Climate Change Legislation Overlooks Largest Sources of Methane

[MichaelLWagner]

Here Read:

+ New climate change legislation overlooks a major GHG source: industrial ag / Grist Magazine:

–”The bill fails to address greenhouse gas emission reductions from agriculture, factory farms, and animal manure whatsoever–and even goes the extra mile to specifically exempt the entire sector from any type of regulation.”

“Enteric fermentation is literally the largest source of methane emissions in the entire country.”

+ EPA’s Landfill Methane Outreach Program / EPA:

–”Municipal solid waste landfills are the second largest source of human-related methane emissions in the United States.”

“At the same time, methane emissions from landfills represent a lost opportunity to capture and use a significant energy source.”

Also read:

+ Beware emissions trading, airlines stand to make billions / Mother Jones,

+ The Carbon Folly / BusinessWeek,

+ The Case Against Carbon Trading / Transnational Institute:

–”…Citigroup’s Peter Atherton confessed that the European Union’s Emission Trading Scheme had ‘done nothing to curb emissions.’ He admitted,‘Prices up, emissions up, profits up …’ Who wins and loses? Coal and nuclear-based generators–biggest winners. Hedge funds and energy traders–even bigger winners. Losers … Consumers!”

Rather than cap-and-trade, the Govt. should set caps on GreenHouse Gas emission, then provide 0-interest loans for companies to Go Green (when such cannot afford to).

Also Read:

+ Loophole may mean bigger, not smaller, cars / MSNBC:

--"New rules may actually encourage automakers to build behemoths."

"Too bad the rules will discourage automakers from manufacturing the kind of small cars that the Obamaites favor and, in some cases, encourage carmakers to do exactly the opposite. That's right: make some models bigger."

"... the legislation, while forcing a significant boost in fuel economy, has loopholes big enough to drive a truck through."

"But say a big SUV misses its target by one mile per gallon. A carmaker could just make the vehicle a bit larger, allowing it to hit an easier fuel economy target."

"'The system doesn't do anything to encourage smaller vehicles,' ... And even if gasoline prices rise again and prompt consumers to look for smaller cars, he says, the new rules give automakers less incentive to sell more of them.

+ From Bagels to Coal Fires: An Unorthodox Economist Keeps Pushing for Change / NY Times, 2007:

–”… the abundance of underground coal fires in abandoned mines and other places that not only waste coal but contribute mightily to worldwide carbon dioxide emissions.”

”… underground fires in China alone contribute as much CO2 to the atmosphere each year as all the cars and light trucks in the U.S.”

Meanwhile, the Climate Change Bill grants BILLIONS in subsidies to Clean Coal.

Here Read:

+ The Illusion of Clean Coal / The Economist:

+ Trouble in store--Carbon capture and storage / The Economist:

+ The Dirty Truth About Clean Coal / BusinessWeek,

+ King Coal's Latest Con--Clean Coal is Not Clean / CommonDreams

 

[52ndStreet]

Here Read:

+ New climate change legislation overlooks a major GHG source: industrial ag / Grist Magazine:

–”The bill fails to address greenhouse gas emission reductions from agriculture, factory farms, and animal manure whatsoever–and even goes the extra mile to specifically exempt the entire sector from any type of regulation.”

“Enteric fermentation is literally the largest source of methane emissions in the entire country.”

+ EPA’s Landfill Methane Outreach Program / EPA:

–”Municipal solid waste landfills are the second largest source of human-related methane emissions in the United States.”

“At the same time, methane emissions from landfills represent a lost opportunity to capture and use a significant energy source.”

Also read:

+ Beware emissions trading, airlines stand to make billions / Mother Jones,

+ The Carbon Folly / BusinessWeek,

+ The Case Against Carbon Trading / Transnational Institute:

–”…Citigroup’s Peter Atherton confessed that the European Union’s Emission Trading Scheme had ‘done nothing to curb emissions.’ He admitted,‘Prices up, emissions up, profits up …’ Who wins and loses? Coal and nuclear-based generators–biggest winners. Hedge funds and energy traders–even bigger winners. Losers … Consumers!”

Rather than cap-and-trade, the Govt. should set caps on GreenHouse Gas emission, then provide 0-interest loans for companies to Go Green (when such cannot afford to).

Also Read:

+ Loophole may mean bigger, not smaller, cars / MSNBC:

--"New rules may actually encourage automakers to build behemoths."

"Too bad the rules will discourage automakers from manufacturing the kind of small cars that the Obamaites favor and, in some cases, encourage carmakers to do exactly the opposite. That's right: make some models bigger."

"... the legislation, while forcing a significant boost in fuel economy, has loopholes big enough to drive a truck through."

"But say a big SUV misses its target by one mile per gallon. A carmaker could just make the vehicle a bit larger, allowing it to hit an easier fuel economy target."

"'The system doesn't do anything to encourage smaller vehicles,' ... And even if gasoline prices rise again and prompt consumers to look for smaller cars, he says, the new rules give automakers less incentive to sell more of them.

+ From Bagels to Coal Fires: An Unorthodox Economist Keeps Pushing for Change / NY Times, 2007:

–”… the abundance of underground coal fires in abandoned mines and other places that not only waste coal but contribute mightily to worldwide carbon dioxide emissions.”

”… underground fires in China alone contribute as much CO2 to the atmosphere each year as all the cars and light trucks in the U.S.”

Meanwhile, the Climate Change Bill grants BILLIONS in subsidies to Clean Coal.

Here Read:

+ The Illusion of Clean Coal / The Economist:

+ Trouble in store--Carbon capture and storage / The Economist:

+ The Dirty Truth About Clean Coal / BusinessWeek,

+ King Coal's Latest Con--Clean Coal is Not Clean / CommonDreams

Like I said, The Earth's oceans , and melting ice, from boggs in Siberia, release more
Methane,which accelerates the Earths temperature a lot faster than CO2,than any
human global warming output.

 

[Old Rocks]

The melting of the permafrost is a direct result of the addition of anthropogenic CO2 into the atmosphere. And it does represent the greatest danger at present. Once it begins to match the anthropogenic warming caused by the use of fossil fuels, we will no longer have any way to ameliorate the acceleration of the warming.

The methane levels in the atmosphere had leveled off as the dry land rice production was replacing the wet land methods. Then the outgassing of the Arctic Clathrates began, and now we are seeing an accelerating rise in methane again. Not a good thing.

 

[dilloduck]

The melting of the permafrost is a direct result of the addition of anthropogenic CO2 into the atmosphere. And it does represent the greatest danger at present. Once it begins to match the anthropogenic warming caused by the use of fossil fuels, we will no longer have any way to ameliorate the acceleration of the warming.

The methane levels in the atmosphere had leveled off as the dry land rice production was replacing the wet land methods. Then the outgassing of the Arctic Clathrates began, and now we are seeing an accelerating rise in methane again. Not a good thing.

I'm trying to cut down--I swear

 

[JohnStOnge]

The melting of the permafrost is a direct result of the addition of anthropogenic CO2 into the atmosphere.

Even the IPCC wouldn't make an unequivocal statement like that.

 

[Old Rocks]

The very rapid increase in the warming of the Arctic is the direct and predictable result of the increase in the GHGs in the atmosphere. We are the causetive agent of those GHGs. Those are the facts.

The result of those facts is that the permafrost in Alaska, Canada, and Siberia is emmitting vast amounts of CO2 and CH4. A century ago, these areas were net absorbers of these gases. And, as the north flowing rivers in Canada and Siberia warm, they are cutting through to the clathrates on the ocean floor. Bad cess, indeed.

From Russia, with love — Hot Topic

From Russia, with love
by Gareth on September 24, 2008

The work of the Swedish and Russian team on the Yakov Smirnitsky has finally found its way into the mainstream media, with Steve Connor at the Independent in London reporting the final post at the ISSS-08 blog I’ve been linking to for the last month or two. It’s not good news - they’ve found dramatic evidence of “methane chimneys” - bubbles of methane emerging form the sea floor and reaching the surface (instead of dissolving), and recorded atmospheric concentrations 100 times the normal background level. Connor reports on an email exchange with the Swedish team:

“We had a hectic finishing of the sampling programme yesterday and this past night,” said Dr Gustafsson. “An extensive area of intense methane release was found. At earlier sites we had found elevated levels of dissolved methane. Yesterday, for the first time, we documented a field where the release was so intense that the methane did not have time to dissolve into the seawater but was rising as methane bubbles to the sea surface. These ‘methane chimneys’ were documented on echo sounder and with seismic [instruments].”

At some locations, methane concentrations reached 100 times background levels. These anomalies have been seen in the East Siberian Sea and the Laptev Sea, covering several tens of thousands of square kilometres, amounting to millions of tons of methane, said Dr Gustafsson. “This may be of the same magnitude as presently estimated from the global ocean,” he said. “Nobody knows how many more such areas exist on the extensive East Siberian continental shelves.

In his piece, Connor uses the “standard” global warming potential for methane of 20 times CO2 (actually 25 is the official IPCC number), and correctly notes the short atmospheric lifetime of the gas. However, over that short lifetime (around 12 years), CH4’s GWP is more like 70 times CO2. Current global methane level is about 1750 ppb (1.75 ppm), so using a GWP of 25 it has the same warming effect as 43.75 ppm CO2. On the shorter 10 year time scale, that’s more like 122 ppm CO2. But Semiletov and his team on the Yakov Smirnitsky have measured concentrations 100 times greater than “normal”, which implies a local warming effect equivalent to 12,200 ppm CO2.

 

[del]

The very rapid increase in the warming of the Arctic is the direct and predictable result of the increase in the GHGs in the atmosphere. We are the causetive agent of those GHGs. Those are the facts.

The result of those facts is that the permafrost in Alaska, Canada, and Siberia is emmitting vast amounts of CO2 and CH4. A century ago, these areas were net absorbers of these gases. And, as the north flowing rivers in Canada and Siberia warm, they are cutting through to the clathrates on the ocean floor. Bad cess, indeed.

From Russia, with love — Hot Topic

From Russia, with love
by Gareth on September 24, 2008

The work of the Swedish and Russian team on the Yakov Smirnitsky has finally found its way into the mainstream media, with Steve Connor at the Independent in London reporting the final post at the ISSS-08 blog I’ve been linking to for the last month or two. It’s not good news - they’ve found dramatic evidence of “methane chimneys” - bubbles of methane emerging form the sea floor and reaching the surface (instead of dissolving), and recorded atmospheric concentrations 100 times the normal background level. Connor reports on an email exchange with the Swedish team:

“We had a hectic finishing of the sampling programme yesterday and this past night,” said Dr Gustafsson. “An extensive area of intense methane release was found. At earlier sites we had found elevated levels of dissolved methane. Yesterday, for the first time, we documented a field where the release was so intense that the methane did not have time to dissolve into the seawater but was rising as methane bubbles to the sea surface. These ‘methane chimneys’ were documented on echo sounder and with seismic [instruments].”

At some locations, methane concentrations reached 100 times background levels. These anomalies have been seen in the East Siberian Sea and the Laptev Sea, covering several tens of thousands of square kilometres, amounting to millions of tons of methane, said Dr Gustafsson. “This may be of the same magnitude as presently estimated from the global ocean,” he said. “Nobody knows how many more such areas exist on the extensive East Siberian continental shelves.

In his piece, Connor uses the “standard” global warming potential for methane of 20 times CO2 (actually 25 is the official IPCC number), and correctly notes the short atmospheric lifetime of the gas. However, over that short lifetime (around 12 years), CH4’s GWP is more like 70 times CO2. Current global methane level is about 1750 ppb (1.75 ppm), so using a GWP of 25 it has the same warming effect as 43.75 ppm CO2. On the shorter 10 year time scale, that’s more like 122 ppm CO2. But Semiletov and his team on the Yakov Smirnitsky have measured concentrations 100 times greater than “normal”, which implies a local warming effect equivalent to 12,200 ppm CO2.

speaking of noxious gases....