at any given time Crude oil is pumped from deep within the earth. Some of the sludge is sent to a refinery and processed into plastic. Then it becomes a phone in your hand. Shades on your windows It's an ornament that hangs from your Christmas tree.
Although scientists do not know how much carbon dioxide there is, that is released to make these products (The new iPhone is like driving a car. More than 200 miles) There hasn't been much research into how much is hidden there. The study published Friday in the journal Cell Reports Sustainability. It is estimated that billions of tonnes of carbon from fossil fuels such as coal, oil and gas are stored in the equipment. construction materials and other long-lived man-made objects from the past 25 years tucked away in what researchers call “Technosphere”
According to a study by researchers from the University of Groningen in the Netherlands, 400 million tonnes of carbon are added to the technosphere's stockpile every year. This is growing slightly faster than the rate of fossil fuel emissions. But in many cases The technosphere does not permanently store that carbon. If objects are thrown away and burned They, in turn, warm the atmosphere. In 2011, 9 percent of all extractable fossil carbon sunk into items and infrastructure in the technosphere. This is almost the same amount of greenhouse gas emissions from the EU that year if burned.
“It's like a time bomb going off,” said Klaus Hubacek, an ecological economist at the University of Groningen. And the paper's senior author said, “We extract huge amounts of fossil resources from the ground. and put it into the technosphere And let them just sit there. But what happens after the object reaches its lifespan?”
The term “technosphere” has already begun to exist. 1960As science writer Will Lepkowski wrote, “Modern man has become a lonely and aimless prisoner of his technology” in an article in the journal Science.– Since then A play on the term “biosphere” has also been used by ecologists and geologists to combat the quantitation of things. that humanity has devoured this world
“The problem is that we are incredibly wasteful as we build and build things,” says Jan Zalasiewicz, professor of paleontology at the University of Leicester. in the united kingdom which was not related to the study by the University of Groningen, it said.
In 2016, Zalasiewicz and his colleagues published a paper estimating that the technosphere had grown to approx. 30 trillion tonswhich is 100,000 times more than the total mass of humans. The report also found that the number “Technofossils,” which are special man-made objects There are more unique types of life on Earth. In 2020, another group of researchers found that the technosphere The quantity doubles every 20 years. And now it probably weighs more than all living things.
“The question is, how does the technosphere affect the biosphere?” Zalasiewicz said, for example, plastic bags and fishing nets. They can suffocate animals that encounter them. And unlike natural ecosystems like forests and oceans, which can absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, humans “recycle very poorly,” Zalasiewicz said.
Disposing of all this stuff in a more climate-friendly way. It's a problem that researchers from the University of Groningen want to draw attention to. Their research looked at 8.4 billion tons of fossil carbon in man-made objects that were in use for at least one year between 1995 and 2019. Nearly 30 percent of this carbon was trapped in rubber and plastics. Most of which are in household appliances. And another four are hidden in tar, a byproduct of crude oil used in construction.
“When you throw this away, the question is, how do you treat that carbon?” said Kaan Hidiroglu, one of the study authors and a doctoral student in energy and environment at the University of Groningen. “If you put it in a furnace and burn it, You will immediately release more carbon into the atmosphere. Which is something we really don't want to do.”
Each year, research papers estimate that about one-third of these fossil products in the technosphere are incinerated. The other third ends up in landfill. which can act as a long-term carbon sink Unfortunately, the author frequently acknowledges these sites. leaching chemicalsBurp methaneor secrete microplastics to the environment Slightly less than a third is recycled — a solution that comes into its own. problem — and there is still a small amount of trash.
“There are a number of problems and proper treatment,” Hubacek said. However, he said landfills are a good place to start if they are managed well. Studies have shown that much of the fossil carbon that ends up in landfills decays slowly. and lasts for more than 50 years. Designing products in a way that is recyclable and long-lasting can help store carbon for longer.
Ultimately, Hubacek says, the real solution starts with people questioning whether they really need so much stuff. “Reduce consumption and avoid doing it in the first place. But when you have it We will have to think about what to do next.”
This article originally appeared in Grist at https://grist.org/science/gadgets-carbon-sinks-technosphere-study/– Grist is an independent, nonprofit media organization dedicated to telling stories of climate solutions and a just future. Learn more at Grist.org–