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The findings are presented in units of global warming potential per unit of electrical energy generated by that source. The scale uses the global warming potential unit, the carbon dioxide equivalent (CO 2 e), and the unit of electrical energy, the kilowatt hour (kWh). The goal of such assessments is to cover the full life of the source, from ...
As a percentage of all anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions, carbon dioxide (CO 2) accounts for 72 percent (see Greenhouse gas), and has increased in concentration in the atmosphere from 315 parts per million (ppm) in 1958 to more than 375 ppm in 2005. [65] Emissions from energy make up more than 61.4 percent of all greenhouse gas emissions. [66]
The life-cycle greenhouse-gas emissions of solar farms are less than 50 gram (g) per kilowatt-hour (kWh), [99] [100] [101] but with battery storage could be up to 150 g/kWh. [102] In contrast, a combined cycle gas-fired power plant without carbon capture and storage emits around 500 g/kWh, and a coal-fired power plant about 1000 g/kWh. [103]
The emission intensity of coal varies with type and generator technology and exceeds 1200 g per kWh in some countries. [160] In 2013, the head of the UN climate agency advised that most of the world's coal reserves should be left in the ground to avoid catastrophic global warming. [161]
An emission intensity (also carbon intensity or C.I.) is the emission rate of a given pollutant relative to the intensity of a specific activity, or an industrial production process; for example grams of carbon dioxide released per megajoule of energy produced, or the ratio of greenhouse gas emissions produced to gross domestic product (GDP).
For gases, departure from 3 R per mole of atoms is generally due to two factors: (1) failure of the higher quantum-energy-spaced vibration modes in gas molecules to be excited at room temperature, and (2) loss of potential energy degree of freedom for small gas molecules, simply because most of their atoms are not bonded maximally in space to ...
In general lignite burning coal-fired power stations with subcritical boilers (in which bubbles form in contrast to the newer supercritical steam generator) emit the most. [1] [2] The Chinese national carbon trading scheme may follow the European Union Emission Trading Scheme in making such power stations uneconomic to run.
When coal is compared to solar photovoltaic generation, the latter could save 51,999 American lives per year if solar were to replace coal-based energy generation in the U.S. [33] [34] Due to the decline of jobs related to coal mining a study found that approximately one American suffers a premature death from coal pollution for every job ...