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Decarbonising Fuel
22.04.2011: Researches on the damages of Chernobyl are a guide for disaster management of Fukushima [1]
Accidents at Chernobyl
In 1982, a partial core meltdown occurred in reactor No. 1 at the Chernobyl plant. The reactor was repaired and put back into operation within months.
On Saturday, April 26, 1986, a disaster occurred at reactor No. 4 which completely destroyed reactor No. 4 and has therefore been enclosed in a concrete and lead sarcophagus.
On October 11, 1991, a fire broke out in the turbine hall of Reactor 2 due to a hydrogen leak, causing damage to the turbine and the turbine hall roof.
The shut-down [2]
The Chernobyl nuclear plant has been permanently shut down after 25 years of the explosion of reactor four on 26 April 1986. The embrittling concrete sarcophagus which covers the ruin is planned to be replaced by structure out of steel, 190 m wide and 200 m long with expected to cost of $2,24 billion. A storage facility within the exclusion zone for fuel rods and nuclear waste produced by Chernobyl.must also be constructed.
After the explosion at reactor four, the remaining three reactors at the power plant continued to operate. In 1991, reactor two suffered a major fire, and was subsequently decommissioned. In November 1996, reactor one was shut down, followed by reactor three on December 15, 2000.
Decommissioning Chernobyl plant
After the shut-down work at the Chernobyl plant continues until reactor units 1, 2, and 3 are totally decommissioned, which is expected to take years. The first stage of decommissioning is the removal of the highly radioactive spent nuclear fuel, which is placed in deep water cooling ponds under construction. A second facility is planned for construction that will use dry storage technology suitable for long term storage and have the required capacity. Removal of uncontaminated equipment has begun at unit 1 and this work could be complete by 2020–2022.
Alfa emitters active for more than 300 years.
The remains of reactor unit 4 will remain radioactive for some time. The isotope responsible for the majority of the external gamma radiation dose at the site is Caesium-137 which has a half-life of about 30 years. It is likely that with no further decontamination work the gamma ray dosage at the site will return to background levels in about three hundred years. However, as most of the alpha emitters are longer lived, the soil and many surfaces in and around the plant are likely to be contaminated with transuranic metals such as plutonium and americium, which have much longer half-lives.
Funding the decommissioning of Chernobyl [3]
The international community poured $1.2 billion into the fund to build the shelter over the unit 4, the cement sarcophagus which now presents structural problems. The new shelter, 190 m wide and 200 m long steel construction, is designed to last 100 years, is scheduled to be in place in 2015. A donors conference in April 2011, seeking $ 1,04 billion to pay for the new shelter and to build a facility to store waste from the plant's three other decommissioned reactors , attained only $770 million,
Death zone around Chernobyl [4]
An area of 30 kilometers radius around the plant remains blocked off by guards and is largely uninhabited except for some rotating maintenance workers at the idle plant and a few hundred residents who moved back to their homes despite advice to stay away. 24,700 people were permanently evacuated from this area.
Death Zone around Fukushima [5]
Japan government plans to close permanently the area of 20 km around Fukushima and prohibit visitors to enter the area.
United Arab Emirates facing an uncertain future [6]
Richard Clarke, a leading security expert, warns Abu Dhabi for cyberattack on the country's four nuclear reactors once they are built. The first reactor is paned to be on grid by 2017. He warns about the potential of people being able to hack their way into any electrical plant.
The US Scada Systerm did not kept pace with hacking development
Mr Clarke said it was important that the new reactors have a supervisory control and data acquisition system (SCADA). A SCADA system ensures that even if a plant is successfully breached by a hacker, that attacker will still not be able to decipher the internal system. The system should be unique and known only to a few people.
The US power grid has been shut down by viruses in 2003 and in 2009 proving the inability to protect US technical systems. According to Mr Clarke the virus program of 2003 got into the control system of the nuclear power plant in Ohio and shut it down. Recently, the Stuxnet infiltrated an Iranian uranium enrichment programme, which was a closed network. Mr. Clark warns that the worm has been released on the internet. Saboteurs can modify it and go after other types of operating systems, such as the Abu Dhabi systems of desalination plants, pipelines, oil refineries, ATMs and stock markets.
According to Dan Kaminsky, a cyber security analyst, the SCADA equipment, however, has not kept pace with the rest of the industry, [7]
Abandon nuclear power? That is not an option, it is an must [8]
Bjorn Lomborg, a journalist writing for “The National” with seat in Abu Dhabi, writes that Chernobyl disaster directly caused only 31 fatalities, the World Health Organisation estimates that 4,000 deaths could be linked to the disaster over 70 years, whereas the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) projects a range of 9,000-33,000 deaths during this period.
He pledges to consider that every year nearly one million people die from fine-particle outdoor air pollution. Car and heavy transportation is the main emitter of fine particles mostly in cities with heavy traffic. Nuclear power plants will not solve this. Only the move to a carbon free fuel, like hydrogen can be considered as a clean fuel for transportation.
U.S.A. by far not an inspiring example
While the lingering US economy forces Obama and his Energy Minister to reactivate nuclear programs without repositories for an ever growing global nuclear waste, Germany will secure leadership in clean energy and add this technology to its export portfolio of decarbonised energy. The US economy caused the financial crisis of 2008 and depends on growing loans of the Chinese. U.S.A. is therefore by far not an inspiring example.
Lomborg considers alternative energy sources too expensive and nowhere near reliable enough to replace fossil fuels. Looking for the cheapest energy developed out of greed. Humanity must return to a more contemplative way of life and consider clean energy as a must and disregarding the battle for money.
The alternative to carbon and nuke [9]
Wind farms and solar power plants provide the global solution for a decarbonised society which is the ultimate goal of the German strategy. Hydrogen is the best energy storage to stabilise the grid and may become the fuel for the transportation of the next centuries. See details at http://www.desertenergyproject.net/Global_Initiative.pdf
[1] Wikipedia: Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chernobyl_Nuclear_Power_Plant
[2] Chernobyl New Safe Confinement - New Completion Date Announced
http://www.chernobylee.com/blog/2010/02/chernobyl-new-safe-confinement.php
[3] Chornobyl nuclear power plant site to be cleared by 2065. Kyiv Post. 4 January 2011.
http://www.kyivpost.com/news/nation/detail/56391/
[4] Update: Chernobyl donors conference falls short of goal. Kyiv Post.19 April 2011.
http://www.kyivpost.com/news/nation/detail/102495/#ixzz1K3E9ulOT
[5] AKW Fukushima. Japan will Sperrzone komplett abriegeln
http://www.spiegel.de/panorama/0,1518,758124,00.html
[6] Warning on cyberattack at nuclear power sites. The National 20.April 2011.
http://www.thenational.ae/news/uae-news/warning-on-cyberattack-at-nuclear-power-sites
[7] Spies 'infiltrate US power grid'. BBC News. 9 April 2009.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/7990997.stm
[8] Abandon nuclear power? That is not an option. The National 20 April 2011.
http://www.thenational.ae/thenationalconversation/industry-insights/energy/abandon-nuclear-power-that-is-not-an-option
[9] The Desert Energy Project
http://www.desertenergyproject.net
27.05.2010: USA lacks political will to decarbonize energy economy, say two leading articles of Environmental Science and Technology Journal.
Kharecha and colleagues 2010 say that the global climate change problem becomes manageable only if society deals quickly with emissions of carbon dioxide from burning coal in electric power plants. The authors support the elimination of subsidies for fossil fuels; putting rising prices on carbon emissions; major improvements in electricity transmission and the energy efficiency of homes, commercial buildings, and appliances; replacing coal power with biomass, geothermal, wind, solar, nuclear power; and and carbon capture and storage at remaining coal plants. [1]
Betts 2010, commenting the article of Kharecha and colleagues , says that coal is the number one technology that must be decarbonized. Fifty percent of US electricity generation is from coal, resulting in the bulk of electricity emissions. It is possible to decarbonise the energy, however the political will is missing to end fossil fuel subsidies and levy a substantial fee on carbon emissions. [2]
Electric car in China and USA are the worst polluter: The German Automobile Club (ADAC) says that a Smart running on Diesel fuel emits 86 g CO2/km. An electric Smart using electricity from coal power plants 107 grams of CO2 emissions in China and 71g in Germany. [3]
The conclusions of both articles are a direct accusation of the President Obama und his Secretary Steven Chu which are not willing, for whatever reasons, to change to solar energy, wind turbines and hydrogen technology as fuel for transportation and energy storage.
[1] Kharecha PA, Kutscher CF, Hansen JE, Mazria E: Options for Near-Term Phaseout of CO(2) Emissions from Coal Use in the United States. Environ Sci Technol. 2010 Apr 30. 2010; Doi: 10.1021/es903884a
http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/es903884a
[2] Betts K: Can the U.S. phase out coal's greenhouse gas emissions by 2030? Environmental Science & Technology, 2010, 44 (11), pp 4035–4036. Doi: 10.1021/es101320m
http://pubs.acs.org/doi/full/10.1021/es101320m
[3] The Great E-llusion, Germany to Promote Electric Cars with Massive State Aid.
http://www.spiegel.de/international/business/0,1518,691457,00.html
14.04.2010: Increasing demand of water and electricity, sea level rise and depletion of agricultural land in Arab region says report [1]
The commission of Arab Environment Ministers and the Arab League asked a number of scientific centers in various Arab countries to carry out an assessment on the environment and future expectations. The Kuwaiti Greenline Environmental Group (GEG) based in Kuwait will publish the report this month.
Thari Al-Ajmi of the Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research (KISR) made a short summary of the outcomes of the report. He says that the Arab world's carbon dioxide emissions represent only 4.7 percent of global emissions but the region will be heavily affected by any increase of sea level as a result of global warming because 50 percent of the Arab world's population lives at sea level.
The Arab population of 334 million is expected to reach 586 by 2050. Another challenge is the demand of water, because 66 percent of the region's surface water resources come from outside the Arab world. The Arab citizens' annual share of water dropped from 3,500 cubic meters in the year 1960, to 1,000 cubic meters now. Urgent actions need to be taken to cope with the future demand of water and confront poverty.
Agricultural land in the Arab world dropped from 23 percent in the year 1980 to 5.1 percent today. The study also revealed that the vast majority of Arabs, 90 percent, live in dry or semi-dry areas.
The Kuwaiti Greenline Environmental Group (GEG) [2]
The Kuwaiti Green Line Environmental Group is the first green group of its type in the gulf region promoting the environmental awareness and confronting any risks,which may be directed against the environment. A group of Kuwaiti activists established the first core of Environmental Green Line Group. Its activists have succeeded in uncovering many crimes against the environment that led to serious health problems among the members of the society as well as bringing environmental issues to the attention of government officials.
Looking at global remediation of environmental issues [3]
Small local actions cannot remediate the wrong doings of leading pollution emitters. According to the report only 4.7% of the global emission comes from the Arab countries. Unfortunately the big polluters will reduce their pollution only if there is a financial gain. To start a new green economy the Kuwait Energy Initiative was developed to present economic incentives to get big energy corporations together on board .
The Kuwait Energy Initiative can be started immediately. It produces revenues right from the beginning and it is scalable to global dimension. http://www.desertenergyproject.net/ 9 Kuwait Energy Initiative.pdf
[1] Arab environment report to be released this month. Kuwait Times. April 12, 2010.
http://www.kuwaittimes.net/read_news.php?newsid=OTI4NDc5NTc0
[2] United Nations Environment Programme : Green Line Environmental Group
http://www.unep.org/civil_society/Registration/index2.asp?idno=1411
Webside: http://www.greenline.com.kw
[3] The Kuwait Energy Initiative.
http://www.desertenergyproject.net/ 9 Kuwait Energy Initiative.pdf
14.03.2010: Food for war [1]
The US Army has pursued “zero footprint” base camps, and the Air Force is looking into a variety of alternative propellants that could be turned into jet fuel. Now the Navy is going green, signing a memorandum of understanding with the USDA to demo a Green Strike Group of biofuel and nuclear powered vessels by 2012.
By 2020, the Department of the Navy also plans to halve the fossil fuel consumption entirely, across
the entire force. That means ships, aircraft, tanks, shore vehicles and naval bases will all be switching to a half alternative fuel from corn and other grains, including algae.
Food for British Airways
Airlines are looking for biofuel for its engines. The British Airways presented in February 2010 its plan for the production of 72 million litres of fuel from plant wastes to be used by its aircrafts in 2014..
Burning food for 330 million people
In 2009 107 million tons of grain, mostly corn were used for production on fuel. It will be increased fivefold till 2017. Lester Brown, director of the Earth Policy Institute in Washington D.C. Says the food used as fuel could have fed 330 million people for one year.
Green law in Europe demands the addition of two per cent of alcohol to gasoline, and has to rise up to 8 per cent till 2020.
Palm plantations declared as forests
The Indonesian and the Malaysian government issued a decree which declares palm plantations as forest. This enables the palmoil industry to avoid the ban of fuel from deforestation, extending the actual 8 million hectares of plantations to 18 million till 2020.
Oilpalms and sugar cane plantation use best crop land and need a triple amount of water water compared with tomato and corn. Monocultures need high input of pesticides and fertilisers.
Brazilian Ethanol impacts the Cerrado and Amazon forest, Shell takes over [2]
Brazilian sugar cane plantations are responsible for the destruction of large areas of cerrado and forest, including the Amazon. The industry will tell you no tropical deforestation occurs as a result of sugar cane plantations. Yet in September 2009 the Brazilian Government felt the need to propose new legislation that would prevent sugar cane expanding directly into the Amazon in the future. The government states, however, that “sugarcane plantations currently in progress, and also the scheduled expansions, even in the Amazonia… should not be prohibited.”
Shell is planning to make the largest ever investment in biofuels in a deal worth $12 billion. The oil company is preparing to form a joint venture with Brazilian company Cosan to produce and sell ethanol from Brazilian sugar cane. Shell will contribute about $1.625 billion and 2,740 filling stations.
Ethanol from starving Sierra Leone for European car
The Swiss company Addax Bioenergy starts a 90 million littres/y ethanol project in Sierra Leone . Half of the population is undernourished. Addax Bioenergy leases 20 000 hectares of best crop land to plant sugar cane and cassava for fuel for European cars. German investment and development company DEG will participate in this 240 million Euro project. [3]
Oil plant Jatropa
Jatropa is increasingly being planted in China, Brazil,, Myanmar, Malaysia and various African countries. Its seeds contain more than 30 per cent of non-edible oil which is used as biodiesel. These plantations displace rice fields and deprive poor peasants of their livelihood.
According to Gerbens-Leenes, Hoekstra, and van der Meer 2009 jatropa has an adverse water footprint, compared with with soybean and rapeseed which need less water to grow. The authors stress further that the production of biodiesel has a water footprint raging from 1,400 to 20,000 L of water per litre of biofuel. For the production of ethanol, sugar beet, and potato (60 and 100 m(3)/GJ) were found by the authors to need the least amount of water, followed by sugar cane (110 m(3)/GJ). [4]
Sustainability certification [5]
ISCC is an international certification system for Biomasses and Bioenergies describing the rules and procedures for certification. The ISCC certification system is supported by the German Federal Ministry of Food, Agricultre and Consumer Protection via the Agency for Renewable Resources (FNR).
NGOs are very sceptical on the value of such certifications. Just four per cent of biofuels imported from abroad are sustainably produced - the vast majority are causing deforestation and land use changes that are increasing climate changing emissions and pushing people off their land.
"Biofuels are not the answer to our energy woes - the UK should scrap its targets and must focus our attention on developing greener transport alternatives to cars, such as fast and affordable rail services and cycling and walking." [6]
The IEA calls for low-carbon economy and biomass conversion to fuel [7]
The International Energy Agency IEA, in a joint statement of 10.03.2010, together with 30 leading global companies called for action to support the transition to a low-carbon economy.
Waste of biomass may supply 4 per cent of global fuel demand, accounting for 125 billion litres of Biodiesel or 170 billion litres of ethanol per year. [8]
[1] DoD Buzz Online Defence and Acquisition Journal: Navy Launches Green Hornet. October 14. 2009.
http://www.dodbuzz.com/2009/10/14/navy-launches-green-hornet/
[2] Rainforest Rescue: Say No to Shell’s Brazilian sugar cane biofuel plans. 25.02.2010.
http://www.rainforest-rescue.org/protestaktion.php?id=531
[3] Addax Bioenergy: Q and A: Addax Bioenergy sugarcane ethanol project in Makeni, Sierra Leone
http://www.addax-oryx.com/AddaxBioenergy/Addax-Bioenergy-Questions&Answers.pdf
[4] Gerbens-Leenes W, Hoekstra AY, van der Meer TH: The water footprint of bioenergy.
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2009 Jun 23;106(25):10219-23.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19497862
[5] International Sustainability and Carbon Certification.
http://www.iscc-project.org/www.iscc-system.org/content/index_eng.html
[6] UK Renewable Fuels Agency: Year One of the Renewable Fuels Agency report on the Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation. 4 January 2010.
http://www.renewablefuelsagency.gov.uk/_db/_documents/year_one_of_the_rtfo_a4.pdf
[7] IEA: Chief Technology Officers Outline Concrete Action for Transition to Low-Carbon Economy.
http://www.iea.org/files/CTO_statement.pdf
[8] IEA: Biofuel Production. January 2007.
http://www.iea.org/techno/essentials2.pdf
28.09.2009: Scientists issue warnings but have no solution for the problem: A safe operating space for humanity [1]
The journal Nature published a report of Johan Rockström and colleagues 2009 setting ten boundaries which should not be exceeded to avoid crossing dangerous tipping points. These include atmospheric CO2 levels, the rate of species extinction, the over-use of nitrogen and phosphorus in fertilisers, use of fresh water, the clearing of land, ozone depletion, ocean acidification,aerosol pollution of the atmosphere and chemical contamination. The authors add that if one boundary is transgressed, then safe levels for other boundaries are endangered, so the land use changes in the Amazon may cause water scarcity in Tibet,
Climate
The authors stress that most human activities depend on fossile energy and on agriculture which is heavily mechanised. They propose an upper limit of 350 parts per million by volume of CO2 in the atmosphere, and that radiative forcing should not exceed 1 watt per square metre above pre-industrial levels(the rate of energy change per unit area of the globe as measured at the top of the atmosphere). Transgressing these boundaries will increase the risk of irreversible climate change. The authors say that the current CO2 concentration stands at 387 p.p.m.v. and the change in radiative forcing is 1.5 W per square metre. This requires immediate reduction in fossil fuels.
Nitrogen and phosphorus cycles
The manufacture of fertilizer for food production and the cultivation of leguminous crops convert around 120 million tonnes of nitrogen from the atmosphere per year into reactive forms, influencing lake systems and marine ecosystems. The authors propose to reduce new reactive nitrogen to 25% of its current value, or about 35 million tonnes of nitrogen per year, and no more than 11 million tonnes of phosphorus per year should be allowed to flow into the oceans.
Uncertain data
The authors conclude that there are significant uncertainty over how long it takes to cause dangerous environmental change or to trigger other feedbacks that drastically reduce the ability of the earth system, or important subsystems, to return to safe levels. They stress that, as long as the thresholds are not crossed, humanity has the freedom to pursue long-term social and economic development.
Politicians will appreciate these conclusion giving them the possibility to shelve the report because of its uncertainties and the lack of any suggestion how to amend the situation.
Reversing ecological deterioration of earth
This reports misses to give solutions for climate changer and does not tackle rising use of chemical fertilisers. It is amazing how the serious scientific Journal Nature prints such inconsistent article which repeats affirmations already known long before and which had been repeated over and over.
To overcome the paralyzing passivity of scientists which are advisors of the political leaders, here are some solution presented. They could be used in Copenhagen as friendly approach of the global problems. However, those who are in charge to present suggestions are deeply entangled in lobbying for oil, natural gas and nuclear power.
Alternative to fossil fuels: Fossil fuel dependence should be drastically, if not completely zeroed using solar electricity and hydrogen as fuel for transportation. A global grid according to Fuller may supply all nations [2]. Electrolysis of water to produce hydrogen may stabilise the grid, using peak energy from wind turbines. Global greenhouse gases emission may thus be reduced near zero. [3]
Alternative to agrarian giant corporations: Activities of giant agriculture corporations should be limited by international laws. This includes the US corn belt of the Mississipi region where most of the runoff of nitrogen and phosphor occur. Dr. Vandana Shiva Navdanya developed such a system for small agricultural systems which are based on sustainable agriculture. [4]
Changing the energy economy from fossil origin to solar energy and hydrogen and changing the demographic structure of our society means that scientists should stand for their ideal to work for the development of our culture. Powerless and helpless activities such as shown by Dr. Steven Chu, as energy advisor of the USA, is disappointing. All scientists are hereby urged to present solutions and not disagreements. The previous cited hydrogen economy and the agricultural system of Dr. Vandana Shiva Navdanya are robust foudations for a global agreement in Copenhagen.
[1] Rockström, J, Steffen, W, Noone, K, Persson, A, Chapin III, FS, Lambin, EF, Lenton, TM, Scheffer, M, Folke, C, Schellnhuber, HJ, Nykvist, B,. de Wit, CA, Hughes, T, van der Leeuw, S, Rodhe, H, Sörlin, S, Snyder, PK, Costanza, R, Svedin, U, Falkenmark, M, Karlberg, L, Corell, RW, Fabry, VJ, Hansen, J, Walker, B, Liverman, D, Richardson, K, Crutzen P, Foley, JA. A safe operating space for humanity. Nature 461, 472-475 (24 September 2009) | :10.1038/461472a; Published online 23 September 2009
http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v461/n7263/full/461472a.html
[2] Hoffert et al. 2002: Advanced Technology Paths to Global Climate Stability: Energy for a Greenhouse Planet
Science. 1 Nov. 2002. Vol. 298. No. 5595, pp 981987. Doi: 10.1126/science.1072357
http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/abstract/298/5595/981
[3] The Global Hydrogen Initiative. Desert Energy Project.
http://www.desertenergyproject.net/Global_Initiative.pdf
[4]Navdanya: Food sovereignty
http://www.navdanya.org/
16.07.2009: Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) and nuclear power will increase global warming say experts of the University of Sweden [1] pdf Download
The The Obama /Steven Chu administration plans to use Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) and nuclear power to tackle the climate change. Following the data of the Nordell and Gervet this may be a wrong decision.
According to Nordell 2003 the earth experienced thermal equilibrium over longer time-scales. Net incoming solar energy and geothermal heat flow were counterbalanced by a net heat outflow emitted to outer space until 1880.
Beginning with the industrial revolution heat dissipation from the global use of non-renewable energy sources has resulted in additional net heating. The resulting thermal pollution contributes to global warming until the global temperature has reached a level where this heat is also emitted to space. The author says that the additional heat from the use of fossil fuels and nuclear power is the main source of thermal pollution.
There are no consistent facts which back the assumption that greenhouse gases are responsible for rising temperatures, it is based only on the observation that global warming coincides with increasing emissions of carbon dioxide, and other greenhouse gases from about 275 ppm in 1880 to 370 ppm today. This, however does not include the fact that the heat flow from nuclear power does not depend on CO2 emission and is thus forgotten in global net heat flow.
Nordel stresses that 98% of the greenhouse effect is caused by water vapour and clouds which absorb infrared sunlight in the atmosphere and only 2% by CO2 and others.
The authors conclude that efforts to reduce the CO2 emissions do not reduce the global net heat generation. Nuclear power harms the climate at most because of the large amounts of heat generated by nuclear power production. Therefore renewable earthbound energy and solar energy should be used to avoid to disturb the energy balance of Earth.
Global energy accumulation and net heat emission [2] Download
Bo Nordell and Bruno Gervet 2009 found that heat accumulating since 1880 in air, ground, and water causes climate change. To explain this phenomena the net heat emissions on Earth must be considered.
The authors stress that global air temperature increase is an inadequate measure of global warming and suggest to use the global net energy. The heat accumulated in the atmosphere corresponds to a mere 6.6% of global warming, while the remaining heat is stored in the ground (31.5%), melting ice (33.4%) and sea water (28.5%).
The global use of fossil fuel and nuclear power was found to contribute to global warming. The authors recommend to reduce our reliance on burning fossil fuels and switch to renewables like wind power and solar energy are the main strategies to avoid climate change. Recommendations not to rely on carbon dioxide sequestration and nuclear energy are reiterated.
CO2 erroneously linked to global warming [3]
Matthevs and colleagues 2009 link carbon-climate response (CCR) allows CO(2)-induced global mean temperature change.
Definition of carbon-climate response (CCR)
Matthevs and colleagues define the carbon-climate response (CCR) as the ratio of temperature change to cumulative carbon emissions. The stress that CCR is approximately independent of both the atmospheric CO(2) concentration and its rate of change on these timescales.
The proportionality of global warming to cumulative carbon emissions is estimated by the authors to be in the range 1.0-2.1 degrees C per trillion tonnes of carbon. The authors point out that, following the data of their study, one tonne of carbon dioxide leads to 0.0000000000015 degrees of global temperature change. They conclude further that to restrict global warming to no more than 2 degrees total carbon emissions must be restricted, from now until forever to little more than half a trillion tonnes of carbon, or about as much again which ha been emitted since the beginning of the industrial revolution. [4]
Comment
Reading the study of Matthevs may lead to the erroneous assumptions that CO2 is the main cause of global warming. As explained by Nordell and Gervet 2009 [2] the CO2 concentration is only an indicator of the amount of carbon being released in the atmosphere. The so called “greenhouse gases” are responsible only for 2% of trapping heat. The huge 98% greenhouse effect comes from water vapour and clouds. Nordell says that input of non-renewable energy and nuclear energy are causing climate change. The authors calls to abandon plans on Carbon Capture and Store on non-renewable energy and avoid nuclear energy because both add external energy to the thermodynamic of the global system. Solar energy is being recommended by Nordell.
[1] Nordell, Bo: Thermal pollution causes global warming. Global and Planetary Change 38 (2003) 305– 312
http://www.ltu.se/polopoly_fs/1.5035!nordell%20gpc%20vol%2038%20issue%203-4.pdf
[2] Nordell, Bo; Gervet, Bruno: Global energy accumulation and net heat emission. Int. J. Global Warming, 2009, 1, 378-391 Global Warming is Global Energy Storage. Proceedings of the Global Conference on Global Warming-2008 (GCGW-08). 6-10 July 2008, Istanbul, Turkey. Paper No. 454
http://pure.ltu.se/ws/fbspretrieve/2090521
[3] Matthews, H.D.; Gillett, N.P.; Stott, P.A.; Zickfeld, K.: The proportionality of global warming to cumulative carbon emissions. Nature. 2009 Jun 11;459(7248):829-32.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19516338
[4] Concordia University: A New Measure of Global Warming from Carbon Emissions. Media Relations. Montreal/June 10, 2009
http://mediarelations.concordia.ca/pressreleases/archives/2009/06/a_new_measure_of_global_warmin_1.php
18.04.2008: Carbon Dioxide Transformed Into Methanol [1]
Yugen Zhang and colleagues 2009 describe a method to transform carbon dioxide into methanol which can be used as fuel.
The authors use N-heterocyclic carbenes (NHCs), an organocatalyst which contains no toxic heavy metal and is stable under oxygen, in contrast to heavy metal catalysts. Carbon dioxide is activated by the NHC catalyst and reacts with Hydrosilane, a combination of silica and hydrogen, water is added and methanol is the endproduct.
The authors stress that NHCs had been found to act as antioxidants to fight degenerative diseases, and catalysts to transform sugars into an alternative energy source.
Carbon dioxide to methane [2]
Matsuo and Kawaguchi 2006 propose a mixture of a zirconium benzyl phenoxide complex and tris(pentafluorophenyl)borane catalyse the reaction of carbon dioxide with hydrogen to generate methane via a bis(silyl)acetal intermediate.
The carbon society
The attempt to reduce CO2 back to fuel is a desperate attempt to stick to the carbon economy. The input energy getting the combustion product back to an organic fuel will always be higher than what is achieved later on while burning it again.
Decarbonising the society [3]
Instead of burning carbon fuel and trying to transform a bit of the emission back to a reusable fuel, any emission of carbon dioxide should be avoided. The Global Energy Initiative of the Desert Energy Project presents a carbon-free energy economy. Politicians, energy corporations and car makers have to get together to embrace this promising energy field. The emerging financial centres like China, India and the Arabian countries, replacing US and Europe, will have the political and the financial strength to implement the solar /hydrogen economy.
[1] Riduan, Siti Nurhanna; Zhang, Yugen; Ying. Jackie Y.: Conversion of Carbon Dioxide into Methanol with Silanes over N-Heterocyclic Carbene Catalysts. Angewandte Chemie International Edition, Volume 48 Issue 18, Pages 3322 - 3325; Published Online: 31 Mar 2009 DOI: 10.1002/anie.200806058
http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/122295517/abstract
[2] Matsuo, Tsukasa; Kawaguchi, Hiroyuki: From Carbon Dioxide to Methane: Homogeneous Reduction of Carbon Dioxide with Hydrosilanes Catalyzed by Zirconium-Borane Complexes. J. Am. Chem. Soc., 2006, 128 (38), pp 12362–12363. DOI: 10.1021/ja0647250
http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/ja0647250
[3] The Desert Energy project
http://www.desertenergyproject.net/
12.11.2010: Ocean fertilisation with iron may stimulate toxic algae [1]
Mary Silver and colleagues warn that the addition of iron to sea waters can stimulate rapid growth of diatoms in the genus Pseudo-nitschia. This alga produces domoic acid, a neurotoxin which can enter the food chain leading to closure of fisheries. domoic acid poisons marine mammals and birds that feed on contaminated fish.
Iron fertilization of the oceans has been suggested as way to reduce atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide and thereby combat global warming. The authors stress that the findings urge to redouble the efforts to reduce carbon emissions instead of changing the biology of the sea.
Other scientists involved in foregoing studies were Ken Bruland and Coale. They analysed old samples collected during iron-enrichment experiments conducted in 1995 and 2002, noting that domoic acid was not broken down in samples stored for years.
Natural iron input due to dust brought in by sandstorms, or melting glacier ice bearing trapped iron are short timed events limited to restricted areas. Now the idea of ocean fertilisation is being locked by a UN moratorium on the practice stating that the potential dangers outweigh the benefits.
In 1958, domoic acid was originally isolated from the red alga called "doumoi" (Chondria armata) in Japan. "Doumoi" is used as an anthelmintic in Tokunoshima, Kagoshima.[citation needed] Domoic acid is also produced by diatoms of the genus Pseudo-nitzschia and the species Nitzschia navis-varingica. [2]
Iron fertilization studies: [2]
Ironex II, 1995
SOIREE (Southern Ocean Iron Release Experiment), 1999
EisenEx (Iron Experiment), 2000
SEEDS (Subarctic Pacific Iron Experiment for Ecosystem Dynamics Study), 2001
SOFeX (Southern Ocean Iron Experiments - North & South), 2002
SERIES (Subarctic Ecosystem Response to Iron Enrichment Study), 2002
SEEDS-II, 2004
EIFEX (European Iron Fertilization Experiment), 2004
CROZEX (CROZet natural iron bloom and Export experiment), 2005
LOHAFEX (Indian and German Iron Fertilization Experiment), 2009
A number of scientists published a statement in Science in 2008 maintaining that it would be "premature to sell carbon offsets from the first generation of commercial-scale OIF experiments unless there is better demonstration that OIF effectively removes CO2, retains that carbon in the ocean for a quantifiable amount of time, and has acceptable and predictable environmental impacts."[3]
Street and Paytan 2007 were concerned about the efficacy and advisability of iron fertilization of the sea. They write that foregoing experiments resulted in only small carbon export fluxes to the depths necessary for long-term sequestration. Engineering the complex ocean system may also result in unpredictable response, the authors warn [4].
Commercial interests behind ocean fertilisation [5]
US companies, such as Climos and Planktos were hoping to profit by selling the carbon credits they would earn by triggering algal blooms but are having hard times to collect funds for their activities.[6]
A full-scale international plankton restoration program could regenerate approximately 3–5 billion tons of carbon sequestration capacity worth 75 billion Euro or more in carbon offset value.
The domoic acid of Pseudo-nitzschia is a "chelator", binding to iron to make more of it available to the algae. Easy access to this nutrient would allow algae to out-compete other species, says Silver.
The findings raise serious concern over the net benefit and sustainability of large-scale iron fertilizations concerning the coastal food webs. [7]
LOHAFEX southern ocean fertilisation fails to capture significant CO2 amounts [8]
Artificially fertilized with several million tons of iron oxide, the ocean could remove three and a half gigatons of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. This amounts to an eighth of the yearly emissions created by burning oil, gas and coal. This strategy is controversial since environmentalists fear such geo-engineering could knock the ecosystem out of balance. For this reason, the UN Convention on Biological Diversity in May 2008 called for a moratorium on such plans, at least until further scientific results are available.
The researchers of India’s National Institute of Oceanography and the Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research in Germany on the Polarstern ship tried to stimulate a giant bloom of phytoplankton fertilising the Antarctic sea with10 tons of iron sulphate spread over 300 square kilometres. Tiny algae were to absorb carbon dioxide when they grow and sink to the bottom of the sea when dead.
The research, led by Wajih Naqvi and Victor Smetacek in 2009, created a bloom of phytoplankton but crustaceans called copepods gobbled the phytoplankton up so quickly that only a small amount of CO2 was dispatched to the ocean floor. The researchers say their experiment failed because foregoing natural blooms had depleted the area of silicic acid which is needed for shellmaking of diatoms protecting them from copepodes which feed on microalgae. Diatoms may, therefore, created great algal blooms and trap much CO2 from the atmosphere. During the experiment, however, the low of silicic acid and high of iron environment Phaeocystis, algae without an silica shell, developed. Copepodes could feed on this group of algae and thze bloom was timely limited. As a result iron fertilisation removed less CO2 from the atmosphere than initially calculated by the expedition.
Alternatives to carbon-based fuels avoid the emission of CO2
Solar energy, wind turbines geothermal power stations, tidal and wave energy, together with hydrogen technology can provide 100% of energy and fuel which is almost free of CO2 emission. It is the responsibility of governments and of the scientists which work as advisor, to work toward a global strategy for a sustainable carbon-free energies.
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[1] Iron stimulates blooms of toxin-producing algae in open ocean, study finds
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2010-11/uoc--isb110810.php
[2] Wikipedia: Iron fertilization
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iron_fertilization
[3] Buesseler, KO; Doney, SC; Karl, DM; Boyd, PW; Caldeira, K; Chai, F; Coale, KH; de Baar, HJ; Falkowski, PG; Johnson, KS; Lampitt, RS; Michaels, AF; Naqvi, SW; Smetacek, V; Takeda, S; and Watson, AJ (11 January, 2008) "Ocean Iron Fertilization--Moving Forward in a Sea of Uncertainty." Science, 319(5860):162. DOI:10.1126/science.1154305
http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/summary/319/5860/162
[4] Street JH, Paytan A: Iron, phytoplankton growth, and the carbon cycle. Met Ions Biol Syst. 2005;43:153-93.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16370118
[5] Ocean seeding fails the acid test. NewScientist.12 June 2008
http://www.science.org.au/nova/newscientist/106ns_009.htm
[6] Venture to Use Sea to Fight Warming Runs Out of Cash. New York Times Febraury 14, 2008.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/14/technology/14planktos.html?_r=1
[7] Trick CG, Bill BD, Cochlan WP, Wells ML, Trainer VL, Pickell LD: Iron enrichment stimulates toxic diatom production in high-nitrate, low-chlorophyll areas. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2010 Mar 30;107(13):5887-92.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2851856/?tool=pubmed
[8] Who ate all the algae? Using phytoplankton to trap carbon dioxide faces a snag. The Economist. 26 March 2009.
http://www.economist.com/node/13361464?story_id=13361464