Emvolon, a company started by MIT grad Emmanuel Kasseris, has developed a machine that converts methane emissions into green fuels. The company takes repurposed automotive engines and transforms them into "modular chemical plants," according to MIT News.
The technology is designed to be placed next to methane sources and thus will generate greener methanol and other chemicals considered to be more environmentally friendly than what the machine takes in or what they would be used to replace.
"We're starting with methane because methane is an abundant emission that we can use as a resource," Kasseris says, per MIT News. "With methane, we can solve two problems at the same time."
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Do you think America could ever go zero-waste? Click your choice to see results and speak your mind. |
Never 👎 Reducing methane emissions is important because it is a major contributor to climate change. Methane is considered up to 80 times more damaging to the environment compared to carbon dioxide, contributing to more heat being trapped in the atmosphere. About 30% of climate change today is driven by methane from human actions.
Methane, however, stays in the atmosphere for a shorter duration compared to carbon dioxide which is why a rapid reduction of methane emissions is one of the most effective ways to combat climate change. Learn more about methane here.
The byproducts of the MIT spinout Emvolon could also be of use to us sooner than we think. "In the future, we're going to need green fuels because you can't electrify a large ship or plane — you have to use a high-energy-density, low-carbon-footprint, low-cost liquid fuel," Kasseris says.
According to MIT News, each of Emvolon's standalone systems can fit within a 40-foot shipping container and can synthesize 300,000 standard cubic feet of methane into 8 tons of methanol per day.
"Our solution is designed to produce green fuels and chemicals at prices that the markets are willing to pay today," Kasseris says. "We'd like to expand to other chemicals like ammonia, but also other feedstocks, such as biomass and hydrogen from renewable electricity, and we already have promising results in that direction."
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