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News Astrochemistry
Diamond planets are forever
Greener scope Stan Higgins
ceo of NEPIC I Jon Evans
US and French astronomers think they have discovered the first ever carbon-rich, diamond-encrusted planet. Known as 55 Cancri e, it is one of five planets that orbit the star 55 Cancri, which is around 40 light-years from Earth and can be seen with the naked eye in the constellation of Cancer. By recording its passage in
front of the star, astronomers have been able to determine that 55 Cancri e has around twice the diameter of Earth and roughly eight times its mass. This means that the planet can’t have the same composition as Earth, in which an iron core is surrounded by a silicate-based rocky mantle, as the mass is too low for the size of the planet. Astronomers have suggested that the planet could possess a rocky interior if it is coated with a thick layer of water, which would be in a supercritical state at the high, 2000°C, temperatures expected at the planet’s surface. Now, a team led by Nikku Madhusudhan at Yale University, US, has suggested that the mass and diameter measurements would also make sense if 55 Cancri e consists mainly of carbon
(Astrophysical Journal Letters, http://arxiv.org/abs/1210.2720). Spectroscopy measurements support this idea by indicating that the planet’s host star is carbon-rich.To find out what kind of planets might have formed around such a carbon-rich star, the team combined structural models derived from the mass and diameter measurements. These revealed that 55 Cancri e could possess an iron core surrounded by a mantle of silicon carbide and covered with a thick crust of graphite and diamond that may account for around a third of its mass. This kind of structure implies that the plate tectonics seen on Earth would not take place on 55 Cancri e, because of both the thick carbon crust and the lack of water. ‘Both these factors together may potentially inhibit plate tectonics on this planet, unlike oxygen-rich planets for which previous studies have suggested that plate tectonics is almost inevitable,’ Madhusudhan said.
He hopes to confirm this
diamond planet status by conducting detailed observations of the star’s chemical composition and the planet’s atmosphere.
n June 2012, the UK coalition government announced the introduction of mandatory carbon reporting, requiring around 1100 of
the UK’s largest listed companies to report their greenhouse gas emissions every year.
Reporting rules come into effect
from April 2013 but the initial reporting requirements are only for direct emissions (scope 1), and indirect emissions from purchased electricity, heating, and cooling (scope 2). This makes initial reporting relatively simple, and avoids the issue of supply chain interfaces and boundaries that account for signif- icant indirect emissions (scope 3). Scope 1 and scope 2 are just the beginning, because for many consumer products, the majority of the carbon input comes from the chemical process sector and scope 3 is already defined as the next phase. There are already many examples
of the ‘greening’ of industry. However, many of these materials are only now taking on greater significance as global brands are flexing their muscles with suppliers. In 2011, for example, the world’s most iconic brand Coca- Cola stated that it had started to base its plastic bottles on 30% plant based polymeric material (C&I, 2012, 9, 11). These PlantBottles were the only Coke packaging available within the area of the Olympic stadia during the 2012 London games. Collaboration will be key to achieving many of sustainability goals. If the ‘Tier One’ companies at the top of the supply chains are to present credible data, then they are going to require others in the chain to be able to do so too. These tier one companies have begun to collaborate
‘The question is: can your company demonstrate the contribution it makes to energy efficiency’
through initiatives, such as the Carbon Disclosure Project and The Sustainability Forum, to discuss how to collate and present to consumers and others their sustainability data in a meaningful way. All of this business activity shows an increasing trend towards the greening of the chemical and polymer industries. The question is: can your company demonstrate the contribution it makes to energy efficiency, improving its carbon footprint and other sustainability issues? It will sooner or later be required to do so by its customers. Sustainability management will become a key selling point. In the northeast of England,
there are more than 20 low carbon investment projects under way, including the production of renewable fuels, electricity, biopolymers and biopharmaceuticals. The Northeast of England Process Industry Cluster (NEPIC) is raising awareness of these issues by helping small and medium size enterprises (SMEs) in their sector understand the policy drivers as well as improving access to novel and renewable feedstocks. This sustainability programme, Developing Energy Efficient Low Carbon Sustainable Industry, will run for three years and is part-funded through the European Regional Development Fund.