Chapter 7 - ENERGY AND THE ENVIRONMENT

The rise in greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuel combustion and industrial and agricultural activities has aroused international concern about the possible impacts of these emissions on climate. Greenhouse gases--mostly carbon dioxide, some methane, nitrous oxide and other trace gases--are emitted to the atmosphere, enhancing an effect in which heat reflected from the earth's surface is kept from escaping into space, as in a greenhouse. Thus, there is concern that the earth's surface temperature may rise enough to cause global climate change. Approximately 90% of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions from anthropogenic sources come from energy production and use, most of which are a byproduct of the combustion of fossil fuels. On a per capita basis, the United States is one of the world's largest sources of greenhouse gas emissions, comprising 4% of the world's population, yet emitting 23% of the world's greenhouse gases. Emissions in the United States are increasing at around 1.2% annually, and the Energy Information Administration forecasts that emissions levels will continue to increase at this rate in the years ahead if we proceed down the business-as-usual path. President Clinton has presented a two-part challenge for the United States: reduce greenhouse gas emissions and grow the economy. Meeting the challenge will mean that in doing tomorrow's work, we must use energy more efficiently and emit less carbon for the energy expended than we do today. To accomplish these goals, President Clinton proposed on June 26, 1997, that the United States ''invest more in the technologies of the future''. In this report to Secretary of Energy Pena, 47 technology pathways are described that have significant potential to reduce carbon dioxide emissions. The present study was completed before the December 1997 United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and is intended to provide a basis to evaluate technology feasibility and options to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. These technology pathways (which are described in greater detail in Appendix B, Technology Pathways) address three areas: energy efficiency, clean energy, and carbon sequestration (removing carbon from emissions and enhancing carbon storage). Based on an assessment of each of these technology pathways over a 30-year planning horizon, the directors of the Department of Energy's (DOE's) national laboratories conclude that success will require pursuit of multiple technology pathways to provide choices and flexibility for reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Advances in science and technology are necessary to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the United States while sustaining economic growth and providing collateral benefits to the nation.

The trends of global temperature increase in the world due to excessive burning of fossil hydrocarbons are given. Excessive extraction and burning of fossil fuels (hard coal, petroleum products, natural gas) have led to an increase in their cost and climate change. About 40% of CO2 emissions today come from burning coal, 33% from oil refining products, and 22% from natural gas. An increase in CO2 content in the atmosphere leads to a drop in the Earth's surface temperature. At the global level, the world community has adopted three main international agreements on climate change: the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (1992); Kyoto Protocol (1997); Paris Agreement (2015). More than 190 countries have signed the Paris Agreement. Its main goals are to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050 and to keep the increase in the global average temperature below 2°C by 2100, preferably to 1.5°C. The construction industry is responsible for consumption of up to 40% of all energy. which are used in economies countries of the world In the summarized reports of experts at the 27th UN Conference on Climate Change (COP27), which took place in 2022 year in Egypt (Sharm el-Sheikh) it was stated that in 2022 1% more CO2 will be released into the atmosphere than in in 2021. The main volumes of greenhouse gas emissions come from the burning of fossil fuels. Brought comparative analysis of CO2 emissions when burning different types of fuel. The dynamics of the production of fossil fuels - hard coal, oil and natural gas - is studied, which indicates a significant decrease in their production and consumption. Modern approaches to the growth of RES volumes are considered, the dynamics of the growth of SPP capacities are given. On the basis of European experience, the prospects for the installation of balcony mini SPPs are shown. Individual heating systems and decentralization of engineering systems for providing housing help to increase their stability in adverse conditions. The organizational features of the transfer of the housing stock from a centralized heating system to individual electric and gas heating are revealed. Based on the analysis of the European experience of maintaining the housing stock, the main directions for reducing energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions of the existing housing stock are given.

It is known that the combustion of fossil fuels is the main artificial source of CO2 emissions into the atmosphere and that it leads to environmental pollution, as well as global climate changes, i.e. the “greenhouse” effect. For these reasons, instead of fossil fuels used in various branches of energy and process technology, we shouldswitch to alternative energy sources that would significantly reduce the emission of CO2 and other greenhouse gases. Biomass is plant material obtained by the reaction of carbon dioxide from air, water and sunlight, the process of photosynthesis, in order to produce carbohydrates. In adecayprocess of organic matter from plant residues, carbon is returned to the atmosphere in a form of carbon dioxide and/or methane. In the atmosphere, during the oxidation process, carbon dioxide is formed from methane again, which completes the carbon cycle in nature. Today, biofuel is the only fuel that meets the criteria of a closed system in terms of the creation of carbon dioxide and solid material combustion products. Most of the carbon released in a form of carbon dioxide is absorbed by the next generation of plants through photosynthesis or through minerals from the soil. Thus, biomass is becoming one of the key energy resources in the fight against global warming and depletion of fossil fuel reserves. Additionally, replacing fossil fuels with biomass has a beneficial impact on reducing the emission of sulfur dioxide, which causesacid rainformation. It should be noted that the primary advantage of biomass as an energy source is not in its significant potential, but in its renewability. Renewability is the essential advantage of biomass over conventional, fossil fuels that are nonrenewable and therefore cannot be the basis for long-term planning of sustainable growth that implies the rational use of energy. In the field of energetics, the European Union (EU) is aimed at reducing CO2 emissions in order to achieve sustainable development, as well as reducing dependence on imported fuels and changes in pricesof energy-generating products (oil, gas, etc.). One way to reduce CO2 emissions is to increase the share of renewable sources in total energy production. The goal of the EU countries is to achieve 20% energy savings, 20% production of energy from renewable sources, 20% reduction of CO2 emissions ("20-20-20-targets") (Directive 2009/28/EC). In order to maintain energy stability and approach closer to the EU, Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well as the Republic ofSrpska, have signed a number of laws and regulations on the use of renewable energy sources. This paper provides review data on biomass potentials (wood and agricultural) in Bosnia and Herzegovina and in the neighbouring countries. Special emphasis is on agricultural biomass. Data on physical and chemical properties of agricultural biomass as an energy fuel are presented. Thermochemical procedures of biomass processing are provided, such as: pyrolysis, gasification and combustion and the possibility of using energy from these processes. Apparatus and furnaces of the considered processes used in industrial practice are presented. An overview of pollutant emissions from the biomass combustion process is also given.

Like the Earth’s water, nitrogen compounds cycle through the air, aquatic systems, and soil. But unlike water, these compounds are being injected into the environment in ever increasing quantities. In doing so, we are altering the global nitrogen cycle, causing possible grave impacts on biodiversity, global warming, water quality, human health, and even the rate of population growth in developing nations. In a world surrounded by nitrogen, you would think there’s always been plenty to go around and that perhaps a little more wouldn’t matter. But having enough of the right kind of nitrogen—reactive nitrogen that has been “fixed,” or converted from the nonreactive N2 form—determines such fundamentals of life as the extent of plant growth, which in turn determines to a large extent the dynamics of the world’s food supply. During the twentieth century, mankind has produced increasingly more reactive nitrogen, intentionally as fertilizer and unintentionally as a by-product of combusting fossil fuels. Although carbon dioxide may get more press, “the nitrogen cycle has been altered more than any other basic element cycle,” says John Aber, vice president for research and public service at the University of New Hampshire. And now, he says, humans are adding more reactive nitrogen to the global nitrogen cycle than all other sources combined. Yet, reactive nitrogen is hardly all bad. The use of nitrogen fertilizer is critical to feeding the world’s hungry, say researchers including University of Virginia environmental sciences professor James Galloway. The question, then, is how do we manage nitrogen responsibly?

Sedimentary basins and greenhouse gases: a serendipitous association

The surface temperature of the earth is controlled by the balance between the absorbed solar radiation and the emitted infrared radiation. During the past 150 years the amount of carbon dioxide in the earth’s atmosphere has increased from 280 parts per million to more than 380 parts per million on account of burning of fossil fuels. The higher absorption of infrared radiation by the atmosphere (on account of higher carbon dioxide) has resulted in an increase in the surface temperature of the earth. The burning of fossil fuels has also caused an increase in sulphate and soot aerosols in the atmosphere. Both these aerosols reduce the solar radiation incident at the earth surface. Hence the surface of the earth has cooled on account of increase in aerosols. The sulphate aerosols have also cooled the atmosphere but the soot aerosols, which absorb solar radiation, have heated the atmosphere. The net impact of increase in carbon dioxide and aerosols has been an increase in the surface temperature of the earth by 0.7 degrees centigrade in the past 100 years.

7 - Environment, health and safety issues

Interest in natural and man‐made carbon dioxide production is stirred because it resides after formation in critical atmospheric zones. To determine the oncoming “greenhouse” effect, indeed to determine whether there will be a greenhouse effect, investigators have tried to sum up the global carbon cycle. In accounting for the sources and sinks of carbon dioxide produced at the earth's surface, it has been postulated that most of the unbalanced sources can be identified with the earth's biomass and not so much with man's combustion of fossil fuels (Ecol. Monogr., 53, 235, 1983). New figures on the calculated areas of tropical forests suggest otherwise.

Methane hydrate exists in huge amounts in certain locations, in sea sediments and the geological structures below them, at low temperature and high pressure. Production methods are in development to produce the methane to a floating platform. There it can be reformed to produce hydrogen and carbon dioxide, in an endothermic process. Some of the methane can be burned to provide heat energy to develop all needed power on the platform and to support the reforming process. After separation, the hydrogen is the valuable and transportable product. All carbon dioxide produced on the platform can be separated from other gases and then sequestered in the sea as carbon dioxide hydrate. In this way, hydrogen is made available without the release of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere, and the hydrogen could be an enabling step toward a world hydrogen economy.

Climate change and global warming are directly linked to the rise in carbon dioxide (CO2) concentration in the atmosphere, a significant byproduct of various human activities, particularly the combustion of fossil fuels. To regulate Earth's surface temperature within specified limits, the concept of a carbon budget is introduced. This budget represents the maximum cumulative carbon emissions that can be emitted to the atmosphere before the earth’s global temperature exceeds some particular temperature levels. According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Assessment Report 6 (IPCC AR6), maintaining a temperature increase within 1,5 to 2°C requires adhering to a global carbon budget (GCB) of approximately 500 to 1.350 GtCO2 (at a 50% likelihood level). To determine the national carbon budget (NCB) for Indonesia, various allocation methods, including egalitarian, grandfathering, weighted average, and per capita convergence approaches, are applied. At a 50% likelihood level to restrict temperature rise to 1.5°C, Indonesia's NCB at the beginning of 2022 falls within the range of 14.28 to 20.55 GtCO2. These values for the carbon budget can serve as a valuable tool for assessing the climate change mitigation targets outlined in Indonesia's enhanced nationally determined contribution (E-NDC).

Climate is perceived to be changing worldwide and there has been growing concern towards the direction and magnitude of these changes. Greenhouse gases are responsible for maintaining earth's surface temperature suitable for sustaining life, but excess emission of GHGs increase the earth’s surface temperature and causing global warming. Globally, over the past several decades, about 80% of human-induced carbon dioxide emissions came from the burning of fossil fuels, while about 20% from deforestation and associated agricultural practices. The objective of the study are to document the ability of the turning test, MK test, Sen’s Slope and Spearman rank correlation to detect the weekly trend, and to discuss the different between statically significance and practical significance. Conclusions are parted in different season like Kharif, Rabi and Summer season. In which, overall found that the minimum temperature trend is increases during kharif season. In Rabi season the both temperature are increase so at that time the CWR requirements are more. If the minimum temperature is increase its effect on crops (Wheat and cumin) growth and yield is decrease in summer season. The high temperature from flowering and from podding increase flower numbers, but reduced fruit set, resulting in reduction in reproductive number, pod number and pos yield. High temp also reduced the total dry matter when imposed at flowering, but not at podding. However, pod weights were reduced by high air temperature during the flowering and podding.

Further refinements are made in the method of calculating amounts of carbon dioxide released to the atmosphere through the combustion of fossil fuels. Data available in the UN Statistical Yearbook are used as the basic sources rather than the summary, World Energy Supplies , U.N. Statistical Papers, Series J because the most recent data are available several months earlier in the yearbook and because data are included for natural gasoline, natural gas liquids, and cement production. Coal, lignite, crude petroleum, “marketed” natural gas, flared natural gas, and cement are itemized separately and revised CO 2 emission estimates are made for each year from 1960 thru 1971. These estimates average 2.3% higher than Keeling's with the carbon dioxide production from flared gas being the largest difference. Natural gas which is flared at the well accounts for over 2% of the total CO 2 produced from fossil fuels. DOI: 10.1111/j.2153-3490.1973.tb00635.x

The balance of evidence suggests a perceptible human influence on global ecosystems. Human activities are affecting the global ecosystem, some directly and some indirectly. If researchers could clarify the extent to which specific human activities affect global ecosystems, they would be in a much better position to suggest strategies for mitigating against the worst disturbances. Sophisticated statistical analysis can help in interpreting the influence of specific human activities on global ecosystems more carefully. This study aims at identifying significant or influential human activities (i.e. factors) on CO2 emissions using statistical analyses. The study was conducted for two cases: (i) developed countries and (ii) developing countries. In developed countries, this study identified three influential human activities for CO2 emissions: (i) combustion of fossil fuels, (ii) population pressure on natural and terrestrial ecosystems, and (iii) land use change. In developing countries, the significant human activities causing an upsurge of CO2 emissions are: (i) combustion of fossil fuels, (ii) terrestrial ecosystem strength and (iii) land use change. Among these factors, combustion of fossil fuels is the most influential human activity for CO2 emissions both in developed and developing countries. Regression analysis based on the factor scores indicated that combustion of fossil fuels has significant positive influence on CO2 emissions in both developed and developing countries. Terrestrial ecosystem strength has a significant negative influence on CO2 emissions. Land use change and CO2 emissions are positively related, although regression analysis showed that the influence of land use change on CO2 emissions was still insignificant. It is anticipated, from the findings of this study, that CO2 emissions can be reduced by reducing fossil-fuel consumption and switching to alternative energy sources, preserving exiting forests, planting trees on abandoned and degraded forest lands, or by planting trees by social/agroforestry on agricultural lands.

Global warming is one of the most critical environmental challenges facing humanity today, characterized by a significant increase in Earth's average surface temperature due to human-induced greenhouse gas emissions. This paper provides a comprehensive examination of the primary anthropogenic causes of global warming, including industrialization, deforestation, and changes in land use patterns. The burning of fossil fuels—such as coal, oil, and natural gas—for energy production and transportation has led to a dramatic rise in carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere. This surge in CO2 concentrations has intensified the greenhouse effect, trapping more heat within the Earth's atmosphere and contributing to the overall rise in global temperatures. In addition to carbon dioxide, other potent greenhouse gases like methane and nitrous oxide, released from agricultural practices and industrial processes, exacerbate the warming effect. The expansion of industrial agriculture has significantly increased methane emissions, while synthetic fertilizers contribute to higher levels of nitrous oxide. Deforestation driven by agricultural expansion and urban development further diminishes the Earth's capacity to absorb carbon dioxide, releasing stored carbon and altering local climate patterns. The impacts of global warming are extensive, affecting ecosystems, weather patterns, and human societies worldwide. Rising sea levels threaten coastal communities, while changing precipitation patterns lead to more frequent and severe droughts and floods. This paper also discusses the interconnected nature of these factors and their complex feedback systems that amplify global warming effects. To address this multifaceted challenge, the paper proposes a comprehensive approach that includes transitioning to renewable energy sources, enhancing energy efficiency across all sectors, implementing sustainable land use practices, and fostering international cooperation through policy initiatives such as the Paris Agreement. Understanding these intricate relationships is crucial for developing effective strategies to mitigate and adapt to the challenges posed by global warming, ensuring a sustainable future for generations to come.

Influence of fly ash on concrete – A systematic review