Stanford researchers outline vision for profitable climate change solution

In California, a seemingly counterintuitive approach – converting one greenhouse gas, methane, into another, carbon dioxide – holds promise for returning the atmosphere to pre-industrial concentrations of methane, a powerful driver of global warming, says the Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment.

Stanford researchers have outlined a potential process for converting an extremely potent greenhouse gas into one that is a much less potent driver of global warming.

The study, published in Nature Sustainability on May 20, describes a potential process for converting the extremely potent greenhouse gas methane into carbon dioxide, which is a much less potent driver of global warming. The idea of intentionally releasing carbon dioxide into the atmosphere may seem surprising, but the authors argue that swapping methane for carbon dioxide is a significant net benefit for the climate.

The basic idea is that some sources of methane emissions – from rice cultivation or cattle, for example – may be very difficult or expensive to eliminate. “An alternative is to offset these emissions via methane removal, so there is no net effect on warming the atmosphere,” said study coauthor Chris Field, the Perry L. McCarty Director of the Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment.