decarbonize

English

Alternative forms

decarbonise (UK)

Etymology

Pronunciation

(Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /diːˈkɑːbənaɪz/

Verb

decarbonize (third-person singular simple present decarbonizes, present participle decarbonizing, simple past and past participle decarbonized)

To remove carbon from something.
1. To clean hard sooty deposits from inside an internal combustion engine.
  Synonym: decoke
  
  Coordinate terms: carbonize, recarbonize
  
  During the overhaul, the cylinder heads were found to be reusable, as long as they got a good cleaning to decarbonize the valve seat areas.
  - 1968 February, Popular Science, page 115:
    To decarbonize piston rings and ring grooves, remove each ring carefully by spreading the ends just enough to get them clear of the piston top land and lifted off.
2. To remove carbon content from iron or steel, either intentionally or accidentally, as by (for example) overheating steel in the presence of air, destroying its former temper and hardness.
  Synonym: decarburize
  
  Coordinate terms: carbonize, carburize, recarbonize, recarburize
  
  A blast furnace decarbonizes iron enough that it can be used as input to a steelmaking furnace.
  
  Repeatedly scorching a case-hardened tool will ruin the case by decarbonizing it.
3. To reduce or replace fossil fuels by renewable energy in energy production and distribution systems.
  Troponyms: electrify, solarize
  
  Coordinate term: recarbonize
  
  Efforts to decarbonize the automotive fleet are challenging, but no one wants nightmare-grade climate change, either.
  - 2015, Tessa Hebb et al., The Routledge Handbook of Responsible Investment, Routledge, →ISBN, page 617:
    In fact, at a time when it is urgent to decarbonize the economy by all means possible, carbon footprinting misses the majority of the footprint of many sectors, either due to technique or lack of data.

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