Query: And their wind and manure emit more than one third of  emissions of another, methane, which warms the world 20 times faster  than carbon dioxide.

Relevant passages:
Atmospheric methane <=SEP=> Atmospheric methane is the methane present in Earth 's atmosphere . Atmospheric methane concentrations are of interest because it is one of the most potent greenhouse gases in Earth 's atmosphere . The 100-year global warming potential of methane is 28 . That is , over a 100-year period , it traps 28 times more heat per mass unit than carbon dioxide and 32 times the effect when accounted for aerosol interactions . Global methane levels , had risen to 1800 parts per billion ( ppb ) by 2011 , an increase by a factor of 2.5 since pre-industrial times , from 722 ppb , the highest value in at least 800,000 years . Its concentration is higher in the Northern Hemisphere since most sources ( both natural and human ) are located on land and the Northern Hemisphere has more land mass . The concentrations vary seasonally , with , for example , a minimum in the northern tropics during April − May mainly due to removal by the hydroxyl radical .   Early in the Earth 's history carbon dioxide and methane likely produced a greenhouse effect . The carbon dioxide would have been produced by volcanoes and the methane by early microbes . During this time , Earth 's earliest life appeared . These first , ancient bacteria added to the methane concentration by converting hydrogen and carbon dioxide into methane and water . Oxygen did not become a major part of the atmosphere until photosynthetic organisms evolved later in Earth 's history . With no oxygen , methane stayed in the atmosphere longer and at higher concentrations than it does today .   Methane is created near the surface , and it is carried into the stratosphere by rising air in the tropics . Uncontrolled build-up of methane in Earth 's atmosphere is naturally checked -- although human influence can upset this natural regulation -- by methane 's reaction with hydroxyl radicals formed from singlet oxygen atoms and with water vapor .

Natural gas <=SEP=> Natural gas is a naturally occurring hydrocarbon gas mixture consisting primarily of methane , but commonly including varying amounts of other higher alkanes , and sometimes a small percentage of carbon dioxide , nitrogen , hydrogen sulfide , or helium . It is formed when layers of decomposing plant and animal matter are exposed to intense heat and pressure under the surface of the Earth over millions of years . The energy that the plants originally obtained from the sun is stored in the form of chemical bonds in the gas .   Natural gas is a fossil fuel used as a source of energy for heating , cooking , and electricity generation . It is also used as fuel for vehicles and as a chemical feedstock in the manufacture of plastics and other commercially important organic chemicals . Fossil fuel based natural gas is a non-renewable resource .   Natural gas is found in deep underground rock formations or associated with other hydrocarbon reservoirs in coal beds and as methane clathrates . Petroleum is another resource and fossil fuel found in close proximity to and with natural gas . Most natural gas was created over time by two mechanisms : biogenic and thermogenic . Biogenic gas is created by methanogenic organisms in marshes , bogs , landfills , and shallow sediments . Deeper in the earth , at greater temperature and pressure , thermogenic gas is created from buried organic material .   In petroleum production gas is often burnt as flare gas . The World Bank estimates that over 150 cubic kilometers of natural gas are flared or vented annually . Before natural gas can be used as a fuel , most , but not all , must be processed to remove impurities , including water , to meet the specifications of marketable natural gas . The by-products of this processing include : ethane , propane , butanes , pentanes , and higher molecular weight hydrocarbons , hydrogen sulfide ( which may be converted into pure sulfur ) , carbon dioxide , water vapor , and sometimes helium and nitrogen .   Natural gas is often informally referred to simply as `` gas '' , especially when compared to other energy sources such as oil or coal . However , it is not to be confused with gasoline , especially in North America , where the term gasoline is often shortened in colloquial usage to gas .   Natural gas was used by the Chinese in about 500 BCE ( possibly even 1000 BCE ) . They discovered a way to transport gas seeping from the ground in crude pipelines of bamboo to where it was used to boil salt water to extract the salt , in the Ziliujing District of Sichuan . The world 's first industrial extraction of natural gas started at Fredonia , New York , United States in 1825 . By 2009 , 66 000 km ³ ( or 8 % ) had been used out of the total 850 000 km ³ of estimated remaining recoverable reserves of natural gas . Based on an estimated 2015 world consumption rate of about 3400 km ³ of gas per year , the total estimated remaining economically recoverable reserves of natural gas would last 250 years at current consumption rates . An annual increase in usage of 2 -- 3 % could result in currently recoverable reserves lasting significantly less , perhaps as few as 80 to 100 years .

Biogas <=SEP=> Biogas typically refers to a mixture of different gases produced by the breakdown of organic matter in the absence of oxygen . Biogas can be produced from raw materials such as agricultural waste , manure , municipal waste , plant material , sewage , green waste or food waste . Biogas is a renewable energy source .   Biogas can be produced by anaerobic digestion with anaerobic organisms , which digest material inside a closed system , or fermentation of biodegradable materials .   Biogas is primarily methane and carbon dioxide and may have small amounts of hydrogen sulfide , moisture and siloxanes . The gases methane , hydrogen , and carbon monoxide can be combusted or oxidized with oxygen . This energy release allows biogas to be used as a fuel ; it can be used for any heating purpose , such as cooking . It can also be used in a gas engine to convert the energy in the gas into electricity and heat .   Biogas can be compressed , the same way natural gas is compressed to CNG , and used to power motor vehicles . In the UK , for example , biogas is estimated to have the potential to replace around 17 % of vehicle fuel . It qualifies for renewable energy subsidies in some parts of the world . Biogas can be cleaned and upgraded to natural gas standards , when it becomes bio-methane . Biogas is considered to be a renewable resource because its production-and-use cycle is continuous , and it generates no net carbon dioxide . Organic material grows , is converted and used and then regrows in a continually repeating cycle . From a carbon perspective , as much carbon dioxide is absorbed from the atmosphere in the growth of the primary bio-resource as is released when the material is ultimately converted to energy .

Methane <=SEP=> Methane ( -LSB- ˈmɛθeɪn -RSB- or -LSB- ˈmiːθeɪn -RSB- ) is a chemical compound with the chemical formula ( one atom of carbon and four atoms of hydrogen ) . It is a group 14 hydride and the simplest alkane , and is the main constituent of natural gas . The relative abundance of methane on Earth makes it an attractive fuel , though capturing and storing it poses challenges due to its gaseous state under normal conditions for temperature and pressure .   Natural methane is found both below ground and under the sea floor . When it reaches the surface and the atmosphere , it is known as atmospheric methane . The Earth 's atmospheric methane concentration has increased by about 150 % since 1750 , and it accounts for 20 % of the total radiative forcing from all of the long-lived and globally mixed greenhouse gases ( these gases do n't include water vapor which is by far the largest component of the greenhouse effect ) .