The renewable energy sources like solar energy and wind power generate no carbon in the process of generating electricity. However the terminology low carbon also refers to the use of fuels which produce carbon dioxide during the process of power generation, but the ways used to lower the carbon emission in the air is also a viable attribute of low carbon technology. The electricity generation industry alone produces 39% carbon which is harmful for us. This emission can be lowered by using carbon capture and storage technologies. The technologies used to generate electricity with low carbon emissions under efficient climate policy are comparatively lower than the other sectors like transportation. The reason is that the improvements in car enegines and use of bio fuels alnong with fossil fuels have lowered the amount of gases released by vehicles. The car engines are more environments friendly. The power plants are large projects and require huge investment for deploying low carbon technologies. The use of low carbon technology now accounts for about 28% of entire power generation.
Carbon Capture and Storage
It is possible to capture and bury the carbon in non atmospheric resources can help cut down the 90% carbon emission from the cola power plants. The process of striping carbon dioxide leaves hydrogen in the generators. This technology can also be used to flush oil and gas residues form the oil fields. The captured carbon dioxide is of many uses, like this carbon dioxide can be sold to the industry which uses this carbon to extract more oil from the reservoirs. After the combustion of coal and gas, it is separated in process of power generation, and then it is left for dehydration and compression. This technology is helpful in separating carbon dioxide and use hydrogen for running power turbines afterwards.
Benefits of Low Carbon Technologies
The low carbon technologies like carbon capture and storage, natural gas and combined cycle gas turbines, hydroelectric power, wind power, solar power, nuclear power, geothermal power and tidal power are a great way to reduce the burden of carbon dioxide on atmosphere. It is emission of carbon which is held responsible for global warming. The presence of carbon dioxide in the air holds the heat in the atmosphere which results in high temperature. Thus the first benefit of using low carbon technologies id to prevent our planet form global warming. Low carbon fuel standard is a set of standards which is used to develop and plan alternative fuel sources. The low carbon standard promotes the reduction of life cycle emission of gases. It can also help to divert the attention of fuel suppliers to also make use of cheap and environment friendly fuels like ethanol. It also helps in reducing emissions from the refining process. The world wide awareness about using low carbon technologies has produced a whole new world of opportunities for investors. The worlds have realized that the use of alternative energy sources for producing electricity is soaring very high. This would not only provide us clean environment but would also help us to lower the burden of foreign oil form our economy.
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