Around the globe, the number of lakes is swelling by the thousands. But this is far good news, as they are being formed by melting permafrost – the latest example of how climate change is altering the planet’s landscapes
Lakes Could be ‘Tapped’ for an Environmentally Friendly Biofuel
New research suggests that a carbon-neutral biofuel could be created from methane extracted from lakes.
Image Credit: VarnaK/Shutterstock.com
The production of renewable energy sources is vital to meeting increasing energy demands whilst simultaneously attempting to limit damage to the environment. This future of sustainability in fuel sources is the key to limiting greenhouse gas emissions and in the battle against climate change.
New research suggests that a new sustainable and environmentally gentle fuel could emerge from an unlikely source. A team of environmental scientists from the University of Basel, Switzerland, suggest that methane stored in lakes could be tapped, converted to methanol, and used as fuel.
Lakes store huge amounts of methane. In a new study, environmental scientists at the University of Basel offer suggestions for how it can be extracted and
Carbon-neutral biofuel from lakes eurekalert.org - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from eurekalert.org Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Study points to lake methane as energy source of the future
Switzerland, and its many reservoirs, might be an energy goldmine-in-waiting. Keystone / Gian Ehrenzeller
Lakes, the source of 20% of global natural methane emissions, could also be the source of much of the world’s energy, if treated correctly, Swiss researchers have argued.
This content was published on April 4, 2021 - 18:23
April 4, 2021 - 18:23
Keystone-SDA/dos
In a paper published this week, researchers from Basel and Zurich suggest a way to more efficiently extract the methane which develops naturally as biomass decays in lakes.
Methane, which is 25 times more harmful to the climate than carbon dioxide, is mostly produced by the petroleum and agriculture industries. However, a fifth of all methane emissions are produced naturally in lakes. This “would in theory be enough to cover the entire world’s energy needs”, said University of Basel scientist Maciej Bartosiewicz.