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"A NASA science team has observed "amazing and potentially troubling" levels of methane and CO2 from the rapidly warming Arctic. Given the staggering amount of carbon trapped in the permafrost - and the fact that methane is a very potent heat-trapping gas - the space agency is now asking: "Is a Sleeping Climate Giant Stirring in the Arctic?""

WHAT ARE THE MAIN SOURCES OF METHANE EMISSIONS?

Australia has one of the highest incidences of pet ownership in the world with latest data showing that 63% of the 7.5 million households own a pet. As the dog population in Australia continues to grow, so will the issue of dog 'waste' disposal in a waste management system of increasing urbanisation, a limited amount of suitable park spaces and shrinking landfill sites. On average, a dog produces 0.34 kilograms (kg) of feces per day. Consequently, there is approximately 1,400 tonnes (t) of dog waste to be disposed of every day in Australia; 490,000 tonnes (t) per year. Therefore we want to build an anaerobic methane digester to process the dog waste (and other appropriate wastes) to create a biogas that can serve as renewable energy source to super-power your dog parks. 

"THE smelly scourge of suburban parks and footpaths could soon, literally, be seen in a whole new light. The contraption, called the Park Spark, was devised by a Massachusetts Institute of Technology graduate. Park Spark users put their dogs' waste in biodegradable bags and then into tanks, where a wheel turns to break it down and release methane, which powers a gaslight-style street lantern."

"Methane released by melting permafrost will have global impacts that must be better modelled, say Gail Whiteman, Chris Hope and Peter Wadhams."

"The science behind what makes our planet's temperature rise is pretty straightforward. Pollutants like soot and greenhouse gases like methane and carbon dioxide trap heat within the earth's atmosphere, the global average surface temperature goes up, ice caps melt, sea levels rise and extreme weather events become even more extreme. However, American college students are coming with with some of the coolest ways to battle climate change and clean up domestic energy production."

"More than 1,500 barrels of crude oil per day gushed from the "Jake" oil well when EOG Resources drilled and fracked the well into the Niobrara shale in northern Colorado in the fall of 2009. That gusher marked the beginning of one of the biggest oil booms in the state's history, part of a larger shale oil rush playing out in Colorado, Texas, North Dakota and elsewhere today making the U.S. the world's leader in oil production this year. Those booming shale oil and gas plays are all successful because of advances in fracking and horizontal drilling technology and the speed with which companies are drilling new wells. In some regions, the booms are playing out near homes and schools in suburban areas, particularly in Colorado, where they contribute to widespread concern about climate change-driving methane leaks, air pollution, groundwater contamination and the industrialization of residential areas."

"When we talk about greenhouse gases we usually talk about carbon dioxide. When media reports depict climate change, we invariably see the cooling towers of a coal power station. Which is fair, because carbon dioxide, or CO2, is the big one: nearly 75% of Australia's total greenhouse gas emissions are carbon dioxide. Most of those come from the energy sector and the combustion of fossil fuels. But there are other gases involved in the greenhouse story. Methane and nitrous oxide are also contributors to Australia's greenhouse gas account. And both have a much greater impact on the atmosphere in terms of global warming than carbon dioxide."