Energy Use and GHG Emissions in the Quebec Pulp and Paper Industry, 1990–2006

Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of the Quebec pulp and paper industry fell by more than 30 percent from 1990 to 2006. We use an energy demand model to analyze the contributions to this decrease of energy prices, product mix, technological change, and biomass use. The product mix is made of pulp, and cardboard, and paper. Pulp is an intermediate product for the industry, but not necessarily so for mills; vertical integration varies across mills and presents different opportunities to transfer heat between stages of production. Chemical and mechanical pulping processes are used to form two groups of pulp and paper mills. We find that changes of product mixes contributed the most to reduce GHG emissions, followed to a lesser extent by increases of fuel prices relative to electricity. The estimated electricity and fuel price elasticities are low. However it is still possible to significantly reduce GHG emissions by substituting natural gas for heavy fuel oil; such a substitution could be brought about by a small change of their relative price.

Mitigating Curtailment and Carbon Emissions through Load Migration between Data Centers

The removal of colour, organics and phosphorus from pulp and paper mill effluent and the development of colour of the wastewater were investigated. These contaminants are considered to be the most important due to their resistance over common treatment applied by the mill. Two approaches, adsorption and coagulation, were chosen for investigation of the removal of colour, organics and phosphorus from aqueous discharges of a bisulphite pulp and paper mill. Additionally, the colour generation induced by UV irradiation of the treated effluents was investigated. This study was carried out to explore the possibility of UV-induced colour development of the effluent over the long term and to characterize the colour producing species from the wastewater. Cheap and highly abundant brown coal (or lignite) was utilized as adsorbent for colour, phosphorus, and organics from the industrial effluent. Knowledge on the mechanism of brown coal adsorption, selectivity, the effect of pre-treatment and physical properties of brown coal is crucial for the future application of brown coal in the water industry. The mechanism of brown coal adsorption was investigated using various brown coal samples differing in physical and chemical composition and two model dye solutions, cationic (safranin) and anionic (alizarin red) dyes. The capacities of some brown coals (Loy Yang high Na and Yallourn) were higher than commercial coal-based activated carbon. However, the adsorption capacities of all brown coal samples for an anionic dye were very low, less than 3% of that for activated carbon. This result reveals the potential of brown coal to remove positively charged contaminants from aqueous solutions and suggests cation-exchange as the major mechanism involved. Effects of brown coal pre-treatment, drying and washing, were investigated. The equilibrium adsorption data were analysed using the two most popular adsorption isotherms, Langmuir and Freundlich. The Langmuir isotherm fitted most adsorption data of brown coal better than the Freundlich isotherm, supporting the concept of monolayer adsorption and the role of chemical adsorption in the mechanism. When applied to actual wastewater from a magnesium bisulphite pulp and paper mill, brown coal exhibited multi-component adsorption of colour, organics and phosphorus from the solution. Brown coal showed an ability to remove phosphorus from the wastewater, which could not be achieved with activated carbon; yet brown coal had significantly lower adsorption capacities for colour and organics than did activated carbon. This can be explained by the nature of organics and colour that carried negative charge in the wastewater as indicated by the zeta potential analysis. Another powerful technique for organic removal, coagulation, was then chosen to significantly reduce colour and organics content of the effluent. Coagulation using trivalent salts was selected to efficiently remove colour, organics and total phosphorus in the treated and untreated wastewater solution. Selectivity of salt-induced coagulation was achieved and showed the following trend of removal efficiency: colour ~ total phosphorus > TOC. The removal of colour and total phosphorus from concentrated pulp mill effluents were above 90%. The coagulation method was proven to be superior for the remediation of both treated and untreated effluent from pulp and paper industry. However, a small amount of colour and organics still persisted in the wastewater which may lead to colour development after treatment at the collecting discharge point. The Photometric Dispersion Analyzer (PDA) and Focused Beam Reflectance Measurement (FBRM) techniques were utilised to study the coagulation kinetics of the wastewater upon addition of salt. The involvement of fast aggregation and adsorption in the coagulation mechanism were revealed. The high critical coagulation concentration (CCC) and the significant role of trivalent salts in the coagulation process indicated the involvement of complexation reactions prior to coagulation. In coagulation, pH was also found to be a dominant factor affecting efficiency. The UV-induced colour generation of the effluent from pulp and paper industry was studied using UV-irradiation at 302 nm and 254 nm. Lignin derived compounds were suspected to be responsible for colour growth of pulp and paper wastewater. Three model compounds, lignosulfonic acid, humic acid and vanillin, were selected and studied as comparison. The yellowing rate of the wastewater solution was found to be similar to that of the model lignosulfonic acid solution supporting the occurrence of lignin compounds in the wastewater. The yellowing rate of humic acid was lower than the wastewater solution, but the yellowing rate for vanillin was significantly higher than that of the wastewater solution. The irradiation products were analysed using High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC), UV spectroscopy, Electrospray Mass Spectrometry (ES-MS), Proton Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (1H-NMR) and Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR). The mechanism of wastewater yellowing upon irradiation was suspected to mimic the mechanism of photo-yellowing of paper. The result also suggested that UV-induced chemical reactions may be important in the aqueous discharge of pulp and paper mill effluent that could potentially enhance its colour.

Modeling greenhouse gas emissions from biological wastewater treatment process with experimental verification: A case study of paper mill

The study of characterization of emissions coming out from pulp and paper industries using bagasse (non-wood) as raw material include recovery boiler, power boiler, smelt dissolving tank, lime kiln, and chlorine washer units. Whereas the study of characterization of emissions coming out from pulp and paper industries using wood as raw material include recovery boiler and power boiler units. The emission parameter measured include Cl2, TRS, particulate, NOx, NO2, NO, SO2, CO2 and CO. Cl2 and TRS concentrations were done by iodometric method. Particulate was determined by gravimetric method. The concentration of NOx, NO2 and NO were measured by chemiluminescence method. Non-dispersive infra red (NDIR) method was used to measure for SO2, CO and CO2 parameters. The results study reveal that the power boiler using heavy fuel oil emited SO2 concentration above emissions standard. Recovery boiler, lime kiln, and smelt dissolving tank, in generally, also emited particulate concentrantion above emissions standard. The equipments for air emissions control such as cyclone scrubber and electro static precipitator used in pulp and paper industry are required to be operated in the optimum condition.

Major US electric utility climate pledges have the potential to collectively reduce power sector emissions by one-third

The impact of uncertainties on predicted greenhouse gas emissions of dairy cow production systems

This study aims to assess greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of Poy(lactic acid) (PLA) with cassava starch blend (PLA/starch) and Poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) trays from cradle to grave. The various waste treatment scenarios were considered. The functional unit is specified as 10,000 units of 8 x 10 x 2.5 cm. of PLA/starch and PET trays which weigh 597.6 and 582.7.5 kilograms, respectively. The results from cradle to production gate were found that GHG emissions of PLA/starch has 51.38% lower than that of PET. This is because PET has higher weight of the trays. The resin production stage of PET tray has the highest of greenhouse GHG emissions. The results from cradle to grave show that the highest total GHG emissions are observed from PLA/starch or PET trays with 90% of landfill and 10% of incineration. The lowest GHG emissions from disposal PLA/starch and PET trays are from landfill with biogas recovery and incineration with heat recovery. This can be reduced GHG emissions by 3.11103 and 1.28103 kg CO2 equivalent.

International concern is now focused on reducing green house gas (GHG) emissions which drive climate change. The use of fossil fuels, either flaring natural gas and burning fossil fuels, are predicted contributing GHG emissions. As a consequence, International cooperation through United Nation Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) has pointed to increase policy interest in developing CO2 and GHG emission trading system. The system would allow the countries who have opportunities to reduce CO2 and GHG emission (generally developing countries) and sell or trade GHG emission reduction to the countries (generally developed countries). The second part of this paper will be emphasized on oil and gas reserves, production, refineries,and utilization. Indonesia oil resource as of January 1st, 2006 amounts to about 56.60 BBO, while gas resources as of January 1st, 2006 is about 334.5 TSCF. Indonesia has nine refineries owned by PT Pertamina (Persero) and six refineries owned by private. Indonesia has also voluntary participated in reducing GHG emissions by formulating energy policy, doing research on carbon capture and storage (CCS), and developing innovative projects. This paper will highlight the energy policy, research program and innovative projects for reducing GHG emission from oil and gas activities in Indonesia

BackgroundThe typical Western diet is associated with high levels of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and with obesity and other diet-related diseases. This study aims to determine the impact of adjustments to the current diet at specific moments of food consumption, to lower GHG emissions and improve diet quality.MethodsFood consumption in the Netherlands was assessed by two non-consecutive 24-h recalls for adults aged 19–69 years (n = 2102). GHG emission of food consumption was evaluated with the use of life cycle assessments. The population was stratified by gender and according to tertiles of dietary GHG emission. Scenarios were developed to lower GHG emissions of people in the highest tertile of dietary GHG emission; 1) reducing red and processed meat consumed during dinner by 50% and 75%, 2) replacing 50% and 100% of alcoholic and soft drinks (including fruit and vegetable juice and mineral water) by tap water, 3) replacing cheese consumed in between meals by plant-based alternatives and 4) two combinations of these scenarios. Effects on GHG emission as well as nutrient content of the diet were assessed.ResultsThe mean habitual daily dietary GHG emission in the highest tertile of dietary GHG emission was 6.7 kg CO2-equivalents for men and 5.1 kg CO2-equivalents for women. The scenarios with reduced meat consumption and/or replacement of all alcoholic and soft drinks were most successful in reducing dietary GHG emissions (ranging from − 15% to − 34%) and also reduced saturated fatty acid intake and/or sugar intake. Both types of scenarios lead to reduced energy and iron intakes. Protein intake remained adequate.ConclusionsReducing the consumption of red and processed meat during dinner and of soft and alcoholic drinks throughout the day leads to significantly lower dietary GHG emissions of people in the Netherlands in the highest tertile of dietary GHG emissions, while also having health benefits. For subgroups of the population not meeting energy or iron requirements as a result of these dietary changes, low GHG emission and nutritious replacement foods might be needed in order to meet energy and iron requirements.

Large areas of mine tailings are reclaimed by applying organic amendments such as paper mill sludge (PMS). Although mining industries can use PMS freshly generated by paper mills, operational constraints on paper industries make temporary landfilling of this material an unavoidable alternative for the paper industries, creating the most prominent PMS source for mining industries. This study aimed to quantify soil greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions (NO, CO, and CH) after application of landfilled PMS (LPMS; i.e., excavated from a landfill site at a paper mill) and LPMS combined with a seeding treatment of white clover ( L.) on nonacidic mine tailings site prior to reforestation. Soil NO, CO, and CH fluxes were measured after applications of 50 and 100 Mg dry LPMS ha during two consecutive snow-free seasons on two adjacent sites; LPMS was applied once in the first season. The LPMS application increased NO emissions (7.6 to 34.7 kg NO-N ha, comprising 1.04 to 2.43% of applied N) compared with the unamended control during the first season; these emissions were negligible during the second season. The LPMS application increased CO emissions (∼5800 to 11,400 kg CO-C ha, comprising 7 to 27% of applied C) compared with the unamended control on both sites and in both seasons. Fluxes of CH were negligible. White clover combined with LPMS treatments did not affect soil GHG emissions. These new GHG emission factors should be integrated into life-cycle analyses to evaluate the C footprint of potential symbioses between the mining and paper industries. Future research should focus on the effect of PMS applications on soil GHG emissions from a variety of mine tailings under various management practices and climatic conditions to plan responsible and sustainable land reclamation.

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.

In this paper, we used the life-cycle analysis (LCA) method to evaluate the energy consumption and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of natural gas (NG) distributed generation (DG) projects in China. We took the China Resources Snow Breweries (CRSB) NG DG project in Sichuan province of China as a base scenario and compared its life cycle energy consumption and GHG emissions performance against five further scenarios. We found the CRSB DG project (all energy input is NG) can reduce GHG emissions by 22%, but increase energy consumption by 12% relative to the scenario, using coal combined with grid electricity as an energy input. The LCA also indicated that the CRSB project can save 24% of energy and reduce GHG emissions by 48% relative to the all-coal scenario. The studied NG-based DG project presents major GHG emissions reduction advantages over the traditional centralized energy system. Moreover, this reduction of energy consumption and GHG emissions can be expanded if the extra electricity from the DG project can be supplied to the public grid. The action of combining renewable energy into the NG DG system can also strengthen the dual merit of energy conservation and GHG emissions reduction. The marginal CO2 abatement cost of the studied project is about 51 USD/ton CO2 equivalent, which is relatively low. Policymakers are recommended to support NG DG technology development and application in China and globally to boost NG utilization and control GHG emissions.

Taking Stock of Strategies on Climate Change and the Way Forward: A Strategic Climate Change Framework for Australia

Sustainable Energy Transitions in sub-Saharan Africa: Impacts on Air Quality, Economics, and Fuel Consumption