We’re excited to announce our second round of grantees for Spark’s Exploratory Grants for Atmospheric Methane Research whose work informs exploration of potential methane removal approaches. These 7 new projects, representing $1.7 million in new research funding in the field, support further research into biological, engineered catalysis, and atmospheric oxidation enhancement potential approaches, as well as related climate science to advance our scientific understanding of existing methane sinks.

Methane is accumulating in the atmosphere at an accelerating rate, currently responsible for 0.5°C of warming. Methane removal could be a critical additional climate solution to help reduce warming, supplementing the top priority of cutting greenhouse gas emissions, removal of CO₂, and other climate interventions. Exploration of methane removal is particularly urgent considering expected natural system methane climate feedbacks this century, including from wetlands and permafrost thaw. 

Methane removal research remains in its early stages. We need more research in order to understand and develop potential approaches. As part of our broader program working to advance physical science, legal, governance, policy, and other aspects of the field, Spark’s Exploratory Grants funding opportunity supports research into how methane breakdown might be safely accelerated. 

The second round of funding infuses the field with another $1.7M in research funding, in addition to the $1M from the first round. We were grateful to receive far more proposals than expected, and from the 75 total proposals we were able to support seven research projects that are well positioned to advance our understanding of natural sinks, potential methane removal approaches, and tools to accelerate this research. 

Round Two Awardees

Optimizing the activity of atmospheric methane oxidizing bacteria (atmMOB) in solid-phase bioreactors
‍Assessment of methods to improve the effectiveness of bacteria in bioreactors
Lisa Stein, University of Alberta
A new type of bioreactor (solid-state) and a newly available type of bacteria (atmMOB) will be tested together for the first time. This research could lead to insights about biological oxidation of atmospheric methane concentrations, and it could address some of the challenges facing bioreactors from addressing increasingly dilute methane sources. Read more →

Rapid Assessment Methods for Catalysis of Atmospheric Methane
‍Assessment of the efficiency of a wide range of potential methane oxidizing catalysts
Adam Boies, Stanford University‍
This research will develop a platform where numerous potential catalysts that may be applicable for methane removal can be rapidly tested. This could result in identifying novel, more effective catalysts and provide the scientific community with a new tool for efficient testing of a broad spectrum of other catalysts. Read more →

Ab initio calculation of kinetic isotope effects for reaction of methane with OH, Cl, and O(¹D)– improving the constraints needed to monitor atmospheric methane sinks‍
Research to better constrain the fingerprints of different atmospheric methane sinks
James Farquhar, University of Maryland
While recognized as essential to understanding how methane sinks are evolving, it is poorly understood how methane is broken down by different atmospheric radicals, including OH, Cl, and O(¹D), and under which atmospheric conditions these sinks are stronger or weaker. This research will advance foundational understanding of methane sink attributions through better quantification of the “fingerprints” we see in atmospheric measurements distinguishing these different sinks. Read more →

Satellite observations of enhanced atmospheric methane removal
Assessment of the viability of detecting methane oxidation from satellites
Jos de Laat, Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute
This research will explore “tracers” for identification of methane oxidation that can be observed from satellites. This could improve our understanding of existing atmospheric sinks and potentially facilitate measurements of future hypothetical modifications—intentional or accidental—of those sinks. Read more →

‍Tropospheric multiphase reactive halogen evolution: CAPRAM-SPARK model development and application to field observations
Improving our ability to model reactive atmospheric halogens
Hartmut Herrmann, Leibniz Institute for Tropospheric Research
This research will develop detailed modeling capabilities, probing the Iron Salt Aerosol mechanism under different conditions and incorporating the essential parameters to better understand the role that chlorine may play in methane removal and understanding of the systems-level processes and impacts. Read more →

Chlorine Enhancement by Mineral Dust and its Effect on Methane: A natural experiment at the Cape Verde Observatory
Observational study quantifying the effect of mineral dust on methane oxidation
Lucy Carpenter, University of York
The impact of mineral dust on methane oxidation has been modeled and there is early evidence of the mechanism from indirect measurements. This research will further explore the mechanism using a suite of measurements to explore its occurrence under different conditions and its impacts on local atmospheric chemistry. Read more →

‍Constraining the size distribution and chlorine production of ferric chloride aerosols for quantitative atmospheric methane removal‍
Research quantifying the efficiency of ferric chloride aerosols in oxidizing methane
Mingyi Wang, University of Chicago
From the current body of research, it is not known how many ferric chloride aerosols are required to destroy a given amount of methane. This research will better constrain those estimates by conducting laboratory studies to quantify the efficiency of the chemical processes involved, elucidating iron salt aerosols (ISA) at a mechanistic level. Read more →

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The second round of the research funding opportunity opened up eligibility to proposals related to advancing lab and modeling research around the potential iron salt aerosols (ISA) approach to methane removal, which was out of scope for the first round of grants.

Spark is excited to support and expand our cohort of grantees as they explore critical questions around atmospheric methane removal. These seven new grantees and their collaborators join a growing community of scientists funded and supported by Spark. To build community and knowledge around key challenges in this field, we’ve published problem statements derived from the first round of submitted proposals, and we will continue to develop the problem statement repository, both by incorporating new problem statements from the second round, and by working in collaboration with the scientific community. The field remains funding limited; the number of high quality, high impact problem statements – plus additional critical research questions that have not yet surfaced – currently exceeds the available funds. 

Join Spark’s mailing list to stay up to date on funding opportunities, field updates, and other announcements. Beyond funding, Spark supports scientists, policymakers, and peer organizations to advance research, funding availability, governance, and community growth in under-resourced, high impact climate fields. Spark thanks the Grantham Foundation for the Protection of the Environment and Quadrature Climate Foundation and for their support of the Atmospheric Methane Research Fund, which backs the Exploratory Grants funding opportunity. Support for additional research funding is needed to further grow this emerging, high-impact field; contact Spark if interested in learning more about the field and discover how you can get involved.