Matching Items (9)
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- All Subjects: Climate Change
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- All Subjects: infrastructure
- Genre: Academic theses
- Creators: Allenby, Braden
- Creators: Lackner, Klaus
Description
The United Nation's Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) recognizes development as a priority for carbon dioxide (CO2) allocation, under its principle of "common but differentiated responsibilities". This was codified in the Kyoto Protocol, which exempt developing nations from binding emission reduction targets. Additionally, they could be the recipients of financed sustainable development projects in exchange for emission reduction credits that the developed nations could use to comply with emission targets. Due to ineffective results, post-Kyoto policy discussions indicate a transition towards mitigation commitments from major developed and developing emitters, likely supplemented by market-based mechanisms to reduce mitigation costs. Although the likelihood of achieving substantial emission reductions is increased by the new plan, there is a paucity of consideration to how an ethic of development might be advanced. Therefore, this research empirically investigates the role that CO2 plays in advancing human development (in terms of the Human Development Index or HDI) over the 1990 to 2010 time period. Based on empirical evidence, a theoretical CO2-development framework is established, which provides a basis for designing a novel policy proposal that integrates mitigation efforts with human development objectives. Empirical evidence confirms that CO2 and HDI are highly correlated, but that there are diminishing returns to HDI as per capita CO2 emissions increase. An examination of development pathways reveals that as nations develop, their trajectories generally become less coupled with CO2. Moreover, the developing countries with the greatest gains in HDI are also nations that have, or are in the process of moving toward, outward-oriented trade policies that involve increased domestic capabilities for product manufacture and export. With these findings in mind, future emission targets should reduce current emissions in developed nations and allow room for HDI growth in developing countries as well as in the least developed nations of the world. Emission trading should also be limited to nations with similar HDI levels to protect less-developed nations from unfair competition for capacity building resources. Lastly, developed countries should be incentivized to invest in joint production ventures within the LDCs to build capacity for self-reliant and sustainable development over the long-term.
ContributorsClark, Susan Spierre (Author) / Seager, Thomas P. (Thesis advisor) / Allenby, Braden (Committee member) / Klinsky, Sonja (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2013
Description
Carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) is one of the important mitigation options for climate change. Numerous technologies to capture carbon dioxide (CO2) are in development but currently, capture using amines is the predominant technology. When the flue gas reacts with amines (Monoethanaloamine) the CO2 is absorbed into the solution and forms an intermediate product which then releases CO2 at higher temperature. The high temperature necessary to strip CO2 is provided by steam extracted from the powerplant thus reducing the net output of the powerplant by 25% to 35%. The reduction in electricity output for the same input of coal increases the emissions factor of Nitrogen Oxides, Mercury, Particulate matter, Ammonia, Volatile organic compounds for the same unit of electricity produced. The thesis questions if this tradeoff between CO2 and other emissions is beneficial or not. Three different methodologies, Life Cycle Assessment, Valuation models and cost benefit analysis are used to identify if there is a net benefit to the society on implementation of CCS to a Pulverized coal powerplant. These methodologies include the benefits due to reduction of CO2 and the disbenefits due to the increase of other emissions. The life cycle assessment using ecoindicator'99 methodology shows the CCS is not beneficial under Hierarchical and Egalitarian perspective. The valuation model shows that the inclusion of the other emissions reduces the benefit associated with CCS. For a lower CO2 price the valuation model shows that CCS is detrimental to the environment. The cost benefit analysis shows that a CO2 price of at least $80/tCO2 is required for the cost benefit ratio to be 1. The methodology integrates Montecarlo simulation to characterize the uncertainties associated with the valuation models.
ContributorsSekar, Ashok (Author) / Williams, Eric (Thesis advisor) / Chester, Mikhail (Thesis advisor) / Allenby, Braden (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2012
Description
The cost of capturing carbon dioxide (CO2) from ambient air needs to be greatly reduced if it is to contribute significantly to mitigating climate change. Ion-exchange resin (IER) with quaternary ammonium cation binds CO2 when dry and releases it when wet without supplemental energy, making the process attractive for economical Direct Air Capture (DAC). In this study, a design case basis was developed for a system of collectors capable of capturing 1000 tons/day of CO2 via moisture swing sorption. The model uses varying weather parameters such as temperature, wind speed, and relative humidity to understand the impact of weather on the sorbent loading, cycle time (capture and regeneration), and net water loss. Two independent isotherm models, namely Flory Huggins and the modified Langmuir isotherm model were used to estimate the water and CO2 loading of the resin respectively as a function of relative humidity. The capture model suggests a higher capture rate during the summer and daytime (in a diurnal cycle) as the relative humidity is lower. A design optimization model was developed to minimize the capture time and maximize the sorbent loading. The crude rate production and the net water loss can help conduct an economic analysis to determine the cost of carbon capture.
ContributorsTalha, Mohammad Abu (Author) / Green, Matthew (Thesis advisor) / Lackner, Klaus (Committee member) / Cirucci, John (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2023
Description
Climate change poses a serious challenge humankind. Society’s reliance on fossil fuels raises atmospheric CO2 concentrations causing global warming. Already, the planet has warmed by 1.1 °C making it nearly impossible to heed the advice of the IPCC (2022) and prevent warming in excess of 1.5 °C by 2050. Even the current excess of CO2 in the atmosphere poses significant risks. Direct air capture (DAC) of CO2 offers one of the most scalable options to the drawdown of carbon. DAC can collect CO2 that is already diluted into the atmosphere for disposal or utilization. Central to most DAC are sorbents, i.e., materials that bind and release CO2 in a capture and release cycle. There are sorbents that cycle through a temperature swing. Others use a moisture swing, or a pressure swing or combinations of all of them. Since DAC is still a nascent technology, advancement of sorbents is an important part of DAC development. There is a nearly infinite combination of possible sorbents and form factors of sorbents that can be deployed in many different variations of DAC. Our goal is to develop a methodology for characterizing sorbents to facilitate rational choices among different options. Good sorbent characteristics include high capacity, fast sorption and desorption kinetics, low energy need for unloading, and longevity. This work presents the development of a systematic approach to evaluate sorbents from the milligram to tonne scale focusing on the important characteristics mentioned above. The work identified a good temperature swing sorbent whose characterization moved from the mg to kg scale without loss in performance. This work represents a first step in systematizing sorbent characterization for rational sorbent development programs.
ContributorsStangherlin Barbosa, Thiago (Author) / Lackner, Klaus (Thesis advisor) / Cirucci, John (Committee member) / Dirks, Gary (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2022
Description
Infrastructure managers are continually challenged to reorient their organizations to mitigate disturbances. Disturbances to infrastructure constantly intensify, and the world and its intricate systems are becoming more connected and complex. This complexity often leads to disturbances and cascading failures. Some of these events unfold in extreme ways previously unimagined (i.e., Black Swan events). Infrastructure managers currently seek pathways through this complexity. To this end, reimagined – multifaceted – definitions of resilience must inform future decisions. Moreover, the hazardous environment of the Anthropocene demands flexibility and dynamic reprioritization of infrastructure and resources during disturbances. In this dissertation, the introduction will briefly explain foundational concepts, frameworks, and models that will inform the rest of this work. Chapter 2 investigates the concept of dynamic criticality: the skill to reprioritize amidst disturbances, repeating this process with each new disturbance. There is a dearth of insight requisite skillsets for infrastructure organizations to attain dynamic criticality. Therefore, this dissertation searches other industries and finds goals, structures, sensemaking, and strategic best practices to propose a contextualized framework for infrastructure. Chapters 3 and 4 seek insight into modeling infrastructure interdependencies and cascading failure to elucidate extreme outcomes such as Black Swans. Chapter 3 explores this concept through a theoretical analysis considering the use of realistic but fictional (i.e., synthetic) models to simulate interdependent behavior and cascading failures. This chapter also discusses potential uses of synthetic networks for infrastructure resilience research and barriers to future success. Chapter 4 tests the preceding theoretical analysis with an empirical study. Chapter 4 builds realistic networks with dependency between power and water models and simulates cascading failure. The discussion considers the future application of similar modeling efforts and how these techniques can help infrastructure managers scan the horizon for Black Swans. Finally, Chapter 5 concludes the dissertation with a synthesis of the findings from the previous chapters, discusses the boundaries and limitations, and proposes inspirations for future work.
ContributorsHoff, Ryan Michael (Author) / Chester, Mikhail V (Thesis advisor) / Allenby, Braden (Committee member) / Johnson, Nathan (Committee member) / McPhearson, Timon (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2023
Description
Infrastructure are increasingly being recognized as too rigid to quickly adapt to a changing climate and a non-stationary future. This rigidness poses risks to and impacts on infrastructure service delivery and public welfare. Adaptivity in infrastructure is critical for managing uncertainties to continue providing services, yet little is known about how infrastructure can be made more agile and flexible towards improved adaptive capacity. A literature review identified approximately fifty examples of novel infrastructure and technologies which support adaptivity through one or more of ten theoretical competencies of adaptive infrastructure. From these examples emerged several infrastructure forms and possible strategies for adaptivity, including smart technologies, combined centralized/decentralized organizational structures, and renewable electricity generation. With institutional and cultural support, such novel structures and systems have the potential to transform infrastructure provision and management.
ContributorsGilrein, Erica (Author) / Chester, Mikhail (Thesis advisor) / Garcia, Margaret (Committee member) / Allenby, Braden (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2018
Description
This thesis examines the use of the moisture swing resin materials employed at the Center for Negative Carbon Emissions (CNCE) in order to provide carbon dioxide from ambient air to photobioreactors containing extremophile cyanobacteria cultured at the Arizona Center for Algae Technology and Innovation (AzCATI). For this purpose, a carbon dioxide feeding device was designed, built, and tested. The results indicate how much resin should be used with a given volume of algae medium: approximately 500 grams of resin can feed 1% CO2 at about three liters per minute to a ten liter medium of the Galdieria sulphuraria 5587.1 strain for one hour (equivalent to about 0.1 grams of carbon dioxide per hour per seven grams of algae). Using the resin device, the algae grew within their normal growth range: 0.096 grams of ash-free dry weight per liter over a six hour period. Future applications in which the resin-to-algae process can be utilized are discussed.
ContributorsBeaubien, Courtney (Author) / Lackner, Klaus (Thesis advisor) / Lammers, Peter (Committee member) / Atkins, Steve (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2016
Description
Increasing concentrations of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere will inevitably lead to long-term changes in climate that can have serious consequences. Controlling anthropogenic emission of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, however, represents a significant technological challenge. Various chemical approaches have been suggested, perhaps the most promising of these is based on electrochemical trapping of carbon dioxide using pyridine and derivatives. Optimization of this process requires a detailed understanding of the mechanisms of the reactions of reduced pyridines with carbon dioxide, which are not currently well known. This thesis describes a detailed mechanistic study of the nucleophilic and Bronsted basic properties of the radical anion of bipyridine as a model pyridine derivative, formed by one-electron reduction, with particular emphasis on the reactions with carbon dioxide. A time-resolved spectroscopic method was used to characterize the key intermediates and determine the kinetics of the reactions of the radical anion and its protonated radical form. Using a pulsed nanosecond laser, the bipyridine radical anion could be generated in-situ in less than 100 ns, which allows fast reactions to be monitored in real time. The bipyridine radical anion was found to be a very powerful one-electron donor, Bronsted base and nucleophile. It reacts by addition to the C=O bonds of ketones with a bimolecular rate constant around 1* 107 M-1 s-1. These are among the fastest nucleophilic additions that have been reported in literature. Temperature dependence studies demonstrate very low activation energies and large Arrhenius pre-exponential parameters, consistent with very high reactivity. The kinetics of E2 elimination, where the radical anion acts as a base, and SN2 substitution, where the radical anion acts as a nucleophile, are also characterized by large bimolecular rate constants in the range ca. 106 - 107 M-1 s-1. The pKa of the bipyridine radical anion was measured using a kinetic method and analysis of the data using a Marcus theory model for proton transfer. The bipyridine radical anion is found to have a pKa of 40±5 in DMSO. The reorganization energy for the proton transfer reaction was found to be 70±5 kJ/mol. The bipyridine radical anion was found to react very rapidly with carbon dioxide, with a bimolecular rate constant of 1* 108 M-1 s-1 and a small activation energy, whereas the protonated radical reacted with carbon dioxide with a rate constant that was too small to measure. The kinetic and thermodynamic data obtained in this work can be used to understand the mechanisms of the reactions of pyridines with carbon dioxide under reducing conditions.
ContributorsRanjan, Rajeev (Author) / Gould, Ian R (Thesis advisor) / Buttry, Daniel A (Thesis advisor) / Yarger, Jeff (Committee member) / Seo, Dong-Kyun (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2015
Description
In this study, the stereolithography (SLA) 3D printing method is used to manufacture honeycomb-shaped flat sorbents that can capture CO2 from the air. The 3D-printed sorbents were synthesized using polyvinyl alcohol (PVA), propylene glycol, photopolymer resin, and an ion exchange resin (IER). The one-factor-at-a-time (OFAT) design-of-experiment approach was employed to determine the best combination ratio of materials to achieve high moisture swing and a good turnout of printed sorbents. The maximum load limit of the liquid photopolymer resin to enable printability of sorbents was found to be 44%. A series of moisture swing experiments was conducted to investigate the adsorption and desorption performance of the 3D-printed sorbents and compare them with the performance of IER samples prepared by a conventional approach. Results from these experiments conducted indicate that the printed sorbents showed less CO2 adsorptive characteristics compared to the conventional IER sample. It is proposed for future research that a liquid photopolymer resin made up of an IER be synthesized in order to improve the CO2-capturing ability of manufactured sorbents.
ContributorsObeng-Ampomah, Terry (Author) / Phelan, Patrick (Thesis advisor) / Lackner, Klaus (Committee member) / Shuaib, Abdelrahman (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2020