Cat Litter Material Can Save the Planet, Combat Climate Change With Its Methane Content

A team of researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) recently developed a new approach for extracting methane from the air using an affordable, common clay type, usually used for cat litter.

Interesting Engineering reported that the effect of methane on the environment is frequently overlooked and extraction of greenhouse gas from the atmosphere could be significant in combatting climate change.

Carbon dioxide may be frequently cited as the main culprit in climate change. However, methane is a more potent greenhouse gas that begins to have a pronounced impact on the environment within 20 years of being released.

In these 20 years, it is more than 80 times more efficient at trapping heat in the atmosphere compared to carbon dioxide.

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(Photo: PABLO PORCIUNCULA/AFP via Getty Image)
A methane extraction platform was seen at the Kivu Lake in Gisenyi, Rwanda, on April 17, 2016.

Properties Often Used in Cat Litter

It is the reason the recent climate negotiations in Glasgow were able to identify methane extraction and limitation as a priority.

Specifically, the research team used zeolite clays, a common material in cat litter and popularly known for their "porous, absorbent properties."

In the new study published in the ACS Environment Au journal, the researchers explained how they treated the zeolite using copper and discovered that this made it very effective at extracting methane from the surrounding air.

Carbon and Methane Elimination

In lab tests, the study authors discovered that the copper-treated zeolite could "capture and convert" the entire methane in a test tube heated up to 310 degrees Celsius.

As specified in a New Atlas report, there is one somewhat big catch though, "the methane is converted into carbon dioxide."

Still, the researchers complained that by converting 50 percent of the methane in the atmosphere into carbon dioxide, they would only add roughly 0.2 percent to the current atmospheric CO2 content. More so, they would have a 16-percent decline in radiative warming.

CO2 extraction approaches are in development too, which means converting methane into extractable carbon dioxide in the future might be a feasible choice.

For instance, in Scotland, a new carbon elimination facility will capture a million tons of CO2 each year, equivalent to 40 million trees.

Other Zeolite Types

The MIT research team believes the solution for methane extraction can be easily applied to existing air circulation systems, and that coal mines and dairy barns would be a great start.

Nonetheless, to measure the technology, the researchers need to perform further tests to find out how it would work under field situations.

To do so, the researchers have been awarded a $2 million grant from the United States Department of Energy for further development of the technology.

Other zeolite types have been applied in the past research for methane capture, although with the benefits of working at room temperature and turning the gas into useful methanol.

Nonetheless, they only really functioned with natural gas, with methane as the primary component, instead of ambient air.

Therefore, they are more helpful for preventing methane leaks at the source instead of pulling the gas out of the atmosphere.

Related information about zeolites is shown on Pacific Northwest Molecular Channels' YouTube video below:

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