Forcing global warming backwards!

.. explained with simple images.

The volume 22400 liter has a very special meaning in thermodynamics. It is the volume of the sphere on the image.

Now, lets fill it with air and play around with some basic facts that will help us understand global warming and it's solutions.

How heavy ?

We fill the sphere with air with normal pressure (1 Atm ) and with temperature 0 C. The density is 1.2754 kg/m3 and the entire sphere becomes a mass of 29 kg. The ballon-effect is equally big and no weight can be measured.

A strange fact !

By volume, dry air contains 78.09% nitrogen, 20.95% oxygen, 0.93% argon, 0.04% carbon dioxide, 0.00018 % methane and small amounts of other gases. Now, let's fill the sphere with pure nitrogen instead. From the periodic table we can see that Standard atomic weight is 14. Nitrogen usually appears with two atoms tied to each other. It is written N2 and has Standard Molecular Weight 2*14 = 28. The strange fact is that if we take just as many kg of the gas that the Standard Molecular Weight says, then we have by definition 1 kmol. It is 28 kg nitrogen gas and it will take up 22400 liter at 0C and 1 Atm. This is true for all gases. If we take 2 kg hydrogen, it will also take up 22400 liter at 0C and 1 Atm.

An other strange thing is that no matter what gas, the number of gas molecules will always be Avogadro's number. That's quite a lot of molecules (27 digits !) :

602 252 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 Can also be written 6 E+26

What is 1 ppm?

Ppm is parts per million.

If we fill four sphres, each 22400 liter with as much 0C gas as the image describes, then they will all have normal atmospheric pressure, they will all have the same volume, they will all have the same number of molecules =

602 252 000 000 000 000 000 000 000

One ppm of any of these gases is 22400 liter / 1 000 000 = 0.0224 liters = 22.4 ml The number of molecules is a million times lower =

602 252 000 000 000 000 000

1.8 ppm Methane

There is at present 1.8 ppm Methane in the air. The natural value in year 1700 was 0.8 ppm.

One ppm of 22400 liter (any gas) is 22400/1 000 000 = 0.0224 liters = 22.4 ml The number of molecules in 1 ppm methane is 602 252 000 000 000 000 000 its volume is 22.4 ml and weight is 0.016 g

Corresponding values in 1.8 ppm 1 084 053 600 000 000 000 000 , volume 40.3 ml and mass 0.0288 g

Now, if a 5 m/s wind passes a circle with 10 m diameter , then we have surface pi*(10/2)^2 = 79 m2 and volume per sek 5*pi*(10/2)^2 = 392 m3/s It contains 0.0288 * 392/22.4 = 0.504 g/s. Methane has 13.3 kWh/kg in combustion energy. or 52000 kWs/kg. A flow of 1 kg Methane /s would give 52000 kWs/s or 52 000 kW or 52 MW Then 0.504 g/s would give approx 52000 *0.504/1000 = 26 kW

It is a happy surprise that a soft breeze of normal air, passing a 10 m circle, has 26 kW of combustion energy. This proves that every house can collect all energy needed for heat, electricity and the car, in form of methane. This is a great fuel and it is the same gas as natural gas. This will also have an enormous impact in forcing greenhouse effect backwards. We have no choice but to make this technology a reality before year 2025. Otherwise the climate crises can't be solved.

Treasures in thin air

You can calculate all the valuable things that air can offer with this calculator. It is mindblowing what a graphene filter can do in a near future.

This is a wake up call to government and private companies to cooperate and get it done !

The financing of a moon landing is probably what it takes. The return of investment will be higher than any other risk investment. It has the clear potential:

to repair the atmosphere totally in less than 20 years

Concentration

When measuring gases like carbon dioxide or methane, the term concentration is used to describe the amount of gas by volume in the air. The 2 most common units of measurement are parts-per-million, and percent concentration. Parts-per-million (abbreviated ppm) is the ratio of one gas to another. If Methane is 120 times more powerful than CO2 as greenhouse gas, then removal of one methane molecule from the atmosphere corresponds exactly to removing 120 CO2 molecules.

It is of interest what happens with greenhouse effect NOW, not what happens within the next 100 years. Climate change happens so fast now that the situation within the next 5 years determines if the crises can be handled or if we have passed the tipping point. This becomes a key factor to make it possible at all to solve climate crises. The amount of CO2 that has to be removed from the atmosphere is so huge that most policymakers prefer not to think ablut it at all. But these key figures regarding methane open up new , realistic possibilities to handle the existenstial crises that the world is facing in a very near future.

GWP: The Global Warming Potential of Methane

In 1 million liters of air we have 1.8 liters of methane. Concentration is 1.8 ppm. This small amount of methane is 120 times more powerful than CO2 (carbondioxide) as greenhouse gas. CO2 stays in the atmosphere but Methane is oxidized, producing carbon dioxide and water. As a result, methane in the atmosphere has a half life of seven years.

If all emissions of methane and CO2 are stopped today and we wait for 100 years, then methane goes down from 1.8 ppm to zero and in the end it has had a global warming effect 28 times higher than the same amount of CO2. In the IPCC (1552 pages 370 MB!) graph you can find GWP100=28 If we only wait for 20 years the warming effect from methane is 84 times higher. GWP20=84.

GWP: No scientific argument

IPCC claims on page 711 that the time horizons 20 or 100 years as 'candidates for discussion should not be considered as having any special significance There is no scientific argument for selecting 20 or 100 years compared with other choices. Conclusion: The only relevant value is 120, as it tells how much stronger the present atmospheric methane concentration is as greenhousegas, compared to the same amount of CO2.

If you can prevent one single molecule of methane of escaping into the atmosphere from drain water or agriculture it corresponds to removing 120 CO2 molecules from the atmosphere. If you can invent technologies to remove one single molecule of methane from the atmosphere and use it as fuel, this will be more efficient than solar and wind power to reverse greenhouse effect. This will be "greener" than any other fuel. The effect is so huge that if you add just 1% of such methane to fossil fuel for a car or a jet the total effect will become climate neutral.

GWP: Recent research

indicates that GWP100=34 and not 28. If this value is further adjusted upwards in a near future it is within realistic possibilities that Methane will be regarded 200 times more powerful than CO2.

It is only a question of time before methane exceeds 2 ppm. In a very near future, methane might become as powerful as CO2 as greenhouse gas. ( 200 x 2 ppm = 400 ppm )

On top of that, uncontrolled release from arctic could make methane greenhouse gas even more important.

It will be impossible to solve climate change if ignoring methane.

It is surprising

how much energi can be taken from the atmosphere in the form of methane or hydrogen. This calculator shows what is possible. A 5m diameter graphene filter device that processes 5 m/s of air can theoretically extract 8 kW of continuous power from the low content of methane and hydrogen directly from air. There are enough possibilities to generate free energy. This is also necessary to handle the climate chrisis. China has made much progress here and proved that separation can take place without energy losses.

This can be invented with 100% confidence and a billion such units can take down greenhouse effect to year 1970 conditions and generate enough money to pay for the removal of CO2.

The climate chrisis can be solved with 100% confidence if just the right things are done. Or we can enter an infinite amount of misery and suffering in a very near future if the world follows the most ambitious climate politics countries that can be found today (Sweden,....). It is urgent to reconsider, based on facts, science and exact mathematics. The discussion has not even started. Nobody knows what to do.

Free energy

The main task is to take care of astronomic amounts of CO2 and bring the atmosphere back to year 1700. A question for policymakers: Where can we find that astronomic amount of energy needed to clean up the atmosphere? . Prevail or perish. pp Good news: It is possible to have access to free energy in less than 5 years if we use the methane in the atmosphere.

A main challenge is to find a way to separate methane from the atmosphere. This can be done with graphene or with a number of other methodes. Even if the development costs exceeds moon-landings it must be considered cheap! The value for this methane as fuel can increase the standard of living considerably everywhere.

An other main challenge is to convert methane (natural gas) to electrical power and heat in a reliable and cost-effective unit: Dulob-CHP.

Graphene

is an allotrope of carbon in the form of a single layer of atoms in a two-dimensional hexagonal lattice in which one atom forms each vertex. In proportion to its thickness, it is about 100 times stronger than the strongest steel. Yet its density is dramatically lower than any steel, with a surfacic mass of 0.763 mg per square meter. This work resulted in the two winning the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2010 "for groundbreaking experiments regarding the two-dimensional material graphene

Graphene can be tailored to separate gas molecules of different sizes.

Landfills and digesters

According to Landfills-Haokai-Zhao.pdf under standard temperature and pressure, 1 mol C in organic matter will generate 22.4 l gas, and since the atomic weight of carbon is 12, 1 g C in organic matter will generate 1.867 l gas on a weight basis. As seen from the image, 16 kg of methane claims a volume of 22400 liter. The total weight of 16 kg can be divided into 12 kg Carbon and 4 kg Hydrogen. In 22400 liter of methane there is 12000 g of hydrogen. The conclusion is that 1 g Carbon in waste has the potential to produce 22400 / 12000 = 1.867 liter of methane.

Greenhouse effect

Removing one molecule of methane from the atmosphere is the same as removing 120 molecules of CO2. In each of the speres we have equal amount of gas molecules and equal volume. But the weight differs. Removing 16 kg of methane from the atmosphere is the same as removing 120 * 44 kg of CO2 =5280 kg CO2

The conclusion: If 1 kg of methane is removed from the atmosphere, it causes such a huge decrease in greenhouse effect that 330 kg of CO2 can be emitted. The sum of these two actions is zero in greenhouse effect. 1 kg of diesel causes 3.2 kg of CO2. If 1 kg of methane is removed from the atmosphere, it allows 103 kg diesel to be used or 103/0.835 = 123 liter Diesel.

Sweden

Simplified: If sweden per capita emits 4 ton of CO2 then we can estimate that 1250 kg of fuel is used per capita (gasoline, diesel...). Sweden has the goal to become climate neutral 2045. Very simplified, this corresponds to the total removal of 1250 kg fuel per person and 4 ton lower emissions per capita. However, if just 4000 /330 = 12 kg of atmospheric methane can be extracted from the atmosphere per capita, then sweden is climate neutral. This task is relatively simple and can relistically be reached before 2025. The task to make the world climate neutral before 2045 is impossible and will fail. Countries like Poland will not even think of ending coal power before 2075.

The atmospheric methane can be added to fussil fuels step by step until 100% of the fuel is atmospheric methane. The world will accept this as the fuel gets cheaper, not because it lowers greenhouse effect and saves the planet.

This will simplify everything. Normal cars and jets can continue. Fuel consumption will slide over to atmospheric methane automatically and become cheaper for each year. We don't need nuclear power, we don't need electric cars. We just need the graphene technology to separate gas molecules.

Landfills and digesters

If we suppose (simplified) that 1 g C (=carbon) in waste is transformed to 1.8 liter of methane no matter if it is done in a digester or in nature or in landfill. The world consumes 15 000 000 000 /7 500 000 000 = 2 Ton of fossil fuel per capita. and emits approx 3x 2 = 6 ton of CO2. If 6000/330= 18 kg of methane is removed from atmosphere for each person on earth, then the present situation becomes climate neutral. This will become a key factor to make the transition into a carbon-zero future fast and comfortable. The happy message is that we can continue to fly and use our cars. An ever increasing amount of atmospheric methane in fossil fuel allows us to use the same cars and jets. We just need to invest an unknown amount of moon-landings into new technologies that the world has never seen: Extraction of methane and CO2 from the atmosphere with graphene filters or other methodes. This solution is far better than electric cars for the environment.

Digesters in every house

If methane is extracted from drain water in treatment plants, if every house has a digester, If agriculture extracts methane then this should make much of the fossil fuel climate neutral. All this has to be calculated and double checked. The suspicion is that this path is much more efficient to create a climate neutral world quickly. The present goal to make ambitious countries climate neutral in 2045 or 2050 will not succeed on a global level and it is far too late. With the methane approach and global emergency actions the world can be climate neutral 2025. This is also necessary to fullfill the Paris agreement.

If you calculate the true value of methane: 120 times more powerful than CO2 as greenhouse gas, this can become a main factor to reach a climate neutral world all ready in year 2025.