A way to use water to convert methane into methanol
May 5, 2017 by Bob Yirka report
(Phys.org)—A team of researchers from the Paul Scherrer Institut and ETH Zurich, both in Switzerland, has developed a one-step process that uses water to convert methane to methanol. In their paper published in the journal Science, the group describes their technique, noting that in addition to offering a simple and relatively cheap way to make methanol, the only other byproduct is hydrogen.
Methane has been identified as a greenhouse gas, one that is perhaps more of a problem even than carbon dioxide because it traps more heat (some studies have suggested 25 times as much)—fortunately, not nearly as much of it is emitted by humans into the atmosphere. It makes its way into the atmosphere due to animal flatulence and some industrial processes. It is also a byproduct at gas wells, where it is generally burned.
Read more at:
https://phys.org/news/2017-05-methane-methanol.html#jCp
