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If I have a compost pile that's producing methane, is igniting that methane to convert it all into CO2 (regardless of getting any utility from that energy) effe
by cwkoss 5y ago
If I have a compost pile that's producing methane, is igniting that methane to convert it all into CO2 (regardless of getting any utility from that energy) effectively "net carbon negative" because CO2 has much less climate effect than methane?
Kind of weird to think about how burning methane without capturing the energy could be better for the planet that letting it leak into the atmosphere naturally.
- mikepurvis 5y agoI believe the answer is yes, but I imagine it would be far too diffuse to actually achieve ignition. Same issue applies to various schemes for putting a pilot light at cow's butts to eliminate the "cow fart emissions" issues. (Quite apart from the fact that it's belches not farts that are the issue anyway, so the pilot light would be at the wrong end...)
- wardedVibe 5y agoWait, are you telling me that we need fire breathing cows for the good of the environment?
- gruez 5y agoYep. It's also the same idea why we have gas flares on oil wells. It might look like it's oil companies setting stuff on fire for no reason, but it's better than just letting it leak.
- asciimike 5y agoThrowing that natural gas through a generator and an exhaust system is even better (more "net negative"). Compared to flaring, you can achieve a ~98% methane reduction and a ~60% CO2e reduction (source: https://www.crusoeenergy.com/digital-flare-mitigation https://www.crusoeenergy.com/digital-flare-mitigation). Disclosure: I work for Crusoe Energy, who's goal is to eliminate routine flaring and align the future of computing with the future of the climate. We colocate data centers serving crypto miners and a high performance GPU cloud (crusoecloud.com). Our GPUs are indeed "carbon reducing", offsetting the emissions of a car over the course of a year.
- deleted 5y ago[deleted]
- s1artibartfast 5y agoThe same is true for a lot of chemistry. There are tons of compounds that are poisonous, but if you break down the molecule, it is perfectly safe to eat.
- EricLeer 5y agoYes, by the same mechanism burning waste also has a lower impact then letting it sit on a landfill (even excluding using the heat for something usefull like electricity production, or a heat network).