Carbon dioxide from earthworks: A bottom-up approach

Concerns over climate change mean engineers need to understand the greenhouse gas emissions associated with infrastructure projects. Standard coefficients are increasingly used to calculate the embodied emissions of construction materials, but these are not generally appropriate to inherently variable earthworks. This paper describes a new tool that takes a bottom-up approach to calculating carbon dioxide emissions from earthworks operations. In the case of bulk earthworks this is predominantly from the fuel used by machinery moving materials already on site. Typical earthworks solutions are explored along with the impact of using manufactured materials such as lime.

Atmospheric carbon dioxide and the climatic record

This paper is an attempt to provide a summary review of conclusions from previous studies on this subject. They have been organized under the following subject headings: Conceptualization of the greenhouse effect; The climatic effect of doubled carbon dioxide; Interpretation of the climatic record; Diagnosis of apparent and possible model deficiencies; The paleoclimatic record.

Decadal patterns in atmospheric carbon dioxide as indicators of changing growth and decay of terrestrial vegetation [abstract]

EXTRACT (SEE PDF FOR FULL ABSTRACT): Large-scale changes in the growth and decay of land plants can be deduced from trends in the concentration of atmospherics [sic] carbon dioxide, after removing signals in the recorded data caused by oceanic and industrial disturbances to the concentration.

Quantifying global terrestrial carbon influx and storage as stimulated by an increase in atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration

EXTRACT (SEE PDF FOR FULL ABSTRACT): Measurements of spatial and temporal distributions of carbon dioxide concentration and carbon-13/carbon-12 ratio in the atmosphere suggest a strong biospheric carbon sink in terrestrial ecosystems. Quantifying the sink, however, has become an enormous challenge for Earth system scientists because of great uncertainties associated with biological variation and environmental heterogeneity in the ecosystems. This paper presents an approach that uses two driving parameters to bound terrestrial carbon sequestration associated with an increase in carbon dioxide concentration.

Carbon dioxide from earthworks: a bottom-up approach.

Concerns over climate change mean engineers need to understand the greenhouse gas emissions associated with infrastructure projects. Standard coefficients are increasingly used to calculate the embodied emissions of construction materials, but these are not generally appropriate to inherently variable earthworks. This paper describes a new tool that takes a bottom-up approach to calculating carbon dioxide emissions from earthworks operations. In the case of bulk earthworks this is predominantly from the fuel used by machinery moving materials already on site. Typical earthworks solutions are explored along with the impact of using manufactured materials such as lime.

Methane and carbon dioxide fluxes from a shallow hypereutrophic subtropical Lake in China

Up to now, there have been few studies in the annual fluxes of greenhouse gases in lakes of subtropical regions. The fluxes of methane (CH4) and carbon dioxide (CO2) across air-water interface were measured in a shallow, hypereutrophic, subtropical Lake Donghu (China) over a year cycle, using a static chamber technique. During the year, Lake Donghu emitted CH4 and CO2; the average flux of CH4 and CO2 was 23.3 +/- 18.6 and 332.3 +/- 160.1 mg m(-2) d(-1), respectively. The fluxes of CH4 and CO2 showed strong seasonal dynamics: CH4 emission rate was highest in summer, remaining low in other seasons, whereas CO2 was adsorbed from the atmosphere in spring and summer, but exhibited a large emission in winter. Annual carbon (C) budget across air-water interface in Lake Donghu was estimated to be 7.52 +/- 4.07 x 10(8) g. CH4 emission was correlated positively with net primary production (NPP) and temperature, whereas CO2 flux correlated negatively with NPP and temperature; however, there were no significant relationships between the fluxes of CH4 and CO2 and dissolved organic carbon, a significant difference from boreal lakes, indicating that phytoplankton rather than allochthonous matter regulated C dynamics across air-water interface of subtropical lake enriched nutrient content. (c) 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Investigation of Interfacial Tensions for Carbon Dioxide Aqueous Solutions by Perturbed-Chain Statistical Associating Fluid Theory Combined with Density-Gradient Theory

The perturbed-chain statistical associating fluid theory and density-gradient theory are used to construct an equation of state (EOS) applicable for the phase behaviors of carbon dioxide aqueous solutions. With the molecular parameters and influence parameters respectively regressed from bulk properties and surface tensions of pure fluids as input, both the bulk and interfacial properties of carbon dioxide aqueous solutions are satisfactorily correlated by adjusting the binary interaction parameter (k(ij)). Our results show that the constructed EOS is able to describe the interfacial properties of carbon dioxide aqueous solutions in a wide temperature range, and illustrate the influences of temperature, pressure, and densities in each phase on the interfacial properties.

Replacement of methane from quartz sand-bearing hydrate with carbon dioxide-in-water emulsion

The replacement of CH4 from its hydrate in quartz sand with 90:10, 70:30, and 50:50 (W-CO2:W-H2O) carbon dioxide-in-water (C/W) emulsions and liquid CO2 has been performed in a cell with size of empty set 36 x 200 mm. The above emulsions were formed in a new emulsifier, in which the temperature and pressure were 285.2 K and 30 MPa, respectively, and the emulsions were stable for 7-12 h. The results of replacing showed that 13.1-27.1%, 14.1-25.5%, and 14.6-24.3% of CH4 had been displaced from its hydrate with the above emulsions after 24-96 It of replacement, corresponding to about 1.5 times the CH4 replaced with high-pressure liquid CO2. The results also showed that the replacement rate of CH4 with the above emulsions and liquid CO2 decreased from 0.543, 0.587, 0.608, and 0.348 1/h to 0.083, 0.077, 0.069, and 0.063 1/h with the replacement time increased from 24 to 96 h. It has been indicated by this study that the use of CO2 emulsions is advantageous compared to the use of liquid CO2 in replacing CH4 from its hydrate.

Determination of appropriate condition on replacing methane from hydrate with carbon dioxide

This paper is intended to determine the appropriate conditions for replacing CH4 from NGH with CO2. By analyzing the hydration equilibrium graphs and geotherms, the HSZs of NGH and CO2 hydrate, both in permafrost and under deep sea, were determined. Based on the above analysis and experimental results, it is found that to replace CH4 from NGH with gaseous CO2, the appropriate experimental condition should be in the area surrounded by four curves: the geotherm, (H-V)(CO2), (L-V)(CO2) and (H-V)(CH4), and to replace CH4 from NGH with liquid CO2, the condition should be in the area surrounded by three curves: (L-V)(CO2), (H-L)(CO2) and (H-V)CH4. For conditions in other areas, either CO2 can not form a hydrate or CH4 can release little from its hydrate, which are not desirable results.

Hydrate dissociation conditions for gas mixtures containing carbon dioxide, hydrogen, hydrogen sulfide, nitrogen, and hydrocarbons using SAFT

A new method, a molecular thermodynamic model based on statistical mechanics, is employed to predict the hydrate dissociation conditions for binary gas mixtures with carbon dioxide, hydrogen, hydrogen sulfide, nitrogen, and hydrocarbons in the presence of aqueous solutions. The statistical associating fluid theory (SAFT) equation of state is employed to characterize the vapor and liquid phases and the statistical model of van der Waals and Platteeuw for the hydrate phase. The predictions of the proposed model were found to be in satisfactory to excellent agreement with the experimental data.