Treating Low-Concentration Methane Emissions via a Methanotroph-Based Biotrickling Filter: Techno-Economic and Life Cycle Assessment

Authors

• Waaseyaaban Landgren, Michigan Technological UniversityFollow
• Robert Handler, Michigan Technological UniversityFollow
• David Shonnard, Michigan Technological UniversityFollow
• Mary E. Lidstrom, University of Washington

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

10-15-2025

Department

Department of Civil, Environmental, and Geospatial Engineering; Department of Chemical Engineering

Abstract

Methane, a greenhouse gas which has a global warming potential 80 times greater than carbon dioxide on a 20-year time scale, greatly contributes to global warming. Removing 1 Gt of atmospheric methane by 2050 would limit global temperature increase from reaching 1.5 °C. Currently, biotrickling filter systems for removing atmospheric methane via methanotrophs exist, but not for very low methane concentrations (< 1 v%). Recent work at the University of Washington to isolate and improve a microbial strain which thrives at 500 ppmv CH4 has removed one obstacle in making this technology feasible. In this study, techno-economic and environmental life cycle assessment analyses conducted on this process have assessed its economic feasibility, greenhouse gas reduction potential, and possible areas of improvement. Study results show that at 500 ppmv CH4, this process could remove atmospheric methane at a cost of USD 3992–5224/tCH4. The best-performing case also produces annual net reductions in warming potential by 276–311 tCO2e/120 m3 process unit deployed. Many opportunities exist to improve the outcomes of the baseline analysis even further, especially related to reducing the transport distance of media and harvested biomass.

Publisher's Statement

Copyright: © 2025 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. Publisher’s version of record: https://doi.org/10.3390/methane4040023

Publication Title

Methane

Recommended Citation

Landgren, W., Handler, R., Shonnard, D., & Lidstrom, M. E. (2025). Treating Low-Concentration Methane Emissions via a Methanotroph-Based Biotrickling Filter: Techno-Economic and Life Cycle Assessment. Methane, 4(4). http://doi.org/10.3390/methane4040023
Retrieved from: https://digitalcommons.mtu.edu/michigantech-p2/2595

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Version

Publisher's PDF