Gas Hydrates, Methane - Current Affairs Questions and Answers

ANSWER: All the above

Explanation:
A decade long rise of the potent greenhouse gas methane threatens to make the fight against global warming even harder.

A consortium of 81 scientists have found that methane rose gradually from 2000-2006. Then, the CH₄ concentration rose 10 fold in the following decade.The large increase was sharp in 2014 and 2015, keeping global warming below 3.6 degree F is now a challenging target.

With 1 degree celsius of warming above pre-industrial era levels so far, the world has seen a rise in extreme weather including droughts, superstorms, heat waves and coastal flooding boosted by rising seas.

On current trends, average global temperatures are on the track by more than 3 degrees F by 2100 even if national carbon cutting pledges annexed to the Paris Agreement are honoured.

Without these pledges, the increase would be more higher.

To date, efforts to keep the planet from overheating have focused mostly on the main greenhouse has CO₂, a by-product of burning fossil fuels that account for at least 70 percent of warming.


Even as CO₂ started to plateau, CH₄ is responsible for 20 percent of the increase in global temperature and has started soaring.

Pace of recent emissions aligns with IPCC recommendations.

Methane

• Also known as CH₄.
• 28 times for efficient at trapping the sun’s heat.
• Earth naturally absorbs CH₄.
• Like CO₂, CH₄ is naturally released as well.

ANSWER: Gas with no or very low Hydrogen Sulphide

Explanation:

• Sweet Gas is a Natural gas that does not contain hydrogen sulfide [H2S].
• The gas may also not contain any quantities of carbon dioxide.
• The composition of the gas determines whether it is sweet or sour.
• Sweet Gas in its purest form can be used with very little refining. It is not corrosive in nature; hence it is relatively easy to use as compared to sour gas.
• Coal Bed Methane is Sweet Gas

ANSWER: Only 1

Explanation:

• Coalbed methane is distinct from a typical sandstone or other conventional gas reservoir, as the methane is stored within the coal by a process called adsorption.
• The methane is in a near-liquid state, lining the inside of pores within the coal (called the matrix).
• The open fractures in the coal (called the cleats) can also contain free gas or can be saturated with water.
• Gas contained in coal bed methane is mainly methane and trace quantities of ethane, nitrogen, carbon dioxide and few other gases.
• Intrinsic properties of coal as found in nature determine the amount of gas that can be recovered.

ANSWER: Only 2

Explanation:

• Coalbed methane (CBM or coal-bed methane), coalbed gas, coal seam gas (CSG), or coal-mine methane (CMM) is a form of natural gas extracted from coal beds.
• In recent decades it has become an important source of energy in United States, Canada, Australia, and other countries.
• The presence of this gas is well known from its occurrence in underground coal mining, where it presents a serious safety risk.
• Unlike much natural gas from conventional reservoirs, coalbed methane contains very little heavier hydrocarbons such as propane or butane, and no natural-gas condensate. It often contains up to a few percent carbon dioxide.

ANSWER: Both a and b

Explanation:
Scientists have combined 3D printed polymers with methane eating bacteria to create the first reactor that can produce methanol from the green house gas, advancement leading to efficient energy production.

• Researchers removed enzymes from methanotrophs, bacteria that consume methane and mix then with polymers printed or molded into innovative reactors.
• The enzymes retain close to 100 percent activity in the polymer
• Large volume of methane leaks or flares during the operations because the gas is difficult to store and transport compared to more valuable liquid fuels

ANSWER: CH₄

Explanation:
Methane emissions from a specific leaking facility on Earth’s surface have been measured by an instrument on board an orbiting spacecraft for the first time.

• The observation has been done by the Hyperion spectrometer on NASA’s Earth Observing-1 (EO-1).
• This is an important breakthrough in our ability to eventually measure and monitor emissions of this potent greenhouse gas from space.
• Part of NASA’s New Millennium Program, EO-1 is an advanced land-imaging mission designed to demonstrate new instruments and spacecraft systems.
• Launched in 2000, EO-1 has validated technologies for the Operational Land Imager used on the Landsat-8 satellite mission and future imaging spectrometer missions, and supported disaster-response applications.
• The mission is managed by NASA Goddard.