The Global Warming Potential (GWP) is a widely used metric to measure the global warming impacts of different greenhouse gases over a given period of time. It is based on the time-integrated radiative forcing due to a pulse emission of a unit. The most potent greenhouse gas, SF 6, has a GWP of 22,800, making it the most potent greenhouse gas evaluated by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.
CO₂ is the most important greenhouse gas in warming the planet, despite being the weakest greenhouse gas per unit of mass. The Global Methane Pledge aims to limit methane emissions by 30 compared with 2020 levels, as it is one of the most potent greenhouse gases and responsible for a third of current warming. The intensity of GHGs measures the average emissions of GHGs for economic activities of a country and is stated as the ratio of total GHG emissions per unit of mass.
Sulfur hexafluoride (SF6) is used as an insulating gas in electrical transmission equipment, including circuit breakers. Its GWP of 23,500 makes it the most potent greenhouse gas evaluated by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Other greenhouse gases, such as methane and nitrous oxide, also contribute to global warming. CO2 remains in the 1st GWP per unit of mass, while HFCs like HFC-23 have a 273 times greater radiative effect than CO2.
High-GWP gases include CFCs, hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs), perfluorocarbons (PFCs), and sulfur hexafluoride (SF6). Water vapor, or steam, is the most abundant greenhouse gas on the planet. CH4 is 23 times more effective in terms of heat absorption and re-radiation (GWP).
📹 Insulation vs Thermal Mass Explained
Describing the differences between insulation and thermal mass for greenhouses and how understanding this can save you a lot …
What greenhouse gas has the greatest effect per unit concentration?
Carbon dioxide, the primary greenhouse gas, accounts for around 64% of climate warming due to fossil fuel combustion and cement production. The annual average increase from 2021 to 2022 was slightly smaller than 2020 and the past decade, possibly due to increased absorption of atmospheric CO2 by terrestrial ecosystems and the ocean after La Niña events. The development of an El Niño event in 2023 may impact greenhouse gas concentrations. Methane remains in the atmosphere for about a decade.
Which greenhouse gas is most potent?
Sulfur hexafluoride, a colorless and odorless gas used in electric power systems and chemical agent dispersal, is the most potent greenhouse gas and stays in the atmosphere for 3, 200 years. It contributes a smaller percentage to greenhouse emissions. Tyrichlorofluoromethane, used as a coolant in refrigerators and foam in liquid fire extinguishers, deteriorates the global climate by producing chlorine molecules that deplete the ozone layer and has a high GWP.
Perfluorotributylamine (PFTBA), used in the electronics industry for over 50 years, has recently been identified as a potentially harmful greenhouse gas, with a low concentration in the atmosphere and a potential 500-year stay.
Which gas is most effective per unit weight as a greenhouse gas?
Methane is a stronger greenhouse gas than CO2 in terms of its warming potential, with one tonne of methane generating 28 times the amount of warming over a 100-year timescale without considering climate feedback. While carbon dioxide (CO2) is the dominant greenhouse gas, other greenhouse gases like methane, nitrous oxide, and trace gases like the group of “F-gases” have also contributed significantly to global climate change. These gases are primarily produced by the burning of fossil fuels, industrial production, and land use change.
Is methane worse than CO2?
Methane, a colorless, odourless, and invisible greenhouse gas, contributes to over 25% of global warming. It traps more heat in the atmosphere per molecule than carbon dioxide, making it 80 times more harmful for 20 years after release. A 40% reduction in methane emissions by 2030 could help meet the Paris Agreement’s goal of limiting global warming to 1. 5°C. The energy sector, agriculture, and waste are major emitters of methane.
The UN Environment Programme (UNEP) is leading the global effort to reduce methane emissions, as much of the methane release is caused by human activity. Reducing methane emissions is considered the low-hanging fruit of climate mitigation.
Why is CO2 such a potent greenhouse gas?
Carbon dioxide is Earth’s most crucial greenhouse gas, absorbing and radiating heat from the Earth’s surface. It is responsible for supercharging the natural greenhouse effect, causing global temperature rise. In 2021, the NOAA Global Monitoring Lab observed that carbon dioxide alone was responsible for two-thirds of the total heating influence of all human-produced greenhouse gases. Additionally, carbon dioxide dissolves into the ocean, reacting with water molecules to produce carbonic acid and lowering the ocean’s pH.
Since the Industrial Revolution, the pH of the ocean’s surface waters has dropped from 8. 21 to 8. 10, causing ocean acidification. This drop in pH is referred to as ocean acidification, and a healthy ocean snail has a transparent shell with smooth contoured ridges, while a shell exposed to more acidic, corrosive waters is cloudy, ragged, and pockmarked with ‘kinks’ and weak spots.
Which is high quantity greenhouse gas?
The primary cause of climate change is the excessive presence of carbon dioxide (CO₂) in the atmosphere. This is largely the result of the combustion of fossil fuels, including coal, oil, and gas, as well as the clearance of forests and the subsequent burning of the remaining vegetation.
Which is a more powerful greenhouse gas per unit mass?
Methane, despite having a shorter lifetime than carbon dioxide, is more effective at trapping radiation, with a warming effect 86 times stronger than CO2 over 20 years and 28 times stronger over a 100-year period. Methane is second only to CO2 in driving climate change, and reducing it is crucial to mitigate warming and limit dangerous climate feedback loops. Methane is a key precursor gas to tropospheric ozone, which causes 1 million premature respiratory deaths globally.
Increased methane emissions contribute to half of the observed rise in tropospheric ozone levels. Additionally, methane contributes to staple crop losses of up to 15 per year due to its contribution to producing tropospheric ozone and increasing atmospheric temperatures.
What is the strongest greenhouse?
SF6 is the most potent greenhouse gas in existence, with a global warming potential of 23, 900 times the baseline of CO2. This means that one tonne of SF6 in the atmosphere equals 23, 900 tonnes of CO2. Greenhouse gases create the greenhouse effect by trapping heat in the atmosphere and increasing Earth’s temperature. Small variations in atmospheric concentration lead to significant changes in temperature, making the difference between ice ages when mammoths roamed Earth and the heat in which dinosaurs dominated the planet.
Greenhouse gases are typically characterized using two main indicators: Global Warming Potential (GWP) and atmospheric lifetime (TW). SF6 is stronger than CO2 in terms of global warming potential, with a global warming potential of 23, 900 times the baseline.
Is methane more potent than CO2?
Methane, the second most abundant anthropogenic greenhouse gas, accounts for about 16% of global emissions and is more than 28 times as potent at trapping heat in the atmosphere. Over the last two centuries, methane concentrations in the atmosphere have more than doubled due to human-related activities. Methane is both a powerful greenhouse gas and short-lived compared to carbon dioxide, making significant reductions in methane emissions crucial for reducing atmospheric warming potential.
China, the United States, Russia, India, Brazil, Indonesia, Nigeria, and Mexico are estimated to be responsible for nearly half of all anthropogenic methane emissions. Major sources of methane emissions vary greatly, with coal production being a key source in China, natural gas and oil systems in Russia, oil and gas systems in the United States, livestock enteric fermentation, and landfills.
How much more potent is methane than CO2?
Methane, the second most abundant anthropogenic greenhouse gas, accounts for about 16% of global emissions and is more than 28 times as potent at trapping heat in the atmosphere. Over the last two centuries, methane concentrations in the atmosphere have more than doubled due to human-related activities. Methane is both a powerful greenhouse gas and short-lived compared to carbon dioxide, making significant reductions in methane emissions crucial for reducing atmospheric warming potential.
China, the United States, Russia, India, Brazil, Indonesia, Nigeria, and Mexico are estimated to be responsible for nearly half of all anthropogenic methane emissions. Major sources of methane emissions vary greatly, with coal production being a key source in China, natural gas and oil systems in Russia, oil and gas systems in the United States, livestock enteric fermentation, and landfills.
Is N2O worse than CO2?
Nitrous oxide, a greenhouse gas, has been responsible for about 300 times more warming than carbon dioxide in the industrial era. It stays in the atmosphere for a long time, typically a century or more after release. Since the 1987 Montreal Protocol phased out chlorofluorocarbons, nitrous oxide has become the greatest human-related threat to the ozone layer, shielding Earth against harmful ultraviolet radiation. This article discusses sources of nitrous oxide emissions, their increasing causes, and practical solutions for halting their rise.
Emerging economies, particularly Brazil, China, and India, are driving increased emissions, which differ from activities in the United States. Practical solutions for halting nitrous oxide emissions include reducing carbon dioxide emissions, reducing greenhouse gas emissions, and promoting renewable energy sources.
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The world needs to get to zero emissions by 2050 if we’re going to prevent the worst effects of climate change. In my book “How to …
Thank you for your great information you share with us. There are many of us who would much rather watch you be happy and expressive in your delivery of your information than listening to a computerised voice-over or someone so bland in their delivery with only a blank expression and no variation in their voice, only the same dreary, put-you-to-sleep monotone that you lose all interest. I am writing this for the grump who complained, I feel sorry for someone else to be so rude and miserable with their own life that they have to insult others for being happy. It’s great to see another person happy and/or laughing and NOT boring in the delivery of info that is so often delivered with the dullness of an old dish-rag. I enjoy your vids, the delivery and the important information you give to us. If you were in Australia, I’d say “G’day mate, It’d be great to get some advice first hand. You and your family would be welcome to come along and visit” I am trying to plan and build a couple of variations for different purposes and very different properties. #1. Very flat land, surrounded by big commercial (and very heavy chemical users) croppers. #2. Bush block. Mostly 4WD only, steep hills, a couple of clear-ish valleys/gullies, small but deep seasonal creeks, shale, lots of rocks and native wildlife and numerous varieties of native bees. Again, thank you, great content, stay as happy and as healthy as you can and have a fabulous day 🙂
I built a house east of the Cascade Mountains in Oregon using Structural Insulate Penel, which means the basic building component was 5″ thick styrofoam sandwiched between two sheets of wafer wood. I used 10 inch panels on the roof. We found that the house was more comfortable if we left the heat on all the time. Bottom line, it took so long to heat up the foam core panels, also it took a long tome to cool down the thermal panel implying that there was substantial thermal mass in the foam panels themselves. My heating bills were $300 per year and my neighbors heating bills ran over $500 per month in the winter. And we needed no airconditioning in the summer. It was a total win.
Thank you for another great article. I am using Mylar-faced bubble wrap on the north side of my homemade dome greenhouse, as well as across the crown of the structure, and all around the perimeter, leaving about 180 degrees of clear 4 mm film facing the winter sun. We’re about to have a hella snowstorm here, and I am going to put my 50 gal. rain barrel inside the dome and fill it with natural gas-heated hot water — yeah! Cheap first round of warm water in the thermal mass container. I am going to try heating the water with a submersible pool heater and observe the effect on my interior temps. Hoping to supplement the little electric greenhouse heater to keep the interior temperate (I will settle for, say, 15 C) with the thermal mass. Will it be more efficient to keep the thermal mass heated than to keep the air heated? I guess I will find out. Like you, I laugh ironically at “passive greenhouse” heating advice coming from parts of the world not subject to the wrath of Mother Nature at this time of year — From a SK girl in QC
Hey, nothing wrong with Peewee Herman. That said, my concrete greenhouse floor is BLACK for just this reason. Oh, battery – ya. Well, I’m here to tell you I use an air BATTERY to store energy on my homestead. My wind turbines (VAWT) compress air. I build steam and compressed air engines as a hobby. I also use accessory heat in Winter from the waste heat coming from my LP gas wall furnace. One side of my greenhouse (north side) is my house and the other side of my greenhouse is just that, my greenhouse. My house insulates and provides auxiliary heat when I run my heater, while the black concrete and steel floor provides both passive heating from sunlight and thermal mass.
I remember living in Ireland and they had what they called ‘storage heaters’ which were giant rock filled heaters that heated the rocks during the night when electricity was cheaper and released the heat during the day when it was more expensive. Probably one of the most inefficient heater I have ever used, and impossible to regulate the temperature effectively.
Technically speaking, Insulation is Thermal Mass. There is literally no difference between the 2, as they both function to slow the transition of heat from leaving or entering a system, by absorbing & reflecting thermal radiation. People have just adopted a colloquial deffinition for Thermal Mass, to describe really thick Insulation.
I have been using barrels of water in my polytunnels for years now I use horse manure in a very big hotbed about 3/4 feet high by 3f wide by 10f long you have to keep topping it up every 2 weeks and it takes a shit load of horse manure to do it. it keeps the tunnel warm all winter long. my allotment is off-grid so no power for heat. it’s not one for everyone but it works for me. plants sitting on top sit at about 15 to 20c.
Strictly defined a batter is an array of equipment, the reason it’s used (often incorrectly) for electrical systems is because a collection of cells is by that definition a battery (of cells), it does also tend to get incorrectly used to refer to a cell though (like a aa “battery” which is actually a cell).
I built our greenhouse on a 4’ concrete block wall with 4″ of foam board on the outside. I put drain pipe under our grow barrels with tons of rock over it. I pump heat with an in-line fan from the peak to the drain pipe during the day. We grow from late March to October with no supplemental heat. Thermal mass for walls on a home in a cold climate aren’t good.