Carbon footprint – an environmental sustainability indicator of large scale CO2sequestration

Abstract

To slow down the degeneration of the planetary life support system atmospheric CO2concentration must be reduced. There are no insignificant CO2emissions since all CO2ends-up in a single atmosphere of finite size. To minimize anthropogenic CO2emissions and to bring its atmospheric concentration to 320 ppm, the world economies should replace fossil fuels with alternative energy sources and construct large facilities for reduction of atmospheric CO2. Environmental indicators (EIs) gauge the burden of goods and services on the environment. The carbon footprint (CF) is the EI of greenhouse gas emissions and is measured in terms of CO2equivalent. This chapter brings preliminary estimation of CFs for the following CO2reduction technologies: Photosynthetic or microalgae CO2sequestration (MCS), artificial photosynthesis (AP), ocean iron fertilization (OIF), oceanic CO2sequestration (OCS), and terrestrial CO2sequestration (TCS). OIF, OCS, and TCS should not be considered when constructing the large facilities for reduction of atmospheric CO2because each of these technologies could easily become a source of greenhouse gases. The large facilities for reduction of atmospheric CO2should rely on MCS and AP technologies and reforestation.