| Summary: | Hundreds of megatons of the second most important greenhouse gas (GHG), methane, are released annually to the atmosphere, often from emission sources which are difficult to abate. Research on post-emission mitigation technology is scarce and still in its infancy. This paper proposes a self-sufficient photocatalytic system to mitigate atmospheric methane via total oxidation to CO2 and analyzes its future viability and feasibility using environmental as well as physicochemical metrics. A four-step, explorative, scaled-up, prospective life cycle assessment (LCA) for the year 2050 shows that, in the best-case scenario, the market-ready photocatalytic module will amortize the produced GHG emissions in 1.5 years, while under more conservative assumptions, the physicochemical properties hinder a climate reasonable implementation. Targets like photocatalytic turnover numbers as well as reaction rates are calculated and compared to values reported in the literature to enable goal-oriented research and development. It is shown that more R&D is needed to have the proposed photocatalyst ready by 2050. The importance of methane mitigation development is highlighted and avenues for doing so are presented.
|
|---|