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Carbon Capture In Wyoming | Earth Wise

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Wyoming produces about 40% of our country’s coal and many towns in the state were built because of and make their living from it.  With coal’s plummeting share in the nation’s electricity, there is a great deal of anxiety among residents of those towns.

As carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere continue to climb, there is a growing sense that cutting emissions will not happen quickly enough and it will be necessary to pull the greenhouse gas out of the atmosphere.  The current long-term government climate strategy assumes that carbon removal will account for 6 to 8 percent of the nation’s greenhouse gas reductions by 2050.

The Inflation Reduction Act passed in August provides $3.5 billion to help build “direct air capture hubs” around the country, with an emphasis on fossil fuel-dependent communities such as many in Wyoming. 

The town of Rock Springs, Wyoming is home to the Jim Bridger Coal Plant. A company called CarbonCapture, Inc., is launching Project Bison, which will build a direct air capture facility outside of town that is set to begin operations next year.  It will initially capture 10,000 metric tons of CO2 per year but plans to expand that to 5 million tons a year by 2030. 

That would be far more than any current carbon capture plant can do. The largest plant in the world, located in Iceland, pulls in only about 4,000 metric tons a year.

There are many problems associated with carbon capture.  It uses up very large amounts of energy, possibly presents environmental problems, and is very expensive.  In short, the technology has a long way to go before becoming viable.  However, this may ultimately be another example where necessity is the mother of invention.

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Carbon Removal Is Coming to Fossil Fuel Country. Can It Bring Jobs and Climate Action?

Photo, posted July 22, 2012, courtesy of Max Phillips via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Fertilizing The Ocean | Earth Wise

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There are a variety of schemes for removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.  Some require advanced and generally not-very-well developed technology.  Others, such as planting vast numbers of trees, are nature-based but are daunting with respect to the scale to which they need to take place in order to be truly effective.

Researchers at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory in Richland, Washington have been examining the scientific evidence for seeding the oceans with iron-rich engineered fertilizer in order to feed phytoplankton.  Phytoplankton are microscopic plants that are a key part of the ocean ecosystem.

Phytoplankton take up carbon dioxide as they grow.  In nature, nutrients from the land end up in the ocean through rivers and from blowing dust.  These nutrients fertilize the plankton.  The idea is to augment these existing processes to increase the growth of phytoplankton.  As they eventually die, they sink deep into the ocean, taking the excess carbon with them.


The researchers argue that engineered nanoparticles could provide highly controlled nutrition that is specifically tuned for different ocean environments.  Surface coatings could help the particles attach to plankton.  Some could be engineered with light-absorbing properties, allowing plankton to consume and use more carbon dioxide.

Analysis of over 100 published studies showed that numerous non-toxic, abundant, and easy-to-create metal-oxygen materials could safely enhance plankton growth.  According to the researchers, the proposed fertilization would simply speed up a natural process that already sequesters carbon in a form that could remove it from the atmosphere for thousands of years.  They argue that given the current trends in the climate, time is of the essence for taking action.

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Fertilizing the Ocean to Store Carbon Dioxide

Photo, posted August 2, 2007, courtesy of Kevin McCarthy via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Mauna Loa Eruption And Climate Tracking | Earth Wise

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Mauna Loa, the largest active volcano in the world, erupted for the first time in nearly 40 years in late November.  A 124-foot aluminum tower at the top of the volcano has been the site of carbon dioxide measurements for over 60 years but the eruption cut off power to the site, stopping the monitoring.

Carbon dioxide measurements on Mauna Loa began in 1958.  The project was started by geochemist Charles Keeling and eventually taken over by his son Ralph Keeling upon his father’s death in 2005.  It is the longest continuous record of the rising levels of carbon dioxide in the world.

Mauna Loa is an ideal location for carbon dioxide monitoring because it is a remote location away from both carbon dioxide sources like dense population centers and roads, and carbon sinks like areas of heavy vegetation.

There are hundreds of carbon dioxide monitoring stations around the world, including more than 70 operated by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, so the interruption will not stop global recordkeeping.  But Mauna Loa holds significant symbolism as the first and most frequently sited source of carbon dioxide data.

There have been other interruptions in the measurements.  Federal budget cuts in 1964 paused them for about 3 months.  A 1984 eruption also cut off power to the facility and shut it down for about a month.

When the facility first started operating, the average carbon dioxide concentration was measured at 313 parts per million.   Most recently, levels have peaked at around 421 parts per million, the greatest concentration in at least 4 million years. 

Power will be restored to the Mauna Loa facility and its measurements will resume.

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Mauna Loa Eruption Threatens a Famous Climate Record

Photo, posted November 29, 2022, courtesy of L. Gallant / USGS via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Europe Is Warming Faster Than The Rest Of The Planet | Earth Wise

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A new study by researchers at Stockholm University has found that the warming during the summer months in Europe has been much faster than the global average.  The findings, published in the Journal of Geophysical Research Atmospheres, are that the climate across the European continent has become drier, particularly in southern Europe, leading to worse heat waves and an increased risk of fires.

Warming over land areas occurs much faster than over oceans.  The global average warming to date is 1.6 degrees Celsius over land and 0.9 degrees over oceans.   This means that the global emissions budget to keep warming below 1.5 degrees has already been used up over land.  The new study in fact shows that the emissions budget to avoid 2 degrees of warming has already been exceeded over large parts of Europe during the summer half-year (April to September).

This accelerated warming in Europe has led to more frequent heat waves.  These, in turn, increase the risk of fires, such as the devastating fires in southern Europe this past summer.

Southern Europe has been experiencing a positive feedback situation in which the ongoing warming has been amplified because of drier soil and decreased evaporation.  Added to that, there has been less cloud coverage over large parts of Europe, probably as a result of less water vapor in the air.

The study also looked at the impact of aerosol particles on temperatures in Europe.  As the amount of relatively short-lived aerosol particles has decreased with the reduction of coal-fired power plants, the temporary cooling effects of those particles partially masking the underlying warming trend have diminished.  In contrast, carbon dioxide emissions stay in the atmosphere for centuries.

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Large parts of Europe are warming twice as fast as the planet on average

Photo, posted April 18, 2020, courtesy of Roman Ranniew via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

It Really Is Greenhouse Gases | Earth Wise

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The scientific consensus that human-generated carbon dioxide is changing the climate began to form in the 1980s. 

For a long time, the changes to the climate were simply denied.  After a while, as those changes became increasingly hard to ignore, the argument shifted to the changes being real but not caused by anything people are doing.  The multi-trillion-dollar fossil fuel industry was strongly motivated to focus attention away from the association between carbon dioxide and climate change.

The greenhouse gas effect has been known since the 19th century.  It isn’t just real; it is essential to life on earth.  Without sufficient levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere to trap some of the sun’s heat, the earth would be an ice planet incapable of supporting much in the way of life.  But there can be too much of a good thing.

Naysayers continue to grasp at alternative explanations for the warming planet rather than the inconvenient truth.  Some people try to claim that it is the release of heat from all our energy-generating activities -power plants, heaters and air conditioners, vehicles, and so on – that is warming the planet.

That issue has been studied in detail.  Human activity does generate a lot of heat and, technically speaking, that heat does help warm the planet.  However, the sun dumps 10,000 times more heat on the earth than all of human energy production added together.  Just the normal fluctuations in solar energy are 10 times larger than everything we do put together.

What is increasingly warming the planet is not the continuing energy striking the earth; it is primarily the fact that growing levels of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere are trapping more and more of that heat and preventing it from escaping into space.

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Integrating anthropogenic heat flux with global climate models

Photo, posted August 25, 2009, courtesy of Gerald Simmons via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Carbon In The Congo Peatlands | Earth Wise

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The Congo peatlands in central Africa are the world’s largest tropical peatlands complex, occupying an area of 65,000 square miles, about the size of the entire state of Florida. Peatlands represent a huge store of carbon and therefore are important to the stability of the climate.

A study by scientists at the University of Leeds and University College London found that around the time that Stonehenge was built – about 5,000 years ago – there was an extended drying period in central Congo and the peatlands started emitting carbon dioxide rather than storing it.  Over the course of time, the climate in the area got wetter again and over the past 2,000 years, the Congo peatlands have been a place that takes large amounts of carbon out of the atmosphere.

The study utilized peat samples taken from beneath remote swamp forests to build a record of the vegetation and rainfall in the central Congo Basin over the past 17,500 years.

In a paper published in Nature, the researchers warn that if modern-day global warming produces extended droughts in the Congo region, history could repeat itself and the peatlands could once again become carbon emitters.  If that were to happen, over 30 billion tons of carbon could be released into the atmosphere.  That is the equivalent to the total global emissions from fossil fuel burning over a three-year period.

There is some evidence that dry seasons are lengthening in the Congo Basin, but it is unknown if these will continue.  In any case, the study reveals that peatlands are more vulnerable than previously thought and need to be protected.  They are some of the most wildlife and carbon-rich ecosystems on Earth.

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Congo peatlands could release billions of tonnes of carbon

Photo, posted November 5, 2016, courtesy of Roni Ziade / Forest Service via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Renewable Energy Booming in India | Earth Wise

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India is the country with the second largest population in the world – over 1.4 billion people – second only to China – and will undoubtedly pass China soon based on population trends in the two countries.   India is the third largest emitter of carbon dioxide, after China and the U.S.  With its rapidly growing population and an economy heavily dependent on coal and oil, emissions in India are on a steep upward trajectory.  Currently, fossil fuels account for about 60% of India’s installed energy capacity.  It is essential that actions are taken to curb its rapid increase in greenhouse gas emissions.

To that end, India’s renewables sector is booming.  The country is projected to add 35 to 40 gigawatts of renewable energy each year until 2030.  That’s enough energy to power up 30 million more homes each year.  The country has established a target of producing 50% of its electricity from non-fossil fuel sources by the end of this decade.

 India is expected to reach over 400 gigawatts of renewable energy capacity by 2030

according to the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis and Climate Energy Finance.  The Indian government’s own projections estimate that the country will reach 500 gigawatts of renewable capacity in that timeframe.

As is the case with China, a country with an enormous population undergoing major economic growth and modernization has vast energy needs.  While it is imperative for the entire world that India puts a cap on its growing greenhouse gas emissions, it is a difficult challenge for an energy-hungry country.

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Renewable energy booms in India

Photo, posted November 14, 2011, courtesy of Amaury Laporte via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Carbon Capture Booming | Earth Wise

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For the world to reach a state of net-zero emissions, it is going to require more than the ongoing transition to renewable energy sources.  There will also need to be efforts to capture the emissions from sources that can’t easily eliminate their pollution.  These include steel mills, cement plants, and other industrial sites.  At least for the foreseeable future,  a number of essential industries have no other viable path to deep decarbonization, and carbon capture and storage projects are the only promising strategy on hand.

Companies use CCS to filter emissions from fossil fuel power plants and industrial facilities and then bury the captured carbon underground, often in deep caverns.

Over the past 12 months, the pipeline for carbon capture and storage projects has grown by 44%.  This year, firms have announced 61 new CCS projects, bringing the total number of commercial projects in the global pipeline to 196, which includes about 30 that are already in operation.  Another 11 are under construction, and 153 are in development.

When all of these projects are completed, they will have the capacity to capture a total of about 270 million tons of carbon dioxide per year.  Estimates are that there need to be 1,400 million tons locked away each year to reach zero-emissions.  So, the existing project pipeline constitutes about 20% of what is ultimately needed.

The recently passed Inflation Reduction Act boosts tax incentives for carbon capture.  Analysts believe this could multiply U.S. deployment of the technology more than 10-fold.  Globally, it is expected that CCS will continue its rapid growth as countries ramp up investments in the technology.

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Carbon Capture Projects See Meteoric Growth in 2022

Photo, posted August 22, 2022, courtesy of Nenad Stojkovic via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Trees Are Growing Bigger | Earth Wise

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The alarming rate of carbon dioxide flowing into the atmosphere is having a real and actually positive effect on plant life. Higher concentrations of carbon dioxide make plants more productive because photosynthesis makes use of the sun’s energy to synthesize sugar out of carbon dioxide and water.  Plants make use of the sugar both as a source of energy and as the basic building block for growth.  When carbon dioxide levels go up, plants can take it up faster, supercharging the rate of photosynthesis.

In a new study published in the journal Nature Communications, scientists at Ohio State University found that trees are feasting on decades of carbon dioxide emissions and are growing bigger as a result. 

The researchers tracked wood volume in 10 different tree groups from 1997 to 2017 and found that all of them except aspens and birches grew larger.  Over that time period, carbon dioxide levels climbed from 363 parts per million to 405 parts per million.  According to the study, each 1% increase in lifetime CO2 exposure for trees has led to more than a 1% increase in wood volume.

In the big picture, the news isn’t so positive.  The global warming caused by increasing carbon dioxide levels increasingly threatens the forests of the world.  It has led to worsening droughts, insect infestations, and wildfires.  So overall, increasing levels of carbon dioxide are by no means a good thing for the world’s trees.  However, since trees are growing bigger more quickly, it means that planting them is an increasingly cost-effective method for fighting climate change because the same number of trees can sequester more carbon.

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As Carbon Dioxide Grows More Abundant, Trees Are Growing Bigger, Study Finds

Photo, posted September 12, 2015, courtesy of Nicholas A. Tonelli via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Propane Refrigerants | Earth Wise

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About 10% of the world’s total electricity supply is used for air conditioning.  If current temperature trends continue, the energy demands for space cooling will more than triple by the year 2050.  Air conditioning is a double threat to the environment.  Apart from using lots of energy, ACs also make use of halogenated refrigerants that are extremely powerful greenhouse gases.

The most common space cooling appliances are split-air conditioners, which use an indoor unit and an outdoor unit connected by pipes.  These split ACS mostly utilize HCFC-22 and HFC-410 as refrigerants, which have global warming potential scores as high as 2,256 – meaning they trap 2,256 times more heat than carbon dioxide. 

A study by the International Institute of Applied Systems Analysis in Austria has shown that propane is a far better choice as an air conditioning refrigerant.  Its global warming potential is actually less than 1 meaning it traps less heat than carbon dioxide.  According to the study, if air conditioners switched to propane refrigerants, the world would avoid about a tenth of a degree Celsius of additional warming, which is a significant contribution to meeting the goals of the Paris climate agreement.

Propane-based split-ACs are already available commercially in China and India.  Elsewhere, many national regulations prohibit their use, primarily due to codes restricting the use of refrigerants with higher flammability.  Given the increasingly urgent need for climate action, it seems to be time to reconsider regulations on refrigerants.

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Propane — a solution for more sustainable air conditioning

Photo, posted March 24, 2021, courtesy of Phyxter Home Services via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

A Cheap Material For Carbon Capture | Earth Wise

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The recently passed Inflation Reduction Act includes significant support for carbon capture technologies. Eliminating fossil fuel burning is essential for halting climate change, but in the interim, methods for capturing emissions of carbon dioxide and either storing it or turning it into usable products are increasingly necessary.

There are a variety of techniques being developed for carbon capture but at this point, none of them are commercially viable.  The best technique in use today involves piping flue gases through chemicals called liquid amines, which bind CO2.  The process requires large amounts of energy to release the bound carbon dioxide so it can be concentrated and stored.  As a result, it is complicated and expensive.

Researchers at UC Berkeley, Stanford, and Texas A&M University have developed a carbon capture method using melamine, which is an inexpensive polymer used to make Formica, as well as low-cost dinnerware, industrial coatings, and other plastics.  Porous melamine itself adsorbs CO2 to a limited extent.  But the researchers discovered that adsorption could be much improved by adding the chemical DETA (diethylenetriamine) to bind the CO2.  In addition, adding cyanuric acid increased the melamine pore size and radically improved CO2 capture efficiency even more.

The result is a material that is more efficient even than exotic carbon capture materials like metalorganic frameworks and is much cheaper and easier to make. The researchers aim to design equipment that can used in industrial facilities, attached to buildings and other structures, or even to the tailpipes of gas-powered vehicles.

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A simple, cheap material for carbon capture, perhaps from tailpipes

Photo, posted June 10, 2006, courtesy of Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Plant-Based Foods And CO2 Emissions | Earth Wise

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We often hear how eating locally-sourced food is a way to minimize the carbon footprint of our diet.  But from a climate impact perspective, this only has a significant impact if transportation is responsible for a large portion of a food’s final carbon footprint.  In many cases, the greenhouse gas emissions related to transportation make up only a small portion of the total emissions from food, and what we eat is far more important.

In general, beef and lamb have the biggest climate footprint per gram of protein.  Plant-based foods tend to have the smallest impact. Pork and chicken are somewhere in the middle. 

According to new research, U.S. food production could reduce its agricultural carbon footprint between 2.5% and 13.5% by embracing plant-based alternatives to beef.  The study, from researchers at Cornell University, Johns Hopkins University, and international partners, found that most of the reduction would be achieved by decreasing the number of cows needed for beef production by two to twelve million animals.  The research was recently published in the journal Lancet Planetary Health.

However, the researchers also found that acting to reduce climate change in this manner could have unintended consequences.  For example, economic models from the research team show that the growth in popularity of plant-based beef could disrupt the agricultural workforce, threatening more than 1.5 million jobs. 

But in the big picture, doing nothing will cost much more than doing something to slow climate change.  Shifting diets away from meat and other animal products and towards more plant-based foods will help shrink carbon footprints and mitigate climate change.  It’s a win-win for the planet and for human health. 

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Plant-based ‘beef’ reduces CO2 but threatens ag jobs

Photo, posted November 27, 2018, courtesy of Sarah Stierch via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

California Trees Are Dying | Earth Wise

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California relies on extensive forests to help reduce the amount of carbon dioxide entering the atmosphere.  But extensive drought and increasingly frequent wildfires have been reducing the state’s tree population for the past three decades.

A comprehensive study by a team of scientists from the University of California Irvine used satellite data to study vegetation changes between 1985 and 2021.  Across the entire state, tree cover area has declined 6.7% over that time period.  The results varied from region to region across the state.

Southern California exhibited the sharpest decline, where 14% of the tree population in local mountain ranges vanished, potentially permanently.  In the Sierra Nevada mountains, tree populations were relatively stable until about 2010.  After that, a severe drought followed by historically large wildfires resulted in a 8.8% die-off of trees.  The northern parts of the state, with higher rainfall and cooler temperatures, fared better, being able to more easily recover from wildfires.

The study goes beyond measuring the tree population of the state and its effects on carbon storage.  The data is also important for understanding how changes in forest cover affects water resources and fire behavior in the state.

The decline of trees in California is affecting the carbon storage abilities of the state.  The satellite survey showed that as the tree populations have dropped, the state’s coverage of shrubs and grasses has risen, possibly indicating that permanent ecosystem shifts are occurring.  The forces contributing to the decline of trees in California are not going away any time soon.  As a result, the threat to California’s ability to mitigate the effects of climate change continues to grow.

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UCI study: California’s trees are dying, and might not be coming back

Photo, posted March 24, 2016, courtesy of David Fulmer via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Progress On Artificial Photosynthesis | Earth Wise

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Photosynthesis is the process by which plants use the energy from sunlight to turn water and carbon dioxide into biomass and ultimately the foods we and other organisms eat.  Scientists at the University of California Riverside and the University of Delaware have found a way to create food from water and carbon dioxide without using biological photosynthesis and without needing sunlight.

The research, recently published in the journal Nature Food, uses a two-step electrocatalytic process to convert carbon dioxide, electricity, and water into acetate, which is the primary component of vinegar.   Food-producing microorganisms then consume the acetate in order to grow.   Solar panels are used to generate the electricity to power the electrocatalysis.  The result is a hybrid organic-inorganic system that is far more efficient in converting sunlight into food than biological photosynthesis.

The research showed that a wide range of food-producing organisms can be grown in the dark directly on the acetate output of the electrolyzer.  These include green algae, yeast, and the fungal mycelium that produce mushrooms.   Producing algae with this technology is about 4 times more energy efficient than growing it with photosynthesis.  Yeast production is about 18 times more energy efficient than the typical method of cultivating it using sugar extracted from corn.

Artificial photosynthesis has the potential to liberate agriculture from its complete dependence on the sun, opening the door to a wide range of possibilities for growing food under the increasingly difficult conditions imposed by the changing climate.

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Artificial photosynthesis can produce food without sunshine

Photo, posted September 7, 2016, courtesy of Kevin Doncaster via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Sea Urchins And Climate Change | Earth Wise

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There is a thriving population of black sea urchins in bubbling volcanic vents off the coast of Ishia, a small island in the Gulf of Naples.  The oceanic environment there is very acidic, high in carbon dioxide, and very warm.   The environment represents a proxy for what is gradually happening to oceans around the world.

Researchers from the University of Sydney have determined that the ability of sea urchins to prosper in such an environment means that these animals, which are already abundant in the Mediterranean Sea are likely to spread further afield as oceans continue to warm and become more acidic.  The Mediterranean Sea is warming 20% faster than the global average.

Sea urchins are already an environmental problem in many places around the world.  When their numbers increase disproportionately, they decimate kelp forests and algae, leading to the demise of other species that depend on these things for food or shelter.  The result is something called an urchin barren, which is a rocky, sandy, urchin-filled seafloor devoid of other life.

Urchin barrens are increasingly common in many places, including the east coast of Australia and the coastline in the Americas stretching from Nova Scotia to Chile.

In Australia, for example, sea urchin populations have multiplied, and their range has expanded considerably, overgrazing kelp and damaging abalone and lobster farms.

Tests run by the Sydney researchers found that it is difficult to stress sea urchins.  They appear to tolerate conditions that other creatures simply cannot.   The only real positive is that understanding the urchins’ remarkable survival abilities might offer insights into adaptations that other animals might need in order to survive as the oceans become warmer and more acidic.

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Colonising sea urchins can withstand hot, acidic seas

Photo, posted January 31, 2010, courtesy of Anna Barnett via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Less Phytoplankton In The Gulf Of Maine | Earth Wise

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Phytoplankton, also known as microalgae, are the base of the marine food web and also play a key role in removing carbon dioxide from the air.  They are eaten by primary consumers like zooplankton, small fish, and crustaceans. 

Phytoplankton, like land plants, absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and use photosynthesis to grow.  Then they become a food source for other organisms and ultimately for people who depend upon marine ecosystems.   If phytoplankton productivity is disrupted, there can be adverse effects on regional fisheries and the communities that depend on them.

The Gulf of Maine is becoming warmer and saltier, because of ocean currents pushing warm water into the gulf from the Northwest Atlantic.  These temperature and salinity changes have led to a significant decrease in the productivity of phytoplankton.   According to a new paper from scientists at Bigelow Laboratory of Ocean Sciences in Maine, phytoplankton are about 65% less productive in the gulf than they were 20 years ago.

The study’s results come from the analysis of the Gulf of Maine North Atlantic Time Series, a 23-year sampling program of the temperature, salinity, chemical, biological, and optical measurements of the gulf.  The scientists refer to what they describe as a giant windmill effect happening in the North Atlantic, which is changing the circulation of water coming into the Gulf of Maine.  In the past, inflows from the North Atlantic brought water from the Labrador Current, which made the gulf cooler and fresher.  The new circulation is making the water warmer and saltier.

These changes have significant implications for higher marine species, fisheries, the lobster industry, and other activities in the states that border the Gulf of Maine.

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NASA-funded Study: Gulf of Maine’s Phytoplankton Productivity Down 65%

Photo, posted November 15, 2015, courtesy of Paul VanDerWerf via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Living in a Carbon Bubble | Earth Wise

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The earth’s atmosphere is a little over 0.04% carbon dioxide, currently about 420 parts per million.  That’s more than it’s been in millions of years and is changing our climate.  But these levels of CO2 are not enough to directly affect people.

However, people are sensitive to the amount of carbon dioxide they are breathing.  It is actually an indoor pollutant.  High concentrations have been shown to reduce our cognitive performance, our health, and our comfort.  For example, a study in 2012 showed that performance in a variety of cognitive function tests was reduced by 12% when CO2 levels reached 1,000 parts per million and by 51% at 2,500 ppm.

How common are high levels of carbon dioxide?  Pretty common.  Offices often have CO2 levels of 600 ppm or higher, but 5% of US offices have average concentration about 1000 ppm and some conference rooms can reach 1900 ppm.  Classrooms often reach average levels above 1000 ppm.  Passenger aircraft have average levels around 1400 ppm during flight, and can peak over 4,000 ppm.  Cars with one occupant with the windows closed and the air recirculating have levels above 4,000 ppm. 

Where does it all come from?  From us.  We exhale CO2 and if we are in enclosed spaces with insufficient air circulation and ventilation, we end up living in a carbon dioxide bubble.  Most of us live with high CO2 levels – all day and every day.  It is a form of indoor pollution that has not gotten enough attention.

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I’m living in a carbon bubble. Literally.

Photo, posted October 24, 2013, courtesy of Cory W. Watts via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Carbon Capture: Solution Or Band-Aid? | Earth Wise

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The idea of capturing the CO2 emissions from industry and locking them up is nothing new.  It’s been going on for decades in some places.  Norway’s state-owned oil company Equinor has been holing away a million tons of CO2 a year for a long time.  But overall, CCS – carbon capture and storage – has had very limited use.  As of last year, there were only about 30 large-scale projects in operation around the world, capturing only 0.1% of global emissions.

There is now growing interest in CCS and many new projects are underway.  A combination of rising carbon prices in Europe, tax breaks for CCS in the US, national net-zero targets, and the increasing need to ramp down global emissions are all driving rising CCS activities. 

While recent reports from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate change still claim that it is possible to remain below 2 degrees Celsius of warming without using carbon capture, there is growing belief that it may be necessary given the present pace of the transition away from fossil fuels.

Two industries that together produce about 14% of global CO2 emissions are cement and steel.  These are both industries for which it is difficult to eliminate emissions regardless of the energy sources used. CCS may be the best approach to reducing their emissions.

But there is considerable pushback against CCS.  The concern is that CCS is primarily a way to delay decarbonization.  It encourages various industries to continue to use fossil fuels instead of shifting away from them.  Nonetheless, CCS no doubt has its place as part of the solution to climate change.

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Solution or Band-Aid? Carbon Capture Projects Are Moving Ahead

Photo, posted June 5, 2022, courtesy of Mark Dixon via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Carbon Dioxide Levels Higher Again | Earth Wise

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The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration reported that carbon dioxide levels measured in May at the Mauna Loa Observatory reached a value of 421 parts per million.  This is 50% greater than pre-industrial levels and is in a range not seen on earth for millions of years.

Before the Industrial Revolution, CO2 levels fairly steadily measured around 280 parts per million, pretty much for all 6,000 years of human civilization.  Since the Industrial Revolution began in the 18th century, humans have generated an estimated 1.5 trillion tons of CO2 pollution, much of which will continue to warm the atmosphere for thousands of years.

The present levels of carbon dioxide are comparable to those of an era known as the Pliocene Climatic Optimum, which took place over 4 million years ago. 

The bulk of the human-generated carbon dioxide comes from burning fossil fuels for transportation and electrical generation, from cement and steel manufacturing, and from the depletion of natural carbon sinks caused by deforestation, agriculture, and other human impacts on the natural environment.

Humans are altering the climate in ways that are dramatically affecting the economy, infrastructure, and ecosystems across the planet.  By trapping heat that would otherwise escape into space, greenhouse gases are causing the atmosphere to warm steadily, leading to increasingly erratic weather episodes ranging from extreme heat, droughts, and wildfires, to heavier precipitation, flooding, and tropical storm activity.

The relentless increase of carbon dioxide measured at Mauna Loa is a sober reminder that we need to take serious steps to try to mitigate the effects of climate change.

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Carbon dioxide now more than 50% higher than pre-industrial levels

Photo, posted December 20, 2016, courtesy of Kevin Casey Fleming via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Capturing Carbon Dioxide With Plastic | Earth Wise

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The world is awash in both waste plastic and in carbon dioxide emissions.   Researchers at Rice University have discovered a chemical technique for making waste plastic into an effective carbon dioxide absorbent for industry.

Chemists at Rice reported in the journal ACS Nano that heating plastic waste in the presence of potassium acetate produces particles with nanometer-scale pores that trap carbon dioxide molecules.   According to the researchers, these particles could be used to remove CO2 from the flue gas streams of power plants.

Significant sources of CO2 emissions like power plant exhaust stacks could be fitted with this waste-plastic-derived material to absorb large amounts of carbon dioxide that would otherwise enter the atmosphere. 

The Rice University process is an enhancement to the current process of pyrolyzing waste plastic – that is, breaking it down in the presence of heat.  By pyrolyzing plastic in the presence of potassium acetate, porous particles are formed that can hold up to 18% of their own weight in carbon dioxide.

According to the researchers, the cost of capturing carbon from a power plant would be $21 a ton, which is far less expensive than existing energy-intensive processes used to pull carbon dioxide from natural gas feeds.

The sorbent material can be reused.  Heating it to about 167 degrees Fahrenheit releases trapped carbon dioxide from the pores and regenerates about 90% of the material’s binding sites.

The Rice process may represent a much better way to capture carbon dioxide from power plant exhaust stacks.  It could be a way to make use of one environmental problem – waste plastic – to deal with another one.

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Treated plastic waste good at grabbing carbon dioxide

Photo, posted April 19, 2021, courtesy of Ivan Radic via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

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