Climate change mitigation consists of measures to limit the magnitude or rate of long-term climate change. Climate change mitigation generally involves reductions in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions (anthropogenic). Mitigation can also be achieved by increasing carbon sink capacity, for example, through reforestation. Mitigation policies can substantially reduce the risks associated with human-caused global warming.
According to an IPCC assessment report of 2014, "Mitigation is a public good: climate change is a case of 'common tragedy' Effective mitigation of climate change will not be achieved if individual agents (individuals, institutions or countries) act independently in their own (see International Cooperation and Emissions Trading), which shows the need for collective action. Some adaptation acts, on the other hand, have the characteristics of personal good because the benefits of action can increase more directly to individuals, territories or countries that do so, short. "However, the financing of such adaptive activities remains a problem, especially for individuals and poor countries."
Examples of mitigation include the gradual removal of fossil fuels by switching to low-carbon energy sources, such as renewable and nuclear energy, and expanding forests and other "sinks" to eliminate carbon dioxide in greater amounts from the atmosphere. Energy efficiency can also play a role, for example, through improved building insulation. Another approach to climate change mitigation is climate engineering.
Most countries are parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). The ultimate goal of the UNFCCC is to stabilize atmospheric GHG concentrations at a level that will prevent harmful human interference from the climate system. Scientific analyzes can provide information about the impacts of climate change, but determine which impacts are harmful requires value assessment.
In 2010, the Parties to the UNFCCC agreed that future global warming should be limited to below 2.0 Â ° C (3.6 Â ° F) relative to pre-industrial levels. With the 2015 Paris Agreement confirmed, but revised with new targets putting "the party will do its best" to achieve warming below 1.5 Ã, Â ° C. The current global greenhouse gas emissions path seems inconsistent with curbing global warming up to below 1.5 or 2 Â ° C. Other mitigation policies have been proposed, some of which are tighter or simpler than the 2 Ã, Â ° C.
Video Climate change mitigation
Greenhouse gas concentration and stabilization
One of the issues that are often discussed in relation to climate change mitigation is the stabilization of greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere. The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) has the ultimate goal of preventing the "anthropogenic" harmful "human" from the climate system. As stated in Article 2 of the Convention, it requires that greenhouse gas (GHG) concentrations be stabilized in the atmosphere at a level where ecosystems can naturally adapt to climate change, food production is not threatened, and economic development may continue in a sustainable manner. mode.
There are a number of anthropogenic greenhouse gases. These include carbon dioxide (the chemical formula: CO 2 ), methane ( CH
4 ), nitrous oxide ( N
2 O ), and a group of gases called halocarbons. The emission reductions needed to stabilize atmospheric concentrations of these gases vary. CO 2 is the most important of anthropogenic greenhouse gases (see coercion of radiation).
There is a difference between stabilizing CO 2 emissions and stabilizing atmospheric concentrations of CO 2 . Stabilizing CO 2 emissions at current levels will not lead to stabilization of atmospheric CO concentration 2 . In fact, stabilizing emissions at the current level would result in a concentration of CO in the 2 atmosphere continuously increasing during the 21st century onwards (see opposite graph).
The reason is that human activity adds CO 2 to the atmosphere faster than natural processes can remove it (see carbon dioxide in the Earth's atmosphere for a full explanation). This is analogous to the flow of water into the bath. As long as the tap water flows (analogous to carbon dioxide emissions) into the tub faster than the water coming out through the tube (removal of the natural carbon dioxide from the atmosphere), then the water level in the tub (analogous to the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere) will continue to rise.
According to some studies, stabilizing atmospheric CO 2 concentrations will require anthropogenic CO 2 emissions minus up to 80% relative to peak emission levels. 80% emissions reductions will stabilize CO 2 concentrations for about a century, but larger reductions will be needed beyond this. Other research has found that, after leaving room for emissions for food production to 9 billion people and to keep global temperatures rising below 2 ° C, emissions from energy production and transportation will soon reach its peak in the developed world and decline in ca. 10% per year until zero emissions are achieved around 2030. In developing countries, energy and transport emissions must peak by 2025 and then fall equally.
Stabilizing atmospheric concentrations of other greenhouse gases emitted by humans also depends on how quickly their emissions are added to the atmosphere, and how quickly greenhouse gases are removed. Stabilization for these gases is described in the following section on non-CO gas 2 .
- Projection
Projected future greenhouse gas emissions are uncertain. In the absence of policies to mitigate climate change, GHG emissions can increase significantly during the 21st century.
A number of assessments have considered how atmospheric GHG concentrations can be stabilized. The lower the desired level of stabilization, faster global GHG emissions must reach peak and decline. GHG concentrations are unlikely to stabilize this century without major policy changes.
Maps Climate change mitigation
Energy consumption by resource
To create lasting climate change mitigation, replacement of high carbon emission power sources, such as conventional fossil fuels - oil, coal, and natural gas - with low carbon resources is required. Fossil fuels supply humanity with most of our energy needs, and at a growth rate. In 2012 the IEA noted that coal contributed half the energy use increased in the previous decade, growing faster than all renewable energy sources. Both hydroelectric power and nuclear power together provide most of the low carbon-power fraction generated from the total global power consumption.
Method and how
Assessment often indicates that GHG emissions can be reduced using a low-carbon technology portfolio. The core of most proposals is the reduction of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by reducing waste energy and switching to low-carbon energy sources. Since the cost of reducing GHG emissions in the electricity sector appears to be lower than in other sectors, such as in the transport sector, the power sector can provide the largest proportional carbon reduction under economically efficient climate policies.
"Economic tools can be useful in designing climate change mitigation policies." "While the limitations of economic analysis and social welfare, including cost-benefit analyzes, are widely documented, the economy continues to provide a useful tool for assessing the pros and cons of taking, or not taking, climate change mitigation measures, and adaptation of measures, in achieving goals - Competing societal goals Understanding these pros and cons can help in making policy decisions on climate change mitigation and can influence actions taken by states, institutions and individuals. "
Other frequently-discussed means are energy conservation, improved fuel economy in the car (which includes the use of electric hybrids), charging plug-in hybrids and electric cars by low-carbon electricity, making individual lifestyle changes (eg, cycling instead of driving), and changing business practices. Many fossil-fueled vehicles can be converted to electricity use, the US has the potential to supply electricity for 73% of light duty vehicles (LDV), using overnight charging. The average US CO2 emissions for electric car batteries are 180 grams per mile vs. 430 grams per mile for gasoline cars. Emissions will be moved away from the road level, where they have a "high human health implications of generating electricity usage" to meet future transport expenses primarily based on fossil fuels ", mostly natural gas, followed by coal, but can also be filled through nuclear, tidal, hydroelectric and other sources.
Various energy technologies can contribute to climate change mitigation. These include nuclear power and renewable energy sources such as biomass, hydroelectric power, wind power, solar power, geothermal power, marine energy, and; use of carbon sinks, as well as carbon capture and storage. For example, Pacala and the Socolow of Princeton have proposed a 15-part program to reduce CO2 emissions by 1 billion metric tons per year - or 25 billion tons over a 50-year period using current technology as a type of global warming game.
Another consideration is how socioeconomic developments in the future. Development options (or "paths") can cause differences in GHG emissions. Political and social attitudes can affect how easy or difficult it is to implement effective policies to reduce emissions.
Request side management
Lifestyle and behavior
The Fifth Assessment Report The IPCC emphasizes that behavior, lifestyle, and cultural change have high mitigation potentials in some sectors, especially when supplementing technological and structural changes. In general, higher consumption lifestyles have greater environmental impact. Several scientific studies have shown that when people, especially those living in developed countries but more commonly including all countries, want to reduce their carbon footprint, there are four "big impact" actions they can take:
- 1. No additional children (58.6 ton CO 2 - equivalent emission reductions per year)
- 2. Live car free (2.4 ton CO 2 )
- 3. Avoid one round-trip (1.6 ton) transatlantic flight
- 4. Eat a plant-based diet (0.8 tons)
This seems to differ significantly from popular suggestions for "greening" a person's lifestyle, which seems to fall mostly into the "low-impact" category: Replacing a typical car with a hybrid (0.52 tons); Washing clothes in cold water (0.25 tons); Recycling (0.21 tons); Upgraded light bulbs (0.10 tons); etc. The researchers found that public discourse about reducing one's carbon footprint was heavily focused on low-impact behavior, and the mention of high-impact behavior was virtually absent in mainstream media, government publications, K-12 school textbooks, etc..
The researchers added that "Our recommended high-impact actions are more effective than many more commonly discussed options (eg eating a plant-based diet saves eight times more emissions than improving light bulbs.) More significantly, US families are choosing to have one less children will provide the same level of emissions reductions as 684 teenagers who choose to adopt comprehensive recycling for the rest of their lives. "
Dietary changes
Overall, food accounts for the largest share of consumption-based GHG emissions by nearly 20% of global carbon footprint, followed by housing, mobility, services, manufactured products, and construction. Food and services are more significant in poor countries, while mobility and manufactured goods are more significant in rich countries. A study of 2014 into the real-life diet of the British people estimated their greenhouse gas (CO 2 eq) contribution to: 7.19
Energy efficiency and conservation
The efficient use of energy, sometimes simply called "energy efficiency", is the goal of reducing the amount of energy needed to provide products and services. For example, isolating a house allows a building to use less heating and cool its energy to achieve and maintain a comfortable temperature. Installing LED lights, fluorescent lamps, or natural skylight windows reduces the amount of energy required to achieve the same level of lighting compared to using traditional incandescent light bulbs. Compact fluorescent lamps use only 33% of energy and can last 6 to 10 times longer than incandescent. LED lights use only about 10% of the energy required by incandescent lamps.
Energy efficiency has proven to be a cost-effective strategy to build the economy without having to increase energy consumption. For example, the state of California began implementing energy efficiency measures in the mid-1970s, including building standard codes and tools with stringent efficiency requirements. Over the next few years, California's energy consumption remained approximately per capita average while the national US consumption doubled. As part of its strategy, California implements a "loading sequence" for new energy resources that puts first energy efficiency, a second renewable power supply, and a newly built fossil fuel power plant.
Energy conservation is broader than energy efficiency because it includes less energy to reach services that require less energy, for example through behavioral changes, and includes energy efficiency. Examples of conservation without increased efficiency are less room heating in the winter, driving less, or working in less bright spaces. Like other definitions, the boundary between efficient energy use and energy conservation can be blurred, but both are important in terms of environment and economy. This is especially true when action is directed at fossil fuel savings.
Reducing energy use is seen as a key solution to the problem of reducing greenhouse gas emissions. According to the International Energy Agency, increased energy efficiency in buildings, industrial processes and transport can reduce the world's energy demand by 2050 to a third, and help control global emissions of greenhouse gases.
Request-side redirect sources
Demand-side fuel switching refers to changes in the type of fuel used to meet the demand for energy services. To achieve deep decarbonization goals, such as an 80% reduction in the 2050 goals being discussed in California and the EU, many primary energy changes are required. Energy efficiency alone may not be enough to meet this goal, switching fuel used on the demand side will help lower carbon emissions. Progressively coal, oil and eventually natural gas for heating space and water in buildings need to be reduced. For an equivalent amount of heat, natural gas combustion generates about 45 percent less carbon dioxide than coal combustion. There are various ways in which this can happen, and different strategies are likely to make sense in different locations. While the efficiency of a gas furnace system may be higher than a combination of natural gas power generation and electric heat, a combination of the same natural gas power plant and an electric heat pump has lower emissions per unit of heat delivered in all but the coldest climates. This is possible because the coefficient of heat pump performance is very efficient.
By the beginning of this century, 70% of all electricity was generated by fossil fuels, and as a source of free carbon eventually made half of the generation mix, replacing gas or oil furnaces and electric water heaters that would have climate benefits. In areas such as Norway, Brazil, and Quebec that have abundant hydroelectric power, electric heat and hot water are common.
The economy shifts the demand side from fossil fuels to electricity for heating, will depend on fuel prices versus electricity and relative prices of equipment. EIA Annual Energy Outlook 2014 shows that domestic gas prices will rise faster than the price of electricity that will encourage electrification in the coming decades. Electrification load heating can also provide flexible resources that can participate in the demand response. Because thermostatically controlled loads have inherent energy storage, heating electrification can provide a valuable resource for integrating variable renewable resources into the grid.
Alternatives to electrification, including decarbonizing pipe gases through power to gas, biogas, or other carbon neutral fuels. A 2015 study by Energy Environmental Economics shows that the decarbonizing gas electrification, electrification and energy efficiency approach can meet carbon reduction goals at the same cost as only electrification and energy efficiency in Southern California.
Network side request management
Expanding intermittent power sources such as wind power, creating a growing problem of balancing network fluctuations. Some plans include building up pumped or super-continental networks worth billions of dollars. But instead of building for more strength, there are various ways to influence the size and timing of electricity demand on the consumer side. Designing to reduce demand on smaller power lines is more efficient and economical than having additional generation and transmission for intermittent, power failure and peak demands. Having this capability is one of the main goals of intelligent networking.
Metering time is a common way to motivate power users to reduce peak load consumption. For example, running a dishwasher and laundry at night after the peak passes, reducing the cost of electricity.
Dynamic query plans have devices that are switched off passively when pressure is felt on the power grid. This method can work very well with the thermostat, when the power on the grid sags slightly, setting the low power temperature automatically selected reduces the load on the grid. For example millions of refrigerators reduce their consumption when the cloud passes through the solar installation. Consumers must have a smart meter for utilities to calculate credit.
The request response device can receive all types of messages from the grid. The message could be a request to use a low power mode similar to a dynamic request, to completely turn off during a sudden failure on the grid, or notification of current and expected prices for power. This will allow electric cars to recharge at the cheapest price that does not depend on the time of day. The vehicle-to-grid suggestion will use a car battery or fuel cell to supply a temporary grid.
Alternative energy sources
Renewable energy
The flow of renewable energy involves natural phenomena such as sunlight, wind, rain, tidal, plant growth, and geothermal heat, as the International Energy Agency explains:
Renewable energy comes from natural processes that are constantly refilled. In its various forms, it comes directly from the sun, or from the heat generated deep within the earth. Included in the definition are electricity and heat generated from sun, wind, ocean, hydropower, biomass, geothermal resources, and biofuels and hydrogen derived from renewable resources.
The issue of climate change and the need to reduce carbon emissions lead to increased growth in the renewable energy industry. Low carbon renewable energy replaces conventional fossil fuels in three main areas: power plants, water heating/hot springs, and transportation fuels. In 2011, the share of renewable energy in power plants worldwide grew for the fourth year in a row to 20.2%. Based on the 2014 REN21 report, renewable energy accounted for 19% to supply global energy consumption. This energy consumption is divided into 9% coming from biomass burning, 4.2% as heat energy (non-biomass), 3.8% hydro electricity and 2% as electricity from wind, solar, geothermal, and biomass power plants.
The use of renewable energy has grown much faster than anyone else anticipated. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) says that there are some fundamental technological constraints to integrating a portfolio of renewable energy technologies to meet most of the global energy demand. At the national level, at least 30 countries around the world already have renewable energy that accounts for more than 20% of energy supply.
In 2012, renewable energy accounts for nearly half of the newly installed electricity capacity and costs continue to fall. Public policy and political leadership help "match the playing field" and encourage the acceptance of wider renewable energy technologies. In 2011, 118 countries have targets for their own renewable energy future, and have enacted broad public policies to promote renewable energy. Leading renewable energy companies include BrightSource Energy, First Solar, Gamesa, GE Energy, Goldwind, Sinovel, Suntech, Trina Solar, Vestas, and Yingli.
The incentive to use 100% renewable energy has been created by global warming and other ecological and economic issues. Mark Z. Jacobson says generating all the new energy with wind power, solar power, and hydro power by 2030 is viable and existing energy supply arrangements can be replaced by 2050. Barriers to implementing renewable energy plans are seen to be "primarily social and political, not technology or economy ". Jacobson said that the cost of energy with wind, solar, water systems should be equal to current energy costs. According to 2011 projections by the International Energy Agency's (IEA), solar power plants can generate most of the world's electricity in 50 years, dramatically reducing harmful greenhouse gas emissions. Critics of the "100% renewable energy" approach include Vaclav Smil and James E. Hansen. Smil and Hansen are concerned about the variable output of solar and wind power, NIMBYism, and lack of infrastructure.
Economic analysts forecast market gains for renewable energy (and efficient energy use) after Japan's nuclear accident 2011. In his State of the Union speech in 2012, President Barack Obama reiterated his commitment to renewable energy and cited the Interior Department's long-standing commitment to allowing 10,000 MW of renewable energy projects in public land by 2012. Globally, an estimated 3 million people are direct. jobs in the renewable energy industry, with about half of them in the biofuel industry.
Some countries, with favorable geography, geology and weather suitable for the economic exploitation of renewable energy sources, already derive most of their electricity from renewable energy, including from Iceland's (100 percent) geothermal energy, and hydroelectric power plants in Brazil (85 percent). ), Austria (62 percent), New Zealand (65 percent), and Sweden (54 percent). Renewable power plants are scattered in many countries, with wind power providing a significant portion of electricity in some regional areas: for example, 14 percent in the US state of Iowa, 40 percent in the state of Schleswig-Holstein in northern Germany, and 20 percent in Denmark. Solar water heating makes an important and growing contribution in many countries, especially in China, which now has 70 percent of the global total (180 GWth). Worldwide, the total installed solar water heating system fulfills most of the water heater needs for more than 70 million households. The use of biomass for heating continues to grow as well. In Sweden, the use of national biomass energy has surpassed oil. Direct geothermal heating is also growing rapidly. Renewable vegetable fuels for transportation, such as ethanol and biodiesel fuels, have contributed to a significant drop in oil consumption in the United States since 2006. 93 billion liters of biofuels produced worldwide in 2009 replaced the equivalent of about 68 billion liters of gasoline , equal to about 5 percent of the world's gasoline production.
Nuclear power
Since about 2001 the term "nuclear renaissance" has been used to refer to a possible revival of the nuclear power industry, driven by rising fossil fuel prices and renewed concerns about meeting greenhouse gas emissions limits. However, in March 2011 the Fukushima nuclear disaster in Japan and the associated stoppages at other nuclear facilities raised questions among some commentators about the future of nuclear power. Platts has reported that "the crisis at Japan's Fukushima nuclear plant has prompted energy-consuming countries to review the safety of existing reactors and raises doubts on the speed and scale of planned expansion worldwide".
The World Nuclear Association has reported that nuclear power plants in 2012 are at the lowest level since 1999. Several previous studies and international assessments suggest that as part of another low carbon energy technology portfolio, nuclear power will continue to play a role in reducing GHG emissions glass. Historically, the use of nuclear power is thought to have prevented atmospheric emissions of 64 gigatons of CO2-equivalent in 2013. Public concerns about nuclear power include the fate of spent nuclear fuel, nuclear accidents, security risks, nuclear proliferation, and concerns that nuclear power plants are very expensive. Of these concerns, nuclear accidents and long-lived disposal of radioactive fuels/waste may have the greatest public impact worldwide. Although generally unaware of this, these two obvious public worries are greatly reduced by current passive security designs, proven experimentally, "melting the evidence" of EBR-II, future liquid salt reactors, and the use of conventional and more advanced fuels/"wastes" pyroprocessing, with the latter recycling or reprocessing not now becoming commonplace as it is often considered cheaper to use the once-through nuclear fuel cycle in many countries, depending on the various levels of intrinsic value provided by the community in reducing long-lived waste in their country, with France doing substantial amounts of reprocessing when compared to the US.
Nuclear power, with a share of 10.6% of world electricity production in 2013, is second only to hydroelectric power as the largest low-carbon energy source. More than 400 reactors generate electricity in 31 countries.
A Yale University review published in the Journal of Industrial Ecology that analyzes the CO 2 lifecycle assessment (LCA) of nuclear power (light water reactors) specifies that: "Collective LCA Literature shows that greenhouse gas emissions cycle life from nuclear power is only a fraction of traditional fossil sources and comparable to renewable technologies. "While some have increased uncertainties surrounding future nuclear powerhouse greenhouse gas emissions as a result of extreme lowering potentials in uranium ore grades without a corresponding increase in efficiency of enrichment methods. In the analysis of global nuclear development scenarios in the future, since they may be affected by global uranium markets that are declining from average ore grades, the analysis determines that depending on conditions, the average life cycle of nuclear energy, GHG emissions can be between 9 and 110 Â ° CO sub> 2 -eq/kWh by 2050, with the last high figure coming from the "worst-case scenario" not "considered very strong" by the authors of the paper, as "ore grade" in a lower-than- uranium concentrations in many lignite lignite ash.
Although this future analysis is primarily concerned with extrapolation to current Generation II reactor technology, the same paper also summarizes the literature on "FBRs"/Fast Breeder Reactors, two of which operate in 2014 with the latest being BN-800, for this reactor that "the average lifecycle GRG emissions... are the same or lower than the LWR [light water reactors] and are intended to consume little or no uranium ore.
In their 2014 report, the IPCC comparison of potential global warming energy sources per unit of generated electricity, which mainly includes the albedo effect, reflects the median emission values ​​derived from Warner and Heath Yale meta-analyzes for more general non-breeding milky water. reactor, a CO2 equivalent of 12 g of CO2-eq/kWh, which is the lowest global warming trigger of all basic load resources, with comparable low carbon baseload resources, such as hydropower and biomass, resulting in much greater global warming that forcing 24 and 230 g of CO2-eq/kWh respectively.
In 2014, the Brookings Institution publishes a Clean Benefit of Low and Non-Carbon Electric Technology that states, after analyzing energy and emissions costs, that "the net benefits of new nuclear, water, and natural gas combined crop cycles far greater than the net benefits of new wind or solar power ", with the most effective low-carbon energy technology that is determined to become nuclear power.
During his presidential campaign, Barack Obama stated, "Nuclear power represents more than 70% of our non-carbon generated electricity, we can not meet our aggressive climate goals if we eliminate nuclear power as an option."
The analysis in 2015 by Professor and Chief Environmental Sustainer Barry W. Brook and his colleagues on the topic of replacing the entire fossil fuel, from the world's electricity grid, has determined that at a historically simple and proven level in which nuclear energy is adding and replacing fossil fuels in France and Sweden during each country's development program in the 1980s, within 10 years of nuclear energy can replace or eliminate fossil fuels from the grid completely, "allowing the world to meet the most stringent greenhouse - target gas transportation. "In the same analysis, Brook has previously determined that 50% of all global energy, which is not solely electricity, but transport synfuels etc. can be generated in about 30 years, if the rate of formation of a global nuclear fission is identical to each other. each decade-level state that has been proven (in units of capacity te rnasang signboard, GW per year, per unit of global GDP (GW/year/$).
This is in contrast to the conceptual full-concept paper for a world of 100% renewable energy, which will require an order of magnitude of a more expensive global investment per year, an investment rate that has no historical precedent, has never attempted because of its high cost, and with a much larger land area that would be required to be devoted to wind, wave and solar projects, together with the inherent assumption that humans will use less, and no more, energy in the future. As Brook noted "major limitations on nuclear fission are not technical, economic or fuel-related, but are otherwise linked to the complex issues of community acceptance, fiscal and political inertia, and inadequate critical evaluation of the real-world constraints faced [others. ] Low carbon alternatives. "
Nuclear power may not be competitive compared to fossil fuel energy sources in countries without a carbon tax program, and when compared to fossil fuel plants of the same power output, nuclear power plants take longer to build.
Two new, first of its kind, the EPR reactor being built in Finland and France has been delayed and runs beyond the budget. But learning from experience, two further EPR reactors being built in China are at, and ahead of, their respective schedules. In 2013, according to the IAEA and the European Nuclear Society, worldwide there are 68 civilian nuclear power plants under construction in 15 countries. China has 29 of its nuclear power plants under construction, in 2013, with plans to build more, while in the US nearly half its reactor license has been extended to 60 years, and plans to build another dozen are under serious consideration.. There are also a large number of new reactors built in South Korea, India, and Russia. At least 100 older and smaller reactors will "most likely be closed for the next 10-15 years". This is possible only if there are no factors in the ongoing Light Water Reactor Sustainability Program, which is made to allow extension of the life span of 104 US nuclear reactors to 60 years. Licenses almost half of the USA reactor have been extended to 60 years in 2008. Two new "passive safety" AP1000 reactors, in 2013, are being built at the Vogtle Electric Generating Plant.
Public opinion about nuclear power varies widely between countries. A poll by Gallup International (2011) rated public opinion in 47 countries. Voting took place after the tsunami and earthquake that caused the accident at the Fukushima nuclear plant in Japan. 49% stated that they had a good view of nuclear energy, while 43% had unfavorable views. Another global survey by Ipsos (2011) assesses public opinion in 24 countries. The survey respondents indicated a clear preference for renewable energy sources on coal and nuclear energy (see opposite graph). Ipsos (2012) finds that the sun and wind are viewed by the public as a more environmentally friendly and more viable energy source compared to nuclear and natural gas. However, the sun and wind are viewed less reliably than nuclear and natural gas. In 2012, a poll conducted in the UK found that 63% of those surveyed supported nuclear power, and with opposition to nuclear power by 11%. In Germany, strong anti-nuclear sentiment left eight of the seventeen reactors operating permanently closed after the Fukushima nuclear disaster in March 2011.
Research on nuclear fusion, in the form of the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor is underway. The Fusion powered electric generation was originally believed to be achievable, as fission strength has. However, extreme requirements for continuous reactions and plasma retention led to projection extended several decades. In 2010, more than 60 years after the first attempt, commercial electricity production is still believed to be impossible before 2050. Although it is better than an economical fusion-fusion hybrid reactor can be built before any attempt at this more demanding commercial. "pure-fusion reactor"/DEMO reactor takes place.
Transfer of coal fuel to gas
Most mitigation proposals imply - rather than directly stating - the eventual reduction in global fossil fuel production. Also proposed is a direct quota on global fossil fuel production.
Natural gas emits far less greenhouse gases (ie CO 2 and methane - CH 4 ) than coal when burned at power plants, but evidence has emerged that this benefit could become completely negated by methane leakage in gas drilling fields and other points in the supply chain.
A study conducted by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Gas Research Institute (GRI) in 1997 sought to find out whether reductions in carbon dioxide emissions from increased use of natural gas (especially methane) would be offset by a possible increase in methane levels. emissions from sources such as leakage and emissions. The study concludes that reducing emissions from increased use of natural gas outweighs the adverse effects of increased methane emissions. Recent peer-reviewed studies have challenged the findings of this study, with researchers from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) reaffirming findings of high levels of methane leak (CH4) from natural gas fields.
A 2011 study by renowned climate research scientist Tom Wigley found that while carbon dioxide emissions (CO 2 ) from burning fossil fuels could be reduced by using natural gas instead of coal to generate energy, it also found that additional methane (CH4) of the leak adds to the coercion of radiation from the climate system, offsetting the reduction of CO 2 that accompanies the transition from coal to gas. The study looked at methane leakage from coal mining; changes in radiative imposition due to changes in sulfur dioxide emissions and carbon aerosols; and the difference in the efficiency of electricity production between coal-fired power plants and gas. On balance, these factors more than offset the reduction of warming due to reduced CO 2 emissions. When gas replaces coal, there is additional heating to 2,050 with a leakage rate assumed to be 0%, and becomes 2,140 if leakage level is as high as 10%. The overall effect on the global average temperature during the 21st century, however, is small. Petron et al. (2013) and Alvarez et al. (2012) noted that estimates of leakage from gas infrastructure might be underestimated. These studies show that the exploitation of natural gas as a "clean" fuel is questionable. A 2014 meta study of 20 years of natural gas technical literature suggests that methane emissions are consistently underestimated but on a 100-year scale, the climate benefits from coal to fuel gas migration tend to outweigh the negative effects of natural gas leakage.
Heat pump
The heat pump is a tool that provides heat energy from a heat source to a destination called a "heat sink". The heat pump is designed to move heat energy in the opposite direction of the spontaneous heat flow by absorbing heat from the cold chamber and releasing it to a warmer one. The heat pump uses a certain amount of external power to complete the work of moving energy from a heat source to a heat sink.
While air conditioning and freezers are common examples of heat pumps, the term "heat pump" is more common and applies to many HVAC devices (heating, ventilation, and air conditioning) used for space heating or cooling space. When a heat pump is used for heating, it uses the same basic cooling type cycle used by the air conditioner or refrigerator, but in the opposite direction - releasing heat to the conditioned space rather than the surrounding environment. In this usage, heat pumps generally attract heat from cold outside air or from the ground. In heating mode, heat pumps are three to four times more efficient in the use of electrical power than simple electric resistance heaters.
It has been concluded that a heat pump is a single technology that can reduce household greenhouse gas emissions better than any other technology available in the market. With 30% market share and (potentially) cleaning power, heat pumps can reduce global CO2 emissions by 8% annually. Using ground source heat pumps can reduce about 60% of primary energy needs and 90% of CO2 emissions in Europe by 2050 and make handling high share of renewable energy easier. Using surplus renewable energy in heat pumps is considered the most effective household tool for reducing global warming and the depletion of fossil fuels.
With the large amount of fossil fuels used in electricity production, the demands on the power grid also produce greenhouse gases. Without a high share of low-carbon electricity, a domestic heat pump will generate more carbon emissions than using natural gas.
Fossil fuel phase-out: neutral and negative carbon fuels
Fossil fuels can be removed gradually with carbon-neutral and carbon-negative pipes and transport fuel made with electricity for gas and gas to fluid technology. Carbon dioxide from exhaust fossil fuels can be used to produce plastic wood that allows negative reforestation carbon.
Sinks and negative emissions
Carbon sinks are natural or artificial reservoirs that accumulate and store some carbonaceous chemicals for an indefinite period, such as a growing forest. The negative carbon dioxide emission on the other hand is the permanent removal of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Examples include direct air capture, improved weathering technologies such as storing them in underground geological formations and biochar. These processes are sometimes regarded as variations of sinking or mitigation, and sometimes as geoengineering. In combination with other mitigation measures, sinking in combination with negative carbon emissions is considered important to meet the 350 ppm target.
The Center for Ecological Climate and Ecosystem Antarctic Studies (ACE-CRC) notes that one-third of the annual human emissions from CO 2 are absorbed by the oceans. However, this also leads to ocean acidification, with potentially significant impacts on marine life. Acidification lowers the level of carbonate ions available to dredge the organism to form its shell. These organisms belong to the plankton species that contribute to the foundation of the Southern Ocean food network. However, acidification can affect other physiological and ecological processes, such as fish respiration, larval development and changes in nutrient and toxic solubility.
Reforestation and afforestation
Nearly 20 percent (GtCO 2 /year) of total greenhouse gas emissions came from deforestation in 2007. It is estimated that avoided deforestation reduces CO 2 emissions at a rate of 1 ton CO 2 per $ 1-5 in opportunity costs from lost agriculture. Greening can save at least 1 GtCO 2 /other year, with an estimated cost of $ 5-15/tCO 2 . Afforestation is where previously no forests - such estates are supposed to be enormous to be able to reduce emissions on their own.
Transferring land rights from the public domain to indigenous peoples is considered a cost-effective strategy for conserving forests. This includes the protection of such rights contained in existing legislation, such as the Indian Forest Rights Act. The transfer of such rights in China, perhaps the greatest land reform in modern times, has been debated to increase forest cover. In Brazil, forest areas granted ownership to indigenous groups even have lower clearance rates than national parks. The 2016 report concludes that simple investment in customary land rights will result in economic, social and environmental benefits for the communities involved and for climate protection. This report quantifies the economic value of securing such rights, focusing on the Amazon region.
With the rise of intensive agriculture and urbanization, there is an increase in the amount of abandoned agricultural land. With some estimates, for every half-hectare of the original forest cleared, more than 20 hectares of new secondary forests grow, although they lack the same biodiversity as native forests and native forests hold 60% more carbon than these new secondary forests. According to a study in Science, promoting regrowth in abandoned agricultural land can offset carbon emissions for years.
Avoid descending
Restoring grassland keeps CO 2 from air to plant material. Graze cattle, usually not allowed to wander, will eat grass and will minimize the growth of grass. However, the grass left alone will eventually grow to cover its own shoots, preventing them from photosynthesis and the dying plants will remain in place. A proposed method for restoring grasslands using a fence with lots of small paddocks and moving cattle from one paddock to another paddock after a day two to mimic natural grazers and let grass grow optimally. In addition, when part of the leaf material is consumed by grazing animals, the corresponding amount of the root of the material is also peeled off because it will not be able to retain the number of roots of the previous material and while most of the lost material will decay and enter. atmosphere, part of the carbon sequestered into the soil. It is estimated that an increase in soil carbon content in the world of 3.5 billion hectares of agricultural land with 1% will offset nearly 12 years of CO 2 emissions. Allan Savory, as part of holistic management, claims that while large flocks are often blamed for desertification, prehistoric lands support large or larger herds and areas where cattle are removed in the United States is still smaller.
Carbon retrieval and storage
Carbon and storage (CCS) is a method of reducing climate change by capturing carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) from a large point source such as a power plant and then storing it safely rather than releasing it into the atmosphere. The IPCC estimates that the cost of halting global warming will double without CCS. The International Energy Agency says CCS is "the single most important new technology for CO 2 savings" in power generation and industry. Although it requires up to 40% more energy to run CCS coal power plants than regular coal mills, CCS could potentially capture about 90% of all the carbon emitted by the plant. The Sleipner gas field in Norway, starting in 1996, stores nearly one million tonnes of CO 2 a year to avoid punishment in producing natural gas with an unusually high CO <2> . By the end of 2011, the planned total storage capacity of CO 2 from all 14 projects currently in operation or under construction is more than 33 million tonnes per year. This is broadly equivalent to preventing emissions from more than six million cars entering the atmosphere each year. According to the Sierra Club analysis, the Kemper coal project that was fired by the US for going online in 2017, is the most expensive power plant ever built for the electric wattage it will generate.
Increased weathering
Improved weathering is the removal of carbon from the air to the earth, increasing the natural carbon cycle where carbon is mineralized into the rock. The CarbFix project is paired with carbon capture and storage at a power plant to convert carbon dioxide into stone in a relatively short period of two years, addressing the general concerns of leakage in the CCS project. While the project uses basalt rock, olivine is also promising.
Geoengineering
Geoengineering is seen by Olivier Sterck as an alternative to mitigation and adaptation, but by Gernot Wagner as a completely separate response to climate change. In the literature assessment, Barker et al. (2007) describes geoengineering as a type of mitigation policy. IPCC (2007) concluded that geoengineering options, such as marine fertilization to remove CO 2 from the atmosphere, remain largely unproven. It is estimated that reliable cost estimates for geoengineering have not yet been published.
Chapter 28 Report of the National Academy of Sciences Implications of Greenhouse Warming Policy: Mitigation, Adaptation, and the Science Basis (1992) defines geoengineering as "an option that will involve large-scale engineering of our environment in order to counter or counteract the effects from atmospheric chemical changes. "They evaluated various options to try to give a preliminary answer to two questions: can these options work and can be done at a reasonable cost. They also try to encourage discussion about the third question - what adverse side effects might be. The following types of options are examined: reforestation, increasing carbon dioxide absorption (carbon sequestration) and filtering out sunlight. The NAS also argues that "engineering response needs to be evaluated but should not be implemented without a broad understanding of the direct effects and potential side effects, ethical issues, and risks." In July 2011, a report by the United States Government Accountability Office on geoengineering found that "[c] limited engineering technology now does not offer an adequate response to global climate change."
Carbon dioxide removal
The removal of carbon dioxide has been proposed as a method to reduce the amount of radiation imposition. Various ways of capturing and storing artificial carbon, as well as improving the natural sequestration process, are being explored. The main natural process is photosynthesis by plants and single-celled organisms (see biosequestration). Artificial processes vary, and concerns have been expressed about the long-term effects of some of these processes.
It should be noted that the availability of cheap energy and the right place for carbon storage can geologically make commercial carbon dioxide capture commercially active. It is, however, generally expected that carbon dioxide air removal may be uneconomical when compared to carbon capture and storage from major sources - in particular, fossil fuel power plants, refineries, etc. As in the case of the US Kemper Project with carbon capture, the energy costs generated will grow significantly. However, the CO captured 2 can be used to force more crude oil out of the field, because Statoil and Shell have made plans to do so. CO 2 can also be used in commercial greenhouses, providing an opportunity to start the technology. Several attempts have been made to use algae to catch emissions chimneys, especially GreenFuel Technologies Corporation, which has now halted operations.
Management of solar radiation
The ultimate goal of solar radiation management seeks to reflect sunlight and thereby reduce global warming. The ability of stratospheric aerosol sulphates to create global dimming effects has made them a possible candidate for use in climate engineering projects.
Non-CO 2 greenhouse gases
CO 2 is not the only GHG that is relevant for mitigation, and the government has acted to regulate other GHG emissions emitted by human activities (anthropogenic GHG). The emissions cover approved by most developed countries under the Kyoto Protocol regulates the emissions of almost all anthropogenic GHGs. These gases are CO 2 , methane (CH 4 ), nitrous oxide (N 2 O), hydrofluorocarbons (HFC), perfluorocarbons PFC)), and sulfur hexafluoride (SF 6 ).
Stabilizing atmospheric concentrations of different anthropogenic GHGs requires an understanding of their different physical properties. Stabilization depends on how quickly greenhouse gases are added to the atmosphere and how quickly they are removed. The displacement rate is measured by the age of the GHG atmosphere in question (see main GRK article for list). Here, life span is defined as the time required for GHG disorders in the atmosphere to be reduced to 37% of the initial amount. Methane has a relatively short atmospheric lifetime of about 12 years, while the age of N 2 O is about 110 years old. For methane, a reduction of about 30% below the current emission level will lead to stabilization in atmospheric concentrations, whereas for N 2 O, emission reduction of more than 50% will be required.
Methane is a greenhouse gas that is significantly stronger than carbon dioxide in the amount of heat that can be trapped, especially in the short term. Burning one molecule of methane produces one molecule of carbon dioxide, indicating there is no net benefit in using gas as a fuel source. Reducing the amount of methane waste produced in the first place and moving away from the use of gas as a fuel source will have a greater beneficial impact, as is perhaps another approach to productive use of wasted methane. In terms of prevention, vaccines are being developed in Australia to reduce the contribution of significant global warming of methane released by livestock through flatulence and eructation.
Another physical property of anthropogenic GHG relevant to mitigation is the ability of different gases to trap heat (in the form of infrared radiation). Some gases are more effective at trapping heat than others, for example, SF 6 is 22,200 times more effective than GRK than CO 2 on a per kilogram basis. The measure for this physical property is the potential for global warming (GWP), and is used in the Kyoto Protocol.
Although not designed for this purpose, the Montreal Protocol may have benefited climate change mitigation efforts. The Montreal Protocol is an international agreement that successfully reduces the emission of ozone-depleting substances (eg, CFC), which is also a greenhouse gas.
By sector
Transportation
Transport emissions are responsible for about 1/4 of emissions worldwide, and even more important in terms of impacts in developed countries especially in North America and Australia. Many citizens such as the United States and Canada are often driving private cars, seeing more than half of their climate change impacts coming from emissions generated from their cars. Mass transportation modes such as buses, light rail (metro, subway, etc.), and long-distance trains are the most energy-efficient means of transportation for passengers, can be used in many cases more than twenty times less energy per person - distance from private car. Modern energy-efficient technologies, such as plug-in hybrid electric vehicles and synthetic gasoline & amp; Jet fuel can also help reduce petroleum consumption, land use change and carbon dioxide emissions. Utilizing rail transport, especially electric trains, on top of a much more efficient air transport and truck transportation significantly reduces emissions. By using electric trains and cars in transport, there is an opportunity to run them with low-carbon power, producing much less emissions.
City planning
Effective urban planning to reduce gepeng aims to reduce the Miles Traveled Vehicle (VMT), lowering emissions from transportation. Private cars are very inefficient in moving passengers, while public transport and bicycles are many times more efficient (like the simplest form of human transport, on foot). All of this is driven by urban/community planning and is an effective way to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Between 1982 and 1997, the amount of land consumed for urban development in the United States increased by 47 percent while the country's population grew by only 17 percent. Inefficient land use practices have increased the cost of infrastructure and the amount of energy needed for transportation, community services and buildings.
At the same time, more and more citizens and government officials are beginning to advocate for a smarter approach to land-use planning. These smart growth practices include the development of a compact community, transportation options, mixed land use, and practices to conserve green space. These programs offer environmental, economic, and quality of life benefits; and they also serve to reduce energy use and greenhouse gas emissions.
Approaches like New Urbanism and transit-oriented development seek to reduce the distance traveled, especially by private vehicles, encourage public transport, and make walking and cycling a more attractive option. This is achieved through "medium density", mixed use planning and housing concentration within walking distance of downtown and transport nodes.
A more intelligent growth land use policy has a direct and indirect effect on energy consumption behavior. For example, the use of transportation energy, the number one fuel user, can be significantly reduced through more compact and mixed land development patterns, which in turn can be served by a larger range of non-automotive based transport options.
Building design
Emissions from housing are huge, and government-supported energy efficiency programs can make a difference.
For higher education institutions in the United States, greenhouse gas emissions are heavily dependent on total building area and second in climate. If climate is not taken into account, annual greenhouse gas emissions due to energy consumed on campus plus purchased electricity can be estimated by the formula, E = aS b , where a = 0.00221 metric ton CO 2 equivalent/square foot or 0.0241 metric ton CO 2 equivalent/square meter and b = 1,1354.
New buildings can be built using passive solar building designs, low-energy buildings, or zero energy development techniques, using renewable sources of heat. Existing buildings can be made more efficient through the use of insulation, high efficiency equipment (especially hot water heaters and furnaces), double-glazed or triple glass windows, external window shades, and building orientation and siting. Renewable sources of heat such as geothermal and shallow passive energy reduce the amount of greenhouse gases emitted. In addition to designing more energy-efficient buildings for heat, it is possible to design more energy-efficient buildings to cool by using more colorful and more reflective materials in urban development (eg by painting white roofs) and planting trees. This saves energy because it cools buildings and reduces urban heat island effects thereby reducing the use of air conditioning.
Agriculture
According to the EPA, agricultural land management practices can lead to the production and emission of nitrous oxide (N2O), greenhouse gases and major air pollutants. Activities that can contribute to N
2 O emissions including the use of fertilizer, irrigation, and soil treatment. Soil management contributes more than half of the emissions from the agricultural sector. Livestock livestock is responsible for one-third of emissions, through methane emissions. Management of manure and rice cultivation also produce gas emissions.
Methods that significantly increase carbon uptake in soils include landless farming, mulch residues, cover crops, and crop rotations, all of which are more numerous
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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