Carbon Reduction

Policies, Strategies and Technologies

Stephen A. Roosa, Arun G. Jhaveri

• Publisher: River Publishers
• Year: 2020
• ISBN:
  9781000356120
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Tecnología e ingeniería
• Subtopic: Gestión medioambiental

Significant reduction of local, regional, national and international greenhouse gas emissions in homes, businesses, industries and communities has become an international priority. This book describes in clear, concise, and understandable terms the nature and scope of the climate change problem. The authors combine their considerable expertise to offer guidelines for defining and applying effective carbon reduction policies, strategies, and technologies. They propose a well-defined road map which can be implemented to help control and abate the alarming increases in carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas emissions.

Chapter 1

The Importance of Reducing Carbon Emissions

“If further global warming reaches 2 or 3 degrees Celsius, we will likely see changes that (will) make Earth a different planet than the one we know. The last time it was that warm was in the middle of the Pliocene, about 3 million years ago, when sea levels were estimated to have been about 25 meters (80 feet) higher than today.”

James Hansen

NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies

New York (2006)

We know now what the problem is. We have been successfully tracking gradual increases in atmospheric carbon emissions. We know this is serious. The importance of finding a solution to reducing carbon emissions cannot be understated. The emissions of atmospheric carbon, generated by man’s activities, are exacerbating environmental changes on a global scale. In the past, we seem to have made conscious choices to ignore potential consequences. Today, the political and social structures we have established are developing only embryonic policies and taking only feeble action. Our initiatives often seemed mismatched and the actions marginal. We have pushed aside our stewardship responsibilities and failed to bring our technical and economic resources to bear on the task of providing more viable solutions.

Consequently, new environmental problems have surfaced that emphasize the ultimate fragility of our planet’s ecosystems. Due to our unresponsive choices, climate changes are occurring at a rapidly accelerated pace. Our common future is becoming grim. No matter what actions we take today, the consequences of increasing carbon levels will continue to plague the earth for generations to come. Never before have human-induced environmental changes had such a drastic impact. At this crossroads, nothing less than the sustainability of life on our planet is at stake.

The results of our past insensitivity to the environment are becoming more and more noticeable, the consequences less and less dismissible. With the acceptance that an over-abundance of atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO₂) is impacting Earth’s ecosystems and can be a planet-destroying greenhouse gas, a new age is dawning. The economies of the Hydrocarbon Age are at an impasse. Indeed, the availability of some fossil fuels is reaching a tipping point. We are changing our landscapes—terra-forming them to meet the needs of agriculture, industry, urban expansion and regional transportation networks—as a result of economic development and technological advancements. Many of our cities have evolved to become “post-industrial” and are unlike anything that our forbearers might have imagined. Other cities, like some in Mexico, China and India, are reeling from explosive population growth, poor development choices and environmental damage. Countries seeking economic and political control over carbon-based energy resources are at times exerting their military muscle, threatening and waging regional conflicts. In this climate of uncertainty, the impacts of each country’s policies and economic systems are intensifying the problems associated with carbon emissions rather than resolving them. However, the political dialogue is shifting from outright rejection of the existence of carbon-induced climate problems to the development of strategies and legislation to mitigate them.

At this point in history—when creative solutions are needed—the backdrop of conflicting influences, political stalemates and economic turmoil makes long-term solutions difficult to implement. Energy, environment and economy are intimately linked. For example, energy-consuming systems account for 95% of man-made CO₂ emissions (Mega 2005:60). According to Kenneth Cohen, Vice President of Public Affairs for Exxon Mobile Corporation, the real issue is “how to provide the energy needed to improve global living standards while also reducing greenhouse gas emissions.”¹ The seminal inconvenient truth is that a consensus regarding how to proceed remains elusive. Regardless, governments are creating policies, corporations are reconstructing strategic plans, and institutions are redefining their missions. Agendas are changing and new programs are being launched and implemented. There is an evolving consensus on the horizon; one that will change how we prioritize our efforts to become more sustainable. The time has come to refocus our resources towards finding solutions that reduce or eliminate carbon emissions.

Mankind’s misuse of carbon-based fuels has created a new climate of uncertainty. While there are both natural and man-made sources of atmospheric carbon, natural endowments that reduce atmospheric carbon levels are under attack by our activities. Formed over hundreds of millions of years, carbon compounds were stored by natural processes that worked very slowly. These processes gradually reduced atmospheric concentrations by storing the carbon underground and beneath the seas. There are currently no substitutes for these natural processes that have gradually and effectively sequestered massive quantities of carbon for eons.

INCREASED USE OF CARBON-BASED FUELS

Today, the carbon compounds that are being released into the atmosphere come from many sources, including primary combustion of fuels such as coal, natural gas and oil. The use of coal represents more than half of the CO₂ being released into the atmosphere in the U.S. Despite its high levels of CO₂ emissions and its low thermal energy conversion efficiency (approximately 37%), coal usage will continue to increase and play an important role in global energy supply.

What is happening is that we are increasing our use of carbon-based fuels—and the atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide are also increasing. A consensus has evolved that global climate change is a result. The debate is over. We know that carbon emissions are directly linked to the use of fossil fuels and they are responsible for global climate change. Mankind’s activities are exacerbating this problem and creating climatic disruption, loss of biodiversity and economic uncertainty. Despite increased awareness, efforts to address the impacts of climate changes are in their infancy; they have yielded little impact on global emissions. In fact, carbon emissions worldwide continue to increase. This is due to the growing quantities of fossil fuels being extracted and how they are used in combustion processes.

The concentration of carbon in fuels varies, as does the amounts of carbon released into the atmosphere during the combustion processes. One way to reduce CO₂ emissions is to become less dependent on fuels with high carbon content. Efforts should be made to replace such fuels with those that generate less carbon. Table 1-1 below provides a list of fuels and their carbon content.

Table 1-1. Carbon Intensity of Fuels²

Fuel Type	CO2 Emissions Produced (kilograms)
1 gallon of gasoline	8.9
1 liter of gasoline	2.4
1 gallon of diesel fuel	10.2
1 liter of diesel fuel	2.7
1 short ton of bituminous coal	2.24
1 short ton of lignite coal	1.27
1,000 cubic feet of natural gas	54.7
1 cubic meter of natural gas	1.9
1 kWh of electricity	0.61

There are two primary ways to manage atmospheric levels of carbon. Emissions can be reduced or carbon can be extracted from the atmosphere. Like other atmospheric pollutants, once emitted into the atmosphere, carbon is diffused and both difficult and expensive to extract. The technologies available to remove carbon from the atmosphere are commercially unproven and many are untested. Thus, reducing the quantities of carbon compounds prior to their release into the atmosphere holds far greater promise.

Our habits over the last 60 years have contributed to the dire situation we find ourselves in today. Many of the adverse environmental consequences we face are caused by increased atmospheric carbon concentrations and their impact has only recently become understood. Why is this? As with serious environmental problems encountered in the past (e.g., natural resource depletion or water pollution), there is a time lag before the environmental impacts of human actions become apparent. Environmental changes must be meticulously observed before the causes and effects are assessed. Theories typically evolve as to why the changes are occurring. Their projected impact must be considered. To do this, the scientific community must make comparative measurements of before and after conditions, link the environmental changes to the causes, and consider an assortment of remedial actions. Prior to suggesting approaches to mitigation, a wide array of intervention methodologies and technologies must be developed, tested and deployed. After a period of societal denial and disbelief a political consensus must emerge before public resources can be used. This is a time-intensive and laborious set of activities. Meanwhile, our present infrastructure continues to operate, exacerbating any problems it has created.

To complicate matters, seldom is there a single solution that will provide a cure. The “smoking gun” is ofte...