Please join us for a Special Seminar with Prof. Bob Howarth from Cornell University on Wednesday, April 5, 2023, at 4 pm in Room 48-316. 

Title of the seminar:

Methane Emissions Make Natural Gas and Hydrogen Produced from Gas Incompatible with Climate Goals

Bio:
I am a biogeochemist and ecosystem scientist, an active research scientist who also enjoys teaching and is deeply involved in the environmental management and policy communities in the State, nationally, and internationally. My training was in oceanography, and much of my research still focuses on coastal marine ecosystems. I also work on freshwater systems (both rivers and lakes) and on large river basins.
Further, I have had a long-term interest in methane, and over the past decade or so have devoted much of my time to assessing methane emissions from fossil fuels and from animal agriculture as a driver of climate change. 

Abstract:

In this talk, I will review the rapidly growing literature on methane emissions from natural gas, discuss why this leads to a large climate footprint for gas, and present the latest information on industry efforts to promote "blue hydrogen," (made from natural gas with carbon capture) as a low- or zero-emission fuel.
Because of inefficient carbon capture and the large amount of natural gas needed to make blue hydrogen, this hydrogen actually has larger greenhouse gas emissions than result from simply burning natural gas.