Estimating Cost and Energy Demand in Producing Lithium Hexafluorophosphate for Li-Ion Battery Electrolyte

Mitigating Curtailment and Carbon Emissions through Load Migration between Data Centers

Global warming caused by anthropological emissions of greenhouse gas (GHG) is now an inconvenient reality. CO2, the largest contributor, was emitted at the rate of 6 Gt C y-1 by burning fossil fuels in 1990, which are projected to rise to around 10 Gt C y-1 by 2020. Using bio-fuels, such as bio-ethanol or bio-diesel in transportation, or biomass in power generation reduces CO2 emissions as the carbon is fixed by the plants from the atmosphere and saves the equivalent fossil fuel. The biospheric flux of carbon from the soil and terrestrial biota to the atmosphere is about 120 Gt C y-1 and is roughly balanced by the fixation of carbon by photosynthesis. However, anthropological land use change, through increased agriculture and forestry, resulted in atmospheric emissions of 1.1 Gt C in 1990, projected to rise to 1.5 Gt C in 2020, so the production of biofuels is not GHG emission free if land use change is involved. This paper explores the GHG emission cost of the production of bio-fuels derived from energy crops and compares them to fossil fuels used in transport and electricity generation. The bio-fuels emission cost are presented for several land use scenarios showing that highest sequestration can be achieved by using existing arable land for bio-fuel production and not land with a currently undisturbed ecosystem. Considering these drivers and the GHG emissions, we model the future potential of Europe to produce bio-fuels with four different future land use and climate change scenarios and conclude that up to 20% of Europe's current primary energy consumption could be provided by bio-fuels by the year 2080 with a corresponding reduction in carbon emissions, taking into account the GHG cost of production. Introduction The global pattern of energy use is changing with the successive industrialization of the economies of South East Asia and Brazil, and more recently with the increasing pace of the industrialization of China and India. This has driven an increase in the demand for energy, and hence for fossil fuel, at the rate of 2–3% per year 1. The rate at which conventional oil production can be increased has been reduced by the lack of refining capacity, and the fact that nearly 50% of the world's proven and probable conventional light crude oil reserves have already been consumed 2. This flat-topping in the availability of oil has been compensated for by the increased availability of natural gas and new reserves of cheap coal. Natural gas has been increasing its share of the energy supply mix as the infrastructure and technology of its transportation is put into place both by pipelines, liquefaction and conversion to methanol. In developed economies, gas has displaced both oil and coal, whilst coal use has increased in developing economies, particularly in China. At the same time the use of nuclear energy has stagnated due to public concerns about waste storage and disposal. Globally, biomass currently provides around 46 EJ of bio-energy in the form of combustible biomass and wastes, liquid bio-fuels, renewable municipal solid waste, solid biomass/charcoal, and gaseous fuels. This share is estimated to be 13.4% of global primary energy supply 3 but this is mainly from "traditional biomass" estimated to provide 32EJ in 2002 of non-commercial firewood, charcoal and dung used for cooking and heating in developing countries 4. Such low-grade biomass provides around 35% of primary energy in many developing countries, but more than 70% in Africa 5.

Monte Carlo analysis of life cycle energy consumption and greenhouse gas (GHG) emission for biodiesel production from trap grease

Low-carbon production of iron and steel: Technology options, economic assessment, and policy

There are two types of approaches for analyzing various aspects related to green-house gas (GHG) emissions, i.e., top-down and bottom-up approaches. Although the top-down approach focuses on macro-economic perspectives, the bottom-up approach is more suitable to investigate GHG emissions at an industry level utilizing domain-specific knowledge. For example, a bottom-up analysis requires a wide variety of data such as energy demands, conversion factors, and energy efficiency, which may be obtained by analyzing industrial process data. This study aims to provide a bottom-up approach for analyzing GHG emissions from shipbuilding processes in Korea. Reference energy system and energy balance for shipbuilding processes are derived for bottom-up modeling. Based on the midterm forecast on energy demands of the Korean shipbuilding industry, it is shown that the business-as-usual GHG emissions may be obtained. Relevant mitigation measures are then investigated to analyze their mitigation potentials for low-carbon ship production. 1. Introduction Global climate change has recently drawn an increasing attention due to its adverse effects on our environment. Since the inception of Kyoto Protocol to the United Nations Frame-work conventions on climate change, local and international experts have long called for more international cooperation in coping with global warming. The main idea of international cooperative efforts is to impose binding obligations for greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions on participating countries. Even though some countries have withdrawn their commitment and others have been reluctant to adopting definite targets for emission reduction, many countries have already established a designated national authority to manage their GHG emissions. Korea has also established a national authority called "GHG Inventory and Research Center (GIR)" in 2010. One of the most important roles of GIR is to manage the national GHG emission levels and set the abatement target of various sectors through an efficient and integrated management of GHG-related information. Recently, GIR has conducted a series of research projects to analyze GHG emissions of industrial sectors in cooperation with a group of experts. This study presents the results from the analysis of GHG emissions and mitigation potentials for the shipbuilding processes in Korea. It should be noted that the scope of this study is limited to constructions processes in a shipyard even though the shipbuilding industry may encompass a broader range of industrial sectors such as steel production and transport. Adopting Model for Energy Supply Strategy Alternatives and their General Environmental Impacts (MESSAGE) developed by International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis in 1980s (Messner 1997), a bottom-up mathematical programming model is generated to derive the business-as-usual (BAU) GHG emissions in the construction processes in a shipyard. Abatement potentials of several technical abatement measures are also analyzed to help shipbuilders effectively cope with the issue of climate change.

Life cycle assessment of the energy consumption and GHG emissions of state-of-the-art automotive battery cell production

Energy efficiency is concerned with the ratio of benefits gained from an energy related operation or activity in comparison to the actual energy utilized in deriving that benefits. In essence energy efficiency means doing more with less energy and it involves all aspects of energy production This study investigated energy efficiency as a key driver of environmental sustainability in oil and gas sector in Nigeria. Inefficiency in energy use has brought a significant negative impact by increasing cost of production and emission of green house gases. The implications of this is that the cost of oil and gas operations will be high thereby reducing the profitability and increasing emission by green house gases. The study methodology used literature review and case study of other countries with focus on the oil and gas sector. The findings revealed that energy consumption in oilfields found significant potential for reducing costs through energy efficiency improvements and contributing to climate change mitigation through reducing green house gases emissions. Moreover, reducing oilfield energy costs reduced the overall cost of oil production. Efficiency gains lead to reduced emission, simply changes to field equipment or operating procedures can yield major efficiency gains in oil and gas operation. It is concluded the adoption of energy efficiency in energy intensive sectors with huge carbon foot print such as oil and gas sector will serve to decarbonize the economy and accelerate the nation towards climate change mitigation and sustainable development. The key to increasing energy efficiency and reducing environmental costs is having the right drivers through education, policy and legislation, financial incentives and technological advances. These drivers need to be integrated with both management and technology of the business to drive down cost. It will be crucial for oil and gas companies to improve energy efficiency in all the production process.

Energy-related activities are a major contributor of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. A growing body of knowledge clearly depicts the links between human activities and climate change. Over the last century the burning of fossil fuels such as coal and oil and other human activities has released carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions and other heat-trapping GHG emissions into the atmosphere and thus increased the concentration of atmospheric CO2 emissions. The main human activities that emit CO2 emissions are (1) the combustion of fossil fuels to generate electricity, accounting for about 37% of total U.S. CO2 emissions and 31% of total U.S. GHG emissions in 2013, (2) the combustion of fossil fuels such as gasoline and diesel to transport people and goods, accounting for about 31% of total U.S. CO2 emissions and 26% of total U.S. GHG emissions in 2013, and (3) industrial processes such as the production and consumption of minerals and chemicals, accounting for about 15% of total U.S. CO2 emissions and 12% of total ...

Food consumption, diet shifts and associated non-CO 2 greenhouse gases from agricultural production

Magnesium is a promising lightweight and green metallic engineering material, but the environmental impact of primary magnesium production stage, especially greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions cannot be ignored. In this study, the life cycle energy consumption and GHG emissions caused by the production of primary magnesium in the years of 2003-2013 in China were calculated; the factor decomposition was conducted to analyze the GHG emissions of magnesium production process by using logarithmic mean Divisia index method (LMDI), including energy GHG emission factors, energy structure, energy consumption per ton of primary magnesium, production, emissions per unit of dolomite and ferrosilicon, and dolomite and ferrosilicon consumptions per ton of primary magnesium. The results showed that GHG emissions of primary magnesium production increased 260.29*104 t CO2eq in total from 2003 to 2013. The variety magnesium production contributed the biggest part of GHG emissions, accounting for 418.17%. The energy structure took second place on the contribution of GHG emissions, accounting for-161.49%. The nest part was energy consumption per ton of primary magnesium, accounting for-138.97%. While, the contribution of energy GHG emission factors, emissions per unit of dolomite and ferrosilicon, and dolomite and ferrosilicon consumptions per ton of primary magnesium was relatively small, which were 0.88%, 0.00% -2.72% -4.73% and-11.13%, respectively. Thus, it is the key methods to reduce GHG emissions by optimizing the energy structure and decreasing the energy consumption.

One of the problematic sectors according to GHG (greenhouse gas) and ammonia (NH3) emission quantities is agriculture. Without endangering food production (and intensifying), GHG emissions come from all sources in animal husbandry. The aim of this study was to comprehensively reduce GHG emissions by applying a holistic process management model to one of the most popular cowsheds in Lithuania (260-seat boxing cowshed, cows are milked on site, computerized management of technological processes, productivity of 8600 kg of milk, barn system, and liquid manure). Considering the cow keeping technology applied on the farm, the equipment used, and the feed production and ration system, a model for the management of technological parameters of production processes was prepared for the farm. This model balanced trade-offs among animal welfare, cow productivity, production costs, and GHG and NH3 emissions. The aim of the research was the adaptation of the integrated model to fully control, manage, and optimize milk production processes through bio- and engineering innovations to implement climate-friendly feed production and feeding and feed rationing systems, to improve animal housing and working conditions, and to reduce GHG and NH3 emissions without increasing production costs. The environmental impact assessment was performed with SimaPro 9.1 process modeling software. Data from milk production, biomass cultivation, and feed preparation, transportation, and equipment were used from the Ecoinvent v3 database. Based on the LML-I calculation methodology, the effect of processes was determined. To quantify the potential emissions in the dairy farm, the emission factors were estimated using a life cycle assessment method per functional unit—1000 kg—of standardized milk. Grass silage, maize silage, and feed concentrate were found to account for the largest share of gas emissions—26.09% (107.39 kg CO2 eq. FU−1), 22.70% (93.44 kg CO2 eq. FU−1), and 21.85% (89.92 kg CO2 eq. FU−1) of the total CO2 emissions during the process, respectively. Considering the critical points of the classic SC scenario, the cultivation technology was adjusted, where 50% of N fertilizers were replaced by bioproducts (biological preparations). Both scenarios—classic SC (control variant) and Bio SC (variants using bioproducts)—were evaluated for comparison. The use of biopreparations in the categories reduced the environmental impact from 0.1% to 45.7% in dairy production technology grass silage, barley grain, hay production, and corn silage stocks. The carbon footprint of the sustainable bio-based milk production (0.393 kg CO2 eq. kg−1 FPCM (fat- and protein-adjusted milk)) was lower by 4.6% compared to the average Lithuanian classic dairy farm (0.412 kg CO2 eq. kg−1 FPCM). Based on this methodology, it is possible to assess many dairy farms and address critical points in an integrated way, which can help to improve the quality of dairy production and the environment.

Energy demand and greenhouse gas emissions during the production of a passenger car in China

The energy consumption and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions associated with urban water systems have come under scrutiny in recent times, as a result of increasing interest in climate change, to which urban water systems are particularly vulnerable. The approach most commonly taken previously to modelling these results has been to consider various urban water system components in great detail, but in isolation from the rest of the system. This piecewise approach is suboptimal, since it systematically fails to reveal the relative importance of the energy consumption and GHG emissions associated with each system component in the context of the entire urban water system. Hence, it was determined that a new approach to modelling the energy consumption and GHG emissions associated with urban water systems was necessary. It was further determined that the value derived from such a model would be greatly enhanced if it could also model the water consumption and wastewater generation associated with each system component, such that integrated policies could be developed, aimed at minimising water consumption, wastewater generation, energy consumption and GHG emissions concurrently. Hence, the following research question was posed: How should the relationships between the water consumption, wastewater generation, energy consumption and GHG emissions associated with the operation of urban water systems be modelled such that the impact of various changes to the system configuration made at different spatial scales can be determined within the context of the entire system? In this research project, life cycle assessment ideas were employed to develop such a new modelling methodology. Initially, the approach was developed at the building-scale, such that the end uses of water present in a selected building and any associated appliances could be modelled, along with the fraction of the citywide water supply and wastewater systems directly associated with providing services to that building. This vast breadth of scope was delivered by considering only the operational life cycle stage of each urban water system component, excluding both the pre- and post-operational life cycle stages of the associated infrastructure. The value of this pilot model was illustrated by several case studies, focused on residential buildings connected to the centralised water supply and wastewater systems in Melbourne, Australia. Later, the approach was extended to the city-scale by using probabilistic distributions of each input parameter, such that all of the end uses of water present in a city, and all of the associated building-scale appliances could be modelled, along with the associated complete water supply and wastewater systems. The value of this city-scale model was illustrated by applying it to model a hypothetical case study city, resembling Melbourne, Australia in many ways. Due to a lack of data, this application was limited to the residential sector of the case study city, along with the fraction of the citywide water supply and wastewater systems directly associated with providing services to that sector. The results generated by the pilot and city-scale models showed that the new modelling methodology could be employed at a wide range of scales to assess the relative importance of each modelled urban water system component in terms of the specified results. Importantly, the high resolution of those results enabled the identification of the underlying causes of the relative importance of each urban water system component, such that efficient and effective approaches to reducing each result for each system component could be developed. Interestingly, for the specific case studies investigated, it was revealed that some commonly neglected system components were actually extremely important, such as domestic hot water services, a trend found to be largely driven by hot water consumption in showers.

Greenhouse gas emissions and production cost footprints in Australian gold mines

BackgroundSocietal pressures exist to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from farm animals, especially in beef cattle. Both total GHG and GHG emissions per unit of product decrease as productivity increases. Limitations of previous studies on GHG emissions are that they generally describe feed intake inadequately, assess the consequences of selection on particular traits only, or examine consequences for only part of the production chain. Here, we examine GHG emissions for the whole production chain, with the estimated cost of carbon included as an extra cost on traits in the breeding objective of the production system.MethodsWe examined an example beef production system where economic merit was measured from weaning to slaughter. The estimated cost of the carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2-e) associated with feed intake change is included in the economic values calculated for the breeding objective traits and comes in addition to the cost of the feed associated with trait change. GHG emission effects on the production system are accumulated over the breeding objective traits, and the reduction in GHG emissions is evaluated, for different carbon prices, both for the individual animal and the production system.ResultsMultiple-trait selection in beef cattle can reduce total GHG and GHG emissions per unit of product while increasing economic performance if the cost of feed in the breeding objective is high. When carbon price was $10, $20, $30 and $40/ton CO2-e, selection decreased total GHG emissions by 1.1, 1.6, 2.1 and 2.6% per generation, respectively. When the cost of feed for the breeding objective was low, selection reduced total GHG emissions only if carbon price was high (~ $80/ton CO2-e). Ignoring the costs of GHG emissions when feed cost was low substantially increased emissions (e.g. 4.4% per generation or ~ 8.8% in 10 years).ConclusionsThe ability to reduce GHG emissions in beef cattle depends on the cost of feed in the breeding objective of the production system. Multiple-trait selection will reduce emissions, while improving economic performance, if the cost of feed in the breeding objective is high. If it is low, greater growth will be favoured, leading to an increase in GHG emissions that may be undesirable.