Carbon Negative Fuel Explained and Ways to Procure it

More often than not we are asked how using carbon negative fuel can help reduce one carbon footprint. It is the need of the hour and it is high time that we pay attention to it. Let’s first understand what carbon negative fuel is.

So, what is carbon negative fuel?

Truth be told, carbon negative fuel should rather be called carbon-dioxide equivalent negative. Why so? It is important to understand what it actually means. It means that using this carbon negative fuel leads to a reduced emission of greenhouse gases compared to what would be released if it was allowed to escape into the atmosphere. Here an important aspect is ensuring that the carbon negative fuel comes from a feedstock that contributes to climate change. It may interest you to know that one of the most eminent fuels is renewable Methane gas.

Methane is the main energy bearing molecule in natural gas. It comes from the earth’s crust and that’s why it is known as a fossil fuel. Renewable methane is often referred to as RNG or renewable natural gas and it can be generated from a number of sources. The source includes any type of organic waste material.  Organic waste includes agricultural wastewater, food waste, cattle manure, poultry manure, grass and trees cuttings, sewage, and other dead feedstock. According to biogas upgradation system providers millions of metric tons of methane and CO2 apart from other harmful gases are produced due to the degradation of this organic waste.

Fugitive Methane- What it is and why it needs to be captured?

The Methane that is emitted from the resources above is called fugitive methane. You must know that it is an extremely potent greenhouse gas. In-fact it has a much higher global warming potential compared to CO2. Methane exists in the Atmosphere for just 10 to 20 years before it breaks down into molecules of CO2 and water. However, these 10 to 20 years can be extremely detrimental to our planet.

Here it is important to throw light on GWP which stands for Global Warming Potential. It refers to the efficiency of a molecule to capture heat. The benchmark of GWP is CO2 which has a global warming potential of 1. In stark contrast, methane has a GWP of 84. This means that Methane has a heating potential which is 84 times higher than Carbon Dioxide. However, if this methane is captured before it goes into the atmosphere it can be cleaned and used as a great alternative for diesel, gasoline and fossil natural gas, say compressed biogas plant owners.

Low Carbon Fuel Programs

Carbon negative fuels are quite relevant in states which have low carbon fuel programs in place. Such programs have an aim to reduce 20 percent of the carbon content in the fuels used to power vehicles.

Do you need more information about biogas upgradation plants? If yes, feel free to do so. Hope you found the post informative and useful. Do share your thoughts and comments with us.

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