Skip to main content

Carbon Sources & Sinks





By not distinguishing between a fact and an opinion, by dint of confusing orders of magnitude and time scales, I wanted to find the large masses of carbon production and carbon sinks and share them here.

We have included in the site under the "fact" tab the data we found in "the Project Drawdown - March 2020" and which states, by order of magnitude:

 

Carbon sources

1.     Electricity production             : 25%

2.     Cultivation & agriculture       : 24%

3.     Industry                                  : 21%

4.     Transportation                       : 14%

5.     Building                                  :  6%

6.     Rest                                        : 10%

 

Carbon sinks

1.     Land                                        : 24%

2.     The oceans                              : 17%

3.     The Atmosphere                     : 59%

 

What about taking another source: the book of Bill Gates, "How to avoid a climate disaster."

Sources

1.     Making things (cement, steel, plastic)            : 31%

2.     Plugging in (electricity )                                   : 27%

3.     Growing things (plants, animals)                    : 19%

4.     Getting around (planes, trucks, cargo, ships): 16%

5.     Keeping warm and cool (heating, cooling):  7%

 

We do see some discrepancies, but we also see some close similitudes.  In other words, it is close enough to get sources clearly in mind.

 

But what are we talking about?  

We are talking about the 51 billion tons of greenhouse gases the world adds to the atmosphere every year, which must be reduced to net zero.

 

A study published in the journal Nature Climate Change in early 2021 reveals that the world's forests capture nearly 8 billion net tons of CO2 equivalent (Gt CO2) each year, a small 16% of GHG emissions.  This figure is smaller than the one used by The Project Drawdown (24%). 

Is this a result of deforestation, which destroys our terrestrial carbon sinks?

 

Finally, what do these 8 billion tons represent compared to China's emissions?

Barely 80%.  In other words, all our forests are no longer capable of absorbing the amount of CO2 emitted annually by China, i.e., 10 billion tons. (10Gt).

 

 

 

 

 

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Hydrogen fuel cartridge .. let's power bikes ?

As "green" hydrogen production and storage has become an EU green deal central strategic axis, more and more innovative solutions emerge from academic and industrial players. Early this month, the Fraunhofer institute published an article presenting a prototype of what we can call "hydrogen power paste": hydrogen power paste (source : Fraunhofer institute) The principle behind is to create a magnesium hydride paste (whereas a high quantity of hydrogen is stored). When water is added to the mix, hydrogen gas is produced and can be used in a fuel cell to create electricity.  In the previously published article describing hydrogen fuel principles and applications, we mentioned that this H2 energy source was particularly suited for heavy transportation such as trains, trucks, or boats. This power paste concept is particularly interesting for light mobility or applications where there are no refill stations neither H2 storage tanks easily available. One can think of Hyd
3, 2, 1, ZERO Waste!!!   A company and a city in California, the perfect match to save the planet by making waste more valuable than ever.    Solena Group and Lancaster City are embarking on the production of greener-than-green hydrogen and will transform Lancaster City into the alternative energy capital of the world. The Lancaster plant will be ready to produce 11,000 kg per day. Working 24/7, 8,000 hours a year, the facility will be able to supply 3.8 million kg, the equivalent of 3,800 tons of green hydrogen per year.  This project will allow the Lancaster facility to become three times larger than any other green hydrogen supplier already in existence and with the advantage of using a method that will allow having clean hydrogen without going through methods that will increase the final price.   The primary material, which is waste, will be provided by the City of Lancaster. This project will allow the company to produce clean hydrogen from 40,000 tons of waste per year and will s