Posted at 12:00 p.m
(Washington) Genetically engineered microbes and manure improvement to help cattle ranches produce less methane. Robots linked to satellites to locate and exploit methane leaks from interregional and city wells and gas pipelines. These are the two pillars of America’s plan to reduce methane emissions by 30% by 2030.
“Tackling methane allows us to respond quickly to climate,” says Lori Bruhwiler, director of methane monitoring at the United States Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). “It will disappear from the atmosphere in ten years and is a greenhouse gas 80 times more potent than CO2. There is a fruit within our reach. » CO2 remains in the atmosphere for 100 years.
The American plan to reduce methane emissions, presented in 2021, primarily targets companies that exploit hydrocarbons. “Estimates of economically justifiable emission reductions in oil and gas production and transport range from 45% to 77%,” says Bruhwiler. It would cost companies nothing, meaning we can expect the sector to reduce its emissions by a further 50%. But so far only two of the Big Five producers in the United States have announced that they are on board our halving plan. So I think we should instead focus on other emissions that we can respond to quickly, particularly cattle ranches and landfills. »
Biogas on farms
As for landfills, the production of biogas is funded through established schemes. According to University of California Davis agronomist Deanne Meyer, these programs will be extended to cattle ranches.
“This is especially important on farms in states with cold winters, because that’s where cow manure is collected in liquid form,” she explains. Methane emissions are higher than solid manure, such as on open farms in the southern United States. We have 250 biogas projects on 240 farms in California, half of which are subsidized by federal climate programs. We believe we can reduce emissions from the cattle sector by a quarter by 2030, primarily with biogas. »
The work focuses on cow belching, the source of 80% of cattle emissions.
PHOTO FROM THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA DAVIS WEBSITE
Deanne Meyer, an agronomist from the University of California at Davis
We try seaweed, probiotics, various microbes, genetically engineered microbes. But so far nothing works consistently.
Deanne Meyer, an agronomist from the University of California at Davis
“It’s as if Methanfabrik Kuh is returning to normal production after six to eight weeks, even with probiotics approved for cattle feed in Europe,” says Meyer.
“There is also the problem of lactation studies: for a new technique to be introduced, the lactation must be monitored over a year to detect changes in performance,” says the agronomist. »
avoid leaks
To overcome resistance from the hydrocarbon sector, Arvind Ravikumar, a geological engineer at the University of Texas at Austin, is building a system that integrates measurements of methane emissions from satellite, airplane, drone, car and fixed locations. “The aim is to precisely quantify the escaping methane and to see where, how and, above all, which emissions can be avoided. Sometimes there are deviations by a factor of 100 on the same day. And 40% of emissions are due to catastrophic events, accounting for just 1% of individual leaks. »
The fight against methane emissions is particularly important because, according to Ms. Bruhwiler, it could be intensified if there are catastrophic warning signs. “Methane is precisely one of the great dangers of climate change. There is four times more methane in Arctic permafrost than mankind has emitted since agriculture began. If the temperature rises by 3°C, methane emissions could double by the 22nd century. »
More convention news
Evaluate credit
Harvard researchers have developed a wearable plantar pressure gauge that could, for the first time, quantify a person’s balance and thus their risk of falling. Two studies are underway to confirm the clinical utility of this plantar pressure gauge. Elderly falls kill 39,000 people each year in the United States. If we transfer these figures to Quebec, we get a figure of 1000 deaths per year.
A large radio telescope
PHOTO FROM THE NATIONAL RADIO ASTRONOMY OBSERVATORY WEBSITE
The very large observatory in New Mexico
Almost 250 antennas in four American states and in Mexico: This is the project “Very Large Observatory of the Second Generation” (ngVLA, Next-Generation Very Large Array) that American astronomers have developed. Their current observatory, the VLA, includes 28 antennas in New Mexico and would form the heart of the ngVLA. Canada could be involved in the project, which aims to be operational in 2035. The VLA was made famous by the 1997 film Contact starring Jodie Foster.
A third arm
PHOTO FROM THE WEBSITE OF THE Swiss Federal Polytechnic School Lausanne
The third arm of the École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne used by a student
A Swiss neuroengineer has developed a robotic “third arm” that could potentially be controlled by the human brain. Silvestro Micera of the École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne presented his plan to achieve this on Friday. “Third weapons” have already been invented, notably by the American Army, but they are manipulated by the two hands of their operator and are intended to increase human power. The more traditional neuropsychologist Tamar Makin of the University of Cambridge, UK, demonstrated that her ‘second thumb’ is controlled by a wire from the big toe – a wireless version is in the works. This second thumb allows you to hold something while using your fingers.
Learn more
16% contribution of methane to climate change for 20 years
Source: NOAA