Carbon Dioxide

By Author: Henry Ford
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Carbon dioxide is a colourless, odorless, tasteless, incombustible gas that is 1.5 times heavier than air. Its chemical formula is CO2 and is produced after complete oxidation of carbon containing compounds in processes like combustion, and in biological processes like, respiration, decomposition of organic materials and fermentation. It is mainly used by plants in the process of photosynthesis to produce carbohydrates. It is also used in fire extinguishers, refrigerators and in carbonated beverages. Other uses include in metal industries where it is used to enhance hardness in the manufacture of casting molds, used in oil wells for oil extraction and in maintaining pressure within a formation. When pumped into an oil well it dissolves partially in the oil and hence making it less viscous. Its concentration in air is approximately 0.038% or 380ppm. (Universal industrial Gases, Inc).
Carbon dioxide emissions are the amount of carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere. Its concentration has been increasing rapidly in the last few years and this has been a matter of interest and concern. This is especially due to its inter-relationship ...
... with global warming. There are many other useful uses of carbon dioxide but this paper will try to look at problems and solutions to Carbon Dioxide emissions. CO2 is a green house gas that traps earth’s heat and hence contributes to Global Warming. Fossil fuels combustion is the largest contributor of carbon dioxide emissions in the United States. The emissions mainly come from power generation stations whereby fossils fuel is used to produce electric power for industrial, commercial and residential use. Hence these sectors are the greatest contributors of carbon dioxide emissions, together with the transport sector. (US Department of Energy)

CO2 Emissions in Cars.
Automobiles can be said to be the single greatest polluter in the world because of the mere numbers of cars in our roads. A typical citizen’s contribution to the world wide problem of air pollution is by driving a private car (alpha online).The great numbers of cars have contributed to traffic jams in our roads and this has lead to air pollution especially when one is stuck in a traffic jam and all the cars are idling. The main reason why cars use liquid hydrocarbons is because of their high volumetric energy density and convenience of use. The transport industry in the U.S uses 13.8 million barrels of oil per year leading to release of 0.53 gigatons of carbon per year (Agrawal et.al).

Problems
When the fuel and air mix in the car engine, the products produced are hydrocarbons, nitrogen oxides, carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide and water. Fuel combustion emits carbon dioxide which is a green house gas. The amount of gas produced is directly related to amount of fuel used and more fuel is used when one drives for long.

Solutions
The long-term solution that needs to be implemented is for the reduction of emissions from motor vehicles. The more fuel efficient the car, the less CO2 it will produce. This can be achieved by use of alternative fuel in cars. The alternative fuel can be ethanol, biofuels, propane, hydrogen, electricity and natural gas methane. Hydrogen and electricity can be obtained from a carbon free primary energy source e.g. nuclear and solar or even wind or can it be obtained from a renewable source.eg.biomass. But the problem with this is that the production of alternative fuel requires burning of fossils fuels and this pollutes the environment. Hence no alternative fuel is ideal. (Alpha online).Some alternative fuels e.g. ethanol still produce carbon dioxide on burning. Ethanol has been championed in the U.S as an alternative energy source but the main reason for this is not to reduce the emissions to our environment but instead to reduce dependency on oil producing countries. It is produced from corn but it is very expensive in its production because 75% of its energy value is spent on its production. Also the changing climatic conditions and extreme weather in U.S threaten corn production.Biofuels can be a good alternative but its use is being threatened by competition between food production and biofuels production. Hydrogen and electricity can be a better way or reducing the net carbon emissions in the transport sector. The main disadvantage to this is the storage density of this energy. Liquid hydrocarbon remains to be popular because of its convenience. It is also easily accessible and is of low cost until recently. The use of H2CAR is the ultimate solution to reduction of emissions in the transport sector. (Agrawal et al, 6).this is a hybrid hydrogen-carbon whereby the hydrogen is produced by a carbon free energy source e.g. nuclear and the biomass is the carbon source.

The citizens should be informed on dangers and effects of car fuel emissions and also on ways of reducing them. One of the ways is to use hybrid cars. The intensity at which they use cars should be reduced as well. This is because there is no point in paying more money to buy a hybrid car and drive it more. This will have contributed little to solving air pollution problems unlike when one buys a fuel guzzler and drives it less frequently. This will have contributed to a better environment. The ultimate solution is for the American citizens to know the dangers of car emissions and in doing this they should avoid more driving and instead find an alternative means of transport e.g. train. Also public transport should be enhanced and made more efficient. This will reduce the number of private cars in the roads and hence contribute to low CO2 emissions.

Home appliances
There are various individual home appliances that are powered by gas but most of the appliances that we use contribute indirectly to emissions especially those powered by electricity. The main sources of green house gas emissions from homes are electricity use, heating and wastes. Electricity contributes to emissions at the power generation plant. This occurs when coal and other fossil fuels are burned to produce electricity. Homes use electricity for various purposes e.g.heating, lighting, cooling and operating electric appliances. On average, house hold emissions are approximately 7.4 metric tons per year. (USEPA) .Power generation plant that use coal emits more carbon dioxide than the one uses natural gas.

Home heating occurs mostly during winter whereby different homes use different fossil fuels to heat up the furnaces or boilers. This emits green house gases. The amount emitted depends on the type of fuel used, type of furnace being used and the furnace or boiler efficiency. It will also depend on the temperature setting of the home.
Emissions from waste occur when trash and other wastes are thrown away. An average person in America throws away more than 1,130 pounds of waste each year and every pound thrown away emits approximately 0.94 pounds of carbon dioxide. (USEPA).when trash is thrown into land fills; it decomposes and produces Land Fill Gas (LFG) which contains 50% carbon dioxide. This occurs as a result of bacterial decomposition of organic material e.g. left over foods and papers.

Solution
The goods thrown away are created using energy. When these are recycled, energy can be saved and hence emissions minimized.basically, more energy is required to create a new product compared to the energy required to produce a product from recycled materials. Hence by recycling, the wastes can be minimized and this in turn could lead to reduced greenhouse gas emissions. The average recycling rate for the United States is 30.6%. If the recycling rate increased to 35%, greenhouse gas emissions from waste could be reduced by 67 pounds of CO2 equivalent per person. (USEPA).

Landfill gas can also be used as a source of energy to produce electricity or for heating. This can significantly reduce emissions of gases into the environment and hence reduce air pollution. This can also minimize the use of fossil fuels for the production of energy. There are around 365 landfills in the U.S. that use methane recovered from the land fills for production of electricity and heat. This has helped businesses and communities to protect their environment and hence build a sustainable future.

Other measures that can be used to minimize energy use at home include loft insulation, cavity wall insulation, installing of draught excluders and switching off appliances that are not in use. Leaving unused appliances on standby should be avoided. Also boil as much water as you need and avoiding heating more water than you require, switching on the washing machine only when you have a full load and hanging clothes out to dry when the weather is good, taking a quick shower and turning down the thermostat, avoid food wasting by planning a menu for the days ahead and making shopping lists and use of leftovers wisely, closing the curtains at dusk to prevent heat lose, switching to energy saving light bulbs and replacing them with the 100W light bulbs, fitting insulation jackets to hot water tank, fitting an energy efficient boiler, buying energy saving appliances, use sustainable wood, buy recycled paper, furniture and flooring, use of biogas from land fills, buying items and products that lasts because energy is used in producing new goods, buy and install water efficient shower heads, low flush or dual flush toilets, hiring or borrowing power tools instead of buying them, recycling and donating old and unused items e.g. furniture.
Politics and emissions
The American government is committed in controlling the amount of green house gases emitted into the atmosphere. In doing this it is trying to protect the public from immediate risks, preparing for the future, securing a new international climate change agreement, and supporting individuals, communities and businesses to play their part.USA is one of the major world emitters of green house gases and second to China. The United Nations climate change conference 2009 held in Copenhagen Denmark famously refereed to as Cop15 was a general wake up call to all the nations in the world to rethink about Global warming. The heads of nations in attendance were working day and night to ensure that they reach an accord before the deadline. This shows that climate policy has come of age and that the world is conscious of the long term consequences of greenhouse emissions. In the Copenhagen Hagen accord reached on December 18, the heads of state, heads of government, Ministers and others agreed that climate change was the greatest challenge today. They showed their strong political will to combat climate change in accordance with the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities. They also agreed that deep cuts in global emissions are required so as to hold the increase in global temperatures below 2 degrees Celsius.(denmark.dk).though there is no specific temperature threshold for dangerous climate change, researchers say that if the carbon dioxide emissions are halved by 2050 compared to 1990, global warming can be stabilized below two degrees.(Meinshausen et al 2009,458).many governments in the world has adopted this 2o C target so as to reduce the emissions of the green house gases.

Corporate America and global warming
The American corporate sector has been waiting for the day it will be required by law to cut down on emissions that lead to global warming. This day seems to be moving close when President Obama outlined a national target for the reductions. The corporate America is not resistant to this and most of it has been devising ways and policies on how to comply with these requirements. And because these limits are inevitable, all that the corporate America is asking for is for the Congress to define the exact rules that are required and it will be ready and willing to follow. Some companies have even set targets voluntarily and they claim that there has been progress in achieving them.

Other companies e.g. General Electric, Ford Motor Company and PepsiCo have joined up with various environmental groups to form a coalition called the United States Climate action Partnership whose main aim is to find ways on how best emissions can be cut throughout the country. Wal-Mart has committed itself to reduce energy consumption at its stores and has a policy where its suppliers must report their energy usage and CO2 emissions. Some major emitters of CO2 like Duke Energy say that more clear rules should be put in place to finance coal using companies’ transition to lower carbon fuels.

Conclusion
Americans are said to be bigger carbon polluters per person than other countries’ citizens. To cut down on the green house emissions, there will be need for a radical transformation in the nation’s energy consumption. This may take decades and many industries may get hurt especially the coal powered power plants and petroleum refiners. But also this may lead to growth and development of other industries especially those producing alternative energy. Many corporations in America have made major steps in reducing emissions while small business men and domestic manufacturers have made a very little headway. All American citizens want safer roads, lower fuel bills and clean air where they are not poisoned while in a traffic jam. This can be achieved. And the only way is by choosing the type and kind of cars to drive. If every American can make this choice, then, this can make a great difference in reducing environmental pollution. By choosing a car that uses less fuel, people can save money, cut down carbon dioxide emissions and improve the air quality. The major cause of Global warming is carbon dioxide emissions from human activities. If not controlled the world temperatures may rise leading to adverse effects in the world environment. Each and everyone should play a role no matter how small to ensure sustainability and secure the safety of future generations by lowering the amount of carbon dioxide emitted into the atmosphere.

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