1e master architecture - KuLeuven
Integrated
Regenerative
Design
Luc Eeckhout
2023-2024
,Course 8 – 13/11
Carbon & Materials (Quirlijn Thijs)
It’s not just about carbon dioxide levels and mel�ng polar ice caps. It’s about our public
health.
Warming makes droughts and floods worse. Beekeepers are seeing massive bee deaths.
Never before so much heat stress in the south, Glaciers are mel�ng at record speed.
Major drought in po valley and Spain, no Drinking water in Pyrenees.
Extreme weather in China, "I can no longer cry, my tears evaporate"
48 degrees in Sicily.
Record carbon emissions from forest fires in Greece.
July warmest month ever recorded, ocean water temperature breaks records.
COP21 – Paris 2015 – Climate conference
COP21, was a pivotal moment in the process as all Par�es adopted the
historic Paris Agreement the first ever universal, legally binding global
climate agreement that agrees to limit global temperature rise to well
below 2C̊ above pre industrial levels, with an aspira�onal goal of 1.5C̊ . All
Par�es also commited to submi�ng Na�onally Determined
Contribu�ons (NDCs), which are detailed reports on how they plan to
mi�gate climate change and adapt to its consequences.
Goals:
- Triple global renewable energy capacity by 2030.
- Double energy efficiency by 2030.
- Agree on phasing out unabated fossil fuels.
- Peak fossil fuel consump�on well ahead of 2030.
European green deal
We should be more ambi�ous for example; Denmark aims for a reduce by 70% of the greenhouse gas
emissions. While Belgium only aims for 47% reduce of the greenhouse gas emissions by 2030.
, 1. Carbon
Defini�ons,
depends on
how you look at
it.
Carbon is the fourth most abundant (=richly available) element in the universe.
CARBONCYCLE
, BIOSPHERIC CARBON PRODUCTION
= A natural process without human interference. In this Biospheric Carbon produc�on, the carbon in
fossil fuels would leak slowly into the atmosphere through volcanic ac�vity over millions of years in
the slow carbon cycle.
ANTHROPOGENIC CARBON DIOXIDE
= CO2 generated by human ac�vi�es, that enters the natural carbon cycle (usually through the
atmosphere). Anthropogenic carbon dioxide is produced in the chemical conversion of various carbon
bearing compounds or by releasing co 2 from geological reservoirs that without human interference
would have remained isolated from the more mobile carbon pools in the atmosphere, the ocean and
the biosphere.
About 2 billion tons of carbon dioxide are being removed from the atmosphere every year. But when
we cut down forests, we remove a dense growth of plants that had stored carbon in wood, in
biomass. By removing a forest, we remove plants that would otherwise take carbon out of the
atmosphere as they grow.
What are greenhouse gases ?
Greenhouse gases are atmospheric gases such as carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), and
water vapor (H2O) that absorb and re-radiate heat , which warms the lower atmosphere and
Earth’s surface. This process of absorp�on and re-radia�on of heat is called the greenhouse
effect.
So far, land plants and the ocean have taken up
about 65 to 80% of the carbon people have put
into the atmosphere. But as much as 20 percent
may remain in the atmosphere for many
thousands of years.
Integrated
Regenerative
Design
Luc Eeckhout
2023-2024
,Course 8 – 13/11
Carbon & Materials (Quirlijn Thijs)
It’s not just about carbon dioxide levels and mel�ng polar ice caps. It’s about our public
health.
Warming makes droughts and floods worse. Beekeepers are seeing massive bee deaths.
Never before so much heat stress in the south, Glaciers are mel�ng at record speed.
Major drought in po valley and Spain, no Drinking water in Pyrenees.
Extreme weather in China, "I can no longer cry, my tears evaporate"
48 degrees in Sicily.
Record carbon emissions from forest fires in Greece.
July warmest month ever recorded, ocean water temperature breaks records.
COP21 – Paris 2015 – Climate conference
COP21, was a pivotal moment in the process as all Par�es adopted the
historic Paris Agreement the first ever universal, legally binding global
climate agreement that agrees to limit global temperature rise to well
below 2C̊ above pre industrial levels, with an aspira�onal goal of 1.5C̊ . All
Par�es also commited to submi�ng Na�onally Determined
Contribu�ons (NDCs), which are detailed reports on how they plan to
mi�gate climate change and adapt to its consequences.
Goals:
- Triple global renewable energy capacity by 2030.
- Double energy efficiency by 2030.
- Agree on phasing out unabated fossil fuels.
- Peak fossil fuel consump�on well ahead of 2030.
European green deal
We should be more ambi�ous for example; Denmark aims for a reduce by 70% of the greenhouse gas
emissions. While Belgium only aims for 47% reduce of the greenhouse gas emissions by 2030.
, 1. Carbon
Defini�ons,
depends on
how you look at
it.
Carbon is the fourth most abundant (=richly available) element in the universe.
CARBONCYCLE
, BIOSPHERIC CARBON PRODUCTION
= A natural process without human interference. In this Biospheric Carbon produc�on, the carbon in
fossil fuels would leak slowly into the atmosphere through volcanic ac�vity over millions of years in
the slow carbon cycle.
ANTHROPOGENIC CARBON DIOXIDE
= CO2 generated by human ac�vi�es, that enters the natural carbon cycle (usually through the
atmosphere). Anthropogenic carbon dioxide is produced in the chemical conversion of various carbon
bearing compounds or by releasing co 2 from geological reservoirs that without human interference
would have remained isolated from the more mobile carbon pools in the atmosphere, the ocean and
the biosphere.
About 2 billion tons of carbon dioxide are being removed from the atmosphere every year. But when
we cut down forests, we remove a dense growth of plants that had stored carbon in wood, in
biomass. By removing a forest, we remove plants that would otherwise take carbon out of the
atmosphere as they grow.
What are greenhouse gases ?
Greenhouse gases are atmospheric gases such as carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), and
water vapor (H2O) that absorb and re-radiate heat , which warms the lower atmosphere and
Earth’s surface. This process of absorp�on and re-radia�on of heat is called the greenhouse
effect.
So far, land plants and the ocean have taken up
about 65 to 80% of the carbon people have put
into the atmosphere. But as much as 20 percent
may remain in the atmosphere for many
thousands of years.
