Post-2012 CDM multi-criteria analysis of industries in six Asian countries: Iranian case study

The prospects of the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) and for carbon income, up to and beyond 2012, in the industrial sectors of Iran and five other Asian countries are investigated. The attractiveness and suitability of each host country, the status of their industrial sectors (based on four post-2012 scenarios), and the post-2012 potential of the CDM (or similar carbon projects) in these sectors are all examined. A multi-criteria analysis of Iran, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Qatar, China, and India, based on seven sets of criteria (institutional, regulatory, economic, political, social, CDM experience, and energy production/consumption), is conducted, and the post-2012 potential carbon incomes of each country – based on CO₂e emissions of industrial processes – are calculated. Finally, the Iranian industrial sector and the impact of deregulation of energy prices are examined. The post-2012 potential savings in the Iranian industrial sector are calculated based on energy savings, carbon income, and environmental savings. The results indicate that there is strong demand for investment and new technology in this sector to combat several-fold energy price increases. Moreover, high-priced carbon credits could play a meaningful role in post-2012 energy policies in this sector.

Policy relevance

This research is the first study to quantify the carbon market potentials in the industrial sectors of the selected Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) members. The Kyoto Protocol is considered by most OPEC countries to be a mixed bag of threats and opportunities and they have shown ambivalence towards it, mainly due to the threat a reduction of fossil fuel consumption poses to their economies. On the other hand, energy efficiency is a desirable goal for their industrial sectors. Iran, as an OPEC member country with vast energy resources, has mostly ignored the CDM during the first commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol and has performed poorly on CDM implementation. However, the current deregulation of energy prices in Iran, with profound cuts in energy subsidies, would definitely alter the perspective of its industrial decision makers on the post-2012 carbon potentials.     

The Ecology of a Novel Symbiosis Between a Marine Peritrich Ciliate and Chemoautotrophic Bacteria

Abstract. A symbiosis between a sessile colonial ciliate, Zoothamnium niveum HEMPRICH & EHRENBERG. 1831. and chemolithoautotrophic bacteria oxidizing reduced sulfur compounds is described. The ciliates and their ectosymbionts occur on mangrove peat in the Caribbean. The feather-shaped ciliate colonies expand and contract, thus exposing the microbes alternately to oxygenated water above and sulfidic water within the boundary layer developed on the surface of the highly sulfidic peat. The symbioticciliates colonize sites with high sulfide flux where the microbial surface mat has been disturbed and grow there until the microbe mat re-establishes itself.     

Sulfur geochemistry of hydrothermal waters in Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, USA. II. Formation and decomposition of thiosulfate and polythionate in Cinder Pool

Cinder Pool is an acid-sulfate-chloride boiling spring in Norris Geyser Basin, Yellowstone National Park. The pool is unique in that its surface is partially covered with mm-size, black, hollow sulfur spherules, while a layer of molten sulfur resides at the bottom of the pool (18 m depth). The sulfur speciation in the pool was determined on four different days over a period of two years. Samples were taken to evaluate changes with depth and to evaluate the importance of the sulfur spherules on sulfur redox chemistry. All analyses were conducted on site using a combination of ion chromatography and colorimetric techniques.Dissolved sulfide (H₂S), thiosulfate (S₂O₃²⁻), polythionates (S_xO₆²⁻), and sulfate were detected. The polythionate concentration was highly variable in time and space. The highest concentrations were found in surficial samples taken from among the sulfur spherules. With depth, the polythionate concentrations dropped off. The maximum observed polythionate concentration was 8 μM. Thiosulfate was rather uniformly distributed throughout the pool and concentrations ranged from 35 to 45 μM. Total dissolved sulfide concentrations varied with time, concentrations ranged from 16 to 48 μM. Sulfate was relatively constant, with concentrations ranging from 1150 to 1300 μM. The sulfur speciation of Cinder Pool is unique in that the thiosulfate and polythionate concentrations are significantly higher than for any other acid-sulfate spring yet sampled in Yellowstone National Park. Complementary laboratory experiments show that thiosulfate is the intermediate sulfoxyanion formed from sulfur hydrolysis under conditions similar to those found in Cinder Pool and that polythionates are formed via the oxidation of thiosulfate by dissolved oxygen. This last reaction is catalyzed by pyrite that occurs as a minor constituent in the sulfur spherules floating on the pool's surface. Polythionate decomposition proceeds via two pathways: (1) a reaction with H₂S, yielding thiosulfate and elemental sulfur; and (2) by disproportionation to sulfate and thiosulfate.This study demonstrates that the presence of a subaqueous molten sulfur pool and sulfur spherules in Cinder Pool is of importance in controlling the pathways of aqueous sulfur redox reactions. Some of the insights gained at Cinder Pool may be relevant to acid crater lakes where sulfur spherules are observed and variations in polythionate concentrations are used to monitor and predict volcanic activity.     

Change trend of natural gas hydrates in permafrost on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau (1960–2050) under the background of global warming and their impacts on carbon emissions

Global warming and the response to it have become a topic of concern in today’s society and are also a research focus in the global scientific community. As the world’s third pole, the global warming amplifier, and the starting region of China’s climate change, the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau is extremely sensitive to climate change. The permafrost on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau is rich in natural gas hydrates (NGHs) resources. Under the background of global warming, whether the NGHs will be disassociated and enter the atmosphere as the air temperature rises has become a major concern of both the public and the scientific community. Given this, this study reviewed the trend of global warming and accordingly summarized the characteristics of the temperature increase in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. Based on this as well as the distribution characteristics of the NGHs in the permafrost on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, this study investigated the changes in the response of the NGHs to global warming, aiming to clarify the impacts of global warming on the NGHs in the permafrost of the plateau. A noticeable response to global warming has been observed in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. Over the past decades, the increase in the mean annual air temperature of the plateau was increasingly high and more recently. Specifically, the mean annual air temperature of the plateau changed at a rate of approximately 0.308–0.420°C/10a and increased by approximately 1.54–2.10°C in the past decades. Moreover, the annual mean ground temperature of the shallow permafrost on the plateau increased by approximately 1.155–1.575°C and the permafrost area decreased by approximately 0.34×10⁶ km² from about 1.4×10⁶ km² to 1.06×10⁶ km² in the past decades. As indicated by simulated calculation results, the thickness of the NGH-bearing permafrost on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau has decreased by 29–39 m in the past 50 years, with the equivalent of (1.69 – 2.27)×10¹⁰–(1.12–1.51)×10¹² m³ of methane (CH₄) being released due to NGHs dissociation. It is predicted that the thickness of the NGH-bearing permafrost will decrease by 23 m and 27 m, and dissociated and released NGHs will be the equivalent of (1.34–88.8)×10¹⁰ m³ and (1.57–104)×10¹⁰ m³ of CH₄, respectively by 2030 and 2050. Considering the positive feedback mechanism of NGHs on global warming and the fact that CH₄ has a higher greenhouse effect than carbon dioxide, the NGHs in the permafrost on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau will emit more CH₄ into the atmosphere, which is an important trend of NGHs under the background of global warming. Therefore, the NGHs are destructive as a time bomb and may lead to a waste of efforts that mankind has made in carbon emission reduction and carbon neutrality. Accordingly, this study suggests that human beings should make more efforts to conduct the exploration and exploitation of the NGHs in the permafrost of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, accelerate research on the techniques and equipment for NGHs extraction, storage, and transportation, and exploit the permafrost-associated NGHs while thawing them. The purpose is to reduce carbon emissions into the atmosphere and mitigate the atmospheric greenhouse effect, thus contributing to the global goal of peak carbon dioxide emissions and carbon neutrality.©2022 China Geology Editorial Office.     

Pre-1991 sulfur transfer between mafic injections and dacite magma in the Mt. Pinatubo reservoir

Before the 1991–1992 activity, a large andesite lava dome belonging to the penultimate Pinatubo eruptive period (Buag ∼ 500 BP) formed the volcano summit. Buag porphyritic andesite contains abundant amphibole-bearing microgranular enclaves of basaltic–andesite composition. Buag enclaves have lower K₂O and incompatible trace element (LREE, U, Th) contents than mafic pulses injected in the Pinatubo reservoir during the 1991–1992 eruptive cycle. This study shows that Buag andesite formed by mingling of a hot, water-poor and reduced mafic magma with cold, hydrous and oxidized dacite. Depending on their size, enclaves experienced variable re-equilibration during mixing/mingling. Re-equilibration resulted in hydration, oxidation and transfer of mobile elements (LILE, Cu) from the dacite to the mafic melts and prompted massive amphibole crystallization. In Buag enclaves, S-bearing phases (sulfides, apatite) and melt inclusions in amphibole and plagioclase record the evolution of sulfur partition among melt, crystal and fluid phases during magma cooling and oxidation. At high temperature, sulfur is partitioned between andesitic melt and sulfides (Ni-pyrrhotite). Magma cooling, oxidation and hydration resulted in exsolution of a S–Cl–H₂O vapor phase at the S-solubility minimum near the sulfide–sulfate redox boundary. Primary magmatic sulfide (pyrrhotite) and xenocrystic sulfide grains (pyrite), recycled together with olivines and pyroxenes from old mafic intrusives, were replaced by Cu-rich phases (chalcopyrite, cubanite) and, partially, by Ba–Sr sulfate. Sulfides degassed and transformed into residual spongy magnetite in response to fS₂ drop during final magma ascent and decompression. Our research suggests that a complete evaluation of the sulfur budget at Pinatubo must take into account the en route S assimilation from the country rocks. Moreover, this study shows that the efficiency of sulfur transfer between mafic recharges and injected magmas is controlled by the extent and rate of mingling, hydrous flushing and melt oxidation. Vigorous mixing/mingling and transformation of the magmatic recharge into a spray of small enclaves is required in order to efficiently strip their primary S-content that otherwise remains locked in the sulfides. Hydrous flushing increases the magma oxidation state of the recharges and modifies their primary volatile concentrations that cannot be recovered by the study of late-formed mineral phases and melt inclusions. Conversely, S stored in both late-formed Cu-rich sulfides and interstitial rhyolitic melt represents the pre-eruptive sulfur budget immediately available for release from mafic enclaves during their decompression.     

The atmospheric chemistry of dimethylsulfoxide (DMSO) kinetics and mechanism of the OH+DMSO reaction

We have employed a pulsed laser photolysis-pulsed laser induced fluorescence technique to study the kinetics and mechanism of the reaction of OH with dimethylsulfoxide and its deuterated analogue. A rate coefficient of (1.0±0.3)×10^-10 cm³ molecule^-1 s^-1 was obtained ar room temperature. The rate coefficient was independent of pressure over the range 25–700 Torr, showed no dependence on the nature of the buffer gas and showed no kinetic isotope effect. A limited study of the temperature dependence indicated that the reaction displays a negative activation energy. The gas phase ultraviolet absorption spectrum was obtained at room temperature and showed a strong absorption feature in the far ultraviolet. The absolute absorption cross-section at 205 nm, the absorption peak, is (1.0±0.3)×10^-17 cm², where the large uncertainty results from experimental difficulties associated with the low vapor pressure and stickiness of DMSO.     

Accurate and Precise Silicon Isotope Analysis of Sulfur‐ and Iron‐Rich Samples by MC‐ICP‐MS

Silicon isotope determination of sulfur‐rich samples by MC‐ICP‐MS can be challenging because cation‐exchange chromatography used for Si purification does not efficiently remove anionic sulfur species. Results for pure Si standard solutions with addition of sulfate showed shifts of up to +1.04 ± 0.10‰ (2s) in δ³⁰Si. Doping of both standard solutions and samples with S to a fixed S/Si ratio can eliminate the relative change in instrumental mass fractionation due to variable S/Si in samples and also boosts the relative sensitivity of Si by up to 66%. Moreover, Fe hydroxide precipitation during sample processing adsorbs Si resulting in isotopic fractionations. Tests using Fe‐rich samples showed that this could be a major factor for observed shifts in δ³⁰Si. Acidification of the sample and standard solutions to a pH < 1 aggressively dissolved any Fe hydroxide precipitates, even in relatively Fe‐rich samples such as chondrite meteorites. The pH values of the sample solutions were subsequently adjusted to a range of 2–3 by adding ultra‐pure NaOH solutions. The combination of sulfur doping and the pH adjustment protocol ensured a full recovery of Si and proved to be an efficient and reliable method for Si isotope determination of S‐ and Fe‐rich materials.     

Sulfur isotopic composition of the Tianqiao Pb-Zn ore deposit,Northwest Guizhou Province,China：Implications for the source of sulfur in the ore-forming fluids

The Tianqiao Pb-Zn ore deposit of Guizhou Province, China, is located in the mid-east of the Si-chuan-Yunnan-Guizhou Pb-Zn-Ag multi-metallic mineralization area, which is representative of the Pb-Zn ore de-posits in this area. It consists of three main orebodies, whose Pb+Zn reserves are more than 0.2 million ton. This paper analyzes the sulfur isotopic composition of these orebodies. The data show that the ore minerals (galena, sphalerite, pyrite) in these orebodies are enriched in heavy sulfur, with δ34SV-CDT values varying between 8.35‰ and 14.44‰, i.e. the δ34SV-CDT values of pyrite are between 12.81‰ and 14.44‰, the mean value is 13.40‰; the δ34SV-CDT values of sphalerite are range from 10.87‰ to 14.00‰, the mean value is 12.53‰; the δ34SV-CDT values of galena are range from 8.35‰ to 9.83‰, the mean value is 8.84‰, and they have the feature of δ34Spyrite>δ34Ssphalerite>δ34Sgalena, which indicates the sulfur isotope in ore-forming fluids has attained equilibrium. The δ34S V-CDT values of the deposit are close to those of sulfates from carbonate strata of different ages in the ore-field (15‰), which suggests that the sulfur in the ore-forming fluids should be derived from the thermo-chemical sulfate reduction of sulfates from the sedimentary strata.     

Archean Mass-independent Fractionation of Sulfur Isotope:New Evidence of Bedded Sulfide Deposits in the Yanlingguan-Shihezhuang area of Xintai, Shandong Province

Multiple sulfur isotope ratios （^34S/^33S/^32S） of Archean bedded sulfides deposits were measured in the Yanlingguan Formation of the Taishan Group in Xintai, Shandong Province, East of China; 633S = -0.7%o to 3.8‰,δ^34S = 0.1‰-8.8‰, △^33S = -2.3‰ to -0.7‰. The sulfur isotope compositions show obvious mass-independent fractionation （MIF） signatures. The presence of MIF of sulfur isotope in Archean sulfides indicates that the sulfur was from products of photochemical reactions of volcanic SO2 induced by solar UV radiation, implying that the ozone shield was not formed in atmosphere at that time, and the oxygen level was less than 10-5 PAL （the present atmosphere level）. The sulfate produced by photolysis of SO2 with negative △^33S precipitated near the volcanic activity center; and the product of element S with positive △^33S precipitated far away from the volcanic activity center. The lower △^33S values of sulfide （-2.30‰ to --0.25‰） show that Shihezhuang was near the volcanic center, and sulfur was mostly from sulfate produced by photolysis. The higher △^33S values （-0.5‰ to -‰） indicate that Yanlingguan was far away from the volcanic center and that some of sulfur were from sulfate, another from element S produced by photolysis. The data points of sulfur isotope from Yanlingguan are in a line parallel to MFL （mass dependent fractionation line） on the plot of δ^34S--δ^33S, showing that the volcanic sulfur species went through the atmospheric cycle into the ocean, and then mass dependent fractionation occurred during deposition of sulfide. The data points of sulfur isotope from Shihezhuang represent a mix of different sulfur source.     

Selenium and Sulfur Systematics of Mafic Dykes in Western Fujian Province, Southern China

Fifteen samples from three study areas （the Bancun diabase dykes, the Bali hornblende gabbro dykes, the Linzifen gabbro-diabase dykes） were collected and analyzed for selenium （Se）, sulfur （S）, copper （Cu）, major and trace elements. In general, Se, S and Cu do positively correlate to each other. The concentration of S and Se and the S/Se ratio are higher than the corresponding value of primitive mantle （PM）, and the Cu/S ratio falls in a narrow range （0.04-0.29）, which is consistent with that of primitive mantle （0.05-0.20）. The Bancun diabase dykes and the Bali hornblende gabbro dykes were located in an intraplate environment during the Late Mesozoic. Oceanic subduction was closely related to magmatic activities. The magmatic activities play an important role in the transportation mechanism of Se and S. Because those two groups were closer to fault zones, which may affect the distribution of S and Se and other elements. In the two groups, no crustal contamination was observed, indicating that all analyzed elements may come from enriched mantle metasomtism associated with slab subduction. However, the Linzifen gabbro-diabase dykes were located in an intraplate rift environment, and its invading age is older than the other two groups, the primitive magma comes from mantle, and there is an anomalous relation between S, Se and Al2O3, （La/Sm）N, and all these factors could result in higher S and Se concentration.