Science Forums 2

[Boerseun]

The fear of methane as a greenhouse gas is a bit overstated, I reckon.

Methane can't exist in an oxygen-rich atmosphere for very long - oxygen just kills it, man. If you find oxygen in a planet's atmosphere, with significant amounts of methane, that is almost a sure indicator of life being present. The methane must be continuously replaced as it gets oxydised.

So, an accidental methane spill would just go up in the atmosphere like so many cow farts, and oxydise. And that would be it, I guess.

The real issue would be the products of that oxydation - what would that do to the atmosphere? What would be the exhaust gases of a methane vehicle? Mostly carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide and water vapour. Which is mostly what regular petrol engines spew out. If the ratios are less than with regular fuel, sweet. If not, then its obviously a waste of time.

Also keep in mind that we've been running Hydrogen vehicles since the first automobile saw the light of day. A normal petrol engine is, in fact, a Hydrogen engine. We're just currently getting our Hydrogen in very dirty packaging, what with all that carbon an' stuff.

Realising that we're actually running on Hydrogen as it is might be a bit of a paradigm shift when we consider oil and fossil fuels in general, but its the truth. The petrol you consume is just a handy container for non-compressed Hydrogen. The carbon binds to it and makes it relatively stable until you compress it, introduce some oxygen, and light a fuse under its ass. Ever notice the water coming out of your tailpipe on a cold morning? That's the actual exhaust gas coming from what really drives your engine after you got rid of all the carbon packaging.

It's not our fuel that's destroying our atmosphere, its the packaging it comes in.