Celebrating new ways of reducing CO2 – the art of cutting carbon

Source: The post is based on the article “Celebrating new ways of reducing CO2 – the art of cutting carbon” published in BBC on 27th July 2022.

What is the News?

Scientists have been developing several new low-carbon technologies which could help cut CO2 emissions.

What are the alternative technologies developed to reduce carbon emissions?

Paper Industry: Paper Industry produces 0.9 billion tonnes of CO2 a year.

– Alternative method: Scientists have invented a magical gadget that sucks the ink off printer paper, so each sheet can be used 10 times over. The aim is to cut the amount of planet-heating carbon dioxide(CO2) emissions from the paper and pulp industry by reducing the demand for office paper.

Steel Industry: Globally, the steel industry emits almost three billion tonnes of CO2 gas a year – that’s roughly equal to all the annual CO2-producing activities in the entire Indian economy.

– Alternative method: A multinational steel manufacturer SSAB (Sweden) has developed the World’s first zero-carbon dioxide steel.

– In this method, steel is produced from the use of renewable power – such as from wind turbines or hydroelectricity – instead of coal. Due to this, instead of producing CO2 as a by-product, the reaction with hydrogen and iron produces only H2O (water).

Cement Industry: The cement industry produces 2.5 billion tonnes of CO2 a year.

– Alternative Method: A rail firm HS2 is building a viaduct in England made from a sandwich of cement and steel. This smart design allows less material to be used by harnessing the different physical properties of the cement and steel in a way that’s catching on fast. 

– This innovation cuts materials costs and halves the CO2 emissions that would have been seen in more traditional construction.

Plastic Industry: The plastic industry produces 1.8 billion tonnes of CO2 a year.

– Alternative method: in the Netherlands, a bio-chemical firm Avantium is claiming a world first – a plant-based plastic (derived from wheat and corn) to rival PET, (polyethylene terephthalate) which is used to make most drinks bottles.

– The new product is called PEF (polyethene furanoate) and is said to produce third fewer emissions than PET.