Carbon Sequestration Technique Research Articles

Efficiency improvement of wastewater treatment plants under the background of “double carbon”: a case study in Jiujiang city, China

Wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) play a crucial role in modern urban water environmental protection. However, they face challenges related to high operational costs and carbon emissions. This study focused on addressing these issues through an analysis of four urban WWTPs in Jiujiang city, China. The study involved comparing the size and processes of the plants, evaluating influent and effluent water quality, assessing energy consumption and chemical usage, and calculating both direct and indirect carbon emissions. The results demonstrated that the high operational costs and increased carbon emissions in these WWTPs were primarily attributed to low hydraulic loadings, low influent concentration, and high energy and chemical consumption. In response, three targeted scenarios were proposed to enhance the efficiency of the WWTPs and reduce carbon emissions. These scenarios involved adjusting the amount of wastewater imported into the WWTPs to meet the designed capacity, optimizing operating costs, or combining both approaches. Among the scenarios, Scenario 3 emerged as the most effective in terms of improving efficiency and reducing carbon emissions. The operational costs for WWTPs could be reduced in the range of 0.42–1.04 RMB/m3, representing a reduction rate of 35%–57%. Additionally, carbon emissions could be lowered from 15.02 to 598.85 gCO2e/m3, corresponding to a reduction of 2.91%–41.38%. Although Scenario 2 exhibited a lower carbon emission reduction of 14.8–316.33 gCO2e/m3, it was identified as the most feasible and easily implementable high-efficiency solution at present, with a reduction in operational costs ranging from 0.43 to 1.31 RMB/m3. To achieve zero energy consumption and zero carbon emissions in wastewater treatment in the future, it is recommended to undertake additional measures, such as enhancing dosing system accuracy, implementing tail gas collection, adopting photovoltaic power generation, implementing carbon sequestration techniques, and exploring wastewater heat source recycling. These findings provide valuable insights for optimizing the operational efficiency of urban WWTPs, reducing carbon emissions, and promoting sustainable wastewater treatment practices in Jiujiang city, China.

Recent trends in carbon sequestration technique

Recent trends in carbon sequestration technique

Leucaena leucocephala and montmorillonite co-pyrolysis biochar: A Study on physicochemical properties and stability

Leucaena leucocephala, an invasive toxic tree species, has threatened the survival of native plants in the Hengchun Peninsula, southern Taiwan. Due to the small-to-medium diameter, the utilization and processing of L. leucocephala is highly restricted, while its discarding accelerates carbon dioxide emission to the atmosphere. Biochar, produced from the pyrolysis of biomass under an inert atmosphere, is considered an effective carbon sequestration technique with high stability, which is important for long-term carbon storage and soil improvement. L. leucocephala biomass and montmorillonite were co-pyrolyzed under inert conditions, aiming to investigate the effects of different pyrolysis temperatures and montmorillonite blending ratios on biochar yield and carbon retention. Results showed improved biochar yield and carbon retention with increasing montmorillonite addition. Thermogravimetric analysis, nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy demonstrated enhanced stability of the modified biochars. The production of modified L. leucocephala biochar represents a promising technique for carbon dioxide sequestration and biochar stabilization, enabling the development of L. leucocephala utilization approaches.

Partial replacement of cement and fine aggregate in mortar material by using carbon sequestration technique

Carbon sequestration, also termed carbon dioxide removal, is the long-term process of removing, capturing, and storing carbon dioxide with the purpose of reducing or reversing atmospheric CO2 pollution and mitigating or reversing global warming (CDR). Cement, the primary component of concrete, has been used since ancient times, and as the world becomes more advanced technologically, the building sector will emit more CO2 emissions. There are two stages in the process of bond formation, and both of them release carbon dioxide. The first is the formation of oxides from carbonates during the making of clinker, the main ingredient in concrete. Many studies have shown that this kind of process discharge is responsible for around 5 percent of all CO2 emissions from human activity. In addition to vehicles, the combustion of carbon dioxide for heat is a significant contributor to air pollution. This happens if a lot of fossil fuels are burnt to produce a lot of energy. Second, we factor in the quantity of energy needed to heat the raw materials. This means that up to 8% of worldwide CO2 emissions may originate from the cement sector.

Advances in the utilisation of carbon-neutral technologies for a sustainable tomorrow: A critical review and the path forward

Global industrialisation and overexploitation of fossil fuels significantly impact greenhouse gas emissions, resulting in global warming and other environmental problems. Hence, investigations on capturing, storing, and utilising atmospheric CO2 create novel technologies. Few microorganisms, microalgae, and macroalgae utilise atmospheric CO2 for their growth and reduce atmospheric CO2 levels. Activated carbon and biochar from biomasses also capture CO2. Nanomaterials such as metallic oxides, metal-organic frameworks, and MXenes illustrate outstanding adsorption characteristics, and convert CO2 to carbon-neutral fuels, creating a balance between CO2 production and elimination, thus zeroing the carbon footprint. The need for a paradigm shift from fossil fuels and promising technologies on renewable energies, carbon capture mechanisms, and carbon sequestration techniques that help reduce CO2 emissions for a better tomorrow are reviewed to achieve the world’s sustainable development goals. The challenges and possible solutions with future perspectives are also discussed.

The contributory capacity of natural capital to energy transition in the European Union

In spite the growing attention on the role of carbon capturing and sequestration schemes in mitigating emissions, its contribution to the deployment of renewable energy remains uncomfortably low, especially in Europe. Thus, the current study contributes to the literature by investigating how natural capital captured by biocapacity amidst carbon emission influences renewable energy deployment by controlling for the role of openness to trade and oil utilization among the European countries. Based on a panel data analysis of over the period 1990–2016, we follow rigorous econometric approaches that accommodates country-specific factors such as the cross-sectional dependence, country-specific heterogeneity, and the non-stationarity dimension of the variables. Fundamentally, the results confirm the presence of significant long-term association among variables. The empirical results also authenticate that oil utilization and carbon emissions discourage renewable energy deployment by inelastic proportions. In essence, the result suggests that energy transition advancement is propelled by the deployment of carbon sequestration techniques through the expansion of natural capital. Moreover, evidence illustrates that the productive capacity of the Europe's ecosystem and openness to trade are critical to the region's energy transition policy, thus an influential factor of renewable energy supply. Furthermore, the causality analysis reveals a feedback effect between biocapacity and renewable energy, and between trade and renewable energy. The findings offer a platform for re-invent policy implications for the region.

Rate and capacity of cation release from ultramafic mine tailings for carbon capture and storage

Solid wastes produced during hard-rock mining have capacity to capture and store atmospheric CO2 via dissolution and precipitation of Mg-bearing carbonate minerals. However, there is a discrepancy in our understanding of weathering and dissolution in these wastes, with dissolution and reaction rates in field studies exceeding those predicted by experiments under far-from-equilibrium conditions. To reconcile these differences, a series of flow-through dissolution experiments at 25 °C and 1atm were performed to investigate the short-term dissolution kinetics of ultramafic tailings and minerals. Results show that mineral and tailings samples have two stages of dissolution: a fast, transient (or labile) stage, and a slow, stoichiometric stage. Fast releasing labile cations (i.e. labile Mg2+) are sourced from trace minerals with a high reaction rate (e.g. brucite) and from non-stoichiometric surface reaction processes of major minerals (e.g. serpentine). These cations are missing from most geochemical models for mineral weathering. The implication of these results is that the initial transient dissolution of minerals, which is typically ignored during geochemical investigations into bulk dissolution rates, is the missing ingredient for understanding dissolution of mine tailings. Labile cations released during the initial transient dissolution process have value for rapid and low-cost carbon capture and storage techniques as they represent reactivity, capacity, and the best opportunities to deploy low-cost carbon sequestration techniques using mine tailings and other industrial wastes. The presence of labile cations and changing reaction rates over time may also suggest that short-term reactivity examined during field tests may overestimate long-term carbon capture potential of some sites.

Applications of Synthetic Biotechnology on Carbon Neutrality Research: A Review on Electrically Driven Microbial and Enzyme Engineering.

With the advancement of science, technology, and productivity, the rapid development of industrial production, transportation, and the exploitation of fossil fuels has gradually led to the accumulation of greenhouse gases and deterioration of global warming. Carbon neutrality is a balance between absorption and emissions achieved by minimizing carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from human social productive activity through a series of initiatives, including energy substitution and energy efficiency improvement. Then CO2 was offset through forest carbon sequestration and captured at last. Therefore, efficiently reducing CO2 emissions and enhancing CO2 capture are a matter of great urgency. Because many species have the natural CO2 capture properties, more and more scientists focus their attention on developing the biological carbon sequestration technique and further combine with synthetic biotechnology and electricity. In this article, the advances of the synthetic biotechnology method for the most promising organisms were reviewed, such as cyanobacteria, Escherichia coli, and yeast, in which the metabolic pathways were reconstructed to enhance the efficiency of CO2 capture and product synthesis. Furthermore, the electrically driven microbial and enzyme engineering processes are also summarized, in which the critical role and principle of electricity in the process of CO2 capture are canvassed. This review provides detailed summary and analysis of CO2 capture through synthetic biotechnology, which also pave the way for implementing electrically driven combined strategies.

Pb2+ Uptake by Magnesite: The Competition between Thermodynamic Driving Force and Reaction Kinetics

The thermodynamic properties of carbonate minerals suggest a possibility for the use of the abundant materials (e.g., magnesite) for removing harmful divalent heavy metals (e.g., Pb2+). Despite the favourable thermodynamic condition for such transformation, batch experiments performed in this work indicate that the kinetic of the magnesite dissolution at room temperature is very slow. Another set of co-precipitation experiments from homogenous solution in the Mg-PbII-CO2-H2O system reveal that the solids formed can be grouped into two categories depending on the Pb/Mg ratio. The atomic ratio Pb/Mg is about 1 and 10 in the Mg-rich and Pb-rich phases, respectively. Both phases show a significant enrichment in Pb if compared with the initial stoichiometry of the aqueous solutions (Pb/Mg initial = 1 × 10 − 2–1 × 10−4). Finally, the growth of {10.4} magnesite surfaces in the absence and in the presence of Pb2+ was studied by in situ atomic force microscopy (AFM) measurements. In the presence of the foreign ion, a ten-fold increase in the spreading rate of the obtuse steps was observed. Further, the effect of solution ageing was also tested. We observed the nucleation of a secondary phase that quickly grows on the {10.4} surfaces of magnesite. The preferential incorporation of Pb2+ into the solid phase observed during precipitation and the catalytic effect of Pb2+ on magnesite growth are promising results for the development of environmental remediation processes. These processes, different from the transformation of magnesite into cerussite, are not limited by the slow dissolution rate of magnesite. Precipitation and growth require an external carbon source, thus they could be combined with carbon sequestration techniques.

Effect of precipitation mineralization reactions on convective dissolution ofCO2: An experimental study

When CO${}_{2}$ dissolves in a solution of calcium ions, a precipitation mineralization reaction can take place, producing solid calcium carbonate particles that sink to the bottom of the host phase. Convective motions present both above and below the reaction front favor the entrainment of CO${}_{2}$ toward the bottom, which is favorable for the security of carbon sequestration techniques. An experimental study of the influence of such a precipitation reaction on convective dissolution of CO${}_{2}$ is conducted.

Evaluation of Spirulina platensis in Bicarbonate- Based Integrated Carbon Capture and Algae Production System utilizing different culture media

A method known as Bicarbonate-based Integrated Carbon Capture andAlgae Production System (BICCAPS), is a growing study introduced as an alternative to current carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) methods. It is a closed-loop cycle involving inorganic carbon in the form of bicarbonates, which is consumed by microalgae for growth and utilizes the regenerated carbonates for another cycle of carbon capture. Existing literature requires more in-depth experimentation and analysis with regards to the viability of different microorganisms to the rising method. Spirulina platensis was evaluated in BICCAPS using 0.1M Na2CO3, employing three different culture media for growth, namely, modified Zarrouk’s, NPK- based, and NPK- based with A5 solution media. Biomass growth, productivity, and carbon dioxide utilization were investigated to determine the effectivity of BICCAPS as a carbon sequestration technique. At control conditions, NPK-based with A5 solution medium yielded the highest productivity with a value of 10.81 mg L-1 day-1. Likewise, using NaHCO3 as a carbon source, results show that the highest productivity was achieved also under NPK- based with A5 solution medium with a value of 6.80 mg L-1 day-1, as well as a high carbon conversion value of 2.092 day-1.

Evaluation of different carbonate sources for bicarbonate-based integrated carbon capture and algae production system using Spirulina platensis

Spirulina Platensis was evaluated in Bicarbonate-based Integrated Carbon Capture and Algae Production System (BICCAPS) using Modified Zarrouk’s media under three different carbonate solutions, namely, sodium, potassium and an equimolar mixture of sodium-potassium carbonate, as well as a control experiment consisting of only water. All systems mentioned were exposed to carbon dioxide loading in order to produce bicarbonate solutions to be used for cultivation of Spirulina Platensis under BICCAPS. Parameters such as pH, biomass productivity, and carbon conversion were analyzed to evaluate the effectivity of BICCAPS as a carbon sequestration technique given the conditions applied in the study. Results determined that the control system produced the highest biomass productivity of 10.42 mg L−1 day−1 despite having the lowest carbon conversion of 0.292 mM due to the limited amount of bicarbonates initially present. The sodium-potassium carbonate system then follows the control experiment, having a productivity of 7.37 mg L−1 day−1 and carbon conversion of 4.192 mM. Sodium carbonate system ranks third with productivity and carbon conversion of 6.56 mg L−1 day−1 and 2.682 mM. Lastly, potassium carbonate system was determined to have the lowest productivity of 4.48 mg −1 day−1 as well as a relatively low carbon conversion of 0.996 mM.

Una ampliación biotecnológica del cultivo de moluscos bivalvos podría eliminar permanentemente el dióxido de carbono de la atmósfera.

To combat climate change, proposals have been made to develop methods that would pull carbon dioxide out of Earth’s atmosphere. One recommended approach is to remove CO2 from the atmosphere with activities such as reforestation and changing forest management and agricultural practices to enhance soil carbon storage. However, it is also noted that such activities would limit land for food production and negatively affect biodiversity. Furthermore, decay of dead wood and fallen leaves in natural forests releases huge quantities of CO2 and other greenhouse gases back into the atmosphere. The only other carbon-sequestration technique that is widely considered is the application of CO2 capture processes to flue gases of power plants, which are responsible for about 80% of the worldwide CO2 emission from large stationary sources. Hydrate-based processing is a promising technology for CO2 capture as it results in high CO2 recovery, but its high cost prevents this technology having much impact. In this note I suggest that the ability of marine organisms (shellfish and coccolithophore algae) to remove permanently CO2 from the atmosphere into solid (crystalline) CaCO3 should be harnessed. I suggest that if the level of finance and effort that are readily anticipated for forest management and flue gas treatments were to be applied to expansion of shellfish cultivation around the world, significant amounts of carbon dioxide could be permanently removed from the atmosphere within the timescale that is currently envisaged for carbon capture by afforestation.

Simulating the effect of anthropogenic vegetation land cover on heatwave temperatures over central France

CR Climate Research Contact the journal Facebook Twitter RSS Mailing List Subscribe to our mailing list via Mailchimp HomeLatest VolumeAbout the JournalEditorsSpecials CR 60:133-146 (2014) - DOI: https://doi.org/10.3354/cr01230 Simulating the effect of anthropogenic vegetation land cover on heatwave temperatures over central France M. Stéfanon1,*, S. Schindler2, P. Drobinski2, N. de Noblet-Ducoudré3, F. D’Andrea2 1Laboratoire d’Écologie Systématique et Évolution (ESE), CNRS/UPSUD/AgroParisTech, Orsay, France 2Laboratoire de Météorologie Dynamique (LMD) - Institut Pierre Simon Laplace, CNRS/Ecole Polytechnique/ENS/UPMC, Paris, France 3Laboratoire des Sciences du Climat et de l’Environnement (LSCE) - Institut Pierre Simon Laplace, CEA/CNRS/UVSQ, Gif sur Yvette, France *Corresponding author: marc.stefanon@u-psud.fr ABSTRACT: Events similar to the 2003 heatwaves in France are likely to become more frequent, more intense and longer by the end of the 21st century. Policies for climate mitigation focus on carbon sequestration techniques while land cover change (LCC) may be a better short-term alternative at regional level. However, LCC impact studies conducted so far have often given contradictory results at mid-latitudes for summer temperature. Using a regional climate model, the impact of an afforestation scenario is evaluated for the years 2002 and 2003, and compared to an agricultural scenario. The favorable meteorological conditions in spring 2003 promote the development of agricultural vegetation compared to (1) conditions in 2002 and (2) tree phenology in the forested scenario. This dampens the extreme values of temperature from April to the end of June 2003 (up to 3°C during the June heatwave). From early July to October, drought conditions cause crop failure, while forests are not affected by the lack of soil moisture owing to a deeper root system. Evapotranspiration is therefore smaller in the agricultural scenario, thus amplifying the July-August extreme temperatures. However this cooling capacity of trees in the afforestation scenario is limited during the August heatwave because the high temperatures reach a critical level above which the stomata close and transpiration is inhibited. Our experimental set-up highlights the role of climate-vegetation interactions during extreme events and demonstrates how choices of vegetation cover (e.g. trees versus crops) may substantially modify the summer temperatures in mid-latitude regions. KEY WORDS: Heatwave · Vegetation · Land cover change · Phenology · Regional climate model · Afforestation Full text in pdf format PreviousNextCite this article as: Stéfanon M, Schindler S, Drobinski P, de Noblet-Ducoudré N, D’Andrea F (2014) Simulating the effect of anthropogenic vegetation land cover on heatwave temperatures over central France. Clim Res 60:133-146. https://doi.org/10.3354/cr01230 Export citation RSS - Facebook - Tweet - linkedIn Cited by Published in CR Vol. 60, No. 2. Online publication date: June 17, 2014 Print ISSN: 0936-577X; Online ISSN: 1616-1572 Copyright © 2014 Inter-Research.

Molecular Characterization of Inhibiting Biochar Water-Extractable Substances Using Electrospray Ionization Fourier Transform Ion Cyclotron Resonance Mass Spectrometry

Biochar has gained significant interest worldwide for its potential use as both a carbon sequestration technique and soil amendment. Recently, research has shown that pinewood-derived biochar water extracts inhibited the growth of aquatic photosynthetic microorganisms, both prokaryotic and eukaryotic algae, while chicken litter- and peanut shell-derived biochar water extracts showed no growth inhibition. With the use of electrodialysis, the pinewood-derived biochar water extract is separated into 3 fractions (anode-isolated, center chamber retained, and cathode-isolated substances) all with varying toxic effects. Because of its ultrahigh resolution and mass precision, electrospray ionization (ESI) coupled to Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry (FTICR-MS) is utilized in this study to analyze biochar water extracts at a molecular level to enhance our understanding of the toxic nature of pinewood-derived biochar water extracts as compared to benign peanut shell-derived biochar water extracts. The molecular composition of pinewood-derived biochar water extracts shows unique carbohydrate ligneous components and sulfur containing condensed ligneous components that are both absent from the peanut shell water extracts and more prevalent in the anode-isolated substances. Using Kendrick mass defect analysis, we also determine that the most likely inhibitor species contain carboxyl and hydroxyl homologous series, both of which are characteristic functional groups hypothesized in our previous research for the inhibitor species. We have suggested that inhibition of aquatic photosynthetic microorganism growth is most likely due to degraded lignin-like species rich in oxygen containing functionalities. From the study conducted here, we show the potential of ultrahigh resolution FTICR-MS as a valuable analytical technique for determining whether certain biochars are safe and benign for use as carbon sequestration and soil amendment.

Biochar and Microbial Signaling: Production Conditions Determine Effects on Microbial Communication

Charcoal has a long soil residence time, which has resulted in its production and use as a carbon sequestration technique (biochar). A range of biological effects can be triggered by soil biochar that can positively and negatively influence carbon storage, such as changing the decomposition rate of organic matter and altering plant biomass production. Sorption of cellular signals has been hypothesized to underlie some of these effects, but it remains unknown whether the binding of biochemical signals occurs, and if so, on time scales relevant to microbial growth and communication. We examined biochar sorption of N-3-oxo-dodecanoyl-L-homoserine lactone, an acyl-homoserine lactone (AHL) intercellular signaling molecule used by many gram-negative soil microbes to regulate gene expression. We show that wood biochars disrupt communication within a growing multicellular system that is made up of sender cells that synthesize AHL and receiver cells that express green fluorescent protein in response to an AHL signal. However, biochar inhibition of AHL-mediated cell-cell communication varied, with the biochar prepared at 700 °C (surface area of 301 m(2)/g) inhibiting cellular communication 10-fold more than an equivalent mass of biochar prepared at 300 °C (surface area of 3 m(2)/g). These findings provide the first direct evidence that biochars elicit a range of effects on gene expression dependent on intercellular signaling, implicating the method of biochar preparation as a parameter that could be tuned to regulate microbial-dependent soil processes, like nitrogen fixation and pest attack of root crops.

Improvement of Jhum with Crop Model and Carbon Sequestration Techniques to Mitigate Climate Change in Eastern Himalayan Region, India

Slash and burn cultivation (jhum) is the most disadvantageous method of cultivation in the Eastern Himalayan Region. This practice causes soil, nutrient, water erosion and biodiversity loss. Therefore, alternate conservation practice is required urgently. Field experiment was conducted at two villages viz., Digbak and Belo with two sites at each village on Dumporijo circle district Daporijo, Arunachal Pradesh during 2008 to 2010. The experiment was laid out in such a way that farmers practice was considered as control (T1); T2: T1 + Mulching with crop residues; T3: Improved crop management (includes plant population, application of manure and fertilizer, pesticides, weed management, hedge row incorporation); T4: T3 + mulching with crop residues. T4 gave higher yield of rice, maize, chilli, tomato, french bean, okra (69, 107, 163, 211, 98.6 and 126% respectively) over T1. Whereas, pea and soybean were additional crop harvested from T2, T3 and T4. Similarly the biomass (crop, hedge row plants and weeds) was recorded 225.8, 208.5 and 19.9% higher on T4, T3 and T2, respectively over T1. The final status of porosity was recorded 7.6, 6.7 and 2.4% respectively higher for T4, T3 and T2 over traditional jhum cultivation. Similarly the chemical parameters like soil organic carbon (SOC; 43.3, 39.2 and 21.6% respectively), N (25.4, 19.6 and 6.7% respectively), P (45.2, 39.8 and 12.9% respectively) and K (31.3, 25.9, and 5.0% respectively) were recorded higher on T4, T3 and T2 over traditional jhum cultivation. The rice equivalent yield, production efficiency, land use efficiency and income were recorded higher on T4 followed by T3. However the employment generation was higher for T3 followed by T4. All the economic parameters were recorded higher when crops were grown under the T4 followed by T3 except B: C and MC: MR.