Spark Climate Solutions, a science-driven nonprofit, requests research proposals to advance scientific understanding of existing methane sinks and potential atmospheric methane removal approaches.
Funding program overviewThis funding opportunity currently has two confirmed rounds. The submission deadlines are March 1, 2024 and June 2, 2024 for round one and round two, respectively. More rounds may be added in the future.
Please contact Spark before submitting a proposal if you have any questions about eligibility or if you have proposal ideas that fall outside of this award amount and duration (e.g. larger collaborative proposals). Proposals that are high impact and low cost will be prioritized.
In this call for proposals, Spark seeks to support transformative research to advance understanding of existing methane sinks and conduct early assessments of potential atmospheric methane removal approaches.
Methane is a short-lived, powerful greenhouse gas characterized by diverse anthropogenic sources, strong radiative forcing, increasing atmospheric concentration, and a risk of growing emissions from natural sources. Despite methane causing one third of anthropogenic global warming, methane mitigation efforts currently receive less than 4% of international climate philanthropy.
We must do everything we can to reduce anthropogenic methane emissions and atmospheric methane levels. Fully addressing rising atmospheric methane will require three key activities:
Outside of this funding opportunity, efforts by Spark and other leaders in the field are focused on methane emissions reductions. However, research towards understanding potential atmospheric methane removal approaches is particularly nascent and will take years. None of these approaches are currently ready for deployment. Additional support now will be transformative to scientific understanding of future methane sinks and potential atmospheric methane removal approaches, and timelines on which approaches could become available. Read more.
Proposals must be relevant to one or more of the funding tracks below and be applicable at atmospheric methane concentration (2 ppm). Proposals must demonstrate awareness of current literature and the state of the field, and result in research findings for peer-reviewed, open access publication.
How can we improve understanding of processes controlling methane sinks, and the impact on atmospheric methane concentrations now and in the future, in a way that supports exploration of potential approaches to increase oxidation of atmospheric concentration methane?
How can we build better sensors and tools to accelerate research towards advancing understanding of oxidation of atmospheric concentration methane?
Are there potentially viable atmospheric methane removal approaches, for example employing methanotrophy enhancement, atmospheric oxidation enhancement, or catalytic reactors and surfaces, that could be safe, cost-effective, scalable, and net climate-beneficial?
Proposals are out of scope if they focus primarily on operational deployment, or on methane concentrations above 2 ppm, including emissions avoidance, measurement, or modeling. See FAQ for more details.
The grant program was designed and is being managed by Spark Climate Solutions, in partnership with our advisors. The initial round of Exploratory Grants is supported by the Grantham Foundation. Spark’s work across atmospheric methane and other areas is supported by all of our philanthropic partners.
We’re inspired by previous ‘fast grants’ funding programs, and our friends at Homeworld Collective’s approach to open research problem statements.
Additional funding will extend the number of grants and rounds available through this program and other funding opportunities planned as part of Spark’s Atmospheric Methane Research program. Contact us if you’re interested in getting involved.
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