[Greenbuilding] CO2 emissions from glass (was Re: Yes, but is it Green ?)

[Douglas E Lamb]

Mr. RT,

After re-reading what I wrote I have to redact my comment regarding
archeological glass and CO2
No, buried glass is not the concern.
My bad!
What is of concern related to excavation and CO2 is what happens when the
earth beneath the surface becomes exposed to atmospheric conditions.
What I did not enumerate upon is the metamorphic alterations of
archeological glass in water or beneath the earth in conjunction with
chemical results of CO2. Science has found them to be minimal.
 
Further more, Glass production is a complex issue in itself, i.e. (the
following are findings form a part of research I did)
 
"The main global impact factor is the production of CO2 due to the burning
of fossil fuels in the heating of the furnace and production of electricity
to supply the compressors. Typically a ton of glass packed will liberate
between 500 and 900 kg of CO2, assuming a gas fired furnace and coal fired
electricity usage. In areas with predominantly renewable or nuclear energy,
the CO2 released comes only from the conversion of carbonates to oxides in
the ingredients of the glass itself.

In all glass, the sodium and potassium oxides are hygroscopic; therefore,
the surface of the glass absorbs moisture from the air. The absorbed
moisture and exposure to carbon dioxide causes the NaO2 or NaOH and KO2 or
KOH to convert to sodium or potassium carbonate." 

I must add that a byproduct of the manufacturing of lead based glass for
flat screen TVs is arsenic. I have direct experience dealing with this
particular condition in glass production.
 
More over research surrounding a specific condition of the adverse effects
of exposed organic CO2 can be found in the Link that follows;
There are (2) extinct volcanic craters filled with water and they contain
hundreds of liters of CO2 and have over time been responsible for the deaths
of many inhabitant of the surrounding areas;  
http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2011/06/carbon-dioxide-as-a-volcanic-hazar
d-at-the-dieng-plateau-and-beyond/
These areas have recently been evacuated in anticipation of an eruption of
the CO2 gas form the lake.
 
Sorry if I missreped my opinion with confusing facts. I'll take better care
not to jump into the fray so rapidly next time.


Regards,
Doug Lamb
614.323.2005
douglaslamb at columbus.rr.com
 

-----Original Message-----
From: greenbuilding-bounces at lists.bioenergylists.org
[mailto:greenbuilding-bounces at lists.bioenergylists.org] On Behalf Of RT
Sent: Sunday, January 15, 2012 12:45 PM
To: GBioEL
Subject: [Greenbuilding] CO2 emissions from glass (was Re: Yes,but is it
Green ?)

On Sun, 15 Jan 2012 09:23:14 -0500, sanjay jain <sanjayjainuk at yahoo.co.uk>
wrote:

quoting Doug who wrote:

>> Imagine how much is sitting in a 1000 year
> old arch dig site and how long it has been emitting CO2.
>
> Doug, what do you mean buried glass is emitting CO2? I know it takes a 
> lot of fossil fuel to make glass (my family in India used to make 
> glass using coal).... but does it continue to emit?


Not that I doubt the words of anyone who contributes to this forum [cough,
gag, hack, choke]. Excuse me. Don't know what brought that on.

For the longest time I've been under the impression that glass is inert.

If it's so volatile that it gives off emissions simply as a result of
sitting there, then it would not make much sense to use the material for
things like test tubes or petrie dishes in research labs because leachate or
emissions would contaminate the items that they're trying to determine the
characteristics of.

Or so one would think.

And geeze. For the past few years I've been switching over to glass dishes
because I didn't like the idea of eating and drinking from glazed ceramic
items which may or may not have used lead in the glazes ... and for a  
similar reason, using glass cookware instead of coated non-stick cookware   
... all based on the assumption that glass is inert.

And one would think that if glass is continually losing something from
itself (ie emissions) then it wouldn't be very durable .. you know, like how
PVC turns into $#!+ after a short time in part because it's off-gassing
vinyl chloride, the stuff that caused NASA to ban its use decades ago
because it was gumming up their sensitive gadgetry.  And yet, one needs
diamond or carbide in order to score glass for cutting. ie Steel won't do
the trick.


--
=== * ===
Rob Tom
Kanata, Ontario, Canada

< A r c h i L o g i c  at  Y a h o o  dot  c a  > (manually winnow the chaff
from my edress if you hit "reply")

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