10129923Controlled processing of wetland greenhouse gas reserves; provision of a novel proprietary water processing technology accompanied by a comprehensive digital operating platformClosedCollaborative R&DInnovate UKIn 2023, global warming exceeded 1.5C for an entire year for the first time in history. Recent natural disaster events, including floods and wildfires, are the impacts of this change. The scientific community believes a further increase in global warming will lead to more catastrophic natural events. Reducing greenhouse gas emissions is instrumental and more critical than ever; any hope of avoiding the 2C threshold requires reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Carbon dioxide (CO2) removal to mitigate global warming has received significant attention over the past decades. Following CO2, methane is the second largest contributor to global warming. The 100-year global warming potential (GWP-100) of methane is estimated at 30 times that of CO2; therefore, methane abatement is equally important in the fight against global warming. Governments and corporations are under pressure to reduce their carbon footprint, and many have signed up for the COP26 pledge to reduce their emissions by 30% by 2030\. According to the International Energy Agency, global methane emissions were around 580 Mt in 2023\. The energy sector was responsible for nearly 130 Mt of methane emissions, and the agriculture sector was responsible for 142 Mt. Interestingly, contrary to some popular misconceptions, wetland methane emissions have the lead at 194 Mt. Over the past few years, awareness has been raised about the impact of agricultural methane emissions on global warming, specifically due to cattle belching. However, inherent challenges in capturing methane emissions from diffuse, low-concentration sources such as wetlands and less awareness about their emissions have hampered any significant effort and meaningful solution. Except for commercial wetlands, such as agricultural rice paddies or aquaculture farms, wetlands are preserved national lands (e.g., Boreal and Artic hotspot regions) that function as important atmosphere carbon sinks and natural aquatic habitats for some species. Moreover, due to the distinct biogeochemical characteristics of different wetlands worldwide, the emergence of wide-scale and versatile solutions is proving difficult. This project will evaluate the feasibility of a water processing kit for harnessing methane gas reserves in wetlands through technology design review and technical specification analysis, followed by prototype fabrication, testing and data analysis. The proposed solution will be versatile and effectively mitigate methane emissions whilst retaining wetland function as a carbon sink. The water degassing, methane processing, and byproduct processing methods evaluated in this project are specialised engineering concepts innovatively designed to ensure there is no net release of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere.