scholarly journals Estimating CO2 Emissions from Large Scale Coal-Fired Power Plants Using OCO-2 Observations and Emission Inventories

Atmosphere ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (7) ◽  
pp. 811
Author(s):  
Yaqin Hu ◽  
Yusheng Shi
Keyword(s):  
Power Plant ◽  
Co2 Emissions ◽  
Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide ◽  
Power Plants ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Global Climate ◽  
Gaussian Model ◽  
Point Sources ◽  
Emission Inventories ◽  
Bottom Up

The concentration of atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) has increased rapidly worldwide, aggravating the global greenhouse effect, and coal-fired power plants are one of the biggest contributors of greenhouse gas emissions in China. However, efficient methods that can quantify CO2 emissions from individual coal-fired power plants with high accuracy are needed. In this study, we estimated the CO2 emissions of large-scale coal-fired power plants using Orbiting Carbon Observatory-2 (OCO-2) satellite data based on remote sensing inversions and bottom-up methods. First, we mapped the distribution of coal-fired power plants, displaying the total installed capacity, and identified two appropriate targets, the Waigaoqiao and Qinbei power plants in Shanghai and Henan, respectively. Then, an improved Gaussian plume model method was applied for CO2 emission estimations, with input parameters including the geographic coordinates of point sources, wind vectors from the atmospheric reanalysis of the global climate, and OCO-2 observations. The application of the Gaussian model was improved by using wind data with higher temporal and spatial resolutions, employing the physically based unit conversion method, and interpolating OCO-2 observations into different resolutions. Consequently, CO2 emissions were estimated to be 23.06 ± 2.82 (95% CI) Mt/yr using the Gaussian model and 16.28 Mt/yr using the bottom-up method for the Waigaoqiao Power Plant, and 14.58 ± 3.37 (95% CI) and 14.08 Mt/yr for the Qinbei Power Plant, respectively. These estimates were compared with three standard databases for validation: the Carbon Monitoring for Action database, the China coal-fired Power Plant Emissions Database, and the Carbon Brief database. The comparison found that previous emission inventories spanning different time frames might have overestimated the CO2 emissions of one of two Chinese power plants on the two days that the measurements were made. Our study contributes to quantifying CO2 emissions from point sources and helps in advancing satellite-based monitoring techniques of emission sources in the future; this helps in reducing errors due to human intervention in bottom-up statistical methods.

scholarly journals A global map of emission clumps for future monitoring of fossil fuel CO<sub>2</sub> emissions from space

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 687-703 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yilong Wang ◽  
Philippe Ciais ◽  
Grégoire Broquet ◽  
François-Marie Bréon ◽  
Tomohiro Oda ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Co2 Emissions ◽  
Land Surface ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Power Plants ◽  
Fossil Fuel ◽  
Large Fraction ◽  
Point Sources ◽  
Bottom Up ◽  
Large Power ◽  
Data Product

Abstract. A large fraction of fossil fuel CO2 emissions emanate from “hotspots”, such as cities (where direct CO2 emissions related to fossil fuel combustion in transport, residential, commercial sectors, etc., excluding emissions from electricity-producing power plants, occur), isolated power plants, and manufacturing facilities, which cover a small fraction of the land surface. The coverage of all high-emitting cities and point sources across the globe by bottom-up inventories is far from complete, and for most of those covered, the uncertainties in CO2 emission estimates in bottom-up inventories are too large to allow continuous and rigorous assessment of emission changes (Gurney et al., 2019). Space-borne imagery of atmospheric CO2 has the potential to provide independent estimates of CO2 emissions from hotspots. But first, what a hotspot is needs to be defined for the purpose of satellite observations. The proposed space-borne imagers with global coverage planned for the coming decade have a pixel size on the order of a few square kilometers and a XCO2 accuracy and precision of <1 ppm for individual measurements of vertically integrated columns of dry-air mole fractions of CO2 (XCO2). This resolution and precision is insufficient to provide a cartography of emissions for each individual pixel. Rather, the integrated emission of diffuse emitting areas and intense point sources is sought. In this study, we characterize area and point fossil fuel CO2 emitting sources which generate coherent XCO2 plumes that may be observed from space. We characterize these emitting sources around the globe and they are referred to as “emission clumps” hereafter. An algorithm is proposed to identify emission clumps worldwide, based on the ODIAC global high-resolution 1 km fossil fuel emission data product. The clump algorithm selects the major urban areas from a GIS (geographic information system) file and two emission thresholds. The selected urban areas and a high emission threshold are used to identify clump cores such as inner city areas or large power plants. A low threshold and a random walker (RW) scheme are then used to aggregate all grid cells contiguous to cores in order to define a single clump. With our definition of the thresholds, which are appropriate for a space imagery with 0.5 ppm precision for a single XCO2 measurement, a total of 11 314 individual clumps, with 5088 area clumps, and 6226 point-source clumps (power plants) are identified. These clumps contribute 72 % of the global fossil fuel CO2 emissions according to the ODIAC inventory. The emission clumps is a new tool for comparing fossil fuel CO2 emissions from different inventories and objectively identifying emitting areas that have a potential to be detected by future global satellite imagery of XCO2. The emission clump data product is distributed from https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.7217726.v1.

scholarly journals Towards space-borne monitoring of localized CO<sub>2</sub> emissions: an instrument concept and first performance assessment

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Johan Strandgren ◽  
David Krutz ◽  
Jonas Wilzewski ◽  
Carsten Paproth ◽  
Ilse Sebastian ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Power Plant ◽  
Performance Assessment ◽  
Co2 Emissions ◽  
Co2 Emission ◽  
Power Plants ◽  
Point Sources ◽  
Source Strength ◽  
Spectral Window ◽  
Instrument Noise ◽  
Noise Error

Abstract. The UNFCCC (United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change) requires the nations of the world to report their carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. Independent verification of these reported emissions is a corner stone for advancing towards emission accounting and reduction measures agreed upon in the Paris agreement. In this paper, we present the concept and first performance assessment of a compact space-borne imaging spectrometer that could support the task of "monitoring, verification, reporting" (MVR) of CO2 emissions worldwide. With a single spectral window in the short-wave infrared spectral region and a spatial resolution of 50 x 50 m2, the goal is to reliably estimate the CO2 emissions from localized sources down to a source strength of approx. 1 MtCO2 yr-1, hence complementing other planned CO2 monitoring missions, like the planned European Carbon Constellation (CO2M). Resolving CO2 plumes also from medium-sized power plants (1–10 MtCO2 yr-1) is of key importance for independent quantification of CO2 emissions from the coal-fired power plant sector. Through radiative transfer simulations, including a realistic instrument noise model and a global trial ensemble covering various geophysical scenarios, it is shown that an instrument noise error of 1.1 ppm (1σ) can be achieved for the retrieval of the column-averaged dry-air mole fraction of CO2 (XCO2). Despite limited amount of information from a single spectral window and a relatively coarse spectral resolution, scattering by atmospheric aerosol and cirrus can be partly accounted for in the XCO2 retrieval, with deviations of at most 4.0 ppm from the true abundance for 68 % of the scenes in the global trial ensemble. We further simulate the ability of the proposed instrument concept to observe CO2 plumes from single power plants in an urban area using high-resolution CO2 emission and surface albedo data for the city of Indianapolis. Given the preliminary instrument design and the corresponding instrument noise error, emission plumes from point sources with an emission rate down to the order of 0.3 MtCO2 yr-1 can be resolved, i.e. well below the target source strength of 1 MtCO2 yr-1. Hence, the proposed instrument concept could be able to resolve and quantify the CO2 plumes from localized point sources responsible for approx. 90 % of the power plant CO2 emission budget, assuming global coverage through a fleet of sensors and favorable conditions with respect to illumination and particle scattering.

Design, calibration, and application of an airborne gamma spectrometer system in Switzerland

Geophysics ◽  
1997 ◽  
Vol 62 (5) ◽  
pp. 1369-1378 ◽  
Author(s):  
Georg F. Schwarz ◽  
Ladislaus Rybach ◽  
Emile E. Klingelé
Keyword(s):  
Power Plant ◽  
Nuclear Power ◽  
Power Plants ◽  
Gamma Ray ◽  
Point Sources ◽  
Swiss Alps ◽  
Artificial Radioactivity ◽  
Radiation Level ◽  
Satellite Navigation System ◽  
Emergency Situations

Airborne radiometric surveys are finding increasingly wider applications in environmental mapping and monitoring. They are the most efficient tool to delimit surface contamination and to locate lost radioactive sources. To secure radiometric capability in survey and emergency situations, a new sensitive airborne system has been built that includes an airborne spectrometer with 256 channels and a sodium iodide detector with a total volume of 16.8 liters. A rack mounted PC with memory cards is used for data acquisition, with a GPS satellite navigation system for positioning. The system was calibrated with point sources using a mathematical correction to take into account the effects of gamma‐ray scattering in the ground and in the atmosphere. The calibration was complemented by high precision ground gamma spectrometry and laboratory measurements on rock samples. In Switzerland, two major research programs make use of the capabilities of airborne radiometric measurements. The first one concerns nuclear power plant monitoring. The five Swiss nuclear installations (four power plants and one research facility) and the surrounding regions of each site are surveyed annually. The project goal is to monitor the dose‐rate distribution and to provide a documented baseline database. The measurements show that all sites (with the exception of the Gösgen power plant) can be identified clearly on the maps. No artificial radioactivity that could not be explained by the Chernobyl release or earlier nuclear weapons tests was detected outside of the fenced sites of the nuclear installations. The second program aims at a better evaluation of the natural radiation level in Switzerland. The survey focused on the crystalline rocks of the Central Massifs of the Swiss Alps because of their relatively high natural radioactivity and lithological variability.

scholarly journals Comparative Environmental, Economic, and Jobs Impacts in the USA of Renewable Energy Compared to Carbon Capture, Utilization, and Storage

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-7
Author(s):  
Roger H Bezdek ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Renewable Energy ◽  
Environmental Economic ◽  
Power Plant ◽  
Co2 Emissions ◽  
Carbon Capture ◽  
Power Plants ◽  
Economic Benefits ◽  
The Usa ◽  
Coal Power ◽  
And Storage

This paper assesses the relative economic and jobs benefits of retrofitting an 847 MW USA coal power plant with carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS) technology compared to replacing the plant with renewable (RE) energy and battery storage. The research had two major objectives: 1) Estimate the relative environmental, economic, and jobs impacts of CCUS retrofit of the coal plant compared to its replacement by the RE scenario; 2) develop metrics that can be used to compare the jobs impacts of coal fueled power plants to those of renewable energy. The hypotheses tested are: 1) The RE option will reduce CO2 emissions more than the CCUS option. We reject this hypothesis: We found that the CCUS option will reduce CO2 emissions more than the RE option. 2) The RE option will generate greater economic benefits than the CCUS option. We reject this hypothesis: We found that the CCUS option will create greater economic and jobs benefits than the RE option. 3) The RE option will create more jobs per MW than the CCUS option. We reject this hypothesis: We found that the CCUS option will create more jobs per MW more than the RE option. We discuss the implications of these findings.

scholarly journals Climate Dialog, Climate Action: Can Democracy Do the Job?

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fred Young Phillips ◽  
LaVonne Reimer ◽  
Rebecca Turner
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
Global Climate ◽  
Environmental Issues ◽  
Top Down ◽  
Bottom Up ◽  
Psychological Mechanisms ◽  
Ipcc Report ◽  
Climate Action

The latest IPCC report forcefully states that immediate, decisive, and large-scale actions are needed to avert climate catastrophe. This essay presumes that democratic governments are best and most desirably positioned to take these actions. Yet in the countries most pivotal to global climate, significant voting blocs are uninterested in environmental issues. The essay urges adding bottom-up dialog between environmental and anti-environmental voters, to current and future top-down technocratic &ldquo;solutions.&rdquo; To make this combination result in a unified pro-environment electorate, we must understand: religious objections to environmentalism; the capital-vs.-knowledge strife that slows polluting corporations&rsquo; green transitions; and the psychological mechanisms that can make inter-group dialog fruitful.

scholarly journals Preliminary recognition of state of incorporating climate change impacts and adaptation considerations in SEA and EIA procedures for renewable energy projects

2020 ◽  
Vol 154 ◽  
pp. 07004
Author(s):  
Magdalena Tyszer ◽  
Slávka Gałaś
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Renewable Energy ◽  
Power Plants ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Global Climate ◽  
Specific Reference ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Implementation Climate ◽  
Adaptation To Climate Change ◽  
Energy Projects

In the last years, the European Union has developed and set a several environmental policies whose imposes an obligation on Member States to implement specific actions, including incorporating climate change considerations into SEA and EIA processes. One of major environmental challenges facing most developing countries is that of global climate change. The aim of the research was to obtain a comprehensive review of existing SEA and EIA practical approaches for renewable energy installations in the aspect of adaptation to climate change with specific reference to Polish projects. Both SEA and EIA procedures implemented in Poland and other countries was introduced with the intent of factoring in potential risk to the environment by future large-scale project developments such as the construction of power plants, roads, or dams. The paper consist the initial recognition of available data of the current experience and level of implementation climate change impact and adaptions into local procedures. Preliminary results suggest that the additional funding should be given for climate change adaptation in the energy sector, especially in renewable energy projects, as well as specific interventions for climate-adapted energy systems should be targeted in order to fill the gap in RES sector and spur sustainable energy development.

scholarly journals Towards space based verification of CO<sub>2</sub> emissions from strong localized sources: fossil fuel power plant emissions as seen by a CarbonSat constellation

2011 ◽  
Vol 4 (4) ◽  
pp. 5147-5182
Author(s):  
V. A. Velazco ◽  
M. Buchwitz ◽  
H. Bovensmann ◽  
M. Reuter ◽  
O. Schneising ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Power Plant ◽  
Systematic Error ◽  
Co2 Emissions ◽  
Power Plants ◽  
Fossil Fuel ◽  
Systematic Errors ◽  
Random Errors ◽  
Power Plant Emissions ◽  
Global Coverage ◽  
Plant Emissions

Abstract. Carbon dioxide (CO2) is the most important man-made greenhouse gas (GHG) that cause global warming. With electricity generation through fossil-fuel power plants now as the economic sector with the largest source of CO2, power plant emissions monitoring has become more important than ever in the fight against global warming. In a previous study done by Bovensmann et al. (2010), random and systematic errors of power plant CO2 emissions have been quantified using a single overpass from a proposed CarbonSat instrument. In this study, we quantify errors of power plant annual emission estimates from a hypothetical CarbonSat and constellations of several CarbonSats while taking into account that power plant CO2 emissions are time-dependent. Our focus is on estimating systematic errors arising from the sparse temporal sampling as well as random errors that are primarily dependent on wind speeds. We used hourly emissions data from the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) combined with assimilated and re-analyzed meteorological fields from the National Centers of Environmental Prediction (NCEP). CarbonSat orbits were simulated as a sun-synchronous low-earth orbiting satellite (LEO) with an 828-km orbit height, local time ascending node (LTAN) of 13:30 (01:30 p.m.) and achieves global coverage after 5 days. We show, that despite the variability of the power plant emissions and the limited satellite overpasses, one CarbonSat can verify reported US annual CO2 emissions from large power plants (≥5 Mt CO2 yr−1) with a systematic error of less than ~4.9 % for 50 % of all the power plants. For 90 % of all the power plants, the systematic error was less than ~12.4 %. We additionally investigated two different satellite configurations using a combination of 5 CarbonSats. One achieves global coverage everyday but only samples the targets at fixed local times. The other configuration samples the targets five times at two-hour intervals approximately every 6th day but only achieves global coverage after 5 days. From the statistical analyses, we found, as expected, that the random errors improve by approximately a factor of two if 5 satellites are used. On the other hand, more satellites do not result in a large reduction of the systematic error. The systematic error is somewhat smaller for the CarbonSat constellation configuration achieving global coverage everyday. Finally, we recommend the CarbonSat constellation configuration that achieves daily global coverage.

scholarly journals Economic feasibility of developing large scale solar photovoltaic power plants in Spain

2019 ◽  
Vol 122 ◽  
pp. 02004 ◽  
Author(s):  
Javier Menéndez ◽  
Jorge Loredo
Keyword(s):  
Power Plant ◽  
Power Plants ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Economic Feasibility ◽  
Solar Irradiation ◽  
Solar Photovoltaic ◽  
Solar Pv ◽  
Photovoltaic Energy ◽  
Profitability Analysis ◽  
Photovoltaic Power

In 2017, electricity generation from renewable sources contributed more than one quarter (30.7%) to total EU-28 gross electricity consumption. Wind power is for the first time the most important source, followed closely by hydro power. The growth in electricity from photovoltaic energy has been dramatic, rising from just 3.8 TWh in 2007, reaching a level of 119.5 TWh in 2017. Over this period, the contribution of photovoltaic energy to all electricity generated in the EU-28 from renewable energy sources increased from 0.7% to 12.3%. During this period the investment cost of a photovoltaic power plant has decreased considerably. Fundamentally, the cost of solar panels and inverters has decreased by more than 50%. The solar photovoltaic energy potential depends on two parameters: global solar irradiation and photovoltaic panel efficiency. The average solar irradiation in Spain is 1,600 kWh m-2. This paper analyzes the economic feasibility of developing large scale solar photovoltaic power plants in Spain. Equivalent hours between 800-1,800 h year-1 and output power between 100-400 MW have been considered. The profitability analysis has been carried out considering different prices of the electricity produced in the daily market (50-60 € MWh-1). Net Present Value (NPV) and Internal Rate of Return (IRR) were estimated for all scenarios analyzed. A solar PV power plant with 400 MW of power and 1,800 h year-1, reaches a NPV of 196 M€ and the IRR is 11.01%.

Study on Project of Photovoltaic Power Plant Connecting to the Grid

2013 ◽  
Vol 380-384 ◽  
pp. 3111-3114
Author(s):  
Yi Shi Shu ◽  
Li Li Ma ◽  
Chao Peng
Keyword(s):  
Power Plant ◽  
Power Plants ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Pv System ◽  
Photovoltaic Generation ◽  
Large Capacity ◽  
Photovoltaic Power

Large scale photovoltaic generation is another way to generate electricity.When a large capacity PV system connected to the grid,much impact could be brought to the grid due to its uncertainty. In this paper, there are research and analysis about the technology and characteristics of the photovoltaic power plants connected to the grid, make a strong practical impacts.

Grid-Connected Nuclear Power Plant Key Issues Summary

2014 ◽  
Vol 521 ◽  
pp. 530-535
Author(s):  
Meng Wang ◽  
Jian Ding ◽  
Tian Tang ◽  
Zhang Sui Lin ◽  
Zhen Da Hu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Power Plant ◽  
Nuclear Power Plant ◽  
Nuclear Power ◽  
Power Plants ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Power Modeling ◽  
Modeling Simulation ◽  
Load Following ◽  
Key Issues ◽  
The Impact

The current situation of nuclear power plants at home and abroad is described, and the impact of large-scale nuclear power accessing to the grid is analyzed, specifically in the aspects of nuclear power modeling, simulation, load following, reliability, fault diagnosis, etc. Nuclear power accessing to the grid will bring a series of problems, the causes of each problem, the main solutions and future development directions are summarized.

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