Trevor Jung

4/22/15

Report Draft
I have a plan to stop global warming and reduce carbon dioxide
emissions. This problem
concerns me because I have family that live in heavily polluted areas. I
believe that the only way to stop air pollution is to use carbon capture
technologies.
My connection to this problem comes from my relatives, many of who
live in Taiwan, a heavily polluted country. I don't want them to be breathing
bad air, and I myself also don't want to be breathing polluted air. I also live in
Washington State, and I don't want the clear skies to be polluted. I am
connected to this problem through my family, my nearby community, and
my interest in keeping a clean world.
It is mainly due to my interest in having a clean Earth that I wanted to
solve the problem
of air pollution and its effects. This doesn't only affect me, though. The entire
population of the world is at possible danger, and many areas are already
feeling the impact. Places such like China, India, and much of the Middle East
are unbelievably polluted. It is possible that even the cleanest places will one
day be hard to live in. I believe that it will be in the best interests of
humanity that we solve this problem before it is too late. I, certainly care
about the world and I do not want it to be ruined.

The main issue is that carbon dioxide levels are soaring, and the
particles are becoming
visible as they get denser. Rising levels of carbon dioxide can lead to many
serious health issues, and may make people nauseous (OSH Answers Fact
Sheets). The carbon dioxide is also trapping heat from the sun, causing
global warming (Causes of Climate Change). Global warming is a big threat
to humankind, and it is possible for it to eventually force people onto
Antarctica.
The issue is mainly being caused by power plants combusting fossil
fuels and emitting carbon dioxide gas into the atmosphere. The plants create
a lot of energy, so they burn a lot of fuel. Also, many of these plants are
burning coal, which is emitting a lot of pollutants into the air (Carbon Dioxide
Emissions). According to the U.S Energy Information Administration, China by
itself is beginning to rival the whole worlds use of carbon, and the growth
rates of its use of coal are increasing rapidly (CO2 Now). China or course isnt
the only one to blame, though because worldwide over 8 trillion tons of coal
is being consumed ever year (CO2 Now).
The impact that this issue has on Earth is already showing. The world
has warmed up, an average of about 1.4 degrees Fahrenheit over the past
century, according to the NOAA (Effects of Global Warming). Deaths from
heat have increased by over 2000% over the last decade (Effects of Global
Warming). Lots of glaciers are also melting, and the sea level is rising due to
that. Carbon dioxide is a major contributor, and it also causes health issues.

At high concentrations, it can kill, but it at least can do serious brain damage
to the person (OSH Answers Fact Sheets).
Current efforts to solve this problem may be helping a bit, but a
solution that is more drastic is needed if we are to solve this issue (Biello,
David). This is obvious due to the increasing temperatures and that global
warming is still growing. A current effort to stop air pollution is pledges
(Biello, David). Many countries are pledging to keep below certain amounts
of coal burnt or emissions to the air. Such pledges include the Kyoto Protocol
and the UNFCCC (Kyoto Protocol)( United Nations Framework Convention on
Climate Change). Beside pledges, many groups are trying to spread
awareness of this issue around the world. These awareness groups try to get
people to use sustainable things, and to conserve energy by taking shorter
showers and turning off all unneeded lights. While these current plans are
having a small benefit, many people are simply unwilling to take these
simple measures to help reduce pollution (Biello, David). Many electric
companies also take the easy way out and try to make more money by
using dirtier sources of energy, like coal (Biello, David). Some power plants
also have carbon scrubbers, devices that effectively trap carbon. These
scrubbers are used to treat emissions from these power plants. While they
may work, they are very cost ineffective, in the installation and maintenance,
and so many companies are afraid to use them. An ironic point to make
about the scrubbers is that they themselves need energy to run (Carbon
Dioxide Scrubber). However, these carbon scrubbers may serve a major part

in reducing air pollution. Of all the technologies existing right now, I believe
that the most effective is carbon capture. Although it is more expensive than
the other options, it is likely the most effective (Can Carbon Capture
Technology Be Part of the Climate Solution?). Other methods like renewable
energy are being used right now, but like James Lovelock says Windmills!
Oh no. No way of doing it. You can cover the whole country with the blasted
things, millions of them. Waste of time. (James Lovelock: 'enjoy life while you
can: in 20 years global warming will hit the fan')
My solution is to use carbon capture extensively around the world.
Many power plants are emitting massive amounts of carbon dioxide, some
even up to 20 million metric tons (America's Dirtiest Power Plants)! With
carbon capture, by equipping these plants with the proper equipment, the
emissions can be reduced by 80-90 % (Carbon Dioxide Capture and
Sequestration.").
If this was to be used among many polluting power plants, it can
potentially even start to get toward the goal of negative emissions (Carbon
Dioxide Capture and Sequestration."). While negative emissions will be hard
to reach, it is very desirable because, as its name implies, more carbon
dioxide is taken out of the atmosphere than is being emitted. The carbon
does not disappear though, it simply gets compressed into a liquid form and
pumped underground, where it will be trapped (Can Carbon Capture
Technology Be Part of the Climate Solution?). This sort of technology is still
not perfected yet, and due to its costs, it hasnt caught on (Biello, David).

However, the oil industry has been using captured carbon to use, by
pumping underground into depleted oil wells to force the oil up (Can Carbon
Capture Technology Be Part of the Climate Solution?). If there is enough of a
market for this, it may make it easier for companies to accept this sort of
technology (Biello, David). Carbon Capture technology works in 2 parts. The
carbon needs to first be captured, and then it needs to be pumped
underground and occasionally checked on to assure it hasnt escaped. More
advanced carbon scrubbers are being built that can take carbon from the air,
but it is widely regarded as impractical because there is a much smaller
concentration of carbon dioxide in the air than from flue gases, which are the
emissions. This carbon capture technology works by blowing the carbon
dioxide to an amine bath, bonding it with the amines (Can Carbon Capture
Technology Be Part of the Climate Solution?"). Then, the now captured
carbon is compressed and drilled underground. By installing this carbon
capture into many factories, 80-90 % of emissions can be reduced (Carbon
Dioxide Capture and Sequestration). The space required to store this carbon
is not a concern, because reports from scientists estimate that the ground
under North America alone can store hundreds of years of emissions (Carbon
Dioxide Capture and Sequestration). By spreading word of this technology
much like how renewable energy was spread, and by adding that many
businesses will be willing to buy carbon dioxide, like the oil industry, this idea
may work.

The most preferable outcome would be like earlier stated, negative

emissions. I also hope that Global warming will be stopped in its tracks, and
that the earth will cool down once the carbon holding in the Suns radiation is
reduced.
My reasoning for this solution was that the Earth was in trouble. People
had predicted all sorts of things that would happen if a Global Warming
wasn't resolved quickly, and some, like James Lovelock believed that the
world was already past saving and that we should simply start saving the
most important parts of earth and neglecting the others (We Should Give up
Trying to save the World from Climate Change, Says James Lovelock). Due to
these outcomes, I wanted to have a solution that had a big effect and that
could solve the carbon problem once and for all. Even before I had began
research, I had been wondering about capturing carbon dioxide and
removing it. Naturally, when I found out that it could happen, even if
somewhat limited, I believed that it would be the best solution. Many agree
with me, like David Biello, in that carbon capture is a promising solution
(Biello, David)
My plan to solve overloads of carbon dioxide may have some ethical
issues with it. Mainly, I am talking about if businesses refuse to install carbon
capture technologies. If too many people opt out of this plan, then its results
would not be as perfect as I had envisioned. The problem is that people
cannot force these companies to adopt the technology, or at least without
having lots of protest. This ethical issue however may be skirted around if

there are some incentives to do carbon capture. Another way to get around
this ethical problem is to punish companies that release an amount of carbon
dioxide that is over an established limit. This alternative may be less feasible
though, because you would need lots of countries to accept this proposal.
Increasing amounts of Carbon Dioxide and Global warming may cause
Earth to eventually become nearly uninhabitable and cause the human
population to retreat to select areas. Food production would be scarce, and
lots of animals, 33 % would be killed off. Using carbon capture is the only
way to prevent this, and it is the only solution to make everybody, including
me and my family safe.

Sources
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2015
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