Studying the Carbon Footprint of Carbon Dioxide Gas Coming Out of Chimneys and Electricity Production of Zahedan Gas Power Plant

Background Aims: The carbon footprint is one of the parameters that can be used to estimate the amount of pollution caused by carbon dioxide compounds. This research was conducted to evaluate and estimate the carbon footprint resulting from the carbon dioxide emissions of the Zahedan Gas Power Plant due to the consumption of fossil fuels and electricity production. Materials and Methods: Carbon dioxide was read directly in the vicinity of the exhaust chimneys. In each studied season (spring, summer, or autumn), carbon dioxide was measured with 3 repetitions. TESTO (model 350, Germany) was utilized to measure carbon dioxide gas. The carbon footprint was estimated and evaluated by the IPCC method. To calculate the per capita carbon footprint, the population of Zahedan was considered based on the last census in 2021, which was 770 800 people. Results: The total carbon dioxide emissions in the spring and summer of 2021 were 15.22 and 9.41 ppm, respectively. It was 12.44 and 20.37 ppm in the spring and autumn of 2022, and 21.49 ppm in the summer of 2023. The highest per capita carbon dioxide emission and intensity of carbon dioxide emission (2240.89 and 288.73, respectively) were obtained from the consumption of oil and gas in the year 2021 for electricity generation in the Zahedan Gas Power Plant. Conclusion: Zahedan Power Plant has used oil and natural gas to produce electricity, and the consumption of natural gas was higher than that of oil gas in the two years under study. The amount of carbon dioxide emissions in 2021 from the consumption of natural gas was higher than that of oil gas. In addition, the amount of carbon dioxide emissions in 2021 was higher than in 2022. According to the results, carbon dioxide emissions increased in 2023 and 2022 compared to 2021.