Energy harvesting through footstep & it's efficient usage

Will blue hydrogen lock us into fossil fuels forever?

Plastics and climate change—Breaking carbon lock-ins through three mitigation pathways

Reforming fossil fuel subsidies requires a new approach to setting international commitments

The modification of emissions of climate-sensitive exhaust compounds such as CO(2), NO(x), hydrocarbons, and particulate matter from medium-speed marine diesel engines was studied for a set of fossil and biogenic fuels. Applied fossil fuels were the reference heavy fuel oil (HFO) and the low-sulfur marine gas oil (MGO); biogenic fuels were palm oil, soybean oil, sunflower oil, and animal fat. Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions related to the production of biogenic fuels were treated by means of a fuel life cycle analysis which included land use changes associated with the growth of energy plants. Emissions of CO(2) and NO(x) per kWh were found to be similar for fossil fuels and biogenic fuels. PM mass emission was reduced to 10-15% of HFO emissions for all low-sulfur fuels including MGO as a fossil fuel. Black carbon emissions were reduced significantly to 13-30% of HFO. Changes in emissions were predominantly related to particulate sulfate, while differences between low-sulfur fossil fuels and low-sulfur biogenic fuels were of minor significance. GHG emissions from the biogenic fuel life cycle (FLC) depend crucially on energy plant production conditions and have the potential of shifting the overall GHG budget from positive to negative compared to fossil fuels.

The 2022 Europe report of the Lancet Countdown on health and climate change: towards a climate resilient future

Sweetness and Power - Public Policies and the ‘Biofuels Frenzy’

Bioenergy from perennial grasses mitigates climate change via displacing fossil fuels and storing atmospheric CO2 belowground as soil carbon. Here, we conduct a critical review to examine whether increasing plant diversity in bioenergy grassland systems can further increase their climate change mitigation potential. We find that compared with highly productive monocultures, diverse mixtures tend to produce as great or greater yields. In particular, there is strong evidence that legume addition improves yield, in some cases equivalent to mineral nitrogen fertilization at 33–150 kg per ha. Plant diversity can also promote soil carbon storage in the long term, reduce soil N2O emissions by 30%–40%, and suppress weed invasion, hence reducing herbicide use. These potential benefits of plant diversity translate to 50%–65% greater life-cycle greenhouse gas savings for biofuels from more diverse grassland biomass grown on degraded soils. In addition, there is growing evidence that plant diversity can accelerate land restoration. Bioenergy from perennial grasses mitigates climate change via displacing fossil fuels and storing atmospheric CO2 belowground as soil carbon. Here, we conduct a critical review to examine whether increasing plant diversity in bioenergy grassland systems can further increase their climate change mitigation potential. We find that compared with highly productive monocultures, diverse mixtures tend to produce as great or greater yields. In particular, there is strong evidence that legume addition improves yield, in some cases equivalent to mineral nitrogen fertilization at 33–150 kg per ha. Plant diversity can also promote soil carbon storage in the long term, reduce soil N2O emissions by 30%–40%, and suppress weed invasion, hence reducing herbicide use. These potential benefits of plant diversity translate to 50%–65% greater life-cycle greenhouse gas savings for biofuels from more diverse grassland biomass grown on degraded soils. In addition, there is growing evidence that plant diversity can accelerate land restoration.

Greenhouse gas emissions from production chain of a cigarette manufacturing industry in Pakistan

With Iceland's CAP 2020, the country aims significant improvement in the state of its environment through reduction in greenhouse gas (GHG) emission especially in energy production and small industry, waste management, ships and ports, land transport, and agriculture by 2030. Considering this ambition, this study queries whether the consumptions of domestic materials i.e., DMC (especially metallic ores, biomass, and fossil fuels) exhibit differential impact on (i) aggregated greenhouse gas emissions i.e., GHG, (ii) waste management greenhouse gas emission i.e., WGHG, (ii) industrial greenhouse gas emission i.e., IGHG, and (iv) agriculture greenhouse gas emission i.e., AGHG during the period 1990 to 2019. By using Fourier function approaches, the investigation establishes that metallic ores DMC spur GHG, but biomass and fossil fuel DMC mitigate GHG in the long run. Additionally, biomass DMC mitigates AGHG and WGHG by respective elasticities of 0.04 and 0.025 in the long run. While IGHG is significantly reduced by fossil fuel DMC with elasticity of 0.18 in the long run, the AGHG and WGHG are unaffected by the consumption of fossil fuel domestic materials. Moreover, metallic ores DMC spurs only IGHG by elasticity of ∼0.24. The overall evidence shows the need for more stringent material use and resource circularity (especially for metallic ores and fossil fuels) for the country to stay on course of the CAP 2020 and maintain environmental sustainability.

The United Nations Conference on Environment and Development held in Brazil in June 1992 reached international consensus on the need to stabilise greenhouse gas emissions from human activities. The use of energy in all its forms, contributes to anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions. However, energy is a fundamental requirement for human existence, and the demand for energy increases with improved lifestyle, urbanisation and population growth. Approximately 90% of the world's energy needs are currently met by the use of fossil fuel. In spite of technological and economic developments with renewable sources of energy, it is unlikely that they will be a major contributor to the world's energy needs for the foreseeable future. In consequence, fossil fuel must and will continue as the major source of the world's energy. Fossil fuel reserves are finite, those of oil and gas are estimated to last for several decades, whilst those of coal will last for centuries. Therefore, when developing strategies for greenhouse gas stabilisation, it is important to consider the relative magnitude of these reserves and the best use to which each form of energy is suited, taking note of environmental, technical and economic requirement and consequences. The misuse of potential transport fuels in stationary applications may result in a short term reduction in greenhouse gas emissions, but could ultimately result in a significant increase in greenhouse emissions, once oil and gas reserves are depleted. It is equally important to consider all greenhouse gas emissions associated with the energy chain. These include emissions associated with the winning, preparation, storage and transport of coal, which constitute a very small component of the total greenhouse gas emissions from the use of coal. However, in the case of natural gas, although greenhouse gas emissions, associated with the winning, treatment, transmission and distribution or liquefaction, transport, storage and distribution will vary for each situation, nevertheless they constitute a significant component of total greenhouse gas emissions from the use of natural gas. Control strategies aimed at stabilising greenhouse gas emissions from the use of fossil fuels should encourage more efficient production, treatment, transport and use of energy. They should not include control measures simply aimed at emissions resulting from their use. Control measures, such as a carbon tax or a CO2 tax would distort the energy mix, would impact most on those in the community who are least able to afford the cost and would not take account of total greenhouse emissions associated with energy use. In fact, they could result in a real increase in greenhouse emissions. In addition, it would hasten depletion of scarce resources of energy, ultimately leading to an increase in greenhouse gas emissions from the production of transport fuels by conversion technologies.

CO2-to-Fuels Renewable Gasoline and Jet Fuel Can Soon Be Price Competitive with Fossil Fuels

Fuel-parity, i.e. the intersection of fossil fuel prices with PV generation cost, represents a major milestone for further photovoltaic (PV) diffusion besides grid-parity. A fuel-parity model is presented, which is based on levelized cost of electricity (LCOE) coupled with the experience curve approach. Preconditions for a successful hybridization of PV and fossil fuel power plants are discussed. The global fossil fuel power plant capacity is analysed for the economic hybridization market potential on a georeferenced localized basis for all fossil fuel power plants. LCOE of fossil fuel power plants are converging with those of PV in sunny regions, but in contrast to PV are mainly driven by fuel cost. As a consequence of cost trends this analysis estimates an enormous worldwide market potential for PV power plants by the end of this decade in the order of at least 900 GWp installed capacity without any electricity grid constraints leading to a fast diffusion of hybrid PV-Fossil power plants. The complementary power feed-in of PV and wind power plants might result in hybrid PV-Wind-Fossil power plants in regions of good solar and wind resources. In the mid- to long-term the remaining fossil fuels might be substituted by renewable power methane by using the existing downstream natural gas infrastructure. In conclusion, PV is on the pathway to become a highly competitive energy technology.

Hydroelectricity, an option to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from thermal power plants

This research paper focuses on designing and optimizing carbon capture systems for fossil fuel power plants, with the ultimate goal of lowering greenhouse gas emissions. The study comprehensively analyses carbon capture techniques, including pre-combustion, post-combustion, and oxy-fuel combustion methods. Based upon an extensive literature review, a carbon capture system is designed and optimized for a typical fossil fuel power plant using Aspen Plus simulation software. The optimization process involves selecting appropriate equipment and operating conditions, as well as analyzing the impact various parameters can have on the system's operation. The results of this research indicate that the optimized carbon capture system has the potential to capture up to 80-90% of CO2 emissions from a typical fossil fuel power plant. The system employs a post-combustion capture technology utilizing a solvent-based absorption process. Furthermore, the optimized system also demonstrates a net reduction in greenhouse gas emissions. The economic analysis reveals that the system can be economically viable with the implementation of carbon pricing policies, which encourages the reduction of carbon emissions. In conclusion, this research contributes to the field of carbon capture by designing and optimizing a carbon capture system for fossil fuel power plants. The findings highlight the system's ability to capture a substantial amount of CO2 emissions, achieve a net reduction in greenhouse gas emissions, and demonstrate economic feasibility with the right policy support.

Legislation to cap and trade greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions was approved by a 219-212 vote of the United States House of Representatives on June 26, 2009. Cap and trade policy articulated in the American Clean Energy and Security (ACES) act of 2009 regulates GHGs including carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, sulfur hexafluoride, hydrofluorocarbons, perfluorocarbons and nitrogen trifluoride. Debate over the ACES act focused heavily on economic issues contrasted against concerns about climate change1. However, discussion largely ignored the potential for cap and trade legislation to contribute to reductions in levels of other harmful air pollutants, such as sulfur dioxide, particulate matter, and ozone precursors that share emission sources with GHGs. Under the bill, domestic GHG emissions are to be capped at 2005 annual levels, and reduced to 17% of those marks by 20502. The bill provides for an initial round of pollution permits to be made available, some free, others at auction. Subsequently, these permits can be bought and sold in the open market by organizations such as utility companies and manufacturing firms. A key provision in the ACES act requires the president to impose tariffs on countries that do not implement similar regulations on GHG emissions. While other potentially viable legislation, such as a tax on carbon emissions, has been proposed3, the current cap and trade legislation is the first bill to pass in either the House or Senate. The greenhouse gases regulated under the ACES act do not generally pose serious direct health risks. For example, nitrous oxide is used in dental procedures, and carbon dioxide is an ingredient in carbonated beverages. Other GHGs, like nitrogen trifluoride and sulfur hexafluoride, are not harmful at their current concentration levels, but can be hazardous to persons working with them if safety precautions are not taken. Instead, substantial human health benefits from cap and trade legislation could potentially come from reductions in ambient levels of harmful pollutants, such as particulate matter and ozone, that share emissions sources with GHGs. For example, 94% of CO2 emissions in the US result from combustion of fossil fuels, with electricity generation and transportation alone comprising nearly 70%. These are also the leading source of sulfur dioxide, fine particles having diameter small than 2.5 micrometers (PM2.5), and precursors to ozone such as mono-nitrogen oxides (NOx)4. While the time scale for potential impacts of cap and trade legislation on climate change and related health benefits is likely decades or centuries, ancillary air pollution mitigation could have immediate health benefits. In two nationwide epidemiological studies, daily levels of ambient ozone and PM2.5 have been linked to increased risk of cardiovascular and respiratory mortality5 and to increased risk of emergency hospital admissions, especially for heart failure6, respectively. Estimates of the potential health benefits attributable to reductions in harmful air pollutants resulting from mitigation of GHG emissions, at the city, region and national, have been substantial7. While US cap and trade legislation would likely reduce domestic air pollution levels, two caveats deserve consideration. First, methods for reducing GHG emissions typically reduce air pollution levels, but not always. This problem can be highlighted using airplanes as an example8. Two methods to reduce CO2 emissions from airplanes are to decrease aircraft weight or increase engine combustion temperatures. The former reduces both GHG and air pollution emissions, whereas the later reduces GHG emissions at the cost of increasing precursors to ozone. In the broader context of energy production, it is likely cap and trade legislation would drive a shift away from fossil fuel combustion to sources such as solar technology that produce much less air pollution. However, the exact technology development path is still uncertain. A second problem is the potential for domestic cap and trade legislation to transfer US emissions to newly industrialized nations. Countries facing lower production costs associated with looser regulations on GHG emissions would have an economic advantage over manufacturing industries in the US. However, increased air pollution from new manufacturing could be a key public health issue for developing regions, such as China's Pearl River delta, where air pollution levels are already much higher than standards in the US9. The economic and physical systems that would be affected by cap and trade legislation are extremely complex, and impacts on air pollution will have to be considered in a broad context. For example, while the absence of tariffs would likely push manufacturing, air pollution and related negative health effects to developing regions, those regions might experience health benefits associated with increased per capita income. The discussion is similarly complex in the physical domain. For example, some air pollutants, such as sulfate particulate matter, can contribute to short term climate cooling. Though still somewhat unclear, there is an emerging debate over the possibility that air pollution mitigation could actually exacerbate global warming in the short term10. While it faces potentially significant opposition and alteration in the Senate, the cap and trade bill recently passed in the House has progressed further through Congress than any other similar legislation. There is tremendous potential for legislation regulating GHG emissions, via cap and trade or other strategies, to simultaneously decrease emissions of harmful air pollutants and reduce morbidity and mortality attributable to cardiovascular and respiratory illness. Such improvements in public health have been linked to economic benefits from recovered workforce productivity8, and add important support for progress on cap and trade legislation versus delayed action.