Impact of Anthropogenic Heat Emissions on Global Atmospheric Temperature

Comment: Hello Mr. Karamanev

I have read with great interest your article "Impact of anthropogenic heat emissions on global atmospheric temperature" which presents a very original approach to the causes of global warming.
It confirms what I observed recently on the extent of thermal pollution caused by the consumption of primary energy.

Below are some comments and questions about your article.

1 / In the introduction to your article you write: " The global effect of direct anthropogenic heat
release into the atmosphere has not been studied yet, since the amount of anthropogenic
heat flux is assumed to comprise only 1% of greenhouse gas forcing [7]."
This does not seem correct to me as there is at least one publication on the same subject "Global energy accumulation and net heat emission - Bo Nordell and Bruno Gervet" International Journal On Global Warming, Vol. 1, Nos. 1/2/3, 2009.

2 / In paragraph 2.1. (Oil - Commercial and Residential Use) you write “ Use of oil products in this context is mostly for space heating. It has been shown that the average heat release from buildings into the atmosphere is 50% [17]. "
This is not consistent with what is indicated in table 1, whose value of 80% seems to me more correct if we consider that 80% of the primary energy is used for heating and 20% for domestic hot water.

3 / In paragraph 2.3. (Gas - Commercial and Residential Use) you write “ In this application natural gas is used primarily for space heating. As in the case of space heating by oil, the heat release to the atmosphere is approximately 50%.”.
This is not consistent with what is indicated in Table 1, whose value of 80% seems to me to be more correct if we consider, as for oil, that 80% of the primary energy is used for heating and 20 % for domestic hot water.

4 / In paragraph 2.4. (Biofuels and waste) you write “ Commercial and domestic use of biofuels is mostly for space heating, at 50% atmospheric heat emissions.”.
This is not consistent with what is indicated in Table 1, whose value of 80% seems to me more correct if we consider, as for oil and gas, that 80% of the primary energy is used for the heating and 20% for domestic hot water.

5 / In paragraph 2.7. (Electricity) you write " The heat released during the conversion of electricity to the final useful type of energy such as mechanical (in motors), thermal (space heating), electromagnetic (lighting) and so on is estimated next. 48.4% of electricity generated worldwide is used for commercial and residential purposes, where it was assumed that 50% of it is released to the atmosphere [17]. The rest (51.6%) is used in industries and other applications. It is roughly estimated that 30% of that energy is released to the atmosphere. Therefore, the total atmospheric
heat input from the final use of electricity is estimated at 40%.”.
If we do the same reasoning as for oil, gas, biofuels and waste, for commercial and residential use of electricity, 80% of final electricity consumption ends up in the form of heat emission direct to the atmosphere. If we consider that 30% of the electricity consumed for industry and other applications is released into the atmosphere, then we get a total value of 54.2% and not 40%.

6 / Finally, the value of direct heat emission into the atmosphere would therefore be 41.6% of the total primary energy consumption and not 40% as indicated in Table 1.

7 / In paragraph 4 (The terrestrial reactor) you write: " As an initial approximation, we can treat the transfer of energy (sensible heat) and the transfer of mass (CO2) in the three-phase, gas-liquid-solid, Earth reactor as two similar processes using the heat and mass transfer analogy. After all, the releases of CO2 and heat are simultaneous (in the case of burning of fossil fuels) due to their stoichiometric relationship."
Why don't you take into account the water vapor given off during the combustion of fossil fuels?

8 / In paragraph 6 (Historical relationship between mass (CO2) and energy (heat) emissions), you write: “ As the proportion of fossil energy in the entire global energy mix has been higher than 70% since the 1950s, it is expected that amount of anthropogenic carbon dioxide emissions would correlate with the amount of heat emitted to the atmosphere. Figure 4 shows this relationship. It can be seen that carbon dioxide emissions are almost proportional to atmospheric heat input. The difference in the slopes between and after 1970 is probably due to the change in the ratio
between different primary energy sources. "
Figure 4 does not appear in the article. Could you add it to make it easier to understand what is written ?

Thank you in advance for your possible response to my remarks and questions.

Best regards
François VALLET - 73000 Chambéry - France
Engineer in climatic, energy and environmental engineering - retired