Atmospheric Methane Removal

A newly discovered nature-based climate solution

Working with an international team of researchers, we have discovered a new climate service that is provided by trees: atmospheric methane removal (AMR).

Gauci, V. et al. Global atmospheric methane uptake by upland tree woody surfaces. Nature 631, 796–800 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-024-07592-w

“We find that methane uptake on woody surfaces, in particular at and above about 2 m above the forest floor, can dominate the net ecosystem contribution of trees, resulting in a net tree methane sink. Stable carbon isotope measurement of methane in woody surface chamber air and process-level investigations on extracted wood cores are consistent with methanotrophy, suggesting a microbially mediated drawdown of methane on and in tree woody surfaces and tissues.” Gauci et al. (2024)

Global importance…

… [our] “first estimate suggests that trees may contribute 24.6–49.9 Tg of atmospheric methane uptake globally. Our findings indicate that the climate benefits of tropical and temperate forest protection and reforestation may be greater than previously assumed.” Gauci et al., (2024)

This means that due to AMR, trees are between 7% (temperate) and 12% (tropical) better for climate than we’d previously thought.

I have outlined a pathway to harnessing this process in a perspective piece for Environmental Research Letters.

Frequently Asked Questions

  • No, microbes within the trees consume the atmospheric methane as part of their metabolic processes, converting it to carbon dioxide which is 28-100 times less powerful as a greenhouse gas (depending on time frame) and is essentially carbon neutral as a process.

  • In principal, yes. By arresting deforestation and expanding natural forests we can slow reduction in this methane sink and begin to increase atmospheric methane removal.

    It may be also possible to consider the tree species planted for reforestation projects and, for commercial plantations, optimise the microbiology of the tree surfaces to maximise their methane filtering power.

  • Yes, we are working with partners including microbiologists to better understand the processes in forests across a West African precipitation gradient and, with support from Spark Climate Solutions, we are testing how we might optimise the process for commercial plantation trees.

    We are very open to collaboration to advance research and the application of this research. Please do get in touch if you have ideas for collaboration.