A Study on Methane Emissions and Its Mitigation Strategies in Present Scenario

Abstract

Methane is an important gas of earth's environment. It emits from various naturally as well as anthropogenic sources and responsible for maintaining earth's global temperature favorable for humans and other organisms to live. In recent years many activities of human development led to generation of a large volume of methane which has exhibited catastrophic effect on humans as well as animal lives on earth. Methane poses high global warming potential and has been found second most abounded gas in the environment responsible for global warming of earth after carbon dioxide which is well documented in gigantic body of literature. Methane emission is projected to reach 254 Gg/ year by the year 2025. The sources of methane generation are scattered in nature that includes marshes, paddy crops, landfills and natural anaerobic decomposition of the organic matter present in the environment and digestion in ruminants as well handling and use of fossil fuels. The versatile sources of methane generation are uncontrolled and tough to be tamed. However, its emissions and negative effects could be reduced by effectively and efficiently managing its sources of emission and utilizing generated volume for energy production. This study emphasize on the harmful as well as beneficial aspects of the methane, its utilization and strategies to control emission from various sources.