methane

Scientists discover new materials to capture methane
04/16/2013 - 12:10

Scientists at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL)  and UC Berkeley and have discovered new materials to capture methane, the second highest concentration greenhouse gas emitted into the atmosphere.

 

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Strange diet for methane consuming microorganisms
11/08/2012 - 08:19

Methane is formed under the absence of oxygen by natural biological and physical processes, e.g. in the sea floor. It is a much more powerful greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide. Thanks to the activity of microorganisms this gas is inactivated before it reaches the atmosphere and unfolds its harmful effects on Earth's climate. Researchers from Bremen have now proven that these microorganisms are quite picky about their diet.

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Methane source discovered in the underbrush
09/05/2012 - 10:45

Some six years ago scientific textbooks had to be updated because of the surprising discovery made by the research group led by Frank Keppler that plants produce methane in an oxygen-rich environment. At that time this was unthinkable, since it was commonly accepted that biogenic methane could only be formed during the decomposition of organic material under strictly anoxic conditions. His group has now made another fascinating new observation: fungi produce methane.

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Diseased trees new source of climate gas
08/07/2012 - 14:32

Diseased trees in forests may be a significant new source of methane that causes climate change, according to researchers at the Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies in Geophysical Research Letters.

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River networks on Titan point to a puzzling geologic history
07/20/2012 - 14:36

For many years, Titan's thick, methane- and nitrogen-rich atmosphere kept astronomers from seeing what lies beneath. Saturn's largest moon appeared through telescopes as a hazy orange orb, in contrast to other heavily cratered moons in the solar system.

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Gaseous emissions from dinosaurs may have warmed prehistoric earth
05/07/2012 - 11:01

Sauropod dinosaurs could in principle have produced enough of the greenhouse gas methane to warm the climate many millions of years ago, at a time when the Earth was warm and wet. That's according to calculations reported in the May 8th issue of Current Biology, a Cell Press publication.

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