Environmental DegradationEnergy Utilization

Klaus S. LacknerColumbia UniversityNew York, NY

September 2003

Energy Sources Biomass – Firewood Draft animals Wind/water – mills Solar – heat and photovoltaic Fossil carbon – coal, oil, gas, tar & shale Nuclear Energy Fusion

Energy Uses Heat

cooking, metallurgy, chemical products – fertilizers to plastics

Mechanical energy Transportation, manufacturing,

agriculture Cooling Desalination Cleanup

US Annual Energy Consumption

0

20

40

60

80

100

1850 1875 1900 1925 1950 1975 2000Time

En

erg

y (Q

ua

ds

)

Fossil Energy

Total Energy

Non Fossil Energy

Energy consumption and wealth

100

500

1000

5000

10,000

20,000

50,000

200

2000

0.01 0.10 1.0 10 100

Mean Power Consumption Per Capita, kW/person

Mea

n G

ross

Dom

estic

Pro

duct

Per

Cap

ita (

$/yr

•per

son)

Bangladesh

China

MexicoPoland

South KoreaU.S.S.R.

France

Japan

U.K.U.S.A.

SLOPE = 23¢/kW•hr

AFFLUENCE

POVERTY

10 billion people trying to consume

energy as US citizens do today would raise world

energy demand 10 fold

Pollution IssuesPollutant Sources Comments

Soot, smoke ash, aromatic compounds

Power plants, (coal), steam engines, diesel engines

Air quality, deposit of soot, blackens objects, sufficient to drive natural selection to black moths, health hazard, deposits in lungs, e.g., London smog, climate impact through creating opacity, largely but not completely controlled today. Still a big impact in parts of Asia.

Sulfur compounds, SOx

Power plants (coal, heavy oil), diesel engines, gasoline engines (Sulfur content has been reduced)

Acid rain, lakes are acidified (particularly those without buffering capacity e.g. in Canada and Scandinavia), corrosive, causes erosion of limestones, and sandstones particularly in buildings, and outdoor sculptures, e.g. gothic cathedrals, dissolves synthetics like nylons, further reductions are likely, but technology to deal with the problem is in place and applied (however notice grandfathering).

Nitrogen compounds, NOx

Cars, power plants, any combustion process, NOx

results from the oxidation of atmospheric nitrogen with atmospheric oxygen in high temperature flames

Air quality issues, NOx is a precursor to photochemical smog, i.e.

the production of tropospheric ozone, e.g. smog in Los Angeles but elsewhere as well, diffuse impact on the ecological balance through eutrophication of lakes etc. NOx

ultimately leaves the atmosphere, resulting nitrogen fixation greatly changes nitrogen availability to nearly all ecosystems. Current regulations limit NOx emissions.

Pollution Issues IIPollutant Sources Comments

Heavy metals, mercury, lead, cadmium, etc.

Coal fired power plants, mercury is present in the ash and is reduced to mercury vapor

Environmental poison, health hazards to humans, difficult to capture because concentrations are very low. Future regulations will impose far more stringent standards.

Fine particulates, sulfates, aromatics, etc.

Coal fired power plants, but also to a lesser extent, cars, (diesel), and conventional turbines

Apparent health hazard, statistical data point to strong correlations between fine particulate emissions from coal fired power plants and mortality rates. Particles smaller than 10 micron are unregulated, are a category of particular concern as they tend to make it into the lung where they get captured. Regulations are still being discussed.Visual pollution from power plant haze (e.g. Grand Canyon).

Carbon dioxide Any fossil fuel based power source, coal plants, gas plants, cars, machinery etc.

Climate change and environmental change, global impact, direct human impact is considered minimal.Carbon dioxide is the normal end result of power generation from fossil fuels, it is therefore difficult to avoid it.

Fossil Energy Is Vital to the World Economy

Dry Natural Gas22%

Coal25%

Nuclear6%

Wind, Solar, Geothermal 1%

Petroleum39%

HydroElectric7%

150

200

250

300

350

-400000 -300000 -200000 -100000 0

Age (years)

0

-10

-8

-6

-4

-2

+2

+4

Petit et al., Nature 399

Vostok, Antarctica Ice Core data

Te

mp

era

ture

Ch

an

ge

s (ºC)

CO

2 (p

pmV

)

Industrial age CO2 increase

Anthropogenic increase of carbon dioxide is well documented for this century.

Changes in the industrial age are large on a geological scale

Fossil Carbon Accumulates in the AirCO2 increase in the atmosphere accounts for 58% of all fossil CO2 emissions

0 Gt

8,000 Gt

7,000 Gt

6,000 Gt

5,000 Gt

4,000 Gt

3,000 Gt

2,000 Gt

1,000 Gt

21st Century’s Emissions

???

Atmo-spher

e2000

Ocean

Plants

Coal

Oil, Gas, Tars & Shales

Methane Hydrate

s

pH < 0.3

39,000 Gt

20th Century

50,000

Gt

???

Soil & Detritus

1800 constant

23

4

Scales of Potential Carbon

Sinks

Carbon Resources

Carbon Sources and Sinks

20th Century

The Mismatch in Carbon Sources and Sinks

43

1

2

5

1800-

2000

Fossil Carbon Consumption to

date

180ppmincrease in

the air 30% ofthe Oceanacidified

30% increase inSoil Carbon

50%increase

inbiomass

2050

CO2

extraction from air

Permanent & safe disposal

CO2 from concentrated

sources

Net Zero Carbon EconomyNet Zero Carbon Economy

Electricity & Hydrogen Biological & Chemical

Underground & Chemical

Storage

Hydrogen economy cannot run on electricity

There are no hydrogen wellsPrice Ranges for Raw

Fossil Energy Resources

$0.00

$5.00

$10.00

$15.00

$20.00

$25.00

$30.00

Coal Gas Oil Electricity

Pri

ce p

er

GJ

Tar, coal, shale and biomass could support a hydrogen economy.

Wind, photovoltaics and nuclear energy cannot.

Energy States of Carbon

Carbon

Carbon Dioxide

Carbonate

400 kJ/mole

60...180 kJ/mole

The ground state of carbon is a mineral

carbonate

Net Carbonation Reaction for Serpentine

Mg3Si2O5(OH)4 + 3CO2(g) 3MgCO3 + 2SiO2 +2H2O(l)

heat/mol CO2 = -63.6 kJ

Accelerated from 100,000 years to 30 minutes

Peridotite and Serpentinite Ore Bodies

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Magnesium resources that far exceed world fossil fuel supplies

Rockville Quarry

1 GW Electricity1 GW Electricity

~35 kt/day

Mineral Disposal of CO2Mineral Disposal of CO2

~1.4 kt/day Fe ~0.2 kt/day Ni, Cr, Mn

4.3 kt/day

Heat

Coal

Sand & Magnesite

Open Pit Serpentine Mine

Open Pit Serpentine Mine

CO2

11 ktons/day

Coal StripMine

Coal StripMine

Zero Emission Zero Emission Coal Power PlantCoal Power Plant

70% Efficiency

Zero Emission Zero Emission Coal Power PlantCoal Power Plant

70% EfficiencyEarth Moving ~40 kt/day Mineral Mineral Carbonation Carbonation

PlantPlant

Mineral Mineral Carbonation Carbonation

PlantPlant28 kt/day36% MgO

Mining, crushing & grinding: $7/t CO2 — Processing: $10/t CO2 — No credit for byproducts

CO2 N2

H2OSOx, NOx and

other Pollutants

Carbon

Air

Zero Emission Principle

Solid/Liquid Waste

Need better sources of oxygen

Power Plant

ADVANCED ZERO EMISSION PLANT CONCEPTS

Wind area that carries 22 tons of CO2 per year

Wind area that carries 10 kW

0.2 m 2

for CO2 80 m 2

for Wind Energy

How much wind? (6m/sec)

CO2

1 m3of Air

40 moles of gas, 1.16 kg

wind speed 6 m/s

0.015 moles of CO2

produced by 10,000 J of gasoline

2

20 J2

mv

Volumes are drawn to scale

Biomass

3 W/m2

Sunshine

200 W/m2

Wind Energyv = 6m/s130 W/m2

Extraction from Air

Power Equivalent

from gasoline

v = 6 m/s

60,000 W/m2

Areas are drawn to scale

60m by 50m

3kg of CO2 per second

90,000 tons per year

4,000 people or

15,000 cars

Would feed EOR for 800 barrels a day.

250,000 units for worldwide CO2 emissions

EnergySource

EnergyConsumer

H2O H2O

O2

O2

H2

CO2

CO2

H2 CH2

Materially Closed Energy Cycles

Air Flow

Ca(OH)2 solution

CO2 diffusion

CO2 mass transfer is limited by diffusion in air boundary layer

Ca(OH)2 as an absorbent

CaCO3 precipitate

Flux = D/LD = 1.3910-5m2/s,

diffusion coefficientL is boundary thickness is density of CO2

Private SectorCarbonExtractio

n

CarbonSequestration

Farming, Manufacturing, Service, etc.

Certified Carbon Accounting

certificates

certification

Public Institutionsand Government

Carbon Board

guidance

Permits

& Credits

Sustainable Development

1 – 2 billion without any electricity

The Fossil Carbon Pie

Past

Distant Future

Soon600 Gt C

The Fossil Carbon PiePast

Distant Future

Soon

5000 Gt C

With Carbon Sequestration