It’s time to study methane removal, National Academies says

By Corbin Hiar | 10/10/2024 06:12 AM EDT

An expert panel recommends funding research on natural sources of the heat-trapping gas and ways to filter it from the air.

A flare burns natural gas at an oil well in Watford City, North Dakota.

A flare burns natural gas at an oil well in Watford City, North Dakota, on Aug. 26, 2021. Matthew Brown/AP

The nation’s leading scientific advisory institution is urging the United States to invest up to $400 million over five years to research scrubbing methane from the skies.

The recommendation was part of the first major assessment of atmospheric methane removal — a concept so novel that the congressionally chartered National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine first had to agree on a definition of the term.

Atmospheric methane removal, a National Academies committee determined in a report released last week, refers to “human interventions to accelerate the conversion of methane in the atmosphere to a less radiatively potent form or to physically remove methane from the atmosphere and store it elsewhere.”

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“Research on methane removal is just beginning,” said the draft report, which was co-authored by more than 60 experts with backgrounds in microbiology, social psychology, chemical engineering, atmospheric chemistry and other fields. “While several potential technologies exist, information is limited, and many key questions remain unanswered.”

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