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CONTACT: Elizabeth Bennett, PhD

Strategic Communications Lead, Spark Climate Solutions

elizabeth@sparkclimate.org | 408-731-0805

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Methane is a potent greenhouse gas. Because it has a relatively short lifetime in the atmosphere, reducing methane atmospheric concentrations would yield rapid benefits of slowing the rate of climate change. This will largely be done by cutting methane emissions.

Unfortunately, atmospheric methane concentrations continue to rise, and more methane is projected to be emitted from natural systems like thawing permafrost and tropic wetlands as a result of climate change. This has prompted new interest in finding ways to remove methane from the atmosphere (Jackson et al., 2021). A new study published in the Communications Earth & Environment (a Nature-Springer journal) by scientists from Spark Climate Solutions, the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science, and the University of Michigan, explores the feasibility of increasing the rates of methanotrophy, the microbial oxidation of methane or “the microbial sink”, which currently accounts for 5-10% of global methane removal from the atmosphere.  Due to their global distribution in soils and on tree bark, even a slight increase in this microbial sink of atmospheric methane could substantially lower methane concentrations, making it an appealing topic of methane removal research. 

The perspective piece shares challenges and opportunities in possible approaches to increasing methanotrophic activity from an evolutionary and ecological perspective.

Efforts to increase the microbial soil sink via spraying or amending methanotrophs to soils or vegetative surfaces face significant ecological and evolutionary obstacles.  “The main issue is the energetic limitation of methane oxidation at ambient concentrations (currently ~2ppm), which provides minimal energy to the cell,” said Professor Eric Davidson, Spark Principal Scientist and the lead author on the study.  ”Artificially enhanced populations also face challenges,” added coauthor, Dr. Danielle Monteverde, a scientist at Spark, “such as adaptation to the natural environment, competition with the native microbial population, and logistical challenges of the likely need for repeated applications.” 

Managing the environment in which these microbes live presents opportunities to support increases in biological methane consumption. The authors suggest that approaches to increase available microbial niche space via practices such as reforestation, improved agricultural soil aeration, or management of nutrient and/or other limiting growth factors may provide additional pathways to increase methanotrophy in natural environments. “There is intriguing but incomplete evidence that copper or other elements known as lanthanides could limit the rate of methanotrophy in soils,” said coauthor, Prof. Jeremy Semrau of the University of Michigan, “but more research is needed to see if adding these minerals would really be effective and economical.” The study also notes that approaches to increase the abundance of methanotrophs may be warranted in areas with higher methane concentrations, such as livestock barns, landfill covers, or coal mine vents, where methanotrophs are not limited by low methane concentrations. 

This new paper contributes to the increased attention that methane emission mitigation and methane removal research are receiving, the latter of which will be summarized in an upcoming report from the National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine on atmospheric methane removal. 

“By highlighting the challenges and opportunities for increasing methanotrophy to remove atmospheric methane, we hope this paper can help scientists to advance scientific understanding of methods that may prove safe and viable for addressing the atmospheric methane challenge,“ shared Davidson.

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ABOUT SPARK CLIMATE SOLUTIONS

Spark Climate Solutions is a science-driven non-profit accelerating progress in emerging, high-impact climate fields by working directly with scientists, policymakers, and peer organizations. Spark is currently working in the fields of methane removal, livestock enteric methane mitigation, and nitrogen abatement in agriculture.   

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Original Article: Viability of enhancing methanotrophy in terrestrial ecosystems exposed to low concentrations of methane. Davidson, E.A., Monteverde, D.R. & Semrau, J.D.,  Commun Earth Environ 5, 487 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s43247-024-01656-5