WHAT ARE THE SOURCES OF GREENHOUSE GAS PART 2 |
What Are the Sources of Greenhouse Gases?
In the United States, greenhouse gas emissions come primarily from the combustion of fossil fuels in energy use. Energy use is largely driven by economic growth with short-term fluctuations in its growth rate created by weather patterns affecting heating and cooling needs, as well as changes in the fuel used in electricity generation. Energy-related carbon dioxide emissions, resulting from the combustion of petroleum, coal, and natural gas, represented 82 percent of total U.S. anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions in 2006 (Figure 32). The connection between energy use and carbon dioxide emissions is explored in the box on the reverse side (Figure 4).
2Values expressed as carbon dioxide equivalents (CO2e) are calculated based on their global warming potential (GWP). GWP is the ratio of the warming that would result from the emission of one kilogram of a greenhouse gas to that from the emission of one kilogram of carbon dioxide over a fixed period of time such as 100 years. Figure 3. U.S. Anthropogenic Greenhouse Gas Emissions by Gas,
2006 (Million Metric Tons of Carbon Dioxide Equivalent) 
Another greenhouse gas, methane, comes from landfills, coal mines, oil and natural gas operations, and agriculture; it represented 9 percent of total emissions. Nitrous oxide (5 percent of total emissions), is emitted through the use of nitrogen fertilizers, from burning fossil fuels and from certain industrial and waste management processes. Several human-made gases, hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), perfluorocarbons (PFCs) and sulfur hexafluoride (SF6), that are released as byproducts of industrial processes and through leakage, represented 2 percent of total emissions. The Energy Connection . . . Fossil fuels are made up of hydrogen and carbon. When fossil fuels are burned, the carbon combines with oxygen to yield carbon dioxide. The amount of carbon dioxide produced depends on the carbon content of the fuel; for example, for each unit of energy produced, natural gas emits about half and petroleum fuels about three-quarters of the carbon dioxide produced by coal. Fossil fuels supply 85 percent of the primary energy consumed in the United States and are responsible for 98 percent of emissions of carbon dioxide. Eighty percent of U.S. carbon dioxide emissions come from the use of coal and petroleum fuels. Although the industrial sector is the largest energy consumer (including direct fuel use and purchased electricity), the transportation sector emits more carbon dioxide because of its near complete dependence on petroleum fuels. The residential and commercial sectors have lower emission levels than the transportation and industrial sectors, with the majority of their emissions coming from the combustion of fossil energy to produce purchased electricity. Electricity generation consumes 40 percent of U.S. primary energy and is responsible for 40 percent of carbon dioxide emissions. In the electric power sector, coal accounts for 83 percent of the emissions. The bar graphs in the figure below show emissions from electricity generation apportioned among energy-use sectors. | Figure 4. U.S. Primary Energy Consumption and Carbon Dioxide Emissions, 2006.
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What is the Prospect for Future Emissions?
World carbon dioxide emissions are expected to increase by 1.8 percent annually between 2004 and 2030 (Figure 5). Much of the increase in these emissions is expected to occur in the developing world where emerging economies, such as China and India, fuel economic development with fossil energy. Emissions from the countries outside the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) are expected to grow above the world average at 2.6 percent annually between 2004 and 2030.
Figure 5. World Carbon Dioxide Emissions by Region,
2003-2030 (Billion Metric Tons of Carbon Dioxide)
Note: Explanations for OECD and Non-OECD can be found on EIA’s web site at:
http://www.eia.doe.gov/oiaf/ieo/pdf/appk.pdf
Source: Energy Information Administration, International Energy Outlook 2007
(Washington, DC, May 2007). In 2004, the United States produced about 22 percent of global carbon dioxide emissions from burning fossil fuels, primarily because the U.S. economy is the largest in the world and it meets 85 percent of its energy needs through burning fossil fuels. The United States is projected to lower its carbon intensity by 36 percent from 2004 to 2030
(Figure 6). 
Figure 6. Carbon Intensity by Region, 2003-2030 (Metric
Tons of Carbon Dioxide per Million 2000 Dollars)
Source: Energy Information Administration, International Energy Outlook 2007
(Washington, DC, May 2007).
Note: Explanations for OECD and Non-OECD can be found on EIA’s web site at:
http://www.eia.doe.gov/oiaf/ieo/pdf/appk.pdf |
20 WAYS TO SAVE ENERGY NOW |
Think saving energy will require costly new equipment or complicated changes to your operating practices? Think again! Here are twenty steps you can take this year for. You'll be amazed to discover how some simple changes can cut your energy bills. Find out how to save energy in all your combustion systems, or focus more specifically on your steam boiler system or process heating system. KEC’S principle partner (IEE) can perform this on-site review of your operation and summarize the results with actual installation costs vs. return on investment. Contact Jay @ jklaus@klausequipment.com for details on how to implement these basic energy considerations.
All Combustion Systems 1. Operate furnaces and boilers at or close to design capacity2. Reduce excess air used for combustion3. Clean heat transfer surfaces
4. Reduce radiation losses from openings
5. Use proper furnace or boiler insulation to reduce wall heat losses
6. Adequately insulate air or water-cooled surfaces exposed to the furnace environment and steam lines leaving the boiler
7. Install air preheat or other heat recovery equipment
Steam Generation Systems 1. Improve water treatment to minimize boiler blowdown
2. Optimize deaerator vent rate
3. Repair steam leaks
4. Minimize vented steam
5. Implement effective steam trap maintenance program
6. Use high-pressure condensate to make low-pressure steam
7. Utilize backpressure turbine instead of pressure-reducing or release valves
8. Optimize condensate recovery
Process Heating Systems 1. Minimize air leakage into the furnace by sealing openings
2. Maintain proper, slightly positive furnace pressure
3. Reduce weight of or eliminate material handling fixtures
4. Modify the furnace system or use a separate heating system to recover furnace exhaust gas heat
5. Recover part of the furnace exhaust heat for use in lower-temperature processes
http://apps1.eere.energy.gov/consumer/industry/20ways.html
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| JAY SAYS |
Dear Reader, What is a concerned U.S. Company’s best strategy in 2009 to move beyond the “slow down”? You will need to focus on INCREASING REVENUE or DECREASING EXPENSES. If you choose DECREASE EXPENSES consider looking at the unit of fuel consumed in dollars compared to the unit of product sold in the market. Enhanced fuel utilization can be a hidden internal revenue generator to survive the 2009 slow down. Best regards,
Jay Klaus
JKlaus@KlausEquipment.com
Klaus Equipment Company, Inc.
President |
Klaus Equipment Company
Phone: 724-444-3420
Fax: 724-444-3425
2866 West Bardonner Road,
Gibsonia, PA 15044
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