Fascinating, thanks for sharing. This small research study has certainly made headlines across the country, as many media outlets have picked up on it. I admit to some curiosity, as the news hit the big points, but without much context. So decided to do some simple arithmetic.
>From the cited study (https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.est.1c04707) >itself: "For our methane emission measurements, we scaled our measurements to >calculate the total amount of methane emitted from stoves overall, employing >the usage patterns reported by Chan et al. and Zhao et al. (18,28) (see the >Materials and Methods section). We estimated that an average stove (burners >plus oven) emitted 649 [95% CI: 427, 949] g CH4 year–1" So, 649 grams (or 1.43 pounds) of methane emitted by a stove per year (from both in use and when not in use). Is that . . . a lot? Is that . . . dangerous? One would think all of these news stories would provide this context, right?? Google tells me that a single cow produces 220 pounds of methane per year. That means that a gas stove produces about 0.65% of the methane a cow does. There are about 94.8 million cows in the US, and 43.4 million gas stoves/cooktops/ovens. Which means, overall in the United States per year, all gas appliances produce about 0.3% of the methane that cows do. Which is not intended to diminish the fact that, yes, anything that uses natural gas will generate methane - including those natural gas plants that generate the electricity used for electric appliances. Also, we should keep in mind, "According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), about 40 percent of total global methane emissions occur naturally from sources such as wetlands, geologic seepage, permafrost, and animal secretions. The remaining 60 percent of global methane emissions are anthropogenic (man-made), and the largest portion of these come from agricultural production such as raising livestock and rice production. Fossil fuel production, transportation, and use account for approximately 20 percent (~113 million metric tons) of total global methane emissions, and emissions attributable to gas power are about 3% (17 million metric tons) of the global total." Having said all of this, I cannot emphasize enough how much of a fan of induction cooktops I am. I will never use conventional electric cooktops again, and I would even switch from gas to induction when economically appropriate. Induction is that awesome -- its faster than gas, can be more controllable, and WAY, WAY, WAY easier to keep clean. HTH, --Dennis -----Original Message----- From: Lincoln <lincoln-boun...@lincolntalk.org> On Behalf Of Belinda Gingrich Sent: Friday, January 28, 2022 8:50 PM To: lincoln@lincolntalk.org Subject: [LincolnTalk] Gas leaks The induction stove top at the library is busy making rounds. I feel bad promoting these stoves when its next to impossible to buy a full sized range right now. Hopefully they will repopulate the stores with cars and cat food this spring! This article was in the NYT yesterday about a study which found gas lines and stoves inside the house were leaking methane even when the appliances were off. I shouldn’t have been surprised since we know there are huge numbers of leaks in the natural gas network leading to our houses but I hadn’t imagined they are in our houses as well. <https://www.nytimes.com/2022/01/27/climate/gas-stoves-methane-emissions.html> https://www.nytimes.com/2022/01/27/climate/gas-stoves-methane-emissions.html Enjoy the snow! Belinda -- The LincolnTalk mailing list. To post, send mail to <mailto:Lincoln@lincolntalk.org> Lincoln@lincolntalk.org. Search the archives at <http://lincoln.2330058.n4.nabble.com/> http://lincoln.2330058.n4.nabble.com/. Browse the archives at <https://pairlist9.pair.net/mailman/private/lincoln/> https://pairlist9.pair.net/mailman/private/lincoln/. Change your subscription settings at <https://pairlist9.pair.net/mailman/listinfo/lincoln> https://pairlist9.pair.net/mailman/listinfo/lincoln.
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