Nelli Indrayani Slamet (11206165) Submitted to Prof.

Muto Koji (Energy & Resources Class) January 29, 2008

What We Could Do to Reduce Carbon Dioxide Emission

Introduction As all of us know, carbon dioxide (CO2) is one of trace gases in the atmosphere which acts as greenhouse gas and contributes to the global warming. In a certain concentration, it is very important to keep the earth temperature so that it is suitable for us to live on the earth. In contrary, if the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is too high; it will bring a lot of disaster to us through global warming. And now, we are facing global warming problem but the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is still increasing as it is showed in the picture. Considering the consequences of high concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, we must to do something to inhibit it from becoming higher and one of the ways we can do is by reducing the emissions of carbon dioxide. In this report I would like to suggest some ways we could do in order to reduce the CO2 emissions.

Source: NOAA/ESRL, http://www.esrl.noaa.gov/gmd/ccgg/trends/co2_data_mlo.html

Main part According to the source, carbon dioxide emission is categorized into two groups. The first one is the natural carbon dioxide emissions; it come from respiration activities of human, animals, and plants, it may also come from volcanic eruptions. The second one is human- related carbon dioxide emissions which mostly come from the combustion of fossil fuels as the result of our activities in fulfilling our needs. By considering it, in order to reduce carbon dioxide emissions; we have to start it from our lives. And, it must focus on energy conservation, especially those which come from fossil fuels and trying to use alternative energy as much as possible in fulfilling our primary needs. Furthermore, we also need to change our lifestyles which bring bad impact to the environment through

carbon dioxide emissions. The last thing, we should reduce carbon dioxide emissions by increasing the carbon sequestration. The first way to reduce CO2 emissions concerns with our first primary needs; food and water. In order to minimize the emissions, we can do it by consuming the local products, so that it will not need much energy for transportation during the distribution processes. We can also try to do organic gardening to supply some of our foods. Beside we can reduce the energy consumed for getting our foods; we may help in increasing the rate of carbon dioxide sequestration by planting fast growing plants. The second primary need is shelter which refers to residence. In residence, energy is mostly used for heating and cooling systems, water heating, lighting, and electronic appliances. CO2 emissions also come from this second primary need during its construction and the material used for the construction. So, in order to reduce the energy consumption for our residences, what we can do is: 1. Heating and cooling system. o We can set the temperature 1-2 degree higher during summer and 1-2 degree lower during winter; it also have to go along with the use of high efficiency heating and cooling system. So, the amount of electricity which is used to keep the temperature can be reduced. As the result, we can reduce the consumption of fossil fuels which is used to generate electricity and reduce the CO2 emissions.
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We can insulate our house properly to avoid heat loss; it can be done by sealing the entire gap between the wall and window, wall and door, door and floor, etc. so that we can avoid the air flow which bring cold air during winter. We can also change the glass for our windows from single glazing glasses to double glazing glasses to keep the temperature inside the house warm during winter and cool during summer, since it can avoid the inside temperature be disturbed by the outside temperature.

We also can adapt the design of our house to the climate and the location so that we can optimize the use of natural ventilation. For example, houses in the northern hemisphere, like in Japan are suggested to have their windows facing south so that they can have a lot of natural heat and also sun light and reduce the energy for heating system. It is also suggested to have shades upon the windows to avoid direct sun shine during summer, so that it can reduce the energy for cooling system too.

2. Water heating system; in order to reduce energy for water heater, we can use solar water heating system by connecting our boiler to the solar panel, so the use of the electricity can be minimized since we mostly use the solar energy to increase the water temperature.
3. Lighting; to reduce the electricity used for lighting, we can change our light

bulbs to low energy light bulbs and maximizing the use of natural light during the day time. We also must turn off the light when it is not necessary, for example the lights in the kitchen, toilet, and bathroom.
4. Electronic appliances; nowadays, most of the electronic appliances are rated

according to their energy efficiency. It is usually rated from A to G with A refer to the most efficient, so to reduce the energy consumption for our house we can choose electronic appliances with high energy efficiency. Other than that, we must plug off all the appliances properly when we do not use it and never leave it stand-by.
5. Construction of our homes. We could use natural material or alternative

material, such as, earth, woods, straw bales, hemps and limes, etc. from the local area as much as possible in order to reduce the energy for transportation during the delivery of those materials. Furthermore, the use of natural material can reduce the use of concrete, cement; which we know during the cement

production, it emits an enormous amount of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere. 6. To reduce the electricity demand which generated from fossil fuels, we could use photo voltaic to supply some of the energy from the sun. The other thing which we could do to reduce CO2 emissions is by changing our lifestyles. For example: 1. Transportation; rather than using private transportation, like private car, it will be better for us to commute by public transportation. If we still use private transportation, we have to choose the one which uses less energy and has low impact to the environment and we have to maintain it in good condition. While for short journey we can use bicycle or on foot so that there is no carbon dioxide emits to the air, except during the production process of the bicycle.
2. Apply 3R (Recycle, Reduce, and Reuse) in our lives, such as, reducing the

amount of papers we use, using our own shopping bag for shopping rather than using plastic bags, avoiding the use of disposable things, etc. 3. If it is possible we could separate biodegradable and un-degradable waste, and use the biodegradable waste for compost. Apart from reducing CO2 emmisions, what we should do is to increase carbon sequestration and people awareness about the need to reduce CO2 emissions and get them participate actively in doing so. For carbon sequestration, we could simply do gardening, especially fast growing plants at home and utilize the produced resources wisely to reduce CO2 concentration particularly through photosynthesis. However, since houses in Japan are relatively small with limited area for gardening, we could do garderning by using small flowerpots and put it around the terrace or balcony. Conclusion In order to reduce carbon dioxide emmisions, there are a lot of things we could do. One of it is by reducing the amount of energy we consumed since most of the energy come from fossil fuels combustion which releases carbon dioxide to the air. And we should start it from our daily lives, such as, reducing the energy for our home, foods, and transportation. At the same time, we also need to encourage carbon sequestration and increase people awareness. References EPA. Human-Related Sources and Sinks of Carbon Dioxide. Retrieved January 16, 2008 from http://www.epa.gov/climatechange/emissions/co2_human.html#industrial EPA. Natural Sources and Sinks of Carbon Dioxide. Retrieved January 16, 2008 from http://www.epa.gov/climatechange/emissions/co2_natural.html Dr. Pieter Tans, NOAA/ESRL. Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide - Mauna Loa. Retrieved January 16, 2008 from http://www.esrl.noaa.gov/gmd/ccgg/trends/co2_data_mlo.html