GT Methane Experiment

Goals

Profile and monitor methane emissions in Atlanta, with the long-term goal of developing a methane budget for the Atlanta metropolitan area. Short term goals include identifying and fingerprinting methane sources, monitoring Atlanta methane levels, and characterizing emission rates from sources.

Issues Involved or Addressed

Methane is a greenhouse gas that is 80 more times effective than carbon dioxide at trapping heat in the atmosphere. Methane levels have been rising in the atmosphere in recent years due to a multitude of factors ranging from leaking extraction methods, increased used, and leaking infrastructure. However, there is hope for removing methane from the atmosphere in the short term as it only has an atmospheric lifetime of ~10 years as opposed to carbon dioxide which has a lifetime of centuries. There are no measurements of methane in the Atlanta area. This project would make the first of these measurements and provide invaluable information on how to decrease the methane footprint of our city.

Partners/Sponsors

The Environmental Science Program