Radiocarbon Characterization study of Atmospheric PM2.5 in Beijing during the 2014 APEC Summit

Radiocarbon ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 61 (6) ◽  
pp. 1643-1652
Author(s):  
Yijun Pang ◽  
Bo Yu ◽  
Ming He ◽  
Shan Jiang ◽  
Qingzhang Zhao ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Source Apportionment ◽  
Fossil Fuels ◽  
Asia Pacific ◽  
Carbonaceous Particles ◽  
Fossil Carbon ◽  
Pollution Emission ◽  
Source Contributions ◽  
Characterization Study ◽  
Accelerator Mass Spectrometer ◽  
Emission Mode

ABSTRACTRadiocarbon (14C) has become a unique and powerful tracer in source apportionment of atmospheric carbonaceous particles. In this study, the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation summit (APEC) held in Beijing in 2014 was used as a demonstration to research the source apportionment of atmosphere PM2.5. We used a 200 kV single stage accelerator mass spectrometer recently completed at China Institute of Atomic Energy (CIAE). The PM2.5 samples related to above case were collected, and the characteristics of radiocarbon in organic carbon (OC) and elemental carbon (EC) in samples were analyzed using the AMS. The results show that the Before-APEC pollution emission mode is different from the During-APEC and After-APEC pollution emission modes. For Before-APEC, During-APEC and After-APEC, the average values of fossil carbon fraction of OC are 0.463, 0.431 and 0.615, respectively, and those of EC are 0.644, 0.561 and 0.687. The fossil source contributions of traffic activities using fossil fuels to OC and EC are 15.8 % and 21.9 %, respectively. The fossil source contributions of industrial activities to OC and EC are 38.0 % and 8.2 %, respectively. It is about 7–10 days that is needed to take to regenerate the PM2.5 pollution caused by human activities.

Mining the air: Political ecologies of the circular carbon economy

2021 ◽  
pp. 251484862110614
Author(s):  
Holly Jean Buck
Keyword(s):  
Fossil Fuels ◽  
Oil And Gas ◽  
New Technologies ◽  
Oil And Gas Industry ◽  
Carbon Utilization ◽  
Gas Industry ◽  
The Public ◽  
Fossil Carbon ◽  
Political Ecologies ◽  
Carbon Economy

Can fossil-based fuels become carbon neutral or carbon negative? The oil and gas industry is facing pressure to decarbonize, and new technologies are allowing companies and experts to imagine lower-carbon fossil fuels as part of a circular carbon economy. This paper draws on interviews with experts, ethnographic observations at carbontech and carbon management events, and interviews with members of the public along a suggested CO2 pipeline route from Iowa to Texas, to explore: What is driving the sociotechnical imaginary of circular fossil carbon among experts, and what are its prospects? How do people living in the landscapes that are expected to provide carbon utilization and removal services understand their desirability and workability? First, the paper examines a contradiction in views of carbon professionals: while experts understand the scale of infrastructure, energy, and capital required to build a circular carbon economy, they face constraints in advocating for policies commensurate with this scale, though they have developed strategies for managing this disconnect. Second, the paper describes views from the land in the central US, surfacing questions about the sustainability of new technologies, the prospect of carbon dioxide pipelines, and the way circular carbon industries could intersect trends of decline in small rural towns. Experts often fail to consider local priorities and expertise, and people in working landscapes may not see the priorities and plans of experts, constituting a “double unseeing.” Robust energy democracy involves not just resistance to dominant imaginaries of circular carbon, but articulation of alternatives. New forms of expert and community collaboration will be key to transcending this double unseeing and furthering energy democracy.

scholarly journals Source Contributions to Rural Carbonaceous Winter Aerosol in North-Eastern Poland

Atmosphere ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 263 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adam Kristensson ◽  
Stina Ausmeel ◽  
Julija Pauraite ◽  
Axel Eriksson ◽  
Erik Ahlberg ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Source Apportionment ◽  
Aerosol Particles ◽  
Road Transport ◽  
Carbonaceous Aerosol ◽  
Monitoring Site ◽  
Journal Articles ◽  
Wood Combustion ◽  
Combustion Source ◽  
Source Contributions ◽  
North Eastern

Concentrations of aerosol particles in Poland and their sources are rarely discussed in peer-reviewed journal articles despite serious air quality issues. A source apportionment of carbonaceous aerosol particles was performed during winter at a rural background environment field site in north-eastern Poland. Data were used of light absorption at seven wavelengths and levoglucosan concentrations along existing monitoring of PM2.5, organic carbon and elemental carbon (OC/EC) at the Diabła Góra EMEP monitoring site between January 17 and March 19 during the EMEP intensive winter campaign of 2018. Average PM2.5, OC, EC, equivalent black carbon (eBC) and levoglucosan concentrations and standard deviations amounted to 18.5 ± 9.3, 4.5 ± 2.5, 0.57 ± 0.28, 1.04 ± 0.62 and 0.134 ± 0.084 µg m−3 respectively. Various tools for source apportionment were used to obtain a source contribution to carbonaceous matter (CM) with three components. The wood combustion source component contributed 1.63 µg m−3 (21%), domestic coal combustion 3.3 µg m−3 (41%) and road transport exhaust 2.9 µg m−3 (38%). Similar levels and temporal variability were found for the nearby Lithuanian site of Preila, corroborating the Polish results.

ENVIRONMENTALLY SUSTAINABLE ENERGY FOR THE EAST ASIA/PACIFIC REGION: IMPLICATIONS AND OPPORTUNITIES FOR AUSTRALIAN OIL AND GAS EXPLORERS AND PRODUCERS

1997 ◽  
Vol 37 (1) ◽  
pp. 722
Author(s):  
N.G. Grollman
Keyword(s):  
Fossil Fuels ◽  
Oil And Gas ◽  
Renewable Energy Sources ◽  
Value Added ◽  
Petroleum Exploration ◽  
Asia Pacific ◽  
Power Generators ◽  
Environmentally Sustainable ◽  
Resource Limitations

The oil and gas reserves of Australia and the East Asian region fall well short of the region's long-term requirements, even for a scenario that phases out all fossil fuels by the end of the 21st century. There is, therefore, no contradiction between vigorous exploration for oil and gas and the process of transition to renewable energy sources. However, to be an independent player in environmental policy-making, the Australian petroleum exploration industry should focus on its particular role within the energy sector as a whole, whose nature will change radically over the next several decades. This role will combine concerns over long term oil supply security with, in particular, the objective of reducing greenhouse gas emissions from oil and gas consumption to levels commensurate with Australia's international obligations. The role extends to Australian involvement in the region as a whole through the accrual of emissions credits from projects implemented jointly with developing countries. It also envisages that Australian explorers, especially those focussed on gas, will form alliances with downstream companies, power generators, appliance manufacturers and energy marketers as links in an integrated chain of operations with value added and emissions reduced at each stage. This re-orientation should lead the industry to question the extent to which its interests correspond with those of the coal and mineral industries, which do not face the same resource limitations.

PIPELINES, POLITICS AND PROSPERITY: THE ROLE OF NATURAL GAS IN THE QUEST FOR SUSTAINABLE ENERGY

1998 ◽  
Vol 38 (1) ◽  
pp. 815
Author(s):  
N.G. Grollman
Keyword(s):  
Natural Gas ◽  
Fossil Fuels ◽  
Partial Solution ◽  
Asia Pacific ◽  
Turn Of The Millennium ◽  
Security Risks ◽  
True Value ◽  
Market Liberalisation ◽  
Export Industries

As the preferred 'growth fuel' at the turn of the millennium, natural gas carries a great weight of expectations. Globally, it offers a partial solution to the problem of greenhouse gas emissions as a substitute for other fossil fuels, while at the same time reducing the security risks attached to dependence on oil by providing greater diversity of energy supply. Regionally, it is envisaged as the 'clean' fuel that will render Asia's burgeoning cities more livable. In Australia, it lies at the heart of a process of energy market liberalisation aimed at improved economic efficiency and expansion of Australia's energy-intensive export industries. This process, however, has yet to internalise the true value of gas in regard to environment and security. Moreover, whether the prosperity promised to the East Asia/Pacific region as a whole by new pipelines and LNG plants will be environmentally and logistically sustainable is a political question linked to events outside the region. As gas infrastructure becomes more regional in concept, and energy markets converge and become more competitive, there is a risk that the security and environmental problems associated with the 'age of oil', far from being ameliorated, will be perpetuated.

scholarly journals Accuracy and precision of <sup>14</sup>C-based source apportionment of organic and elemental carbon in aerosols using the Swiss_4S protocol

2015 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 3933-3965 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. O. Mouteva ◽  
S. M. Fahrni ◽  
G. M. Santos ◽  
J. T. Randerson ◽  
Y. L. Zhang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Source Apportionment ◽  
Elemental Carbon ◽  
Small Sample ◽  
Mitigation Strategies ◽  
Pure Oxygen ◽  
Carbonaceous Aerosols ◽  
Carbon Fraction ◽  
Fossil Carbon ◽  
Vacuum Line ◽  
Set Up

Abstract. Aerosol source apportionment remains a critical challenge for understanding the transport and aging of aerosols, as well as for developing successful air pollution mitigation strategies. The contributions of fossil and non-fossil sources to organic carbon (OC) and elemental carbon (EC) in carbonaceous aerosols can be quantified by measuring the radiocarbon (14C) content of each carbon fraction. However, the use of 14C in studying OC and EC has been limited by technical challenges related to the physical separation of the two fractions and small sample sizes. There is no common procedure for OC/EC 14C analysis, and uncertainty studies have largely focused on the precision of yields. Here, we quantified the uncertainty in 14C measurement of aerosols associated with the isolation and analysis of each carbon fraction with the Swiss_4S thermal-optical analysis (TOA) protocol. We used an OC/EC analyzer (Sunset Laboratory Inc., OR, USA) coupled to vacuum line to separate the two components. Each fraction was thermally desorbed and converted to carbon dioxide (CO2) in pure oxygen (O2). On average 91% of the evolving CO2 was then cryogenically trapped on the vacuum line, reduced to filamentous graphite, and measured for its 14C content via accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS). To test the accuracy of our set-up, we quantified the total amount of extraneous carbon introduced during the TOA sample processing and graphitization as the sum of modern and fossil (14C-depleted) carbon introduced during the analysis of fossil reference materials (adipic acid for OC and coal for EC) and contemporary standards (oxalic acid for OC and rice char for EC) as a function of sample size. We further tested our methodology by analyzing five ambient airborne particulate matter (PM2.5) samples with a range of OC and EC concentrations and 14C contents in an interlaboratory comparison. The total modern and fossil carbon blanks of our set-up were 0.8 ± 0.4 and 0.67 ± 0.34 μg C, respectively, based on multiple measurements of ultra-small samples. The Swiss_4S protocol and the cryo-trapping contributed 0.37 ± 0.18 μg of modern carbon and 0.13 ± 0.07 μg of fossil carbon to the estimated blanks, with consistent estimates obtained for the two laboratories. There was no difference in the background correction between the OC and EC fractions. Our set-up allowed us to efficiently isolate and trap each carbon fraction with the Swiss_4S protocol and to perform 14C analysis of ultra-small OC and EC samples with high accuracy and low 14C blanks.

scholarly journals Evaluation of Soil 14C Data for Estimating Inert Organic Matter in the Rothc Model

Radiocarbon ◽  
2007 ◽  
Vol 49 (2) ◽  
pp. 1079-1091 ◽  
Author(s):  
Janet Rethemeyer ◽  
Pieter M Grootes ◽  
Sonja Brodowski ◽  
Bernard Ludwig
Keyword(s):  
Organic Matter ◽  
Organic Carbon ◽  
Soil Organic Carbon ◽  
Fossil Fuels ◽  
Crop Yields ◽  
Carbon Sources ◽  
Specific Marker ◽  
Fossil Carbon ◽  
Rothc Model ◽  
Similar Good

Changes in soil organic carbon stocks were simulated with the Rothamsted carbon (RothC) model. We evaluated the calculation of a major input variable, the amount of inert organic matter (IOM), using measurable data. Three different approaches for quantifying IOM were applied to soils with mainly recent organic matter and with carbon contribution from fossil fuels: 1) IOM estimation via total soil organic carbon (SOC); 2) through bulk soil radiocarbon and a mass balance; and 3) by quantifying the portion of black carbon via a specific marker. The results were highly variable in the soil containing lignite-derived carbon and ranged from 8% to 52% inert carbon of total SOC, while nearly similar amounts of 5% to 8% were determined in the soil with mainly recent organic matter. We simulated carbon dynamics in both soils using the 3 approaches for quantifying IOM in combination with carbon inputs derived from measured crop yields. In the soil with recent organic matter, all approaches gave a nearly similar good agreement between measured and modeled data, while in the soil with a fossil carbon admixture, only the 14C approach was successful in matching the measured data. Although 14C was useful for initializing RothC, care should be taken when interpreting SOC dynamics in soils containing carbon from fossil fuels, since these reflect the contribution from both natural and anthropogenic carbon sources.

scholarly journals Radiocarbon analysis in an Alpine ice core: record of anthropogenic and biogenic contributions to carbonaceous aerosols in the past (1650–1940)

2006 ◽  
Vol 6 (4) ◽  
pp. 5905-5931 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. M. Jenk ◽  
S. Szidat ◽  
M. Schwikowski ◽  
H. W. Gäggeler ◽  
S. Brütsch ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Fossil Fuels ◽  
Ice Core ◽  
Anthropogenic Sources ◽  
Carbonaceous Aerosols ◽  
Range Analysis ◽  
Carbonaceous Particles ◽  
The Past ◽  
Time Period ◽  
Ice Core Record

Abstract. Long-term concentration records of carbonaceous particles (CP) are of increasing interest in climate research due to their not yet completely understood effects on climate. Nevertheless, only poor data on their concentrations and sources in the past is available. We present a first long-term record of organic carbon (OC) and elemental carbon (EC) concentrations - the two main fractions of CP – along with the corresponding fraction of modern carbon (fM) derived from radiocarbon (14C) analysis. The combination of concentration measurements with 14C analysis of CP allows a distinction and quantification of natural, biogenic and anthropogenic fossil sources in the past. CP were extracted from an ice archive, with resulting carbon quantities in the microgram range. Analysis of 14C by accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) was therefore highly demanding. We analysed 33 samples of 0.4 to 1 kg ice from a 150.5 m long ice core retrieved at Fiescherhorn glacier in December 2002 (46°33'3.2" N, 08°04'0.4'' E; 3900 m a.s.l.). Samples were taken from below the firn/ice transition down to bedrock, covering the time period 1650–1940 and thus the transition from the pre-industrial to the industrial era. Before 1800, OC was of pure biogenic origin with a mean concentration of 21±2 μg kg−1}. In 1940, OC concentration was more than a factor of 3 higher than this biogenic background, almost half of it originating from anthropogenic sources, i.e. from combustion of fossil fuels. The biogenic EC concentration was nearly constant over the examined time period with 6±1 μg kg−1. In 1940, the additional anthropogenic input of atmospheric EC was about 50 μg kg−1.

scholarly journals Source apportionment of carbonaceous aerosols in Beijing with radiocarbon and organic tracers: insight into the differences between urban and rural sites

2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (10) ◽  
pp. 8273-8292
Author(s):  
Siqi Hou ◽  
Di Liu ◽  
Jingsha Xu ◽  
Tuan V. Vu ◽  
Xuefang Wu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Source Apportionment ◽  
Biomass Burning ◽  
Fine Particles ◽  
Water Soluble ◽  
Carbonaceous Aerosol ◽  
Balance Model ◽  
Gas Chromatography Mass Spectrometry ◽  
Urban Site ◽  
Carbonaceous Aerosols ◽  
Carbonaceous Particles

Abstract. Carbonaceous aerosol is a dominant component of fine particles in Beijing. However, it is challenging to apportion its sources. Here, we applied a newly developed method which combined radiocarbon (14C) with organic tracers to apportion the sources of fine carbonaceous particles at an urban (IAP) and a rural (PG) site of Beijing. PM2.5 filter samples (24 h) were collected at both sites from 10 November to 11 December 2016 and from 22 May to 24 June 2017. 14C was determined in 25 aerosol samples (13 at IAP and 12 at PG) representing low pollution to haze conditions. Biomass burning tracers (levoglucosan, mannosan, and galactosan) in the samples were also determined using gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC-MS). Higher contributions of fossil-derived OC (OCf) were found at the urban site. The OCf / OC ratio decreased in the summer samples (IAP: 67.8 ± 4.0 % in winter and 54.2 ± 11.7 % in summer; PG: 59.3 ± 5.7 % in winter and 50.0 ± 9.0 % in summer) due to less consumption of coal in the warm season. A novel extended Gelencsér (EG) method incorporating the 14C and organic tracer data was developed to estimate the fossil and non-fossil sources of primary and secondary OC (POC and SOC). It showed that fossil-derived POC was the largest contributor to OC (35.8 ± 10.5 % and 34.1 ± 8.7 % in wintertime for IAP and PG, 28.9 ± 7.4 % and 29.1 ± 9.4 % in summer), regardless of season. SOC contributed 50.0 ± 12.3 % and 47.2 ± 15.5 % at IAP and 42.0 ± 11.7 % and 43.0 ± 13.4 % at PG in the winter and summer sampling periods, respectively, within which the fossil-derived SOC was predominant and contributed more in winter. The non-fossil fractions of SOC increased in summer due to a larger biogenic component. Concentrations of biomass burning OC (OCbb) are resolved by the extended Gelencsér method, with average contributions (to total OC) of 10.6 ± 1.7 % and 10.4 ± 1.5 % in winter at IAP and PG and 6.5 ± 5.2 % and 17.9 ± 3.5 % in summer, respectively. Correlations of water-insoluble OC (WINSOC) and water-soluble OC (WSOC) with POC and SOC showed that although WINSOC was the major contributor to POC, a non-negligible fraction of WINSOC was found in SOC for both fossil and non-fossil sources, especially during winter. In summer, a greater proportion of WSOC from non-fossil sources was found in SOC. Comparisons of the source apportionment results with those obtained from a chemical mass balance model were generally good, except for the cooking aerosol.

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