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Assignment
Topic: “Greenhouse Gas Emissions
and Control”

Ali
Course Title: Aerosols and Environmental
Health
Institute of Zoology, University of Punjab,
Lahore

Contents
⮚Summary
⮚Introduction
∙ Greenhouse effect
∙ Importance
⮚Greenhouse gases
⮚Sources of Greenhouse gases
∙ Natural
∙ Anthropogenic
⮚Enhanced greenhouse effect
⮚Consequences of Enhanced greenhouse effect
⮚Ways to Control Greenhouse gas emissions
⮚Mitigation strategies for GHGs emissions from agriculture ⮚
Carbon Capture and Sequestration (CCS)
⮚References

Summary
The greenhouse effect is a process that occurs when gases in Earth's atmosphere trap the
Sun's heat
...


Without the heating caused by the greenhouse effect, Earth’s average surface temperature
would be only about −18 °C (0 °F)
...

Natural sources of emissions of gases to the atmosphere include respiration and
decomposition of plants and ocean
...
Despite
carbon dioxide's low global warming potential among major greenhouse gases, the large
human-caused increase in its atmospheric concentration has caused the majority of global
warming
...
The flooding of coastal cities, the desertification of
fertile areas, the melting of glacial asses and the proliferation of devastating hurricanes are
some of the main consequences
...
We should minimise the amount of waste we produce, reusing products as much
as we can, and remembering to recycle any materials that can be used for a new purpose
...
Carbon
capture and sequestration (CCS) is the process of capturing carbon dioxide (CO₂) formed
during power generation and industrial processes to reduce carbon dioxide emissions in
sedimentary rocks
...


Introduction
Greenhouse effect
The greenhouse effect is a natural process that warms the Earth’s surface
...

The greenhouse effect occurs because the sun bombards Earth with enormous amounts of
radiation that strike Earth's atmosphere
...
As Earth’s surface is heated by sunlight, it
radiates part of this energy back toward space as infrared radiation
...
The heated
atmosphere in turn radiates infrared radiation back toward Earth’s surface

Greenhouse gases include water vapour, carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, ozone and
some artificial chemicals such as chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs)
...
His paper, published in the Philosophical Magazine and
Journal of Science, was the first to quantify the contribution of carbon dioxide to what
scientists now call the "greenhouse effect
...

Incoming shortwave UV radiation easily passes through the glass walls of a greenhouse and
is absorbed by the plants and hard surfaces inside
...

Importance
The natural process of greenhouse effect maintains the Earth’s temperature at around 33

degrees Celsius warmer, allowing life on Earth to exist
...


Greenhouse gases
A greenhouse gas is any gaseous compound in the atmosphere that is capable of
absorbing infrared radiation, thereby trapping and holding heat in the
atmosphere
...

⮚Carbon Dioxide
⮚Methane

(CH4)

⮚Nitrous oxide
⮚Water

(CO2)

(N2O)

Vapor

⮚Fluorinated

Gases (HFCs, PFCs, SF6)
⮚Surface-level ozone

By increasing the heat in the atmosphere, greenhouse gases are responsible for the
greenhouse effect, which ultimately leads to global warming
...
Sources

of

Greenhouse gases
Sources of Carbon dioxide (CO2)
Natural CO2 sources
Oceans provide the greatest annual amount of CO2
...


Anthropogenic CO2 sources
Anthropogenic CO2 sources are part of our everyday activities and include power generation,
transportation, industrial sources, chemical production, petroleum production, and
agricultural practices
...
Of these CO2 sources, electric power generation
contributes the greatest amount of anthropogenic CO2 to the atmosphere
...
When trees are felled to produce goods or heat, they release
the carbon that is normally stored for photosynthesis
...
8 billion
metric tons of carbon into the atmosphere every year, according to the World Resources
Institute
...
Natural wetlands are the largest
source, emitting CH4 from bacteria that decompose organic materials in the absence of
oxygen
...
Methane is
emitted from energy, industry, agriculture, land use, and waste management activities,
described below
...
Also, when animal manure is stored or managed in lagoons or holding
tanks, CH4 is produced
...
Coal mining is also a source of
CH4 emissions
...
Natural emissions of N 2O are mainly from bacteria
breaking down nitrogen in soils and the oceans
...
Nitrous oxide
is emitted from agriculture, land use, transportation, industry, and other activities, described
below
...

Industry: Nitrous oxide is generated as a byproduct during the production of chemicals such
as nitric acid, which is used to make synthetic commercial fertilizer
Waste: Nitrous oxide is also generated from treatment of domestic wastewater during
nitrification and denitrification of the nitrogen present, usually in the form of urea, ammonia,
and proteins
...
These chemicals were developed as a replacement for
chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) and hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs) because they do not
deplete the stratospheric ozone layer
...
Perfluorocarbons (PFCs) are produced as a byproduct of
aluminium production and are used in the manufacturing of semiconductors
...


Water vapour
Water vapour is the most potent greenhouse gas in Earth’s atmosphere, but its behaviour is
fundamentally different from that of the other greenhouse gases
...
The
warmer the surface, the greater the evaporation rate of water from the surface
...


Surface-level ozone
Most significant greenhouse gas is surface, or low-level, ozone (O3)
...

The primary anthropogenic source of surface O3 is photochemical reactions involving the
atmospheric pollutant carbon monoxide (CO)
...


Global warming potential (GWP) of greenhouse gases
The Global Warming Potential (GWP) is a measure of how much energy the emissions of 1
ton of a gas will absorb over a given period of time, relative to the emissions of 1 ton of
carbon dioxide (CO2)
...

Carbon dioxide has a GWP of 1 regardless of the time period used, because it is the gas being
used as the reference
...

Nitrous Oxide (N2O) has a GWP 265–298 times that of CO2 for a 100-year timescale
...


Enhanced Greenhouse effect
Human activities particularly burning of fossil fuels (coal, oil and natural gas), agriculture
and land clearing are increasing the concentrations of greenhouse gases
...


Consequences of Enhanced greenhouse effect
The increase in the average temperature on Earth is changing living conditions on the
planet
...

∙ Flooding

of islands and coastal cities

According to Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC, 2014), during the
period 1901-2010 the global average sea level rose 19 centimetres
...

∙ Hurricanes

will be more devastating

The intensification of the greenhouse effect does not cause these extreme climatic
events, but it does increase their intensity
...


∙ Migration

of species

Many animal species will be forced to migrate in order to survive the changes in the
main climatic patterns altered by the progressive increase in temperatures
...


∙ Desertification

of fertile areas

Global warming is having a profound impact on the processes of soil degradation and
is contributing to the desertification of areas on the planet, a phenomenon that
destroys all the biological potential of affected regions, turning them into barren and
unproductive land
...


∙ Impact

on agriculture and livestock

Global warming has already altered the length of the growing season in large parts of
the planet
...
The same is
happening with livestock: climatic changes are directly affecting important species
in multiple ways: reproduction, metabolism, diseases, etc
...

∙ The

spread of diseases and pandemics

In addition to the problems derived directly from pollution, the World Health
Organization (WHO) states that global warming will cause infectious diseases such as
malaria, cholera or dengue to spread to many more areas of the planet
...


How do we reduce greenhouse gases?
To stop climate change, we need to stop the amount of greenhouse gases, like carbon dioxide,
from increasing
...

This is called climate mitigation
...

Instead, we will have to piece together many different solutions to stop the climate from
warming
...
Worldwide, electricity use is responsible for a quarter of all
emissions
...
There are also new technologies that help keep
buildings energy efficient, such as glass that reflects heat, low-flow water fixtures, smart
thermostats, and new air conditioning technology with refrigerants that don’t cause warming
...


Generate electricity without emissions:
Renewable energy sources include solar energy, geothermal, wind turbines, ocean wave and
tidal energy, waste and biomass energy, and hydropower
...
Nuclear energy also creates no greenhouse gas emissions, so it can
be thought of as a solution to climate change
...

Today, the amount of electricity that comes from renewable energy is growing
...
In many other countries, the percentage of electricity from renewable
sources is currently small (5-10%) but growing
...
We can reduce emissions by shifting to alternative technologies that either don’t
need gasoline (like bicycles and electric cars) or don’t need as much (like hybrid cars)
...
Cities and towns can make it easier for people
to lower greenhouse gas emissions by adding bus routes, bike paths, and sidewalks
...
There
are ways to decrease emissions from manufacturing
...
For example, cement releases
carbon dioxide as it hardens, but there are alternative products that don’t create greenhouse
gases
...
Companies can also use renewable energy sources to power factories and ship the
products that they create in fuel-saving cargo ships
...
The places where carbon dioxide is pulled out of the air
are called carbon sinks
...
Conserving forests, grasslands, peatlands, and wetlands, where
carbon is held in plants and soils, protects existing carbon sinks
...
According to the Drawdown Project, if half the population worldwide
adopt a plant-rich diet by 2050, 65 giga tons of carbon dioxide would be kept out of the
atmosphere over about 30 years
...
Renewable energy technologies suitable for on-farm use include:

∙ Anaerobic

digestion

∙ Electrification
∙ Geothermal
∙ Gasification
∙ Wind
∙ Solar

electric (photovoltaic)

∙ Biofuel production

from crops or crop residues

Carbon Capture and Sequestration (CCS)
Carbon dioxide capture and sequestration is a set of technologies that can potentially greatly
reduce CO2 emissions from new and existing coal- and gas-fired power plants, industrial
processes, and other stationary sources of CO2
...


Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) Projects in Pakistan
Pakistan's CO2 emissions will increase in near future due to the use of fossils fuels and
dependency of energy on its indigenous coal reserves
...

In an effort to reduce CO2 emissions in Pakistan, Engro Polymer and Chemicals Limited
(EPCL) is investing in linear plantation projects to establish new forests in non-forest areas to
offset its 340 000 t of CO2 emissions
...


Conclusion
In Pakistan, government initiatives include a plan to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by
20% o through enhancing renewable energy
...
Being one of the 10
countries most effected by climatic change and by witnessing the overall negative effect on
Pakistan’s socio-economic conditions, awareness needs to be created for the population
...
E
...
greenhouse gas
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https://www
...
com/science/greenhouse-gas
∙ U
...
Environmental Protection Agency: "Climate Impacts on Agriculture and Food
Supply"

∙ IPCC (2007) Climate Change 2007: The Physical Science Basis
...
[S
...
Qin, M
...
Chen, M
...
B
...
Tignor and H
...
Miller (eds
...
Cambridge,
United Kingdom 996 pp
...
Greenhouse Gas Mitigation Potential in U
...
Forestry and Agriculture
...
S
...

∙ Rashid, M
...
, Benhelal, E
...
(2020)
...
Chemical Engineering & Technology, 43(11), 2140-2148
...
com

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