greenhouse gas

Examples of greenhouse gas in the following topics:

• The Greenhouse Effect

  • The greenhouse effect is an elevation in surface temperatures due to atmospheric gases absorbing and re-radiating thermal energy.
  • Gases known as greenhouse gases, including water vapor, carbon dioxide, ozone, and methane, absorb and trap this heat as it tries to escape from the atmosphere.
  • The cloud layer can also absorb infrared radiation and contribute further to the greenhouse effect.
  • The greenhouse effect modulates the temperature at the Earth's surface and makes it hospitable to life.
  • Human activities have increased greenhouse gas concentrations n the atmosphere through the combustion of fossil fuels, release of methane from farms, industrial emissions, and deforestation.

• Environmental Problems Associated with Fossil Fuel Use

  • This warning of the climate system is unequivocal, and scientists are now more than 90% certain that it is primarily caused by increasing concentrations of greenhouse gases produced by human activities such as deforestation and the burning of fossil fuels.
  • The ranges of these estimates arise from the use of models with differing sensitivity to greenhouse gas concentrations.
  • Parties to the UNFCCC have adopted a range of policies designed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and to assist in adaptation to global warming.

• Energy Consumption

  • Global warming and climate change are generally accepted as being caused by anthropogenic (man-made) greenhouse gas emissions.
  • The majority of greenhouse gas emissions are due to burning fossil fuels, while some is due to deforestation.
  • Another measurement of greenhouse gas-related issues and other externality comparisons between energy sources can be found in the ExternE project by the Paul Scherrer Institute and the University of Stuttgart.
  • The cost of electricity production from gas would increase by 30% if external costs such as damage to the environment and to human health, from the airborne particulate matter, nitrogen oxides, chromium VI, and arsenic emissions produced by these sources, were taken into account.

• Volcanoes

  • They release lava, gas, and ash, acting as vents for magma chambers miles below the surface.
  • Carbon dioxide is a greenhouse gas, and sulfur dioxide, hydrogen chloride, and hydrogen fluoride are all components of acid rain.

• New Energy Sources

  • Carbon neutral and negative fuels can be stored and transported through existing natural gas pipelines.
  • Using the existing transportation infrastructure, thereby displacing fossil fuels, will reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
  • According to a 2011 projection by the International Energy Agency, solar power generators may produce most of the world's electricity within 50 years, dramatically reducing the emissions of greenhouse gases that harm the environment.

• Biodegradable Polymers

  • Placing such materials in a landfill results in a slower anaerobic decomposition, which produces methane, a greenhouse gas.

• The Hydrogen Economy

  • In the current hydrocarbon economy, transportation is fueled by petroleum, the use of which ultimately results in the release of carbon dioxide (a greenhouse gas) and many pollutants into the atmosphere.
  • This is a problem because at ambient conditions molecular hydrogen exists as a gas.
  • To be a suitable fuel, hydrogen gas must be either pressurized or liquified to provide enough energy.
  • Increasing the gas pressure will ultimately improve the energy density by volume, but this requires a greater amount of energy be expended to pressurize the gas.
  • These compounds can be transported relatively easily and then decomposed into hydrogen gas.

• Earth's Atmosphere

  • These minor components are the major contributors to phenomena like weather, the greenhouse effect, and global warming.
  • Carbon dioxide, water vapor, and other greenhouse gases are adept at stopping heat from leaving the atmosphere, causing the Earth to heat up.
  • Some greenhouse gases are beneficial—without them, Earth would be as cold as the moon—but the recent increase in carbon dioxide has upset the precise balance between too cold, too hot, and just right.
  • The next layer, the stratosphere, contains an ozone layer that results from the reaction of ionizing solar radiation with oxygen gas; this ozone layer is responsible for the absorption of UV light.

• Density Calculations

  • The Ideal Gas Equation in the form $PV=nRT$ is an excellent tool for understanding the relationship between the pressure, volume, amount, and temperature of an ideal gas in a defined environment that can be controlled for constant volume.
  • We know the Ideal Gas Equation in the form $PV=nRT$.
  • The term $\frac{m}{V}$ appears on the right-hand side of the above rearranged Ideal Gas Law.
  • This derivation of the Ideal Gas Equation allows us to characterize the relationship between the pressure, density, and temperature of the gas sample independent of the volume the gas occupies; it also allows us to determine the density of a gas sample given its pressure and temperature, or determine the molar mass of a gas sample given its density.
  • Atmospheric science offers one plausible real-life application of the density form of the ideal gas equation.

• Molar Mass of Gas

  • We can derive a form of the Ideal Gas Equation, PV=nRT, that incorporates the molar mass of the gas (M, $g*mol^{-1}$ ).
  • The molar mass of an ideal gas can be determined using yet another derivation of the Ideal Gas Law: $PV=nRT$.
  • We can plug this into the Ideal Gas Equation:
  • This derivation of the Ideal Gas Equation is useful in determining the molar mass of an unknown gas.
  • What is the molar mass of the gas?