Contents

Introduction Greenhouse effect Definition of a GHG GWP

Greenhouse gases Triggered effects on Earth Controlling greenhouse gas emissions
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Electromagnetic spectrum

400-700 nm

The atmosphere
Most of the suns radiation is

absorbed in lower layers: - higher gas density - gases are degraded before they can reach the higher layers

O2 and O3 absorb UV under

300nm GHGs absorb beyond 700nm (IR)

Ozone layer is located in lower

Stratosphere

Molecular Vibration
Dipole moment : unbalance between average negatively and

positively charged regions

Molecular vibrations result from light absorption

If vibrations cause the dipole moment to change,

that means that IR has been absorbed

Only molecules with variable dipole moment during excitation can absorb IR
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All molecules with 3 or more atoms: CO2 N2O CH4 H2O ...

Global-warming Potential (GWP)

Relative measure of how much heat a GHG traps in the

atmosphere based on a similar gas mass of CO2

Factors: Lifetime of the species Absorption of IR by the species Spectral location of the absorption
Gas
CO2 CH4 N2O CF4

Lifetime
30-90 12 120 50.000

GWP time horizon 20 y 1 72 289 5210 100 y 1 25 310 7390

GWP has then to be combined with concentrations !

Example: 1 kg of CH4 will have an effect 72 times stronger than 1 kg of CO2 over a period of 20 years

The Greenhouse Effect

Some atmospheric gases trap the heat emitted by the

Earth and prevent it from going into space

Heat is accumulated T rise

Greenhouse effect

Evacuated heat
GHG

Trapped heat

The necessity of GHGs

If there were no GHGs in the atmosphere, all the heat

(IR) from the Earth would escape into space

Result would be an average global T of -18C Life as we know it would be impossible

Contents
Introduction
Greenhouse gases Absorption spectrum Sources GWP and emission trends Triggered effects on Earth Controlling greenhouse gas emissions
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CO2: IR-absorption

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CO2 sources
84% Human or anthropogenic sources:
Anthropogenic sources
9% 4%
6% 42% 10%

Fossil fuel
Electricity and heat genera on Transporta on sector Industrial sector Residen al

Fossil fuel use Land use changes Industrial processes 87%

22% Other 20%

16% Natural Sources:

Natural sources
0,04% Ocean-atmosphere exchange 28,56% 42,84% Planet and animal respira on Soil respira on and decomposi on 28,56% Volcanic erup ons

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CO2 concentration evolution

Human sources have disrupt the natural balance (absorbing by sinks) by adding extra CO2 Increasing CO2 concentration in the atmosphere since the industrial revolution Nowadays CO2 concentration reaches 393 ppm CO2 serves as a reference for GWP
Greenhouse gas
CO2 Average lifetime in the atmosphere 30-90 100-year Global Warming Potential 1

Concentration
393 ppm

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Lifetime is poorly defined because not destroyed over time but will be absorbed by natural sinks Some absorb quickly (100 years), others will persist for 1000 years

CH4 : IR-absorption

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CH4 sources
12%

64% Human or anthropogenic sources:

Anthropogenic sources
4% 9% 35% Fossil fuel produc on, distribu on and use Livestock farming Landfills and waste 11% Biomass burning 29% Rice agricuture

36% Natural Sources:

Natural sources
10% 12% Wetlands

Termites

78%

Oceans

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CH4 concentration evolution

Before the industrial revolution the methane concentration was maintained by natural sinks Methane in the atmosphere has more than doubled since preindustrial times Reaches about 1820 ppb nowadays

Has a larger GWP than CO2 Much smaller atmospheric concentration

Greenhouse gas Methane Average lifetime in the atmosphere 12 years 100-year Global Warming Potential 25 Concentration 1820 ppb

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N2O : IR-absorption

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N2O sources
38% Human or anthropogenic sources:
Anthropogenic sources
3% 9% 10% Agriculture Fossil fuel combus on and industrial Biomass burning 67% Atmospheric deposi on Human and animal sewage

11%

62% Natural Sources:

Natural sources
5%

Soils under natural vegeta on 35% 60% Oceans Atmospheric chemical reac on

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N2O concentration evolution

Levels have risen since the 1920 Intensive agriculture Reaches nowadays concentrations of 325 ppb

More than 10 times the GWP of methane The atmospheric concentrationis really small
Greenhouse gas N 2O Average lifetime in the atmosphere 120 years 100-year Global Warming Potential 310 Concentration 325 ppb

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Fluorinated gas : IR-absorption

CFC-12

CFC-11

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Fluorinated gas sources

Sources are only anthropogenic

Sources of fluorinated gases

5% 11% Foams (As blowing agent) 5% Refrigera on and aircondi oning

Aerosols (Propellants in medicinal aerosols 79% Others (fire protecion, solvents, cleaning agent,)

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Concentration evolution
Mainly CFC-11 & CFC-12 Phased out by Montreal protocol due to their part in ozone depletion Substantial lifetime in the atmosphere Will persist through 21st century

Replaced by HFCs, PFCs and SF6 Lower GWPs compared to CFCs Substantially higher than other greenhouse gases Concentration in ppt-units Very low!

Different replacement gases

5% 3% 1% 20% HFC-134a HFC-23 HFC-125 HFC-152a 57% 9% 5% PFC-14 PFC-116 SF6

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Water-vapor
Water absorb and emit throughout the thermal IR ( discrete) Water vapor is the most abundant greenhouse gas in the atmosphere. Human activities have only a small direct influence on atmospheric concentrations of water vapor

The surface warming caused by the greenhouse gasses has a strong effect on the water concentration in the air The water vapor concentration increases by about 6% per K

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Greenhouse gas summary

Greenhouse gas
CO2 Methane N 2O Fluorinated gas 12 years 120 years Few weeks hundreds of years Average lifetime in the atmosphere 100-year Global Warming Potential 1 25 310 4000-15000 Concentration 393 ppm 1820 ppb 325 ppb ~300 ppt

Greenhouse gas H2O CO2 CH4, N2O O3

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Contribution % ~70 ~20 ~6 ~4

Greenhouse gas summary

Main sources and sinks

Absorbed IR by the Greenhouse gasses

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Contents
Introduction
Greenhouse gases

Triggered effects on Earth Global effect Feedback mechanisms Future scenarios

Controlling greenhouse gas emissions
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Global effect
More GHG More IR absorption Temperature rise

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Feedback mechanisms
Mechanism is much more complex Negative feedback: net cooling effect Positive feedback: net warming effect

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Negative feedback
Icecaps are melting new CO2-free water Oceanic CO2 absorption capacity is increased

Increased T, [CO2] increased vegetation Floral CO2 absorption capacity is increased

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Negative feedback
Clouds Increased temperature leads to more vapor More clouds will be formed Increase of sunlight reflection
Leads also to positive feedback H2O is GHG gas : increase of IR

trapping in atmosphere

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Negative feedback
Accelerated algae growth (local effect) During decomposition they emit Dimethylsufide (DMS) DMS generates sulphate aerosols that serve as condensation nuclei for clouds
When temperature rises, algae population increases More DMS means more clouds Cf. clouds feedback

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Positive feedback
Water vapor increases Water vaporizes more with increased temperature Water contributes the most to the greenhouse effect Temperature will rise Oceanic CO2-capacity Warm water dissolves less CO2 Temperature will rise

CO2 solubility in water

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Positive feedback
Ice Albedo effect

Ice reflects the emitted sunlight (= Albedo effect) Temperature rise leads to melting ice caps This leads to a lower Albedo effect Less sunlight will be reflected Temperature rises

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Other effects
Reduced stratospheric ozone Ozone is a GHG Net cooling effect Atmospheric aerosols (mostly sulphate aerosols) Direct effect:

Absorb and reflect the sun radiation Leads to a net cooling effect Aerosols act as clouds condensation nuclei Leads to increased cloud formation Net cooling effect

Indirect effect

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Effect of aerosols

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Summary of the phenoma

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Impact of the climate changes

The food production will shrink due to less fertile soils
Local dryness will occur. A temperature rise of 3K leads to a

10% rain fall decrease. Water shortage will be worse not only due to reduced rain fall but also due to a higher vaporization On the other hand some areas will have a lot more precipitations. This will lead to a change in the fauna and flora More extreme weather phenomena (typhoons, tornados) The ice caps will melt due to the temperature rise. This will lead to a higher sealevel, endangering low level areas
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How will the population react?

People may reduce heating due to higher temperatures This leads to a negative feedback People may increase airconditioning due to higher

temperatures
This leads to a positive feedback

Peoples environmental awareness will also have a effect on

the long term The overall conclusion is that it is hard to predict the reaction of the population There are also many disagreements about how to handle and control the greenhouse effect-problem
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Contents
Introduction
Greenhouse gases Triggered effects on Earth Controlling greenhouse gas emissions UNFCCC & Kyoto Protocol Control technologies per greenhouse gas
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Kyoto Protocol
Motivation : global T increase Goal : stabilize global T by limiting anthropogenic

GHG emissions
January 1997 192 signing parties Recognizes that developped countries are responsible for

77% of GHG emissions since 1850 A.D legally binding limitations 2 commitment periods Flexibility mechanisms
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First commitment period

2005-2012
37 parties agree to binding legal limitations Limit GHG emissions to a fixed % of a given base year Base year : 1990 (or 1986-88-89) GHGs translated into CO2

CO2 CH4 N2O SF6 HFCs PFCs

Canada dropped out in 2011 becase of the risk of

excessive financial penalties

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Flexibilities
IET : International Emissions Trading Different markets exist EIT (Economies In Transit) have a surplus of allowances OECD countries have deficits Value of allowances is defined by the marginal cost of emission reduction
Limitations vary in function of wealth, political

stability, motivation...
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Second Commitment period

Starting 2020
Amendments to the first limitations Annual UNFCCC meetings fail to finalise the details

Durban, Cancun, Doha, Copenhagen...

Attempt to appoint binding limitations to top

polluters (USA, China, BRIC...)

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Copenhagen 2009
High expectations Many countries, including Russia, USA and China show interest to commit to +20% cuts by 2020 (based on 1990) Proposed technologies : electric vehicles, expansion of salinity-tolerant crops, wind and solar energy, smart grids...
Aftermath : deception Deadlocked negotiations Vague non-binding comments about sustainable fuel use
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Was Kyoto enough ?

First commitment period was not enough to stabilize

emissions and T
But it proved that it is possible to cooperate globally First step towards more future agreements Currently : Warshaw Summit Tokyo announced a plan for 2020 : 2020 levels 3,8% below 2005 levels
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Control Technology
CO2 CCS : Carbon Capture and Storage CH4 Flame chimneys

N2O Reduction catalyst

O3
Cap precursors (NOx, CO, CH4, NMVOC...)

CFCs HCFC and HFC

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CO2 CCS Post-combustion

Normal combustion of carbon fuels Capture of CO2 with a solvent (amines), sorbent

(lithium silicates, magnesium hydroxide) or membranes

Extra requirements : Solids removal : filter (high T) or simple settler Distillation column is required (stripper) Slight extra pollution of amines, nitro-amines

Use a deNOx system to reduce these emissions !

Extra energy cost

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Post-combustion proto-process

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CO2 CCS Pre-combustion

Integrated gasifier Transformation of the carbon fuel into SynGas H2 and CO, CO2 are separated H2 is then the carbonless energy carrier

Extra requirements : Pre-reactor for the gasification CO2 stripper Extra energy cost
Advantage compared to p-C : higher CO2 concentrations

at higher pressure

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Pre-combustion proto-process

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CO2 CCS Oxyfuelcombustion

Conventional : combustion with pure O2 instead of air

CxHy + O2 H2O + CO2 Exhaust is almost pure gaseous H2O and CO2
Alternate new method : Chemical Looping Combustion Oxygen is carried by metal oxides Reaction between metal oxides and fuel Production of gaseous H2O and CO2 Condensation of H2O and then CO2 can be removed
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CO2 CCS Sequestration

The gaseous CO2 is collected and compressed upto

supercritical state Storage :

Geological formations (gas or oil fields, mines...) Ocean storage (no longer feasible due to acidification) Mineral storage (limestone and other stable carbonates) Production of fuels (Fischer-Tropsch...)

Storage costs (pipelines, high pressure) Risk of leakage (e.g. Lake overturn)
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Carbon Sinks
Photosynthesis Enhance forests
Oceanic absorption in upper layers CO2 is captured and fixed as CaCO3 CO2 is captured by plankton and then

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Trias Energetica
1.

Reduce energy consumption by avoiding spilling and increasing efficiency

2. Make maximal use of renewable or sustainable

energy sources
3. Use fossile fuels as effiecently as possible to meet the

remaining demand

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CH4
Industrial Reduce leakage losses during production, storage, transportation processes. Better equipment (pumps, pipes...) Capture CH4 in underground mines Install a burner on exhaust pipes or major leaks

NOx creation GWP of CO2 vs. CH4

Agricultural Try to collect CH4 in barns Alter feeding practices

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N2O
Reduce use of synthetic nitrogen fertilizers
Increase use of reduction catalysts in vehicles /

power plants
Increase air purifying at adipic acids production plants

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Tropospheric O3
Cap precursor emissions NOx : reduction catalysts, lower combustion T (flue gas, cooling...) CO : oxidation catalysts, lean burn NMVOCs : use less volatile solvents, moving roof tanks, vapor capture in gas stations CH4 : cf. CH4 reductions

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H2O
Very variable atmospheric life-time expectancy
Broad concentration range Concentration controlled by meteorology

We cannot/dont have to control water emissions

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CFCs
Destructive effect on stratospheric ozone
No effective filtering possible (non-ignitable, very low

reactivity, no light absorption below 300nm...)

Production regulated by the Montreal Protocol (1987)

Replace CFCs with HCFCs and then with HFCs

(ODP=0)
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Conclusion
Greenhouse effect is vital to our planet
Many different gases and sources Exact effects and dynamics are not accurately known Problem can only be globally solved Difficulties to unite everybodys interests(money)
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http://www.whatsyourimpact.eu.org/greenhouse-gas-sources.php
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