If we consider that the main natural resource used as an energy source for producing electricity is fossil fuels, and if we take Europe as an example, it accounts for a total of 55% of the necessary consumption for that production, a situation that highlights the importance of combustion emissions.
Below we look at which gases are released into the atmosphere and their environmental impact, focusing on CO2 and CO.
Carbon Dioxide, popularly known as CO2, is only generated when fuel combustion is complete, meaning when it detonates in its entirety. Its emissions are not considered toxic to human health, since it is used by plants as food in their photosynthesis process for their growth and proliferation, transforming it into oxygen. Because of this, its presence in the atmosphere within controlled levels is classified as an environmentally sustainable gas. Conversely, in high concentrations — a situation caused largely by deforestation — it absorbs solar radiation, trapping it at the earth’s surface and causing warming and a rise in ambient temperature.
Its application in our ecosystem is very diverse: it is used for food preservation since it eliminates the spread of bacteria such as mold and fungi, for manufacturing dry ice as a preservation element, as a compressed gas for fire extinguishing in fire extinguishers, as well as in other sectors, a valuable resource for industrial applications, for science in R&D matters, and in medicine for surgical use.
On the other hand, there is Carbon Monoxide, identified as CO, considered a lethal gas and popularly known as the silent killer, since it is colorless, odorless, tasteless and non-irritating, making it undetectable without the proper equipment. Its lethality is total, since when it enters the body through the respiratory tract, it ends up in the blood, preventing oxygen from reaching the organs, causing their collapse and death.
When does it occur? During the combustion process of natural fuels — that is, all petroleum distillates — under conditions of low oxygen in the air, whether due to a high geographic location above sea level, a low detonation of the fuel during combustion (that is, the use of fuels with low flammability and low energy efficiency), and when combustion takes place at low temperatures. These three reasons cause an incomplete combustion process of the fuels and, consequently, the release of tons of lethal carbon monoxide into the air, which is responsible for climate change, natural disasters, and putting human health at risk.
Having grasped all this information, we can now understand why, at CO2Sostenible, we have focused on the need to innovate, committing to technological development to achieve complete and sustainable combustion of fuels.
In this context, the transition towards eco-fuels distilled from petroleum through their activation with state-of-the-art nanotechnologies is already an effective reality developed by CO2Sostenible for the necessary elimination of lethal CO emissions released into the atmosphere, for the general well-being of ecosystems and of humanity.
Signed, J.M. & CEO.
CO2Sostenible power-ecofuels.
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