Well, yes, but isn't the methane going to be produced at the sewage treatment works anyway? If it's not captured, then it will be released to the atmosphere, and atmospheric methane has a much bigger greenhouse effect than does carbon dioxide (though I believe it lasts for a shorter time in the atmosphere). Therefore, unless I've got this wrong (which is quite possible), the greenhouse effect of treating sewage can be reduced by capturing and burning the methane, and that would be true even if the heat from the burning were not used, but clearly it's much better to use it for something that displaces the burning of fossil hydrocarbon fuels.
Best wishes,
Kevin
-----Original Message-----
From: email list for Radical Statistics [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of John Whittington
Sent: 02 August 2017 12:57
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: green decisions: fuel chocie
At 11:21 02/08/2017, Clive Durdle wrote:
>The obvious replacement for "natural " gas is of course sewage, which
>is why I said we must think whole system and replace first the main use
>of gas - gas central heating - with district systems
It might be the obvious replacement if we want a gas. However, it's still a hydrocarbon, the burning of which by consumers will result in the discharge of greenhouse gases (at least CO2) into the atmosphere. On the other hand, as I said, electricity generated by environmentally-friendly (at least, atmosphere-friendly) methods carries the potential of having little, if any, effect on the atmosphere.
Kind Regards,
John
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