The mutual dependence of negative emission technologies and energy systems

Abstract. Several terrestrial Negative Emission Technologies (tNETs), like Bioenergy with Carbon Capture and Storage (BECCS), Afforestation/Reforestation (AR) and Enhanced Weathering (EW), rely on natural processes and could therefore be designated as “green” forms of geoengineering. However, even those “green” tNETs may lead to undesirable side effects and thereby provoke moral concerns and conflicts. In this paper, I investigated whether BECCS, AR and EW would cause moral conflicts regarding the human right to adequate food if implemented on a scale sufficient to limit global warming “to well below 2 ∘C”. Reviewing recent publications concerning BECCS, AR and EW, I found that EW would not conflict with the human right to adequate food but would likely even promote agricultural food production due to a higher nutrient provision. However, EW does not provide a feasible solution to limit global warming “to well below 2 ∘C”, since a large-scale deployment of EW would require large investments and considerable amounts of energy to grind suitable rock-material. In regard of BECCS and AR, I found that even under the optimistic Representative Concentration Pathway 2.6 (RCP2.6), as assessed by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) in its latest assessment report from 2013, a large-scale deployment of BECCS and/or AR would cause moral conflicts regarding the human right to adequate food for present and future generations. Due to this, I advocate for more and stronger mitigation efforts in line with efficient land management actions concerning, e.g. peats and soils, designated as “natural climate solutions” (NCS) and a deployment of multiple tNETs in near future.

Assessing China’s efforts to pursue the 1.5°C warming limit

Science ◽

10.1126/science.aba8767 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 372 (6540) ◽

pp. 378-385

Author(s):

Hongbo Duan ◽

Sheng Zhou ◽

Kejun Jiang ◽

Christoph Bertram ◽

Mathijs Harmsen ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Global Warming ◽

Energy Consumption ◽

Gross Domestic Product ◽

Carbon Emissions ◽

Carbon Accounting ◽

Power Sector ◽

Cross Model ◽

Emission Pathway ◽

Negative Emission ◽

Negative Emission Technologies

Given the increasing interest in keeping global warming below 1.5°C, a key question is what this would mean for China’s emission pathway, energy restructuring, and decarbonization. By conducting a multimodel study, we find that the 1.5°C-consistent goal would require China to reduce its carbon emissions and energy consumption by more than 90 and 39%, respectively, compared with the “no policy” case. Negative emission technologies play an important role in achieving near-zero emissions, with captured carbon accounting on average for 20% of the total reductions in 2050. Our multimodel comparisons reveal large differences in necessary emission reductions across sectors, whereas what is consistent is that the power sector is required to achieve full decarbonization by 2050. The cross-model averages indicate that China’s accumulated policy costs may amount to 2.8 to 5.7% of its gross domestic product by 2050, given the 1.5°C warming limit.

Climate change scenarios as a driver for “Raсe to Zero” campaign

SHS Web of Conferences ◽

10.1051/shsconf/202111401006 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 114 ◽

pp. 01006

Author(s):

Leonid Sorokin

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Global Warming ◽

Sea Level Rise ◽

Greenhouse Gas ◽

Sea Level ◽

Average Temperature ◽

The World ◽

Negative Emission ◽

Earth’S Climate ◽

Negative Emission Technologies

The Race to Zero is the largest credible alliance aiming to reduce twice emissions by 2030, with the main goal of moving towards a carbon-zero economy by 2050. Zero emission technologies can reduce the greenhouse gas concentrations in Atmosphere that can help to slowdown the Global Warming but for making the Earth’s climate system more stable we need implement Negative emission technologies. Negative emission technologies can significantly reduce the greenhouse gas concentrations in Atmosphere that can getting down the global average temperature to the pre-industrial level and prevent Global Warming and future Sea Level Rise. The currently observed climatic changes cannot be completely explained by the increase in the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Taking into account the impact of methane emissions, including the Polar Regions and the World Ocean, it will be possible to explain rapid changes in the Earth's climate. For getting the Earth’s climate system stable and predictable we need to reduce greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere and the global average temperature to the pre-industrial levels. If this aims cannot be achieved then Climate Change and associated with Global Warming future Sea Level Rise in the nearest future would be the most important Risk factors in the Global World and World Economy, that can provide the world massive losses and economic crisis.

ESD Ideas: Photoelectrochemical carbon removal as negative emission technology

Earth System Dynamics ◽

10.5194/esd-10-1-2019 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 10 (1) ◽

pp. 1-7 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Matthias M. May ◽

Kira Rehfeld

Keyword(s):

Global Warming ◽

Large Scale ◽

Energy Use ◽

World Population ◽

Low Carbon ◽

Low Carbon Economy ◽

Negative Emissions ◽

Negative Emission ◽

Viable Approach ◽

Negative Emission Technologies

Abstract. The pace of the transition to a low-carbon economy – especially in the fuels sector – is not high enough to achieve the 2 ∘C target limit for global warming by only cutting emissions. Most political roadmaps to tackle global warming implicitly rely on the timely availability of mature negative emission technologies, which actively invest energy to remove CO2 from the atmosphere and store it permanently. The models used as a basis for decarbonization policies typically assume an implementation of such large-scale negative emission technologies starting around the year 2030, ramped up to cause net negative emissions in the second half of the century and balancing earlier CO2 release. On average, a contribution of −10 Gt CO2 yr−1 is expected by 2050 (Anderson and Peters, 2016). A viable approach for negative emissions should (i) rely on a scalable and sustainable source of energy (solar), (ii) result in a safely storable product, (iii) be highly efficient in terms of water and energy use, to reduce the required land area and competition with water and food demands of a growing world population, and (iv) feature large-scale feasibility and affordability.

Ideas: Photoelectrochemical carbon removal as negative emission technology

10.5194/esd-2018-53 ◽

2018 ◽

Author(s):

Matthias M. May ◽

Kira Rehfeld

Keyword(s):

Global Warming ◽

Large Scale ◽

Energy Use ◽

World Population ◽

Low Carbon ◽

Low Carbon Economy ◽

Negative Emissions ◽

Negative Emission ◽

Viable Approach ◽

Negative Emission Technologies

Abstract. The pace of the transition to a low-carbon economy – especially in the fuels sector – is not high enough to achieve the 2 °C target limit for global warming by only cutting emissions. Most political roadmaps to tackle global warming implicitly rely on the timely availability of mature negative emission technologies, which actively invest energy to remove CO2 from the atmosphere and store it permanently. The models used as a basis for decarbonisation policies typically assume an implementation of such large-scale negative emission technologies starting around the year 2030, ramped up to cause net negative emissions in the second half of the century and balancing earlier CO2 release. On average, a contribution of −10 Gt CO2/year is expected by 2050.(Anderson and Peters, 2016) A viable approach for negative emissions should (i) rely on an unlimited source of energy (solar), (ii) result in a safely storable product (e.g. liquid or solid, not gaseous), (iii) be highly efficient in terms of water and energy use, to reduce the required land area and competition with water and food demands of a growing world population and (iv) be large-scale feasibility and affordability.

The Problem of Energy

Theory Culture & Society ◽

10.1177/0263276414536747 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 31 (5) ◽

pp. 3-20 ◽

Cited By ~ 53

Author(s):

John Urry

Keyword(s):

Social Theory ◽

21St Century ◽

Fossil Fuel ◽

Energy Systems ◽

Social Thought ◽

Human Intervention ◽

The West ◽

The Past ◽

And Control ◽

Global Growth

Energy forms and their extensive scale are remarkably significant for the ways that societies are organized. This article shows the importance of how societies are ‘energized’ and especially the global growth of ‘fossil fuel societies’. Much social thought remains oblivious to the energy revolution realized over the past two to three centuries which set the ‘West’ onto a distinct trajectory. Energy is troubling for social thought because different energy systems with their ‘lock-ins’ are not subject to simple human intervention and control. Analyses are provided here of different fossil fuel societies, of coal and oil, with the latter enabling the liquid, mobilized 20th century. Consideration is paid to the possibilities of reducing fossil fuel dependence but it is shown how unlikely such a ‘powering down’ will be. The author demonstrates how energy is a massive problem for social theory and for 21st-century societies. Developing post-carbon theory and especially practice is far away but is especially urgent.

Public perception and acceptance of negative emission technologies – framing effects in Switzerland

Climatic Change ◽

10.1007/s10584-021-03150-9 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 167 (3-4) ◽

Author(s):

Ariane Wenger ◽

Michael Stauffacher ◽

Irina Dallo

Keyword(s):

Moral Hazard ◽

Public Perception ◽

Large Scale ◽

Online Survey ◽

The Public ◽

Net Zero ◽

Negative Emission ◽

Public Opinion Perception ◽

Negative Emission Technologies ◽

Technological Fix

AbstractLimiting global warming to 1.5 °C requires negative emission technologies (NETs), which remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and permanently store it to offset unavoidable emissions. Successful large-scale deployment of NETs depends not only on technical, biophysical, ecological, and economic factors, but also on public perception and acceptance. However, previous studies on this topic have been scarce. In 2019, Switzerland adopted a net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 target, which will require the use of NETs. To examine the current Swiss public perception and acceptance of five different NETs, we conducted an online survey with Swiss citizens (N = 693). By using a between-subjects design, we investigated differences in public opinion, perception, and acceptance across three of the most used frames in the scientific literature — technological fix, moral hazard, and climate emergency. Results showed that the public perception and acceptance of NETs does not differ between the frames. The technological fix frame best reflected participants’ opinion, whereas participants perceived the moral hazard frame the least credible and the climate emergency frame the most unclear. Moreover, our findings confirm the public’s unfamiliarity with NETs. We found no strong opposition, as participants indicated a moderate acceptance and a neutral evaluation of all five NETs, with afforestation standing out as the most accepted and positively evaluated NET. We conclude that, in the future, the public debate on NETs should be intensified, and the public perception should be monitored regularly to inform the development of NETs.

The potential for implementation of Negative Emission Technologies in Scotland

International Journal of Greenhouse Gas Control ◽

10.1016/j.ijggc.2018.06.021 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 76 ◽

pp. 85-91 ◽

Cited By ~ 15

Author(s):

Juan Alcalde ◽

Pete Smith ◽

R. Stuart Haszeldine ◽

Clare E. Bond

Keyword(s):

Negative Emission ◽

Negative Emission Technologies

Exploiting Deep Learning for Wind Power Forecasting Based on Big Data Analytics

Applied Sciences ◽

10.3390/app9204417 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 9 (20) ◽

pp. 4417 ◽

Cited By ~ 19

Author(s):

Sana Mujeeb ◽

Turki Ali Alghamdi ◽

Sameeh Ullah ◽

Aisha Fatima ◽

Nadeem Javaid ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Big Data ◽

Deep Learning ◽

Power Systems ◽

Prediction Model ◽

Wind Power ◽

Fossil Fuel ◽

Energy Systems ◽

Accurate Estimation ◽

Wind Power Forecasting ◽

Power Forecasting

Recently, power systems are facing the challenges of growing power demand, depleting fossil fuel and aggravating environmental pollution (caused by carbon emission from fossil fuel based power generation). The incorporation of alternative low carbon energy generation, i.e., Renewable Energy Sources (RESs), becomes crucial for energy systems. Effective Demand Side Management (DSM) and RES incorporation enable power systems to maintain demand, supply balance and optimize energy in an environmentally friendly manner. The wind power is a popular energy source because of its environmental and economical benefits. However, the uncertainty of wind power makes its incorporation in energy systems really difficult. To mitigate the risk of demand-supply imbalance, an accurate estimation of wind power is essential. Recognizing this challenging task, an efficient deep learning based prediction model is proposed for wind power forecasting. The proposed model has two stages. In the first stage, Wavelet Packet Transform (WPT) is used to decompose the past wind power signals. Other than decomposed signals and lagged wind power, multiple exogenous inputs (such as, calendar variable and Numerical Weather Prediction (NWP)) are also used as input to forecast wind power. In the second stage, a new prediction model, Efficient Deep Convolution Neural Network (EDCNN), is employed to forecast wind power. A DSM scheme is formulated based on forecasted wind power, day-ahead demand and price. The proposed forecasting model’s performance was evaluated on big data of Maine wind farm ISO NE, USA.

Incentivising and Accounting for Negative Emission Technologies

Energy Procedia ◽

10.1016/j.egypro.2014.11.716 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 63 ◽

pp. 6824-6833 ◽

Cited By ~ 20

Author(s):

Paul Zakkour ◽

Jasmin Kemper ◽

Tim Dixon

Keyword(s):

Negative Emission ◽

Negative Emission Technologies