Sample records for carbon emission trading

  1. Pathways of human development and carbon emissions embodied in trade

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Steinberger, Julia K.; Timmons Roberts, J.; Peters, Glen P.; Baiocchi, Giovanni

    2012-02-01

    It has long been assumed that human development depends on economic growth, that national economic expansion in turn requires greater energy use and, therefore, increased greenhouse-gas emissions. These interdependences are the topic of current research. Scarcely explored, however, is the impact of international trade: although some nations develop socio-economically and import high-embodied-carbon products, it is likely that carbon-exporting countries gain significantly fewer benefits. Here, we use new consumption-based measures of national carbon emissions to explore how the relationship between human development and carbon changes when we adjust national emission rates for trade. Without such adjustment of emissions, some nations seem to be getting far better development `bang' for the carbon `buck' than others, who are showing scant gains for disproportionate shares of global emissions. Adjusting for the transfer of emissions through trade explains many of these outliers, but shows that further socio-economic benefits are accruing to carbon-importing rather than carbon-exporting countries. We also find that high life expectancies are compatible with low carbon emissions but high incomes are not. Finally, we see that, despite strong international trends, there is no deterministic industrial development trajectory: there is great diversity in pathways, and national histories do not necessarily follow the global trends.

  2. The Effect of Emissions Trading And Carbon Sequestration on The Cost Of CO2 Emissions Mitigation

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Mahasenan, Natesan; Scott, Michael J.; Smith, Steven J.

    2002-08-05

    The deployment of carbon capture and sequestration (CC&S) technologies is greatly affected by the marginal cost of controlling carbon emissions (also the value of carbon, when emissions permits are traded). Emissions limits that are more stringent in the near term imply higher near-term carbon values and therefore encourage the local development and deployment of CC&S technologies. In addition, trade in emissions obligations lowers the cost of meeting any regional or global emissions limit and so affects the rate of penetration of CC&S technologies. We examine the effects of the availability of sequestration opportunities and emissions trading (either within select regionsmore » or globally) on the cost of emissions mitigation and compliance with different emissions reduction targets for the IPCC SRES scenarios. For each base scenario and emissions target, we examine the issues outlined above and present quantitative estimates for the impacts of trade and the availability of sequestration opportunities in meeting emissions limitation obligations.« less

  3. Does trade matter for carbon emissions in OECD countries? Evidence from a new trade openness measure.

    PubMed

    Gozgor, Giray

    2017-12-01

    This paper analyzes the impacts of the per capita income, the per capita energy consumption, and the trade openness on the level of per capita carbon emissions in the panel dataset of 35 Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries over the period 1960-2013. Along with the nominal trade openness, the paper uses a different trade openness measure, so called as the "trade potential index" (TPI). To the best of our knowledge, this is the first paper that uses the TPI in the empirical environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) hypothesis literature. The paper finds that the EKC hypothesis is valid and there is an "inverted-U" relationship between the income and the carbon emissions. In addition, the paper observes that there is a positive effect of the energy consumption on the carbon emissions. Furthermore, the results indicate that both trade openness measures are negatively associated with the carbon emissions in the OECD countries in the long run.

  4. Trading permanent and temporary carbon emissions credits

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Marland, Gregg; Marland, Eric

    2009-08-01

    In this issue of Climatic Change, Van Kooten (2009) addresses an issue that has bedeviled negotiators since the drafting stage of the Kyoto Protocol. If we accept that increasing withdrawals of carbon dioxide from the atmpshere has the same net impact on the climate system as reducing emissions of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere, how do we design a system that allows trading of one for the other? As van Kooten expresses the challenge: 'The problem is that emissions reduction and carbon sequestration, while opposite sides of the same coin in some sense, are not directly comparable, thereby inhibiting theirmore » trade in carbon markets.' He explains: 'The difficulty centers on the length of time that mitigation strategies without CO{sub 2} from entering the atmosphere - the duration problem.' While reducing emissions of CO{sub 2} represents an essentially permanent benefit for the atmosphere, capturing CO{sub 2} that has been produced (whether capture is from the atmosphere or directly from, for example, the exhaust from power plants) there is the challenge of storing the carbon adn the risk that it will yet escape to the atmosphere. Permanent benefit to the atmosphere is often not assured for carbon sequestration activities. This is especially true if the carbon is taken up and stored in the biosphere - e.g. in forest trees or agricultural soils.« less

  5. The market effectiveness of electricity reform: A case of carbon emissions trading market of Shenzhen city

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Wang, Yongli; Wang, Gang; Zuo, Yi; Fan, Lisha; Xiao, Yao

    2017-03-01

    In the 13th Five-Year Plan, the Chinese government proposed to achieve the national carbon emission trading market established by 2017. The establishment of carbon emission trading market is the most important one in power reform, which helps to promote the power reform and achieve the goal of energy saving and emission reduction. As the bond of connecting environment energy issues and the economic development, carbon emissions trading market has become a hot research topic in the related fields, by market means, it incentive the lower cost subject emissions to undertake more reductions and therefore to benefit, the body of the high cost finished the task by buying quota reduction, to achieve the effect of having the least social total cost. Shenzhen has become the first city in China to start carbon trading pilot formally on June 16, 2013, online trading on June 18. The paper analyzes the market effectiveness of electricity reform in China, which takes carbon emissions trading market of Shenzhen city for example, and gives some suggestions for future development.

  6. Trade-based carbon sequestration accounting.

    PubMed

    King, Dennis M

    2004-04-01

    This article describes and illustrates an accounting method to assess and compare "early" carbon sequestration investments and trades on the basis of the number of standardized CO2 emission offset credits they will provide. The "gold standard" for such credits is assumed to be a relatively riskless credit based on a CO2 emission reduction that provides offsets against CO2 emissions on a one-for-one basis. The number of credits associated with carbon sequestration needs to account for time, risk, durability, permanence, additionality, and other factors that future trade regulators will most certainly use to assign "official" credits to sequestration projects. The method that is presented here uses established principles of natural resource accounting and conventional rules of asset valuation to "score" projects. A review of 20 "early" voluntary United States based CO2 offset trades that involve carbon sequestration reveals that the assumptions that buyers, sellers, brokers, and traders are using to characterize the economic potential of their investments and trades vary enormously. The article develops a "universal carbon sequestration credit scoring equation" and uses two of these trades to illustrate the sensitivity of trade outcomes to various assumptions about how future trade auditors are likely to "score" carbon sequestration projects in terms of their "equivalency" with CO2 emission reductions. The article emphasizes the importance of using a standard credit scoring method that accounts for time and risk to assess and compare even unofficial prototype carbon sequestration trades. The scoring method illustrated in this article is a tool that can protect the integrity of carbon sequestration credit trading and can assist buyers and sellers in evaluating the real economic potential of prospective trades.

  7. Carbon dioxide emission and economic growth of China-the role of international trade.

    PubMed

    Boamah, Kofi Baah; Du, Jianguo; Bediako, Isaac Asare; Boamah, Angela Jacinta; Abdul-Rasheed, Alhassan Alolo; Owusu, Samuel Mensah

    2017-05-01

    This study investigates the role of international trade in mitigating carbon dioxide emission as a nation economically advances. This study disaggregated the international trade into total exports and total imports. A multivariate model framework was estimated for the time series data for the period of 1970-2014. The quantile regression detected all the essential relationship, which hitherto, the traditional ordinary least squares could not capture. A cointegration relationship was confirmed using the Johansen cointegration model. The findings of the Granger causality revealed the presence of a uni-directional Granger causality running from energy consumption to economic growth; from import to economic growth; from imports to exports; and from urbanisation to economic growth, exports and imports. Our study established the presence of long-run relationships amongst carbon dioxide emission, economic growth, energy consumption, imports, exports and urbanisation. A bootstrap method was further utilised to reassess the evidence of the Granger causality, of which the results affirmed the Granger causality in the long run. This study confirmed a long-run N-shaped relationship between economic growth and carbon emission, under the estimated cubic environmental Kuznet curve framework, from the perspective of China. The recommendation therefore is that China as export leader should transform its trade growth mode by reducing the level of carbon dioxide emission and strengthening its international cooperation as it embraces more environmental protectionisms.

  8. Frameworks for comparing emissions associated with production, consumption, and international trade.

    PubMed

    Kanemoto, Keiichiro; Lenzen, Manfred; Peters, Glen P; Moran, Daniel D; Geschke, Arne

    2012-01-03

    While the problem of climate change is being perceived as increasingly urgent, decision-makers struggle to agree on the distribution of responsibility across countries. In particular, representatives from countries hosting emissions-intensive exporting industries have argued that the importers of emissions-intensive goods should bear the responsibility, and ensuing penalties. Indeed, international trade and carbon leakage appear to play an increasingly important role in the carbon emissions debate. However, definitions of quantities describing the embodiment of carbon emissions in internationally traded products, and their measurement, have to be sufficiently robust before being able to underpin global policy. In this paper we critically examine a number of emissions accounting concepts, examine whether the ensuing carbon balances are compatible with monetary trade balances, discuss their different interpretations, and highlight implications for policy. In particular, we compare the emissions embodied in bilateral trade (EEBT) method which considers total trade flows with domestic emission intensities, with the multi-regional input-output (MRIO) method which considers trade only into final consumption with global emission intensities. If consumption-based emissions of different countries were to be compared, we would suggest an MRIO approach because of the global emissions coverage inherent in this method. If trade-adjusted emission inventories were to be compared, we would suggest an EEBT approach due to the consistency with a monetary trade balance.

  9. International trade and carbon emissions: The role of Chinese institutional and policy reforms.

    PubMed

    Andersson, Fredrik N G

    2018-01-01

    The carbon dioxide embodied in Chinese exports to developed countries increased rapidly from 1995 to 2008. We test the extent to which institutional reforms in China can explain this increase. We focus on five areas of reforms: trade liberalization, environmental institutions, legal and property rights, institutional risk and exchange rate policy. Our results show that trade liberalization, weak environmental institutions, exchange rate policy, and legal and property rights affect emissions. Our results also indicate that the lack of reform in the utilities sector is an important factor in the rapid increase in embodied emissions. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  10. Examining drivers of the emissions embodied in trade

    PubMed Central

    Wu, Leying; Wang, Zheng

    2017-01-01

    Emissions embodied in provincial trade (EEPT) have important effects on provinces’ responsibilities for carbon emission reductions. Based on a multi-regional input-output model, we calculated EEPT for China’s 30 provinces in 2002, 2007 and 2010, and we attempted to determine the drivers of EEPT. The results showed that, during this period, the ratio of EEPT to production-based emissions increased over time, reaching 40.24% in 2010. In consideration of its important role in carbon emissions, we analyzed the factors attributable to EEPT through structure decomposition analysis. The decomposition results showed that final demand and carbon emission intensity were two major factors in EEPT, while the final demand in other provinces and the carbon emission intensity in the local province were major factors for Emissions embodied in provincial exports and the final demand in the local province and the carbon emission intensity in other provinces were major factors for Emissions embodied in provincial imports. Regarding the differences among the EEPT of different provinces, changes in the structure of trade were the primary reason. PMID:28426769

  11. Carbon emission trading system of China: a linked market vs. separated markets

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Liu, Yu; Feng, Shenghao; Cai, Songfeng; Zhang, Yaxiong; Zhou, Xiang; Chen, Yanbin; Chen, Zhanming

    2013-12-01

    The Chinese government intends to upgrade its current provincial carbon emission trading pilots to a nationwide scheme by 2015. This study investigates two of scenarios: separated provincial markets and a linked inter-provincial market. The carbon abatement effects of separated and linked markets are compared using two pilot provinces of Hubei and Guangdong based on a computable general equilibrium model termed Sino-TERMCo2. Simulation results show that the linked market can improve social welfare and reduce carbon emission intensity for the nation as well as for the Hubei-Guangdong bloc compared to the separated market. However, the combined system also distributes welfare more unevenly and thus increases social inequity. On the policy ground, the current results suggest that a well-constructed, nationwide carbon market complemented with adequate welfare transfer policies can be employed to replace the current top-down abatement target disaggregation practice.

  12. Revisiting the emissions-energy-trade nexus: evidence from the newly industrializing countries.

    PubMed

    Ahmed, Khalid; Shahbaz, Muhammad; Kyophilavong, Phouphet

    2016-04-01

    This paper applies Pedroni's panel cointegration approach to explore the causal relationship between trade openness, carbon dioxide emissions, energy consumption, and economic growth for the panel of newly industrialized economies (i.e., Brazil, India, China, and South Africa) over the period of 1970-2013. Our panel cointegration estimation results found majority of the variables cointegrated and confirm the long-run association among the variables. The Granger causality test indicates bidirectional causality between carbon dioxide emissions and energy consumption. A unidirectional causality is found running from trade openness to carbon dioxide emission and energy consumption and economic growth to carbon dioxide emissions. The results of causality analysis suggest that the trade liberalization in newly industrialized economies induces higher energy consumption and carbon dioxide emissions. Furthermore, the causality results are checked using an innovative accounting approach which includes forecast-error variance decomposition test and impulse response function. The long-run coefficients are estimated using fully modified ordinary least square (FMOLS) method, and results conclude that the trade openness and economic growth reduce carbon dioxide emissions in the long run. The results of FMOLS test sound the existence of environmental Kuznets curve hypothesis. It means that trade liberalization induces carbon dioxide emission with increased national output, but it offsets that impact in the long run with reduced level of carbon dioxide emissions.

  13. Statistical regularities of Carbon emission trading market: Evidence from European Union allowances

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Zheng, Zeyu; Xiao, Rui; Shi, Haibo; Li, Guihong; Zhou, Xiaofeng

    2015-05-01

    As an emerging financial market, the trading value of carbon emission trading market has definitely increased. In recent years, the carbon emission allowances have already become a way of investment. They are bought and sold not only by carbon emitters but also by investors. In this paper, we analyzed the price fluctuations of the European Union allowances (EUA) futures in European Climate Exchange (ECX) market from 2007 to 2011. The symmetric and power-law probability density function of return time series was displayed. We found that there are only short-range correlations in price changes (return), while long-range correlations in the absolute of price changes (volatility). Further, detrended fluctuation analysis (DFA) approach was applied with focus on long-range autocorrelations and Hurst exponent. We observed long-range power-law autocorrelations in the volatility that quantify risk, and found that they decay much more slowly than the autocorrelation of return time series. Our analysis also showed that the significant cross correlations exist between return time series of EUA and many other returns. These cross correlations exist in a wide range of fields, including stock markets, energy concerned commodities futures, and financial futures. The significant cross-correlations between energy concerned futures and EUA indicate the physical relationship between carbon emission and energy production process. Additionally, the cross-correlations between financial futures and EUA indicate that the speculation behavior may become an important factor that can affect the price of EUA. Finally we modeled the long-range volatility time series of EUA with a particular version of the GARCH process, and the result also suggests long-range volatility autocorrelations.

  14. Carbon Trading Protocols for Geologic Sequestration

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Hoversten, Shanna

    2008-08-07

    Carbon capture and storage (CCS) could become an instrumental part of a future carbon trading system in the US. If the US starts operating an emissions trading scheme (ETS) similar to that of the European Union's then limits on CO{sub 2} emissions will be conservative in the beginning stages. The government will most likely start by distributing most credits for free; these free credits are called allowances. The US may follow the model of the EU ETS, which during the first five-year phase distributed 95% of the credits for free, bringing that level down to 90% for the second five-yearmore » phase. As the number of free allowances declines, companies will be forced to purchase an increasing number of credits at government auction, or else obtain them from companies selling surplus credits. In addition to reducing the number of credits allocated for free, with each subsequent trading period the number of overall credits released into the market will decline in an effort to gradually reduce overall emissions. Companies may face financial difficulty as the value of credits continues to rise due to the reduction of the number of credits available in the market each trading period. Governments operating emissions trading systems face the challenge of achieving CO{sub 2} emissions targets without placing such a financial burden on their companies that the country's economy is markedly affected.« less

  15. Typical calculation and analysis of carbon emissions in thermal power plants

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Gai, Zhi-jie; Zhao, Jian-gang; Zhang, Gang

    2018-03-01

    On December 19, 2017, the national development and reform commission issued the national carbon emissions trading market construction plan (power generation industry), which officially launched the construction process of the carbon emissions trading market. The plan promotes a phased advance in carbon market construction, taking the power industry with a large carbon footprint as a breakthrough, so it is extremely urgent for power generation plants to master their carbon emissions. Taking a coal power plant as an example, the paper introduces the calculation process of carbon emissions, and comes to the fuel activity level, fuel emissions factor and carbon emissions data of the power plant. Power plants can master their carbon emissions according to this paper, increase knowledge in the field of carbon reserves, and make the plant be familiar with calculation method based on the power industry carbon emissions data, which can help power plants positioning accurately in the upcoming carbon emissions trading market.

  16. Sectoral roles in greenhouse gas emissions and policy implications for energy utilization and carbon emissions trading: a case study of Beijing, China.

    PubMed

    Ge, Jianping; Lei, Yalin; Xu, Qun; Wang, Xibo

    2016-01-01

    In this study, a decomposition and emissions matrix is developed to identify the roles (giver or taker) played by the sectors in the greenhouse gas emissions for the economy of Beijing in China. Our results indicate that services were the most important emitter if we consider the total (direct and indirect) emissions. In addition to Construction, Scientific studies and technical services and Finance sectors of services were the largest takers. They have a large role in boosting greenhouse gas emissions throughout the economy of Beijing. As the basis and supporter of production activities, the electricity production and the transportation sectors were the greatest givers. More emphasis should be placed on using clean energy and carbon capture and storage technologies to reduce emissions within these sectors. Based on the roles played by these sectors in greenhouse gas emissions, some policy implications were proposed for energy utilization and carbon emissions trading.

  17. Viability of Carbon Capture and Sequestration Retrofits for Existing Coal-Fired Power Plants under an Emission Trading Scheme.

    PubMed

    Talati, Shuchi; Zhai, Haibo; Morgan, M Granger

    2016-12-06

    Using data on the coal-fired electric generating units (EGUs) in Texas we assess the economic feasibility of retrofitting existing units with carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) in order to comply with the Clean Power Plan's rate-based emission standards under an emission trading scheme. CCS with 90% capture is shown to be more economically attractive for a range of existing units than purchasing emission rate credits (ERCs) from a trading market at an average credit price above $28 per MWh under the final state standard and $35 per MWh under the final national standard. The breakeven ERC trading prices would decrease significantly if the captured CO 2 were sold for use in enhanced oil recovery, making CCS retrofits viable at lower trading prices. The combination of ERC trading and CO 2 use can greatly reinforce economic incentives and market demands for CCS and hence accelerate large-scale deployment, even under scenarios with high retrofit costs. Comparing the levelized costs of electricity generation between CCS retrofits and new renewable plants under the ERC trading scheme, retrofitting coal-fired EGUs with CCS may be significantly cheaper than new solar plants under some market conditions.

  18. The Uncertain Carbon Emissions in China (Invited)

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Liu, Z.; Guan, D.

    2013-12-01

    Anthropogenic fossil fuel emissions are considered as being well understood with a low uncertainty (9.1 × 0.5Gt C yr-1). By using full transparency emission inventory which the energy consumption, fuel heating values, carbon content and oxidation rate reported separately in sectoal level, here we found new 2.1 Gt C yr-1 (23% of global total) uncertainties of carbon emission inventory, which mainly contributed by the mass energy use and consumption coal quality in China and by misunderstanding of fuel quality in international fossil fuel trade. Increment of coal's carbon emission in China and India are equivalent to 130 % of global total coal's emission growth during 2008-2010, by using macro energy statistics and bottom up coal mine datasets, the difference carbon emission estimates from China and India can up to 1.32 C yr-1. Emissions from international trade of coal could produce another 0.08 Gt C yr-1 uncertainty. These new emerging 1.4 Gt C yr-1 uncertainties implies a significant mis-estimation of human induced carbon emissions and a new dominating factor in contributing the global carbon budget residual.

  19. Assessment of allowance mechanism China's carbon trading pilots

    DOE PAGES

    Xiong, Ling; Shen, Bo; Qi, Shaozhou; ...

    2015-08-28

    The allowance mechanism is one of the core and sensitive aspects in design of a carbon trading scheme and affects the compliance cost for each company covered under the scheme. By examining China's allowance mechanism from two aspects including allowance allocation and allowance distribution, this paper compares China's carbon trading pilots with the EU Emissions Trading System and California Cap-and-Trade Program, and through the comparison identify issues that affect the efficiency of the pilots. The paper also recommends course of actions to strengthen China's existing pilots and build valuable experiences for the establishment of the national cap-and-trade system in China.

  20. Trade and the Future of China's Black Carbon Emissions

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Persad, G.; Oppenheimer, M.; Naik, V.

    2016-12-01

    Emissions of black carbon aerosols in China have increased by over 200% during the last 50 years, with negative implications both for human health and for regional and global climate. The Representative Concentration Pathway (RCP) emissions scenarios all assume that China's future black carbon emissions will decrease. However, this decline partially depends on the assumption that the evolution of future pollutant emissions in developing nations will match the observed historical relationship between air quality and income in developed nations. Recent research has demonstrated that a substantial portion of China's current black carbon emissions are driven by the production of goods exported for consumption elsewhere. This constitutes an external demand for black carbon-emitting activity in China that is much smaller in the developed nations on which the historical air quality/income relationship is based. We here show using integrated assessment model output, general circulation modeling, and emissions and economic data that (1) China must achieve a faster technological and regulatory evolution than did developed countries in order achieve the same air quality/income trajectory; (2) China's uniquely large share of export-related black carbon-emitting activities and their potential growth are a plausible explanation for this disparity; and (3) the climate and health implications of these export-related black carbon emissions, if unmitigated, are of interest from a policy perspective. Together these results indicate that the production of goods for export will steepen the mitigation curve for China relative to developed nations, if China is to achieve the future black carbon emissions reductions assumed in the RCPs.

  1. Emissions Trading Resources

    EPA Pesticide Factsheets

    Learn about emissions trading programs, also known as cap and trade programs, which are market-based policy tools for protecting human health and the environment by controlling emissions from a group of sources.

  2. Will international emissions trading help achieve the objectives of the Paris Agreement?

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Fujimori, Shinichiro; Kubota, Izumi; Dai, Hancheng; Takahashi, Kiyoshi; Hasegawa, Tomoko; Liu, Jing-Yu; Hijioka, Yasuaki; Masui, Toshihiko; Takimi, Maho

    2016-10-01

    Under the Paris Agreement, parties set and implement their own emissions targets as nationally determined contributions (NDCs) to tackle climate change. International carbon emissions trading is expected to reduce global mitigation costs. Here, we show the benefit of emissions trading under both NDCs and a more ambitious reduction scenario consistent with the 2 °C goal. The results show that the global welfare loss, which was measured based on estimated household consumption change in 2030, decreased by 75% (from 0.47% to 0.16%), as a consequence of achieving NDCs through emissions trading. Furthermore, achieving the 2 °C targets without emissions trading led to a global welfare loss of 1.4%-3.4%, depending on the burden-sharing scheme used, whereas emissions trading reduced the loss to around 1.5% (from 1.4% to 1.7%). These results indicate that emissions trading is a valuable option for the international system, enabling NDCs and more ambitious targets to be achieved in a cost-effective manner.

  3. Trade, transport, and sinks extend the carbon dioxide responsibility of countries: An editorial essay

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Peters, Glen P; Marland, Gregg; Hertwich, Edgar G.

    2009-01-01

    Globalization and the dynamics of ecosystem sinks need be considered in post-Kyoto climate negotiations as they increasingly affect the carbon dioxide concentration in the atmosphere. Currently, the allocation of responsibility for greenhouse gas mitigation is based on territorial emissions from fossil-fuel combustion, process emissions and some land-use emissions. However, at least three additional factors can significantly alter a country's impact on climate from carbon dioxide emissions. First, international trade causes a separation of consumption from production, reducing domestic pollution at the expense of foreign producers, or vice versa. Second, international transportation emissions are not allocated to countries for the purposemore » of mitigation. Third, forest growth absorbs carbon dioxide and can contribute to both carbon sequestration and climate change protection. Here we quantify how these three factors change the carbon dioxide emissions allocated to China, Japan, Russia, USA, and European Union member countries. We show that international trade can change the carbon dioxide currently allocated to countries by up to 60% and that forest expansion can turn some countries into net carbon sinks. These factors are expected to become more dominant as fossil-fuel combustion and process emissions are mitigated and as international trade and forest sinks continue to grow. Emission inventories currently in wide-spread use help to understand the global carbon cycle, but for long-term climate change mitigation a deeper understanding of the interaction between the carbon cycle and society is needed. Restructuring international trade and investment flows to meet environmental objectives, together with the inclusion of forest sinks, are crucial issues that need consideration in the design of future climate policies. And even these additional issues do not capture the full impact of changes in the carbon cycle on the global climate system.« less

  4. Alternative industrial carbon emissions benchmark based on input-output analysis

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Han, Mengyao; Ji, Xi

    2016-12-01

    Some problems exist in the current carbon emissions benchmark setting systems. The primary consideration for industrial carbon emissions standards highly relate to direct carbon emissions (power-related emissions) and only a portion of indirect emissions are considered in the current carbon emissions accounting processes. This practice is insufficient and may cause double counting to some extent due to mixed emission sources. To better integrate and quantify direct and indirect carbon emissions, an embodied industrial carbon emissions benchmark setting method is proposed to guide the establishment of carbon emissions benchmarks based on input-output analysis. This method attempts to link direct carbon emissions with inter-industrial economic exchanges and systematically quantifies carbon emissions embodied in total product delivery chains. The purpose of this study is to design a practical new set of embodied intensity-based benchmarks for both direct and indirect carbon emissions. Beijing, at the first level of carbon emissions trading pilot schemes in China, plays a significant role in the establishment of these schemes and is chosen as an example in this study. The newly proposed method tends to relate emissions directly to each responsibility in a practical way through the measurement of complex production and supply chains and reduce carbon emissions from their original sources. This method is expected to be developed under uncertain internal and external contexts and is further expected to be generalized to guide the establishment of industrial benchmarks for carbon emissions trading schemes in China and other countries.

  5. Emissions trading - time to get serious

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Vitelli, A.

    2007-11-15

    The Kyoto Protocol's five year compliance period begins in 2008. Industrialized nations around the world have pledged to cut carbon emissions, but the job seems to get harder, not easier, as 2008 approaches. Can market mechanisms make the crucial difference? The article discloses recent initiatives and developments worldwide. It concludes that it is clear that the market is maintaining its central role in fighting climate change and that bringing emissions trading to developing countries and to the US can only reinforce that role.

  6. The Influence of Low-carbon Economy on Global Trade Pattern

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Xiao-jing, Guo

    Since global warming has seriously endangered the living environment of human being and their health and safety, the development of low-carbon economy has become an irreversible global trend. Under the background of economic globalization, low-carbon economy will surely exert a significant impact on global trade pattern. Countries are paying more and more attention to the green trade. The emission permits trade of carbon between the developed countries and the developing countries has become more mature than ever. The carbon tariff caused by the distribution of the "big cake" will make the low-cost advantage in developing countries cease to exist, which will, in turn, affect the foreign trade, economic development, employment and people's living in developing countries. Therefore, under the background of this trend, we should perfect the relevant laws and regulations on trade and environment as soon as possible, optimize trade structure, promote greatly the development of service trade, transform thoroughly the mode of development in foreign trade, take advantage of the international carbon trading market by increasing the added value of export products resulted from technological innovation to achieve mutual benefit and win-win results and promote common development.

  7. Self-organized global control of carbon emissions

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Zhao, Zhenyuan; Fenn, Daniel J.; Hui, Pak Ming; Johnson, Neil F.

    2010-09-01

    There is much disagreement concerning how best to control global carbon emissions. We explore quantitatively how different control schemes affect the collective emission dynamics of a population of emitting entities. We uncover a complex trade-off which arises between average emissions (affecting the global climate), peak pollution levels (affecting citizens’ everyday health), industrial efficiency (affecting the nation’s economy), frequency of institutional intervention (affecting governmental costs), common information (affecting trading behavior) and market volatility (affecting financial stability). Our findings predict that a self-organized free-market approach at the level of a sector, state, country or continent can provide better control than a top-down regulated scheme in terms of market volatility and monthly pollution peaks. The control of volatility also has important implications for any future derivative carbon emissions market.

  8. Quantitative Estimation of the Climatic Effects of Carbon Transferred by International Trade.

    PubMed

    Wei, Ting; Dong, Wenjie; Moore, John; Yan, Qing; Song, Yi; Yang, Zhiyong; Yuan, Wenping; Chou, Jieming; Cui, Xuefeng; Yan, Xiaodong; Wei, Zhigang; Guo, Yan; Yang, Shili; Tian, Di; Lin, Pengfei; Yang, Song; Wen, Zhiping; Lin, Hui; Chen, Min; Feng, Guolin; Jiang, Yundi; Zhu, Xian; Chen, Juan; Wei, Xin; Shi, Wen; Zhang, Zhiguo; Dong, Juan; Li, Yexin; Chen, Deliang

    2016-06-22

    Carbon transfer via international trade affects the spatial pattern of global carbon emissions by redistributing emissions related to production of goods and services. It has potential impacts on attribution of the responsibility of various countries for climate change and formulation of carbon-reduction policies. However, the effect of carbon transfer on climate change has not been quantified. Here, we present a quantitative estimate of climatic impacts of carbon transfer based on a simple CO2 Impulse Response Function and three Earth System Models. The results suggest that carbon transfer leads to a migration of CO2 by 0.1-3.9 ppm or 3-9% of the rise in the global atmospheric concentrations from developed countries to developing countries during 1990-2005 and potentially reduces the effectiveness of the Kyoto Protocol by up to 5.3%. However, the induced atmospheric CO2 concentration and climate changes (e.g., in temperature, ocean heat content, and sea-ice) are very small and lie within observed interannual variability. Given continuous growth of transferred carbon emissions and their proportion in global total carbon emissions, the climatic effect of traded carbon is likely to become more significant in the future, highlighting the need to consider carbon transfer in future climate negotiations.

  9. Trade-offs in allocating allowances for CO2 emissions

    DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

    2007-04-25

    In light of scientific evidence about the potential damages from climate change, the Congress is considering legislation that would impose a cap-and-trade program to reduce U.S. emissions of greenhouse gases, including carbon dioxide (CO2) from...

  10. [Research on contribution decomposition by industry to China's carbon intensity reduction and carbon emission growth].

    PubMed

    Jiang, Jing-Jing; Ye, Bin; Ji, Jun-Ping; Ma, Xiao-Ming

    2014-11-01

    The binding carbon intensity index and the pilot "cap-and-trade" emission trading scheme are two important approaches currently applied by China to mitigate its greenhouse gases emissions. It is of great significance to research the influence mechanism of related factors by industry on the dynamics of national carbon intensity and emission, not only for setting industry-specified intensity reduction target but also for setting industry coverage of the ETS. Two LMDI models were applied in this paper to decompose industry contributions to the changes of China's carbon intensity and carbon emission during the period of 1996-2010. Empirical results showed that: The decline of national carbon intensity was jointly determined by the changes of carbon intensities and the added value proportions of all industries, and the impact of industry carbon intensities was larger. The increase of national carbon emission was jointly determined by the changes of carbon intensities and the added value of all industries. The former had inhibitory effect whist the latter had decisive promoting effect. The five industries making the largest contribution to the changes of national carbon emission and carbon intensity included industries of electricity, nonmetal mineral, ferrous metal, transportation service, chemical materials, which were followed by the industries of agriculture, coal mining and processing, petroleum and natural gas extraction. Petroleum refining and coking industry and construction industry made small contribution to the decline of national carbon intensity, but made large contribution to the growth of national carbon emission. The contributions of service industries to national carbon emission growth showed a rising trend, especially those of transportation service industry, wholesaling, retailing and catering service industry.

  11. Trade-off between carbon emission and effluent quality of activated sludge processes under seasonal variations of wastewater temperature and mean cell retention time.

    PubMed

    Guo, Jingbo; Fu, Xin; Andrés Baquero, G; Sobhani, Reza; Nolasco, Daniel A; Rosso, Diego

    2016-03-15

    Over the seasonal cycles, the mean cell retention time (MCRT) of the activated sludge process is varied to compensate the wastewater temperature variations. The effects of these variations on the carbon footprint (CFP) and effluent quality index (EQI) of a conventional activated sludge (CAS) process and a nitrification/denitrification (NDN) process were quantified. The carbon emission included both biogenic and non-biogenic carbon. Carbon emissions of wasted biosolids management were also addressed. Our results confirmed that the effluent quality indicated by EQI was not necessarily improved by increasing MCRT. Higher MCRT increased the carbon emission and reduced excess sludge production, which decreased the potential for biogas energy recovery. The NDN process was preferable to the CAS process from the perspective of effluent quality. This consideration extended to the whole plant CFP if the N2O emitted during NDN was limited ([N2O]<1% [NH4(+)]removed) as the carbon emission per unit effluent quality achieved by NDN process is less than that of the CAS process. By putting forward carbon emission intensity (γ) derived from CFP and EQI, our work provides a quantitative tool for decision makers evaluating process alternatives when there is a trade-off between carbon emission and effluent quality. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  12. Development of a stationary carbon emission inventory for Shanghai using pollution source census data

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Li, Xianzhe; Jiang, Ping; Zhang, Yan; Ma, Weichun

    2016-12-01

    This study utilizes 521,631 activity data points from the 2007 Shanghai Pollution Source Census to compile a stationary carbon emission inventory for Shanghai. The inventory generated from our dataset shows that a large portion of Shanghai's total energy use consists of coal-oriented energy consumption. The electricity and heat production industries, iron and steel mills, and the petroleum refining industry are the main carbon emitters. In addition, most of these industries are located in Baoshan District, which is Shanghai's largest contributor of carbon emissions. Policy makers can use the enterpriselevel carbon emission inventory and the method designed in this study to construct sound carbon emission reduction policies. The carbon trading scheme to be established in Shanghai based on the developed carbon inventory is also introduced in this paper with the aim of promoting the monitoring, reporting and verification of carbon trading. Moreover, we believe that it might be useful to consider the participation of industries, such as those for food processing, beverage, and tobacco, in Shanghai's carbon trading scheme. Based on the results contained herein, we recommend establishing a comprehensive carbon emission inventory by inputting data from the pollution source census used in this study.

  13. 40 CFR 1042.720 - Trading emission credits.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-07-01

    ... 40 Protection of Environment 33 2011-07-01 2011-07-01 false Trading emission credits. 1042.720..., Banking, and Trading for Certification § 1042.720 Trading emission credits. (a) Trading is the exchange of... further trading transactions. (b) You may trade actual emission credits as described in this subpart. You...

  14. 40 CFR 1042.720 - Trading emission credits.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-07-01

    ... 40 Protection of Environment 33 2014-07-01 2014-07-01 false Trading emission credits. 1042.720..., Banking, and Trading for Certification § 1042.720 Trading emission credits. (a) Trading is the exchange of... further trading transactions. (b) You may trade actual emission credits as described in this subpart. You...

  15. 40 CFR 1042.720 - Trading emission credits.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-07-01

    ... 40 Protection of Environment 34 2013-07-01 2013-07-01 false Trading emission credits. 1042.720..., Banking, and Trading for Certification § 1042.720 Trading emission credits. (a) Trading is the exchange of... further trading transactions. (b) You may trade actual emission credits as described in this subpart. You...

  16. 40 CFR 1042.720 - Trading emission credits.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-07-01

    ... 40 Protection of Environment 34 2012-07-01 2012-07-01 false Trading emission credits. 1042.720..., Banking, and Trading for Certification § 1042.720 Trading emission credits. (a) Trading is the exchange of... further trading transactions. (b) You may trade actual emission credits as described in this subpart. You...

  17. 40 CFR 1042.720 - Trading emission credits.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-07-01

    ... 40 Protection of Environment 32 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Trading emission credits. 1042.720..., Banking, and Trading for Certification § 1042.720 Trading emission credits. (a) Trading is the exchange of... further trading transactions. (b) You may trade actual emission credits as described in this subpart. You...

  18. Embodied carbon dioxide flow in international trade: A comparative analysis based on China and Japan.

    PubMed

    Long, Ruyin; Li, Jinqiu; Chen, Hong; Zhang, Linling; Li, Qianwen

    2018-03-01

    Carbon dioxide embodied flow in international trade has become an important factor in defining global carbon emission responsibility and climate policy. We conducted an empirical analysis for China and Japan for the years 2000-2014, using a multi-region input-output model and considering the rest of the world as a comparison group. We compared the two countries' direct and complete carbon dioxide emissions intensity and bilateral economic activities such as imports and exports, production and consumption to analyze the difference between China and Japan. The results showed that the intensities of carbon emissions in all sectors of China were higher than that in Japan and that China's annual production-based emissions were greater than consumption-based emissions, the opposite of these relationships in Japan. China was a typical net carbon export country, and carbon embodied in its imports and exports continued to increase throughout the study period. In contrast, Japan's volume and growth rate of embodied carbon emissions were far less than China's and Japan was a typical net carbon import country. Finally, the conclusions of this study support recommendations for the formulation of international carbon emission responsibility allocation, domestic abatement policy as well as China's trade policy. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  19. 40 CFR 1033.720 - Trading emission credits.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-07-01

    ... 40 Protection of Environment 33 2011-07-01 2011-07-01 false Trading emission credits. 1033.720... CONTROLS CONTROL OF EMISSIONS FROM LOCOMOTIVES Averaging, Banking, and Trading for Certification § 1033.720 Trading emission credits. (a) Trading is the exchange of emission credits between certificate holders. You...

  20. 40 CFR 1033.720 - Trading emission credits.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-07-01

    ... 40 Protection of Environment 34 2012-07-01 2012-07-01 false Trading emission credits. 1033.720... CONTROLS CONTROL OF EMISSIONS FROM LOCOMOTIVES Averaging, Banking, and Trading for Certification § 1033.720 Trading emission credits. (a) Trading is the exchange of emission credits between certificate holders. You...

  1. 40 CFR 1033.720 - Trading emission credits.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-07-01

    ... 40 Protection of Environment 34 2013-07-01 2013-07-01 false Trading emission credits. 1033.720... CONTROLS CONTROL OF EMISSIONS FROM LOCOMOTIVES Averaging, Banking, and Trading for Certification § 1033.720 Trading emission credits. (a) Trading is the exchange of emission credits between certificate holders. You...

  2. 40 CFR 1033.720 - Trading emission credits.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-07-01

    ... 40 Protection of Environment 33 2014-07-01 2014-07-01 false Trading emission credits. 1033.720... CONTROLS CONTROL OF EMISSIONS FROM LOCOMOTIVES Averaging, Banking, and Trading for Certification § 1033.720 Trading emission credits. (a) Trading is the exchange of emission credits between certificate holders. You...

  3. 40 CFR 1033.720 - Trading emission credits.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-07-01

    ... 40 Protection of Environment 32 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Trading emission credits. 1033.720... CONTROLS CONTROL OF EMISSIONS FROM LOCOMOTIVES Averaging, Banking, and Trading for Certification § 1033.720 Trading emission credits. (a) Trading is the exchange of emission credits between certificate holders. You...

  4. An optimization model for carbon capture & storage/utilization vs. carbon trading: A case study of fossil-fired power plants in Turkey.

    PubMed

    Ağralı, Semra; Üçtuğ, Fehmi Görkem; Türkmen, Burçin Atılgan

    2018-06-01

    We consider fossil-fired power plants that operate in an environment where a cap and trade system is in operation. These plants need to choose between carbon capture and storage (CCS), carbon capture and utilization (CCU), or carbon trading in order to obey emissions limits enforced by the government. We develop a mixed-integer programming model that decides on the capacities of carbon capture units, if it is optimal to install them, the transportation network that needs to be built for transporting the carbon captured, and the locations of storage sites, if they are decided to be built. Main restrictions on the system are the minimum and maximum capacities of the different parts of the pipeline network, the amount of carbon that can be sold to companies for utilization, and the capacities on the storage sites. Under these restrictions, the model aims to minimize the net present value of the sum of the costs associated with installation and operation of the carbon capture unit and the transportation of carbon, the storage cost in case of CCS, the cost (or revenue) that results from the emissions trading system, and finally the negative revenue of selling the carbon to other entities for utilization. We implement the model on General Algebraic Modeling System (GAMS) by using data associated with two coal-fired power plants located in different regions of Turkey. We choose enhanced oil recovery (EOR) as the process in which carbon would be utilized. The results show that CCU is preferable to CCS as long as there is sufficient demand in the EOR market. The distance between the location of emission and location of utilization/storage, and the capacity limits on the pipes are an important factor in deciding between carbon capture and carbon trading. At carbon prices over $15/ton, carbon capture becomes preferable to carbon trading. These results show that as far as Turkey is concerned, CCU should be prioritized as a means of reducing nation-wide carbon emissions in an

  5. CH4 and N2O emissions embodied in international trade of meat

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Caro, Dario; LoPresti, Anna; Davis, Steven J.; Bastianoni, Simone; Caldeira, Ken

    2014-11-01

    Although previous studies have quantified carbon dioxide emissions embodied in products traded internationally, there has been limited attention to other greenhouse gases such as methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide (N2O). Following IPCC guidelines, we estimate non-CO2 emissions from beef, pork and chicken produced in 237 countries over the period 1990-2010, and assign these emissions to the country where the meat is ultimately consumed. We find that, between 1990 and 2010, an average of 32.8 Mt CO2-eq emissions (using 100 year global warming potentials) are embodied in beef, pork and chicken traded internationally. Further, over the 20 year period, the quantity of CO2-eq emissions embodied in traded meat increased by 19%. The largest trade flows of emissions embodied in meat were from Brazil and Argentina to Russia (2.8 and 1.4 Mt of CO2-eq, respectively). Trade flows within the European region are also substantial: beef and pork exported from France embodied 3.3 Mt and 0.4 Mt of CO2-eq, respectively. Emissions factor of meat production (i.e. CO2-eq emissions per kg of meat) produced depend on ambient temperature, development level, livestock category (e.g. cattle, pork, and chicken) and livestock management practices. Thus, trade may result in an overall increase of GHG emissions when meat-consuming countries import meat from countries with a greater emissions intensity of meat production rather than producing the meat domestically. Comparing the emissions intensity of meat production of trading partners, we assess trade flows according to whether they tend to reduce or increase global emissions from meat production.

  6. Transportation and Greenhouse Gas Emissions Trading. Final Technical Report

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Steve Winkelman; Tim Hargrave; Christine Vanderlan

    1999-10-01

    -specific policies, they recommend (in addition to the land use policies mentioned above), that they combine an upstream trading system with a carbon efficiency standard similar to the current CAFE standard. Under this approach a fuel price signal would be complemented by incentives for manufacturers to produce more carbon efficient vehicles. To prevent vehicle manufacturers from being forced to pay more than other sectors for reducing GHG emissions, they recommend that the vehicle makers be allowed to pay a cash penalty equal to the market price of allowances in lieu of meeting carbon efficiency requirements.« less

  7. Michigan`s air emission trading program

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Russette, T.M.; VanKolken, A.M.

    1997-12-31

    Michigan`s Emission Trading Program took effect on March 16, 1996 after two years of rule development by the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality, Air Quality Division and affected stakeholders. This program is based on the open market trading model and has been designed to (1) be consistent with existing federal and state rules and regulations, (2) integrate with existing air programs such as the permit program, and (3) address the needs of Michigan`s regulated community. Michigan`s Air Quality Division, along with other interested parties, initiated this program as part of market-based approaches to improve air quality through the reduction ofmore » criteria pollutants (except ozone) and volatile organic compounds. The Emission Trading rules offer potential benefits for Michigan companies that include increased operational flexibility, lower compliance costs, and/or money generated from the sale of the emission reduction credits. The environment also benefits from this program because the rules require that 10 percent of all registered emission reductions must be permanently retired as an air quality benefit. The emission trading program provides new opportunities for consulting firms to assist companies by identifying acceptable ways to generate and use emission reduction credits. Air pollution control companies may also see new opportunities by designing and installing control equipment in order to reduce air emissions. The role of consultants and equipment companies may expand to that of a broker selling and/or buying emission reduction credits on the Emission Trading Registry. Much has been learned since the conception of the air emission trading program. This paper will discuss how the program works in practice compared to what was envisioned in theory and the potential benefits from Michigan`s Emission Trading Program.« less

  8. Global agriculture and carbon trade-offs

    PubMed Central

    Johnson, Justin Andrew; Runge, Carlisle Ford; Senauer, Benjamin; Foley, Jonathan; Polasky, Stephen

    2014-01-01

    Feeding a growing and increasingly affluent world will require expanded agricultural production, which may require converting grasslands and forests into cropland. Such conversions can reduce carbon storage, habitat provision, and other ecosystem services, presenting difficult societal trade-offs. In this paper, we use spatially explicit data on agricultural productivity and carbon storage in a global analysis to find where agricultural extensification should occur to meet growing demand while minimizing carbon emissions from land use change. Selective extensification saves ∼6 billion metric tons of carbon compared with a business-as-usual approach, with a value of approximately $1 trillion (2012 US dollars) using recent estimates of the social cost of carbon. This type of spatially explicit geospatial analysis can be expanded to include other ecosystem services and other industries to analyze how to minimize conflicts between economic development and environmental sustainability. PMID:25114254

  9. Global agriculture and carbon trade-offs.

    PubMed

    Johnson, Justin Andrew; Runge, Carlisle Ford; Senauer, Benjamin; Foley, Jonathan; Polasky, Stephen

    2014-08-26

    Feeding a growing and increasingly affluent world will require expanded agricultural production, which may require converting grasslands and forests into cropland. Such conversions can reduce carbon storage, habitat provision, and other ecosystem services, presenting difficult societal trade-offs. In this paper, we use spatially explicit data on agricultural productivity and carbon storage in a global analysis to find where agricultural extensification should occur to meet growing demand while minimizing carbon emissions from land use change. Selective extensification saves ∼ 6 billion metric tons of carbon compared with a business-as-usual approach, with a value of approximately $1 trillion (2012 US dollars) using recent estimates of the social cost of carbon. This type of spatially explicit geospatial analysis can be expanded to include other ecosystem services and other industries to analyze how to minimize conflicts between economic development and environmental sustainability.

  10. Trading forest carbon

    EPA Science Inventory

    The nature of carbon in forests is discussed from the perspective of carbon trading. Carbon inventories, specifically in the area of land use and forestry are reviewed for the Pacific Northwest. Carbon turnover in forests is discussed as it relates to carbon sequestration. Scient...

  11. Understanding the side effects of emission trading: implications for waste management.

    PubMed

    Braschel, Nina; Posch, Alfred; Pierer, Magdalena

    2014-01-01

    The trading of emission allowances is an important market instrument in climate policy. However, the inclusion of certain branches of industry in the trading system not only provides incentives for emission reduction, it also entails unwanted side effects. Thus, the objective of the present study is to identify such side effects-positive and negative-by examining the potential impact of waste management inclusion in the European Union Emissions Trading Scheme (EU ETS). Desk research was supplemented with qualitative and quantitative empirical analysis (based on expert interviews and a questionnaire) in order to analyse the related perceptions and expectations of actors and stakeholders. The impact of waste management inclusion in the EU ETS is analysed in terms of the following three areas: (i) costs and cost pass-through, (ii), competitiveness and market position, and (iii) carbon leakage. Concerning expectations in the area of costs, both the interviewed experts and the practitioners surveyed thought that costs were likely to increase or that they could be passed on to customers. However, experts and practitioners differed with respect to the possibility of carbon leakage. Clearly, increased knowledge of the possible impact arising from inclusion of the waste sector in the EU ETS would enable managers to become more proactive and to manage waste streams and treatment options more economically.

  12. Emissions trading: principles and practice. 2nd

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Tietenberg, T.H.

    2006-02-15

    The author demonstrates how emissions trading became an attractive alternative to command-and-control policies that would have required the EPA to disallow the opening of new plants in the middle of the recession-burdened 1970s. His examination of the evolution of this system includes, among other applications, the largest multinational trading system ever conceived, the European Union's Greenhouse Gas Emission Trading Scheme (EUETG), and the use of emissions trading in the Kyoto Protocol.

  13. What Is Emissions Trading?

    EPA Pesticide Factsheets

    Learn the basics about how emissions trading uses a market-based policy tool used to control large amounts of pollution emissions from a group of sources in order to protect human health and the environment.

  14. Reducing greenhouse gas emissions: a duopoly market pricing competition and cooperation under the carbon emissions cap.

    PubMed

    Jian, Ming; He, Hua; Ma, Changsong; Wu, Yan; Yang, Hao

    2017-05-17

    This article studies the price competition and cooperation in a duopoly that is subjected to carbon emissions cap. The study assumes that in a departure from the classical Bertrand game, there is still a market for both firms' goods regardless of the product price, even though production capacity is limited by carbon emissions regulation. Through the decentralized decision making of both firms under perfect information, the results are unstable. The firm with the lower maximum production capacity under carbon emissions regulation and the firm with the higher maximum production capacity both seek market price cooperation. By designing an internal carbon credits trading mechanism, we can ensure that the production capacity of the firm with the higher maximum production capacity under carbon emissions regulation reaches price equilibrium. Also, the negotiation power of the duopoly would affect the price equilibrium.

  15. Policy interactions and underperforming emission trading markets in China.

    PubMed

    Zhang, Bing; Zhang, Hui; Liu, Beibei; Bi, Jun

    2013-07-02

    Emission trading is considered to be cost-effective environmental economic instrument for pollution control. However, the ex post analysis of emission trading program found that cost savings have been smaller and the trades fewer than might have been expected at the outset of the program. Besides policy design issues, pre-existing environmental regulations were considered to have a significant impact on the performance of the emission trading market in China. Taking the Jiangsu sulfur dioxide (SO2) market as a case study, this research examined the impact of policy interactions on the performance of the emission trading market. The results showed that cost savings associated with the Jiangsu SO2 emission trading market in the absence of any policy interactions were CNY 549 million or 12.5% of total pollution control costs. However, policy interactions generally had significant impacts on the emission trading system; the lone exception was current pollution levy system. When the model accounted for all four kinds of policy interactions, the total pollution control cost savings from the emission trading market fell to CNY 39.7 million or 1.36% of total pollution control costs. The impact of policy interactions would reduce 92.8% of cost savings brought by emission trading program.

  16. The Economics of Forest Carbon Sequestration: The Challenge for Emissions Offset Trading

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    van Kooten, G. C.

    2016-12-01

    This paper provides an overview of the role that forestry activities can play in mitigating climate change. The price of carbon offset credits is used for incentivizing a reduction in the release of CO2 emissions and an increase in sequestration of atmospheric CO2 through forestry activities. Forestland owners essentially have two options for creating carbon offset credits: (1) avoid or delay harvest of mature timber; or (2) harvest timber and allow natural regeneration or regeneration with `regular' or genetically-enhanced growing stock, storing carbon in post-harvest products, using sawmill and potentially logging residues to generate electricity. In this study, a model representative of the Quesnel Timber Supply Area (TSA) in the BC interior is developed. The objective is to maximize net discounted returns to commercial timber operations (and sale of downstream products) plus the benefits of managing carbon fluxes. The model tracks carbon in living trees, organic matter, and, importantly, post-harvest carbon pools and avoided emissions from substituting wood for non-wood in construction or wood bioenergy for fossil fuels. Model constraints ensure that commercial forest management is sustainable, while carbon prices incentivize sequestration to ensure efficient mitigation of climate change. The results are confirmed more generally by comparing the carbon fluxes derived from the integrated forest management model with those from a Faustmann-Hartman rotation age model that explicitly includes benefits of storing carbon. One other question is addressed: If carbon offsets are created when wood biomass substitutes for fossil fuels in power generation, can one count the saved emissions from steel/cement production when wood substitutes for non-wood materials in construction?

  17. Energy technologies evaluated against climate targets using a cost and carbon trade-off curve.

    PubMed

    Trancik, Jessika E; Cross-Call, Daniel

    2013-06-18

    Over the next few decades, severe cuts in emissions from energy will be required to meet global climate-change mitigation goals. These emission reductions imply a major shift toward low-carbon energy technologies, and the economic cost and technical feasibility of mitigation are therefore highly dependent upon the future performance of energy technologies. However, existing models do not readily translate into quantitative targets against which we can judge the dynamic performance of technologies. Here, we present a simple, new model for evaluating energy-supply technologies and their improvement trajectories against climate-change mitigation goals. We define a target for technology performance in terms of the carbon intensity of energy, consistent with emission reduction goals, and show how the target depends upon energy demand levels. Because the cost of energy determines the level of adoption, we then compare supply technologies to one another and to this target based on their position on a cost and carbon trade-off curve and how the position changes over time. Applying the model to U.S. electricity, we show that the target for carbon intensity will approach zero by midcentury for commonly cited emission reduction goals, even under a high demand-side efficiency scenario. For Chinese electricity, the carbon intensity target is relaxed and less certain because of lesser emission reductions and greater variability in energy demand projections. Examining a century-long database on changes in the cost-carbon space, we find that the magnitude of changes in cost and carbon intensity that are required to meet future performance targets is not unprecedented, providing some evidence that these targets are within engineering reach. The cost and carbon trade-off curve can be used to evaluate the dynamic performance of existing and new technologies against climate-change mitigation goals.

  18. Spatial indeterminacy and power sector carbon emissions accounting

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Jiusto, J. Scott

    Carbon emission indicators are essential for understanding climate change processes, and for motivating and measuring the effectiveness of carbon reduction policy at multiple scales. Carbon indicators also play an increasingly important role in shaping cultural discourses and politics about nature-society relations and the roles of the state, markets and civil society in creating sustainable natural resource practices and just societies. The analytical and political significance of indicators is tied closely to their objective basis: how accurately they account for the places, people, and processes responsible for emissions. In the electric power sector, however, power-trading across geographic boundaries prevents a simple, purely objective spatial attribution of emissions. Using U.S. states as the unit of analysis, three alternative methods of accounting for carbon emissions from electricity use are assessed, each of which is conceptually sound and methodologically rigorous, yet produces radically different estimates of individual state emissions. Each method also implicitly embodies distinctly different incentive structures for states to enact carbon reduction policies. Because none of the three methods can be said to more accurately reflect "true" emissions levels, I argue the best method is that which most encourages states to reduce emissions. Energy and carbon policy processes are highly contested, however, and thus I examine competing interests and perspectives shaping state energy policy. I explore what it means, philosophically and politically, to predicate emissions estimates on both objectively verifiable past experience and subjectively debatable policy prescriptions for the future. Although developed here at the state scale, the issues engaged and the carbon accounting methodology proposed are directly relevant to carbon analysis and policy formation at scales ranging from the local to the international.

  19. Trading forest carbon - OSU

    EPA Science Inventory

    Issues associate with trading carbon sequestered in forests are discussed. Scientific uncertainties associated with carbon measurement are discussed with respect to proposed accounting procedures. Major issues include: (1) Establishing baselines. (2) Determining additivity from f...

  20. Trading forests: land-use change and carbon emissions embodied in production and exports of forest-risk commodities

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Henders, Sabine; Persson, U. Martin; Kastner, Thomas

    2015-12-01

    Production of commercial agricultural commodities for domestic and foreign markets is increasingly driving land clearing in tropical regions, creating links and feedback effects between geographically separated consumption and production locations. Such teleconnections are commonly studied through calculating consumption footprints and quantifying environmental impacts embodied in trade flows, e.g., virtual water and land, biomass, or greenhouse gas emissions. The extent to which land-use change (LUC) and associated carbon emissions are embodied in the production and export of agricultural commodities has been less studied. Here we quantify tropical deforestation area and carbon emissions from LUC induced by the production and the export of four commodities (beef, soybeans, palm oil, and wood products) in seven countries with high deforestation rates (Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Papua New Guinea). We show that in the period 2000-2011, the production of the four analyzed commodities in our seven case countries was responsible for 40% of total tropical deforestation and resulting carbon losses. Over a third of these impacts was embodied in exports in 2011, up from a fifth in 2000. This trend highlights the growing influence of global markets in deforestation dynamics. Main flows of embodied LUC are Latin American beef and soybean exports to markets in Europe, China, the former Soviet bloc, the Middle East and Northern Africa, whereas embodied emission flows are dominated by Southeast Asian exports of palm oil and wood products to consumers in China, India and the rest of Asia, as well as to the European Union. Our findings illustrate the growing role that global consumers play in tropical LUC trajectories and highlight the need for demand-side policies covering whole supply chains. We also discuss the limitations of such demand-side measures and call for a combination of supply- and demand-side policies to effectively limit tropical

  1. The air, carbon, water synergies and trade-offs in China's natural gas industry

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Qin, Y.; Mauzerall, D. L.; Höglund-Isaksson, L.; Wagner, F.; Byers, E.

    2017-12-01

    Both energy production and consumption can simultaneously affect regional air quality, local water stress, and the global climate. Identifying air, carbon and water impacts of various energy sources and end-uses is important in determining the relative merits of various energy policies. Here, we examine the air-carbon-water interdependencies of China's six major natural gas source choices (domestic conventional natural gas, domestic coal-based synthetic natural gas (SNG), domestic shale gas, imported liquefied natural gas, imported Russian pipeline gas, and imported Central Asian pipeline gas) and three end-use coal-to-gas deployment strategies (with substitution strategies that focus in turn on air quality, carbon, and water) in 2020. On the supply side, we find that gas sources other than SNG offer national air-carbon-water co-benefits. However, we find striking air-carbon/water trade-offs for SNG at the national scale. Moreover, the use of SNG significantly increases water demand and carbon emissions in regions already suffering from the most severe water stress and the highest per capita carbon footprint. On the end-use side, gas substitution for coal can result in enormous variations in air quality, carbon, and water impacts, with notable air-carbon synergies but air-water trade-offs. Our study finds that, except for SNG, end-use choices generally have a much larger influence on air quality, carbon emissions and water use than do gas source choices. Simultaneous consideration of air, carbon, and water impacts is necessary in designing both beneficial energy development and deployment policies.

  2. Targeted opportunities to address the climate-trade dilemma in China

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Liu, Zhu; Davis, Steven J.; Feng, Kuishuang; Hubacek, Klaus; Liang, Sai; Anadon, Laura Diaz; Chen, Bin; Liu, Jingru; Yan, Jinyue; Guan, Dabo

    2016-02-01

    International trade has become the fastest growing driver of global carbon emissions, with large quantities of emissions embodied in exports from emerging economies. International trade with emerging economies poses a dilemma for climate and trade policy: to the extent emerging markets have comparative advantages in manufacturing, such trade is economically efficient and desirable. However, if carbon-intensive manufacturing in emerging countries such as China entails drastically more CO2 emissions than making the same product elsewhere, then trade increases global CO2 emissions. Here we show that the emissions embodied in Chinese exports, which are larger than the annual emissions of Japan or Germany, are primarily the result of China’s coal-based energy mix and the very high emissions intensity (emission per unit of economic value) in a few provinces and industry sectors. Exports from these provinces and sectors therefore represent targeted opportunities to address the climate-trade dilemma by either improving production technologies and decarbonizing the underlying energy systems or else reducing trade volumes.

  3. Assessing five pilot carbon trading programs in China from a perspective of efficiency analysis

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Yu, Xianyu; Shi, Guo; Wang, Jinghan

    2018-02-01

    In order to overcome the challenge of growing carbon emissions in China, the pilot carbon emissions trading systems (ETSs) serve as precursors of the national carbon ETS. Five province-level pilot ETSs in Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai, Guangdong and Hubei are assessed from the view of carbon emission efficiency analysis in this study. Firstly, both the environmental production technology and the Malmquist index are adopted to evaluate the carbon emission efficiency of 28 provinces in China. Then, the regression significance analysis of carbon emission efficiency and the operational information evaluation for pilot ETSs are combined to develop an integrated approach for assessing five considered pilot ETSs. The Efficiency analysis of carbon emissions indicate that the effect of ETS in Beijing is significant, the effect of ETS in Tianjin is weak significant, and those of the other three pilot ETSs are not significant. Based on the operational information for pilot ETSs, the evaluating results of pilot ETSs in Beijing and Hubei are better than those of other pilot ETSs. This study highlights two main findings. First, the pilot ETS in Beijing has better performance than the other considered pilot ETSs, and its operational experience should be promoted throughout the country to improve the construction of national carbon ETS. Second, the successful cooperation between the ETSs in Beijing and Tianjin implies that the regional cooperation among neighbouring ETSs should be encouraged and further implemented to enhance the overall performance of the regional ETSs.

  4. COMBINING RATE-BASED AND CAP-AND-TRADE EMISSIONS POLICIES. (R828628)

    EPA Science Inventory

    Rate-based emissions policies (like tradable performance standards, TPS) fix average emissions intensity, while cap-and-trade (CAT) policies fix total emissions. This paper shows that unfettered trade between rate-based and cap-and-trade programs always raises combined emissio...

  5. Carbon emission allowance allocation with a mixed mechanism in air passenger transport.

    PubMed

    Qiu, Rui; Xu, Jiuping; Zeng, Ziqiang

    2017-09-15

    Air passenger transport carbon emissions have become a great challenge for both governments and airlines because of rapid developments in the aviation industry in recent decades. In this paper, a mixed mechanism composed of a cap-and-trade mechanism and a carbon tax mechanism is developed to assist governments in allocating carbon emission allowances to airlines operating on the routes. Combined this mixed mechanism with an equilibrium strategy, a bi-level multi-objective model is proposed for an air passenger transport carbon emission allowance allocation problem, in which a government is considered as a leader and the airlines as the followers. An interactive solution approach integrating a genetic algorithm and an interactive evolutionary mechanism is designed to search for satisfactory solutions of the proposed model. A case study is then presented to show its practicality and efficiency in mitigating carbon emissions. Sensitivity analyses under different tradable and taxable levels are also conducted, which can give the government insights as to the tradeoffs between lowering carbon intensity and improving airlines' operations. The computational results demonstrate that the mixed mechanism can assist greatly in carbon emission mitigation for air passenger transport and therefore, it should be established as part of air passenger transport carbon emission policies. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  6. Analysis of influence mechanism of energy-related carbon emissions in Guangdong: evidence from regional China based on the input-output and structural decomposition analysis.

    PubMed

    Wang, Changjian; Wang, Fei; Zhang, Xinlin; Deng, Haijun

    2017-11-01

    It is important to analyze the influence mechanism of energy-related carbon emissions from a regional perspective to effectively achieve reductions in energy consumption and carbon emissions in China. Based on the "energy-economy-carbon emissions" hybrid input-output analysis framework, this study conducted structural decomposition analysis (SDA) on carbon emissions influencing factors in Guangdong Province. Systems-based examination of direct and indirect drivers for regional emission is presented. (1) Direct effects analysis of influencing factors indicated that the main driving factors of increasing carbon emissions were economic and population growth. Carbon emission intensity was the main contributing factor restraining carbon emissions growth. (2) Indirect effects analysis of influencing factors showed that international and interprovincial trades significantly affected the total carbon emissions. (3) Analysis of the effects of different final demands on the carbon emissions of industrial sector indicated that the increase in carbon emission arising from international and interprovincial trades is mainly concentrated in energy- and carbon-intensive industries. (4) Guangdong had to compromise a certain amount of carbon emissions during the development of its export-oriented economy because of industry transfer arising from the economic globalization, thereby pointing to the existence of the "carbon leakage" problem. At the same time, interprovincial export and import resulted in Guangdong transferring a part of its carbon emissions to other provinces, thereby leading to the occurrence of "carbon transfer."

  7. Growth in emission transfers via international trade from 1990 to 2008.

    PubMed

    Peters, Glen P; Minx, Jan C; Weber, Christopher L; Edenhofer, Ottmar

    2011-05-24

    Despite the emergence of regional climate policies, growth in global CO(2) emissions has remained strong. From 1990 to 2008 CO(2) emissions in developed countries (defined as countries with emission-reduction commitments in the Kyoto Protocol, Annex B) have stabilized, but emissions in developing countries (non-Annex B) have doubled. Some studies suggest that the stabilization of emissions in developed countries was partially because of growing imports from developing countries. To quantify the growth in emission transfers via international trade, we developed a trade-linked global database for CO(2) emissions covering 113 countries and 57 economic sectors from 1990 to 2008. We find that the emissions from the production of traded goods and services have increased from 4.3 Gt CO(2) in 1990 (20% of global emissions) to 7.8 Gt CO(2) in 2008 (26%). Most developed countries have increased their consumption-based emissions faster than their territorial emissions, and non-energy-intensive manufacturing had a key role in the emission transfers. The net emission transfers via international trade from developing to developed countries increased from 0.4 Gt CO(2) in 1990 to 1.6 Gt CO(2) in 2008, which exceeds the Kyoto Protocol emission reductions. Our results indicate that international trade is a significant factor in explaining the change in emissions in many countries, from both a production and consumption perspective. We suggest that countries monitor emission transfers via international trade, in addition to territorial emissions, to ensure progress toward stabilization of global greenhouse gas emissions.

  8. Growth in emission transfers via international trade from 1990 to 2008

    PubMed Central

    Peters, Glen P.; Minx, Jan C.; Weber, Christopher L.; Edenhofer, Ottmar

    2011-01-01

    Despite the emergence of regional climate policies, growth in global CO2 emissions has remained strong. From 1990 to 2008 CO2 emissions in developed countries (defined as countries with emission-reduction commitments in the Kyoto Protocol, Annex B) have stabilized, but emissions in developing countries (non-Annex B) have doubled. Some studies suggest that the stabilization of emissions in developed countries was partially because of growing imports from developing countries. To quantify the growth in emission transfers via international trade, we developed a trade-linked global database for CO2 emissions covering 113 countries and 57 economic sectors from 1990 to 2008. We find that the emissions from the production of traded goods and services have increased from 4.3 Gt CO2 in 1990 (20% of global emissions) to 7.8 Gt CO2 in 2008 (26%). Most developed countries have increased their consumption-based emissions faster than their territorial emissions, and non–energy-intensive manufacturing had a key role in the emission transfers. The net emission transfers via international trade from developing to developed countries increased from 0.4 Gt CO2 in 1990 to 1.6 Gt CO2 in 2008, which exceeds the Kyoto Protocol emission reductions. Our results indicate that international trade is a significant factor in explaining the change in emissions in many countries, from both a production and consumption perspective. We suggest that countries monitor emission transfers via international trade, in addition to territorial emissions, to ensure progress toward stabilization of global greenhouse gas emissions. PMID:21518879

  9. Cooperative Emissions Trading Game: International Permit Market Dominated by Buyers.

    PubMed

    Honjo, Keita

    2015-01-01

    Rapid reduction of anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions is required to mitigate disastrous impacts of climate change. The Kyoto Protocol introduced international emissions trading (IET) to accelerate the reduction of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. The IET controls CO2 emissions through the allocation of marketable emission permits to sovereign countries. The costs for acquiring additional permits provide buyers with an incentive to reduce their CO2 emissions. However, permit price has declined to a low level during the first commitment period (CP1). The downward trend in permit price is attributed to deficiencies of the Kyoto Protocol: weak compliance enforcement, the generous allocation of permits to transition economies (hot air), and the withdrawal of the US. These deficiencies created a buyer's market dominated by price-making buyers. In this paper, I develop a coalitional game of the IET, and demonstrate that permit buyers have dominant bargaining power. In my model, called cooperative emissions trading (CET) game, a buyer purchases permits from sellers only if the buyer forms a coalition with the sellers. Permit price is determined by bargaining among the coalition members. I evaluated the demand-side and supply-side bargaining power (DBP and SBP) using Shapley value, and obtained the following results: (1) Permit price is given by the product of the buyer's willingness-to-pay and the SBP (= 1 - DBP). (2) The DBP is greater than or equal to the SBP. These results indicate that buyers can suppress permit price to low levels through bargaining. The deficiencies of the Kyoto Protocol enhance the DBP, and contribute to the demand-side dominance in the international permit market.

  10. Cooperative Emissions Trading Game: International Permit Market Dominated by Buyers

    PubMed Central

    Honjo, Keita

    2015-01-01

    Rapid reduction of anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions is required to mitigate disastrous impacts of climate change. The Kyoto Protocol introduced international emissions trading (IET) to accelerate the reduction of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. The IET controls CO2 emissions through the allocation of marketable emission permits to sovereign countries. The costs for acquiring additional permits provide buyers with an incentive to reduce their CO2 emissions. However, permit price has declined to a low level during the first commitment period (CP1). The downward trend in permit price is attributed to deficiencies of the Kyoto Protocol: weak compliance enforcement, the generous allocation of permits to transition economies (hot air), and the withdrawal of the US. These deficiencies created a buyer’s market dominated by price-making buyers. In this paper, I develop a coalitional game of the IET, and demonstrate that permit buyers have dominant bargaining power. In my model, called cooperative emissions trading (CET) game, a buyer purchases permits from sellers only if the buyer forms a coalition with the sellers. Permit price is determined by bargaining among the coalition members. I evaluated the demand-side and supply-side bargaining power (DBP and SBP) using Shapley value, and obtained the following results: (1) Permit price is given by the product of the buyer’s willingness-to-pay and the SBP (= 1 − DBP). (2) The DBP is greater than or equal to the SBP. These results indicate that buyers can suppress permit price to low levels through bargaining. The deficiencies of the Kyoto Protocol enhance the DBP, and contribute to the demand-side dominance in the international permit market. PMID:26244778

  11. Further Sensitivity Analysis of Hypothetical Policies to Limit Energy-Related Carbon Dioxide Emissions

    EIA Publications

    2013-01-01

    This analysis supplements the Annual Energy Outlook 2013 alternative cases which imposed hypothetical carbon dioxide emission fees on fossil fuel consumers. It offers further cases that examine the impacts of fees placed only on the emissions from electric power facilities, impacts of returning potential revenues to consumers, and two cap-and-trade policies.

  12. Policy design and performance of emissions trading markets: an adaptive agent-based analysis.

    PubMed

    Bing, Zhang; Qinqin, Yu; Jun, Bi

    2010-08-01

    Emissions trading is considered to be a cost-effective environmental economic instrument for pollution control. However, the pilot emissions trading programs in China have failed to bring remarkable success in the campaign for pollution control. The policy design of an emissions trading program is found to have a decisive impact on its performance. In this study, an artificial market for sulfur dioxide (SO2) emissions trading applying the agent-based model was constructed. The performance of the Jiangsu SO2 emissions trading market under different policy design scenario was also examined. Results show that the market efficiency of emissions trading is significantly affected by policy design and existing policies. China's coal-electricity price system is the principal factor influencing the performance of the SO2 emissions trading market. Transaction costs would also reduce market efficiency. In addition, current-level emissions discharge fee/tax and banking mechanisms do not distinctly affect policy performance. Thus, applying emissions trading in emission control in China should consider policy design and interaction with other existing policies.

  13. Opportunities and trade-offs of biomass based negative emissions within planetary boundaries

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Heck, Vera; Gerten, Dieter; Lucht, Wolfgang

    2017-04-01

    The Paris Agreement requires "a balance between anthropogenic emissions by sources and removals by sinks of greenhouse gases in the second half of the century" (UNFCCC, 2015). Without a full decarbonization of the energy and land use sector until the second half of this century, negative emission technologies (NETs) are required to achieve net zero greenhouse gas emissions. Integrated assessment studies indicate that bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS), a land based NET, has the potential to contribute substantially to balancing anthropogenic fossil fuel emissions. However, significant negative emission potentials from BECCS require substantial biomass potentials, which can only be achieved by intensively managed (fertilized and irrigated) large-scale biomass plantations. Additional to direct trade-offs of land and water availability, the implementation of large-scale biomass plantations implies major restructuring of the land surface on top of existing land use and would be accompanied by indirect trade-offs such as changes in moisture and energy fluxes. In the context of the planetary boundaries framework as proposed by Rockström et al. (2009), BECCS might contribute to reduce the transgression of the planetary boundary (PB) for climate change, but would most likely steer the Earth system closer to the PB for freshwater use and lead to further transgression of the PBs for land system change, biosphere integrity and biogeochemical flows. This presentation will investigate the opportunities of second generation biomass potentials within the safe operating space for humanity and highlight the multidimensional trade-offs between biomass potentials for BECCS in relation to the PBs. Scenarios of land availability for biomass plantations and land based carbon sequestration were developed with a spatially explicit multi-criterial optimization framework, considering the precautionary need to stay within the safe operating space vis-à-vis the need to

  14. Virtual CO2 Emission Flows in the Global Electricity Trade Network.

    PubMed

    Qu, Shen; Li, Yun; Liang, Sai; Yuan, Jiahai; Xu, Ming

    2018-06-05

    Quantifying greenhouse gas emissions due to electricity consumption is crucial for climate mitigation in the electric power sector. Current practices primarily use production-based emission factors to quantify emissions for electricity consumption, assuming production and consumption of electricity take place within the same region. The increasingly intensified cross-border electricity trade complicates the accounting for emissions of electricity consumption. This study employs a network approach to account for the flows in the whole electricity trade network to estimate CO 2 emissions of electricity consumption for 137 major countries/regions in 2014. Results show that in some countries, especially those in Europe and Southern Africa, the impacts of electricity trade on the estimation of emission factors and embodied emissions are significant. The changes made to emission factors by considering intergrid electricity trade can have significant implications for emission accounting and climate mitigation when multiplied by total electricity consumption of the corresponding countries/regions.

  15. 40 CFR 1051.715 - How do I trade emission credits?

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-07-01

    ... 40 Protection of Environment 33 2011-07-01 2011-07-01 false How do I trade emission credits? 1051.715 Section 1051.715 Protection of Environment ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY (CONTINUED) AIR POLLUTION CONTROLS CONTROL OF EMISSIONS FROM RECREATIONAL ENGINES AND VEHICLES Averaging, Banking, and Trading for Certification § 1051.715 How do I trade...

  16. 40 CFR 1051.715 - How do I trade emission credits?

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-07-01

    ... 40 Protection of Environment 33 2014-07-01 2014-07-01 false How do I trade emission credits? 1051.715 Section 1051.715 Protection of Environment ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY (CONTINUED) AIR POLLUTION CONTROLS CONTROL OF EMISSIONS FROM RECREATIONAL ENGINES AND VEHICLES Averaging, Banking, and Trading for Certification § 1051.715 How do I trade...

  17. 40 CFR 1051.715 - How do I trade emission credits?

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-07-01

    ... 40 Protection of Environment 34 2012-07-01 2012-07-01 false How do I trade emission credits? 1051.715 Section 1051.715 Protection of Environment ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY (CONTINUED) AIR POLLUTION CONTROLS CONTROL OF EMISSIONS FROM RECREATIONAL ENGINES AND VEHICLES Averaging, Banking, and Trading for Certification § 1051.715 How do I trade...

  18. 40 CFR 1051.715 - How do I trade emission credits?

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-07-01

    ... 40 Protection of Environment 32 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false How do I trade emission credits? 1051.715 Section 1051.715 Protection of Environment ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY (CONTINUED) AIR POLLUTION CONTROLS CONTROL OF EMISSIONS FROM RECREATIONAL ENGINES AND VEHICLES Averaging, Banking, and Trading for Certification § 1051.715 How do I trade...

  19. The Air-Carbon-Water Synergies and Trade-Offs in China's Natural Gas Industry

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Qin, Yue

    China's coal-dominated energy structure is partly responsible for its domestic air pollution, local water stress, and the global climate change. Primarily to tackle the haze issue, China has been actively promoting a nationwide coal to natural gas end-use switch. My dissertation focuses on evaluating the air quality, carbon, and water impacts and their interactions in China's natural gas industry. Chapter 2 assesses the lifecycle climate performance of China's shale gas in comparison to coal based on stage-level energy consumption and methane leakage rates. I find the mean lifecycle carbon footprint of shale gas is about 30-50% lower than that of coal under both 20 year and 100 year global warming potentials (GWP20 and GWP100). However, primarily due to large uncertainties in methane leakage, the lifecycle carbon footprint of shale gas in China could be 15-60% higher than that of coal across sectors under GWP20. Chapter 3 evaluates the air quality, human health, and the climate impacts of China's coal-based synthetic natural gas (SNG) development. Based on earlier 2020 SNG production targets, I conduct an integrated assessment to identify production technologies and end-use applications that will bring as large air quality and health benefits as possible while keeping carbon penalties as small as possible. I find that, due to inefficient and uncontrolled coal combustion in households, allocating currently available SNG to the residential sector proves to be the best SNG allocation option. Chapter 4 compares the air quality, carbon, and water impacts of China's six major gas sources under three end-use substitution scenarios, which are focused on maximizing air pollutant emission reductions, CO 2 emission reductions, and water stress index (WSI)-weighted water consumption reductions, respectively. I find striking national air-carbon/water trade-offs due to SNG, which also significantly increases water demands and carbon emissions in regions already suffering from

  20. Energy and air emissions embodied in China-U.S. trade: eastbound assessment using adjusted bilateral trade data.

    PubMed

    Xu, Ming; Allenby, Braden; Chen, Weiqiang

    2009-05-01

    It is critical to understand environmental impacts embodied in the bilateral trade between China and the United States, given the political, economic, and geographical importance of the two countries and the fact that few studies have investigated this before. This article studies the environmental impacts, particularly energy consumption and air emissions, embodied in the eastbound (from China to the U.S.) trade from 2002 to 2007 using an environmental input-output analysis technique and the adjusted bilateral trade data. In general,trade volume increased until the panic of 2008, and shifting trade patterns cause fluctuating embodied energy and air emissions in trade in China. Results show that embodied energy ranges from 7 to 11 exajoule (EJ) and takes about 12-17% of China's energy consumption. Embodied CO2 ranges between 400 and 800 Mt and represents about 8-12% of China's CO2 emissions. SO2 and NOx embodied in the eastbound trade generally grow over this period, from 4.2 to 6.3 Mt and from 1.4 to 2.9 Mt and account for 10-15% and 8-12% of China's total emissions, respectively.

  1. The European Union's emissions trading system in perspective

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    A. Denny Ellerman; Paul L. Joskow

    2008-05-15

    The performance of the European Union's Emissions Trading System (EU ETS) to date cannot be evaluated without recognizing that the first three years from 2005 through 2007 constituted a 'trial' period and understanding what this trial period was supposed to accomplish. Its primary goal was to develop the infrastructure and to provide the experience that would enable the successful use of a cap-and-trade system to limit European GHG emissions during a second trading period, 2008-12, corresponding to the first commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol. The trial period was a rehearsal for the later more serious engagement and it wasmore » never intended to achieve significant reductions in CO{sub 2} emissions in only three years. In light of the speed with which the program was developed, the many sovereign countries involved, the need to develop the necessary data, information dissemination, compliance and market institutions, and the lack of extensive experience with emissions trading in Europe, we think that the system has performed surprisingly well. Although there have been plenty of rough edges, a transparent and widely accepted price for tradable CO{sub 2} emission allowances emerged by January 1, 2005, a functioning market for allowances has developed quickly and effortlessly without any prodding by the Commission or member state governments, the cap-and-trade infrastructure of market institutions, registries, monitoring, reporting and verification is in place, and a significant segment of European industry is incorporating the price of CO{sub 2} emissions into their daily production decisions. The development of the EU ETS and the experience with the trial period provides a number of useful lessons for the U.S. and other countries. 27 refs., 7 figs., 5 tabs.« less

  2. Does trade openness affect CO2 emissions: evidence from ten newly industrialized countries?

    PubMed

    Zhang, Shun; Liu, Xuyi; Bae, Junghan

    2017-07-01

    This paper examines whether the hypothetical environmental Kuznet curve (EKC) exists or not and investigates how trade openness affects CO 2 emissions, together with real GDP and total primary energy consumption. The study sample comprises ten newly industrialized countries (NICs-10) from 1971 to 2013. The results support the existence of hypothetical EKC and indicate that trade openness negatively and significantly affects emissions, while real GDP and energy do positive effects of emissions. Moreover, the empirical results of short-run causalities indicate feedback hypothetical linkage of real GDP and trade, unidirectional linkages from energy to emissions, and from trade to energy. The error correction terms (ECTs) reveal in the long run, feedback linkages of emissions, real GDP, and trade openness, while energy Granger causes emissions, real GDP, and trade, respectively. The study recommendations are that our policymakers should encourage and expand the trade openness in these countries, not only to restrain CO 2 emissions but also to boost their growth.

  3. The influencing factors of China carbon price: a study based on carbon trading market in hubei province

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Li, Hao; Lei, Ming

    2018-02-01

    For the carbon market, good trading mechanism is the basis for the healthy development of the carbon trading market. In order to explore the core problem of carbon price formation, our research explores the influencing factors of the price of carbon trading market. After the preliminary statistical analysis, our study found that Hubei Province is in the leading position among seven pilots in the carbon trading volume and the transaction, so our study of carbon price takes Hubei Province as sample of the empirical research. Multi-time series model and ARCH model analysis method are used in the research, we use the data of Hubei carbon trading pilot from June 2014 to December 2016 to carry out empirical research, the results found that industrial income, energy price, government intervention and the number of participating corporation have significant effect on the carbon price, which provides a meaningful reference for the other pilots in-depth study, as well as the construction of a national carbon trading market.

  4. 40 CFR 89.111 - Averaging, banking, and trading of exhaust emissions.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-07-01

    ... 40 Protection of Environment 20 2011-07-01 2011-07-01 false Averaging, banking, and trading of... ENGINES Emission Standards and Certification Provisions § 89.111 Averaging, banking, and trading of exhaust emissions. Regulations regarding the availability of an averaging, banking, and trading program...

  5. 40 CFR 89.111 - Averaging, banking, and trading of exhaust emissions.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-07-01

    ... 40 Protection of Environment 21 2013-07-01 2013-07-01 false Averaging, banking, and trading of... ENGINES Emission Standards and Certification Provisions § 89.111 Averaging, banking, and trading of exhaust emissions. Regulations regarding the availability of an averaging, banking, and trading program...

  6. 40 CFR 89.111 - Averaging, banking, and trading of exhaust emissions.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-07-01

    ... 40 Protection of Environment 20 2014-07-01 2013-07-01 true Averaging, banking, and trading of... ENGINES Emission Standards and Certification Provisions § 89.111 Averaging, banking, and trading of exhaust emissions. Regulations regarding the availability of an averaging, banking, and trading program...

  7. 40 CFR 89.111 - Averaging, banking, and trading of exhaust emissions.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-07-01

    ... 40 Protection of Environment 21 2012-07-01 2012-07-01 false Averaging, banking, and trading of... ENGINES Emission Standards and Certification Provisions § 89.111 Averaging, banking, and trading of exhaust emissions. Regulations regarding the availability of an averaging, banking, and trading program...

  8. 40 CFR 89.111 - Averaging, banking, and trading of exhaust emissions.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-07-01

    ... 40 Protection of Environment 20 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Averaging, banking, and trading of... ENGINES Emission Standards and Certification Provisions § 89.111 Averaging, banking, and trading of exhaust emissions. Regulations regarding the availability of an averaging, banking, and trading program...

  9. The impact of income, trade, urbanization, and financial development on CO2 emissions in 19 emerging economies.

    PubMed

    Saidi, Kais; Mbarek, Mounir Ben

    2017-05-01

    This study attempts to empirically examine the impact of financial development, income, trade openness, and urbanization on carbon dioxide emissions for the panel of emerging economies using the time series data over the period 1990-2013. Results showed a positive monotonic relationship between income and CO 2 emissions. All models do not support the EKC hypothesis which assumes an inverted U-shaped relationship between income and environmental degradation. Financial development has a long-run negative impact on carbon emissions, implying that financial development minimizes environmental degradation. This means that financial development can be used as an implement to keep the degradation environmental clean by introducing financial reforms. The urbanization decreases the CO 2 emissions; therefore, it is important for the policymakers and urban planners in these countries to slow the rapid increase in urbanization.

  10. Carbon dioxide emission implications if hydrofluorocarbons are regulated: a refrigeration case study.

    PubMed

    Blowers, Paul; Lownsbury, James M

    2010-03-01

    The U.S. is strongly considering regulating hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) due to their global climate change forcing effects. A drop-in replacement hydrofluoroether has been evaluated using a gate-to-grave life cycle assessment of greenhouse gas emissions for the trade-offs between direct and indirect carbon dioxide equivalent emissions compared to a current HFC and a historically used refrigerant. The results indicate current regulations being considered may increase global climate change.

  11. Carbon trading, climate change, environmental sustainability and saving planet Earth

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Yim, W. W.

    2009-12-01

    Carbon trading namely the reduction of future carbon dioxide levels has been widely touted as a solution needed to counter the problem of climate change. However, there are enormous risks involved as the measure tackles only one of the causes of climate change and may prove to be ineffective. This presentation highlights ten points relevant to the discussion on carbon trading, climate change, environmental sustainability and saving planet Earth for increasing public awareness. They include: (1) Climate has changed throughout Earth’s history. (2) The present level of about 388 parts per million level of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere has already exceeded the maximum level of the past 800,000 years. This value is obtained from air bubbles trapped within the ice in Antarctica but the consequence of further increases remains uncertain. (3) Earth scientists do not have an overwhelming consensus on whether carbon trading alone is an effective measure in mitigating climate change. (4) The present state of the Earth’s demise is largely the result of human actions including population growth and the mismanagement of the Earth. (5) The latest evidence on sea-level changes in the South China Sea a far-field region unaffected by glacial isostatic readjustment is not in support of a ‘rapid’ rate of future sea-level rise through global warming. (6) Volcanic eruptions have an important role in driving the Earth’s climate. Examples of temperature lowering as well as abnormally wet and dry years can both be found in the instrumental record. (7) Humans have drastically modified the ‘natural’ water cycle. This is however not a well recognized cause of climate change compared to the emission of greenhouse gases through fossil fuel consumption. (8) The bulk (~75%) of the rise in mean annual temperature of about 1oC observed at the Hong Kong Observatory Station since record began in 1884 is best explained by the thermal heat island effect. (9) No evidence has been found

  12. Reversible and irreversible impacts of greenhouse gas emissions in multi-century projections with the NCAR global coupled carbon cycle-climate model

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Froelicher, T. L.; Joos, F.

    2010-12-01

    The legacy of historical and the long-term impacts of 21st century greenhouse gas emissions on climate, ocean acidification, and carbon-climate feedbacks are investigated with a coupled carbon cycle-climate model. Emission commitment scenarios with zero emissions after year 2100 and 21st century emissions of 1,800, 900, and 0 gigatons of carbon are run up to year 2500. The reversibility and irreversibility of impacts is quantified by comparing anthropogenically-forced regional changes with internal, unforced climate variability. We show that the influence of historical emissions and of non-CO2 agents is largely reversible on the regional scale. Forced changes in surface temperature and precipitation become smaller than internal variability for most land and ocean grid cells in the absence of future carbon emissions. In contrast, continued carbon emissions over the 21st century cause irreversible climate change on centennial to millennial timescales in most regions and impacts related to ocean acidification and sea level rise continue to aggravate for centuries even if emissions are stopped in year 2100. Undersaturation of the Arctic surface ocean with respect to aragonite, a mineral form of calcium carbonate secreted by marine organisms, is imminent and remains widespread. The volume of supersaturated water providing habitat to calcifying organisms is reduced from preindustrial 40 to 25% in 2100 and to 10% in 2300 for the high emission case. We conclude that emission trading schemes, related to the Kyoto Process,should not permit trading between emissions of relatively short-lived agents and CO2 given the irreversible impacts of anthropogenic carbon emissions.

  13. Reversible and irreversible impacts of greenhouse gas emissions in multi-century projections with the NCAR global coupled carbon cycle-climate model

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Frölicher, Thomas L.; Joos, Fortunat

    2010-12-01

    The legacy of historical and the long-term impacts of 21st century greenhouse gas emissions on climate, ocean acidification, and carbon-climate feedbacks are investigated with a coupled carbon cycle-climate model. Emission commitment scenarios with zero emissions after year 2100 and 21st century emissions of 1,800, 900, and 0 gigatons of carbon are run up to year 2500. The reversibility and irreversibility of impacts is quantified by comparing anthropogenically-forced regional changes with internal, unforced climate variability. We show that the influence of historical emissions and of non-CO2 agents is largely reversible on the regional scale. Forced changes in surface temperature and precipitation become smaller than internal variability for most land and ocean grid cells in the absence of future carbon emissions. In contrast, continued carbon emissions over the 21st century cause irreversible climate change on centennial to millennial timescales in most regions and impacts related to ocean acidification and sea level rise continue to aggravate for centuries even if emissions are stopped in year 2100. Undersaturation of the Arctic surface ocean with respect to aragonite, a mineral form of calcium carbonate secreted by marine organisms, is imminent and remains widespread. The volume of supersaturated water providing habitat to calcifying organisms is reduced from preindustrial 40 to 25% in 2100 and to 10% in 2300 for the high emission case. We conclude that emission trading schemes, related to the Kyoto Process, should not permit trading between emissions of relatively short-lived agents and CO2 given the irreversible impacts of anthropogenic carbon emissions.

  14. Water-carbon trade-off in China's coal power industry.

    PubMed

    Zhang, Chao; Anadon, Laura Diaz; Mo, Hongpin; Zhao, Zhongnan; Liu, Zhu

    2014-10-07

    The energy sector is increasingly facing water scarcity constraints in many regions around the globe, especially in China, where the unprecedented large-scale construction of coal-fired thermal power plants is taking place in its extremely arid northwest regions. As a response to water scarcity, air-cooled coal power plants have experienced dramatic diffusion in China since the middle 2000s. By the end of 2012, air-cooled coal-fired thermal power plants in China amounted to 112 GW, making up 14% of China's thermal power generation capacity. But the water conservation benefit of air-cooled units is achieved at the cost of lower thermal efficiency and consequently higher carbon emission intensity. We estimate that in 2012 the deployment of air-cooled units contributed an additional 24.3-31.9 million tonnes of CO2 emissions (equivalent to 0.7-1.0% of the total CO2 emissions by China's electric power sector), while saving 832-942 million m(3) of consumptive water use (about 60% of the total annual water use of Beijing) when compared to a scenario with water-cooled plants. Additional CO2 emissions from air-cooled plants largely offset the CO2 emissions reduction benefits from Chinese policies of retiring small and outdated coal plants. This water-carbon trade-off is poised to become even more significant by 2020, as air-cooled units are expected to grow by a factor of 2-260 GW, accounting for 22% of China's total coal-fired power generation capacity.

  15. Emissions trading comes of age as a strategic tool

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Pospisil, R.

    1996-03-01

    Trading of emissions credits has quickly evolved from a curiosity to a viable compliance strategy for electric utilities and power-generating industrial firms. A sure sign that emissions trading has matured is the entry of power marketers onto the scene; in bundling pollution allowances with their electricity offerings, they are making their product more attractive - and stealing a page from the coal companies` strategy book to boot. Although most current activity involves credits for sulfur dioxide (SO{sub 2}), nitrogen oxide (NO{sub x}) trading is under way in certain areas as well, although NO{sub x} markets are local and thus slowermore » to develop. However, utilities see economic development potential in this area; some are providing NO{sub x} credits to their industrial customers to help them comply with environmental regulations - and to retain their loyalty when deregulation affords them a choice of electricity suppliers. This paper briefly discusses the issues related to emissions trading.« less

  16. To trade or not to trade: firm-level analysis of emissions trading in Santiago, Chile.

    PubMed

    Coria, Jessica; Löfgren, Asa; Sterner, Thomas

    2010-11-01

    Whether tradable permits are appropriate for use in transition and developing economies--given special social and cultural circumstances, such as the lack of institutions and lack of expertise with market-based policies--is much debated. We conducted interviews and surveyed a sample of firms subject to emissions trading programs in Santiago, Chile, one of the first cities outside the OECD that has implemented such trading. The information gathered allows us to study what factors affect the performance of the trading programs in practice and the challenges and advantages of applying tradable permits in less developed countries. Copyright 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  17. 40 CFR 1045.720 - How do I trade emission credits?

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-07-01

    ... 40 Protection of Environment 34 2012-07-01 2012-07-01 false How do I trade emission credits? 1045.720 Section 1045.720 Protection of Environment ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY (CONTINUED) AIR POLLUTION CONTROLS CONTROL OF EMISSIONS FROM SPARK-IGNITION PROPULSION MARINE ENGINES AND VESSELS Averaging, Banking, and Trading for Certification §...

  18. 40 CFR 1045.720 - How do I trade emission credits?

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-07-01

    ... 40 Protection of Environment 33 2014-07-01 2014-07-01 false How do I trade emission credits? 1045.720 Section 1045.720 Protection of Environment ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY (CONTINUED) AIR POLLUTION CONTROLS CONTROL OF EMISSIONS FROM SPARK-IGNITION PROPULSION MARINE ENGINES AND VESSELS Averaging, Banking, and Trading for Certification §...

  19. 40 CFR 1045.720 - How do I trade emission credits?

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-07-01

    ... 40 Protection of Environment 33 2011-07-01 2011-07-01 false How do I trade emission credits? 1045.720 Section 1045.720 Protection of Environment ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY (CONTINUED) AIR POLLUTION CONTROLS CONTROL OF EMISSIONS FROM SPARK-IGNITION PROPULSION MARINE ENGINES AND VESSELS Averaging, Banking, and Trading for Certification §...

  20. 40 CFR 1045.720 - How do I trade emission credits?

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-07-01

    ... 40 Protection of Environment 32 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false How do I trade emission credits? 1045.720 Section 1045.720 Protection of Environment ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY (CONTINUED) AIR POLLUTION CONTROLS CONTROL OF EMISSIONS FROM SPARK-IGNITION PROPULSION MARINE ENGINES AND VESSELS Averaging, Banking, and Trading for Certification §...

  1. The geography of So{sub 2} emissions trading

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Solomon, B.

    1995-12-01

    Interstate trading of SO{sub 2} emission allowances under the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990 represents the largest-scale application of market principles to environmental protection. some opponents have hypothesized that high emitting electric power plants in the Midwestern states will buy additional allowances and thereby sustain SO{sub 2} emissions at unacceptable high levels. Much of these emissions would then continue to return downwind as sulfates in the Northeast, damaging critical ecosystems such as lakes and forests in the Adirondacks. A competing hypothesis is that in an increasingly competitive utility industry, a power plant will choose the least-cost compliance option formore » its SO{sub 2} emission requirements, which for many large and dirty Midwestern plants will be to retrofit with scrubbers. This paper will provide the first comprehensive empirical analysis of the geographic pattern of SO{sub 2} allowance trading for the first three years (early 1992 to early 1995) to determine the validity of the first hypothesis. It will be shown that with the exception of one electric utility in Illinois, the Midwestern states have not used allowance trading to sustain high emission levels. A Congressionally-mandated subsidy for scrubber retrofits at Phase I affected-units, however, has allowed two of these states (Ohio and Indiana) plus three additional Appalachian states (Tennessee, West Virginia and Pennsylvania) to acquire large quantities of bonus allowances. Most of these additional allowances may be banked for future use at other affected units by the acquiring utilities, since the newly scrubbed plants will have much lower SO{sub 2} emissions because of the scrubber retrofits. The good news is that the trading program is projected to save a lot of money, over $2 billion out of a possible $3 billion in annual compliance costs by the time of Phase II.« less

  2. Environmental impacts of food trade via resource use and greenhouse gas emissions

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Dalin, Carole; Rodríguez-Iturbe, Ignacio

    2016-03-01

    Agriculture will need to significantly intensify in the next decades to continue providing essential nutritive food to a growing global population. However, it can have harmful environmental impacts, due to the use of natural and synthetic resources and the emission of greenhouse gases, which alter the water, carbon and nitrogen cycles, and threaten the fertility, health and biodiversity of landscapes. Because of the spatial heterogeneity of resource productivity, farming practices, climate, and land and water availability, the environmental impact of producing food is highly dependent on its origin. For this reason, food trade can either increase or reduce the overall environmental impacts of agriculture, depending on whether or not the impact is greater in the exporting region. Here, we review current scientific understanding of the environmental impacts of food trade, focusing on water and land use, pollution and greenhouse gas emissions. In the case of water, these impacts are mainly beneficial. However, in the cases of pollution and greenhouse gas emissions, this conclusion is not as clear. Overall, there is an urgent need for a more comprehensive, integrated approach to estimate the global impacts of food trade on the environment. Second, research is needed to improve the evaluation of some key aspects of the relative value of each resource depending on the local and regional biophysical and socio-economic context. Finally, to enhance the impact of such evaluations and their applicability in decision-making, scenario analyses and accounting of key issues like deforestation and groundwater exhaustion will be required.

  3. Maximizing sinter plant operating flexibility through emissions trading and air modeling

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Schewe, G.J.; Wagner, J.A.; Heron, T.

    1998-12-31

    This paper provides details on the dispersion modeling analysis performed to demonstrate air quality impacts associated with an emission trading scheme for a sintering operation in Youngstown, Ohio. The emission trade was proposed to allow the sinter plant to expand its current allowable sulfur dioxide (SO2) emissions while being offset with SO{sub 2} emissions from boilers at a nearby shutdown steel mill. While the emission trade itself was feasible and the emissions required for the offset were available (the boiler shutdown and their subsequent SO{sub 2} emission credits were never claimed, banked, or used elsewhere), the second criteria for determiningmore » compliance was a demonstration of minimal air quality impact. The air analysis combined the increased ambient SO{sub 2} concentrations of the relaxed sinter plant emissions with the offsetting air quality of the shutdown boilers to yield the net air quality impacts. To test this net air impact, dispersion modeling was performed treating the sinter plant SO{sub 2} emissions as positive and the shutdown boiler SO{sub 2} emissions as negative. The results of the modeling indicated that the ambient air concentrations due to the proposed emissions increase will be offset by the nearby boiler emissions to levels acceptable under EPA`s offset policy Level 2 significant impact concentrations. Therefore, the dispersion modeling demonstrated that the emission trading scheme would not result in significant air quality impacts and maximum operating flexibility was provided to the sintering facility.« less

  4. China's emissions trading takes steps towards big ambitions

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Jotzo, Frank; Karplus, Valerie; Grubb, Michael; Löschel, Andreas; Neuhoff, Karsten; Wu, Libo; Teng, Fei

    2018-04-01

    China recently announced its national emissions trading scheme, advancing market-based approaches to cutting greenhouse gas emissions. Its evolution over coming years will determine whether it becomes an effective part of China's portfolio of climate policies.

  5. Emissions embodied in global trade have plateaued due to structural changes in China

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Pan, Chen; Peters, Glen P.; Andrew, Robbie M.; Korsbakken, Jan Ivar; Li, Shantong; Zhou, Dequn; Zhou, Peng

    2017-09-01

    In the 2000s, the rapid growth of CO2 emitted in the production of exports from developing to developed countries, in which China accounted for the dominant share, led to concerns that climate polices had been undermined by international trade. Arguments on "carbon leakage" and "competitiveness"—which led to the refusal of the U.S. to ratify the Kyoto Protocol—put pressure on developing countries, especially China, to limit their emissions with Border Carbon Adjustments used as one threat. After strong growth in the early 2000s, emissions exported from developing to developed countries plateaued and could have even decreased since 2007. These changes were mainly due to China: In 2002-2007, China's exported emissions grew by 827 MtCO2, amounting to almost all the 892 MtCO2 total increase in emissions exported from developing to developed countries, while in 2007-2012, emissions exported from China decreased by 229 MtCO2, contributing to the total decrease of 172 MtCO2 exported from developing to developed countries. We apply Structural Decomposition Analysis to find that, in addition to the diminishing effects of the global financial crisis, the slowdown and eventual plateau was largely explained by several potentially permanent changes in China: Decline in export volume growth, improvements in CO2 intensity, and changes in production structure and the mix of exported products. We argue that growth in China's exported emissions will not return to the high levels during the 2000s, therefore the arguments for climate polices focused on embodied emissions such as Border Carbon Adjustments are now weakened.

  6. 40 CFR 1039.720 - How do I trade emission credits?

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-07-01

    ... 40 Protection of Environment 34 2012-07-01 2012-07-01 false How do I trade emission credits? 1039.720 Section 1039.720 Protection of Environment ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY (CONTINUED) AIR POLLUTION CONTROLS CONTROL OF EMISSIONS FROM NEW AND IN-USE NONROAD COMPRESSION-IGNITION ENGINES Averaging, Banking, and Trading for Certification §...

  7. 40 CFR 1054.720 - How do I trade emission credits?

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-07-01

    ... 40 Protection of Environment 32 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false How do I trade emission credits? 1054.720 Section 1054.720 Protection of Environment ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY (CONTINUED) AIR POLLUTION CONTROLS CONTROL OF EMISSIONS FROM NEW, SMALL NONROAD SPARK-IGNITION ENGINES AND EQUIPMENT Averaging, Banking, and Trading for Certification §...

  8. 40 CFR 1054.720 - How do I trade emission credits?

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-07-01

    ... 40 Protection of Environment 33 2011-07-01 2011-07-01 false How do I trade emission credits? 1054.720 Section 1054.720 Protection of Environment ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY (CONTINUED) AIR POLLUTION CONTROLS CONTROL OF EMISSIONS FROM NEW, SMALL NONROAD SPARK-IGNITION ENGINES AND EQUIPMENT Averaging, Banking, and Trading for Certification §...

  9. 40 CFR 1039.720 - How do I trade emission credits?

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-07-01

    ... 40 Protection of Environment 32 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false How do I trade emission credits? 1039.720 Section 1039.720 Protection of Environment ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY (CONTINUED) AIR POLLUTION CONTROLS CONTROL OF EMISSIONS FROM NEW AND IN-USE NONROAD COMPRESSION-IGNITION ENGINES Averaging, Banking, and Trading for Certification §...

  10. 40 CFR 1039.720 - How do I trade emission credits?

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-07-01

    ... 40 Protection of Environment 33 2014-07-01 2014-07-01 false How do I trade emission credits? 1039.720 Section 1039.720 Protection of Environment ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY (CONTINUED) AIR POLLUTION CONTROLS CONTROL OF EMISSIONS FROM NEW AND IN-USE NONROAD COMPRESSION-IGNITION ENGINES Averaging, Banking, and Trading for Certification §...

  11. 40 CFR 1054.720 - How do I trade emission credits?

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-07-01

    ... 40 Protection of Environment 34 2012-07-01 2012-07-01 false How do I trade emission credits? 1054.720 Section 1054.720 Protection of Environment ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY (CONTINUED) AIR POLLUTION CONTROLS CONTROL OF EMISSIONS FROM NEW, SMALL NONROAD SPARK-IGNITION ENGINES AND EQUIPMENT Averaging, Banking, and Trading for Certification §...

  12. 40 CFR 1039.720 - How do I trade emission credits?

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-07-01

    ... 40 Protection of Environment 33 2011-07-01 2011-07-01 false How do I trade emission credits? 1039.720 Section 1039.720 Protection of Environment ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY (CONTINUED) AIR POLLUTION CONTROLS CONTROL OF EMISSIONS FROM NEW AND IN-USE NONROAD COMPRESSION-IGNITION ENGINES Averaging, Banking, and Trading for Certification §...

  13. 40 CFR 1054.720 - How do I trade emission credits?

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-07-01

    ... 40 Protection of Environment 33 2014-07-01 2014-07-01 false How do I trade emission credits? 1054.720 Section 1054.720 Protection of Environment ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY (CONTINUED) AIR POLLUTION CONTROLS CONTROL OF EMISSIONS FROM NEW, SMALL NONROAD SPARK-IGNITION ENGINES AND EQUIPMENT Averaging, Banking, and Trading for Certification §...

  14. Strategic research on the sustainable development cost of manufacturing industry under the background of carbon allowance and trade policy

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Ma, Zhongmin; Cheng, Mengting; Wang, Mei

    2017-08-01

    The important subjects of energy consumption and carbon emission are manufacturing enterprises, with the deepening of international cooperation, and the implementation of carbon limit and trade policy, costs of manufacturing industry will rise sharply. How can the manufacturing industry survive in this reform, and it has to be a problem that the managers of the manufacturing industry need to solve. This paper analyses sustainable development cost connotation and value basis on the basis of sustainable development concept, discusses the influence of carbon allowance and trade policy for cost strategy of manufacturing industry, thinks that manufacturing industry should highlight social responsibility and realize maximization of social value, implement cost strategy the sustainable development, and pointed out the implementation way.

  15. Decision-Making and Environmental Implications under Cap-and-Trade and Take-Back Regulations

    PubMed Central

    Chen, Yuyu; Li, Bangyi; Liu, Zhi

    2018-01-01

    To reduce carbon emissions during production and realize the recycling of resources, the government has promulgated carbon cap-and-trade regulation and take-back regulation separately. This paper firstly analyses the manufacturing, remanufacturing and collection decisions of a monopoly manufacturer under cap-and-trade regulation and take-back regulation conditions, and then explores the environmental impact (i.e., carbon emissions) of both carbon regulation and more stringent take-back regulation. Finally, numerical examples are provided to illustrate the theoretical results. The results indicate that it will do good for the environment once the cap-and-trade regulation is carried out. We also conclude that government’s supervision of carbon trading price plays an important role in reducing the environmental impact. Furthermore, unexpectedly, we prove that if emissions intensity of a remanufactured (vis-á-vis new) product is sufficiently high, the improvement of collection and remanufacturing targets might lead to the deterioration of environment. PMID:29617334

  16. Carbon Emission Flow in Networks

    PubMed Central

    Kang, Chongqing; Zhou, Tianrui; Chen, Qixin; Xu, Qianyao; Xia, Qing; Ji, Zhen

    2012-01-01

    As the human population increases and production expands, energy demand and anthropogenic carbon emission rates have been growing rapidly, and the need to decrease carbon emission levels has drawn increasing attention. The link between energy production and consumption has required the large-scale transport of energy within energy transmission networks. Within this energy flow, there is a virtual circulation of carbon emissions. To understand this circulation and account for the relationship between energy consumption and carbon emissions, this paper introduces the concept of “carbon emission flow in networks” and establishes a method to calculate carbon emission flow in networks. Using an actual analysis of China's energy pattern, the authors discuss the significance of this new concept, not only as a feasible approach but also as an innovative theoretical perspective. PMID:22761988

  17. Carbon Management In the Post-Cap-and-Trade Carbon Economy-Part II

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    DeGroff, F. A.

    2014-12-01

    This is the second installment in our search for a comprehensive economic model to mitigate climate change due to anthropogenic activity. Last year we presented how the unique features of our economic model measure changes in carbon flux due to anthropogenic activity, referred to as carbon quality or CQ, and how the model is used to value such changes in the climate system. This year, our paper focuses on how carbon quality can be implemented to capture the effect of economic activity and international trade on the climate system, thus allowing us to calculate a Return on Climate System (RoCS) for all economic assets and activity. The result is that the RoCS for each public and private economic activity and entity can be calculated by summing up the RoCS for each individual economic asset and activity in which an entity is engaged. Such a macro-level scale is used to rank public and private entities including corporations, governments, and even entire nations, as well as human adaptation and carbon storage activities, providing status and trending insights to evaluate policies on both a micro- and macro-economic level. With international trade, RoCS measures the embodied effects on climate change that will be needed to assess border fees to insure carbon parity on all imports and exports. At the core of our vision is a comprehensive, 'open-source' construct of which our carbon quality metric is the first element. One goal is to recognize each country's endemic resources and infrastructure that affect their ability to manage carbon, while preventing spatial and temporal shifting of carbon emissions that reduce or reverse efforts to mitigate climate change. The standards for calculating the RoCS can be promulgated as part of the Generally Accepted Accounted Principles (GAAP) and the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) to ensure standard and consistent reporting. The value of such insights on the climate system at all levels will be crucial to managing

  18. Photochemical modeling of emissions trading of highly reactive volatile organic compounds in Houston, Texas. 2. Incorporation of chlorine emissions.

    PubMed

    Wang, Linlin; Thompson, Tammy; McDonald-Buller, Elena C; Allen, David T

    2007-04-01

    As part of the State Implementation Plan for attaining the National Ambient Air Quality Standard for ozone, the Texas Commission of Environmental Quality has created a Highly Reactive Volatile Organic Compounds (HRVOC) Emissions Cap and Trade Program for industrial point sources in the Houston/Galveston/Brazoria area. This series of papers examines the potential air quality impacts of this new emission trading program through photochemical modeling of potential trading scenarios; this paper examines the air quality impact of allowing facilities to trade chlorine emission reductions for HRVOC allocations on a reactivity weighted basis. The simulations indicate that trading of anthropogenic chlorine emission reductions for HRVOC allowances at a single facility or between facilities, in general, resulted in improvements in air quality. Decreases in peak 1-h averaged and 8-h averaged ozone concentrations associated with trading chlorine emissions for HRVOC allocations on a Maximum Incremental Reactivity (MIR) basis were up to 0.74 ppb (0.63%) and 0.56 ppb (0.61%), respectively. Air quality metrics based on population exposure decreased by up to 3.3% and 4.1% for 1-h and 8-h averaged concentrations. These changes are small compared to the maximum changes in ozone concentrations due to the VOC emissions from these sources (5-10 ppb for 8-h averages; up to 30 ppb for 1-h averages) and the chlorine emissions from the sources (5-10 ppb for maximum concentrations over wide areas and up to 70 ppb in localized areas). The simulations indicate that the inclusion of chlorine emissions in the trading program is likely to be beneficial to air quality and is unlikely to cause localized increases in ozone concentrations ("hot spots").

  19. [Environmental efficiency evaluation under carbon emission constraint in Western China].

    PubMed

    Rong, Jian-bo; Yan, Li-jiao; Huang, Shao-rong; Zhang, Ge

    2015-06-01

    This research used the SBM model based on undesirable outputs to measure the static environmental efficiency of Western China under carbon emission constraint from 2000 to 2012. The researchers also utilized the Malmquist index to further analyze the change tendency of environmental efficiency. Additionally, Tobit regression analysis was used to study the factors relevant to environmental efficiency. Practical solutions to improve environmental quality in Western China were put forward. The study showed that in Western China, environmental efficiency with carbon emission constraint was significantly lower than that without carbon emission constraint, and the difference could be described as an inverse U-shaped curve which increased at first and then decreased. Guang-xi and Inner Mongolia, the two provinces met the effective environmental efficiency levels all the time under carbon emission constraint. However, the five provinces of Guizhou, Gansu, Qinghai, Ningxia and Xinjiang did not. Furthermore, Ningxia had the lowest level of environmental efficiency, with a score between 0.281-0.386. Although the environmental efficiency of most provinces was currently at an ineffective level, the environmental efficiency quality was gradually improving at an average speed of 6.6%. Excessive CO2 emission and a large amount of energy consumption were the primary factors causing environmental inefficiency in Western China, and energy intensity had the most negative impact on the environmental efficiency. The increase of import and export trade reduced the environmental efficiency significantly in Western China, while the increase of foreign direct investment had a positive effect on its environmental efficiency.

  20. Review of Quantitative Monitoring Methodologies for Emissions Verification and Accounting for Carbon Dioxide Capture and Storage for California’s Greenhouse Gas Cap-and-Trade and Low-Carbon Fuel Standard Programs

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Oldenburg, Curtis M.; Birkholzer, Jens T.

    The Cap-and-Trade and Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS) programs being administered by the California Air Resources Board (CARB) include Carbon Dioxide Capture and Storage (CCS) as a potential means to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. However, there is currently no universal standard approach that quantifies GHG emissions reductions for CCS and that is suitable for the quantitative needs of the Cap-and-Trade and LCFS programs. CCS involves emissions related to the capture (e.g., arising from increased energy needed to separate carbon dioxide (CO 2) from a flue gas and compress it for transport), transport (e.g., by pipeline), and storage of COmore » 2 (e.g., due to leakage to the atmosphere from geologic CO 2 storage sites). In this project, we reviewed and compared monitoring, verification, and accounting (MVA) protocols for CCS from around the world by focusing on protocols specific to the geologic storage part of CCS. In addition to presenting the review of these protocols, we highlight in this report those storage-related MVA protocols that we believe are particularly appropriate for CCS in California. We find that none of the existing protocols is completely appropriate for California, but various elements of all of them could be adopted and/or augmented to develop a rigorous, defensible, and practical surface leakage MVA protocol for California. The key features of a suitable surface leakage MVA plan for California are that it: (1) informs and validates the leakage risk assessment, (2) specifies use of the most effective monitoring strategies while still being flexible enough to accommodate special or site-specific conditions, (3) quantifies stored CO 2, and (4) offers defensible estimates of uncertainty in monitored properties. California’s surface leakage MVA protocol needs to be applicable to the main CO 2 storage opportunities (in California and in other states with entities participating in California’s Cap-and-Trade or LCFS programs

  1. Analysis and Design of International Emission Trading Markets Applying System Dynamics Techniques

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Hu, Bo; Pickl, Stefan

    2010-11-01

    The design and analysis of international emission trading markets is an important actual challenge. Time-discrete models are needed to understand and optimize these procedures. We give an introduction into this scientific area and present actual modeling approaches. Furthermore, we develop a model which is embedded in a holistic problem solution. Measures for energy efficiency are characterized. The economic time-discrete "cap-and-trade" mechanism is influenced by various underlying anticipatory effects. With a systematic dynamic approach the effects can be examined. First numerical results show that fair international emissions trading can only be conducted with the use of protective export duties. Furthermore a comparatively high price which evokes emission reduction inevitably has an inhibiting effect on economic growth according to our model. As it always has been expected it is not without difficulty to find a balance between economic growth and emission reduction. It can be anticipated using our System Dynamics model simulation that substantial changes must be taken place before international emissions trading markets can contribute to global GHG emissions mitigation.

  2. The future of emissions trading in light of the acid rain experience

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    McLean, B.J.; Rico, R.

    1995-12-31

    The idea of emissions trading was developed more than two decades ago by environmental economists eager to provide new ideas for how to improve the efficiency of environmental protection. However, early emissions trading efforts were built on the historical {open_quotes}command and control{close_quotes} infrastructure which has dominated U.S. environmental protection until today. The {open_quotes}command and control{close_quotes} model initially had advantages that were of a very pragmatic character: it assured large pollution reductions in a time when large, cheap reductions were available and necessary; and it did not require a sophisticated government infrastructure. Within the last five years, large-scale emission trading programsmore » have been successfully designed and started that are fundamentally different from the earlier efforts, creating a new paradigm for environmental control just when our understanding of environmental problems is changing as well. The purpose of this paper is to focus on the largest national-scale program--the Acid Rain Program--and from that experience, forecast when emission trading programs may be headed based on our understanding of the factors currently influencing environmental management. The first section of this paper will briefly review the history of emissions trading programs, followed by a summary of the features of the Acid Rain Program, highlighting those features that distinguish it from previous efforts. The last section addresses the opportunities for emissions trading (and its probable future directions).« less

  3. Is trade openness good for environment in South Korea? The role of non-fossil electricity consumption.

    PubMed

    Zhang, Shun

    2018-04-01

    The paper investigates the linkage of carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) emissions, per capita real output, share of non-fossil electricity consumption, and trade openness in South Korea from 1971 to 2013. The empirical results indicate that the environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) is supported by autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) test. Both short- and long-run estimates indicate that increasing non-fossil electricity consumption can mitigate environmental degradation, and increasing trade aggravates carbon dioxide emissions. By Granger causality, long-run causalities are found in both equations of CO 2 emissions and trade openness, as well as exports and imports. In the short-run, evidence indicates feedback linkage between output and trade, unidirectional linkages from trade to emissions, from emissions to output, and from output to non-fossil electricity use. Therefore, South Korea should strengthen the sustainable economy, consume clean energy, and develop green trade.

  4. Derivation of burn scar depths and estimation of carbon emissions with LIDAR in Indonesian peatlands

    PubMed Central

    Ballhorn, Uwe; Siegert, Florian; Mason, Mike; Limin, Suwido

    2009-01-01

    During the 1997/98 El Niño-induced drought peatland fires in Indonesia may have released 13–40% of the mean annual global carbon emissions from fossil fuels. One major unknown in current peatland emission estimations is how much peat is combusted by fire. Using a light detection and ranging data set acquired in Central Kalimantan, Borneo, in 2007, one year after the severe peatland fires of 2006, we determined an average burn scar depth of 0.33 ± 0.18 m. Based on this result and the burned area determined from satellite imagery, we estimate that within the 2.79 million hectare study area 49.15 ± 26.81 megatons of carbon were released during the 2006 El Niño episode. This represents 10–33% of all carbon emissions from transport for the European Community in the year 2006. These emissions, originating from a comparatively small area (approximately 13% of the Indonesian peatland area), underline the importance of peat fires in the context of green house gas emissions and global warming. In the past decade severe peat fires occurred during El Niño-induced droughts in 1997, 2002, 2004, 2006, and 2009. Currently, this important source of carbon emissions is not included in IPCC carbon accounting or in regional and global carbon emission models. Precise spatial measurements of peat combusted and potential avoided emissions in tropical peat swamp forests will also be required for future emission trading schemes in the framework of Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation in developing countries. PMID:19940252

  5. Photochemical modeling of emissions trading of highly reactive volatile organic compounds in Houston, Texas. 1. Reactivity based trading and potential for ozone hot spot formation.

    PubMed

    Wang, Linlin; Thompson, Tammy; McDonald-Buller, Elena C; Webb, Alba; Allen, David T

    2007-04-01

    As part of the State Implementation Plan for attaining the National Ambient Air Quality Standard for ozone, the Texas Commission of Environmental Quality has created a Highly Reactive Volatile Organic Compounds (HRVOC) Emissions Cap and Trade Program for industrial point sources in the Houston/Galveston/Brazoria area. This program has a number of unique features, including its focus on a limited group of ozone precursors and its provisions for trading emissions based on atmospheric reactivity. This series of papers examines the potential air quality impacts of this new emission trading program through photochemical modeling of potential trading scenarios; this first paper in the series describes the air quality modeling methods used to assess potential trades, the potential for localized increases in ozone concentrations (ozone "hot spots") due to HRVOC emission trading, and the use of reactivity scales in the trading. When HRVOC emissions are traded on a mass basis, the simulations indicate that trading of HRVOC allowances between facilities resulted in less than 0.15 ppb (<0.13%) and 0.06 ppb (<0.06%) increases in predicted maximum, area-wide 1-h averaged and 8-h averaged ozone concentrations, respectively. Maximum decreases in ozone concentrations associated with trading, as opposed to across-the-board reductions, were larger than the increases. All of these changes are small compared to the maximum changes in ozone concentrations due to the VOC emissions from these sources (up to 5-10 ppb for 8 h averages; up to 30 ppb for 1-h averages). When emissions of HRVOCs are traded for other, less reactive emissions, on a reactivity weighted basis, air quality simulations indicate that daily maximum ozone concentrations increased by less than 0.3%. Because these relatively small changes (< 1%) are for unlikely trading scenarios designed to produce a maximum change in ozone concentrations (all emissions traded into localized regions), the simulations indicate that the

  6. Accounting for location and timing in NO{sub x} emission trading programs. Final report

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Nichols, A.L.

    1997-12-01

    This report describes approaches to designing emission trading programs for nitrogen oxides (NO{sub x}) to account for the locations of emission sources. When a trading region is relatively small, program managers can assume that the location of the sources engaging in trades has little or no effect. However, if policy makers extend the program to larger regions, this assumption may be questioned. Therefore, EPRI has undertaken a survey of methods for incorporating location considerations into trading programs. Application of the best method may help to preserve, and even enhance, the flexibility and savings afforded utilities by emission trading.

  7. CO2 emissions, real output, energy consumption, trade, urbanization and financial development: testing the EKC hypothesis for the USA.

    PubMed

    Dogan, Eyup; Turkekul, Berna

    2016-01-01

    This study aims to investigate the relationship between carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, energy consumption, real output (GDP), the square of real output (GDP(2)), trade openness, urbanization, and financial development in the USA for the period 1960-2010. The bounds testing for cointegration indicates that the analyzed variables are cointegrated. In the long run, energy consumption and urbanization increase environmental degradation while financial development has no effect on it, and trade leads to environmental improvements. In addition, this study does not support the validity of the environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) hypothesis for the USA because real output leads to environmental improvements while GDP(2) increases the levels of gas emissions. The results from the Granger causality test show that there is bidirectional causality between CO2 and GDP, CO2 and energy consumption, CO2 and urbanization, GDP and urbanization, and GDP and trade openness while no causality is determined between CO2 and trade openness, and gas emissions and financial development. In addition, we have enough evidence to support one-way causality running from GDP to energy consumption, from financial development to output, and from urbanization to financial development. In light of the long-run estimates and the Granger causality analysis, the US government should take into account the importance of trade openness, urbanization, and financial development in controlling for the levels of GDP and pollution. Moreover, it should be noted that the development of efficient energy policies likely contributes to lower CO2 emissions without harming real output.

  8. The Uncertain Carbon Emissions in China

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Liu, Z.; Guan, D.; Zhang, Q.

    2014-12-01

    Anthropogenic fossil fuel emissions are considered as being well understood with a low uncertainty (9.1 ± 0.5Gt C yr-1). Yet emissions from developing countries have a higher uncertainty, and their increasing trend hence causes the global emission uncertainty to increase with time. By using full transparency emission inventory which the energy consumption, fuel heating values, carbon content and oxidation rate reported separately in sectoal level, here we found new 1.5 Gt C yr-1 (15% of global total) uncertainties of carbon emission inventory, which mainly contributed by the mass energy use and various consumption coal quality in China and India. Increment of coal's carbon emission in China and India are equivalent to 130 % of global total coal's emission growth during 2008-2010, various reported heating value and carbon content of coal consumption result in the different estimates of carbon emission in China and India up to 1.5 C yr-1. These new emerging uncertainties implies a significant mis-estimation of human induced carbon emissions and a new dominating factor in contributing the global carbon budget residual.

  9. A quadranomial real options model for evaluation of emissions trading and technology

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Sarkis, Joseph; Tamarkin, Maurry

    2005-11-01

    Green house gas (GHG) emissions have been tied to global climate change. One popular policy instrument that seems to have gained credibility with explicit mention of its application in the Kyoto Protocol is the use of permit trading and cap-and-trade mechanisms. Organizations functioning within this environment will need to manage their resources appropriately to remain competitive. Organizations will either have the opportunity to purchase emissions credits (offsets) from a market trading scheme or seek to reduce their emissions through different measures. Some measures may include investment in new technologies that will reduce their reliance on GHG emitting practices. In many countries, large organizations and institutions generate their own power to operate their facilities. Much of this power is generated (or bought) from GHG producing technology. Specific renewable energy sources such as wind and solar photovoltaic technology may become more feasible alternatives available to a large percentage of these organizations if they are able to take advantage and incorporate the market for GHG emissions trading in their analyses. To help organizations evaluate investment in these renewable energy technologies we introduce a real options based model that will take into consideration uncertainties associated with the technology and those associated with the GHG trading market. The real options analysis will consider both the stochastic (uncertainty) nature of the exercise price of the technology and the stochastic nature of the market trading price of the GHG emissions.

  10. Interactions between energy efficiency and emission trading under the 1990 Clean Air Act Amendments

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Hillsman, E.L.; Alvic, D.R.

    1994-08-01

    The 1990 Clean Air Act Amendments affect electric utilities in numerous ways. The feature that probably has received the greatest attention is the provision to let utilities trade emissions of sulfur dioxide (SO{sub 2}), while at the same time requiring them to reduce S0{sub 2} emissions in 2000 by an aggregate 43%. The emission trading system was welcomed by many as a way of reducing the cost of reducing emissions, by providing greater flexibility than past approaches. This report examines some of the potential interactions between trading emissions and increasing end-use energy efficiency. The analysis focuses on emission trading inmore » the second phase of the trading program, which begins in 2000. The aggregate effects, calculated by an emission compliance and trading model, turn out to be rather small. Aggressive improvement of end-use efficiency by all utilities might reduce allowance prices by $22/ton (1990 dollars), which is small compared to the reduction that has occurred in the estimates of future allowance prices and when compared to the roughly $400/ton price we estimate as a base case. However, the changes in the allowance market that result are large enough to affect some compliance decisions. If utilities in only a few states improve end-use efficiency aggressively, their actions may not have a large effect on the price of an allowance, but they could alter the demand for allowances and thereby the compliance decisions of utilities in other states. The analysis shows how improving electricity end-use efficiency in some states can cause smaller emission reductions in other states, relative to what would have happened without the improvements. Such a result, while not surprising given the theory behind the emission trading system, is upsetting to people who view emissions, environmental protection, and energy efficiency in moral rather than strictly economic terms.« less

  11. Modeling the trade-off between diet costs and methane emissions: A goal programming approach.

    PubMed

    Moraes, L E; Fadel, J G; Castillo, A R; Casper, D P; Tricarico, J M; Kebreab, E

    2015-08-01

    Enteric methane emission is a major greenhouse gas from livestock production systems worldwide. Dietary manipulation may be an effective emission-reduction tool; however, the associated costs may preclude its use as a mitigation strategy. Several studies have identified dietary manipulation strategies for the mitigation of emissions, but studies examining the costs of reducing methane by manipulating diets are scarce. Furthermore, the trade-off between increase in dietary costs and reduction in methane emissions has only been determined for a limited number of production scenarios. The objective of this study was to develop an optimization framework for the joint minimization of dietary costs and methane emissions based on the identification of a set of feasible solutions for various levels of trade-off between emissions and costs. Such a set of solutions was created by the specification of a systematic grid of goal programming weights, enabling the decision maker to choose the solution that achieves the desired trade-off level. Moreover, the model enables the calculation of emission-mitigation costs imputing a trading value for methane emissions. Emission imputed costs can be used in emission-unit trading schemes, such as cap-and-trade policy designs. An application of the model using data from lactating cows from dairies in the California Central Valley is presented to illustrate the use of model-generated results in the identification of optimal diets when reducing emissions. The optimization framework is flexible and can be adapted to jointly minimize diet costs and other potential environmental impacts (e.g., nitrogen excretion). It is also flexible so that dietary costs, feed nutrient composition, and animal nutrient requirements can be altered to accommodate various production systems. Copyright © 2015 American Dairy Science Association. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  12. Income-environment relationship in Sub-Saharan African countries: Further evidence with trade openness.

    PubMed

    Zerbo, Eléazar

    2017-07-01

    This paper examines the dynamic relationship between energy consumption, income growth, carbon emissions and trade openness in fourteen Sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries. The autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) approach to cointegration and the Toda-Yamamoto causality test were used to investigate the long-run and short-run properties, respectively. The long-run estimations give evidence against the environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) hypothesis in SSA countries. In contrast, the results highlight the significant and monotonically contribution of income growth and energy consumption in explaining carbon emissions in the long-run and short-run in several countries. Furthermore, the results show that trade openness enhances economic growth and is not linked to causing carbon emissions in these countries. Hence, a trade incentive policy may be implemented without harmful effect on the quality of the environment.

  13. Greenhouse Gas Emission Mitigation And Agriculture, Trade-off Or Win-win Situation: Bioeconomic Farm Modelling In The Sudanian Area of Burkina Faso

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Some, T. E.; Barbier, B.

    2015-12-01

    Climate changes talks regularly underline that developing countries' agriculture could play a stronger role in GHGs mitigation strategies and benefit from the Kyoto Protocol program of subsidies. Scientists explain that agriculture can contribute to carbon mitigation by storing more carbon in the soil through greener cropping systems. In this context, a growing number of research projects have started to investigate how developing countries agriculture can contribute to these objectives. The clean development mechanism (CDM) proposed in the Kyoto protocol is one particular policy instrument that can incite farmers to mitigate the GHG balance towards more sequestration and less emission. Some economists such as Michael Porter think that environmental regulation lead to a win-win outcome, in which case subsidies are not necessary. If it is a trade-off between incomes and the environment, subsidies are required. CDM can be mobilized to support the mitigation strategy. Agriculture implies the use of inputs. Reducing the emission implies the reduction of those inputs which will in turn imply a yield decrease. The study aims to assess whether this measure will imply a trade-off between environmental and economic objectives or a win-win situation. I apply this study to the case of small farmers in Burkina Faso through environmental instruments such as the emissions limits and agroforestry using a bioeconomic model, in which the farmers maximize their utility subject to constraints. The study finds that the limitation of emissions in annual crops production involves a trade-off. by impacting negatively their net cash come. By integrating perennial crops in the farming system, the farmers' utility increases. Around 6,118 kg are sequestrated individually. By computing the value on this carbon balance, farmers' net cash incomes go better. Then practicing agroforestry is a win-win situation, as they reach a higher level of income, and reduce emissions. Policymakers must

  14. 40 CFR 91.103 - Averaging, banking, and trading of exhaust emission credits.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-07-01

    ... 40 Protection of Environment 20 2011-07-01 2011-07-01 false Averaging, banking, and trading of... Standards and Certification Provisions § 91.103 Averaging, banking, and trading of exhaust emission credits. Regulations regarding averaging, banking, and trading provisions along with applicable recordkeeping...

  15. 40 CFR 91.103 - Averaging, banking, and trading of exhaust emission credits.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-07-01

    ... 40 Protection of Environment 20 2014-07-01 2013-07-01 true Averaging, banking, and trading of... Standards and Certification Provisions § 91.103 Averaging, banking, and trading of exhaust emission credits. Regulations regarding averaging, banking, and trading provisions along with applicable recordkeeping...

  16. 40 CFR 91.103 - Averaging, banking, and trading of exhaust emission credits.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-07-01

    ... 40 Protection of Environment 21 2012-07-01 2012-07-01 false Averaging, banking, and trading of... Standards and Certification Provisions § 91.103 Averaging, banking, and trading of exhaust emission credits. Regulations regarding averaging, banking, and trading provisions along with applicable recordkeeping...

  17. 40 CFR 91.103 - Averaging, banking, and trading of exhaust emission credits.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-07-01

    ... 40 Protection of Environment 21 2013-07-01 2013-07-01 false Averaging, banking, and trading of... Standards and Certification Provisions § 91.103 Averaging, banking, and trading of exhaust emission credits. Regulations regarding averaging, banking, and trading provisions along with applicable recordkeeping...

  18. 40 CFR 91.103 - Averaging, banking, and trading of exhaust emission credits.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-07-01

    ... 40 Protection of Environment 20 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Averaging, banking, and trading of... Standards and Certification Provisions § 91.103 Averaging, banking, and trading of exhaust emission credits. Regulations regarding averaging, banking, and trading provisions along with applicable recordkeeping...

  19. Research on the Development of Green Finance in Shenzhen to Boost the Carbon Trading Market

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Zhou, Jiping; Xiong, Siqin; Zhou, Yucheng; Zou, Zijian; Ma, Xiaoming

    2017-08-01

    This paper analyses the current development situations of Shenzhen carbon trading market and China’s green finance, and makes the policy recommendations for promoting the carbon trading market by developing green finance in Shenzhen. Shenzhen should take the lead in driving the localized application of green principle, and formulate Shenzhen green bond guidelines ASAP, to promote carbon trading associated enterprises to finance by using green bonds; it shall work to lower the threshold for financial institutions to participate in carbon trading market, and explore development of carbon derivatives.

  20. Changes in agricultural carbon emissions and factors that influence agricultural carbon emissions based on different stages in Xinjiang, China.

    PubMed

    Xiong, Chuanhe; Yang, Degang; Xia, Fuqiang; Huo, Jinwei

    2016-11-10

    Xinjiang's agricultural carbon emissions showed three stages of change, i.e., continued to rise, declined and continued to rise, during 1991-2014. The agriculture belonged to the "low emissions and high efficiency" agriculture category, with a lower agricultural carbon emission intensity. By using the logarithmic mean divisia index decomposition method, agricultural carbon emissions were decomposed into an efficiency factor, a structure factor, an economy factor, and a labour factor. We divided the study period into five stages based on the changes in efficiency factor and economy factor. Xinjiang showed different agricultural carbon emission characteristics at different stages. The degree of impact on agricultural carbon emissions at these stages depended on the combined effect of planting-animal husbandry carbon intensity and agricultural labour productivity. The economy factor was the critical factor to promote the increase in agricultural carbon emissions, while the main inhibiting factor for agricultural carbon emissions was the efficiency factor. The labour factor became more and more obvious in increasing agricultural carbon emissions. Finally, we discuss policy recommendations in terms of the main factors, including the development of agricultural science and technology (S&T), the establishment of three major mechanisms and transfer of rural labour in ethnic areas.

  1. Estimates of increased black carbon emissions from electrostatic precipitators during powdered activated carbon injection for mercury emissions control.

    PubMed

    Clack, Herek L

    2012-07-03

    The behavior of mercury sorbents within electrostatic precipitators (ESPs) is not well-understood, despite a decade or more of full-scale testing. Recent laboratory results suggest that powdered activated carbon exhibits somewhat different collection behavior than fly ash in an ESP and particulate filters located at the outlet of ESPs have shown evidence of powdered activated carbon penetration during full-scale tests of sorbent injection for mercury emissions control. The present analysis considers a range of assumed differential ESP collection efficiencies for powdered activated carbon as compared to fly ash. Estimated emission rates of submicrometer powdered activated carbon are compared to estimated emission rates of particulate carbon on submicrometer fly ash, each corresponding to its respective collection efficiency. To the extent that any emitted powdered activated carbon exhibits size and optical characteristics similar to black carbon, such emissions could effectively constitute an increase in black carbon emissions from coal-based stationary power generation. The results reveal that even for the low injection rates associated with chemically impregnated carbons, submicrometer particulate carbon emissions can easily double if the submicrometer fraction of the native fly ash has a low carbon content. Increasing sorbent injection rates, larger collection efficiency differentials as compared to fly ash, and decreasing sorbent particle size all lead to increases in the estimated submicrometer particulate carbon emissions.

  2. Carbon Management In the Post-Cap-and-Trade Carbon Economy: An Economic Model for Limiting Climate Change by Managing Anthropogenic Carbon Flux

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    DeGroff, F. A.

    2013-05-01

    In this paper, we discuss an economic model for comprehensive carbon management that focuses on changes in carbon flux in the biosphere due to anthropogenic activity. The two unique features of the model include: 1. A shift in emphasis from primarily carbon emissions, toward changes in carbon flux, mainly carbon extraction, and 2. A carbon price vector (CPV) to express the value of changes in carbon flux, measured in changes in carbon sequestration, or carbon residence time. The key focus with the economic model is the degree to which carbon flux changes due to anthropogenic activity. The economic model has three steps: 1. The CPV metric is used to value all forms of carbon associated with any anthropogenic activity. In this paper, the CPV used is a logarithmic chronological scale to gauge expected carbon residence (or sequestration) time. In future economic models, the CPV may be expanded to include other factors to value carbon. 2. Whenever carbon changes form (and CPV) due to anthropogenic activity, a carbon toll is assessed as determined by the change in the CPV. The standard monetary unit for carbon tolls are carbon toll units, or CTUs. The CTUs multiplied by the quantity of carbon converted (QCC) provides the total carbon toll, or CT. For example, CT = (CTU /mole carbon) x (QCC moles carbon). 3. Whenever embodied carbon (EC) attributable to a good or service moves via trade to a jurisdiction with a different CPV metric, a carbon toll (CT) is assessed representing the CPV difference between the two jurisdictions. This economic model has three clear advantages. First, the carbon pricing and cost scheme use existing and generally accepted accounting methodologies to ensure the veracity and verifiability of carbon management efforts with minimal effort and expense using standard, existing auditing protocols. Implementing this economic model will not require any new, special, unique, or additional training, tools, or systems for any entity to achieve their minimum

  3. Changes in agricultural carbon emissions and factors that influence agricultural carbon emissions based on different stages in Xinjiang, China

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Xiong, Chuanhe; Yang, Degang; Xia, Fuqiang; Huo, Jinwei

    2016-11-01

    Xinjiang’s agricultural carbon emissions showed three stages of change, i.e., continued to rise, declined and continued to rise, during 1991-2014. The agriculture belonged to the “low emissions and high efficiency” agriculture category, with a lower agricultural carbon emission intensity. By using the logarithmic mean divisia index decomposition method, agricultural carbon emissions were decomposed into an efficiency factor, a structure factor, an economy factor, and a labour factor. We divided the study period into five stages based on the changes in efficiency factor and economy factor. Xinjiang showed different agricultural carbon emission characteristics at different stages. The degree of impact on agricultural carbon emissions at these stages depended on the combined effect of planting-animal husbandry carbon intensity and agricultural labour productivity. The economy factor was the critical factor to promote the increase in agricultural carbon emissions, while the main inhibiting factor for agricultural carbon emissions was the efficiency factor. The labour factor became more and more obvious in increasing agricultural carbon emissions. Finally, we discuss policy recommendations in terms of the main factors, including the development of agricultural science and technology (S&T), the establishment of three major mechanisms and transfer of rural labour in ethnic areas.

  4. Changes in agricultural carbon emissions and factors that influence agricultural carbon emissions based on different stages in Xinjiang, China

    PubMed Central

    Xiong, Chuanhe; Yang, Degang; Xia, Fuqiang; Huo, Jinwei

    2016-01-01

    Xinjiang’s agricultural carbon emissions showed three stages of change, i.e., continued to rise, declined and continued to rise, during 1991–2014. The agriculture belonged to the “low emissions and high efficiency” agriculture category, with a lower agricultural carbon emission intensity. By using the logarithmic mean divisia index decomposition method, agricultural carbon emissions were decomposed into an efficiency factor, a structure factor, an economy factor, and a labour factor. We divided the study period into five stages based on the changes in efficiency factor and economy factor. Xinjiang showed different agricultural carbon emission characteristics at different stages. The degree of impact on agricultural carbon emissions at these stages depended on the combined effect of planting-animal husbandry carbon intensity and agricultural labour productivity. The economy factor was the critical factor to promote the increase in agricultural carbon emissions, while the main inhibiting factor for agricultural carbon emissions was the efficiency factor. The labour factor became more and more obvious in increasing agricultural carbon emissions. Finally, we discuss policy recommendations in terms of the main factors, including the development of agricultural science and technology (S&T), the establishment of three major mechanisms and transfer of rural labour in ethnic areas. PMID:27830739

  5. Ratcheting ambition to limit warming to 1.5 °C–trade-offs between emission reductions and carbon dioxide removal

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Holz, Christian; Siegel, Lori S.; Johnston, Eleanor; Jones, Andrew P.; Sterman, John

    2018-06-01

    Mitigation scenarios to limit global warming to 1.5 °C or less in 2100 often rely on large amounts of carbon dioxide removal (CDR), which carry significant potential social, environmental, political and economic risks. A precautionary approach to scenario creation is therefore indicated. This letter presents the results of such a precautionary modelling exercise in which the models C-ROADS and En-ROADS were used to generate a series of 1.5 °C mitigation scenarios that apply increasingly stringent constraints on the scale and type of CDR available. This allows us to explore the trade-offs between near-term stringency of emission reductions and assumptions about future availability of CDR. In particular, we find that regardless of CDR assumptions, near-term ambition increase (‘ratcheting’) is required for any 1.5 °C pathway, making this letter timely for the facilitative, or Talanoa, dialogue to be conducted by the UNFCCC in 2018. By highlighting the difference between net and gross reduction rates, often obscured in scenarios, we find that mid-term gross CO2 emission reduction rates in scenarios with CDR constraints increase to levels without historical precedence. This in turn highlights, in addition to the need to substantially increase CO2 reduction rates, the need to improve emission reductions for non-CO2 greenhouse gases. Further, scenarios in which all or part of the CDR is implemented as non-permanent storage exhibit storage loss emissions, which partly offset CDR, highlighting the importance of differentiating between net and gross CDR in scenarios. We find in some scenarios storage loss trending to similar values as gross CDR, indicating that gross CDR would have to be maintained simply to offset the storage losses of CO2 sequestered earlier, without any additional net climate benefit.

  6. Greenhouse gas emissions trading in U.S. States: observations and lessons from the OTC NOx Budget Program

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Andrew Aulisi; Alexander E. Farrell; Jonathan Pershing

    2005-07-01

    A number of U.S. states are considering market-based policies to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases (GHGs). The experience gained from emissions trading for sulfur dioxide and oxides of nitrogen (NOx) offers a useful body of information and data to draw on to design a GHG emissions trading system. This report examines NOx trading under the Ozone Transport Commission (OTC) NOx Budget Program, which resulted principally from the leadership, decisions, and actions by a group of states, ultimately becoming the first multilateral cap-and-trade system for emissions of air pollutants. 72 refs.

  7. The rise of South-South trade and its effect on global CO2 emissions.

    PubMed

    Meng, Jing; Mi, Zhifu; Guan, Dabo; Li, Jiashuo; Tao, Shu; Li, Yuan; Feng, Kuishuang; Liu, Junfeng; Liu, Zhu; Wang, Xuejun; Zhang, Qiang; Davis, Steven J

    2018-05-14

    Economic globalization and concomitant growth in international trade since the late 1990s have profoundly reorganized global production activities and related CO 2 emissions. Here we show trade among developing nations (i.e., South-South trade) has more than doubled between 2004 and 2011, which reflects a new phase of globalization. Some production activities are relocating from China and India to other developing countries, particularly raw materials and intermediate goods production in energy-intensive sectors. In turn, the growth of CO 2 emissions embodied in Chinese exports has slowed or reversed, while the emissions embodied in exports from less-developed regions such as Vietnam and Bangladesh have surged. Although China's emissions may be peaking, ever more complex supply chains are distributing energy-intensive industries and their CO 2 emissions throughout the global South. This trend may seriously undermine international efforts to reduce global emissions that increasingly rely on rallying voluntary contributions of more, smaller, and less-developed nations.

  8. Not carbon neutral: Assessing the net emissions impact of residues burned for bioenergy

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Booth, Mary S.

    2018-03-01

    Climate mitigation requires emissions to peak then decline within two decades, but many mitigation models include 100 EJ or more of bioenergy, ignoring emissions from biomass oxidation. Treatment of bioenergy as ‘low carbon’ or carbon neutral often assumes fuels are agricultural or forestry residues that will decompose and emit CO2 if not burned for energy. However, for ‘low carbon’ assumptions about residues to be reasonable, two conditions must be met: biomass must genuinely be material left over from some other process; and cumulative net emissions, the additional CO2 emitted by burning biomass compared to its alternative fate, must be low or negligible in a timeframe meaningful for climate mitigation. This study assesses biomass use and net emissions from the US bioenergy and wood pellet manufacturing sectors. It defines the ratio of cumulative net emissions to combustion, manufacturing and transport emissions as the net emissions impact (NEI), and evaluates the NEI at year 10 and beyond for a variety of scenarios. The analysis indicates the US industrial bioenergy sector mostly burns black liquor and has an NEI of 20% at year 10, while the NEI for plants burning forest residues ranges from 41%-95%. Wood pellets have a NEI of 55%-79% at year 10, with net CO2 emissions of 14-20 tonnes for every tonne of pellets; by year 40, the NEI is 26%-54%. Net emissions may be ten times higher at year 40 if whole trees are harvested for feedstock. Projected global pellet use would generate around 1% of world bioenergy with cumulative net emissions of 2 Gt of CO2 by 2050. Using the NEI to weight biogenic CO2 for inclusion in carbon trading programs and to qualify bioenergy for renewable energy subsidies would reduce emissions more effectively than the current assumption of carbon neutrality.

  9. On the impact of CO{sub 2} emission-trading on power generation emissions

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Chappin, E.J.L.; Dijkema, G.P.J.

    2009-03-15

    In Europe one of the main policy instruments to meet the Kyoto reduction targets is CO{sub 2} emission-trading (CET), which was implemented as of January 2005. In this system, companies active in specific sectors must be in the possession of CO{sub 2} emission rights to an amount equal to their CO{sub 2} emission. In Europe, electricity generation accounts for one-third of CO{sub 2} emissions. Since the power generation sector has been liberalized, reregulated and privatized in the last decade, around Europe autonomous companies determine the sectors' CO{sub 2} emission. Short-term they adjust their operation, long-term they decide on (dis) investmentmore » in power generation facilities and technology selection. An agent-based model is presented to elucidate the effect of CET on the decisions of power companies in an oligopolistic market. Simulations over an extensive scenario-space show that there CET does have an impact. A long-term portfolio shift towards less-CO{sub 2} intensive power generation is observed. However, the effect of CET is relatively small and materializes late. The absolute emissions from power generation rise under most scenarios. This corresponds to the dominant character of current capacity expansion planned in the Netherlands (50%) and in Germany (68%), where companies have announced many new coal based power plants. Coal is the most CO{sub 2} intensive option available and it seems surprising that even after the introduction of CET these capacity expansion plans indicate a preference for coal. Apparently in power generation the economic effect of CO{sub 2} emission-trading is not sufficient to outweigh the economic incentives to choose for coal.« less

  10. Committed carbon emissions, deforestation, and community land conversion from oil palm plantation expansion in West Kalimantan, Indonesia.

    PubMed

    Carlson, Kimberly M; Curran, Lisa M; Ratnasari, Dessy; Pittman, Alice M; Soares-Filho, Britaldo S; Asner, Gregory P; Trigg, Simon N; Gaveau, David A; Lawrence, Deborah; Rodrigues, Hermann O

    2012-05-08

    Industrial agricultural plantations are a rapidly increasing yet largely unmeasured source of tropical land cover change. Here, we evaluate impacts of oil palm plantation development on land cover, carbon flux, and agrarian community lands in West Kalimantan, Indonesian Borneo. With a spatially explicit land change/carbon bookkeeping model, parameterized using high-resolution satellite time series and informed by socioeconomic surveys, we assess previous and project future plantation expansion under five scenarios. Although fire was the primary proximate cause of 1989-2008 deforestation (93%) and net carbon emissions (69%), by 2007-2008, oil palm directly caused 27% of total and 40% of peatland deforestation. Plantation land sources exhibited distinctive temporal dynamics, comprising 81% forests on mineral soils (1994-2001), shifting to 69% peatlands (2008-2011). Plantation leases reveal vast development potential. In 2008, leases spanned ∼65% of the region, including 62% on peatlands and 59% of community-managed lands, yet <10% of lease area was planted. Projecting business as usual (BAU), by 2020 ∼40% of regional and 35% of community lands are cleared for oil palm, generating 26% of net carbon emissions. Intact forest cover declines to 4%, and the proportion of emissions sourced from peatlands increases 38%. Prohibiting intact and logged forest and peatland conversion to oil palm reduces emissions only 4% below BAU, because of continued uncontrolled fire. Protecting logged forests achieves greater carbon emissions reductions (21%) than protecting intact forests alone (9%) and is critical for mitigating carbon emissions. Extensive allocated leases constrain land management options, requiring trade-offs among oil palm production, carbon emissions mitigation, and maintaining community landholdings.

  11. Committed carbon emissions, deforestation, and community land conversion from oil palm plantation expansion in West Kalimantan, Indonesia

    PubMed Central

    Carlson, Kimberly M.; Curran, Lisa M.; Ratnasari, Dessy; Pittman, Alice M.; Soares-Filho, Britaldo S.; Asner, Gregory P.; Trigg, Simon N.; Gaveau, David A.; Lawrence, Deborah; Rodrigues, Hermann O.

    2012-01-01

    Industrial agricultural plantations are a rapidly increasing yet largely unmeasured source of tropical land cover change. Here, we evaluate impacts of oil palm plantation development on land cover, carbon flux, and agrarian community lands in West Kalimantan, Indonesian Borneo. With a spatially explicit land change/carbon bookkeeping model, parameterized using high-resolution satellite time series and informed by socioeconomic surveys, we assess previous and project future plantation expansion under five scenarios. Although fire was the primary proximate cause of 1989–2008 deforestation (93%) and net carbon emissions (69%), by 2007–2008, oil palm directly caused 27% of total and 40% of peatland deforestation. Plantation land sources exhibited distinctive temporal dynamics, comprising 81% forests on mineral soils (1994–2001), shifting to 69% peatlands (2008–2011). Plantation leases reveal vast development potential. In 2008, leases spanned ∼65% of the region, including 62% on peatlands and 59% of community-managed lands, yet <10% of lease area was planted. Projecting business as usual (BAU), by 2020 ∼40% of regional and 35% of community lands are cleared for oil palm, generating 26% of net carbon emissions. Intact forest cover declines to 4%, and the proportion of emissions sourced from peatlands increases 38%. Prohibiting intact and logged forest and peatland conversion to oil palm reduces emissions only 4% below BAU, because of continued uncontrolled fire. Protecting logged forests achieves greater carbon emissions reductions (21%) than protecting intact forests alone (9%) and is critical for mitigating carbon emissions. Extensive allocated leases constrain land management options, requiring trade-offs among oil palm production, carbon emissions mitigation, and maintaining community landholdings. PMID:22523241

  12. Maryland's efforts to develop regulations creating an air emissions offset trading program

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Guy, D.M.; Zaw-Mon, M.

    1999-07-01

    Under the federal Clean Air Act's New Source Review program, many companies located in or planning to locate in areas that do not meet federal air quality standards or in the Northeast Ozone Transport Region (northern Virginia to Maine) must obtain emission reductions (called offsets) of volatile organic compounds and nitrogen oxides that are greater than the new emissions that will be released. This offset requirement allows growth in industry while protecting air quality against deterioration. Despite the federal offset requirement, a formal banking and trading program is not mandated by the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990. Still, amore » mechanism is needed to ensure that emission reduction credits (ERCs) are available for sources to use to meet the offset requirement. Currently, Maryland does not have regulations covering the sale or transfer of ERCs from one facility to another. Maryland works with industry on a case-by-case basis to identify potential sources of ERCs and to assist in obtaining them. Then, the offset requirement and the ERCs used to meet the offsets are incorporated into individual permits using various permitting mechanisms. Desiring certainty and stability in the banking and trading process, Maryland's business community has pressed for regulations to formalize Maryland's procedures. Working over several years through a stakeholder process, Maryland has developed concepts for a trading program and a draft regulation. This paper describes Maryland's current case-by-case banking and trading procedure and traces efforts to develop a regulation to formalize the process. The paper discusses complex policy issues related to establishing a banking and trading program, describes the principal elements of Maryland's draft regulation, and summarizes elements of other states' emissions banking and trading programs.« less

  13. Field Emission and Nanostructure of Carbon Films

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Merkulov, V.I.; Lowndes, D.H.; Baylor, L.R.

    1999-11-29

    The results of field emission measurements of various forms of carbon films are reported. It is shown that the films nanostructure is a crucial factor determining the field emission properties. In particular, smooth, pulsed-laser deposited amorphous carbon films with both high and low sp3 contents are poor field emitters. This is similar to the results obtained for smooth nanocrystalline, sp2-bonded carbon films. In contrast, carbon films prepared by hot-filament chemical vapor deposition (HE-CVD) exhibit very good field emission properties, including low emission turn-on fields, high emission site density, and excellent durability. HF-CVD carbon films were found to be predominantly sp2-bonded.more » However, surface morphology studies show that these films are thoroughly nanostructured, which is believed to be responsible for their promising field emission properties.« less

  14. CARBON EMISSIONS ECONOMIC INTENSITY INDEX (CEEII)

    EPA Science Inventory

    The core concept of the CEEII is to understand, at the state level, the carbon emissions from energy consumption in relation to the value of the activity that generates the emissions. The CEEII treats carbon emissions as an input to producing the activity’s value and assesses th...

  15. China's international trade and air pollution: 2000 - 2009

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Ni, Ruijing; Lin, Jintai; Pan, Da; Wang, Jingxu; Yan, Yingying; Zhang, Qiang

    2016-04-01

    As the world's top trading country, China is now the most polluted country. However, a large portion of pollution produced in China is associated with its production of goods for foreign consumption via international trade. Along with China's rapid economic growth in recent years, its economic-trade structure and volume has been changing all the time, resulting in large changes in total emissions and the shares of trade-related emissions. Here, we assess the influence of China's changing total and export-related emissions between 2000 and 2009 on its atmospheric pollution loadings and transport, by exploiting simulations of a global chemical transport model GEOS-Chem. We find that both air pollution related to Chinese exports (PRE) which including nitrogen oxides (NOx), sulfur dioxide (SO2), carbon monoxide (CO), black carbon (BC), and primary organic aerosol (POA), and its share in total Chinese pollution have experienced continuous rapid growth until 2007, exposing more and more people to severely polluted air. After 2007, PRE decreases due to strengthened emission controls accompanied by declined exports as a result of the global financial crisis. Although production for exports contribute less than 35% SO2 over China in any year, the increasing trend of trade-related SO2 contributes 51% of integral trend. The changing PRE of China also affects its downwind regions such as the western United States. The contribution of export-related Chinese pollution to surface sulfate concentrations over the western United States has increased from 3% in 2000 to 12% in 2007. Overall, we find that the interannual variation of trade and associated production is a critical factor driving the trend of pollution over China and its downwind regions.

  16. Carbon flow analysis and Carbon emission reduction of FCC in Chinese oil refineries

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Jia, Fengrui; Wei, Na; Ma, Danzhu; Liu, Guangxin; Wu, Ming; Yue, Qiang

    2017-08-01

    The major problem of the energy production in oil refineries is the high emission of CO2 in China. The fluid catalytic cracking unit (FCC) is the key source of carbon emission in the oil refineries. According to the statistical data, the carbon emission of FCC unit accounts for more than 31% for the typical oil refineries. The carbon flow of FCC in the typical Chinese oil refineries were evaluated and analysed, which aimed at the solution of CO2 emission reduction. The method of substances flow analysis (SFA) and the mathematical programming were used to evaluate the carbon metabolism and optimize the carbon emission. The results indicated that the combustion emission of the reaction-regeneration subsystem (RRS) was the major source of FCC. The quantity of CO2 emission of RSS was more than 90%. The combustion efficiency and the amount of residual oil affected the carbon emission of RRS most according to the optimized analysis of carbon emission reduction. Moreover, the fractionation subsystem (TFS) had the highest environmental efficiency and the absorption-stabilization subsystem (ASS) had the highest resource efficiency (approximately to 1) of carbon.

  17. 75 FR 69884 - Approval and Promulgation of Implementation Plans; Texas; Emissions Banking and Trading of...

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2010-11-16

    ... Promulgation of Implementation Plans; Texas; Emissions Banking and Trading of Allowances Program AGENCY... amend the Emissions Banking and Trading of Allowances (EBTA) Program. The EBTA Program establishes a cap... and may be made available online at http://www.regulations.gov , including any personal information...

  18. 76 FR 15 - Approval and Promulgation of Implementation Plans; Texas; Emissions Banking and Trading of...

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2011-01-03

    ... Promulgation of Implementation Plans; Texas; Emissions Banking and Trading of Allowances Program AGENCY... to the Texas State Implementation Plan (SIP) that create and amend the Emissions Banking and Trading... hard copy at the Air Planning Section (6PD-L), Environmental Protection Agency, 1445 Ross Avenue, Suite...

  19. An agent-based model for an air emissions cap and trade program: A case study in Taiwan.

    PubMed

    Huang, Hsing-Fu; Ma, Hwong-Wen

    2016-12-01

    To determine the actual status of individuals in a system and the trading interaction between polluters, this study uses an agent-based model to set up a virtual world that represents the Kaohsiung and Pingtung regions in Taiwan, which are under the country's air emissions cap and trade program. The model can simulate each controlled industry's dynamic behavioral condition with the bottom-up method and can investigate the impact of the program and determine the industry's emissions reduction and trading condition. This model can be used elastically to predict the impact of the trading market through adjusting different settings of the program rules or combining the settings with other measures. The simulation results show that the emissions trading market has an oversupply, but we find that the market trading amounts are low. Additionally, we find that increasing the air pollution fee and offset rate restrains the agents' trading decision, according to the simulation results of each scenario. In particular, NO x and SO x trading amounts are easily impacted by the pollution fee, reduction rate, and offset rate. Also, the more transparent the market, the more it can help polluters trade. Therefore, if authorities want to intervene in the emissions trading market, they must be careful in adjusting the air pollution fee and program rules; otherwise, the trading market system cannot work effectively. We also suggest setting up a trading platform to help the dealers negotiate successfully. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  20. U.S. Energy-Related Carbon Dioxide Emissions

    EIA Publications

    2017-01-01

    U.S. Energy Information Administration releases its online analysis of 2016 energy-related carbon dioxide emissions today. It indicates U.S. carbon dioxide emissions from the consumption of fossil fuels were 5,170 million metric tons carbon dioxide in 2016, a decrease of 1.7 percent from the 2015 level. Energy-related carbon dioxide emissions have declined in six of the last ten years. This analysis is based on data contained in the August 2017 Monthly Energy Review.

  1. Key issues in the design of NO{sub x} emission trading programs to reduce ground-level ozone. Final report

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Nichols, A.; Harrison, D.

    1994-07-01

    This report is the first product of a study being conducted by National Economic Research Associates for the Electric Power Research Institute to evaluate various market-based alternatives for managing emissions of nitrogen oxides (NO{sub x}) as part of strategies to achieve the ambient ozone standard. The report focuses on choices in the design of relatively broad, ambitious emission trading programs, rather than on more modest programs designed to generate offsets within a regulatory framework that continues to rely primarily on traditional emission standards and nontransferable permits. After a brief introductory chapter, Chapter 2 reviews both the conceptual underpinnings of emissionmore » trading and prior experience. This review suggests the need for clear initial allocations-generally based on emission caps-to simplify trading while assuring the achievement of emission-reduction goals. Chapter 3 lays out the basic choices required in establishing an emission trading program. For concreteness, the basic design is discussed in terms of trading among utilities and other large stationary sources of NO{sub x}, generally the most promising candidates for trading. Chapter 4 discusses various ways in which a basic trading program could be extended to other source categories and to volatile organic compounds (VOCs), the other major precursor of ozone. Chapter 5 analyzes various ways in which trading programs can be refined to focus control efforts on those times and at those locations where ozone problems are most severe. Although highly refined targeting programs are unlikely to be worth the effort, modest differentials can be implemented by making the number of allowances required for each ton of emissions vary with the time and location of emissions. Chapter 6 reviews various alternatives for making the initial allocation of emission allowances among sources in the trading program, breaking the process into two components, an emission rate and an activity level.« less

  2. Economics of pollution trading for SO{sub 2} and NOx

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Dallas Burtraw; David A. Evans; Alan Krupnick

    2005-03-15

    For years economists have urged policymakers to use market-based approaches such as cap-and-trade programs or emission taxes to control pollution. The sulphur dioxide (SO{sub 2}) allowance market created by Title IV of the 1990 US Clean Air Act Amendments represents the first real test of the wisdom of economists' advice. Subsequent urban and regional applications of NOx emission allowance trading took shape in the 1990s in the United States, culminating in a second large experiment in emission trading in the eastern United States that began in 2003. This paper provides an overview of the economic rationale for emission trading andmore » a description of the major US programs for SO{sub 2} and nitrogen oxides. These programs are evaluated along measures of performance including cost savings, environmental integrity, and incentives for technological innovation. The authors offer lessons for the design of future programs including, most importantly, those reducing carbon dioxide. 128 refs., 1 fig., 1 tab.« less

  3. Improved Fossil/Industrial CO2 Emissions Modeling for the North American Carbon Program

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Gurney, K. R.; Seib, B.; Mendoza, D.; Knox, S.; Fischer, M.; Murtishaw, S.

    2005-05-01

    The quantification of fossil fuel CO2 emissions has implications for a wide variety of scientific and policy- related questions. Improvement in inverse-estimated carbon fluxes, country-level carbon budgeting, analysis of regional emissions trading systems, and targeting of observational systems are all important applications better served by improvements in understanding where and when fossil fuel/industrial CO2 is emitted. Traditional approaches to quantifying fossil/industrial CO2 emissions have relied on national sales/consumption of fossil fuels with secondary spatial footprints performed via proxies such as population. This approach has provided global spatiotemporal resolution of one degree/monthly. In recent years the need has arisen for emission estimates that not only achieve higher spatiotemporal scales but include a process- level component. This latter attribute provides dynamic linkages between energy policy/decisionmaking and emissions for use in projecting changes to energy systems and the implications these changes may have on climate change. We have embarked on a NASA-funded research strategy to construct a process-level fossil/industrial CO2 emissions model/database for North America that will resolve fossil/industrial CO2 emissions hourly and at 36 km. This project is a critical component of the North American Carbon Program. Our approach builds off of many decades of air quality monitoring for regulated pollutants such as NOx, VOCs and CO that has been performed by regional air quality managers, states, and the Environmental Protection Agency in the United States. By using the highly resolved monitoring data supplied to the EPA, we have computed CO2 emissions for residential, commercial/industrial, transportation, and biogenic sources. This effort employs a new emissions modeling system (CONCEPT) that spatially and temporally distributes the monitored emissions across the US. We will provide a description of the methodology we have employed, the

  4. Improved Fossil/Industrial CO2 Emissions Modeling for the North American Carbon Program

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Gurney, K. R.; Seib, B.; Mendoza, D.; Knox, S.; Fischer, M.; Murtishaw, S.

    2006-12-01

    The quantification of fossil fuel CO2 emissions has implications for a wide variety of scientific and policy- related questions. Improvement in inverse-estimated carbon fluxes, country-level carbon budgeting, analysis of regional emissions trading systems, and targeting of observational systems are all important applications better served by improvements in understanding where and when fossil fuel/industrial CO2 is emitted. Traditional approaches to quantifying fossil/industrial CO2 emissions have relied on national sales/consumption of fossil fuels with secondary spatial footprints performed via proxies such as population. This approach has provided global spatiotemporal resolution of one degree/monthly. In recent years the need has arisen for emission estimates that not only achieve higher spatiotemporal scales but include a process- level component. This latter attribute provides dynamic linkages between energy policy/decisionmaking and emissions for use in projecting changes to energy systems and the implications these changes may have on climate change. We have embarked on a NASA-funded research strategy to construct a process-level fossil/industrial CO2 emissions model/database for North America that will resolve fossil/industrial CO2 emissions hourly and at 36 km. This project is a critical component of the North American Carbon Program. Our approach builds off of many decades of air quality monitoring for regulated pollutants such as NOx, VOCs and CO that has been performed by regional air quality managers, states, and the Environmental Protection Agency in the United States. By using the highly resolved monitoring data supplied to the EPA, we have computed CO2 emissions for residential, commercial/industrial, transportation, and biogenic sources. This effort employs a new emissions modeling system (CONCEPT) that spatially and temporally distributes the monitored emissions across the US. We will provide a description of the methodology we have employed, the

  5. Dynamic Interaction between Cap & Trade and Electricity Markets

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Jeev, Kumar

    Greenhouse Gases (GHG), such as Carbon-Dioxide (CO2), which is released in the atmosphere due to anthropogenic activities like power production, are now accepted as the main culprits for global warming. The Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI), an initiative of the North East and Mid-Atlantic States of the United States (US) for limiting the emission of GHG, has developed a regional cap-and-trade program for CO2 emissions for power plants. Existing cap-and-trade programs in US and Europe for Greenhouse Gases have recently been plagued by over-allocation. Carbon prices recently collapsed in all these markets during the global recession. Since then, there have been significant policy changes, which have resulted in the adoption of aggressive emission cap targets by most major carbon emission markets. This is expected to make carbon emissions availability more restrictive, raising the prices of these credits. These emissions markets are expected to have a major impact on the wholesale electricity markets. Two models to study the interaction of these two markets are presented. These models assess the impact of the emissions market on wholesale electricity prices. The first model characterizes the competition between two types of power plants (coal and gas) in both the electricity and emissions markets as a dynamic game using the Cournot approximation. Under this approximation, we find that in the Nash equilibrium the plants increase their permit allocation to high-demand periods and the marginal value of each credit for a plant is identical in all periods under their optimal equilibrium strategy. The second numerical model allows us to explicitly evaluate the closed loop equilibrium of the dynamic interaction of two competitors in these markets. We find that plants often try to corner the market and push prices all the way to the price cap. Power plants derive most of their profits from these extreme price regimes. In the experiments where trading is allowed

  6. Trading off Aircraft Fuel Burn and NO x Emissions for Optimal Climate Policy.

    PubMed

    Freeman, Sarah; Lee, David S; Lim, Ling L; Skowron, Agnieszka; De León, Ruben Rodriguez

    2018-03-06

    Aviation emits pollutants that affect the climate, including CO 2 and NO x , NO x indirectly so, through the formation of tropospheric ozone and reduction of ambient methane. To improve the fuel performance of engines, combustor temperatures and pressures often increase, increasing NO x emissions. Conversely, combustor modifications to reduce NO x may increase CO 2 . Hence, a technology trade-off exists, which also translates to a trade-off between short-lived climate forcers and a long-lived greenhouse gas, CO 2 . Moreover, the NO x -O 3 -CH 4 system responds in a nonlinear manner, according to both aviation emissions and background NO x . A simple climate model was modified to incorporate nonlinearities parametrized from a complex chemistry model. Case studies showed that for a scenario of a 20% reduction in NO x emissions the consequential CO 2 penalty of 2% actually increased the total radiative forcing (RF). For a 2% fuel penalty, NO x emissions needed to be reduced by >43% to realize an overall benefit. Conversely, to ensure that the fuel penalty for a 20% NO x emission reduction did not increase overall forcing, a 0.5% increase in CO 2 was found to be the "break even" point. The time scales of the climate effects of NO x and CO 2 are quite different, necessitating careful analysis of proposed emissions trade-offs.

  7. Tracking urban carbon footprints from production and consumption perspectives

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Lin, Jianyi; Hu, Yuanchao; Cui, Shenghui; Kang, Jiefeng; Ramaswami, Anu

    2015-05-01

    Cities are hotspots of socio-economic activities and greenhouse gas emissions. The aim of this study was to extend the research range of the urban carbon footprint (CF) to cover emissions embodied in products traded among regions and intra-city sectors. Using Xiamen City as a study case, the total urban-related emissions were evaluated, and the carbon flows among regions and intra-city sectors were tracked. Then five urban CF accountings were evaluated, including purely geographic accounting (PGA), community-wide infrastructure footprint (CIF), and consumption-based footprint (CBF) methods, as well as the newly defined production-based footprint (PBF) and purely production footprint (PPF). Research results show that the total urban-related emissions of Xiamen City in 2010 were 55.2 Mt CO2e/y, of which total carbon flow among regions or intra-city sectors accounted for 53.7 Mt CO2e/y. Within the total carbon flow, import and export respectively accounted for 59 and 65%, highlighting the importance of emissions embodied in trade. By regional trade balance, North America and Europe were the largest net carbon exported-to regions, and Mainland China and Taiwan the largest net carbon imported-from regions. Among intra-sector carbon flows, manufacturing was the largest emission-consuming sector of the total urban carbon flow, accounting for 77.4, and 98% of carbon export was through industrial products trade. By the PBF, PPF, CIF, PGA and CBF methods, the urban CFs were respectively 53.7 Mt CO2e/y, 44.8 Mt CO2e/y, 28.4 Mt CO2e/y, 23.7 Mt CO2e/y, and 19.0 Mt CO2e/y, so all of the other four CFs were higher than the CBF. All of these results indicate that urban carbon mitigation must consider the supply chain management of imported goods, the production efficiency within the city, the consumption patterns of urban consumers, and the responsibility of the ultimate consumers outside the city.

  8. Forest carbon calculators: a review for managers, policymakers, and educators

    Treesearch

    Harold S.J. Zald; Thomas A. Spies; Mark E. Harmon; Mark J. Twery

    2016-01-01

    Forests play a critical role sequestering atmospheric carbon dioxide, partially offsetting greenhouse gas emissions, and thereby mitigating climate change. Forest management, natural disturbances, and the fate of carbon in wood products strongly influence carbon sequestration and emissions in the forest sector. Government policies, carbon offset and trading programs,...

  9. The effect of carbon tax on carbon emission abatement and GDP: a case study

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Liu, Xiao; Leung, Yee; Xu, Yuan; Yung, Linda Chor Wing

    2017-10-01

    Carbon tax has been advocated as an effective economic instrument for the abatement of CO2 emission by various countries, including China, the world's biggest carbon emission country. However, carbon emission abatement cannot be done while ignoring the impact on economic growth. A delicate balance needs to be achieved between the two to find an appropriate pathway for sustainable development. This paper applies a multi-objective optimization approach to analyze the impact of levying carbon tax on the energy-intensive sectors of Guangdong province in China under the constraint of emission reduction target. This approach allows us to evaluate carbon emission minimization while maximizing GDP. For policy analysis, we construct five scenarios for evaluation and optimal choice. The results of the analysis show that a lower initial carbon tax rate is not necessarily better, and that a carbon tax is an effective means to reduce CO2 emissions while maintaining a certain level of GDP growth.

  10. Roles of production, consumption and trade in global and regional aerosol radiative forcing

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Lin, J.; Tong, D.; Davis, S. J.; Ni, R.; Tan, X.; Pan, D.; Zhao, H.; Lu, Z.; Streets, D. G.; Feng, T.; Zhang, Q.; Yan, Y.; Hu, Y.; Li, J.; Liu, Z.; Jiang, X.; Geng, G.; He, K.; Huang, Y.; Guan, D.

    2016-12-01

    Anthropogenic aerosols exert strong radiative forcing on the climate system. Prevailing view regards aerosol radiative forcing as a result of emissions from regions' economic production, with China and other developing regions having the largest contributions to radiative forcing at present. However, economic production is driven by global demand for computation, and international trade allows for separation of regions consuming goods and services from regions where goods and related aerosol pollution are produced. It has recently been recognized that regions' consumption and trade have profoundly altered the spatial distribution of aerosol emissions and pollution. Building upon our previous work, this study quantifies for the first time the roles of trade and consumption in aerosol climate forcing attributed to different regions. We contrast the direct radiative forcing of aerosols related to regions' consumption of goods and services against the forcing due to emissions produced in each region. Aerosols assessed include black carbon, primary organic aerosol, and secondary inorganic aerosols including sulfate, nitrate and ammonium. We find that global aerosol radiative forcing due to emissions produced in East Asia is much stronger than the forcing related to goods and services ultimately consumed in that region because of its large net export of emissions-intensive goods. The opposite is true for net importers like Western Europe and North America: global radiative forcing related to consumption is much greater than the forcing due to emissions produced in these regions. Overall, trade is associated with a shift of radiative forcing from net importing to net exporting regions. Compared to greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide, the short atmospheric lifetimes of aerosols cause large localized differences in radiative forcing. International efforts to reduce emissions in the exporting countries will help alleviate trade-related climate and health impacts of

  11. Cost, Emissions, and Customer Service Trade-Off Analysis In Pickup and Delivery Systems.

    DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

    2011-05-01

    This research offers a novel formulation for including emissions into fleet assignment and vehicle routing, and for the : trade-offs faced by fleet operators between cost, emissions, and service quality. This approach enables evaluation of : the impa...

  12. When carbon footprints hop

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Petherick, Anna

    2012-07-01

    Despite having achieved legally binding commitments on emissions reductions, many countries have increased their appetite for carbon-intensive products, making up the difference through international trade. Anna Petherick reports on the sticky task of regulating these invisible carbon flows.

  13. Social capital from carbon property: creating equity for indigenous people.

    PubMed

    Saunders, Lindsay S; Hanbury-Tenison, Robin; Swingland, Ian R

    2002-08-15

    New incentives for protection and in situ use of forests and the services they provide raise hopes for the reversal of tropical and temperate deforestation. Past management of forests appropriated the rights of forest communities, providing incentives to convert natural forest into financial capital through logging, while destroying the underlying physical property. Carbon trading aims to provide a means to convert the forest property into financial capital, while protecting the physical property of forests, thereby providing new incentives for in situ forest management. The potential for carbon-emission trading as a contributor to these new incentives is tempered by concerns that it is another tool for capitalists to exploit the indigenous communities of the developing world. Estimates of annual emission trading amounting to US $200 billion raise alarm bells about the effect of such trade in the developing world. People are right to be concerned, as the history of exploitation of indigenous people, the appropriation of their rights, the loss of forests and their benefits is well documented. This exploitation resulted in the exclusion of forest communities from the basic tenets for development created by the wealth generated by traded property. However, one virtue of trade is that it can be made subject to constraints. Through international treaties and agreements, trade can be constrained and national governments obliged to observe the rules of trade. The value of tradable carbon credits will be discounted or invalid if they do not meet these criteria, providing all parties with strong incentives to achieve the necessary performance standards relating to both processes and contracts. For carbon trading to develop social capital from natural capital requires the admission of forest communities into the polity and management of forest resources. In this paper we argue for responsible carbon-emission trading based on the clear and appropriate definition of carbon

  14. Carbon emission from global hydroelectric reservoirs revisited.

    PubMed

    Li, Siyue; Zhang, Quanfa

    2014-12-01

    Substantial greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from hydropower reservoirs have been of great concerns recently, yet the significant carbon emitters of drawdown area and reservoir downstream (including spillways and turbines as well as river reaches below dams) have not been included in global carbon budget. Here, we revisit GHG emission from hydropower reservoirs by considering reservoir surface area, drawdown zone and reservoir downstream. Our estimates demonstrate around 301.3 Tg carbon dioxide (CO2)/year and 18.7 Tg methane (CH4)/year from global hydroelectric reservoirs, which are much higher than recent observations. The sum of drawdown and downstream emission, which is generally overlooked, represents 42 % CO2 and 67 % CH4 of the total emissions from hydropower reservoirs. Accordingly, the global average emissions from hydropower are estimated to be 92 g CO2/kWh and 5.7 g CH4/kWh. Nonetheless, global hydroelectricity could currently reduce approximate 2,351 Tg CO2eq/year with respect to fuel fossil plant alternative. The new findings show a substantial revision of carbon emission from the global hydropower reservoirs.

  15. Modeling carbon emissions from urban traffic system using mobile monitoring.

    PubMed

    Sun, Daniel Jian; Zhang, Ying; Xue, Rui; Zhang, Yi

    2017-12-01

    Comprehensive analyses of urban traffic carbon emissions are critical in achieving low-carbon transportation. This paper started from the architecture design of a carbon emission mobile monitoring system using multiple sets of equipment and collected the corresponding data about traffic flow, meteorological conditions, vehicular carbon emissions and driving characteristics on typical roads in Shanghai and Wuxi, Jiangsu province. Based on these data, the emission model MOVES was calibrated and used with various sensitivity and correlation evaluation indices to analyze the traffic carbon emissions at microscopic, mesoscopic and macroscopic levels, respectively. The major factors that influence urban traffic carbon emissions were investigated, so that emission factors of CO, CO 2 and HC were calculated by taking representative passenger cars as a case study. As a result, the urban traffic carbon emissions were assessed quantitatively, and the total amounts of CO, CO 2 and HC emission from passenger cars in Shanghai were estimated as 76.95kt, 8271.91kt, and 2.13kt, respectively. Arterial roads were found as the primary line source, accounting for 50.49% carbon emissions. In additional to the overall major factors identified, the mobile monitoring system and carbon emission quantification method proposed in this study are of rather guiding significance for the further urban low-carbon transportation development. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  16. Essays in renewable energy and emissions trading

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Kneifel, Joshua D.

    Environmental issues have become a key political issue over the past forty years and has resulted in the enactment of many different environmental policies. The three essays in this dissertation add to the literature of renewable energy policies and sulfur dioxide emissions trading. The first essay ascertains which state policies are accelerating deployment of non-hydropower renewable electricity generation capacity into a states electric power industry. As would be expected, policies that lead to significant increases in actual renewable capacity in that state either set a Renewables Portfolio Standard with a certain level of required renewable capacity or use Clean Energy Funds to directly fund utility-scale renewable capacity construction. A surprising result is that Required Green Power Options, a policy that merely requires all utilities in a state to offer the option for consumers to purchase renewable energy at a premium rate, has a sizable impact on non-hydro renewable capacity in that state. The second essay studies the theoretical impacts fuel contract constraints have on an electricity generating unit's compliance costs of meeting the emissions compliance restrictions set by Phase I of the Title IV SO2 Emissions Trading Program. Fuel contract constraints restrict a utility's degrees of freedom in coal purchasing options, which can lead to the use of a more expensive compliance option and higher compliance costs. The third essay analytically and empirically shows how fuel contract constraints impact the emissions allowance market and total electric power industry compliance costs. This paper uses generating unit-level simulations to replicate results from previous studies and show that fuel contracts appear to explain a large portion (65%) of the previously unexplained compliance cost simulations. Also, my study considers a more appropriate plant-level decisions for compliance choices by analytically analyzing the plant level decision-making process to

  17. Global mercury emissions from combustion in light of international fuel trading.

    PubMed

    Chen, Yilin; Wang, Rong; Shen, Huizhong; Li, Wei; Chen, Han; Huang, Ye; Zhang, Yanyan; Chen, Yuanchen; Su, Shu; Lin, Nan; Liu, Junfeng; Li, Bengang; Wang, Xilong; Liu, Wenxin; Coveney, Raymond M; Tao, Shu

    2014-01-01

    The spatially resolved emission inventory is essential for understanding the fate of mercury. Previous global mercury emission inventories for fuel combustion sources overlooked the influence of fuel trading on local emission estimates of many countries, mostly developing countries, for which national emission data are not available. This study demonstrates that in many countries, the mercury content of coal and petroleum locally consumed differ significantly from those locally produced. If the mercury content in locally produced fuels were used to estimate emission, then the resulting global mercury emissions from coal and petroleum would be overestimated by 4.7 and 72%, respectively. Even higher misestimations would exist in individual countries, leading to strong spatial bias. On the basis of the available data on fuel trading and an updated global fuel consumption database, a new mercury emission inventory for 64 combustion sources has been developed. The emissions were mapped at 0.1° × 0.1° resolution for 2007 and at country resolution for a period from 1960 to 2006. The estimated global total mercury emission from all combustion sources (fossil fuel, biomass fuel, solid waste, and wildfires) in 2007 was 1454 Mg (1232-1691 Mg as interquartile range from Monte Carlo simulation), among which elementary mercury (Hg(0)), divalent gaseous mercury (Hg(2+)), and particulate mercury (Hg(p)) were 725, 548, and 181 Mg, respectively. The total emission from anthropogenic sources, excluding wildfires, was 1040 Mg (886-1248 Mg), with coal combustion contributing more than half. Globally, total annual anthropogenic mercury emission from combustion sources increased from 285 Mg (263-358 Mg) in 1960 to 1040 Mg (886-1248 Mg) in 2007, owing to an increased fuel consumption in developing countries. However, mercury emissions from developed countries have decreased since 2000.

  18. Emissions of carbon tetrachloride from Europe

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Graziosi, Francesco; Arduini, Jgor; Bonasoni, Paolo; Furlani, Francesco; Giostra, Umberto; Manning, Alistair J.; McCulloch, Archie; O'Doherty, Simon; Simmonds, Peter G.; Reimann, Stefan; Vollmer, Martin K.; Maione, Michela

    2016-10-01

    Carbon tetrachloride (CCl4) is a long-lived radiatively active compound with the ability to destroy stratospheric ozone. Due to its inclusion in the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer (MP), the last two decades have seen a sharp decrease in its large-scale emissive use with a consequent decline in its atmospheric mole fractions. However, the MP restrictions do not apply to the use of carbon tetrachloride as feedstock for the production of other chemicals, implying the risk of fugitive emissions from the industry sector. The occurrence of such unintended emissions is suggested by a significant discrepancy between global emissions as derived from reported production and feedstock usage (bottom-up emissions), and those based on atmospheric observations (top-down emissions). In order to better constrain the atmospheric budget of carbon tetrachloride, several studies based on a combination of atmospheric observations and inverse modelling have been conducted in recent years in various regions of the world. This study is focused on the European scale and based on long-term high-frequency observations at three European sites, combined with a Bayesian inversion methodology. We estimated that average European emissions for 2006-2014 were 2.2 (± 0.8) Gg yr-1, with an average decreasing trend of 6.9 % per year. Our analysis identified France as the main source of emissions over the whole study period, with an average contribution to total European emissions of approximately 26 %. The inversion was also able to allow the localisation of emission "hot spots" in the domain, with major source areas in southern France, central England (UK) and Benelux (Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg), where most industrial-scale production of basic organic chemicals is located. According to our results, European emissions correspond, on average, to 4.0 % of global emissions for 2006-2012. Together with other regional studies, our results allow a better constraint

  19. Trade-offs and synergies between carbon storage and livelihood benefits from forest commons.

    PubMed

    Chhatre, Ashwini; Agrawal, Arun

    2009-10-20

    Forests provide multiple benefits at local to global scales. These include the global public good of carbon sequestration and local and national level contributions to livelihoods for more than half a billion users. Forest commons are a particularly important class of forests generating these multiple benefits. Institutional arrangements to govern forest commons are believed to substantially influence carbon storage and livelihood contributions, especially when they incorporate local knowledge and decentralized decision making. However, hypothesized relationships between institutional factors and multiple benefits have never been tested on data from multiple countries. By using original data on 80 forest commons in 10 countries across Asia, Africa, and Latin America, we show that larger forest size and greater rule-making autonomy at the local level are associated with high carbon storage and livelihood benefits; differences in ownership of forest commons are associated with trade-offs between livelihood benefits and carbon storage. We argue that local communities restrict their consumption of forest products when they own forest commons, thereby increasing carbon storage. In showing rule-making autonomy and ownership as distinct and important institutional influences on forest outcomes, our results are directly relevant to international climate change mitigation initiatives such as Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD) and avoided deforestation. Transfer of ownership over larger forest commons patches to local communities, coupled with payments for improved carbon storage can contribute to climate change mitigation without adversely affecting local livelihoods.

  20. Field emission properties of different forms of carbon

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Merkulov, Vladimir I.; Lowndes, Douglas H.; Baylor, Larry R.; Kang, Sukill

    2001-06-01

    The results of field emission (FE) studies are reported for three different forms of carbon: smooth amorphous carbon (a-C) films with both low and high sp 3 content prepared by pulsed-laser deposition (PLD), nanostructured carbon prepared by hot-filament chemical-vapor deposition (HFCVD), and vertically aligned carbon nanofibers (VACNFs). The studies reveal that smooth PLD carbon films are poor field emitters regardless of their sp 3 content. Conditioning of the films, which resulted in films' modification, was required to draw FE current and the emission turn-on fields were relatively high. In contrast, HFCVD carbon films exhibit very good FE properties, including low-emission turn-on fields, relatively high emission site density, and excellent durability. Finally, VACNFs also were found to possess quite promising FE properties that compete with those of HFCVD films. We believe that the latter two forms of carbon are among the most promising candidates for use as cold cathodes in commercial devices.

  1. International Trade of Wood Pellets (Brochure)

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Not Available

    The production of wood pellets has increased dramatically in recent years due in large part to aggressive emissions policy in the European Union; the main markets that currently supply the European market are North America and Russia. However, current market circumstances and trade dynamics could change depending on the development of emerging markets, foreign exchange rates, and the evolution of carbon policies. This fact sheet outlines the existing and potential participants in the wood pellets market, along with historical data on production, trade, and prices.

  2. High-resolution forest carbon stocks and emissions in the Amazon.

    PubMed

    Asner, Gregory P; Powell, George V N; Mascaro, Joseph; Knapp, David E; Clark, John K; Jacobson, James; Kennedy-Bowdoin, Ty; Balaji, Aravindh; Paez-Acosta, Guayana; Victoria, Eloy; Secada, Laura; Valqui, Michael; Hughes, R Flint

    2010-09-21

    Efforts to mitigate climate change through the Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation (REDD) depend on mapping and monitoring of tropical forest carbon stocks and emissions over large geographic areas. With a new integrated use of satellite imaging, airborne light detection and ranging, and field plots, we mapped aboveground carbon stocks and emissions at 0.1-ha resolution over 4.3 million ha of the Peruvian Amazon, an area twice that of all forests in Costa Rica, to reveal the determinants of forest carbon density and to demonstrate the feasibility of mapping carbon emissions for REDD. We discovered previously unknown variation in carbon storage at multiple scales based on geologic substrate and forest type. From 1999 to 2009, emissions from land use totaled 1.1% of the standing carbon throughout the region. Forest degradation, such as from selective logging, increased regional carbon emissions by 47% over deforestation alone, and secondary regrowth provided an 18% offset against total gross emissions. Very high-resolution monitoring reduces uncertainty in carbon emissions for REDD programs while uncovering fundamental environmental controls on forest carbon storage and their interactions with land-use change.

  3. Energy-dominated local carbon emissions in Beijing 2007: inventory and input-output analysis.

    PubMed

    Guo, Shan; Liu, J B; Shao, Ling; Li, J S; An, Y R

    2012-01-01

    For greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by Beijing economy 2007, a concrete emission inventory covering carbon dioxide (CO(2)), methane (CH(4)), and nitrous oxide (N(2)O) is presented and associated with an input-output analysis to reveal the local GHG embodiment in final demand and trade without regard to imported emissions. The total direct GHG emissions amount to 1.06E + 08 t CO(2)-eq, of which energy-related CO(2) emissions comprise 90.49%, non-energy-related CO(2) emissions 6.35%, CH(4) emissions 2.33%, and N(2)O emissions 0.83%, respectively. In terms of energy-related CO(2) emissions, the largest source is coal with a percentage of 53.08%, followed by coke with 10.75% and kerosene with 8.44%. Sector 26 (Construction Industry) holds the top local emissions embodied in final demand of 1.86E + 07 t CO(2)-eq due to its considerable capital, followed by energy-intensive Sectors 27 (Transport and Storage) and 14 (Smelting and Pressing of Ferrous and Nonferrous Metals). The GHG emissions embodied in Beijing's exports are 4.90E + 07 t CO(2)-eq, accounting for 46.01% of the total emissions embodied in final demand. The sound scientific database totally based on local emissions is an important basis to make effective environment and energy policies for local decision makers.

  4. Energy-Dominated Local Carbon Emissions in Beijing 2007: Inventory and Input-Output Analysis

    PubMed Central

    Guo, Shan; Liu, J. B.; Shao, Ling; Li, J. S.; An, Y. R.

    2012-01-01

    For greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by Beijing economy 2007, a concrete emission inventory covering carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), and nitrous oxide (N2O) is presented and associated with an input-output analysis to reveal the local GHG embodiment in final demand and trade without regard to imported emissions. The total direct GHG emissions amount to 1.06E + 08 t CO2-eq, of which energy-related CO2 emissions comprise 90.49%, non-energy-related CO2 emissions 6.35%, CH4 emissions 2.33%, and N2O emissions 0.83%, respectively. In terms of energy-related CO2 emissions, the largest source is coal with a percentage of 53.08%, followed by coke with 10.75% and kerosene with 8.44%. Sector 26 (Construction Industry) holds the top local emissions embodied in final demand of 1.86E + 07 t CO2-eq due to its considerable capital, followed by energy-intensive Sectors 27 (Transport and Storage) and 14 (Smelting and Pressing of Ferrous and Nonferrous Metals). The GHG emissions embodied in Beijing's exports are 4.90E + 07 t CO2-eq, accounting for 46.01% of the total emissions embodied in final demand. The sound scientific database totally based on local emissions is an important basis to make effective environment and energy policies for local decision makers. PMID:23193385

  5. Agricultural technologies and carbon emissions: evidence from Jordanian economy.

    PubMed

    Ismael, Mohanad; Srouji, Fathi; Boutabba, Mohamed Amine

    2018-04-01

    Theoretically, agriculture can be the victim and the cause of climate change. Using annual data for the period of 1970-2014, this study examines the interaction between agriculture technology factors and the environment in terms of carbon emissions in Jordan. The results provide evidence for unidirectional causality running from machinery, subsidies, and other transfers, rural access to an improved water source and fertilizers to carbon emissions. The results also reveal the existence of bidirectional causality between the real income and carbon emissions. The variance error decompositions highlight the importance of subsidies and machinery in explaining carbon emissions. They also show that fertilizers, the crop and livestock production, the land under cereal production, the water access, the agricultural value added, and the real income have an increasing effect on carbon emissions over the forecast period. These results are important so that policy-makers can build up strategies and take in considerations the indicators in order to reduce carbon emissions in Jordan.

  6. Agricultural greenhouse gas trading markets in North America

    USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

    Scientists have assembled evidence of climate change and emphasized its anthropogenic causes. Carbon (C) management and an emissions trading system may be a way to address concerns about climate change and associated environmental impacts. Limited experience has shown a practical policy approach t...

  7. Carbon Emission Reduction with Capital Constraint under Greening Financing and Cost Sharing Contract.

    PubMed

    Qin, Juanjuan; Zhao, Yuhui; Xia, Liangjie

    2018-04-13

    Motivated by the industrial practices, this work explores the carbon emission reductions for the manufacturer, while taking into account the capital constraint and the cap-and-trade regulation. To alleviate the capital constraint, two contracts are analyzed: greening financing and cost sharing. We use the Stackelberg game to model four cases as follows: (1) in Case A1, the manufacturer has no greening financing and no cost sharing; (2) in Case A2, the manufacturer has greening financing, but no cost sharing; (3) in Case B1, the manufacturer has no greening financing but has cost sharing; and, (4) in Case B2, the manufacturer has greening financing and cost sharing. Then, using the backward induction method, we derive and compare the equilibrium decisions and profits of the participants in the four cases. We find that the interest rate of green finance does not always negatively affect the carbon emission reduction of the manufacturer. Meanwhile, the cost sharing from the retailer does not always positively affect the carbon emission reduction of the manufacturer. When the cost sharing is low, both of the participants' profits in Case B1 (under no greening finance) are not less than that in Case B2 (under greening finance). When the cost sharing is high, both of the participants' profits in Case B1 (under no greening finance) are less than that in Case B2 (under greening finance).

  8. Carbon Emission Reduction with Capital Constraint under Greening Financing and Cost Sharing Contract

    PubMed Central

    Qin, Juanjuan; Zhao, Yuhui; Xia, Liangjie

    2018-01-01

    Motivated by the industrial practices, this work explores the carbon emission reductions for the manufacturer, while taking into account the capital constraint and the cap-and-trade regulation. To alleviate the capital constraint, two contracts are analyzed: greening financing and cost sharing. We use the Stackelberg game to model four cases as follows: (1) in Case A1, the manufacturer has no greening financing and no cost sharing; (2) in Case A2, the manufacturer has greening financing, but no cost sharing; (3) in Case B1, the manufacturer has no greening financing but has cost sharing; and, (4) in Case B2, the manufacturer has greening financing and cost sharing. Then, using the backward induction method, we derive and compare the equilibrium decisions and profits of the participants in the four cases. We find that the interest rate of green finance does not always negatively affect the carbon emission reduction of the manufacturer. Meanwhile, the cost sharing from the retailer does not always positively affect the carbon emission reduction of the manufacturer. When the cost sharing is low, both of the participants’ profits in Case B1 (under no greening finance) are not less than that in Case B2 (under greening finance). When the cost sharing is high, both of the participants’ profits in Case B1 (under no greening finance) are less than that in Case B2 (under greening finance). PMID:29652859

  9. Carbon markets proliferating despite difficulties, report notes

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Showstack, Randy

    2013-06-01

    Although some existing carbon markets are facing structural issues and economic difficulties in Europe have put a damper on the European Union emissions trading system, new carbon pricing initiatives are developing rapidly, and these initiatives could help slow down greenhouse gas emissions, according to a 29 May report from the World Bank.

  10. Assessment of China's virtual air pollution transport embodied in trade by using a consumption-based emission inventory

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Zhao, H. Y.; Zhang, Q.; Guan, D. B.; Davis, S. J.; Liu, Z.; Huo, H.; Lin, J. T.; Liu, W. D.; He, K. B.

    2015-05-01

    Substantial anthropogenic emissions from China have resulted in serious air pollution, and this has generated considerable academic and public concern. The physical transport of air pollutants in the atmosphere has been extensively investigated; however, understanding the mechanisms how the pollutant was transferred through economic and trade activities remains a challenge. For the first time, we quantified and tracked China's air pollutant emission flows embodied in interprovincial trade, using a multiregional input-output model framework. Trade relative emissions for four key air pollutants (primary fine particle matter, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides and non-methane volatile organic compounds) were assessed for 2007 in each Chinese province. We found that emissions were significantly redistributed among provinces owing to interprovincial trade. Large amounts of emissions were embodied in the imports of eastern regions from northern and central regions, and these were determined by differences in regional economic status and environmental policy. It is suggested that measures should be introduced to reduce air pollution by integrating cross-regional consumers and producers within national agreements to encourage efficiency improvement in the supply chain and optimize consumption structure internationally. The consumption-based air pollutant emission inventory developed in this work can be further used to attribute pollution to various economic activities and final demand types with the aid of air quality models.

  11. Ocean fertilization, carbon credits and the Kyoto Protocol

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Westley, M. B.; Gnanadesikan, A.

    2008-12-01

    Commercial interest in ocean fertilization as a carbon sequestration tool was excited by the December 1997 agreement of the Kyoto Protocol to the United Nations Convention on Climate Change. The Protocol commits industrialized countries to caps on net greenhouse gas emissions and allows for various flexible mechanisms to achieve these caps in the most economically efficient manner possible, including trade in carbon credits from projects that reduce emissions or enhance sinks. The carbon market was valued at 64 billion in 2007, with the bulk of the trading (50 billion) taking place in the highly regulated European Union Emission Trading Scheme, which deals primarily in emission allowances in the energy sector. A much smaller amount, worth $265 million, was traded in the largely unregulated "voluntary" market (Capoor and Ambrosi 2008). As the voluntary market grows, so do calls for its regulation, with several efforts underway to set rules and standards for the sale of voluntary carbon credits using the Kyoto Protocol as a starting point. Four US-based companies and an Australian company currently seek to develop ocean fertilization technologies for the generation of carbon credits. We review these plans through the lens of the Kyoto Protocol and its flexible mechanisms, and examine whether and how ocean fertilization could generate tradable carbon credits. We note that at present, ocean sinks are not included in the Kyoto Protocol, and that furthermore, the Kyoto Protocol only addresses sources and sinks of greenhouse gases within national boundaries, making open-ocean fertilization projects a jurisdictional challenge. We discuss the negotiating history behind the limited inclusion of land use, land use change and forestry in the Kyoto Protocol and the controversy and eventual compromise concerning methodologies for terrestrial carbon accounting. We conclude that current technologies for measuring and monitoring carbon sequestration following ocean fertilization

  12. Protecting terrestrial ecosystems and the climate through a global carbon market.

    PubMed

    Bonnie, Robert; Carey, Melissa; Petsonk, Annie

    2002-08-15

    Protecting terrestrial ecosystems through international environmental laws requires the development of economic mechanisms that value the Earth's natural systems. The major international treaties to address ecosystem protection lack meaningful binding obligations and the requisite financial instruments to affect large-scale conservation. The Kyoto Protocol's emissions-trading framework creates economic incentives for nations to reduce greenhouse-gas (GHG) emissions cost effectively. Incorporating GHG impacts from land-use activities into this system would create a market for an important ecosystem service provided by forests and agricultural lands: sequestration of atmospheric carbon. This would spur conservation efforts while reducing the 20% of anthropogenic CO(2) emissions produced by land-use change, particularly tropical deforestation. The Kyoto negotiations surrounding land-use activities have been hampered by a lack of robust carbon inventory data. Moreover, the Protocol's provisions agreed to in Kyoto made it difficult to incorporate carbon-sequestering land-use activities into the emissions-trading framework without undermining the atmospheric GHG reductions contemplated in the treaty. Subsequent negotiations since 1997 failed to produce a crediting system that provides meaningful incentives for enhanced carbon sequestration. Notably, credit for reducing rates of tropical deforestation was explicitly excluded from the Protocol. Ultimately, an effective GHG emissions-trading framework will require full carbon accounting for all emissions and sequestration from terrestrial ecosystems. Improved inventory systems and capacity building for developing nations will, therefore, be necessary.

  13. Greenhouse Gas Emission Accounting and Management of Low-Carbon Community

    PubMed Central

    Song, Dan; Su, Meirong; Yang, Jin; Chen, Bin

    2012-01-01

    As the major source of greenhouse gas (GHG) emission, cities have been under tremendous pressure of energy conservation and emission reduction for decades. Community is the main unit of urban housing, public facilities, transportation, and other properties of city's land use. The construction of low-carbon community is an important pathway to realize carbon emission mitigation in the context of rapid urbanization. Therefore, an efficient carbon accounting framework should be proposed for CO2 emissions mitigation at a subcity level. Based on life-cycle analysis (LCA), a three-tier accounting framework for the carbon emissions of the community is put forward, including emissions from direct fossil fuel combustion, purchased energy (electricity, heat, and water), and supply chain emissions embodied in the consumption of goods. By compiling a detailed CO2 emission inventory, the magnitude of carbon emissions and the mitigation potential in a typical high-quality community in Beijing are quantified within the accounting framework proposed. Results show that emissions from supply chain emissions embodied in the consumption of goods cannot be ignored. Specific suggestions are also provided for the urban decision makers to achieve the optimal resource allocation and further promotion of low-carbon communities. PMID:23251104

  14. Greenhouse gas emission accounting and management of low-carbon community.

    PubMed

    Song, Dan; Su, Meirong; Yang, Jin; Chen, Bin

    2012-01-01

    As the major source of greenhouse gas (GHG) emission, cities have been under tremendous pressure of energy conservation and emission reduction for decades. Community is the main unit of urban housing, public facilities, transportation, and other properties of city's land use. The construction of low-carbon community is an important pathway to realize carbon emission mitigation in the context of rapid urbanization. Therefore, an efficient carbon accounting framework should be proposed for CO₂ emissions mitigation at a subcity level. Based on life-cycle analysis (LCA), a three-tier accounting framework for the carbon emissions of the community is put forward, including emissions from direct fossil fuel combustion, purchased energy (electricity, heat, and water), and supply chain emissions embodied in the consumption of goods. By compiling a detailed CO₂ emission inventory, the magnitude of carbon emissions and the mitigation potential in a typical high-quality community in Beijing are quantified within the accounting framework proposed. Results show that emissions from supply chain emissions embodied in the consumption of goods cannot be ignored. Specific suggestions are also provided for the urban decision makers to achieve the optimal resource allocation and further promotion of low-carbon communities.

  15. Municipal solid waste management planning considering greenhouse gas emission trading under fuzzy environment.

    PubMed

    Zhang, Xiaodong; Huang, Gordon

    2014-03-15

    Waste management activities can release greenhouse gases (GHGs) to the atmosphere, intensifying global climate change. Mitigation of the associated GHG emissions is vital and should be considered within integrated municipal solid waste (MSW) management planning. In this study, a fuzzy possibilistic integer programming (FPIM) model has been developed for waste management facility expansion and waste flow allocation planning with consideration of GHG emission trading in an MSW management system. It can address the interrelationships between MSW management planning and GHG emission control. The scenario of total system GHG emission control is analyzed for reflecting the feature that GHG emission credits may be tradable. An interactive solution algorithm is used to solve the FPIM model based on the uncertainty-averse preferences of decision makers in terms of p-necessity level, which represents the certainty degree of the imprecise objective. The FPIM model has been applied to a hypothetical MSW planning problem, where optimal decision schemes for facility expansion and waste flow allocation have been achieved with consideration of GHG emission control. The results indicate that GHG emission credit trading can decrease total system cost through re-allocation of GHG emission credits within the entire MSW management system. This will be helpful for decision makers to effectively determine the allowable GHG emission permits in practices. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  16. Strategies for the municipal waste management system to take advantage of carbon trading under competing policies: The role of energy from waste in Sydney

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    El Hanandeh, Ali; El-Zein, Abbas

    2009-07-15

    Climate change is a driving force behind some recent environmental legislation around the world. Greenhouse gas emission reduction targets have been set in many industrialised countries. A change in current practices of almost all greenhouse-emitting industrial sectors is unavoidable, if the set targets is to be achieved. Although, waste disposal contributes around 3% of the total greenhouse gas emissions in Australia (mainly due to fugitive methane emissions from landfills), the carbon credit and trading scheme set to start in 2010 presents significant challenges and opportunities to municipal solid waste practitioners. Technological advances in waste management, if adopted properly, allow themore » municipal solid waste sector to act as carbon sink, hence earning tradable carbon credits. However, due to the complexity of the system and its inherent uncertainties, optimizing it for carbon credits may worsen its performance under other criteria. We use an integrated, stochastic multi-criteria decision-making tool that we developed earlier to analyse the carbon credit potential of Sydney municipal solid waste under eleven possible future strategies. We find that the changing legislative environment is likely to make current practices highly non-optimal and increase pressures for a change of waste management strategy.« less

  17. Carbon Management In the Post-Cap-and-Trade Carbon Economy

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    DeGroff, F. A.

    2013-12-01

    lower carbon-pricing jurisdictions. Thus, the economic model avoids a key shortcoming of cap-and-trade carbon pricing, and eliminates any incentive to inefficiently shift carbon consumption to jurisdictions with lower carbon tolls. 3) The economic model is a comprehensive, efficient and effective strategy that allows for the implementation of a carbon-pricing structure without the complete, explicit agreement of carbon consumers worldwide.

  18. Large Uncertainties in Urban-Scale Carbon Emissions

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Gately, C. K.; Hutyra, L. R.

    2017-10-01

    Accurate estimates of fossil fuel carbon dioxide (FFCO2) emissions are a critical component of local, regional, and global climate agreements. Current global inventories of FFCO2 emissions do not directly quantify emissions at local scales; instead, spatial proxies like population density, nighttime lights, and power plant databases are used to downscale emissions from national totals. We have developed a high-resolution (hourly, 1 km2) bottom-up Anthropogenic Carbon Emissions System (ACES) for FFCO2, based on local activity data for the year 2011 across the northeastern U.S. We compare ACES with three widely used global inventories, finding significant differences at regional (20%) and city scales (50-250%). At a spatial resolution of 0.1°, inventories differ by over 100% for half of the grid cells in the domain, with the largest differences in urban areas and oil and gas production regions. Given recent U.S. federal policy pull backs regarding greenhouse gas emissions reductions, inventories like ACES are crucial for U.S. actions, as the impetus for climate leadership has shifted to city and state governments. The development of a robust carbon monitoring system to track carbon fluxes is critical for emissions benchmarking and verification. We show that existing downscaled inventories are not suitable for urban emissions monitoring, as they do not consider important local activity patterns. The ACES methodology is designed for easy updating, making it suitable for emissions monitoring under most city, regional, and state greenhouse gas mitigation initiatives, in particular, for the small- and medium-sized cities that lack the resources to regularly perform their own bottom-up emissions inventories.

  19. Detecting and Understanding Changing Arctic Carbon Emissions

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Bruhwiler, L.

    2017-12-01

    Warming in the Arctic has proceeded faster than anyplace on Earth. Our current understanding of biogeochemistry suggests that we can expect feedbacks between climate and carbon in the Arctic. Changes in terrestrial fluxes of carbon can be expected as the Arctic warms, and the vast stores of organic carbon frozen in Arctic soils could be mobilized to the atmosphere, with possible significant impacts on global climate. Quantifying trends in Arctic carbon exchanges is important for policymaking because greater reductions in anthropogenic emissions may be required to meet climate goals. Observations of greenhouse gases in the Arctic and globally have been collected for several decades. Analysis of this data does not currently support significantly changed Arctic emissions of CH4, however it is difficult to detect changes in Arctic emissions because of transport from lower latitudes and large inter-annual variability. Unfortunately, current space-based remote sensing systems have limitations at Arctic latitudes. Modeling systems can help untangle the Arctic budget of greenhouse gases, but they are dependent on underlying prior fluxes, wetland distributions and global anthropogenic emissions. Also, atmospheric transport models may have significant biases and errors. For example, unrealistic near-surface stability can lead to underestimation of emissions in atmospheric inversions. We discuss our current understanding of the Arctic carbon budget from both top-down and bottom-up approaches. We show that current atmospheric inversions agree well on the CH4 budget. On the other hand, bottom-up models vary widely in their predictions of natural emissions, with some models predicting emissions too large to be accommodated by the budget implied by global observations. Large emissions from the shallow Arctic ocean are also inconsistent with atmospheric observations. We also discuss the sensitivity of the current atmospheric network to what is likely small, gradual increases in

  20. Carbon Management In the Post-Cap-and-Trade Carbon Economy

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    DeGroff, F. A.

    2012-12-01

    jurisdictions. Thus, this strategy avoids a key shortcoming of cap-and-trade carbon pricing, and eliminates any incentive to shift carbon consumption to jurisdictions with lower carbon tolls. Third, the model is a comprehensive, efficient, and effective strategy that allows for the implementation of a carbon pricing structure without the complete, explicit agreement of carbon consumers worldwide.

  1. CHEMICAL CHARACTERIZATION OF AMBIENT PARTICULATE MATTER NEAR THE WORLD TRADE CENTER: ELEMENTAL CARBON, ORGANIC CARBON, AND MASS RECONSTRUCTION

    EPA Science Inventory

    Concentrations of elemental carbon (EC), organic carbon matter (OM), particulate matter less than 2.5 um (PM2.5), and reconstructed soil, trace element oxides, and sulfate are reported from four locations near the World Trade Center (WTC) complex for airborne particulate matter (...

  2. Assessment of China's virtual air pollution transport embodied in trade by a consumption-based emission inventory

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Zhao, H. Y.; Zhang, Q.; Davis, S. J.; Guan, D.; Liu, Z.; Huo, H.; Lin, J. T.; Liu, W. D.; He, K. B.

    2014-10-01

    High anthropogenic emissions from China have resulted in serious air pollution, and it has attracted considerable academic and public concern. The physical transport of air pollutants in the atmosphere has been extensively investigated, however, understanding the mechanisms how the pollutants were transferred through economic and trade activities remains challenge. In this work, we assessed China's virtual air pollutant transport embodied in trade, by using consumption-based accounting approach. We first constructed a consumption-based emission inventory for China's four key air pollutants (primary PM2.5, sulfur dioxide (SO2), nitrogen oxides (NOx) and non-methane volatile organic compounds (NMVOC)) in 2007, based on the bottom-up sectoral emission inventory concerning their production activities - a production-based inventory. We used a multiregional input-output (MRIO) model to integrate the sectoral production-based emissions and the associated economic and trade activities, and finally obtained consumption-based inventory. Unlike the production-based inventory, the consumption-based inventory tracked emissions throughout the supply chain related to the consumption of goods and services and hereby identified the emission flows followed the supply chains. From consumption-based perspective, emissions were significantly redistributed among provinces due to interprovincial trade. Large amount of emissions were embodied in the net imports of east regions from northern and central regions; these were determined by differences in the regional economic status and environmental policies. We also calculated the emissions embodied in exported and imported goods and services. It is found that 15-23% of China's pollutant emissions were related to exports for foreign consumption; that proportion was much higher for central and export-oriented coastal regions. It is suggested that measures should be introduced to reduce air pollution by integrating cross-regional consumers

  3. Mid infrared emission spectroscopy of carbon plasma.

    PubMed

    Nemes, Laszlo; Brown, Ei Ei; S-C Yang, Clayton; Hommerich, Uwe

    2017-01-05

    Mid infrared time-resolved emission spectra were recorded from laser-induced carbon plasma. These spectra constitute the first study of carbon materials LIB spectroscopy in the mid infrared range. The carbon plasma was induced using a Q-switched Nd: YAG laser. The laser beam was focused to high purity graphite pellets mounted on a translation stage. Mid infrared emission from the plasma in an atmospheric pressure background gas was detected by a cooled HgCdTe detector in the range 4.4-11.6μm, using long-pass filters. LIB spectra were taken in argon, helium and also in air. Despite a gate delay of 10μs was used there were strong backgrounds in the spectra. Superimposed on this background broad and noisy emission bands were observed, the form and position of which depended somewhat on the ambient gas. The spectra were digitally smoothed and background corrected. In argon, for instance, strong bands were observed around 4.8, 6.0 and 7.5μm. Using atomic spectral data by NIST it could be concluded that carbon, argon, helium and nitrogen lines from neutral and ionized atoms are very weak in this spectral region. The width of the infrared bands supports molecular origin. The infrared emission bands were thus compared to vibrational features of carbon molecules (excluding C2) of various sizes on the basis of previous carbon cluster infrared absorption and emission spectroscopic analyses in the literature and quantum chemical calculations. Some general considerations are given about the present results. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  4. Discussion paper on wholesale ratemaking considerations for sulfur dioxide emissions allowance trading

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Wessler, E.

    1993-07-01

    The acid rain provisions of the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990 (CAAA) created an allowance trading program for SO{sub 2} emissions from electric utility power plants. Theoretically, the trading program will provide utilities the flexibility to control their SO{sub 2} emissions at minimum aggregate societal costs. The trading program is a significant change from command-and-control environmental policies. A continuing concern is whether the market-oriented trading program is compatible with the pervasive rate regulation of the electric utility industry. Economists accept traditional rate regulation policies tend to provide incentives for utilities to minimize risks, rather than costs. To the extentmore » that this is true, the allowance trading experiment is not likely to be successful. A number of commenters have described proposals for alternative regulatory policies to provide utilities with appropriate incentives for cost-minimization. These proposals focus on utility incentives at a {open_quotes}macro{close_quotes} level This paper has a {open_quotes}micro{close_quotes} level focus. It examines options for ratemaking that may also influence utility incentives for cost-minimization to provide a structured discussion of the different types of transactions that involve allowances. Emphasis is on the implications of allowance trading on ratemaking for wholesale power sales. Some of the same considerations that apply to wholesale ratemaking may also apply to retail ratemaking. Four generic types of allowance transactions are examined: Type 1: Unbundled Allowance Sales, Type 2: Wholesale Power Sales, Type 3: Pooling Arrangements, and Type 4: Holding Company Transactions. Each of these four generic allowance transactions is assessed along two 3 dimensions: jurisdictional issues and wholesale ratemaking considerations.« less

  5. An enhanced rate-based emission trading program for NOX: the Dutch model.

    PubMed

    Sholtz, A M; Van Amburg, B; Wochnick, V K

    2001-12-01

    Since 1997 government and industry in The Netherlands have been engaged in intensive policy discussions on how to design an emission trading program that would satisfy the Government's policy objectives within the national and international regulatory framework and accommodate industry's need for a flexible and cost-effective approach. Early on in the discussion the most promising solution was a rate-based approach, which dynamically allocated saleable emission credits based on a performance standard rate and actual energy used by facilities. All industrial facilities above a threshold of 20 MWth would be judged on their ability to meet this performance rate. Those "cleaner" than the standard can sell excess credits to others with an allocation that is less than their actual NOX emission. With some changes in law, such a design could be made to fit well into the national and EU legislative framework while at the same time uniquely meeting industry's requirement of flexibility toward economic growth and facility expansion. (An analysis of the legislative changes required will be given in a separate paper by Chris Dekkers.) However, the environmental outcome of such a system is not as certain as under an absolute emission cap. At the request of the Netherlands Ministry of Housing, Spatial Planning and the Environment (VROM), Automated Credit Exchange (ACE), in close cooperation with the working group of government and industry representatives introduced a number of features into the Dutch NOX program allowing full exploitation of market mechanisms while allowing intermediate adjustments in the performance standard rates. The design is geared toward meeting environmental targets without jeopardizing the trading market the program intends to create. The paper discusses the genesis of the two-tier credit system ACE helped to design, explains the differences between primary (fixed) and secondary (variable) credits, and outlines how the Dutch system is expected to

  6. Carbon emissions of infrastructure development.

    PubMed

    Müller, Daniel B; Liu, Gang; Løvik, Amund N; Modaresi, Roja; Pauliuk, Stefan; Steinhoff, Franciska S; Brattebø, Helge

    2013-10-15

    Identifying strategies for reconciling human development and climate change mitigation requires an adequate understanding of how infrastructures contribute to well-being and greenhouse gas emissions. While direct emissions from infrastructure use are well-known, information about indirect emissions from their construction is highly fragmented. Here, we estimated the carbon footprint of the existing global infrastructure stock in 2008, assuming current technologies, to be 122 (-20/+15) Gt CO2. The average per-capita carbon footprint of infrastructures in industrialized countries (53 (± 6) t CO2) was approximately 5 times larger that that of developing countries (10 (± 1) t CO2). A globalization of Western infrastructure stocks using current technologies would cause approximately 350 Gt CO2 from materials production, which corresponds to about 35-60% of the remaining carbon budget available until 2050 if the average temperature increase is to be limited to 2 °C, and could thus compromise the 2 °C target. A promising but poorly explored mitigation option is to build new settlements using less emissions-intensive materials, for example by urban design; however, this strategy is constrained by a lack of bottom-up data on material stocks in infrastructures. Infrastructure development must be considered in post-Kyoto climate change agreements if developing countries are to participate on a fair basis.

  7. Wildland fire emissions, carbon, and climate: Emission factors

    Treesearch

    Shawn Urbanski

    2014-01-01

    While the vast majority of carbon emitted by wildland fires is released as CO2, CO, and CH4, wildland fire smoke is nonetheless a rich and complex mixture of gases and aerosols. Primary emissions include significant amounts of CH4 and aerosol (organic aerosol and black carbon), which are short-lived climate forcers. In addition to CO2 and short-lived climate forcers,...

  8. Warming caused by cumulative carbon emissions towards the trillionth tonne.

    PubMed

    Allen, Myles R; Frame, David J; Huntingford, Chris; Jones, Chris D; Lowe, Jason A; Meinshausen, Malte; Meinshausen, Nicolai

    2009-04-30

    Global efforts to mitigate climate change are guided by projections of future temperatures. But the eventual equilibrium global mean temperature associated with a given stabilization level of atmospheric greenhouse gas concentrations remains uncertain, complicating the setting of stabilization targets to avoid potentially dangerous levels of global warming. Similar problems apply to the carbon cycle: observations currently provide only a weak constraint on the response to future emissions. Here we use ensemble simulations of simple climate-carbon-cycle models constrained by observations and projections from more comprehensive models to simulate the temperature response to a broad range of carbon dioxide emission pathways. We find that the peak warming caused by a given cumulative carbon dioxide emission is better constrained than the warming response to a stabilization scenario. Furthermore, the relationship between cumulative emissions and peak warming is remarkably insensitive to the emission pathway (timing of emissions or peak emission rate). Hence policy targets based on limiting cumulative emissions of carbon dioxide are likely to be more robust to scientific uncertainty than emission-rate or concentration targets. Total anthropogenic emissions of one trillion tonnes of carbon (3.67 trillion tonnes of CO(2)), about half of which has already been emitted since industrialization began, results in a most likely peak carbon-dioxide-induced warming of 2 degrees C above pre-industrial temperatures, with a 5-95% confidence interval of 1.3-3.9 degrees C.

  9. A mathematical/physics carbon emission reduction strategy for building supply chain network based on carbon tax policy

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Li, Xueying; Peng, Ying; Zhang, Jing

    2017-03-01

    Under the background of a low carbon economy, this paper examines the impact of carbon tax policy on supply chain network emission reduction. The integer linear programming method is used to establish a supply chain network emission reduction such a model considers the cost of CO2 emissions, and analyses the impact of different carbon price on cost and carbon emissions in supply chains. The results show that the implementation of a carbon tax policy can reduce CO2 emissions in building supply chain, but the increase in carbon price does not produce a reduction effect, and may bring financial burden to the enterprise. This paper presents a reasonable carbon price range and provides decision makers with strategies towards realizing a low carbon building supply chain in an economical manner.

  10. [Greenhouse gas emissions, carbon leakage and net carbon sequestration from afforestation and forest management: A review.

    PubMed

    Liu, Bo Jie; Lu, Fei; Wang, Xiao Ke; Liu, Wei Wei

    2017-02-01

    Forests play an important role in climate change mitigation and concentration of CO 2 reduction in the atmosphere. Forest management, especially afforestation and forest protection, could increase carbon stock of forests significantly. Carbon sequestration rate of afforestation ranges from 0.04 to 7.52 t C·hm -2 ·a -1 , while that of forest protection is 0.33-5.20 t C·hm -2 ·a -1 . At the same time, greenhouse gas (GHG) is generated within management boundary due to the production and transportation of the materials consumed in relevant activities of afforestation and forest management. In addition, carbon leakage is also generated outside boundary from activity shifting, market effects and change of environments induced by forest management. In this review, we summarized the definition of emission sources of GHG, monitoring methods, quantity and rate of greenhouse gas emissions within boundary of afforestation and forest management. In addition, types, monitoring methods and quantity of carbon leakage outside boundary of forest management were also analyzed. Based on the reviewed results of carbon sequestration, we introduced greenhouse gas emissions within boundary and carbon leakage, net carbon sequestration as well as the countervailing effects of greenhouse gas emissions and carbon leakage to carbon sequestration. Greenhouse gas emissions within management boundary counteract 0.01%-19.3% of carbon sequestration, and such counteraction could increase to as high as 95% considering carbon leakage. Afforestation and forest management have substantial net carbon sequestration benefits, when only taking direct greenhouse gas emissions within boundary and measurable carbon leakage from activity shifting into consideration. Compared with soil carbon sequestration measures in croplands, afforestation and forest management is more advantageous in net carbon sequestration and has better prospects for application in terms of net mitigation potential. Along with the

  11. Influence factors and forecast of carbon emission in China: structure adjustment for emission peak

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Wang, B.; Cui, C. Q.; Li, Z. P.

    2018-02-01

    This paper introduced Principal Component Analysis and Multivariate Linear Regression Model to verify long-term balance relationships between Carbon Emissions and the impact factors. The integrated model of improved PCA and multivariate regression analysis model is attainable to figure out the pattern of carbon emission sources. Main empirical results indicate that among all selected variables, the role of energy consumption scale was largest. GDP and Population follow and also have significant impacts on carbon emission. Industrialization rate and fossil fuel proportion, which is the indicator of reflecting the economic structure and energy structure, have a higher importance than the factor of urbanization rate and the dweller consumption level of urban areas. In this way, some suggestions are put forward for government to achieve the peak of carbon emissions.

  12. Diamond-Coated Carbon Nanotubes for Efficient Field Emission

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Dimitrijevic, Stevan; Withers, James C.

    2005-01-01

    Field-emission cathodes containing arrays of carbon nanotubes coated with diamond or diamondlike carbon (DLC) are undergoing development. Multiwalled carbon nanotubes have been shown to perform well as electron field emitters. The idea underlying the present development is that by coating carbon nanotubes with wideband- gap materials like diamond or DLC, one could reduce effective work functions, thereby reducing threshold electric-field levels for field emission of electrons and, hence, improving cathode performance. To demonstrate feasibility, experimental cathodes were fabricated by (1) covering metal bases with carbon nanotubes bound to the bases by an electrically conductive binder and (2) coating the nanotubes, variously, with diamond or DLC by plasma-assisted chemical vapor deposition. In tests, the threshold electric-field levels for emission of electrons were reduced by as much as 40 percent, relative to those of uncoated- nanotube cathodes. Coating with diamond or DLC could also make field emission-cathodes operate more stably by helping to prevent evaporation of carbon from nanotubes in the event of overheating of the cathodes. Cathodes of this type are expected to be useful principally as electron sources for cathode-ray tubes and flat-panel displays.

  13. The proportionality of global warming to cumulative carbon emissions.

    PubMed

    Matthews, H Damon; Gillett, Nathan P; Stott, Peter A; Zickfeld, Kirsten

    2009-06-11

    The global temperature response to increasing atmospheric CO(2) is often quantified by metrics such as equilibrium climate sensitivity and transient climate response. These approaches, however, do not account for carbon cycle feedbacks and therefore do not fully represent the net response of the Earth system to anthropogenic CO(2) emissions. Climate-carbon modelling experiments have shown that: (1) the warming per unit CO(2) emitted does not depend on the background CO(2) concentration; (2) the total allowable emissions for climate stabilization do not depend on the timing of those emissions; and (3) the temperature response to a pulse of CO(2) is approximately constant on timescales of decades to centuries. Here we generalize these results and show that the carbon-climate response (CCR), defined as the ratio of temperature change to cumulative carbon emissions, is approximately independent of both the atmospheric CO(2) concentration and its rate of change on these timescales. From observational constraints, we estimate CCR to be in the range 1.0-2.1 degrees C per trillion tonnes of carbon (Tt C) emitted (5th to 95th percentiles), consistent with twenty-first-century CCR values simulated by climate-carbon models. Uncertainty in land-use CO(2) emissions and aerosol forcing, however, means that higher observationally constrained values cannot be excluded. The CCR, when evaluated from climate-carbon models under idealized conditions, represents a simple yet robust metric for comparing models, which aggregates both climate feedbacks and carbon cycle feedbacks. CCR is also likely to be a useful concept for climate change mitigation and policy; by combining the uncertainties associated with climate sensitivity, carbon sinks and climate-carbon feedbacks into a single quantity, the CCR allows CO(2)-induced global mean temperature change to be inferred directly from cumulative carbon emissions.

  14. Baseline map of carbon emissions from deforestation in tropical regions.

    PubMed

    Harris, Nancy L; Brown, Sandra; Hagen, Stephen C; Saatchi, Sassan S; Petrova, Silvia; Salas, William; Hansen, Matthew C; Potapov, Peter V; Lotsch, Alexander

    2012-06-22

    Policies to reduce emissions from deforestation would benefit from clearly derived, spatially explicit, statistically bounded estimates of carbon emissions. Existing efforts derive carbon impacts of land-use change using broad assumptions, unreliable data, or both. We improve on this approach using satellite observations of gross forest cover loss and a map of forest carbon stocks to estimate gross carbon emissions across tropical regions between 2000 and 2005 as 0.81 petagram of carbon per year, with a 90% prediction interval of 0.57 to 1.22 petagrams of carbon per year. This estimate is 25 to 50% of recently published estimates. By systematically matching areas of forest loss with their carbon stocks before clearing, these results serve as a more accurate benchmark for monitoring global progress on reducing emissions from deforestation.

  15. Baseline Map of Carbon Emissions from Deforestation in Tropical Regions

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Harris, Nancy L.; Brown, Sandra; Hagen, Stephen C.; Saatchi, Sassan S.; Petrova, Silvia; Salas, William; Hansen, Matthew C.; Potapov, Peter V.; Lotsch, Alexander

    2012-06-01

    Policies to reduce emissions from deforestation would benefit from clearly derived, spatially explicit, statistically bounded estimates of carbon emissions. Existing efforts derive carbon impacts of land-use change using broad assumptions, unreliable data, or both. We improve on this approach using satellite observations of gross forest cover loss and a map of forest carbon stocks to estimate gross carbon emissions across tropical regions between 2000 and 2005 as 0.81 petagram of carbon per year, with a 90% prediction interval of 0.57 to 1.22 petagrams of carbon per year. This estimate is 25 to 50% of recently published estimates. By systematically matching areas of forest loss with their carbon stocks before clearing, these results serve as a more accurate benchmark for monitoring global progress on reducing emissions from deforestation.

  16. Emissions & Measurements - Black Carbon | Science ...

    EPA Pesticide Factsheets

    Emissions and Measurement (EM) research activities performed within the National Risk Management Research Lab NRMRL) of EPA's Office of Research and Development (ORD) support measurement and laboratory analysis approaches to accurately characterize source emissions, and near source concentrations of air pollutants. They also support integrated Agency research programs (e.g., source to health outcomes) and the development of databases and inventories that assist Federal, state, and local air quality managers and industry implement and comply with air pollution standards. EM research underway in NRMRL supports the Agency's efforts to accurately characterize, analyze, measure and manage sources of air pollution. This pamphlet focuses on the EM research that NRMRL researchers conduct related to black carbon (BC). Black Carbon is a pollutant of concern to EPA due to its potential impact on human health and climate change. There are extensive uncertainties in emissions of BC from stationary and mobile sources. Emissions and Measurement (EM) research activities performed within the National Risk Management Research Lab NRMRL) of EPA's Office of Research and Development (ORD)

  17. Trading-off emission reduction, carbon capture and geoengineering to reach the Paris agreement

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Gasser, T.; Boucher, O.; Lecocq, F.; Obersteiner, M.

    2017-12-01

    We explore virtually all possible future pathways that respect the Paris agreement, with an innovative modeling framework. We show that immediate and extreme mitigation of CO2 and non-CO2 species alike, carbon dioxide removal (CDR) and/or solar radiation management (SRM) technologies are required. We analyze the tradeoffs between these solutions. We generate thousands of temperature change pathways that extend historical records, stay below 2°C, and aim at 1.5°C in the long run. Non-CO2 forcings are generated likewise. With a simple model of the Earth system, we then back-calculate anthropogenic CO2 emissions compatible with these pathways. Other key global variables such as ocean acidity, sea level and permafrost thaw are also simulated. From this large ensemble of fully consistent scenarios, we analyze subsets that meet certain criteria: physical targets, emission levels, technology use, or any combination thereof. We show that staying below 1.5°C is feasible if CO2 emissions peak before 2025 and non-CO2 forcings are also reduced to zero. In case of a positive long-term non-CO2 forcing (a mitigation floor), CDR is necessary. Alternatively, emissions can peak later and/or higher if SRM is allowed. For pathways overshooting 1.5°C, results depend on the overshoot's size and length. Because of thawing permafrost, virtually all overshoot pathways require CDR, unless non-CO2 species (possibly SRM) are cooling the system at the time of peak temperature. When considering additional physical targets, which can be relevant for preserving ecosystems, the space of allowable pathways is systematically reduced. Especially: limiting ocean acidification rules out SRM. The nationally determined contributions (NDCs) indicate that reaching even the strictest interpretation of the agreement is feasible. However, if SRM is ruled out and only a reasonable amount of CDR is allowed, NDCs are compatible with very few of our pathways (≈5%). If a mitigation floor is added on top of

  18. [Measurement model of carbon emission from forest fire: a review].

    PubMed

    Hu, Hai-Qing; Wei, Shu-Jing; Jin, Sen; Sun, Long

    2012-05-01

    Forest fire is the main disturbance factor for forest ecosystem, and an important pathway of the decrease of vegetation- and soil carbon storage. Large amount of carbonaceous gases in forest fire can release into atmosphere, giving remarkable impacts on the atmospheric carbon balance and global climate change. To scientifically and effectively measure the carbonaceous gases emission from forest fire is of importance in understanding the significance of forest fire in the carbon balance and climate change. This paper reviewed the research progress in the measurement model of carbon emission from forest fire, which covered three critical issues, i. e., measurement methods of forest fire-induced total carbon emission and carbonaceous gases emission, affecting factors and measurement parameters of measurement model, and cause analysis of the uncertainty in the measurement of the carbon emissions. Three path selections to improve the quantitative measurement of the carbon emissions were proposed, i. e., using high resolution remote sensing data and improving algorithm and estimation accuracy of burned area in combining with effective fuel measurement model to improve the accuracy of the estimated fuel load, using high resolution remote sensing images combined with indoor controlled environment experiments, field measurements, and field ground surveys to determine the combustion efficiency, and combining indoor controlled environment experiments with field air sampling to determine the emission factors and emission ratio.

  19. Research needs for finely resolved fossil carbon emissions

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Gurney, K.; Ansley, W.; Mendoza, D.; Petron, G.; Frost, G.; Gregg, J.; Fischer, M.; Pataki, Diane E.; Ackerman, K.; Houweling, S.; Corbin, K.; Andres, R.; Blasing, T.J.

    2007-01-01

    Scientific research on the global carbon cycle has emerged as a high priority in biogeochemistry, climate studies, and global change policy. The emission of carbon dioxide (CO2) from fossil fuel combustion is a dominant driver of the current net carbon fluxes between the land, the oceans, and the atmosphere, and it is a key contributor to the rise in modern radiative forcing. Contrary to a commonly held perception, our quantitative knowledge about these emissions is insufficient to satisfy current scientific and policy needs. A more highly spatially and temporally resolved quantification of the social and economic drivers of fossil fuel combustion, and the resulting CO2 emissions, is essential to supporting scientific and policy progress. In this article, a new community of emissions researchers called the CO2 Fossil Fuel Emission Effort (CO2FFEE) outlines a research agenda to meet the need for improved fossil fuel CO2 emissions information and solicits comment from the scientific community and research agencies.

  20. SVR-based prediction of carbon emissions from energy consumption in Henan Province

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Gou, Guohua

    2018-02-01

    This paper analyzes the advantage of support vector regression (SVR) in the prediction of carbon emission and establishes the SVR-based carbon emission prediction model. The model is established using the data of Henan’s carbon emissions and influence factors from the 1991 to 2016 to train and test and then predict the carbon emissions from 2017 to 2021. The results show that: from the perspective of carbon emission from energy consumption, it raised 224.876 million tons of carbon dioxide from 1991 to 2016, and the predicted increment from 2017 to 2021 is 30.5563million tons with an average annual growth rate at 3%. From the perspective of growth rate among the six factors related to carbon emissions it is proved that population urbanization rate per capital GDP and energy consumption per unit of GDP influences the growth rate of carbon emissions less than the proportion of secondary industry and coal consumption ratio of carbon. Finally some suggestions are proposed for the carbon emission reduction of Henan Province.

  1. Clean air, clear market. Making emissions trading work: The role of a computer-assisted auction

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Bartels, C.W.; Marron, D.B.; Lipsky, M.I.

    1993-06-15

    Creating a new commodity presents the chance to develop new markets in which to trade it. In many cases, existing markets can be adapted easily; in other cases it proves worthwhile to develop new forms that reflect special characteristics of the commodity and those who trade it. In the case of the sulfur dioxide (SO[sub 2]) emission allowances created by the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990, a number of standard market forms already have been adopted. While these will prove useful for handling some transactions, a new Market Clearing Auction (MCA) offers buyers and sellers a centralized marketplace formore » trading SO[sub 2] emission allowances. The MCA, which was developed by the brokerage firm Cantor Fitzgerald, is a computer-assisted [open quotes]smart[close quotes] auction designed to replicate the outcome of an efficient market in emission allowances, and accepts bids and offers for any possible combination of allowances. Orders can be submitted for streams of allowances. Orders can be submitted for streams of allowances covering more than one year. The auction then determines the combination of bids and offers that maximizes the gains from trades in the market, and establishes uniform market clearing prices for each allowance issue (1995, 1996, and so on). Once executed, trades are settled on a cash-forward basis; that is, allowances are delivered and payments are made at future dates.« less

  2. Outsourcing CO2 Emissions

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Davis, S. J.; Caldeira, K. G.

    2009-12-01

    CO2 emissions from the burning of fossil fuels are the primary cause of global warming. Much attention has been focused on the CO2 directly emitted by each country, but relatively little attention has been paid to the amount of emissions associated with consumption of goods and services in each country. This consumption-based emissions inventory differs from the production-based inventory because of imports and exports of goods and services that, either directly or indirectly, involved CO2 emissions. Using the latest available data and reasonable assumptions regarding trans-shipment of embodied carbon through third-party countries, we developed a global consumption-based CO2 emissions inventory and have calculated associated consumption-based energy and carbon intensities. We find that, in 2004, 24% of CO2 emissions are effectively outsourced to other countries, with much of the developed world outsourcing CO2 emissions to emerging markets, principally China. Some wealthy countries, including Switzerland and Sweden, outsource over half of their consumption-based emissions, with many northern Europeans outsourcing more than three tons of emissions per person per year. The United States is both a big importer and exporter of emissions embodied in trade, outsourcing >2.6 tons of CO2 per person and at the same time as >2.0 tons of CO2 per person are outsourced to the United States. These large flows indicate that CO2 emissions embodied in trade must be taken into consideration when considering responsibility for increasing atmospheric greenhouse gas concentrations.

  3. [Carbon capture and storage (CCS) and its potential role to mitigate carbon emission in China].

    PubMed

    Chen, Wen-Ying; Wu, Zong-Xin; Wang, Wei-Zhong

    2007-06-01

    Carbon capture and storage (CCS) has been widely recognized as one of the options to mitigate carbon emission to eventually stabilize carbon dioxide concentration in the atmosphere. Three parts of CCS, which are carbon capture, transport, and storage are assessed in this paper, covering comparisons of techno-economic parameters for different carbon capture technologies, comparisons of storage mechanism, capacity and cost for various storage formations, and etc. In addition, the role of CCS to mitigate global carbon emission is introduced. Finally, China MARKAL model is updated to include various CCS technologies, especially indirect coal liquefaction and poly-generation technologies with CCS, in order to consider carbon emission reduction as well as energy security issue. The model is used to generate different scenarios to study potential role of CCS to mitigate carbon emissions by 2050 in China. It is concluded that application of CCS can decrease marginal abatement cost and the decrease rate can reach 45% for the emission reduction rate of 50%, and it can lessen the dependence on nuclear power development for stringent carbon constrains. Moreover, coal resources can be cleanly used for longer time with CCS, e.g., for the scenario C70, coal share in the primary energy consumption by 2050 will increase from 10% when without CCS to 30% when with CCS. Therefore, China should pay attention to CCS R&D activities and to developing demonstration projects.

  4. Trade-offs between forest carbon stocks and harvests in a steady state - A multi-criteria analysis.

    PubMed

    Pingoud, Kim; Ekholm, Tommi; Sievänen, Risto; Huuskonen, Saija; Hynynen, Jari

    2018-03-15

    This paper provides a perspective for comparing trade-offs between harvested wood flows and forest carbon stocks with different forest management regimes. A constant management regime applied to a forest area with an even age-class distribution leads to a steady state, in which the annual harvest and carbon stocks remain constant over time. As both are desirable - carbon stocks for mitigating climate change and harvests for the economic use of wood and displacing fossil fuels - an ideal strategy should be chosen from a set of management regimes that are Pareto-optimal in the sense of multi-criteria decision-making. When choosing between Pareto-optimal alternatives, the trade-off between carbon stock and harvests is unavoidable. This trade-off can be described e.g. in terms of carbon payback times or carbon returns. As numerical examples, we present steady-state harvest levels and carbon stocks in a Finnish boreal forest region for different rotation periods, thinning intensities and collection patterns for harvest residues. In the set of simulated management practices, harvest residue collection presents the most favorable trade-off with payback times around 30-40 years; while Pareto-optimal changes in rotation or thinnings exhibited payback times over 100 years, or alternatively carbon returns below 1%. By extending the rotation period and using less-intensive thinnings compared to current practices, the steady-state carbon stocks could be increased by half while maintaining current harvest levels. Additional cases with longer rotation periods should be also considered, but were here excluded due to the lack of reliable data on older forest stands. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  5. Ocean Carbon Cycle Feedbacks Under Negative Emissions

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Schwinger, Jörg; Tjiputra, Jerry

    2018-05-01

    Negative emissions will most likely be needed to achieve ambitious climate targets, such as limiting global warming to 1.5°. Here we analyze the ocean carbon-concentration and carbon-climate feedback in an Earth system model under an idealized strong CO2 peak and decline scenario. We find that the ocean carbon-climate feedback is not reversible by means of negative emissions on decadal to centennial timescales. When preindustrial surface climate is restored, the oceans, due to the carbon-climate feedback, still contain about 110 Pg less carbon compared to a simulation without climate change. This result is unsurprising but highlights an issue with a widely used carbon cycle feedback metric. We show that this metric can be greatly improved by using ocean potential temperature as a proxy for climate change. The nonlinearity (nonadditivity) of climate and CO2-driven feedbacks continues to grow after the atmospheric CO2 peak.

  6. International trade and air pollution: estimating the economic costs of air emissions from waterborne commerce vessels in the United States.

    PubMed

    Gallagher, Kevin P

    2005-10-01

    Although there is a burgeoning literature on the effects of international trade on the environment, relatively little work has been done on where trade most directly effects the environment: the transportation sector. This article shows how international trade is affecting air pollution emissions in the United States' shipping sector. Recent work has shown that cargo ships have been long overlooked regarding their contribution to air pollution. Indeed, ship emissions have recently been deemed "the last unregulated source of traditional air pollutants". Air pollution from ships has a number of significant local, national, and global environmental effects. Building on past studies, we examine the economic costs of this increasing and unregulated form of environmental damage. We find that total emissions from ships are largely increasing due to the increase in foreign commerce (or international trade). The economic costs of SO2 pollution range from dollars 697 million to dollars 3.9 billion during the period examined, or dollars 77 to dollars 435 million on an annual basis. The bulk of the cost is from foreign commerce, where the annual costs average to dollars 42 to dollars 241 million. For NOx emissions the costs are dollars 3.7 billion over the entire period or dollars 412 million per year. Because foreign trade is driving the growth in US shipping, we also estimate the effect of the Uruguay Round on emissions. Separating out the effects of global trade agreements reveals that the trade agreement-led emissions amounted to dollars 96 to dollars 542 million for SO2 between 1993 and 2001, or dollars 10 to dollars 60 million per year. For NOx they were dollars 745 million for the whole period or dollars 82 million per year. Without adequate policy responses, we predict that these trends and costs will continue into the future.

  7. Belowground carbon trade among tall trees in a temperate forest.

    PubMed

    Klein, Tamir; Siegwolf, Rolf T W; Körner, Christian

    2016-04-15

    Forest trees compete for light and soil resources, but photoassimilates, once produced in the foliage, are not considered to be exchanged between individuals. Applying stable carbon isotope labeling at the canopy scale, we show that carbon assimilated by 40-meter-tall spruce is traded over to neighboring beech, larch, and pine via overlapping root spheres. Isotope mixing signals indicate that the interspecific, bidirectional transfer, assisted by common ectomycorrhiza networks, accounted for 40% of the fine root carbon (about 280 kilograms per hectare per year tree-to-tree transfer). Although competition for resources is commonly considered as the dominant tree-to-tree interaction in forests, trees may interact in more complex ways, including substantial carbon exchange. Copyright © 2016, American Association for the Advancement of Science.

  8. Carbon footprint of telemedicine solutions--unexplored opportunity for reducing carbon emissions in the health sector.

    PubMed

    Holmner, Asa; Ebi, Kristie L; Lazuardi, Lutfan; Nilsson, Maria

    2014-01-01

    The healthcare sector is a significant contributor to global carbon emissions, in part due to extensive travelling by patients and health workers. To evaluate the potential of telemedicine services based on videoconferencing technology to reduce travelling and thus carbon emissions in the healthcare sector. A life cycle inventory was performed to evaluate the carbon reduction potential of telemedicine activities beyond a reduction in travel related emissions. The study included two rehabilitation units at Umeå University Hospital in Sweden. Carbon emissions generated during telemedicine appointments were compared with care-as-usual scenarios. Upper and lower bound emissions scenarios were created based on different teleconferencing solutions and thresholds for when telemedicine becomes favorable were estimated. Sensitivity analyses were performed to pinpoint the most important contributors to emissions for different set-ups and use cases. Replacing physical visits with telemedicine appointments resulted in a significant 40-70 times decrease in carbon emissions. Factors such as meeting duration, bandwidth and use rates influence emissions to various extents. According to the lower bound scenario, telemedicine becomes a greener choice at a distance of a few kilometers when the alternative is transport by car. Telemedicine is a potent carbon reduction strategy in the health sector. But to contribute significantly to climate change mitigation, a paradigm shift might be required where telemedicine is regarded as an essential component of ordinary health care activities and not only considered to be a service to the few who lack access to care due to geography, isolation or other constraints.

  9. 75 FR 69909 - Approval and Promulgation of Implementation Plans; Texas; Emissions Banking and Trading of...

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2010-11-16

    ... Promulgation of Implementation Plans; Texas; Emissions Banking and Trading of Allowances Program AGENCY... four revisions to the Texas State Implementation Plan (SIP) that create and amend the Emissions Banking... reached via electronic mail at [email protected] . SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In the final rules section...

  10. Black Carbon Emissions from Associated Natural Gas Flaring.

    PubMed

    Weyant, Cheryl L; Shepson, Paul B; Subramanian, R; Cambaliza, Maria O L; Heimburger, Alexie; McCabe, David; Baum, Ellen; Stirm, Brian H; Bond, Tami C

    2016-02-16

    Approximately 150 billion cubic meters (BCM) of natural gas is flared and vented in the world annually, emitting greenhouse gases and other pollutants with no energy benefit. About 7 BCM per year is flared in the United States, and half is from North Dakota alone. There are few emission measurements from associated gas flares and limited black carbon (BC) emission factors have been previously reported from the field. Emission plumes from 26 individual flares in the Bakken formation in North Dakota were sampled. Methane, carbon dioxide, and BC were measured simultaneously, allowing the calculation of BC mass emission factors using the carbon balance method. Particle optical absorption was measured using a three-wavelength particle soot absorption photometer (PSAP) and BC particle number and mass concentrations were measured with a single particle soot photometer. The BC emission factors varied over 2 orders of magnitude, with an average and uncertainty range of 0.14 ± 0.12 g/kg hydrocarbons in associated gas and a median of 0.07 g/kg which represents a lower bound on these measurements. An estimation of the BC emission factor derived from PSAP absorption provides an upper bound at 3.1 g/kg. These results are lower than previous estimations and laboratory measurements. The BC mass absorption cross section was 16 ± 12 m(2)/g BC at 530 nm. The average absorption Ångström exponent was 1.2 ± 0.8, suggesting that most of the light absorbing aerosol measured was black carbon and the contribution of light absorbing organic carbon was small.

  11. Coping with carbon: a near-term strategy to limit carbon dioxide emissions from power stations.

    PubMed

    Breeze, Paul

    2008-11-13

    Burning coal to generate electricity is one of the key sources of atmospheric carbon dioxide emissions; so, targeting coal-fired power plants offers one of the easiest ways of reducing global carbon emissions. Given that the world's largest economies all rely heavily on coal for electricity production, eliminating coal combustion is not an option. Indeed, coal consumption is likely to increase over the next 20-30 years. However, the introduction of more efficient steam cycles will improve the emission performance of these plants over the short term. To achieve a reduction in carbon emissions from coal-fired plant, however, it will be necessary to develop and introduce carbon capture and sequestration technologies. Given adequate investment, these technologies should be capable of commercial development by ca 2020.

  12. 78 FR 35603 - Foreign-Trade Zone 83-Huntsville, Alabama; Application for Production Authority; Toray Carbon...

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2013-06-13

    ..., Alabama; Application for Production Authority; Toray Carbon Fibers America, Inc.; (Polyacrylonitrile Fiber/Carbon Fiber Production), Decatur, Alabama An application has been submitted to the Foreign-Trade Zones... authority on behalf of Toray Carbon Fibers America, Inc. (Toray), located in Decatur, Alabama. The...

  13. Multi-layer carbon-based coatings for field emission

    DOEpatents

    Sullivan, John P.; Friedmann, Thomas A.

    1998-01-01

    A multi-layer resistive carbon film field emitter device for cold cathode field emission applications. The multi-layered film of the present invention consists of at least two layers of a conductive carbon material, preferably amorphous-tetrahedrally coordinated carbon, where the resistivities of adjacent layers differ. For electron emission from the surface, the preferred structure can be a top layer having a lower resistivity than the bottom layer. For edge emitting structures, the preferred structure of the film can be a plurality of carbon layers, where adjacent layers have different resistivities. Through selection of deposition conditions, including the energy of the depositing carbon species, the presence or absence of certain elements such as H, N, inert gases or boron, carbon layers having desired resistivities can be produced.

  14. 77 FR 75972 - Foreign-Trade Zone 148-Knoxville, Tennessee, Toho Tenax America, Inc., Subzone 148C (Carbon Fiber...

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2012-12-26

    ... DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE Foreign-Trade Zones Board [Docket 57-2010] Foreign-Trade Zone 148--Knoxville, Tennessee, Toho Tenax America, Inc., Subzone 148C (Carbon Fiber Manufacturing Authority... manufacture carbon fiber for the U.S. market at this time, is being extended to February 11, 2013, to allow...

  15. Chinese CO2 emission flows have reversed since the global financial crisis.

    PubMed

    Mi, Zhifu; Meng, Jing; Guan, Dabo; Shan, Yuli; Song, Malin; Wei, Yi-Ming; Liu, Zhu; Hubacek, Klaus

    2017-11-23

    This study seeks to estimate the carbon implications of recent changes in China's economic development patterns and role in global trade in the post-financial-crisis era. We utilised the latest socioeconomic datasets to compile China's 2012 multiregional input-output (MRIO) table. Environmentally extended input-output analysis and structural decomposition analysis (SDA) were applied to investigate the driving forces behind changes in CO 2 emissions embodied in China's domestic and foreign trade from 2007 to 2012. Here we show that emission flow patterns have changed greatly in both domestic and foreign trade since the financial crisis. Some economically less developed regions, such as Southwest China, have shifted from being a net emission exporter to being a net emission importer. In terms of foreign trade, emissions embodied in China's exports declined from 2007 to 2012 mainly due to changes in production structure and efficiency gains, while developing countries became the major destination of China's export emissions.

  16. 50% REDUCTION IN GLOBAL GHG EMISSION BY 2050 AND ITS IMPLICATION

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Fujimori, Shinichiro; Masui, Toshihiko; Matsuoka, Yuzuru

    To prevent the global temperature increase by two degrees, global greenhouse gas emission in 2050 should be cut by half relative to its 1990 level. This study shows following three things by using multi regions and sectors recursive dynamic type computable general equilibrium model. One is the feasibility of that global emission target. The others are the counter measures and the impact on the macro economy, if that target were feasible. In addition, the scenarios with and without international emission trading are implemented and the effect of the trading is analyzed. As a result, that target can be achieved. The marginal abatement cost is 750/tCO2-eq in 2050. Energy efficiency improvement, renewable energy and carbon capture and storage technologies are the main players as counter measures. If the emission trading is available freely, GDP loss is 4.5% globally in 2050. Otherwise, the loss is increased to 6.1%. The emission trading mechanism is also one of the important measures.

  17. Forest carbon emissions from cropland expansion in the Brazilian Cerrado biome

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Noojipady, Praveen; Morton, C. Douglas; Macedo, N. Marcia; Victoria, C. Daniel; Huang, Chengquan; Gibbs, K. Holly; Edson Bolfe, L.

    2017-02-01

    Land use, land use change, and forestry accounted for two-thirds of Brazil’s greenhouse gas emissions profile in 2005. Amazon deforestation has declined by more than 80% over the past decade, yet Brazil’s forests extend beyond the Amazon biome. Rapid expansion of cropland in the neighboring Cerrado biome has the potential to undermine climate mitigation efforts if emissions from dry forest and woodland conversion negate some of the benefits of avoided Amazon deforestation. Here, we used satellite data on cropland expansion, forest cover, and vegetation carbon stocks to estimate annual gross forest carbon emissions from cropland expansion in the Cerrado biome. Nearly half of the Cerrado met Brazil’s definition of forest cover in 2000 (≥0.5 ha with ≥10% canopy cover). In areas of established crop production, conversion of both forest and non-forest Cerrado formations for cropland declined during 2003-2013. However, forest carbon emissions from cropland expansion increased over the past decade in Matopiba, a new frontier of agricultural production that includes portions of Maranhão, Tocantins, Piauí, and Bahia states. Gross carbon emissions from cropland expansion in the Cerrado averaged 16.28 Tg C yr-1 between 2003 and 2013, with forest-to-cropland conversion accounting for 29% of emissions. The fraction of forest carbon emissions from Matopiba was much higher; between 2010-2013, large-scale cropland conversion in Matopiba contributed 45% of total Cerrado forest carbon emissions. Carbon emissions from Cerrado-to-cropland transitions offset 5%-7% of the avoided emissions from reduced Amazon deforestation rates during 2011-2013. Comprehensive national estimates of forest carbon fluxes, including all biomes, are critical to detect cross-biome leakage within countries and achieve climate mitigation targets to reduce emissions from land use, land use change, and forestry.

  18. Cumulative emission budgets and their implications: the case for SAFE carbon

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Allen, Myles; Bowerman, Niel; Frame, David; Mason, Charles

    2010-05-01

    The risk of dangerous long-term climate change due to anthropogenic carbon dioxide emissions is predominantly determined by cumulative emissions over all time, not the rate of emission in any given year or commitment period. This has profound implications for climate mitigation policy: emission targets for specific years such as 2020 or 2050 provide no guarantee of meeting any overall cumulative emission budget. By focusing attention on short-term measures to reduce the flow of emissions, they may even exacerbate the overall long-term stock. Here we consider how climate policies might be designed explicitly to limit cumulative emissions to, for example, one trillion tonnes of carbon, a figure that has been estimated to give a most likely warming of two degrees above pre-industrial, with a likely range of 1.6-2.6 degrees. Three approaches are considered: tradable emission permits with the possibility of indefinite emission banking, carbon taxes explicitly linked to cumulative emissions and mandatory carbon sequestration. Framing mitigation policy around cumulative targets alleviates the apparent tension between climate protection and short-term consumption that bedevils any attempt to forge global agreement. We argue that the simplest and hence potentially the most effective approach might be a mandatory requirement on the fossil fuel industry to ensure that a steadily increasing fraction of fossil carbon extracted from the ground is artificially removed from the active carbon cycle through some form of sequestration. We define Sequestered Adequate Fraction of Extracted (SAFE) carbon as a source in which this sequestered fraction is anchored to cumulative emissions, increasing smoothly to reach 100% before we release the trillionth tonne. While adopting the use of SAFE carbon would increase the cost of fossil energy much as a system of emission permits or carbon taxes would, it could do so with much less explicit government intervention. We contrast this proposal

  19. Carbon stars with alpha-C:H emission

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Gerbault, Florence; Goebel, John H.

    1989-01-01

    Many carbon stars in the IRS low resolution spectra (LRS) catalog were found which display emission spectra that compare favorable with the absorption spectrum of alpha-C:H. These stars have largely been classified as 4X in the LRS which has led to their interpretation by others in terms of displaying a mixture of the UIRF's 8.6 micron band and SiC at 11.5 microns. It was also found that many of these stars have a spectral upturn at 20+ microns which resembles the MgS band seen in carbon stars and planetary nebulae. It was concluded that this group of carbon stars will evolve into planetary nebulae like NGC 7027 and IC 418. In the presence of hard ultraviolet radiation the UIRF's will light up and be displayed as narrow emission bands on top of the broad alpha-C:H emission bands.

  20. [Decomposition model of energy-related carbon emissions in tertiary industry for China].

    PubMed

    Lu, Yuan-Qing; Shi, Jun

    2012-07-01

    Tertiary industry has been developed in recent years. And it is very important to find the factors influenced the energy-related carbon emissions in tertiary industry. A decomposition model of energy-related carbon emissions for China is set up by adopting logarithmic mean weight Divisia method based on the identity of carbon emissions. The model is adopted to analyze the influence of energy structure, energy efficiency, tertiary industry structure and economic output to energy-related carbon emissions in China from 2000 to 2009. Results show that the contribution rate of economic output and energy structure to energy-related carbon emissions increases year by year. Either is the contribution rate of energy efficiency or the tertiary industry restraining to energy-related carbon emissions. However, the restrain effect is weakening.

  1. Evaluation of the Committed Carbon Emissions and Global Warming due to the Permafrost Carbon Feedback

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Elshorbany, Y. F.; Schaefer, K. M.; Jafarov, E. E.; Yumashev, D.; Hope, C.

    2017-12-01

    We quantify the increase in carbon emissions and temperature due to Permafrost Carbon feedback (PCF), defined as the amplification of anthropogenic warming due to carbon emissions from thawing permafrost (i.e., of near-surface layers to 3 m depth). We simulate the Committed PCF emissions, the cumulative total emissions from thawing permafrost by 2300 for a given global temperature increase by 2100, and investigate the resulting global warming using the Simple Biosphere/Carnegie-Ames-Stanford Approach SiBCASA model. We estimate the committed PCF emissions and warming for the Fifth Assessment Report, Representative Concentration Pathway scenarios 4.5 and 8.5 using two ensembles of five projections. For the 2 °C warming target of the global climate change treaty, committed PCF emissions increase to 24 Gt C by 2100 and 76 Gt C by 2300 and the committed PCF warming is 0.23 °C by 2300. Our calculations show that as the global temperature increase by 2100 approaches 5.8 °C, the entire stock of frozen carbon thaws out, resulting in maximum committed PCF emissions of 560 Gt C by 2300.

  2. Using Carbon Emissions Data to "Heat Up" Descriptive Statistics

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Brooks, Robert

    2012-01-01

    This article illustrates using carbon emissions data in an introductory statistics assignment. The carbon emissions data has desirable characteristics including: choice of measure; skewness; and outliers. These complexities allow research and public policy debate to be introduced. (Contains 4 figures and 2 tables.)

  3. A synthesis of carbon dioxide emissions from fossil-fuel combustion

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Andres, Robert Joseph; Boden, Thomas A; Breon, F.-M.

    2012-01-01

    This synthesis discusses the emissions of carbon dioxide from fossil-fuel combustion and cement production. While much is known about these emissions, there is still much that is unknown about the details surrounding these emissions. This synthesis explores 5 our knowledge of these emissions in terms of why there is concern about them; how they are calculated; the major global efforts on inventorying them; their global, regional, and national totals at different spatial and temporal scales; how they are distributed on global grids (i.e. maps); how they are transported in models; and the uncertainties associated with these different aspects of themore » emissions. The magnitude of emissions 10 from the combustion of fossil fuels has been almost continuously increasing with time since fossil fuels were first used by humans. Despite events in some nations specifically designed to reduce emissions, or which have had emissions reduction as a byproduct of other events, global total emissions continue their general increase with time. Global total fossil-fuel carbon dioxide emissions are known to within 10% uncertainty (95% 15 confidence interval). Uncertainty on individual national total fossil-fuel carbon dioxide emissions range from a few percent to more than 50 %. The information discussed in this manuscript synthesizes global, regional and national fossil-fuel carbon dioxide emissions, their distributions, their transport, and the associated uncertainties.« less

  4. Multi-layer carbon-based coatings for field emission

    DOEpatents

    Sullivan, J.P.; Friedmann, T.A.

    1998-10-13

    A multi-layer resistive carbon film field emitter device for cold cathode field emission applications is disclosed. The multi-layered film of the present invention consists of at least two layers of a conductive carbon material, preferably amorphous-tetrahedrally coordinated carbon, where the resistivities of adjacent layers differ. For electron emission from the surface, the preferred structure can be a top layer having a lower resistivity than the bottom layer. For edge emitting structures, the preferred structure of the film can be a plurality of carbon layers, where adjacent layers have different resistivities. Through selection of deposition conditions, including the energy of the depositing carbon species, the presence or absence of certain elements such as H, N, inert gases or boron, carbon layers having desired resistivities can be produced. 8 figs.

  5. On emissions trading, toxic debt and the Australian power market

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Simshauser, Paul

    2009-03-15

    Implementation of emissions trading will have profound effects on the financial stability of coal generators. While the impact on equity capital is well understood, the potential fallout in the market for project finance is not. During the current global financial crisis, the form and quantum of transitional assistance to coal generators will be crucial to ensure ongoing participation of domestic and foreign project banks in the power markets. (author)

  6. Predator-induced reduction of freshwater carbon dioxide emissions

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Atwood, Trisha B.; Hammill, Edd; Greig, Hamish S.; Kratina, Pavel; Shurin, Jonathan B.; Srivastava, Diane S.; Richardson, John S.

    2013-03-01

    Predators can influence the exchange of carbon dioxide between ecosystems and the atmosphere by altering ecosystem processes such as decomposition and primary production, according to food web theory. Empirical knowledge of such an effect in freshwater systems is limited, but it has been suggested that predators in odd-numbered food chains suppress freshwater carbon dioxide emissions, and predators in even-numbered food chains enhance emissions. Here, we report experiments in three-tier food chains in experimental ponds, streams and bromeliads in Canada and Costa Rica in the presence or absence of fish (Gasterosteus aculeatus) and invertebrate (Hesperoperla pacifica and Mecistogaster modesta) predators. We monitored carbon dioxide fluxes along with prey and primary producer biomass. We found substantially reduced carbon dioxide emissions in the presence of predators in all systems, despite differences in predator type, hydrology, climatic region, ecological zone and level of in situ primary production. We also observed lower amounts of prey biomass and higher amounts of algal and detrital biomass in the presence of predators. We conclude that predators have the potential to markedly influence carbon dioxide dynamics in freshwater systems.

  7. Infrared emission from hydrogenated amorphous carbon and amorphous carbon grains in the interstellar medium

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Duley, W. W.; Jones, A. P.; Taylor, S. D.; Williams, D. A.

    1993-01-01

    The correlations deduced by Boulanger et al. (1990) from IRAS maps of the Chamaeleon, Taurus and Ursa Major molecular cloud complexes are interpreted in terms of the evolutionary hydrogenated amorphous carbon model of interstellar dust. In particular, regions of relatively strong 12-micron emission may be regions where recently accreted carbon is being converted by ambient UV to small PAHs in situ. Regions of weak 12-micron emission are probably quiescent regions where carbon has been annealed to amorphous carbon. Observational consequences of these inferences are briefly described.

  8. Carbon emissions and resources use by Chinese economy 2007: A 135-sector inventory and input-output embodiment

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Chen, G. Q.; Chen, Z. M.

    2010-11-01

    A 135-sector inventory and embodiment analysis for carbon emissions and resources use by Chinese economy 2007 is presented in this paper by an ecological input-output modeling based on the physical entry scheme. Included emissions and resources belong to six categories as: (1) greenhouse gas (GHG) in terms of CO 2, CH 4, and N 2O; (2) energy in terms of coal, crude oil, natural gas, hydropower, nuclear power, and firewood; (3) water in terms of freshwater; (4) exergy in terms of coal, crude oil, natural gas, grain, bean, tuber, cotton, peanut, rapeseed, sesame, jute, sugarcane, sugar beet, tobacco, silkworm feed, tea, fruits, vegetables, wood, bamboo, pulp, meat, egg, milk, wool, aquatic products, iron ore, copper ore, bauxite, lead ore, zinc ore, pyrite, phosphorite, gypsum, cement, nuclear fuel, and hydropower; (5) and (6) solar and cosmic emergies in terms of sunlight, wind power, deep earth heat, chemical power of rain, geopotential power of rain, chemical power of stream, geopotential power of stream, wave power, geothermal power, tide power, topsoil loss, coal, crude oil, natural gas, ferrous metal ore, non-ferrous metal ore, non-metal ore, cement, and nuclear fuel. Accounted based on the embodied intensities are carbon emissions and resources use embodied in the final use as rural consumption, urban consumption, government consumption, gross fixed capital formation, change in inventories, and export, as well as in the international trade balance. The resulted database is basic to environmental account of carbon emissions and resources use at various levels.

  9. 78 FR 16247 - Approval for Export-Only Manufacturing Authority, Foreign-Trade Zone 203, SGL Automotive Carbon...

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2013-03-14

    ... Manufacturing Authority, Foreign-Trade Zone 203, SGL Automotive Carbon Fibers, LLC, (Carbon Fiber Manufacturing... SGL Automotive Carbon Fibers, LLC, within FTZ 203-Site 3, in Moses Lake, Washington (FTZ Docket 4-2011... Carbon Fibers, LLC, as described in the application and Federal Register notice, is approved, subject to...

  10. Waste management activities and carbon emissions in Africa.

    PubMed

    Couth, R; Trois, C

    2011-01-01

    This paper summarizes research into waste management activities and carbon emissions from territories in sub-Saharan Africa with the main objective of quantifying emission reductions (ERs) that can be gained through viable improvements to waste management in Africa. It demonstrates that data on waste and carbon emissions is poor and generally inadequate for prediction models. The paper shows that the amount of waste produced and its composition are linked to national Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Waste production per person is around half that in developed countries with a mean around 230 kg/hd/yr. Sub-Saharan territories produce waste with a biogenic carbon content of around 56% (+/-25%), which is approximately 40% greater than developed countries. This waste is disposed in uncontrolled dumps that produce large amounts of methane gas. Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from waste will rise with increasing urbanization and can only be controlled through funding mechanisms from developed countries. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  11. Russian anthropogenic black carbon: Emission reconstruction and Arctic black carbon simulation

    DOE PAGES

    Huang, Kan; Fu, Joshua S.; Prikhodko, Vitaly Y.; ...

    2015-10-02

    Development of reliable source emission inventories is needed to advance the understanding of the origin of Arctic haze using chemical transport modeling. This paper develops a regional anthropogenic black carbon (BC) emission inventory for the Russian Federation, the largest country by land area in the Arctic Council. Activity data from combination of local Russia information and international resources, emission factors based on either Russian documents or adjusted values for local conditions, and other emission source data are used to approximate the BC emissions. Emissions are gridded at a resolution of 0.1° × 0.1° and developed into a monthly temporal profile.more » Total anthropogenic BC emission of Russia in 2010 is estimated to be around 224 Gg. Gas flaring, a commonly ignored black carbon source, contributes a significant fraction of 36.2% to Russia's total anthropogenic BC emissions. Other sectors, i.e., residential, transportation, industry, and power plants, contribute 25.0%, 20.3%, 13.1%, and 5.4%, respectively. Three major BC hot spot regions are identified: the European part of Russia, the southern central part of Russia where human population densities are relatively high, and the Urals Federal District where Russia's major oil and gas fields are located but with sparse human population. BC simulations are conducted using the hemispheric version of Community Multi-scale Air Quality Model with emission inputs from a global emission database EDGAR (Emissions Database for Global Atmospheric Research)-HTAPv2 (Hemispheric Transport of Air Pollution) and EDGAR-HTAPv2 with its Russian part replaced by the newly developed Russian BC emissions, respectively. The simulation using the new Russian BC emission inventory could improve 30–65% of absorption aerosol optical depth measured at the AERONET sites in Russia throughout the whole year as compared to that using the default HTAPv2 emissions. At the four ground monitoring sites (Zeppelin, Barrow, Alert

  12. Russian anthropogenic black carbon: Emission reconstruction and Arctic black carbon simulation

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Huang, Kan; Fu, Joshua S.; Prikhodko, Vitaly Y.; Storey, John M.; Romanov, Alexander; Hodson, Elke L.; Cresko, Joe; Morozova, Irina; Ignatieva, Yulia; Cabaniss, John

    2015-11-01

    Development of reliable source emission inventories is particularly needed to advance the understanding of the origin of Arctic haze using chemical transport modeling. This study develops a regional anthropogenic black carbon (BC) emission inventory for the Russian Federation, the largest country by land area in the Arctic Council. Activity data from combination of local Russia information and international resources, emission factors based on either Russian documents or adjusted values for local conditions, and other emission source data are used to approximate the BC emissions. Emissions are gridded at a resolution of 0.1° × 0.1° and developed into a monthly temporal profile. Total anthropogenic BC emission of Russia in 2010 is estimated to be around 224 Gg. Gas flaring, a commonly ignored black carbon source, contributes a significant fraction of 36.2% to Russia's total anthropogenic BC emissions. Other sectors, i.e., residential, transportation, industry, and power plants, contribute 25.0%, 20.3%, 13.1%, and 5.4%, respectively. Three major BC hot spot regions are identified: the European part of Russia, the southern central part of Russia where human population densities are relatively high, and the Urals Federal District where Russia's major oil and gas fields are located but with sparse human population. BC simulations are conducted using the hemispheric version of Community Multi-scale Air Quality Model with emission inputs from a global emission database EDGAR (Emissions Database for Global Atmospheric Research)-HTAPv2 (Hemispheric Transport of Air Pollution) and EDGAR-HTAPv2 with its Russian part replaced by the newly developed Russian BC emissions, respectively. The simulation using the new Russian BC emission inventory could improve 30-65% of absorption aerosol optical depth measured at the AERONET sites in Russia throughout the whole year as compared to that using the default HTAPv2 emissions. At the four ground monitoring sites (Zeppelin, Barrow

  13. Russian anthropogenic black carbon: Emission reconstruction and Arctic black carbon simulation

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Huang, Kan; Fu, Joshua S.; Prikhodko, Vitaly Y.

    Development of reliable source emission inventories is needed to advance the understanding of the origin of Arctic haze using chemical transport modeling. This paper develops a regional anthropogenic black carbon (BC) emission inventory for the Russian Federation, the largest country by land area in the Arctic Council. Activity data from combination of local Russia information and international resources, emission factors based on either Russian documents or adjusted values for local conditions, and other emission source data are used to approximate the BC emissions. Emissions are gridded at a resolution of 0.1° × 0.1° and developed into a monthly temporal profile.more » Total anthropogenic BC emission of Russia in 2010 is estimated to be around 224 Gg. Gas flaring, a commonly ignored black carbon source, contributes a significant fraction of 36.2% to Russia's total anthropogenic BC emissions. Other sectors, i.e., residential, transportation, industry, and power plants, contribute 25.0%, 20.3%, 13.1%, and 5.4%, respectively. Three major BC hot spot regions are identified: the European part of Russia, the southern central part of Russia where human population densities are relatively high, and the Urals Federal District where Russia's major oil and gas fields are located but with sparse human population. BC simulations are conducted using the hemispheric version of Community Multi-scale Air Quality Model with emission inputs from a global emission database EDGAR (Emissions Database for Global Atmospheric Research)-HTAPv2 (Hemispheric Transport of Air Pollution) and EDGAR-HTAPv2 with its Russian part replaced by the newly developed Russian BC emissions, respectively. The simulation using the new Russian BC emission inventory could improve 30–65% of absorption aerosol optical depth measured at the AERONET sites in Russia throughout the whole year as compared to that using the default HTAPv2 emissions. At the four ground monitoring sites (Zeppelin, Barrow, Alert

  14. Trade-Off Between Dimethyl Sulfide and Isoprene Emissions from Marine Phytoplankton.

    PubMed

    Dani, K G Srikanta; Loreto, Francesco

    2017-05-01

    Marine phytoplankton emit volatile organic compounds (VOCs) such as dimethyl sulfide (DMS) and isoprene that influence air quality, cloud dynamics, and planetary albedo. We show that globally (i) marine phytoplankton taxa tend to emit either DMS or isoprene, and (ii) sea-water surface concentration and emission hotspots of DMS and isoprene have opposite latitudinal gradients. We argue that a convergence of antioxidant functions between DMS and isoprene is possible, driven by potential metabolic competition for photosynthetic substrates. Linking phytoplankton emission traits to their latitudinal niches, we hypothesize that natural selection favors DMS emission in cold (polar) waters and isoprene emission in warm (tropical) oceans, and that global warming may expand the geographic range of marine isoprene-emitters. A trade-off between DMS and isoprene at metabolic, organismal, and geographic levels may have important consequences for future marine biosphere-atmosphere interactions. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  15. Soil carbon sequestration and biochar as negative emission technologies.

    PubMed

    Smith, Pete

    2016-03-01

    Despite 20 years of effort to curb emissions, greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions grew faster during the 2000s than in the 1990s, which presents a major challenge for meeting the international goal of limiting warming to <2 °C relative to the preindustrial era. Most recent scenarios from integrated assessment models require large-scale deployment of negative emissions technologies (NETs) to reach the 2 °C target. A recent analysis of NETs, including direct air capture, enhanced weathering, bioenergy with carbon capture and storage and afforestation/deforestation, showed that all NETs have significant limits to implementation, including economic cost, energy requirements, land use, and water use. In this paper, I assess the potential for negative emissions from soil carbon sequestration and biochar addition to land, and also the potential global impacts on land use, water, nutrients, albedo, energy and cost. Results indicate that soil carbon sequestration and biochar have useful negative emission potential (each 0.7 GtCeq. yr(-1) ) and that they potentially have lower impact on land, water use, nutrients, albedo, energy requirement and cost, so have fewer disadvantages than many NETs. Limitations of soil carbon sequestration as a NET centre around issues of sink saturation and reversibility. Biochar could be implemented in combination with bioenergy with carbon capture and storage. Current integrated assessment models do not represent soil carbon sequestration or biochar. Given the negative emission potential of SCS and biochar and their potential advantages compared to other NETs, efforts should be made to include these options within IAMs, so that their potential can be explored further in comparison with other NETs for climate stabilization. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  16. The Logistics Equipment Carbon Emission Monitoring System for a Green Logistics

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Choi, Hyungrim; Park, Byoungkwon; Lee, Byungha; Park, Yongsung; Lee, Changsup; Ha, Jeongsoo

    Recently, due to the global enforcement of obligations to reduce green house gases and various environmental regulations, low carbon green growth strategies are required. Currently, in our country, environment friendly logistics activities are staying in the early stage compared to advanced countries because of our country's large energy consumption type industrial structures. As a measure to respond to the trend of the reinforcement of international environmental regulations in the sector of logistics, active green logistics systems should be established and to solve this problem, this study is intended to develop a monitoring system that can manage the carbon emission of logistics equipment(container truck, discharging equipment etc) in real time using a new technology named IP-RFID. The monitoring system developed in this study can actively manage the carbon emission of individual logistics equipment by attaching IP-Tags that can measure the carbon emission of individual logistics equipment in real time and transmit the information obtained from the measurement directly to users through IP communication. Since carbon emission can be managed by logistics equipment and drivers can check the carbon emission of equipment through this system, the carbon emission generated in the logistics sector may be reduced by using this system.

  17. High-resolution forest carbon stocks and emissions in the Amazon

    Treesearch

    G. P. Asner; George V. N. Powell; Joseph Mascaro; David E. Knapp; John K. Clark; James Jacobson; Ty Kennedy-Bowdoin; Aravindh Balaji; Guayana Paez-Acosta; Eloy Victoria; Laura Secada; Michael Valqui; R. Flint. Hughes

    2010-01-01

    Efforts to mitigate climate change through the Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation (REDD) depend on mapping and monitoring of tropical forest carbon stocks and emissions over large geographic areas. With a new integrated use of satellite imaging, airborne light detection and ranging, and field plots, we mapped aboveground carbon stocks and emissions at...

  18. Soil carbon sequestration and forest management: challenges and opportunities

    Treesearch

    Coeli M. Hoover

    2003-01-01

    The subject of the effects of forest management activities on soil carbon is a difficult one to address, but ongoing discussions of carbon sequestration as an emissions offset and the emergence of carbon-credit-trading systems necessitate that we broaden and deepen our understanding of the response of forest-soil carbon pools to forest management. There have been...

  19. Time-resolved analysis of particle emissions from residential biomass combustion - Emissions of refractory black carbon, PAHs and organic tracers

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Nielsen, Ingeborg E.; Eriksson, Axel C.; Lindgren, Robert; Martinsson, Johan; Nyström, Robin; Nordin, Erik Z.; Sadiktsis, Ioannis; Boman, Christoffer; Nøjgaard, Jacob K.; Pagels, Joakim

    2017-09-01

    Time-resolved particle emissions from a conventional wood stove were investigated with aerosol mass spectrometry to provide links between combustion conditions, emission factors, mixing state of refractory black carbon and implications for organic tracer methods. The addition of a new batch of fuel results in low temperature pyrolysis as the fuel heats up, resulting in strong, short-lived, variable emission peaks of organic aerosol-containing markers of anhydrous sugars, such as levoglucosan (fragment at m/z 60). Flaming combustion results in emissions dominated by refractory black carbon co-emitted with minor fractions of organic aerosol and markers of anhydrous sugars. Full cycle emissions are an external mixture of larger organic aerosol-dominated and smaller thinly coated refractory black carbon particles. A very high burn rate results in increased full cycle mass emission factors of 66, 2.7, 2.8 and 1.3 for particulate polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, refractory black carbon, total organic aerosol and m/z 60, respectively, compared to nominal burn rate. Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons are primarily associated with refractory black carbon-containing particles. We hypothesize that at very high burn rates, the central parts of the combustion zone become air starved, leading to a locally reduced combustion temperature that reduces the conversion rates from polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons to refractory black carbon. This facilitates a strong increase of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons emissions. At nominal burn rates, full cycle emissions based on m/z 60 correlate well with organic aerosol, refractory black carbon and particulate matter. However, at higher burn rates, m/z 60 does not correlate with increased emissions of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, refractory black carbon and organic aerosol in the flaming phase. The new knowledge can be used to advance source apportionment studies, reduce emissions of genotoxic compounds and model the climate impacts of

  20. Including carbon emissions from deforestation in the carbon footprint of Brazilian beef.

    PubMed

    Cederberg, Christel; Persson, U Martin; Neovius, Kristian; Molander, Sverker; Clift, Roland

    2011-03-01

    Effects of land use changes are starting to be included in estimates of life-cycle greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, so-called carbon footprints (CFs), from food production. Their omission can lead to serious underestimates, particularly for meat. Here we estimate emissions from the conversion of forest to pasture in the Legal Amazon Region (LAR) of Brazil and present a model to distribute the emissions from deforestation over products and time subsequent to the land use change. Expansion of cattle ranching for beef production is a major cause of deforestation in the LAR. The carbon footprint of beef produced on newly deforested land is estimated at more than 700 kg CO(2)-equivalents per kg carcass weight if direct land use emissions are annualized over 20 years. This is orders of magnitude larger than the figure for beef production on established pasture on non-deforested land. While Brazilian beef exports have originated mainly from areas outside the LAR, i.e. from regions not subject to recent deforestation, we argue that increased production for export has been the key driver of the pasture expansion and deforestation in the LAR during the past decade and this should be reflected in the carbon footprint attributed to beef exports. We conclude that carbon footprint standards must include the more extended effects of land use changes to avoid giving misleading information to policy makers, retailers, and consumers.

  1. The effects of emission control strategies on light-absorbing carbon emissions from a modern heavy-duty diesel engine.

    PubMed

    Robinson, Michael A; Olson, Michael R; Liu, Z Gerald; Schauer, James J

    2015-06-01

    Control of atmospheric black carbon (BC) and brown carbon (BrC) has been proposed as an important pathway to climate change mitigation, but sources of BC and BrC are still not well understood. In order to better identify the role of modern heavy-duty diesel engines on the production of BC and BrC, emissions from a heavy-duty diesel engine operating with different emission control strategies were examined using a source dilution sampling system. The effect of a diesel oxidation catalyst (DOC) and diesel particulate filter (DPF) on light-absorbing carbon (LAC) was evaluated at three steady-state engine operation modes: idle, 50% speed and load, and 100% speed and load. LAC was measured with four different engine configurations: engine out, DOC out, DPF out, and engine out with an altered combustion calibration. BC and BrC emission rates were measured with the Aethalometer (AE-31). EC and BC emission rates normalized to the mass of CO₂emitted increased with increasing engine speed and load. Emission rates normalized to brake-specific work did not exhibit similar trends with speed and load, but rather the highest emission rate was measured at idle. EC and OC emissions were reduced by 99% when the DOC and DPF architecture was applied. The application of a DPF was equally effective at removing 99% of the BC fraction of PM, proving to be an important control strategy for both LAC and PM. BC emissions were unexpectedly increased across the DOC, seemingly due to a change aerosol optical properties. Removal of exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) flow due to simulated EGR cooler failure caused a large increase in OC and BrC emission rates at idle, but had limited influence during high load operation. LAC emissions proved to be sensitive to the same control strategies effective at controlling the total mass of diesel PM. In the context of black carbon emissions, very small emission rates of brown carbon were measured over a range of control technologies and engine operating

  2. Carbon-containing cathodes for enhanced electron emission

    DOEpatents

    Cao, Renyu; Pan, Lawrence; Vergara, German; Fox, Ciaran

    2000-01-01

    A cathode has electropositive atoms directly bonded to a carbon-containing substrate. Preferably, the substrate comprises diamond or diamond-like (sp.sup.3) carbon, and the electropositive atoms are Cs. The cathode displays superior efficiency and durability. In one embodiment, the cathode has a negative electron affinity (NEA). The cathode can be used for field emission, thermionic emission, or photoemission. Upon exposure to air or oxygen, the cathode performance can be restored by annealing or other methods. Applications include detectors, electron multipliers, sensors, imaging systems, and displays, particularly flat panel displays.

  3. 40 CFR 1036.720 - Trading.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-07-01

    ... 40 Protection of Environment 34 2013-07-01 2013-07-01 false Trading. 1036.720 Section 1036.720... EMISSIONS FROM NEW AND IN-USE HEAVY-DUTY HIGHWAY ENGINES Averaging, Banking, and Trading for Certification § 1036.720 Trading. (a) Trading is the exchange of emission credits between manufacturers, or the...

  4. 40 CFR 1037.720 - Trading.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-07-01

    ... 40 Protection of Environment 33 2014-07-01 2014-07-01 false Trading. 1037.720 Section 1037.720... EMISSIONS FROM NEW HEAVY-DUTY MOTOR VEHICLES Averaging, Banking, and Trading for Certification § 1037.720 Trading. (a) Trading is the exchange of emission credits between manufacturers, or the transfer of credits...

  5. 40 CFR 1037.720 - Trading.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-07-01

    ... 40 Protection of Environment 34 2013-07-01 2013-07-01 false Trading. 1037.720 Section 1037.720... EMISSIONS FROM NEW HEAVY-DUTY MOTOR VEHICLES Averaging, Banking, and Trading for Certification § 1037.720 Trading. (a) Trading is the exchange of emission credits between manufacturers, or the transfer of credits...

  6. 40 CFR 1036.720 - Trading.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-07-01

    ... 40 Protection of Environment 33 2014-07-01 2014-07-01 false Trading. 1036.720 Section 1036.720... EMISSIONS FROM NEW AND IN-USE HEAVY-DUTY HIGHWAY ENGINES Averaging, Banking, and Trading for Certification § 1036.720 Trading. (a) Trading is the exchange of emission credits between manufacturers, or the...

  7. 40 CFR 1036.720 - Trading.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-07-01

    ... 40 Protection of Environment 34 2012-07-01 2012-07-01 false Trading. 1036.720 Section 1036.720... EMISSIONS FROM NEW AND IN-USE HEAVY-DUTY HIGHWAY ENGINES Averaging, Banking, and Trading for Certification § 1036.720 Trading. (a) Trading is the exchange of emission credits between manufacturers, or the...

  8. 40 CFR 1037.720 - Trading.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-07-01

    ... 40 Protection of Environment 34 2012-07-01 2012-07-01 false Trading. 1037.720 Section 1037.720... EMISSIONS FROM NEW HEAVY-DUTY MOTOR VEHICLES Averaging, Banking, and Trading for Certification § 1037.720 Trading. (a) Trading is the exchange of emission credits between manufacturers, or the transfer of credits...

  9. The Land Use Planning Imperative: Applying Carbon Emissions Analyses

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Bray, E. N.; Havens, G.

    2007-12-01

    Reversing global warming is the defining crisis of the 21st century and must be dealt with, in part, by reinventing the built environment. Current land use and planning frameworks are not aligned with scientific models which can aid in the reversal of carbon emissions at the local and regional scale. The disjunction between land use planning and the scientific methodologies for calculating the impacts of climate change beg for a stronger union between climate change science and land use planning. Buildings account for approximately 35 percent of the U.S. carbon emissions while the transportation sector accounts for approximately 27 percent (U.S. Department of Energy, Energy Information Administration, United States Environmental Protection Agency, 2007). To adopt energy efficiency measures and hence reduce carbon dioxide emissions at a site, city, or regional scale, land use planners and climate scientists must integrate their expertise to influence policy with precision and accuracy. Land use planners have influence over the design of the built environment in municipalities and institutions such as colleges and universities. In many ways, college and university campuses are microcosms of the land use patterns established historically; they demonstrate a lack of coordinated land use planning across the entire continent that is extremely dependent on the automobile and fossil fuels. Climate models predict that the average temperature at the Earth's surface could increase from 2.5 to 10.4ºF above 1990 levels by the end of this century (United States Environmental Protection Agency, 2007). Further, it is estimated that the country will have to construct an additional 213 billion square feet of built space by the year 2030 to accommodate the increasing population. Planning and design will dictate the degree to which land use change will exacerbate trends of global warming. It commands an integration of the methodology to calculate carbon emissions with the science

  10. Reduced carbon emission estimates from fossil fuel combustion and cement production in China.

    PubMed

    Liu, Zhu; Guan, Dabo; Wei, Wei; Davis, Steven J; Ciais, Philippe; Bai, Jin; Peng, Shushi; Zhang, Qiang; Hubacek, Klaus; Marland, Gregg; Andres, Robert J; Crawford-Brown, Douglas; Lin, Jintai; Zhao, Hongyan; Hong, Chaopeng; Boden, Thomas A; Feng, Kuishuang; Peters, Glen P; Xi, Fengming; Liu, Junguo; Li, Yuan; Zhao, Yu; Zeng, Ning; He, Kebin

    2015-08-20

    Nearly three-quarters of the growth in global carbon emissions from the burning of fossil fuels and cement production between 2010 and 2012 occurred in China. Yet estimates of Chinese emissions remain subject to large uncertainty; inventories of China's total fossil fuel carbon emissions in 2008 differ by 0.3 gigatonnes of carbon, or 15 per cent. The primary sources of this uncertainty are conflicting estimates of energy consumption and emission factors, the latter being uncertain because of very few actual measurements representative of the mix of Chinese fuels. Here we re-evaluate China's carbon emissions using updated and harmonized energy consumption and clinker production data and two new and comprehensive sets of measured emission factors for Chinese coal. We find that total energy consumption in China was 10 per cent higher in 2000-2012 than the value reported by China's national statistics, that emission factors for Chinese coal are on average 40 per cent lower than the default values recommended by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, and that emissions from China's cement production are 45 per cent less than recent estimates. Altogether, our revised estimate of China's CO2 emissions from fossil fuel combustion and cement production is 2.49 gigatonnes of carbon (2 standard deviations = ±7.3 per cent) in 2013, which is 14 per cent lower than the emissions reported by other prominent inventories. Over the full period 2000 to 2013, our revised estimates are 2.9 gigatonnes of carbon less than previous estimates of China's cumulative carbon emissions. Our findings suggest that overestimation of China's emissions in 2000-2013 may be larger than China's estimated total forest sink in 1990-2007 (2.66 gigatonnes of carbon) or China's land carbon sink in 2000-2009 (2.6 gigatonnes of carbon).

  11. Reduced carbon emission estimates from fossil fuel combustion and cement production in China

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Liu, Zhu; Guan, Dabo; Wei, Wei; Davis, Steven J.; Ciais, Philippe; Bai, Jin; Peng, Shushi; Zhang, Qiang; Hubacek, Klaus; Marland, Gregg; Andres, Robert J.; Crawford-Brown, Douglas; Lin, Jintai; Zhao, Hongyan; Hong, Chaopeng; Boden, Thomas A.; Feng, Kuishuang; Peters, Glen P.; Xi, Fengming; Liu, Junguo; Li, Yuan; Zhao, Yu; Zeng, Ning; He, Kebin

    2015-08-01

    Nearly three-quarters of the growth in global carbon emissions from the burning of fossil fuels and cement production between 2010 and 2012 occurred in China. Yet estimates of Chinese emissions remain subject to large uncertainty; inventories of China's total fossil fuel carbon emissions in 2008 differ by 0.3 gigatonnes of carbon, or 15 per cent. The primary sources of this uncertainty are conflicting estimates of energy consumption and emission factors, the latter being uncertain because of very few actual measurements representative of the mix of Chinese fuels. Here we re-evaluate China's carbon emissions using updated and harmonized energy consumption and clinker production data and two new and comprehensive sets of measured emission factors for Chinese coal. We find that total energy consumption in China was 10 per cent higher in 2000-2012 than the value reported by China's national statistics, that emission factors for Chinese coal are on average 40 per cent lower than the default values recommended by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, and that emissions from China's cement production are 45 per cent less than recent estimates. Altogether, our revised estimate of China's CO2 emissions from fossil fuel combustion and cement production is 2.49 gigatonnes of carbon (2 standard deviations = +/-7.3 per cent) in 2013, which is 14 per cent lower than the emissions reported by other prominent inventories. Over the full period 2000 to 2013, our revised estimates are 2.9 gigatonnes of carbon less than previous estimates of China's cumulative carbon emissions. Our findings suggest that overestimation of China's emissions in 2000-2013 may be larger than China's estimated total forest sink in 1990-2007 (2.66 gigatonnes of carbon) or China's land carbon sink in 2000-2009 (2.6 gigatonnes of carbon).

  12. Allowable carbon emissions lowered by multiple climate targets.

    PubMed

    Steinacher, Marco; Joos, Fortunat; Stocker, Thomas F

    2013-07-11

    Climate targets are designed to inform policies that would limit the magnitude and impacts of climate change caused by anthropogenic emissions of greenhouse gases and other substances. The target that is currently recognized by most world governments places a limit of two degrees Celsius on the global mean warming since preindustrial times. This would require large sustained reductions in carbon dioxide emissions during the twenty-first century and beyond. Such a global temperature target, however, is not sufficient to control many other quantities, such as transient sea level rise, ocean acidification and net primary production on land. Here, using an Earth system model of intermediate complexity (EMIC) in an observation-informed Bayesian approach, we show that allowable carbon emissions are substantially reduced when multiple climate targets are set. We take into account uncertainties in physical and carbon cycle model parameters, radiative efficiencies, climate sensitivity and carbon cycle feedbacks along with a large set of observational constraints. Within this framework, we explore a broad range of economically feasible greenhouse gas scenarios from the integrated assessment community to determine the likelihood of meeting a combination of specific global and regional targets under various assumptions. For any given likelihood of meeting a set of such targets, the allowable cumulative emissions are greatly reduced from those inferred from the temperature target alone. Therefore, temperature targets alone are unable to comprehensively limit the risks from anthropogenic emissions.

  13. Accounting for Carbon Dioxide Emissions from Biomass Energy Combustion (released in AEO2010)

    EIA Publications

    2010-01-01

    Carbon Dioxide (CO2) emissions from the combustion of biomass to produce energy are excluded from the energy-related CO2 emissions reported in Annual Energy Outlook 2010. According to current international convention, carbon released through biomass combustion is excluded from reported energy-related emissions. The release of carbon from biomass combustion is assumed to be balanced by the uptake of carbon when the feedstock is grown, resulting in zero net emissions over some period of time]. However, analysts have debated whether increased use of biomass energy may result in a decline in terrestrial carbon stocks, leading to a net positive release of carbon rather than the zero net release assumed by its exclusion from reported energy-related emissions.

  14. Carbon emissions from deforestation and forest fragmentation in the Brazilian Amazon

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Numata, Izaya; Cochrane, Mark A.; Souza, Carlos M., Jr.; Sales, Marcio H.

    2011-10-01

    Forest-fragmentation-related edge effects are one of the major causes of forest degradation in Amazonia and their spatio-temporal dynamics are highly influenced by annual deforestation patterns. Rapid biomass collapse due to edge effects in forest fragments has been reported in the Brazilian Amazon; however the collective impacts of this process on Amazonian carbon fluxes are poorly understood. We estimated biomass loss and carbon emissions from deforestation and forest fragmentation related to edge effects on the basis of the INPE (Brazilian National Space Research Institute) PRODES deforestation data and forest biomass volume data. The areas and ages of edge forests were calculated annually and the corresponding biomass loss and carbon emissions from these forest edges were estimated using published rates of biomass decay and decomposition corresponding to the areas and ages of edge forests. Our analysis estimated carbon fluxes from deforestation (4195 Tg C) and edge forest (126-221 Tg C) for 2001-10 in the Brazilian Amazon. The impacts of varying rates of deforestation on regional forest fragmentation and carbon fluxes were also investigated, with the focus on two periods: 2001-5 (high deforestation rates) and 2006-10 (low deforestation rates). Edge-released carbon accounted for 2.6-4.5% of deforestation-related carbon emissions. However, the relative importance of carbon emissions from forest fragmentation increased from 1.7-3.0% to 3.3-5.6% of the respective deforestation emissions between the two contrasting deforestation rates. Edge-related carbon fluxes are of increasing importance for basin-wide carbon accounting, especially as regards ongoing reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD) efforts in Brazilian Amazonia.

  15. Cumulative carbon emissions, emissions floors and short-term rates of warming: implications for policy.

    PubMed

    Bowerman, Niel H A; Frame, David J; Huntingford, Chris; Lowe, Jason A; Allen, Myles R

    2011-01-13

    A number of recent studies have found a strong link between peak human-induced global warming and cumulative carbon emissions from the start of the industrial revolution, while the link to emissions over shorter periods or in the years 2020 or 2050 is generally weaker. However, cumulative targets appear to conflict with the concept of a 'floor' in emissions caused by sectors such as food production. Here, we show that the introduction of emissions floors does not reduce the importance of cumulative emissions, but may make some warming targets unachievable. For pathways that give a most likely warming up to about 4°C, cumulative emissions from pre-industrial times to year 2200 correlate strongly with most likely resultant peak warming regardless of the shape of emissions floors used, providing a more natural long-term policy horizon than 2050 or 2100. The maximum rate of CO(2)-induced warming, which will affect the feasibility and cost of adapting to climate change, is not determined by cumulative emissions but is tightly aligned with peak rates of emissions. Hence, cumulative carbon emissions to 2200 and peak emission rates could provide a clear and simple framework for CO(2) mitigation policy.

  16. [Carbon emissions and low-carbon regulation countermeasures of land use change in the city and town concentrated area of central Liaoning Province, China].

    PubMed

    Xi, Feng-ming; Liang, Wen-juan; Niu, Ming-fen; Wang, Jiao-yue

    2016-02-01

    Carbon emissions due to land use change have an important impact on global climate change. Adjustment of regional land use patterns has a great scientific significance to adaptation to a changing climate. Based on carbon emission/absorption parameters suitable for Liaoning Province, this paper estimated the carbon emission of land use change in the city and town concentrated area of central Liaoning Province. The results showed that the carbon emission and absorption were separately 308.51 Tg C and 11.64 Tg C from 1997 to 2010. It meant 3.8% of carbon emission. was offset by carbon absorption. Among the 296.87 Tg C net carbon emission of land use change, carbon emission of remaining land use type was 182.24 Tg C, accounting for 61.4% of the net carbon emission, while the carbon emission of land use transformation was 114.63 Tg C, occupying the rest 38.6% of net carbon emission. Through quantifying the mapping relationship between land use change and carbon emission, it was shown that during 1997-2004 the contributions of remaining construction land (40.9%) and cropland transform ation to construction land (40.6%) to carbon emission were larger, but the greater contributions to carbon absorption came from cropland transformation to forest land (38.6%) and remaining forest land (37.5%). During 2004-2010, the land use types for carbon emission and absorption were the same to the period of 1997-2004, but the contribution of remaining construction land to carbon emission increased to 80.6%, and the contribution of remaining forest land to carbon absorption increased to 71.7%. Based on the carbon emission intensity in different land use types, we put forward the low-carbon regulation countermeasures of land use in two aspects. In carbon emission reduction, we should strict control land transformation to construction land, increase the energy efficiency of construction land, and avoid excessive development of forest land and water. In carbon sink increase, we should

  17. Nonzero-Sum Relationships in Mitigating Urban Carbon Emissions: A Dynamic Network Simulation.

    PubMed

    Chen, Shaoqing; Chen, Bin; Su, Meirong

    2015-10-06

    The "stove-pipe" way of thinking has been mostly used in mitigating carbon emissions and managing socioeconomics because of its convenience of implementation. However, systems-oriented approaches become imperative in pursuit of an efficient regulation of carbon emissions from systems as complicated as urban systems. The aim of this paper is to establish a dynamic network approach that is capable of assessing the effectiveness of carbon emissions mitigation in a more holistic way. A carbon metabolic network is constructed by modeling the carbon flows between economic sectors and environment. With the network shocked by interventions to the sectoral carbon flows, indirect emissions from the city are accounted for under certain carbon mitigation strategies. The nonzero-sum relationships between sectors and environmental components are identified based on utility analysis, which synthesize the nature of direct and indirect network interactions. The results of the case study of Beijing suggest that the stove-pipe mitigation strategies targeted the economic sectors might be not as efficient as they were expected. A direct cutting in material or energy import to the sectors may result in a rebound in indirect emissions and thus fails to achieve the carbon mitigation goal of the city as a whole. A promising way of foreseeing the dynamic mechanism of emissions is to analyze the nonzero-sum relationships between important urban components. Thinking cities as systems of interactions, the network approach is potentially a strong tool for appraising and filtering mitigation strategies of carbon emissions.

  18. Carbon uptake by mature Amazon forests has mitigated Amazon nations' carbon emissions.

    PubMed

    Phillips, Oliver L; Brienen, Roel J W

    2017-12-01

    Several independent lines of evidence suggest that Amazon forests have provided a significant carbon sink service, and also that the Amazon carbon sink in intact, mature forests may now be threatened as a result of different processes. There has however been no work done to quantify non-land-use-change forest carbon fluxes on a national basis within Amazonia, or to place these national fluxes and their possible changes in the context of the major anthropogenic carbon fluxes in the region. Here we present a first attempt to interpret results from ground-based monitoring of mature forest carbon fluxes in a biogeographically, politically, and temporally differentiated way. Specifically, using results from a large long-term network of forest plots, we estimate the Amazon biomass carbon balance over the last three decades for the different regions and nine nations of Amazonia, and evaluate the magnitude and trajectory of these differentiated balances in relation to major national anthropogenic carbon emissions. The sink of carbon into mature forests has been remarkably geographically ubiquitous across Amazonia, being substantial and persistent in each of the five biogeographic regions within Amazonia. Between 1980 and 2010, it has more than mitigated the fossil fuel emissions of every single national economy, except that of Venezuela. For most nations (Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guyana, Peru, Suriname) the sink has probably additionally mitigated all anthropogenic carbon emissions due to Amazon deforestation and other land use change. While the sink has weakened in some regions since 2000, our analysis suggests that Amazon nations which are able to conserve large areas of natural and semi-natural landscape still contribute globally-significant carbon sequestration. Mature forests across all of Amazonia have contributed significantly to mitigating climate change for decades. Yet Amazon nations have not directly benefited from providing this global scale

  19. Incorrect interpretation of carbon mass balance biases global vegetation fire emission estimates

    PubMed Central

    Surawski, N. C.; Sullivan, A. L.; Roxburgh, S. H.; Meyer, C.P. Mick; Polglase, P. J.

    2016-01-01

    Vegetation fires are a complex phenomenon in the Earth system with many global impacts, including influences on global climate. Estimating carbon emissions from vegetation fires relies on a carbon mass balance technique that has evolved with two different interpretations. Databases of global vegetation fire emissions use an approach based on ‘consumed biomass', which is an approximation to the biogeochemically correct ‘burnt carbon' approach. Here we show that applying the ‘consumed biomass' approach to global emissions from vegetation fires leads to annual overestimates of carbon emitted to the atmosphere by 4.0% or 100 Tg compared with the ‘burnt carbon' approach. The required correction is significant and represents ∼9% of the net global forest carbon sink estimated annually. Vegetation fire emission studies should use the ‘burnt carbon' approach to quantify and understand the role of this burnt carbon, which is not emitted to the atmosphere, as a sink enriched in carbon. PMID:27146785

  20. Incorrect interpretation of carbon mass balance biases global vegetation fire emission estimates.

    PubMed

    Surawski, N C; Sullivan, A L; Roxburgh, S H; Meyer, C P Mick; Polglase, P J

    2016-05-05

    Vegetation fires are a complex phenomenon in the Earth system with many global impacts, including influences on global climate. Estimating carbon emissions from vegetation fires relies on a carbon mass balance technique that has evolved with two different interpretations. Databases of global vegetation fire emissions use an approach based on 'consumed biomass', which is an approximation to the biogeochemically correct 'burnt carbon' approach. Here we show that applying the 'consumed biomass' approach to global emissions from vegetation fires leads to annual overestimates of carbon emitted to the atmosphere by 4.0% or 100 Tg compared with the 'burnt carbon' approach. The required correction is significant and represents ∼9% of the net global forest carbon sink estimated annually. Vegetation fire emission studies should use the 'burnt carbon' approach to quantify and understand the role of this burnt carbon, which is not emitted to the atmosphere, as a sink enriched in carbon.

  1. Research on the Direct Carbon Emission Forecast of CHINA'S Provincial Residents Based on Neural Network

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Zhang, T.; Zhou, B.; Zhou, S.; Yan, W.

    2018-04-01

    Global climate change, which mainly effected by human carbon emissions, would affect the regional economic, natural ecological environment, social development and food security in the near future. It's particularly important to make accurate predictions of carbon emissions based on current carbon emissions. This paper accounted out the direct consumption of carbon emissions data from 1995 to 2014 about 30 provinces (the data of Tibet, Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan is missing) and the whole of China. And it selected the optimal models from BP, RBF and Elman neural network for direct carbon emission prediction, what aim was to select the optimal prediction method and explore the possibility of reaching the peak of residents direct carbon emissions of China in 2030. Research shows that: 1) Residents' direct carbon emissions per capita of all provinces showed an upward trend in 20 years. 2) The accuracy of the prediction results by Elman neural network model is higher than others and more suitable for carbon emission data projections. 3) With the situation of residents' direct carbon emissions free development, the direct carbon emissions will show a fast to slow upward trend in the next few years and began to flatten after 2020, and the direct carbon emissions of per capita will reach the peak in 2032. This is also confirmed that China is expected to reach its peak in carbon emissions by 2030 in theory.

  2. The 11 Micron Emissions of Carbon Stars

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Goebel, J. H.; Cheeseman, P.; Gerbault, F.

    1995-01-01

    A new classification scheme of the IRAS LRS carbon stars is presented. It comprises the separation of 718 probable carbon stars into 12 distinct self-similar spectral groupings. Continuum temperatures are assigned and range from 470 to 5000 K. Three distinct dust species are identifiable: SiC, alpha:C-H, and MgS. In addition to the narrow 11 + micron emission feature that is commonly attributed to SiC, a broad 11 + micron emission feature, that is correlated with the 8.5 and 7.7 micron features, is found and attributed to alpha:C-H. SiC and alpha:C-H band strengths are found to correlate with the temperature progression among the Classes. We find a spectral sequence of Classes that reflects the carbon star evolutionary sequence of spectral types, or alternatively developmental sequences of grain condensation in carbon-rich circumstellar shells. If decreasing temperature corresponds to increasing evolution, then decreasing temperature corresponds to increasing C/O resulting in increasing amounts of carbon rich dust, namely alpha:C-H. If decreasing the temperature corresponds to a grain condensation sequence, then heterogeneous, or induced nucleation scenarios are supported. SiC grains precede alpha:C-H and form the nuclei for the condensation of the latter material. At still lower temperatures, MgS appears to be quite prevalent. No 11.3 micron PAH features are identified in any of the 718 carbon stars. However, one of the coldest objects, IRAS 15048-5702, and a few others, displays an 11.9 micron emission feature characteristic of laboratory samples of coronene. That feature corresponds to the C-H out of plane deformation mode of aromatic hydrocarbon. This band indicates the presence of unsaturated, sp(sup 3), hydrocarbon bonds that may subsequently evolve into saturated bonds, sp(sup 2), if, and when, the star enters the planetary nebulae phase of stellar evolution. The effusion of hydrogen from the hydrocarbon grain results in the evolution in wavelength of this

  3. Economic growth and carbon emission control

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Zhang, Zhenyu

    The question about whether environmental improvement is compatible with continued economic growth remains unclear and requires further study in a specific context. This study intends to provide insight on the potential for carbon emissions control in the absence of international agreement, and connect the empirical analysis with theoretical framework. The Chinese electricity generation sector is used as a case study to demonstrate the problem. Both social planner and private problems are examined to derive the conditions that define the optimal level of production and pollution. The private problem will be demonstrated under the emission regulation using an emission tax, an input tax and an abatement subsidy respectively. The social optimal emission flow is imposed into the private problem. To provide tractable analytical results, a Cobb-Douglas type production function is used to describe the joint production process of the desired output and undesired output (i.e., electricity and emissions). A modified Hamiltonian approach is employed to solve the system and the steady state solutions are examined for policy implications. The theoretical analysis suggests that the ratio of emissions to desired output (refer to 'emission factor'), is a function of productive capital and other parameters. The finding of non-constant emission factor shows that reducing emissions without further cutting back the production of desired outputs is feasible under some circumstances. Rather than an ad hoc specification, the optimal conditions derived from our theoretical framework are used to examine the relationship between desired output and emission level. Data comes from the China Statistical Yearbook and China Electric Power Yearbook and provincial information of electricity generation for the year of 1993-2003 are used to estimate the Cobb-Douglas type joint production by the full information maximum likelihood (FIML) method. The empirical analysis shed light on the optimal

  4. Inventories and reduction scenarios of urban waste-related greenhouse gas emissions for management potential.

    PubMed

    Yang, Dewei; Xu, Lingxing; Gao, Xueli; Guo, Qinghai; Huang, Ning

    2018-06-01

    Waste-related greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions have been recognized as one of the prominent contributors to global warming. Current urban waste regulations, however, face increasing challenges from stakeholders' trade-offs and hierarchic management. A combined method, i.e., life cycle inventories and scenario analysis, was employed to investigate waste-related GHG emissions during 1995-2015 and to project future scenarios of waste-driven carbon emissions by 2050 in a pilot low carbon city, Xiamen, China. The process-based carbon analysis of waste generation (prevention and separation), transportation (collection and transfer) and disposal (treatment and recycling) shows that the main contributors of carbon emissions are associated with waste disposal processes, solid waste, the municipal sector and Xiamen Mainland. Significant spatial differences of waste-related CO 2e emissions were observed between Xiamen Island and Xiamen Mainland using the carbon intensity and density indexes. An uptrend of waste-related CO 2e emissions from 2015 to 2050 is identified in the business as usual, waste disposal optimization, waste reduction and the integrated scenario, with mean annual growth rates of 8.86%, 8.42%, 6.90% and 6.61%, respectively. The scenario and sensitivity analysis imply that effective waste-related carbon reduction requires trade-offs among alternative strategies, actions and stakeholders in a feasible plan, and emphasize a priority of waste prevention and collection in Xiamen. Our results could benefit to the future modeling of urban multiple wastes and life-cycle carbon control in similar cities within and beyond China. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  5. The IR emission features - Emission from PAH molecules and amorphous carbon particles

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Allamandola, L. J.; Tielens, A. G. G. M.; Barker, J. R.

    1987-01-01

    Techniques for the assessment of the importance of the various forms of PAHs, and recent infrared observations concerning the PAH problem, are considered. Spectroscopic data suggest that the observed interstellar spectrum is due to both free molecule-sized PAHs producing the narrow features, and amorphous carbon particles contributing to the broad underlying components. Explanations for the multicomponent emission spectrum are discussed. A model of the emission mechanism for the example of chrysene is presented, and an exact treatment of the IR fluorescence from highly vibrationally excited large molecules shows that species containing 20-30 carbon atoms are responsible for the narrow features, although the spectra more closely resemble those of amorphous carbon particles. It is suggested that future emphasis should be placed on the spatial characteristics of the component spectra.

  6. A Preliminary Study of the Carbon Emissions Reduction Effects of Land Use Control.

    PubMed

    Chuai, Xiaowei; Huang, Xianjin; Qi, Xinxian; Li, Jiasheng; Zuo, Tianhui; Lu, Qinli; Li, Jianbao; Wu, Changyan; Zhao, Rongqin

    2016-11-15

    Land use change not only directly influences carbon storage in terrestrial ecosystems but can also cause energy-related carbon emissions. This study examined spatiotemporal land use change across Jiangsu Province, China; calculated vegetation carbon storage loss caused by land use change and energy-related carbon emissions; analysed the relationship among land use change, carbon emissions and social-economic development; and optimized land use structure to maximize carbon storage. Our study found that 13.61% of the province's land area underwent a change in type of land use between 1995 and 2010, mainly presented as built-up land expansion and cropland shrinkage, especially in southern Jiangsu. Land use change caused a 353.99 × 10 4 t loss of vegetation carbon storage loss. Energy-related carbon emissions increased 2.5 times from 1995 to 2013; the energy consumption structure has been improved to some extent while still relying on coal. The selected social-economic driving forces have strong relationships with carbon emissions and land use changes, while there are also other determinants driving land use change, such as land use policy. The optimized land use structure will slow the rate of decline in vegetation carbon storage compared with the period between 1995 and 2010 and will also reduce energy-related carbon emissions by 12%.

  7. Measuring Urban Carbon Footprint from Carbon Flows in the Global Supply Chain.

    PubMed

    Hu, Yuanchao; Lin, Jianyi; Cui, Shenghui; Khanna, Nina Zheng

    2016-06-21

    A global multiregional input-output (MRIO) model was built for eight Chinese cities to track their carbon flows. For in-depth understanding of urban carbon footprint from the perspectives of production, consumption, and trade balance, four kinds of footprints and four redefined measurement indicators were calculated. From the global supply chain, urban carbon inflows from Mainland China were larger than outflows, while the carbon outflows to European, principal North American countries and East Asia were much larger than inflows. With the rapid urbanization of China, Construction was the largest consumer and Utilities was the largest producer. Cities with higher consumption (such as Dalian, Tianjin, Shanghai, and Beijing) should change their consumption patterns, while cities with lower production efficiency (such as Dalian, Shanghai, Ningbo, and Chongqing) should improve their technology. The cities of net carbon consumption tended to transfer carbon emissions out of them by trading in carbon-intensive products, while the cities of net carbon production tended to produce carbon-intensive products for nonlocal consumers. Our results indicated that urban carbon abatement requires not only rational consumption and industrial symbiosis at the city level, but also tighter collaboration along all stages of the global supply chain.

  8. Provincial variation of carbon emissions from bituminous coal: Influence of inertinite and other factors

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Quick, J.C.; Brill, T.

    2002-01-01

    We observe a 1.3 kg C/net GJ variation of carbon emissions due to inertinite abundance in some commercially available bituminous coal. An additional 0.9 kg C/net GJ variation of carbon emissions is expected due to the extent of coalification through the bituminous rank stages. Each percentage of sulfur in bituminous coal reduces carbon emissions by about 0.08 kg C/net GJ. Other factors, such as mineral content, liptinite abundance and individual macerals, also influence carbon emissions, but their quantitative effect is less certain. The large range of carbon emissions within the bituminous rank class suggests that rank- specific carbon emission factors are provincial rather than global. Although carbon emission factors that better account for this provincial variation might be calculated, we show that the data used for this calculation may vary according to the methods used to sample and analyze coal. Provincial variation of carbon emissions and the use of different coal sampling and analytical methods complicate the verification of national greenhouse gas inventories. Published by Elsevier Science B.V.

  9. Taking a bite out of Scotland's dental carbon emissions in the transition to a low carbon future.

    PubMed

    Duane, B; Hyland, J; Rowan, J S; Archibald, B

    2012-09-01

    Climate change is a significant global health threat requiring concerted action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. This study provides the first systematic attempt to quantify the carbon emissions of a national dental service. Carbon accounting combined a top-down approach using input-output analysis for indirect emissions (procurement) and a process analysis (bottom-up) approach for direct emissions (building energy, travel, waste and water). Energy and water consumption were based on meter readings, waste-related emissions from collection contracts and travel from staff and patient questionnaires. Dental companies were approached for carbon footprint data on their products. The carbon footprint for the service was 1798.9 tonnes CO(2)eq per annum. Travel was the greatest source (45.1%) followed by procurement (35.9%) and building energy (18.3%). Perhaps counter-intuitively older clinics had lower footprints than newer clinics as they are less energy intensive. Extrapolating the data suggests that Scotland's NHS dental service annually generates 0.16 mega tonne (Mt)CO(2)eq (4%) of the total Scottish NHS carbon footprint. The lack of comprehensive data reduces the ability to effectively manage emissions. Consideration needs to be given to the impact of patient travel, staff travel and new clinic construction on the carbon footprint. Medical suppliers are encouraged to provide life cycle analysis (LCA) for dental products. Crown Copyright © 2012. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  10. Russia's black carbon emissions: focus on diesel sources

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Kholod, Nazar; Evans, Meredydd; Kuklinski, Teresa

    2016-09-01

    Black carbon (BC) is a significant climate forcer with a particularly pronounced forcing effect in polar regions such as the Russian Arctic. Diesel combustion is a major global source of BC emissions, accounting for 25-30 % of all BC emissions. While the demand for diesel is growing in Russia, the country's diesel emissions are poorly understood. This paper presents a detailed inventory of Russian BC emissions from diesel sources. Drawing on a complete Russian vehicle registry with detailed information about vehicle types and emission standards, this paper analyzes BC emissions from diesel on-road vehicles. We use the COPERT emission model (COmputer Programme to calculate Emissions from Road Transport) with Russia-specific emission factors for all types of on-road vehicles. On-road diesel vehicles emitted 21 Gg of BC in 2014: heavy-duty trucks account for 60 % of the on-road BC emissions, while cars represent only 5 % (light commercial vehicles and buses account for the remainder). Using Russian activity data and fuel-based emission factors, the paper also presents BC emissions from diesel locomotives and ships, off-road engines in industry, construction and agriculture, and generators. The study also factors in the role of superemitters in BC emissions from diesel on-road vehicles and off-road sources. The total emissions from diesel sources in Russia are estimated to be 49 Gg of BC and 17 Gg of organic carbon (OC) in 2014. Off-road diesel sources emitted 58 % of all diesel BC in Russia.

  11. Can reducing black carbon emissions counteract global warming?

    PubMed

    Bond, Tami C; Sun, Haolin

    2005-08-15

    Field measurements and model results have recently shown that aerosols may have important climatic impacts. One line of inquiry has investigated whether reducing climate-warming soot or black carbon aerosol emissions can form a viable component of mitigating global warming. We review and acknowledge scientific arguments against considering aerosols and greenhouse gases in a common framework, including the differences in the physical mechanisms of climate change and relevant time scales. We argue that such a joint consideration is consistent with the language of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. We synthesize results from published climate-modeling studies to obtain a global warming potential for black carbon relative to that of CO2 (680 on a 100 year basis). This calculation enables a discussion of cost-effectiveness for mitigating the largest sources of black carbon. We find that many emission reductions are either expensive or difficult to enact when compared with greenhouse gases, particularly in Annex I countries. Finally, we propose a role for black carbon in climate mitigation strategies that is consistent with the apparently conflicting arguments raised during our discussion. Addressing these emissions is a promising way to reduce climatic interference primarily for nations that have not yet agreed to address greenhouse gas emissions and provides the potential for a parallel climate agreement.

  12. Reduced carbon emission estimates from fossil fuel combustion and cement production in China

    DOE PAGES

    Liu, Z.; Guan, D.; Wei, W.; ...

    2015-08-19

    Nearly three-quarters of the growth in global carbon emissions from the burning of fossil fuels and cement production between 2010 and 2012 occurred in China. Yet estimates of Chinese emissions remain subject to large uncertainty; inventories of China’s total fossil fuel carbon emissions in 2008 differ by 0.3 gigatonnes of carbon, or 15 per cent. The primary sources of this uncertainty are conflicting estimates of energy consumption and emission factors, the latter being uncertain because of very few actual measurements representative of the mix of Chinese fuels. Here we re-evaluate China’s carbon emissions using updated and harmonized energy consumption andmore » clinker production data and two new and comprehensive sets of measured emission factors for Chinese coal. We find that total energy consumption in China was 10 per cent higher in 2000–2012 than the value reported by China’s national statistics, that emission factors for Chinese coal are on average 40 per cent lower than the default values recommended by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, and that emissions from China’s cement production are 45 per cent less than recent estimates. Altogether, our revised estimate of China’s CO 2 emissions from fossil fuel combustion and cement production is 2.49 gigatonnes of carbon (2 standard deviations = ±7.3 per cent) in 2013, which is 14 per cent lower than the emissions reported by other prominent inventories. Over the full period 2000 to 2013, our revised estimates are 2.9 gigatonnes of carbon less than previous estimates of China’s cumulative carbon emissions. Our findings suggest that overestimation of China’s emissions in 2000–2013 may be larger than China’s estimated total forest sink in 1990–2007 (2.66 gigatonnes of carbon) or China’s land carbon sink in 2000–2009 (2.6 gigatonnes of carbon).« less

  13. Reduced carbon emission estimates from fossil fuel combustion and cement production in China

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Liu, Z.; Guan, D.; Wei, W.

    Nearly three-quarters of the growth in global carbon emissions from the burning of fossil fuels and cement production between 2010 and 2012 occurred in China. Yet estimates of Chinese emissions remain subject to large uncertainty; inventories of China’s total fossil fuel carbon emissions in 2008 differ by 0.3 gigatonnes of carbon, or 15 per cent. The primary sources of this uncertainty are conflicting estimates of energy consumption and emission factors, the latter being uncertain because of very few actual measurements representative of the mix of Chinese fuels. Here we re-evaluate China’s carbon emissions using updated and harmonized energy consumption andmore » clinker production data and two new and comprehensive sets of measured emission factors for Chinese coal. We find that total energy consumption in China was 10 per cent higher in 2000–2012 than the value reported by China’s national statistics, that emission factors for Chinese coal are on average 40 per cent lower than the default values recommended by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, and that emissions from China’s cement production are 45 per cent less than recent estimates. Altogether, our revised estimate of China’s CO 2 emissions from fossil fuel combustion and cement production is 2.49 gigatonnes of carbon (2 standard deviations = ±7.3 per cent) in 2013, which is 14 per cent lower than the emissions reported by other prominent inventories. Over the full period 2000 to 2013, our revised estimates are 2.9 gigatonnes of carbon less than previous estimates of China’s cumulative carbon emissions. Our findings suggest that overestimation of China’s emissions in 2000–2013 may be larger than China’s estimated total forest sink in 1990–2007 (2.66 gigatonnes of carbon) or China’s land carbon sink in 2000–2009 (2.6 gigatonnes of carbon).« less

  14. The supply chain of CO2 emissions

    PubMed Central

    Davis, Steven J.; Peters, Glen P.; Caldeira, Ken

    2011-01-01

    CO2 emissions from the burning of fossil fuels are conventionally attributed to the country where the emissions are produced (i.e., where the fuels are burned). However, these production-based accounts represent a single point in the value chain of fossil fuels, which may have been extracted elsewhere and may be used to provide goods or services to consumers elsewhere. We present a consistent set of carbon inventories that spans the full supply chain of global CO2 emissions, finding that 10.2 billion tons CO2 or 37% of global emissions are from fossil fuels traded internationally and an additional 6.4 billion tons CO2 or 23% of global emissions are embodied in traded goods. Our results reveal vulnerabilities and benefits related to current patterns of energy use that are relevant to climate and energy policy. In particular, if a consistent and unavoidable price were imposed on CO2 emissions somewhere along the supply chain, then all of the parties along the supply chain would seek to impose that price to generate revenue from taxes collected or permits sold. The geographical concentration of carbon-based fuels and relatively small number of parties involved in extracting and refining those fuels suggest that regulation at the wellhead, mine mouth, or refinery might minimize transaction costs as well as opportunities for leakage. PMID:22006314

  15. Indicators of carbon storage in U.S. ecosystems: baseline for terrestrial carbon accounting.

    PubMed

    Negra, Christine; Sweedo, Caroline Cremer; Cavender-Bares, Kent; O'Malley, Robin

    2008-01-01

    Policymakers, program managers, and landowners need information about net terrestrial carbon sequestration in forests, croplands, grasslands, and shrublands to understand the cumulative effects of carbon trading programs, expanding biofuels production, and changing environmental conditions in addition to agricultural and forestry uses. Objective information systems that establish credible baselines and track changes in carbon storage can provide the accountability needed for carbon trading programs to achieve durable carbon sequestration and for biofuels initiatives to reduce net greenhouse gas emissions. A multi-sector stakeholder design process was used to produce a new indicator for the 2008 State of the Nation's Ecosystems report that presents metrics of carbon storage for major ecosystem types, specifically change in the amount of carbon gained or lost over time and the amount of carbon stored per unit area (carbon density). These metrics have been developed for national scale use, but are suitable for adaptation to multiple scales such as individual farm and forest parcels, carbon offset markets and integrated national and international assessments. To acquire the data necessary for a complete understanding of how much, and where, carbon is gained or lost by U.S. ecosystems, expansion and integration of monitoring programs will be required.

  16. Carbon emissions from U.S. ethylene production under climate change policies.

    PubMed

    Ruth, Matthias; Amato, Anthony D; Davidsdottir, Brynhildur

    2002-01-15

    This paper presents the results from a dynamic computer model of U.S. ethylene production, designed to explore implications of alternative climate change policies for the industry's energy use and carbon emissions profiles. The model applies to the aggregate ethylene industry but distinguishes its main cracker types, fuels used as feedstocks and for process energy, as well as the industry's capital vintage structure and vintage-specific efficiencies. Results indicate that policies which increase the cost of carbon of process energy-such as carbon taxes or carbon permit systems-are relatively blunt instruments for cutting carbon emissions from ethylene production. In contrast, policies directly affecting the relative efficiencies of new to old capital-such as R&D stimuli or accelerated depreciation schedules-may be more effective in leveraging the industry's potential for carbon emissions reductions.

  17. Anthropogenic emissions of carbon monoxide.

    PubMed

    Horner, J M

    2000-01-01

    Carbon monoxide (CO) is a colorless, nonirritating, odorless and tasteless gas. Carbon monoxide combines with hemoglobin far more readily than does oxygen, leading to tissue hypoxia. Thousands of people die annually from CO poisoning, and those recovering from acute exposure commonly suffer brain damage. Chronic poisoning is of particular concern to sufferers of coronary heart disease, pregnant women, and people with certain hematological disorders. Indoor emission sources, notably fuel-burning heating appliances, cause most unintentional deaths and cases of illness and should be the main focus of concern. Motor vehicle emissions pose a chronic health risk for occupationally exposed groups. Smoking is a major source of personal exposure. Recent exposure to CO is commonly evaluated by measuring blood carboxyhemoglobin levels, which are related to the concentration of atmospheric CO. Monitoring methods are reviewed here, and monitoring is considered in relation to air quality standards and guidelines. Finally, control measures for motor vehicles and indoor heating appliances are suggested.

  18. Carbon nanotube emitters and field emission triode

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Fan, Zhiqin; Zhang, Binglin; Yao, Ning; Zhang, Lan; Ma, Huizhong; Deng, Jicai

    2006-05-01

    Based on our study on field emission from multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWNTs), we experimentally manufactured field emission display (FED) triode with a MWNTs cold cathode, and demonstrated an excellent performance of MWNTs as field emitters. The measured luminance of the phosphor screens was 1.8*10^(3) cd/m2 for green light. The emission is stable with a fluctuation of only 1.5% at an average current of 260 'mu'A.

  19. Trade-offs between high yields and greenhouse gas emissions in irrigation wheat cropland in China

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Cui, Z. L.; Wu, L.; Ye, Y. L.; Ma, W. Q.; Chen, X. P.; Zhang, F. S.

    2014-04-01

    Although the concept of producing higher yields with reduced greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions is a goal that attracts increasing public and scientific attention, the trade-off between high yields and GHG emissions in intensive agricultural production is not well understood. Here, we hypothesize that there exists a mechanistic relationship between wheat grain yield and GHG emission, and that could be transformed into better agronomic management. A total 33 sites of on-farm experiments were investigated to evaluate the relationship between grain yield and GHG emissions using two systems (conventional practice, CP; high-yielding systems, HY) of intensive winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) in China. Furthermore, we discussed the potential to produce higher yields with lower GHG emissions based on a survey of 2938 farmers. Compared to the CP system, grain yield was 39% (2352 kg ha-1) higher in the HY system, while GHG emissions increased by only 10%, and GHG emission intensity was reduced by 21%. The current intensive winter wheat system with farmers' practice had a median yield and maximum GHG emission rate of 6050 kg ha-1 and 4783 kg CO2 eq ha-1, respectively; however, this system can be transformed to maintain yields while reducing GHG emissions by 26% (6077 kg ha-1, and 3555 kg CO2 eq ha-1). Further, the HY system was found to increase grain yield by 39% with a simultaneous reduction in GHG emissions by 18% (8429 kg ha-1, and 3905 kg CO2 eq ha-1, respectively). In the future, we suggest moving the trade-off relationships and calculations from grain yield and GHG emissions to new measures of productivity and environmental protection using innovative management technologies.

  20. Carbon emission and sequestration of urban turfgrass systems in Hong Kong.

    PubMed

    Kong, Ling; Shi, Zhengjun; Chu, L M

    2014-03-01

    Climate change is more than just a global issue. Locally released carbon dioxide may lead to a rise in global ambient temperature and influence the surrounding climate. Urban greenery may mitigate this as they can remove carbon dioxide by storing carbon in substrates and vegetation. On the other hand, urban greenery systems which are under intense management and maintenance may contribute to the emission of carbon dioxide or other greenhouse gases. The impact of urban greenery on carbon balance in major metropolitan areas thus remains controversial. We investigated the carbon footprints of urban turf operation and maintenance by conducting a research questionnaire on different Hong Kong turfs in 2012, and showed that turf maintenance contributed 0.17 to 0.63 kg Ce m(-2)y(-1) to carbon emissions. We also determined the carbon storage of turfs at 0.05 to 0.21 kg C m(-2) for aboveground grass biomass and 1.26 to 4.89 kg C m(-2) for soils (to 15 cm depth). We estimated that the carbon sink capacity of turfs could be offset by carbon emissions in 5-24 years under current management patterns, shifting from carbon sink to carbon source. Our study suggested that maintenance management played a key role in the carbon budget and footprint of urban greeneries. The environmental impact of turfgrass systems can be optimized by shifting away from empirically designed maintenance schedules towards rational ones based on carbon sink and emission principles. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  1. Urbanization and carbon dioxide emissions in Singapore: evidence from the ARDL approach.

    PubMed

    Ali, Hamisu Sadi; Abdul-Rahim, A S; Ribadu, Mohammed Bashir

    2017-01-01

    The main aim of this article is to examine empirically the impact of urbanization on carbon dioxide emissions in Singapore from 1970 to 2015. The autoregressive distributed lags (ARDL) approach is applied within the analysis. The main finding reveals a negative and significant impact of urbanization on carbon emissions in Singapore, which means that urban development in Singapore is not a barrier to the improvement of environmental quality. Thus, urbanization enhances environmental quality by reducing carbon emissions in the sample country. The result also highlighted that economic growth has a positive and significant impact on carbon emissions, which suggests that economic growth reduces environmental quality through its direct effect of increasing carbon emissions in the country. Despite the high level of urbanization in Singapore, which shows that 100 % of the populace is living in the urban center, it does not lead to more environmental degradation. Hence, urbanization will not be considered an obstacle when initiating policies that will be used to reduce environmental degradation in the country. Policy makers should consider the country's level of economic growth instead of urbanization when formulating policies to reduce environmental degradation, due to its direct impact on increasing carbon dioxide emissions.

  2. A Preliminary Study of the Carbon Emissions Reduction Effects of Land Use Control

    PubMed Central

    Chuai, Xiaowei; Huang, Xianjin; Qi, Xinxian; Li, Jiasheng; Zuo, Tianhui; Lu, Qinli; Li, Jianbao; Wu, Changyan; Zhao, Rongqin

    2016-01-01

    Land use change not only directly influences carbon storage in terrestrial ecosystems but can also cause energy-related carbon emissions. This study examined spatiotemporal land use change across Jiangsu Province, China; calculated vegetation carbon storage loss caused by land use change and energy-related carbon emissions; analysed the relationship among land use change, carbon emissions and social-economic development; and optimized land use structure to maximize carbon storage. Our study found that 13.61% of the province’s land area underwent a change in type of land use between 1995 and 2010, mainly presented as built-up land expansion and cropland shrinkage, especially in southern Jiangsu. Land use change caused a 353.99 × 104 t loss of vegetation carbon storage loss. Energy-related carbon emissions increased 2.5 times from 1995 to 2013; the energy consumption structure has been improved to some extent while still relying on coal. The selected social-economic driving forces have strong relationships with carbon emissions and land use changes, while there are also other determinants driving land use change, such as land use policy. The optimized land use structure will slow the rate of decline in vegetation carbon storage compared with the period between 1995 and 2010 and will also reduce energy-related carbon emissions by 12%. PMID:27845428

  3. A hybrid method for provincial scale energy-related carbon emission allocation in China.

    PubMed

    Bai, Hongtao; Zhang, Yingxuan; Wang, Huizhi; Huang, Yanying; Xu, He

    2014-01-01

    Achievement of carbon emission reduction targets proposed by national governments relies on provincial/state allocations. In this study, a hybrid method for provincial energy-related carbon emissions allocation in China was developed to provide a good balance between production- and consumption-based approaches. In this method, provincial energy-related carbon emissions are decomposed into direct emissions of local activities other than thermal power generation and indirect emissions as a result of electricity consumption. Based on the carbon reduction efficiency principle, the responsibility for embodied emissions of provincial product transactions is assigned entirely to the production area. The responsibility for carbon generation during the production of thermal power is borne by the electricity consumption area, which ensures that different regions with resource endowments have rational development space. Empirical studies were conducted to examine the hybrid method and three indices, per capita GDP, resource endowment index and the proportion of energy-intensive industries, were screened to preliminarily interpret the differences among China's regional carbon emissions. Uncertainty analysis and a discussion of this method are also provided herein.

  4. Earth system responses to cumulative carbon emissions

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Steinacher, M.; Joos, F.

    2015-07-01

    Information on the relationship between cumulative fossil carbon emissions and multiple climate targets are essential to design emission mitigation and climate adaptation strategies. In this study, the transient responses in different climate variables are quantified for a large set of multi-forcing scenarios extended to year 2300 towards stabilization and in idealized experiments using the Bern3D-LPJ carbon-climate model. The model outcomes are constrained by 26 physical and biogeochemical observational data sets in a Bayesian, Monte-Carlo type framework. Cumulative fossil emissions of 1000 Gt C result in a global mean surface air temperature change of 1.88 °C (68 % confidence interval (c.i.): 1.28 to 2.69 °C), a decrease in surface ocean pH of 0.19 (0.18 to 0.22), and in steric sea level rise of 20 cm (13 to 27 cm until 2300). Linearity between cumulative emissions and transient response is high for pH and reasonably high for surface air and sea surface temperatures, but less pronounced for changes in Atlantic Meridional Overturning, Southern Ocean and tropical surface water saturation with respect to biogenic structures of calcium carbonate, and carbon stocks in soils. The slopes of the relationships change when CO2 is stabilized. The Transient Climate Response is constrained, primarily by long-term ocean heat observations, to 1.7 °C (68 % c.i.: 1.3 to 2.2 °C) and the Equilibrium Climate Sensitivity to 2.9 °C (2.0 to 4.2 °C). This is consistent with results by CMIP5 models, but inconsistent with recent studies that relied on short-term air temperature data affected by natural climate variability.

  5. Model comparisons for estimating carbon emissions from North American wildland fire

    Treesearch

    Nancy H.F. French; William J. de Groot; Liza K. Jenkins; Brendan M. Rogers; Ernesto Alvarado; Brian Amiro; Bernardus De Jong; Scott Goetz; Elizabeth Hoy; Edward Hyer; Robert Keane; B.E. Law; Donald McKenzie; Steven G. McNulty; Roger Ottmar; Diego R. Perez-Salicrup; James Randerson; Kevin M. Robertson; Merritt Turetsky

    2011-01-01

    Research activities focused on estimating the direct emissions of carbon from wildland fires across North America are reviewed as part of the North American Carbon Program disturbance synthesis. A comparison of methods to estimate the loss of carbon from the terrestrial biosphere to the atmosphere from wildland fires is presented. Published studies on emissions from...

  6. Emission Trade to Meet Reasonably Available Control Technology (RACT) for the State of New York

    EPA Pesticide Factsheets

    This revision establishes and requires an emission trade between Niagara Mohawk Power Corporation and Champion International Paper Corporation which will result in both sources meeting the requirements of Reasonably Available Control Technology for oxides

  7. Options for lowering U.S. carbon dioxide emissions

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Bierbaum, Rosina M.; Friedman, Robert M.; Levenson, Howard; Rapoport, Richard D.; Sundt, Nick

    1992-03-01

    The United States can decrease its emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) to as much as 35 percent below 1987 levels within the next 25 years by adopting an aggressive package of policies crossing all sectors of the economy. Such emissions reductions will be difficult to achieve and may be costly, but no major technological breakthroughs are needed. In this paper, we identify a ``Tough'' package of energy conservation, energy supply, and forest managment practices to accomplish this level of emissions reductions. We also present a package of cost-effective, ``Moderate'' technical options, which if adopted, would hold CO2 emissions to about 15-percent increase over 1987 levels by 2015. In constrast, if the United State takes not new actions to curb energy use, CO2 emissions will likely rise 50 percent during that time. A variety of Federal policy initiatives will be required to achieve large reductions in U.S. CO2 emissions. Such policy actions will have to include both regulatory ``push'' and market ``pull'' mechanisms--including performance standards, tax incentive programs, carbon-emission or energy taxes, labeling and efficiency ratings, and research, development, and demostration activities.

  8. Carbon emissions tax policy of urban road traffic and its application in Panjin, China

    PubMed Central

    Yang, Longhai; Fang, Lin

    2018-01-01

    How to effectively solve traffic congestion and transportation pollution in urban development is a main research emphasis for transportation management agencies. A carbon emissions tax can affect travelers’ generalized costs and will lead to changes in passenger demand, mode choice and traffic flow equilibrium in road networks, which are of significance in green travel and low-carbon transportation management. This paper first established a mesoscopic model to calculate the carbon emissions tax and determined the value of this charge in China, which was based on road traffic flow, vehicle speed, and carbon emissions. Referring to existing research results to calibrate the value of time, this paper modified the traveler’s generalized cost function, including the carbon emissions tax, fuel surcharge and travel time cost, which can be used in the travel impedance model with the consideration of the carbon emissions tax. Then, a method for analyzing urban road network traffic flow distribution was put forward, and a joint traffic distribution model was established, which considered the relationship between private cars and taxis. Finally, this paper took the city of Panjin as an example to analyze the road traffic carbon emissions tax’s impact. The results illustrated that the carbon emissions tax has a positive effect on road network flow equilibrium and carbon emission reduction. This paper will have good reference value and practical significance for the calculation and implementation of urban traffic carbon emissions taxes in China. PMID:29738580

  9. Carbon emissions tax policy of urban road traffic and its application in Panjin, China.

    PubMed

    Yang, Longhai; Hu, Xiaowei; Fang, Lin

    2018-01-01

    How to effectively solve traffic congestion and transportation pollution in urban development is a main research emphasis for transportation management agencies. A carbon emissions tax can affect travelers' generalized costs and will lead to changes in passenger demand, mode choice and traffic flow equilibrium in road networks, which are of significance in green travel and low-carbon transportation management. This paper first established a mesoscopic model to calculate the carbon emissions tax and determined the value of this charge in China, which was based on road traffic flow, vehicle speed, and carbon emissions. Referring to existing research results to calibrate the value of time, this paper modified the traveler's generalized cost function, including the carbon emissions tax, fuel surcharge and travel time cost, which can be used in the travel impedance model with the consideration of the carbon emissions tax. Then, a method for analyzing urban road network traffic flow distribution was put forward, and a joint traffic distribution model was established, which considered the relationship between private cars and taxis. Finally, this paper took the city of Panjin as an example to analyze the road traffic carbon emissions tax's impact. The results illustrated that the carbon emissions tax has a positive effect on road network flow equilibrium and carbon emission reduction. This paper will have good reference value and practical significance for the calculation and implementation of urban traffic carbon emissions taxes in China.

  10. Global economic potential for reducing carbon dioxide emissions from mangrove loss.

    PubMed

    Siikamäki, Juha; Sanchirico, James N; Jardine, Sunny L

    2012-09-04

    Mangroves are among the most threatened and rapidly disappearing natural environments worldwide. In addition to supporting a wide range of other ecological and economic functions, mangroves store considerable carbon. Here, we consider the global economic potential for protecting mangroves based exclusively on their carbon. We develop unique high-resolution global estimates (5' grid, about 9 × 9 km) of the projected carbon emissions from mangrove loss and the cost of avoiding the emissions. Using these spatial estimates, we derive global and regional supply curves (marginal cost curves) for avoided emissions. Under a broad range of assumptions, we find that the majority of potential emissions from mangroves could be avoided at less than $10 per ton of CO(2). Given the recent range of market price for carbon offsets and the cost of reducing emissions from other sources, this finding suggests that protecting mangroves for their carbon is an economically viable proposition. Political-economy considerations related to the ability of doing business in developing countries, however, can severely limit the supply of offsets and increases their price per ton. We also find that although a carbon-focused conservation strategy does not automatically target areas most valuable for biodiversity, implementing a biodiversity-focused strategy would only slightly increase the costs.

  11. Carbon emissions from agricultural expansion and intensification in the Chaco.

    PubMed

    Baumann, Matthias; Gasparri, Ignacio; Piquer-Rodríguez, María; Gavier Pizarro, Gregorio; Griffiths, Patrick; Hostert, Patrick; Kuemmerle, Tobias

    2017-05-01

    Carbon emissions from land-use changes in tropical dry forest systems are poorly understood, although they are likely globally significant. The South American Chaco has recently emerged as a hot spot of agricultural expansion and intensification, as cattle ranching and soybean cultivation expand into forests, and as soybean cultivation replaces grazing lands. Still, our knowledge of the rates and spatial patterns of these land-use changes and how they affected carbon emissions remains partial. We used the Landsat satellite image archive to reconstruct land-use change over the past 30 years and applied a carbon bookkeeping model to quantify how these changes affected carbon budgets. Between 1985 and 2013, more than 142 000 km 2 of the Chaco's forests, equaling 20% of all forest, was replaced by croplands (38.9%) or grazing lands (61.1%). Of those grazing lands that existed in 1985, about 40% were subsequently converted to cropland. These land-use changes resulted in substantial carbon emissions, totaling 824 Tg C between 1985 and 2013, and 46.2 Tg C for 2013 alone. The majority of these emissions came from forest-to-grazing-land conversions (68%), but post-deforestation land-use change triggered an additional 52.6 Tg C. Although tropical dry forests are less carbon-dense than moist tropical forests, carbon emissions from land-use change in the Chaco were similar in magnitude to those from other major tropical deforestation frontiers. Our study thus highlights the urgent need for an improved monitoring of the often overlooked tropical dry forests and savannas, and more broadly speaking the value of the Landsat image archive for quantifying carbon fluxes from land change. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  12. Laser Ablated Carbon Nanodots for Light Emission.

    PubMed

    Reyes, Delfino; Camacho, Marco; Camacho, Miguel; Mayorga, Miguel; Weathers, Duncan; Salamo, Greg; Wang, Zhiming; Neogi, Arup

    2016-12-01

    The synthesis of fluorescent carbon dots-like nanostructures (CNDs) obtained through the laser ablation of a carbon solid target in liquid environment is reported. The ablation process was induced in acetone with laser pulses of 1064, 532, and 355 nm under different irradiation times. Close-spherical amorphous CNDs with sizes between 5 and 20 nm, whose abundance strongly depends on the ablation parameters were investigated using electron microscopy and was confirmed using absorption and emission spectroscopies. The π- π* electronic transition at 3.76 eV dominates the absorption for all the CNDs species synthesized under different irradiation conditions. The light emission is most efficient due to excitation at 3.54 eV with the photoluminescence intensity centered at 3.23 eV. The light emission from the CNDs is most efficient due to ablation at 355 nm. The emission wavelength of the CNDs can be tuned from the near-UV to the green wavelength region by controlling the ablation time and modifying the ablation and excitation laser wavelength.

  13. Reducing Carbon Dioxide Emissions: Using the Mole Concept.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Myers, Alan

    2002-01-01

    Provides an application of quantitative chemistry concepts in the context of motor vehicle emissions. Shows how carbon dioxide emissions from cars may be reduced by up to 25% by reducing motorway speeds from 70-75 mph to 60 mph. (Author/MM)

  14. Russia's black carbon emissions: focus on diesel sources

    DOE PAGES

    Kholod, Nazar; Evans, Meredydd; Kuklinski, Teresa

    2016-09-12

    Black carbon (BC) is a significant climate forcer with a particularly pronounced forcing effect in polar regions such as the Russian Arctic. Diesel combustion is a major global source of BC emissions, accounting for 25–30 % of all BC emissions. While the demand for diesel is growing in Russia, the country's diesel emissions are poorly understood. This paper presents a detailed inventory of Russian BC emissions from diesel sources. Drawing on a complete Russian vehicle registry with detailed information about vehicle types and emission standards, this paper analyzes BC emissions from diesel on-road vehicles. We use the COPERT emission modelmore » (COmputer Programme to calculate Emissions from Road Transport) with Russia-specific emission factors for all types of on-road vehicles. On-road diesel vehicles emitted 21 Gg of BC in 2014: heavy-duty trucks account for 60% of the on-road BC emissions, while cars represent only 5% (light commercial vehicles and buses account for the remainder). Using Russian activity data and fuel-based emission factors, the paper also presents BC emissions from diesel locomotives and ships, off-road engines in industry, construction and agriculture, and generators. The study also factors in the role of superemitters in BC emissions from diesel on-road vehicles and off-road sources. The total emissions from diesel sources in Russia are estimated to be 49 Gg of BC and 17 Gg of organic carbon (OC) in 2014. Off-road diesel sources emitted 58% of all diesel BC in Russia.« less

  15. Russia's black carbon emissions: focus on diesel sources

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Kholod, Nazar; Evans, Meredydd; Kuklinski, Teresa

    Black carbon (BC) is a significant climate forcer with a particularly pronounced forcing effect in polar regions such as the Russian Arctic. Diesel combustion is a major global source of BC emissions, accounting for 25–30 % of all BC emissions. While the demand for diesel is growing in Russia, the country's diesel emissions are poorly understood. This paper presents a detailed inventory of Russian BC emissions from diesel sources. Drawing on a complete Russian vehicle registry with detailed information about vehicle types and emission standards, this paper analyzes BC emissions from diesel on-road vehicles. We use the COPERT emission modelmore » (COmputer Programme to calculate Emissions from Road Transport) with Russia-specific emission factors for all types of on-road vehicles. On-road diesel vehicles emitted 21 Gg of BC in 2014: heavy-duty trucks account for 60% of the on-road BC emissions, while cars represent only 5% (light commercial vehicles and buses account for the remainder). Using Russian activity data and fuel-based emission factors, the paper also presents BC emissions from diesel locomotives and ships, off-road engines in industry, construction and agriculture, and generators. The study also factors in the role of superemitters in BC emissions from diesel on-road vehicles and off-road sources. The total emissions from diesel sources in Russia are estimated to be 49 Gg of BC and 17 Gg of organic carbon (OC) in 2014. Off-road diesel sources emitted 58% of all diesel BC in Russia.« less

  16. Russia's black carbon emissions: focus on diesel sources

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Kholod, Nazar; Evans, Meredydd; Kuklinski, Teresa

    Black carbon (BC) is a significant climate forcer with a particularly pronounced forcing effect in polar regions such as the Russian Arctic. Diesel combustion is a major global source of BC emissions, accounting for 25–30% of all BC emissions. While the demand for diesel is growing in Russia, the country's diesel emissions are poorly understood. This paper presents a detailed inventory of Russian BC emissions from diesel sources. Drawing on a complete Russian vehicle registry with detailed information about vehicle types and emission standards, this paper analyzes BC emissions from diesel on-road vehicles. We use the COPERT emission model (COmputermore » Programme to calculate Emissions from Road Transport) with Russia-specific emission factors for all types of on-road vehicles. On-road diesel vehicles emitted 21 Gg of BC in 2014: heavy-duty trucks account for 60% of the on-road BC emissions, while cars represent only 5% (light commercial vehicles and buses account for the remainder). Using Russian activity data and fuel-based emission factors, the paper also presents BC emissions from diesel locomotives and ships, off-road engines in industry, construction and agriculture, and generators. The study also factors in the role of superemitters in BC emissions from diesel on-road vehicles and off-road sources. The total emissions from diesel sources in Russia are estimated to be 49 Gg of BC and 17 Gg of organic carbon (OC) in 2014. Off-road diesel sources emitted 58% of all diesel BC in Russia.« less

  17. The Roles of Forest Biomass Carbon Sinks in Offsetting Anthropogenic Emissions in China

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Ju, W.; Zhang, C.

    2016-12-01

    Forests play a critical role in mitigating climate change because of their high carbon storage and productivity. China has experienced a pronounced increase in forest area resulting from afforestation and reforestation activities since the 1970s. Meanwhile, anthropogenic carbon emission also increased very quickly owing to fast economic development. This study was devoted to assess the roles of forest biomass carbon sinks in offsetting anthropogenic emissions in China for the period from 2000 to 2012. Forest biomass carbon sinks of China's forests were calculated at provincial levels based on eight national forest inventory datasets from 1973 to 2013. The anthropogenic carbon emissions of individual provinces were estimated for different sectors over the period from 2000 to 2012, including industrial, transportation, and other energy consumption and industrial processes. The national forest biomass carbon sinks increased from 25.0 to 166.5 Tg C yr-1 between 1973 and 2008, and then decreased to 130.9 Tg C yr-1 for the period of 2009-2013 because the increases in forest area and biomass carbon density became slower. About 7% and 93% of this sink reduction occurred in planted and natural forests. The carbon sinks for young, middle-aged and premature forests decreased by 27.3, 27.0, and 7.6 Tg C yr-1, respectively. 42% of this decrease was offset by mature and overmature forests. During 2009-2013, forest biomass carbon sinks decreased in all regions but the north and northwest regions. The drivers for changes of forest biomass sinks differ spatially. The average national total anthropogenic carbon emissions were 1107.2 Tg C yr-1 , 1876.7 Tg C yr-1 and 2670 Tg C yr-1 over the periods from 2000 to 2003, 2004 to 2008, 2009 to 2012, respectively. The forest biomass carbon sinks approximately offset 14.6%, 8.9%, and 4.9% of these emissions. The declined roles of forest biomass carbon sinks in offsetting anthropogenic carbon emissions were mainly caused by large increase of

  18. Inequalities in Global Trade: A Cross-Country Comparison of Trade Network Position, Economic Wealth, Pollution and Mortality.

    PubMed

    Prell, Christina; Sun, Laixiang; Feng, Kuishuang; Myroniuk, Tyler W

    2015-01-01

    In this paper we investigate how structural patterns of international trade give rise to emissions inequalities across countries, and how such inequality in turn impact countries' mortality rates. We employ Multi-regional Input-Output analysis to distinguish between sulfur-dioxide (SO2) emissions produced within a country's boarders (production-based emissions) and emissions triggered by consumption in other countries (consumption-based emissions). We use social network analysis to capture countries' level of integration within the global trade network. We then apply the Prais-Winsten panel estimation technique to a panel data set across 172 countries over 20 years (1990-2010) to estimate the relationships between countries' level of integration and SO2 emissions, and the impact of trade integration and SO2 emission on mortality rates. Our findings suggest a positive, (log-) linear relationship between a country's level of integration and both kinds of emissions. In addition, although more integrated countries are mainly responsible for both forms of emissions, our findings indicate that they also tend to experience lower mortality rates. Our approach offers a unique combination of social network analysis with multiregional input-output analysis, which better operationalizes intuitive concepts about global trade and trade structure.

  19. Dynamic impact of urbanization, economic growth, energy consumption, and trade openness on CO 2 emissions in Nigeria.

    PubMed

    Ali, Hamisu Sadi; Law, Siong Hook; Zannah, Talha Ibrahim

    2016-06-01

    The objective of this paper is to examine the dynamic impact of urbanization, economic growth, energy consumption, and trade openness on CO 2 emissions in Nigeria based on autoregressive distributed lags (ARDL) approach for the period of 1971-2011. The result shows that variables were cointegrated as null hypothesis was rejected at 1 % level of significance. The coefficients of long-run result reveal that urbanization does not have any significant impact on CO 2 emissions in Nigeria, economic growth, and energy consumption has a positive and significant impact on CO 2 emissions. However, trade openness has negative and significant impact on CO 2 emissions. Consumption of energy is among the main determinant of CO 2 emissions which is directly linked to the level of income. Despite the high level of urbanization in the country, consumption of energy still remains low due to lower income of the majority populace and this might be among the reasons why urbanization does not influence emissions of CO 2 in the country. Initiating more open economy policies will be welcoming in the Nigerian economy as the openness leads to the reduction of pollutants from the environment particularly CO 2 emissions which is the major gases that deteriorate physical environment.

  20. The contribution of reactive carbon emissions from vegetation to the carbon balance of terrestrial ecosystems.

    PubMed

    Guenther, Alex

    2002-12-01

    About 2.4 Pg (1 Pg = 10(15) g) of carbon is emitted annually into the atmosphere as reactive compounds and most of it is eventually oxidized to CO2. Isoprene, alpha-pinene, methanol, carbon monoxide and other compounds emitted by terrestrial vegetation contribute about half of the total flux and are estimated to produce about 1 Pg C as CO2 per year. The global average for vegetated surfaces is about 7 g C m(-2) per year but could exceed 100 g m(-2) per year at some tropical locations. The magnitude of these fluxes on both the landscape and global scales are small relative to the total carbon emission or deposition but are significant relative to the net fluxes. Reactive carbon fluxes are very sensitive to landcover and climate change and may vary significantly due to future perturbations. This paper summarizes what is known about reactive carbon emissions from vegetation including the magnitude of local, landscape, and global scale fluxes and their contribution to atmospheric CO2. Reasons for including this term in carbon flux models are presented as well as the potential importance on various spatial scales. Past, present and future reactive carbon emissions are expected to differ significantly and the implications of this are discussed.

  1. Method of synthesizing small-diameter carbon nanotubes with electron field emission properties

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Liu, Jie (Inventor); Du, Chunsheng (Inventor); Qian, Cheng (Inventor); Gao, Bo (Inventor); Qiu, Qi (Inventor); Zhou, Otto Z. (Inventor)

    2009-01-01

    Carbon nanotube material having an outer diameter less than 10 nm and a number of walls less than ten are disclosed. Also disclosed are an electron field emission device including a substrate, an optionally layer of adhesion-promoting layer, and a layer of electron field emission material. The electron field emission material includes a carbon nanotube having a number of concentric graphene shells per tube of from two to ten, an outer diameter from 2 to 8 nm, and a nanotube length greater than 0.1 microns. One method to fabricate carbon nanotubes includes the steps of (a) producing a catalyst containing Fe and Mo supported on MgO powder, (b) using a mixture of hydrogen and carbon containing gas as precursors, and (c) heating the catalyst to a temperature above 950.degree. C. to produce a carbon nanotube. Another method of fabricating an electron field emission cathode includes the steps of (a) synthesizing electron field emission materials containing carbon nanotubes with a number of concentric graphene shells per tube from two to ten, an outer diameter of from 2 to 8 nm, and a length greater than 0.1 microns, (b) dispersing the electron field emission material in a suitable solvent, (c) depositing the electron field emission materials onto a substrate, and (d) annealing the substrate.

  2. Carbon footprint of nations: a global, trade-linked analysis.

    PubMed

    Hertwich, Edgar G; Peters, Glen P

    2009-08-15

    Processes causing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions benefit humans by providing consumer goods and services. This benefit, and hence the responsibility for emissions, varies by purpose or consumption category and is unevenly distributed across and within countries. We quantify greenhouse gas emissions associated with the final consumption of goods and services for 73 nations and 14 aggregate world regions. We analyze the contribution of 8 categories: construction, shelter, food, clothing, mobility, manufactured products, services, and trade. National average per capita footprints vary from 1 tCO2e/y in African countries to approximately 30/y in Luxembourg and the United States. The expenditure elasticity is 0.57. The cross-national expenditure elasticity for just CO2, 0.81, corresponds remarkably well to the cross-sectional elasticities found within nations, suggesting a global relationship between expenditure and emissions that holds across several orders of magnitude difference. On the global level, 72% of greenhouse gas emissions are related to household consumption, 10% to government consumption, and 18% to investments. Food accounts for 20% of GHG emissions, operation and maintenance of residences is 19%, and mobility is 17%. Food and services are more important in developing countries, while mobility and manufactured goods rise fast with income and dominate in rich countries. The importance of public services and manufactured goods has not yet been sufficiently appreciated in policy. Policy priorities hence depend on development status and country-level characteristics.

  3. Forecasting carbon dioxide emissions.

    PubMed

    Zhao, Xiaobing; Du, Ding

    2015-09-01

    This study extends the literature on forecasting carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions by applying the reduced-form econometrics approach of Schmalensee et al. (1998) to a more recent sample period, the post-1997 period. Using the post-1997 period is motivated by the observation that the strengthening pace of global climate policy may have been accelerated since 1997. Based on our parameter estimates, we project 25% reduction in CO2 emissions by 2050 according to an economic and population growth scenario that is more consistent with recent global trends. Our forecasts are conservative due to that we do not have sufficient data to fully take into account recent developments in the global economy. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  4. Thermal Conductivity of Ultem(TradeMark)/Carbon Nanofiller Blends

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Ghose, S.; Watson, K. A.; Delozier, D. M.; Working, D. C.; Connell, J. W.; Smith, J. G., Jr.; Sun, Y. P.; Lin, Y.

    2006-01-01

    In an effort to improve polymer thermal conductivity (TC), Ultem(TradeMark) 1000 was compounded with nano-fillers of carbon allotropes. Ultem(TradeMark) 1000 was selected since it is both solution and melt processable. As-received and modified multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs), vapor grown carbon nanofibers (CNF) and expanded graphite (EG) were investigated. MWCNTs were modified by functionalizing the surface through oxidization with concentrated acids, mixing with an alkyl bromide, and addition of alkyl and phosphorus compounds after initial treatment with n-butyl lithium. Functionalization was performed to improve the TC compatibility between the resin and MWCNTs. It was postulated that this may provide an improved interface between the MWCNT and the polymer which would result in enhanced TC. The nano-fillers were mixed with Ultem(TradeMark) 1000 in the melt and in solution at concentrations ranging from 5 to 40 wt%. Ribbons were extruded from the blends to form samples where the nano-fillers were aligned to some degree in the extrusion direction. Samples were also fabricated by compression molding resulting in random orientation of the nano-fillers. Thermal properties of the samples were evaluated by Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC) and Thermal Gravimetric Analyzer (TGA). Tensile properties of aligned samples were determined at room temperature. The specimens were cut from the ribbons in the extrusion direction; hence the nano-fillers are somewhat aligned in the direction of stress. Typically it was observed that melt mixed samples exhibited superior mechanical properties compared to solution mixed samples. As expected, increased filler loading led to increased modulus and decreased elongation with respect to the neat polymer. The degree of dispersion and alignment of the nano-fillers was determined by high-resolution scanning electron microscopy (HRSEM). HRSEM of the ribbons revealed that the MWCNTs and CNFs were predominantly aligned in the flow

  5. Greenhouse Gas Mitigation Options in ISEEM Global Energy Model: 2010-2050 Scenario Analysis for Least-Cost Carbon Reduction in Iron and Steel Sector

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Karali, Nihan; Xu, Tengfang; Sathaye, Jayant

    The goal of the modeling work carried out in this project was to quantify long-term scenarios for the future emission reduction potentials in the iron and steel sector. The main focus of the project is to examine the impacts of carbon reduction options in the U.S. iron and steel sector under a set of selected scenarios. In order to advance the understanding of carbon emission reduction potential on the national and global scales, and to evaluate the regional impacts of potential U.S. mitigation strategies (e.g., commodity and carbon trading), we also included and examined the carbon reduction scenarios in China’smore » and India’s iron and steel sectors in this project. For this purpose, a new bottom-up energy modeling framework, the Industrial Sector Energy Efficiency Modeling (ISEEM), (Karali et al. 2012) was used to provide detailed annual projections starting from 2010 through 2050. We used the ISEEM modeling framework to carry out detailed analysis, on a country-by-country basis, for the U.S., China’s, and India’s iron and steel sectors. The ISEEM model applicable to iron and steel section, called ISEEM-IS, is developed to estimate and evaluate carbon emissions scenarios under several alternative mitigation options - including policies (e.g., carbon caps), commodity trading, and carbon trading. The projections will help us to better understand emission reduction potentials with technological and economic implications. The database for input of ISEEM-IS model consists of data and information compiled from various resources such as World Steel Association (WSA), the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), China Steel Year Books, India Bureau of Mines (IBM), Energy Information Administration (EIA), and recent LBNL studies on bottom-up techno-economic analysis of energy efficiency measures in the iron and steel sector of the U.S., China, and India, including long-term steel production in China. In the ISEEM-IS model, production technology and manufacturing

  6. The causal nexus between carbon dioxide emissions and agricultural ecosystem-an econometric approach.

    PubMed

    Asumadu-Sarkodie, Samuel; Owusu, Phebe Asantewaa

    2017-01-01

    Achieving a long-term food security and preventing hunger include a better nutrition through sustainable systems of production, distribution, and consumption. Nonetheless, the quest for an alternative to increasing global food supply to meet the growing demand has led to the use of poor agricultural practices that promote climate change. Given the contribution of the agricultural ecosystem towards greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, this study investigated the causal nexus between carbon dioxide emissions and agricultural ecosystem by employing a data spanning from 1961 to 2012. Evidence from long-run elasticity shows that a 1 % increase in the area of rice paddy harvested will increase carbon dioxide emissions by 1.49 %, a 1 % increase in biomass-burned crop residues will increase carbon dioxide emissions by 1.00 %, a 1 % increase in cereal production will increase carbon dioxide emissions by 1.38 %, and a 1 % increase in agricultural machinery will decrease carbon dioxide emissions by 0.09 % in the long run. There was a bidirectional causality between carbon dioxide emissions, cereal production, and biomass-burned crop residues. The Granger causality shows that the agricultural ecosystem in Ghana is sensitive to climate change vulnerability.

  7. Method of depositing multi-layer carbon-based coatings for field emission

    DOEpatents

    Sullivan, John P.; Friedmann, Thomas A.

    1999-01-01

    A novel field emitter device for cold cathode field emission applications, comprising a multi-layer resistive carbon film. The multi-layered film of the present invention is comprised of at least two layers of a resistive carbon material, preferably amorphous-tetrahedrally coordinated carbon, such that the resistivities of adjacent layers differ. For electron emission from the surface, the preferred structure comprises a top layer having a lower resistivity than the bottom layer. For edge emitting structures, the preferred structure of the film comprises a plurality of carbon layers, wherein adjacent layers have different resistivities. Through selection of deposition conditions, including the energy of the depositing carbon species, the presence or absence of certain elements such as H, N, inert gases or boron, carbon layers having desired resistivities can be produced. Field emitters made according the present invention display improved electron emission characteristics in comparison to conventional field emitter materials.

  8. Carbon footprint and ammonia emissions of California beef production systems.

    PubMed

    Stackhouse-Lawson, K R; Rotz, C A; Oltjen, J W; Mitloehner, F M

    2012-12-01

    Beef production is a recognized source of greenhouse gas (GHG) and ammonia (NH(3)) emissions; however, little information exists on the net emissions from beef production systems. A partial life cycle assessment (LCA) was conducted using the Integrated Farm System Model (IFSM) to estimate GHG and NH(3) emissions from representative beef production systems in California. The IFSM is a process-level farm model that simulates crop growth, feed production and use, animal growth, and the return of manure nutrients back to the land to predict the environmental impacts and economics of production systems. Ammonia emissions are determined by summing the emissions from animal housing facilities, manure storage, field applied manure, and direct deposits of manure on pasture and rangeland. All important sources and sinks of methane, nitrous oxide, and carbon dioxide are predicted from primary and secondary emission sources. Primary sources include enteric fermentation, manure, cropland used in feed production, and fuel combustion. Secondary emissions occur during the production of resources used on the farm, which include fuel, electricity, machinery, fertilizer, and purchased animals. The carbon footprint is the net exchange of all GHG in carbon dioxide equivalent (CO(2)e) units per kg of HCW produced. Simulated beef production systems included cow-calf, stocker, and feedlot phases for the traditional British beef breeds and calf ranch and feedlot phases for Holstein steers. An evaluation of differing production management strategies resulted in ammonia emissions ranging from 98 ± 13 to 141 ± 27 g/kg HCW and carbon footprints of 10.7 ± 1.4 to 22.6 ± 2.0 kg CO(2)e/kg HCW. Within the British beef production cycle, the cow-calf phase was responsible for 69 to 72% of total GHG emissions with 17 to 27% from feedlot sources. Holstein steers that entered the beef production system as a by-product of dairy production had the lowest carbon footprint because the emissions

  9. Modeling long-term carbon residue in the ocean-atmosphere system following large CO2 emissions

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Towles, N. J.; Olson, P.; Gnanadesikan, A.

    2013-12-01

    We use the LOSCAR carbon cycle model (Zeebe et al., 2009; Zeebe, 2012) to calculate the residual carbon in the ocean and atmosphere following large CO2 emissions. We consider the system response to CO2 emissions ranging from 100 to 20000 PgC, and emission durations from 100 yr to 100 kyr, subject to a wide range of system parameters such as the strengths of silicate weathering and the oceanic biological carbon pump. We define the carbon gain factor as the ratio of residual carbon in the ocean-atmosphere to the total emitted carbon. For moderate sized emissions shorter than about 50 kyr, we find that the carbon gain factor grows during the emission and peaks at about 1.7, primarily due to the erosion of carbonate marine sediments. In contrast, for longer emissions, the carbon gain factor peaks at a smaller value, and for very large emissions (more than 5000 PgC), the gain factor decreases with emission size due to carbonate sediment exhaustion. This gain factor is sensitive to model parameters such as low latitude efficiency of the biological pump. The timescale for removal of the residual carbon (reducing the carbon gain factor to zero) depends strongly on the assumed sensitivity of silicate weathering to atmospheric pCO2, and ranges from less than one million years to several million years.

  10. Black carbon emissions in Russia: A critical review

    DOE PAGES

    Evans, Meredydd; Kholod, Nazar; Kuklinski, Teresa; ...

    2017-05-18

    Here, this study presents a comprehensive review of estimated black carbon (BC) emissions in Russia from a range of studies. Russia has an important role regarding BC emissions given the extent of its territory above the Arctic Circle, where BC emissions have a particularly pronounced effect on the climate. We assess underlying methodologies and data sources for each major emissions source based on their level of detail, accuracy and extent to which they represent current conditions. We then present reference values for each major emissions source. In the case of flaring, the study presents new estimates drawing on data onmore » Russia's associated petroleum gas and the most recent satellite data on flaring. We also present estimates of organic carbon (OC) for each source, either based on the reference studies or from our own calculations. In addition, the study provides uncertainty estimates for each source. Total BC emissions are estimated at 688 Gg in 2014, with an uncertainty range 401 Gg-1453 Gg, while OC emissions are 9224 Gg with uncertainty ranging between 5596 Gg and 14,736 Gg. Wildfires dominated and contributed about 83% of the total BC emissions: however, the effect on radiative forcing is mitigated in part by OC emissions. We also present an adjusted estimate of Arctic forcing from Russia's BC and OC emissions. In recent years, Russia has pursued policies to reduce flaring and limit particulate emissions from on-road transport, both of which appear to significantly contribute to the lower emissions and forcing values found in this study.« less

  11. Black carbon emissions in Russia: A critical review

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Evans, Meredydd; Kholod, Nazar; Kuklinski, Teresa

    Here, this study presents a comprehensive review of estimated black carbon (BC) emissions in Russia from a range of studies. Russia has an important role regarding BC emissions given the extent of its territory above the Arctic Circle, where BC emissions have a particularly pronounced effect on the climate. We assess underlying methodologies and data sources for each major emissions source based on their level of detail, accuracy and extent to which they represent current conditions. We then present reference values for each major emissions source. In the case of flaring, the study presents new estimates drawing on data onmore » Russia's associated petroleum gas and the most recent satellite data on flaring. We also present estimates of organic carbon (OC) for each source, either based on the reference studies or from our own calculations. In addition, the study provides uncertainty estimates for each source. Total BC emissions are estimated at 688 Gg in 2014, with an uncertainty range 401 Gg-1453 Gg, while OC emissions are 9224 Gg with uncertainty ranging between 5596 Gg and 14,736 Gg. Wildfires dominated and contributed about 83% of the total BC emissions: however, the effect on radiative forcing is mitigated in part by OC emissions. We also present an adjusted estimate of Arctic forcing from Russia's BC and OC emissions. In recent years, Russia has pursued policies to reduce flaring and limit particulate emissions from on-road transport, both of which appear to significantly contribute to the lower emissions and forcing values found in this study.« less

  12. Black carbon emissions in Russia: A critical review

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Evans, Meredydd; Kholod, Nazar; Kuklinski, Teresa; Denysenko, Artur; Smith, Steven J.; Staniszewski, Aaron; Hao, Wei Min; Liu, Liang; Bond, Tami C.

    2017-08-01

    This study presents a comprehensive review of estimated black carbon (BC) emissions in Russia from a range of studies. Russia has an important role regarding BC emissions given the extent of its territory above the Arctic Circle, where BC emissions have a particularly pronounced effect on the climate. We assess underlying methodologies and data sources for each major emissions source based on their level of detail, accuracy and extent to which they represent current conditions. We then present reference values for each major emissions source. In the case of flaring, the study presents new estimates drawing on data on Russia's associated petroleum gas and the most recent satellite data on flaring. We also present estimates of organic carbon (OC) for each source, either based on the reference studies or from our own calculations. In addition, the study provides uncertainty estimates for each source. Total BC emissions are estimated at 688 Gg in 2014, with an uncertainty range 401 Gg-1453 Gg, while OC emissions are 9224 Gg with uncertainty ranging between 5596 Gg and 14,736 Gg. Wildfires dominated and contributed about 83% of the total BC emissions: however, the effect on radiative forcing is mitigated in part by OC emissions. We also present an adjusted estimate of Arctic forcing from Russia's BC and OC emissions. In recent years, Russia has pursued policies to reduce flaring and limit particulate emissions from on-road transport, both of which appear to significantly contribute to the lower emissions and forcing values found in this study.

  13. Will the use of a carbon tax for revenue generation produce an incentive to continue carbon emissions?

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Wang, Rong; Moreno-Cruz, Juan; Caldeira, Ken

    2017-05-01

    Integrated assessment models are commonly used to generate optimal carbon prices based on an objective function that maximizes social welfare. Such models typically project an initially low carbon price that increases with time. This framework does not reflect the incentives of decision makers who are responsible for generating tax revenue. If a rising carbon price is to result in near-zero emissions, it must ultimately result in near-zero carbon tax revenue. That means that at some point, policy makers will be asked to increase the tax rate on carbon emissions to such an extent that carbon tax revenue will fall. Therefore, there is a risk that the use of a carbon tax to generate revenue could eventually create a perverse incentive to continue carbon emissions in order to provide a continued stream of carbon tax revenue. Using the Dynamic Integrated Climate Economy (DICE) model, we provide evidence that this risk is not a concern for the immediate future but that a revenue-generating carbon tax could create this perverse incentive as time goes on. This incentive becomes perverse at about year 2085 under the default configuration of DICE, but the timing depends on a range of factors including the cost of climate damages and the cost of decarbonizing the global energy system. While our study is based on a schematic model, it highlights the importance of considering a broader spectrum of incentives in studies using more comprehensive integrated assessment models. Our study demonstrates that the use of a carbon tax for revenue generation could potentially motivate implementation of such a tax today, but this source of revenue generation risks motivating continued carbon emissions far into the future.

  14. Greenhouse gas emissions and carbon sequestration by agroforestry systems in southeastern Brazil.

    PubMed

    Torres, Carlos Moreira Miquelino Eleto; Jacovine, Laércio Antônio Gonçalves; Nolasco de Olivera Neto, Sílvio; Fraisse, Clyde William; Soares, Carlos Pedro Boechat; de Castro Neto, Fernando; Ferreira, Lino Roberto; Zanuncio, José Cola; Lemes, Pedro Guilherme

    2017-12-01

    Agrosilvopastoral and silvopastoral systems can increase carbon sequestration, offset greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and reduce the carbon footprint generated by animal production. The objective of this study was to estimate GHG emissions, the tree and grass aboveground biomass production and carbon storage in different agrosilvopastoral and silvopastoral systems in southeastern Brazil. The number of trees required to offset these emissions were also estimated. The GHG emissions were calculated based on pre-farm (e.g. agrochemical production, storage, and transportation), and on-farm activities (e.g. fertilization and machinery operation). Aboveground tree grass biomass and carbon storage in all systems was estimated with allometric equations. GHG emissions from the agroforestry systems ranged from 2.81 to 7.98 t CO 2 e ha -1 . Carbon storage in the aboveground trees and grass biomass were 54.6, 11.4, 25.7 and 5.9 t C ha -1 , and 3.3, 3.6, 3.8 and 3.3 t C ha -1 for systems 1, 2, 3 and 4, respectively. The number of trees necessary to offset the emissions ranged from 17 to 44 trees ha -1 , which was lower than the total planted in the systems. Agroforestry systems sequester CO 2 from the atmosphere and can help the GHG emission-reduction policy of the Brazilian government.

  15. A Healthy Reduction in Oil Dependence and Carbon Emissions

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Higgins, P. A.; Higgins, M.

    2003-12-01

    Societal dependence on oil as an energy source for personal transportation leads to increasingly negative social consequences including climate change, air pollution, political and economic instability and habitat degradation. Our heavy reliance on the automobile for transportation, determined in part by urban sprawl, also contributes to the population's increasingly sedentary lifestyle and to a concomitant degradation in health. We have shown that widespread substitution of exercise, commensurate with previously recommended levels, through biking or walking instead of driving can substantially reduce oil consumption and carbon emissions. For example, if all individuals between the ages of 10 and 64 substituted one hour of cycling for driving the reduction in gasoline demand would be equivalent to the gas produced from 34.9 percent of current oil consumption. Relative to 1990 net US emissions, this constitutes a 10.9 percent reduction in carbon emissions. Therefore, substitution of exercise for driving could improve health, reduce carbon emissions and save more oil than even upper estimates of that contained in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

  16. Calculating the carbon emissions associated with San Jose's Green Vision goals

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Cordero, E. C.; Prada, L.

    2010-12-01

    In 2007, the City of San Jose adopted a Green Vision that includes 10 measurable goals, which aim to promote job growth in clean tech and preserve the environment. The goals include a 50% reduction of per capita energy use, a 100% diversion of waste from landfill, a 100% recycling or reuse of wastewater, and the building or retro fitting of 50 million square feet of green buildings. While there are clear benefits from these initiatives, it is unclear how these changes will affect emissions of greenhouse gases and what contribution the Green Vision will have on the total carbon emissions of the city. Using San Jose as a case study this work will first estimate citywide baseline carbon emissions using data from the last decade. We then will describe efforts to compute the change in carbon emissions associated with each of the city’s green vision goals. The intention of this work is to develop a set of metrics that other cities and institutions can use to better quantify the carbon emissions associated with their current and future ‘green’ initiatives.

  17. Maximum warming occurs about one decade after carbon dioxide emission

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Ricke, K.; Caldeira, K.

    2014-12-01

    There has been a long tradition of estimating the amount of climate change that would result from various carbon dioxide emission or concentration scenarios but there has been relatively little quantitative analysis of how long it takes to feel the consequences of an individual carbon dioxide emission. Using conjoined results of recent carbon-cycle and physical-climate model intercomparison projects, we find the median time between an emission and maximum warming is 10.1 years, with a 90% probability range of 6.6 to 30.7 years. We evaluate uncertainties in timing and amount of warming, partitioning them into three contributing factors: carbon cycle, climate sensitivity and ocean thermal inertia. To characterize the carbon cycle uncertainty associated with the global temperature response to a carbon dioxide emission today, we use fits to the time series of carbon dioxide concentrations from a CO2-impulse response function model intercomparison project's 15 ensemble members (1). To characterize both the uncertainty in climate sensitivity and in the thermal inertia of the climate system, we use fits to the time series of global temperature change from the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project phase 5 (CMIP5; 2) abrupt4xco2 experiment's 20 ensemble's members separating the effects of each uncertainty factors using one of two simple physical models for each CMIP5 climate model. This yields 6,000 possible combinations of these three factors using a standard convolution integral approach. Our results indicate that benefits of avoided climate damage from avoided CO2 emissions will be manifested within the lifetimes of people who acted to avoid that emission. While the relevant time lags imposed by the climate system are substantially shorter than a human lifetime, they are substantially longer than the typical political election cycle, making the delay and its associated uncertainties both economically and politically significant. References: 1. Joos F et al. (2013) Carbon

  18. Effect of Carbon Nanotubes Upon Emissions From Cutting and Sanding Carbon Fiber-Epoxy Composites

    PubMed Central

    Heitbrink, William A.; Lo, Li-Ming

    2015-01-01

    Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) are being incorporated into structural composites to enhance material strength. During fabrication or repair activities, machining nanocomposites may release CNTs into the workplace air. An experimental study was conducted to evaluate the emissions generated by cutting and sanding on three types of epoxy-composite panels: Panel A containing graphite fibers, Panel B containing graphite fibers and carbon-based mat, and Panel C containing graphite fibers, carbon-based mat, and multi-walled CNTs. Aerosol sampling was conducted with direct-reading instruments, and filter samples were collected for measuring elemental carbon (EC) and fiber concentrations. Our study results showed that cutting Panel C with a band saw did not generate detectable emissions of fibers inspected by transmission electron microscopy but did increase the particle mass, number, and EC emission concentrations by 20% to 80% compared to Panels A and B. Sanding operation performed on two Panel C resulted in fiber emission rates of 1.9×108 and 2.8×106 fibers per second (f/s), while no free aerosol fibers were detected from sanding Panels A and B containing no CNTs. These free CNT fibers may be a health concern. However, the analysis of particle and EC concentrations from these same samples cannot clearly indicate the presence of CNTs, because extraneous aerosol generation from machining the composite epoxy material increased the mass concentrations of the EC. PMID:26478716

  19. Inequalities in Global Trade: A Cross-Country Comparison of Trade Network Position, Economic Wealth, Pollution and Mortality

    PubMed Central

    Prell, Christina; Sun, Laixiang; Feng, Kuishuang; Myroniuk, Tyler W.

    2015-01-01

    In this paper we investigate how structural patterns of international trade give rise to emissions inequalities across countries, and how such inequality in turn impact countries’ mortality rates. We employ Multi-regional Input-Output analysis to distinguish between sulfur-dioxide (SO2) emissions produced within a country’s boarders (production-based emissions) and emissions triggered by consumption in other countries (consumption-based emissions). We use social network analysis to capture countries’ level of integration within the global trade network. We then apply the Prais-Winsten panel estimation technique to a panel data set across 172 countries over 20 years (1990–2010) to estimate the relationships between countries’ level of integration and SO2 emissions, and the impact of trade integration and SO2 emission on mortality rates. Our findings suggest a positive, (log-) linear relationship between a country’s level of integration and both kinds of emissions. In addition, although more integrated countries are mainly responsible for both forms of emissions, our findings indicate that they also tend to experience lower mortality rates. Our approach offers a unique combination of social network analysis with multiregional input-output analysis, which better operationalizes intuitive concepts about global trade and trade structure. PMID:26642202

  20. Black carbon emissions in Russia: A critical review

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Evans, Meredydd; Kholod, Nazar; Kuklinski, Teresa

    Russia has a particularly important role regarding black carbon (BC) emissions given the extent of its territory above the Arctic Circle, where BC emissions have a particularly pronounced effect on the climate. This study presents a comprehensive review of BC estimates from a range of studies. We assess underlying methodologies and data sources for each major emissions source based on their level of detail, accuracy and extent to which they represent current conditions. We then present reference values for each major emissions source. In the case of flaring, the study presents new estimates drawing on data on Russian associated petroleummore » gas and the most recent satellite data on flaring. We also present estimates of organic carbon (OC) for each source, either based on the reference studies or from our own calculations. In addition, the study provides uncertainty estimates for each source. Total BC emissions are estimated at 689 Gg in 2014, with an uncertainty range between (407-1,416), while OC emissions are 9,228 Gg (with uncertainty between 5,595 and 14,728). Wildfires dominated and contributed about 83% of the total BC emissions, however the effect on radiative forcing is mitigated by OC emissions. We also present an adjusted estimate of Arctic forcing from Russian OC and BC emissions. In recent years, Russia has pursued policies to reduce flaring and limit particulate emissions from on-road transport, both of which appear to significantly contribute to the lower emissions and forcing values found in this study.« less

  1. Method of depositing multi-layer carbon-based coatings for field emission

    DOEpatents

    Sullivan, J.P.; Friedmann, T.A.

    1999-08-10

    A novel field emitter device is disclosed for cold cathode field emission applications, comprising a multi-layer resistive carbon film. The multi-layered film of the present invention is comprised of at least two layers of a resistive carbon material, preferably amorphous-tetrahedrally coordinated carbon, such that the resistivities of adjacent layers differ. For electron emission from the surface, the preferred structure comprises a top layer having a lower resistivity than the bottom layer. For edge emitting structures, the preferred structure of the film comprises a plurality of carbon layers, wherein adjacent layers have different resistivities. Through selection of deposition conditions, including the energy of the depositing carbon species, the presence or absence of certain elements such as H, N, inert gases or boron, carbon layers having desired resistivities can be produced. Field emitters made according the present invention display improved electron emission characteristics in comparison to conventional field emitter materials. 8 figs.

  2. Net Carbon Emissions from Deforestation in Bolivia during 1990-2000 and 2000-2010: Results from a Carbon Bookkeeping Model.

    PubMed

    Andersen, Lykke E; Doyle, Anna Sophia; del Granado, Susana; Ledezma, Juan Carlos; Medinaceli, Agnes; Valdivia, Montserrat; Weinhold, Diana

    2016-01-01

    Accurate estimates of global carbon emissions are critical for understanding global warming. This paper estimates net carbon emissions from land use change in Bolivia during the periods 1990-2000 and 2000-2010 using a model that takes into account deforestation, forest degradation, forest regrowth, gradual carbon decomposition and accumulation, as well as heterogeneity in both above ground and below ground carbon contents at the 10 by 10 km grid level. The approach permits detailed maps of net emissions by region and type of land cover. We estimate that net CO2 emissions from land use change in Bolivia increased from about 65 million tons per year during 1990-2000 to about 93 million tons per year during 2000-2010, while CO2 emissions per capita and per unit of GDP have remained fairly stable over the sample period. If we allow for estimated biomass increases in mature forests, net CO2 emissions drop to close to zero. Finally, we find these results are robust to alternative methods of calculating emissions.

  3. Net Carbon Emissions from Deforestation in Bolivia during 1990-2000 and 2000-2010: Results from a Carbon Bookkeeping Model

    PubMed Central

    Andersen, Lykke E.; Doyle, Anna Sophia; del Granado, Susana; Ledezma, Juan Carlos; Medinaceli, Agnes; Valdivia, Montserrat; Weinhold, Diana

    2016-01-01

    Accurate estimates of global carbon emissions are critical for understanding global warming. This paper estimates net carbon emissions from land use change in Bolivia during the periods 1990–2000 and 2000–2010 using a model that takes into account deforestation, forest degradation, forest regrowth, gradual carbon decomposition and accumulation, as well as heterogeneity in both above ground and below ground carbon contents at the 10 by 10 km grid level. The approach permits detailed maps of net emissions by region and type of land cover. We estimate that net CO2 emissions from land use change in Bolivia increased from about 65 million tons per year during 1990–2000 to about 93 million tons per year during 2000–2010, while CO2 emissions per capita and per unit of GDP have remained fairly stable over the sample period. If we allow for estimated biomass increases in mature forests, net CO2 emissions drop to close to zero. Finally, we find these results are robust to alternative methods of calculating emissions. PMID:26990865

  4. Compliance by Design: Influence of Acceleration Trade-offs on CO2 Emissions and Costs of Fuel Economy and Greenhouse Gas Regulations.

    PubMed

    Whitefoot, Kate S; Fowlie, Meredith L; Skerlos, Steven J

    2017-09-19

    The ability of automakers to improve the fuel economy of vehicles using engineering design modifications that compromise other performance attributes, such as acceleration, is not currently considered when setting fuel economy and greenhouse-gas emission standards for passenger cars and light trucks. We examine the role of these design trade-offs by simulating automaker responses to recently reformed vehicle standards with and without the ability to adjust acceleration performance. Results indicate that acceleration trade-offs can be important in two respects: (1) they can reduce the compliance costs of the standards, and (2) they can significantly reduce emissions associated with a particular level of the standards by mitigating incentives to shift sales toward larger vehicles and light trucks relative to passenger cars. We contrast simulation-based results with observed changes in vehicle attributes under the reformed standards. We find evidence that is consistent with firms using acceleration trade-offs to achieve compliance. Taken together, our analysis suggests that acceleration trade-offs play a role in automaker compliance strategies with potentially large implications for both compliance costs and emissions.

  5. Urban energy consumption and related carbon emission estimation: a study at the sector scale

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Lu, Weiwei; Chen, Chen; Su, Meirong; Chen, Bin; Cai, Yanpeng; Xing, Tao

    2013-12-01

    With rapid economic development and energy consumption growth, China has become the largest energy consumer in the world. Impelled by extensive international concern, there is an urgent need to analyze the characteristics of energy consumption and related carbon emission, with the objective of saving energy, reducing carbon emission, and lessening environmental impact. Focusing on urban ecosystems, the biggest energy consumer, a method for estimating energy consumption and related carbon emission was established at the urban sector scale in this paper. Based on data for 1996-2010, the proposed method was applied to Beijing in a case study to analyze the consumption of different energy resources (i.e., coal, oil, gas, and electricity) and related carbon emission in different sectors (i.e., agriculture, industry, construction, transportation, household, and service sectors). The results showed that coal and oil contributed most to energy consumption and carbon emission among different energy resources during the study period, while the industrial sector consumed the most energy and emitted the most carbon among different sectors. Suggestions were put forward for energy conservation and emission reduction in Beijing. The analysis of energy consumption and related carbon emission at the sector scale is helpful for practical energy saving and emission reduction in urban ecosystems.

  6. Land use efficiency: anticipating future demand for land-sector greenhouse gas emissions abatement and managing trade-offs with agriculture, water, and biodiversity.

    PubMed

    Bryan, Brett A; Crossman, Neville D; Nolan, Martin; Li, Jing; Navarro, Javier; Connor, Jeffery D

    2015-11-01

    Competition for land is increasing, and policy needs to ensure the efficient supply of multiple ecosystem services from land systems. We modelled the spatially explicit potential future supply of ecosystem services in Australia's intensive agricultural land in response to carbon markets under four global outlooks from 2013 to 2050. We assessed the productive efficiency of greenhouse gas emissions abatement, agricultural production, water resources, and biodiversity services and compared these to production possibility frontiers (PPFs). While interacting commodity markets and carbon markets produced efficient outcomes for agricultural production and emissions abatement, more efficient outcomes were possible for water resources and biodiversity services due to weak price signals. However, when only two objectives were considered as per typical efficiency assessments, efficiency improvements involved significant unintended trade-offs for the other objectives and incurred substantial opportunity costs. Considering multiple objectives simultaneously enabled the identification of land use arrangements that were efficient over multiple ecosystem services. Efficient land use arrangements could be selected that meet society's preferences for ecosystem service provision from land by adjusting the metric used to combine multiple services. To effectively manage competition for land via land use efficiency, market incentives are needed that effectively price multiple ecosystem services. © 2015 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  7. State Carbon Dioxide Emissions Data

    EIA Publications

    2017-01-01

    These estimates of energy-related carbon dioxide (CO2) are based on the State Energy Data System. The state data include a summary table with total energy-related CO2 by state beginning in 1990, tables with emissions by all fuels and sectors in 2015, and additional tables for each fuel and sector with history going back to 1980

  8. Trapped between two tails: trading off scientific uncertainties via climate targets

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Lemoine, Derek; McJeon, Haewon C.

    2013-09-01

    Climate change policies must trade off uncertainties about future warming, about the social and ecological impacts of warming, and about the cost of reducing greenhouse gas emissions. We show that laxer carbon targets produce broader distributions for climate damages, skewed towards severe outcomes. However, if potential low-carbon technologies fill overlapping niches, then more stringent carbon targets produce broader distributions for the cost of reducing emissions, skewed towards high-cost outcomes. We use the technology-rich GCAM integrated assessment model to assess the robustness of 450 and 500 ppm carbon targets to each uncertain factor. The 500 ppm target provides net benefits across a broad range of futures. The 450 ppm target provides net benefits only when impacts are greater than conventionally assumed, when multiple technological breakthroughs lower the cost of abatement, or when evaluated with a low discount rate. Policy evaluations are more sensitive to uncertainty about abatement technology and impacts than to uncertainty about warming.

  9. Trapped Between Two Tails: Trading Off Scientific Uncertainties via Climate Targets

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Lemoine, Derek M.; McJeon, Haewon C.

    2013-08-20

    Climate change policies must trade off uncertainties about future warming, about the social and ecological impacts of warming, and about the cost of reducing greenhouse gas emissions. We show that laxer carbon targets produce broader distributions for climate damages, skewed towards severe outcomes. However, if potential low-carbon technologies fill overlapping niches, then more stringent carbon targets produce broader distributions for the cost of reducing emissions, skewed towards high-cost outcomes. We use the technology- rich GCAM integrated assessment model to assess the robustness of 450 ppm and 500 ppm carbon targets to each uncertain factor. The 500 ppm target provides netmore » benefits across a broad range of futures. The 450 ppm target provides net benefits only when impacts are greater than conventionally assumed, when multiple technological breakthroughs lower the cost of abatement, or when evaluated with a low discount rate. Policy evaluations are more sensitive to uncertainty about abatement technology and impacts than to uncertainty about warming.« less

  10. The Hestia Project: High Spatial Resolution Fossil Fuel Carbon Dioxide Emissions Quantification at Hourly Scale in Indianapolis, USA

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Zhou, Y.; Gurney, K. R.

    2009-12-01

    In order to advance the scientific understanding of carbon exchange with the land surface and contribute to sound, quantitatively-based U.S. climate change policy interests, quantification of greenhouse gases emissions drivers at fine spatial and temporal scales is essential. Quantification of fossil fuel CO2 emissions, the primary greenhouse gases, has become a key component to cost-effective CO2 emissions mitigation options and a carbon trading system. Called the ‘Hestia Project’, this pilot study generated CO2 emissions down to high spatial resolution and hourly scale for the greater Indianapolis region in the USA through the use of air quality and traffic monitoring data, remote sensing, GIS, and building energy modeling. The CO2 emissions were constructed from three data source categories: area, point, and mobile. For the area source emissions, we developed an energy consumption model using DOE/EIA survey data on building characteristics and energy consumption. With the Vulcan Project’s county-level CO2 emissions and simulated building energy consumption, we quantified the CO2 emissions for each individual building by allocating Vulcan emissions to roughly 50,000 structures in Indianapolis. The temporal pattern of CO2 emissions in each individual building was developed based on temporal patterns of energy consumption. The point sources emissions were derived from the EPA National Emissions Inventory data and effluent monitoring of electricity producing facilities. The mobile source CO2 emissions were estimated at the month/county scale using the Mobile6 combustion model and the National Mobile Inventory Model database. The month/county scale mobile source CO2 emissions were downscaled to the “native” spatial resolution of road segments every hour using a GIS road atlas and traffic monitoring data. The result is shown in Figure 1. The resulting urban-scale inventory can serve as a baseline of current CO2 emissions and should be of immediate use to

  11. Spatiotemporal Changes of Built-Up Land Expansion and Carbon Emissions Caused by the Chinese Construction Industry.

    PubMed

    Chuai, Xiaowei; Huang, Xianjin; Lu, Qinli; Zhang, Mei; Zhao, Rongqin; Lu, Junyu

    2015-11-03

    China is undergoing rapid urbanization, enlarging the construction industry, greatly expanding built-up land, and generating substantial carbon emissions. We calculated both the direct and indirect carbon emissions from energy consumption (anthropogenic emissions) in the construction sector and analyzed built-up land expansion and carbon storage losses from the terrestrial ecosystem. According to our study, the total anthropogenic carbon emissions from the construction sector increased from 3,905×10(4) to 103,721.17×10(4) t from 1995 to 2010, representing 27.87%-34.31% of the total carbon emissions from energy consumption in China. Indirect carbon emissions from other industrial sectors induced by the construction sector represented approximately 97% of the total anthropogenic carbon emissions of the sector. These emissions were mainly concentrated in seven upstream industry sectors. Based on our assumptions, built-up land expansion caused 3704.84×10(4) t of carbon storage loss from vegetation between 1995 and 2010. Cropland was the main built-up land expansion type across all regions. The study shows great regional differences. Coastal regions showed dramatic built-up land expansion, greater carbon storage losses from vegetation, and greater anthropogenic carbon emissions. These regional differences were the most obvious in East China followed by Midsouth China. These regions are under pressure for strong carbon emissions reduction.

  12. Managing carbon emissions in China through building energy efficiency.

    PubMed

    Li, Jun; Colombier, Michel

    2009-06-01

    This paper attempts to analyse the role of building energy efficiency (BEE) in China in addressing climate change mitigation. It provides an analysis of the current situation and future prospects for the adoption of BEE technologies in Chinese cities. It outlines the economic and institutional barriers to large-scale deployment of the sustainable, low-carbon, and even carbon-free construction techniques. Based on a comprehensive overview of energy demand characteristics and development trends driven by economic and demographic growth, different policy tools for cost-effective CO(2) emission reduction in the Chinese construction sector are described. We propose a comprehensive approach combining building design and construction, and the urban planning and building material industries, in order to drastically improve BEE during this period of rapid urban development. A coherent institutional framework needs to be established to ensure the implementation of efficiency policies. Regulatory and incentive options should be integrated into the policy portfolios of BEE to minimise the efficiency gap and to realise sizeable carbon emissions cuts in the next decades. We analyse in detail several policies and instruments, and formulate relevant policy proposals fostering low-carbon construction technology in China. Specifically, Our analysis shows that improving building energy efficiency can generate considerable carbon emissions reduction credits with competitive price under the CDM framework.

  13. Disproportionality in Power Plants’ Carbon Emissions: A Cross-National Study

    PubMed Central

    Jorgenson, Andrew; Longhofer, Wesley; Grant, Don

    2016-01-01

    Past research on the disproportionality of pollution suggests a small subset of a sector’s facilities often produces the lion’s share of toxic emissions. Here we extend this idea to the world’s electricity sectors by calculating national-level disproportionality Gini coefficients for plant-level carbon emissions in 161 nations based on data from 19,941 fossil-fuel burning power plants. We also evaluate if disproportionalities in plant-level emissions are associated with increased national carbon emissions from fossil-fuel based electricity production, while accounting for other well-established human drivers of greenhouse gas emissions. Results suggest that one potential pathway to decreasing nations’ greenhouse gas emissions could involve reducing disproportionality among fossil-fuel power plants by targeting those plants in the upper end of the distribution that burn fuels more inefficiently to produce electricity. PMID:27363677

  14. Managing Risk Aversion for Low-Carbon Supply Chains with Emission Abatement Outsourcing.

    PubMed

    Wang, Qinpeng; He, Longfei

    2018-02-21

    Reducing carbon emissions, including emission abatement outsourcing at the supply-chain level, is becoming a significant but challenging problem in practice. Confronting this challenge, we therefore break down the practice to focus on a low-carbon supply chain consisting of one supplier, one manufacturer and one third-party emission-reducing contractor. The contractor offers a carbon reduction service to the manufacturer. In view of the increasing proportion of Greenhouse Gases (GHG) emissions and absence of carbon reduction policies in developing countries, we adopt the prospect of consumers' low-carbon preferences to capture the demand sensitivity on carbon emission. By exploiting the Mean-Variance (MV) model, we develop a supply chain game model considering risk aversion. Comparing the supply chain performances of the cases under risk neutrality and risk aversion, we investigate the impact of the risk aversion of the supplier and the manufacturer on the low-carbon supply chain performances, respectively. We show that the risk aversion of chain members will not influence the relationship underlain by the profit-sharing contract between the manufacturer and contractor, whereas they may extend the supplier's concerning range. Although the manufacturer's risk aversion has a positive impact on the wholesale price, interestingly, the supplier's impact on the wholesale price is negative. Furthermore, we propose a contract to coordinate the risk-averse low-carbon supply chain by tuning the aversion levels of the supplier and the manufacturer, respectively. Through numerical study, we draw on managerial insights for industrial practitioners to adopt a low carbon strategy potentially by managing the risk attitudes along the supply chain channel.

  15. A Global Emission Inventory of Black Carbon and Primary Organic Carbon from Fossil-Fuel and Biofuel Combustion

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Bond, T. C.; Streets, D. G.; Nelson, S. M.

    2001-12-01

    Regional and global climate models rely on emission inventories of black carbon and organic carbon to determine the climatic effects of primary particulate matter (PM) from combustion. The emission of primary carbonaceous particles is highly dependent on fuel type and combustion practice. Therefore, simple categories such as "domestic" or "industrial" combustion are not sufficient to quantify emissions, and the black-carbon and organic-carbon fractions of PM vary with combustion type. We present a global inventory of primary carbonaceous particles that improves on previous "bottom-up" tabulations (e.g. \\textit{Cooke et al.,} 1999) by considering approximately 100 technologies, each representing one combination of fuel, combustion type, and emission controls. For fossil-fuel combustion, we include several categories not found in previous inventories, including "superemitting" and two-stroke vehicles, steel-making. We also include emissions from waste burning and biofuels used for heating and cooking. Open biomass burning is not included. Fuel use, drawn from International Energy Agency (IEA) and United Nations (UN) data, is divided into technologies on a regional basis. We suggest that emissions in developing countries are better characterized by including high-emitting technologies than by invoking emission multipliers. Due to lack of information on emission factors and technologies in use, uncertainties are high. We estimate central values and uncertainties by combining the range of emission factors found in the literature with reasonable estimates of technology divisions. We provide regional totals of central, low and high estimates, identify the sources of greatest uncertainty to be targeted for future work, and compare our results with previous emission inventories. Both central estimates and uncertainties are given on a 1\\deg x1\\deg grid. As we have reported previously for the case of China (\\textit{Streets et al.,} 2001), low-technology combustion

  16. Global demographic trends and future carbon emissions.

    PubMed

    O'Neill, Brian C; Dalton, Michael; Fuchs, Regina; Jiang, Leiwen; Pachauri, Shonali; Zigova, Katarina

    2010-10-12

    Substantial changes in population size, age structure, and urbanization are expected in many parts of the world this century. Although such changes can affect energy use and greenhouse gas emissions, emissions scenario analyses have either left them out or treated them in a fragmentary or overly simplified manner. We carry out a comprehensive assessment of the implications of demographic change for global emissions of carbon dioxide. Using an energy-economic growth model that accounts for a range of demographic dynamics, we show that slowing population growth could provide 16-29% of the emissions reductions suggested to be necessary by 2050 to avoid dangerous climate change. We also find that aging and urbanization can substantially influence emissions in particular world regions.

  17. Reducing energy consumption and carbon emissions of magnesia refractory products: A life-cycle perspective

    DOE PAGES

    An, Jing; Li, Yingnan; Middleton, Richard S.

    2018-02-20

    China is the largest producer of magnesia refractory materials and products in the world, resulting in significant energy consumption and carbon emissions. This paper analyzes measures to reduce both the energy consumption and carbon emissions in the production phase and use phase, providing a theoretical basis for a sustainable magnesia refractory industry. Results show that the total carbon emissions of carbon-containing magnesia bricks produced with fused magnesia are much higher than those of other products, and the total carbon emissions of both general magnesia brick and magnesia-carbon spray are lower than those of other products. Carbon emissions of magnesia productsmore » are mainly concentrated in the production process of magnesia. Manufacturers should select materials with lower environmental impacts and emphasize saving energy and reducing carbon emissions in the magnesia production process. Through scenario analysis we found that CO 2 capture is an effective measure to reduce carbon emissions compared with just improving energy consumption. However, a robust CO 2 market does not currently exist. Policy makers should plan on integrating CO 2 capture in the magnesia industry into a regional CO 2 capture and storage development planning in the long term. In particular, magnesia production is concentrated in a single geographical area which would and thus could take advantage of significant scale effects. Finally, in the use phase, extending the service lifetime reduces carbon emissions over the product lifetime, thus users should attempt to extend the service lifetime of a furnace as a whole. However, results show that it is not advisable to add a large number of repair refractories to extend the lifetime of existing furnaces.« less

  18. Reducing energy consumption and carbon emissions of magnesia refractory products: A life-cycle perspective

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    An, Jing; Li, Yingnan; Middleton, Richard S.

    China is the largest producer of magnesia refractory materials and products in the world, resulting in significant energy consumption and carbon emissions. This paper analyzes measures to reduce both the energy consumption and carbon emissions in the production phase and use phase, providing a theoretical basis for a sustainable magnesia refractory industry. Results show that the total carbon emissions of carbon-containing magnesia bricks produced with fused magnesia are much higher than those of other products, and the total carbon emissions of both general magnesia brick and magnesia-carbon spray are lower than those of other products. Carbon emissions of magnesia productsmore » are mainly concentrated in the production process of magnesia. Manufacturers should select materials with lower environmental impacts and emphasize saving energy and reducing carbon emissions in the magnesia production process. Through scenario analysis we found that CO 2 capture is an effective measure to reduce carbon emissions compared with just improving energy consumption. However, a robust CO 2 market does not currently exist. Policy makers should plan on integrating CO 2 capture in the magnesia industry into a regional CO 2 capture and storage development planning in the long term. In particular, magnesia production is concentrated in a single geographical area which would and thus could take advantage of significant scale effects. Finally, in the use phase, extending the service lifetime reduces carbon emissions over the product lifetime, thus users should attempt to extend the service lifetime of a furnace as a whole. However, results show that it is not advisable to add a large number of repair refractories to extend the lifetime of existing furnaces.« less

  19. Discussion of Carbon Emissions for Charging Hot Metal in EAF Steelmaking Process

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Yang, Ling-zhi; Jiang, Tao; Li, Guang-hui; Guo, Yu-feng

    2017-07-01

    As the cost of hot metal is reduced for iron ore prices are falling in the international market, more and more electric arc furnace (EAF) steelmaking enterprises use partial hot metal instead of scrap as raw materials to reduce costs and the power consumption. In this paper, carbon emissions based on 1,000 kg molten steel by charging hot metal in EAF steelmaking is studied. Based on the analysis of material and energy balance calculation in EAF, the results show that 146.9, 142.2, 137.0, and 130.8 kg/t of carbon emissions are produced at a hot metal ratio of 0 %, 30 %, 50 %, and 70 %, while 143.4, 98.5, 65.81, and 31.5 kg/t of carbon emissions are produced at a hot metal ratio of 0 %, 30 %, 50 %, and 70 % by using gas waste heat utilization (coal gas production) for EAF steelmaking unit process. However, carbon emissions are increased by charging hot metal for the whole blast furnace-electric arc furnace (BF-EAF) steelmaking process. In the condition that the hot metal produced by BF is surplus, as carbon monoxide in gas increased by charging hot metal, the way of coal gas production can be used for waste heat utilization, which reduces carbon emissions in EAF steelmaking unit process.

  20. Global reverse supply chain design for solid waste recycling under uncertainties and carbon emission constraint.

    PubMed

    Xu, Zhitao; Elomri, Adel; Pokharel, Shaligram; Zhang, Qin; Ming, X G; Liu, Wenjie

    2017-06-01

    The emergence of concerns over environmental protection, resource conservation as well as the development of logistics operations and manufacturing technology has led several countries to implement formal collection and recycling systems of solid waste. Such recycling system has the benefits of reducing environmental pollution, boosting the economy by creating new jobs, and generating income from trading the recyclable materials. This leads to the formation of a global reverse supply chain (GRSC) of solid waste. In this paper, we investigate the design of such a GRSC with a special emphasis on three aspects; (1) uncertainty of waste collection levels, (2) associated carbon emissions, and (3) challenges posed by the supply chain's global aspect, particularly the maritime transportation costs and currency exchange rates. To the best of our knowledge, this paper is the first attempt to integrate the three above-mentioned important aspects in the design of a GRSC. We have used mixed integer-linear programming method along with robust optimization to develop the model which is validated using a sample case study of e-waste management. Our results show that using a robust model by taking the complex interactions characterizing global reverse supply chain networks into account, we can create a better GRSC. The effect of uncertainties and carbon constraints on decisions to reduce costs and emissions are also shown. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  1. Urban Household Carbon Emission and Contributing Factors in the Yangtze River Delta, China

    PubMed Central

    Xu, Xibao; Tan, Yan; Chen, Shuang; Yang, Guishan; Su, Weizhong

    2015-01-01

    Carbon reduction at the household level is an integral part of carbon mitigation. This study analyses the characteristics, effects, contributing factors and policies for urban household carbon emissions in the Yangtze River Delta of China. Primary data was collected through structured questionnaire surveys in three cities in the region – Nanjing, Ningbo, and Changzhou in 2011. The survey data was first used to estimate the magnitude of household carbon emissions in different urban contexts. It then examined how, and to what extent, each set of demographic, economic, behavioral/cognitive and spatial factors influence carbon emissions at the household level. The average of urban household carbon emissions in the region was estimated to be 5.96 tonnes CO2 in 2010. Energy consumption, daily commuting, garbage disposal and long-distance travel accounted for 51.2%, 21.3%, 16.0% and 11.5% of the total emission, respectively. Regulating rapidly growing car-holdings of urban households, stabilizing population growth, and transiting residents’ low-carbon awareness to household behavior in energy saving and other spheres of consumption in the context of rapid population aging and the growing middle income class are suggested as critical measures for carbon mitigation among urban households in the Yangtze River Delta. PMID:25884853

  2. Consideration of black carbon and primary organic carbon emissions in life-cycle analysis of Greenhouse gas emissions of vehicle systems and fuels.

    PubMed

    Cai, Hao; Wang, Michael Q

    2014-10-21

    The climate impact assessment of vehicle/fuel systems may be incomplete without considering short-lived climate forcers of black carbon (BC) and primary organic carbon (POC). We quantified life-cycle BC and POC emissions of a large variety of vehicle/fuel systems with an expanded Greenhouse gases, Regulated Emissions, and Energy use in Transportation model developed at Argonne National Laboratory. Life-cycle BC and POC emissions have small impacts on life-cycle greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of gasoline, diesel, and other fuel vehicles, but would add 34, 16, and 16 g CO2 equivalent (CO2e)/mile, or 125, 56, and 56 g CO2e/mile with the 100 or 20 year Global Warming Potentials of BC and POC emissions, respectively, for vehicles fueled with corn stover-, willow tree-, and Brazilian sugarcane-derived ethanol, mostly due to BC- and POC-intensive biomass-fired boilers in cellulosic and sugarcane ethanol plants for steam and electricity production, biomass open burning in sugarcane fields, and diesel-powered agricultural equipment for biomass feedstock production/harvest. As a result, life-cycle GHG emission reduction potentials of these ethanol types, though still significant, are reduced from those without considering BC and POC emissions. These findings, together with a newly expanded GREET version, help quantify the previously unknown impacts of BC and POC emissions on life-cycle GHG emissions of U.S. vehicle/fuel systems.

  3. 78 FR 55057 - Authority To Manufacture Carbon Fiber for the U.S. Market Not Approved; Foreign-Trade Subzone...

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2013-09-09

    ... behalf of Toho Tenax America, Inc. (TTA), to manufacture carbon fiber under zone procedures for the U.S... approve the application requesting authority to manufacture carbon fiber for the U.S. market under zone... DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE Foreign-Trade Zones Board [Order No. 1914] Authority To Manufacture Carbon...

  4. Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, elemental and organic carbon emissions from tire-wear.

    PubMed

    Aatmeeyata; Sharma, Mukesh

    2010-09-15

    Tire-wear is an important source of PAHs, elemental carbon (EC) and organic carbon (OC). The emissions of these pollutants have been studied in an experimental set-up, simulating a realistic road-tire interaction (summer tire-concrete road). The large particle non-exhaust emissions (LPNE; diameter greater than 10 microm) have been evaluated over 14,500 km run of the tire. An increasing linear trend with cumulative km run was observed for emissions of PAHs and carbon. Amongst PAHs in LPNE, pyrene has been observed to be the highest (30+/-4 mg kg(-1)) followed by benzo[ghi]perylene (17+/-2 mg kg(-1)). Different fractions of EC-OC for tire-wear have been analyzed, and unlike exhaust emissions, EC1 was observed to be 99% of EC whereas more than 70% of the OC was the high temperature carbon (OC3 and OC4). The overall emission factors (mass tire(-1) km(-1)) for PAHs, EC and OC from tire-wear are 378 ng tire(-1) km(-1), 1.46 mg tire(-1) km(-1) and 2.37 mg tire(-1) km(-1) for small cars. Copyright 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  5. Demographic change and carbon dioxide emissions.

    PubMed

    O'Neill, Brian C; Liddle, Brant; Jiang, Leiwen; Smith, Kirk R; Pachauri, Shonali; Dalton, Michael; Fuchs, Regina

    2012-07-14

    Relations between demographic change and emissions of the major greenhouse gas carbon dioxide (CO(2)) have been studied from different perspectives, but most projections of future emissions only partly take demographic influences into account. We review two types of evidence for how CO(2) emissions from the use of fossil fuels are affected by demographic factors such as population growth or decline, ageing, urbanisation, and changes in household size. First, empirical analyses of historical trends tend to show that CO(2) emissions from energy use respond almost proportionately to changes in population size and that ageing and urbanisation have less than proportional but statistically significant effects. Second, scenario analyses show that alternative population growth paths could have substantial effects on global emissions of CO(2) several decades from now, and that ageing and urbanisation can have important effects in particular world regions. These results imply that policies that slow population growth would probably also have climate-related benefits. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  6. Research on impacts of population-related factors on carbon emissions in Beijing from 1984 to 2012

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Yang, Yayun; Zhao, Tao; Wang, Yanan, E-mail: wyn3615@126.com

    Carbon emissions related to population factors have aroused great attention around the world. A multitude of literature mainly focused on single demographic impacts on environmental issues at the national level, and comprehensive studies concerning population-related factors at a city level are rare. This paper employed STIRPAT (Stochastic Impacts by Regression on Population, Affluence and Technology) model incorporating PLS (Partial least squares) regression method to examine the influence of population-related factors on carbon emissions in Beijing from 1984 to 2012. Empirically results manifest that urbanization is the paramount driver. Changes in population age structure have significantly positive impacts on carbon emissions,more » and shrinking young population, continuous expansion of working age population and aging population will keep on increasing environmental pressures. Meanwhile, shrinking household size and expanding floating population boost the discharge of carbon emissions. Besides, per capita consumption is an important contributor of carbon emissions, while industry energy intensity is the main inhibitory factor. Based upon these findings and the specific circumstances of Beijing, policies such as promoting clean and renewable energy, improving population quality and advocating low carbon lifestyles should be enhanced to achieve targeted emissions reductions. - Highlights: • We employed the STIRPAT model to identify population-related factors of carbon emissions in Beijing. • Urbanization is the paramount driver of carbon emissions. • Changes in population age structure exert significantly positive impacts on carbon emissions. • Shrinking household size, expanding floating population and improving consumption level increase carbon emissions. • Industry energy intensity decreases carbon emissions.« less

  7. Daily black carbon emissions from fires in northern Eurasia for 2002-2015

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Hao, Wei Min; Petkov, Alexander; Nordgren, Bryce L.; Corley, Rachel E.; Silverstein, Robin P.; Urbanski, Shawn P.; Evangeliou, Nikolaos; Balkanski, Yves; Kinder, Bradley L.

    2016-12-01

    Black carbon (BC) emitted from fires in northern Eurasia is transported and deposited on ice and snow in the Arctic and can accelerate its melting during certain times of the year. Thus, we developed a high spatial resolution (500 m × 500 m) dataset to examine daily BC emissions from fires in this region for 2002-2015. Black carbon emissions were estimated based on MODIS (Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer) land cover maps and detected burned areas, the Forest Inventory Survey of the Russian Federation, the International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Tier-1 Global Biomass Carbon Map for the year 2000, and vegetation specific BC emission factors. Annual BC emissions from northern Eurasian fires varied greatly, ranging from 0.39 Tg in 2010 to 1.82 Tg in 2015, with an average of 0.71 ± 0.37 Tg from 2002 to 2015. During the 14-year period, BC emissions from forest fires accounted for about two-thirds of the emissions, followed by grassland fires (18 %). Russia dominated the BC emissions from forest fires (92 %) and central and western Asia was the major region for BC emissions from grassland fires (54 %). Overall, Russia contributed 80 % of the total BC emissions from fires in northern Eurasia. Black carbon emissions were the highest in the years 2003, 2008, and 2012. Approximately 58 % of the BC emissions from fires occurred in spring, 31 % in summer, and 10 % in fall. The high emissions in spring also coincide with the most intense period of ice and snow melting in the Arctic.

  8. Reducing black carbon emissions from diesel vehicles in Russia: An assessment and policy recommendations

    DOE PAGES

    Kholod, Nazar; Evans, Meredydd

    2015-11-13

    This article assesses options and challenges of reducing black carbon emissions from diesel vehicles in Russia. Black carbon is a product of incomplete diesel combustion and is a component of fine particulate matter. Particulate matter emissions have adverse health impacts, causing cardiopulmonary disease and lung cancer; black carbon is also a large climate forcer. Black carbon emissions from Russian diesel sources affect not only the Russian territory but also contribute to overall pollution. Here, this paper analyzes current ecological standards for vehicles and fuel, evaluates policies for emission reductions from existing diesel vehicle fleet, and assesses Russia’s attempts to encouragemore » the use of natural gas as a vehicle fuel. Based on best practices of black carbon emission reductions, this paper provides a number of policy recommendations for Russia.« less

  9. Reducing black carbon emissions from diesel vehicles in Russia: An assessment and policy recommendations

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Kholod, Nazar; Evans, Meredydd

    This article assesses options and challenges of reducing black carbon emissions from diesel vehicles in Russia. Black carbon is a product of incomplete diesel combustion and is a component of fine particulate matter. Particulate matter emissions have adverse health impacts, causing cardiopulmonary disease and lung cancer; black carbon is also a large climate forcer. Black carbon emissions from Russian diesel sources affect not only the Russian territory but also contribute to overall pollution. Here, this paper analyzes current ecological standards for vehicles and fuel, evaluates policies for emission reductions from existing diesel vehicle fleet, and assesses Russia’s attempts to encouragemore » the use of natural gas as a vehicle fuel. Based on best practices of black carbon emission reductions, this paper provides a number of policy recommendations for Russia.« less

  10. The role of carbon dioxide in ammonia emission from manure

    USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

    Ammonia emission from manure is a significant loss of fixed N from agricultural systems, and contributes to air pollution and ecosystem degradation. Despite the development of numerous mathematical models for predicting ammonia emission, the interactions between carbon dioxide emission, manure pH, a...

  11. Potential biodiversity benefits from international programs to reduce carbon emissions from deforestation.

    PubMed

    Siikamäki, Juha; Newbold, Stephen C

    2012-01-01

    Deforestation is the second largest anthropogenic source of carbon dioxide emissions and options for its reduction are integral to climate policy. In addition to providing potentially low cost and near-term options for reducing global carbon emissions, reducing deforestation also could support biodiversity conservation. However, current understanding of the potential benefits to biodiversity from forest carbon offset programs is limited. We compile spatial data on global forest carbon, biodiversity, deforestation rates, and the opportunity cost of land to examine biodiversity conservation benefits from an international program to reduce carbon emissions from deforestation. Our results indicate limited geographic overlap between the least-cost areas for retaining forest carbon and protecting biodiversity. Therefore, carbon-focused policies will likely generate substantially lower benefits to biodiversity than a more biodiversity-focused policy could achieve. These results highlight the need to systematically consider co-benefits, such as biodiversity in the design and implementation of forest conservation programs to support international climate policy.

  12. Carbon stocks of intact mangroves and carbon emissions arising from their conversion in the Dominican Republic.

    PubMed

    Kauffman, J Boone; Heider, Chris; Norfolk, Jennifer; Payton, Frederick

    2014-04-01

    Mangroves are recognized to possess a variety of ecosystem services including high rates of carbon sequestration and storage. Deforestation and conversion of these ecosystems continue to be high and have been predicted to result in significant carbon emissions to the atmosphere. Yet few studies have quantified the carbon stocks or losses associated with conversion of these ecosystems. In this study we quantified the ecosystem carbon stocks of three common mangrove types of the Caribbean as well as those of abandoned shrimp ponds in areas formerly occupied by mangrove-a common land-use conversion of mangroves throughout the world. In the mangroves of the Montecristi Province in Northwest Dominican Republic we found C stocks ranged from 706 to 1131 Mg/ha. The medium-statured mangroves (3-10 m in height) had the highest C stocks while the tall (> 10 m) mangroves had the lowest ecosystem carbon storage. Carbon stocks of the low mangrove (shrub) type (< 3 m) were relatively high due to the presence of carbon-rich soils as deep as 2 m. Carbon stocks of abandoned shrimp ponds were 95 Mg/ha or approximately 11% that of the mangroves. Using a stock-change approach, the potential emissions from the conversion of mangroves to shrimp ponds ranged from 2244 to 3799 Mg CO2e/ha (CO2 equivalents). This is among the largest measured C emissions from land use in the tropics. The 6260 ha of mangroves and converted mangroves in the Montecristi Province are estimated to contain 3,841,490 Mg of C. Mangroves represented 76% of this area but currently store 97% of the carbon in this coastal wetland (3,696,722 Mg C). Converted lands store only 4% of the total ecosystem C (144,778 Mg C) while they comprised 24% of the area. By these metrics the replacement of mangroves with shrimp and salt ponds has resulted in estimated emissions from this region totaling 3.8 million Mg CO2e or approximately 21% of the total C prior to conversion. Given the high C stocks of mangroves, the high emissions

  13. Climate effects of reducing black carbon emissions: Dependence on location of emission

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Fuglestvedt, J.; Berntsen, T.; Myhre, G.; Rive, N. A.; Rypdal, K.; Gerland, S.; Pedersen, C.; Strøm, J.

    2006-12-01

    The role played by emissions of black carbon aerosols (BC) on the Earth's climate is diverse and the overall effect is still quite uncertain: Black carbon not only absorbs sunlight (direct effect), but it also has a semi- direct effect on clouds, and when deposited on snow and ice it changes the reflectivity (albedo) of the ground surface. These mechanisms generally have a warming effect on the climate. This poster presents a Norwegian project that focus on the net effect of current BC emissions and future possible reductions in emissions of BC aerosols, taking into account scientific, economic, and political perspectives on the inclusion of BC in climate policies. Thus, the scope of the project is interdisciplinary and includes observations in the Arctic, model simulations of dispersion of BC aerosols, its radiative forcing and climate effects. Some initial results from measurements of BC content in snow from the Norwegian Arctic and corresponding measurements for surface reflectance will be presented. The radiative forcing of BC emissions from different geographical regions differs due to differences in the removal processes (i.e. the lifetime) and the amount of solar radiation available for absorption (depends on latitude, clouds, and surface albedo). The atmospheric burdens and RF (of the direct effect) of regional BC emissions from fossil fuel sources have been calculated by the global chemical transport model Oslo-CTM2 and a radiative transfer model, and first results of time-integrated RF per unit of emission (equivalent to absolute GWPs) are presented. Future plans including i) analysis of cost effective emission reduction strategies, taking into account regional differences the forcing efficiencies, but also cost estimates for BC reductions in the different regions, and ii) an evaluation of the climate effects of the emission reductions through model simulations, including climatic, economic and political perspectives exploring obstacles and opportunities

  14. Policy Attribute Framing: A Comparison between Three Policy Instruments for Personal Emissions Reduction

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Parag, Yael; Capstick, Stuart; Poortinga, Wouter

    2011-01-01

    A comparative experiment in the UK examined people's willingness to change energy consumption behavior under three different policy framings: energy tax, carbon tax, and personal carbon allowances (PCA). PCA is a downstream cap-and-trade policy proposed in the UK, in which emission rights are allocated to individuals. We hypothesized that due to…

  15. Managing Risk Aversion for Low-Carbon Supply Chains with Emission Abatement Outsourcing

    PubMed Central

    Wang, Qinpeng; He, Longfei

    2018-01-01

    Reducing carbon emissions, including emission abatement outsourcing at the supply-chain level, is becoming a significant but challenging problem in practice. Confronting this challenge, we therefore break down the practice to focus on a low-carbon supply chain consisting of one supplier, one manufacturer and one third-party emission-reducing contractor. The contractor offers a carbon reduction service to the manufacturer. In view of the increasing proportion of Greenhouse Gases (GHG) emissions and absence of carbon reduction policies in developing countries, we adopt the prospect of consumers’ low-carbon preferences to capture the demand sensitivity on carbon emission. By exploiting the Mean-Variance (MV) model, we develop a supply chain game model considering risk aversion. Comparing the supply chain performances of the cases under risk neutrality and risk aversion, we investigate the impact of the risk aversion of the supplier and the manufacturer on the low-carbon supply chain performances, respectively. We show that the risk aversion of chain members will not influence the relationship underlain by the profit-sharing contract between the manufacturer and contractor, whereas they may extend the supplier’s concerning range. Although the manufacturer’s risk aversion has a positive impact on the wholesale price, interestingly, the supplier’s impact on the wholesale price is negative. Furthermore, we propose a contract to coordinate the risk-averse low-carbon supply chain by tuning the aversion levels of the supplier and the manufacturer, respectively. Through numerical study, we draw on managerial insights for industrial practitioners to adopt a low carbon strategy potentially by managing the risk attitudes along the supply chain channel. PMID:29466281

  16. Field emission characteristics of a small number of carbon fiber emitters

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Tang, Wilkin W.; Shiffler, Donald A.; Harris, John R.; Jensen, Kevin L.; Golby, Ken; LaCour, Matthew; Knowles, Tim

    2016-09-01

    This paper reports an experiment that studies the emission characteristics of small number of field emitters. The experiment consists of nine carbon fibers in a square configuration. Experimental results show that the emission characteristics depend strongly on the separation between each emitter, providing evidence of the electric field screening effects. Our results indicate that as the separation between the emitters decreases, the emission current for a given voltage also decreases. The authors compare the experimental results to four carbon fiber emitters in a linear and square configurations as well as to two carbon fiber emitters in a paired array. Voltage-current traces show that the turn-on voltage is always larger for the nine carbon fiber emitters as compared to the two and four emitters in linear configurations, and approximately identical to the four emitters in a square configuration. The observations and analysis reported here, based on Fowler-Nordheim field emission theory, suggest the electric field screening effect depends critically on the number of emitters, the separation between them, and their overall geometric configuration.

  17. Sunlight-induced carbon dioxide emissions from inland waters

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Koehler, Birgit; Landelius, Tomas; Weyhenmeyer, Gesa A.; Machida, Nanako; Tranvik, Lars J.

    2014-07-01

    The emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) from inland waters are substantial on a global scale. Yet the fundamental question remains open which proportion of these CO2 emissions is induced by sunlight via photochemical mineralization of dissolved organic carbon (DOC), rather than by microbial respiration during DOC decomposition. Also, it is unknown on larger spatial and temporal scales how photochemical mineralization compares to other C fluxes in the inland water C cycle. We combined field and laboratory data with atmospheric radiative transfer modeling to parameterize a photochemical rate model for each day of the year 2009, for 1086 lakes situated between latitudes from 55°N to 69°N in Sweden. The sunlight-induced production of dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) averaged 3.8 ± 0.04 g C m-2 yr-1, which is a flux comparable in size to the organic carbon burial in the lake sediments. Countrywide, 151 ± 1 kt C yr-1 was produced by photochemical mineralization, corresponding to about 12% of total annual mean CO2 emissions from Swedish lakes. With a median depth of 3.2 m, the lakes were generally deep enough that incoming, photochemically active photons were absorbed in the water column. This resulted in a linear positive relationship between DIC photoproduction and the incoming photon flux, which corresponds to the absorbed photons. Therefore, the slope of the regression line represents the wavelength- and depth-integrated apparent quantum yield of DIC photoproduction. We used this relationship to obtain a first estimate of DIC photoproduction in lakes and reservoirs worldwide. Global DIC photoproduction amounted to 13 and 35 Mt C yr-1 under overcast and clear sky, respectively. Consequently, these directly sunlight-induced CO2 emissions contribute up to about one tenth to the global CO2 emissions from lakes and reservoirs, corroborating that microbial respiration contributes a substantially larger share than formerly thought, and generate annual C fluxes similar in

  18. Carbon emissions from spring 1998 fires in tropical Mexico

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Cairns, M.A.; Hao, W.M.; Alvarado, E.

    1999-04-01

    The authors used NOAA-AVHRR satellite imagery, biomass density maps, fuel consumption estimates, and a carbon emission factor to estimate the total carbon (C) emissions from the Spring 1998 fires in tropical Mexico. All eight states in southeast Mexico were affected by the wildfires, although the activity was concentrated near the common border of Oaxaca, Chiapas, and Veracruz. The fires burned approximately 482,000 ha and the land use/land cover classes most extensively impacted were the tall/medium selvas (tropical evergreen forests), open/fragmented forests, and perturbed areas. The total prompt emissions were 4.6 TgC during the two-month period of the authors` study, contributingmore » an additional 24% to the region`s average annual net C emissions from forestry and land-use change. Mexico in 1998 experienced its driest Spring since 1941, setting the stage for the widespread burning.« less

  19. Biomass Burning Emissions of Black Carbon from African Sources

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Aiken, A. C.; Leone, O.; Nitschke, K. L.; Dubey, M. K.; Carrico, C.; Springston, S. R.; Sedlacek, A. J., III; Watson, T. B.; Kuang, C.; Uin, J.; McMeeking, G. R.; DeMott, P. J.; Kreidenweis, S. M.; Robinson, A. L.; Yokelson, R. J.; Zuidema, P.

    2016-12-01

    Biomass burning (BB) emissions are a large source of carbon to the atmosphere via particles and gas phase species. Carbonaceous aerosols are emitted along with gas-phase carbon monoxide (CO) and carbon dioxide (CO2) that can be used to determine particulate emission ratios and modified combustion efficiencies. Black carbon (BC) aerosols are potentially underestimated in global models and are considered to be one of the most important global warming factors behind CO2. Half or more BC in the atmosphere is from BB, estimated at 6-9 Tg/yr (IPCC, 5AR) and contributing up to 0.6 W/m2 atmospheric warming (Bond et al., 2013). With a potential rise in drought and extreme events in the future due to climate change, these numbers are expected to increase. For this reason, we focus on BC and organic carbon aerosol species that are emitted from forest fires and compare their emission ratios, physical and optical properties to those from controlled laboratory studies of single-source BB fuels to understand BB carbonaceous aerosols in the atmosphere. We investigate BC in concentrated BB plumes as sampled from the new U.S. DOE ARM Program campaign, Layered Atlantic Smoke Interactions with Clouds (LASIC). The ARM Aerosol Mobile Facility 1 (AMF1) and Mobile Aerosol Observing System (MAOS) are currently located on Ascension Island in the South Atlantic Ocean, located midway between Angola and Brazil. The location was chosen for sampling maximum aerosol outflow from Africa. The far-field aged BC from LASIC is compared to BC from indoor generation from single-source fuels, e.g. African grass, sampled during Fire Lab At Missoula Experiments IV (FLAME-IV). BC is measured with a single-particle soot photometer (SP2) alongside numerous supporting instrumentation, e.g. particle counters, CO and CO2 detectors, aerosol scattering and absorption measurements, etc. FLAME-IV includes both direct emissions and well-mixed aerosol samples that have undergone dilution, cooling, and condensation. BC

  20. Factors Affecting Regional Per-Capita Carbon Emissions in China Based on an LMDI Factor Decomposition Model

    PubMed Central

    Dong, Feng; Long, Ruyin; Chen, Hong; Li, Xiaohui; Yang, Qingliang

    2013-01-01

    China is considered to be the main carbon producer in the world. The per-capita carbon emissions indicator is an important measure of the regional carbon emissions situation. This study used the LMDI factor decomposition model–panel co-integration test two-step method to analyze the factors that affect per-capita carbon emissions. The main results are as follows. (1) During 1997, Eastern China, Central China, and Western China ranked first, second, and third in the per-capita carbon emissions, while in 2009 the pecking order changed to Eastern China, Western China, and Central China. (2) According to the LMDI decomposition results, the key driver boosting the per-capita carbon emissions in the three economic regions of China between 1997 and 2009 was economic development, and the energy efficiency was much greater than the energy structure after considering their effect on restraining increased per-capita carbon emissions. (3) Based on the decomposition, the factors that affected per-capita carbon emissions in the panel co-integration test showed that Central China had the best energy structure elasticity in its regional per-capita carbon emissions. Thus, Central China was ranked first for energy efficiency elasticity, while Western China was ranked first for economic development elasticity. PMID:24353753

  1. Factors affecting regional per-capita carbon emissions in China based on an LMDI factor decomposition model.

    PubMed

    Dong, Feng; Long, Ruyin; Chen, Hong; Li, Xiaohui; Yang, Qingliang

    2013-01-01

    China is considered to be the main carbon producer in the world. The per-capita carbon emissions indicator is an important measure of the regional carbon emissions situation. This study used the LMDI factor decomposition model-panel co-integration test two-step method to analyze the factors that affect per-capita carbon emissions. The main results are as follows. (1) During 1997, Eastern China, Central China, and Western China ranked first, second, and third in the per-capita carbon emissions, while in 2009 the pecking order changed to Eastern China, Western China, and Central China. (2) According to the LMDI decomposition results, the key driver boosting the per-capita carbon emissions in the three economic regions of China between 1997 and 2009 was economic development, and the energy efficiency was much greater than the energy structure after considering their effect on restraining increased per-capita carbon emissions. (3) Based on the decomposition, the factors that affected per-capita carbon emissions in the panel co-integration test showed that Central China had the best energy structure elasticity in its regional per-capita carbon emissions. Thus, Central China was ranked first for energy efficiency elasticity, while Western China was ranked first for economic development elasticity.

  2. Evaluating measurements of carbon dioxide emissions using a precision source--A natural gas burner.

    PubMed

    Bryant, Rodney; Bundy, Matthew; Zong, Ruowen

    2015-07-01

    A natural gas burner has been used as a precise and accurate source for generating large quantities of carbon dioxide (CO2) to evaluate emissions measurements at near-industrial scale. Two methods for determining carbon dioxide emissions from stationary sources are considered here: predicting emissions based on fuel consumption measurements-predicted emissions measurements, and direct measurement of emissions quantities in the flue gas-direct emissions measurements. Uncertainty for the predicted emissions measurement was estimated at less than 1%. Uncertainty estimates for the direct emissions measurement of carbon dioxide were on the order of ±4%. The relative difference between the direct emissions measurements and the predicted emissions measurements was within the range of the measurement uncertainty, therefore demonstrating good agreement. The study demonstrates how independent methods are used to validate source emissions measurements, while also demonstrating how a fire research facility can be used as a precision test-bed to evaluate and improve carbon dioxide emissions measurements from stationary sources. Fossil-fuel-consuming stationary sources such as electric power plants and industrial facilities account for more than half of the CO2 emissions in the United States. Therefore, accurate emissions measurements from these sources are critical for evaluating efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. This study demonstrates how a surrogate for a stationary source, a fire research facility, can be used to evaluate the accuracy of measurements of CO2 emissions.

  3. 40 CFR 90.206 - Trading.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-07-01

    ... 40 Protection of Environment 20 2011-07-01 2011-07-01 false Trading. 90.206 Section 90.206... Trading Provisions § 90.206 Trading. (a) An engine manufacturer may exchange emission credits with other engine manufacturers in trading, subject to the trading restriction specified in § 90.207(c)(2). (b...

  4. 40 CFR 90.206 - Trading.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-07-01

    ... 40 Protection of Environment 20 2014-07-01 2013-07-01 true Trading. 90.206 Section 90.206... Trading Provisions § 90.206 Trading. (a) An engine manufacturer may exchange emission credits with other engine manufacturers in trading, subject to the trading restriction specified in § 90.207(c)(2). (b...

  5. 40 CFR 90.206 - Trading.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-07-01

    ... 40 Protection of Environment 21 2013-07-01 2013-07-01 false Trading. 90.206 Section 90.206... Trading Provisions § 90.206 Trading. (a) An engine manufacturer may exchange emission credits with other engine manufacturers in trading, subject to the trading restriction specified in § 90.207(c)(2). (b...

  6. 40 CFR 90.206 - Trading.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-07-01

    ... 40 Protection of Environment 21 2012-07-01 2012-07-01 false Trading. 90.206 Section 90.206... Trading Provisions § 90.206 Trading. (a) An engine manufacturer may exchange emission credits with other engine manufacturers in trading, subject to the trading restriction specified in § 90.207(c)(2). (b...

  7. 40 CFR 90.206 - Trading.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-07-01

    ... 40 Protection of Environment 20 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Trading. 90.206 Section 90.206... Trading Provisions § 90.206 Trading. (a) An engine manufacturer may exchange emission credits with other engine manufacturers in trading, subject to the trading restriction specified in § 90.207(c)(2). (b...

  8. Exercise based transportation reduces oil consumption and carbon emissions

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Higgins, P. A.

    2004-12-01

    Current abuse and misrepresentation of science hinders society's ability to address climate change. Scientific abuse results, in part, from a widespread perception that curbing emissions will require substantial economic, political, or personal sacrifice. Here I provide one example to illustrate that this perception is false. Simply walking or biking the amount recommended for a healthy lifestyle could reduce carbon emissions up to 11 percent if the distances traveled were substituted for car travel. This level of exercise is also sufficient to eliminate obese and overweight conditions in a few years without draconian diet plans. A reduction in carbon dioxide emissions of roughly 35 percent is possible if the revenue saved through decreased health care spending on obesity is redirected toward carbon abatement. This emissions reduction far exceeds that required by the Kyoto Protocol at no net cost. Finally, widespread substitution of driving with distances traveled during recommended daily exercise would considerably ease societal dependence on oil, which leads not only to climate change but also to air pollution, political and economic instability and habitat degradation. Thus, exercise based transportation constitutes a potentially favorable alternative to the energy and diet plans that are currently under consideration and a substantial step toward dealing with the threat of climate change.

  9. Estimation of marginal abatement costs of CO2 in Chinese provinces under 2020 carbon emission rights allocation: 2005-2020.

    PubMed

    Duan, Fumei; Wang, Yong; Wang, Ying; Zhao, Han

    2018-06-16

    The calculation of marginal abatement costs of CO 2 plays a vital role in meeting China's 2020 emission reduction targets by providing reference for determining carbon tax and carbon trading pricing. However, most existing researches only used one method to discuss regional and industrial marginal abatement costs, and almost no studies predicted future marginal abatement costs from the perspective of CO 2 emission efficiency. To make up for the gaps, this paper first estimates marginal abatement costs of CO 2 in three major industries of 30 provinces in China from 2005 to 2015 based on three assumptions. Second, based on the principle of fairness and efficiency, China's 2020 emission reduction targets are decomposed by province. Based on the ZSG-C-DDF model, the marginal abatement costs of CO 2 in all provinces in China in 2020 are estimated and compared with the marginal abatement costs of 2005 to 2015. The results show that (1) from 2005 to 2015, marginal abatement costs of CO 2 in all provinces show a fluctuating upward trend; (2) compared with the marginal abatement costs of primary industry or tertiary industry, most provinces have lower marginal abatement costs for secondary industry; and (3) the average marginal abatement costs of CO 2 for China in 2020 are 2766.882 Yuan/tonne for the 40% carbon intensity reduction target and 3334.836 Yuan/tonne for the 45% target, showing that the higher the emission reduction target, the higher the marginal abatement costs of CO 2 . (4) Overall, the average marginal abatement costs of CO 2 in China by 2020 are higher than those in 2005-2015. The empirical analysis in this paper can provide multiple references for environmental policy makers.

  10. Long time stability of lamps with nanostructural carbon field emission cathodes

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Kalenik, J.; Firek, P.; Szmidt, J.; Czerwosz, E.; Kozłowski, M.; Stepińska, I.; Wódka, T.

    2017-08-01

    A luminescent lamp with field emission cathode was constructed and tested. Phosphor excited by electrons from field emission cathode is the source of light. The cathode is covered with nickel-carbon film containing multilayer carbon nanotubes that enhance electron emission from the cathode. Results of luminance stability measurements are presented. Luminance of elaborated luminance lamp is high enough for lighting application. Long term stability (1000 hours) is satisfactory for mass lamp application. Initial short time decrease of luminance is still too high and it needs reduction.

  11. Maximum warming occurs about one decade after a carbon dioxide emission

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Ricke, Katharine L.; Caldeira, Ken

    2014-12-01

    It is known that carbon dioxide emissions cause the Earth to warm, but no previous study has focused on examining how long it takes to reach maximum warming following a particular CO2 emission. Using conjoined results of carbon-cycle and physical-climate model intercomparison projects (Taylor et al 2012, Joos et al 2013), we find the median time between an emission and maximum warming is 10.1 years, with a 90% probability range of 6.6-30.7 years. We evaluate uncertainties in timing and amount of warming, partitioning them into three contributing factors: carbon cycle, climate sensitivity and ocean thermal inertia. If uncertainty in any one factor is reduced to zero without reducing uncertainty in the other factors, the majority of overall uncertainty remains. Thus, narrowing uncertainty in century-scale warming depends on narrowing uncertainty in all contributing factors. Our results indicate that benefit from avoided climate damage from avoided CO2 emissions will be manifested within the lifetimes of people who acted to avoid that emission. While such avoidance could be expected to benefit future generations, there is potential for emissions avoidance to provide substantial benefit to current generations.

  12. 21st Century drought-related fires counteract the decline of Amazon deforestation carbon emissions.

    PubMed

    Aragão, Luiz E O C; Anderson, Liana O; Fonseca, Marisa G; Rosan, Thais M; Vedovato, Laura B; Wagner, Fabien H; Silva, Camila V J; Silva Junior, Celso H L; Arai, Egidio; Aguiar, Ana P; Barlow, Jos; Berenguer, Erika; Deeter, Merritt N; Domingues, Lucas G; Gatti, Luciana; Gloor, Manuel; Malhi, Yadvinder; Marengo, Jose A; Miller, John B; Phillips, Oliver L; Saatchi, Sassan

    2018-02-13

    Tropical carbon emissions are largely derived from direct forest clearing processes. Yet, emissions from drought-induced forest fires are, usually, not included in national-level carbon emission inventories. Here we examine Brazilian Amazon drought impacts on fire incidence and associated forest fire carbon emissions over the period 2003-2015. We show that despite a 76% decline in deforestation rates over the past 13 years, fire incidence increased by 36% during the 2015 drought compared to the preceding 12 years. The 2015 drought had the largest ever ratio of active fire counts to deforestation, with active fires occurring over an area of 799,293 km 2 . Gross emissions from forest fires (989 ± 504 Tg CO 2 year -1 ) alone are more than half as great as those from old-growth forest deforestation during drought years. We conclude that carbon emission inventories intended for accounting and developing policies need to take account of substantial forest fire emissions not associated to the deforestation process.

  13. An algorithm to estimate aircraft cruise black carbon emissions for use in developing a cruise emissions inventory.

    PubMed

    Peck, Jay; Oluwole, Oluwayemisi O; Wong, Hsi-Wu; Miake-Lye, Richard C

    2013-03-01

    To provide accurate input parameters to the large-scale global climate simulation models, an algorithm was developed to estimate the black carbon (BC) mass emission index for engines in the commercial fleet at cruise. Using a high-dimensional model representation (HDMR) global sensitivity analysis, relevant engine specification/operation parameters were ranked, and the most important parameters were selected. Simple algebraic formulas were then constructed based on those important parameters. The algorithm takes the cruise power (alternatively, fuel flow rate), altitude, and Mach number as inputs, and calculates BC emission index for a given engine/airframe combination using the engine property parameters, such as the smoke number, available in the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) engine certification databank. The algorithm can be interfaced with state-of-the-art aircraft emissions inventory development tools, and will greatly improve the global climate simulations that currently use a single fleet average value for all airplanes. An algorithm to estimate the cruise condition black carbon emission index for commercial aircraft engines was developed. Using the ICAO certification data, the algorithm can evaluate the black carbon emission at given cruise altitude and speed.

  14. Nuclear techniques for the on-line bulk analysis of carbon in coal-fired power stations.

    PubMed

    Sowerby, B D

    2009-09-01

    Carbon trading schemes usually require large emitters of CO(2), such as coal-fired power stations, to monitor, report and be audited on their CO(2) emissions. The emission price provides a significant additional incentive for power stations to improve efficiency. In the present paper, previous work on the bulk determination of carbon in coal is reviewed and assessed. The most favourable method is that based on neutron inelastic scattering. The potential role of on-line carbon analysers in improving boiler efficiency and in carbon accounting is discussed.

  15. Rapid carbon mineralization for permanent disposal of anthropogenic carbon dioxide emissions

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Matter, Juerg M.; Stute, Martin; Snæbjörnsdottir, Sandra Ó.; Oelkers, Eric H.; Gislason, Sigurdur R.; Aradottir, Edda S.; Sigfusson, Bergur; Gunnarsson, Ingvi; Sigurdardottir, Holmfridur; Gunnlaugsson, Einar; Axelsson, Gudni; Alfredsson, Helgi A.; Wolff-Boenisch, Domenik; Mesfin, Kiflom; Taya, Diana Fernandez de la Reguera; Hall, Jennifer; Dideriksen, Knud; Broecker, Wallace S.

    2016-06-01

    Carbon capture and storage (CCS) provides a solution toward decarbonization of the global economy. The success of this solution depends on the ability to safely and permanently store CO2. This study demonstrates for the first time the permanent disposal of CO2 as environmentally benign carbonate minerals in basaltic rocks. We find that over 95% of the CO2 injected into the CarbFix site in Iceland was mineralized to carbonate minerals in less than 2 years. This result contrasts with the common view that the immobilization of CO2 as carbonate minerals within geologic reservoirs takes several hundreds to thousands of years. Our results, therefore, demonstrate that the safe long-term storage of anthropogenic CO2 emissions through mineralization can be far faster than previously postulated.

  16. Assessing Uncertainties in Gridded Emissions: A Case Study for Fossil Fuel Carbon Dioxide (FFCO2) Emission Data

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Oda, T.; Ott, L.; Lauvaux, T.; Feng, S.; Bun, R.; Roman, M.; Baker, D. F.; Pawson, S.

    2017-01-01

    Fossil fuel carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions (FFCO2) are the largest input to the global carbon cycle on a decadal time scale. Because total emissions are assumed to be reasonably well constrained by fuel statistics, FFCO2 often serves as a reference in order to deduce carbon uptake by poorly understood terrestrial and ocean sinks. Conventional atmospheric CO2 flux inversions solve for spatially explicit regional sources and sinks and estimate land and ocean fluxes by subtracting FFCO2. Thus, errors in FFCO2 can propagate into the final inferred flux estimates. Gridded emissions are often based on disaggregation of emissions estimated at national or regional level. Although national and regional total FFCO2 are well known, gridded emission fields are subject to additional uncertainties due to the emission disaggregation. Assessing such uncertainties is often challenging because of the lack of physical measurements for evaluation. We first review difficulties in assessing uncertainties associated with gridded FFCO2 emission data and present several approaches for evaluation of such uncertainties at multiple scales. Given known limitations, inter-emission data differences are often used as a proxy for the uncertainty. The popular approach allows us to characterize differences in emissions, but does not allow us to fully quantify emission disaggregation biases. Our work aims to vicariously evaluate FFCO2 emission data using atmospheric models and measurements. We show a global simulation experiment where uncertainty estimates are propagated as an atmospheric tracer (uncertainty tracer) alongside CO2 in NASA's GEOS model and discuss implications of FFCO2 uncertainties in the context of flux inversions. We also demonstrate the use of high resolution urban CO2 simulations as a tool for objectively evaluating FFCO2 data over intense emission regions. Though this study focuses on FFCO2 emission data, the outcome of this study could also help improve the knowledge of similar

  17. Assessing uncertainties in gridded emissions: A case study for fossil fuel carbon dioxide (FFCO2) emission data

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Oda, T.; Ott, L. E.; Lauvaux, T.; Feng, S.; Bun, R.; Roman, M. O.; Baker, D. F.; Pawson, S.

    2017-12-01

    Fossil fuel carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions (FFCO2) are the largest input to the global carbon cycle on a decadal time scale. Because total emissions are assumed to be reasonably well constrained by fuel statistics, FFCO2 often serves as a reference in order to deduce carbon uptake by poorly understood terrestrial and ocean sinks. Conventional atmospheric CO2 flux inversions solve for spatially explicit regional sources and sinks and estimate land and ocean fluxes by subtracting FFCO2. Thus, errors in FFCO2 can propagate into the final inferred flux estimates. Gridded emissions are often based on disaggregation of emissions estimated at national or regional level. Although national and regional total FFCO2 are well known, gridded emission fields are subject to additional uncertainties due to the emission disaggregation. Assessing such uncertainties is often challenging because of the lack of physical measurements for evaluation. We first review difficulties in assessing uncertainties associated with gridded FFCO2 emission data and present several approaches for evaluation of such uncertainties at multiple scales. Given known limitations, inter-emission data differences are often used as a proxy for the uncertainty. The popular approach allows us to characterize differences in emissions, but does not allow us to fully quantify emission disaggregation biases. Our work aims to vicariously evaluate FFCO2 emission data using atmospheric models and measurements. We show a global simulation experiment where uncertainty estimates are propagated as an atmospheric tracer (uncertainty tracer) alongside CO2 in NASA's GEOS model and discuss implications of FFCO2 uncertainties in the context of flux inversions. We also demonstrate the use of high resolution urban CO2 simulations as a tool for objectively evaluating FFCO2 data over intense emission regions. Though this study focuses on FFCO2 emission data, the outcome of this study could also help improve the knowledge of similar

  18. A network analysis of indirect carbon emission flows among different industries in China.

    PubMed

    Du, Qiang; Xu, Yadan; Wu, Min; Sun, Qiang; Bai, Libiao; Yu, Ming

    2018-06-17

    Indirect carbon emissions account for a large ratio of the total carbon emissions in processes to make the final products, and this implies indirect carbon emission flow across industries. Understanding these flows is crucial for allocating a carbon allowance for each industry. By combining input-output analysis and complex network theory, this study establishes an indirect carbon emission flow network (ICEFN) for 41 industries from 2005 to 2014 to investigate the interrelationships among different industries. The results show that the ICEFN was consistent with a small-world nature based on an analysis of the average path lengths and the clustering coefficients. Moreover, key industries in the ICEFN were identified using complex network theory on the basis of degree centrality and betweenness centrality. Furthermore, the 41 industries of the ICEFN were divided into four industrial subgroups that are related closely to one another. Finally, possible policy implications were provided based on the knowledge of the structure of the ICEFN and its trend.

  19. Informing urban carbon emissions with atmospheric observations: motivation, methods, and reducing uncertainties.

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Kort, E. A.; Ware, J.; Duren, R. M.; Schimel, D.; Miller, C. E.; Decola, P.

    2014-12-01

    Urban regions play a dominant role in the anthropogenic perturbation to atmospheric carbon dioxide and methane. With increasing urbanization (notably in developing nations) and increasing emissions, quantitative observational information on emissions of CO2 and CH4 becomes critical for improved understanding of the global carbon cycle and for carbon management/policy decisions. In this presentation, we will discuss the impact uncertainty in anthropogenic emissions has on global carbon-climate understanding, providing broad geophysical motivation for urban studies. We will further discuss observations of urban regions at different scales (satellite vs. in-situ), and investigate the information content of these complementary methods for answering targeted questions on both global carbon fluxes and regional management decisions. Finally, we will present new attempts at reducing uncertainty in high-resolution inversions leveraging remotely sensed aerosol profiles to constrain both mixing depths and vertical distributions of trace gases.

  20. Analyzing the efficacy of subtropical urban forests in offsetting carbon emissions from cities

    Treesearch

    Francisco Escobedo; Sebastian Varela; Min Zhao; John E. Wagner; Wayne Zipperer

    2010-01-01

    Urban forest management and policies have been promoted as a tool to mitigate carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. This study used existing CO2 reduction measures from subtropical Miami-Dade and Gainesville, USA and modeled carbon storage and sequestration by trees to analyze policies that use urban forests to offset carbon emissions. Field data were analyzed, modeled, and...

  1. The research on the fairness of carbon emissions for China's energy based on GIS

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Wang, Qiuxian; Gao, Zhiqiang; Ning, Jicai; Lu, Qingshui; Shi, Runhe; Gao, Wei

    2013-09-01

    This article firstly calculated China's energy carbon emissions of 30 provinces in 2010 with the method of carbon emission inventories of 2006 IPCC based on the data of China energy statistical yearbook, and then calculated its carbon emission intensity with GDP data in China's statistical yearbook. Next according to the formed formula the author calculated the EEI (Economic Efficiency Index) and ECI (Ecological Carrying Index) and made some corresponding figures with the help of GIS to analyze the fairness of the China's energy CO2 emissions in 2010.The results showed that the distribution of China's CO2 emissions for energy in 2010 become lower from the Bohai bay to the surroundings and the west circle provinces are with the lowest energy carbon emissions. The intensity distribution of China's CO2 emissions for energy in 2010 becomes higher from southeast China to north China. The distributions of EEI, ECI and for China's energy CO2 emissions are quite different from each other, and also with their comprehensive result. As to the fairness of China's energy CO2 emissions in 2010, we can say that the south provinces are better than those of Bohai bay areas (except Beijing and Tianjing).

  2. Economic and policy implications of the cumulative carbon budget

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Allen, M. R.; Otto, F. E. L.; Otto, A.; Hepburn, C.

    2014-12-01

    The importance of cumulative carbon emissions in determining long-term risks of climate change presents considerable challenges to policy makers. The traditional notion of "total CO2-equivalent emissions", which forms the backbone of agreements such as the Kyoto Protocol and the European Emissions Trading System, is fundamentally flawed. Measures to reduce short-lived climate pollutants benefit the current generation, while measures to reduce long-lived climate pollutants benefit future generations, so there is no sense in which they can ever be considered equivalent. Debates over the correct metric used to compute CO2-equivalence are thus entirely moot: both long-lived and short-lived emissions will need to be addressed if all generations are to be protected from dangerous climate change. As far as long-lived climate pollutants are concerned, the latest IPCC report highlights the overwhelming importance of carbon capture and storage in determining the cost of meeting the goal of limiting anthropogenic warming to two degrees. We will show that this importance arises directly from the cumulative carbon budget and the role of CCS as the technology of last resort before economic activity needs to be restricted to meet ambitious climate targets. It highlights the need to increase the rate of CCS deployment by orders of magnitude if the option of avoiding two degrees is to be retained. The difficulty of achieving this speed of deployment through conventional incentives and carbon-pricing mechanisms suggests a need for a much more direct mandatory approach. Despite their theoretical economic inefficiency, the success of recent regulatory measures in achieving greenhouse gas emissions reductions in jurisdictions such as the United States suggests an extension of the regulatory approach could be a more effective and politically acceptable means of achieving adequately rapid CCS deployment than conventional carbon taxes or cap-and-trade systems.

  3. A Greenhouse Gas and Soil Carbon Model for Estimating the Carbon Footprint of Livestock Production in Canada

    PubMed Central

    Vergé, Xavier P.C.; Dyer, James A.; Worth, Devon E.; Smith, Ward N.; Desjardins, Raymond L.; McConkey, Brian G.

    2012-01-01

    Simple Summary We developed a model to estimate the carbon footprint of Canadian livestock production. To include long term soil carbon storage and loss potential we introduced a payback period concept. The model was tested by reallocating 10% only of the protein production from a ruminant to a non ruminant source to minimize the risk of including rangeland or marginal lands. This displacement generated residual land which was found to play a major role in the potential mitigation of GHG emissions. The model will allow land use policies aimed at reducing the agricultural GHG emissions to be assessed. Abstract To assess tradeoffs between environmental sustainability and changes in food production on agricultural land in Canada the Unified Livestock Industry and Crop Emissions Estimation System (ULICEES) was developed. It incorporates four livestock specific GHG assessments in a single model. To demonstrate the application of ULICEES, 10% of beef cattle protein production was assumed to be displaced with an equivalent amount of pork protein. Without accounting for the loss of soil carbon, this 10% shift reduced GHG emissions by 2.5 TgCO2e y−1. The payback period was defined as the number of years required for a GHG reduction to equal soil carbon lost from the associated land use shift. A payback period that is shorter than 40 years represents a net long term decrease in GHG emissions. Displacing beef cattle with hogs resulted in a surplus area of forage. When this residual land was left in ungrazed perennial forage, the payback periods were less than 4 years and when it was reseeded to annual crops, they were equal to or less than 40 years. They were generally greater than 40 years when this land was used to raise cattle. Agricultural GHG mitigation policies will inevitably involve a trade-off between production, land use and GHG emission reduction. ULICEES is a model that can objectively assess these trade-offs for Canadian agriculture. PMID:26487032

  4. Pattern changes in determinants of Chinese emissions

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Mi, Zhifu; Meng, Jing; Guan, Dabo; Shan, Yuli; Liu, Zhu; Wang, Yutao; Feng, Kuishuang; Wei, Yi-Ming

    2017-07-01

    The Chinese economy has been recovering slowly from the global financial crisis, but it cannot achieve the same rapid development of the pre-recession period. Instead, the country has entered a new phase of economic development—a ‘new normal’. We use a structural decomposition analysis and environmental input-output analysis to estimate the determinants of China’s carbon emission changes during 2005-2012. China’s imports are linked to a global multi-regional input-output model based on the Global Trade and Analysis Project database to calculate the embodied CO2 emissions in imports. We find that the global financial crisis has affected the drivers of China’s carbon emission growth. From 2007 to 2010, the CO2 emissions induced by China’s exports dropped, whereas emissions induced by capital formation grew rapidly. In the ‘new normal’, the strongest factors that offset CO2 emissions have shifted from efficiency gains to structural upgrading. Efficiency was the strongest factor offsetting China’s CO2 emissions before 2010 but drove a 1.4% increase in emissions in the period 2010-2012. By contrast, production structure and consumption patterns caused a 2.6% and 1.3% decrease, respectively, in China’s carbon emissions from 2010 to 2012. In addition, China tends to shift gradually from an investment to a consumption-driven economy. The proportion of CO2 emissions induced by consumption had a declining trend before 2010 but grew from 28.6%-29.1% during 2010-2012.

  5. China's "Exported Carbon" Peak: Patterns, Drivers, and Implications

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Mi, Zhifu; Meng, Jing; Green, Fergus; Coffman, D'Maris; Guan, Dabo

    2018-05-01

    Over the past decade, China has entered a "new normal" phase in economic development, with its role in global trade flows changing significantly. This study estimates the driving forces of Chinese export-embodied carbon emissions in the new normal phase, based on environmentally extended multiregional input-output modeling and structural decomposition analysis. We find that Chinese export-embodied CO2 emissions peaked in 2008 at a level of 1,657 million tones. The subsequent decline in CO2 emissions was mainly due to the changing structure of Chinese production. The peak in Chinese export-embodied emissions is encouraging from the perspective of global climate change mitigation, as it implies downward pressure on global CO2 emissions. However, more attention should focus on ensuring that countries that may partly replace China as major production bases increase their exports using low-carbon inputs.

  6. Energy Use and Carbon Emissions: Non-OECD Countries

    EIA Publications

    1994-01-01

    Presents world energy use and carbon emissions patterns, with particular emphasis on the non-OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development) countries (including the current and former centrally planned economies).

  7. Annual Carbon Emissions from Deforestation in the Amazon Basin between 2000 and 2010.

    PubMed

    Song, Xiao-Peng; Huang, Chengquan; Saatchi, Sassan S; Hansen, Matthew C; Townshend, John R

    2015-01-01

    Reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD+) is considered one of the most cost-effective strategies for mitigating climate change. However, historical deforestation and emission rates-critical inputs for setting reference emission levels for REDD+-are poorly understood. Here we use multi-source, time-series satellite data to quantify carbon emissions from deforestation in the Amazon basin on a year-to-year basis between 2000 and 2010. We first derive annual deforestation indicators by using the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer Vegetation Continuous Fields (MODIS VCF) product. MODIS indicators are calibrated by using a large sample of Landsat data to generate accurate deforestation rates, which are subsequently combined with a spatially explicit biomass dataset to calculate committed annual carbon emissions. Across the study area, the average deforestation and associated carbon emissions were estimated to be 1.59 ± 0.25 M ha•yr(-1) and 0.18 ± 0.07 Pg C•yr(-1) respectively, with substantially different trends and inter-annual variability in different regions. Deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon increased between 2001 and 2004 and declined substantially afterwards, whereas deforestation in the Bolivian Amazon, the Colombian Amazon, and the Peruvian Amazon increased over the study period. The average carbon density of lost forests after 2005 was 130 Mg C•ha(-1), ~11% lower than the average carbon density of remaining forests in year 2010 (144 Mg C•ha(-1)). Moreover, the average carbon density of cleared forests increased at a rate of 7 Mg C•ha(-1)•yr(-1) from 2005 to 2010, suggesting that deforestation has been progressively encroaching into high-biomass lands in the Amazon basin. Spatially explicit, annual deforestation and emission estimates like the ones derived in this study are useful for setting baselines for REDD+ and other emission mitigation programs, and for evaluating the performance of such efforts.

  8. Annual Carbon Emissions from Deforestation in the Amazon Basin between 2000 and 2010

    PubMed Central

    Song, Xiao-Peng; Huang, Chengquan; Saatchi, Sassan S.; Hansen, Matthew C.; Townshend, John R.

    2015-01-01

    Reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD+) is considered one of the most cost-effective strategies for mitigating climate change. However, historical deforestation and emission rates―critical inputs for setting reference emission levels for REDD+―are poorly understood. Here we use multi-source, time-series satellite data to quantify carbon emissions from deforestation in the Amazon basin on a year-to-year basis between 2000 and 2010. We first derive annual deforestation indicators by using the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer Vegetation Continuous Fields (MODIS VCF) product. MODIS indicators are calibrated by using a large sample of Landsat data to generate accurate deforestation rates, which are subsequently combined with a spatially explicit biomass dataset to calculate committed annual carbon emissions. Across the study area, the average deforestation and associated carbon emissions were estimated to be 1.59 ± 0.25 M ha•yr−1 and 0.18 ± 0.07 Pg C•yr−1 respectively, with substantially different trends and inter-annual variability in different regions. Deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon increased between 2001 and 2004 and declined substantially afterwards, whereas deforestation in the Bolivian Amazon, the Colombian Amazon, and the Peruvian Amazon increased over the study period. The average carbon density of lost forests after 2005 was 130 Mg C•ha−1, ~11% lower than the average carbon density of remaining forests in year 2010 (144 Mg C•ha−1). Moreover, the average carbon density of cleared forests increased at a rate of 7 Mg C•ha−1•yr−1 from 2005 to 2010, suggesting that deforestation has been progressively encroaching into high-biomass lands in the Amazon basin. Spatially explicit, annual deforestation and emission estimates like the ones derived in this study are useful for setting baselines for REDD+ and other emission mitigation programs, and for evaluating the performance of such efforts

  9. Carbon emissions risk map from deforestation in the tropical Amazon

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Ometto, J.; Soler, L. S.; Assis, T. D.; Oliveira, P. V.; Aguiar, A. P.

    2011-12-01

    Assis, Pedro Valle This work aims to estimate the carbon emissions from tropical deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon associated to the risk assessment of future land use change. The emissions are estimated by incorporating temporal deforestation dynamics, accounting for the biophysical and socioeconomic heterogeneity in the region, as well secondary forest growth dynamic in abandoned areas. The land cover change model that supported the risk assessment of deforestation, was run based on linear regressions. This method takes into account spatial heterogeneity of deforestation as the spatial variables adopted to fit the final regression model comprise: environmental aspects, economic attractiveness, accessibility and land tenure structure. After fitting a suitable regression models for each land cover category, the potential of each cell to be deforested (25x25km and 5x5 km of resolution) in the near future was used to calculate the risk assessment of land cover change. The carbon emissions model combines high-resolution new forest clear-cut mapping and four alternative sources of spatial information on biomass distribution for different vegetation types. The risk assessment map of CO2 emissions, was obtained by crossing the simulation results of the historical land cover changes to a map of aboveground biomass contained in the remaining forest. This final map represents the risk of CO2 emissions at 25x25km and 5x5 km until 2020, under a scenario of carbon emission reduction target.

  10. Estimating diesel fuel consumption and carbon dioxide emissions from forest road construction

    Treesearch

    Dan Loeffler; Greg Jones; Nikolaus Vonessen; Sean Healey; Woodam Chung

    2009-01-01

    Forest access road construction is a necessary component of many on-the-ground forest vegetation treatment projects. However, the fuel energy requirements and associated carbon dioxide emissions from forest road construction are unknown. We present a method for estimating diesel fuel consumed and related carbon dioxide emissions from constructing forest roads using...

  11. High-Performance Field Emission from a Carbonized Cork.

    PubMed

    Lee, Jeong Seok; Lee, Hak Jun; Yoo, Jae Man; Kim, Taewoo; Kim, Yong Hyup

    2017-12-20

    To broaden the range of application of electron beams, low-power field emitters are needed that are miniature and light. Here, we introduce carbonized cork as a material for field emitters. The light natural cork becomes a graphitic honeycomb upon carbonization, with the honeycomb cell walls 100-200 nm thick and the aspect ratio larger than 100, providing an ideal structure for the field electron emission. Compared to nanocarbon field emitters, the cork emitter produces a high current density and long-term stability with a low turn-on field. The nature of the cork material makes it quite simple to fabricate the emitter. Furthermore, any desired shape of the emitter tailored for the final application can easily be prepared for point, line, or planar emission.

  12. The Increase of Energy Consumption and Carbon Dioxide (CO2) Emission in Indonesia

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Sasana, Hadi; Putri, Annisa Eka

    2018-02-01

    In the last decade, the increase of energy consumption that has multiplied carbondioxide emissions becomes world problems, especially in the developing countries undergoing industrialization to be developed ones like Indonesia. This aim of this study was to analyze the effect of fossil energy consumption, population growth, and consumption of renewable energy on carbon dioxide emission. The method used was multiple linear regression analysis with Ordinary Least Square approach using time series in the period of 1990 - 2014. The result showed that fossil energy consumption and population growth have a positive influence on carbon dioxide emission in Indonesia. Meanwhile, the consumption variable of renewable energy has a negative effect on the level of carbon dioxide emissions produced.

  13. A probabilistic analysis of cumulative carbon emissions and long-term planetary warming

    DOE PAGES

    Fyke, Jeremy Garmeson; Matthews, H. Damon

    2015-11-16

    Efforts to mitigate and adapt to long-term climate change could benefit greatly from probabilistic estimates of cumulative carbon emissions due to fossil fuel burning and resulting CO 2-induced planetary warming. Here we demonstrate the use of a reduced-form model to project these variables. We performed simulations using a large-ensemble framework with parametric uncertainty sampled to produce distributions of future cumulative emissions and consequent planetary warming. A hind-cast ensemble of simulations captured 1980–2012 historical CO 2 emissions trends and an ensemble of future projection simulations generated a distribution of emission scenarios that qualitatively resembled the suite of Representative and Extended Concentrationmore » Pathways. The resulting cumulative carbon emission and temperature change distributions are characterized by 5–95th percentile ranges of 0.96–4.9 teratonnes C (Tt C) and 1.4 °C–8.5 °C, respectively, with 50th percentiles at 3.1 Tt C and 4.7 °C. Within the wide range of policy-related parameter combinations that produced these distributions, we found that low-emission simulations were characterized by both high carbon prices and low costs of non-fossil fuel energy sources, suggesting the importance of these two policy levers in particular for avoiding dangerous levels of climate warming. With this analysis we demonstrate a probabilistic approach to the challenge of identifying strategies for limiting cumulative carbon emissions and assessing likelihoods of surpassing dangerous temperature thresholds.« less

  14. Methane and carbon dioxide emissions from Shan-Chu-Ku landfill site in northern Taiwan.

    PubMed

    Hegde, Ullas; Chang, Tsan-Chang; Yang, Shang-Shyng

    2003-09-01

    To investigate the methane and carbon dioxide emissions from landfill, samples were taken of material up to 5 years old from Shan-Chu-Ku landfill located in the northern part of Taiwan. Atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide ranged from 310 to 530, 2.64 to 20.16 and 0.358 to 1.516 ppmv with the measurement of gas-type open-path Fourier transform infra-red (FTIR) spectroscopy during February 1998 to March 2000, respectively. Average methane emission rate was 13.17, 65.27 and 0.99 mgm(-2)h(-1) measured by the gas chromatography chamber method in 1-2, 2-3 and 5 year-old landfill, respectively. Similarly, average carbon dioxide emission rate was 93.70, 314.60 and 48.46 mgm(-2)h(-1), respectively. About 2-3 year-old landfill had the highest methane and carbon dioxide emission rates among the tested areas, while 5 year-old landfill was the least. Methane emission rate at night in most tested locations was higher than that in the daytime. Total amount of methane and carbon dioxide emission from this landfill was around 171 and 828 ton in 1999, respectively.

  15. Wildland fire emissions, carbon and climate: Characterizing wildland fuels

    Treesearch

    David R. Weise; Clinton S. Wright

    2013-01-01

    Smoke from biomass fires makes up a substantial portion of global greenhouse gas, aerosol, and black carbon (GHG/A/BC) emissions. Understanding how fuel characteristics and conditions affect fire occurrence and extent, combustion dynamics, and fuel consumption is critical for making accurate, reliable estimates of emissions production at local, regional, national, and...

  16. A modelling approach to estimate carbon emissions from D.R.C. deforestation

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Najdovski, Nicolas; Poulter, Benjamin; Defourny, Pierre; Moreau, Inès; Maignan, Fabienne; Ciais, Philippe; Verhegghen, Astrid; Kibambe Lubamba, Jean-Paul; Jungers, Quentin; De Weirdt, Marjolein; Verbeeck, Hans; MacBean, Natasha; Peylin, Philippe

    2014-05-01

    With its 1.8 million squared kilometres, the Congo basin dense forest represents the second largest contiguous forest of the world. These extensive forest ecosystems play a significant role in the regulation of global climate by their potential carbon dioxide emissions and carbon storage. Under a stable climate, the vegetation, assumed to be at the equilibrium, is known to present neutral emissions over a year with seasonal variations. However, modifications in temperatures, precipitations, CO2 atmospheric concentrations have the potential to modify this balance leading to higher or lower biomass storage. In addition, deforestation and forest degradation have played a significant role over the past several decades and are expected to become increasingly important in the future. Here, we quantify the relative effects of deforestation and 21st century climate change on carbon emissions in Congo Basin over the next three decades (2005-2035). Carbon dioxide emissions are estimated using a series of moderate resolution (10 km) vegetation maps merged with spatially explicit deforestation projections and developed to work with a prognostic carbon cycle model. The inversion of the deforestation model allowed hindcast land-use patterns back to 1800 by using land cover change rates based on the HYDE database. Simulations were made over the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) using the ORCHIDEE dynamic global vegetation model with climate forcing from the CMIP5 Representative Concentration Pathway 8.5 scenario for the HadGEM2. Two simulations were made, a reference simulation with land cover fixed at 2005 and a land cover change simulation with changing climate and CO2, to quantify the net land cover change emissions and climate emissions directly. Because of the relatively high resolution of the model simulations, the spatial patterns of human-driven carbon losses can be tracked in the context of climate change, providing information for mitigation and vulnerability

  17. Research on carbon emission driving factors of China’s provincial construction industry

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Shang, Mei; Dong, Rui; Fu, Yujie; Hao, Wentao

    2018-03-01

    As a pillar industry of the national economy, the damage to the environment by construction industry can not be ignored. In the context of low carbon development, identifying the main driving factors for the carbon emission of the provincial construction industry are the key for the local government to formulate the development strategy for construction. In the paper, based on the Kaya factor decomposition method, the carbon intensity of the energy structure, energy intensity and the impact of the construction output on the carbon emission of provincial construction industry are studied, and relevant suggestions for low carbon development of provincial construction industry are proposed. The conclusion of this paper provides a theoretical basis for the early realization of low-carbon development in China’s provincial construction industry.

  18. Global civil aviation black carbon emissions.

    PubMed

    Stettler, Marc E J; Boies, Adam M; Petzold, Andreas; Barrett, Steven R H

    2013-09-17

    Aircraft black carbon (BC) emissions contribute to climate forcing, but few estimates of BC emitted by aircraft at cruise exist. For the majority of aircraft engines the only BC-related measurement available is smoke number (SN)-a filter based optical method designed to measure near-ground plume visibility, not mass. While the first order approximation (FOA3) technique has been developed to estimate BC mass emissions normalized by fuel burn [EI(BC)] from SN, it is shown that it underestimates EI(BC) by >90% in 35% of directly measured cases (R(2) = -0.10). As there are no plans to measure BC emissions from all existing certified engines-which will be in service for several decades-it is necessary to estimate EI(BC) for existing aircraft on the ground and at cruise. An alternative method, called FOX, that is independent of the SN is developed to estimate BC emissions. Estimates of EI(BC) at ground level are significantly improved (R(2) = 0.68), whereas estimates at cruise are within 30% of measurements. Implementing this approach for global civil aviation estimated aircraft BC emissions are revised upward by a factor of ~3. Direct radiative forcing (RF) due to aviation BC emissions is estimated to be ~9.5 mW/m(2), equivalent to ~1/3 of the current RF due to aviation CO2 emissions.

  19. Semi-coke briquettes: towards reducing emissions of primary PM2.5, particulate carbon, and carbon monoxide from household coal combustion in China

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Li, Qing; Li, Xinghua; Jiang, Jingkun; Duan, Lei; Ge, Su; Zhang, Qi; Deng, Jianguo; Wang, Shuxiao; Hao, Jiming

    2016-01-01

    Direct household use of unprocessed raw coals for cooking and heating without any air pollution control device has caused serious indoor and outdoor environment problems by emitting particulate matter (PM) and gaseous pollutants. This study examined household emission reduction by switching from unprocessed bituminous and anthracite coals to processed semi-coke briquettes. Two typical stoves were used to test emission characteristics when burning 20 raw coal samples commonly used in residential heating activities and 15 semi-coke briquette samples which were made from bituminous coals by industrial carbonization treatment. The carbonization treatment removes volatile compounds from raw coals which are the major precursors for PM formation and carbon emission. The average emission factors of primary PM2.5, elemental carbon, organic carbon, and carbon monoxide for the tested semi-coke briquettes are much lower than those of the tested raw coals. Based on the current coal consumption data in China, switching to semi-coke briquettes can reduce average emission factors of these species by about 92%, 98%, 91%, and 34%, respectively. Additionally, semi-coke briquette has relatively lower price and higher burnout ratio. The replacement of raw coals with semi-coke briquettes is a feasible path to reduce pollution emissions from household activities.

  20. Semi-coke briquettes: towards reducing emissions of primary PM2.5, particulate carbon, and carbon monoxide from household coal combustion in China

    PubMed Central

    Li, Qing; Li, Xinghua; Jiang, Jingkun; Duan, Lei; Ge, Su; Zhang, Qi; Deng, Jianguo; Wang, Shuxiao; Hao, Jiming

    2016-01-01

    Direct household use of unprocessed raw coals for cooking and heating without any air pollution control device has caused serious indoor and outdoor environment problems by emitting particulate matter (PM) and gaseous pollutants. This study examined household emission reduction by switching from unprocessed bituminous and anthracite coals to processed semi-coke briquettes. Two typical stoves were used to test emission characteristics when burning 20 raw coal samples commonly used in residential heating activities and 15 semi-coke briquette samples which were made from bituminous coals by industrial carbonization treatment. The carbonization treatment removes volatile compounds from raw coals which are the major precursors for PM formation and carbon emission. The average emission factors of primary PM2.5, elemental carbon, organic carbon, and carbon monoxide for the tested semi-coke briquettes are much lower than those of the tested raw coals. Based on the current coal consumption data in China, switching to semi-coke briquettes can reduce average emission factors of these species by about 92%, 98%, 91%, and 34%, respectively. Additionally, semi-coke briquette has relatively lower price and higher burnout ratio. The replacement of raw coals with semi-coke briquettes is a feasible path to reduce pollution emissions from household activities. PMID:26782059

  1. Negative Emissions: Where Will the Carbon Come From?

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Aines, R. D.; McCoy, S. T.

    2017-12-01

    The need for energy technologies that remove carbon dioxide from the air grows with each year of delay in acting to address climate change. The most commonly mentioned approach for achieving that, bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS), today is largely a modeler's concept, not a technology. Thus, in the near term how can we confidently discuss the scale of biomass for energy with a net reduction in CO2 concentrations in the absence of examples? As a first step toward achieving that research objective, this talk frames the likely ways in which net reductions in CO2 concentrations can be achieved from a lifecycle perspective, and the pathways through which biomass can be converted to fuels and materials while removing CO2 from the atmosphere. We will address questions such as: What pathways exist for converting biomass into transportation fuels, electricity, and materials? How can we capture and manage the carbon dioxide emissions from these kinds of activities? And, what are the tradeoffs between pathways? We have conducted preliminary analyses of some of the common biofuel production pathways, such as ethanol from corn with and without carbon capture. These pathways are still uniformly carbon positive, that is to say, they do not achieve the goal of reducing atmospheric CO2, even if they result in lower emissions than do petroleum-based fuels. More advanced pathways appear to have the capacity for minor atmospheric reductions, including those for drop-in replacement transportation fuels and some long-lived materials. Targets and options for improving these technologies to the point that they can, in fact, be carbon negative will be discussed, including pre-processing of the biomass near the production site to reduce transportation emissions, finding ways to manage small CO2 sources associated with processing, and uses of biochar. We will end with a summary of near-term RD&D needs to advance carbon-negative pathways and the associated technologies. This

  2. Global anthropogenic emissions of particulate matter including black carbon

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Klimont, Zbigniew; Kupiainen, Kaarle; Heyes, Chris; Purohit, Pallav; Cofala, Janusz; Rafaj, Peter; Borken-Kleefeld, Jens; Schöpp, Wolfgang

    2017-07-01

    This paper presents a comprehensive assessment of historical (1990-2010) global anthropogenic particulate matter (PM) emissions including the consistent and harmonized calculation of mass-based size distribution (PM1, PM2. 5, PM10), as well as primary carbonaceous aerosols including black carbon (BC) and organic carbon (OC). The estimates were developed with the integrated assessment model GAINS, where source- and region-specific technology characteristics are explicitly included. This assessment includes a number of previously unaccounted or often misallocated emission sources, i.e. kerosene lamps, gas flaring, diesel generators, refuse burning; some of them were reported in the past for selected regions or in the context of a particular pollutant or sector but not included as part of a total estimate. Spatially, emissions were calculated for 172 source regions (as well as international shipping), presented for 25 global regions, and allocated to 0.5° × 0.5° longitude-latitude grids. No independent estimates of emissions from forest fires and savannah burning are provided and neither windblown dust nor unpaved roads emissions are included. We estimate that global emissions of PM have not changed significantly between 1990 and 2010, showing a strong decoupling from the global increase in energy consumption and, consequently, CO2 emissions, but there are significantly different regional trends, with a particularly strong increase in East Asia and Africa and a strong decline in Europe, North America, and the Pacific region. This in turn resulted in important changes in the spatial pattern of PM burden, e.g. European, North American, and Pacific contributions to global emissions dropped from nearly 30 % in 1990 to well below 15 % in 2010, while Asia's contribution grew from just over 50 % to nearly two-thirds of the global total in 2010. For all PM species considered, Asian sources represented over 60 % of the global anthropogenic total, and residential combustion

  3. High resolution of black carbon and organic carbon emissions in the Pearl River Delta region, China.

    PubMed

    Zheng, Junyu; He, Min; Shen, Xingling; Yin, Shasha; Yuan, Zibing

    2012-11-01

    A high-resolution regional black carbon (BC) and organic carbon (OC) emission inventory for the year 2009 was developed for the Pearl River Delta (PRD) region, China, based on the collected activity data and the latest emission factors. PM(2.5), BC and OC emissions were estimated to be 303 kt, 39 kt and 31 kt, respectively. Industrial processes were major contributing sources to PM(2.5) emissions. BC emissions were mainly from mobile sources, accounting for 65.0%, while 34.1% of OC emissions were from residential combustion. The primary OC/BC ratios for individual cities in the PRD region were dependent on the levels of economic development due to differences in source characteristics, with high ratios in the less developed cities and low ratios in the central and southern developed areas. The preliminary temporal profiles were established, showing the highest OC emissions in winter and relatively constant BC emissions throughout the year. The emissions were spatially allocated into grid cells with a resolution of 3 km × 3 km. Large amounts of BC emissions were distributed over the central-southern PRD city clusters, while OC emissions exhibited a relatively even spatial distribution due to the significant biomass burning emissions from the outlying area of the PRD region. Uncertainties in carbonaceous aerosol emissions were usually higher than in other primary pollutants like SO(2), NO(x), and PM(10). One of the key uncertainty sources was the emission factor, due to the absence of direct measurements of BC and OC emission rates. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  4. Historical emissions of black and organic carbon aerosol from energy-related combustion, 1850-2000

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Bond, Tami C.; Bhardwaj, Ekta; Dong, Rong; Jogani, Rahil; Jung, Soonkyu; Roden, Christoph; Streets, David G.; Trautmann, Nina M.

    2007-06-01

    We present an emission inventory of primary black carbon (BC) and primary organic carbon (OC) aerosols from fossil fuel and biofuel combustion between 1850 and 2000. We reconstruct fossil fuel consumption and represent changes in technology on a national and sectoral basis. Our estimates rely on new estimates of biofuel consumption, and updated emission factors for old technologies. Emissions of black carbon increase almost linearly, totaling about 1000 Gg in 1850, 2200 Gg in 1900, 3000 Gg in 1950, and 4400 Gg in 2000. Primary organic carbon shows a similar pattern, with emissions of 4100 Gg, 5800 Gg, 6700 Gg, and 8700 Gg in 1850, 1900, 1950, and 2000, respectively. Biofuel is responsible for over half of BC emission until about 1890, and dominates energy-related primary OC emission throughout the entire period. Coal contributes the greatest fraction of BC emission between 1880 and 1975, and is overtaken by emissions from biofuel around 1975, and by diesel engines around 1990. Previous work suggests a rapid rise in BC emissions between 1950 and 2000. This work supports a more gradual increase between 1950 and 2000, similar to the increase between 1850 and 1925; implementation of clean technology is a primary reason.

  5. Estimates of Fossil Fuel Carbon Dioxide Emissions From Mexico at Monthly Time Intervals

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Losey, L. M.; Andres, R. J.

    2003-12-01

    Human consumption of fossil fuels has greatly contributed to the rise of carbon dioxide in the Earth's atmosphere. To better understand the global carbon cycle, it is important to identify the major sources of these fossil fuels. Mexico is among the top fifteen nations in the world for producing fossil fuel carbon dioxide emissions. Based on this information and that emissions from Mexico are a focus of the North American Carbon Program, Mexico was selected for this study. Mexican monthly inland sales volumes for January 1988-May 2003 were collected on natural gas and liquid fuels from the Energy Information Agency in the United States Department of Energy. These sales figures represent a major portion of the total fossil fuel consumption in Mexico. The fraction of a particular fossil fuel consumed in a given month was determined by dividing the monthly sales volumes by the annual sum of monthly sales volumes for a given year. This fraction was then multiplied by the annual carbon dioxide values reported by the Carbon Dioxide Information Analysis Center (CDIAC) at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) to estimate the monthly carbon dioxide emissions from the respective fuels. The advantages of this methodology are: 1) monthly fluxes are consistent with the annual flux as determined by the widely-accepted CDIAC values, and 2) its general application can be easily adapted to other nations for determining their sub-annual time scale emissions. The major disadvantage of this methodology is the proxy nature inherent to it. Only a fraction of the total emissions are used as an estimate in determining the seasonal cycle. The error inherent in this approach increases as the fraction of total emissions represented by the proxy decreases. These data are part of a long-term project between researchers at the University of North Dakota and ORNL which attempts to identify and understand the source(s) of seasonal variations of global, fossil-fuel derived, carbon dioxide emissions

  6. 40 CFR 91.1306 - Trading.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-07-01

    ... 40 Protection of Environment 20 2011-07-01 2011-07-01 false Trading. 91.1306 Section 91.1306... EMISSIONS FROM MARINE SPARK-IGNITION ENGINES In-Use Credit Program for New Marine Engines § 91.1306 Trading... engine manufacturers through trading. (b) In-use credits for trading can be obtained from credits banked...

  7. 40 CFR 91.206 - Trading.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-07-01

    ... 40 Protection of Environment 20 2011-07-01 2011-07-01 false Trading. 91.206 Section 91.206... EMISSIONS FROM MARINE SPARK-IGNITION ENGINES Averaging, Banking, and Trading Provisions § 91.206 Trading. (a... manufacturers in trading. These credits must be used in the same averaging set as generated. (b) Credits for...

  8. 40 CFR 91.1306 - Trading.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-07-01

    ... 40 Protection of Environment 21 2012-07-01 2012-07-01 false Trading. 91.1306 Section 91.1306... EMISSIONS FROM MARINE SPARK-IGNITION ENGINES In-Use Credit Program for New Marine Engines § 91.1306 Trading... engine manufacturers through trading. (b) In-use credits for trading can be obtained from credits banked...

  9. 40 CFR 91.206 - Trading.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-07-01

    ... 40 Protection of Environment 21 2013-07-01 2013-07-01 false Trading. 91.206 Section 91.206... EMISSIONS FROM MARINE SPARK-IGNITION ENGINES Averaging, Banking, and Trading Provisions § 91.206 Trading. (a... manufacturers in trading. These credits must be used in the same averaging set as generated. (b) Credits for...

  10. 40 CFR 91.1306 - Trading.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-07-01

    ... 40 Protection of Environment 21 2013-07-01 2013-07-01 false Trading. 91.1306 Section 91.1306... EMISSIONS FROM MARINE SPARK-IGNITION ENGINES In-Use Credit Program for New Marine Engines § 91.1306 Trading... engine manufacturers through trading. (b) In-use credits for trading can be obtained from credits banked...

  11. 40 CFR 91.206 - Trading.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-07-01

    ... 40 Protection of Environment 20 2014-07-01 2013-07-01 true Trading. 91.206 Section 91.206... EMISSIONS FROM MARINE SPARK-IGNITION ENGINES Averaging, Banking, and Trading Provisions § 91.206 Trading. (a... manufacturers in trading. These credits must be used in the same averaging set as generated. (b) Credits for...

  12. 40 CFR 91.206 - Trading.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-07-01

    ... 40 Protection of Environment 21 2012-07-01 2012-07-01 false Trading. 91.206 Section 91.206... EMISSIONS FROM MARINE SPARK-IGNITION ENGINES Averaging, Banking, and Trading Provisions § 91.206 Trading. (a... manufacturers in trading. These credits must be used in the same averaging set as generated. (b) Credits for...

  13. 40 CFR 91.1306 - Trading.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-07-01

    ... 40 Protection of Environment 20 2014-07-01 2013-07-01 true Trading. 91.1306 Section 91.1306... EMISSIONS FROM MARINE SPARK-IGNITION ENGINES In-Use Credit Program for New Marine Engines § 91.1306 Trading... engine manufacturers through trading. (b) In-use credits for trading can be obtained from credits banked...

  14. 40 CFR 91.1306 - Trading.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-07-01

    ... 40 Protection of Environment 20 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Trading. 91.1306 Section 91.1306... EMISSIONS FROM MARINE SPARK-IGNITION ENGINES In-Use Credit Program for New Marine Engines § 91.1306 Trading... engine manufacturers through trading. (b) In-use credits for trading can be obtained from credits banked...

  15. 40 CFR 91.206 - Trading.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-07-01

    ... 40 Protection of Environment 20 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Trading. 91.206 Section 91.206... EMISSIONS FROM MARINE SPARK-IGNITION ENGINES Averaging, Banking, and Trading Provisions § 91.206 Trading. (a... manufacturers in trading. These credits must be used in the same averaging set as generated. (b) Credits for...

  16. Origins and implications of the relationship between warming and cumulative carbon emissions

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Raupach, M. R.; Davis, S. J.; Peters, G. P.; Andrew, R. M.; Canadell, J.; Le Quere, C.

    2014-12-01

    A near-linear relationship between warming (T) and cumulative carbon emissions (Q) is a robust finding from numerous studies. This finding opens biophysical questions concerning (1) its theoretical basis, (2) the treatment of non-CO2 forcings, and (3) uncertainty specifications. Beyond these biophysical issues, a profound global policy question is raised: (4) how can a quota on cumulative emissions be shared? Here, an integrated survey of all four issues is attempted. (1) Proportionality between T and Q is an emergent property of a linear carbon-climate system forced by exponentially increasing CO2 emissions. This idealisation broadly explains past but not future near-proportionality between T and Q: in future, the roles of non-CO2 forcings and carbon-climate nonlinearities become important, and trajectory dependence becomes stronger. (2) The warming effects of short-lived non-CO2 forcers depend on instantaneous rather than cumulative fluxes. However, inertia in emissions trajectories reinstates some of the benefits of a cumulative emissions approach, with residual trajectory dependence comparable to that for CO2. (3) Uncertainties arise from several sources: climate projections, carbon-climate feedbacks, and residual trajectory dependencies in CO2 and other emissions. All of these can in principle be combined into a probability distribution P(T|Q) for the warming T from given cumulative CO2 emissions Q. Present knowledge of P(T|Q) allows quantification of the tradeoff between mitigation ambition and climate risk. (4) Cumulative emissions consistent with a given warming target and climate risk are a finite common resource that will inevitably be shared, creating a tragedy-of-the-commons dilemma. Sharing options range from "inertia" (present distribution of emissions is maintained) to "equity" (cumulative emissions are distributed equally per-capita). Both extreme options lead to emissions distributions that are unrealisable in practice, but a blend of the two

  17. Exploratory Retrospective Analysis of Power Plant Emissions in Vulnerable Communities in the United States

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Declet-Barreto, J.; Pham, M.

    2016-12-01

    Carbon emissions trading has been implemented in parts of the United States (and elsewhere) to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Data from one such program focused on power plant emissions in the U.S. Northeast and Mid-Atlantic, the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI), have shown that regionally, power sector carbon dioxide emissions have been reduced since the adoption of the program in 2009. However, it is not known what the spatial distributions of such reductions have been in individual plants, and if emissions reductions have ocurred in plants impacting low-income and ethnic minority communities, arguably the populations most overburdened by health threats from co-pollutants (e.g., fine particulates, nitrous oxides, and sulfurous oxides) emitted along greenhouse gases. In this research, we explore the trajectory of power plant emissions in the RGGI region in vulnerable communities. This is a first, exploratory step in understanding the environmental justice implications of market-based carbon reduction policies.

  18. Field emission study of carbon nanostructures

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Zhao, Xin

    Recently, carbon nanosheets (CNS), a novel nanostructure, were developed in our laboratory as a field emission source for high emission current. To characterize, understand and improve the field emission properties of CNS, a ultra-high vacuum surface analysis system was customized to conduct relevant experimental research in four distinct areas. The system includes Auger electron spectroscopy (AES), field emission energy spectroscopy (FEES), field emission I-V testing, and thermal desorption spectroscopy (TDS). Firstly, commercial Mo single tips were studied to calibrate the customized system. AES and FEES experiments indicate that a pyramidal nanotip of Ca and O elements formed on the Mo tip surface by field induced surface diffusion. Secondly, field emission I-V testing on CNS indicates that the field emission properties of pristine nanosheets are impacted by adsorbates. For instance, in pristine samples, field emission sources can be built up instantaneously and be characterized by prominent noise levels and significant current variations. However, when CNS are processed via conditioning (run at high current), their emission properties are greatly improved and stabilized. Furthermore, only H2 desorbed from the conditioned CNS, which indicates that only H adsorbates affect emission. Thirdly, the TDS study on nanosheets revealed that the predominant locations of H residing in CNS are sp2 hybridized C on surface and bulk. Fourthly, a fabricating process was developed to coat low work function ZrC on nanosheets for field emission enhancement. The carbide triple-peak in the AES spectra indicated that Zr carbide formed, but oxygen was not completely removed. The Zr(CxOy) coating was dispersed as nanobeads on the CNS surface. Although the work function was reduced, the coated CNS emission properties were not improved due to an increased beta factor. Further analysis suggest that for low emission current (<1 uA), the H adsorbates affect emission by altering the work

  19. Estimation of carbon emission from peatland fires using Landsat-8 OLI imagery in Siak District, Riau Province

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Aisyah Fadhillah Hafni, Dinda; Syaufina, Lailan; Puspaningsih, Nining; Prasasti, Indah

    2018-05-01

    The study was conducted in three land cover conditions (secondary peat forest, shrub land, and palm plantation) that were burned in the Siak District, Riau Province, Indonesia year 2015. Measurement and calculation carbon emission from soil and vegetation of peatland should be done accurately to be implemented on climate change mitigation or greenhouse gases mitigation. The objective of the study was to estimate the carbon emission caused peatland fires in the Siak District, Riau Province, Indonesia year 2015. Estimated carbon emissions were performed using visual method and digital method. The visual method was a method that uses on-screen digitization assisted by hotspot data, the presence of smoke, and fire suppression data. The digital method was a method that uses the Normalized Burn Ratio (NBR) index. The estimated carbon emissions were calculated using the equation that was developed from IPCC 2006 in Verified Carbon Standard 2015. The results showed that the estimation of carbon emissions from fires from above the peat soil surface were higher than the carbon emissions from the peat soil. Carbon emissions above the peat soil surface of 1376.51 ton C/ha were obtained by visual method while 3984.33 ton C/ha were obtained by digital method. Peatland carbon emissions of 6.6 x 10-4 ton C/ha were obtained by visual method, whereas 2.84 x 10-3 ton C/ha was obtained by digital method. Visual method and digital method using remote sensing must be combined and developed in order to carbon emission values will be more accurate.

  20. Impacts of black carbon and co-pollutant emissions from transportation sector in Mexico City

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Zavala, Miguel; Almanza, Victor; Garcia, Agustin; Jazcilevich, Aron; Lei, Wenfang; Molina, Luisa

    2016-04-01

    Black carbon is one of the most important short-lived climate-forcing agents, which is harmful to human health and also contributes significantly to climate change. Transportation is one of the largest sources of black carbon emissions in many megacities and urban complexes, with diesel vehicles leading the way. Both on-road and off-road vehicles can emit substantial amounts of harmful BC-containing particulate matter (PM) and are also responsible for large emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2), carbon monoxide (CO), nitrogen oxides (NOx), and many other co-emitted volatile organic compounds (VOCs). Regionally, black carbon emissions contributions from mobile sources may vary widely depending on the technical characteristics of the vehicle fleet, the quality and chemical properties of the fuels consumed, and the degree of local development and economic activities that foster wider and more frequent or intensive use of vehicles. This presentation will review and assess the emissions of black carbon from the on-road and off-road transportation sector in the Mexico City Metropolitan Area. Viable mitigation strategies, including innovative technological alternatives to reduce black carbon and co-pollutants in diesel vehicles and their impacts on climate, human health and ecosystems will be described.

  1. Spatial and Temporal Patterns in Carbon Emissions to the Atmosphere

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Broniak, C. T.; Blasing, T. J.; Marland, G.

    2003-12-01

    Data on global fossil-fuel emissions of CO2 to the atmosphere for year 2000 show that the range of national average per capita emissions, in metric tons of carbon per person, includes values of 5.40 for the United States, 2.61 for Germany, 0.29 for India and 0.04 for Liberia. This range is more than two orders of magnitude. Similar data on national fossil-fuel emissions for the United States vary by more than an order of magnitude, from 34.18 metric tons of carbon per person for Wyoming to 2.70 for California. The state data also show differing patterns of change over time. The Kyoto Protocol would require ratifying developed countries to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to quantified negotiated targets. The concept of contraction and convergence (C&C) has been widely touted as a possible basis for ultimate, more strict limits on greenhouse gas emissions. The idea of C&C is that per-capita emissions of CO2 for all countries would converge toward some common value that is consistent with stabilization of global climate. The U.S., on the other hand, has proposed intensity-based emissions targets whereby goals would be defined in terms of emissions per unit of gross domestic product, or perhaps emissions per unit of output for specific activities. This paper describes the data set on U.S. CO2 emissions by state, and begins to explore the patterns between states and over time.

  2. Reviews on current carbon emission reduction technologies and projects and their feasibilities on ships

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Wang, Haibin; Zhou, Peilin; Wang, Zhongcheng

    2017-06-01

    Concern about global climate change is growing, and many projects and researchers are committed to reducing greenhouse gases from all possible sources. International Maritime (IMO) has set a target of 20% CO2 reduction from shipping by 2020 and also presented a series of carbon emission reduction methods, which are known as Energy Efficiency Design Index (EEDI) and Energy Efficiency Operation Indicator (EEOI). Reviews on carbon emission reduction from all industries indicate that, Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) is an excellent solution to global warming. In this paper, a comprehensive literature review of EEDI and EEOI and CCS is conducted and involves reviewing current policies, introducing common technologies, and considering their feasibilities for marine activities, mainly shipping. Current projects are also presented in this paper, thereby illustrating that carbon emission reduction has been the subject of attention from all over the world. Two case ship studies indicate the economic feasibility of carbon emission reduction and provide a guide for CCS system application and practical installation on ships.

  3. Potential contribution of the forestry sector in Bangladesh to carbon sequestration.

    PubMed

    Yong Shin, Man; Miah, Danesh M; Lee, Kyeong Hak

    2007-01-01

    The Kyoto Protocol provides for the involvement of developing countries in an atmospheric greenhouse gas reduction regime under its Clean Development Mechanism (CDM). Carbon credits are gained from reforestation and afforestation activities in developing countries. Bangladesh, a densely populated tropical country in South Asia, has a huge degraded forestland which can be reforested by CDM projects. To realize the potential of the forestry sector in developing countries for full-scale emission mitigation, the carbon sequestration potential of different species in different types of plantations should be integrated with the carbon trading system under the CDM of the Kyoto Protocol. This paper discusses the prospects and problems of carbon trading in Bangladesh, in relation to the CDM, in the context of global warming and the potential associated consequences. The paper analyzes the effects of reforestation projects on carbon sequestration in Bangladesh, in general, and in the hilly Chittagong region, in particular, and concludes by demonstrating the carbon trading opportunities. Results showed that tree tissue in the forests of Bangladesh stored 92tons of carbon per hectare (tC/ha), on average. The results also revealed a gross stock of 190tC/ha in the plantations of 13 tree species, ranging in age from 6 to 23 years. The paper confirms the huge atmospheric CO(2) offset by the forests if the degraded forestlands are reforested by CDM projects, indicating the potential of Bangladesh to participate in carbon trading for both its economic and environmental benefit. Within the forestry sector itself, some constraints are identified; nevertheless, the results of the study can expedite policy decisions regarding Bangladesh's participation in carbon trading through the CDM.

  4. Study on Influencing Factors of Carbon Emissions from Energy Consumption of Shandong Province of China from 1995 to 2012

    PubMed Central

    Song, Jiekun; Song, Qing; Zhang, Dong; Lu, Youyou; Luan, Long

    2014-01-01

    Carbon emissions from energy consumption of Shandong province from 1995 to 2012 are calculated. Three zero-residual decomposition models (LMDI, MRCI and Shapley value models) are introduced for decomposing carbon emissions. Based on the results, Kendall coordination coefficient method is employed for testing their compatibility, and an optimal weighted combination decomposition model is constructed for improving the objectivity of decomposition. STIRPAT model is applied to evaluate the impact of each factor on carbon emissions. The results show that, using 1995 as the base year, the cumulative effects of population, per capita GDP, energy consumption intensity, and energy consumption structure of Shandong province in 2012 are positive, while the cumulative effect of industrial structure is negative. Per capita GDP is the largest driver of the increasing carbon emissions and has a great impact on carbon emissions; energy consumption intensity is a weak driver and has certain impact on carbon emissions; population plays a weak driving role, but it has the most significant impact on carbon emissions; energy consumption structure is a weak driver of the increasing carbon emissions and has a weak impact on carbon emissions; industrial structure has played a weak inhibitory role, and its impact on carbon emissions is great. PMID:24977216

  5. Estimated carbon emission from recent rapid forest loss in Southeast Asia

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Chen, A.; Zeng, Z.; Peng, L.; Fei, S.

    2017-12-01

    Driven by agricultural expansion, industrial logging, oil palm and rubber plantations, and urbanization, Southeast Asia (SEA) is one of the hotspots for tropical deforestation over recent decades. The extent of the tropical SEA deforestation rate, as well as its impacts on carbon cycle and biodiversity, however, is still highly uncertain. In relevant work using high resolution global maps of the 21st-century forest cover, we find tropical SEA lost 22 million hectares, or 9%, of forest area during 2000-2014, a much higher deforestation rate than previously reported. Here we further conduct research investigating carbon emissions from tropical deforestation in SEA with satellite data of forest cover, a global tropical forest biomass map, and Earth system models. Preliminary results suggest that deforestation in SEA causes about 2.8 Tg C emissions to the atmosphere during the same period, also higher than that of previous studies. Meanwhile, carbon emission from deforestation shows high variations across different countries, topography and between the insular and maritime SEA. Indonesia and Malaysia tops in both total carbon loss and loss from per unit land area. Our results indicates that previous studies have underestimated the carbon loss due to deforestation in SEA. And until further effective forest conservation measures can be adopted, tropical SEA will continue playing a role of atmospheric carbon source in the coming decades.

  6. Electron emission from chemical vapor deposited diamond and amorphous carbon films observed with a simple field emission device

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Feng, Z.; Brown, I.G.; Ager, J.W. III

    Electron emission from chemical vapor deposited (CVD) diamond and amorphous carbon (a-C) films was observed with a simple field emission device (FED). Both diamond and a-C films were prepared with microwave plasma-enhanced CVD techniques. Electron emission in the field strength range +10 to {minus}10 MVm{sup {minus}1} was studied, and the field emission source was confirmed by a diode characteristic of the {ital I}-{ital V} curve, a straight line in the Fowler--Nordheim (F-N) plot, and direct observation of light emission from a fluorescent screen. The turn-on field strength was {similar_to}5 MVm{sup {minus}1}, which was similar for both kinds of carbon films.more » The highest current density for diamond films, observed at a field strength of 10 MVm{sup {minus}1}, was {similar_to}15 {mu}A cm{sup {minus}2}. Diamond films yielded a higher emission current than a-C films. The reasons for the observed field emission are discussed.« less

  7. Black Carbon in the Arctic: Assessment of and efforts to reduce black carbon emissions from wildfires and agricultural burning in Russia

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Kinder, B.; Hao, W. M.; Larkin, N. K.; McCarty, G.; O'neal, K. J.; Gonzalez, O.; Luxenberg, J.; Rosenblum, M.; Petkov, A.

    2011-12-01

    Black carbon and other short-lived climate forcers exert a warming effect on the climate but remain in the atmosphere for short time periods when compared to carbon dioxide. Black carbon is a significant contributor to increasing temperatures in the Arctic region, which has warmed at twice the global rate over the past 100 years. Black carbon warms the Arctic by absorbing incoming solar radiation while in the atmosphere and, when deposited onto Arctic ice, leading to increased atmospheric temperatures and snow and ice melt. Black carbon remains in the atmosphere for a short time period ranging from days to weeks; therefore, local atmospheric conditions at the time of burning determine the amount of black carbon transport to the Arctic. Most black carbon transport and deposition in the Arctic results from the occurrence of wildfires, prescribed forest fires, and agricultural burning at latitudes greater than 40 degrees north latitude. Wildfire affects some 10-15 million hectares of forest, forest steppe, and grasslands in Russia each year. In addition to wildfire, there is widespread cropland burning in Russia occurring in the fall following harvest and in the spring prior to tilling. Agricultural burning is common practice for crop residue removal as well as suppression of weeds, insects and residue-borne diseases. The goal of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Black Carbon Initiative is to assess black carbon emissions from agricultural burning and wildfires in Russia and explore practical options and opportunities for reducing emissions from these two sources. The emissions assessment combines satellite-derived burned area measurements of forest and agricultural fires, burn severity information, ancillary geospatial data, vegetation and land cover maps, fuels data, fire emissions data, fire/weather relationship information, and smoke transport models to estimate black carbon transport and deposition in the Arctic. The assessment addresses

  8. Institute a modest carbon tax to reduce carbon emissions, finance clean energy technology development, cut taxes, and reduce the deficit

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Muro, Mark; Rothwell, Jonathan

    The nation should institute a modest carbon tax in order to help clean up the economy and stabilize the nation’s finances. Specifically, Congress and the president should implement a $20 per ton, steadily increasing carbon excise fee that would discourage carbon dioxide emissions while shifting taxation onto pollution, financing energy efficiency (EE) and clean technology development, and providing opportunities to cut taxes or reduce the deficit. The net effect of these policies would be to curb harmful carbon emissions, improve the nation’s balance sheet, and stimulate job-creation and economic renewal.

  9. The economics of subnational carbon policy interactions and integration

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Rahman, Fadli

    An integrated, nationwide carbon policy is essential to achieve US environmental targets relating to carbon emissions. The carbon policy literature is loaded with qualitative analysis of the implications or mechanisms of an integrated emissions market across the US, but current quantitative studies do not offer solutions regarding the interactions of coexisting US regional emission markets and other policy instruments. Therefore, this dissertation attempts to answer three fundamental concerns about US carbon policy. The second chapter analyzes the welfare implications of different relative stringencies of cap-setting under a proposed integration of two emissions markets, considering the attributes relevant to each market. The third chapter extends this market integration analysis by adding an intertemporal feature to analyze the consequences of integrating existing emission markets in the US (i.e., California and RGGI). The fourth chapter examines the adverse economic implications of adopting several overlapping carbon policy instruments to regulate carbon emissions in a region. The second and third chapters employ a simple structural model with a stochastic variable to account for uncertainties in emissions. The fourth chapter utilizes a static general equilibrium framework based on IMPLAN data for California to comprehensively evaluate the reactions of the state-wide economy to various carbon policy settings. In general, the results show that integrating existing emissions markets could generate both positive and negative effects on economic welfare. The positive effects result from gains from trading permits, while negative results come from perverse second-best interactions. Policymakers are expected to carefully consider the factors and attributes of all regions prior to setting their policy targets and designing an integrated system of carbon reduction.

  10. Single-layer nano-carbon film, diamond film, and diamond/nano-carbon composite film field emission performance comparison

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Wang, Xiaoping, E-mail: wxpchina64@aliyun.com, E-mail: wxpchina@sohu.com; Shanghai Key Laboratory of Modern Optical System, Shanghai 200093; Wang, Jinye

    A series of single-layer nano-carbon (SNC) films, diamond films, and diamond/nano-carbon (D/NC) composite films have been prepared on the highly doped silicon substrate by using microwave plasma chemical vapor deposition techniques. The films were characterised by scanning electron microscopy, Raman spectroscopy, and field emission I-V measurements. The experimental results indicated that the field emission maximum current density of D/NC composite films is 11.8–17.8 times that of diamond films. And the field emission current density of D/NC composite films is 2.9–5 times that of SNC films at an electric field of 3.0 V/μm. At the same time, the D/NC composite film exhibitsmore » the advantage of improved reproducibility and long term stability (both of the nano-carbon film within the D/NC composite cathode and the SNC cathode were prepared under the same experimental conditions). And for the D/NC composite sample, a high current density of 10 mA/cm{sup 2} at an electric field of 3.0 V/μm was obtained. Diamond layer can effectively improve the field emission characteristics of nano-carbon film. The reason may be due to the diamond film acts as the electron acceleration layer.« less

  11. Light-Duty Automotive Technology, Carbon Dioxide Emissions, and Fuel Economy Trends Data

    EPA Pesticide Factsheets

    The Light-Duty Automotive Technology, Carbon Dioxide Emissions, and Fuel Economy Trends report is the authoritative reference for carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, fuel economy, and powertrain technology trends for new personal vehicles in the United States. The ??Trends?? report has been published annually since 1975 and covers all passenger cars, sport utility vehicles, minivans, and all but the largest pickup trucks and vans. This report does not provide formal compliance values for EPA CO2 emissions standards and NHTSA CAFE standards. The downloadable data are available in PDF or spreadsheet (XLS) formats.

  12. Impact of cutting meat intake on hidden greenhouse gas emissions in an import-reliant city

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Yau, Y. Y.; Thibodeau, B.; Not, C.

    2018-06-01

    Greenhouse gas emissions embodied in trade is a growing concern for the international community. Multiple studies have highlighted drawbacks in the territorial and production-based accounting of greenhouse gas emissions because it neglects emissions from the consumption of goods in trade. This creates weak carbon leakage and complicates international agreements on emissions regulations. Therefore, we estimated consumption-based emissions using input-output analysis and life cycle assessment to calculate the greenhouse gas emissions hidden in meat and dairy products in Hong Kong, a city predominately reliant on imports. We found that emissions solely from meat and dairy consumption were higher than the city’s total greenhouse gas emissions using conventional production-based calculation. This implies that government reports underestimate more than half of the emissions, as 62% of emissions are embodied in international trade. The discrepancy emphasizes the need of transitioning climate targets and policy to consumption-based accounting. Furthermore, we have shown that dietary change from a meat-heavy diet to a diet in accordance with governmental nutrition guidelines could achieve a 67% reduction in livestock-related emissions, allowing Hong Kong to achieve the Paris Agreement targets for 2030. Consequently, we concluded that consumption-based accounting for greenhouse gas emissions is crucial to target the areas where emissions reduction is realistically achievable, especially for import-reliant cities like Hong Kong.

  13. Economic, Environmental, and Coal Market Impacts of Sulfur Dioxide Emissions Trading under Alternative Acid Rain Control Proposals (1989)

    EPA Pesticide Factsheets

    This report examines the ramifications of diferent levels of emissions trading in the context of tro representative electric utility sulfur dioxide emisson reduction proposals designed to control acid rain, and in the absence of any new control program.

  14. Estimating fire severity and carbon emissions over Australian tropical savannas based on passive microwave satellite observations

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Chen, X.; Liu, Y.; Evans, J. P.; Parinussa, R.

    2017-12-01

    Carbon emissions from large-scale fire activity over the Australian tropical savannas have strong inter-annual variability, due mainly to variations in fuel accumulation in response to rainfall. We investigated the use of a recently developed satellite-based vegetation optical depth (VOD) dataset to estimate fire severity and carbon emission. VOD is sensitive to the dynamics of all aboveground vegetation and available nearly every two days. For areas burned during 2003 - 2010, we calculated the VOD change (ΔVOD) pre- and post-fire and the associated loss in above ground biomass carbon. Both results compare well with widely-accepted approaches: ΔVOD agreed well with the Normalized Burn Ratio change (ΔNBR) and carbon loss with modelled emissions from the Global Fire Emissions Database (GFED). We found that the ΔVOD and ΔNBR are generally linearly related. The Pearson correlation coefficients (R) between VOD- and GFED-based fire carbon emissions for monthly and annual total estimates are very high, 0.92 and 0.96 respectively. A key feature of fire carbon emissions is the strong inter-annual variation, ranging from 21.1 million tonnes in 2010 to 84.3 million tonnes in 2004. This study demonstrates that a reasonable estimate of fire carbon emissions can be achieved in a timely manner based on multiple satellite observations over the regions where the emissions are primarily from aboveground vegetation loss, which can be complementary to the currently used approaches.

  15. Partitioning Carbon Dioxide Emission and Assessing Dissolved Organic Carbon Leaching of a Drained Peatland Cultivated with Pineapple at Saratok, Malaysia

    PubMed Central

    Lim Kim Choo, Liza Nuriati; Ahmed, Osumanu Haruna

    2014-01-01

    Pineapples (Ananas comosus (L.) Merr.) cultivation on drained peats could affect the release of carbon dioxide (CO2) into the atmosphere and also the leaching of dissolved organic carbon (DOC). Carbon dioxide emission needs to be partitioned before deciding on whether cultivated peat is net sink or net source of carbon. Partitioning of CO2 emission into root respiration, microbial respiration, and oxidative peat decomposition was achieved using a lysimeter experiment with three treatments: peat soil cultivated with pineapple, bare peat soil, and bare peat soil fumigated with chloroform. Drainage water leached from cultivated peat and bare peat soil was also analyzed for DOC. On a yearly basis, CO2 emissions were higher under bare peat (218.8 t CO2 ha/yr) than under bare peat treated with chloroform (205 t CO2 ha/yr), and they were the lowest (179.6 t CO2 ha/yr) under cultivated peat. Decreasing CO2 emissions under pineapple were attributed to the positive effects of photosynthesis and soil autotrophic activities. An average 235.7 mg/L loss of DOC under bare peat suggests rapid decline of peat organic carbon through heterotrophic respiration and peat decomposition. Soil CO2 emission depended on moderate temperature fluctuations, but it was not affected by soil moisture. PMID:25215335

  16. Journey to world top emitter: An analysis of the driving forces of China's recent CO2 emissions surge

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Guan, Dabo; Peters, Glen P.; Weber, Christopher L.; Hubacek, Klaus

    2009-02-01

    China's economy has been growing at an accelerated rate from 2002 to 2005 and with it China's carbon emissions. It is easier to understand the growth in China's carbon emissions by considering which consumption activities - households and government, capital investments, and international trade - drive Chinese production and hence emissions. This paper adopts structural decomposition analysis, a macro-economic approach using data from national statistical offices, to investigate the drivers of China's recent CO2 emissions surge. The speed of efficiency gains in production sectors cannot cope with the growth in emissions due to growth in final consumption and associated production processes. More specifically, Chinese export production is responsible for one-half of the emission increase. Capital formation contributes to one-third of the emission increase. A fast growing component is carbon emissions related to consumption of services by urban households and governmental institutions, which are responsible for most of the remaining emissions.

  17. Quantifying the impact of legal culture and institution on carbon emissions

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Li, Q.; Wang, B.; Yu, C.; Deng, H.; Cai, W.; Wang, C.

    2015-12-01

    Anthropogenic carbon emissions has been believed to trigger more than half of the global warming over the past half a century. Climate change analysis based on human activities should not neglect the driving force of human society. Different countries or regions have different legal culture traditions and legal systems that can greatly influence regional carbon emissions. This will lead to differences in implementation way and implementation intensity of the law and policies. Without understanding the social and legal background, it is not enough to understand how the climate change rules work and what the effects enforce. Using the panel data of 71 countries from 1996-2010, this study analyzes the effects of macro channels influencing mitigation policies, which contains rules and regulations including value, religion, genealogy of law, public participation, regulatory, government effectiveness, corruption, rule of law, etc. The results show that the interaction between legal variables and economic variables is very important for carbon emissions reduction. The law affects the carbon emissions by adjusting the economic and other related variables, and vice verse, economic and other variables will also impact the level of the rule of law. The study also reveals that developing national economy is most countries' urgent current task, and there are not sound strategies or strong enforcement to guarantee the achievement of the emissions reduction commitment. It is not enough to make justice dominant by cultivating a fair attitude. Practical measures and institutional means for social justice must be promoted. These results will give insight to policy makers in creating feasible and practical climate polices.

  18. Allocation and simulation study of carbon emission quotas among China's provinces in 2020.

    PubMed

    Zhou, Xing; Guan, Xueling; Zhang, Ming; Zhou, Yao; Zhou, Meihua

    2017-03-01

    China will form its carbon market in 2017 to focus on the allocation of regional carbon emission quota in order to cope with global warming. The rationality of the regional allocation has become an important consideration for the government in ensuring stable growth in different regions that are experiencing disparity in resource endowment and economic status. Based on constructing the quota allocation indicator system for carbon emission, the emission quota for each province in different scenarios and schemes in 2020 is simulated by the multifactor hybrid weighted Shannon entropy allocation model. The following conclusions are drawn: (1) The top 5 secondary-level indicators that influence provincial quota allocation in weight are as follows: per capita energy consumption, openness, per capita carbon emission, per capita disposable income, and energy intensity. (2) The ratio of carbon emission in 2020 is different from that in 2013 in many scenarios, and the variation is scenario 2 > scenario 1 > scenario 3, with Hubei and Guangdong the provinces with the largest increase and decrease ratios, respectively. (3) In the same scenario, the quota allocation varies in different reduction criteria emphases; if the government emphasizes reduction efficiency, scheme 1 will show obvious adjustment, that is, Hunan, Hubei, Guizhou, and Yunnan will have the largest decrease. The amounts are 4.28, 8.31, 4.04, and 5.97 million tons, respectively.

  19. Analysis of carbon emission regulations in supply chains with volatile demand.

    DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

    2014-07-01

    This study analyzes an inventory control problem of a company in stochastic demand environment under carbon emissions : regulations. In particular, a continuous review inventory model with multiple suppliers is investigated under carbon taxing and ca...

  20. Revised methane emissions factors and spatially distributed annual carbon fluxes for global livestock.

    PubMed

    Wolf, Julie; Asrar, Ghassem R; West, Tristram O

    2017-09-29

    Livestock play an important role in carbon cycling through consumption of biomass and emissions of methane. Recent research suggests that existing bottom-up inventories of livestock methane emissions in the US, such as those made using 2006 IPCC Tier 1 livestock emissions factors, are too low. This may be due to outdated information used to develop these emissions factors. In this study, we update information for cattle and swine by region, based on reported recent changes in animal body mass, feed quality and quantity, milk productivity, and management of animals and manure. We then use this updated information to calculate new livestock methane emissions factors for enteric fermentation in cattle, and for manure management in cattle and swine. Using the new emissions factors, we estimate global livestock emissions of 119.1 ± 18.2 Tg methane in 2011; this quantity is 11% greater than that obtained using the IPCC 2006 emissions factors, encompassing an 8.4% increase in enteric fermentation methane, a 36.7% increase in manure management methane, and notable variability among regions and sources. For example, revised manure management methane emissions for 2011 in the US increased by 71.8%. For years through 2013, we present (a) annual livestock methane emissions, (b) complete annual livestock carbon budgets, including carbon dioxide emissions, and (c) spatial distributions of livestock methane and other carbon fluxes, downscaled to 0.05 × 0.05 degree resolution. Our revised bottom-up estimates of global livestock methane emissions are comparable to recently reported top-down global estimates for recent years, and account for a significant part of the increase in annual methane emissions since 2007. Our results suggest that livestock methane emissions, while not the dominant overall source of global methane emissions, may be a major contributor to the observed annual emissions increases over the 2000s to 2010s. Differences at regional and local scales may help

  1. Prescribed fire as a means of reducing forest carbon emissions in the western United States.

    PubMed

    Wiedinmyer, Christine; Hurteau, Matthew D

    2010-03-15

    Carbon sequestration by forested ecosystems offers a potential climate change mitigation benefit. However, wildfire has the potential to reverse this benefit In the western United States, climate change and land management practices have led to increases in wildfire intensity and size. One potential means of reducing carbon emissions from wildfire is the use of prescribed burning,which consumes less biomass and therefore releases less carbon to the atmosphere. This study uses a regional fire emissions model to estimate the potential reduction in fire emissions when prescribed burning is applied in dry, temperate forested systems of the western U.S. Daily carbon dioxide (CO(2)) fire emissions for 2001-2008 were calculated for the western U.S. for two cases: a default wildfire case and one in which prescribed burning was applied. Wide-scale prescribed fire application can reduce CO(2) fire emissions for the western U.S. by 18-25%1 in the western U.S., and by as much as 60% in specific forest systems. Although this work does not address important considerations such as the feasibility of implementing wide-scale prescribed fire management or the cumulative emissions from repeated prescribed burning, it does provide constraints on potential carbon emission reductions when prescribed burning is used.

  2. Growth and field emission properties of tubular carbon cones.

    PubMed

    Li, J J; Wang, Q; Gu, C Z

    2007-09-01

    New forms of tubular carbon cone (TCC) were grown on gold wires by hot-filament chemical vapor deposition (HFCVD). They have a long-cone-shaped appearance with a herringbone hollow interior, surrounded by helical sheets of graphite that are coiled around it. It is considered that TCC formation results because the size of the catalyst particle located in the top of the TCC decreases continuously during growth, due to etching effects in the CVD plasma, reflecting competition between the growth and etching processes in the plasma. In addition, field emission measurements show that TCCs have a very low-threshold field of 0.27 V/microm, and that a stable macroscopic emitting current density of 1 mA/cm2 can be obtained at only 0.5 V/microm. TCCs have good field emission properties, compared to other forms of carbon field emitter, and may be good candidates for use in field emission display devices.

  3. Livestock and human use of land: Productivity trends and dietary choices as drivers of future land and carbon dynamics

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Weindl, Isabelle; Popp, Alexander; Bodirsky, Benjamin Leon; Rolinski, Susanne; Lotze-Campen, Hermann; Biewald, Anne; Humpenöder, Florian; Dietrich, Jan Philipp; Stevanović, Miodrag

    2017-12-01

    Land use change has been the primary driving force of human alteration of terrestrial ecosystems. With 80% of agricultural land dedicated to livestock production, the sector is an important lever to attenuate land requirements for food production and carbon emissions from land use change. In this study, we quantify impacts of changing human diets and livestock productivity on land dynamics and depletion of carbon stored in vegetation, litter and soils. Across all investigated productivity pathways, lower consumption of livestock products can substantially reduce deforestation (47-55%) and cumulative carbon losses (34-57%). On the supply side, already minor productivity growth in extensive livestock production systems leads to substantial CO2 emission abatement, but the emission saving potential of productivity gains in intensive systems is limited, also involving trade-offs with soil carbon stocks. If accounting for uncertainties related to future trade restrictions, crop yields and pasture productivity, the range of projected carbon savings from changing diets increases to 23-78%. Highest abatement of carbon emissions (63-78%) can be achieved if reduced consumption of animal-based products is combined with sustained investments into productivity increases in plant production. Our analysis emphasizes the importance to integrate demand- and supply-side oriented mitigation strategies and to combine efforts in the crop and livestock sector to enable synergies for climate protection.

  4. Geomorphic controls on fluvial carbon exports and emissions from upland swamps in eastern Australia.

    PubMed

    Cowley, Kirsten; Looman, Arun; Maher, Damien T; Fryirs, Kirstie

    2018-03-15

    Temperate Highland Peat Swamps on Sandstone (THPSS) are upland wetlands, similar to fens in the Northern Hemisphere and are found at the headwaters of low-order streams on the plateaus of Eastern Australia. They are classified as endangered ecological communities under State and National legislation. Previous works have identified particular geomorphic characteristics that are important to carbon storage in these low energy sediment accumulation zones. Changes in the geomorphic structure of THPSS, such as channelisation, may have profound implications for carbon storage. To assess the effect of channelisation on carbon budgets in these ecosystems it is essential to identify and quantify differences in carbon export, emissions and stocks of carbon of intact swamps and those that have become channelised. We undertook seasonal sampling of the perched swamp aquifers and surface waters of two intact swamps and two channelised fills in the Blue Mountains of New South Wales, Australia, to investigate differences in carbon exports and emissions between the two swamp types. We found that channelised fills' mean CO 2 emissions were almost four times higher than intact swamps with mean CH 4 emissions up to five times higher. Annual fluvial carbon exports for channelised fills were up to 18 times that of intact swamps. Channelised fill exports and emissions can represent up to 2% of the total swamp carbon stocks per annum which is 40 times higher than the intact swamps. This work clearly demonstrates that changes in geomorphic structure brought about by incision and channelisation results in profound changes to the carbon storage function of THPSS. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  5. Field Emission Characteristics of Carbon Nanotubes and Their Applications in Sensors and Devices

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Vaseashta, Ashok

    2003-03-01

    FIELD EMISSION CHARACTERISTICS OF CARBON NANOTUBES AND THEIR APPLICATIONS IN SENSORS AND DEVICES A. Vaseashta, C. Shaffer, M. Collins, A. Mwuara Dept of Physics, Marshall University, Huntington, WV V. Pokropivny Institute for Materials Sciences of NASU, Kiev, Ukraine. D. Dimova-Malinovska Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Sofia, Bulgaria. The dimensionality of a system has profound influence on its physical behavior. With advances in technology over the past few decades, it has become possible to fabricate and study reduced-dimensional systems, such as carbon nanotubes (CNTs). Carbon nanotubes are especially promising candidate for cold cathode field emitter because of their electrical properties, high aspect ratio, and small radius of curvature at the tips. Electron emission from the carbon nanotubes was investigated. Based upon the field emission investigation of carbon nanotubes, several prototype devices have been suggested that operate with low swing voltages with sufficient high current densities. Characteristics that allow improved current stability and long lifetime operation for electrical and opto-electronics devices are presented. The aim of this brief overview is to illustrate the useful characteristics of carbon nanotubes and its possible application.

  6. Wildland fire emissions, carbon, and climate: Science overview and knowledge needs

    Treesearch

    William T. Sommers; Rachel A. Loehman; Colin C. Hardy

    2014-01-01

    Wildland fires have influenced the global carbon cycle for 420 million years of Earth history, interacting with climate to define vegetation characteristics and distributions, trigger abrupt ecosystem shifts, and move carbon among terrestrial and atmospheric pools. Carbon dioxide (CO2) is the dominant driver of ongoing climate change and the principal emissions...

  7. Thermionic Emission of Single-Wall Carbon Nanotubes Measured

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Landis, Geoffrey A.; Krainsky, Isay L.; Bailey, Sheila G.; Elich, Jeffrey M.; Landi, Brian J.; Gennett, Thomas; Raffaelle, Ryne P.

    2004-01-01

    Researchers at the NASA Glenn Research Center, in collaboration with the Rochester Institute of Technology, have investigated the thermionic properties of high-purity, single-wall carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) for use as electron-emitting electrodes. Carbon nanotubes are a recently discovered material made from carbon atoms bonded into nanometer-scale hollow tubes. Such nanotubes have remarkable properties. An extremely high aspect ratio, as well as unique mechanical and electronic properties, make single-wall nanotubes ideal for use in a vast array of applications. Carbon nanotubes typically have diameters on the order of 1 to 2 nm. As a result, the ends have a small radius of curvature. It is these characteristics, therefore, that indicate they might be excellent potential candidates for both thermionic and field emission.

  8. Global carbon stocks and potential emissions due to mangrove deforestation from 2000 to 2012

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Hamilton, Stuart E.; Friess, Daniel A.

    2018-03-01

    Mangrove forests store high densities of organic carbon, which, when coupled with high rates of deforestation, means that mangroves have the potential to contribute substantially to carbon emissions. Consequently, mangroves are strong candidates for inclusion in nationally determined contributions (NDCs) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), and payments for ecosystem services (PES) programmes that financially incentivize the conservation of forested carbon stocks. This study quantifies annual mangrove carbon stocks from 2000 to 2012 at the global, national and sub-national levels, and global carbon emissions resulting from deforestation over the same time period. Globally, mangroves stored 4.19 Pg of carbon in 2012, with Indonesia, Brazil, Malaysia and Papua New Guinea accounting for more than 50% of the global stock. 2.96 Pg of the global carbon stock is contained within the soil and 1.23 Pg in the living biomass. Two percent of global mangrove carbon was lost between 2000 and 2012, equivalent to a maximum potential of 316,996,250 t of CO2 emissions.

  9. Geographic patterns of carbon dioxide emissions from fossil-fuel burning, hydraulic cement production, and gas flaring on a one degree by one degree grid cell basis: 1950 to 1990

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Brenkert, A.L.; Andres, R.J.; Marland, G.

    1997-03-01

    Data sets of one degree latitude by one degree longitude carbon dioxide (CO{sub 2}) emissions in units of thousand metric tons of carbon (C) per year from anthropogenic sources have been produced for 1950, 1960, 1970, 1980 and 1990. Detailed geographic information on CO{sub 2} emissions can be critical in understanding the pattern of the atmospheric and biospheric response to these emissions. Global, regional and national annual estimates for 1950 through 1992 were published previously. Those national, annual CO{sub 2} emission estimates were based on statistics on fossil-fuel burning, cement manufacturing and gas flaring in oil fields as well asmore » energy production, consumption and trade data, using the methods of Marland and Rotty. The national annual estimates were combined with gridded one-degree data on political units and 1984 human populations to create the new gridded CO{sub 2} emission data sets. The same population distribution was used for each of the years as proxy for the emission distribution within each country. The implied assumption for that procedure was that per capita energy use and fuel mix is uniform over a political unit. The consequence of this first-order procedure is that the spatial changes observed over time are solely due to changes in national energy consumption and nation-based fuel mix. Increases in emissions over time are apparent for most areas.« less

  10. Causal relationship between agricultural production and carbon dioxide emissions in selected emerging economies.

    PubMed

    Appiah, Kingsley; Du, Jianguo; Poku, John

    2018-06-20

    Continuous threat posed by climate change caused by carbon dioxide emission has reignited global advocacy to confront its negative ramification with the greatest possible firmness. Global food security and agriculture face major challenges under climate change as a result of the potential negative effect of production and implementation of sectoral action to limit global warming. Overall, agricultural greenhouse emissions continue to rise and the analysis of superior data on emissions from farming, livestock, and fisheries can help countries identify opportunities to contemporaneously reduce emissions and address their food security. This study seeks to contribute to the recent literature by examining the causal relationship between agriculture production and carbon dioxide emissions in selected emerging economies for the period 1971 to 2013. The study, therefore, disaggregated agriculture production into crop production index and livestock production index to explicate the distinct and to find individual variable contribution to carbon dioxide emissions. By using FMOLS and DOLS, empirical results indicate that 1% increase in economic growth, crop production index, and livestock production index will cause a proportional increase in carbon dioxide emission by 17%, 28%, and 28% correspondingly, while 1% increase in energy consumption and population improves the environment of emerging economies. The direction of causality among the variables was, accordingly, examined using PMG estimator. Potentially, for emerging countries to achieve Sustainable Development Goal of ensuring zero hunger for their citizenry requires the need to alter their farming production techniques and also adopt agricultural technology method, which is more environmentally friendly.

  11. Carbon Dioxide Emissions From Fossil-Fuel Consumption in Indonesia

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Gregg, J. S.; Robert, A. J.

    2005-05-01

    Applying monthly sales and consumption data of coal, petroleum and natural gas, a monthly time series of carbon dioxide emissions from fossil-fuel consumption is created for Indonesia. These are then modeled with an autoregressive function to produce a quantitative description of the seasonal distribution and long-term pattern of CO2 emissions. Currently, Indonesia holds the 21st ranked position in total anthropogenic CO2 emissions among countries of the world. The demand for energy in Indonesia has been growing rapidly in recent years as Indonesia attempts to modernize and upgrade the standard of living for its citizens. With such a large population (a quarter of a billion people), the recent increase observed in the per capita energy use equates to a large escalation in total CO2 emissions. However, the economy and political climate is rather turbulent and thus emissions tend to fluctuate wildly. For example, Indonesia's energy consumption dropped substantially during the Asian economic crisis in the late 1990s. It is likely that the recent tsunami will also significantly impact energy consumption as the hard-hit Aceh region is the largest fuel-producing region of Indonesia. Therefore, Indonesia is a country whose emissions are more unpredictable than most countries that emit comparable levels of CO2. Complicating matters further, data collection practices in Indonesia are less diligent than in other countries with more stable economies. Thus, though CO2 emissions from Indonesia are a particular challenge to model, they are an important component to understanding the total global carbon cycle.

  12. Field emission from isolated individual vertically aligned carbon nanocones

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Baylor, L. R.; Merkulov, V. I.; Ellis, E. D.; Guillorn, M. A.; Lowndes, D. H.; Melechko, A. V.; Simpson, M. L.; Whealton, J. H.

    2002-04-01

    Field emission from isolated individual vertically aligned carbon nanocones (VACNCs) has been measured using a small-diameter moveable probe. The probe was scanned parallel to the sample plane to locate the VACNCs, and perpendicular to the sample plane to measure the emission turn-on electric field of each VACNC. Individual VACNCs can be good field emitters. The emission threshold field depends on the geometric aspect ratio (height/tip radius) of the VACNC and is lowest when a sharp tip is present. VACNCs exposed to a reactive ion etch process demonstrate a lowered emission threshold field while maintaining a similar aspect ratio. Individual VACNCs can have low emission thresholds, carry high current densities, and have long emission lifetime. This makes them very promising for various field emission applications for which deterministic placement of the emitter with submicron accuracy is needed.

  13. 40 CFR 600.113-12 - Fuel economy, CO2 emissions, and carbon-related exhaust emission calculations for FTP, HFET, US06...

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-07-01

    ... economy and carbon-related exhaust emission values require input of the weighted grams/mile values for... the calculations of the carbon-related exhaust emissions require the input of grams/mile values for... as follows: (1) Calculate the weighted grams/mile values for the FTP test for CO2, HC, and CO, and...

  14. 40 CFR 600.113-12 - Fuel economy, CO2 emissions, and carbon-related exhaust emission calculations for FTP, HFET, US06...

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-07-01

    ... economy and carbon-related exhaust emission values require input of the weighted grams/mile values for... the calculations of the carbon-related exhaust emissions require the input of grams/mile values for... as follows: (1) Calculate the weighted grams/mile values for the FTP test for CO2, HC, and CO, and...

  15. 40 CFR 600.113-12 - Fuel economy, CO2 emissions, and carbon-related exhaust emission calculations for FTP, HFET, US06...

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-07-01

    ... economy and carbon-related exhaust emission values require input of the weighted grams/mile values for... the calculations of the carbon-related exhaust emissions require the input of grams/mile values for... as follows: (1) Calculate the weighted grams/mile values for the FTP test for CO2, HC, and CO, and...

  16. Optimizing the scale of markets for water quality trading

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Doyle, Martin W.; Patterson, Lauren A.; Chen, Yanyou; Schnier, Kurt E.; Yates, Andrew J.

    2014-09-01

    Applying market approaches to environmental regulations requires establishing a spatial scale for trading. Spatially large markets usually increase opportunities for abatement cost savings but increase the potential for pollution damages (hot spots), vice versa for spatially small markets. We develop a coupled hydrologic-economic modeling approach for application to point source emissions trading by a large number of sources and apply this approach to the wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) within the watershed of the second largest estuary in the U.S. We consider two different administrative structures that govern the trade of emission permits: one-for-one trading (the number of permits required for each unit of emission is the same for every WWTP) and trading ratios (the number of permits required for each unit of emissions varies across WWTP). Results show that water quality regulators should allow trading to occur at the river basin scale as an appropriate first-step policy, as is being done in a limited number of cases via compliance associations. Larger spatial scales may be needed under conditions of increased abatement costs. The optimal scale of the market is generally the same regardless of whether one-for-one trading or trading ratios are employed.

  17. Carbon-, sulfur-, and phosphorus-based charge transfer reactions in inductively coupled plasma-atomic emission spectrometry

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Grindlay, Guillermo; Gras, Luis; Mora, Juan; de Loos-Vollebregt, Margaretha T. C.

    2016-01-01

    In this work, the influence of carbon-, sulfur-, and phosphorus-based charge transfer reactions on the emission signal of 34 elements (Ag, Al, As, Au, B, Ba, Be, Ca, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, Ga, Hg, I, In, Ir, K, Li, Mg, Mn, Na, Ni, P, Pb, Pd, Pt, S, Sb, Se, Sr, Te, and Zn) in axially viewed inductively coupled plasma-atomic emission spectrometry has been investigated. To this end, atomic and ionic emission signals for diluted glycerol, sulfuric acid, and phosphoric acid solutions were registered and results were compared to those obtained for a 1% w w- 1 nitric acid solution. Experimental results show that the emission intensities of As, Se, and Te atomic lines are enhanced by charge transfer from carbon, sulfur, and phosphorus ions. Iodine and P atomic emission is enhanced by carbon- and sulfur-based charge transfer whereas the Hg atomic emission signal is enhanced only by carbon. Though signal enhancement due to charge transfer reactions is also expected for ionic emission lines of the above-mentioned elements, no experimental evidence has been found with the exception of Hg ionic lines operating carbon solutions. The effect of carbon, sulfur, and phosphorus charge transfer reactions on atomic emission depends on (i) wavelength characteristics. In general, signal enhancement is more pronounced for electronic transitions involving the highest upper energy levels; (ii) plasma experimental conditions. The use of robust conditions (i.e. high r.f. power and lower nebulizer gas flow rates) improves carbon, sulfur, and phosphorus ionization in the plasma and, hence, signal enhancement; and (iii) the presence of other concomitants (e.g. K or Ca). Easily ionizable elements reduce ionization in the plasma and consequently reduce signal enhancement due to charge transfer reactions.

  18. Estimating global "blue carbon" emissions from conversion and degradation of vegetated coastal ecosystems.

    PubMed

    Pendleton, Linwood; Donato, Daniel C; Murray, Brian C; Crooks, Stephen; Jenkins, W Aaron; Sifleet, Samantha; Craft, Christopher; Fourqurean, James W; Kauffman, J Boone; Marbà, Núria; Megonigal, Patrick; Pidgeon, Emily; Herr, Dorothee; Gordon, David; Baldera, Alexis

    2012-01-01

    Recent attention has focused on the high rates of annual carbon sequestration in vegetated coastal ecosystems--marshes, mangroves, and seagrasses--that may be lost with habitat destruction ('conversion'). Relatively unappreciated, however, is that conversion of these coastal ecosystems also impacts very large pools of previously-sequestered carbon. Residing mostly in sediments, this 'blue carbon' can be released to the atmosphere when these ecosystems are converted or degraded. Here we provide the first global estimates of this impact and evaluate its economic implications. Combining the best available data on global area, land-use conversion rates, and near-surface carbon stocks in each of the three ecosystems, using an uncertainty-propagation approach, we estimate that 0.15-1.02 Pg (billion tons) of carbon dioxide are being released annually, several times higher than previous estimates that account only for lost sequestration. These emissions are equivalent to 3-19% of those from deforestation globally, and result in economic damages of $US 6-42 billion annually. The largest sources of uncertainty in these estimates stems from limited certitude in global area and rates of land-use conversion, but research is also needed on the fates of ecosystem carbon upon conversion. Currently, carbon emissions from the conversion of vegetated coastal ecosystems are not included in emissions accounting or carbon market protocols, but this analysis suggests they may be disproportionally important to both. Although the relevant science supporting these initial estimates will need to be refined in coming years, it is clear that policies encouraging the sustainable management of coastal ecosystems could significantly reduce carbon emissions from the land-use sector, in addition to sustaining the well-recognized ecosystem services of coastal habitats.

  19. Carbon, land, and water footprint accounts for the European Union: consumption, production, and displacements through international trade.

    PubMed

    Steen-Olsen, Kjartan; Weinzettel, Jan; Cranston, Gemma; Ercin, A Ertug; Hertwich, Edgar G

    2012-10-16

    A nation's consumption of goods and services causes various environmental pressures all over the world due to international trade. We use a multiregional input-output model to assess three kinds of environmental footprints for the member states of the European Union. Footprints are indicators that take the consumer responsibility approach to account for the total direct and indirect effects of a product or consumption activity. We quantify the total environmental pressures (greenhouse gas emissions: carbon footprint; appropriation of biologically productive land and water area: land footprint; and freshwater consumption: water footprint) caused by consumption in the EU. We find that the consumption activities by an average EU citizen in 2004 led to 13.3 tCO(2)e of induced greenhouse gas emissions, appropriation of 2.53 gha (hectares of land with global-average biological productivity), and consumption of 179 m(3) of blue water (ground and surface water). By comparison, the global averages were 5.7 tCO(2)e, 1.23 gha, and 163 m(3) blue water, respectively. Overall, the EU displaced all three types of environmental pressures to the rest of the world, through imports of products with embodied pressures. Looking at intra-EU displacements only, the UK was the most important displacer overall, while the largest net exporters of embodied environmental pressures were Poland (greenhouse gases), France (land), and Spain (freshwater).

  20. A methodology for calculating transport emissions in cities with limited traffic data: Case study of diesel particulates and black carbon emissions in Murmansk.

    PubMed

    Kholod, N; Evans, M; Gusev, E; Yu, S; Malyshev, V; Tretyakova, S; Barinov, A

    2016-03-15

    This paper presents a methodology for calculating exhaust emissions from on-road transport in cities with low-quality traffic data and outdated vehicle registries. The methodology consists of data collection approaches and emission calculation methods. For data collection, the paper suggests using video survey and parking lot survey methods developed for the International Vehicular Emissions model. Additional sources of information include data from the largest transportation companies, vehicle inspection stations, and official vehicle registries. The paper suggests using the European Computer Programme to Calculate Emissions from Road Transport (COPERT) 4 model to calculate emissions, especially in countries that implemented European emissions standards. If available, the local emission factors should be used instead of the default COPERT emission factors. The paper also suggests additional steps in the methodology to calculate emissions only from diesel vehicles. We applied this methodology to calculate black carbon emissions from diesel on-road vehicles in Murmansk, Russia. The results from Murmansk show that diesel vehicles emitted 11.7 tons of black carbon in 2014. The main factors determining the level of emissions are the structure of the vehicle fleet and the level of vehicle emission controls. Vehicles without controls emit about 55% of black carbon emissions. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  1. 40 CFR 89.112 - Oxides of nitrogen, carbon monoxide, hydrocarbon, and particulate matter exhaust emission standards.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-07-01

    ..., hydrocarbon, and particulate matter exhaust emission standards. 89.112 Section 89.112 Protection of....112 Oxides of nitrogen, carbon monoxide, hydrocarbon, and particulate matter exhaust emission... emissions of oxides of nitrogen, carbon monoxide, hydrocarbon, and nonmethane hydrocarbon are measured using...

  2. 40 CFR 89.112 - Oxides of nitrogen, carbon monoxide, hydrocarbon, and particulate matter exhaust emission standards.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-07-01

    ..., hydrocarbon, and particulate matter exhaust emission standards. 89.112 Section 89.112 Protection of....112 Oxides of nitrogen, carbon monoxide, hydrocarbon, and particulate matter exhaust emission... emissions of oxides of nitrogen, carbon monoxide, hydrocarbon, and nonmethane hydrocarbon are measured using...

  3. Transient simulations of historical climate change including interactive carbon emissions from land-use change.

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Matveev, A.; Matthews, H. D.

    2009-04-01

    Carbon fluxes from land conversion are among the most uncertain variables in our understanding of the contemporary carbon cycle, which limits our ability to estimate both the total human contribution to current climate forcing and the net effect of terrestrial biosphere changes on atmospheric CO2 increases. The current generation of coupled climate-carbon models have made significant progress in simulating the coupled climate and carbon cycle response to anthropogenic CO2 emissions, but do not typically include land-use change as a dynamic component of the simulation. In this work we have incorporated a book-keeping land-use carbon accounting model into the University of Victoria Earth System Climate Model (UVic ESCM), and intermediate-complexity coupled climate-carbon model. The terrestrial component of the UVic ESCM allows an aerial competition of five plant functional types (PFTs) in response to climatic conditions and area availability, and tracks the associated changes in affected carbon pools. In order to model CO2 emissions from land conversion in the terrestrial component of the model, we calculate the allocation of carbon to short and long-lived wood products following specified land-cover change, and use varying decay timescales to estimate CO2 emissions. We use recently available spatial datasets of both crop and pasture distributions to drive a series of transient simulations and estimate the net contribution of human land-use change to historical carbon emissions and climate change.

  4. New-type planar field emission display with superaligned carbon nanotube yarn emitter.

    PubMed

    Liu, Peng; Wei, Yang; Liu, Kai; Liu, Liang; Jiang, Kaili; Fan, Shoushan

    2012-05-09

    With the superaligned carbon nanotube yarn as emitter, we have fabricated a 16 × 16 pixel field emission display prototype by adopting screen printing and laser cutting technologies. A planar diode field emission structure has been adopted. A very sharp carbon nanotube yarn tip emitter can be formed by laser cutting. Low voltage phosphor was coated on the anode electrodes also by screen printing. With a specially designed circuit, we have demonstrated the dynamic character display with the field emission display prototype. The emitter material and fabrication technologies in this paper are both easy to scale up to large areas.

  5. Analysis of Carbon Policies for Electricity Networks with High Penetration of Green Generation

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Feijoo, Felipe A.

    In recent decades, climate change has become one of the most crucial challenges for humanity. Climate change has a direct correlation with global warming, caused mainly by the green house gas emissions (GHG). The Environmental Protection Agency in the U.S. (EPA) attributes carbon dioxide to account for approximately 82% of the GHG emissions. Unfortunately, the energy sector is the main producer of carbon dioxide, with China and the U.S. as the highest emitters. Therefore, there is a strong (positive) correlation between energy production, global warming, and climate change. Stringent carbon emissions reduction targets have been established in order to reduce the impacts of GHG. Achieving these emissions reduction goals will require implementation of policies like as cap-and-trade and carbon taxes, together with transformation of the electricity grid into a smarter system with high green energy penetration. However, the consideration of policies solely in view of carbon emissions reduction may adversely impact other market outcomes such as electricity prices and consumption. In this dissertation, a two-layer mathematical-statistical framework is presented, that serves to develop carbon policies to reduce emissions level while minimizing the negative impacts on other market outcomes. The bottom layer of the two layer model comprises a bi-level optimization problem. The top layer comprises a statistical model and a Pareto analysis. Two related but different problems are studied under this methodology. The first problem looks into the design of cap-and-trade policies for deregulated electricity markets that satisfy the interest of different market constituents. Via the second problem, it is demonstrated how the framework can be used to obtain levels of carbon emissions reduction while minimizing the negative impact on electricity demand and maximizing green penetration from microgrids. In the aforementioned studies, forecasts for electricity prices and production cost

  6. Application of vitreous and graphitic large-area carbon surfaces as field-emission cathodes

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Hunt, Charles E.; Wang, Yu

    2005-09-01

    Numerous carbon bulk or thin-film materials have been used as field-emission cathodes. Most of these can be made into large-area and high-current field-emission cathodes without the use of complex IC fabrication techniques. Some of these exhibit low-extraction field, low work-function, high ruggedness, chemical stability, uniform emission, and low-cost manufacturability. A comparison of all of these materials is presented. Two viable cathode materials, reticulated vitreous carbon (RVC) and graphite paste are examined here and compared.

  7. CO2 embodied in international trade with implications for global climate policy.

    PubMed

    Peters, Glen P; Hertwich, Edgar G

    2008-03-01

    The flow of pollution through international trade flows has the ability to undermine environmental policies, particularly for global pollutants. In this article we determine the CO2 emissions embodied in international trade among 87 countries for the year 2001. We find that globally there are over 5.3 Gt of CO2 embodied in trade and that Annex B countries are net importers of CO2 emissions. Depending on country characteristics--such as size variables and geographic location--there are considerable variations in the embodied emissions. We argue that emissions embodied in trade may have a significant impact on participation in and effectiveness of global climate policies such as the Kyoto Protocol. We discuss several policy options to reduce the impact of trade in global climate policy. If countries take binding commitments as a part of a coalition, instead of as individual countries, then the impacts of trade can be substantially reduced. Adjusting emission inventories for trade gives a more consistent description of a country's environmental pressures and circumvents many trade related issues. It also gives opportunities to exploit trade as a means of mitigating emissions. Not least, a better understanding of the role that trade plays in a country's economic and environmental development will help design more effective and participatory climate policy post-Kyoto.

  8. The IR emission features - Emission from PAH molecules and amorphous carbon particles

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Allamandola, L. J.; Tielens, A. G. G. M.; Barker, J. R.

    1987-01-01

    Given the current understanding of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), the spectroscopic data suggest that are at least two components which contribute to the interstellar emission spectrum: (1) free molecule-sized PAHs producing the narrow features and (2) amorphous carbon particles (which are primarily composed of an irregular 'lattice' of PAHs) contributing to the broad underlying components. An exact treatment of the IR fluorescence from highly vibrationally excited large molecules demonstrates that species containing between 20 and 30 carbon atoms are responsible for the narrow features, although the spectra match more closely with the spectra of amorphous carbon particles. It is concluded that, since little is known about the spectroscopic properties of free PAHs and PAH clusters, much laboratory work is required along with an observational program focusing on the spatial characteristics of the spectra.

  9. Calculation of global carbon dioxide emissions: Review of emission factors and a new approach taking fuel quality into consideration

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Hiete, Michael; Berner, Ulrich; Richter, Otto

    2001-03-01

    Anthropogenic carbon dioxide emissions resulting from fossil fuel consumption play a major role in the current debate on climate change. Carbon dioxide emissions are calculated on the basis of a carbon dioxide emission factor (CEF) for each type of fuel. Published CEFs are reviewed in this paper. It was found that for nearly all CEFs, fuel quality is not adequately taken into account. This is especially true in the case of the CEFs for coal. Published CEFs are often based on generalized assumptions and inexact conversions. In particular, conversions from gross calorific value to net calorific value were examined. A new method for determining CEFs as a function of calorific value (for coal, peat, and natural gas) and specific gravity (for crude oil) is presented that permits CEFs to be calculated for specific fuel qualities. A review of proportions of fossil fuels that remain unoxidized owing to incomplete combustion or inclusion in petrochemical products, etc., (stored carbon) shows that these figures need to be updated and checked for their applicability on a global scale, since they are mostly based on U.S. data.

  10. Assessment of the trade-offs and synergies between low-carbon power sector transition and land and water resources of the United Kingdom using the "ForeseerTM" approach

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Konadu, D. D.; Sobral Mourao, Z.

    2016-12-01

    Transitioning to a low-carbon power system has been identified as one of the main strategies for achieving GHG emissions reduction targets stipulated in the UK Climate Change Act (2008). However, projected mix of technologies aimed at achieving the targeted level of decarbonisation have implications for sustainable level natural resource exploitation at different spatial and temporal scales. Critical among these are the impact on land use (food production) and water resources, which are usually not adequately analysed and accounted for in developing these long-term energy system transition strategies and scenarios. Given the importance of the UK power sector to meeting economy-wide emissions targets, the overall environmental consequence of the prescribed scenarios could significantly affect meeting long-term legislated GHG emission reduction targets. It is therefore imperative that synergies and trade-offs between the power systems and these resources are comprehensively analysed. The current study employs an integrated energy and resource use accounting methodology, called ForeseerTM, to assess the land and water requirement for the deployment of the power sector technologies of the UK Committee on Climate Change (CCC) Carbon Budget scenarios. This is analysed under different scenarios of energy crop yield and electricity infrastructure location. The outputs are then compared with sustainable limits of resource exploitation to establish the environmental tractability of the scenarios. The results show that even if stringent environmental and land use restrictions are applied, all the projected bioenergy and ground-mounted solar PV can be deployed within the UK with no significant impacts on land use and food production. However, inland water resources would be significantly affected if high Carbon Capture and Storage deployment, and without new nuclear capacity. Overall, the output highlights that contrary to the notion of the inevitability of CCS deployment in

  11. 40 CFR 89.112 - Oxides of nitrogen, carbon monoxide, hydrocarbon, and particulate matter exhaust emission standards.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-07-01

    ... 40 Protection of Environment 21 2013-07-01 2013-07-01 false Oxides of nitrogen, carbon monoxide....112 Oxides of nitrogen, carbon monoxide, hydrocarbon, and particulate matter exhaust emission... emissions of oxides of nitrogen, carbon monoxide, hydrocarbon, and nonmethane hydrocarbon are measured using...

  12. 40 CFR 89.112 - Oxides of nitrogen, carbon monoxide, hydrocarbon, and particulate matter exhaust emission standards.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-07-01

    ... 40 Protection of Environment 21 2012-07-01 2012-07-01 false Oxides of nitrogen, carbon monoxide....112 Oxides of nitrogen, carbon monoxide, hydrocarbon, and particulate matter exhaust emission... emissions of oxides of nitrogen, carbon monoxide, hydrocarbon, and nonmethane hydrocarbon are measured using...

  13. 40 CFR 89.112 - Oxides of nitrogen, carbon monoxide, hydrocarbon, and particulate matter exhaust emission standards.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-07-01

    ... 40 Protection of Environment 20 2014-07-01 2013-07-01 true Oxides of nitrogen, carbon monoxide....112 Oxides of nitrogen, carbon monoxide, hydrocarbon, and particulate matter exhaust emission... emissions of oxides of nitrogen, carbon monoxide, hydrocarbon, and nonmethane hydrocarbon are measured using...

  14. Linking environment-productivity trade-offs and correlated uncertainties: Greenhouse gas emissions and crop productivity in paddy rice production systems.

    PubMed

    Hayashi, Kiyotada; Nagumo, Yoshifumi; Domoto, Akiko

    2016-11-15

    In comparative life cycle assessments of agricultural production systems, analyses of both the trade-offs between environmental impacts and crop productivity and of the uncertainties specific to agriculture such as fluctuations in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and crop yields are crucial. However, these two issues are usually analyzed separately. In this paper, we present a framework to link trade-off and uncertainty analyses; correlated uncertainties are integrated into environment-productivity trade-off analyses. We compared three rice production systems in Japan: a system using a pelletized, nitrogen-concentrated organic fertilizer made from poultry manure using closed-air composting techniques (high-N system), a system using a conventional organic fertilizer made from poultry manure using open-air composting techniques (low-N system), and a system using a chemical compound fertilizer (conventional system). We focused on two important sources of uncertainties in paddy rice cultivation-methane emissions from paddy fields and crop yields. We found trade-offs between the conventional and high-N systems and the low-N system and the existence of positively correlated uncertainties in the conventional and high-N systems. We concluded that our framework is effective in recommending the high-N system compared with the low-N system, although the performance of the former is almost the same as the conventional system. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  15. Electricity generation: options for reduction in carbon emissions.

    PubMed

    Whittington, H W

    2002-08-15

    Historically, the bulk production of electricity has been achieved by burning fossil fuels, with unavoidable gaseous emissions, including large quantities of carbon dioxide: an average-sized modern coal-burning power station is responsible for more than 10 Mt of CO(2) each year. This paper details typical emissions from present-day power stations and discusses the options for their reduction. Acknowledging that the cuts achieved in the past decade in the UK CO(2) emissions have been achieved largely by fuel switching, the remaining possibilities offered by this method are discussed. Switching to less-polluting fossil fuels will achieve some measure of reduction, but the basic problem of CO(2) emissions continues. Of the alternatives to fossil fuels, only nuclear power represents a zero-carbon large-scale energy source. Unfortunately, public concerns over safety and radioactive waste have still to be assuaged. Other approaches include the application of improved combustion technology, the removal of harmful gases from power-station flues and the use of waste heat to improve overall power-station efficiency. These all have a part to play, but many consider our best hope for emissions reduction to be the use of renewable energy. The main renewable energy contenders are assessed in this paper and realistic estimates of the contribution that each could provide are indicated. It appears that, in the time-scale envisaged by planners for reduction in CO(2) emission, in many countries renewable energy will be unlikely to deliver. At the same time, it is worth commenting that, again in many countries, the level of penetration of renewable energy will fall short of the present somewhat optimistic targets. Of renewable options, wind energy could be used in the short to medium term to cover for thermal plant closures, but for wind energy to be successful, the network will have to be modified to cope with wind's intermittent nature. Globally, hydroelectricity is currently the

  16. The Impact of Technological Progress in the Energy Sector on Carbon Emissions: An Empirical Analysis from China

    PubMed Central

    Jin, Lei; Duan, Keran; Shi, Chunming; Ju, Xianwei

    2017-01-01

    This paper investigates the relationship between technological progress in the energy sector and carbon emissions based on the Environment Kuznets Curve (EKC) and data from China during the period of 1995–2012. Our study confirms that the situation in China conforms to the EKC hypothesis and presents the inverted U-curve relationship between per capita income and carbon emissions. Furthermore, the inflection point will be reached in at least five years. Then, we use research and development (R & D) investment in the energy industry as the quantitative indicator of its technological progress to test its impact on carbon emissions. Our results show that technological progress in the energy sector contributes to a reduction in carbon emissions with hysteresis. Furthermore, our results show that energy efficiency improvements are also helpful in reducing carbon emissions. However, climate policy and change in industrial structure increase carbon emissions to some extent. Our conclusion demonstrates that currently, China is not achieving economic growth and pollution reduction simultaneously. To further achieve the goal of carbon reduction, the government should increase investment in the energy industry research and improve energy efficiency. PMID:29207562

  17. The Impact of Technological Progress in the Energy Sector on Carbon Emissions: An Empirical Analysis from China.

    PubMed

    Jin, Lei; Duan, Keran; Shi, Chunming; Ju, Xianwei

    2017-12-04

    This paper investigates the relationship between technological progress in the energy sector and carbon emissions based on the Environment Kuznets Curve (EKC) and data from China during the period of 1995-2012. Our study confirms that the situation in China conforms to the EKC hypothesis and presents the inverted U-curve relationship between per capita income and carbon emissions. Furthermore, the inflection point will be reached in at least five years. Then, we use research and development (R & D) investment in the energy industry as the quantitative indicator of its technological progress to test its impact on carbon emissions. Our results show that technological progress in the energy sector contributes to a reduction in carbon emissions with hysteresis. Furthermore, our results show that energy efficiency improvements are also helpful in reducing carbon emissions. However, climate policy and change in industrial structure increase carbon emissions to some extent. Our conclusion demonstrates that currently, China is not achieving economic growth and pollution reduction simultaneously. To further achieve the goal of carbon reduction, the government should increase investment in the energy industry research and improve energy efficiency.

  18. Impacts of urban forests on offsetting carbon emissions from industrial energy use in Hangzhou, China.

    PubMed

    Zhao, Min; Kong, Zheng-hong; Escobedo, Francisco J; Gao, Jun

    2010-01-01

    This study quantified carbon storage and sequestration by urban forests and carbon emissions from energy consumption by several industrial sources in Hangzhou, China. Carbon (C) storage and sequestration were quantified using urban forest inventory data and by applying volume-derived biomass equations and other models relating net primary productivity (NPP) and mean annual biomass increments. Industrial energy use C emissions were estimated by accounting for fossil fuel use and assigning C emission factors. Total C storage by Hangzhou's urban forests was estimated at 11.74 Tg C, and C storage per hectare was 30.25 t C. Carbon sequestration by urban forests was 1,328, 166.55 t C/year, and C sequestration per ha was 1.66 t C/ha/year. Carbon emissions from industrial energy use in Hangzhou were 7 Tg C/year. Urban forests, through sequestration, annually offset 18.57% of the amount of carbon emitted by industrial enterprises, and store an amount of C equivalent to 1.75 times the amount of annual C emitted by industrial energy uses within the city. Management practices for improving Hangzhou's urban forests function of offsetting C emissions from energy consumption are explored. These results can be used to evaluate the urban forests' role in reducing atmospheric carbon dioxide. Copyright 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  19. 40 CFR 89.206 - Trading.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-07-01

    ... 40 Protection of Environment 20 2011-07-01 2011-07-01 false Trading. 89.206 Section 89.206... EMISSIONS FROM NEW AND IN-USE NONROAD COMPRESSION-IGNITION ENGINES Averaging, Banking, and Trading Provisions § 89.206 Trading. (a) Requirements for Tier 1 engines rated at or above 37 kW. (1) A nonroad...

  20. 40 CFR 89.206 - Trading.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-07-01

    ... 40 Protection of Environment 21 2013-07-01 2013-07-01 false Trading. 89.206 Section 89.206... EMISSIONS FROM NEW AND IN-USE NONROAD COMPRESSION-IGNITION ENGINES Averaging, Banking, and Trading Provisions § 89.206 Trading. (a) Requirements for Tier 1 engines rated at or above 37 kW. (1) A nonroad...

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