Global Carbon Footprint Research Articles

High Power Output Augmented Vertical Axis Wind Turbine

Nowadays, wind energy is one of the most cost-effective and environmentally friendly energies in high demand due to shortages in fossil fuels and the necessity to reduce global carbon footprint. One of the main goals of wind turbine development is to increase the power output of the turbine either by increasing the turbine blade swept area or increasing the velocity of the wind. In this article, a proprietary augmentation system was introduced to increase the power output of vertical axis wind turbines (VAWT) by increasing the free stream velocity to more than two folds. The system comprises two identical airfoiled casings within which the turbine/turbines are seated. The results showed that the velocity slightly increases when decreasing the gap between the casing. It was also found that changing the angle of attack of the housing has more impact on the augmented airspeed. CFD technique was used to assess the velocity and flow of air around the system.

Precise realtime current consumption measurement in IoT TestBed

Background: The Internet of Things, similar to wireless sensor networks, has been integrated into daily life of almost everyone. These wearable, stationary, or mobile devices are in multiple locations, collecting data or monitoring and executing certain tasks. Some can monitor environmental values and interact with the environment, while others are used for data collection, entertainment, or even life-saving. To achieve the wireless part of the system, the majority of sensor nodes are designed to be battery-powered. While battery power has become increasingly ubiquitous, it tends to increase the global carbon footprint of electronic devices. This issue can be mitigated by employing some form of energy harvesting so that batteries can be refilled and the gadget lasts longer, but this does not alter the reality that batteries are still used and eventually discarded. Methods: In this paper, the authors emphasise the significance of power consumption in battery powered devices. To be able to monitor devices power consumption, one of the measurable parameters is current. When users know the exact current consumption, they can decrease it by polishing the program or tweaking the duty cycle, making radio transmit less data or less frequently, thus decreasing overall power draw. Results: In order to simplify current consumption monitoring, the authors have developed a testbed facility that provides real-time current consumption measurements, which may be used to enhance the duty cycle and battery life of the aforementioned devices. Conclusions: While minimising total current consumption is a great way to extend the battery life and, thus, the carbon footprint, the primary culprit in the Internet of Things is the radio communications. This transmission is the primary source of current consumption. By determining the exact amount of current drawn during transmission and adjusting it, users can significantly extend battery life.

Operational Conditions affecting Biohythane Production and its Kinetic Model: A Review

Recently, the global carbon footprint issue is rising significantly due to fossil fuel demand. Biohythane, which is produced from anaerobic digestion is found as an alternative fuel to address this problem. Even though quite a number of reviews have been done before on biohythane production process, an in-depth review particularly on biohythane kinetic study is not available until now. Therefore, this review paper discusses the general anaerobic digestion process of biohythane production as well as its operating factors such as temperature, pH, and microbial population in improving the productivity. In addition, this paper also discusses kinetics modeling, which is commonly used in biohythane production to improve or analyse the effect, relationship, and function of the parameter, as well as to investigate the performance of biohythane during the process. These kinetic models provide a variety of functional goals depending on the experiment's objective, such as determining the kinetics of cell growth, describing the effect of different operating parameters on biohythane production, studying substrate utilisation and inhibition, and product formation. All models are classified in a table by their equation for further reference.

Renewable Energy Potential for Micro-Grid at Hvide Sande

Decarbonization of ports is a major goal to reduce their global carbon footprint. The port of Hvide Sande is located on the coast of the North Sea in Denmark and it has the potential to utilize various renewable energy sources. Wind and solar thermal parks are already installed there. Wave energy is an alternative to solar and wind energies and its advantage is the spatial concentration, predictability, and persistence. Heat to the town is provided by Hvide Sande Fjernvarme. In this work, it is investigated if the heat demand could be fully covered by renewable energies. Power profiles for each renewable energy resource were calculated using 30 years of re-analysis environmental data. Long, mid, and short term time series of power supply has been statistically and quantitatively examined. Considering the heat demand of Hvide Sande, the lowest frequency of zero occurrence in power generation can be ensured by the combination of wind, solar energy and wave. The article also estimated the capacity for Lithium-ion batteries. The optimal size of the battery is found by the bisection method. Finally, different combinations of renewable energy and demand as well as batteries are evaluated. The lowest zero occurrences in power production is met by the mix of three renewable energies. Also, the mix of three renewable energies significantly reduces the value of energy, required from the battery.

How ‘Resource Recycling’ Impacts a New Telehealth Paradigm

Telehealth provides an opportunity to change rules of engagement, reach out to neglected communities, and uncharted populations at the touch of a button, redefining a transformative vision from disconnection to a well-orchestrated consortium of value-based care and patient-centered services. All we need to do is to develop a ‘digital resource recycling’ mentality, and technology will take care of the rest.
 The new telehealth paradigm supports outreach, connectivity and interaction, offering an opportunity to put an end to the current innovation predicament and function on a platform that we can scale and radically transform the pace and permanence of integration in health and care systems. The challenge is an overproduction of data, already contributing to the global carbon footprint. This is where data recycling comes in, as a sustainability prerequisite for the new telehealth paradigm.

Sustainable strategies in the luxury business to increase efficiency in reducing carbon footprint

This research aims to analyse whether a sustainable strategy brings efficiency to the luxury sector in the fight against carbon footprint. Such an aim has been approached by establishing a relationship between the actions implemented in the sector, the carbon footprint as measured by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change methodology, and the market share of the main market operators. The results reveal which actions tend to be efficient in terms of carbon footprint fight, which actions do not, and how concentration or dispersion of main operators has impacted the global carbon footprint in the sector. Consequently, this work explores specific actions that luxury companies take to be economically efficient in their business strategy and to protect the environment. Finally, companies must be efficient and sustainable to contribute to the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals outlined in the 2030 Agenda.

The world wide web of carbon: Toward a relational footprinting of information and communications technology's climate impacts

The climate impacts of the information and communications technology sector—and Big Data especially—is a topic of growing public and industry concern, though attempts to quantify its carbon footprint have produced contradictory results. Some studies argue that information and communications technology's global carbon footprint is set to rise dramatically in the coming years, requiring urgent regulation and sectoral degrowth. Others argue that information and communications technology's growth is largely decoupled from its carbon emissions, and so provides valuable climate solutions and a model for other industries. This article assesses these debates, arguing that, due to data frictions and incommensurate study designs, the question is likely to remain irresolvable at the global scale. We present six methodological factors that drive this impasse: fraught access to industry data, bottom-up vs. top-down assessments, system boundaries, geographic averaging, functional units, and energy efficiencies. In response, we propose an alternative approach that reframes the question in spatial and situated terms: A relational footprinting that demarcates particular relationships between elements—geographic, technical, and social—within broader information and communications technology infrastructures. Illustrating this model with one of the global Internet's most overlooked components—subsea telecommunication cables—we propose that information and communications technology futures would be best charted not only in terms of quantified total energy use, but in specifying the geographical and technical parts of the network that are the least carbon-intensive, and which can therefore provide opportunities for both carbon reductions and a renewed infrastructural politics. In parallel to the politics of (de)growth, we must also consider different network forms.

Kaya for Computer Architects: Toward Sustainable Computer Systems

This article reformulates the well-known Kaya identity to understand computer systems’ impact on sustainability and its total carbon footprint. By making a distinction between embodied and operational carbon emissions, we are able to understand 1) how the global carbon footprint of computing is likely to scale in the future, and 2) what we, as computer architects, can do to reduce the environmental impact of computing. We conclude that computer architects should first and foremost design smaller chips; reducing lifetime energy consumption is of secondary importance, yet still significant.

Enteric methane research and mitigation strategies for pastoral-based beef cattle production systems.

Ruminant livestock play a key role in global society through the conversion of lignocellulolytic plant matter into high-quality sources of protein for human consumption. However, as a consequence of the digestive physiology of ruminant species, methane (CH4), which originates as a byproduct of enteric fermentation, is accountable for 40% of global agriculture's carbon footprint and ~6% of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Therefore, meeting the increasing demand for animal protein associated with a growing global population while reducing the GHG intensity of ruminant production will be a challenge for both the livestock industry and the research community. In recent decades, numerous strategies have been identified as having the potential to reduce the methanogenic output of livestock. Dietary supplementation with antimethanogenic compounds, targeting members of the rumen methanogen community and/or suppressing the availability of methanogenesis substrates (mainly H2 and CO2), may have the potential to reduce the methanogenic output of housed livestock. However, reducing the environmental impact of pasture-based beef cattle may be a challenge, but it can be achieved by enhancing the nutritional quality of grazed forage in an effort to improve animal growth rates and ultimately reduce lifetime emissions. In addition, the genetic selection of low-CH4-emitting and/or faster-growing animals will likely benefit all beef cattle production systems by reducing the methanogenic potential of future generations of livestock. Similarly, the development of other mitigation technologies requiring minimal intervention and labor for their application, such as anti-methanogen vaccines, would likely appeal to livestock producers, with high uptake among farmers if proven effective. Therefore, the objective of this review is to give a detailed overview of the CH4 mitigation solutions, both currently available and under development, for temperate pasture-based beef cattle production systems. A description of ruminal methanogenesis and the technologies used to estimate enteric emissions at pastures are also presented.

Spatial-temporal and structural differences in the carbon footprints embedded in households food waste in urban and rural China.

Household food waste (HFW) accounted for about 66% of global food waste's total carbon footprints (CF). Based on China's macro-panel food consumption data, this paper measures the urban-rural and provincial differences in the HFW CF from scale, structure, and temporal-spatial evolution perspectives. The results indicate that HFW and CF continue to grow, and the total CF and per capita HFW in urban households are higher than in rural households. The structural differences between urban and rural HFW CF vary significantly over time and spaces, which reflected that rural households in the southeastern coastal areas have higher per capita HFW CF than urban in 2019. The research results help to clarify the distribution and evolution pattern of HFW CF in China and offer new ideas for the differentiated governance of CF reduction in the food system.

Climate change and surgical implications

Abstract The healthcare sector contributes nearly 5% of the total global carbon emissions, and much of this is attributable to the delivery of surgical services. In this article, we review the impact of surgery on climate change and propose an approach to identifying targets and reducing the global surgical carbon footprint.

The Baltic States’ Move toward a Sustainable Energy Future

In respect to CO2 emissions, the post-Soviet states are a scientifically interesting object of research, as each of the countries has developed via different paths since reclaiming independence from the Soviet Union. Given that each country has a different approach to the use of fossil resources, it is essential to assess their input to global carbon footprint individually. Such assessment then allows to find certain actions in the development of legislation and to apply focused techniques to reduce carbon emissions. The aim of this study was to evaluate the fossil CO2 emissions produced in the Baltic States from 1991 onward, describing challenges relating to sustainability and socio-economic, scientific, and integrated approaches to sustainable development, including clean and efficient use of energy, and thus addressing climate challenges. This paper reports on data on CO2 emissions in the Baltic States. The results show that the transition of the Baltic States from the specificities of the Soviet Union’s economy to an economy integrated into global markets has led to a significant reduction in CO2 emissions. However, the development and implementation of national policies for sustainable development are still crucial for mitigation of the climate crisis. Further actions must include the implementation and monitoring of policies for sustainable development, changing of the consumption and production patterns, education and awareness of sustainability, and adaptation to global climate change, while also addressing sustainability challenges.

Cities: Allocating climate change responsibilities at planetary scale

Computing global cities' carbon footprints is core in allocating regional climate change responsibilities and cutting urban carbon emissions. However, cities' carbon footprint of the Global North are better documented than those in the Global South. Although cities belonging to developing countries, especially African and Asian cities, are growing significantly in terms of size, population, GDP, their carbon footprint remains poorly documented in the scientific literature. Cities' carbon footprints inventories of the Global South are usually hampered by (i) lack of local urban emissions data, (ii) reduced climate footprint, and (iii) shortages in climate finance. To bridge this gap, we aim to estimate 24,110 cities' carbon footprints using machine learning algorithms to provide a comprehensive analysis on a planetary scale, while allocating responsibilities according to the cities' regions and sizes. The findings highlight that such a granular approach can enhance future global climate collaboration by erupting a robust local, and thus global, climate-friendly actions and increase peer-cities climate readiness.

Boosting the annual profit of an offshore wind farm in India with a bio-inspired meta-heuristic scheme

Since the time of rapid industrial revolutions across the continents of the world, incessant emission of greenhouse gasses is severely deteriorating the quality of breathable air and causing abnormal increments in the surface air temperature. Global warming is a responsible factor for the melting of the polar ice caps, rising sea levels, uncharacteristic weather patterns, and immeasurable human distress throughout every corner of the planet. International communities are struggling to abate the global carbon footprint through the effective utilization of renewable resources of energy. Being the second most peopled realm in the globe, it turns out to be exceedingly momentous for India to resourcefully exploit its low-carbon sources of electricity like wind power to accomplish its net-zero emission ambition by 2070 while upholding the progress of its colossal economic structure. Although India presently sustains the fourth largest wind power generation competence in the world, it needs to develop its offshore wind power generation capacity rapidly for keeping up with its emission-cut aims. This paper attempts for augmenting the financial profitability of an offshore wind power generation system in the Bay of Khambhat near the seashore of Gujarat, India. An innovative modification of the Genetic Algorithm has been proposed to increase the annual profit of the proposed wind farm. The optimization trial outcomes authenticate the pre-eminence of the projected dynamic procedure for apportioning the factors of crossover and mutation functions over the standard static methods for assigning those proportions of the Genetic Algorithm.

Disentangling the worldwide web of e-waste and climate change co-benefits

The benefits of consumer electronic products have transformed every societal sector worldwide. However, the adverse impacts of electronic waste (e-waste) disproportionately affect low-income communities and marginalized ecosystems in nations with economies in transition. The embodied carbon footprint of new electronic products, especially information and communications technology (ICT) devices, is an important source of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, accounting for 67% ± 15% of total lifetime emissions, instigated by mineral mining, manufacturing, and supply chain transportation. We estimate that between 2014 and 2020, embodied GHG emissions from selected e-waste generated from ICT devices increased by 53%, with 580 million metric tons (MMT) of CO2e emitted in 2020. Without specific interventions, emissions from this source will increase to ∼852 MMT of CO2e annually by 2030. Increasing the useful lifespan expectancy of electronic devices by 50%–100% can mitigate up to half of the total GHG emissions. Such outcomes will require coordination of eco-design and source reduction, repair, refurbishment, and reuse. These strategies can be a key to efforts towards climate neutrality for the electronics industry, which is currently among the top eight sectors accounting for more than 50% of the global carbon footprint.

Exploring the sustainability challenges facing digitalization and internet data centers

Internet data centers have received significant scientific, public, and media attention due to the challenges associated with their greenhouse gas, water, and land footprint. This resource greedy data services sector continues to rapidly grow driven by data storage, data mining, and file sharing activities by a wide range of end-users. A fundamentally important question then arises; what impact does data storage have on the environment and is it sustainable? Water is used extensively in data centers, both directly for liquid cooling and indirectly to generate electricity. Data centers house a huge number of servers, which consume a vast amount of energy to respond to information requests and store files and large amounts of resulting data. Here we examine the environmental footprint of global data storage utilizing extensive datasets from the latest global electricity generation mix to throw light on this data sustainability issue. The analysis also provides a broad perspective of carbon, water, and land footprints due to worldwide data storage to through some light on the real impact of data centers globally. The findings indicate that if not properly handled, the annual global carbon, water and land footprints resulting from storing dark data might approach 5.26 million tons, 41.65 Gigaliters, and 59.45 square kilometers, respectively.

Reduced energy consumption and enhanced CO2 desorption performance of non-aqueous ionic-liquid-containing amine blends with zeolites

• The MEA-[bmim][Ac]-hexanol blend exhibited higher absorption and desorption activities than MEA-hexanol. • Zeolite catalysts (HZSM-5, MOR, and FER) showed enhanced effect on CO 2 stripping. • Catalyzed-CO 2 desorption rate was improved by 12–14 times. • The use of zeolite catalyst can lower the heat duty by 45%–50%. • The use of the zeolite catalysts reduced the desorption time by 25%–30%. Excessive emissions of carbon dioxide (CO 2 ), a primary greenhouse gas, can cause serious environmental concerns, such as climate change and global warming. Therefore, carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS) strategies are crucial for reducing the global carbon footprint. However, the considerable energy penalty in the regeneration of CO 2 -loaded solutions is a critical challenge encountered in the industrial application of amine-based post-combustion CO 2 capture technology. Therefore, an alternative pathway involving the use of zeolite catalysts was demonstrated in this study to decrease the energy requirement. The regeneration behavior of two different amine systems, namely monoethanolamine (MEA; 5 M)-1-hexanol and MEA (4 M)-1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium acetate (1 M) ([bmim][Ac])–hexanol, with three different modified zeolites (HZSM-5, H-ferrierite (FER), and H-mordenite (MOR)) were studied. The results revealed that the catalyst enhanced the CO 2 desorption performance of the non-aqueous hybrid system and reduced the relative energy consumption compared to those of the catalyst-free runs. The zeolite-enabled enhancements of the desorption performance of the rich MEA-hexanol solvent were ordered as follows: HZSM-5 > FER > MOR. HZSM-5 showed a higher catalytic performance than that of FER and MOR, and reduced the heat duty by ∼ 45% compared with that of the catalyst-free test. The zeolite catalysts decreased the desorption time for the regeneration of rich non-aqueous solutions by 25%–30% compared to that of the blank run. In summary, the results contribute toward a comprehensive understanding of the combination of non-aqueous amine blends and zeolite catalysts as an energy-efficient strategy for decreasing the energy consumed during regeneration.

Photocatalytic hydrogen production using graphitic carbon nitride (GCN): A precise review

The positive feedback mechanism resulting from the exponentially increasing population leads to high energy demands, additional resource utilization, and debilitating nature, making the earth an unsustainable habitat for living. The resulting increase in global temperature, also leads to an increased carbon footprint, creating a chain of events called loop functioning or positive feedback chain. The renewable energy-driven water splitting and generation of hydrogen, which is further used as a clean fuel, serves as a sustainable route for satisfying the over enhanced energy demand and also helps in reducing the global carbon footprint by minimizing the resulting emission. The recent advancement in the photo catalytic systems, especially introduction of advance photocatalysts in the last decade, serves the path more enviably. The photocatalysts involved in the process of hydrogen production and using renewable energy as a driving force, especially solar energy, should remain unaltered. The desired changes in the catalytic activity, separation and conveying of charges at its surface are further catalysed by the solar energy. With technological advancement, novel and cost-effective hydrogen production mechanisms are evolving. This search for a cheaper, effective and sustainable photocatalyst material, which effectively splits the water molecules into desirable hydrogen isotopes is the need of the hour to sustain the ever growing energy demands. And in all this pursuit, a metal-free, suitable bandgap energy, cost-effective and 2D structured compound known as graphitic carbon nitride (GCN or g-C3N4) serves as a potential contender by effective splitting and efficient production of hydrogen. But GCN, even having so much potential, undergoes some challenges such as high density of defects, required surface area and desirable stability that restrict its photocatalytic activity and resulting water splitting efficiency. The present review addresses the latest trends in the composition variabilities in GCN that helps in increased splitting efficiency, doping with metallic particles, heterojunction formation in semiconductors, pore size-perviousity changes, modulation of the bandgap, control of defects and alteration in the surface area. This review also highlights the peak development and changes in the design and morphology of GCN under larger surface area performance and corresponding advancements in hydrogen production. Although not all renewable energy sources are considered; in this review, the photocatalytic production of hydrogen using the solar energy-driven channel is the primary highlight. Further, the concluding portion of this review helps the readers/scientific community to get a clear idea about photocatalytic hydrogen production and its derived routes, which also serve as an inoculum for future studies in the same domain.

Enhanced temperature uniformity with minimized pressure drop in electric vehicle battery packs at elevated C‐rates

AbstractThe trend of transition from fossil fuel to electrification in transportation is a result of no carbon emission produced by electric vehicles (EVs) during their daily operations. Furthermore, the global carbon footprint of EVs can be minimized if the electricity is generated from renewable sources such as wind and solar. On the other hand, there are some drawbacks of these vehicles such as charging time being very long and the mileage range of vehicles not at the desired level. Battery cells are being charged at relatively high C‐rates to eliminate these problems, yet high current rates accelerate the aging of batteries and capacity losses due to the generated heat. Generated heat causes overheating, and excess temperature triggers degradation and thermal runaway risks. This paper uncovers how the battery pack temperature uniformity and strict thermal control can be achieved with heat transfer enhancement by conduction (cold plates) and convection (vascular channels). We aimed to reduce the energy consumption of the EV battery pack system while increasing the thermal performance. The impact of the thermal contact resistance is also considered for many realistic scenarios. The results indicate that an integrated system with cold plates and vascular channels satisfies the temperature uniformity requirement (over 81%) with comparatively less pumping power (∼72%) of advanced electric vehicles for relatively high C‐rates. Furthermore, findings show the temperature level can increase up to 4°C as thermal contact resistance increases. The proposed cooling technique, which has low cost, easy application, and lower energy consumption superiorities, can be implemented in palpable EV battery packs.

Thermochromic Fenestration Elements Based on the Dispersion of Functionalized VO2 Nanocrystals within a Polyvinyl Butyral Laminate.

The energy required to heat, cool, and illuminate buildings continues to increase with growing urbanization, engendering a substantial global carbon footprint for the built environment. Passive modulation of the solar heat gain of buildings through the design of spectrally selective thermochromic fenestration elements holds promise for substantially alleviating energy consumed for climate control and lighting. The binary vanadium(IV) oxide VO2 manifests a robust metal-insulator transition that brings about a pronounced modulation of its near-infrared transmittance in response to thermal activation. As such, VO2 nanocrystals are potentially useful as the active elements of transparent thermochromic films and coatings. Practical applications in retrofitting existing buildings requires the design of workflows to embed thermochromic fillers within industrially viable resins. Here, we describe the dispersion of VO2 nanocrystals within a polyvinyl butyral laminate commonly used in the laminated glass industry as a result of its high optical clarity, toughness, ductility, and strong adhesion to glass. To form high-optical-clarity nanocomposite films, VO2 nanocrystals are encased in a silica shell and functionalized with 3-methacryloxypropyltrimethoxysilane, enabling excellent dispersion of the nanocrystals in PVB through the formation of siloxane linkages and miscibility of the methacrylate group with the random copolymer. Encapsulation, functionalization, and dispersion of the core-shell VO2@SiO2 nanocrystals mitigates both Mie scattering and light scattering from refractive index discontinuities. The nanocomposite laminates exhibit a 22.3% modulation of NIR transmittance with the functionalizing moiety engendering a 77% increase of visible light transmittance as compared to unfunctionalized core-shell particles. The functionalization scheme and workflow demonstrated, here, illustrates a viable approach for integrating thermochromic functionality within laminated glass used for retrofitting buildings.