send methane into the atmosphere.
Like carbon dioxide, methane absorbs heat that is radiating from the earth that would otherwise escape into space. Except, it’s more potent. If you emit one molecule of methane today it will trap about 80 times as much heat in the next 20 years as one molecule of carbon dioxide.
We can reduce methane emissions by eating less red meat (cut down on those cow burps!) and by using less natural gas.
Megan Hall: Welcome to Possibly, where we take on huge problems like the future of our planet and break them down into small questions with unexpected answers.
On one of our earlier shows, we mentioned that cow burps contribute to climate change. That’s because those burps contain methane, a powerful greenhouse gas.
But what is methane anyway, and how does it relate to climate change?
We had Fatima Husain from our Possibly Team look into this topic. Welcome, Fatima!
Fatima: Hi, Megan!
Megan: So, what is methane?
Fatima: Well, to tackle this topic, I called up our founder Stephen Porder. He’s the Assistant Provost for Sustainability at Brown, so he thinks about this topic a lot. He says you might know methane by another name.
Stephen: Natural gas is basically 90% ish methane. So it’s sort of the same thing.
Megan: How is methane made?
Fatima: Methane is created when something organic decomposes in a location that doesn’t have oxygen.
Megan: So, what’s an example?
Fatima: it’s emitted by things like rotting organic trash in a landfill, or the dead plants and fertilizer that are underwater in a wetland or a rice paddy.
Megan: And by cows after they’ve digested their food?
Fatima: Right. Actually, Stephen says cow burps are the biggest human-caused source of methane. But, the second-biggest source, at least in the US, is oil and gas production.
Megan: What does oil and gas production have to do with Methane?
Fatima: Well, remember, natural gas is about 90% methane…
Stephen: So when you drill for oil or gas, inevitably some of the gas that you’re actually hoping to sell leaks out.
Fatima: And those gas leaks send methane into the air.
Stephen: it’s just a little bit, so it’s not a huge problem economically for the oil companies, but it’s a huge problem for the atmosphere.
Megan: Why is this a problem?
Fatima: Well, Stephen says methane is similar to carbon dioxide—it absorbs heat that is radiating from the earth that would otherwise escape into space.
Stephen: It’s just that methane traps more heat per molecule then carbon dioxide does.
Megan: How much more?
Fatima: If you emit one molecule of methane today it will trap about 80 times as much heat in the next 20 years as one molecule of carbon dioxide.
Megan: I had no idea it was that bad.
Fatima: It is, but Stephen says there’s some good news:
Stephen: Methane decays in the atmosphere relatively rapidly.
Fatima: That means cutting these emissions now will have a big impact on climate change in the next few decades.
Megan: How can we reduce these methane gas emissions?
Fatima: Stephen says you can eat less red meat to cut back on those cow burps! But, also try weaning yourself off natural gas. That includes using less electricity.
Stephen: …because in Rhode Island, our electricity comes mostly from burning natural gas, but also insulating your house and reducing the amount of home heating that you need because many people in Rhode Island have furnaces that run off natural gas.
Fatima: And on a policy level, we can put safeguards in place to prevent natural gas leaks, like better procedures when companies extract gas, stricter monitoring at transfer locations, and replacing old pipes that carry it to our homes and businesses.
Megan: Great! Thanks, Fatima! And thanks to Tammuz Frankel and Dana Altoaimi who also helped with this episode.
That’s it for today! For more information or to ask a question about the way you recycle, use energy, or make any other choice that affects the planet, go to “the public’s radio dot org slash possibly.”
Possibly is a co-production of the Institute at Brown for Environment and Society and the Public’s Radio
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