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COP26 reaches first world coal-burning agreement

2022-07-29 1:02 pm Leave a Comment

As early as the 18th century, the United Kingdom began to use coal in large quantities because of its industrialization. In the 19th century, Europe and the United States also joined. In the 20th century, more countries began to use coal, which greatly increased the carbon emissions of coal burning. In 1913, the carbon dioxide emissions were about 32.8 million tons. The United States accounted for nearly 40%. In the world at that time, coal was used as the main energy source in industry, power generation, and train power. With the development of oil and natural gas, other alternative energy sources have begun, and the proportion of renewable energy (wind, solar, etc.) has also increased in recent years. However, even with different energy sources, up to now, coal-fired carbon dioxide emissions still account for 40% of the total (grey area in the figure below), with an annual emission of 140 million tons.

Why does ‘coal’ need to be phased out?

About 40% of the world’s electricity is generated from coal. Coal-fired power plants have low cost and are more stable and safer than oil and natural gas. However, the sulfides and nitrides released by burning coal contribute to air pollution and generate a lot of energy. Greenhouse gases (methane and carbon dioxide), according to the US Energy Administration’s analysis of the country’s single power plant data,using coal, natural gas and oil to generate electricity, with natural gas providing the highest amount of electricity, followed by coal, and oil is the lowest, but if you compare the amount of carbon dioxide produced, coal-fired is the highest, with the same output of 1 kilowatt of electricity, coal-fired emissions are more than twice that of natural gas. This is why even coal is cheap, but if you add the cost of greenhouse gases, coal still be the energy raw material that needs to be phased out first.”

Is it difficult to reach a consensus on the coal agreement at the 2021 United Nations Climate Summit (COP26)?

The price of coal-fired power generation is low. Most countries will give priority to coal-fired power generation due to cost considerations in the early stage of development. However, with the gradual maturity of different energy generation technologies and the improvement of environmental awareness, they are more willing to use other options (natural gas, or other renewable energy such as solar and wind energy) when building new power plants. Looking at coal use around the world from the graph below, Asia (yellow blocks) and North America (light green blocks) are currently the top two in terms of usage. In recent years, coal use in North America has begun to decline due to policy changes including Canada and the United States, among other reasons. Asia is still increasing.

至今，有些國家仍仰賴煤炭發電，煤炭發電量前幾名：中國、印度、美國、日本、南韓、南非，如下圖。美國現在仍服役中的燃煤發電廠，大部分於1970、1980年代建造，皆達到使用年限，2022年，美國預計會將國內85%的燃煤發電廠關閉，包含位於俄亥俄州全美最大的燃煤發電廠，並會將太陽能發電提高至該國總供電量的一半。

So far, some countries still rely on coal power generation. Coal-fired power generation tops the list: China, India, the United States, Japan, South Korea, and South Africa, as shown in the figure below. Most of the coal-fired power plants still in service in the United States were built in the 1970s and 1980s and have reached their end of life. By 2022, the United States is expected to close 85% of its domestic coal-fired power plants, including the largest one in Ohio. And will increase solar power to half of the country’s total electricity supply.
In Asia, coal accounts for more than half of the fuel for electricity supply in China and India (as shown in the chart below). Compared with Europe and the United States, coal-fired power plants are relatively young and have a long service life, making it more difficult to operate in these regions. A deal to phase out coal is difficult to agree on at COP26.

Elsewhere, coal use in Africa is lower than in Asia and North America, but more than 90 percent of the region’s electricity is powered by coal, making a common deal difficult.

Currently, there are 8,500 coal-fired power plants in operation around the world, and there are still plans to build more in developing countries. Nearly 40% of the world’s electricity generation produces irreversible greenhouse gases. Therefore, in climate action, countries using alternative energy sources to generate electricity and gradually reducing/phasing out the use of coal will certainly effectively reduce carbon dioxide emissions. COP26, for the first time, reached a written agreement between countries to explicitly reduce the use of coal, which also highlights the importance of the coal-fired agreement at the meeting.

Written By:陳韋廷

References:

Climate Action for COP26

2022-07-26 12:59 pm Leave a Comment

At the United Nations Climate Summit (COP26) to be held in Glasgow in November 2021, reaching a consensus on national carbon reduction policies is the main goal of this meeting. However, energy policies, economic trade, and politics and other factors of each country will also affect each leaders’ commitment at the meeting. On the opening day, a number of speeches by representatives of island countries affected by the climate were arranged, and it was hoped that through these people who were actually affected, the participants could gain a deeper understanding. While the meeting focused on the following four main directions of the agreement, countries were willing to make tougher compromises on climate action.

The key directions of COP26

Mitigation

According to the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC) proposed by participating countries, they hope to reduce carbon emissions by 45% by 2030, in order to achieve the goal of the Paris Agreement – limiting temperature rise to 1.5ºC. Although the final coal agreement has changed from the phase-out to the gradual reduction, this is also the first time that countries have signed an agreement on coal. For more information, please refer to COP26 Reaching the First World Coal-burning Agreement.

Adaptation & Loss and Damage

By protecting and even restoring natural habitats and settlements, we provide financial assistance to countries severely affected by climate change, and develop adaptation policies for countries which are affected by climate change.

Finance

Fund allocation is the focus of this international conference. At COP15 meeting in 2009, developed countries pledged $100 billion a year to help developing countries to survive the transition period of energy transition by 2020. However, statistics in 2019 provide only $79.6 billion in climate funding, the chairman of the conference, Alok Sharma, invited Canada and Germany to commit to $100 billion in climate funding by 2023 and to increase climate funding year by year. These climate funds not only help countries which are severely affected by climate change, but also help developing countries become more willing to use clean energy, providing a major boost to the energy transition.

Collaboration

Carbon markets will find the solution if cooperation between countries or between governments and the private sector can achieve NDCs towards Net Zero.

During this COP26 meeting, Commonwealth Magazine, Delta Electronic Culture and Education Foundation, Taiwan Youth Climate Alliance and other units also conducted live on-site meetings and comments. In addition to national leaders and government decision makers, it is easier for us to understand what the Climate Summit is about, and let’s think about ways we can take an active part in climate action, starting with an awareness of net-zero policies and making environmental costs more ingrained in everyone’s minds.

How to do your best?
1. Pay attention to the development of Taiwanese companies joining RE100
RE100 is a global renewable energy initiative jointly launched by The Climate Group (TCG) and Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) in 2014, inviting global companies to publicly commit to the goal of using 100% renewable energy.
At present, more than 300 companies have joined the membership, and there are 13 members in the Taiwan headquarters. Through RE100, you can not only learn about the green power policies of Taiwanese or international companies, but also the renewable energy of member companies through the Taiwan Green Power Market Report. The main goal of the green electricity market, is to move towards 100% green electricity by 2050.
2. 2050 net zero emissions related policies

At present, Taiwan’s carbon control measures and low-carbon to net-zero strategy are mainly state-owned enterprises (Taipower, CPC, Sinosteel). Detailed relevant information can be found on the website of the Ministry of Economic Affairs. The Taiwanese government publishes a GHG emissions inventory report every three years.Actively track the current total greenhouse gas emissions are available, and also be available to keep an eye on whether the emissions have decreased.
3. Actively understand climate-related issues
The “”Taiwan Climate Change Estimation Information and Adaptation Knowledge Platform Project”” (TCCIP) established by the Ministry of Science and Technology not only provides climate data, but also many popular science news, and even provides the Chinese version of the final draft of the sixth assessment report on climate change on August 9, 2021 to the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).”

The discussion at this conference revolves around limiting temperature rise to 1.5ºC, but will it really work?

According to the NDC estimates proposed by various countries at the COP26 meeting at this stage, the world will still emit 41.9 billion tons of carbon dioxide in 2030, so the temperature will rise by about 2.4ºC (the blue column in the middle of the figure), which is 1.5ºC away from the target temperature and it still exceeded 15.3 billion tons. Therefore, NDCs are more likely to be revised to the right only if countries stick to their commitments, as COP26 President Alok Sharma said:
“Unless we honour the promises made, to turn the commitments in the Glasgow Climate Pact into action, they will wither on the vine”
Speaking at the Royal Institute of International Affairs (Chatham House) in January this year, Alok Sharma invited the world to continue to focus on climate issues and reiterated his call for public attention to the NDC and the importance of climate funding, and let’s watch together:

Finally, [COP27] will be held in Egypt from November 7th to 18th, 2022, so stay tuned with Azure Alliance!

Azure Allicance Team would like to thank the sponsorship of #E-ONE MOLI ENERGY CORP. to reduce the carbon emissions of Azure Fighter and clean the ocean with clean energy.
Written BY：陳韋廷
References：
COP26目標
 COP26：氣候變化、淨零排放目標和達到目標的七條路
 趙家緯／格拉斯哥氣候峰會紀事：COP26對台灣帶來什麼啟示？
From words to deeds: What next for climate action?
COP26: New global climate deal struck in Glasgow
Mr Sharma’s speech at Chatham House as we build on the success and commitments made in Glasgow

The World of Microplastics

2022-07-21 2:16 pm Leave a Comment

“Microplastics (MPs) generally refer to plastic fragments which smaller than 5 mm , and it can be divided into primary and secondary plastic particles according to the each source.

Primary microplastics:

A common source is from plastic pellets, which are usually produced in factories to make larger plastic products, or made into microbeads and added into cosmetics, toothpaste…etc.

Secondary plastic particles:

Plastic products are broken down into pieces by the forces of Nature such as the sun, wind, and waves. Synthetic fibers, nylon which are used in clothes, produce the tiny filaments after washing, this also in the same way as secondary plastic particles. The ocean, the biggest plastic soup, has become an endless source of secondary plastic particles.”

| The plastic didn’t disappear, but cracked into smaller pieces, invisible to the naked eye.

Plastic particles accumulate in plankton, pass through the food chain, and accumulate at higher concentrations in larger marine organisms.. The seafood, such as fish and filter-feeding shellfish, may eventually be eaten by humans and accumulated in the human body.© 2022 Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution.

One of the Japanese study in 2001 pointed out that plastic raw material particles not only damage the marine environment, but also absorb harmful chemicals. These toxic substances drift with ocean currents, are eaten by plankton, and then accumulate in larger sea creatures through the food chain. It harms marine organisms such as fish, oysters, and whales. Take it for granted, if these “plastic seafood” are eaten by humans, they will also affect human health.

In addition, in 2020 American pointed out that there are many plastic particles in the air, which will fall to the land with rainfall. According to statistics, 11% of these plastic rains come from the Ocean and 84% from the Land; more and more studies have confirmed that plastic particles come from the atmosphere to the deep sea, it is ubiquitous. The plastic particles which floating in the air will carry pollutants and be inhaled into the human body. Scientific research has shown that there are plastic particles in human lung tissue and blood.

| More and smaller nanoplastics

In 2015, a study propose assumption that plastic particles could be broken into smaller particles. The following year, there was evidence that, after a period of UV exposure, plastic particles would be decomposed into nano-scale particles that can only be seen by a microscope (Nanoplastics, <1 µm). These nanoplastics are smaller and more easily adsorbed on different molecules. In 2022, scientists also discover nanoplastics in the Antarctica and Arctic regions, and more research data is needed to prove the harm and stock of these smaller nanoplastics to the human body.

| Microplastics are everywhere

“In 2018, Turn the Tide on Plastic, representing UN Environment’s “”Clean Oceans”” science program, participated in the Volvo Ocean Race for an eight-month and collected data on microplastics. Concentrations of microplastics have increased near the coasts of large cities, with an estimated 24 trillion microplastics in the shallows water of the ocean.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has also made these ubiquitous plastic particles into a global database – the world of plastic particles.”

| Fight against plastic waste

“Many recent studies have standardized detection methods of microplastics, which can not only reveal these invisible microplastics, but also produce highly reliable and mutually comparable data to help government agencies develop better regulations.

In 2022, the California government adopted a policy on plastic particles, through coastal background checks and regular monitoring, establish relevant regulations and restrictions to reduce the flow of these plastic particles into the ocean, and to prevent more plastic pollution through environmental education.

Since 2018, Taiwan has expanded the control of shopping plastic bags. At the end of 2020, the second edition of the “”Taiwan Marine Debris Management Action Plan”” will be released. However, in the part of plastic particles, the regulations only control primary plastic particles, and there are no special provisions for secondary plastic particles. In the future, we will continue to track and report the control policy for plastic particles.”

#WRITTEN BY：陳韋廷

SOURCE：

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