Wednesday 13 November 2019

ENGR131: Transforming Ideas to Innovations I



ENGR131: Transforming Ideas to Innovations I
(Global Warming)
Project Deliverable I

Index
Name
ID
Major
Section
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(Course Professor)
Date: XXX
Fall 2019

Abstract
Climatic changes occur due to the abnormal behavior of the living beings and there are various reasons make the variations in climate. The depletion of natural resources is an alarm for the planet earth and weakness of ozone layer produces the skin diseases. Engineering approach to be used and applied for eradicating carbon dioxide and producing oxygen. Various techniques can be used for making favorable circumstances for the environment which includes manufacturing of hybrid vehicles, burning of biomass for securing carbon dioxide, avoidance of plastic material in the industries, solar panels etc. One of the biggest challenges is the requirement of huge investment which is required for the execution and deployment of corrective measures for reducing carbon dioxide.



Table of Contents






  1. Introduction

Climate is well-defined as set of pattern or state of every day’s meteorological condition formed over a time span of 30 years. In Kuwait, it is accessed and measured by the change in the patterns of winds, humidity, atmospheric pressure, temperature and other climate entities. The global rise in temperature causes variation in three systems out of which globe is composed of Physical system, Biological system and Human system. Environment is facing a severe threat caused due to the change of climate. Climate change causes threat to ecosystem, economic strength, water and food reserves. Due to high living standard, consumption of natural resources has been enhanced resulting misbalancing in the natural reserves. Majority of our natural resources come from fossil fuel and burning of fossil fuel becomes the major threat and reason of global warming. Extreme climate conditions across the globe caused by climatic change deplete the ozone layer triggering skin and respiratory problems. There are several factors which become the reason of the climatic change i.e. the exhaust of smoke emitting from vehicles and factories pollutes the air and causes respiratory issues and diminish the layer (ozone) which protects humans from health concern. Due to global warming, it is imperative to reduce the effect of carbon dioxide which can be designed by a process called as BECCS i.e. bioenergy with carbon capture and storage. The process has the involvement of burning of biomass for the purpose of catching energy and securing the emission of gases underground. There are some of the reservations regarding the feasibility of storing carbon dioxide underground but geologists are of the view that deep down the ground, natural carbon tend to behave positive for the environment.







2. Design Overview

    1. Definition of the Problem

Due to burning of natural resources which has caused its depletion from the natural world. There are certain causes which effect on the living beings. Global warming is one of the basic causes of the burning of resources that depletes the ozone layer resulting in to the emission of carbon dioxide gases. The main problem is the consistent production of the carbon dioxide gas that needs to be reserved and secured for protecting the living beings.
      1. Definition of the problem

The excess amount of carbon dioxide gases needs to be secured and brought down to the area which does not affect planet earth.
      1. Criteria

It has to be ensured that the identification and quantity of undesirable gases to be identified so that they can be identified and conserved for the betterment of the environment.
      1. Constraints

There are some of the limitations and constraints regarding the conservation of gases as it needs proper engineering approach to execute the task.
    1. Background Research

Change of climate causes global warming which negatively impacts the humanity and biological system. All of these negative effects sums up and enhance the destruction of species that reside in the planet earth. There are three levels of climate change impact which are described are as under:
  • The first one is change in the physical system of earth which is melting of glaciers, land sliding, sea / river flooding and terrestrial erosion.
  • The second level of climate change impact is the variation in the biological system. In marine and land ecosystem, it is observed and witnessed the demise of fauna and flora which is a huge environmental disaster.
  • The third level is the variation in the human system. The destruction of food and crops due to vigorous climate change causes loss of economy and wealth.
All of these disastrous situations caused on different levels by climatic change are interlinked and inter related to each other. For instance, burning of fossil fuel causes the land slides, wildfire is caused due to drought which badly impacts the crop and agriculture.
Below is the table that shows the various number of gases that exists in the atmosphere in Kuwait.
    1. Brainstorming about the possible Solution

      1. Brainstorming

There are some of the possible solutions that can help to reduce the emission of carbon dioxide. Planet earth is our dear place of livelihood and it is our responsibility to make it free from the negative units causing it severely. There are plenty of ways by which the earth can become healthy and it is the need of the hour to execute methodologies that would stop the negative behavior of climate change. Some of the processes by which the environmental pollution can be reduced and controlled are as follows:
Bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS)
This process revolves around putting down the carbon dioxide into the ground and replacing the earth’s atmosphere from ecofriendly gases.
Drive ecofriendly vehicle
People use vehicles as mode of transportation and the worst part is of the exhaust of carbon dioxide out of vehicles. It is really necessary to drive hybrid vehicles which are ecofriendly and fuel efficient. Use of electric cars is also really helpful in maintaining the health status of environment.
The number of registered vehicles in Kuwait is represented in the below graphs:
Use of solar, wind, thermal energy
It is significant to use natural sources of energy for the generation of electricity, gas etc. installation of solar panels at home will generate electricity and so as the use of wind mill can generate ample volume of electricity to operate water turbines. The use of natural sources will lessen the utilization of fossil fuels and will enhance the earth’s life.
Below it graphs that represents the Kuwait’s electricity production in the following years.
Use of paper bags instead of plastic
Plastic is cancer to environment and it is really mandatory to use paper bags as they don’t effect the marine life nor human. Paper bags are eco-friendly and can be easily recycled. The utilization of plastic in daily life has created ease in terms of carrying our objects but on the other side, due to its non-degradable nature it is a major threat to our environment. The use of plastic must be disregarded as it is a vital source of polluting environment.
Plantation of trees
Plantation of trees is important and very beneficial for the environment as it enhances the amount of oxygen and decreases the amount of carbon dioxide. It benefits the living beings throughout the annum
      1. Advantages and Inconvenient of each solution

Bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS)
Advantages: It stops carbon dioxide for going into atmosphere.
Disadvantages: It requires technical engineering approach for its execution.
Drive ecofriendly vehicle
Advantages: It impacts very positive on the ecosystem by producing environment-friendly behavior performance.
Disadvantages: The manufacturing cost of eco-friendly vehicles is really expensive.
Use of solar, wind, thermal energy
Advantages: It helps in utilizing the natural resources for producing electricity etc.
Disadvantages: The deployment of wind mills, solar energy panels, dams etc. required huge investment.
Use of paper bags instead of plastic
Advantages: It assists to reduce the water pollution.
Disadvantages: It would halt the businesses of industries who are producing poly vinyl chloride (PVC).
Plantation of trees
Advantages: It would enhance the amount oxygen in the environment.
Disadvantages: It needs heavy investment for planting trees around the region.

    1. Selection of the Best Three Solutions

The best three solutions are:
  • Bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS)
  • Ecofriendly vehicles (Hybrid)
  • Utilization of Wind Mills, Dams, Solar Panels
  1. Conclusion

In a nutshell, climate change is caused due to various reasons but there are certain factors by which the life of planet earth can be saved and enhanced. Public awareness is needed for saving the natural resources on a wider spectrum so that the species that exist in the earth can live hale and hearty. The release of dangerous gases from the industrial units weakens the ozone layer which directly implicates the growth of human health risk factors. So as the marine life gets disturbed due to water pollution and disturbs the ecosystem. It is obligatory to make constructive arrangements to make the planet earth healthier and stronger so that the species existing in it can live well. Carbon dioxide gases can be stopped by creating a duct and keeping underground for benefitting the living beings. For future work, practical executions will be made at the industrial level that would produce optimistic results for the society.

References

Abolhosseini, S., Heshmati, A., & Altmann, J. (2014, April). A Review of Renewable Energy Supply and Energy Efficiency Technologies. Retrieved January 4, 2017, from http://ftp.iza.org/dp8145.pdf
Cardinale, B. J., Duffy, J. E., Gonzalez, A., Hooper, D. U., Perrings, C., Venail, P., . . . Naeem, S. (2012). Corrigendum: Biodiversity loss and its impact on humanity. Nature,489(7415), 326-326. doi:10.1038/nature11373
Feely, R. A., Doney, S. C., Fabry, V. J., & Kleypas, J. K. (2011). Ocean Acidification: The Other CO2 Problem. Limnology and Oceanography e-Lectures. doi:10.4319/lol.2011.rfeely_sdoney.5
Höök, M., & Tang, X. (2013). Depletion of fossil fuels and anthropogenic climate change—A review. Energy Policy,52, 797-809. doi:10.1016/j.enpol.2012.10.046
Houghton, J. (2005). Global warming and climate change. Global Warming, 1-13. doi:10.1017/cbo9781139165044.004
McLamb, E. (2011). Impact of the Industrial Revolution. Ecology Global Network.
Tinker, P., Ingram, J. S., & Struwe, S. (1996). Effects of slash-and-burn agriculture and deforestation on climate change. Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment,58(1), 13-22. doi:10.1016/0167-8809(95)00651-6