Thank for linking to that article I had not seen it.
>>Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the study describes how investigators combined three abiotic (non-living) materials — water (H2O), limestone (CaCO3), and iron oxide (FeO) — and crushed the mixture together with the same intense pressure found deep below the earth’s surface.<<
Limestone (thank God) doesn’t spontaneously turn into methane when it gets wet. Its pretty cool that Herschbach was able to use a diamond forge to make it happen. BTW, that’s why I guessed above that the water would have iron or cobalt for a catalyst. Even a diamond forge isn’t strong enough to make methane with a catalyst to lower the activation energy.
Limestone would have a really, really hard time turning into Methane.
Calcium carbonate has no hydrogens in it.
But as far as the entire theory goes, it has been proven that if you take carbon bearing material, mix it with hydrogen bearing material, and a reducing agent like iron, put it under pressure and high heat, you get alkanes.
Alkanes are a specific type of material. Methane, propane, butane, octane, whatever.
Single bonded long chains of CH2,
You can bury some fish in your backyard, throw in some algea and plankton, just about whatever you want, for the hell of it toss in some fetta cheese and the sun will go nova before it turns to alkanes.
Biologic material DOES NOT decompose into “fossil” fuels. It simply cannot. Except for perhaps the simplest ones, methane and ethane.