Estudio de viabilidad para almacenamiento de CO2 en la cuenca del Guadalquivir

El objetivo de este proyecto es investigar la viabilidad del almacenamiento de CO2 en un acuífero salino profundo ubicado en el margen suroccidental de la Cuenca del Guadalquivir. Este proyecto está destinado a una operación industrial con tasas de emisión de CO2 superiores a medio millón de toneladas anuales. Se ha construido un modelo geológico de la formación almacén en Petrel y se ha simulado la inyección utilizando la versión composicional de ECLIPSE. El objetivo es inyectar CO2 manteniendo una tasa de inyección constante durante 30 años, el máximo periodo permitido por la legislación española sobre almacenamiento geológico de CO2. La cantidad de CO2 inyectada en cada uno de los casos ha sido determinada. Los resultados parecen indicar que la inyección de CO2 a escala industrial podría ser viable, aunque la viabilidad del proyecto podría verse comprometida por la escasa profundidad a la que se encuentra el contacto entre la formación almacén y el sello lateral. Antes de seguir adelante con el desarrollo del proyecto sería conveniente determinar mejor la continuidad lateral de la formación almacén y sus condiciones de sello. ABSTRACT The aim of this project is to investigate the feasibility of CO2 geological storage in a deep saline aquifer located onshore in the southwestern margin of Guadalquivir Basin. The project is addressed for an industrial scale operation with CO2 emission rates higher than half a million tons per year. A geological model of the target reservoir was built in Petrel and injection simulations were performed with the compositional version of ECLIPSE. The purpose is to inject CO2 at constant rate during 30 years, the maximum period allowed by the Spanish law on carbon dioxide geological storage. The amount of CO2 injected in each studied scenario has been determined. Results suggest that CO2 injection at industrial scale could be viable, but the project feasibility could be endangered by the shallow depth of the contact between the target reservoir and the lateral seal. Prior to injection, further work should include ascertaining the reservoir’s lateral continuity and better determination of its sealing conditions

Modelling and forecasting fossil fuels, CO2 and electricity prices and their volatilities

In the current uncertain context that affects both the world economy and the energy sector, with the rapid increase in the prices of oil and gas and the very unstable political situation that affects some of the largest raw materials’ producers, there is a need for developing efficient and powerful quantitative tools that allow to model and forecast fossil fuel prices, CO2 emission allowances prices as well as electricity prices. This will improve decision making for all the agents involved in energy issues. Although there are papers focused on modelling fossil fuel prices, CO2 prices and electricity prices, the literature is scarce on attempts to consider all of them together. This paper focuses on both building a multivariate model for the aforementioned prices and comparing its results with those of univariate ones, in terms of prediction accuracy (univariate and multivariate models are compared for a large span of days, all in the first 4 months in 2011) as well as extracting common features in the volatilities of the prices of all these relevant magnitudes. The common features in volatility are extracted by means of a conditionally heteroskedastic dynamic factor model which allows to solve the curse of dimensionality problem that commonly arises when estimating multivariate GARCH models. Additionally, the common volatility factors obtained are useful for improving the forecasting intervals and have a nice economical interpretation. Besides, the results obtained and methodology proposed can be useful as a starting point for risk management or portfolio optimization under uncertainty in the current context of energy markets.

Monitorización de emisiones de CO2 en un análogo natural mediante correlación con Índices de Vegetación

Entre las soluciones más satisfactorias al problema de las emisiones de CO2 está la captura y almacenamiento de este gas de efecto invernadero en reservorios profundos. Esta técnica implica la necesidad de monitorizar grandes extensiones de terreno. Utilizando una zona de vulcanismo residual, en la provincia de Ciudad Real, se han monitorizado las emisiones de CO2 utilizando imágenes de muy alta resolución espacial. Se han generado índices de vegetación, y estos se han correlacionado con medidas de contenido de CO2 del aire en los puntos de emisión. Los resultados han arrojado niveles de correlación significativos (p. ej.: SAVI = -0,93) y han llevado a descubrir un nuevo punto de emisión de CO2. Palabras clave: teledetección, CO2, vegetación, satélite Monitoring CO2 emissions in a natural analogue by correlating with vegetation indices Abstract: Among the most satisfactory solutions for the CO2 emissions problem is the capture and storage of this greenhouse gas in deep reservoirs. This technique involves the need to monitor large areas. Using a volcanic area with residual activity, in the province of Ciudad Real, CO2 emissions were monitored through very high spatial resolution imagery. Vegetation indexes were generated and correlated with measurements of the air?s CO2 content at the emission points. The results yielded significant correlation levels (e.g.: SAVI = -0.93) and led to the discovery of a new CO2 emission point. Keywords: remote sensing, CO2, vegetation, satellite.

Monitorización de emisiones de CO2 en análogos naturales de almacenamientos geológicos a través de la vegetación mediante técnicas de teledetección multiespectral

Uno de los problemas más importantes a los que se enfrenta nuestra sociedad es el de la degradación del medioambiente por la emisión de gases de efecto invernadero. La captura de CO2 en los puntos de emisión y su enterramiento mediante inyección en reservorios geológicos profundos se plantea como una solución hasta que a medio o largo plazo pueda ser mitigada la actual dependencia de la quema de combustibles fósiles. Pero la estabilidad de esos reservorios debe ser monitorizada adecuadamente. En esta tesis se ha estudiado el problema de la detección de fugas de CO2 en un análogo natural de un emplazamiento de almacenamiento profundo a través del análisis de imágenes de satélite multiespectrales. El análogo utilizado ha sido la zona de Campo de Calatrava (Ciudad Real, España), donde, por efecto de la actividad volcánica remanente, aún se pueden encontrar numerosos puntos de emisión de CO2. Se han caracterizado los puntos de emisión de CO2 identificándose dos tipologías con características y manifestaciones claramente diferenciadas: puntos de emisión húmeda o hervideros, y puntos de emisión seca o fumarolas. Para el estudio se han utilizado índices de vegetación y su relación de éstos con los contenidos atmosféricos de CO2. Se han utilizado imágenes multiespectrales de los satélites QuickBird y WorldView‐2. Se ha realizado una preselección de doce índices de vegetación especialmente adecuados para la detección de puntos de emisión de CO2. Mediante análisis y comparación de imágenes de índices de vegetación sobre puntos de emisión conocidos se ha seleccionado los cinco índices con mayor sensibilidad frente al fenómeno. Atendiendo a los principales factores condicionantes de la aparición de nuevos puntos de emisión de CO2 se ha realizado sobre las imágenes de índices de vegetación una predicción de nuevos puntos de emisión. Entre los puntos candidato se han encontrado tres nuevos puntos de emisión de CO2 no descritos previamente en la bibliografía. ABSTRACT One of the most important issues facing our society is the degradation of the environment caused by the emission of greenhouse gases. Capturing CO2 emissions, injection and burial in deep geological reservoirs is presented as a solution until the medium or long term, when the problem of the current dependence on fossil fuels burning can be mitigated. But the stability of these reservoirs should be properly monitored. In this work we study the problem of detecting CO2 leakage in a natural analogue of a deep storage site through analysis of multispectral satellite imagery. The analogue used is in the Campo de Calatrava (Ciudad Real, Spain) where, due to the remaining volcanic activity, it can still be found numerous CO2 emission points. CO2 emission points have been characterized identifying two types having distinct characteristics and effects: wet emission points or hotbeds, and dry emission points or fumaroles. For this study it has been used vegetation indices and its relationship with atmospheric CO2 contents. It has been used multispectral images from QuickBird and WorldView‐2 satellites. It has been done a preselection of twelve vegetation indices especially suitable for the detection of CO2 emission points. Using analysis and comparison of vegetation index images on real emission points it has been selected the five indexes with greater sensitivity to this phenomenon. Based upon the main factors of the emergence of new CO2 emission points it has been made a prediction of new emission points over the vegetation index images. Among the candidate points it has been found three new CO2 emission points not previously described in the literature.

The Emission Trading Scheme reform: will the Commission's proposal save the system? EPC Policy Brief, 29 May 2015

The European Union’s Emission Trading Scheme (ETS), proposed by the Commission in 2001, entered into force in 2005. It was the flagship instrument of an ambitious policy aiming to reduce the emission of greenhouse gasses in the EU by making emission allowances a freely tradable ‘financial commodity’. However, in recent years, the cracks in the system have begun to show as the price of these CO2 emission allowances has dropped. In this Policy Brief, Jørgen Knud Henningsen argues that the envisaged ETS reform may not be enough to address the system’s shortcomings, and that there should be a more open discussion about its potential if it is to contribute to the EU’s goal of a largely de-carbonised economy by 2050.

The Polluter Profits Principle: A Note on the Grandfathering of CO2 Emissions Rights in Lax-Cap Trading Regimes

Grandfathering is currently the main principle for the initial allocation of tradable CO2 emission rights under the European cap-and-trade scheme. Furthermore, political feasibility often requires non-restrictive emission caps. Grandfathering under lax cap is unjust, biased and brings polluters unintended windfall profits. Still, in any post-Kyoto international CO2 regime, lax caps may be critical in coaxing binding emission targets out of more countries, especially those in the less-developed world. This paper argues that there is a certain quantity of emission rights between the initial and the optimal emissions, the grandfathering of which brings polluters zero windfall profits or zero windfall losses. Our theoretical concept of zero-windfall grandfathering can be used to demonstrate the windfall profits that have emerged at company level during the first EU trading period. It might thus encourage governments to embrace auctioning, and to combine it with grandfathering as a legitimate tool in the initial allocation of emission rights in later trading regimes.

A Consumption-Based Approach to Carbon Emission Accounting – Sectoral Differences and Environmental Benefits

In recent years there has been growing concern about the emission trade balances of countries. This is due to the fact that countries with an open economy are active players in international trade. Trade is not only a major factor in forging a country’s economic structure, but contributes to the movement of embodied emissions beyond country borders. This issue is especially relevant from the carbon accounting policy and domestic production perspective, as it is known that the production-based principle is employed in the Kyoto agreement. The research described herein was designed to reveal the interdependence of countries on international trade and the corresponding embodied emissions both on national and on sectoral level and to illustrate the significance of the consumption-based emission accounting. It is presented here to what extent a consumption-based accounting would change the present system based on production-based accounting and allocation. The relationship of CO2 emission embodied in exports and embodied in imports is analysed here. International trade can blur the responsibility for the ecological effects of production and consumption and it can lengthen the link between consumption and its consequences. Input-output models are used in the methodology as they provide an appropriate framework for climate change accounting. The analysis comprises an international comparative study of four European countries (Germany, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, and Hungary) with extended trading activities and carbon emissions. Moving from a production-based approach in climate policy to a consumption-based principle and allocation approach would help to increase the efficiency of emission reductions and would force countries to rethink their trading activities in order to decrease the environmental load of production activities. The results of this study show that it is important to distinguish between the two emission accounting approaches, both on the global and the local level.

Future CO2-induced ocean acidification mediates the physiological performance of a green tide alga Ulva prolifera

The oceans take up more than 1 million tons of CO2 from the air per hour, about one-quarter of the anthropogenically released amount, leading to disrupted seawater chemistry due to increasing CO2 emissions. Based on the fossil fuel-intensive CO2 emission scenario (A1F1; Houghton et al., 2001), the H+ concentration or acidity of surface seawater will increase by about 150% (pH drop by 0.4) by the end of this century, the process known as ocean acidification (OA; Sabine et al., 2004; Doney et al., 2009; Gruber et al., 2012). Seawater pH is suggested to decrease faster in the coastal waters than in the pelagic oceans due to the interactions of hypoxia, respiration, and OA (Cai et al., 2011). Therefore, responses of coastal algae to OA are of general concern, considering the economic and social services provided by the coastal ecosystem that is adjacent to human living areas and that is dependent on coastal primary productivity. On the other hand, dynamic environmental changes in the coastal waters can interact with OA (Beardall et al., 2009).

CO2 capture by adsorption in post combustion processes

Global concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere is increasing rapidly. CO2 emissions have huge impact on global climate change. Therefore, efficient CO2 emission abatement strategies such as Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) are required to combat this phenomenon. There are three major approaches for CCS: - Post-combustion capture; - Pre-combustion capture; - Oxyfuel process. Post-combustion capture offers some advantages in terms of cost as existing combustion technologies can still be used without radical changes on them. This makes post-combustion capture easier to implement as a retrofit option compared to the other two approaches. Therefore, post-combustion capture is probably the first technology that will be deployed on a large scale. The aim of this work is to study the adsorption equilibrium of CO2, CH4 and N2 in zeolite 5A at 40ºC. For this, experiments were performed to determine the isotherms of adsorption of CO2, CH4 and N2 near 40ºC with the conditions of the post-combustion capture processes. It has been found that the 5A zeolite adsorbs a significant quantity of CO2 values of about 5 mol/kg at a pressure of 5 bar.

A Cost Analysis Of Carbon Dioxide Emission Reduction Strategies For New Plants In Michigan's Electric Power Sector

This thesis attempts to find the least-cost strategy to reduce CO2 emission by replacing coal by other energy sources for electricity generation in the context of the proposed EPA’s regulation on CO2 emissions from existing coal-fired power plants. An ARIMA model is built to forecast coal consumption for electricity generation and its CO2 emissions in Michigan from 2016 to 2020. CO2 emission reduction costs are calculated under three emission reduction scenarios- reduction to 17%, 30% and 50% below the 2005 emission level. The impacts of Production Tax Credit (PTC) and the intermittency of renewable energy are also discussed. The results indicate that in most cases natural gas will be the best alternative to coal for electricity generation to realize CO2 reduction goals; if the PTC for wind power will continue after 2015, a natural gas and wind combination approach could be the best strategy based on the least-cost criterion.

Effect of Pavement-Vehicle Interaction on Highway Fuel Consumption and Emission

Vehicle fuel consumption and emission are two important effectiveness measurements of sustainable transportation development. Pavement plays an essential role in goals of fuel economy improvement and greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reduction. The main objective of this dissertation study is to experimentally investigate the effect of pavement-vehicle interaction (PVI) on vehicle fuel consumption under highway driving conditions. The goal is to provide a better understanding on the role of pavement in the green transportation initiates. Four study phases are carried out. The first phase involves a preliminary field investigation to detect the fuel consumption differences between paired flexible-rigid pavement sections with repeat measurements. The second phase continues the field investigation by a more detailed and comprehensive experimental design and independently investigates the effect of pavement type on vehicle fuel consumption. The third study phase calibrates the HDM-IV fuel consumption model with data collected in the second field phase. The purpose is to understand how pavement deflection affects vehicle fuel consumption from a mechanistic approach. The last phase applies the calibrated HDM-IV model to Florida’s interstate network and estimates the total annual fuel consumption and CO2 emissions on different scenarios. The potential annual fuel savings and emission reductions are derived based on the estimation results. Statistical results from the two field studies both show fuel savings on rigid pavement compared to flexible pavement with the test conditions specified. The savings derived from the first phase are 2.50% for the passenger car at 112km/h, and 4.04% for 18-wheel tractor-trailer at 93km/h. The savings resulted from the second phase are 2.25% and 2.22% for passenger car at 93km/h and 112km/h, and 3.57% and 3.15% for the 6-wheel medium-duty truck at 89km/h and 105km/h. All savings are statistically significant at 95% Confidence Level (C.L.). From the calibrated HDM-IV model, one unit of pavement deflection (1mm) on flexible pavement can cause an excess fuel consumption by 0.234-0.311 L/100km for the passenger car and by 1.123-1.277 L/100km for the truck. The effect is more evident at lower highway speed than at higher highway speed. From the network level estimation, approximately 40 million gallons of fuel (combined gasoline and diesel) and 0.39 million tons of CO2 emission can be saved/reduced annually if all Florida’s interstate flexible pavement are converted to rigid pavement with the same roughness levels. Moreover, each 1-mile of flexible-rigid conversion can result in a reduction of 29 thousand gallons of fuel and 258 tons of CO2 emission yearly.

How to reduce energy consumption on pultrusion

The global warming due to high CO2 emission in the last years has made energy saving a global problem nowadays. However, manufacturing processes such as pultrusion necessarily needs heat for curing the resin. Then, the only option available is to apply all efforts to make the process even more efficient. Different heating systems have been used on pultrusion, however, the most widely used are the planar resistances. The main objective of this study is to develop another heating system and compares it with the former one. Thermography was used in spite of define the temperature profile along the die. FEA (finite element analysis) allows to understand how many energy is spend with the initial heating system. After this first approach, changes were done on the die in order to test the new heating system and to check possible quality problems on the product. Thus, this work allows to conclude that with the new heating system a significant reduction in the setup time is now possible and an energy reduction of about 57% was achieved.

Integrating wind generation in the distribution network

Dissertação apresentada na Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia da Universidade Nova de Lisboa para obtenção do Grau de Mestre em Energias Renováveis – Conversão Eléctrica e Utilização Sustentáveis

DINAMICA MICROBIANA Y CALIDAD DE LA MATERIA ORGANICA DEL SUELO COMO INDICADORES DE SUSTENTABILIDAD EN EL CHACO ARIDO DE LA PROVINCIA DE CORDOBA Microbial dynamic and organic matter quality as indicators of soil sustainability in Dry Chaco of Córdoba Province

Se propone analizar el efecto del uso productivo en el Chaco Árido de la provincia de Córdoba, mediante la aplicación de indicadores de sustentabilidad relacionados con la calidad de la materia orgánica y la liberación de nutrientes en el suelo, con la finalidad de aportar a un tema de suma interes para la provincia de Córdoba como es la formulación de criterios y pautas de manejo para la implementación de la Ley de Bosques (N° 26331). Se trabajará en la localidad de San Miguel en el departamento Pocho, en un sitio de bosque no disturbado y en tres sistemas productivos: desmonte selectivo con implantación de pasturas; desmonte total con agricultura bajo riego y desmonte total sobrepastoreado. En cada sitio se medirá “in situ” la emisión de CO2 y se tomaran muestras de suelo a las que se les determinará: a) contenido de materia orgánica total (MO), b) contenido de sustancias húmicas (SH), diferenciando ácidos húmicos (AH) y fúlvicos (AF), c) abundancia y actividad de microorganismos nitrificadores y d) propiedades químicas de los AH y AF. Se calcularán los siguientes índices de sustentabilidad a) materia orgánica biodisponible (MOB=MO–SH); b) índice de humificación (IH=SH/MO); c) tipo de humus (TH=AF/AH; d) índice de mineralización de C (IMC=CO2/MO); e) índice de nitrificación (IN=actividad/abundancia); y f) índice de estabilidad de las fracciones humificadas: compuestos aromáticos/ alifáticos. Los datos serán analizados estadísticamente mediante ANOVA y comparación de medias por LSD (P<0.05) y tests multivariados. We proposed analyze the effect of land use in Arid Chaco of Cordoba province, using sustainability indicators related to organic matter quality and nutrient release in soil, with the aim to formulate management criteria for the implementation of the Ley de Bosques (N° 26331) in Córdoba province. The study will be conducted in San Miguel village in Pocho department, in one undisturbed forest site and three productive systems: selective clearing with grass sowing; total clearing with irrigation agriculture and total clearing with overgrazed. In each site "in situ" CO2 emission will be measured and soil samples will be taken, in which the following parameters will be determined: a) total organic matter content (MO), b) humic substances content (SH), in humic acids (AH) and fulvic acids (AF), c) abundance and activity of nitrifier microorganisms and d) chemical properties of AH and AF. The sustainability indexes will be calculated: biodisponible organic matter (MOB=MO–SH); b) humification index (IH=SH/MO); c) humus type (TH=AF/AH; d) C mineralization index (IMC=CO2/MO); e) nitrifying index (IN=activity/abundance); and f) humic fractions stability index: aromatic/aliphatic compounds. The data will be statistically analyzed by ANOVA and the means will be compared by LSD (P<0.05) and multivariate tests.

Avaluació de l'aplicació de la biomassa produïda a la Vall d'Alinyà per la producció d'energia calorífica

L’estudi analitza detalladament les energies que s’utilitzen actualment a la població d’Alinyà (Lleida, Catalunya, Espanya). Les energies més utilitzades amb fins calorífics provenen d’energies fòssils (95,3%). Aquest tipus d’energia, des de un punt de vista econòmic, és inviable donat l’augment continuat dels preus d’aquest tipus de combustibles. A més a més el petroli ha arribat al peak oil. Tenint en compte la delicada situació que viuen actualment els combustibles fòssils, en particular el petroli, fa pensar que el futur està encaminat a produir energia a partir d’altres fonts. Una bona opció és començar a utilitzar biomassa com a font energètica. La zona d’estudi presenta un stock de biomassa 8,4 vegades superior a la que es necessitaria a Alinyà per produir calor i ACS a totes les llars. Per això, en aquest estudi, s’estimen possibles escenaris on es podria aplicar la biomassa que es produeix a la Vall d’Alinyà. S’estima que les calderes individuals serien l’escenari més viable, ja que tècnicament són eficients i s’adeqüen a les característiques de les llars d’aquesta població. Posteriorment, es realitza un estudi de les emissions de CO2 i s’observa que, si s’utilitzés biomassa com a font energètica a Alinyà ,es reduirien 11,3 vegades (91,11%) les emissions de CO2.