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Methane flares blaze atop towers at an oil refining facility.

Curbing Climate Change

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Methane concentrations could be restored to preindustrial levels of ~750ppb by oxidizing ~3.2 of the 5.3 Pg methane in the atmosphere catalytically. This thermodynamically favorable reaction would cut total radiative forcing by approximately one sixth. We propose to test the feasibility of fully oxidizing methane from bulk air--to our knowledge the first attempt to do so--using zeolites. Such a goal of atmospheric restoration provides a framework for change at a time when climate action is desperately needed.
 

Project: Methane Removal from the Atmosphere Using Metallozeolites
Funding Source: Environmental Venture Projects 
Funding Year: 2019 
Research Areas: Public Health
Regions: North America

Research Team:
Rob Jackson (Earth System Science), 
Edward Solomon (Chemistry)

Research News & Insights

By focusing on the climate impact of methane over a 100-year timeframe, international climate negotiators have underestimated the importance of this short-lived greenhouse gas for achieving Paris climate agreement goals, a new Stanford University study finds.

Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment