MECE09015 Sustainable Energy: Principles & Processes 3

Workshop 2 (week 4): climate change

Aims of Week To prepare material that adds detail to the introduction to Climate Change given in
4 discussions: Lecture 3. Groups A, B, C and D will look at actual evidence for climate change:
A. weather indicators of climate change
B. observations of changes to the physical environment (excluding
weather)
C. observations of changes to the biological / living environment
D. economic indicators of climate change
Group E will look at the science that allows temperature records to be
reconstructed back c. 1M years.
Group F will look at the "greenhouse effect" itself and, specifically, the mechanism
linking the greenhouse gases to the climate
Group G will look at proposals to directly reduce solar irradiance by enhancing
reflection from (eg) clouds, and consider pros and cons of such approaches.
Requirements You will select your topic on the WebCT sign-up sheet. Individually research data
for sources for information on your allocated topic;
preparation (1) note the important results of your research (i.e. facts and figures; key
before the explanations / context) in the space below, plus details of the sources used
Week 4 class: (2) submit the energy flow diagram and this completed proforma in the WebCT
drop-box before 0900 on Friday.
In this box, give the important results of the research you have done.
The Greenhouse effect is the natural result of having sunlight coming into the atmosphere and
making it hotter by having the radiation, of the sunlight, absorbed and reflected from certain
elements in the atmosphere called Greenhouse gases (i.e. Carbon Dioxide, Methene etc.)
resulting in an increase in temperature. This effect actually make’s this world habitable as the
temperature increase that the Greenhouse Effect gives is about 33 °C that means that
without it the world we would live in would be much, much colder, in fact if the average
surface temperature is 14 °C then without the greenhouse effect we would have a surface
temperature of -19°C.

Greenhouse effect is a natural process, so why does that bother us that much? A global temperature
rise can be extended to thousands of problems but in a few words it will result in
destabilization of our natural environment. And here is where humans come in the play, the
problem with Greenhouse effect is that the more Greenhouse gases we have in the
atmosphere the higher amount of radiation we are going to have reflected back to Earth’s
atmosphere and Greenhouse gases is what humans produce every day in various ways.

Transport, factories and power stations have the biggest contribution in the Greenhouse gases
resulting in more than 50% of global GHG emissions with China (17%) and United States
(16%) being the top emitters.

The problem results in the increasing condensation of the greenhouse gases in our atmosphere.
Activities such as burning fossil fuels and deforestation result in higher CO2 emissions that
account for a third of the CO2 produced by humans. Manure management, pipeline losses
and other vented septic systems result in higher amounts of methane in our atmosphere.
Research has shown that in the past century Carbon Dioxide in our atmosphere has
increased from 280parts per million to 380ppm whereas before that the CO2 levels stayed at
about 260ppm and 280ppm for tens of thousands years.

There is an average increase of 1ppm of CO2 per year over the past century, and if you take a closer
look on the statistics the past 40 years the mole fraction CO2 increase has an average of
1.5ppm and over the past decade it has increased even more. That is a sign that humans
through the industrial revolution and technological advancement have influenced Earth’s
atmosphere to a great extent as CO2 has increased in our atmosphere by 30%, methane
about 65% and Nitrous Oxide about 15% over the past century.

These ever-increasing emissions have to be limited in some way because the lifetime of the major
greenhouse gases is very big and this means that it will be accumulated as time goes by.
This may not reflect to us immediately but in the following centuries the temperature increase
will destabilize nature completely, resulting in catastrophic natural disasters.
MECE09015 Sustainable Energy: Principles & Processes 3
Details of information sources used - on next page
Details of information sources used
Include comments on the reliability of the source

http://edgar.jrc.ec.europa.eu/ Emission Database for Global Atmospheric Reseach

Excellent source for accurate emission data, gives an excellent example of this ever-increasing GHG
emissions. A very accurate and reliable source of data.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greenhouse_effect / Wikipedia

A wide variety of sources together with very explanatory graphs and images gives Wikipedia
nowadays the first choice for a “quick peek” on any subject. This may not be a reliable source as
literally anyone can add he’s own knowledge about the subject, but despite that fact you can learn a
few interesting facts and guide you to some reliable sources of information.

http://cdiac.ornl.gov/by_new/bysubjec.html#carbon/ Carbon Dioxide Information Analysis Center

A reliable and accurate source for data sets and analyses on the CO2 emissions together with
patterns and estimates about the emissions gives a good source for understanding how CO2 is
produced in everyday life and how these values will affect us.

http://cait.wri.org/figures.php/ World Resources Institute

Charts and Figures generated from the CAIT (Climate Analysis Indicators Tool) are a reliable way of
seeing some global facts about GHG emissions. This source contains some Energy-flow/Sankey
Charts that show clearly the origin cycle of greenhouse gases, the calculations may not be entirely
accurate and the data used is from the year 2000 but I believe it is a useful source.

ftp://ftp.cmdl.noaa.gov/ccg/co2/trends/co2_gr_mlo.txt/ National Oceanic and Atmospheric

Administration

A very reliable source for the CO2 mole fraction increase per year, this shows the trend that the CO2
emissions are taking for the past 40 years (since 1959) till today which clearly shows that the rise of
the CO2 ppm value is increasing averagely year by year.

Assessment 20% for focus on selected topic; avoidance of drift; clear editorial work to use
space well
40% for added value; gathering and organising information, especially that which
goes beyond lecture content / beyond “engineering common knowledge”
20% for range and quality of sources – have the key sources been identified? –
has effort been put into exploring less obvious sources?
20% for critiques of sources: is it clear whether you regard the source as
reliable, and why you have reached this conclusion / impression?

Discussion 10.30 Groups meet and agree on a short presentation to be presented to the full
schedule class
(MERE plus 11.30 Presentations to the class, each not more than ten minutes
visiting UGs) 12.30 Close

Discussion 12.00 Groups meet and agree on a short presentation to be presented to the
schedule EERE group
(EERE) - 13.00 Presentations to the class, each not more than ten minutes
Monday 13.20 Review of presentations made by MERE/VUG Friday groups
14.00 Close
MECE09015 Sustainable Energy: Principles & Processes 3
Name: Constantinos Zervos