At least 13 hours and 28 minutes on August 9th with the new technology of global warming countermeasures while remaining “hot”
"Fever heat" "Disaster-class heat". Although it is a tough summer, a video that warns that “hot weather” with a maximum temperature of 40 degrees Celsius or more will be taken for granted on the Internet. Appealing is global warming. We interviewed what happened by global warming and the field of new technology development that began. (Social Department reporter Sachiyo Sugita)
Is it more than 40 degrees?
The weather forecast on the Internet is August 2100. A weather caster will tell you.
“Now it has become extremely hot over 40 degrees nationwide. The highest temperatures in each region are 44 degrees 1 minute in Nagoya, 43 degrees 3 minutes in Tokyo, and 40 degrees 5 minutes in Sapporo, Hokkaido. The number of people who died due to heat stroke has exceeded 15,000. ''
This is the “future weather forecast” produced by the Ministry of the Environment and published in July. If global warming progresses at the current pace, it tells you what kind of summer it will be.
In 2007, the Japan Meteorological Agency defined the term “hot days”. It was because the days when the maximum temperature exceeded 35 degrees were repeated. This time, there may come a time when it is natural to call 40 degrees or more as "hot".
The world's attention
If you look closely at this weather forecast, you will see the following headings.
“1.5 ° C target not achieved”
“1.5 ℃” Actually, this is the temperature that is currently being shared by countries around the world that are forced to take measures against global warming. The trigger was a report published last October.
“1.5 ℃ Special Report”
IPCC = “Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change” was compiled by a specialized agency of the United Nations where scientists from around the world participate. The report shows the following predictions:
“The average global temperature has risen by about 1 degree in 2017 compared to before the Industrial Revolution, and if greenhouse gas emissions such as carbon dioxide continue to increase, it will rise by 1.5 degrees in 2030 at the earliest. Abnormal weather increases further. However, the impact on ecosystems is low compared to the 2nd rise. ”
The difference between 1.5 degrees and 2 degrees feels subtle.
However, for example, coral reefs are expected to be lost 70% to 90% if they rise 1.5 degrees, whereas in the second case they are said to disappear almost 99% or more.
Recover the cause of global warming? !
Keeping global warming to “1.5 ° C” is becoming a global goal.
Japan has compiled a long-term strategy in June, aiming for zero emissions, a so-called “decarbonized society” as early as possible in the second half of this century.
This long-term strategy also had other eye-catching points. In addition to suppressing carbon dioxide emissions, this is the practical application of technology that “collects” carbon dioxide once exhausted. In the atmosphere, you can't absorb carbon dioxide like a vacuum cleaner.
I went to the research and development site
It's quite a magnificent story. If I continued the interview, I was able to enter the field where research and development was conducted under the commission of the government. It is a factory of Kawasaki Heavy Industries in Akashi City, Hyogo Prefecture.
This granular white substance was first shown at a research lab in a corner of the site. Similar to desiccant in a candy bag.
A chemical substance called “amine” is coated on something like pumice. “Amine” is said to have the property of absorbing carbon dioxide. Next, I received an explanation of a device with many pipes and wires.
Many of the white grains are packed in a transparent pipe.
"Now let's go through carbon dioxide"
One person in charge. It is said that when the lever is twisted, a gas containing carbon dioxide flows through a pipe containing white grains.
“Amine is smoking carbon dioxide.”
When I was confused about what it was, the person in charge pointed to the panel on the device. The number displayed represents the concentration of carbon dioxide in the device.
In just a few minutes, the panel's figure dropped from 100,000 ppm to 0 ppm.
Is that easy? I will think. However, the experiment was 100,000 ppm. In contrast, the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is usually 300 to 400 ppm. In order to recover only carbon dioxide from the atmosphere with very low concentration, it is said that it is necessary to improve the amine-coated grains.
In addition, it is not the end of collecting carbon dioxide. The Ministry of the Environment expects to use the recovered carbon dioxide as a resource, for example, by encouraging photosynthesis by putting it in a plant factory.
In order to extract the carbon dioxide once absorbed by amines, it is necessary to add heat energy, but if there is a lot of energy used at this time, the situation will end up in the end. Therefore, he seems to be planning to use “excess energy” such as exhaust heat from the boiler.
The Ministry of the Environment says:
“First, we have established the technology over three years, and we are aiming to start developing a device that recovers carbon dioxide from the atmosphere after 2022.”
Through the interview, I felt that there was still a long way to go.
Is carbon dioxide recovery a trump card for global warming?
Similar technologies are being developed overseas. A Swiss venture company installs a huge device on the roof of a waste incineration facility to capture carbon dioxide. It takes about 65,000 to 85,000 yen to collect 1 ton, and it is 900 tons per year.
In contrast, the amount of carbon dioxide emitted around the world is said to exceed approximately 30 billion tons. It's unlikely that you will be able to beat it with recovery technology alone. We asked experts for their opinions.
“Because it can be a future option as a measure against global warming, it is necessary to proceed with research and development. However, it takes time to put these technologies into practical use and go further to lower costs. As a result, it may not be possible, and global warming is no longer a situation that can only be resolved by developing new technologies. "
What we can do
The IPCC chair, who compiled the “1.5 ° C Special Report,” said it was possible to keep the temperature rise to 1.5 ° C, and also pointed out:
“Society will be asked for unprecedented change”
What can we do to prevent major disasters from increasing so that summer does not become “hot”, and what will happen to our lives? First of all, I would like to continue interviewing while doing what I can do, such as power saving.