A new catalyst can turn methane into something useful

Let the cows burp and fart to their heart's content!

Keep in mind: Global warming is a hoax and climate change is a religion! It is being used as a pretext by Big Government and the elite to interfere with our lives. It is among the greatest scams and scandals of at least the last 30 years!

Apparently, the authors of this study are propagandists and demagogues or they are naive!

"Although it is less abundant than carbon dioxide, methane gas contributes disproportionately to global warming because it traps more heat in the atmosphere than carbon dioxide, due to its molecular structure. ...

The new catalyst works at room temperature and atmospheric pressure, which could make it easier and more economical to deploy at sites of methane production, such as power plants and cattle barns. ...

To achieve methane conversion without that input of energy, the MIT team designed a hybrid catalyst with two components: a zeolite and a naturally occurring enzyme. Zeolites are abundant, inexpensive clay-like minerals, and previous work has found that they can be used to catalyze the conversion of methane to carbon dioxide. ... 

This hybrid catalyst performs a two-step reaction in which zeolite converts methane to methanol, and then the enzyme converts methanol to formaldehyde. That reaction also generates hydrogen peroxide, which is fed back into the zeolite to provide a source of oxygen for the conversion of methane to methanol. ..."

From the abstract:

"Anthropogenic methane emissions [???], particularly from diffuse and dilute sources, pose a significant challenge for oxidation and valorization as existing methane oxidation routes rely on high temperatures or pressures. Here we report the catalytic coupling of alcohol oxidase with the iron-modified ZSM-5 (Fe-ZSM-5) zeolite catalyst, creating a tandem methanotrophic system that partially oxidizes methane at ambient temperatures and pressures. Methane reacts at Fe-ZSM-5 to produce methanol, which is then oxidized at the enzyme to formaldehyde and hydrogen peroxide. The latter subsequently reacts back at Fe-ZSM-5 and oxidizes methane in a catalytic couple. We show that methane-to-formaldehyde selectivity can exceed 90% at room temperature. The generated formaldehyde was rapidly incorporated into a growing urea polymer, with a material growth rate exceeding 5.0 mg gcat−1 h−1, which matches or exceeds the growth rates of many methanotrophic organisms. This work presents a sustainable route for methane oxidation, driven by oxygen in the air under ambient conditions, producing high-value polymers and valorizing methane emission streams."

A new catalyst can turn methane into something useful | MIT News | Massachusetts Institute of Technology "MIT chemical engineers have devised a way to capture methane, a potent greenhouse gas, and convert it into polymers."

Concerted methane fixation at ambient temperature and pressure mediated by an alcohol oxidase and Fe-ZSM-5 catalytic couple (No public access) ""

Graphical abstract