Front cover image for Methane and climate change

Methane and climate change

"Methane is a powerful greenhouse gas and is estimated to be responsible for approximately one-fifth of man-made global warming. Per kilogram, it is 25 times more powerful than carbon dioxide over a 100-year time horizon -- and global warming is likely to enhance methane release from a number of sources. Current natural and man-made sources include many where methane-producing micro-organisms can thrive in anaerobic conditions, particularly ruminant livestock, rice cultivation, landfill, wastewater, wetlands and marine sediments. This timely and authoritative book provides the only comprehensive and balanced overview of our current knowledge of sources of methane and how these might be controlled to limit future climate change. It describes how methane is derived from the anaerobic metabolism of micro-organisms, whether in wetlands or rice fields, manure, landfill or wastewater, or the digestive systems of cattle and other ruminant animals. It highlights how sources of methane might themselves be affected by climate change. It is shown how numerous point sources of methane have the potential to be more easily addressed than sources of carbon dioxide and therefore contribute significantly to climate change mitigation in the 21st century."--Publisher's description
eBook, English, 2010
Earthscan, London, 2010
1 online resource (261 pages) : illustrations, maps
9781849775090, 1849775095
659560058
Methane sources and the global methane budget / Dave Reay, Pete Smith and Andre van Amstel
The microbiology of methanogenesis / Alfons J.M. Stams and Caroline M. Plugge
Wetlands / Torben R. Christensen
Geological methane / Giuseppe Etiope
Termites / David E. Bignell
Vegetation / Andy Mcleod and Frank Keppler
Biomass burning / Joel S. Levine
Rice cultivation / Franz Conen, Keith A. Smith and Kazuyuki Yagi
Ruminants / Francis M. Kelliher and Harry Clark
Wastewater and manure / Miriam H.A. van Eekert, Hendrik Jan van Dooren, Marjo Lexmond and Grietje Zeeman
Landfills / Jean E. Bogner and Kurt Spokas
Fossil energy and ventilation air methane / Richard Mattus and Åke Källstrand
Options for methane control / Andre van Amstel
Summary / Andre van Amstel, Dave Reay, and Pete Smith