carbon_management and ecology

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2010

Group 6:

PGP1 - SPJIMR

10/27/2010

Carbon Management and Ecology



CONTENTS

Global Warming Causes and Concerns ............................................................................................................................... 3

Implications of Global Warming ................................................................................................................................................ 3

The Kyoto Protocol ........................................................................................................................................................................... 4

The Kyoto mechanisms are: ................................................................................................................................................... 4

Emission standards .......................................................................................................................................................................... 5

Approaches to reduce Carbon Dioxide emissions: ..................................................................................................... 5

What is Carbon Management?4 .................................................................................................................................................. 5

Storage Security Mechanisms and Changes over Time ............................................................................................ 5

Carbon dioxide storage in depleted oil/gas reservoirs can enhance oil/gas production ...................... 6

Carbon Storage in Deep Saline Aquifers .......................................................................................................................... 6

Studies in India .............................................................................................................................................................................. 6

Carbon Management A challenge as well as an Opportunity for Businesses ................................................. 7

Copenhagen Summit................................................................................................................................................................... 7

The Green Race ............................................................................................................................................................................. 7

CDP ...................................................................................................................................................................................................... 7

References............................................................................................................................................................................................. 8



GLOBAL WARMING CAUSES AND CONCERNS

Times of India some time ago had an article section called The heat is On. The title of this section

aptly describes the state of our planet and ecology. The earth is heating up at a rate much faster

than the previous years and this is a cause of great worry. In the last 100 years the average

temperature of air near the earths surface has risen by 0.74 ± 0.18 °C (1.33 ± 0.32 °F). Climatemodel projections by the Intergovernmental Panel, a panel of 2,000 scientists convened by the

United Nations Environment Program and the World Meteorological Organization, for climate

changes show that average global surface temperature is likely to rise by another 1.1 to 6.4 °C (2.0

to 11.5 °F) in the 21st century.

Today global warming has caught the fancy of people from all fields since it has a wide range of

effects and implications

One of the main causes of the earth heating up is the green house effect. Green house effect is the

absorption and emission of infrared radiation by atmospheric gases which warms a planets

atmosphere and surface. Naturally occurring green house gases are essential to make the earth

habitable. The problem arises when human activities increase the atmospheric concentration of

some of the gases. On earth the major green house gases are water vapour, carbon dioxide, methane

and ozone. One of the main causes for global warming is the increased carbon dioxide emission.

One of the major reasons for increase in carbon dioxide emissions over the years has been the

industrial revolution. . The carbon dioxide and methane emissions have increased by 31% to 149%

since 1750.

IMPLICATIONS OF GLOBAL WARMING

It has been proven that excessive carbon dioxide emissions lead to global warming that will have a

far reaching impact on our lives. Some of the side effects are:

y Rise in temperature. The 1990s was the warmest decade and 1998 the warmest year since

1861.

y Climate changes which would alter rainfall patterns causing severe drought, water

shortages in some areas and floods and inundation in other areas across the world.

y Melting glaciers and ice caps in Antarctica leading to rise in sea levels which would lead to

the coasts being flooded and many coastal cities going under water. Global sea-level rose by

10-20 cm in the 20th century. Sea-level may rise by 9-88 cm by 2100.

y Disruption of habitats such as coral reefs and alpine meadows could drive many plant and

animal species to extinction.

y Forests, farms and cities will face troublesome new pests and more mosquito-borne

diseases.

y One of the less reported effects of global warming is the Gulf Stream that carries warm, salty

waters from the tropics to the North. As the water cools its density increases, due to which

it sinks to the bottom of the ocean floor and these cooler currents then make way slowly



back to the South. This helps maintain warm summers in Europe and other parts of the

North. However as the glaciers melt and mix with the ocean waters, it gets diluted and

drops down to the bottom rather slowly causing the currents to move slowly back to the

south.

y The poor and the backward countries of Africa are most vulnerable to global warming due

to widespread poverty.y Asia too is said to be vulnerable and is predicted to one of the worst hit regions.

THE KYOTO PROTOCOL

Taking cognizance of the threat to the planet the United Nations, has taken steps to curtail carbon

emissions in the form of the Kyoto Protocol. The Kyoto protocol is linked to the United Nations

Framework Convention on Climate Change.

The difference between the protocol and the convention is that the protocol commits the 37

industrialized nation to reduce carbon emissions where as the convention only encourages them.

Recognizing that developed countries are principally responsible for the current high levels of Green

House Gas emissions in the atmosphere as a result of more than 150 years of industrial activity, the

Protocol places a heavier burden on developed nations under the principle of common but

differentiated responsibilities.

Under the Treaty, countries must meet their targets primarily through national measures.

However, the Kyoto Protocol offers them an additional means of meeting their targets by way of

three market-based mechanisms.

THE KYOTO MECHANISMS ARE:

y Emissions trading known as the carbon market"

y Clean development mechanism (CDM)

y Joint implementation (JI)1

Nations can manage their carbon emissions through the above said measure. Carbon trading is a

popular measure used by nations to buy and sell excess capacity for carbon dioxide emissions.

The Clean Development Mechanism is however regarded as a trail blazer. The CDM, defined in

Article 12 of the Protocol, allows a country with an emission-reduction or emission-limitation

commitment under the Kyoto Protocol (Annex B Party) to implement an emission-reduction

project in developing countries. This mechanism not only enables the developed countries to buy

saleable certified emission reduction (CER) credits, each equivalent to one ton of CO2, which can

be counted towards meeting Kyoto targets, but also helps developing countries towards

sustainable development. It is the first global, environmental investment and credit scheme of its

kind, providing a standardized emission offset instrument, CERs2



EMISSION STANDARDS

Every nation has to set for its self an emission standard that is the upper limit for release of pollutants

into the atmosphere. These standards relate to trying to control emissions from automobiles, factories,

plants and other such polluting agents.

In the U.S. these standards are managed by the Environmental Protection Agency. The European Union

has its own set of emissions standards for all road vehicles, trains barges and non-mobile machinery.

UK as well as India has passed legislations regarding emissions and its curtail.

APPROACHES TO REDUCE CARBON DIOXIDE EMISSIONS:

y Energy Efficiency and demand reduction

y Use of lower carbon fuels

y Shift from coal to natural gasy Use of non- carbon based power (decarbonization) use of solar, wind, geo thermal, nuclear

sources

y Use of carbon neutral energy sources- Bio mass, Bio fuel3

WHAT IS CARBON MANAGEMENT?4

Carbon management is a new world wide R & D initiative for

capture and storage of CO2 to mitigate global climate change and

is one of greatest environmental challenge the world community

is facing. The capture of CO2 from point sources and storing it inthe geological formation such as depleted hydrocarbon reservoirs

for oil/gas recovery, coal beds, deep saline aquifers and basalt

formations are the most viable options

There are various trapping mechanisms that can be used to trap

carbon dioxide like Hydrodynamic trapping, Geo chemical

trapping, Solubility trapping, Ionic trapping and Mineral trapping.

STORAGE SECURITY MECHANISMS AND CHANGES OVER TIME

y When the CO2is injected, it forms a bubble around the injection well, displacing the mobile

water laterally and vertically within the injection horizon.

y The interactions between the water and CO2 phase allow geochemical trapping mechanisms

to take effect.

y Dissolved CO2can eventually react with reservoir minerals if an appropriate mineralogy is

encountered to form carbon-bearing ionic species i.e., HCO3 and CO32 called ionic

trapping which dominates from hundreds to thousands of years.



y Further breakdown of these minerals could precipitate new carbonate minerals that would

fix injected CO2 in its most secure state i.e., mineral trapping which dominates over

thousands to millions of year.

CARBON DIOXIDE STORAGE IN DEPLETED OIL/GAS RESERVOIRS CAN ENHANCE

OIL/GAS PRODUCTION

y In India, the Oil & Natural Gas Corp. (ONGC) has proposed CO2 -EOR for Ankleshwar Oil

Field in Western India.

y The CO2 is planned to be injected @ 600,000m3/d and is sourced from ONGC gas processing

complex at Hazira.

y The experimental and modeling studies have indicated an incremental oil recovery of ~ 4 %

over the project life of 35 years besides the potential to sequester 5 to 10 million tons of

CO2.

CARBON STORAGE IN DEEP SALINE AQUIFERS

y Saline Aquifers which are more than 800m deep are also anther site for carbon dioxide

storage.

y As time passes the carbon dioxide gets dissolved in the brines and reacts with the pore

fluids/minerals to form geologically stable carbonates.

STUDIES IN INDIA

y The Department of Science & Technology, India has initiated studies aiming at identification

of deep underground saline aquifers and their suitability for CO2 sequestration inSedimentary basins of India namely Ganga, Rajasthan and Vindhyan basins.

y The Central Ground Water Board and Geological Survey of India have established the

presence of saline aquifers up to depths of 300m below ground level in the Ganga basin.

y Deep Resistivity studies carried out at 9 sites around New Delhi have shown the presence

of saline aquifers at depths of 800m and beyond, around Palwal and Tumsara.

A pilot study has conducted in India to establish Basalt Formations as a storage site. This pilot study will

globally establish Basalt formation as potential storage for CO2

by leveraging study carried out in

Columbia River basalt group under US-Dept. of Environment.

Some other breakthrough techniques are:

y Use of Methane Hydrates as storage sites

y Bio-sequestration- The concept of photosynthetic conversion to fix carbon dioxide using

bacteria or micro-algae under a controlled environment

y Iron fertilization



CARBON MANAGEMENT A CHALLENGE AS WELL AS AN

OPPORTUNITY FOR BUSINESSES

Carbon Management has become a key part of corporate strategy for many businesses around the

world, especially post Copenhagen Summit on Climate Change held in December 2009.

COPENHAGEN SUMMIT

The Copenhagen summit provided for explicit emission pledges for all major economies , including for

the first time ,China and other developing countries. However, it did not chart out a clear path such as a

treaty which would result in binding commitments. The key elements of Copenhagen summit include a

collective commitment by developed countries to help developing countries cut emissions and also a

goal to raise $100 billion a year by 2020 to help address the needs of the developing countries.

However, the summit ended in chaos and frustration as the blame game continued between the

developed and developing economies.

THE GREEN RACE

Since the Copenhagen summit failed to culminate into a treaty and provide clear leadership,

many businesses are taking up matters in their own hands and are competing with one another to

reduce their energy costs as it anticipated that energy costs which are volatile might go north in the

future. For years, Nike has been steadily reducing its total CO2 emissions and its use of volatile organic

compounds.SAP has pledged to reduce absolute CO2 emissions to year 2000 levels by 2020.

Businesses also recognize the fact that it is important to reduce emissions in order to be sustainable in

the long run. The rising demand from their customers and employees to go green and thereby reduce

costs is another key motive. It is also in the long term interest of the businesses to ensure that climate

change does not affect their supply of raw materials.

CD P

Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) is an organization based in UK which works with shareholders and

corporations to disclose their data about their carbon footprint. Some 2500 companies are already

providing data voluntarily to the CDP which will make it easier for them to benchmark their carbon

footprint with their peers and identify areas of improvement. This will also help them maintain business

relationships and gain a competitive edge as it is projected that the successful businesses of 2030 will be

the ones which respond to the opportunities that climate change presents today.

Summarizing, carbon management is turning out to be a key differentiator among businesses offering

competitive edge, operational efficiency and sustainability.



REFERENCES

1, 2-United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change: http://unfccc.int

3-NPC-Hard Truths- Chapter on Carbon Management

4-Indias Fossil Fuel Energy Scenario and Carbon Management

B. KUMARProject Adviser/Consultant

Carbon Sequestration

NATIONAL GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH INSTITUTE

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