User:Milton Beychok/Sandbox
Carbon dioxide emissions
| Energy Supply Sources | TW | MWh | % |
|---|---|---|---|
| Coal-based | 4.0 | 35×109 | 26.9 |
| Gas, oil, nuclear and other | 10.8 | 95×109 | 73.1 |
| Total supply sources | 14.8 | 130×109 | 100.0 |
| Electricity generation component of the total energy supply sources | |||
| Total electricity generation | 2.05 | 18×109 | 13.9 |
| Coal-fired power plants | 0.80 | 7×109 | 5.4 |
To better understand the discussion of carbon dioxide emissions from conventional coal-fired electricity generation plants, the adjacent table provides a perspective on the total global energy supply sources. In 2005, coal-based energy sources constituted 26.9% of the total energy supply sources. However, not all of that was from coal-fired electricity generation plants. Some was from industrial and other uses of coal.
As shown in the table, the total electricity generation (from gas, oil, coal, nuclear, biomass, hydro, wind, solar, geothermal and other power plants) amounted to 13.9% of the total energy supply sources and the coal-fired power plant portion of the electricity generation amounted to 5.4% of the total global energy supply sources.
The emissions from conventional coal-fired power plants include carbon dioxide (CO2) which is the major component of the combustion flue gases produced by burning coal.
Carbon dioxide is not a pollutant in the traditional sense and it is essential for all plant life on Earth through photosynthesis. However, carbon dioxide is a greenhouse gas considered to have a major role in global warming. It is the most abundant anthropogenic (human caused) greenhouse gas in the Earth's atmosphere.
In 2005, the total carbon dioxide emissions from all sources to the atmosphere were about 28 Gt (giga tonnes or giga metric tons) and approximately 41 percent those emissions were from coal-based energy supply sources.[4][5]
A study of the future of coal developed at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)[6] states that a 500 MW coal coal-fired power plant produces 3 million tons of carbon dioxide.
Carbon dioxide
According to a 2005 report from the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), coal-fired power plants produce more carbon dioxide per unit of electricity generated than any other type of power plant. Electricity generation is responsible for 41% of U.S. manmade carbon dioxide emissions.[7] Research has indicated that increased concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is correlated with a rise in mean global temperature, also known as global warming.[8] The International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) states that, to avoid climate change impacts, Annexe 1 (developed) countries must reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by between 25 and 40% by 2020. The technology for carbon capture and storage of emissions from coal fired power stations is not expected to be available on a economically viable commercial scale by 2020.Template:Fact
- ↑ International Energy Outlook 2008; Highlights (Energy Information Administration, U.S. DOE)
- ↑ International Energy Outlook 2008: Chapter 5 (Energy Information Administration, U.S. DOE)
- ↑ BP Statistical Review of World Energy, June 2006 (British Petroleum website)
- ↑ Energy-Related Carbon Dioxide Emissions: Chapter 7 (Energy Information Administration, U.S. DOE)
- ↑ Key World Energy Statistics: 2006 (International Energy Association website)
- ↑ Dr. James Katzer et al and MIT Coal Energy Study Advisory Committee (2007). The Future of Coal. Massachusetts Institute of Technology. ISBN 0-615-14092-0. The Future of Coal
- ↑ Human-Related Sources and Sinks of Carbon Dioxide 2005 figures
- ↑ Pacala, S. and Socolow, R. (2004-08-13), "Stabilization wedges: solving the climate problem for the next 50 years with current technologies", Science 305 (5686): 968–972, DOI:10.1126/science.1100103