A new study from Stanford University, now published in the scientific journal Nature, believes that methane, a greenhouse gas, may have a new use: to be turned into feed for farmed fish.

According to the University, the solution lies in methane-consuming bacteria, the methanotrophs. In this sense, these bacteria can be grown in a refrigerated biological reactor filled with water, fed with pressurized methane, oxygen and nutrients such as nitrogen, phosphorus and waste metals.

Going forward, the study points out that the resulting protein-rich biomass can be used as fishmeal in aquaculture feed, offsetting the demand for fishmeal made from small fish or plant-based feeds that require land, water, and fertilizer.

"Industrial sources in the U.S. are emitting a truly staggering amount of methane, which is not economical to capture and use today," explains Sahar El Abbadi, author of the study. "Our goal is to change that paradigm by using biotechnology to create a high-value product."

Right now, to analyze the potential of this technology in the United States, scientists have created several scenarios where methane would be obtained from wastewater treatment plants, landfills, oil and gas facilities, and from natural gas purchased from the commercial grid.