Potential Air Quality Side-Effects of Emitting H2O2 to Enhance Methane Oxidation as a Climate Solution
Research by Alfred W. Mayhew and Jessica D. Haskins
Methane (CH4) is a greenhouse gas with a global warming potential 81.2 times higher than carbon dioxide (CO2). The intentional emission of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) into the atmosphere has been proposed as a solution to accelerate the oxidation of CH4 to CO2, thereby reducing surface warming. Our work uses a global chemical transport model (GEOS-Chem) to investigate the potential air-quality side-effects of this proposed technology. Our results show that proposed emission rates have a minimal impact on pollutant formation, but that increasing the emission rates to a level needed to remove substantial amounts of atmospheric CH4 can lead to increases in harmful air pollutants. This animation shows the change in particulate matter (PM2.5) over the course of one month, resulting from the intentional emission of H2O2 across North America. While some areas see occasional decreases in PM2.5, there is an average increase in PM2.5 over the continent.
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