Environmental Degradation
Energy Utilization
Klaus S. Lackner
Columbia University
New York, NY
September 2003
Energy Sources







Biomass – Firewood
Draft animals
Wind/water – mills
Solar – heat and photovoltaic
Fossil carbon – coal, oil, gas, tar & shale
Nuclear Energy
Fusion
Energy Uses

Heat


cooking, metallurgy, chemical products –
fertilizers to plastics
Mechanical energy




Transportation, manufacturing, agriculture
Cooling
Desalination
Cleanup
US Annual Energy Consumption
100
Total Energy
Energy (Quads)
80
60
40
Fossil Energy
20
Non Fossil Energy
0
1850
1875
1900
1925
Time
1950
1975
2000
Energy consumption and wealth
Mean Gross Domestic Product Per Capita ($/yr •person)
50,000
U.K.
20,000
AFFLUENCE
U.S.A.
Japan
France
10,000
South Korea
5000
2000
U.S.S.R.
SLOPE = 23¢/kW•hr
Mexico
1000
Poland
500
China
200
100
Bangladesh
POVERTY
0.01
0.10
1.0
10
Mean Power Consumption Per Capita, kW/person
100
10 billion people trying
to consume energy as
US citizens do today
would raise world
energy demand 10
fold
Pollution Issues
Pollutant
Sources
Comments
Soot, smoke ash,
aromatic
compounds
Power plants, (coal), steam
engines, diesel engines
Air quality, deposit of soot, blackens objects, sufficient to drive
natural selection to black moths, health hazard, deposits in
lungs, e.g., London smog, climate impact through creating
opacity, largely but not completely controlled today. Still a
big impact in parts of Asia.
Sulfur
compounds,
SOx
Power plants (coal, heavy oil),
diesel engines, gasoline
engines (Sulfur content
has been reduced)
Acid rain, lakes are acidified (particularly those without buffering
capacity e.g. in Canada and Scandinavia), corrosive, causes
erosion of limestones, and sandstones particularly in
buildings, and outdoor sculptures, e.g. gothic cathedrals,
dissolves synthetics like nylons, further reductions are likely,
but technology to deal with the problem is in place and
applied (however notice grandfathering).
Nitrogen
compounds,
NOx
Cars, power plants, any
combustion process, NOx
results from the oxidation
of atmospheric nitrogen
with atmospheric oxygen
in high temperature flames
Air quality issues, NOx is a precursor to photochemical smog, i.e.
the production of tropospheric ozone, e.g. smog in Los
Angeles but elsewhere as well, diffuse impact on the
ecological balance through eutrophication of lakes etc. NOx
ultimately leaves the atmosphere, resulting nitrogen fixation
greatly changes nitrogen availability to nearly all ecosystems.
Current regulations limit NOx emissions.
Pollution Issues II
Pollutant
Sources
Comments
Heavy metals,
mercury, lead,
cadmium, etc.
Coal fired power plants,
mercury is present in the
ash and is reduced to
mercury vapor
Environmental poison, health hazards to humans, difficult to
capture because concentrations are very low. Future
regulations will impose far more stringent standards.
Fine
particulates,
sulfates,
aromatics, etc.
Coal fired power plants,
but also to a lesser extent,
cars, (diesel), and
conventional turbines
Apparent health hazard, statistical data point to strong
correlations between fine particulate emissions from coal
fired power plants and mortality rates. Particles smaller
than 10 micron are unregulated, are a category of particular
concern as they tend to make it into the lung where they get
captured. Regulations are still being discussed.
Visual pollution from power plant haze (e.g. Grand
Canyon).
Carbon dioxide
Any fossil fuel based
power source, coal plants,
gas plants, cars, machinery
etc.
Climate change and environmental change, global impact,
direct human impact is considered minimal.
Carbon dioxide is the normal end result of power generation
from fossil fuels, it is therefore difficult to avoid it.
Fossil Energy Is Vital to the
World Economy
Petroleum
39%
Dry Natural Gas
22%
HydroElectric
7%
Wind, Solar, Geothermal
1%
Coal
25%
Nuclear
6%
Fossil Carbon Accumulates in the Air
CO2 increase in the atmosphere accounts for 58% of all fossil CO2 emissions
Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide
Changes in the industrial
age are large on a
geological scale
at Mauna Loa Hawaii
370
360
+4
350
Industrial
age CO2
increase
CO2 (ppmV)
350
340
330
320
310
1955
1960
1965
1970
1975
1980
1985
1990
1995
2000
+2
300
0
-2
250
-4
-6
200
Year
Anthropogenic increase of
carbon dioxide is well
documented for this century.
-8
150
-400000
-300000
Petit et al., Nature 399
Vostok, Antarctica Ice Core data
-200000
-100000
Age (years)
0
-10
Temperature Changes (ºC)
Carbon Dioxide Level
(ppmv)
380
Coal
Scales of Potential
Carbon Sinks
21st
Century’s
Emissions
???
Atmosphere
2000
1800
Soil &
Detritus
Ocean
pH
< 0.3
39,000
Gt
Plants
8,000 Gt
Gt
???
7,000 Gt

Carbon Sources and Sinks
Oil, Gas,
Tars &
Shales
50,000
6,000 Gt
Methane
Hydrates
5,000 Gt
4,000 Gt
3,000 Gt
4
2,000 Gt
3
2
1,000 Gt
constant
20th
Century
0 Gt
Carbon Resources
5
4
3
2
180ppm
increase in
the air
The
Mismatch
in Carbon
Sources
and Sinks
1
50%
increase
in
biomass
30% of
the Ocean
30%
increase in acidified
Soil Carbon
1800
2000
Fossil Carbon
Consumption to date
2050
Net Zero Carbon Economy
CO2
extraction
from air
CO2 from
concentrated
sources
Electricity & Hydrogen
Biological & Chemical
Permanent &
safe
disposal
Underground & Chemical
Storage
Hydrogen economy cannot run
on electricity
There are no hydrogen wells
Wind, photovoltaics and
nuclear energy cannot.
$30.00
Price per GJ
Tar, coal, shale and biomass
could support a hydrogen
economy.
Price Ranges for Raw
Fossil Energy Resources
$25.00
$20.00
$15.00
$10.00
$5.00
$0.00
Coal
Gas
Oil
Electricity
Energy States of Carbon
The ground state of
carbon is a mineral
carbonate
Carbon
400 kJ/mole
Carbon Dioxide
60...180 kJ/mole
Carbonate
Net Carbonation Reaction for
Serpentine
Mg3Si2O5(OH)4 + 3CO2(g)  3MgCO3 + 2SiO2 +2H2O(l)
heat/mol CO2 = -63.6 kJ
Accelerated from 100,000 years to 30 minutes
Peridotite and Serpentinite Ore Bodies
Magnesium resources that far exceed
world fossil fuel supplies
Rockville Quarry
Mineral Disposal of CO2
Coal Strip
Mine
Earth Moving ~40 kt/day
28 kt/day
36% MgO
Zero Emission
Coal Power Plant CO2
Coal
4.3 kt/day
Mineral
Carbonation
Plant
Open Pit Serpentine
Mine
Sand & Magnesite
~35 kt/day
1 GW Electricity
70% Efficiency
11 ktons/day
Heat
~1.4 kt/day Fe
~0.2 kt/day Ni, Cr, Mn
Mining, crushing & grinding: $7/t CO2 — Processing: $10/t CO2 — No credit for byproducts
Zero Emission
Principle
Air
Carbon
 
CO2
N2
H2O
SOx, NOx and
other
Pollutants
Need better
sources of
oxygen
Power Plant
Solid/Liquid Waste
ADVANCED ZERO EMISSION PLANT CONCEPTS
How much wind?
(6m/sec)
Wind area that
carries 10 kW
0.2 m 2
for CO2
Wind area that
carries 22 tons
of CO2 per year
80 m 2
for Wind Energy
1 m3of Air
40 moles of gas, 1.16 kg
wind speed 6 m/s
mv 2
 20 J
2
CO2
0.015 moles of CO2
produced by 10,000 J of
gasoline
Volumes are drawn to scale
Wind Energy
v = 6m/s
130 W/m2
Extraction from Air
Power Equivalent
from gasoline
Sunshine
200 W/m2
v = 6 m/s
60,000 W/m2
Biomass
3 W/m2
Areas are drawn to scale
60m by 50m
3kg of CO2 per second
90,000 tons per year
4,000 people or
15,000 cars
Would feed EOR for 800
barrels a day.
250,000 units for
worldwide CO2 emissions
Materially Closed Energy Cycles
O2
CO2
CO2
O2
Energy
Source
H2
H2 CH2
H2O
H2O
Energy
Consumer
Ca(OH)2 as an absorbent
Air Flow
Flux = D/L
CO2 diffusion
D = 1.3910-5m2/s,
diffusion coefficient
L is boundary thickness
 is density of CO2
Ca(OH)2 solution
CaCO3 precipitate
CO2 mass transfer is limited by diffusion in air boundary layer
Public Institutions
and Government
guidance
Carbon Board
certification
Private Sector
Carbon
Extraction
Farming, Manufacturing, Service,
etc.
Certified Carbon Accounting
certificates
Carbon
Sequestration
Sustainable Development

1 – 2 billion without any electricity
The Fossil Carbon Pie
600 Gt C
Soon
Past
Distant
Future
The Fossil Carbon Pie
Soon
Past
5000 Gt C
Distant
Future
With Carbon
Sequestration