ENGL 210-503

Dr. Naqaa Abbas

Problem Statement
Due Date: 3rd April 2022

Group 1: Problem Statement

Problem (Busira)
To put it simply, climate change is the long-term change in temperatures and weather patterns. Climate
change should not be confused with ‘weather’, as weather refers to short term changes in atmospheric
conditions. Global Warming is a type of climate change where the average global temperatures would rise,
leading to unpredictable weather systems, and having a severe effect on our environment and social
ecosystems.

There are many causes of global warming, but the main contributing factor is Greenhouse Gasses (GHG).
These are gasses that are released through the burning of fossil fuels - like oil, coal, and natural gas. The
gasses collectively create something like a ‘blanket’ around the earth creating what is now known as the
greenhouse effect (National Geographic Society, 2019). Electromagnetic waves emitted by the Sun pass
through the atmosphere and warm the Earth, but when infrared waves are reflected off the Earth’s
surface, the GHG them back down again causing the overall temperature of the planet to rise and the
weather patterns to change.

Carbon dioxide makes up most of the greenhouse gasses and that is what our group would focus on. We
found out that in Qatar, GHG emissions are 32.4 tons per capita, which is the highest in today’s world.
Qatar itself releases 106.65 million tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere annually making it
responsible for 0.31% of the world’s carbon emission (Ritchie & Roser, 2020). While the number may not
seem like much currently, if the trend continues, temperatures in Qatar will rise even more than they
already are. As more CO2 is produced, more people will get affected by heat strokes, our food supply
chains need to adapt to rising temperatures, and as stated before, the weather would become more
unpredictable (Climate change impacts). The main source of CO2 emissions are the 5 Liquified Natural Gas
(LNG) power stations that operates in Qatar (Shannak et al., 2022)

Qatar’s Vision 2030 specifically dwells on how us as a society needs to curb global warming effects (Qatar
National Vision 2030 2008) (Qatar National Vision 2030). Consequently, Qatar released its updated
‘Nationally Determined Contribution’ to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change
(UNFCCC), which highlights how the peninsula aims to reduce GHG emissions by 25% in 2030 (Nationally
Determined Contribution (NDC) 2021).

This awareness led our team to research on the effects of high CO2 emissions and to come up with a
solution to decrease the CO2 emissions in Qatar to leave a better Earth for future generations.
Purpose (Busira)
Our first purpose of this project is to research the effects of CO2 emissions in Qatar. Our second purpose
(our main focus of this project) is to come up with a solution(s) to reduce these emissions by the power
stations in Qatar, whilst keeping our solution aligned with Qatar’s Vision 2030.

Scope (Maha)
This issue effects everyone in Qatar, no matter which demographic they are. However, people in more
underserved communities will suffer from the effects of high GHG emissions, as temperatures would
become unbearable. Thus, our research on the effects of high CO2 emissions would mainly focus on
underserved communities such as lower-class citizens and expatriate laborers. Nevertheless, it is important
to stress out that global warming affects everyone.

However, as stated previously, CO2 emissions in Qatar are mainly due to LNG power stations. Thus, any
engineering solution we come up with would affect these power stations directly. Hence, our primary
scope would be these power stations. When it comes to finding a solution, we need to consider economic
factors, as this would be the biggest setback to any potential solution we find. Additionally, any solution we
come up with cannot affect societal standards of living negatively. It is unlikely that we would come across
any cultural implications. Finally, our solution must be sustainable, meaning that we do not exhaust any
sector in society to ensure our solution works effectively.

Objectives (Maha)
The purpose will be achieved when several different workable methods are found by which per capita
carbon dioxide emissions can be lowered. We would refer to these solutions as a Carbon Mitigation
system. Our solution needs to be realistic, and the country’s economic background should be kept in mind.
The solutions also need to be politically popular so there can be legislation and execution in place, which
can quickly get the ball rolling on things. Mainly, our solution must be feasible to LNG power stations. This
means our solutions should be, economically feasible at lowering CO2 emissions and a sustainable model.
Additionally, if our solution impacts the general population, we will also need to make sure that incentives
are provided, to motivate the general population to pursue a greener future.

Previous & Current Research/Processes/Products (Abdul)

Research shows that Qatar is among the countries with the highest percentage of greenhouse gasses
emission, specifically Carbon Dioxide. Studies conducted by the world health organization, (WHO), indicate
that the emission of greenhouse gasses in Qatar is above the restricted limit of micrograms per metric
cube, which therefore defines Qatar as a country with a harmful air quality (Qatar General Health Risks: Air
Pollution).

To reduce the emission of Carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, Qatar has initiated a climate change action
plan after the release of Qatar Vision 2030. The country’s plans include becoming the largest Liquified
Natural Gas producer in the world, by 2030, as mentioned in the vision. The industry of fossil fuels is one of
the main threats of climate change and carbon dioxide emissions. Therefore, the country has introduced a
plan of carbon capture and storage/utilization within the liquified natural gas production and storage
process (Qatar aims to reduce its GHG emissions by 25% in 2030). The country is working on a plan to
capture and store approximately five million tons of carbon dioxide emissions, annually, by 2025, as
mentioned by the energy affairs minister, Saad Al-Kaabi, during the 40th oil and money conference in
London. This process benefits Qatar both environmentally and economically, since this process targets as
well the focus of becoming the largest Liquified Natural Gas producer in the world (Qatar to store more
than 5m tons of CO2 a year by 2025 2019)

Different sectors of the industry are becoming huge implementers of carbon capturing and storage
techniques, especially those involving fossil fuel burning, like Qatar. It is a three-step process, involving
separation, transportation, and storage of carbon dioxide. The process depends mainly on the chemical
features of carbon dioxide. Carbon Capture techniques that have been found includes absorption,
cryogenic, membrane separation, adsorption, and chemical looping. Chemical absorption is the most
popular method of capturing CO2. However, a lot of energy is required for this method. We would
investigate the most efficient method and look for areas of development.

Globally, a variety of CCUS (Carbon Capture, Utilization and Storage) are already under operation. The
largest plant is situated in USA and is called the ‘Century Plant’. This plant has a capture rate of 8.4
Megatons of CO2 per year. The process of running such a plant is very costly, but the benefits towards the
atmosphere from the dangers of carbon dioxide emission are very noticeable. Carbon dioxide captured by
the plant is therefore stored and used as well in several industrial operations, such as Occidental
Petroleum EOR project in the Permian Basin (North America). We would analyze what makes Century plant
different from all the other CCUS plants across the globe, in order to benefit from the experiences of such a
large project and understanding the positive and negative impacts of running a huge carbon capturing
plant, where Qatar can benefit from.

Moving on, Qatar has introduced a plan of building developed cities and facilities around the country, with
a greener and more developed environment, in order to support the climate change. Such projects include
the city of Lusail, which is one of the main projects in Qatar. This city was built and still being constructed,
where one of its main goals is to construct infrastructure that satisfies the Global Sustainability Assessment
Program (GSAS). This program was introduced in the Middle East and North Africa Region, with a main goal
of assessing architecture’s impacts on the environment. Qatar is working on Lusail City in order to develop
infrastructure that satisfies the limit of carbon emissions and climate change techniques, by therefore
comparing the final products with the international standards set by the world health organization
(Approaches to reducing carbon dioxide emissions in the built environment in Qatar)

Another similar project introduced by the country is Qatar Foundation, which is a non-profit organization
introduced in 1995. One of the main goals of Qatar Foundation lately, is the focus on Carbon Dioxide and
GHG emission. It has introduced reliable techniques to reduce the emission of carbon dioxide into the
atmosphere. Qatar Foundation aims to become a car free city in 2030, which plays a huge role in the
environmental development of the country (Environment).
These projects play a huge role in achieving the country’s goals of reducing the emission of carbon dioxide,
even if the main reason is the industry. This is a big step towards reducing the emission of carbon dioxide,
but the main focus should be on the industry, which is the main reason for carbon dioxide emission.

User Needs & Design Constraints (Ushara)

Based on everything that we have researched above, we have concluded that a Carbon Capturing device
would be the best course of action to collectively reduce the concentration of CO2, allowing us to
drastically reverse the effects of Global warming. A Carbon Capturing device takes in a mixture of gasses,
and via a series of processes, CO2 is extracted from the gas mixture. The gas mixture that has the CO2
filtered out would be passed out to the atmosphere. Additionally, to make use of the captured CO2, we
would also work on developing a utilization/storage system for the captured gas. This would be the basic
outline of our Carbon Mitigation system, and we would call such a system as CCUS (Carbon Capture
Utilization and Storage). Nevertheless, it is a hard feat to achieve, otherwise such a system would be a
popular solution as of now.

Our solution would primarily affect the LNG power stations in Qatar. Additionally, there is a high chance
that our solution would affect the general population in Qatar, as our objective is to also attain
sustainability. Focusing on the LNG power stations in Qatar, our solution,

● Must not substantially affect the performance of the power plants

● Should not require a significant amount of energy in order to run the CCUS
● Should be comparatively easy to install within the complexities of the power plants as of now
● Should have a comparatively low maintenance cost
● Should not pose an adverse risk to the environment

If we find a solution that affects Qatar’s general population, we must work to make sure that such changes
incentivize people to take part in compromising for a greener future. We were not able to find any cultural
implications with the development of a CCUS. However, we should be aware of the environmental
implications that our CCUS could potentially have since we would need to develop piping systems that
spans across large areas. To avoid societal implications, we are inclined towards building our model far
from urban areas and closer to power stations. We also need to look into effective ways of either storing or
utilizing the captured CO2 in our CCUS.

As of now, we have almost a month to finish researching and develop a carbon mitigation system that can
satisfy the objectives outlined by the Qatar Vision 2030. Due to the short amount of time available, it is
likely that we would develop on an already existing Carbon Mitigation system. Based on our current
research, we did not find any expensive materials that would be required in the CCUS. The main costs
would go into the actual size of the CCUS. This would depend on how many Power stations we aim to
remove Carbon Dioxide emissions from.
 Works Cited

Approaches to reducing carbon dioxide emissions in the built environment in Qatar. GORD Institute. (n.d.).
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dioxide-emissions-in-the-built-environment-in-qatar/

Climate change impacts. Climate change impacts | National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
(n.d.). Retrieved April 3, 2022, from https://www.noaa.gov/education/resource-
collections/climate/climate-change-impacts

Environment. QF Stories RSS. (n.d.). Retrieved April 3, 2022, from

https://www.qf.org.qa/stories/environment

National Geographic Society. (2019, March 27). Climate change. National Geographic Society. Retrieved
April 3, 2022, from https://www.nationalgeographic.org/encyclopedia/climate-change/

Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC). (2021, August). Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC).
State of Qatar.

Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC). (2021, August). Retrieved April 3, 2022, from
https://www.gco.gov.qa/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/GCO-QNV-English.pdf

Qatar aims to reduce its GHG emissions by 25% in 2030. Enerdata. (2021, October 29). Retrieved April 3,
2022, from https://www.enerdata.net/publications/daily-energy-news/qatar-aims-reduce-its-ghg-
emissions-25-2030.html

Qatar General Health Risks: Air Pollution. IAMAT. (n.d.). Retrieved April 3, 2022, from
https://www.iamat.org/country/qatar/risk/air-pollution

Qatar National Vision 2030. (2008, July). Retrieved April 3, 2022, from https://www.gco.gov.qa/wp-
content/uploads/2016/09/GCO-QNV-English.pdf

Qatar to store more than 5m tons of CO2 a year by 2025. Qatar to store more than 5M tons of CO2 a year
by 2025. (2019, October). Retrieved April 3, 2022, from
https://www.aa.com.tr/en/energy/projects/qatar-to-store-more-than-5m-tons-of-co2-a-year-by-
2025/26924

Ritchie, H., & Roser, M. (2020, May 11). Qatar: CO2 Country Profile. Our World in Data. Retrieved April 3,
2022, from https://ourworldindata.org/co2/country/qatar

Shannak, S. (2022, February 23). How Qatar manages economic growth and CO2 emissions. Fair Observer.
Retrieved April 3, 2022, from https://www.fairobserver.com/region/middle_east_north_africa/saad-
shannak-qatar-economic-growth-carbon-emissions-qatari-news-gulf-khaleej-arab-world-
84393/#:~:text=The%20country%20is%20also%20a,when%20compared%20to%20global%20average
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