Recently a study conducted by Stanford University reveals that in the United States of America, household used gas stoves have come out to impact the climate warning similar to what half a million gasoline cars would have impacted the environment.
26 Million Ton Of Methane Is Released In The Atmosphere
During the climate crisis, we are in it is not a sign of good hope for us.
What gases are used in gas stoves?
Most gas stoves use Natural gases also known as fossil fuels. These are naturally occurring hydrocarbon gas. It is made up of main methane with differing amounts of alkanes in higher amounts and at times with smaller percentages of carbon dioxide (CO2), nitrogen, helium, Hydrogen Sulphide. Natural gas is colorless and odorless. They also have added Sulphur smell in them to detect leaks in gas stoves.
What is methane?
Methane is a chemical compound comprising of one carbon atom bonded with four hydrogen atoms. It is one of the simplest alkanes. It is an economically lucrative gas as it is in abundance on this earth. It is mainly used in gas stoves.
Why methane is unsafe?
Methane is highly combustible and it is also a potential planet warmer whose usage can lead to severe global warming issues. It is 80% more powerful than carbon dioxide.
What are the findings of the experiment?
Some of the main results of the experiments are as follows:
• Houses without proper ventilation can suffer from harmful nitrogen oxides, which are byproducts of using natural gas. The healthy level of gas can be surpassed. The limit is a short time span in small kitchens.
• When stoves are off, even then 0.8% to 1.3% of the natural gas is leaked as unturned methane in the atmosphere resulting in a global rise in temperature. The study was bought forward as there is a growth in US cities such as New York, Massachusetts, and California in not installing natural gas hookups in their house. It also suggests that if we shift from gas-based stoves to electric stoves then problems will be reduced.
• Using electronic energy would be easier as it would be easy to transition to renewable energy rather than having the harmful byproducts of burning natural gas.
• The current quantity of methane in the atmosphere is now higher than any level in the past 800,000 years.
• The studies suggest that it is easy to reduce methane usage to change the global temperature issues in the estimated time of ten years.
• natural gas is expected to be a “bridge fuel”. It means that the US wants to transition from using non-renewable sources of energy to renewable ones. Natural gas is more efficient than coal and emits fewer pollutants when combusted. It also has some issues such as if it leaks unburned then it can cause a huge amount of global warming in the atmosphere.
Who conducted this experiment?
This experiment was conducted by Eric Lebel. Eric Lebel is a staff Scientist, PSE, Healthy Energy at Stanford University. There were other researchers along with Lebel, but he lead the team to the experiments, conclusion, and results.
Conclusion
The experiment helped us to know the things that need to be done and not to be done while being around natural gases. Firstly, we get to know that gas stoves when off, cause methane leaks which not only harm the indoor air quality but also increase the atmospheric temperature, resulting in global warming. The estimated value is 2.6 million tons of methane which is emitted into the atmosphere when the stoves are off. It is a similar quantity to pollution caused by 500,000 vehicles in three and half hours. It also makes us understand the need to shift to electronic energy to save the world from global warming.
