Net-zero emissions energy systems

Davis, Steven J.; Lewis, Nathan S.; Shaner, Matthew R.; Aggarwal, Seema; Arent, D. J.; Azevedo, Inês L.; Benson, Sally M.; Bradley, Thomas H.; Brouwer, Jack; Chiang, Yet Ming; Clack, C.; Cohen, Armond; Doig, Stephen J.; Edmonds, Jae; Fennell, Paul S.; Field, Christopher B.; Hannegan, Bryan; Hodge, B. M.; Hoffert, Martin I.; Ingersoll, Eric; Jaramillo, Paulina; Lackner, Klaus S.; Mach, Katharine J.; Mastrandrea, Michael D.; Ogden, Joan M.; Peterson, Per F.; Sanchez, Daniel L.; Sperling, Daniel; Stagner, Joseph; Trancik, Jessika E.; Yang, Chi-Jen; Caldeira, Ken

doi:10.1126/science.aas9793

Cited by 1,251 publications

(624 citation statements)

References 111 publications

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“…While not part of this study, improved longevity of cement-based materials in-use would also be anticipated to reduce demand for the production of reinforcing steel. Depending on the recycled content of steel and production methods, it could have substantial GHG emissions associated with its production [2,52]. With reinforcing steel being over 6% of the steel market [53], the reduction in demand for this material could further contribute to mitigation of GHG emissions.…”

Section: Quantification Of Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Energy Demandmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Construction materials typically have low environmental impact per cubic meter, but there is vast global consumption of these materials and demand has been rapidly increasing over the past three decades [1]. The production of cement and concrete is among the most substantial and difficult to decarbonize processes [2]. Annually, concrete production is responsible for over 8% of anthropogenic greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions [3],~9% of industrial water withdrawals [4], and 2%-3% of anthropogenic energy demand [3].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The role of cement service-life on the efficient use of resources

Miller

2020

Environ. Res. Lett.

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The high demand for cement-based materials to support building and infrastructure systems is of growing concern as the production of cement leads to significant greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and notable resource demand. While improved efficiency of cement use has been proposed as a means to mitigate these burdens, the effects of increasing longevity of cement in-use remains a poorly studied area. This work quantitatively explores the implications of using cement for a longer in-use residence times. Specifically, this work uses dynamic material flow analysis models to quantify the in-use stock of cement in the United States from 1900 to 2015. With these models, the implications of increasing or decreasing mean longevity of in-use cement on required cement production, demand for batching water, aggregates, and energy for cement-based materials, and GHG emissions are quantified. This work shows that a 50% increase in cement longevity could have led to a 14% reduction in material resource demand and GHG emissions from concrete production in the United States, equivalent to 0.28 to 0.83 Gt of batching water, 2.9 to 7.6 Gt of aggregates, 1E+06 to 2.3E+06 TJ of energy, and 0.4 to 0.7 Gt of CO 2 -eq emissions. This percent reduction exceeds goals for reducing GHG emissions through alternative energy resources, suggesting improving durability and longevity of in-use cement stock could be a critical means to mitigating environmental impacts.

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Section: Quantification Of Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Energy Demandmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The role of cement service-life on the efficient use of resources

Miller

2020

Environ. Res. Lett.

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“…The consumption of fossil fuels has increased significantly in the recent past, and the trend is likely to continue in the foreseeable future. Owing to increasing scarcity of crude oil on Earth and its related environmental issues, the need to develop renewable energy sources, for example, biomass, solar, wind, and hydrogen, has been strong . Fast pyrolysis is a promising technology to obtain biofuels from various lignocellulosic materials, which are considered as the second generation biomass resources that do not compete with food supply for humans.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…strong. 1 Fast pyrolysis is a promising technology to obtain biofuels from various lignocellulosic materials, which are considered as the second generation biomass resources that do not compete with food supply for humans. The produced bio-oil, typically containing relatively high oxygen content, however, cannot be directly used as transportation fuels owing to poor stability, low heating value, and inferior combustion performance.…”

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confidence: 99%

Refinement of the kinetic model for guaiacol hydrodeoxygenation over platinum catalysts

et al. 2020

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In our prior work (Ind Eng Chem Res, 2015, 54, 10638‐10644), hydrodeoxygenation (HDO) kinetics of guaiacol, a well‐known model compound of bio‐oil, over Pt/AC (activated carbon) catalysts were investigated under integral operating conditions. It was found that the pseudo‐homogeneous plug‐flow model utilizing these kinetics describes the experimental observations well (with normalized RMS error = 7.6%). In the present work, under differential operating conditions instead, we refine the kinetic model for the same reaction network over the same catalyst. We show that among the five reaction steps in the network, the reaction order of one step differs from our prior work, while the orders remain unchanged for the other four steps. The activation energies of two steps differ from our prior values by 10–15 kJ/mol, and for the other three steps remain essentially consistent with our prior work. The kinetic parameters from the present work are used to predict fixed‐bed reactor performance under integral operating conditions as well. The comparison between experimental and predicted values for both the prior and new sets of data is excellent and even better than our prior model (with reduced normalized RMS error = 4.2%). The kinetic analysis additionally proposed that the direct and indirect pathways of phenol formation from guaiacol HDO depend on guaiacol conversion values. The present work demonstrates that kinetic expressions and parameters obtained from a gradientless differential reactor are more reliable and can be used to successfully predict integral reactor performance data.

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“…2018), acknowledge that we have to start removing CO 2 from the atmosphere, safely, affordably and within a decade or two. At the same time, we need to transform fundamentally our global energy systems by replacing carbon-intensive fossil fuels with low-emission or carbon-free alternatives to slow and then halt carbon emissions (Davis et al, 2018).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Can plants help us avoid seeding a human‐made climate catastrophe?

Beerling

2019

Plants People Planet

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Societal Impact Statement Human‐made climate change places the future of the planet in peril. Rapid greenhouse gas emissions over the past few decades already commit Earth to a warmer climate state and lock‐in future extinctions. I consider what steps might be taken to protect the climate and the future of the biosphere by drawing on our understanding of the Devonian rise of forests. At stake is nothing less than the future of humanity and the fate of species we are fortunate enough to share the planet with. Summary Drastic phase down of our carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from burning fossil fuels within decades will likely be insufficient to avoid seeding catastrophic human‐caused climate change. We have to also start removing CO2 from the atmosphere, safely, affordably and within decades. Technological approaches for large‐scale carbon removal and storage hold great promise but are far from the gigaton‐scale required. Enhanced chemical weathering of crushed silicate rocks and afforestation are proposed CO2 removal approaches mimicking events during the Devonian rise of forests that triggered massive CO2 drawdown and the great late Palaeozoic cooling. Evidence from Earth's history suggests that if undertaken at scale, these strategies may represent key elements of a climate restoration plan but will still be far from sufficient. Climate protests by the world's youth are justified. They recognize the urgency of the situation and the intergenerational injustice of our time: current and future generations footing the immense economic and ecological bill for damaging carbon emissions they had no part in and which world leaders are failing to limit.

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Net-zero emissions energy systems

Cited by 1,251 publications

References 111 publications

The role of cement service-life on the efficient use of resources

The role of cement service-life on the efficient use of resources

Refinement of the kinetic model for guaiacol hydrodeoxygenation over platinum catalysts

Can plants help us avoid seeding a human‐made climate catastrophe?

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