Is it feasible to use methane gas as an alternative to fossil fuel in the near future ?

Question

Is it feasible to use methane gas as an alternative to fossil fuel in the near future ?

Answer 1

METHANE is a gas: CH4

It can be a FOSSIL FUEL in natural gas (74% of natural gas is methane) and found in geological layers.

It can be produced or recovered from the decay of organic matter and as such be a BIOFUEL.

ALREADY: A lot of European countries use biomethane fed into existing natural gas grids to replace methane gas of fossil origin. Methane can also be used directly to produce electricity or processed into LPG for cars.

Gas fueled internal combustion engines are widely available and are an old proven technology.

Answer 2

As it turns out everyone above is correct.  Methane is many times worse as a greenhouse gas than CO2 but is does dissapate quickly.  But it dissaptes into CO2 and water.  

Still most sources state that it is a lesser greenhouse gas and not because of its lesser concentrations.  

I don't yet understand this entirely (maybe someone can explain) because on the surface it seems that its worse for 12 years and then equivalent.  But I'm apparently missing something about methane and methane dissapation.

Answer 3

Yes - and it is not worse than CO2 - methane dissipates in 12 years compared with 50 to 100 years for carbon based emissions.  It would really help to switch fuels and protect the dwindling and irreplaceable carbon deposits.  Methane is produced by life itself and is a product of all kinds of natural and industrial processes. Not a permanent solution but it would make a dramatic change - it should have been done  before but there is no money in it for the power companies as you could make methane products in municipal power plants.  What they won't recognise is that there would still be money to make advising on and constructing these plants.

Answer 4

First of all, for some of the others who have answered:  

The "asker" is asking whether or not methane can be used as an alternative to gas/fossil fuels in the future - not about its properties as a "greenhouse gas" - which would be a non-issue because the methane would not be released into the atmosphere as methane.  It would be burned to produce energy, producing CO2 and water vapor.  

Let me take a crack at the chemical balance here...

CH4 = methane

O2 = Oxygen (required for combustion)

So...  CH4 + 2O2 = CO2 + 2H20  ---  That's saying that for each molecule of methane, two molecules of oxygen are required for the combustion to take place.  The "waste products" are CO2 and water vapor...

Now, to answer the question:  There are some vehicles out there that are currently operating on methane - aka natural gas.  There are even "home" filling kits that some of those vehicle owners have had installed.  The little compressor takes the natural gas from your home supply, and fills the vehicle's on-board tank in something like four hours.  The problem is that there aren't too many places that supply natural gas for vehicles, and that lack of a viable distribution system for the general public is one of the main constraints to seeing natural gas powered vehicles.  

Methane is being extracted from landfills, and used to power generators which provide electricity to the public.  On top of that, some of the landfills have also installed their own compressors/filling stations, and have converted some (if not all) of their trucks to natural gas.  So the garbage in the landfill provides the methane to power the trucks which collect even more garbage to haul to the landfill...  Not a bad deal.  

Natural gas - methane - is also a byproduct of the petroleum refining industry (if I remember correctly), and it can also be extracted from coal seams - which is known as "coal-bed methane".  I read something recently, that in eastern Montana and the Dakotas, there is something like the potential for 30+ trillion cubic feet of coal bed methane...  

Yes, burning methane does produce carbon dioxide - one of the dastardly greenhouse gases...  But it doesn't have the "extra" stuff in it like gasoline and diesel...

So right now, the biggest detractor to methane use for vehicles, is a refueling system for travelers, and the availability of methane-powered (natural gas powered) vehicles.

Answer 5

Methane is worse for the environment than CO2.

Answer 6

It is being done in many places. Primarily for plant process heat or power boilers. Works pretty good. I believe is normally mixed with natural gas.