Methane Basics
Methane is chemically CH4. As a greenhouse gas it’s about 30-100x more potent than CO2 Carbon Dioxide. It’s currently responsible for about 25% of global warming. The only good thing about it is that it doesn’t last too long in the atmosphere. This page includes solutions as well as details on the problem.
For more background on Methane check out these short videos
- My Water is on Fire – 2:32 min with fun music
- The Fracked gas Future – 2:33 min – Hope for Peace
- Methane – The Bigger Picture in Climate -16 min Rick Nolthenius
New report Feb 2020 Methane Emissions from Oil and Gas May Be Significantly Underestimated
Electrification
Update 2/2/21 The 1.5 hour webinar moved briskly starting with Loretta Lynch (former Pres. of CPUC) challenging the official story of the Aug. 14 & 15 blackouts, then followed by details like unanalyzed failure to deliver by contracted energy providers in the State, continued exporting by CAISO to neighboring states despite high in state demand, so evidence of official failure and then failure to adequately investigate the failure so setting the stage to blame lack of infrastructure (long lines, etc.) which in fact were not to blame.
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Good news – the city of Santa Cruz is setting up an “Electrification” program for new buildings. As explained in the Energy & Fuels section below “natural gas” is actually “fracked methane”. Banning new natural gas hook-ups will be a good step to reducing greenhouse emissions.
Great short video about Induction cooking
Several public presentations have been planned – see events – and full details here. The city of Berkeley already proposed a similar plan and other cities are following suit. Here is a link to resources.
Metro Buses running on Methane.
These buses don’t produce all the smog that diesel buses do, but natural gas is METHANE, a super powerful green house gas. It’s produced by air and water polluting fracking wells, and leaks at many places along the line. Now considered overall as bad a coal! We need many more electric buses. When the gas is used it changes to CO2 which is still a problem.
Good Article comparing emissions from different types of buses. Dated July 2018
Blowout
This excellent movie about all the problems of fracking was produced by local activist/video maker Hope for Peace. More details and a link to the video.
Energy & Fuels
The historic sources on fuel – Coal, Oil, natural gas were created hundreds of Million years ago, from decaying plant and animal matter that was buried and compressed. These are known as FOSSIL FUELS.
Humans have been using theses fuels so rapidly that they would start running out in 50-100 yrs time. BUT the bigger immediate problems is that they produce gases which trap heat in the atmosphere, warming the planet and Changing the Climate. They all produce CO2, carbon dioxide which is acting like an extra blanket around the earth
Renewable sources of energy don’t use anything up. These include solar, wind, wave and tidal power and some others. Hydroelectric power is considered clean but is short term. Dams slowly silt up and new ones are unlikely to be built because of environmental impacts.
| TYPE | DETAILS | ADVANTAGES | PROBLEMS | ||||||
| COAL | mountain top mining is extremely destructive | has been cheap and plentiful | burning produces CO2, particles, acid rain and mercury | ||||||
| OIL | The root cause of a series of mid-east wars | used for transport and energy | using it produces CO2 and smog making gases. | ||||||
| NAT GAS | now produced by fracking | clean burning | Extraction by fracking pollutes water. Leakages of METHANE counter act all advantages. Still produces CO2 although less than coal. |
NOTE – the “Clean Burning Natural Gas Powered” sign on many Santa Cruz buses is misleading. It’s true that what comes out of the tailpipe looks and smells relatively clean, but the modern production from Fracking is very damaging to water supplies where it’s extracted. AND the leakage from wells, condensers, pipes etc includes lots of METHANE which is 100x more effective than CO2 at trapping heat
Huge Divestment!
In a major win for the environment, world’s largest bank says goodbye to fossil fuel financing The bank’s decision to end all financing of oil, gas, and coal projects after 2021 will make it the first multilateral lender to rule out financing for projects that contribute to the climate crisis.By Alexandra Jacobo -November 18, 20191605SOURCE NationofChangeShare on …CONTINUE READING
Banning Fracking
Our group was actively involved in the Fracking Bans in San Benito and Monterey Counties
Santa Cruz Climate Action Network 