Methane is a colourless gas with no smell, burnt as fuel. Methane emissions, burn off the methane, a methane leak.
It is the main thing natural gas is made of, and the smell in a domestic supply is added on purpose because methane has none. As a greenhouse gas it is far stronger than carbon dioxide over twenty years, which is why leaks and cattle both matter.
1nounmethaneA colourless gas with no smell, burnt as fuel.
“Cows produce large amounts of methane as they digest grass.”
methane is a gas.
From methyl plus -ane, the chemical ending for this family of compounds.
From methyl + -ane. From methyl + ane.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA