Solar Chimney Power Plant plus Solar Pond to Remove Atmospheric Methane: A Novel Concept

  • XIONG Hanbing ,
  • PENG Chong ,
  • MING Tingzhen ,
  • Renaud de RICHTER ,
  • LI Wei ,
  • YUAN Qingchun ,
  • YUAN Yanping ,
  • ZHOU Nan
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  • 1. School of Civil Engineering and Architecture, Wuhan University of Technology, Wuhan 430070, China 
    2. School of Urban Planning and Architecture, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430074, China
    3. Sanya Science and Education Innovation Park, Wuhan University of Technology, Sanya 572024, China
    4. Tour-Solaire. Fr, 8 Impasse des Papillons, 34090 Montpellier, France 
    5. Institute for Materials and Processes, School of Engineering, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, Scotland EH9  3FB, UK 
    6. Chemical Engineering and Applied Chemistry, Aston University, B4 7ET, UK 
    7. School of Mechanical Engineering, Southwest Jiaotong University, Chengdu 610031, China
    8. Energy Technologies Area, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, 1 Cyclotron Road, Berkeley, CA 94720, United States of America

Online published: 2025-10-29

Supported by

This research is supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 52278123), the National Key R&D Program of China (Grant No. 2019YFE0197500), and the European Commission H2020 Marie Curie Research and Innovation Staff Exchange (RISE) award (Grant No. 871998).

Copyright

Science Press, Institute of Engineering Thermophysics, CAS and Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature 2025

Abstract

The methane concentration in the atmosphere is far lower than that of carbon dioxide, but it is more potent, accounting for 30% of the global greenhouse effect. Although removing atmospheric methane would be an effective way to mitigate climate change, no practical methods have been identified. The enhancement of the oxidative capacity of ecosystems to remove atmospheric methane is a green approach. This paper presents the novel concept of utilizing a solar chimney power plant (SCPP) associated with a solar pond to remove atmospheric methane. In the proposed system, the production of both hydroxyl radicals from ozone photolysis and chlorine atoms from converting Fe (III) to Fe (II) under optimized conditions degrades the atmospheric methane. The results reveal that a 200 MW SCPP associated with a solar pond could eliminate 0.22 million tons of atmospheric methane per year. The construction of 5400 systems worldwide could remove 1.19 billion tons of atmospheric methane per year, achieving the climate goal of a temperature rise of less than 2°C this century. The devices require an investment of about 3.5748×1012 EUR. Although the proposal seems a promising way to mitigate the effects of a warming climate, a comprehensive model must be developed to evaluate its feasibility.

Cite this article

XIONG Hanbing , PENG Chong , MING Tingzhen , Renaud de RICHTER , LI Wei , YUAN Qingchun , YUAN Yanping , ZHOU Nan . Solar Chimney Power Plant plus Solar Pond to Remove Atmospheric Methane: A Novel Concept[J]. Journal of Thermal Science, 2025 , 34(6) : 2196 -2203 . DOI: 10.1007/s11630-025-2192-4

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