Carbon Cycle

Gas

Liquid

Solid

Biotic (Living)

Abiotic (non-living)

As time progressed (3bn yrs) bit by bit through photosynthesis primitive bacteria converted the CO2 they absorbed into oxygen allowing more complex organisms to develop

2bn yrs - CO2 dissolved in oceans and stored in sedimentary rocks

This then accelerated when land based ecosystems developed

Carbon Cycle balance existing now created 290mil years at the time of carboniferous tropical rainforest period. However since 1800 this has been impacted by man through

Deforestation

Burning fossil fuels

Concentrated on carbon stored in rocks and sediments

Organic matter buried on protected from decay and can take millions of years to turn into fossil fuels

Rather than reservoir turnovers such as sea floors there are more rapid rates which can take a few years to millenia. Carbon is sequestered in flows between the atmosphere, oceans, ocean sediment and on land in vegetation soil and freshwater

Erupting volcano

Burning fossil fuels,forests

Decomposition of plants

Photosynthesis

Respiration

Weathering and erosion

Rock cycle

Soil and organic carbon

Plants and food webs

Phytoplankton

Ocean surface

Deep ocean currents and sediments

Shellfish and coral

Sedimentary rocks

Coal oil and gas

Greatest store of Carbon 50 times greater than atmosphere

93% of all CO2 in undersea algae plants and coral remainder in a dissolved form so small changes in carbon cycling in the ocean can have significant impacts

Fluxes are exchanges or pathways

The CO2 exchange flux between oceans and atmosphere operate over several hundred years

Other significant fluxes are continental river run off for organic carbon as well as dissolved carbon

Biological pump

Carbonate Pump

Physical pump

These processes operate in oceans to circulate and store carbon

ORGANIC sequestration of CO2 to oceans via Phytoplankton

Basis of the food chain carbon passed up the chain by larger fish which in turn release CO2 to the water and atmosphere. Most is recycled in surface waters whilst 0.1% decomposes to sediment

Phytoplankton sequester over 2 Billion tonnes of CO2 annually

Relies on INORGANIC carbon sedimentation

When organisms die and sink many shells dissolve before reaching the ocean floor becoming part of the ocean currents. They eventually end up on the sea floor forming calcium carbonate (limestone) sediments

CO2 is mixed much slower in the oceans than in the atmosphere.

Colder water Absorbs more CO2 warmer waters release CO2

As major ocean currents such as the North Atlantic Drift (gulf stream) moves water from the tropics to the poles, the water cools and can absorb more CO2. High latitude Arctic oceans are deeper and cooler water sinks because it is a higher density taking the CO2 with it

Is vital to global ocean nutrient and CO2 cycles

It takes 1000yrs for water to travel round the system

Warm surface waters are depleted or nutrients and CO2 but it is replenished as they travel through the deep ocean layers and back again

This is the organic carbon Cycle on land and shortest in scale secs/yrs

Carbon trapped in autotrophs (producers) gets transferred to heterotrophs (consumers) as one organism Eats another

Easiest to show this using a food chain or web

Globally most productive biomes are tropical rainforest, savannahs and grassland accounting for over half of Net primary productivity

Storage is mainly in plants and soils followed by animals then bacteria. Largest stores are in trees due to long lifespans

Net amount of primary production after the costs of plant Respiration ate included

Largest organic stores on earth

Amazon covers 5.3sqkm

Sequesters 17% of all terrestrial carbon

Wetlands contain peat another important organic store

Many formed during holocene era and has been stored 1000s of years

With climate change and exploitation they are now becoming net carbon sources

Climate: dictates plant growth and Decomposition rates

Soil Type: Clay soils have better carbon content and protect from Decomposition

Management and use if soil: Since 1850 90bn tonnes if carbon lost by soil through cultivation and disturbance

It plays a key role regulating temperature which is turn impacts the hydrological cycle and therefore ecosystem development

Incoming radiation from the sun most of which is radiated back to Space. Some of this is absorbed by greenhouse gases and some is returned back to earth

Burning fossil fuels

Deforestation

Farming

Carbon is necessary for biosynthesis on land and in the sea

Whole world relies on photosynthesis which is balanced by the process of Respiration

Over geological time the amount of oxygen in the atmosphere increased CO2 released by Weathering of sedimentary rocks and water vapour

Soil health influenced by stored carbon important for ecosystem productivity

Before the industrial revolution the fluxes of exchange were balanced

However since then humans have massively increased the amount of Carbon in the atmosphere

Fossil fuels have added 375 Petagrams of Carbon

Deforestation 180 Petagrams

240PCG into atmosphere

155PCG into oceans

160PCG into terrestrial ecosystems

Energy availability

Affordability

Cultural Preferences

Domestic

Heating

Electricity

Transportation

Industry

Farming

Physical eg Exhaustion of supplies

Environmental eg Protests of destruction

Economic eg Sudden rise in cost

Geopolitical eg Instability

Measures energy security using Calculations based in degrees of risk from information of

Availability - Amount and longevity of supplies

Diversity - Range of energy sources

Intensity - Degree of Economic dependency on oil and gas

Extreme risk ESI value of less than 2.5 (N Africa, S Korea)

High risk ESI value 2.5 to 5 (Japan and USA)

Medium risk ESI value 5 to 7 (SE Asia Europe, Australasia)

Low risk ESI value more than 7.5 (Canada,Russia,Norway other exporters of oil and gas such as middle east)

Energy Pathways

Economic and political risks if supplies are disrupted

Greater exploration of technically difficult and environmentally sensitive areas

Price

Heavy importers of oil and gas

Countries with substantial reserves show levels of risk

Medium sized developed countries show medium risk due to diversity of energy sources

Low level risk in Africa due to low levels of consumption

USA has higher risk due to huge consumption which overshadows its reserves and range of sources

Extreme demand

Oil Crisis 1973

Energy Infrastructure

Terrorism and it's effects on supply

Sudden price changes

Instability of exporter

Future performance of global economy.

Emerging economies demand

Contribution of unconventional oil sources

Scale of population growth

Impact if rising living standards

Scale of switch to renewable

Size of undiscovered reserves

Discovery of new energy technologies

Business as Usual

Multi energy solution

Energy Conservation

Primary is raw materials such as coal, oil etc

Secondary is energy that can be used eg electricity, heat, kinetic etc

Foreign supply sources (USA gets from 70 different countries)

Pollution such as carbon dioxide and nitrogen oxides

Environmental degradation during extraction

Coal then Gas then Nuclear then renewables then other

Domestic gas and oil production peaked

Nuclear power plants are being decommissioned

Demand is rising

Large UK coal reserves are a pollution energy source

Increased reliance on imported gas raises risks if supply is disrupted

Organisation for Petroleum Exporting Countries put a 2000 increased tax on fuel effectively tripling it's price overnight

British companies no longer competitive in Europe

OPEC blockaded oil and so almost all ran out in the UK and in parts of America eg no one could get petrol

Energy use is strongly linked to global warming

Rising carbon footprints warrant switching to renewable resources

Developing alternate sources require investment in new technology

These cannot be afforded by all

2nd biggest electricity producer

Far less pollutants than oil/coal

Demand increase by 3.7% per yr

Production increased Russia and US biggest reserves in middle east

21% global energy Mix

Laid foundations for industrial Rev

Most of Europe exploited coal ad did the USA and Japan

Has gone into decline since 1950s due to its pollution

Still significant in Easter Europe

Easily accessible coal declined

Most deep coal contain impurities

Labour costs to High

Govt Policy (Thatcher) wound down coal industry in 80s and 90s

Middle East exports 15000 barrels per day mainly to Japan Eu and China

Substantial amounts flow from Africa Canada and S America to the USA

Russia supplies some oil to China but mainly Europe

Transported through pipelines such as Russia to Europe and they are creating another to supply China and Japan

Russia already hate Ukraine since 2004 when a Moscow enemy took power and also when they tried to join NATO

Russia cut gas supplies to Ukraine new years day only pumping enough for countries further down the line

They faced negotiations on the renewal of gas supplies but failed to agree on a price

Also claims Ukraine had stolen gas but they claimed to already have paid for it

Proposed pipeline suggested to avoid reliance on Russian gas

Cancelled due to infighting in Eu, costs and Russias power over the buyers

Oil Shale - Sedimentary rock containing oil

Shale Gas - sedimentary rock contains gas

Tar sand - Compound containing Bitumen sand and water

Alberta has huge Tar Sands est 174.5bn barrels

Huge deposits if Bitumen turned into oil using hugely damaging processes

They pollute rivers and convert Farmland into wasteland

Large areas of Boreal forest cut to make way for development

Offshore middle east 27 dollars

Offshore shelf 41 dollars

Heavy oil 47 dollars

Onshore Russia 50 dollars

Onshore rest of world 51 dollars

Deep water 52 dollars

Ultra deep water 56 dollars

Shale 65 dollars

Oil Sands 70 dollars

Arctic 75 dollars

Worst oik pollution for climate and environment 3 times more than regular oil

Leads to respiratory sickness,cancer

Huge areas of land destroyed

In order to extract 1 barrel oil requires 3 barrels of water

90% of this ends up as toxic waste

Heat used to extract giving a much larger carbon footprint

Large amounts of water used 4 barrels which becomes polluted

Shale has to be disposed of after oil is extracted

With the aid of China Brazils state oil company Petronas began drilling for deep water oil in 2006

880000 barrels a day

Drilling is difficult with flammable gases and rock salt layers meaning costs are high

At present only 13% of Brazils electricity is fossil fuels

Oil would help diversify energy Mix and create jobs and money from exports

However lower global oil prices put Petrobas 100bn in debt

Also high costs, corruption and job losses have caused social disharmony

Renewables and Recyclables

Solar

Wind

Hep

Ocean energy

Geothermal

Nuclear

Biofuels

Power plant accidents eg Chernobyl 1986, Fuchishima 2011

Waste storage and disposal

Rogue state or terrorist use if nuclear fuel for weapons

Cancer risk

USA uses 1/4 of world total 20% of their power

France gets 78% from nuclear

China and India want to increase their use of nuclear

China 91,324MW 2% overall power

USA 61,108MW 3.5% overall power

Spain 22,959MW 17.5% overall

Denmark 4772MW 30% overall

Sugar cane grown in Brazil used for Ethanol which most vehicles run on producing 930k barrels per day

1.34m direct jobs

16% domestic energy

Now more efficient isn't linked to deforestation and exports to USA and S Korea

Generated from moving eater using dams

Mostly generated in Canada Brazil China and US 44% global

15 territories don't use HEP

Dam across the river Severn which would have been the 2nd largest tidal range in the world

Could have provided the energy equivalent of 4 power stations

However it wasn't approved due to environmental concerns

Deserts - Massive solar energy

Coasts - HEP and Tidal energy

Geothermal - ring of fire

Mountainous - Hydropower

Subtropical regions - Large resource of bioenergy

Efficient deployment of Renewable resources requires removal of trade barriers between countries

It requires countries with an energy surplus to change ideology

The goal is the interconnection of regions with abundant resources to the nations with highest consumption

Hydrogen fuel cells

Electric vehicles

Carbon capture and storage

Nuclear Fusion

Could replace gas and petrol

Burnt to produce heat of used in fuel cells to presidency electricity

Only by product is water

More efficient than petrol

Hydrogen is not found in its pure form and has to be separated from water, natural gas etc

This requires large amounts of energy and GHGs

Hydrogen is an energy carrier and so needs to withstand impacts or can be dangerous / explodey

Short distance they can travel

Infrastructure needs to develop in terms of charging points

Post combustion

Pre combustion

Oxyfuel

Capturing and burying CO2 to stop it getting into the atmosphere

Schwarze pump in Germany

Once it is captured it needs to be liquefied transported and buried in underground sites or used oil fields. Can also be used by pumping CO2 into an active oil field to force out difficult to extract oil

Recognised uncertain availability of the tech but does see it as important limiting climate change

Power generation without Ccs must be phased out by 2100

However it could extend the use of fossil fuels and leakage is also a concern as it could impact human health

Where 2 atomic nuclei combine making a larger one and releasing a lot of energy

Clean with no GHGs can use common elements

Long way from reality

Also hugely expensive research alone cost China Germany and others 1.6bn

Manipulation of matter on an atomic or molecular scale

May help with solar fuels using sunlight on simple substances for artificial photosynthesis

An example of this is splitting water to make hydrogen

Russia heavily involved in the development of nanomachines

Solar energy cookers

Solar water heating

Solar water purification

Micro HEP schemes

Droughts and floods affect amazon

Since 1912 Droughts every 10 years

Mega drought in 2005

70 million hectares of land affected

Half the area affected struggled to recover for several years worsening drought in 2010

During drought trees absorb less co2

Photosynthesis reduced

CO2 also increased due to first fires and Decomposition

Potentially the Amazon may not act as a carbon sink in the future

Predicts similar events to 2005

Based on Sea temperature increase

Enso and blocking anticyclones add to the uncertainty

The 14/15 drought caused by one in SE Brazil

Expansion of agricultural land

Infrastructure developments

Mining and forest fire

Illegal Logging

Model about where countries are in terms of environmental degradation

For example Brazil are worsening the environment

China have reached a turning point towards sustainability

UK are further along this path

Costa Rica are already sustainable with their environmental degradation

Less interception so ground is saturated faster and surface run off is increased

Leads to speeding up of the water Cycle

Increase in both flood and drought events

Spray seawater in the ocean creating white clouds that reflect sunlight

Add sulphur particles to atmosphere reflecting suns energy

Trillions of wafer thin disks in orbit reducing sun's energy

May cause weather changes. Albedo effect isn't fully understood

May impact on Ozone layer and increase acid rain

Very expensive 5trn unpredictable as whole atmosphere heat budget would be changed

Carbon taxation

Renewable switching

Energy Efficency in supply

Afforestation

Carbon capture and storage

Congestion tolls

Vehicle tax

Less tax on energy Efficent cars (no tax on cars producing less than 100g/km of CO2

Tax on fuel - accounting for half the cost of the petrol

Carbon taxes on business to encourage energy efficiency

Taxes of waste

Taxes on fertilisers containing nitrogen

Tax relief on certain building techniques and use

UK aims to be 15% renewable by 2020

Windturbines

Biomass heat and electricity

Renewable transport

Other countries have been utilising these energy sources for longer as a main source the UK has been reliant on coal and other sources

Pays forest owners to not cut trees down to reduce emissions from deforestation and forest degradation

Tanzania 3500ah of Pine and fruit trees planted on degrading grassland. This alone will remove around 166000 tonnes of CO2 per year

195 countries agreed to try to reduce emissions to almost 0 by 2065

Richer nations pledged 100mil by 2020 to help poorer countries adapt and switch to renewables

The aim is to reduce temps to 1.5 degrees above Pre industrial levels

Little to force countries to meet the targets and so progress may slow

Pressure from within will increase as air pollution and coastal flooding risk grows

Many feel the goal is unrealistic

Estimated cost 16.5trn by 2030

Renewables - Good alternative whilst still creating energy

Afforestation - could take too long

Carbon tax - some countries just won't do it

CCS - Directly done or stopped by renewables and Afforestation

Energy Efficency - still using the same damaging energy sources