Capturing Methane From Water: Bluemethane

Green.Org sits down with Louise Parlons Bentata, the Co-Founder, and Commercial Director of Bluemethane. There are 51 billion tonnes of greenhouse gases being pumped into the air by people every year. Three billion are from methane escaping from water. Bluemethane is working on capturing methane from water permanently. 

Tell us a little bit about you and your background: 

I’m Co-Founder, and Commercial Director of Bluemethane. My expertise lies in sustainability, innovation, brand strategy, and marketing. As a consultant prior to Bluemethane, I supported management teams in global and SME companies with marketing, strategy, branding and lead generation, and has experience across all major regions. My client experience focused on specialist engineering and manufacturing industries.

I hold an MBA from INSEAD, an MA in Geography from Cambridge University and a postgraduate Certificate in Sustainable Business from Cambridge University. At Bluemethane, we’re developing proprietary technology to capture methane from water, as a new source of revenue for hydropower and water utility owners, and even for rice paddies. This will permanently remove methane from water, reduce global warming and support the energy transition by unlocking a new bioenergy. We are starting with hydropower plants and will scale to non-hydropower reservoirs, wastewater treatment, and ultimately, natural bodies of water.

What is a fun fact about you?

When I was 20, I lost my voice for a year.

Why do you think climate change and sustainability is such an important topic today? 

Climate change and sustainability are topics of humanity’s survival. There is no more important topic.

What do you envision your industry looking like 10 years from now?

We are the first to attempt to capture methane from water at scale. In ten years time, instead of being an invisible and little known problem, anthropogenic methane emissions from water will be well understood and actively captured and removed. In ten years time, the principles of circularity will be applied to methane within water, so that instead of allowing a dangerous and wasted resource to be emitted to the atmosphere, this methane will be captured and used as a new source of bio-energy. This way, we will have prevented millions of tonnes of greenhouse gases entering the atmosphere and supported the green energy transition.

What can the average person do to make a difference? 

Eat less meat, turn off your unnecessary lights, avoid air conditioning unit, share facilities (washing machines, cars, freezers) with other people. Live as communities sharing resources instead of an individuals alone.

Louise, thank you for sharing your vision for capturing methane from water.

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