A pair of University of Central Florida researchers has developed new methods to produce energy and materials from the harmful greenhouse gas, methane.
Pound-for-pound, the comparative impact of methane on the Earth’s atmosphere is 28 times greater than carbon dioxide — another major greenhouse gas — over a 100-year period, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. This is because methane is more efficient at trapping radiations, despite having a shorter lifetime in the atmosphere than carbon dioxide. Major sources of methane emissions include energy and industry, agriculture and landfills.
The new UCF innovations enable methane to be used in green energy production and to create high-performance materials for smart devices, biotechnology, solar cells and more. The inventions come from nanotechnologist Laurene Tetard and catalysis expert Richard Blair, who have been research collaborators at UCF for the past 10 years. Tetard is an associate professor and associate chair of UCF’s Department of Physics and a researcher with the NanoScience Technology Center, and Blair is a research professor at UCF’s Florida Space Institute.
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By Kathleen Snoeblen | August 11, 2023