Methane Energy, by Courtney Farrell is a survey book that explores the topic of methane energy. Methane Energy is one book in a series of eight that investigates different types of technologies that could be used to curb and replace human dependency on fossil fuels for ‘greener’ renewable energy resources.

On a green pasture three cows look out from the cover of the book with the words, ‘Methane Energy,’ in bold yellow letters above them. It is an interesting cover because many readers will ask, “What do cows have to do with methane energy?” (However, its almost deceptive because methane is harvested in larger quantities from factory farms than from free range cows.) The end pages are blank. The title page and table of contents are a light blue that fades towards the bottom. The book is divided into eight manageable chapters that describe what methane is, the history of methane energy, how methane digesters work, environmental impacts, the benefits of methane digesters, the potential for biogas to replace natural gas, methane hydrates, and future of methane energy. Chapter length is fairly balanced and varies between 10 to 15 pages. Farrell begins the book with a topic that is somewhat simple and familiar (i.e. methane) and then delves into more complex and unfamiliar territories in the subsequent chapters.

The overall progression of the chapters is logical with the exclusion of Chapter 7: Methane Hydrates. Methane hydrates, or methane clathrates, are first introduced and defined in Chapter 4. Much of the information in Chapter 7 had previously been described in other chapters, so this section of the book seems redundant and out of place. The information about methane hydrates could have easily been absorbed into the chapters defining methane and the history of methane energy. In my opinion, Chapter 7 disrupts the flow of the book. Most of the information throughout the book is relevant but the amount of elaboration is often deficient. Page 22 overviews methane in modern science and there are three paragraphs on this page that only have 2-3 sentences. Although these paragraphs mention methane, digesters, and their brief appearance in history the lack of elaboration renders the information trivial to the overall ‘big picture’ of how these instances developed into a viable application of methane for energy. In comparison to the rest of this chapter, this page is especially underdeveloped and choppy.

Most high school students are exposed to the concepts of the greenhouse effect, global warming, and alternative energies so this book is well within the scope of knowledge for Farrell’s target audience. The terms that may be unfamiliar are defined within the text and a select few are in the glossary. The terms Farrell chose to put in the glossary seem mostly random because many of the words did not seem critical to understanding the text. Sequestered was defined in the glossary and, in my opinion, did not better my understanding whatsoever. Combustion is defined simply as, “the process of burning,” which suggests nothing about the chemistry and is a definition most teenagers could have conjured up. Petrochemicals are defined as, “chemicals made from petroleum,” which is a painfully obvious description. Some of the terms that did not make it into the glossary are fracking, hydrolysis, permafrost, mesophilic, and thermophilic to name a few. Defining vocabulary in context is useful to young readers but there are a number of occasions where Farrell does this to a fault. Consider the following instances:

“It [Methane] is a powerful greenhouse gas” (pg. 8)
“…carbon dioxide, another greenhouse gas.” (pg. 13)
“Because methane is a powerful greenhouse gas…” (pg. 14)
“Burning any fuel releases greenhouse gases, including carbon dioxide and methane” (pg. 39 – in text)
“Greenhouse gases including carbon dioxide and methane are released whenever something is burned.” (pg. 39 – caption)
“greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide and methane…” (pg. 40)
“…produce the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide.” (pg. 41)
“Too much atmospheric methane is a problem because it is a powerful greenhouse gas.” (pg. 43)
“Since methane is a greenhouse gas, it traps more heat in the atmosphere and further warms the planet.” (pg. 44)
“As a greenhouse gas, methane is 23 to 30 time stronger than carbon dioxide.” (pg. 45)
“Since methane is a greenhouse gas…” (pg. 82)
“…methane, a powerful greenhouse gas…” (pg. 96)

“Natural gas is mostly methane, but it contains small amounts of ethane, propane, and butane as well.” (pg. 8)
“Natural gas is 90 percent methane with traces of other flammable gases including butane, ethane, propane, and pentane.” (pg. 66)

Notice how many of the quotes are either on the same page or within several pages of one another. Those examples are not isolated incidents. She also over defined anaerobic and clathrates. Interestingly enough, greenhouse gases, methane, carbon dioxide, and clathrates are not defined in the glossary. The repetition made this book difficult to read because it quickly started to come across as pedantic. I actually had to stop reading this book several times for that reason. A couple of times Farrell attempts to be playful in her writing, but one could argue that tone seems more condescending than playful. For example, “It may seem funny that burping cows change the planet’s climate, but they really do!” (pg. 9) By and large, the tone of the book is expository so this quote just does not mesh well.

In the ‘About the Author’ Farrell is described as a “full-time writer…for young people” with an interest in “wildlife conservation, social justice, and sustainability issues.” Despite her interests in sustainability, Farrell lacks authority on methane energy. Her consultant, Dr. Bhakta B. Rath, has a bachelor’s degree in physics and a master’s degree in metallurgic engineering. Dr. Rath most likely had exposure to environmental chemistry and engineering but his degrees are not directly related to the content of the book.

Even though Farrell did research for this book, her understanding of the chemistry and her interpretations of the material were poor and often inaccurate. On page 42 she depicts the methane cycle. After a quick Google image search of ‘methane cycle’ I found an almost identical (but more accurate) image of a methane cycle credited to the 2010 edition of the Encyclopedia Britannica. The image in Farrell’s book is practically the same image from the Encyclopedia Britannica, although recreated, and it shares the same labels verbatim. There are a few issues with this depiction. For one, she does not cite where this image came from and it is fairly clear that it is a replication. During my reading I noticed that the top of the cycle has three arrows pointing away from methane to signify that the degradation products of methane are hydroxyl radicals, hydrocarbons, and water. So, my second issue is that the arrow that points from methane to the hydroxyl radical should actually be in the reverse direction to show that the hydroxyl radical acts as a catalyst for the reaction and is not a product of the reaction. My third issue is that methane is the simplest hydrocarbon already so her diagram is confusing because it does not actually say anything about the atmospheric chemistry. The chemistry she should have shown is that methane reacts with a hydroxyl radical in the atmosphere to yield a methyl radical and water (CH4 + OH· → Ch3· + H2O). Her description in the text further denotes her lack of understanding of the chemistry. On page 41, she describes the hydroxyl radical as “a negatively charged oxygen atom bonded to a hydrogen atom, created when a cosmic ray strikes a molecule of water vapor and breaks it apart.” She appears to have confused hydroxide ions, which are negatively charged, with hydroxyl radicals, which are neutral. Ultraviolet rays commonly produce hydroxyl radicals directly but it should be noted that this is not the only way they are formed. Other indirect reaction pathways are possible, for example, oxygen atoms created from the dissociation of oxygen molecules can also react with water and form hydroxyl radicals.

The next turn of the page reveals yet another unreliable illustration. On page 44, there is a ball-and-stick model of methane hydrate. The caption reads, “Clathrates are methane molecules with water frozen within their chemical structure.” First of all, what I believe Farrell meant to write is, “Clathrates are water molecules with methane frozen within their chemical structure” because this is what her figure actually depicts. Next, clathrates are not always methane hydrates. A clathrate refers to any cage-like lattice that hosts a molecule (e.g. zeolites). Finally, her diagram key is unequivocally wrong. Based on the key the molecular formulas for methane and water would be CO4 and HO2, respectfully. In her key, Farrell mislabeled hydrogen as oxygen and vice versa. These inaccuracies make me question the validity of the rest of the schematics and diagrams throughout the book.

Several of the images and supplementary text were strangely placed. After Chapter 6 there is a two-page spread on 78 to 79 for ‘Small-scale digesters from developing nations.’ The two schematics in this spread would have fit more logically in Chapter 3 (How Digesters Work) then after Chapter 6 (Can Biogas Replace Natural Gas?). The photo used to open Chapter 8 depicts a man in a beer brewery that supposedly uses methane to heat and power the plant. It is unclear to the reader whether or not the methane created from the brewing process is similar to or from methane digesters. The text makes no mention to the photo so the only information provided is from the caption. But overall, the illustrations do correspond to the text and the photographs are large and appealing.

The source notes are divided by chapter, which I think is incredibly useful and thoughtful. This setup is user friendly for readers that want to know more about a specific idea in a chapter. Farrell includes a selected bibliography, further readings, and web links for readers that are especially inquisitive.

There is an index but some of the topics are broad with large page ranges. The first listing is for ‘ancient methane use’, which is half of the chapter about the history of methane energy. For cows the index says, “see livestock,” and the pages for livestock are 9-10, 14, 41, 46, 49, 73, 77, 79, and 97. If a reader only wanted to know about cows specifically they would have to read through all of these pages. There are enough pages for biogas and manure that the author should have given them subheadings to make navigation easier and faster.

Based on the inaccuracies alone, I could not recommend this book and would reject it as an addition to the children’s library. Even if the book were revised, I do not think the overall quality of the book is good enough to merit any reconsideration. ( )