Tag Archives: environment

Fighting Climate Change by Capturing Excess CO2.

Posted on November 23, 2020 by | Leave a comment

Climate change is becoming a serious issue as temperatures continue to rise due to increasing global greenhouse emissions. Greenhouse gases such as CO2 trap reflecting sunlight and radiation that would normally escape the atmosphere of Earth and this trapped heat then leads to warmer temperatures. Over the past 150 years, Carbon dioxide(CO2) emissions around the world have increased mainly due to human involvement through the burning of fossil fuels and industrial processes. The figure below outlines the percentages of various greenhouse gas emissions and their sources.

Credit: IPCC(2014)

Due to these rising emissions, there are many researchers and technology companies around the world that are looking at ways to reduce the amount of atmospheric CO2 and mitigate climate change before it is too late. In the past few years, many new technologies and techniques to capture excess carbon have emerged. Some of these main ones include Bioenergy with Carbon Capture and Storage(BECCS or bio-CCS) and Direct Air Capture(DAC). Although the ultimate goal of both methods is to reduce carbon emissions, BECCS focuses on capturing CO2 released through combustion in industrial facilities while DAC aims to directly capture excess CO2 from the atmosphere. From these two methods, companies such as Carbon Engineering who are employing DAC have gained more traction as they have landed large investors such as Bill Gates and Chevron.

A study posted in 2018 outlined the process and cost of Direct Air Capture(DAC). Through this research, a Canadian company called Carbon Engineering based in Squamish, BC has tested the Direct Air Capture technology and hopes to make various large scale carbon storage plants over the next few years. Another company called Climeworks based in Switzerland is using similar methods to capture carbon from the atmosphere. Carbon Engineering has a plan to use the carbon from the atmosphere in 2 different ways which are reusing the stored carbon as a source of fuel and the second being storing solid carbon underground. According to the company, one large scale plant can store as much carbon as 40 million trees. They believe it is an efficient way to reducing carbon emissions and as they continue to get more funding they become closer and closer to their goal.

This video below explains the Direct Air Capture(DAC) method of removing CO2 and also outlines the various ongoing and future projects to mitigate climate change.

-Sandeep Singh

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HOW CLIMATE CHANGE IS MAKING HURRICANES SCARIER

Posted on November 16, 2020 by | 1 comment

The Greatest Storm on Earth

When thinking about powerful natural events on Earth, one might think of raging tornadoes, or blizzards that can shut down cities, but the power of a hurricane is so immense, that they can release up to 10000 nuclear bombs worth of energy of the course of their lives. The power of these natural storms is so great, they are sometimes even visible to Earth even from other planets in our solar system, take the Great Red Spot of Jupiter for example. On Earth, generally hurricanes start to develop in areas of high humidity and relatively warm surface water temperatures, mixed with faint winds. This is why “hurricane season” is generally in the summer and early fall in the northern hemisphere. Hurricanes are devastating to the terrain and any infrastructure caught in their path, and as such is an important issue for people who live in areas known that are likely for hurricanes to hit. The video below from National Geographic goes over some of the specifics when it comes to how a hurricane is made, for further info on the topic.

Hurricane Decay

Eventually, when hurricanes hit land they will slowly start to decay, as the moisture from warm ocean subsides, the hurricane has nothing fueling it, as hurricanes require moisture and heat to continue on. After being cut off from the ocean, the decrease in moisture level also contributes to an simultaneous decrease in the hurricanes intensity.

In the scientific literature, there are already studies looking at how climate change affects hurricanes, and particularly how climate change affects the intensification of some tropical cyclones, but until recently, the question of how the intensity decay was being affected by climate change remained unanswered.

A hurricane at the start of hurricane season / Taken from Flickr user militarymark2007

The Findings

Recently, researchers Lin Li and Pinaki Chakraborty of the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology have determined through an analysis of historical climate data, alongside computer simulations, that climate change is contributing to the slower decay of hurricanes after landfall. By checking through the hurricane intensity data gathered over the last 50 years in the North Atlantic, they found that “hurricane decay has slowed… in direct proportion to a… rise in the sea surface temperature”. Looking back to the late 1960’s, an average hurricane then would lose around three quarters of it’s intensity a day after it made landfall, whereas an average hurricane now would only lose around half of it’s intensity a day after making landfall. By using computer simulations, they determined that the higher sea surface temperatures are causing the slower decay rate, as the moisture level is now also higher, alongside the amount of heat to fuel the hurricanes ‘engine’, leading to a longer and stronger hurricane after landfall.

Looking Ahead

As we look forward, strategies to mitigate climate change and reduce global warming might become top priorities in a world with an ever increasing climate, and unfortunately now, with even stronger hurricanes.

Hurricane as seen from the ISS by Astronaut Ed Lu. By Image courtesy of Mike Trenchard, Earth Sciences & Image Analysis Laboratory, NASA Johnson Space Center. – http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/view.php?id=12140, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=625449

 

– Mehdi Mesbahnejad

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COVID-19: Environmental Impacts of the Masks

Posted on October 5, 2020 by | Leave a comment

Have you ever thought that the masks we are wearing everyday might be polluting the environment? With the rise of COVID-19 pandemic, usage of masks have become such a natural and crucial part of people’s lives. However, as production and disposal of masks increase, environmental consequences of used masks are starting to be observed.

Corona, Mask, Waste, Coronavirus, Covid-19, Pandemic

“Corona Mask Waste“, by Roksans96, licensed under Pixabay

Why are the masks being environmental threat?

Among many different types of masks currently produced, the most commonly used one are the surgical masks. High usage of surgical masks is due to safety provided by anti-droplet polypropylene filter layer of the masks. Since COVID-19 is known to be a droplet-borne disease, polypropylene filter layer became favorable feature to many individuals, especially to those working in hospitals and medical field. Given the fact the medical field workers are needed more than ever before with increasing number of infected individuals, production and disposal of surgical masks and polypropylene filter layer became inevitable.

File:Face masks during the COVID-19 pandemic.jpg

“Face masks during the COVID-19 pandemic“, by Paladin Zhang, licensed under CC BY 2.0

The concern lies in that surgical masks are mostly disposed after a single use because of possible bacterial cross-contamination upon multiple usage. Polypropylene is not readily biodegradable, which means as its usage escalates rapidly, its disposal might end up being long-lasting environmental concern.

Impact on marine ecology

Some of the environmental issues regarding mask wastes are already observable in some parts of the world. One of the first countries to face the environmental consequences of mask litter was Hong Kong, which was one of the first countries to face COVID-19 outbreak.

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Description: Soko Island in Hong Kong polluted with COVID-19 mask waste.

Video Credit: South China Morning Post

Many of masks litters ended up in the coastal areas, where the wastes appeared to be serious threat to the marine ecology. Many marine predators might swallow mask wastes confusing the masks with their preys, and birds that live near coastal area are often entangled by disposed mask wastes.

pollution drina plastic waste free photo

“Pollution Drina Plastic Waste Free Photo“, by geraldsimon00, licensed under Pixabay

How is this issue being addressed?

After direct environmental impacts of mask wastes were observed, the need for more eco-friendly masks was highlighted. Therefore, scientists started working on development of mask materials that can replace polypropylene while keeping the strong anti-droplet effect of the filter layer.

One of the approaches were made by BioProducts Institute at the University of British Columbia. The research team attempted using wood fibers from local trees to make filter layer. Wood fibers are easily biodegradable, so even if mask litters end up in the environment, it would not be an environmental threat.

Another approach was made by Hong Kong Polytechnic University. The research team in the university used laser to induce properties of graphene on the mask. Graphene is hydrophobic, which means that it is effective in repelling droplets. Also, graphene has photothermal property, meaning it heats up under extensive exposure to sunlight. In this process, mask can be sterilized, and this antibacterial activity allows multiple reuse of masks. In this way, the amount of mask disposed will decrease significantly.

“The ideal crystalline structure of graphene is a hexagonal grid.”, by AlexanderAlUS, licesned licensed under CC BY 2.0

However, all of the scientific technologies are still in developing stages. There are still some concerns in applying them to commercial masks yet. Still, with many scientist putting efforts to overcome this issue, I believe the solution will be found soon.

– Tae Hyung Kim

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Excess carbon dioxide: How can we combat this problem, and why is it problematic for marine organisms?

Posted on September 18, 2020 by | Leave a comment

Did you know that excess carbon dioxide poses a significant problem for marine life? Although CO2 is naturally occurring and acts as an important heat-trapping gas in moderate amounts, human activities have pumped lots of excess CO2 into the atmosphere.

Exhaust fumes from an industrial plant, which includes carbon dioxide (as well as other chemicals). Photo by Damian Bakarcic.

Too much carbon dioxide not only contributes to more extreme weather and global warming, but it also made oceans 30% more acidic since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution.

Today, CO2 makes up 84% of all greenhouse gases from human activity, with around 40 billion tons being produced per year.

Numerous climate scientists, such as climatologist Dr. James Hansen, state that to avoid the impacts of climate change, the levels need to be reduced to at maximum 350 ppm. However, CO2 levels have already exceeded 400 ppm in 2019.

Across the world, many different marine species, such as barnacles, experience the chemical effects of lowered pH levels. This comes in the form of problems with shell formation/ adhesion and lower survival rates, as demonstrated in a laboratory study by the Northeast Coastal Acidification Network.

Ocean acidification has an especially adverse impact for animals that are sensitive to changes in carbonate chemistry. For example, shellfish use carbonate in the ocean to make their protective shell structures. With a low pH, calcium carbonate is in short supply because it will react with acidic solutions.

An infographic depicting the chemistry behind ocean acidification, and why it is harmful for marine life. Source: Climate Commission (RIP)

One remedy involves catalysis. This uses catalysts to convert CO2 into useful goods – fertilizers and plastics. Doing so would convert the polluting waste product into useful molecules, and simultaneously lessen our need to use fossil fuels to generate such products.

A way this can be achieved is with an electrolysis cell, which employs electrical energy to run a non-spontaneous redox (i.e. oxidation-reduction) reaction. A non-spontaneous redox reaction occurs only when an external voltage is applied, whereas a spontaneous one would generate a voltage itself.

On the electrode surface, the CO2 is reduced – meaning the addition of hydrogen, the removal of oxygen, or both (oxidation is the opposite: lose hydrogen/ gain oxygen). Depending on the number of electrons transferred, many different molecules could be produced. The products form in the electrolyte, and move to a separation system.

Catalysis involving carbon dioxide and hydrogen, with a Cu/ZnO catalyst. CO2 is reduced, producing methanol and carbon monoxide. Source: a drawing by myself.

Any unreacted CO2 and the electrolyte are recycled. Tin is a metallic catalyst used to make formic acid via catalysis. More complex molecules can be formed as well, such as the ethanol found in hand sanitizers.

In conclusion, too much carbon dioxide is a significant threat to marine life, and catalysis is one solution that scientists are investigating to recycle CO2. Are there other potential solutions for excess CO2 that you know of?

– Jacqueline (Wai Ting) Chan

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