Sky-High Sustainability: NYC Skyscrapers’ Carbon Capture Solutions
Home to nearly 8.5 million people, New York City is striving to slow down global climate change by creating laws that target one of the main greenhouse gas (GHG) polluters in the city: buildings.
This is all part of Mayor Bill de Blasio’s vision to make NYC one of the most sustainable cities in the world. As the name suggests, the 80x50 plan is committed to reducing GHG emissions by 80% by 2050 through energy, buildings, transportation, and waste. This plan supports the goals aligned with the Paris Agreement to limit a global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius.
What are Greenhouse Gases
GHGs such as water vapor, carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, and ozone are in the atmosphere and trap solar energy to maintain a suitable temperature for life on Earth. However, human activities have significantly accelerated the release of GHGs, leading to an excess of carbon dioxide, higher levels of trapped heat, and ultimately a rise in global temperatures.
Carbon dioxide is the main offender when it comes to contributing to global climate change, accounting for over 75% of all GHGs. Fossil fuels, such as coal, natural gas, and oil are burned to generate electricity and heat, but at the cost of releasing nearly 90% of all carbon dioxide emissions.
NYC’s Greenhouse Gas Problem
The GHG problem must be treated with urgency as atmospheric carbon dioxide is at the highest ever recorded levels and is largely due to human activity.
NYC recognizes that buildings, transportations, and waste were the main activities contributing to the release of GHGs. Of these, buildings by far are largely responsible for the majority of GHG emissions. According to a 2021 report by The Inventory of New York City Greenhouse Gas Emissions, NYC buildings were responsible for over two-thirds of the city’s greenhouse gas emissions and emit higher levels of carbon dioxide than buildings in any other U.S. state.
The Climate Mobilization Act was passed in 2019 and has changed the way NYC uses GHGs. As one of the most ambitious sustainability laws in the nation, Local Law 97, requires buildings larger than 25,000 square feet to meet low GHG emission allowances. With this law in place, over 50,000 buildings in NYC need to develop effective strategies to reduce GHG emissions before 2024, and many are turning to carbon dioxide capture and storage technologies.
How Does Carbon Capture Work?
Carbon dioxide capture and storage (CCS) is an increasingly popular strategy to mitigate climate change by capturing carbon dioxide waste before it pollutes the air, transporting it, and storing it - usually underground or for the creation of new carbon-based materials. CCS technologies are typically used to capture emissions from steel and cement production and the burning of fossil fuels used for energy production.
There are three types of CCS techniques: post-combustion carbon capture (typically used for energy production), pre-combustion carbon capture (highly popular in industrial processes), and oxy-fuel combustion systems.
The carbon capture process currently used in NYC aligns with the post-combustion carbon capture technique and involves four steps:
Capture exhaust from boilers to prevent the release of carbon dioxide into the air
Separate the carbon dioxide from other gasses
Liquefy the carbon dioxide
Transfer and sell to users of carbon dioxide, such as concrete manufacturers
How Efficient is Carbon Capture?
Since 1972, several Texan natural gas plants have captured and stored over 200 million tons of carbon dioxide underground. CCS technologies have a great potential to reduce our footprint by capturing 90% of carbon emissions on average, and nearing closer to 100% efficiency as technology improves. However, ensuring that every molecule of carbon dioxide is captured comes with a higher cost.
Costly Barriers
Unfortunately, there are barriers to implementing CCS across different industries. Much of this hesitancy stems from the higher costs associated with CCS (compared to other renewable energy technology, such as solar and wind) and concerns for the transportation and storage of carbon dioxide. However, business owners may be tempted by the ability to sell stored carbon to producers of carbon-based products
Reducing the costs of CCS is crucial to ensure wider adoption of the technology. As CCS becomes more popular and utilized in a diverse array of industries, the technology will improve. To actualize a 100% capture rate, industries will require stronger financial incentives - and maybe a push from the government to significantly cut down on carbon emissions or face a carbon emission tax.
The New Future of CCS?
Sustainability laws have helped kickstart the CCS movement in NYC, by expanding the use of this technology beyond the usual steel and concrete industries. As NYC building owners adopt this technology into their residential buildings and high-rise businesses, the potential for CCS to be utilized across various industries has been unlocked.
The rising popularity of CCS in NYC skyscrapers and apartment buildings is the first step in the right direction to start implementing capture and storing technologies across the world with high levels of building emissions.
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