Billion Tons Of Carbon Dioxide Research Articles

Decarbonisation – how are we tracking against plans

Globally many countries have committed to reducing carbon dioxide emissions and their dependence on fossil fuels with most large emitting countries now committing to ‘net-zero’ targets sometime in the second half of this century and earlier intermediate targets in 2030. With only 6 years to go until the deadline to meet 2030 emission reduction targets, what is the verdict? How are Australian and global emission reduction projects tracking? World electricity demand in 2022 was 28,500 TWh with 39.3 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide emitted in the same year as a result. The global energy mix hasn’t changed much: fossil fuel consumption as a percentage of primary energy in 2022 remained steady at 82% and in July 2023 the International Energy Agency projected 2023 oil demand to be 102.1 million barrels a day, an all-time high. This paper will take a look at decarbonisation efforts around the world and provide an overview of what was targeted in previous years and compare it with what has actually been achieved. How far are we truly on the road to decarbonisation? Are decarbonisation initiatives including carbon capture, utilisation and storage, hydrogen projects, solar and wind farms providing the intended results? Incorporating recent key regulatory initiatives from governments around the world including the US, Australia and the EU, this paper will outline progress to date and attempt to show possible paths going forward in answering the question whether it is possible to achieve the proposed emission reduction targets in 6 years.

Analyzing the relationship between energy use for economic development and CO2 emissions, crop, and livestock production in Pakistan by using the extended STIRPAT model

Contemporary human-made activities are responsible for the emission of more than 30 billion tons of carbon dioxide (CO2), a greenhouse gas, into the atmosphere. The current study's primary purpose is to examine the key elements that contribute to the elevated levels of the release of CO2 into the environment in Pakistan. The research used Pakistan's annual data spanning from 1970 to 2020, along with the STIRPAT (Stochastic Impact by Regression on Population, Affluence, and Technology) model. The relationship between the emission of CO2 into the atmosphere and other chosen factors is examined using the ARDL (Auto Regressive Distributive Lag) model and the ECM (Error Correction Model). These models help to establish the credibility of the acquired findings. The paired Granger causality analysis revealed the presence of unidirectional and bidirectional cause-and-effect relationships between the named variable parameters in the activity under investigation. Pakistan must prioritize tackling the fundamental challenges afflicting its farming industry, particularly those pertaining to the efficiency of its livestock and crop production. The novelty of this study comes in its investigation of the interaction between hitherto undiscovered macro-level properties and the emission of CO2 into the environment of Pakistan. The findings may assist policymakers in formulating an environmental and agricultural strategy aimed at promoting the use of sophisticated low-carbon technology.

Cyanobacteria as a Biocatalyst for Sustainable Production of Biofuels and Chemicals

The combustion of fossil fuels constitutes a significant catalyst for climate change, resulting in the annual release of about two billion tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO2). The increase in CO2 emission is directly linked to a heightened occurrence of natural calamities and health-related issues. The substitution of fossil fuels with renewable energy sources is a fundamental approach to reduce the negative impacts caused by consumption of these nonrenewable energy resources. The utilisation of biological methodologies to produce environmentally friendly energy from renewable sources holds significant potential for the sustainable production of fuel. However, the cultivation of first- and second-generation biofuel crops presents a challenge, since they compete for limited cropland, hence constraining their overall viability. In contrast, photosynthetic microorganisms such as algae and cyanobacteria exhibit significant potential as third-generation biofuel catalysts, devoid of the limitations associated with contemporary biofuels. Cyanobacteria, a type of photosynthetic prokaryotes, exhibit significant potential for the direct conversion of carbon dioxide (CO2) into biofuels, chemicals, and various other valuable compounds. There has been a growing interest in the concept of utilising biological processes to convert carbon dioxide into fuels and chemicals. The introduction of a limited number of heterologous genes has the potential to confer upon cyanobacteria the capability to convert particular central metabolites into a diverse range of end products. The progress in the field of synthetic biology and genetic manipulation has enabled the manipulation of cyanobacteria to synthesise compounds that are not generally produced by these organisms in their natural environment. This study focuses on recent papers that employ various methodologies to engineer cyanobacteria for the purpose of producing high-value compounds, such as biofuels.

Soil Fungi Are a Major Carbon Sink

New research suggests that mycorrhizal fungi take in 13 billion tons of carbon dioxide annually, playing a prominent role in Earth’s carbon cycle.

A novel low carbon cementitious binder incorporating yellow sand and clinker for non-structural application

Concrete preparation requires a significant quantity of natural reserves worldwide and necessitates the development of alternative materials and sources. The manufacturing of concrete needs around 27 billion tonnes of raw material inventory, representing four tonnes of concrete per person per year. By 2025, around 4 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide (approximately) are estimated to be released to the atmosphere during cement production. This study focuses on the development of a novel Low Carbon Cementitious Binder (LCCB) for non-structural applications, The LCCB developed in this study is a mortar that incorporates natural sand as an aggregate. The composition of the LCCB is 60% linker, 30% clinker, 10% lime, and natural sand. The natural sand is used as an aggregate in the mortar, which contributes to its overall strength and durability. The compressive strength of the LCCB was tested after 15 years, and the results showed a strength of 27 MPa, indicating its potential for use in construction. Additionally, the phase formation of the LCCB was confirmed using XRD, and SEM analysis, and its mineralogy was evaluated using microscopy. The results indicated that the LCCB is a suitable alternative to cement-based binders for non-structural applications, offering significant benefits in terms of reduced environmental impact and sustainability. Overall, this study represents a significant step towards developing more sustainable and environmentally friendly materials for the construction industry.

Features of the mechanism for implementing sustainable development through the green economy

Economic development is accompanied by a continuous increase in production and consumption. On the one hand, the rapid development of production contributes to the welfare of the population, and on the other – has a negative impact on the environment. Every year, people destroy more than 11 million hectares of forest, emit 20 billion tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, and produce more than 300 million tons of plastic mass. If this process is not interfered with, humanity will face a global environmental catastrophe. The new economic concept was developed in order to smooth out the cantradictions between economic growth and the conservation of natural resources. It is based on three axioms. Many countries have seriously taken care of environmental problems and have developed a set of economic measures to combat the negative anthropogenic impact. The pioneers in this field are the states of Western Europe, South Korea, the USA, China, as well as Russia

Generative design for more economical and environmentally sustainable reinforced concrete structures

With billion tons of carbon dioxide emitted by the construction and manufacturing sector every year, there is an urgent need for reducing construction materials consumption as the construction industry continues to grow. Current practices for designing structural elements, which are based on traditional design methods, result in building box-shaped elements and consuming more materials than what is structurally necessary. Excess materials can be removed without compromising the structural soundness of the elements while also providing added architectural value. This paper presents an approach based on generative design concepts, genetic algorithms, and the Lagrangian Multiplier Method to design concrete beams that use near-exact amounts of material only where they are needed. In this study, beam designs are optimized to reduce concrete and steel use in reinforced concrete beams. The effectiveness of the approach was demonstrated through its deployment to design a cantilever beam and a simply supported beam. The results of both applications were very promising as the reductions in material costs reached 63% and the related reductions in CO2 emissions reached 57% per beam. This lays strong foundations for expanding the effort to scale this approach into entire buildings. The optimized structures can be constructed using 3D concrete printing technology, which eliminates the barriers imposed by traditional form-based construction. The results of this study contribute to means for making construction more economical and environmentally sustainable.

Accounting for China’s Net Carbon Emissions and Research on the Realization Path of Carbon Neutralization Based on Ecosystem Carbon Sinks

Carbon sinks are an important way to achieve carbon neutrality. In this study, carbon emissions in each year from 2019 to 2060 were predicted by constructing the LEAP (Long-range Energy Alternatives Planning System)-China model. The ecosystem carbon sinks in five representative years of 2012, 2017, 2019, 2030, and 2060 were predicted by reviewing related literature to calculate China’s net carbon emission accounts in these five key years and to quantitatively analyze the path to achieving carbon neutrality in China. The results show that China’s annual carbon emissions will peak in 2028, with a peak of 10.27 billion tons of carbon dioxide; that they will then decrease year by year to 7227 million tons of carbon dioxide in 2060; and that the ecosystem carbon sinks generated by land use are more stable, with a total of approximately 5.5 billion tons of carbon dioxide. To achieve carbon neutrality, a dependence only on ecosystem carbon sinks is insufficient. National energy conservation, voluntary emission reduction by enterprises, and a reliance on new energy and new technologies are needed to ensure the final implementation of China’s carbon neutrality strategy.

Corporate net zero strategy—Opportunities in start‐up driven climate innovation

AbstractDuring the era of industrialization, over the period 1850–2019, the total anthropogenic emissions, caused by human activities, have been around 2390 billion tons of carbon dioxide. These concentrations are now higher than any time during the past 2 million years. Mitigating climate change is on top of the strategic agenda of most global leading enterprises. Climate change solutions demand unprecedented levels of innovation in technology, policy, finance, and business models. In this respect, the global innovation ecosystem is highly reliant on large corporations, research institutions, and academia. However, start‐ups are also in the core of innovation, and new start‐up businesses can accelerate and drive climate innovation. In this article, we discuss the role of start‐ups in corporate innovation and sustainability strategies, for mitigating climate change. We analyze the progress of start‐up businesses in driving decarbonization, identified as climate innovation. In addition to studying start‐up companies' deal counts, capital investments, and pre‐ and post‐valuations, we studied the industrial sectors in which the start‐ups in climate innovation businesses operate. The results show that the total combined 2000–2022 post‐valuation of climate innovation start‐ups was 27 billion EUR, and the share of these start‐ups and financial investments or deals grew by 2000% and 2811%, respectively. Our research highlights the importance of start‐up companies specifically in corporate innovation and sustainability strategies while implementing their highly ambitious corporate carbon zero targets and commitments.

Scenario simulations of China's natural gas consumption under the dual-carbon target

A dual-carbon target (i.e., carbon peak and carbon neutrality) has been a critical external factor for the usage of China's fossil energy in the future. As the lowest-carbon fossil energy source, the uncertainty of China's natural gas usage is much higher than that of coal and oil. Thus, a detailed analysis of China's future natural gas consumption (NGC) under the dual-carbon target has attracted great attention from academia. This paper constructs a system dynamics-based forecasting model for China's NGC, and predicts the trends of China's primary energy demand, natural gas demand, and carbon emissions under four scenarios of high-, medium-, low-, and business-as-usual transitions. The low transition scenario, which is in line with the actual situation of China, shows that: (1) primary energy consumption peaks around 2040 at approximately 7 billion tons of standard coal equivalent. (2) Carbon dioxide emissions peak in 2030 at approximately 10.6 billion tons of carbon dioxide, and “net zero” carbon emissions will be achieved in 2057 and 2059 under high and low carbon sinks, respectively. (3) NGC is expected to peak in 2038 at approximately 630 billion cubic meters. (4) Industrial gas is expected to peak around 2035 at approximately 450 billion cubic meters.

Lifecycle assessment of alkali activated cement concrete

Climate change is one of the most important environmental problems that our planet Earth is facing. This is due to the increased emission of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide. Concrete, the most consumed material in the construction industry is reported to be responsible for about 8% of worldwide carbon dioxide emissions. The manufacturing of ordinary Portland cement is both resource and energy-intensive and is accountable for 1.35 billion tons of carbon dioxide emitted annually. Hence potential alternative to Portland cement widely recognized is the adoption of alkali-activated cement. Alkali-activated cement commonly utilizes industrial by-products such as fly ash, GGBS, etc. along with alkali activators such as sodium silicate and sodium hydroxide. The literature review indicates that the environmental impact due to the usage of Portland cement can be reduced by the adoption of alkali-activated cement. However, the manufacture of alkali activators is likely to contribute to the emission to the environment. In addition, the heat curing commonly adopted during the production of concrete to activate the alkalis might also have a bearing. Hence a comparative study using the lifecycle assessment (LCA) method is carried out to assess the impact due to the production of alkali-activated cement concrete using supplementary cementitious materials (SCM) fly ash and GGBS with varying proportions of alkali activators (sodium silicate and sodium hydroxide). Data is extracted from the published literature corresponding to two different compressive strength ranges of OPC concrete and alkali-activated cement concretes that have utilized four varying proportions of alkali activator ratios. It is then analyzed by the ‘cradle to gate’ approach using LCA software SimaPro. The impact assessment is done using the ReCiPe 2016 method. A comparison of results and their interpretation is done based on its compressive strength ranges, the alkali activator ratios, and the effect due to change in the SCMs utilized.

Decarbonizing the Coal-Fired Power Sector in China via Carbon Capture, Geological Utilization, and Storage Technology.

Carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS) is a critical technology to realize carbon neutrality target in the Chinese coal-fired power sector, which emitted 3.7 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide in 2017. However, CCUS technology is often viewed as an "alternative technology" option owing to common perceptions of relatively high cost and potential risks. This study indicates that coal power CCUS is likely to be a cost-effective and key technology for helping China reach the ambitious goal of carbon neutrality. This comprehensive, national-scale assessment of CCUS deployment on coal power in China is based on a unique bottom-up approach that includes site selection, coal plant screening, techno-economic analysis, and carbon dioxide source-sink matching. Analysis indicates that, based on 2017 costs and assumptions, more than 70% of coal power plants in this study could be cost-competitive with natural gas-fired power plants, and 22-58% would be cost-competitive with onshore wind generation. These insights suggest that the commercialization of CCUS technology in the coal power sector in China is a viable route toward decarbonizing the economy if a grid price policy similar to that of renewables and natural gas power is applied.

Fossil fuel energy and environmental performance in an extended STIRPAT model

Recent reports by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (2018 and 2019) have revealed that world’s human activities have contributed to around 1°C of global warming above the pre-industrial levels (expected to reach 1.5°C between 2030 and 2052) with the burning of fossil fuel contributing to over three-quarters of world’s emissions. Rising demand for energy is expected to add another 39 billion tonnes of carbon-dioxide, threatening the climate action plan of achieving net-zero by 2050. Given the expected worsening of emissions from fossil fuels’ burning, this paper’s main objective is to empirically examine the supply-side effect of energy generation from fossil fuels (coal, natural gas and oil) on environmental quality. In doing so, an extended Stochastic Impacts by Regression on Population Affluence and Technology (STIRPAT) model is adopted that controls for a range of economic, social and institutional factors. The panel data estimation technique is applied to the model that includes a balanced panel of 59 countries using coal, 77 countries using gas and 96 countries using oil for 2002 to 2016. The results revealed coefficient coal is negative and statistically significant at the 1 per cent level (α = −0.052 with ρ = 0.01) and oil is negative and statistically significant at 5 per cent level (α = −0.020 with ρ = 0.05). These results support supply-side energy generation through the burning of coal and oil as vital contributors to environmental quality degradation. Other than confirming the Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) effect, forest cover, schooling, the rule of law and nations commitments to international environmental treaties are other strong correlates of environmental performance. The findings also revealed strong adverse effects of agriculture and industrial intensification on environmental quality. The main conclusion is the urgency for the worlds fossil fuel energy-dependent countries to transit from fossil fuel energy to the production of frontier renewable (cleaner forms) sources of energy to minimise degradation of the environment. Other than exploring supply-side carbon mitigation policies, there is a need for active co-operation of all countries of the world in the enforcement of international treaties to minimise further environmental damage.

A fair trade? Expert perceptions of equity, innovation, and public awareness in China\u2019s future Emissions Trading Scheme

How can the Chinese emissions trading scheme (ETS) be redesigned or improved to better address issues of fairness and equity, innovation and learning, and awareness and social acceptance? In order to meet its 2030 carbon emission reduction pledges, the Chinese government has announced plans for a fully implementable national carbon ETS after 2020. This scheme is set to become the world’s most significant carbon trading market and it could cover half of all Chinese CO2 emissions (as much as 4 billion tons of carbon dioxide). In this study, we qualitatively analyze the Chinese ETS through the lens of three interconnected themes—equity, innovation, and awareness—which are disaggregated into six specific dimensions. We then explore these themes and dimensions with a mixed methods and original research design involving a survey of 68 Chinese experts as well as 34 semi-structured research interviews with respondents from local governments, financial institutions, technology service companies, universities, industries, and civil society groups. We find that uneven economic and social growth could exacerbate any initial permits allocation scheme that could be a cornerstone for an ETS. Substantial technological and institutional uncertainties exist that could also hamper development and enforcement. Low or negative awareness among the public and private sector were identified as also being significant barriers for ETS implementation.

Carbon Capture Materials and Technologies: A Review

The United States emitted 5.27 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere in 2018, less than one-sixth of the global emissions that year. The immense amount of greenhouse gases in the air have a detrimental effect on the planet. Rising global temperatures, rising sea levels, drought, wildfires, and other natural disasters are all being accelerated because of carbon emissions. Carbon capture is one solution that could reduce emissions tremendously. The topics of energy consumption, transportation phenomena, and thermodynamics of a wide range of carbon capture methods will be discussed. Keywords: Climate Change, Post-combustion, Carbon Dioxide, Carbon Capture, Absorption, Desorption

Production of Methanol from Carbon Dioxide: Possibilities and Fundamental Challenges

Carbon dioxide mitigation is one of major challenge faced by our society. Carbon dioxide is one of the main green house gases causing global warming. According to last year survey, all over the world pumped nearly 38.2 billion tons of carbon dioxide was pumped into air from burning of fossil fuels such as coal, gasoline, oil etc. To prevent mitigation of excessive carbon dioxide in atmosphere, CO2 capturing and utilization is vital. It has been studied that reduction of CO2 into renewable fuel and vital chemical is the best possible solution for CO2 utilization. Hydrogenation of CO2 to form methanol, were methanol is the energy source for direct methanol fuel cell (DMFC). At anode, methanol is reformed into carbon dioxide (CO2) while at cathode steam or water is formed using oxygen available in the air. This fuel cell can be used in portable applications. Methanol is used in producing solvents like the acetic acid, and an important feedstock in manufacture of paints, plastics etc. This review deals with the recent developments and upcoming challenges of CO2 utilization for the efficient production of methanol. This includes novel ideas, methodologies, and current difficulties for the production of CO2 to methanol through various ways like homogeneous and heterogeneous catalysis, electrochemical, photochemical, and photo electrochemical conversion, which will contribute to the economic growth in terms of producing useful products from waste and hinder the hazardous emissions for cleaner and safer environment. This review presents various state-of-the-art technologies and methodologies for CO2 conversion to methanol and aims to establish the advances in this area and present an overview of the recent research trend for future development. Carbon dioxide mitigation and conversion is presenting both an opportunity and a challenge worldwide for the sustainability, environment conservation and energy production.

Comparison of effects exerted by bio-fertilizers, NPK fertilizers, and cultivation methods on soil respiration in Chernozem soil

Soil respiration is a significant indicator of soil microbial activity; global soil respiration and decomposition processes release yearly to the atmosphere a total of 220 billion tons of carbon dioxide. Therefore, studies on the whole- or one particular aspect of soil carbon cycle aiming at optimizing agricultural carbon dioxide emissions or improving carbon sequestration contribute to a sustainable agriculture practice. In this paper we present the effects of biofertilizer application (Bacillus megaterium, Bacillus circulans, and Pseudomonas putida) on soil respiration in chernozem soil. Experiments were performed at Látókép Experimental Station, belonging to the University of Debrecen, Hungary. Additionally, we compare our results with findings of prior studies related to commercial NPK fertilizer applications (in four doses: N60P45K45; N120P90K90; N180 P135K135; and N240P180K180), and two different cultivation methods (ploughed, loosened, RTK in rows, and RTK between rows); these investigations were conducted at the same experimental station. Our results indicate lower tendency for soil respiration, when biofertilizers are applied as compared to commercialNPK fertilizers, which enables to decrease CO2 emission in the environment.We also discuss a unit change indifferent alkali absorption-based methods (Oxitop and Witkamp) to facilitate comparability of recently acquired data with results of previous long-term fertilization experiments.

Low carbon roadmap of residential building sector in China: Historical mitigation and prospective peak

Fast-growing carbon emissions from the residential building sector are a hindrance for China to achieve its 2030 emission peak goal. To identify future low carbon roadmaps of residential buildings, this study is the first to assess the historical carbon mitigation and simulate the energy and emission peaks of China’s residential building sector using a dynamic emission scenario. It shows that the emission mitigation of the residential building sector during 2000–2015 is 1.817 (±0.643) billion tons of carbon dioxide (BtCO2), and the normal distribution-based scenario simulation demonstrates that the residential building sector will achieve its carbon emission peak in 2037 (±4) with a peak value of 1.419 (±0.081) BtCO2. The sensitivity analysis reveals that the impacts of floor space per capita and energy intensity of urban residential buildings are the most significant for the uncertainty of emission peaks. A strict energy demand benchmark of the residential building sector suggests a control at 0.661 billion tons of standard coal equivalent (Btce), and its peaking time is estimated for 2035, which is 5 years ahead of the business-as-usual scenario, with energy savings of 0.042 Btce. For the earliest peaking time, if the residential building sector aims to achieve its emission peak before 2030, the emission peak should be controlled at 1.258 BtCO2. Overall, this paper can assist the government in more accurate and feasible building emission mitigation strategies. Moreover, the results provide a more powerful decision-making reference in issuing targeted and feasible strategies for future residential building emission mitigation.

Evolution of Permafrost: An Impact on The Socio-Economic Conditions

In the present technological era, climate change has become the word of the hour. Since 1970, Climate Change has been in discussion and that its adverse effects should be reduced by 2100. But these climate change effects have been observed and felt predominantly since the past 10 years. One such effect is the thawing of permafrost. Permafrost, being an integral component provides stability to the land around the Arctic regions. But, due to thawing of 2,000-43,000 years old permafrost structures around Alaska and Siberia, has resulted in instability triggering in loss of millions of dollars. Due to the unstable nature there has been a historic, economic and cultural revolution in the regions present around the arctic. The permafrost has also been considered as the last remnants of the Ice age and is also a prominent source of the Paleontological remains. Permafrost depletion is a dynamic effect which results in a misnomer to regular people. Due to such changes in permafrost, nature of water, ecosystems and also communities living on the permafrost land will be primarily affected. Therefore, this resulted in release of greenhouse gases and also caused bubbling effect in 72 lakes around Alaska. Thawing of permafrost creates a staggering impact as they contain 1600 billion tons of carbon dioxide and methane stored globally within which 150 billion tons of carbon dioxide and methane is expected to be released by 2100 which is tantamount to the amount of greenhouse gases released by USA alone by the burning of fossil fuels. Acceleration of the adversity of climate change is being observed due to the effects caused by nature and fossil fuels which in turn results in difficulties in sustainability of living beings. Depletion of permafrost also results in land sliding into the sea simultaneously resulting in erosion of 2-5 meters of land per year. Furthermore, melting of permafrost provoke the awakening of prehistoric microbes that have been dormant for the past 20,000 years giving rise to deadly diseases like those that resulted in Neanderthal extinction. In this paper, we will be discussing about the impact of depletion of permafrost on the socio-economic conditions around the Arctic region and the methods which could be imbibed to have a stable socio-economic condition around that region. This paper also corroborates about the escalation of deadly diseases caused worldwide due to the depletion of permafrost. This paper provides an overview on the drastic change beginning from food chain pattern to the conventional cremation procedure of the people living in the arctic region.

Satellite Based Study on Amazon Rain Forest Fires and Effect on Climate

Amazon rain forest also known as “lungs of planet” absorbs two billion tons of carbon dioxide every year that is about 5% of total global emissions and 20% of the world’s oxygen. But a recent development in the year 2019 shows extensive forest fires ravaging Brazil's Amazon rain forest. As per report total 74,000 fires has been reported so far causing 84% increase in number from the year 2018. In this paper various parameters has been studied using satellite data. The parameters are CO, air to surface temperature, NO2, surface skin temperature etc. All the data analysis and co-relation is clear evidence of climate change and change in nature is a clear indication of devastating fire in rain forest zone and drought in the area. The sudden increase of CO due to bush burning is also pointing towards unnatural forest fire. The paper concludes with remedy to save the planet form more forest burning.