Agriculture, forestry, and other land-use emissions in Latin America

DOE PAGES

Calvin, Katherine V.; Beach, Robert; Gurgel, Angelo; ...

2016-04-07

Nearly 40% of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in Latin America were from agriculture, forestry, and other land use (AFOLU) in 2008, more than double the global fraction of AFOLU emissions. In this paper, we investigate the future trajectory of AFOLU GHG emissions in Latin America, with and without efforts to mitigate, using a multi-model comparison approach. We find significant uncertainty in future emissions with and without climate policy. This uncertainty is due to differences in a variety of assumptions including (1) the role of bioenergy, (2) where and how bioenergy is produced, (3) the availability of afforestation options in climatemore » mitigation policy, and (4) N 2O and CH 4 emissions intensity. With climate policy, these differences in assumptions can lead to significant variance in mitigation potential, with three models indicating reductions in AFOLU GHG emissions and one model indicating modest increases in AFOLU GHG emissions.« less

Agriculture, forestry, and other land-use emissions in Latin America

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

Calvin, Katherine V.; Beach, Robert; Gurgel, Angelo

Nearly 40% of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in Latin America were from agriculture, forestry, and other land use (AFOLU) in 2008, more than double the global fraction of AFOLU emissions. In this paper, we investigate the future trajectory of AFOLU GHG emissions in Latin America, with and without efforts to mitigate, using a multi-model comparison approach. We find significant uncertainty in future emissions with and without climate policy. This uncertainty is due to differences in a variety of assumptions including (1) the role of bioenergy, (2) where and how bioenergy is produced, (3) the availability of afforestation options in climatemore » mitigation policy, and (4) N 2O and CH 4 emissions intensity. With climate policy, these differences in assumptions can lead to significant variance in mitigation potential, with three models indicating reductions in AFOLU GHG emissions and one model indicating modest increases in AFOLU GHG emissions.« less

Global land-use and market interactions between climate and bioenergy policies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Golub, A.; Hertel, T. W.; Rose, S. K.

2011-12-01

Over the past few years, interest in bioenergy has boomed with higher oil prices and concerns about energy security, farm incomes, and mitigation of climate change. Large-scale commercial bioenergy production could have far reaching implications for regional and global land use and output markets associated with food, forestry, chemical, and energy sectors, as well as household welfare. Similarly, there is significant interest in international agricultural and forestry based carbon sequestration and greenhouse gas (GHG) mitigation policies, which could also provide revenue to developing countries and farmers in exchange for modifying land management practices. However, bioenergy and climate policies are being formulated largely independent of one another. Understanding the interaction between these potentially competing policy objectives is important for identifying possible constraints that one policy might place on the other, potential complementarities that could be exploited in policy design, and net land-use change and management implications over time. This study develops a new dynamic global computable general equilibrium (CGE) model GDyn-E-AEZ to assess the interaction between biofuels production and climate mitigation policies. The model is built on several existing CGE platforms, including 1) GTAP-AEZ-GHG model (Golub et al., 2009), 2) GTAP-BIO (Birur et al., 2008; Taheripour and Tyner, 2011), and 3) GDyn framework (Ianchovichina and McDougall, 2001) extended to investigate the role of population and per capita income growth, changing consumption patterns, and global economic integration in determining long-run patterns of land-use change. The new model is used to assess the effects of domestic and global bioenergy expansion on future land use, as well as sectoral, regional and global GHG emissions mitigation potential. Do bioenergy programs facilitate or constrain GHG mitigation opportunities? For instance, Golub et al. (2009) estimate substantial GHG mitigation potential in non-US forests (8.9 GtCO2yr-1 at $27/tCO2eq). Furthermore, a carbon tax could lead to input substitution in agricultural production away from land and fertilizer (e.g., in China, an approximate 20% reduction in paddy rice acreage and 10% reduction in crop production fertilizer use at the same GHG price). Both results run counter to the changes in land-use induced by biofuels. However, given the energy security benefits for bioenergy, this study also evaluate whether a land GHG policy could manage international indirect land-use leakage concerns for bioenergy. In addition to a global perspective, a US perspective is taken to evaluate the implications of joint and separate bioenergy and climate policies on domestic offset and bioenergy supplies. Preliminary results indicate that US biofuels mandate reduces the global abatement potential for agriculture and forestry and thereby imposes an additional cost on society. There are regional comparative advantages in biofuels production (as well as non-biofuels crops and timber production). There are also regional comparative advantages in land-based GHG mitigation. By modeling bioenergy and climate policies separately and simultaneously, this study assess the net comparative advantage regions have in meeting these two sets of goals.

Current available strategies to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions in livestock systems: an animal welfare perspective.

PubMed

Llonch, P; Haskell, M J; Dewhurst, R J; Turner, S P

2017-02-01

Livestock production is a major contributor to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, so will play a significant role in the mitigation effort. Recent literature highlights different strategies to mitigate GHG emissions in the livestock sector. Animal welfare is a criterion of sustainability and any strategy designed to reduce the carbon footprint of livestock production should consider animal welfare amongst other sustainability metrics. We discuss and tabulate the likely relationships and trade-offs between the GHG mitigation potential of mitigation strategies and their welfare consequences, focusing on ruminant species and on cattle in particular. The major livestock GHG mitigation strategies were classified according to their mitigation approach as reducing total emissions (inhibiting methane production in the rumen), or reducing emissions intensity (Ei; reducing CH4 per output unit without directly targeting methanogenesis). Strategies classified as antimethanogenic included chemical inhibitors, electron acceptors (i.e. nitrates), ionophores (i.e. Monensin) and dietary lipids. Increasing diet digestibility, intensive housing, improving health and welfare, increasing reproductive efficiency and breeding for higher productivity were categorized as strategies that reduce Ei. Strategies that increase productivity are very promising ways to reduce the livestock carbon footprint, though in intensive systems this is likely to be achieved at the cost of welfare. Other strategies can effectively reduce GHG emissions whilst simultaneously improving animal welfare (e.g. feed supplementation or improving health). These win-win strategies should be strongly supported as they address both environmental and ethical sustainability. In order to identify the most cost-effective measures for improving environmental sustainability of livestock production, the consequences of current and future strategies for animal welfare must be scrutinized and contrasted against their effectiveness in mitigating climate change.

Cities’ Role in Mitigating United States Food System Greenhouse Gas Emissions

PubMed Central

2018-01-01

Current trends of urbanization, population growth, and economic development have made cities a focal point for mitigating global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The substantial contribution of food consumption to climate change necessitates urban action to reduce the carbon intensity of the food system. While food system GHG mitigation strategies often focus on production, we argue that urban influence dominates this sector’s emissions and that consumers in cities must be the primary drivers of mitigation. We quantify life cycle GHG emissions of the United States food system through data collected from literature and government sources producing an estimated total of 3800 kg CO2e/capita in 2010, with cities directly influencing approximately two-thirds of food sector GHG emissions. We then assess the potential for cities to reduce emissions through selected measures; examples include up-scaling urban agriculture and home delivery of grocery options, which each may achieve emissions reductions on the order of 0.4 and ∼1% of this total, respectively. Meanwhile, changes in waste management practices and reduction of postdistribution food waste by 50% reduce total food sector emissions by 5 and 11%, respectively. Consideration of the scale of benefits achievable through policy goals can enable cities to formulate strategies that will assist in achieving deep long-term GHG emissions targets. PMID:29717606

Cities' Role in Mitigating United States Food System Greenhouse Gas Emissions.

PubMed

Mohareb, Eugene A; Heller, Martin C; Guthrie, Peter M

2018-05-15

Current trends of urbanization, population growth, and economic development have made cities a focal point for mitigating global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The substantial contribution of food consumption to climate change necessitates urban action to reduce the carbon intensity of the food system. While food system GHG mitigation strategies often focus on production, we argue that urban influence dominates this sector's emissions and that consumers in cities must be the primary drivers of mitigation. We quantify life cycle GHG emissions of the United States food system through data collected from literature and government sources producing an estimated total of 3800 kg CO 2 e/capita in 2010, with cities directly influencing approximately two-thirds of food sector GHG emissions. We then assess the potential for cities to reduce emissions through selected measures; examples include up-scaling urban agriculture and home delivery of grocery options, which each may achieve emissions reductions on the order of 0.4 and ∼1% of this total, respectively. Meanwhile, changes in waste management practices and reduction of postdistribution food waste by 50% reduce total food sector emissions by 5 and 11%, respectively. Consideration of the scale of benefits achievable through policy goals can enable cities to formulate strategies that will assist in achieving deep long-term GHG emissions targets.

Potential for energy recovery and greenhouse gas mitigation from municipal solid waste using a waste-to-material approach.

PubMed

Chen, Ying-Chu

2016-12-01

Energy recovery and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from wastes are getting noticed in recent years. This study evaluated the potential for energy recovery and GHG mitigation from municipal solid waste (MSW) with a waste-to-material (WTM) approach. Waste generated in Taiwan contains a large amount of paper, food waste, and plastics, which previously were mostly sent to waste-to-energy (WTE) plants for incineration. However, the mitigation of GHGs by the WTM approach has been especially successful in the recycling of metals (averaging 1.83×10 6 kgCO 2 -eq/year) and paper (averaging 7.38×10 5 kgCO 2 -eq/year). In addition, the recycling of paper (1.33×10 10 kWh) and plastics (1.26×10 10 kWh) has contributed greatly to energy saving. Both metal and glass are not suitable for incineration due to their low energy content. The volumes of paper and food waste contained in the MSW are positively related to the carbon concentration, which may contribute to increased GHGs during incineration. Therefore, the recycling of paper, metals, and food waste is beneficial for GHG mitigation. Measures to reduce GHGs were also suggested in this study. The development of the WTM approach may be helpful for the proper management of MSW with regards to GHG mitigation. The results of this study can be a successful example for other nations. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

GREENHOUSE GAS (GHG) MITIGATION AND MONITORING TECHNOLOGY PERFORMANCE: ACTIVITIES OF THE GHG TECHNOLOGY VERIFICATION CENTER

EPA Science Inventory

The paper discusses greenhouse gas (GHG) mitigation and monitoring technology performance activities of the GHG Technology Verification Center. The Center is a public/private partnership between Southern Research Institute and the U.S. EPA's Office of Research and Development. It...

Greenhouse Gas Mitigation Options Database and Tool - Data repository of GHG mitigation technologies.

EPA Science Inventory

Industry and electricity production facilities generate over 50 percent of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the United States. There is a growing consensus among scientists that the primary cause of climate change is anthropogenic greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Reducing GHG emi...

Co-benefits of greenhouse gas mitigation: a review and classification by type, mitigation sector, and geography

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Deng, Hong-Mei; Liang, Qiao-Mei; Liu, Li-Jing; Diaz Anadon, Laura

2017-12-01

The perceived inability of climate change mitigation goals alone to mobilize sufficient climate change mitigation efforts has, among other factors, led to growing research on the co-benefits of reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. This study conducts a systematic review (SR) of the literature on the co-benefits of mitigating GHG emissions resulting in 1554 papers. We analyze these papers using bibliometric analysis, including a keyword co-occurrence analysis. We then iteratively develop and present a typology of co-benefits, mitigation sectors, geographic scope, and methods based on the manual double coding of the papers resulting from the SR. We find that the co-benefits from GHG mitigation that have received the largest attention of researchers are impacts on ecosystems, economic activity, health, air pollution, and resource efficiency. The co-benefits that have received the least attention include the impacts on conflict and disaster resilience, poverty alleviation (or exacerbation), energy security, technological spillovers and innovation, and food security. Most research has investigated co-benefits from GHG mitigation in the agriculture, forestry and other land use (AFOLU), electricity, transport, and residential sectors, with the industrial sector being the subject of significantly less research. The largest number of co-benefits publications provide analysis at a global level, with relatively few studies providing local (city) level analysis or studying co-benefits in Oceanian or African contexts. Finally, science and engineering methods, in contrast to economic or social science methods, are the methods most commonly employed in co-benefits papers. We conclude that given the potential mobilizing power of understudied co-benefits (e.g. poverty alleviation) and local impacts, the magnitude of GHG emissions from the industrial sector, and the fact that Africa and South America are likely to be severely affected by climate change, there is an opportunity for the research community to fill these gaps.

Possibilities for near-term bioenergy production and GHG-mitigation through sustainable intensification of agriculture and forestry in Denmark

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Larsen, Søren; Bentsen, Niclas S.; Dalgaard, Tommy; Jørgensen, Uffe; Olesen, Jørgen E.; Felby, Claus

2017-11-01

To mitigate climate change it is necessary to further increase the deployment of renewable energy, including bioenergy. This analysis shows how this can be achieved in Danish agriculture and forestry before 2020. The key is a sustainable intensification and we show through three scenarios how it is possible to increase production while at the same time decreasing environmental impact and with only minor consequences on food and feed production. An additional ~10 Tg biomass can be available in 2020 for the Danish energy sector. By converting the biomass in a biorefinery concept it is possible to supply relevant, domestically produced energy carriers that amounts to ~5%-13% of 2020 Danish energy consumption. This has the potential to reduce the GHG emissions with 13%-21% of 2020 emissions. These results are possible because Danish net primary production and the human appropriation hereof can be increased. We show that biomass for bioenergy has a large near-term potential to supply relevant energy carriers to the society while at the same time achieving significant GHG emission mitigation.

Reduced greenhouse gas mitigation potential of no-tillage soils through earthworm activity

PubMed Central

Lubbers, Ingrid M.; Jan van Groenigen, Kees; Brussaard, Lijbert; van Groenigen, Jan Willem

2015-01-01

Concerns about rising greenhouse gas (GHG) concentrations have spurred the promotion of no-tillage practices as a means to stimulate carbon storage and reduce CO2 emissions in agro-ecosystems. Recent research has ignited debate about the effect of earthworms on the GHG balance of soil. It is unclear how earthworms interact with soil management practices, making long-term predictions on their effect in agro-ecosystems problematic. Here we show, in a unique two-year experiment, that earthworm presence increases the combined cumulative emissions of CO2 and N2O from a simulated no-tillage (NT) system to the same level as a simulated conventional tillage (CT) system. We found no evidence for increased soil C storage in the presence of earthworms. Because NT agriculture stimulates earthworm presence, our results identify a possible biological pathway for the limited potential of no-tillage soils with respect to GHG mitigation. PMID:26337488

Degradation activities, drivers, and emissions: US Forest Service LEAF Country Assessments

Treesearch

Patricia Manley; Leif Mortenson; James Halperin; Rick Turner

2013-01-01

Degradation is emerging as a common outcome of forest activities, and associated greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions have the potential to be significant. Understanding the activities and drivers of degradation is central to the ability to effectively measure, monitor, and mitigate associated emissions. Current inventories of GHG emissions do not effectively account for...

Assessment of GHG mitigation and CDM technology in urban transport sector of Chandigarh, India.

PubMed

Bhargava, Nitin; Gurjar, Bhola Ram; Mor, Suman; Ravindra, Khaiwal

2018-01-01

The increase in number of vehicles in metropolitan cities has resulted in increase of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in urban environment. In this study, emission load of GHGs (CO, N 2 O, CO 2 ) from Chandigarh road transport sector has been estimated using Vehicular Air Pollution Inventory (VAPI) model, which uses emission factors prevalent in Indian cities. Contribution of 2-wheelers (2-w), 3-wheelers (3-w), cars, buses, and heavy commercial vehicles (HCVs) to CO, N 2 O, CO 2 , and total GHG emissions was calculated. Potential for GHG mitigation through clean development mechanism (CDM) in transport sector of Chandigarh under two scenarios, i.e., business as usual (BAU) and best estimate scenario (BES) using VAPI model, has been explored. A major contribution of GHG load (~ 50%) in Chandigarh was from four-wheelers until 2011; however, it shows a declining trend after 2011 until 2020. The estimated GHG emission from motor vehicles in Chandigarh has increased more than two times from 1065 Gg in 2005 to 2486 Gg by 2011 and is expected to increase to 4014 Gg by 2020 under BAU scenario. Under BES scenario, 30% of private transport has been transformed to public transport; GHG load was possibly reduced by 520 Gg. An increase of 173 Gg in GHGs load is projected from additional scenario (ADS) in Chandigarh city if all the diesel buses are transformed to CNG buses by 2020. Current study also offers potential for other cities to plan better GHG reduction strategies in transport sector to reduce their climate change impacts.

Co-benefits of global, domestic, and sectoral greenhouse gas mitigation for US air quality and human health in 2050

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

Zhang, Yuqiang; Smith, Steven J.; Bowden, Jared H.

Policies to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions can bring ancillary benefits of improved air quality and reduced premature mortality, in addition to slowing climate change. Here we study the co-benefits of global and domestic GHG mitigation on US air quality and human health in 2050 at fine resolution using dynamical downscaling, and quantify for the first time the co-benefits from foreign GHG mitigation. Relative to a reference scenario, global GHG reductions in RCP4.5 avoid 16000 PM2.5-related all-cause deaths yr-1 (90% confidence interval, 11700-20300), and 8000 (3600-12400) O3-related respiratory deaths yr-1 in the US in 2050. Foreign GHG mitigation avoids 15%more » and 62% of PM2.5- and O3-related total avoided deaths, highlighting the importance of foreign GHG mitigation on US human health benefits. GHG mitigation in the US residential sector brings the largest co-benefits for PM2.5-related deaths (21% of total domestic co-benefits), and industry for O3 (17%). Monetized benefits, for avoided deaths from ozone, PM2.5, and heat stress from a related study, are $148 ($96-201) per ton CO2 at high valuation and $49 ($32-67) at low valuation, of which 36% are from foreign GHG reductions. These benefits likely exceed the marginal cost of GHG reductions in 2050. The US gains significantly greater co-benefits when coordinating GHG reductions with foreign countries. Similarly, previous studies estimating co-benefits locally or regionally may greatly underestimate the full co-benefits of coordinated global actions.« less

Greenhouse gas emissions from aviation and marine transportation : mitigation potential and policies

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2009-12-01

This paper provides an overview of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions : from aviation and marine transportation and the various mitigation options to reduce these emissions. Reducing global emissions by 50 to 80 percent below 1990 levels by 2050reduct...

A meta-analysis of the greenhouse gas abatement of bioenergy factoring in land use changes.

PubMed

El Akkari, M; Réchauchère, O; Bispo, A; Gabrielle, B; Makowski, D

2018-06-04

Non-food biomass production is developing rapidly to fuel the bioenergy sector and substitute dwindling fossil resources, which is likely to impact land-use patterns worldwide. Recent publications attempting to factor this effect into the climate mitigation potential of bioenergy chains have come to widely variable conclusions depending on their scope, data sources or methodology. Here, we conducted a first of its kind, systematic review of scientific literature on this topic and derived quantitative trends through a meta-analysis. We showed that second-generation biofuels and bioelectricity have a larger greenhouse gas (GHG) abatement potential than first generation biofuels, and stand the best chances (with a 80 to 90% probability range) of achieving a 50% reduction compared to fossil fuels. Conversely, directly converting forest ecosystems to produce bioenergy feedstock appeared as the worst-case scenario, systematically leading to negative GHG savings. On the other hand, converting grassland appeared to be a better option and entailed a 60% chance of halving GHG emissions compared to fossil energy sources. Since most climate mitigation scenarios assume still larger savings, it is critical to gain better insight into land-use change effects to provide a more realistic estimate of the mitigation potential associated with bioenergy.

A land-use and land-cover modeling strategy to support a national assessment of carbon stocks and fluxes

USGS Publications Warehouse

Sohl, Terry L.; Sleeter, Benjamin M.; Zhu, Zhiliang; Sayler, Kristi L.; Bennett, Stacie; Bouchard, Michelle; Reker, Ryan R.; Hawbaker, Todd J.; Wein, Anne M.; Liu, Shuguang; Kanengieter, Ronald L.; Acevedo, William

2012-01-01

Changes in land use, land cover, disturbance regimes, and land management have considerable influence on carbon and greenhouse gas (GHG) fluxes within ecosystems. Through targeted land-use and land-management activities, ecosystems can be managed to enhance carbon sequestration and mitigate fluxes of other GHGs. National-scale, comprehensive analyses of carbon sequestration potential by ecosystem are needed, with a consistent, nationally applicable land-use and land-cover (LULC) modeling framework a key component of such analyses. The U.S. Geological Survey has initiated a project to analyze current and projected future GHG fluxes by ecosystem and quantify potential mitigation strategies. We have developed a unique LULC modeling framework to support this work. Downscaled scenarios consistent with IPCC Special Report on Emissions Scenarios (SRES) were constructed for U.S. ecoregions, and the FORE-SCE model was used to spatially map the scenarios. Results for a prototype demonstrate our ability to model LULC change and inform a biogeochemical modeling framework for analysis of subsequent GHG fluxes. The methodology was then successfully used to model LULC change for four IPCC SRES scenarios for an ecoregion in the Great Plains. The scenario-based LULC projections are now being used to analyze potential GHG impacts of LULC change across the U.S.

A land-use and land-cover modeling strategy to support a national assessment of carbon stocks and fluxes

USGS Publications Warehouse

Sohl, Terry L.; Sleeter, Benjamin M.; Zhu, Zhi-Liang; Sayler, Kristi L.; Bennett, Stacie; Bouchard, Michelle; Reker, Ryan R.; Hawbaker, Todd; Wein, Anne; Liu, Shu-Guang; Kanengleter, Ronald; Acevedo, William

2012-01-01

Changes in land use, land cover, disturbance regimes, and land management have considerable influence on carbon and greenhouse gas (GHG) fluxes within ecosystems. Through targeted land-use and landmanagement activities, ecosystems can be managed to enhance carbon sequestration and mitigate fluxes of other GHGs. National-scale, comprehensive analyses of carbon sequestration potential by ecosystem are needed, with a consistent, nationally applicable land-use and land-cover (LULC) modeling framework a key component of such analyses. The U.S. Geological Survey has initiated a project to analyze current and projected future GHG fluxes by ecosystem and quantify potential mitigation strategies. We have developed a unique LULC modeling framework to support this work. Downscaled scenarios consistent with IPCC Special Report on Emissions Scenarios (SRES) were constructed for U.S. ecoregions, and the FORE-SCE model was used to spatially map the scenarios. Results for a prototype demonstrate our ability to model LULC change and inform a biogeochemical modeling framework for analysis of subsequent GHG fluxes. The methodology was then successfully used to model LULC change for four IPCC SRES scenarios for an ecoregion in the Great Plains. The scenario-based LULC projections are now being used to analyze potential GHG impacts of LULC change across the U.S.

Net global warming potential and greenhouse gas intensity of conventional and conservation agriculture system in rainfed semi arid tropics of India

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pratibha, G.; Srinivas, I.; Rao, K. V.; Shanker, Arun K.; Raju, B. M. K.; Choudhary, Deepak K.; Srinivas Rao, K.; Srinivasarao, Ch.; Maheswari, M.

2016-11-01

Agriculture has been considered as one of the contributors to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and it continues to increase with increase in crop production. Hence development of sustainable agro techniques with maximum crop production, and low global warming potential is need of the hour. Quantifying net global warming potential (NGWP) and greenhouse gas intensity (GHGI) of an agricultural activity is a method to assess the mitigation potential of the activity. But there is dearth of information on NGWP of conservation agriculture under rainfed conditions. Hence in this study two methods such as crop based (NGWPcrop) and soil based (NGWPsoil) were estimated from the data of the experiment initiated in 2009 in rainfed semiarid regions of Hyderabad, India with different tillage practices like conventional tillage (CT), reduced tillage (RT), zero tillage (ZT) and residue retention levels by harvesting at different heights which includes 0, 10 and 30 cm anchored residue in pigeonpea-castor systems. The results of the study revealed that under rainfed conditions CT recorded 24% higher yields over ZT, but CT and RT were on par with each other. However, the yield gap between the tillage treatments is narrowing down over 5 years of study. ZT and RT recorded 26 and 11% lower indirect GHG emissions (emissions from farm operations and input use) over CT, respectively. The percent contribution of CO2 eq. N2O emission is higher to total GHG emissions in both the crops. Both NGWPcrop, NGWPsoil, GHGIcrop, and GHGIsoil based were influenced by tillage and residue treatments. Further, castor grown on pigeonpea residue recorded 20% higher GHG emissions over pigeonpea grown on castor residues. The fuel consumption in ZT was reduced by 58% and 81% as compared to CT in pigeonpea and castor, respectively. Lower NGWP and GHGI based on crop and soil was observed with increase in crop residues and decrease in tillage intensity in both the crops. The results of the study indicate that, there is scope to reduce the NGWP emissions by reducing one tillage operation as in RT and increase in crop residue by harvesting at 10 and 30 cm height with minimal impact on the crop yields. However, the trade-off between higher yield and soil health versus GHG emissions should be considered while promoting conservation agriculture. The NGWPcrop estimation method indicated considerable benefits of residues to the soil and higher potential of GHG mitigation than by the NGWPsoil method and may overestimate the potential of GHG mitigation in agriculture system.

Mitigation options for the industrial sector in Egypt

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

Gelil, I.A.; El-Touny, S.; Korkor, H.

1996-12-31

Though its contribution to the global Greenhouse gases emission is relatively small, Egypt has signed and ratified the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UN FCCC) and has been playing an active role in the international efforts to deal with such environmental challenges. Energy efficiency has been one of the main strategies that Egypt has adopted to improve environmental quality and enhance economic competitiveness. This paper highlights three initiatives currently underway to improve energy efficiency of the Egyptian industry. The first is a project that has been recently completed by OECP to assess potential GHG mitigation options available inmore » Egypt`s oil refineries. The second initiative is an assessment of GHG mitigation potential in the Small and Medium size Enterprises (SME) in the Mediterranean city of Alexandria. The third one focuses on identifying demand side management options in some industrial electricity consumers in the same city.« less

Public land, timber harvests, and climate mitigation: quantifying carbon sequestration potential on U.S. public timberlands

Treesearch

Brooks M. Depro; Brian C. Murray; Ralph J. Alig; Alyssa Shanks

2008-01-01

Scientists and policymakers have long recognized the role that forests can play in countering the atmospheric buildup of carbon dioxide (C02), a greenhouse gas (GHG). In the United States, terrestrial carbon sequestration in private and public forests offsets approximately 11 percent of all GHG emissions from all sectors of the economy annually....

A guide to potential soil carbon sequestration; land-use management for mitigation of greenhouse gas emissions

USGS Publications Warehouse

Markewich, H.W.; Buell, G.R.

2001-01-01

Terrestrial carbon sequestration has a potential role in reducing the recent increase in atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) that is, in part, contributing to global warming. Because the most stable long-term surface reservoir for carbon is the soil, changes in agriculture and forestry can potentially reduce atmospheric CO2 through increased soil-carbon storage. If local governments and regional planning agencies are to effect changes in land-use management that could mitigate the impacts of increased greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, it is essential to know how carbon is cycled and distributed on the landscape. Only then can a cost/benefit analysis be applied to carbon sequestration as a potential land-use management tool for mitigation of GHG emissions. For the past several years, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) has been researching the role of terrestrial carbon in the global carbon cycle. Data from these investigations now allow the USGS to begin to (1) 'map' carbon at national, regional, and local scales; (2) calculate present carbon storage at land surface; and (3) identify those areas having the greatest potential to sequester carbon.

A Systems Approach to Reducing Institutional GHG Emissions

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Williamson, Sean R.

2012-01-01

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to establish necessity and methods for considering greenhouse gas (GHG) mitigation policies at a system-level. The research emphasizes connecting narrowly focused GHG mitigation objectives (e.g. reduce single occupancy vehicle travel) with broader institutional objectives (e.g. growth in student population) to…

Greenhouse Gas Mitigation Options Database and Tool - Data ...

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

Industry and electricity production facilities generate over 50 percent of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the United States. There is a growing consensus among scientists that the primary cause of climate change is anthropogenic greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Reducing GHG emissions from these sources is a key part of the United States’ strategy to reduce the impacts of these global-warming emissions. As a result of the recent focus on GHG emissions, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and state agencies are implementing policies and programs to quantify and regulate GHG emissions from key emitting sources in the United States. These policies and programs have generated a need for a reliable source of information regarding GHG mitigation options for both industry and regulators. In response to this need, EPA developed a comprehensive GHG mitigation options database (GMOD) that was compiled based on information from industry, government research agencies, and academia. The GMOD and Tool (GMODT) is a comprehensive data repository and analytical tool being developed by EPA to evaluate alternative GHG mitigation options for several high-emitting industry sectors, including electric power plants, cement plants, refineries, landfills and other industrial sources of GHGs. The data is collected from credible sources including peer-reviewed journals, reports, and others government and academia data sources which include performance, applicability, develop

Greenhouse gas emissions from liquid dairy manure: Prediction and mitigation.

PubMed

Petersen, Søren O

2017-12-07

The handling and use of manure on livestock farms contributes to emissions of the greenhouse gases (GHG) CH 4 and N 2 O, especially with liquid manure management. Dairy farms are diverse with respect to manure management, with practices ranging from daily spreading to long-term storage for more efficient recycling of manure nutrients for crop production. Opportunities for GHG mitigation will depend on the baseline situation with respect to handling and storage, and therefore prediction and mitigation at the farm level requires a dynamic description of housing systems and storage conditions, and use of treatment technologies. Also, effects of treatment and handling on the properties of field-applied manure must be taken into account. Storage conditions and manure composition importantly define carbon and nitrogen transformations, and the resulting emissions of CH 4 and N 2 O, as well as CO 2 and NH 3 , which are all important for the GHG balance. Currently, inventories for CH 4 and N 2 O emissions from manure are based on emission factors for a limited number of production systems, together with average annual temperature, but the inherent uncertainty of this approach is a barrier toward prediction and mitigation. Although more representative emission factors may be determined at country level, this is both challenging and costly, and effects of management changes for GHG mitigation are not easily quantified. An empirical model of CH 4 emissions during storage is discussed that is based on daily time steps, and a parameterization based on measurements. A distinction between emissions from manure in barns and outside storage facilities is important for assessing effects of treatment technologies, such as anaerobic digestion, where only posttreatment emissions are affected. Upon field application, manure and soil together define the equilibrium distribution of labile carbon and nitrogen between bulk soil and manure hotspots. This introduces heterogeneity with respect to potential for N 2 O emissions, which is not represented in existing prediction models. Manure treatment and management options for GHG mitigation are discussed with emphasis on effects on manure volatile solids and N availability. Anaerobic digestion and acidification represent treatment technologies that are relevant for GHG mitigation on dairy farms. Copyright © 2018 American Dairy Science Association. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Rice management interventions to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions: a review.

PubMed

Hussain, Saddam; Peng, Shaobing; Fahad, Shah; Khaliq, Abdul; Huang, Jianliang; Cui, Kehui; Nie, Lixiao

2015-03-01

Global warming is one of the gravest threats to crop production and environmental sustainability. Rice, the staple food of more than half of the world's population, is the most prominent cause of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in agriculture and gives way to global warming. The increasing demand for rice in the future has deployed tremendous concerns to reduce GHG emissions for minimizing the negative environmental impacts of rice cultivation. In this review, we presented a contemporary synthesis of existing data on how crop management practices influence emissions of GHGs in rice fields. We realized that modifications in traditional crop management regimes possess a huge potential to overcome GHG emissions. We examined and evaluated the different possible options and found that modifying tillage permutations and irrigation patterns, managing organic and fertilizer inputs, selecting suitable cultivar, and cropping regime can mitigate GHG emissions. Previously, many authors have discussed the feasibility principle and the influence of these practices on a single gas or, in particular, in the whole agricultural sector. Nonetheless, changes in management practices may influence more than one gas at the same time by different mechanisms or sometimes their effects may be antagonistic. Therefore, in the present attempt, we estimated the overall global warming potential of each approach to consider the magnitude of its effects on all gases and provided a comprehensive assessment of suitable crop management practices for reducing GHG emissions in rice culture.

The contribution of sectoral climate change mitigation options to national targets: a quantitative assessment of dairy production in Kenya

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Brandt, Patric; Herold, Martin; Rufino, Mariana C.

2018-03-01

Reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from agriculture has become a critical target in national climate change policies. More than 80% of the countries in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) refer to the reduction of agricultural emissions, including livestock, in their nationally determined contribution (NDC) to mitigate climate change. The livestock sector in Kenya contributes largely to the gross domestic product and to GHG emissions from the land use sector. The government has recently pledged in its NDC to curb total GHG emissions by 30% by 2030. Quantifying and linking the mitigation potential of farm practices to national targets is required to support realistically the implementation of NDCs. Improvements in feed and manure management represent promising mitigation options for dairy production. This study aimed (i) to assess mitigation and food production benefits of feed and manure management scenarios, including land use changes covering Kenya’s entire dairy production region and (ii) to analyse the contribution of these practices to national targets on milk production and mitigation, and their biophysical feasibility given the availability of arable land. The results indicate that improving forage quality by increasing the use of Napier grass and supplementing dairy concentrates supports Kenya’s NDC target, reduces emission intensities by 26%-31%, partially achieves the national milk productivity target for 2030 by 38%-41%, and shows high feasibility given the availability of arable land. Covering manure heaps may reduce emissions from manure management by 68%. In contrast, including maize silage in cattle diets would not reduce emission intensities due to the risk of ten-fold higher emissions from the conversion of land required to grow additional maize. The shortage of arable land may render the implementation of these improved feed practices largely infeasible. This assessment provides the first quantitative estimates of the potential of feed intensification and manure management to mitigate GHG emissions and to increase milk yields at sectoral-level and at a high spatial resolution for an SSA country. The scientific evidence is tailored to support actual policy and decision-making processes at the national level, such as ‘Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Actions’. Linking feed intensification and manure management strategies with spatially-explicit estimates of mitigation and food production to national targets may help the sector to access climate financing while contributing to food security.

Assessment of the potential REDD+ as a new international support measure for GHG reduction

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kim, Y.; Ahn, J.; Kim, H.

2016-12-01

As part of the Paris Agreement, the mechanism for reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation in developing countries (REDD+) has high potential to simultaneously contribute to greenhouse gas (GHG) mitigation through forest conservation and poverty alleviation. Some of 162 Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDCs) submitted by 189 countries representing approximately 98.8% of global GHG emissions include not only unconditional mitigation goals but also conditional goals based on the condition of the provision of international support such as finance, technology transfer and capacity building. Considering REDD+ as one of the main mechanisms to support such work, this study selected ten countries from among Korea's 24 ODA priority partners, taking into consideration their conditional INDC targets alongside sectoral quantified targets such as land use, land-use change and forestry (LULUCF). The ten selected countries are Indonesia, Cambodia, Vietnam, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Ghana, Senegal, Colombia, Peru and Paraguay. Of these countries, most REDD+ projects have been conducted in Indonesia mainly due to the fact that 85% of the country's total GHG emissions are caused by forest conversion and peatland degradation. Therefore, GHG reduction rates and associated projected costs of the Indonesia's REDD+ projects were analyzed in order to offer guidance on the potential of REDD+ to contribute to other INDCs' conditional goals. The result showed that about 0.9 t CO2 ha-1 could be reduced at a cost of USD 23 per year. Applying this estimation to the Cambodian case, which has submitted a conditional INDC target of increasing its forest coverage by 60% (currently 57%) by 2030, suggests that financial support of USD 12.8 million would reduce CO2 emissions by about 5.1 million tones by increasing forest coverage. As there is currently no consideration of LULUCF in Cambodia's INDC, this result represents the opportunity for an additional contribution to achieving the country's conditional mitigation goals.

Adaptation and Mitigation in Agriculture: A Review of Synergies and Tradeoffs and How EO Could Improve Understanding and Outcomes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Barbieri, L.; Wollenberg, E.

2017-12-01

We present a review of the published literature on agricultural adaptation and mitigation, and report on the current evidence as to whether changes in agricultural practices meant to achieve mitigation or adaptation goals can be dual purpose: simultaneously reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and helping to facilitate adaptation. We characterize the spatio-temporal and system trends in how adaptation and mitigation outcomes are being achieved, and report on the current technical and knowledge gaps that exist and where Earth observations (EO) could improve our understanding. Agriculture contributes 12% GHG emissions globally, roughly one third from the developing world. Nearly 70% of the technical mitigation potential in agriculture sector occurs in these countries, however, while the mitigation potential is high, agricultural productivity also relies heavily on climate factors. With climate change, agricultural systems already, and will increasingly, need to adapt to extreme events and variability in temperatures and precipitation. This underscores the importance of implementing agricultural practices that can both reduce GHG emissions and help facilitate adaptation. Until recently, these objectives have been treated separately, but policy makers are increasingly calling for a joint approach to improve synergies, and avoid tradeoffs. There remain many complications in considering a joint approach: lack of clear conceptual frameworks, knowledge gaps in scientific understanding and evidence associated with adaptation and mitigation outcomes, and the abilities and motivations of stakeholders to consider both objectives. We review 56 peer-reviewed publications and present results from an in-depth analysis to answer two major concerns: to what extent is evidence provided for claims of synergistic outcomes, and what uncertainty surrounds this evidence. Our results show that only 21% of studies empirically measured both mitigation and adaptation outcomes, and claims of synergies are not well substantiated, and evidence is provided at questionable spatio-temporal scales. We highlight information that could be provided by coordinated, comprehensive and sustained EO which could benefit this critical goal of simultaneously achieving agricultural adaptation and mitigation.

Integration of sUAS Imagery and Atmospheric Data Collection for Improved Agricultural Greenhouse Gas Emissions Monitoring

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Barbieri, L.; Adair, C.; Galford, G. L.; Wyngaard, J.

2017-12-01

We present on a full season of low-cost sUAS agricultural monitoring for improved GHG emissions accounting and mitigation. Agriculture contributes 10-12% of global anthropogenic GHG emissions, and roughly half are from agricultural soils. A variety of land management strategies can be implemented to reduce GHG emissions, but agricultural lands are complex and heterogenous. Nutrient cycling processes that ultimately regulate GHG emission rates are affected by environmental and management dynamics that vary spatially and temporally (e.g. soil properties, manure spreading). Thus, GHG mitigation potential is also variable, and determining best practices for mitigation is challenging, especially considering potential conflicting pressure to manage agricultural lands for other objectives (e.g. decrease agricultural runoff). Monitoring complexity from agricultural lands is critical for regional GHG accounting and decision making, but current methods (e.g., static chambers) are time intensive, expensive, and use in-situ equipment. These methods lack the spatio-temporal flexibility necessary to reduce the high uncertainty in regional emissions estimates, while traditional remote sensing methods often do not provide adequate spatio-temporal resolution for robust field-level monitoring. Small Unmanned Aerial Systems (sUAS) provide the range and the rapid response data collection needed to monitor key variables on the landscape (imagery) and from the atmosphere (CO2 concentrations), and can provide ways to bridge between in-situ and remote sensing data. Initial results show good agreement between sUAS CO2 sensors with more traditional equipment, and at a fraction of the cost. We present results from test flights over managed agricultural landscapes in Vermont, showcasing capabilities from both sUAS imagery and atmospheric data collected from on-board sensors (CO2, PTH). We then compare results from two different in-flight data collection methods: Vertical Profile and Horizontal Surveys. We conclude with results from the integration of these sUAS data with concurrently collected in-field measurements from static chambers and Landsat imagery, demonstrating enhanced understanding of agricultural landscapes and improved GHG emissions monitoring with the addition of sUAS collected data.

Quantification of mitigation potentials of agricultural practices for Europe

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lesschen, J. P.; Kuikman, P. J.; Smith, P.; Schils, R. L.; Oudendag, D.

2009-04-01

Agriculture has a significant impact on climate, with a commonly estimated contribution of 9% of total greenhouse gases (GHG) emissions. Besides, agriculture is the main source of nitrous oxide and methane emissions to the atmosphere. On the other hand, there is a large potential for climate change mitigation in agriculture through carbon sequestration into soils. Within the framework of the PICCMAT project (Policy Incentives for Climate Change Mitigation Agricultural Techniques) we quantified the mitigation potential of 11 agricultural practices at regional level for the EU. The focus was on smaller-scale measures towards optimised land management that can be widely applied at individual farm level and which can have a positive climate change mitigating effect and be beneficial to soil conditions, e.g. cover crops and reduced tillage. The mitigation potentials were assessed with the MITERRA-Europe model, a deterministic and static N cycling model which calculates N emissions on an annual basis, using N emission factors and N leaching fractions. For the PICCMAT project the model was extended with a soil carbon module, to assess changes in soil organic carbon according to the IPCC Tier1 approach. The amount of soil organic carbon (SOC) is calculated by multiplying the soil reference carbon content, which depends on soil type and climate, by coefficients for land use, land management and input of organic matter. By adapting these coefficients changes in SOC as result of the measures were simulated. We considered both the extent of agricultural area across Europe on which a measure could realistically be applied (potential level of implementation), and the current level of implementation that has already been achieved . The results showed that zero tillage has the highest mitigation potential, followed by adding legumes, reduced tillage, residue management, rotation species, and catch crops. Optimising fertiliser application and fertiliser type are the measures with the largest positive effect on N2O emissions. Overall the results showed that the additional mitigation potential of each individual measure is limited, but taken together they have a significant mitigation potential of about 10 percent of the current GHG emissions from agriculture. Besides, most of the measures with high mitigation potentials are associated with no or low implementation costs. Although CH4 and N2O are the most important GHG emitted from agricultural activities, it is more difficult to mitigate these emissions than increasing soil organic carbon (SOC) stocks and thus compensate them through carbon sequestration. However, the effect on carbon is only temporary and sequestered SOC stocks can easily be lost again, while for N2O the emission reduction is permanent and non-saturating. Another important implication that follows from our results is the large regional difference with regard to mitigation potential and feasibility of implementation. Policy measures to support agricultural mitigation should therefore be adjusted to regional conditions.

Global climate change: the quantifiable sustainability challenge.

PubMed

Princiotta, Frank T; Loughlin, Daniel H

2014-09-01

Population growth and the pressures spawned by increasing demands for energy and resource-intensive goods, foods, and services are driving unsustainable growth in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Recent GHG emission trends are consistent with worst-case scenarios of the previous decade. Dramatic and near-term emission reductions likely will be needed to ameliorate the potential deleterious impacts of climate change. To achieve such reductions, fundamental changes are required in the way that energy is generated and used. New technologies must be developed and deployed at a rapid rate. Advances in carbon capture and storage, renewable, nuclear and transportation technologies are particularly important; however, global research and development efforts related to these technologies currently appear to fall short relative to needs. Even with a proactive and international mitigation effort, humanity will need to adapt to climate change, but the adaptation needs and damages will be far greater if mitigation activities are not pursued in earnest. In this review, research is highlighted that indicates increasing global and regional temperatures and ties climate changes to increasing GHG emissions. GHG mitigation targets necessary for limiting future global temperature increases are discussed, including how factors such as population growth and the growing energy intensity of the developing world will make these reduction targets more challenging. Potential technological pathways for meeting emission reduction targets are examined, barriers are discussed, and global and US. modeling results are presented that suggest that the necessary pathways will require radically transformed electric and mobile sectors. While geoengineering options have been proposed to allow more time for serious emission reductions, these measures are at the conceptual stage with many unanswered cost, environmental, and political issues. Implications: This paper lays out the case that mitigating the potential for catastrophic climate change will be a monumental challenge, requiring the global community to transform its energy system in an aggressive, coordinated, and timely manner. If this challenge is to be met, new technologies will have to be developed and deployed at a rapid rate. Advances in carbon capture and storage, renewable, nuclear, and transportation technologies are particularly important. Even with an aggressive international mitigation effort, humanity will still need to adapt to significant climate change.

Crowd-Sourcing Management Activity Data to Drive GHG Emission Inventories in the Land Use Sector

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Paustian, K.; Herrick, J.

2015-12-01

Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from the land use sector constitute the largest source category for many countries in Africa. Enhancing C sequestration and reducing GHG emissions on managed lands in Africa has to potential to attract C financing to support adoption of more sustainable land management practices that, in addition to GHG mitigation, can provide co-benefits of more productive and climate-resilient agroecosystems. However, robust systems to measure and monitor C sequestration/GHG reductions are currently a significant barrier to attracting more C financing to land use-related mitigation efforts.Anthropogenic GHG emissions are driven by a variety of environmental factors, including climate and soil attributes, as well as human-activities in the form of land use and management practices. GHG emission inventories typically use empirical or process-based models of emission rates that are driven by environmental and management variables. While a lack of field-based flux and C stock measurements are a limiting factor for GHG estimation, we argue that an even greater limitation may be availabiity of data on the management activities that influence flux rates, particularly in developing countries in Africa. In most developed countries there is a well-developed infrastructure of agricultural statistics and practice surveys that can be used to drive model-based GHG emission estimations. However, this infrastructure is largely lacking in developing countries in Africa. While some activity data (e.g. land cover change) can be derived from remote sensing, many key data (e.g., N fertilizer practices, residue management, manuring) require input from the farmers themselves. The explosive growth in cellular technology, even in many of the poorest parts of Africa, suggests the potential for a new crowd-sourcing approach and direct engagement with farmers to 'leap-frog' the land resource information model of developed countries. Among the many benefits of this approach would be high resolution management data to support GHG inventories at multiple scales. We present an overall conceptual model for this approach and examples from on-going projects in Africa employing direct farmer engagement, cellular technology and apps to develop this information resource.

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

The Co-benefits of Domestic and Foreign GHG Mitigation on US Air Quality

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Y.; Bowden, J.; Adelman, Z.; Naik, V.; Horowitz, L. W.; West, J. J.

2013-12-01

Authors: Yuqiang Zhang1, Jared Bowden2 , Zachariah Adelman1,2, Vaishali Naik3, Larry W. Horowitz4 , J. Jason West1 1 University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27599 2 Institute for the Environment, Chapel Hill, NC 27599 3 UCAR/NOAA Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory, Princeton, NJ 08540 4 NOAA Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory, Princeton, NJ 08540 Abstract: Actions to mitigate greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions will reduce co-emitted air pollutants, which can immediately affect air quality; slowing climate change through GHG mitigation also influences air quality in the long term. We previously used a global model (MOZART-4) to show that global GHG mitigation will have significant co-benefits for air quality and human health. In doing so, we contrasted the Representative Concentration Pathway Scenario 4.5 (RCP4.5), treated as a GHG mitigation scenario, with its associated reference case scenario (REF). Using these same scenarios, we investigate here the air quality co-benefits due to domestic GHGs mitigation in the US alone at fine resolution, and compare these co-benefits with those resulting from foreign GHG mitigation. This work focuses on downscaling the meteorology and air pollutant chemistry to the US scale. We use the latest Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model as a Regional Climate Model (RCM) to dynamically downscale the GFDL AM3 Global Climate Model (GCM) over the US at 36 km resolution, in 2000 and 2050. The 2000 simulation will be compared with the multi-year surface observation data, satellite data, and all simulations with the GCM simulation. These simulations will be used as inputs for the newest Community Multiscale Air Quality (CMAQ) modeling system. Initial conditions (IC) and dynamic boundary conditions (BC) for CMAQ will be derived from the global MOZART-4 simulations. Anthropogenic emissions for the REF and RCP4.5 scenarios will be processed through SMOKE to prepare temporally- and spatially-resolved emission files. We will evaluate the co-benefits of GHG mitigation by changing the meteorological and air pollutant emissions inputs for RCP4.5 and REF, as well as the fixed methane level, and will separate the co-benefits of domestic vs. foreign GHG mitigation by using RCP4.5 emissions in the US only, but REF boundary conditions and REF emissions elsewhere.

On the potential of redox potential measurements for the characterization of greenhouse gas emissions - preliminary results

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Jihuan; Bogena, Heye; Brüggemann, Nicolas

2017-04-01

Soil greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions contribute to global warming. In order to support mitigation measures against global warming it is important to understand the controlling processes of GHG emissions. Previous studies focused mainly on the paddy rice fields or wetlands showed a strong relationship between soil redox potential and GHG emission (e.g. N2O). Recent sensor developments open the possibility for the long-term monitoring of field scale soil redox potential changes. Here, we performed laboratory lysimeter experiments to investigate how changes in the redox potential, induced by changes in the water level, affect GHG emissions from agricultural soil. Under our experimental conditions, we found that N2O emissions followed closely the changes in redox potential. The dynamics of redox potential were induced by changing the water-table depth in a laboratory lysimeter. During saturated conditions we found a clear negative correlation between redox potentials and N2O emission rates N2O. After switching from saturated to unsaturated conditions, N2O emission quickly decreased. In contrast, the emissions of CO2 increased with increasing soil redox potentials. The level of N2O emission also depended on the fertilization level of the soil. We propose that redox potential measurements are a viable method for better understanding of the controlling factors of GHG emission and the development agricultural management practices to reduce such emissions.

Modeling the Heterogeneous Effects of GHG Mitigation Policies on Global Agriculture and Forestry

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Golub, A.; Henderson, B.; Hertel, T. W.; Rose, S. K.; Sohngen, B.

2010-12-01

Agriculture and forestry are envisioned as potentially key sectors for climate change mitigation policy, yet the depth of analysis of mitigation options and their economic consequences remains remarkably shallow in comparison to that for industrial mitigation. Farming and land use change - much of it induced by agriculture -account for one-third of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Any serious attempt to curtail these emissions will involve changes in the way farming is conducted, as well as placing limits on agricultural expansion into areas currently under more carbon-intensive land cover. However, agriculture and forestry are extremely heterogeneous, both in the technology and intensity of production, as well as in the GHG emissions intensity of these activities. And these differences, in turn, give rise to significant changes in the distribution of agricultural production, trade and consumption in the wake of mitigation policies. This paper assesses such distributional impacts via a global economic analysis undertaken with a modified version of the GTAP model. The paper builds on a global general equilibrium GTAP-AEZ-GHG model (Golub et al., 2009). This is a unified modeling framework that links the agricultural, forestry, food processing and other sectors through land, and other factor markets and international trade, and incorporates different land-types, land uses and related CO2 and non-CO2 GHG emissions and sequestration. The economic data underlying this work is the global GTAP data base aggregated up to 19 regions and 29 sectors. The model incorporates mitigation cost curves for different regions and sectors based on information from the US-EPA. The forestry component of the model is calibrated to the results of the state of the art partial equilibrium global forestry model of Sohngen and Mendelson (2007). Forest carbon sequestration at both the extensive and intensive margins are modeled separately to better isolate land competition between agriculture and timber products. We analyze regional changes in land use, output, competitiveness, and food consumption under climate change mitigation policy regimes which differ by participation/exclusion of agricultural sectors and non-Annex I countries, as well as policy instruments. While responsible for only a third of global GHG emissions, under the global carbon tax the land using sectors could contribute half of all economically efficient mitigation in the near term, at modest carbon prices. The imposition of a carbon tax in agriculture, however, has adverse effects on food consumption, especially in developing countries. These effects are much smaller if an agricultural producer subsidy is introduced to compensate for carbon tax the producers pay. The global forest carbon sequestration subsidy effectively controls emission leakage when the carbon tax is imposed only in Annex I regions, since the sequestration subsidy bids land away from agriculture in non-Annex I regions. Though the sequestration subsidy yields GHG abatement benefit, the policy may adversely affect food security and agricultural development in developing countries.

Potential for reduced methane and carbon dioxide emissions from livestock and pasture management in the tropics

PubMed Central

Thornton, Philip K.; Herrero, Mario

2010-01-01

We estimate the potential reductions in methane and carbon dioxide emissions from several livestock and pasture management options in the mixed and rangeland-based production systems in the tropics. The impacts of adoption of improved pastures, intensifying ruminant diets, changes in land-use practices, and changing breeds of large ruminants on the production of methane and carbon dioxide are calculated for two levels of adoption: complete adoption, to estimate the upper limit to reductions in these greenhouse gases (GHGs), and optimistic but plausible adoption rates taken from the literature, where these exist. Results are expressed both in GHG per ton of livestock product and in Gt CO2-eq. We estimate that the maximum mitigation potential of these options in the land-based livestock systems in the tropics amounts to approximately 7% of the global agricultural mitigation potential to 2030. Using historical adoption rates from the literature, the plausible mitigation potential of these options could contribute approximately 4% of global agricultural GHG mitigation. This could be worth on the order of $1.3 billion per year at a price of $20 per t CO2-eq. The household-level and sociocultural impacts of some of these options warrant further study, however, because livestock have multiple roles in tropical systems that often go far beyond their productive utility. PMID:20823225

Potentials to mitigate climate change using biochar - the Austrian perspective

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bruckman, Viktor J.; Klinglmüller, Michaela; Liu, Jay; Uzun, Basak B.; Varol, Esin A.

2015-04-01

Biomass utilization is seen as one of various promising strategies to reduce additional carbon emissions. A recent project on potentials of biochar to mitigate climate change (FOREBIOM) goes even a step further towards bioenergy in combination of CCS or "BECS" and tries to assess the current potentials, from sustainable biomass availability to biochar amendment in soils, including the identification of potential disadvantages and current research needs. The current report represents an outcome of the 1st FOREBIOM Workshop held in Vienna in April, 2013 and tries to characterize the Austrian perspective of biochar for climate change mitigation. The survey shows that for a widespread utilization of biochar in climate change mitigation strategies, still a number of obstacles have to be overcome. There are concerns regarding production and application costs, contamination and health issues for both producers and customers besides a fragmentary knowledge about biochar-soil interactions specifically in terms of long-term behavior, biochar stability and the effects on nutrient cycles. However, there are a number of positive examples showing that biochar indeed has the potential to sequester large amounts of carbon while improving soil properties and subsequently leading to a secondary carbon sink via rising soil productivity. Diversification, cascadic utilization and purpose designed biochar production are key strategies overcoming initial concerns, especially regarding economic aspects. A theoretical scenario calculation showed that relatively small amounts of biomass that is currently utilized for energy can reduce the gap between Austria's current GHG emissions and the Kyoto target by about 30% if biomass residues are pyrolized and biochar subsequently used as soil amendment. However, by using a more conservative approach that is representing the aims of the underlying FOREBIOM project (assuming that 10% of the annual biomass increment from forests is used for biochar production), each year 0.38 megatons CO2e could potentially be mitigated in Austria, which is 0.4% of total or 5% of all GHG emissions caused by agriculture in Austria in 2010. In order to produce this amount of biochar annually, about 27 medium-scale or 220 small-scale pyrolysis plants would be required. The economic analysis revealed that biochar yield, carbon sequestration and feedstock costs have the highest influence on GHG abatement costs. Further reading: Bruckman, V.J. and Klinglmüller, M. (2014): Potentials to Mitigate Climate Change Using Biochar - the Austrian Perspective. In: Bruckman, V.J., Liu, J., Başak, B.B. and Apaydın-Varol, E. (Eds.) Potentials to Mitigate Climate Change Using Biochar. IUFRO Occasional Papers 27.

Climate co-benefits of energy recovery from landfill gas in developing Asian cities: a case study in Bangkok.

PubMed

Menikpura, S N M; Sang-Arun, Janya; Bengtsson, Magnus

2013-10-01

Landfilling is the most common and cost-effective waste disposal method, and it is widely applied throughout the world. In developing countries in Asia there is currently a trend towards constructing sanitary landfills with gas recovery systems, not only as a solution to the waste problem and the associated local environmental pollution, but also to generate revenues through carbon markets and from the sale of electricity. This article presents a quantitative assessment of climate co-benefits from landfill gas (LFG) to energy projects, based on the case of Bangkok Metropolitan Administration, Thailand. Life cycle assessment was used for estimating net greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, considering the whole lifespan of the landfill. The assessment found that the total GHG mitigation of the Bangkok project would be 471,763 tonnes (t) of carbon dioxide (CO(2))-equivalents (eq) over its 10-year LFG recovery period.This amount is equivalent to only 12% of the methane (CH(4)) generated over the whole lifespan of the landfill. An alternative scenario was devised to analyse possible improvement options for GHG mitigation through LFG-to-energy recovery projects. This scenario assumes that LFG recovery would commence in the second year of landfill operation and gas extraction continues throughout the 20-year peak production period. In this scenario, GHG mitigation potential amounted to 1,639,450 tCO(2)-eq during the 20-year project period, which is equivalent to 43% of the CH(4) generated throughout the life cycle. The results indicate that with careful planning, there is a high potential for improving the efficiency of existing LFG recovery projects which would enhance climate co-benefits, as well as economic benefits. However, the study also shows that even improved gas recovery systems have fairly low recovery rates and, in consequence, that emissions of GHG from such landfills sites are still considerable.

Global Warming Potential and Eutrophication Potential of Biofuel Feedstock Crops Produced in Florida, Measured Under Different Scenarios

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

Izursa, Jose-Luis; Hanlon, Edward; Amponsah, Nana

2013-02-15

The agriculture sector is in a growing need to develop greenhouse gas (GHG) mitigation techniques to reduce the enhanced greenhouse effect. The challenge to the sector is not only to reduce net emissions but also increase production to meet growing demands for food, fiber, and biofuel. This study focuses on the changes in the GHG balance of three biofuel feedstock (biofuel sugarcane, energy-cane and sweet sorghum) considering changes caused by the adoption of conservationist practices such as reduced tillage, use of controlled-release fertilizers or when cultivation areas are converted from burned harvest to green harvest. Based on the Intergovernmental Panelmore » on Climate Change (IPCC) (2006) balance and the Tools for the Reduction and Assessment of Chemical and Other Environmental Impacts (TRACI) characterization factors published by the EPA, the annual emission balance includes use energy (diesel and electricity), equipment, and ancillary materials, according to the mean annual consumption of supplies per hectare. The total amounts of GWP were 2740, 1791, and 1910 kg CO2e ha-1 y-1 for biofuel sugarcane, energy-cane and sweet sorghum, respectively, when produced with conventional tillage and sugarcane was burned prior to harvesting. Applying reduced tillage practices, the GHG emissions reduced to 13% for biofuel sugarcane, 23% for energy-cane and 8% for sweet sorghum. A similar decrease occurs when a controlled-release fertilizer practice is adopted, which helps reduce the total emission balance in 5%, 12% and 19% for biofuel sugarcane, energy-cane and sweet sorghum, respectively and a 31% average reduction in eutrophication potential. Moreover, the GHG emissions for biofuel sugarcane, with the adoption of green harvest, would result in a smaller GHG balance of 1924 kg CO2e ha-1 y-1, providing an effect strategy for GHG mitigation while still providing a profitable yield in Florida.« less

Linking climate change mitigation and coastal eutrophication management through biogas technology: Evidence from a new Danish bioenergy concept.

PubMed

Kaspersen, Bjarke Stoltze; Christensen, Thomas Budde; Fredenslund, Anders Michael; Møller, Henrik Bjarne; Butts, Michael Brian; Jensen, Niels H; Kjaer, Tyge

2016-01-15

The interest in sustainable bioenergy solutions has gained great importance in Europe due to the need to reduce GHG emissions and to meet environmental policy targets, not least for the protection of groundwater and surface water quality. In the Municipality of Solrød in Denmark, a novel bioenergy concept for anaerobic co-digestion of food industry residues, manure and beach-cast seaweed has been developed and tested in order to quantify the potential for synergies between climate change mitigation and coastal eutrophication management in the Køge Bay catchment. The biogas plant, currently under construction, was designed to handle an annual input of up to 200,000 t of biomass based on four main fractions: pectin wastes, carrageenan wastes, manure and beach-cast seaweed. This paper describes how this bioenergy concept can contribute to strengthening the linkages between climate change mitigation strategies and Water Framework Directive (WFD) action planning. Our assessments of the projected biogas plant indicate an annual reduction of GHG emissions of approx. 40,000 t CO2 equivalents, corresponding to approx. 1/3 of current total GHG emissions in the Municipality of Solrød. In addition, nitrogen and phosphorous loads to Køge Bay are estimated to be reduced by approx. 63 t yr.(-1) and 9 tyr.(-1), respectively, contributing to the achievement of more than 70% of the nutrient reduction target set for Køge Bay in the first WFD river basin management plan. This study shows that anaerobic co-digestion of the specific food industry residues, pig manure and beach-cast seaweed is feasible and that there is a very significant, cost-effective GHG and nutrient loading mitigation potential for this bioenergy concept. Our research demonstrates how an integrated planning process where considerations about the total environment are integrated into the design and decision processes can support the development of this kind of holistic bioenergy solutions. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Mitigating GHG emissions in dairy production

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Comprehensive inventories of greenhouse gas (GHG) mitigation options for animal agriculture have been published recently. For dairy production systems, management option include (1) manipulation of dietary components (e.g., forages, concentrates) and use of feed additives (e.g., oils, tannins) to re...

The effective mitigation of greenhouse gas emissions from rice paddies without compromising yield by early-season drainage.

PubMed

Islam, Syed Faiz-Ul; van Groenigen, Jan Willem; Jensen, Lars Stoumann; Sander, Bjoern Ole; de Neergaard, Andreas

2018-01-15

Global rice production systems face two opposing challenges: the need to increase production to accommodate the world's growing population while simultaneously reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Adaptations to drainage regimes are one of the most promising options for methane mitigation in rice production. Whereas several studies have focused on mid-season drainage (MD) to mitigate GHG emissions, early-season drainage (ED) varying in timing and duration has not been extensively studied. However, such ED periods could potentially be very effective since initial available C levels (and thereby the potential for methanogenesis) can be very high in paddy systems with rice straw incorporation. This study tested the effectiveness of seven drainage regimes varying in their timing and duration (combinations of ED and MD) to mitigate CH 4 and N 2 O emissions in a 101-day growth chamber experiment. Emissions were considerably reduced by early-season drainage compared to both conventional continuous flooding (CF) and the MD drainage regime. The results suggest that ED+MD drainage may have the potential to reduce CH 4 emissions and yield-scaled GWP by 85-90% compared to CF and by 75-77% compared to MD only. A combination of (short or long) ED drainage and one MD drainage episode was found to be the most effective in mitigating CH 4 emissions without negatively affecting yield. In particular, compared with CF, the long early-season drainage treatments LE+SM and LE+LM significantly (p<0.01) decreased yield-scaled GWP by 85% and 87% respectively. This was associated with carbon being stabilised early in the season, thereby reducing available C for methanogenesis. Overall N 2 O emissions were small and not significantly affected by ED. It is concluded that ED+MD drainage might be an effective low-tech option for small-scale farmers to reduce GHG emissions and save water while maintaining yield. Copyright © 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Envisioning a metropolitan foodshed: potential environmental consequences of increasing food-crop production around Chicago

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bowen, E. E.; Martin, P. A.; Schuble, T. J.

2009-12-01

Nationwide, cities are increasingly developing policies aimed at greater sustainability, particularly focusing on reducing environmental impact. Such policies commonly emphasize more efficiently using energy to decrease the greenhouse gas (GHG) footprint of the city. However, most plans ignore the food system as a factor in regional energy use and GHG emissions. Yet, the food system in the United States accounts for ~20% of per capita greenhouse gas emissions. Local, sustainable food production is cited as one strategy for mitigating GHG emissions of large metropolitan areas. “Sustainable” for regional agriculture is often identified as small-scale, diversified food crop production using best practices management. Localized food production (termed “foodshed”) using sustainable agriculture could mitigate climate change in multiple ways: (1) energy and therefore CO2-intensive portions of the conventional food system might be replaced by local, lower-input food production resulting in carbon offsets; (2) increased regional carbon storage might result from well-managed food crop production vs. commodity crop production; and (3) averted N2O emissions might result from closing nutrient cycles on agricultural lands following changes in management practices. The broader implications for environmental impact of widespread conversion to sustainable food crop agriculture, however, remain largely unknown. We examine the Chicago metropolitan region to quantify the impact of increased local food production on regional energy efficiency and GHG emissions. Geospatial analysis is used to quantify the resource potential for establishing a Chicago metropolitan foodshed. A regional foodshed is defined by minimizing cost through transportation mode (road, rail, or water) and maximizing the production potential of different soil types. Simple biogeochemical modeling is used to predict changes in N2O emissions and nutrient flows following changes in land management practices. Ultimately, quantification of impacts from changes in regional land use can inform regional planning for climate change mitigation strategies.

Climate change mitigation: the potential of agriculture as a renewable energy source in Nigeria.

PubMed

Elum, Z A; Modise, D M; Nhamo, G

2017-02-01

Energy is pivotal to the economic development of every nation. However, its production and utilization leads to undesirable carbon emissions that aggravate global warming which results in climate change. The agriculture sector is a significant user of energy. However, it has the potential to be a major contributor to Nigeria's energy supply mix in meeting its energy deficit. More so, in the light of current and impending adverse effects of climate change, there is a need to contain GHG's emissions. This paper focuses on bioenergy utilization as a climate change mitigation strategy and one that can, through effective waste management, enhance sustainable economic development in Nigeria. The paper employed a critical discourse analysis to examine the potential of the agricultural sector to provide biofuels from energy crops and other biomass sources. We conclude that Nigeria can reduce its GHG emissions and greatly contribute to global climate change mitigation while also alleviating its energy supply deficit if the agricultural and municipal wastes readily available in its towns and cities are converted to bioenergy. Such engagements will not only promote a clean and healthy environment but also create jobs for economic empowerment and a better standard of living for the people.

Public health co-benefits of greenhouse gas emissions reduction: A systematic review.

PubMed

Gao, Jinghong; Kovats, Sari; Vardoulakis, Sotiris; Wilkinson, Paul; Woodward, Alistair; Li, Jing; Gu, Shaohua; Liu, Xiaobo; Wu, Haixia; Wang, Jun; Song, Xiaoqin; Zhai, Yunkai; Zhao, Jie; Liu, Qiyong

2018-06-15

Public health co-benefits from curbing climate change can make greenhouse gas (GHG) mitigation strategies more attractive and increase their implementation. The purpose of this systematic review is to summarize the evidence of these health co-benefits to improve our understanding of the mitigation measures involved, potential mechanisms, and relevant uncertainties. A comprehensive search for peer-reviewed studies published in English was conducted using the primary electronic databases. Reference lists from these articles were reviewed and manual searches were performed to supplement relevant studies. The identified records were screened based on inclusion criteria. We extracted data from the final retrieved papers using a pre-designed data extraction form and a quality assessment was conducted. The studies were heterogeneities, so meta-analysis was not possible and instead evidence was synthesized using narrative summaries. Thirty-six studies were identified. We identified GHG mitigation strategies in five domains - energy generation, transportation, food and agriculture, households, and industry and economy - which usually, although not always, bring co-benefits for public health. These health gains are likely to be multiplied by comprehensive measures that include more than one sectors. GHG mitigation strategies can bring about substantial and possibly cost-effective public health co-benefits. These findings are highly relevant to policy makers and other stakeholders since they point to the compounding value of taking concerted action against climate change and air pollution. Copyright © 2018. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Long Term Sugarcane Crop Residue Retention Offers Limited Potential to Reduce Nitrogen Fertilizer Rates in Australian Wet Tropical Environments.

PubMed

Meier, Elizabeth A; Thorburn, Peter J

2016-01-01

The warming of world climate systems is driving interest in the mitigation of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. In the agricultural sector, practices that mitigate GHG emissions include those that (1) reduce emissions [e.g., those that reduce nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions by avoiding excess nitrogen (N) fertilizer application], and (2) increase soil organic carbon (SOC) stocks (e.g., by retaining instead of burning crop residues). Sugarcane is a globally important crop that can have substantial inputs of N fertilizer and which produces large amounts of crop residues ('trash'). Management of N fertilizer and trash affects soil carbon and nitrogen cycling, and hence GHG emissions. Trash has historically been burned at harvest, but increasingly is being retained on the soil surface as a 'trash blanket' in many countries. The potential for trash retention to alter N fertilizer requirements and sequester SOC was investigated in this study. The APSIM model was calibrated with data from field and laboratory studies of trash decomposition in the wet tropics of northern Australia. APSIM was then validated against four independent data sets, before simulating location × soil × fertilizer × trash management scenarios. Soil carbon increased in trash blanketed soils relative to SOC in soils with burnt trash. However, further increases in SOC for the study region may be limited because the SOC in trash blanketed soils could be approaching equilibrium; future GHG mitigation efforts in this region should therefore focus on N fertilizer management. Simulated N fertilizer rates were able to be reduced from conventional rates regardless of trash management, because of low yield potential in the wet tropics. For crops subjected to continuous trash blanketing, there was substantial immobilization of N in decomposing trash so conventional N fertilizer rates were required for up to 24 years after trash blanketing commenced. After this period, there was potential to reduce N fertilizer rates for crops when trash was retained (≤20 kg N ha(-1) per plant or ratoon crop) while maintaining ≥95% of maximum yields. While these savings in N fertilizer use were modest at the field scale, they were potentially important when aggregated at the regional level.

Consensus, uncertainties and challenges for perennial bioenergy crops and land use.

PubMed

Whitaker, Jeanette; Field, John L; Bernacchi, Carl J; Cerri, Carlos E P; Ceulemans, Reinhart; Davies, Christian A; DeLucia, Evan H; Donnison, Iain S; McCalmont, Jon P; Paustian, Keith; Rowe, Rebecca L; Smith, Pete; Thornley, Patricia; McNamara, Niall P

2018-03-01

Perennial bioenergy crops have significant potential to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and contribute to climate change mitigation by substituting for fossil fuels; yet delivering significant GHG savings will require substantial land-use change, globally. Over the last decade, research has delivered improved understanding of the environmental benefits and risks of this transition to perennial bioenergy crops, addressing concerns that the impacts of land conversion to perennial bioenergy crops could result in increased rather than decreased GHG emissions. For policymakers to assess the most cost-effective and sustainable options for deployment and climate change mitigation, synthesis of these studies is needed to support evidence-based decision making. In 2015, a workshop was convened with researchers, policymakers and industry/business representatives from the UK, EU and internationally. Outcomes from global research on bioenergy land-use change were compared to identify areas of consensus, key uncertainties, and research priorities. Here, we discuss the strength of evidence for and against six consensus statements summarising the effects of land-use change to perennial bioenergy crops on the cycling of carbon, nitrogen and water, in the context of the whole life-cycle of bioenergy production. Our analysis suggests that the direct impacts of dedicated perennial bioenergy crops on soil carbon and nitrous oxide are increasingly well understood and are often consistent with significant life cycle GHG mitigation from bioenergy relative to conventional energy sources. We conclude that the GHG balance of perennial bioenergy crop cultivation will often be favourable, with maximum GHG savings achieved where crops are grown on soils with low carbon stocks and conservative nutrient application, accruing additional environmental benefits such as improved water quality. The analysis reported here demonstrates there is a mature and increasingly comprehensive evidence base on the environmental benefits and risks of bioenergy cultivation which can support the development of a sustainable bioenergy industry.

Integrated Modeling and Assessment of Climate Change Mitigation in North America: Lessons learned from Mexico

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Olguin-Alvarez, M. I.; Kurz, W. A.; Wayson, C.; Birdsey, R.; Richardson, K.; Angeles, G.; Vargas, B.; Corral, J.; Magnan, M.; Fellows, M.; Morken, S.; Maldonado, V.; Mascorro, V.; Meneses, C.; Galicia, G.; Serrano, E.

2016-12-01

The Government of Mexico has recently designed a system of measurement, reporting and verification (MRV) to account for the emissions and removals of greenhouse gases (GHG) associated with the country's forest sector. This system reports national-scale GHG emissions based on the "stock-difference" approach combining information from two sets of measurements from the national forest inventory and remote sensing data. However, consistent with the commitments made by the country to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), the MRV system must strive to reduce, as far as practicable, the uncertainties associated with national estimates on GHG fluxes. Since 2012, the Mexican government through its National Forestry Commission, with support from the North America Commission of Environmental Cooperation, the Forest Services of Canada and USA, the SilvaCarbon Program and research institutes in Mexico, has made progress towards the use of carbon dynamics models ("gain-loss" approach) to reduce uncertainty of the GHG estimates in strategic landscapes. In Mexico, most of the forests are under social tenure where management includes a wide array of activities (e.g. selective harvesting, firewood collection). Altering these diverse management activities (REDD+ strategies as well as harvested wood products), can augment their mitigation potential. Here we present the main steps conducted to compile and integrate information from forest inventories, remote sensing, disturbance data and ecosystem carbon transfers to generate inputs required to calibrate these models and validate their outputs. The analyses are supported by the use of the CBM-CFS3 model with the appropriate modification of the model parameters and input data according to the 2006 guidelines of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) for preparing Tier 3-GHG inventories. The ultimate goal of this tri-national effort is to show how the data and tools developed for carbon assessment in strategic landscapes in North America can help estimate the impact of several mitigation options consistent with national goals of GHG emission reductions.

Greenhouse gas emissions during MSW landfilling in China: influence of waste characteristics and LFG treatment measures.

PubMed

Yang, Na; Zhang, Hua; Shao, Li-Ming; Lü, Fan; He, Pin-Jing

2013-11-15

Reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from municipal solid waste (MSW) treatment can be highly cost-effective in terms of GHG mitigation. This study investigated GHG emissions during MSW landfilling in China under four existing scenarios and in terms of seven different categories: waste collection and transportation, landfill management, leachate treatment, fugitive CH4 (FM) emissions, substitution of electricity production, carbon sequestration and N2O and CO emissions. GHG emissions from simple sanitary landfilling technology where no landfill gas (LFG) extraction took place (Scenario 1) were higher (641-998 kg CO2-eq·t(-1)ww) than those from open dump (Scenario 0, 480-734 kg CO2-eq·t(-1)ww). This was due to the strictly anaerobic conditions in Scenario 1. LFG collection and treatment reduced GHG emissions to 448-684 kg CO2-eq·t(-1)ww in Scenario 2 (with LFG flare) and 214-277 kg CO2-eq·t(-1)ww in Scenario 3 (using LFG for electricity production). Amongst the seven categories, FM was the predominant contributor to GHG emissions. Global sensitivity analysis demonstrated that the parameters associated with waste characteristics (i.e. CH4 potential and carbon sequestered faction) and LFG management (i.e. LFG collection efficiency and CH4 oxidation efficiency) were of great importance. A further learning on the MSW in China indicated that water content and dry matter content of food waste were the basic factors affecting GHG emissions. Source separation of food waste, as well as increasing the incineration ratio of mixed collected MSW, could effectively mitigate the overall GHG emissions from landfilling in a specific city. To increase the LFG collection and CH4 oxidation efficiencies could considerably reduce GHG emissions on the landfill site level. While, the improvement in the LFG utilization measures had an insignificant impact as long as the LFG is recovered for energy generation. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Toward a Multi-City Framework for Urban GHG Estimation in the United States: Methods, Uncertainties, and Future Goals

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mueller, K. L.; Callahan, W.; Davis, K. J.; Dickerson, R. R.; Duren, R. M.; Gurney, K. R.; Karion, A.; Keeling, R. F.; Kim, J.; Lauvaux, T.; Miller, C. E.; Shepson, P. B.; Turnbull, J. C.; Weiss, R. F.; Whetstone, J. R.

2017-12-01

City and State governments are increasingly interested in mitigating greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions to improve sustainability within their jurisdictions. Estimation of urban GHG emissions remains an active research area with many sources of uncertainty. To support the effort of improving measurement of trace gas emissions in city environments, several federal agencies along with academic, research, and private entities have been working within a handful of domestic metropolitan areas to improve both (1) the assessment of GHG emissions accuracy using a variety of measurement technologies, and (2) the tools that can better assess GHG inventory data at urban mitigation scales based upon these measurements. The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) activities have focused on three areas, or testbeds: Indianapolis (INFLUX experiment), Los Angeles (the LA Megacities project), and the Northeastern Corridor areas encompassing Washington and Baltimore (the NEC/BW GHG Measurements project). These cities represent diverse meteorological, terrain, demographic, and emissions characteristics having a broad range of complexities. To date this research has involved multiple measurement systems and integrated observing approaches, all aimed at advancing development of a robust, science-base upon which higher accuracy quantification approaches can rest. Progress toward such scientifically robust, widely-accepted emissions quantification methods will rely upon continuous performance assessment. Such assessment is challenged by the complexities of cities themselves (e.g., population, urban form) along with the many variables impacting a city's technological ability to estimate its GHG emissions (e.g., meteorology, density of observations). We present the different NIST testbeds and a proposal to initiate conceptual development of a reference framework supporting the comparison of multi-city GHG emissions estimates. Such a reference framework has potential to provide the basis for city governments to choose the measurements and methods that can quantify their GHG and related trace gas emissions at levels commensurate with their needs.

Understanding Farmer Perspectives on Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation

PubMed Central

Morton, Lois Wright; Hobbs, Jon

2015-01-01

Agriculture is vulnerable to climate change and a source of greenhouse gases (GHGs). Farmers face pressures to adjust agricultural systems to make them more resilient in the face of increasingly variable weather (adaptation) and reduce GHG production (mitigation). This research examines relationships between Iowa farmers’ trust in environmental or agricultural interest groups as sources of climate information, climate change beliefs, perceived climate risks to agriculture, and support for adaptation and mitigation responses. Results indicate that beliefs varied with trust, and beliefs in turn had a significant direct effect on perceived risks from climate change. Support for adaptation varied with perceived risks, while attitudes toward GHG reduction (mitigation) were associated predominantly with variation in beliefs. Most farmers were supportive of adaptation responses, but few endorsed GHG reduction, suggesting that outreach should focus on interventions that have adaptive and mitigative properties (e.g., reduced tillage, improved fertilizer management). PMID:25983336

Considering WTO law in the design of climate change regimes beyond Kyoto

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gaines, Sanford E.

2009-11-01

This article describes the most important provisions of World Trade Organization (WTO) agreements that should be considered in designing laws and regulations under likely post-Kyoto climate change mitigation regimes. The Kyoto Protocol and the expected post-Kyoto international climate agreement depend on national measures to implement market-based mitigation measures. This market strategy promotes international exchanges of goods, investments, and services such as cross-border trading of credits for emissions reductions and transnational financing for projects that avoid emissions through the Clean Development Mechanism. Moreover, the United States and other countries, concerned over "leakage" of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions through relocation of industry to other countries coupled with political worry over manufacturing competitiveness, have proposed national climate legislation containing border adjustments on imported goods or implicit subsidies for national producers, raising additional WTO considerations. The article assesses the likely effectiveness of such trade-related measures in achieving climate change mitigation goals and the potential trade policy infringements and trade distortions that they might bring about. Alternative strategies for achieving GHG mitigation goals in closer conformity with WTO law and policy will be suggested.

A method for assessing carbon stocks, carbon sequestration, and greenhouse-gas fluxes in ecosystems of the United States under present conditions and future scenarios

USGS Publications Warehouse

Bergamaschi, Brian A.; Bernknopf, Richard; Clow, David; Dye, Dennis; Faulkner, Stephen; Forney, William; Gleason, Robert; Hawbaker, Todd; Liu, Jinxun; Liu, Shu-Guang; Prisley, Stephen; Reed, Bradley; Reeves, Matthew; Rollins, Matthew; Sleeter, Benjamin; Sohl, Terry; Stackpoole, Sarah; Stehman, Stephen; Striegl, Robert G.; Wein, Anne; Zhu, Zhi-Liang; Zhu, Zhi-Liang

2010-01-01

he Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 (EISA), Section 712, mandates the U.S. Department of the Interior to develop a methodology and conduct an assessment of the Nation’s ecosystems, focusing on carbon stocks, carbon sequestration, and emissions of three greenhouse gases (GHGs): carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide. The major requirements include (1) an assessment of all ecosystems (terrestrial systems, such as forests, croplands, wetlands, grasslands/shrublands; and aquatic ecosystems, such as rivers, lakes, and estuaries); (2) an estimate of the annual potential capacities of ecosystems to increase carbon sequestration and reduce net GHG emissions in the context of mitigation strategies (including management and restoration activities); and (3) an evaluation of the effects of controlling processes, such as climate change, land-use and land-cover change, and disturbances such as wildfires.The concepts of ecosystems, carbon pools, and GHG fluxes follow conventional definitions in use by major national and international assessment or inventory efforts. In order to estimate current ecosystem carbon stocks and GHG fluxes and to understand the potential capacity and effects of mitigation strategies, the method will use two time periods for the assessment: 2001 through 2010, which establishes a current ecosystem carbon and GHG baseline and will be used to validate the models; and 2011 through 2050, which will be used to assess potential capacities based on a set of scenarios. The scenario framework will be constructed using storylines of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Special Report on Emission Scenarios (SRES), along with both reference and enhanced land-use and land-cover (LULC) and land-management parameters. Additional LULC and land-management mitigation scenarios will be constructed for each storyline to increase carbon sequestration and reduce GHG fluxes in ecosystems. Input from regional experts and stakeholders will be solicited to construct these scenarios.The methods for mapping the current LULC and ecosystem disturbances will require the extensive use of both remote-sensing data and field-survey data (for example, forest inventories) to capture and characterize landscape-changing events. For potential LULC changes and ecosystem disturbances, key drivers such as socioeconomic and climate changes will be used in addition to the biophysical data. The result of these analyses will be a series of maps for each future year for each scenario. These annual maps will form the basis for estimating carbon storage and GHG emissions. For terrestrial ecosystems, carbon storage, carbon-sequestration capacities, and GHG emissions under the present conditions and future scenarios will be assessed using the LULC-change and ecosystem-disturbance estimates in map format with a spatially explicit biogeochemical ensemble modeling system that incorporates properties of management activities (such as tillage or harvesting) and properties of individual ecosystems (such as energy exchange, vegetation characteristics, hydrological cycling, and soil attributes). For aquatic ecosystems, carbon burial in sediments and fluxes of GHG are functions of the present and future potential stream flow and sediment transport and will be assessed using empirical hydrological modeling methods. Validation and uncertainty analysis methods described in the methodology will follow established guidelines to assess the quality of the assessment results.The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Level II ecoregions map will be the practical instrument for developing and delivering assessment results. Consequently, the ecoregion (there are 22 modified ecoregions) will be the reporting unit of the assessment because the scenarios, assessment results, validation, and uncertainty analysis will be produced at that scale. The implementation of these methods will require collaborations among various Federal agencies, State agencies, nongovernmental organizations, and the science community. Using the method described in this document, the assessment can be completed in approximately 3 to 4 years. The primary deliverables will be assessment reports containing tables, charts, and maps that will present the estimated GHG parameters annually for 2001 through 2050 by ecosystem, pool, and scenario. The results will permit the evaluation of a range of policies, mitigation options, and research topics, such as the demographic, LULC-change, or climate-change effects on carbon stocks, carbon sequestration, and GHG fluxes in ecosystems.

Greenhouse gas emissions from dairy manure management in a Mediterranean environment.

PubMed

Owen, Justine J; Silver, Whendee L

2017-03-01

Livestock agriculture is a major source of anthropogenic greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, with a substantial proportion of emissions derived from manure management. Accurate estimates of emissions related to management practices and climate are needed for identifying the best approaches to minimize, and potentially mitigate, GHG emissions. Current emissions models such as those of the IPCC, however, are based on emissions factors that have not been broadly tested against field-scale measurements, due to a lack of data. We used a diverse set of measurements over 22 months across a range of substrate conditions on a working dairy to determine patterns and controls on soil-based GHG fluxes. Although dairy soils and substrates differed by management unit, GHG fluxes were poorly predicted by these or climate variables. The manure pile had the greatest GHG emissions, and though temperature increased and O 2 concentration decreased following mixing, we detected almost no change in GHG fluxes due to mixing. Corral fluxes were characterized by hotspots and hot moments driven by patterns in deposition. Annual scraping kept the soil and accumulated manure pack thin, producing drier conditions, particularly in the warm dry season. Summed over area, corral fluxes had the greatest non-CO 2 global warming potential. The field had net CH 4 consumption, but CH 4 uptake was insufficient to offset N 2 O emissions on an area basis. All sites emitted N 2 O with a similar or greater climate impact than CH 4 . Our results highlight the importance of N 2 O emissions, a less commonly measured GHG, from manure management and present potential opportunities for GHG emissions reductions. © 2016 by the Ecological Society of America.

Co-benefits of global and regional greenhouse gas mitigation for US air quality in 2050

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

Zhang, Yuqiang; Bowden, Jared H.; Adelman, Zachariah

Policies to mitigate greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions will not only slow climate change but can also have ancillary benefits of improved air quality. Here we examine the co-benefits of both global and regional GHG mitigation for US air quality in 2050 at fine resolution, using dynamical downscaling methods, building on a previous global co-benefits study (West et al., 2013). The co-benefits for US air quality are quantified via two mechanisms: through reductions in co-emitted air pollutants from the same sources and by slowing climate change and its influence on air quality, following West et al. (2013). Additionally, we separate the totalmore » co-benefits into contributions from domestic GHG mitigation vs. mitigation in foreign countries. We use the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model to dynamically downscale future global climate to the regional scale and the Sparse Matrix Operator Kernel Emissions (SMOKE) program to directly process global anthropogenic emissions to the regional domain, and we provide dynamical boundary conditions from global simulations to the regional Community Multi-scale Air Quality (CMAQ) model. The total co-benefits of global GHG mitigation from the RCP4.5 scenario compared with its reference are estimated to be higher in the eastern US (ranging from 0.6 to 1.0 µg m -3) than the west (0–0.4 µg m -3) for fine particulate matter (PM 2.5), with an average of 0.47 µg m -3 over the US; for O 3, the total co-benefits are more uniform at 2–5 ppb, with a US average of 3.55 ppb. Comparing the two mechanisms of co-benefits, we find that reductions in co-emitted air pollutants have a much greater influence on both PM 2.5 (96 % of the total co-benefits) and O 3 (89 % of the total) than the second co-benefits mechanism via slowing climate change, consistent with West et al. (2013). GHG mitigation from foreign countries contributes more to the US O 3 reduction (76 % of the total) than that from domestic GHG mitigation only (24 %), highlighting the importance of global methane reductions and the intercontinental transport of air pollutants. For PM 2.5, the benefits of domestic GHG control are greater (74 % of total). Since foreign contributions to co-benefits can be substantial, with foreign O 3 benefits much larger than those from domestic reductions, previous studies that focus on local or regional co-benefits may greatly underestimate the total co-benefits of global GHG reductions. We conclude that the US can gain significantly greater domestic air quality co-benefits by engaging with other nations to control GHGs.« less

Non-CO2 Greenhouse Gas Emissions in China 2012: Inventory and Supply Chain Analysis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Bo; Zhang, Yaowen; Zhao, Xueli; Meng, Jing

2018-01-01

Reliable inventory information is critical in informing emission mitigation efforts. Using the latest officially released emission data, which is production based, we take a consumption perspective to estimate the non-CO2 greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions for China in 2012. The non-CO2 GHG emissions, which cover CH4, N2O, HFCs, PFCs, and SF6, amounted to 2003.0 Mt. CO2-eq (including 1871.9 Mt. CO2-eq from economic activities), much larger than the total CO2 emissions in some developed countries. Urban consumption (30.1%), capital formation (28.2%), and exports (20.6%) derived approximately four fifths of the total embodied emissions in final demand. Furthermore, the results from structural path analysis help identify critical embodied emission paths and key economic sectors in supply chains for mitigating non-CO2 GHG emissions in Chinese economic systems. The top 20 paths were responsible for half of the national total embodied emissions. Several industrial sectors such as Construction, Production and Supply of Electricity and Steam, Manufacture of Food and Tobacco and Manufacture of Chemicals, and Chemical Products played as the important transmission channels. Examining both production- and consumption-based non-CO2 GHG emissions will enrich our understanding of the influences of industrial positions, final consumption demands, and trades on national non-CO2 GHG emissions by considering the comprehensive abatement potentials in the supply chains.

GHG MITIGATION TECHNOLOGY PERFORMANCE EVALUATIONS UNDERWAY AT THE GHG TECHNOLOGY VERIFICATION CENTER

EPA Science Inventory

The paper outlines the verification approach and activities of the Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Technology Verification Center, one of 12 independent verification entities operating under the U.S. EPA-sponsored Environmental Technology Verification (ETV) program. (NOTE: The ETV program...

Understanding Farmer Perspectives on Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation: The Roles of Trust in Sources of Climate Information, Climate Change Beliefs, and Perceived Risk.

PubMed

Arbuckle, J Gordon; Morton, Lois Wright; Hobbs, Jon

2015-02-01

Agriculture is vulnerable to climate change and a source of greenhouse gases (GHGs). Farmers face pressures to adjust agricultural systems to make them more resilient in the face of increasingly variable weather (adaptation) and reduce GHG production (mitigation). This research examines relationships between Iowa farmers' trust in environmental or agricultural interest groups as sources of climate information, climate change beliefs, perceived climate risks to agriculture, and support for adaptation and mitigation responses. Results indicate that beliefs varied with trust, and beliefs in turn had a significant direct effect on perceived risks from climate change. Support for adaptation varied with perceived risks, while attitudes toward GHG reduction (mitigation) were associated predominantly with variation in beliefs. Most farmers were supportive of adaptation responses, but few endorsed GHG reduction, suggesting that outreach should focus on interventions that have adaptive and mitigative properties (e.g., reduced tillage, improved fertilizer management).

Nitrous oxide emission and soil carbon sequestration from herbaceous perennial biofuel feedstocks

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Greenhouse gas (GHG) mitigation and renewable, domestic fuels are needed in the United States. Switchgrass (Panicum virgatum L.) and big bluestem (Andropogon gerdardii Vitman) are potential bioenergy feedstocks that may meet this need. However, managing perennial grasses for feedstock requires nitro...

Soil C storage and greenhouse gas emission perennial grasses managed for bio energy feedstock

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Perennial grasses like switchgrass or big bluestem when managed as bioenergy feedstock require nitrogenous inputs. Nitrogen fertilizer frequently cause nitrous oxide emission. Therefore, managing grasses as feedstock may reduce the greenhouse gas (GHG) mitigation potential expected from perennial. ...

Waste-to-energy sector and the mitigation of greenhouse gas emissions

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

Fotis, S.C.; Sussman, D.

The waste-to-energy sector provides one important avenue for the United States to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The purpose of this paper is to highlight the significant GHG reductions capable of being achieved by the waste-to-energy (WTE) sector through avoided fossil generation and reduced municipal landfills. The paper begins with a review of the current voluntary reporting mechanism for {open_quotes}registering{close_quotes} GHG reduction credits under section 1605(b) of the Energy Policy Act of 1992. The paper then provides an overview of possible emerging international and domestic trends that could ultimately lead to mandatory targets and timetables for GHG mitigation in themore » United States and other countries. The paper ends with an analysis of the GHG benefits achievable by the WTE sector, based on the section 1605(b) report filed by the Integrated Waste Services Association IWSA on the GHG emissions avoided for year 1995.« less

Long Term Sugarcane Crop Residue Retention Offers Limited Potential to Reduce Nitrogen Fertilizer Rates in Australian Wet Tropical Environments

PubMed Central

Meier, Elizabeth A.; Thorburn, Peter J.

2016-01-01

The warming of world climate systems is driving interest in the mitigation of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. In the agricultural sector, practices that mitigate GHG emissions include those that (1) reduce emissions [e.g., those that reduce nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions by avoiding excess nitrogen (N) fertilizer application], and (2) increase soil organic carbon (SOC) stocks (e.g., by retaining instead of burning crop residues). Sugarcane is a globally important crop that can have substantial inputs of N fertilizer and which produces large amounts of crop residues (‘trash’). Management of N fertilizer and trash affects soil carbon and nitrogen cycling, and hence GHG emissions. Trash has historically been burned at harvest, but increasingly is being retained on the soil surface as a ‘trash blanket’ in many countries. The potential for trash retention to alter N fertilizer requirements and sequester SOC was investigated in this study. The APSIM model was calibrated with data from field and laboratory studies of trash decomposition in the wet tropics of northern Australia. APSIM was then validated against four independent data sets, before simulating location × soil × fertilizer × trash management scenarios. Soil carbon increased in trash blanketed soils relative to SOC in soils with burnt trash. However, further increases in SOC for the study region may be limited because the SOC in trash blanketed soils could be approaching equilibrium; future GHG mitigation efforts in this region should therefore focus on N fertilizer management. Simulated N fertilizer rates were able to be reduced from conventional rates regardless of trash management, because of low yield potential in the wet tropics. For crops subjected to continuous trash blanketing, there was substantial immobilization of N in decomposing trash so conventional N fertilizer rates were required for up to 24 years after trash blanketing commenced. After this period, there was potential to reduce N fertilizer rates for crops when trash was retained (≤20 kg N ha–1 per plant or ratoon crop) while maintaining ≥95% of maximum yields. While these savings in N fertilizer use were modest at the field scale, they were potentially important when aggregated at the regional level. PMID:27462340

Where is the carbon? Carbon sequestration potential from private forestland in the Southern United States

Treesearch

Christopher S. Galik; Brian C. Murray; D. Evan Mercer

2013-01-01

Uncertainty surrounding the future supply of timber in the southern United States prompted the question, “Where is all the wood?” (Cubbage et al. 1995). We ask a similar question about the potential of southern forests to mitigate greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by sequestering carbon. Because significant carbon sequestration potential occurs on individual nonindustrial...

Assessment of Emerging Regional Air Quality (AQ) and Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Impacts and Potential Mitigation Strategies in U.S. Energy Sectors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kinnon, Michael Mac

The current domestic reliance on high-emitting fossil fuels for energy needs is the key driver of U.S. greenhouse gas (GHG) and pollutant emissions driving both climate change and regional air quality (AQ) concerns. Moving forward, emission sources in U.S. energy sectors will be subjected to changes driven by numerous phenomena, including technology evolution, environmental impacts, sustainability goals, and socioeconomic factors. This evolution will directly affect emissions source-related impacts on regional AQ that effective emissions control strategies must account for, including relative source contributions. Though previous studies have evaluated the emissions and AQ impacts of different sectors, technologies and fuels, most previous studies have assessed emissions impacts only without using advanced atmospheric models to accurately account for both spatial and temporal emissions perturbations and atmospheric chemistry and transport. In addition, few previous studies have considered the integration of multiple technologies and fuels in different U.S. regions.. Finally, most studies do not project emissions several decades into the future to assess what sources should be targeted with priority over time. These aspects are critical for understanding how both emissions sources and potential mitigation strategies impact the formation and fate of primary and secondary pollutants, including ground-level ozone and particulate matter concentrations. Therefore, this work utilizes a set of modeling tools to project and then to spatially and temporally resolve emissions as input into a 3-D Eulerian AQ model to assess how sources of emissions contribute to future atmospheric pollutant burdens. Further, analyses of the potential impacts of alternative energy strategies contained in potential mitigation strategies are conducted for priority targets to develop an understanding of how to maximize AQ benefits and avoid unforeseen deleterious tradeoffs between GHG reduction and AQ. Findings include changes in the relative contribution to AQ that elevate the importance of addressing emissions from all sectors and sources including some that may be more difficult to control, including industry, petroleum refineries, and nonlight duty vehicle transportation sources. Additionally, mitigation strategies must consider the full range of life cycle and system effects in order to avoid AQ tradeoffs spatially and temporally.

Public Review Draft: A Method for Assessing Carbon Stocks, Carbon Sequestration, and Greenhouse-Gas Fluxes in Ecosystems of the United States Under Present Conditions and Future Scenarios

USGS Publications Warehouse

Bergamaschi, Brian A.; Bernknopf, Richard; Clow, David; Dye, Dennis; Faulkner, Stephen; Forney, William; Gleason, Robert; Hawbaker, Todd; Liu, Jinxun; Liu, Shu-Guang; Prisley, Stephen; Reed, Bradley; Reeves, Matthew; Rollins, Matthew; Sleeter, Benjamin; Sohl, Terry; Stackpoole, Sarah; Stehman, Stephen; Striegl, Robert G.; Wein, Anne; Zhu, Zhi-Liang; Zhu, Zhi-Liang

2010-01-01

The Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 (EISA), Section 712, authorizes the U.S. Department of the Interior to develop a methodology and conduct an assessment of the Nation's ecosystems focusing on carbon stocks, carbon sequestration, and emissions of three greenhouse gases (GHGs): carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide. The major requirements include (1) an assessment of all ecosystems (terrestrial systems, such as forests, croplands, wetlands, shrub and grasslands; and aquatic ecosystems, such as rivers, lakes, and estuaries), (2) an estimation of annual potential capacities of ecosystems to increase carbon sequestration and reduce net GHG emissions in the context of mitigation strategies (including management and restoration activities), and (3) an evaluation of the effects of controlling processes, such as climate change, land use and land cover, and wildlfires. The purpose of this draft methodology for public review is to propose a technical plan to conduct the assessment. Within the methodology, the concepts of ecosystems, carbon pools, and GHG fluxes used for the assessment follow conventional definitions in use by major national and international assessment or inventory efforts. In order to estimate current ecosystem carbon stocks and GHG fluxes and to understand the potential capacity and effects of mitigation strategies, the method will use two time periods for the assessment: 2001 through 2010, which establishes a current ecosystem GHG baseline and will be used to validate the models; and 2011 through 2050, which will be used to assess future potential conditions based on a set of projected scenarios. The scenario framework is constructed using storylines of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Special Report Emission Scenarios (SRES), along with initial reference land-use and land-cover (LULC) and land-management scenarios. An additional three LULC and land-management mitigation scenarios will be constructed for each storyline to enhance carbon sequestration and reduce GHG fluxes in ecosystems. Input from regional experts and stakeholders will be solicited to construct realistic and meaningful scenarios. The methods for mapping the current LULC and ecosystem disturbances will require the extensive use of both remote-sensing data and in-situ (for example, forest inventory data) to capture and characterize landscape-change events. For future potential LULC and ecosystem disturbances, key drivers such as socioeconomic, policy, and climate assumptions will be used in addition to biophysical data. The product of these analyses will be a series of maps for each future year for each scenario. These annual maps will form the basis for estimating carbon storage and GHG emissions. For terrestrial ecosystems, carbon storage, carbon-sequestration capacities, and GHG emissions under the current and projected future conditions will be assessed using the LULC and ecosystem-disturbance estimates in map format with a spatially explicit biogeochemical ensemble modeling system that incorporates properties of management activities (such as tillage or harvesting) and properties of individual ecosystems (such as elevation, vegetation characteristics, and soil attributes). For aquatic ecosystems, carbon burial in sediments and GHG fluxes are functions of the current and projected future stream flow and sediment transports, and therefore will be assessed using empirical modeling methods. Validation and uncertainty analysis methods described in the methodology will follow established guidelines to assess the quality of the assessment results. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Level II ecoregions map (which delineates 24 ecoregions for the Nation) will be the practical instrument for developing and delivering assessment results. Consequently, the ecoregion will be the reporting unit of the assessment because the mitigation scenarios, assessment results, validation, and uncertainty analysis will be

Strategic Environmental Assessment of Greenhouse Gas Mitigation Options in the Canadian Agricultural Sector

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Noble, Bram F.; Christmas, Lisa M.

2008-01-01

This article presents a methodological framework for strategic environmental assessment (SEA) application. The overall objective is to demonstrate SEA as a systematic and structured policy, plan, and program (PPP) decision support tool. In order to accomplish this objective, a stakeholder-based SEA application to greenhouse gas (GHG) mitigation policy options in Canadian agriculture is presented. Using a mail-out impact assessment exercise, agricultural producers and nonproducers from across the Canadian prairie region were asked to evaluate five competing GHG mitigation options against 13 valued environmental components (VECs). Data were analyzed using multi-criteria and exploratory analytical techniques. The results suggest considerable variation in perceived impacts and GHG mitigation policy preferences, suggesting that a blanket policy approach to GHG mitigation will create gainers and losers based on soil type and associate cropping and on-farm management practices. It is possible to identify a series of regional greenhouse gas mitigation programs that are robust, socially meaningful, and operationally relevant to both agricultural producers and policy decision makers. The assessment demonstrates the ability of SEA to address, in an operational sense, environmental problems that are characterized by conflicting interests and competing objectives and alternatives. A structured and systematic SEA methodology provides the necessary decision support framework for the consideration of impacts, and allows for PPPs to be assessed based on a much broader set of properties, objectives, criteria, and constraints whereas maintaining rigor and accountability in the assessment process.

Bioenergy Ecosystem Land-Use Modelling and Field Flux Trial

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

McNamara, Niall; Bottoms, Emily; Donnison, Iain; Dondini, Marta; Farrar, Kerrie; Finch, Jon; Harris, Zoe; Ineson, Phil; Keane, Ben; Massey, Alice; McCalmont, Jon; Morison, James; Perks, Mike; Pogson, Mark; Rowe, Rebecca; Smith, Pete; Sohi, Saran; Tallis, Mat; Taylor, Gail; Yamulki, Sirwan

2013-04-01

Climate change impacts resulting from fossil fuel combustion and concerns about the diversity of energy supply are driving interest to find low-carbon energy alternatives. As a result bioenergy is receiving widespread scientific, political and media attention for its potential role in both supplying energy and mitigating greenhouse (GHG) emissions. It is estimated that the bioenergy contribution to EU 2020 renewable energy targets could require up to 17-21 million hectares of additional land in Europe (Don et al., 2012). There are increasing concerns that some transitions into bioenergy may not be as sustainable as first thought when GHG emissions from the crop growth and management cycle are factored into any GHG life cycle assessment (LCA). Bioenergy is complex and encapsulates a wide range of crops, varying from food crop based biofuels to dedicated second generation perennial energy crops and forestry products. The decision on the choice of crop for energy production significantly influences the GHG mitigation potential. It is recognised that GHG savings or losses are in part a function of the original land-use that has undergone change and the management intensity for the energy crop. There is therefore an urgent need to better quantify both crop and site-specific effects associated with the production of conventional and dedicated energy crops on the GHG balance. Currently, there is scarcity of GHG balance data with respect to second generation crops meaning that process based models and LCAs of GHG balances are weakly underpinned. Therefore, robust, models based on real data are urgently required. In the UK we have recently embarked on a detailed program of work to address this challenge by combining a large number of field studies with state-of-the-art process models. Through six detailed experiments, we are calculating the annual GHG balances of land use transitions into energy crops across the UK. Further, we are quantifying the total soil carbon gain or loss after land use change at 100 fieldsites which encapsulate a range of UK climates and soil types. Our overall objective is to use our measured data to parameterise and validate the models that we will use to predict the implications of bioenergy crop deployment in the UK up to 2050. The resultant output will be a meta-model which will help facilitate decision making on the sustainable development of bioenergy in the UK, with potential deployment in other temperate climates around the world. Here we report on the outcome of the first of three years of work. This work is based on the Ecosystem Land Use Modelling & Soil Carbon GHG Flux Trial (ELUM) project, which was commissioned and funded by the Energy Technologies Institute (ETI). Don et al. (2012) Land-use change to bioenergy production in Europe: implications for the greenhouse gas balance and soil carbon. GCB Bioenergy 4, 372-379.

The Moving Target of Climate Mitigation: Examples from the Energy Sector in California

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tarroja, B.; AghaKouchak, A.; Forrest, K.; Chiang, F.; Samuelsen, S.

2016-12-01

In response to the concerns of climate change-induced impacts on human health, environmental integrity, and the secure operation of resource supply infrastructures, strategies to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of major societal sectors have been in development. In the energy sector, these strategies are based in low carbon primary energy deployment, increased energy efficiency, and implementing complementary technologies for operational resilience. While these strategies are aimed at climate mitigation, a degree of climate change-induced impacts will occur by the time of their deployment, and many of these impacts can compromise the effectiveness of these climate mitigation strategies. In order to develop climate mitigation strategies that will achieve their GHG reduction and other goals, the impact that climate change-induced conditions can have on different components of climate mitigation strategies must be understood. This presentation will highlight three examples of how climate change-induced conditions affect components of climate mitigation strategies in California: through impacts on 1) hydropower generation, 2) renewable potential for geothermal and solar thermal resources to form part of the renewable resource portfolio, and 3) the magnitudes and shapes of the electric load demand that must be met sustainably. These studies are part of a larger, overarching project to understand how climate change impacts the energy system and how to develop a sustainable energy infrastructure that is resilient against these impacts.

Estimating regional greenhouse gas fluxes: An uncertainty analysis of planetary boundary layer techniques and bottom-up inventories

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Quantification of regional greenhouse gas (GHG) fluxes is essential for establishing mitigation strategies and evaluating their effectiveness. Here, we used multiple top-down approaches and multiple trace gas observations at a tall tower to estimate GHG regional fluxes and evaluate the GHG fluxes de...

Seasonal methane and nitrous oxide emissions of several rice cultivars in direct-seeded systems

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Understanding cultivar effects on field greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in rice (Oryza sativa L.) systems is needed to improve the accuracy of predictive models used for estimating GHG emissions and determine to what extent choice of cultivar may have on GHG mitigation. We compared methane (CH4) and...

Offsetting global warming-induced elevated greenhouse gas emissions from an arable soil by biochar application.

PubMed

Bamminger, Chris; Poll, Christian; Marhan, Sven

2018-01-01

Global warming will likely enhance greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from soils. Due to its slow decomposability, biochar is widely recognized as effective in long-term soil carbon (C) sequestration and in mitigation of soil GHG emissions. In a long-term soil warming experiment (+2.5 °C, since July 2008) we studied the effect of applying high-temperature Miscanthus biochar (0, 30 t/ha, since August 2013) on GHG emissions and their global warming potential (GWP) during 2 years in a temperate agroecosystem. Crop growth, physical and chemical soil properties, temperature sensitivity of soil respiration (R s ), and metabolic quotient (qCO 2 ) were investigated to yield further information about single effects of soil warming and biochar as well as on their interactions. Soil warming increased total CO 2 emissions by 28% over 2 years. The effect of warming on soil respiration did not level off as has often been observed in less intensively managed ecosystems. However, the temperature sensitivity of soil respiration was not affected by warming. Overall, biochar had no effect on most of the measured parameters, suggesting its high degradation stability and its low influence on microbial C cycling even under elevated soil temperatures. In contrast, biochar × warming interactions led to higher total N 2 O emissions, possibly due to accelerated N-cycling at elevated soil temperature and to biochar-induced changes in soil properties and environmental conditions. Methane uptake was not affected by soil warming or biochar. The incorporation of biochar-C into soil was estimated to offset warming-induced elevated GHG emissions for 25 years. Our results highlight the suitability of biochar for C sequestration in cultivated temperate agricultural soil under a future elevated temperature. However, the increased N 2 O emissions under warming limit the GHG mitigation potential of biochar. © 2017 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

[Evaluation indices of greenhouse gas mitigation technologies in cropland ecosystem].

PubMed

Li, Jian-zheng; Wang, Ying-chun; Wang, Li-gang; Li, Hu; Qiu, Jian-jun; Wang, Dao-long

2015-01-01

In spite of the increasing studies on greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions mitigation technologies, there is still a lack of systematic indices for evaluation of their overall impacts in croplands. In this study, we collected all the indices relating to greenhouse gas emissions and analyzed each index following the principles of representativeness, objectivity, completeness, dominance and operability. Finally, we proposed evaluation indices for mitigation technologies based on the current situation of China. Crop yield per unit area was proposed as a constrained index, and greenhouse gas emissions intensity, defined as GHG emissions per unit of produced yield, was proposed as comprehensive index to evaluate the greenhouse effect of various croplands mitigation technologies. Calculation of GHG emissions intensity involved yield, change of soil organic carbon, direct N2O emissions, paddy CH4 emissions and direct and indirect emissions from inputs into croplands. By following these evaluation indices, the greenhouse effect of the technologies could be well evaluated, which could provide scientific basis for their further adoption.

A wedge strategy for mitigation of urban warming in future climate scenarios

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhao, Lei; Lee, Xuhui; Schultz, Natalie M.

2017-07-01

Heat stress is one of the most severe climate threats to human society in a future warmer world. The situation is further exacerbated in urban areas by urban heat islands (UHIs). Because the majority of world's population is projected to live in cities, there is a pressing need to find effective solutions for the heat stress problem. We use a climate model to investigate the effectiveness of various urban heat mitigation strategies: cool roofs, street vegetation, green roofs, and reflective pavement. Our results show that by adopting highly reflective roofs, almost all the cities in the United States and southern Canada are transformed into white oases - cold islands caused by cool roofs at midday, with an average oasis effect of -3.4 K in the summer for the period 2071-2100, which offsets approximately 80 % of the greenhouse gas (GHG) warming projected for the same period under the RCP4.5 scenario. A UHI mitigation wedge consisting of cool roofs, street vegetation, and reflective pavement has the potential to eliminate the daytime UHI plus the GHG warming.

Application of food industry waste to agricultural soils mitigates green house gas emissions.

PubMed

Rashid, M T; Voroney, R P; Khalid, M

2010-01-01

Application of organic waste materials such as food processing and serving industry cooking oil waste (OFW) can recycle soil nitrate nitrogen (NO(3)-N), which is otherwise prone to leaching after the harvest of crop. Nitrogen (N) recycling will not only reduce the amount of N fertilizer application for corn crop production but is also expected to mitigate green house gas (GHG) emissions by saving energy to be used for the production of the same amount of industrial fertilizer N required for the growth of corn crop. Application of OFW at 10Mg solid ha(-1)y(-1) conserved 68 kg N ha(-1)y(-1) which ultimately saved 134 L diesel ha(-1)y(-1), which would otherwise be used for the production of fertilizer N as urea. Average fossil energy substitution value (FESV) of N conserved/recycled was calculated to be 93 US$ ha(-1)y(-1), which is about 13 million US$y(-1). Potential amount of GHG mitigation through the application of OFW to agricultural soils in Canada is estimated to be 57 Gg CO(2)Eq y(-1).

Management of agricultural soils for greenhouse gas mitigation: Learning from a case study in NE Spain.

PubMed

Sánchez, B; Iglesias, A; McVittie, A; Álvaro-Fuentes, J; Ingram, J; Mills, J; Lesschen, J P; Kuikman, P J

2016-04-01

A portfolio of agricultural practices is now available that can contribute to reaching European mitigation targets. Among them, the management of agricultural soils has a large potential for reducing GHG emissions or sequestering carbon. Many of the practices are based on well tested agronomic and technical know-how, with proven benefits for farmers and the environment. A suite of practices has to be used since none of the practices can provide a unique solution. However, there are limitations in the process of policy development: (a) agricultural activities are based on biological processes and thus, these practices are location specific and climate, soils and crops determine their agronomic potential; (b) since agriculture sustains rural communities, the costs and potential for implementation have also to be regionally evaluated and (c) the aggregated regional potential of the combination of practices has to be defined in order to inform abatement targets. We believe that, when implementing mitigation practices, three questions are important: Are they cost-effective for farmers? Do they reduce GHG emissions? What policies favour their implementation? This study addressed these questions in three sequential steps. First, mapping the use of representative soil management practices in the European regions to provide a spatial context to upscale the local results. Second, using a Marginal Abatement Cost Curve (MACC) in a Mediterranean case study (NE Spain) for ranking soil management practices in terms of their cost-effectiveness. Finally, using a wedge approach of the practices as a complementary tool to link science to mitigation policy. A set of soil management practices was found to be financially attractive for Mediterranean farmers, which in turn could achieve significant abatements (e.g., 1.34 MtCO2e in the case study region). The quantitative analysis was completed by a discussion of potential farming and policy choices to shape realistic mitigation policy at European regional level. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Seasonal CH4 and N2O emissions and plant growth characteristics of several cultivars in direct seeded rice systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Simmonds, M.; Anders, M. M.; Adviento-Borbe, M. A.; Van Kessel, C.; McClung, A.; Linquist, B.

2014-12-01

Understanding cultivar effects on field greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in rice (Oryza sativa L.) systems is needed to improve the accuracy of predictive models used for estimating GHG emissions, and to determine to what extent choice of cultivar may have on GHG mitigation. We compared CH4 and N2O emissions, global warming potential (GWP = N2O + CH4), yield-scaled GWP (GWPY = GWP Mg-1 grain), and plant growth characteristics of 8 cultivars within 4 study sites in California and Arkansas. Seasonal CH4 emissions differed between cultivars by a factor of 2.1 and 1.3 at one California and one Arkansas site, respectively. Nitrous oxide emissions were negligible, comprised <10% of GWP, and were not different among cultivars. When sites and cultivars were pooled, and data were normalized to site averages, there was a positive correlation (r = 0.33) between root biomass at heading and seasonal CH4 emissions, but no correlation with shoot biomass at heading, or grain or straw biomass at maturity. Although differences in GWP and GWPY were observed, the consistency of some of the trends was variable across sites, indicating the importance of the genotype x environment interaction. While no high-yielding and low CH4-emitting cultivars were identified at the California sites, among the Southern varieties tested at the Arkansas site, the lowest emitting cultivar had the highest yield. This highlights the potential for breeding high-yielding varieties with low GWP, the ideal scenario to achieve low GWPY due to simultaneously mitigating GHG emissions and improving global food security.

Agriculture and climate change: Potential for mitigation in Spain.

PubMed

Albiac, Jose; Kahil, Taher; Notivol, Eduardo; Calvo, Elena

2017-08-15

Agriculture and forestry activities are one of the many sources of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, but they are also sources of low-cost opportunities to mitigate these emissions compared to other economic sectors. This paper provides a first estimate of the potential for mitigation in the whole Spanish agriculture. A set of mitigation measures are selected for their cost-effectiveness and abatement potential and an efficient mix of these measures is identified with reference to a social cost of carbon of 40 €/tCO 2 e. This mix of measures includes adjusting crop fertilization and managing forests for carbon sequestration. Results indicate that by using the efficient mix of mitigation measures the annual abatement potential could reach 10 million tCO 2 e, which represents 28% of current agricultural emissions in Spain. This potential could further increase if the social cost of carbon rises covering the costs of applying manure to crops. Results indicate also that economic instruments such as input and emission taxes could be only ancillary measures to address mitigation in agriculture. These findings can be used to support the mitigation efforts in Spain and guide policymakers in the design of country-level mitigation strategies. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Comparative Biogeochemical Cycles of Bioenergy Crops Reveal Nitrogen-Fixation and Low GHG Emissions in a Miscanthus x giganteus Agro-ecosystem

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

We evaluated the relative greenhouse gas mitigation potential of plant species considered as biofuel feedstock crops by simulating the biogeochemical processes associated with Miscanthus x giganteus, Panicum virgatum, Zea mays, and a mixed prairie community. DayCent model simulations for Miscanthus ...

Assessing fertilizer N placement on CH4 and N2O emissions in irrigated rice systems

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Improved N fertilizer management practices can increase rice yields and mitigate global warming potential (GWP). While banding N has been shown to have positive effects on yield and nitrogen use efficiency (NUE), there is little information in how it affects greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from flood...

Internal combustion engine run on biogas is a potential solution to meet Indonesia emission target

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ambarita, Himsar

2017-09-01

Indonesia has released two different Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions reduction targets. The first target, released in 2009, is reduction GHG emissions 26% from Business-as-Usual (BAU) level using own budget and up 41% if supported international aids by 2020. The second target is reduction 29% and 41% from BAU by 2030 using own budget and with international support, respectively. In this paper, the BAU emissions and emissions reduction target of these two targets are elaborated. In addition, the characteristics of emissions from transportation sector are discussed. One of the potential mitigation actions is switching fuel in transportation sector. The results the most promising mitigation action in the transportation is switching oil fuel with biofuel. The Government of Indonesia (GoI) focuses on using biodiesel and bioethanol to run internal combustion engine in transportation sector and biogas is aimed to fuel power plant unit. However, there is very limited of success stories on using biogas in the power plant. The barriers and challenges will be discussed here. It is suggested to run internal combustion engine with biogas.

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

Shah, Nihar K.; Wei, Max; Letschert, Virginie

Hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) emitted from uses such as refrigerants and thermal insulating foam, are now the fastest growing greenhouse gases (GHGs), with global warming potentials (GWP) thousands of times higher than carbon dioxide (CO2). Because of the short lifetime of these molecules in the atmosphere,1 mitigating the amount of these short-lived climate pollutants (SLCPs) provides a faster path to climate change mitigation than control of CO2 alone. This has led to proposals from Africa, Europe, India, Island States, and North America to amend the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer (Montreal Protocol) to phase-down high-GWP HFCs. Simultaneously, energymore » efficiency market transformation programs such as standards, labeling and incentive programs are endeavoring to improve the energy efficiency for refrigeration and air conditioning equipment to provide life cycle cost, energy, GHG, and peak load savings. In this paper we provide an estimate of the magnitude of such GHG and peak electric load savings potential, for room air conditioning, if the refrigerant transition and energy efficiency improvement policies are implemented either separately or in parallel.« less

Modeling GHG Emissions and Carbon Changes in Agricultural and Forest Systems to Guide Mitigation and Adaptation: Synthesis and Future Needs

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Agricultural production systems and land use change for agriculture and forestry are important sources of anthropogenic greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Recent commitments by the European Union, the United States, and China to reduce GHG emissions highlight the need to improve estimates of current em...

Valuing ecosystem services from wetlands restoration in the Mississippi Alluvial Valley

USGS Publications Warehouse

Jenkins, W.A.; Murray, B.C.; Kramer, R.A.; Faulkner, S.P.

2010-01-01

This study assesses the value of restoring forested wetlands via the U.S. government's Wetlands Reserve Program (WRP) in the Mississippi Alluvial Valley by quantifying and monetizing ecosystem services. The three focal services are greenhouse gas (GHG) mitigation, nitrogen mitigation, and waterfowl recreation. Site- and region-level measurements of these ecosystem services are combined with process models to quantify their production on agricultural land, which serves as the baseline, and on restored wetlands. We adjust and transform these measures into per-hectare, valuation-ready units and monetize them with prices from emerging ecosystem markets and the environmental economics literature. By valuing three of the many ecosystem services produced, we generate lower bound estimates for the total ecosystem value of the wetlands restoration. Social welfare value is found to be between $1435 and $1486/ha/year, with GHG mitigation valued in the range of $171 to $222, nitrogen mitigation at $1248, and waterfowl recreation at $16. Limited to existing markets, the estimate for annual market value is merely $70/ha, but when fully accounting for potential markets, this estimate rises to $1035/ha. The estimated social value surpasses the public expenditure or social cost of wetlands restoration in only 1 year, indicating that the return on public investment is very attractive for the WRP. Moreover, the potential market value is substantially greater than landowner opportunity costs, showing that payments to private landowners to restore wetlands could also be profitable for individual landowners. ?? 2009 Elsevier B.V.

Ecosystem Management and Land Conservation Can Substantially Contribute to California's Climate Mitigation Goals

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Marvin, D.; Cameron, D. R.; Passero, M. C.; Remucal, J. M.

2017-12-01

California has been a global leader in climate change policy through its early adoption of ambitious GHG reduction goals, committing to steep reductions through 2030 and beyond. Modeling efforts focused on future greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from energy and other sectors in California have shown varying capacity to meet the emissions reductions targets established by the state. These efforts have not included potential reductions from changes in ecosystem management, restoration, and conservation. This study simulates the future GHG reduction potential of these land-based activities (e.g., changes to forest management, avoided conversion of grasslands to agriculture) when applied to California lands at three plausible rates of policy implementation relative to current efforts. We then compare the reduction potential of the activities against "business-as-usual" (BAU) emissions projections for the California to highlight the contribution of the biosphere toward reaching the state's GHG 2030 and 2050 reduction targets. By 2030, an Ambitious land-based activity implementation scenario could contribute as much as 146.7 MMTCO2e or 17.4% of the cumulative reductions needed to meet the state's 2030 goal, greater than the individual contributions of four other economic sectors, including those from the Industrial and Agriculture sectors. On an annual basis, the Ambitious scenario could result in reductions as high as 17.93 MMTCO2e yr-1 or 13.4% of the state's 2030 reduction goal. Most reductions come from changes in forest management, such as extending rotation times for harvest and reducing stocking density, thereby promoting accelerated growth. Such changes comprise 59.8% to 67.4% of annual projected emissions reductions in 2050 for the Ambitious and Limited scenarios, respectively. Implementation of a range of land-based emissions reduction activities can materially contribute to one of the most ambitious mitigation targets globally. This study provides a flexible, dynamic framework for estimating the reductions achievable through land conservation, ecological restoration, and changes in management regimes that can account for new data and scientific understanding.

Carbon farming economics: What have we learned?

PubMed

Tang, Kai; Kragt, Marit E; Hailu, Atakelty; Ma, Chunbo

2016-05-01

This study reviewed 62 economic analyses published between 1995 and 2014 on the economic impacts of policies that incentivise agricultural greenhouse (GHG) mitigation. Typically, biophysical models are used to evaluate the changes in GHG mitigation that result from landholders changing their farm and land management practices. The estimated results of biophysical models are then integrated with economic models to simulate the costs of different policy scenarios to production systems. The cost estimates vary between $3 and $130/t CO2 equivalent in 2012 US dollars, depending on the mitigation strategies, spatial locations, and policy scenarios considered. Most studies assessed the consequences of a single, rather than multiple, mitigation strategies, and few considered the co-benefits of carbon farming. These omissions could challenge the reality and robustness of the studies' results. One of the biggest challenges facing agricultural economists is to assess the full extent of the trade-offs involved in carbon farming. We need to improve our biophysical knowledge about carbon farming co-benefits, predict the economic impacts of employing multiple strategies and policy incentives, and develop the associated integrated models, to estimate the full costs and benefits of agricultural GHG mitigation to farmers and the rest of society. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Greenhouse gas emissions and reactive nitrogen releases during the life-cycles of staple food production in China and their mitigation potential.

PubMed

Xia, Longlong; Ti, Chaopu; Li, Bolun; Xia, Yongqiu; Yan, Xiaoyuan

2016-06-15

Life-cycle analysis of staple food (rice, flour and corn-based fodder) production and assessments of the associated greenhouse gas (GHG) and reactive nitrogen (Nr) releases, from environmental and economic perspectives, help to develop effective mitigation options. However, such evaluations have rarely been executed in China. We evaluated the GHG and Nr releases per kilogram of staple food production (carbon and Nr footprints) and per unit of net economic benefit (CO2-NEB and Nr-NEB), and explored their mitigation potential. Carbon footprints of food production in China were obviously higher than those in some developed countries. There was a high spatial variation in the footprints, primarily attributable to differences in synthetic N use (or CH4 emissions) per unit of food production. Provincial carbon footprints had a significant linear relationship with Nr footprints, attributed to large contribution of N fertilizer use to both GHG and Nr releases. Synthetic N fertilizer applications and CH4 emissions dominated the carbon footprints, while NH3 volatilization and N leaching were the main contributors to the Nr footprints. About 564 (95% uncertainty range: 404-701) TgCO2eqGHG and 10 (7.4-12.4) Tg Nr-N were released every year during 2001-2010 from staple food production. This caused the total damage costs of 325 (70-555) billion ¥, equivalent to nearly 1.44% of the Gross Domestic Product of China. Moreover, the combined damage costs and economic input costs, accounted for 66%-80% of the gross economic benefit generated from food production. A reduction of 92.7TgCO2eqyr(-1) and 2.2TgNr-Nyr(-1) could be achieved by reducing synthetic N inputs by 20%, increasing grain yields by 5% and implementing off-season application of straw and mid-season drainage practices for rice cultivation. In order to realize these scenarios, an ecological compensation scheme should be established to incentivize farmers to gradually adopt knowledge-based managements. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Management matters: Testing a mitigation strategy of nitrous oxide emissions on managed grassland

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fuchs, Kathrin; Hörtnagl, Lukas; Eugster, Werner; Koller, Patrick; Käslin, Florian; Merbold, Lutz

2017-04-01

The magnitude of greenhouse gas (GHG) exchange between managed grasslands and the atmosphere depends besides climate predominantly on management practices. While natural or extensively managed grasslands are known to function as GHG sinks, intensively managed grasslands are characterized by substantial nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions diminishing their sink function. One potential N2O mitigation strategy is to reduce the required amount of nitrogen (N) fertilizer input by using biological nitrogen fixation (BNF) via legumes. However, the effect of legumes on nitrous oxide emissions is still not fully understood. In this study we quantify net GHG fluxes from two differently managed grassland parcels (mitigation, control) and relate our results to productivity (yields). In addition, we aim at revealing the influence of various driver variables on N2O exchange. Our experimental setup consisted of an eddy covariance tower that measured the net exchange of the three major anthropogenic GHGs, nitrous oxide (N2O), methane (CH4) and carbon dioxide (CO2). Both grassland parcels can be covered with this tower due to two prevailing wind directions. GHG flux measurements were accompanied by measurements of commonly known driver variables such as water filled pore space, soil temperature, soil oxygen concentrations and mineral N to disentangle the soil meteorological influence of N2O fluxes from human drivers. Following organic fertilizer application, we measured elevated N2O emissions (>1 nmol m-2 s-1) at the control parcel and unchanged N2O emissions at the treatment parcel. Net annual fluxes were 54% and 50% lower at the experimental parcel in 2015 and 2016, respectively. Annual yields did not significantly differ between parcels, but were slightly lower at the experimental parcel compared to the control parcel. Significantly lower nitrous oxide fluxes under experimental management indicate that nitrous oxide emissions can be effectively reduced at very low costs with a clover-based management. Long-term effects on the N budget, implications for the quality of animal feed as well as potential consequences at the farming system level (i.e. manure management) need further evaluation.

Can biofuels be a solution to climate change? The implications of land use change-related emissions for policy

PubMed Central

Khanna, Madhu; Crago, Christine L.; Black, Mairi

2011-01-01

Biofuels have gained increasing attention as an alternative to fossil fuels for several reasons, one of which is their potential to reduce the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from the transportation sector. Recent studies have questioned the validity of claims about the potential of biofuels to reduce GHG emissions relative to the liquid fossil fuels they are replacing when emissions owing to direct (DLUC) and indirect land use changes (ILUC) that accompany biofuels are included in the life cycle GHG intensity of biofuels. Studies estimate that the GHG emissions released from ILUC could more than offset the direct GHG savings by producing biofuels and replacing liquid fossil fuels and create a ‘carbon debt’ with a long payback period. The estimates of this payback period, however, vary widely across biofuels from different feedstocks and even for a single biofuel across different modelling assumptions. In the case of corn ethanol, this payback period is found to range from 15 to 200 years. We discuss the challenges in estimating the ILUC effect of a biofuel and differences across biofuels, and its sensitivity to the assumptions and policy scenarios considered by different economic models. We also discuss the implications of ILUC for designing policies that promote biofuels and seek to reduce GHG emissions. In a first-best setting, a global carbon tax is needed to set both DLUC and ILUC emissions to their optimal levels. However, it is unclear whether unilateral GHG mitigation policies, even if they penalize the ILUC-related emissions, would increase social welfare and lead to optimal emission levels. In the absence of a global carbon tax, incentivizing sustainable land use practices through certification standards, government regulations and market-based pressures may be a viable option for reducing ILUC. PMID:22482030

Can biofuels be a solution to climate change? The implications of land use change-related emissions for policy.

PubMed

Khanna, Madhu; Crago, Christine L; Black, Mairi

2011-04-06

Biofuels have gained increasing attention as an alternative to fossil fuels for several reasons, one of which is their potential to reduce the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from the transportation sector. Recent studies have questioned the validity of claims about the potential of biofuels to reduce GHG emissions relative to the liquid fossil fuels they are replacing when emissions owing to direct (DLUC) and indirect land use changes (ILUC) that accompany biofuels are included in the life cycle GHG intensity of biofuels. Studies estimate that the GHG emissions released from ILUC could more than offset the direct GHG savings by producing biofuels and replacing liquid fossil fuels and create a 'carbon debt' with a long payback period. The estimates of this payback period, however, vary widely across biofuels from different feedstocks and even for a single biofuel across different modelling assumptions. In the case of corn ethanol, this payback period is found to range from 15 to 200 years. We discuss the challenges in estimating the ILUC effect of a biofuel and differences across biofuels, and its sensitivity to the assumptions and policy scenarios considered by different economic models. We also discuss the implications of ILUC for designing policies that promote biofuels and seek to reduce GHG emissions. In a first-best setting, a global carbon tax is needed to set both DLUC and ILUC emissions to their optimal levels. However, it is unclear whether unilateral GHG mitigation policies, even if they penalize the ILUC-related emissions, would increase social welfare and lead to optimal emission levels. In the absence of a global carbon tax, incentivizing sustainable land use practices through certification standards, government regulations and market-based pressures may be a viable option for reducing ILUC.

Will Transition of Staple Food Strategy in China Really Mitigate Global Climate Change?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, B.; Zhao, D.

2017-12-01

With the increase in agricultural demand, reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions is a vital challenge in mitigating climate change. Potato staple food strategy in China introduced by Ministry of Agriculture in 2015 is to gradually adjust staple food structure, which provides an opportunity to meet with the challenge. Apart from staple food structure, difference on energy, material input, geography, and crop management are essential to determine agriculture's contribution to climate change. In this study, we conduct a life cycle analysis of four staple foods in China, namely rice, wheat, maize, and potato, to develop crop-specific estimates of GHG emissions and GHG intensity by using `Production intensity' (carbon dioxide equivalent emissions per kilocalorie produced), to help us understand potential synergies and frictions between food producing and climate mitigation. Data used in this study is on city / province levels if city level is unavailable in 2015. First, we evaluate GHG reductions due to transition of staple food structure in China. Staple food GHG emissions in China are 546.90 Tg CO2e yr-1 in 2015, with 47.6%, 21.9%, 27.3% and 3.2% from rice, wheat, maize and potato. Mean production intensity of staple food is 0.45 Mg CO2e M kcal-1 in 2015. Maize leads the intensity with 0.77 Mg CO2e M kcal-1, followed by rice (0.49 Mg CO2e M kcal-1), wheat (0.28 Mg CO2e M kcal-1) and potato (0.24 Mg CO2e M kcal-1). After staple food structure adjustment, 25 Tg CO2e yr-1 (4.2%) reduction will be accomplished in 2020 without any crop management improvement. Further reduction (33.3% - 40.4%) could be achieved with crop management improvement. In addition, because of staple food structure switching, native rice production will decline, which might lead to more export from countries with higher production intensity. Estimated emission leakage from rice import is 30.10 Tg CO2e yr-1, exceeds emission reduction in native China. Therefore, potato staple food strategy could meet the demand for food in China, but it increases risk of global climate change.

Cover crops mitigate direct greenhouse gases balance but reduce drainage under climate change scenarios in temperate climate with dry summers.

PubMed

Tribouillois, Hélène; Constantin, Julie; Justes, Eric

2018-06-01

Cover crops provide ecosystem services such as storing atmospheric carbon in soils after incorporation of their residues. Cover crops also influence soil water balance, which can be an issue in temperate climates with dry summers as for example in southern France and Europe. As a consequence, it is necessary to understand cover crops' long-term influence on greenhouse gases (GHG) and water balances to assess their potential to mitigate climate change in arable cropping systems. We used the previously calibrated and validated soil-crop model STICS to simulate scenarios of cover crop introduction to assess their influence on rainfed and irrigated cropping systems and crop rotations distributed among five contrasted sites in southern France from 2007 to 2052. Our results showed that cover crops can improve mean direct GHG balance by 315 kg CO 2 e ha -1  year -1 in the long term compared to that of bare soil. This was due mainly to an increase in carbon storage in the soil despite a slight increase in N 2 O emissions which can be compensated by adapting fertilization. Cover crops also influence the water balance by reducing mean annual drainage by 20 mm/year but increasing mean annual evapotranspiration by 20 mm/year compared to those of bare soil. Using cover crops to improve the GHG balance may help to mitigate climate change by decreasing CO 2 e emitted in cropping systems which can represent a decrease from 4.5% to 9% of annual GHG emissions of the French agriculture and forestry sector. However, if not well managed, they also could create water management issues in watersheds with shallow groundwater. Relationships between cover crop biomass and its influence on several variables such as drainage, carbon sequestration, and GHG emissions could be used to extend our results to other conditions to assess the cover crops' influence in a wider range of areas. © 2018 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Perceptions of Health Co-Benefits in Relation to Greenhouse Gas Emission Reductions: A Survey among Urban Residents in Three Chinese Cities

PubMed Central

Gao, Jinghong; Xu, Guozhang; Ma, Wenjun; Zhang, Yong; Woodward, Alistair; Vardoulakis, Sotiris; Kovats, Sari; Wilkinson, Paul; He, Tianfeng; Lin, Hualiang; Liu, Tao; Gu, Shaohua; Wang, Jun; Li, Jing; Yang, Jun; Liu, Xiaobo; Li, Jing; Wu, Haixia; Liu, Qiyong

2017-01-01

Limited information is available on the perceptions of stakeholders concerning the health co-benefits of greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reductions. The purpose of this study was to investigate the perceptions of urban residents on the health co-benefits involving GHG abatement and related influencing factors in three cities in China. Beijing, Ningbo and Guangzhou were selected for this survey. Participants were recruited from randomly chosen committees, following quotas for gender and age in proportion to the respective population shares. Chi-square or Fisher’s exact tests were employed to examine the associations between socio-demographic variables and individuals’ perceptions of the health co-benefits related to GHG mitigation. Unconditional logistic regression analysis was performed to investigate the influencing factors of respondents’ awareness about the health co-benefits. A total of 1159 participants were included in the final analysis, of which 15.9% reported that they were familiar with the health co-benefits of GHG emission reductions. Those who were younger, more educated, with higher family income, and with registered urban residence, were more likely to be aware of health co-benefits. Age, attitudes toward air pollution and governmental efforts to improve air quality, suffering from respiratory diseases, and following low carbon lifestyles are significant predictors of respondents’ perceptions on the health co-benefits. These findings may not only provide information to policy-makers to develop and implement public welcome policies of GHG mitigation, but also help to bridge the gap between GHG mitigation measures and public engagement as well as willingness to change health-related behaviors. PMID:28335404

Perceptions of Health Co-Benefits in Relation to Greenhouse Gas Emission Reductions: A Survey among Urban Residents in Three Chinese Cities.

PubMed

Gao, Jinghong; Xu, Guozhang; Ma, Wenjun; Zhang, Yong; Woodward, Alistair; Vardoulakis, Sotiris; Kovats, Sari; Wilkinson, Paul; He, Tianfeng; Lin, Hualiang; Liu, Tao; Gu, Shaohua; Wang, Jun; Li, Jing; Yang, Jun; Liu, Xiaobo; Li, Jing; Wu, Haixia; Liu, Qiyong

2017-03-13

Limited information is available on the perceptions of stakeholders concerning the health co-benefits of greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reductions. The purpose of this study was to investigate the perceptions of urban residents on the health co-benefits involving GHG abatement and related influencing factors in three cities in China. Beijing, Ningbo and Guangzhou were selected for this survey. Participants were recruited from randomly chosen committees, following quotas for gender and age in proportion to the respective population shares. Chi-square or Fisher's exact tests were employed to examine the associations between socio-demographic variables and individuals' perceptions of the health co-benefits related to GHG mitigation. Unconditional logistic regression analysis was performed to investigate the influencing factors of respondents' awareness about the health co-benefits. A total of 1159 participants were included in the final analysis, of which 15.9% reported that they were familiar with the health co-benefits of GHG emission reductions. Those who were younger, more educated, with higher family income, and with registered urban residence, were more likely to be aware of health co-benefits. Age, attitudes toward air pollution and governmental efforts to improve air quality, suffering from respiratory diseases, and following low carbon lifestyles are significant predictors of respondents' perceptions on the health co-benefits. These findings may not only provide information to policy-makers to develop and implement public welcome policies of GHG mitigation, but also help to bridge the gap between GHG mitigation measures and public engagement as well as willingness to change health-related behaviors.

Potential of windbreak trees to reduce carbon emissions by agricultural operations in the US

Treesearch

William Ballesteros-Possu; James R. Brandle; Michele Schoeneberger

2017-01-01

Along with sequestering C in forest, trees on farms are able to contribute to greenhouse mitigation through emission avoidance mechanisms. To evaluate the magnitude of these contributions, emission avoidance contributions for field and farmstead windbreak designs in regions across the United States were estimated, along with greenhouse gas (GHG) emission budgets for...

GHG Mitigation Options Database (GMOD) and Analysis Tool

EPA Science Inventory

There is a growing consensus among scientists, agencies, and nonprofit organizations that the primary cause of climate change is anthropogenic (resulting from human activity) greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions (Figueroa et al., 2008). Given the strengthening science behind the human ...

Global Climate Change –A Monumental Mitigation Challenge

EPA Science Inventory

Population growth and the pressures spawned by increasing demands for energy and resource-intensive goods, foods, andservices are driving unsustainable growth in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Recent GHG emission trends are consistent withworst-case scenarios of the previous dec...

Carbon mitigation with biomass: An engineering, economic and policy assessment of opportunities and implications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rhodes, James S., III

2007-12-01

Industrial bio-energy systems provide diverse opportunities for abating anthropogenic greenhouse gas ("GHG") emissions and for advancing other important policy objectives. The confluence of potential contributions to important social, economic, and environmental policy objectives with very real challenges to deployment creates rich opportunities for study. In particular, the analyses developed in this thesis aim to increase understanding of how industrial bio-energy may be applied to abate GHG emissions in prospective energy markets, the relative merits of alternate bio-energy systems, the extent to which public support for developing such systems is justified, and the public policy instruments that may be capable of providing such support. This objective is advanced through analysis of specific industrial bio-energy technologies, in the form of bottom-up engineering-economic analyses, to determine their economic performance relative to other mitigation options. These bottom-up analyses are used to inform parameter definitions in two higher-level stochastic models that explicitly account for uncertainty in key model parameters, including capital costs, operating and maintenance costs, and fuel costs. One of these models is used to develop supply curves for electricity generation and carbon mitigation from biomass-coal cofire in the U.S. The other is used to characterize the performance of multiple bio-energy systems in the context of a competitive market for low-carbon energy products. The results indicate that industrial bio-energy systems are capable of making a variety of potentially important contributions under scenarios that value anthropogenic GHG emissions. In the near term, cofire of available biomass in existing coal fired power plants has the potential to provide substantial emissions reductions at reasonable costs. Carbon prices between 30 and 70 per ton carbon could induce reductions in U.S. carbon emissions by 100 to 225 megatons carbon ("MtC"), equivalent to roughly 3% of U.S. GHG emissions. In the medium or longer term, integration of carbon capture and storage technologies with advanced bio-energy conversion technologies ("biomass-CCS"), in both liquid fuels production and electric sector applications, will likely be feasible. These systems are capable of generating useful energy products with negative net atmospheric carbon emissions at carbon prices between 100 and 200 per tC. Negative emissions from biomass-CCS could be applied to offset emissions sources that are difficult or expensive to abate directly. Such indirect mitigation may prove cost competitive and provide important flexibility in achieving stabilization of atmospheric GHG concentrations at desirable levels. With increasing deployments, alternate bio-energy systems will eventually compete for limited biomass resources and inputs to agricultural production--particularly land. In this context, resource allocation decisions will likely turn on the relative economic performance of alternate bio-energy systems in their respective energy markets. The relatively large uncertainty in forecasts of energy futures confounds reliable prediction of economically efficient uses for available biomass resources. High oil prices or large valuation of energy security benefits will likely enable bio-fuels production to dominate electric-sector options. In contrast, low oil prices and low valuation of energy security benefits will likely enable electric-sector applications to dominate. In the latter scenario, indirect mitigation of transportation-sector emissions via emissions offsets from electric-sector biomass-CCS could prove more efficient than direct fuel substitution with biofuels, both economically and in terms of the transportation-sector mitigation of available biomass resources [tC tbiomass-1]. The policy environment surrounding industrial bio-energy development is systematically examined. Specifically, the policy objectives that may be advanced with bio-energy and the challenges constraining deployment are examined to understand the extent to which public policy support is justified to accelerate development. Policy frameworks and specific policy instruments that have been proposed or enacted to support industrial bio-energy are evaluated to understand their current and potential future roles in shaping bio-energy development. This analysis indicates that deployment of industrial bio-energy systems to advance specified policy objectives has been compromised by inefficient and inconsistent public policies. Amending existing policies could substantially accelerate bio-energy deployment. More generally, public policies that set even prices across the economy for advancing targeted policy objectives should be developed. Industrial bio-energy systems can be expected to compete favorably in the context of such policies, including those valuing deep reductions in anthropogenic GHG emissions.

Climate change impacts on US agriculture and forestry: benefits of global climate stabilization

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Beach, Robert H.; Cai, Yongxia; Thomson, Allison; Zhang, Xuesong; Jones, Russell; McCarl, Bruce A.; Crimmins, Allison; Martinich, Jeremy; Cole, Jefferson; Ohrel, Sara; DeAngelo, Benjamin; McFarland, James; Strzepek, Kenneth; Boehlert, Brent

2015-09-01

Increasing atmospheric carbon dioxide levels, higher temperatures, altered precipitation patterns, and other climate change impacts have already begun to affect US agriculture and forestry, with impacts expected to become more substantial in the future. There have been numerous studies of climate change impacts on agriculture or forestry, but relatively little research examining the long-term net impacts of a stabilization scenario relative to a case with unabated climate change. We provide an analysis of the potential benefits of global climate change mitigation for US agriculture and forestry through 2100, accounting for landowner decisions regarding land use, crop mix, and management practices. The analytic approach involves a combination of climate models, a crop process model (EPIC), a dynamic vegetation model used for forests (MC1), and an economic model of the US forestry and agricultural sector (FASOM-GHG). We find substantial impacts on productivity, commodity markets, and consumer and producer welfare for the stabilization scenario relative to unabated climate change, though the magnitude and direction of impacts vary across regions and commodities. Although there is variability in welfare impacts across climate simulations, we find positive net benefits from stabilization in all cases, with cumulative impacts ranging from 32.7 billion to 54.5 billion over the period 2015-2100. Our estimates contribute to the literature on potential benefits of GHG mitigation and can help inform policy decisions weighing alternative mitigation and adaptation actions.

The Co-Benefits of Global and Regional Greenhouse Gas Mitigation on US Air Quality at Fine Resolution

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Y.; Bowden, J. H.; Adelman, Z.; Naik, V.; Horowitz, L. W.; Smith, S.; West, J. J.

2014-12-01

Reducing greenhouse gases (GHGs) not only slows climate change, but can also have co-benefits for improved air quality. In this study, we examine the co-benefits of global and regional GHG mitigation on US air quality at fine resolution through dynamical downscaling, using the latest Community Multi-scale Air Quality (CMAQ) model. We will investigate the co-benefits on US air quality due to domestic GHG mitigation alone, and due to mitigation outside of the US. We also quantity the co-benefits resulting from reductions in co-emitted air pollutants versus slowing climate change and its effects on air quality. Projected climate in the 2050s from the IPCC RCP4.5 and RCP8.5 scenarios is dynamically downscaled with the Weather Research and Forecasting model (WRF). Anthropogenic emissions projections from the RCP4.5 scenario and its reference (REF), are directly processed in SMOKE to provide temporally- and spatially-resolved CMAQ emission input files. Chemical boundary conditions (BCs) are obtained from West et al. (2013), who studied the co-benefits of global GHG reductions on global air quality and human health. Our preliminary results show that the global GHG reduction (RCP4.5 relative to REF) reduces the 1hr daily maximum ozone by 3.3 ppbv annually over entire US, as high as 6 ppbv in September. The west coast of California and the Northeast US are the regions that benefit most. By comparing different scenarios, we find that foreign countries' GHGs mitigation has a larger influence on the US ozone decreases (accounting for 77% of the total decrease), compared with 23% from domestic GHG mitigation only, highlighting the importance of methane reductions and the intercontinental transport of air pollutants. The reduction of global co-emitted air pollutants has a more pronounced effect on ozone decreasing, relative to the effect from slowing climate and its effects on air quality. We also plan to report co-benefits for PM2.5 in the US.

An assessment of GHG emissions from small ruminants in comparison with GHG emissions from large ruminants and monogastric livestock

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zervas, G.; Tsiplakou, E.

2012-03-01

Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions are expected to cause global warming which results in extreme weather changes that could affect crop yields and productivity, food supplies and food prices. It is also expected that climate change will have an impact on animal metabolism and health, reproduction and productivity. On the other hand, the expected increased demand of animal origin products in the coming years will increase the reared animal numbers and consequently GHG emissions. This paper outlines the main GHGs emitted from livestock which are CO2, CH4 and N2O, coming from respiration, enteric fermentation and manure management respectively, with CH4 and N2O having the highest global warming potential. Ruminant livestock has the highest contribution to these GHG emissions with small ruminants share being 12.25% of the total GHG emissions from livestock's enteric and manure CH4, and manure N2O in CO2 equivalent, producing 9.45 kg CO2 equivalent per kg body weight with the respective values for cattle, pigs and poultry being 5.45, 3.97 and 3.25. Since the production systems significantly affect the GHG emissions, the grazing, livestock crop complex, and intensive ones account for 30.5%, 67.29% and 5.51% for total CH4 emission (from enteric fermentation and manure management) and 24.32%, 68.11% and 7.57% for N2O respectively. Taking into account the positive and negative impacts of small ruminant livestock production systems to the environmental aspects in general, it is recommended that a number of potentially effective measures should be taken and the appropriate mitigation technologies should be applied in order to reduce effectively and essentially the GHG emissions to the atmosphere, with no adverse effects on intensification and increased productivity of small ruminants production systems.

Climate change mitigation opportunities based on carbon footprint estimates of dietary patterns in Peru

PubMed Central

Larrea-Gallegos, Gustavo; Villanueva-Rey, Pedro; Gilardino, Alessandro

2017-01-01

Food consumption accounts for an important proportion of the world GHG emissions per capita. Previous studies have delved into the nature of dietary patterns, showing that GHG reductions can be achieved in diets if certain foods are consumed rather than other, more GHG intensive products. For instance, vegetarian and low-meat diets have proved to be less carbon intensive than diets that are based on ruminant meat. These environmental patterns, increasingly analyzed in developed nations, are yet to be assessed in countries liked Peru where food purchase represents a relatively high percentage of the average household expenditure, ranging from 38% to 51% of the same. Therefore, food consumption can be identified as a potential way to reduce GHG emissions in Peru. However, the Peruvian government lacks a specific strategy to mitigate emissions in this sector, despite the recent ratification of the Paris Accord. In view of this, the main objective of this study is to analyze the environmental impacts of a set of 47 Peruvian food diet profiles, including geographical and socioeconomic scenarios. In order to do this, Life Cycle Assessment was used as the methodological framework to obtain the overall impacts of the components in the dietary patterns observed and primary data linked to the composition of diets were collected from the Peruvian National Institute for Statistics (INEI). Life cycle inventories for the different products that are part of the Peruvian diet were obtained from a set of previous scientific articles and reports regarding food production. Results were computed using the IPCC 2013 assessment method to estimate GHG emissions. Despite variations in GHG emissions from a geographical perspective, no significant differences were observed between cities located in the three Peruvian natural regions (i.e., coast, Andes and Amazon basin). In contrast, there appears to be a strong, positive correlation between GHG emissions and social expenditure or academic status. When compared to GHG emissions computed in the literature for developed nations, where the average caloric intake is substantially higher, diet-related emissions in Peru were in the low range. Our results could be used as a baseline for policy support to align nutritional and health policies in Peru with the need to reduce the environmental impacts linked to food production. PMID:29145461

Climate change mitigation opportunities based on carbon footprint estimates of dietary patterns in Peru.

PubMed

Vázquez-Rowe, Ian; Larrea-Gallegos, Gustavo; Villanueva-Rey, Pedro; Gilardino, Alessandro

2017-01-01

Food consumption accounts for an important proportion of the world GHG emissions per capita. Previous studies have delved into the nature of dietary patterns, showing that GHG reductions can be achieved in diets if certain foods are consumed rather than other, more GHG intensive products. For instance, vegetarian and low-meat diets have proved to be less carbon intensive than diets that are based on ruminant meat. These environmental patterns, increasingly analyzed in developed nations, are yet to be assessed in countries liked Peru where food purchase represents a relatively high percentage of the average household expenditure, ranging from 38% to 51% of the same. Therefore, food consumption can be identified as a potential way to reduce GHG emissions in Peru. However, the Peruvian government lacks a specific strategy to mitigate emissions in this sector, despite the recent ratification of the Paris Accord. In view of this, the main objective of this study is to analyze the environmental impacts of a set of 47 Peruvian food diet profiles, including geographical and socioeconomic scenarios. In order to do this, Life Cycle Assessment was used as the methodological framework to obtain the overall impacts of the components in the dietary patterns observed and primary data linked to the composition of diets were collected from the Peruvian National Institute for Statistics (INEI). Life cycle inventories for the different products that are part of the Peruvian diet were obtained from a set of previous scientific articles and reports regarding food production. Results were computed using the IPCC 2013 assessment method to estimate GHG emissions. Despite variations in GHG emissions from a geographical perspective, no significant differences were observed between cities located in the three Peruvian natural regions (i.e., coast, Andes and Amazon basin). In contrast, there appears to be a strong, positive correlation between GHG emissions and social expenditure or academic status. When compared to GHG emissions computed in the literature for developed nations, where the average caloric intake is substantially higher, diet-related emissions in Peru were in the low range. Our results could be used as a baseline for policy support to align nutritional and health policies in Peru with the need to reduce the environmental impacts linked to food production.

Impact of agronomy practices on the effects of reduced tillage systems on CH4 and N2O emissions from agricultural fields: A global meta-analysis

PubMed Central

Zhou, Xiyue; Xu, Chunchun; Ji, Long; Chen, Zhongdu

2018-01-01

The effect of no- and reduced tillage (NT/RT) on greenhouse gas (GHG) emission was highly variable and may depend on other agronomy practices. However, how the other practices affect the effect of NT/RT on GHG emission remains elusive. Therefore, we conducted a global meta-analysis (including 49 papers with 196 comparisons) to assess the effect of five options (i.e. cropping system, crop residue management, split application of N fertilizer, irrigation, and tillage duration) on the effect of NT/RT on CH4 and N2O emissions from agricultural fields. The results showed that NT/RT significantly mitigated the overall global warming potential (GWP) of CH4 and N2O emissions by 6.6% as compared with conventional tillage (CT). Rotation cropping systems and crop straw remove facilitated no-tillage (NT) to reduce the CH4, N2O, or overall GWP both in upland and paddy field. NT significantly mitigated the overall GWP when the percentage of basal N fertilizer (PBN) >50%, when tillage duration > 10 years or rainfed in upland, while when PBN <50%, when duration between 5 and 10 years, or with continuous flooding in paddy field. RT significantly reduced the overall GWP under single crop monoculture system in upland. These results suggested that assessing the effectiveness of NT/RT on the mitigation of GHG emission should consider the interaction of NT/RT with other agronomy practices and land use type. PMID:29782525

Impact of agronomy practices on the effects of reduced tillage systems on CH4 and N2O emissions from agricultural fields: A global meta-analysis.

PubMed

Feng, Jinfei; Li, Fengbo; Zhou, Xiyue; Xu, Chunchun; Ji, Long; Chen, Zhongdu; Fang, Fuping

2018-01-01

The effect of no- and reduced tillage (NT/RT) on greenhouse gas (GHG) emission was highly variable and may depend on other agronomy practices. However, how the other practices affect the effect of NT/RT on GHG emission remains elusive. Therefore, we conducted a global meta-analysis (including 49 papers with 196 comparisons) to assess the effect of five options (i.e. cropping system, crop residue management, split application of N fertilizer, irrigation, and tillage duration) on the effect of NT/RT on CH4 and N2O emissions from agricultural fields. The results showed that NT/RT significantly mitigated the overall global warming potential (GWP) of CH4 and N2O emissions by 6.6% as compared with conventional tillage (CT). Rotation cropping systems and crop straw remove facilitated no-tillage (NT) to reduce the CH4, N2O, or overall GWP both in upland and paddy field. NT significantly mitigated the overall GWP when the percentage of basal N fertilizer (PBN) >50%, when tillage duration > 10 years or rainfed in upland, while when PBN <50%, when duration between 5 and 10 years, or with continuous flooding in paddy field. RT significantly reduced the overall GWP under single crop monoculture system in upland. These results suggested that assessing the effectiveness of NT/RT on the mitigation of GHG emission should consider the interaction of NT/RT with other agronomy practices and land use type.

Water management reduces greenhouse gas emissions in a Mediterranean rice paddy field

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gruening, Carsten; Meijide, Ana; Manca, Giovanni; Goded, Ignacio; Seufert, Guenther; Cescatti, Alessandro

2016-04-01

Rice paddy fields are one of the biggest anthropogenic sources of methane (CH4), the second most important greenhouse gas (GHG) after carbon dioxide (CO2). Therefore most studies on greenhouse gases (GHG) in these agricultural systems focus on the evaluation of CH4 production. However, there are other GHGs such as CO2 and nitrous oxide (N2O) also exchanged within the atmosphere. Since each of the GHGs has its own radiative forcing effect, the total GHG budget of rice cultivation and its global warming potential (GWP) must be assessed. For this purpose a field experiment was carried out in a Mediterranean rice paddy field in the Po Valley (Italy), the largest rice producing region in Europe. Ecosystem CO2 and CH4 fluxes were assessed using the eddy covariance technique, while soil respiration and soil CH4 and N2O fluxes were measured with closed chambers for two complete years. Combining all GHGs measured, the rice paddy field acted as a sink of -368 and -828 g CO2 eq m-2 year-1 in the first and second years respectively. Both years, it was a CO2 sink and a CH4 source, while the N2O contribution to the GWP was relatively small. Differences in the GHG budget between the two years of measurements were mainly caused by the greater CH4 emissions in the first year (37.4 g CH4 m-2 compared to 21.03 g CH4 m-2 in the second year), probably as a consequence of the drainage of the water table in the middle of the growing season during the second year, which resulted in lower CH4 emissions without significant increases of N2O and CO2 fluxes. However, midseason drainage also resulted in small decreases of yield, indicating that GHG budget studies from agricultural systems should consider carbon exports through the harvest. The balance between net GWP and carbon yield indicated a loss of carbon equivalents from the system, which was more than 30-fold higher in the first year. Our results therefore suggest that an adequate management of the water table has the potential to be an effective GHG mitigation strategy to increase the carbon sequestration capacity of rice paddy fields and confirm that GHG budgets should be assessed in combination with yield in order to develop and evaluate mitigation strategies.

Greenhouse Gas Mitigation Options Database(GMOD)and Tool

EPA Science Inventory

Greenhouse Gas Mitigation Options Database (GMOD) is a decision support database and tool that provides cost and performance information for GHG mitigation options for the power, cement, refinery, landfill and pulp and paper sectors. The GMOD includes approximately 450 studies fo...

The Impact of Advanced Greenhouse Gas Measurement Science on Policy Goals and Research Strategies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Abrahams, L.; Clavin, C.; McKittrick, A.

2016-12-01

In support of the Paris agreement, accurate characterizations of U.S. greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions estimates have been area of increased scientific focus. Over the last several years, the scientific community has placed significant emphasis on understanding, quantifying, and reconciling measurement and modeling methods that characterize methane emissions from petroleum and natural gas sources. This work has prompted national policy discussions and led to the improvement of regional and national methane emissions estimates. Research campaigns focusing on reconciling atmospheric measurements ("top-down") and process-based emissions estimates ("bottom-up") have sought to identify where measurement technology advances could inform policy objectives. A clear next step is development and deployment of advanced detection capabilities that could aid U.S. emissions mitigation and verification goals. The breadth of policy-relevant outcomes associated with advances in GHG measurement science are demonstrated by recent improvements in the petroleum and natural gas sector emission estimates in the EPA Greenhouse Gas Inventory, ambitious efforts to apply inverse modeling results to inform or validate national GHG inventory, and outcomes from federal GHG measurement science technology development programs. In this work, we explore the variety of policy-relevant outcomes impacted by advances in GHG measurement science, with an emphasis on improving GHG inventory estimates, identifying emissions mitigation strategies, and informing technology development requirements.

Life-cycle GHG emissions of electricity from syngas produced by pyrolyzing woody biomass

Treesearch

Hongmei Gu; Richard Bergman

2015-01-01

Low-value residues from forest restoration activities in the western United States intended to mitigate effects from wildfire, climate change, and pests and disease need a sustainable market to improve the economic viability of treatment. Converting biomass into bioenergy is a potential solution. Life-cycle assessment (LCA) as a sustainable metric tool can assess the...

Species and media effects on soil carbon dynamics in the landscape: opportunities for climate change mitigation from urban landscape plantings

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Most scientists now agree that climate change is occurring as a direct result of human activities. Agricultural production has been shown to be a major emitter of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions; however, horticulture production is unique in that it also has the potential to serve as a major carbon (...

Global climate targets and future consumption level: an evaluation of the required GHG intensity

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Girod, Bastien; van Vuuren, Detlef Peter; Hertwich, Edgar G.

2013-03-01

Discussion and analysis on international climate policy often focuses on the rather abstract level of total national and regional greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. At some point, however, emission reductions need to be translated to consumption level. In this article, we evaluate the implications of the strictest IPCC representative concentration pathway for key consumption categories (food, travel, shelter, goods, services). We use IPAT style identities to account for possible growth in global consumption levels and indicate the required change in GHG emission intensity for each category (i.e. GHG emission per calorie, person kilometer, square meter, kilogram, US dollar). The proposed concept provides guidance for product developers, consumers and policymakers. To reach the 2 °C climate target (2.1 tCO2-eq. per capita in 2050), the GHG emission intensity of consumption has to be reduced by a factor of 5 in 2050. The climate targets on consumption level allow discussion of the feasibility of this climate target at product and consumption level. In most consumption categories products in line with this climate target are available. For animal food and air travel, reaching the GHG intensity targets with product modifications alone will be challenging and therefore structural changes in consumption patterns might be needed. The concept opens up possibilities for further research on potential solutions on the consumption and product level to global climate mitigation.

Introduction of Energy and Climate Mitigation Policy Issues in Energy - Environment Model of Latvia

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Klavs, G.; Rekis, J.

2016-12-01

The present research is aimed at contributing to the Latvian national climate policy development by projecting total GHG emissions up to 2030, by evaluating the GHG emission reduction path in the non-ETS sector at different targets set for emissions reduction and by evaluating the obtained results within the context of the obligations defined by the EU 2030 policy framework for climate and energy. The method used in the research was bottom-up, linear programming optimisation model MARKAL code adapted as the MARKAL-Latvia model with improvements for perfecting the integrated assessment of climate policy. The modelling results in the baseline scenario, reflecting national economic development forecasts and comprising the existing GHG emissions reduction policies and measures, show that in 2030 emissions will increase by 19.1 % compared to 2005. GHG emissions stabilisation and reduction in 2030, compared to 2005, were researched in respective alternative scenarios. Detailed modelling and analysis of the Latvian situation according to the scenario of non-ETS sector GHG emissions stabilisation and reduction in 2030 compared to 2005 have revealed that to implement a cost effective strategy of GHG emissions reduction first of all a policy should be developed that ensures effective absorption of the available energy efficiency potential in all consumer sectors. The next group of emissions reduction measures includes all non-ETS sectors (industry, services, agriculture, transport, and waste management).

GHG Mitigation Options Database (GMOD) and Analysis Tools.

EPA Science Inventory

There is a growing consensus among scientists that the primary cause of climate change is anthropogenic greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Given the strengthening science behind the human influence on climate change, it will be necessary for the global community to use low-carbon te...

Evaluating options for U.S. greenhouse-gas mitigation using multiple criteria

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2009-01-01

Choosing a set of policy responses to mitigate greenhouse gases (GHGs) responsible for climate change is one of the great challenges that the United States faces in the coming years. This paper develops a framework for evaluating GHG-mitigation polic...

Methane and CO2 emissions from China's hydroelectric reservoirs: a new quantitative synthesis.

PubMed

Li, Siyue; Zhang, Quanfa; Bush, Richard T; Sullivan, Leigh A

2015-04-01

Controversy surrounds the green credentials of hydroelectricity because of the potentially large emission of greenhouse gases (GHG) from associated reservoirs. However, limited and patchy data particularly for China is constraining the current global assessment of GHG releases from hydroelectric reservoirs. This study provides the first evaluation of the CO2 and CH4 emissions from China's hydroelectric reservoirs by considering the reservoir water surface and drawdown areas, and downstream sources (including spillways and turbines, as well as river downstream). The total emission of 29.6 Tg CO2/year and 0.47 Tg CH4/year from hydroelectric reservoirs in China, expressed as CO2 equivalents (eq), corresponds to 45.6 Tg CO2eq/year, which is 2-fold higher than the current GHG emission (ca. 23 Tg CO2eq/year) from global temperate hydropower reservoirs. China's average emission of 70 g CO2eq/kWh from hydropower amounts to 7% of the emissions from coal-fired plant alternatives. China's hydroelectric reservoirs thus currently mitigate GHG emission when compared to the main alternative source of electricity with potentially far great reductions in GHG emissions and benefits possible through relatively minor changes to reservoir management and design. On average, the sum of drawdown and downstream emission including river reaches below dams and turbines, which is overlooked by most studies, represents the equivalent of 42% of the CO2 and 92% of CH4 that emit from hydroelectric reservoirs in China. Main drivers on GHG emission rates are summarized and highlight that water depth and stratification control CH4 flux, and CO2 flux shows significant negative relationships with pH, DO, and Chl-a. Based on our finding, a substantial revision of the global carbon emissions from hydroelectric reservoirs is warranted.

Wastewater treatment process impact on energy savings and greenhouse gas emissions.

PubMed

Mamais, D; Noutsopoulos, C; Dimopoulou, A; Stasinakis, A; Lekkas, T D

2015-01-01

The objective of this research was to assess the energy consumption of wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs), to apply a mathematical model to evaluate their carbon footprint, and to propose energy saving strategies that can be implemented to reduce both energy consumption and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in Greece. The survey was focused on 10 WWTPs in Greece with a treatment capacity ranging from 10,000 to 4,000,000 population equivalents (PE). Based on the results, annual specific energy consumption ranged from 15 to 86 kWh/PE. The highest energy consumer in all the WWTPs was aeration, accounting for 40-75% of total energy requirements. The annual GHG emissions varied significantly according to the treatment schemes employed and ranged between 61 and 161 kgCO₂e/PE. The highest values of CO₂emissions were obtained in extended aeration systems and the lowest in conventional activated sludge systems. Key strategies that the wastewater industry could adopt to mitigate GHG emissions are identified and discussed. A case study is presented to demonstrate potential strategies for energy savings and GHG emission reduction. Given the results, it is postulated that the reduction of dissolved oxygen (DO) set points and sludge retention time can provide significant energy savings and decrease GHG emissions.

Measuring and mitigating agricultural greenhouse gas production in the US Great Plains, 1870-2000.

PubMed

Parton, William J; Gutmann, Myron P; Merchant, Emily R; Hartman, Melannie D; Adler, Paul R; McNeal, Frederick M; Lutz, Susan M

2015-08-25

The Great Plains region of the United States is an agricultural production center for the global market and, as such, an important source of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. This article uses historical agricultural census data and ecosystem models to estimate the magnitude of annual GHG fluxes from all agricultural sources (e.g., cropping, livestock raising, irrigation, fertilizer production, tractor use) in the Great Plains from 1870 to 2000. Here, we show that carbon (C) released during the plow-out of native grasslands was the largest source of GHG emissions before 1930, whereas livestock production, direct energy use, and soil nitrous oxide emissions are currently the largest sources. Climatic factors mediate these emissions, with cool and wet weather promoting C sequestration and hot and dry weather increasing GHG release. This analysis demonstrates the long-term ecosystem consequences of both historical and current agricultural activities, but also indicates that adoption of available alternative management practices could substantially mitigate agricultural GHG fluxes, ranging from a 34% reduction with a 25% adoption rate to as much as complete elimination with possible net sequestration of C when a greater proportion of farmers adopt new agricultural practices.

Measuring and mitigating agricultural greenhouse gas production in the US Great Plains, 1870–2000

PubMed Central

Parton, William J.; Gutmann, Myron P.; Merchant, Emily R.; Hartman, Melannie D.; Adler, Paul R.; McNeal, Frederick M.; Lutz, Susan M.

2015-01-01

The Great Plains region of the United States is an agricultural production center for the global market and, as such, an important source of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. This article uses historical agricultural census data and ecosystem models to estimate the magnitude of annual GHG fluxes from all agricultural sources (e.g., cropping, livestock raising, irrigation, fertilizer production, tractor use) in the Great Plains from 1870 to 2000. Here, we show that carbon (C) released during the plow-out of native grasslands was the largest source of GHG emissions before 1930, whereas livestock production, direct energy use, and soil nitrous oxide emissions are currently the largest sources. Climatic factors mediate these emissions, with cool and wet weather promoting C sequestration and hot and dry weather increasing GHG release. This analysis demonstrates the long-term ecosystem consequences of both historical and current agricultural activities, but also indicates that adoption of available alternative management practices could substantially mitigate agricultural GHG fluxes, ranging from a 34% reduction with a 25% adoption rate to as much as complete elimination with possible net sequestration of C when a greater proportion of farmers adopt new agricultural practices. PMID:26240366

Greenhouse-gas Consequences of US Corn-based Ethanol in a Flat World

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Davidson, E. A.; Coe, M. T.; Nepstad, D. C.; Donner, S. D.; Bustamante, M. M.; Neill, C.

2008-12-01

Competition for arable land is now occurring among food, fiber, and fuel production sectors. In the USA, increased corn production for ethanol has come primarily at the expense of reduced soybean production. Only a few countries, mainly Brazil, have appropriate soils, climate, and infrastructure needed for large absolute increases in cropped area in the next decade that could make up the lost US soybean production. Our objective is to improve estimates of the potential net greenhouse gas (GHG) consequences, both domestically and in Brazil, of meeting the new goals established by the US Congress for expansion of corn- based ethanol in the USA. To meet this goal of 57 billion liters per year of corn-based ethanol production, an additional 1-7 million hectares will need to be planted in corn, depending upon assumptions regarding future increases in corn yield. Net GHG emissions saved in the USA by substituting ethanol for gasoline are estimated at 14 Tg CO2-equivalents once the production goal of 57 million L/yr is reached. If reduced US soybean production caused by this increase in US corn planting results in a compensatory increase in Brazilian production of soybeans in the Cerrado and Amazon regions, we estimate a potential net release of 1800 to 9100 Tg CO2-equivalents of GHG emissions due to land-use change. Many opportunities exist for agricultural intensification that would minimize new land clearing and its environmental impacts, but if Brazilian deforestation is held to only 15% of the area estimated here to compensate lost US soybean production, the GHG mitigation of US corn-based ethanol production during the next 15 years would be more than offset by emissions from Brazilian land-use change. Other motivations for advancing corn-based ethanol production in the USA, such as reduced reliance on foreign oil and increased prosperity for farming communities, must be considered separately, but the greenhouse-gas-mitigation rationale is clearly unsupportable.

Field-Based Estimates of Global Warming Potential in Bioenergy Systems of Hawaii: Crop Choice and Deficit Irrigation.

PubMed

Pawlowski, Meghan N; Crow, Susan E; Meki, Manyowa N; Kiniry, James R; Taylor, Andrew D; Ogoshi, Richard; Youkhana, Adel; Nakahata, Mae

2017-01-01

Replacing fossil fuel with biofuel is environmentally viable from a climate change perspective only if the net greenhouse gas (GHG) footprint of the system is reduced. The effects of replacing annual arable crops with perennial bioenergy feedstocks on net GHG production and soil carbon (C) stock are critical to the system-level balance. Here, we compared GHG flux, crop yield, root biomass, and soil C stock under two potential tropical, perennial grass biofuel feedstocks: conventional sugarcane and ratoon-harvested, zero-tillage napiergrass. Evaluations were conducted at two irrigation levels, 100% of plantation application and at a 50% deficit. Peaks and troughs of GHG emission followed agronomic events such as ratoon harvest of napiergrass and fertilization. Yet, net GHG flux was dominated by carbon dioxide (CO2), as methane was oxidized and nitrous oxide (N2O) emission was very low even following fertilization. High N2O fluxes that frequently negate other greenhouse gas benefits that come from replacing fossil fuels with agronomic forms of bioenergy were mitigated by efficient water and fertilizer management, including direct injection of fertilizer into buried irrigation lines. From soil intensively cultivated for a century in sugarcane, soil C stock and root biomass increased rapidly following cultivation in grasses selected for robust root systems and drought tolerance. The net soil C increase over the two-year crop cycle was three-fold greater than the annualized soil surface CO2 flux. Deficit irrigation reduced yield, but increased soil C accumulation as proportionately more photosynthetic resources were allocated belowground. In the first two years of cultivation napiergrass did not increase net greenhouse warming potential (GWP) compared to sugarcane, and has the advantage of multiple ratoon harvests per year and less negative effects of deficit irrigation to yield.

Field-Based Estimates of Global Warming Potential in Bioenergy Systems of Hawaii: Crop Choice and Deficit Irrigation

PubMed Central

Meki, Manyowa N.; Kiniry, James R.; Taylor, Andrew D.; Ogoshi, Richard; Youkhana, Adel; Nakahata, Mae

2017-01-01

Replacing fossil fuel with biofuel is environmentally viable from a climate change perspective only if the net greenhouse gas (GHG) footprint of the system is reduced. The effects of replacing annual arable crops with perennial bioenergy feedstocks on net GHG production and soil carbon (C) stock are critical to the system-level balance. Here, we compared GHG flux, crop yield, root biomass, and soil C stock under two potential tropical, perennial grass biofuel feedstocks: conventional sugarcane and ratoon-harvested, zero-tillage napiergrass. Evaluations were conducted at two irrigation levels, 100% of plantation application and at a 50% deficit. Peaks and troughs of GHG emission followed agronomic events such as ratoon harvest of napiergrass and fertilization. Yet, net GHG flux was dominated by carbon dioxide (CO2), as methane was oxidized and nitrous oxide (N2O) emission was very low even following fertilization. High N2O fluxes that frequently negate other greenhouse gas benefits that come from replacing fossil fuels with agronomic forms of bioenergy were mitigated by efficient water and fertilizer management, including direct injection of fertilizer into buried irrigation lines. From soil intensively cultivated for a century in sugarcane, soil C stock and root biomass increased rapidly following cultivation in grasses selected for robust root systems and drought tolerance. The net soil C increase over the two-year crop cycle was three-fold greater than the annualized soil surface CO2 flux. Deficit irrigation reduced yield, but increased soil C accumulation as proportionately more photosynthetic resources were allocated belowground. In the first two years of cultivation napiergrass did not increase net greenhouse warming potential (GWP) compared to sugarcane, and has the advantage of multiple ratoon harvests per year and less negative effects of deficit irrigation to yield. PMID:28052075

Feeding strategies and manure management for cost-effective mitigation of greenhouse gas emissions from dairy farms in Wisconsin.

PubMed

Dutreuil, M; Wattiaux, M; Hardie, C A; Cabrera, V E

2014-09-01

Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from dairy farms are a major concern. Our objectives were to assess the effect of mitigation strategies on GHG emissions and net return to management on 3 distinct farm production systems of Wisconsin. A survey was conducted on 27 conventional farms, 30 grazing farms, and 69 organic farms. The data collected were used to characterize 3 feeding systems scaled to the average farm (85 cows and 127ha). The Integrated Farm System Model was used to simulate the economic and environmental impacts of altering feeding and manure management in those 3 farms. Results showed that incorporation of grazing practices for lactating cows in the conventional farm led to a 27.6% decrease in total GHG emissions [-0.16kg of CO2 equivalents (CO2eq)/kg of energy corrected milk (ECM)] and a 29.3% increase in net return to management (+$7,005/yr) when milk production was assumed constant. For the grazing and organic farms, decreasing the forage-to-concentrate ratio in the diet decreased GHG emissions when milk production was increased by 5 or 10%. The 5% increase in milk production was not sufficient to maintain the net return; however, the 10% increase in milk production increased net return in the organic farm but not on the grazing farm. A 13.7% decrease in GHG emissions (-0.08kg of CO2eq/kg of ECM) was observed on the conventional farm when incorporating manure the day of application and adding a 12-mo covered storage unit. However, those same changes led to a 6.1% (+0.04kg of CO2eq/kg of ECM) and a 6.9% (+0.06kg of CO2eq/kg of ECM) increase in GHG emissions in the grazing and the organic farms, respectively. For the 3 farms, manure management changes led to a decrease in net return to management. Simulation results suggested that the same feeding and manure management mitigation strategies led to different outcomes depending on the farm system, and furthermore, effective mitigation strategies were used to reduce GHG emissions while maintaining profitability within each farm. Copyright © 2014 American Dairy Science Association. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Mitigating greenhouse gas emissions in China's agriculture: from farm production to food consumption

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yue, Qian; Cheng, Kun; Pan, Genxing

2016-04-01

Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from agriculture could be mitigated from both supple side and demand side. Assessing carbon footprint (CF) of agricultural production and food consumption could provide insights into the contribution of agriculture to climate change and help to identify possible GHG mitigation options. In the present study, CF of China's agricultural production was firstly assessed from site scale to national scale, and from crop production to livestock production. Data for the crop and livestock production were collected from field survey and national statistical archive, and both life cycle assessment and input-output method were employed in the estimations. In general, CF of crop production was lower than that of livestock production on average. Rice production ranked the highest CF in crop production, and the highest CFs of livestock production were observed in mutton and beef production. Methane emissions from rice paddy, emissions from fertilizer application and water irrigation exerted the largest contribution of more than 50% for CF of crop production; however, emissions from forage feeding, enteric fermentation and manure treatment made the most proportion of more than 90 % for CF of livestock production. In China, carbon efficiency was shown in a decreasing trend in recent years. According to the present study, overuse of nitrogen fertilizer caused no yield effect but significant emissions in some sites and regions of China, and aggregated farms lowered the CFs of crop production and livestock production by 3% to 25% and 6% to 60% respectively compared to household farms. Given these, improving farming management efficiency and farm intensive development is the key strategy to mitigate climate change from supply side. However, changes in food consumption may reduce GHG emissions in the production chain through a switch to the consumption of food with higher GHG emissions in the production process to food with lower GHG emissions. Thus, CFs of different food consumption were also assessed. As indicated in this study, as large as one half of GHG emissions reduction could be gained if the current dietary habit is turned into suggested reasonable dietary. The current work highlights opportunities to gain GHG emission reduction from both supply side and demand side with good management and reasonable consumption in China.

Estimating Environmental Co-benefits of U.S. GHG Reduction Pathways Using the GCAM-USA Integrated Assessment Model

EPA Science Inventory

Previous studies have shown that mitigating climate change through curbing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions can bring about substantial environmental co-benefits, such as for air quality and reductions in energy-related water demand. A variety of pathways are available for reducing...

A regional assessment of the cost and effectiveness of mitigation measures for reducing nutrient losses to water and greenhouse gas emissions to air from pastoral farms.

PubMed

Vibart, Ronaldo; Vogeler, Iris; Dennis, Samuel; Kaye-Blake, William; Monaghan, Ross; Burggraaf, Vicki; Beautrais, Josef; Mackay, Alec

2015-06-01

Using a novel approach that links geospatial land resource information with individual farm-scale simulation, we conducted a regional assessment of nitrogen (N) and phosphorous (P) losses to water and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions to air from the predominant mix of pastoral industries in Southland, New Zealand. An evaluation of the cost-effectiveness of several nutrient loss mitigation strategies applied at the farm-scale, set primarily for reducing N and P losses and grouped by capital cost and potential ease of adoption, followed an initial baseline assessment. Grouped nutrient loss mitigation strategies were applied on an additive basis on the assumption of full adoption, and were broadly identified as 'improved nutrient management' (M1), 'improved animal productivity' (M2), and 'restricted grazing' (M3). Estimated annual nitrate-N leaching losses occurring under representative baseline sheep and beef (cattle) farms, and representative baseline dairy farms for the region were 10 ± 2 and 32 ± 6 kg N/ha (mean ± standard deviation), respectively. Both sheep and beef and dairy farms were responsive to N leaching loss mitigation strategies in M1, at a low cost per kg N-loss mitigated. Only dairy farms were responsive to N leaching loss abatement from adopting M2, at no additional cost per kg N-loss mitigated. Dairy farms were also responsive to N leaching loss abatement from adopting M3, but this reduction came at a greater cost per kg N-loss mitigated. Only dairy farms were responsive to P-loss mitigation strategies, in particular by adopting M1. Only dairy farms were responsive to GHG abatement; greater abatement was achieved by the most intensified dairy farm system simulated. Overall, M1 provided for high levels of regional scale N- and P-loss abatement at a low cost per farm without affecting overall farm production, M2 provided additional N-loss abatement but only marginal P-loss abatement, whereas M3 provided the greatest N-loss abatement, but delivered no additional P abatement, and came at a large financial cost to farmers, sheep and beef farmers in particular. The modelling approach provides a farm-scale framework that can be extended to other regions to accommodate different farm production systems and performances, capturing the interactions between farm types, land use capabilities and production levels, as these influence nutrient losses and GHG emissions, and the effectiveness of mitigation strategies. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Greenhouse gas emissions from agricultural food production to supply Indian diets: Implications for climate change mitigation.

PubMed

Vetter, Sylvia H; Sapkota, Tek B; Hillier, Jon; Stirling, Clare M; Macdiarmid, Jennie I; Aleksandrowicz, Lukasz; Green, Rosemary; Joy, Edward J M; Dangour, Alan D; Smith, Pete

2017-01-16

Agriculture is a major source of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions globally. The growing global population is putting pressure on agricultural production systems that aim to secure food production while minimising GHG emissions. In this study, the GHG emissions associated with the production of major food commodities in India are calculated using the Cool Farm Tool. GHG emissions, based on farm management for major crops (including cereals like wheat and rice, pulses, potatoes, fruits and vegetables) and livestock-based products (milk, eggs, chicken and mutton meat), are quantified and compared. Livestock and rice production were found to be the main sources of GHG emissions in Indian agriculture with a country average of 5.65 kg CO 2 eq kg -1 rice, 45.54 kg CO 2 eq kg -1 mutton meat and 2.4 kg CO 2 eq kg -1 milk. Production of cereals (except rice), fruits and vegetables in India emits comparatively less GHGs with <1 kg CO 2 eq kg -1 product. These findings suggest that a shift towards dietary patterns with greater consumption of animal source foods could greatly increase GHG emissions from Indian agriculture. A range of mitigation options are available that could reduce emissions from current levels and may be compatible with increased future food production and consumption demands in India.

Mitigation of ammonia, nitrous oxide and methane emissions from manure management chains: a meta-analysis and integrated assessment.

PubMed

Hou, Yong; Velthof, Gerard L; Oenema, Oene

2015-03-01

Livestock manure contributes considerably to global emissions of ammonia (NH3 ) and greenhouse gases (GHG), especially methane (CH4 ) and nitrous oxide (N2 O). Various measures have been developed to mitigate these emissions, but most of these focus on one specific gas and/or emission source. Here, we present a meta-analysis and integrated assessment of the effects of mitigation measures on NH3 , CH4 and (direct and indirect) N2 O emissions from the whole manure management chain. We analysed the effects of mitigation technologies on NH3 , CH4 and N2 O emissions from individual sources statistically using results of 126 published studies. Whole-chain effects on NH3 and GHG emissions were assessed through scenario analysis. Significant NH3 reduction efficiencies were observed for (i) housing via lowering the dietary crude protein (CP) content (24-65%, compared to the reference situation), for (ii) external slurry storages via acidification (83%) and covers of straw (78%) or artificial films (98%), for (iii) solid manure storages via compaction and covering (61%, compared to composting), and for (iv) manure application through band spreading (55%, compared to surface application), incorporation (70%) and injection (80%). Acidification decreased CH4 emissions from stored slurry by 87%. Significant increases in N2 O emissions were found for straw-covered slurry storages (by two orders of magnitude) and manure injection (by 26-199%). These side-effects of straw covers and slurry injection on N2 O emission were relatively small when considering the total GHG emissions from the manure chain. Lowering the CP content of feed and acidifying slurry are strategies that consistently reduce NH3 and GHG emissions in the whole chain. Other strategies may reduce emissions of a specific gas or emissions source, by which there is a risk of unwanted trade-offs in the manure management chain. Proper farm-scale combinations of mitigation measures are important to minimize impacts of livestock production on global emissions of NH3 and GHG. © 2014 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Improving carbon monitoring and reporting in forests using spatially-explicit information.

PubMed

Boisvenue, Céline; Smiley, Byron P; White, Joanne C; Kurz, Werner A; Wulder, Michael A

2016-12-01

Understanding and quantifying carbon (C) exchanges between the biosphere and the atmosphere-specifically the process of C removal from the atmosphere, and how this process is changing-is the basis for developing appropriate adaptation and mitigation strategies for climate change. Monitoring forest systems and reporting on greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and removals are now required components of international efforts aimed at mitigating rising atmospheric GHG. Spatially-explicit information about forests can improve the estimates of GHG emissions and removals. However, at present, remotely-sensed information on forest change is not commonly integrated into GHG reporting systems. New, detailed (30-m spatial resolution) forest change products derived from satellite time series informing on location, magnitude, and type of change, at an annual time step, have recently become available. Here we estimate the forest GHG balance using these new Landsat-based change data, a spatial forest inventory, and develop yield curves as inputs to the Carbon Budget Model of the Canadian Forest Sector (CBM-CFS3) to estimate GHG emissions and removals at a 30 m resolution for a 13 Mha pilot area in Saskatchewan, Canada. Our results depict the forests as cumulative C sink (17.98 Tg C or 0.64 Tg C year -1 ) between 1984 and 2012 with an average C density of 206.5 (±0.6) Mg C ha -1 . Comparisons between our estimates and estimates from Canada's National Forest Carbon Monitoring, Accounting and Reporting System (NFCMARS) were possible only on a subset of our study area. In our simulations the area was a C sink, while the official reporting simulations, it was a C source. Forest area and overall C stock estimates also differ between the two simulated estimates. Both estimates have similar uncertainties, but the spatially-explicit results we present here better quantify the potential improvement brought on by spatially-explicit modelling. We discuss the source of the differences between these estimates. This study represents an important first step towards the integration of spatially-explicit information into Canada's NFCMARS.

Climate change impacts on US agriculture and forestry: benefits of global climate stabilization

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

Beach, Robert H.; Cai, Yongxia; Thomson, Allison

Increasing atmospheric carbon dioxide levels, higher temperatures, altered precipitation patterns, and other climate change impacts have already begun to affect US agriculture and forestry, with impacts expected to become more substantial in the future. There have been numerous studies of climate change impacts on agriculture or forestry, but relatively little research examining the long-term net impacts of a stabilization scenario relative to a case with unabated climate change. We provide an analysis of the potential benefits of global climate change mitigation for US agriculture and forestry through 2100, accounting for landowner decisions regarding land use, crop mix, and management practices.more » The analytic approach involves a combination of climate models, a crop process model (EPIC), a dynamic vegetation model used for forests (MC1), and an economic model of the US forestry and agricultural sector (FASOM-GHG). We find substantial impacts on productivity, commodity markets, and consumer and producer welfare for the stabilization scenario relative to unabated climate change, though the magnitude and direction of impacts vary across regions and commodities. Although there is variability in welfare impacts across climate simulations, we find positive net benefits from stabilization in all cases, with cumulative impacts ranging from $32.7 billion to $54.5 billion over the period 2015-2100. Our estimates contribute to the literature on potential benefits of GHG mitigation and can help inform policy decisions weighing alternative mitigation and adaptation actions.« less

Emission of greenhouse gases from home aerobic composting, anaerobic digestion and vermicomposting of household wastes in Brisbane (Australia).

PubMed

Chan, Yiu C; Sinha, Rajiv K; Weijin Wang

2011-05-01

This study investigated greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from three different home waste treatment methods in Brisbane, Australia. Gas samples were taken monthly from 34 backyard composting bins from January to April 2009. Averaged over the study period, the aerobic composting bins released lower amounts of CH(4) (2.2 mg m(- 2) h(-1)) than the anaerobic digestion bins (9.5 mg m(-2) h(-1)) and the vermicomposting bins (4.8 mg m(-2) h( -1)). The vermicomposting bins had lower N(2)O emission rates (1.2 mg m(-2) h(- 1)) than the others (1.5-1.6 mg m(-2) h( -1)). Total GHG emissions including both N(2)O and CH(4) were 463, 504 and 694 mg CO(2)-e m(- 2) h(-1) for vermicomposting, aerobic composting and anaerobic digestion, respectively, with N(2)O contributing >80% in the total budget. The GHG emissions varied substantially with time and were regulated by temperature, moisture content and the waste properties, indicating the potential to mitigate GHG emission through proper management of the composting systems. In comparison with other mainstream municipal waste management options including centralized composting and anaerobic digestion facilities, landfilling and incineration, home composting has the potential to reduce GHG emissions through both lower on-site emissions and the minimal need for transportation and processing. On account of the lower cost, the present results suggest that home composting provides an effective and feasible supplementary waste management method to a centralized facility in particular for cities with lower population density such as the Australian cities.

Eco-efficiency for greenhouse gas emissions mitigation of municipal solid waste management: a case study of Tianjin, China.

PubMed

Zhao, Wei; Huppes, Gjalt; van der Voet, Ester

2011-06-01

The issue of municipal solid waste (MSW) management has been highlighted in China due to the continually increasing MSW volumes being generated and the limited capacity of waste treatment facilities. This article presents a quantitative eco-efficiency (E/E) analysis on MSW management in terms of greenhouse gas (GHG) mitigation. A methodology for E/E analysis has been proposed, with an emphasis on the consistent integration of life cycle assessment (LCA) and life cycle costing (LCC). The environmental and economic impacts derived from LCA and LCC have been normalized and defined as a quantitative E/E indicator. The proposed method was applied in a case study of Tianjin, China. The study assessed the current MSW management system, as well as a set of alternative scenarios, to investigate trade-offs between economy and GHG emissions mitigation. Additionally, contribution analysis was conducted on both LCA and LCC to identify key issues driving environmental and economic impacts. The results show that the current Tianjin's MSW management system emits the highest GHG and costs the least, whereas the situation reverses in the integrated scenario. The key issues identified by the contribution analysis show no linear relationship between the global warming impact and the cost impact in MSW management system. The landfill gas utilization scenario is indicated as a potential optimum scenario by the proposed E/E analysis, given the characteristics of MSW, technology levels, and chosen methodologies. The E/E analysis provides an attractive direction towards sustainable waste management, though some questions with respect to uncertainty need to be discussed further. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Developments in greenhouse gas emissions and net energy use in Danish agriculture - how to achieve substantial CO(2) reductions?

PubMed

Dalgaard, T; Olesen, J E; Petersen, S O; Petersen, B M; Jørgensen, U; Kristensen, T; Hutchings, N J; Gyldenkærne, S; Hermansen, J E

2011-11-01

Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from agriculture are a significant contributor to total Danish emissions. Consequently, much effort is currently given to the exploration of potential strategies to reduce agricultural emissions. This paper presents results from a study estimating agricultural GHG emissions in the form of methane, nitrous oxide and carbon dioxide (including carbon sources and sinks, and the impact of energy consumption/bioenergy production) from Danish agriculture in the years 1990-2010. An analysis of possible measures to reduce the GHG emissions indicated that a 50-70% reduction of agricultural emissions by 2050 relative to 1990 is achievable, including mitigation measures in relation to the handling of manure and fertilisers, optimization of animal feeding, cropping practices, and land use changes with more organic farming, afforestation and energy crops. In addition, the bioenergy production may be increased significantly without reducing the food production, whereby Danish agriculture could achieve a positive energy balance. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

General equilibrium effects of a supply side GHG mitigation option under the Clean Development Mechanism.

PubMed

Timilsina, Govinda R; Shrestha, Ram M

2006-09-01

The Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) under the Kyoto Protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change is considered a key instrument to encourage developing countries' participation in the mitigation of global climate change. Reduction of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions through the energy supply and demand side activities are the main options to be implemented under the CDM. This paper analyses the general equilibrium effects of a supply side GHG mitigation option-the substitution of thermal power with hydropower--in Thailand under the CDM. A static multi-sector general equilibrium model has been developed for the purpose of this study. The key finding of the study is that the substitution of electricity generation from thermal power plants with that from hydropower plants would increase economic welfare in Thailand. The supply side option would, however, adversely affect the gross domestic product (GDP) and the trade balance. The percentage changes in economic welfare, GDP and trade balance increase with the level of substitution and the price of certified emission reduction (CER) units.

Assessing the Benefits of Global Climate Stabilization Within an Integrated Modeling Framework

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Beach, R. H.

2015-12-01

Increasing atmospheric carbon dioxide levels, higher temperatures, altered precipitation patterns, and other climate change impacts have already begun to affect US agriculture and forestry, with impacts expected to become more substantial in the future. There have been a number of studies of climate change impacts on agriculture or forestry. However, relatively few studies explore climate change impacts on both agriculture and forests simultaneously, including the interactions between alternative land uses and implications for market outcomes. Additionally, there is a lack of detailed analyses of the effects of stabilization scenarios relative to unabated emissions scenarios. Such analyses are important for developing estimates of the benefits of those stabilization scenarios, which can play a vital role in assessing tradeoffs associated with allocating resources across alternative mitigation and adaptation activities. We provide an analysis of the potential benefits of global climate change mitigation for US agriculture and forestry through 2100, accounting for landowner decisions regarding land use, crop mix, and management practices. The analytic approach involves a combination of climate models, a crop process model (EPIC), a dynamic vegetation model used for forests (MC1), and an economic model of the US forestry and agricultural sector (FASOM-GHG). We find substantial impacts on productivity, commodity markets, and consumer and producer welfare for the stabilization scenario relative to unabated climate change, though the magnitude and direction of impacts vary across regions and commodities. Although there is variability in welfare impacts across climate simulations, we find positive net benefits from stabilization in all cases, with cumulative impacts ranging from 32.7 billion to 54.5 billion over the period 2015-2100. Our estimates contribute to the literature on potential benefits of GHG mitigation and can help inform policy decisions weighing alternative mitigation and adaptation actions.

Technical options for the mitigation of direct methane and nitrous oxide emissions from livestock: a review.

PubMed

Gerber, P J; Hristov, A N; Henderson, B; Makkar, H; Oh, J; Lee, C; Meinen, R; Montes, F; Ott, T; Firkins, J; Rotz, A; Dell, C; Adesogan, A T; Yang, W Z; Tricarico, J M; Kebreab, E; Waghorn, G; Dijkstra, J; Oosting, S

2013-06-01

Although livestock production accounts for a sizeable share of global greenhouse gas emissions, numerous technical options have been identified to mitigate these emissions. In this review, a subset of these options, which have proven to be effective, are discussed. These include measures to reduce CH4 emissions from enteric fermentation by ruminants, the largest single emission source from the global livestock sector, and for reducing CH4 and N2O emissions from manure. A unique feature of this review is the high level of attention given to interactions between mitigation options and productivity. Among the feed supplement options for lowering enteric emissions, dietary lipids, nitrates and ionophores are identified as the most effective. Forage quality, feed processing and precision feeding have the best prospects among the various available feed and feed management measures. With regard to manure, dietary measures that reduce the amount of N excreted (e.g. better matching of dietary protein to animal needs), shift N excretion from urine to faeces (e.g. tannin inclusion at low levels) and reduce the amount of fermentable organic matter excreted are recommended. Among the many 'end-of-pipe' measures available for manure management, approaches that capture and/or process CH4 emissions during storage (e.g. anaerobic digestion, biofiltration, composting), as well as subsurface injection of manure, are among the most encouraging options flagged in this section of the review. The importance of a multiple gas perspective is critical when assessing mitigation potentials, because most of the options reviewed show strong interactions among sources of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The paper reviews current knowledge on potential pollution swapping, whereby the reduction of one GHG or emission source leads to unintended increases in another.

Opportunities to integrate solar technologies into the Chilean lithium mining industry - reducing process related GHG emissions of a strategic storage resource

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Telsnig, Thomas; Potz, Christian; Haas, Jannik; Eltrop, Ludger; Palma-Behnke, Rodrigo

2017-06-01

The arid northern regions of Chile are characterized by an intensive mineral mining industry and high solar irradiance levels. Besides Chile's main mining products, copper, molybdenum and iron, the production of lithium carbonate from lithium containing brines has become strategically important due to the rising demand for battery technologies worldwide. Its energy-intensive production may affect the ecological footprint of the product and the country's climate targets. Thus, the use of solar technologies for electricity and heat production might constitute an interesting option for CO2 mitigation. This study aims to quantify the impacts of the lithium carbonate production processes in Chile on climate change, and to identify site-specific integration options of solar energy technologies to reduce GHG life-cycle emissions. The considered solar integration options include a parabolic trough power plant with a molten salt storage, a solar tower power plant with molten salt receiver and molten salt storage, a one-axis tracking photovoltaic energy system for electricity, and two solar thermal power plants with Ruths storage (steam accumulator) for thermal heat production. CSP plants were identified as measures with the highest GHG mitigation potential reducing the CO2 emissions for the entire production chain and the lithium production between 16% and 33%. In a scenario that combines solar technologies for electricity and thermal energy generation, up to 59% of the CO2 emissions at the lithium production sites in Chile can be avoided. A comparison of the GHG abatement costs of the proposed solar integration options indicates that the photovoltaic system, the solar thermal plant with limited storage and the solar tower power plant are the most cost effective options.

Impact of aviation non-CO₂ combustion effects on the environmental feasibility of alternative jet fuels.

PubMed

Stratton, Russell W; Wolfe, Philip J; Hileman, James I

2011-12-15

Alternative fuels represent a potential option for reducing the climate impacts of the aviation sector. The climate impacts of alternatives fuel are traditionally considered as a ratio of life cycle greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions to those of the displaced petroleum product; however, this ignores the climate impacts of the non-CO(2) combustion effects from aircraft in the upper atmosphere. The results of this study show that including non-CO(2) combustion emissions and effects in the life cycle of a Synthetic Paraffinic Kerosene (SPK) fuel can lead to a decrease in the relative merit of the SPK fuel relative to conventional jet fuel. For example, an SPK fuel option with zero life cycle GHG emissions would offer a 100% reduction in GHG emissions but only a 48% reduction in actual climate impact using a 100-year time window and the nominal climate modeling assumption set outlined herein. Therefore, climate change mitigation policies for aviation that rely exclusively on relative well-to-wake life cycle GHG emissions as a proxy for aviation climate impact may overestimate the benefit of alternative fuel use on the global climate system.

Review of Mitigation Costs for Stabilizing Greenhouse Gas Concentrations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

van Ruijven, B. J.; O'Neill, B. C.

2014-12-01

Mitigation of greenhouse gas emissions to avoid future climate change comes at a cost, because low-emission technologies are more expensive than GHG-emitting technology options. The increase in mitigation cost is not linearly related to the stabilization level, though: the first emission reductions are relatively cheap, but deeper emission reductions become more expensive. Therefore, emission reduction to medium levels of GHG concentrations , such as 4.5 or 6 W/m2, is considerably cheaper than emission reduction to low levels of GHG concentrations, such as 2.6 or 3.7 W/m2. Moreover, mitigation costs are influenced by many other aspects than the targeted mitigation level alone, such as whether or not certain technologies are available or societally acceptable (Kriegler et al., 2014); the rate of technological progress and cost reduction of low-emission technologies; the level of final energy demand (Riahi et al., 2011), and the level of global cooperation and trade in emission allowances (den Elzen and Höhne, 2010). This paper reviews the existing literature on greenhouse gas mitigation costs. We analyze the available data on mitigation costs and draw conclusions on how these change for different stabilization levels of GHG concentrations. We will take into account the aspects of technology, energy demand, and cooperation in distinguishing differences between scenarios and stabilization levels. References: den Elzen, M., Höhne, N., 2010. Sharing the reduction effort to limit global warming to 2C. Climate Policy 10, 247-260. Kriegler, E., Weyant, J., Blanford, G., Krey, V., Clarke, L., Edmonds, J., Fawcett, A., Luderer, G., Riahi, K., Richels, R., Rose, S., Tavoni, M., Vuuren, D., 2014. The role of technology for achieving climate policy objectives: overview of the EMF 27 study on global technology and climate policy strategies. Climatic Change, 1-15. Riahi, K., Dentener, F., Gielen, D., Grubler, A., Jewell, J., Klimont, Z., Krey, V., McCollum, D., Pachauri, S., Rao, S., van Ruijven, B., van Vuuren, D.P., Wilson, C., 2011. Energy Pathways for Sustainable Development, The Global Energy Assessment: Toward a More Sustainable Future. IIASA, Laxenburg, Austria and Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK.

Farming for a Better Climate by Improving Nitrogen Use Efficiency and Reducing Greenhouse Gas Emissions (FarmClim)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Amon, Barbara; Winiwarter, Wilfried; Schröck, Andrea; Zechmeister-Boltenstern, Sophie; Kasper, Martina; Sigmund, Elisabeth; Schaller, Lena; Moser, Tobias; Baumgarten, Andreas; Dersch, Georg; Zethner, Gerhard; Anderl, Michael; Kitzler, Barbara

2014-05-01

The project FarmClim (Farming for a better climate) assesses impacts of agriculture on N and GHG fluxes in Austria and proposes measures for improving N efficiency and mitigating emissions, including their economic assessment. This paper focuses on animal husbandry and crop production measures, and on N2O emissions from soils. FarmClim applies national inventory reporting methods to assess Austrian NH3 and GHG fluxes in order to develop flux estimates with implementation of mitigation measures. Based on scientific literature and on the outcome of the Austrian working group agriculture and climate protection a list of potential mitigation measures has been produced: phase feeding, dairy cattle diet, biogas production. Data cover resulting production levels as well as GHG mitigation. In crop production, an optimisation potential remains with respect to N fertilization and nutrient uptake efficiency. Projected regional yield data and information on the N content of arable crops have been delivered from field experiments. These data complement official statistics and allow assessing the effect of increasing proportions of legume crops in crop rotations and reducing fertilizer input on a regional scale. Economic efficiency of measures is a crucial factor for their future implementation on commercial farms. The economic model evaluates investment costs as well as changes in direct costs, labour costs and economic yield. Biophysical modelling with Landscape DNDC allows establishing a framework to move from the current approach of applying the IPCC default emission factor for N2O emissions from soils. We select two Austrian model regions to calculate N fluxes taking into account region and management practices. Hot spots and hot moments as well as mitigation strategies are identified. Two test regions have been identified for soil emission modelling. The Marchfeld is an intensively used agricultural area in North-East Austria with very fertile soils and dry climate. The area of central Upper-Austria is characterized by heavy gley soils and higher annual precipitation (890mm). Based on site parameters, vegetation characteristics, management and meteorology, the model is able to predict C and N bio-geo-chemistry in agricultural ecosystems at site and regional scale. This is the basis for assessing further mitigation specifically focussing on the hot spots and hot moments of N emissions on a regional scale. The list of mitigation measures resulting from the project activities has been tailored to fit Austrian conditions in order to be attractive to stakeholders and farmers. Providing information on economic impacts to farms adds to the transparency of the approach taken. We expect that understanding the interest and the worries of farmers from the beginning supports creation of realistic output that can provide a strong incentive to urgently needed actions on improving farm N efficiencies.

Agricultural productivity and greenhouse gas emissions: trade-offs or synergies between mitigation and food security?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Valin, H.; Havlík, P.; Mosnier, A.; Herrero, M.; Schmid, E.; Obersteiner, M.

2013-09-01

In this letter, we investigate the effects of crop yield and livestock feed efficiency scenarios on greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from agriculture and land use change in developing countries. We analyze mitigation associated with different productivity pathways using the global partial equilibrium model GLOBIOM. Our results confirm that yield increase could mitigate some agriculture-related emissions growth over the next decades. Closing yield gaps by 50% for crops and 25% for livestock by 2050 would decrease agriculture and land use change emissions by 8% overall, and by 12% per calorie produced. However, the outcome is sensitive to the technological path and which factor benefits from productivity gains: sustainable land intensification would increase GHG savings by one-third when compared with a fertilizer intensive pathway. Reaching higher yield through total factor productivity gains would be more efficient on the food supply side but halve emissions savings due to a strong rebound effect on the demand side. Improvement in the crop or livestock sector would have different implications: crop yield increase would bring the largest food provision benefits, whereas livestock productivity gains would allow the greatest reductions in GHG emission. Combining productivity increases in the two sectors appears to be the most efficient way to exploit mitigation and food security co-benefits.

Use of Oil Palm Waste as a Renewable Energy Source and Its Impact on Reduction of Air Pollution in Context of Malaysia

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Begum, Shahida; P, Kumaran; M, Jayakumar

2013-06-01

One of the most efficient and effective solutions for sustainable energy supply to supplement the increasing energy demand and reducing environment pollution is renewable energy resources. Malaysia is currently the world's second largest producer and exporter of palm oil and 47% of the world's supply of palm oil is produced by this country. Nearly 80 million tonnes of Fresh Fruit Bunches (FFB) are processed annually in 406 palm oil mills and are generating approximately 54 million tonnes of palm oil mill effluent (POME), known to generate biogas consisting of methane - a Green House Gas (GHG) identifiable to cause global warming. This is 21 times more potent GHG than CO2. These two major oil palm wastes are a viable renewable energy (RE) source for production of electricity. If the two sources are used in harnessing the renewable energy potential the pollution intensity from usage of non-renewable sources can also be reduced significantly. This study focused on the pollution mitigation potential of biogas as biogas is a renewable energy. Utilization of this renewable source for the production of electricity is believed to reduce GHG emissions to the atmosphere.

Land use and management change under climate change adaptation and mitigation strategies: a U.S. case study

USGS Publications Warehouse

Mu, Jianhong E.; Wein, Anne; McCarl, Bruce

2015-01-01

We examine the effects of crop management adaptation and climate mitigation strategies on land use and land management, plus on related environmental and economic outcomes. We find that crop management adaptation (e.g. crop mix, new species) increases Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 1.7 % under a more severe climate projection while a carbon price reduces total forest and agriculture GHG annual flux by 15 % and 9 %, respectively. This shows that trade-offs are likely between mitigation and adaptation. Climate change coupled with crop management adaptation has small and mostly negative effects on welfare; mitigation, which is implemented as a carbon price starting at $15 per metric ton carbon dioxide (CO2) equivalent with a 5 % annual increase rate, bolsters welfare carbon payments. When both crop management adaptation and carbon price are implemented the effects of the latter dominates.

The impact of soil amendments on greenhouse gas emissions: a comprehensive life cycle assessment approach

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

DeLonge, M. S.; Ryals, R.; Silver, W. L.

2011-12-01

Soil amendments, such as compost and manure, can be applied to grasslands to improve soil conditions and enhance aboveground net primary productivity. Applying such amendments can also lead to soil carbon (C) sequestration and, when materials are diverted from waste streams (e.g., landfills, manure lagoons), can offset greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. However, amendment production and application is also associated with GHG emissions, and the net impact of these amendments remains unclear. To investigate the potential for soil amendments to reduce net GHG emissions, we developed a comprehensive, field-scale life cycle assessment (LCA) model. The LCA includes GHG (i.e., CO2, CH4, N2O) emissions of soil amendment production, application, and ecosystem response. Emissions avoided by diverting materials from landfills or manure management systems are also considered. We developed the model using field observations from grazed annual grassland in northern California (e.g., soil C; above- and belowground net primary productivity; C:N ratios; trace gas emissions from soils, manure piles, and composting), CENTURY model simulations (e.g., long-term soil C and trace gas emissions from soils under various land management strategies), and literature values (e.g., GHG emissions from transportation, inorganic fertilizer production, composting, and enteric fermentation). The LCA quantifies and contrasts the potential net GHG impacts of applying compost, manure, and commercial inorganic fertilizer to grazing lands. To estimate the LCA uncertainty, sensitivity tests were performed on the most widely ranging or highly uncertain parameters (e.g., compost materials, landfill emissions, manure management system emissions). Finally, our results are scaled-up to assess the feasibility and potential impacts of large-scale adoption of soil amendment application as a land-management strategy in California. Our base case results indicate that C sinks and emissions offsets associated with compost production and application can exceed life cycle emissions, potentially leading to a net reduction in GHG emissions of over 20 Mg CO2e per hectare of treated land. If similar results could be obtained in only 5% of California's 2,550,000 ha of rangeland, compost amendment application could offset the annual emissions of the California agriculture and forestry industries (> 28.25 million Mg CO2e, California Air Resources Board, 2008). Our findings indicate that application of compost amendments to grasslands may be an effective, beneficial, and relatively inexpensive strategy to contribute to climate change mitigation.

A Systematic Review of Biochar Research, with a Focus on Its Stability in situ and Its Promise as a Climate Mitigation Strategy

PubMed Central

Gurwick, Noel P.; Moore, Lisa A.; Kelly, Charlene; Elias, Patricia

2013-01-01

Background Claims about the environmental benefits of charring biomass and applying the resulting “biochar” to soil are impressive. If true, they could influence land management worldwide. Alleged benefits include increased crop yields, soil fertility, and water-holding capacity; the most widely discussed idea is that applying biochar to soil will mitigate climate change. This claim rests on the assumption that biochar persists for hundreds or thousands of years, thus storing carbon that would otherwise decompose. We conducted a systematic review to quantify research effort directed toward ten aspects of biochar and closely evaluated the literature concerning biochar's stability. Findings We identified 311 peer-reviewed research articles published through 2011. We found very few field studies that addressed biochar's influence on several ecosystem processes: one on soil nutrient loss, one on soil contaminants, six concerning non-CO2 greenhouse gas (GHG) fluxes (some of which fail to support claims that biochar decreases non-CO2 GHG fluxes), and 16–19 on plants and soil properties. Of 74 studies related to biochar stability, transport or fate in soil, only seven estimated biochar decomposition rates in situ, with mean residence times ranging from 8 to almost 4,000 years. Conclusions Our review shows there are not enough data to draw conclusions about how biochar production and application affect whole-system GHG budgets. Wide-ranging estimates of a key variable, biochar stability in situ, likely result from diverse environmental conditions, feedstocks, and study designs. There are even fewer data about the extent to which biochar stimulates decomposition of soil organic matter or affects non-CO2 GHG emissions. Identifying conditions where biochar amendments yield favorable GHG budgets requires a systematic field research program. Finally, evaluating biochar's suitability as a climate mitigation strategy requires comparing its effects with alternative uses of biomass and considering GHG budgets over both long and short time scales. PMID:24098746

Research and Development of a DNDC Online Model for Farmland Carbon Sequestration and GHG Emissions Mitigation in China.

PubMed

Jiang, Zaidi; Yin, Shan; Zhang, Xianxian; Li, Changsheng; Shen, Guangrong; Zhou, Pei; Liu, Chunjiang

2017-12-01

Appropriate agricultural practices for carbon sequestration and emission mitigation have a significant influence on global climate change. However, various agricultural practices on farmland carbon sequestration usually have a major impact on greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. It is very important to accurately quantify the effect of agricultural practices. This study developed a platform-the Denitrification Decomposition (DNDC) online model-for simulating and evaluating the agricultural carbon sequestration and emission mitigation based on the scientific process of the DNDC model, which is widely used in the simulation of soil carbon and nitrogen dynamics. After testing the adaptability of the platform on two sampling fields, it turned out that the simulated values matched the measured values well for crop yields and GHG emissions. We used the platform to estimate the effect of three carbon sequestration practices in a sampling field: nitrogen fertilization reduction, straw residue and midseason drainage. The results indicated the following: (1) moderate decrement of the nitrogen fertilization in the sampling field was able to decrease the N₂O emission while maintaining the paddy rice yield; (2) ground straw residue had almost no influence on paddy rice yield, but the CH₄ emission and the surface SOC concentration increased along with the quantity of the straw residue; (3) compared to continuous flooding, midseason drainage would not decrease the paddy rice yield and could lead to a drop in CH₄ emission. Thus, this study established the DNDC online model, which is able to serve as a reference and support for the study and evaluation of the effects of agricultural practices on agricultural carbon sequestration and GHG emissions mitigation in China.

Assessment of Clmate Change Mitigation Strategies for the Road Transport Sector of India

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Singh, N.; Mishra, T.; Banerjee, R.

2017-12-01

India is one of the fastest growing major economies of the world. It imports three quarters of its oil demand, making transport sector major contributor of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. 40% of oil consumption in India comes from transport sector and over 90% of energy demand is from road transport sector. This has led to serious increase in CO2 emission and concentration of air pollutants in India. According to Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), transport can play a crucial role for mitigation of global greenhouse gas emissions. Therefore, assessment of appropriate mitigation policies is required for emission reduction and cost benefit potential. The present study aims to estimate CO2, SO2, PM and NOx emissions from the road transport sector for the base year (2014) and target year (2030) by applying bottom up emission inventory model. Effectiveness of different mitigation strategies like inclusion of natural gas as alternate fuel, penetration of electric vehicle as alternate vehicle, improvement of fuel efficiency and increase share of public transport is evaluated for the target year. Emission reduction achieved from each mitigation strategies in the target year (2030) is compared with the business as usual scenario for the same year. To obtain cost benefit analysis, marginal abatement cost for each mitigation strategy is estimated. The study evaluates mitigation strategies not only on the basis of emission reduction potential but also on their cost saving potential.

Net farm income and land use under a U.S. greenhouse gas cap and trade

Treesearch

Justin S. Baker; Bruce A. McCarl; Brian C. Murray; Steven K. Rose; Ralph J. Alig; Darius Adams; Greg Latta; Robert Beach; Adam Daigneault

2010-01-01

During recent years, the U.S. agricultural sector has experienced high prices for energy related inputs and commodities, and a rapidly developing bioenergy market. Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions mitigation would further alter agricultural markets and increase land competition in forestry and agriculture by shifting input costs, creating an agricultural GHG abatement...

Sustainable bioenergy production from marginal lands in the US Midwest.

PubMed

Gelfand, Ilya; Sahajpal, Ritvik; Zhang, Xuesong; Izaurralde, R César; Gross, Katherine L; Robertson, G Philip

2013-01-24

Legislation on biofuels production in the USA and Europe is directing food crops towards the production of grain-based ethanol, which can have detrimental consequences for soil carbon sequestration, nitrous oxide emissions, nitrate pollution, biodiversity and human health. An alternative is to grow lignocellulosic (cellulosic) crops on 'marginal' lands. Cellulosic feedstocks can have positive environmental outcomes and could make up a substantial proportion of future energy portfolios. However, the availability of marginal lands for cellulosic feedstock production, and the resulting greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, remains uncertain. Here we evaluate the potential for marginal lands in ten Midwestern US states to produce sizeable amounts of biomass and concurrently mitigate GHG emissions. In a comparative assessment of six alternative cropping systems over 20 years, we found that successional herbaceous vegetation, once well established, has a direct GHG emissions mitigation capacity that rivals that of purpose-grown crops (-851 ± 46 grams of CO(2) equivalent emissions per square metre per year (gCO(2)e m(-2) yr(-1))). If fertilized, these communities have the capacity to produce about 63 ± 5 gigajoules of ethanol energy per hectare per year. By contrast, an adjacent, no-till corn-soybean-wheat rotation produces on average 41 ± 1 gigajoules of biofuel energy per hectare per year and has a net direct mitigation capacity of -397 ± 32 gCO(2)e m(-2) yr(-1); a continuous corn rotation would probably produce about 62 ± 7 gigajoules of biofuel energy per hectare per year, with 13% less mitigation. We also perform quantitative modelling of successional vegetation on marginal lands in the region at a resolution of 0.4 hectares, constrained by the requirement that each modelled location be within 80 kilometres of a potential biorefinery. Our results suggest that such vegetation could produce about 21 gigalitres of ethanol per year from around 11 million hectares, or approximately 25 per cent of the 2022 target for cellulosic biofuel mandated by the US Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007, with no initial carbon debt nor the indirect land-use costs associated with food-based biofuels. Other regional-scale aspects of biofuel sustainability, such as water quality and biodiversity, await future study.

Impact of non-petroleum vehicle fuel economy on GHG mitigation potential

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Luk, Jason M.; Saville, Bradley A.; MacLean, Heather L.

2016-04-01

The fuel economy of gasoline vehicles will increase to meet 2025 corporate average fuel economy standards (CAFE). However, dedicated compressed natural gas (CNG) and battery electric vehicles (BEV) already exceed future CAFE fuel economy targets because only 15% of non-petroleum energy use is accounted for when determining compliance. This study aims to inform stakeholders about the potential impact of CAFE on life cycle greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, should non-petroleum fuel vehicles displace increasingly fuel efficient petroleum vehicles. The well-to-wheel GHG emissions of a set of hypothetical model year 2025 light-duty vehicles are estimated. A reference gasoline vehicle is designed to meet the 2025 fuel economy target within CAFE, and is compared to a set of dedicated CNG vehicles and BEVs with different fuel economy ratings, but all vehicles meet or exceed the fuel economy target due to the policy’s dedicated non-petroleum fuel vehicle incentives. Ownership costs and BEV driving ranges are estimated to provide context, as these can influence automaker and consumer decisions. The results show that CNG vehicles that have lower ownership costs than gasoline vehicles and BEVs with long distance driving ranges can exceed the 2025 CAFE fuel economy target. However, this could lead to lower efficiency CNG vehicles and heavier BEVs that have higher well-to-wheel GHG emissions than gasoline vehicles on a per km basis, even if the non-petroleum energy source is less carbon intensive on an energy equivalent basis. These changes could influence the effectiveness of low carbon fuel standards and are not precluded by the light-duty vehicle GHG emissions standards, which regulate tailpipe but not fuel production emissions.

Relating the carbon footprint of milk from Irish dairy farms to economic performance.

PubMed

O'Brien, D; Hennessy, T; Moran, B; Shalloo, L

2015-10-01

Mitigating greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions per unit of milk or the carbon footprint (CF) of milk is a key issue for the European dairy sector given rising concerns over the potential adverse effects of climate change. Several strategies are available to mitigate GHG emissions, but producing milk with a low CF does not necessarily imply that a dairy farm is economically viable. Therefore, to understand the relationship between the CF of milk and dairy farm economic performance, the farm accountancy network database of a European Union nation (Ireland) was applied to a GHG emission model. The method used to quantify GHG emissions was life cycle assessment (LCA), which was independently certified to comply with the British standard for LCA. The model calculated annual on- and off-farm GHG emissions from imported inputs (e.g., electricity) up to the point milk was sold from the farm in CO2-equivalent (CO2-eq). Annual GHG emissions computed using LCA were allocated to milk based on the economic value of dairy farm products and expressed per kilogram of fat- and protein-corrected milk (FPCM). The results showed for a nationally representative sample of 221 grass-based Irish dairy farms in 2012 that gross profit averaged € 0.18/L of milk and € 1,758/ha and gross income was € 40,899/labor unit. Net profit averaged € 0.08/L of milk and € 750/ha and net income averaged € 18,125/labor unit. However, significant variability was noted in farm performance across each financial output measure. For instance, net margin per hectare of the top one-third of farms was 6.5 times higher than the bottom third. Financial performance measures were inversely correlated with the CF of milk, which averaged 1.20 kg of CO2-eq/kg of FPCM but ranged from 0.60 to 2.13 kg of CO2-eq/kg of FPCM. Partial least squares regression analysis of correlations between financial and environmental performance indicated that extending the length of the grazing season and increasing milk production per hectare or per cow reduced the CF of milk and increased farm profit. However, where higher milk production per hectare was associated with greater concentrate feeding, this adversely affected the CF of milk and economic performance by increasing both costs and off-farm emissions. Therefore, to mitigate the CF of milk and improve economic performance, grass-based dairy farms should not aim to only increase milk output, but instead target increasing milk production per hectare from grazed grass. Copyright © 2015 American Dairy Science Association. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Relevance of Clean Coal Technology for India’s Energy Security: A Policy Perspective

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Garg, Amit; Tiwari, Vineet; Vishwanathan, Saritha

2017-07-01

Climate change mitigation regimes are expected to impose constraints on the future use of fossil fuels in order to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. In 2015, 41% of total final energy consumption and 64% of power generation in India came from coal. Although almost a sixth of the total coal based thermal power generation is now super critical pulverized coal technology, the average CO2 emissions from the Indian power sector are 0.82 kg-CO2/kWh, mainly driven by coal. India has large domestic coal reserves which give it adequate energy security. There is a need to find options that allow the continued use of coal while considering the need for GHG mitigation. This paper explores options of linking GHG emission mitigation and energy security from 2000 to 2050 using the AIM/Enduse model under Business-as-Usual scenario. Our simulation analysis suggests that advanced clean coal technologies options could provide promising solutions for reducing CO2 emissions by improving energy efficiencies. This paper concludes that integrating climate change security and energy security for India is possible with a large scale deployment of advanced coal combustion technologies in Indian energy systems along with other measures.

Low-carbon electricity production through the implementation of photovoltaic panels in rooftops in urban environments: A case study for three cities in Peru.

PubMed

Bazán, José; Rieradevall, Joan; Gabarrell, Xavier; Vázquez-Rowe, Ian

2018-05-01

Urban environments in Latin America must begin decarbonizing their activities to avoid increasing greenhouse gases (GHGs) emissions rates due to their reliance on fossil fuel-based energy to support economic growth. In this context, cities in Latin America have high potential to convert sunlight into energy. Hence, the main objective of this study was to determine the potential of electricity self-sufficiency production and mitigation of GHG emissions in three medium-sized cities in Peru through the revalorization of underutilized rooftop areas in urban environments. Each city represented a distinct natural area of Peru: Pacific coast, Andean region and Amazon basin. More specifically, photovoltaic solar systems were the technology selected for implementation in these rooftop areas. Data on incident solar energy, temperature and energy consumption were collected. Thereafter, ArcGis10.3 was used to quantify the total usable area in the cities. A series of correction factors, including tilt, orientation or roof profiles were applied to attain an accurate value of usable area. Finally, Life Cycle Assessment was the methodology chosen to calculate the reduction of environmental impacts as compared to the current context of using electricity from the regional grids. Results showed that the cities assessed have the potential to obtain their entire current electricity demand for residential, commercial and public lighting purposes, augmenting energy security and resilience to intermittent natural disasters, with the support of decentralized storage systems. This approach would also translate into substantial reductions in terms of GHG emissions. Annual reductions in GHG emissions ranged from 112ton CO 2 eq in the city of Ayacucho to over 523kton CO 2 eq in Pucallpa, showing that cities in the Amazon basin would be the ones that benefit the most in terms of climate change mitigation. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Pathways to Mexico’s climate change mitigation targets: A multi-model analysis

DOE PAGES

Veysey, Jason; Octaviano, Claudia; Calvin, Katherine; ...

2015-04-25

Mexico’s climate policy sets ambitious national greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reduction targets—30% versus a business-as-usual baseline by 2020, 50% versus 2000 by 2050. However, these goals are at odds with recent energy and emission trends in the country. Both energy use and GHG emissions in Mexico have grown substantially over the last two decades. Here, we investigate how Mexico might reverse current trends and reach its mitigation targets by exploring results from energy system and economic models involved in the CLIMACAP-LAMP project. To meet Mexico’s emission reduction targets, all modeling groups agree that decarbonization of electricity is needed, along withmore » changes in the transport sector, either to more efficient vehicles or a combination of more efficient vehicles and lower carbon fuels. These measures reduce GHG emissions as well as emissions of other air pollutants. The models find different energy supply pathways, with some solutions based on renewable energy and others relying on biomass or fossil fuels with carbon capture and storage. The economy-wide costs of deep mitigation could range from 2% to 4% of GDP in 2030, and from 7% to 15% of GDP in 2050. Our results suggest that Mexico has some flexibility in designing deep mitigation strategies, and that technological options could allow Mexico to achieve its emission reduction targets, albeit at a cost to the country.« less

Impact of longevity on greenhouse gas emissions and profitability of individual dairy cows analysed with different system boundaries.

PubMed

Grandl, F; Furger, M; Kreuzer, M; Zehetmeier, M

2018-05-29

Dairy production systems are often criticized as being major emitters of greenhouse gases (GHG). In this context, the extension of the length of the productive life of dairy cows is gaining interest as a potential GHG mitigation option. In the present study, we investigated cow and system GHG emission intensity and profitability based on data from 30 dairy cows of different productive lifetime fed either no or limited amounts of concentrate. Detailed information concerning productivity, feeding and individual enteric methane emissions of the individuals was available from a controlled experiment and herd book databases. A simplified GHG balance was calculated for each animal based on the milk produced at the time of the experiment and for their entire lifetime milk production. For the lifetime production, we also included the emissions arising from potential beef produced by fattening the offspring of the dairy cows. This accounted for the effect that changes in the length of productive life will affect the replacement rate and thus the number of calves that can be used for beef production. Profitability was assessed by calculating revenues and full economic costs for the cows in the data set. Both emission intensity and profitability were most favourable in cows with long productive life, whereas cows that had not finished their first lactation performed particularly unfavourably with regard to their emissions per unit of product and rearing costs were mostly not repaid. Including the potential beef production, GHG emissions in relation to total production of animal protein also decreased with age, but the overall variability was greater, as the individual cow history (lifetime milk yield, twin births, stillbirths, etc.) added further sources of variation. The present results show that increasing the length of productive life of dairy cows is a viable way to reduce the climate impact and to improve profitability of dairy production.

Life cycle costing of a milk producing farm – cost assessment of environmental impact mitigation strategies

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Agriculture is a significant contributor to greenhouse gases (GHG). A study by the University of Arkansas showed that 70% of the carbon footprint of milk occurs before the farm gate. The goal of this study was to add costs to the GHG study to determine the impact of the farm milk production system o...

Modeling Fire Emissions across Central and Southern Italy: Implications for Land and Fire Management

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bacciu, V. M.; Salis, M.; Spano, D.

2015-12-01

Fires play a relevant role in the global and regional carbon cycle, representing a remarkable source of CO2 and other greenhouse gases (GHG) that influence atmosphere budgets and climate. In addition, the wildfire increase projected in Southern Europe due to climate change (CC) and concurrent exacerbation of extreme weather conditions could also lead to a significant rise in GHG. Recently, in the context of the Italian National Adaptation Strategy to Climate Change (SNAC), several approaches were identified as valuable tools to adapt and mitigate the impacts of CC on wildfires, in order to reduce landscape susceptibility and to contribute to the efforts of carbon emission mitigation proposed within the Kyoto protocol. Active forest and fuel management (such as prescribed burning, fuel reduction and removal, weed and flammable shrub control, creation of fuel discontinuity) is recognised to be a key element to adapt and mitigate the impacts of CC on wildfires. Despite this, overall there is a lack of studies about the effectiveness of fire emission mitigation strategies. The current work aims to analyse the potential of a combination of fuel management practices in mitigating emissions from forest fires and evaluate valuable and viable options across Central and Southern Italy. These objectives were achieved throughout a retrospective application of an integrated approach combining a fire emission model (FOFEM - First Order Fire Effect Model) with spatially explicit, comprehensive, and accurate fire, vegetation and weather data for the period 2004-2012. Furthermore, a number of silvicultural techniques were combined to develop several fuel management scenarios and then tested to evaluate their potential in mitigating fire emissions.The preliminary results showed the crucial role of appropriate fuel, fire behavior, and weather data to reduce bias in quantifying the source and the composition of fire emissions and to attain reasonable estimations. Also, the current study highlighted that balanced combination of fuel management techniques could not only be a viable mean to reduce fire emissions but at the same time prevent future wildfires and the related threat to human lives and activities.

Development and testing of a European Union-wide farm-level carbon calculator

PubMed Central

Tuomisto, Hanna L; De Camillis, Camillo; Leip, Adrian; Nisini, Luigi; Pelletier, Nathan; Haastrup, Palle

2015-01-01

Direct greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from agriculture accounted for approximately 10% of total European Union (EU) emissions in 2010. To reduce farming-related GHG emissions, appropriate policy measures and supporting tools for promoting low-C farming practices may be efficacious. This article presents the methodology and testing results of a new EU-wide, farm-level C footprint calculator. The Carbon Calculator quantifies GHG emissions based on international standards and technical specifications on Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) and C footprinting. The tool delivers its results both at the farm level and as allocated to up to 5 main products of the farm. In addition to the quantification of GHG emissions, the calculator proposes mitigation options and sequestration actions that may be suitable for individual farms. The results obtained during a survey made on 54 farms from 8 EU Member States are presented. These farms were selected in view of representing the diversity of farm types across different environmental zones in the EU. The results of the C footprint of products in the data set show wide range of variation between minimum and maximum values. The results of the mitigation actions showed that the tool can help identify practices that can lead to substantial emission reductions. To avoid burden-shifting from climate change to other environmental issues, the future improvements of the tool should include incorporation of other environmental impact categories in place of solely focusing on GHG emissions. Integr Environ Assess Manag 2015;11:404–416. © 2015 The Authors. Published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of SETAC. Key Points The methodology and testing results of a new European Union-wide, farm-level carbon calculator are presented. The Carbon Calculator reports life cycle assessment-based greenhouse gas emissions at farm and product levels and recommends farm- specific mitigation actions. Based on the results obtained from testing the tool in 54 farms in 8 European countries, it was found that the product-level carbon footprint results are comparable with those of other studies focusing on similar products. The results of the mitigation actions showed that the tool can help identify practices that can lead to substantial emission reductions. PMID:25655187

Searching for solutions to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions by agricultural policy decisions--Application of system dynamics modeling for the case of Latvia.

PubMed

Dace, Elina; Muizniece, Indra; Blumberga, Andra; Kaczala, Fabio

2015-09-15

European Union (EU) Member States have agreed to limit their greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from sectors not covered by the EU Emissions Trading Scheme (non-ETS). That includes also emissions from agricultural sector. Although the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has established a methodology for assessment of GHG emissions from agriculture, the forecasting options are limited, especially when policies and their interaction with the agricultural system are tested. Therefore, an advanced tool, a system dynamics model, was developed that enables assessment of effects various decisions and measures have on agricultural GHG emissions. The model is based on the IPCC guidelines and includes the main elements of an agricultural system, i.e. land management, livestock farming, soil fertilization and crop production, as well as feedback mechanisms between the elements. The case of Latvia is selected for simulations, as agriculture generates 22% of the total anthropogenic GHG emissions in the country. The results demonstrate that there are very limited options for GHG mitigation in the agricultural sector. Thereby, reaching the non-ETS GHG emission targets will be very challenging for Latvia, as the level of agricultural GHG emissions will be exceeded considerably above the target levels. Thus, other non-ETS sectors will have to reduce their emissions drastically to "neutralize" the agricultural sector's emissions for reaching the EU's common ambition to move towards low-carbon economy. The developed model may serve as a decision support tool for impact assessment of various measures and decisions on the agricultural system's GHG emissions. Although the model is applied to the case of Latvia, the elements and structure of the model developed are similar to agricultural systems in many countries. By changing numeric values of certain parameters, the model can be applied to analyze decisions and measures in other countries. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Whole farm quantification of GHG emissions within smallholder farms in developing countries

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Seebauer, Matthias

2014-03-01

The IPCC has compiled the best available scientific methods into published guidelines for estimating greenhouse gas emissions and emission removals from the land-use sector. In order to evaluate existing GHG quantification tools to comprehensively quantify GHG emissions and removals in smallholder conditions, farm scale quantification was tested with farm data from Western Kenya. After conducting a cluster analysis to identify different farm typologies GHG quantification was exercised using the VCS SALM methodology complemented with IPCC livestock emission factors and the cool farm tool. The emission profiles of four farm clusters representing the baseline conditions in the year 2009 are compared with 2011 where farmers adopted sustainable land management practices (SALM). The results demonstrate the variation in both the magnitude of the estimated GHG emissions per ha between different smallholder farm typologies and the emissions estimated by applying two different accounting tools. The farm scale quantification further shows that the adoption of SALM has a significant impact on emission reduction and removals and the mitigation benefits range between 4 and 6.5 tCO2 ha-1 yr-1 with significantly different mitigation benefits depending on typologies of the crop-livestock systems, their different agricultural practices, as well as adoption rates of improved practices. However, the inherent uncertainty related to the emission factors applied by accounting tools has substantial implications for reported agricultural emissions. With regard to uncertainty related to activity data, the assessment confirms the high variability within different farm types as well as between different parameters surveyed to comprehensively quantify GHG emissions within smallholder farms.

Impact of water table level on annual carbon and greenhouse gas balances of a restored peat extraction area

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Järveoja, Järvi; Peichl, Matthias; Maddison, Martin; Soosaar, Kaido; Vellak, Kai; Karofeld, Edgar; Teemusk, Alar; Mander, Ülo

2016-05-01

Peatland restoration may provide a potential after-use option to mitigate the negative climate impact of abandoned peat extraction areas; currently, however, knowledge about restoration effects on the annual balances of carbon (C) and greenhouse gas (GHG) exchanges is still limited. The aim of this study was to investigate the impact of contrasting mean water table levels (WTLs) on the annual C and GHG balances of restoration treatments with high (ResH) and low (ResL) WTL relative to an unrestored bare peat (BP) site. Measurements of carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide (N2O) fluxes were conducted over a full year using the closed chamber method and complemented by measurements of abiotic controls and vegetation cover. Three years following restoration, the difference in the mean WTL resulted in higher bryophyte and lower vascular plant cover in ResH relative to ResL. Consequently, greater gross primary production and autotrophic respiration associated with greater vascular plant cover were observed in ResL compared to ResH. However, the means of the measured net ecosystem CO2 exchanges (NEE) were not significantly different between ResH and ResL. Similarly, no significant differences were observed in the respective means of CH4 and N2O exchanges. In comparison to the two restored sites, greater net CO2, similar CH4 and greater N2O emissions occurred in BP. On the annual scale, ResH, ResL and BP were C sources of 111, 103 and 268 g C m-2 yr-1 and had positive GHG balances of 4.1, 3.8 and 10.2 t CO2 eq ha-1 yr-1, respectively. Thus, the different WTLs had a limited impact on the C and GHG balances in the two restored treatments 3 years following restoration. However, the C and GHG balances in ResH and ResL were considerably lower than in BP due to the large reduction in CO2 emissions. This study therefore suggests that restoration may serve as an effective method to mitigate the negative climate impacts of abandoned peat extraction areas.

Impacts of natural factors and farming practices on greenhouse gas emissions in the North China Plain: A meta-analysis.

PubMed

Xu, Cong; Han, Xiao; Bol, Roland; Smith, Pete; Wu, Wenliang; Meng, Fanqiao

2017-09-01

Requirements for mitigation of the continued increase in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions are much needed for the North China Plain (NCP). We conducted a meta-analysis of 76 published studies of 24 sites in the NCP to examine the effects of natural conditions and farming practices on GHG emissions in that region. We found that N 2 O was the main component of the area-scaled total GHG balance, and the CH 4 contribution was <5%. Precipitation, temperature, soil pH, and texture had no significant impacts on annual GHG emissions, because of limited variation of these factors in the NCP. The N 2 O emissions increased exponentially with mineral fertilizer N application rate, with y  =   0.2389e 0.0058 x for wheat season and y  =   0.365e 0.0071 x for maize season. Emission factors were estimated at 0.37% for wheat and 0.90% for maize at conventional fertilizer N application rates. The agronomic optimal N rates (241 and 185 kg N ha -1 for wheat and maize, respectively) exhibited great potential for reducing N 2 O emissions, by 0.39 (29%) and 1.71 (56%) kg N 2 O-N ha -1  season -1 for the wheat and maize seasons, respectively. Mixed application of organic manure with reduced mineral fertilizer N could reduce annual N 2 O emissions by 16% relative to mineral N application alone while maintaining a high crop yield. Compared with conventional tillage, no-tillage significantly reduced N 2 O emissions by ~30% in the wheat season, whereas it increased those emissions by ~10% in the maize season. This may have resulted from the lower soil temperature in winter and increased soil moisture in summer under no-tillage practice. Straw incorporation significantly increased annual N 2 O emissions, by 26% relative to straw removal. Our analysis indicates that these farming practices could be further tested to mitigate GHG emission and maintain high crop yields in the NCP.

Fuel-mix, fuel efficiency, and transport demand affect prospects for biofuels in northern Europe.

PubMed

Bright, Ryan M; Strømman, Anders Hammer

2010-04-01

Rising greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the road transport sector represents a difficult mitigation challenge due to a multitude of intricate factors, namely the dependency on liquid energy carriers and infrastructure lock-in. For this reason, low-carbon renewable energy carriers, particularly second generation biofuels, are often seen as a prominent candidate for realizing reduced emissions and lowered oil dependency over the medium- and long-term horizons. However, the overarching question is whether advanced biofuels can be an environmentally effective mitigation strategy in the face of increasing consumption and resource constraints. Here we develop both biofuel production and road transport consumption scenarios for northern Europe-a region with a vast surplus of forest bioenergy resources-to assess the potential role that forest-based biofuels may play over the medium- and long-term time horizons using an environmentally extended, multiregion input-output model. Through scenarios, we explore how evolving vehicle technologies and consumption patterns will affect the mitigation opportunities afforded by any future supply of forest biofuels. We find that in a scenario involving ambitious biofuel targets, the size of the GHG mitigation wedge attributed to the market supply of biofuels is severely reduced under business-as-usual growth in consumption in the road transport sector. Our results indicate that climate policies targeting the road transport sector which give high emphases to reducing demand (volume), accelerating the deployment of more fuel-efficient vehicles, and promoting altered consumption patterns (structure) can be significantly more effective than those with single emphasis on expanded biofuel supply.

Co-development of climate smart flooded rice farming systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

de Neergaard, Andreas; Stoumann Jensen, Lars; Ly, Proyuth; Pandey, Arjun; Duong Vu, Quynh; Tariq, Azeem; Islam, Syed; van Groenigen, Jan Willem; Sander, Bjoern Ole; de Tourdonnet, Stephane; Van Mai, Trinh; Wassmann, Reiner

2017-04-01

Mid-season drainage in flooded rice is known to reduce CH4 emission, while effects on N2O emission are more variable. Banning of crop-residue burning, and growing markets for organically fertilized rice, are resulting in systems with larger reactive C input, and potentially larger methane emissions. Tight farming systems with 2 or 3 annual crops are effective in mitigating emissions, in that the land sparing value is high, but put serious constraints on mitigation options under increased C input scenarios. In a series of field (Cambodia, Philippines and Vietnam) and greenhouse experiments, we investigated the effect of a variety of organic amendments and wetting and drying cycles on yield and GHG emissions. Specifically we have tested the effect of inserting very early, or even-pre-planting drainage, as a means to accelerate turnover of straw or other C sources, and reduce methane emission later in the season. Overall, our results showed that drying periods had minimal impact on yields, while reducing overall GHG emission. Methane emission was strongly controlled by C availability in the substrate (on equal total C-input basis), increasing in the order: biochar-composts-animal manure-fresh material. Nitrous oxide emissions generally increased with draining cycles, but did not lead to overall increase in GHG emissions as its contribution was balanced by lowered CH4 emissions. Growth chamber experiments showed that methane emission was significantly reduced for extended periods after re-flooding, hence the idea of early drainage was developed. Meanwhile, Cambodian farmers expressed concerns over re-supply of water after drainage. In response to that, we tested if early-season drainage could replace mid-season drainage. With addition of labile carbon substrates (straw) duration of early season drainage was more important for reducing GHG emissions, than duration of mid-season drainage, and had the highest potential for total emission reduction. In a farmers-field trial in Vietnam, pre-planting and early season drainage was tested in spring and summer rice, under individual and community water management regimes, and at 2 straw application levels. Pre-season drainage was difficult for farmers to implement, due to the short duration of fallow between cropping seasons. Early season drainage was most effective in lowering methane emissions at both straw application levels. Unsurprisingly, the well-managed drainage control (community system) was significantly more effective in mitigating emissions, than the individually water management. Surveys among farming communities in Philippines, subject to agricultural campaigns on alternate-wetting-and-drying showed higher adoption among farmers who actively pumped water to their fields, compared to gravity-fed water supply, due to the direct savings experienced by farmers pumping water. Several other factors positively influenced adoption of mitigation techniques, including education level, access to extension services, wealth and farm size, and age of farmer (negatively correlated to adoption rate). In conclusion, drainage periods are even more important to mitigate emissions when including organic manures or residues in flooded rice, and early-season drainage should be further explored as a more safe and convenient option for smallholders. Participatory development of climate smart prototypes will be essential, and a model for such is presented.

A wedge-based approach to estimating health co-benefits of climate change mitigation activities in the United States

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

Balbus, John M.; Greenblatt, Jeffery B.; Chari, Ramya

While it has been recognized that actions reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions can have significant positive and negative impacts on human health through reductions in ambient fine particulate matter (PM2.5) concentrations, these impacts are rarely taken into account when analyzing specific policies. This study presents a new framework for estimating the change in health outcomes resulting from implementation of specific carbon dioxide (CO 2) reduction activities, allowing comparison of different sectors and options for climate mitigation activities. Our estimates suggest that in the year 2020, the reductions in adverse health outcomes from lessened exposure to PM2.5 would yield economic benefitsmore » in the range of $6 to $14 billion (in 2008 USD), depending on the specific activity. This equates to between $40 and $93 per metric ton of CO 2 in health benefits. Specific climate interventions will vary in the health co-benefits they provide as well as in potential harms that may result from their implementation. Rigorous assessment of these health impacts is essential for guiding policy decisions as efforts to reduce GHG emissions increase in scope and intensity.« less

The Implications of Growing Bioenergy Crops on Water Resources, Carbon and Nitrogen Dynamics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jain, A. K.; Song, Y.; Kheshgi, H. S.

2016-12-01

What is the potential for the crops Corn, Miscanthus and switchgrass to meet future energy demands in the U.S.A., and would they mitigate climate change by offsetting fossil fuel greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions? The large-scale cultivation of these bioenergy crops itself could also drive climate change through changes in albedo, evapotranspiration (ET), and GHG emissions. Whether these climate effects will mitigate or exacerbate climate change in the short- and long-term is uncertain. This uncertainty stems from our incomplete understanding of the effects of expanded bioenergy crop production on terrestrial water and energy balance, carbon and nitrogen dynamics, and their interactions. This study aims to understand the implications of growing large-scale bioenergy crops on water resources, carbon and nitrogen dynamics in the United States using a data-modeling framework (ISAM) that we developed. Our study indicates that both Miscanthus and Cave-in-Rock switchgrass can attain high and stable yield over parts of the Midwest, however, this high production is attained at the cost of increased soil water loss as compared to current natural vegetation. Alamo switchgrass can attain high and stable yield in the southern US without significant influence on soil water quantity.

Trace Gas and Carbon Sequestration Dynamics in Temperate Croplands and Successional Ecosystems: A Full-Cost Accounting

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Robertson, G. P.; McSwiney, C. P.

2003-12-01

Agriculture is responsible for 21-25% of the global anthropic CO2 flux, 55-60% of the anthropic CH4 flux, and 65-80% of the anthopic flux of N2O. A number of CO2 stabilization strategies target agricultural production practices, and the potential for simultaneously abating fluxes of the non-CO2 greenhouse gases is substantial. But so is the potential for creating greenhouse gas (GHG) liabilities, the unintentional increase in one or more GHGs by activities that mitigate another. Whole-system accounting provides a means for including all GHG-contributing processes in the same cropping system analysis in order to illuminate major liabilities and synergies. We contrast a field crop system in the upper U.S. midwest with unmanaged successional ecosystems in the same landscape, and provide evidence that N2O flux - the major contributor to radiative forcing in row-crop systems - can be abated with little loss of crop productivity.

Do US metropolitan core counties have lower scope 1 and 2 CO2 emissions than less urbanized counties?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tamayao, M. M.; Blackhurst, M. F.; Matthews, H. S.

2014-10-01

Recent sustainability research has focused on urban systems given their high share of environmental impacts and potential for centralized impact mitigation. Recent research emphasizes descriptive statistics from place-based case studies to argue for policy action. This limits the potential for general insights and decision support. Here, we implement generalized linear and multiple linear regression analyses to obtain more robust insights on the relationship between urbanization and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the US We used consistently derived county-level scope 1 and scope 2 GHG inventories for our response variable while predictor variables included dummy-coded variables for county geographic type (central, outlying, and nonmetropolitan), median household income, population density, and climate indices (heating degree days (HDD) and cooling degree days (CDD)). We find that there is not enough statistical evidence indicating per capita scope 1 and 2 emissions differ by geographic type, ceteris paribus. These results are robust for different assumed electricity emissions factors. We do find statistically significant differences in per capita emissions by sector for different county types, with transportation and residential emissions highest in nonmetropolitan (rural) counties, transportation emissions lowest in central counties, and commercial sector emissions highest in central counties. These results indicate the importance of regional land use and transportation dynamics when planning local emissions mitigation measures.

Nitrous Oxide Abatement Coupled with Biopolymer Production As a Model GHG Biorefinery for Cost-Effective Climate Change Mitigation.

PubMed

Frutos, Osvaldo D; Cortes, Irene; Cantera, Sara; Arnaiz, Esther; Lebrero, Raquel; Muñoz, Raúl

2017-06-06

N 2 O represents ∼6% of the global greenhouse gas emission inventory and the most important O 3 -depleting substance emitted in this 21st century. Despite its environmental relevance, little attention has been given to cost-effective and environmentally friendly N 2 O abatement methods. Here we examined, the potential of a bubble column (BCR) and an internal loop airlift (ALR) bioreactors of 2.3 L for the abatement of N 2 O from a nitric acid plant emission. The process was based on the biological reduction of N 2 O by Paracoccus denitrificans using methanol as a carbon/electron source. Two nitrogen limiting strategies were also tested for the coproduction of poly(3-hydroxybutyrate-co-3-hydroxyvalerate) (PHBV) coupled with N 2 O reduction. High N 2 O removal efficiencies (REs) (≈87%) together with a low PHBV cell accumulation were observed in both bioreactors in excess of nitrogen. However, PHBV contents of 38-64% were recorded under N limiting conditions along with N 2 O-REs of ≈57% and ≈84% in the ALR and BCR, respectively. Fluorescence in situ hybridization analyses showed that P. denitrificans was dominant (>50%) after 6 months of experimentation. The successful abatement of N 2 O concomitant with PHBV accumulation confirmed the potential of integrating biorefinery concepts into biological gas treatment for a cost-effective GHG mitigation.

Early Action on HFCs Mitigates Future Atmospheric Change

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hurwitz, Margaret M.; Fleming, Eric L.; Newman, Paul A.; Li, Feng; Liang, Qing

2017-01-01

As countries take action to mitigate global warming, both by ratifying the UNFCCC Paris Agreement and enacting the Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol to manage hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), it is important to consider the relative importance of the pertinent greenhouse gases (GHGs), the distinct structure of their atmospheric impacts, and how the timing of potential GHG regulations would affect future changes in atmospheric temperature and ozone. Chemistry-climate model simulations demonstrate that HFCs could contribute substantially to anthropogenic climate change by the mid-21st century, particularly in the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere i.e., global average warming up to 0.19K at 80hPa. Three HFC mitigation scenarios demonstrate the benefits of taking early action in avoiding future atmospheric change: more than 90 of the climate change impacts of HFCs can be avoided if emissions stop by 2030.

Early Action on HFCs Mitigates Future Atmospheric Change

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hurwitz, Margaret; Fleming, Eric; Newman, Paul; Li, Feng; Liang, Qing

2017-04-01

As countries take action to mitigate global warming, both by ratifying the UNFCCC Paris Agreement and enacting the Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol to manage hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), it is important to consider the relative importance of the pertinent greenhouse gases (GHGs), the distinct structure of their atmospheric impacts, and how the timing of potential GHG regulations would affect future changes in atmospheric temperature and ozone. Chemistry-climate model simulations demonstrate that HFCs could contribute substantially to anthropogenic climate change by the mid-21st century, particularly in the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere i.e., global average warming up to 0.19K at 80hPa. Three HFC mitigation scenarios demonstrate the benefits of taking early action in avoiding future atmospheric change: more than 90% of the climate change impacts of HFCs can be avoided if emissions stop by 2030.

How conservation agriculture can mitigate greenhouse gas emissions and enhance soil carbon storage in croplands

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Conservation agriculture can mitigate greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from agriculture by enhancing soil carbon sequestration, improving soil quality, N-use efficiency and water use efficiencies, and reducing fuel consumption. Management practices that increase carbon inputs and while reducing carbo...

Estimating the potential of energy saving and carbon emission mitigation of cassava-based fuel ethanol using life cycle assessment coupled with a biogeochemical process model.

PubMed

Jiang, Dong; Hao, Mengmeng; Fu, Jingying; Tian, Guangjin; Ding, Fangyu

2017-09-14

Global warming and increasing concentration of atmospheric greenhouse gas (GHG) have prompted considerable interest in the potential role of energy plant biomass. Cassava-based fuel ethanol is one of the most important bioenergy and has attracted much attention in both developed and developing countries. However, the development of cassava-based fuel ethanol is still faced with many uncertainties, including raw material supply, net energy potential, and carbon emission mitigation potential. Thus, an accurate estimation of these issues is urgently needed. This study provides an approach to estimate energy saving and carbon emission mitigation potentials of cassava-based fuel ethanol through LCA (life cycle assessment) coupled with a biogeochemical process model-GEPIC (GIS-based environmental policy integrated climate) model. The results indicate that the total potential of cassava yield on marginal land in China is 52.51 million t; the energy ratio value varies from 0.07 to 1.44, and the net energy surplus of cassava-based fuel ethanol in China is 92,920.58 million MJ. The total carbon emission mitigation from cassava-based fuel ethanol in China is 4593.89 million kgC. Guangxi, Guangdong, and Fujian are identified as target regions for large-scale development of cassava-based fuel ethanol industry. These results can provide an operational approach and fundamental data for scientific research and energy planning.

Estimating the potential of energy saving and carbon emission mitigation of cassava-based fuel ethanol using life cycle assessment coupled with a biogeochemical process model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jiang, Dong; Hao, Mengmeng; Fu, Jingying; Tian, Guangjin; Ding, Fangyu

2017-09-01

Global warming and increasing concentration of atmospheric greenhouse gas (GHG) have prompted considerable interest in the potential role of energy plant biomass. Cassava-based fuel ethanol is one of the most important bioenergy and has attracted much attention in both developed and developing countries. However, the development of cassava-based fuel ethanol is still faced with many uncertainties, including raw material supply, net energy potential, and carbon emission mitigation potential. Thus, an accurate estimation of these issues is urgently needed. This study provides an approach to estimate energy saving and carbon emission mitigation potentials of cassava-based fuel ethanol through LCA (life cycle assessment) coupled with a biogeochemical process model—GEPIC (GIS-based environmental policy integrated climate) model. The results indicate that the total potential of cassava yield on marginal land in China is 52.51 million t; the energy ratio value varies from 0.07 to 1.44, and the net energy surplus of cassava-based fuel ethanol in China is 92,920.58 million MJ. The total carbon emission mitigation from cassava-based fuel ethanol in China is 4593.89 million kgC. Guangxi, Guangdong, and Fujian are identified as target regions for large-scale development of cassava-based fuel ethanol industry. These results can provide an operational approach and fundamental data for scientific research and energy planning.

Inventory and projection of greenhouse gases emissions for Sumatera Utara Province

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ambarita, H.; Soeharwinto; Ginting, N.; Basyuni, M.; Zen, Z.

2018-03-01

Greenhouse Gases (GHGs) emissions which result in global warming is a serious problem for the human being. Total globally anthropogenic GHG emissions were the highest in the history of the year 2000 to 2010 and reached 49 (4.5) Giga ton CO2eq per year in 2010. Many governments addressed their commitment to reducing GHG emission. The Government of Indonesia (GoI) has released a target in reducing its GHG emissions by 26% from level business as usual by 2020, and this target can be increased up to 41% by international aid. In this study, the GHG emissions for Sumatera Utara province are assessed and divided into six sectors. They are Agricultural, Land Use and Forestry, Energy, Transportation, Industrial, and Waste sectors. The results show that total GHG emissions for Sumatera Utara province in the baseline year 2010 is 191.4 million tons CO2eq. The business-as-usual projection of the GHG emission in 2020 is 354.5 million tons CO2eq. Mitigation actions will reduce GHG emissions up to 30.5% from business as usual emission in 2020.

Co-benefits of mitigating global greenhouse gas emissions for future air quality and human health

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

West, Jason; Smith, Steven J.; Silva, Raquel

2013-10-01

Reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions also influences air quality. We simulate the co-benefits of global GHG reductions on air quality and human health via two mechanisms: a) reducing co-emitted air pollutants, and b) slowing climate change and its effect on air quality. Relative to a reference scenario, global GHG mitigation in the RCP4.5 scenario avoids 0.5±0.2, 1.3±0.6, and 2.2±1.6 million premature deaths in 2030, 2050, and 2100, from changes in fine particulate matter and ozone. Global average marginal co-benefits of avoided mortality are $40-400 (ton CO2)-1, exceeding marginal abatement costs in 2030 and 2050, and within the low range ofmore » costs in 2100. East Asian co-benefits are 10-80 times the marginal cost in 2030. These results indicate that transitioning to a low-carbon future might be justified by air quality and health co-benefits.« less

GHG Emissions and Costs of Developing Biomass Energy in Malaysia: Implications on Energy Security in the Transportation and Electricity Sector

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hassan, Mohd Nor Azman

Malaysia's transportation sector accounts for 48% of the country's total energy use. The country is expected to become a net oil importer by the year 2011. To encourage renewable energy development and relieve the country's emerging oil dependence, in 2006 the government mandated blending 5% palm-oil biodiesel in petroleum diesel. Malaysia produced 16 million tonnes of palm oil in 2007, mainly for food use. This study addresses maximizing bioenergy use from oil-palm to support Malaysia's energy initiative while minimizing greenhouse gas emissions from land use change. When converting primary and secondary forests to oil-palm plantations between 270 - 530 g and 120 -190 g CO2 equivalent (CO2-eq) per MJ of biodiesel produced, respectively, is released. However, converting degraded lands results in the capture of between 23 to 85 g CO2-eq per MJ of biodiesel produced. Using various combinations of land types, Malaysia could meet the 5% biodiesel target with a net GHG savings of about 1.03 million tonnes (4.9% of the transportation sector's diesel emissions) when accounting for the emissions savings from the diesel fuel displaced. Fossil fuels contributed about 93% to Malaysia's electricity generation mix and emit about 65 million tonnes (Mt) or 36% of the country's 2010 Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions. The government has set a target to install 330 MW biomass electricity by 2015, which is hoped to avoid 1.3 Mt of GHG emissions annually. The availability of seven types of biomass residues in Peninsular Malaysia is estimated based on residues-to-product ratio, recoverability and accessibility factor and other competing uses. It was found that there are approximately 12.2 Mt/yr of residues. Oil-palm residues contribute about 77% to the total availability with rice and forestry residues at 17%. Electricity from biomass can be produced via direct combustion in dedicated power plants or co-fired with coal. The co-firing of the residues at four existing coal plants in Peninsular Malaysia was modeled to minimize cost or GHG emissions. It is found that Malaysia can meet the 330 MW biomass electricity target via co-firing with a cost reduction of about 24 million compared to 100% coal. Optimal GHG reduction for co-firing was found to be 17 Mt lower than 100% coal at a cost of carbon mitigation (COM) of about 22.50/t CO2-eq mitigated. This COM is lower than an implied COM under the newly introduced levy on heavy electricity users in Malaysia. Gasoline consumed roughly 370 PJ of energy in Malaysia's transportation sector in 2009. Ethanol can be blended with gasoline up to 10% by volume in most vehicles. Peninsular Malaysia's 12.2 Mt/yr of agro-forestry residues can be used for potentially producing 3.8 billion liters ethanol annually. Using a large scale mixed-integer linear optimization, it is found that if Malaysia introduces a 10% ethanol-gasoline blend (E10), approximately 2.9 Mt (24%) of the residues would be used at 5.4 million more cost compared to 100% gasoline (reference case) estimated at 5.2 billion/yr. In the E10 scenario, all cities receive 10% ethanol altogether producing 900 million liters of ethanol. The GHG emissions for 100% gasoline is estimated at 26.4 Mt/yr. The minimum GHG emissions if E10 is implemented in Peninsular Malaysia was found to be 24.5 Mt, 2.0 Mt lower than 100% gasoline, which implies a 4.70/t CO2-eq cost of carbon mitigation (COM). Since only 24% of the available residues are used to produce the E10, the possibility of producing the E10 and electricity via co-firing with coal simultaneously was investigated. This is done by combining the fuel (gasoline/E10) model with the electricity (coal-only/co-firing) model. The costs of the reference case combined scenario (100% gasoline and 100% coal) is estimated at 6.3 billion/yr and emits 63 Mt/yr of GHG emissions. The minimum cost for producing the E10 and co-firing is found to be 30 million lower than the combined reference case. This is achieved by using 5.9 Mt of residues. The miniμm GHG emissions level obtained is 17 Mt lower implying a COM of 19.00/t CO2-eq mitigated. The findings in this research are used to recommend policies for mitigating GHG emissions impacts from the growth of palm oil use in the transportation sector. Policy recommendations are also discussed to ensure a successful implementation of co-firing of biomass and the production of E10 by ensuring a guaranteed supply of residues and financing the high capital cost of the renewable energy program.

Climate Impacts From a Removal of Anthropogenic Aerosol Emissions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Samset, B. H.; Sand, M.; Smith, C. J.; Bauer, S. E.; Forster, P. M.; Fuglestvedt, J. S.; Osprey, S.; Schleussner, C.-F.

2018-01-01

Limiting global warming to 1.5 or 2.0°C requires strong mitigation of anthropogenic greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Concurrently, emissions of anthropogenic aerosols will decline, due to coemission with GHG, and measures to improve air quality. However, the combined climate effect of GHG and aerosol emissions over the industrial era is poorly constrained. Here we show the climate impacts from removing present-day anthropogenic aerosol emissions and compare them to the impacts from moderate GHG-dominated global warming. Removing aerosols induces a global mean surface heating of 0.5-1.1°C, and precipitation increase of 2.0-4.6%. Extreme weather indices also increase. We find a higher sensitivity of extreme events to aerosol reductions, per degree of surface warming, in particular over the major aerosol emission regions. Under near-term warming, we find that regional climate change will depend strongly on the balance between aerosol and GHG forcing.

Genetic mitigation strategies to tackle agricultural GHG emissions: The case for biological nitrification inhibition technology.

PubMed

Subbarao, G V; Arango, J; Masahiro, K; Hooper, A M; Yoshihashi, T; Ando, Y; Nakahara, K; Deshpande, S; Ortiz-Monasterio, I; Ishitani, M; Peters, M; Chirinda, N; Wollenberg, L; Lata, J C; Gerard, B; Tobita, S; Rao, I M; Braun, H J; Kommerell, V; Tohme, J; Iwanaga, M

2017-09-01

Accelerated soil-nitrifier activity and rapid nitrification are the cause of declining nitrogen-use efficiency (NUE) and enhanced nitrous oxide (N 2 O) emissions from farming. Biological nitrification inhibition (BNI) is the ability of certain plant roots to suppress soil-nitrifier activity, through production and release of nitrification inhibitors. The power of phytochemicals with BNI-function needs to be harnessed to control soil-nitrifier activity and improve nitrogen-cycling in agricultural systems. Transformative biological technologies designed for genetic mitigation are needed, so that BNI-enabled crop-livestock and cropping systems can rein in soil-nitrifier activity, to help reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and globally make farming nitrogen efficient and less harmful to environment. This will reinforce the adaptation or mitigation impact of other climate-smart agriculture technologies. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Using Market Forces to Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions Through Product-Level Life Cycle Analysis and Eco-Labeling

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sweeney, J. F.; Davis, S. J.

2007-12-01

Established protocols allow entity-level accounting of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The information contained within GHG inventories is used by entities to manage their carbon footprint and to anticipate future exposure to compulsory GHG markets or taxes. The efficacy of such inventories, as experienced by the consumer, can be improved upon by product-level GHG inventories applying the methods of traditional life cycle analysis (LCA). A voluntary product-level assessment of this type, coupled with an eco-label, would 1) empower consumers with information about the total embodied GHG content of a product, 2) allow companies to understand and manage GHG emissions outside the narrow scope of their entities, and 3) drive reduction of GHG emissions throughout product value chains. The Climate Conservancy (TCC) is a non-profit organization founded to help companies calculate their GHG emissions at the level of individual product units, and to inform consumers about the GHG intensity of the products they choose to purchase. With the assistance of economists, policy experts and scientists, TCC has developed a useful metric for reporting product-level GHG emissions that allows for a normalized comparison of a product's GHG intensity irrespective of industry sector or competitors, where GHG data are often unavailable or incomplete. Using this metric, we envision our Climate Conscious label becoming an important arbiter of choice for consumers seeking ways to mitigate their climate impacts without the need for governmental regulation.

Reducing greenhouse gas emissions in agriculture without compromising food security?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Frank, Stefan; Havlík, Petr; Soussana, Jean-François; Levesque, Antoine; Valin, Hugo; Wollenberg, Eva; Kleinwechter, Ulrich; Fricko, Oliver; Gusti, Mykola; Herrero, Mario; Smith, Pete; Hasegawa, Tomoko; Kraxner, Florian; Obersteiner, Michael

2017-10-01

To keep global warming possibly below 1.5 °C and mitigate adverse effects of climate change, agriculture, like all other sectors, will have to contribute to efforts in achieving net negative emissions by the end of the century. Cost-efficient distribution of mitigation across regions and economic sectors is typically calculated using a global uniform carbon price in climate stabilization scenarios. However, in reality such a carbon price would substantially affect food availability. Here, we assess the implications of climate change mitigation in the land use sector for agricultural production and food security using an integrated partial equilibrium modelling framework and explore ways of relaxing the competition between mitigation in agriculture and food availability. Using a scenario that limits global warming cost-efficiently across sectors to 1.5 °C, results indicate global food calorie losses ranging from 110-285 kcal per capita per day in 2050 depending on the applied demand elasticities. This could translate into a rise in undernourishment of 80-300 million people in 2050. Less ambitious greenhouse gas (GHG) mitigation in the land use sector reduces the associated food security impact significantly, however the 1.5 °C target would not be achieved without additional reductions outside the land use sector. Efficiency of GHG mitigation will also depend on the level of participation globally. Our results show that if non-Annex-I countries decide not to contribute to mitigation action while other parties pursue their mitigation efforts to reach the global climate target, food security impacts in these non-Annex-I countries will be higher than if they participate in a global agreement, as inefficient mitigation increases agricultural production costs and therefore food prices. Land-rich countries with a high proportion of emissions from land use change, such as Brazil, could reduce emissions with only a marginal effect on food availability. In contrast, agricultural mitigation in high population (density) countries, such as China and India, would lead to substantial food calorie loss without a major contribution to global GHG mitigation. Increasing soil carbon sequestration on agricultural land would allow reducing the implied calorie loss by 65% when sticking to the initially estimated land use mitigation requirements, thereby limiting the impact on undernourishment to 20-75 million people, and storing significant amounts of carbon in soils.

Effects of water-saving irrigation practices and drought resistant rice variety on greenhouse gas emissions from a no-till paddy in the central lowlands of China.

PubMed

Xu, Ying; Ge, Junzhu; Tian, Shaoyang; Li, Shuya; Nguy-Robertson, Anthony L; Zhan, Ming; Cao, Cougui

2015-02-01

As pressure on water resources increases, alternative practices to conserve water in paddies have been developed. Few studies have simultaneously examined the effectiveness of different water regimes on conserving water, mitigating greenhouse gases (GHG), and maintaining yields in rice production. This study, which was conducted during the drought of 2013, examined all three factors using a split-plot experiment with two rice varieties in a no-till paddy managed under three different water regimes: 1) continuous flooding (CF), 2) flooded and wet intermittent irrigation (FWI), and 3) flooded and dry intermittent irrigation (FDI). The Methane (CH₄) and nitrous oxide (N₂O) emissions were measured using static chamber-gas measurements, and the carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions were monitored using a soil CO₂ flux system (LI-8100). Compared with CF, FWI and FDI irrigation strategies reduced CH₄ emissions by 60% and 83%, respectively. In contrast, CO₂ and N₂O fluxes increased by 65% and 9%, respectively, under FWI watering regime and by 104% and 11%, respectively, under FDI managed plots. Although CO₂ and N₂O emissions increased, the global warming potential (GWP) and greenhouse gas intensity (GHGI) of all three GHG decreased by up to 25% and 29% (p<0.01), respectively, using water-saving irrigation strategies. The rice variety also affected yields and GHG emissions in response to different water regimes. The drought-resistance rice variety (HY3) was observed to maintain yields, conserve water, and reduce GHG under the FWI irrigation management compared with the typical variety (FYY299) planted in the region. The FYY299 only had significantly lower GWP and GHGI when the yield was reduced under FDI water regime. In conclusion, FWI irrigation strategy could be an effective option for simultaneously saving water and mitigating GWP without reducing rice yields using drought-resistant rice varieties, such as HY3. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

The Effect of Greenhouse Gas Mitigation on Drought Impacts in the U.S.

EPA Science Inventory

In this paper, we present a methodology for analyzing the economic benefits in the U.S. of changes in drought frequency and severity due to global greenhouse gas (GHG) mitigation. We construct reduced-form models of the effect of drought on agriculture and reservoir recreation i...

Comparing projections of industrial energy demand and greenhouse gas emissions in long-term energy models

DOE PAGES

Edelenbosch, O. Y.; Kermeli, K.; Crijns-Graus, W.; ...

2017-01-09

The industry sector consumes more energy and emits more greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions than any other end-use sector. Integrated assessment models (IAMs) and energy system models have been widely used to evaluate climate policy at a global level, and include a representation of industrial energy use. In this study, the projected industrial energy use and accompanying GHG emissions, as well as the model structure of multiple long-term energy models are compared. The models show varying degrees to which energy consumption is decoupled from GDP growth in the future. In all models, the sector remains mostly (>50%) reliant on fossil energymore » through 2100 in a reference scenario (i.e., absent emissions mitigation policies), though there is significant divergence in the projected ability to switch to alternative fuels to mitigate GHG emissions. Among the set analyzed here, the more technologically detailed models tend to have less capacity for switching from fossil fuels to electricity. This highlights the importance of understanding of economy-wide mitigation responses and costs as an area for future improvement. Analyzing industry subsector material and energy use details can improve the ability to interpret results, and provide insight in feasibility of how emissions reduction can be achieved.« less

Comparing projections of industrial energy demand and greenhouse gas emissions in long-term energy models

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

Edelenbosch, O. Y.; Kermeli, K.; Crijns-Graus, W.

The industry sector consumes more energy and emits more greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions than any other end-use sector. Integrated assessment models (IAMs) and energy system models have been widely used to evaluate climate policy at a global level, and include a representation of industrial energy use. In this study, the projected industrial energy use and accompanying GHG emissions, as well as the model structure of multiple long-term energy models are compared. The models show varying degrees to which energy consumption is decoupled from GDP growth in the future. In all models, the sector remains mostly (>50%) reliant on fossil energymore » through 2100 in a reference scenario (i.e., absent emissions mitigation policies), though there is significant divergence in the projected ability to switch to alternative fuels to mitigate GHG emissions. Among the set analyzed here, the more technologically detailed models tend to have less capacity for switching from fossil fuels to electricity. This highlights the importance of understanding of economy-wide mitigation responses and costs as an area for future improvement. Analyzing industry subsector material and energy use details can improve the ability to interpret results, and provide insight in feasibility of how emissions reduction can be achieved.« less

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

Veysey, Jason; Octaviano, Claudia; Calvin, Katherine

Mexico’s climate policy sets ambitious national greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reduction targets—30% versus a business-as-usual baseline by 2020, 50% versus 2000 by 2050. However, these goals are at odds with recent energy and emission trends in the country. Both energy use and GHG emissions in Mexico have grown substantially over the last two decades. Here, we investigate how Mexico might reverse current trends and reach its mitigation targets by exploring results from energy system and economic models involved in the CLIMACAP-LAMP project. To meet Mexico’s emission reduction targets, all modeling groups agree that decarbonization of electricity is needed, along withmore » changes in the transport sector, either to more efficient vehicles or a combination of more efficient vehicles and lower carbon fuels. These measures reduce GHG emissions as well as emissions of other air pollutants. The models find different energy supply pathways, with some solutions based on renewable energy and others relying on biomass or fossil fuels with carbon capture and storage. The economy-wide costs of deep mitigation could range from 2% to 4% of GDP in 2030, and from 7% to 15% of GDP in 2050. Our results suggest that Mexico has some flexibility in designing deep mitigation strategies, and that technological options could allow Mexico to achieve its emission reduction targets, albeit at a cost to the country.« less

Quantifying Terrestrial Ecosystem Carbon Stocks for Future GHG Mitigation, Sustainable Land-Use Planning and Adaptation to Climate Change in Quebec, Canada.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Garneau, M.; van Bellen, S.

2016-12-01

Based on various databases, carbon stocks of terrestrial ecosystems in the boreal and arctic biomes of Quebec were quantified as part of an evaluation of their capacity to mitigate anthropogenic greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and estimate their vulnerability with respect to recent climate change and land use changes. The results of this project are contributing to the establishment of the Strategy for Climate Change Adaptation as well as the 2013-2020 Climate Change Action Plan of the Quebec Ministry of Environment, which aim to adapt the Quebec society to the effects of climate change and the reduction of GHG emissions. The total carbon stock of the soils of the forest and peatland ecosystems of Quebec was quantified at 18.00 Gt C or 66.0 Gt CO2-equivalent, of which 95% corresponds to the boreal and arctic regions. The mean carbon mass per unit area (kg C m-2) of peatlands is about nine times higher than that of forests, with values of 100,0 kg C m-2 for peatlands and 10,9 kg C m-2 for forest stands. In 2013, total anthropogenic emissions in Quebec were quantified at 82.6 Mt CO2-equivalent (Environment Canada, 2015), or 1.25‰ of the total Quebec ecosystem carbon stock. The total stock thus represents the equivalent of about 800 years of anthropogenic emissions at the current rate, divided between 478 years for peatlands and 321 years for forest soils. Future GHG mitigation policies and sustainable land-use planning should be supported by scientific data on terrestrial ecosystems carbon stocks. An increase in investments in peatland, wetland and forest conservation, management and rehabilitation may contribute to limit greenhouse gas emissions. It is therefore essential, that, following the objectives of multiple international organisations, the management of terrestrial carbon stocks becomes part of the national engagement to reduce GHG emissions.

Direct nitrous oxide emissions from rapeseed in Germany

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fuß, Roland; Andres, Monique; Hegewald, Hannes; Kesenheimer, Katharina; Köbke, Sarah; Räbiger, Thomas; Suarez, Teresa; Stichnothe, Heinz; Flessa, Heiner

2014-05-01

The production of first generation biofuels has increased over the last decade in Germany. However, there is a strong public and scientific debate concerning ecological impact and sustainability of biofuel production. The EU Renewables Directive requires biofuels to save 35 % of GHG emissions compared to fossil fuels. Starting in 2017, 50 % mitigation of GHG emissions must be achieved. This presents challenges for production of biofuels from rapeseed, which is one of the major renewable resources used for fuel production. Field emissions of nitrous oxide (N2O) and GHG emissions during production of fertilizers contribute strongest to the GHG balance of rapeseed biofuel. Thus, the most promising GHG mitigation option is the optimization of nitrogen fertilization. Since 2012, field trials are conducted on five German research farms to quantify direct GHG emissions. The sites were selected to represent the main rapeseed production regions in Germany as well as climatic regions and soil types. Randomized plot designs were established, which allow monitoring (using manual chambers) impact of fertilization intensity on direct emissions and yield of the typical crop sequence (winter rape - winter wheat - winter barley). The effect of substituting mineral fertilizer with biogas digestate with and without addition of a nitrification inhibitor is also studied. Here we present results from the first cropping season. In 2013, annual direct N2O emissions as well as yield normalized N2O emissions from rape were low. This can be explained with the weather conditions as 2013 was characterized by a cold and long winter with snow until mid spring. As a result, emissions were smaller than predicted by the IPCC emission factors or by the Global Nitrous Oxide Calculator (GNOC). However, emissions still depend on nitrogen input.

Does consideration of GHG reductions change local decision making? A Case Study in Chile

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cifuentes, L. A.; Blumel, G.

2003-12-01

While local air pollution has been a public concern in developing countries for some time, climate change is looked upon as a non-urgent, developed world problem. In this work we present a case study of the interaction of measures to abate air pollution and measures to mitigate GHG emissions in Santiago, Chile, with the purpose of determining if the consideration of reductions in GHG affects the decisions taken to mitigate local air pollution. The emissions reductions of both GHG and local air pollutants were estimated from emission factors (some derived locally) and changes in activity levels. Health benefits due to air pollution abatement were computed using figures derived previously for the cost benefit analysis of Santiago's Decontamination Plan, transferred to the different cities taking into consideration local demographic and income data. The Santiago estimates were obtained using the damage function approach, based on some local epidemiological studies, and on local health and demographic data. Unit social values for the effects were estimated locally (for cost of treatment and lost productivity values) or extrapolated from US values (mainly for WTP values) using the ratio of per-capita income and an income elasticity of 1. The average benefits of emission abatement (in 1997 US\\ per ton) are 1,800 (1,200-2300) for NOx, 3,000 (2,100-3900) for SO2, 31,900 (21,900 - 41,900) for PM, and 630 (430 - 830) for resuspended dust. Economic benefits due to carbon reduction were considered at 3.5, 10 and 20 UStCO2. Marginal abatement cost curves were constructed considering private and net costs (private less the potential sales of carbon credits) Due to the bottom-up approach to constructing the marginal cost curve, many abatement measures (like congestion tolls and CNG instead of diesel buses) amounting to 8% reduction of PM2.5 concentration, exhibit a negative private cost. If the health benefits are considered for the decision, a maximum reduction of 22% in PM2.5 levels is obtained. Although many measures have associated reductions in GHG, due to the relatively low price considered for carbon reductions, when the potential benefits of CO2 sales are considered, this number does not increases. Therefore, consideration of the CO2 benefits did not change the decision for any of the 36 measures analyzed. This confirms that the main driver for air pollution policy is likely to continue to be local concerns, like public health issues.

The impact of land-use change from forest to oil palm on soil greenhouse gas and volatile organic compound fluxes in Malaysian Borneo

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Drewer, Julia; Leduning, Melissa; Kerdraon-Byrne, Deirdre; Sayer, Emma; Sentien, Justin; Skiba, Ute

2017-04-01

Monocultures of oil palm have expanded in SE Asia, and more recently also in Africa and South America, frequently replacing tropical forests. The limited data available clearly show that this conversion is associated with a potentially large greenhouse gas (GHG) burden. The physical process of land-use change, such is felling, drainage and ploughing can significantly increase emissions of N2O and soil CO2 respiration and decrease CH4 oxidation rates in the short term; and in the long-term regular nitrogen applications will impact in particular soil N2O fluxes. Little is known about volatile organic compound (VOC) fluxes from soil and litter in tropical forests and their speciation or about the links between GHG and VOC fluxes. VOC emissions are important as they directly and indirectly influence the concentrations and lifetimes of air pollutants and GHGs. For example, oxidation of VOCs generate tropospheric ozone which is also a potent GHG. Within ecosystems, monoterpenes can mediate plant-microbe and plant- interactions and protect photosynthesis during abiotic stress. However, little is known about monoterpene composition in the tropics - a widely recognized major global source of terpenoids to the atmosphere. These knowledge gaps make it difficult for developing countries in the tropics, especially SE Asia, to develop effective mitigation strategies. Current understanding of soil GHG fluxes associated with land-use change from forest to oil palm is not sufficient to provide reliable estimates of their carbon footprints and sustainability or advice on GHG mitigation strategies. To provide the necessary data we have installed a total of 56 flux chambers in logged forests, forest fragments and mature and young oil palm plantations as well as riparian zones within the SAFE landscape in SE Sabah (Stability of Altered Forest Ecosystems; http://www.safeproject.net). Soil respiration rates, N2O, CH4 and VOC fluxes together with soil moisture, pH, mineral and total C and N were measured over a two year period. Additionally the effects of changes in forest litter diversity on soil properties were investigated using mesocosms. For this experiment leaf litter was transplanted into different forest types and oil palm plantations of different stand ages to simulate the change in litter-fall caused by changes in above ground plant composition. Laboratory incubations using soil and litter from the field sites provide additional detailed data on soil properties, carbon storage capacity and microbial activity to identify potential mechanisms for the field observations.

International Experiences with Quantifying the Co-Benefits of Energy-Efficiency and Greenhouse-Gas Mitigation Programs and Policies

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

Williams, Christopher; Hasanbeigi, Ali; Price, Lynn

Improving the efficiency of energy production and consumption and switching to lower carbon energy sources can significantly decrease carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions and reduce climate change impacts. A growing body of research has found that these measures can also directly mitigate many non-climate change related human health hazards and environmental damage. Positive impacts of policies and programs that occur in addition to the intended primary policy goal are called co-benefits. Policy analysis relies on forecasting and comparing the costs of policy and program implementation and the benefits that accrue to society from implementation. GHG reduction and energy efficiency policies andmore » programs face political resistance in part because of the difficulty of quantifying their benefits. On the one hand, climate change mitigation policy benefits are often global, long-term, and subject to large uncertainties, and subsidized energy pricing can reduce the direct monetary benefits of energy efficiency policies to below their cost. On the other hand, the co-benefits that accrue from these efforts’ resultant reductions in conventional air pollution (such as improved health, agricultural productivity, reduced damage to infrastructure, and local ecosystem improvements) are generally near term, local, and more certain than climate change mitigation benefits and larger than the monetary value of energy savings. The incorporation of co-benefits into energy efficiency and climate mitigation policy and program analysis therefore might significantly increase the uptake of these policies. Faster policy uptake is especially important in developing countries because ongoing development efforts that do not consider co-benefits may lock in suboptimal technologies and infrastructure and result in high costs in future years. Over the past two decades, studies have repeatedly documented that non-climate change related benefits of energy efficiency and fuel conversion efforts, as a part of GHG mitigation strategies, can be from between 30% to over 100% of the costs of such policies and programs strategies. Policy makers around the world are increasingly interested in including both GHG and non-GHG impacts in analyses of energy efficiency and fuel switching policies and programs and a set of methodologies has matured from the efforts of early moving jurisdictions such as the European Union, the United States, and Japan.« less

Co-control of urban air pollutants and greenhouse gases in Mexico City.

PubMed

West, J Jason; Osnaya, Patricia; Laguna, Israel; Martínez, Julia; Fernández, Adrián

2004-07-01

This study addresses the synergies of mitigation measures to control urban air pollutant and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, in developing integrated "co-control" strategies for Mexico City. First, existing studies of emissions reduction measures--PROAIRE (the air quality plan for Mexico City) and separate GHG studies--are used to construct a harmonized database of options. Second, linear programming (LP) is developed and applied as a decision-support tool to analyze least-cost strategies for meeting co-control targets for multiple pollutants. We estimate that implementing PROAIRE measures as planned will reduce 3.1% of the 2010 metropolitan CO2 emissions, in addition to substantial local air pollutant reductions. Applying the LP, PROAIRE emissions reductions can be met at a 20% lower cost, using only the PROAIRE measures, by adjusting investments toward the more cost-effective measures; lower net costs are possible by including cost-saving GHG mitigation measures, but with increased investment. When CO2 emission reduction targets are added to PROAIRE targets, the most cost-effective solutions use PROAIRE measures for the majority of local pollutant reductions, and GHG measures for additional CO2 control. Because of synergies, the integrated planning of urban-global co-control can be beneficial, but we estimate that for Mexico City these benefits are often small.

Comparison of Greenhouse Gas Emissions between Two Dairy Farm Systems (Conventional vs. Organic Management) in New Hampshire Using the Manure DNDC Biogeochemical Model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dorich, C.; Contosta, A.; Li, C.; Brito, A.; Varner, R. K.

2013-12-01

Agriculture contributes 20 to 25 % of the total anthropogenic greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions globally. These agricultural emissions are primarily in the form of methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide (N2O) with these GHG accounting for roughly 40 and 80 % of the total anthropogenic emissions of CH4 and N2O, respectively. Due to varied management and the complexities of agricultural ecosystems, it is difficult to estimate these CH4 and N2O emissions. The IPCC emission factors can be used to yield rough estimates of CH4 and N2O emissions but they are often based on limited data. Accurate modeling validated by measurements is needed in order to identify potential mitigation areas, reduce GHG emissions from agriculture, and improve sustainability of farming practices. The biogeochemical model Manure DNDC was validated using measurements from two dairy farms in New Hampshire, USA in order to quantify GHG emissions under different management systems. One organic and one conventional dairy farm operated by the University of New Hampshire's Agriculture Experiment Station were utilized as the study sites for validation of Manure DNDC. Compilation of management records started in 2011 to provide model inputs. Model results were then compared to field collected samples of soil carbon and nitrogen, above-ground biomass, and GHG fluxes. Fluxes were measured in crop, animal, housing, and waste management sites on the farms in order to examine the entire farm ecosystem and test the validity of the model. Fluxes were measured by static flux chambers, with enteric fermentation measurements being conducted by the SF6 tracer test as well as a new method called Greenfeeder. Our preliminary GHG flux analysis suggests higher emissions than predicted by IPCC emission factors and equations. Results suggest that emissions from manure management is a key concern at the conventional dairy farm while bedded housing at the organic dairy produced large quantities of GHG.

Overview of the Special Issue: A Multi-Model Framework to Achieve Consistent Evaluation of Climate Change Impacts in the United States

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

Waldhoff, Stephanie T.; Martinich, Jeremy; Sarofim, Marcus

2015-07-01

The Climate Change Impacts and Risk Analysis (CIRA) modeling exercise is a unique contribution to the scientific literature on climate change impacts, economic damages, and risk analysis that brings together multiple, national-scale models of impacts and damages in an integrated and consistent fashion to estimate climate change impacts, damages, and the benefits of greenhouse gas (GHG) mitigation actions in the United States. The CIRA project uses three consistent socioeconomic, emissions, and climate scenarios across all models to estimate the benefits of GHG mitigation policies: a Business As Usual (BAU) and two policy scenarios with radiative forcing (RF) stabilization targets ofmore » 4.5 W/m2 and 3.7 W/m2 in 2100. CIRA was also designed to specifically examine the sensitivity of results to uncertainties around climate sensitivity and differences in model structure. The goals of CIRA project are to 1) build a multi-model framework to produce estimates of multiple risks and impacts in the U.S., 2) determine to what degree risks and damages across sectors may be lowered from a BAU to policy scenarios, 3) evaluate key sources of uncertainty along the causal chain, and 4) provide information for multiple audiences and clearly communicate the risks and damages of climate change and the potential benefits of mitigation. This paper describes the motivations, goals, and design of the CIRA modeling exercise and introduces the subsequent papers in this special issue.« less

University Leadership in Island Climate Change Mitigation

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Coffman, Makena

2009-01-01

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to present the University of Hawaii at Manoa's (UHM's) initiatives in achieving greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reductions on campus and at the state level. Design/methodology/approach: UHM has taken a "lead by example" approach to climate change mitigation in terms of working to meet the American…

Toward a protocol for quantifying the greenhouse gas balance and identifying mitigation options in smallholder farming systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rosenstock, T. S.; Rufino, M. C.; Butterbach-Bahl, K.; Wollenberg, E.

2013-06-01

Globally, agriculture is directly responsible for 14% of annual greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and induces an additional 17% through land use change, mostly in developing countries (Vermeulen et al 2012). Agricultural intensification and expansion in these regions is expected to catalyze the most significant relative increases in agricultural GHG emissions over the next decade (Smith et al 2008, Tilman et al 2011). Farms in the developing countries of sub-Saharan Africa and Asia are predominately managed by smallholders, with 80% of land holdings smaller than ten hectares (FAO 2012). One can therefore posit that smallholder farming significantly impacts the GHG balance of these regions today and will continue to do so in the near future. However, our understanding of the effect smallholder farming has on the Earth's climate system is remarkably limited. Data quantifying existing and reduced GHG emissions and removals of smallholder production systems are available for only a handful of crops, livestock, and agroecosystems (Herrero et al 2008, Verchot et al 2008, Palm et al 2010). For example, fewer than fifteen studies of nitrous oxide emissions from soils have taken place in sub-Saharan Africa, leaving the rate of emissions virtually undocumented. Due to a scarcity of data on GHG sources and sinks, most developing countries currently quantify agricultural emissions and reductions using IPCC Tier 1 emissions factors. However, current Tier 1 emissions factors are either calibrated to data primarily derived from developed countries, where agricultural production conditions are dissimilar to that in which the majority of smallholders operate, or from data that are sparse or of mixed quality in developing countries (IPCC 2006). For the most part, there are insufficient emissions data characterizing smallholder agriculture to evaluate the level of accuracy or inaccuracy of current emissions estimates. Consequentially, there is no reliable information on the agricultural GHG budgets for developing economies. This dearth of information constrains the capacity to transition to low-carbon agricultural development, opportunities for smallholders to capitalize on carbon markets, and the negotiating position of developing countries in global climate policy discourse. Concerns over the poor state of information, in terms of data availability and representation, have fueled appeals for new approaches to quantifying GHG emissions and removals from smallholder agriculture, for both existing conditions and mitigation interventions (Berry and Ryan 2013, Olander et al 2013). Considering the dependence of quantification approaches on data and the current data deficit for smallholder systems, it is clear that in situ measurements must be a core part of initial and future strategies to improve GHG inventories and develop mitigation measures for smallholder agriculture. Once more data are available, especially for farming systems of high priority (e.g., those identified through global and regional rankings of emission hotspots or mitigation leverage points), better cumulative estimates and targeted actions will become possible. Greenhouse gas measurements in agriculture are expensive, time consuming, and error prone. These challenges are exacerbated by the heterogeneity of smallholder systems and landscapes and the diversity of methods used. Concerns over methodological rigor, measurement costs, and the diversity of approaches, coupled with the demand for robust information suggest it is germane for the scientific community to establish standards of measurements—'a protocol'—for quantifying GHG emissions from smallholder agriculture. A standard protocol for use by scientists and development organizations will help generate consistent, comparable, and reliable data on emissions baselines and allow rigorous comparisons of mitigation options. Besides enhancing data utility, a protocol serves as a benchmark for non-experts to easily assess data quality. Obviously many such protocols already exist (e.g., GraceNet, Parkin and Venterea 2010). None, however, account for the diversity and complexity of smallholder agriculture, quantify emissions and removals from crops, livestock, and biomass together to calculate the net balance, or are adapted for the research environment of developing countries; conditions that warrant developing specific methods. Here we summarize an approach being developed by the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research's (CGIAR) Climate Change, Agriculture, and Food Security Program (CCAFS) and partners. The CGIAR-CCAFS smallholder GHG quantification protocol aims to improve quantification of baseline emission levels and support mitigation decisions. The protocol introduces five novel quantification elements relevant for smallholder agriculture (figure 1). First, it stresses the systematic collection of 'activity data' to describe the type, distribution, and extent of land management activities in landscapes cultivated by smallholder. Second, it advocates an informed sampling approach that concentrates measurement activities on emission hotspots and leverage points to capture heterogeneity and account for the diversity and complexity of farming activities. Third, it quantifies emissions at multiple spatial scales, whole-farm and landscape, to provide information targeted to household and communities decisions. Fourth, it encourages GHG research to document farm productivity and economics in addition to emissions, in recognition of the importance of agriculture to livelihoods. Fifth, it develops cost-differentiated measurement solutions that optimize the relationships among scale, cost, and accuracy. Each of the five innovations is further described below. Figure 1. Figure 1. The quantification approach. The protocol includes comparative evaluation of various methodologies for each element (e.g., biophysical context, profitability evaluation, etc), recommend methods specific for end users objectives and constraints, and field manuals for implementation of recommended methods. Items with an asterisk indicate novel aspects of this protocol by comparison to others. Systematizing collection of activity data . Data describing smallholder farming systems, their relative distribution in space and time, and typical management practices are largely unavailable for smallholder agriculture in developing counties. That is significant because empirical or process based models rely on information on the nature and extent of production systems, so called 'activity data'. Without it, it is not possible to run models, scale flux data to larger spatial extents, or target measurements with any certainty. In some cases, uncertainty in the extent and management for farming activities may be equivalent or greater to the uncertainty associated with the GHG fluxes themselves. The CGIAR-CCAFS protocol therefore provides guidelines for using remote sensing, targeted social and soil surveys, and proxies that correlate with socio-ecological condition and farm management to improve the quantity and quality of activity data available. Informed sampling . Smallholder agriculture typically involves multiple farming activities taking place in a field, nested within higher levels of organization (e.g., farm or landscape), each having interactive impacts on the cumulative GHG balance. To understand the net effect, attention must be paid to the full range of sources and sinks. Yet it is generally too resource intensive to measure them all. The CGIAR-CCAFS protocol deconstructs what is already known about nutrient stock changes and GHG fluxes to guide measurements toward emission hotspots or leverage points (e.g., methane emissions from cows in crop-livestock systems) within complex agroecosystems and landscapes. The premise underlying this approach is that information from other systems can be used to match the intensity of quantification effort with the predicted intensity of the source or sink. By reducing the uncertainty of the largest fluxes, using an informed sampling approach will hypothetically yield a more accurate and more precise estimate of the total systems' GHG balance. Multi-scale . Farming activities take place at the field level, but climate impacts and decision-making of smallholders extend to larger spatial scales. Households frequently manage farming activities across several fields, while institutions at the village or higher levels can determine land use practices across entire landscapes, as is the case of communal grazing lands or woodlands. Decisions by households and social organizations unite climate impacts across space. It is therefore important to consider spatial scales greater than the farming activity or field to understand GHG impacts and mitigation opportunities. Therefore, the CGIAR-CCAFS protocol targets quantification and mitigation efforts at the whole-farm and landscape levels to align data describing emissions and removals with the decision units of households and communities. Linking productivity and emissions . Smallholder farmers depend on farm production for food and income, and farm productivity is inextricably linked to food security. The importance of productivity must be taken into account in mitigation decision-making and the GHG research agenda supporting those decisions. So far, livelihood benefits and farmers' own priorities or other social benefits have been mostly ignored in GHG research. Quantification of GHG reductions from mitigation options is arguably irrelevant if the livelihood effects of those mitigation options are ignored, and scaling GHG emissions per unit area is agronomically meaningless if yields are not considered (Linquist et al 2012). Therefore, the CGIAR-CCAFS protocol recommends that future GHG quantification efforts for assessing mitigation options adopt a multi-criteria approach to include data on indicators of household benefits (e.g. productivity and nutrition). In that way, the research captures the balance of benefits between the private landholder and the global public good. Joint assessment of food production and emissions may produce optimal management strategies that balance the competing demands of food production and climate stabilization. For example, nitrous oxide emissions per unit of product are lowest at intermediate (not the lowest) fertilization rates (Van Groenigen et al 2010) which differs from the optimal strategy for reducing emissions per unit area. Costs associated with collecting the additional data are likely to be small relative to the operational budget for GHG field research and could viably become standard practice. Cost-differentiated measurements . Potential end users of the protocol are diverse in their purpose, resources available, and capacity to carry out research. For example, development organizations may want to determine the relative difference in emission impacts between mitigation options while governments may be interested in quantification of impacts across landscapes to develop Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Actions. The most useful approach to quantification therefore lies at the nexus among key constraints: objectives, resources, and capacity. The protocol develops a system of 'tiered' entry points for greenhouse gas accounting, with explicit attention directed toward the uncertainty induced from the various measurement selections. The protocol will include decision pathways to help users quickly determine the quantification options suitable for their goals and constraints to optimize the relationship among accuracy, costs, and scale. The CCAFS-CGIAR protocol is being developed and field-tested in mixed crop-livestock systems of Kenya and intensive rice production in the Philippines, with plans to expand to other sites and agroecosystems in the next year. These initial pilot projects provide a trial of the approach and methods, highlighting technical gaps and promising directions, while generating valuable emissions data. The role smallholder farming plays in Earth's climate system is uncertain due to lack of data. Better information is needed to calibrate the research, policy, and development communities' thinking on the importance of this issue. Generating the high value information that policy makers, development organizations, and farmers demand however pivots on creating accurate, useful, consistent, and meaningful data. The CCAFS-CGIAR protocol will help advance the scientific community's ability to provide such information by using standard methods of measurement in ways that recognize the data needs and the priorities of smallholder farmers. Acknowledgments We thank participants of the October 2012 Protocol Development workshop in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany for their previous and ongoing contributions. We also thank CCAFS, Environment Canada, and the Mitigation of Climate Change in Agriculture (MICCA) Program of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization for their support of this initiative. References Berry N J and Ryan C M 2013 Overcoming the risk of inaction from emissions uncertainty in smallholder agriculture Environ. Res. Lett. 8 011003 FAO 2012 Smallholders and Family Farmers (Rome: FAO) (www.fao.org/fileadmin/templates/nr/sustainability_pathways/docs/Factsheet_SMALLHOLDERS.pdf, accessed 19 March 2013) Herrero M, Thornton P K, Kruska R and Reid R S 2008 Systems dynamics and the spatial distribution of methane emissions from African domestic ruminants to 2030 Agric. Ecosyst. Environ. 126 122-37 IPCC 2006 2006 IPCC Guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories ed H S Eggleston, L Buendia, K Miwa, T Ngara and K Tanabe (Hayama: IGES) Linquist B, Van Groenigen K J, Adviento-Borbe M A, Pittelkow C and Van Kessel C 2012 An agronomic assessment of greenhouse gas emissions from major cereal crops Glob. Change Biol. 18 194-209 Olander L, Wollenberg L, Tubiello F and Herald M 2013 Advancing agricultural greenhouse gas quantification Environ. Res. Lett. 8 011002 Palm C A, Smukler S M, Sullivan C C, Mutuo P K, Nyadzi G I and Walsh M G 2010 Identifying potential synergies and trade-offs for meeting food security and climate change objectives in sub-Saharan Africa Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. 107 19661-6 Parkin T B and Venterea R T 2010 Chamber-based trace gas flux measurements Sampling Protocols ed R F Follett chapter 3, pp 3-1-3-39 (available at: www.ars.usda.gov/research/GRACEnet) Smith P et al 2008 Greenhouse gas mitigation in agriculture Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B 363 789-813 Tilman D, Balzer C, Hill J and Befort B 2011 Global food demand and the sustainable intensification of agriculture Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. 108 20260-4 Van Groenigen J W, Velthof G L, Oeneme O, Van Groenigen K J and Van Kessel C 2010 Towards an agronomic assessment of N2O emissions: a case study for arable crops Eur. J. Soil Sci. 61 903-13 Verchot L V, Brienzajunior S, Deoliveira V, Mutegi J, Cattânio J H and Davidson E A 2008 Fluxes of CH4, CO2, NO, and N2O in an improved fallow agroforestry system in eastern Amazonia Agric. Ecosyst. Environ. 126 113-21 Vermeulen S J, Campbell B M and Ingram J S I 2012 Climate change and food systems Annu. Rev. Environ. Resour. 37 195-222

Land Use and Management Change in the U.S. with Adaptation and Mitigation under Climate Change

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mu, J. E.; McCarl, B.

2011-12-01

Land use and management change interact with climate change. Land uses such as forestry, cropping and grazing depend on specific ecosystems that will be affected by climate change. Furthermore, this change will not be uniform across land uses or regions. Consequently, land use productivity will change as will the mix of land uses (Mendelsohn and Dinar 2009). On the other hand, land use has been a major contributor to greenhouse gas emissions (IPCC 2007). Therefore, research focusing on land use change, climate change and greenhouse gas mitigation should consider the interaction between these effects. The research to be reported in this presentation investigates how agricultural and forestry land use and management decisions change across the coterminous U.S. under climate change with and without adaptation plus how a carbon price policy influences decisions, mitigates GHG emissions and alters carbon sequestration. Our approach is to simulate behavior under climate scenarios by 2030 using data from alternative two climate and two vegetation models while allowing for adaptive responses and imposing carbon prices. To do this, we use the Forest and Agricultural Optimization model with Greenhouse Gases (FASOMGHG) (Adams et al. 2005). In total, 16 scenarios are considered involving climate change and GHG prices relative to a base case with no climate change and no adaptation or mitigation. After analyzing results across regions and sectors, our findings include: 1.More land is converted to forestry use and less land is used for agricultural purposes under both the adaptation and mitigation strategies. 2. Harvest rotation of hardwood is lengthened and harvest of softwood and hardwood are reduced when a carbon price is included. However, such management changes were insignificant when only the adaptation strategy is used. 3. The total GHG emissions from agricultural and forestry sector are increased by 2-3 millions tones CO2 equivalent under climate change and adaptation in the absence of GHG prices, but when those prices are introduced emissions are reduced by 6 millions tones CO2 equivalent. Similarly, under climate change, GHG prices stimulate a gain in carbon sequestration in the agricultural and forestry sectors. 4. Forest sector welfare and crop producer surplus is reduced under the adaption policy by a small amount, that is -0.02 and 0.14-0.2 billion dollars respectively. However, forest welfare, agricultural welfare, crop producer surplus and livestock producer surplus all increased, by 0.62, 0.67, 0.84 and 1.48 billion dollars, respectively when GHG prices are introduced. References Adams DM, Alig RJ, McCarl BA et al., 2005. FASOMGHG conceptual structure, and specification: documentation. Texas A&M University, (http://agecon2.tamu.edu/people/faculty/mccarl-bruce/papers/ 1212FASOMGHG_doc.pdf) IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change), 2007. Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK Mendelsohn R, Dinar A. 2009. Land Use and Climate Change Interactions. Annual Review of Resource Economics. 1: 309-332.

Hydrological Sensitivity of Land Use Scenarios for Climate Mitigation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Boegh, E.; Friborg, T.; Hansen, K.; Jensen, R.; Seaby, L. P.

2014-12-01

Bringing atmospheric concentration to 550 ppm CO2 or below by 2100 will require large-scale changes to global and national energy systems, and potentially the use of land (IPCC, 2013) The Danish government aims at reducing greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) by 40 % in 1990-2020 and energy consumption to be based on 100 % renewable energy by 2035. By 2050, GHG emissions should be reduced by 80-95 %. Strategies developed to reach these goals require land use change to increase the production of biomass for bioenergy, further use of catch crops, reduced nitrogen inputs in agriculture, reduced soil tillage, afforestation and establishment of permanent grass fields. Currently, solar radiation in the growing season is not fully exploited, and it is expected that biomass production for bioenergy can be supported without reductions in food and fodder production. Impacts of climate change on the hydrological sensitivity of biomass growth and soil carbon storage are however not known. The present study evaluates the hydrological sensitivity of Danish land use options for climate mitigation in terms of crop yields (including straw for bioenergy) and net CO2 exchange for wheat, barley, maize and clover under current and future climate conditions. Hydrological sensitivity was evaluated using the agrohydrological model Daisy. Simulations during current climate conditions were in good agreement with measured dry matter, crop nitrogen content and eddy covariance fluxes of water vapour and CO2. Climate scenarios from the European ENSEMBLES database were downscaled for simulating water, nitrogen and carbon balance for 2071-2100. The biomass potential generally increase, but water stress also increases in strength and extends over a longer period, thereby increasing sensitivity to water availability. The potential of different land use scenarios to maximize vegetation cover and biomass for climate mitigation is further discussed in relation to impacts on the energy- and water balance.

Modeling the greenhouse gas budget of straw returning in China: feasibility of mitigation and countermeasures.

PubMed

Lu, Fei; Wang, Xiao-Ke; Han, Bing; Ouyang, Zhi-Yun; Zheng, Hua

2010-05-01

Straw returning is considered to be one of the most promising carbon sequestration measures in China's cropland. A compound model, namely "Straw Returning and Burning Model-Expansion" (SRBME), was built to estimate the net mitigation potential, economic benefits, and air pollutant reduction of straw returning. Three scenarios, that is, baseline, "full popularization of straw returning (FP)," and "full popularization of straw returning and precision fertilization (FP + P)," were set to reflect popularization of straw returning. The results of the SRBME indicated that (1) compared with the soil carbon sequestration of 13.37 Tg/yr, the net mitigation potentials, which were 6.328 Tg/yr for the FP scenario and 9.179 Tg/yr for the FP + P scenario, had different trends when the full budget of the greenhouse gases was considered; (2) when the feasibility in connection with greenhouse gas (GHG) mitigation, economic benefits, and environmental benefits was taken into consideration, straw returning was feasible in 15 provinces in the FP scenario, with a total net mitigation potential of 7.192 TgCe/yr and the total benefits of CNY 1.473 billion (USD 216.6 million); (3) in the FP + P scenario, with the implementation of precision fertilization, straw returning was feasible in 26 provinces with a total net mitigation potential of 10.39 TgCe/yr and the total benefits of CNY 5.466 billion (USD 803.8 million); (4) any extent of change in the treatment of straw from being burnt to being returned would contribute to air pollution reduction; (5) some countermeasures, such as CH(4) reduction in rice paddies, precision fertilization, financial support, education and propaganda, would promote the feasibility of straw returning as a mitigation measure.

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.

Effect of biochar addition on short-term N2O and CO2 emissions during repeated drying and wetting of an anthropogenic alluvial soil.

PubMed

Yang, Fang; Lee, Xinqing; Theng, Benny K G; Wang, Bing; Cheng, Jianzhong; Wang, Qian

2017-06-01

Agricultural soils are an important source of greenhouse gases (GHG). Biochar application to such soils has the potential of mitigating global anthropogenic GHG emissions. Under irrigation, the topsoils in arid regions experience repeated drying and wetting during the crop growing season. Biochar incorporation into these soils would change the soil microbial environment and hence affect GHG emissions. Little information, however, is available regarding the effect of biochar addition on carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) and nitrous oxide (N 2 O) emissions from agricultural soils undergoing repeated drying and wetting. Here, we report the results of a 49-day aerobic incubation experiment, incorporating biochar into an anthropogenic alluvial soil in an arid region of Xinjiang Province, China, and measuring CO 2 and N 2 O emissions. Under both drying-wetting and constantly moist conditions, biochar amendment significantly increased cumulative CO 2 emission. At the same time, there was a significant reduction (up to ~20 %) in cumulative N 2 O emission, indicating that the addition of biochar to irrigated agricultural soils may effectively slow down global warming in arid regions of China.

Biodiesel production in a semiarid environment: a life cycle assessment approach.

PubMed

Biswas, Wahidul K; Barton, Louise; Carter, Daniel

2011-04-01

While the use of biodiesel appears to be a promising alternative to petroleum fuel, the replacement of fossil fuel by biofuel may not bring about the intended climate cooling because of the increased soil N2O emissions due to N-fertilizer applications. Using a life cycle assessment approach, we assessed the influence of soil nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions on the life cycle global warming potential of the production and combustion of biodiesel from canola oil produced in a semiarid climate. Utilizing locally measured soil N2O emissions, rather than the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) default values, decreased greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from the production and combustion of 1 GJ biodiesel from 63 to 37 carbon dioxide equivalents (CO2-e)/GJ. GHG were 1.1 to 2.1 times lower than those from petroleum or petroleum-based diesel depending on which soil N2O emission factors were included in the analysis. The advantages of utilizing biodiesel rapidly declined when blended with petroleum diesel. Mitigation strategies that decrease emissions from the production and application of N fertilizers may further decrease the life cycle GHG emissions in the production and combustion of biodiesel.

Climate, Agriculture, Energy and the Optimal Allocation of Global Land Use

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Steinbuks, J.; Hertel, T. W.

2011-12-01

The allocation of the world's land resources over the course of the next century has become a pressing research question. Continuing population increases, improving, land-intensive diets amongst the poorest populations in the world, increasing production of biofuels and rapid urbanization in developing countries are all competing for land even as the world looks to land resources to supply more environmental services. The latter include biodiversity and natural lands, as well as forests and grasslands devoted to carbon sequestration. And all of this is taking place in the context of faster than expected climate change which is altering the biophysical environment for land-related activities. The goal of the paper is to determine the optimal profile for global land use in the context of growing commercial demands for food and forest products, increasing non-market demands for ecosystem services, and more stringent GHG mitigation targets. We then seek to assess how the uncertainty associated with the underlying biophysical and economic processes influences this optimal profile of land use, in light of potential irreversibility in these decisions. We develop a dynamic long-run, forward-looking partial equilibrium framework in which the societal objective function being maximized places value on food production, liquid fuels (including biofuels), timber production, forest carbon and biodiversity. Given the importance of land-based emissions to any GHG mitigation strategy, as well as the potential impacts of climate change itself on the productivity of land in agriculture, forestry and ecosystem services, we aim to identify the optimal allocation of the world's land resources, over the course of the next century, in the face of alternative GHG constraints. The forestry sector is characterized by multiple forest vintages which add considerable computational complexity in the context of this dynamic analysis. In order to solve this model efficiently, we have employed the Purdue University parallel processing computing cluster. The model is solved over the period 2000 - 2100. Our 100 year baseline accurately reflects developments in global land use over the 10 years that have already transpired, while also incorporating projections of population, income and demand growth from a variety of international agencies. We also consider three counterfactual scenarios (higher growth in energy prices, lower growth in agricultural productivity, and global GHG emissions regulations). Our model baseline predicts that, in absence of market imperfections, growth in cropland/deforestation that account for a large share of land-use GHG emission, declines significantly in the medium run. However, energy prices and policies have a significant effect on agricultural land use. Sensitivity to energy prices is compounded by vulnerability of agriculture to adverse productivity shocks from climate. In a 'perfect storm' of high growth in energy prices and declining agricultural productivity growth, additional demand for cropland leads to significant deforestation and higher GHG emissions. As a result, large welfare losses occur. When we also expect the sector to deliver increased ecosystem services as well as land-based GHG abatement, the pressure on land and water resources can be very significant.

Quantifying the biophysical climate change mitigation potential of Canada's forest sector

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Smyth, C. E.; Stinson, G.; Neilson, E.; Lemprière, T. C.; Hafer, M.; Rampley, G. J.; Kurz, W. A.

2014-01-01

The potential of forests and the forest sector to mitigate greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions is widely recognized, but challenging to quantify at a national scale. Forests and their carbon (C) sequestration potential are affected by management practices, where wood harvesting transfers C out of the forest into products, and subsequent regrowth allows further C sequestration. Here we determine the mitigation potential of the 2.3 × 106 km2 of Canada's managed forests from 2015 to 2050 using the Carbon Budget Model of the Canadian Forest Sector (CBM-CFS3), a harvested wood products model that estimates emissions based on product half-life decay times, and an account of emission substitution benefits from the use of wood products and bioenergy. We examine several mitigation scenarios with different assumptions about forest management activity levels relative to a base-case scenario, including improved growth from silvicultural activities, increased harvest and residue management for bioenergy, and reduced harvest for conservation. We combine forest management options with two mitigation scenarios for harvested wood product use involving an increase in either long-lived products or bioenergy uses. Results demonstrate large differences among alternative scenarios, and we identify potential mitigation scenarios with increasing benefits to the atmosphere for many decades into the future, as well as scenarios with no net benefit over many decades. The greatest mitigation impact was achieved through a mix of strategies that varied across the country and had cumulative mitigation of 254 Tg CO2e in 2030, and 1180 Tg CO2e in 2050. We conclude that (i) national-scale forest sector mitigation options need to be assessed rigorously from a systems perspective to avoid the development of policies that deliver no net benefits to the atmosphere, (ii) a mix of strategies implemented across the country achieves the greatest mitigation impact, and (iii) because of the time delays in achieving carbon benefits for many forest-based mitigation activities, future contributions of the forest sector to climate mitigation can be maximized if implemented soon.

A Multi-Model Framework to Achieve Consistent Evaluation of Climate Change Impacts in the United States

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sarofim, M. C.; Martinich, J.; Waldhoff, S.; DeAngelo, B. J.; McFarland, J.; Jantarasami, L.; Shouse, K.; Crimmins, A.; Li, J.

2014-12-01

The Climate Change Impacts and Risk Analysis (CIRA) project establishes a new multi-model framework to systematically assess the physical impacts, economic damages, and risks from climate change. The primary goal of this framework is to estimate the degree to which climate change impacts and damages in the United States are avoided or reduced in the 21st century under multiple greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions mitigation scenarios. The first phase of the CIRA project is a modeling exercise that included two integrated assessment models and 15 sectoral models encompassing five broad impacts sectors: water resources, electric power, infrastructure, human health, and ecosystems. Three consistent socioeconomic and climate scenarios are used to analyze the benefits of global GHG mitigation targets: a reference scenario and two policy scenarios with total radiative forcing targets in 2100 of 4.5 W/m2 and 3.7 W/m2. In this exercise, the implications of key uncertainties are explored, including climate sensitivity, climate model, natural variability, and model structures and parameters. This presentation describes the motivations and goals of the CIRA project; the design and academic contribution of the first CIRA modeling exercise; and briefly summarizes several papers published in a special issue of Climatic Change. The results across impact sectors show that GHG mitigation provides benefits to the United States that increase over time, the effects of climate change can be strongly influenced by near-term policy choices, adaptation can reduce net damages, and impacts exhibit spatial and temporal patterns that may inform mitigation and adaptation policy discussions.

Development and testing of a European Union-wide farm-level carbon calculator.

PubMed

Tuomisto, Hanna L; De Camillis, Camillo; Leip, Adrian; Nisini, Luigi; Pelletier, Nathan; Haastrup, Palle

2015-07-01

Direct greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from agriculture accounted for approximately 10% of total European Union (EU) emissions in 2010. To reduce farming-related GHG emissions, appropriate policy measures and supporting tools for promoting low-C farming practices may be efficacious. This article presents the methodology and testing results of a new EU-wide, farm-level C footprint calculator. The Carbon Calculator quantifies GHG emissions based on international standards and technical specifications on Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) and C footprinting. The tool delivers its results both at the farm level and as allocated to up to 5 main products of the farm. In addition to the quantification of GHG emissions, the calculator proposes mitigation options and sequestration actions that may be suitable for individual farms. The results obtained during a survey made on 54 farms from 8 EU Member States are presented. These farms were selected in view of representing the diversity of farm types across different environmental zones in the EU. The results of the C footprint of products in the data set show wide range of variation between minimum and maximum values. The results of the mitigation actions showed that the tool can help identify practices that can lead to substantial emission reductions. To avoid burden-shifting from climate change to other environmental issues, the future improvements of the tool should include incorporation of other environmental impact categories in place of solely focusing on GHG emissions. © 2015 The Authors. Integrated Environmental Assessment and Management Published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of SETAC.

A review of land-based greenhouse gas flux estimates in Indonesia

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Austin, Kemen G.; Harris, Nancy L.; Wijaya, Arief; Murdiyarso, Daniel; Harvey, Tom; Stolle, Fred; Kasibhatla, Prasad S.

2018-05-01

This study examines underlying reasons for differences among land-based greenhouse gas flux estimates in Indonesia, where six national inventories reported average emissions of between 0.4 and 1.1 Gt CO2e yr‑1 over the 2000–2012 period. The large range among estimates is only somewhat smaller than Indonesia’s GHG mitigation commitment. To determine the reasons for these differences, we compared input data and estimation methods, including the definitions and assumptions used for setting accounting boundaries, including emitting activities, incorporating fluxes from various carbon pools, and handling legacy fluxes. We also tested the sensitivity of methodological differences by generating our own reference emissions estimate and iteratively modifying individual components of the inventory. We found that the largest changes stem from the inclusion of legacy GHG emissions due to peat drainage (which increased emissions by at least +94% compared to the reference), methane emissions due to peat fires (+35%), and GHG emissions from belowground biomass and necromass carbon pools (+61%), modifications to assumptions of the mass of fuel burnt in peat fire events (+88%), and accounting for regrowth following a deforestation event (‑31%). These differences cumulatively explain more than half of the observed difference among inventory estimates. Understanding the various approaches to emissions estimation, and how these influence the magnitude of component GHG fluxes, is an important first step towards reconciling GHG inventories. The Indonesian government’s success in achieving its mitigation goal will depend on its ability to measure progress and evaluate the effectiveness of abatement actions, for which reliable harmonized greenhouse gas inventories are an essential foundation.

Life-cycle analysis of greenhouse gas emissions from renewable jet fuel production.

PubMed

de Jong, Sierk; Antonissen, Kay; Hoefnagels, Ric; Lonza, Laura; Wang, Michael; Faaij, André; Junginger, Martin

2017-01-01

The introduction of renewable jet fuel (RJF) is considered an important emission mitigation measure for the aviation industry. This study compares the well-to-wake (WtWa) greenhouse gas (GHG) emission performance of multiple RJF conversion pathways and explores the impact of different co-product allocation methods. The insights obtained in this study are of particular importance if RJF is included as an emission mitigation instrument in the global Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation (CORSIA). Fischer-Tropsch pathways yield the highest GHG emission reduction compared to fossil jet fuel (86-104%) of the pathways in scope, followed by Hydrothermal Liquefaction (77-80%) and sugarcane- (71-75%) and corn stover-based Alcohol-to-Jet (60-75%). Feedstock cultivation, hydrogen and conversion inputs were shown to be major contributors to the overall WtWa GHG emission performance. The choice of allocation method mainly affects pathways yielding high shares of co-products or producing co-products which effectively displace carbon intensive products (e.g., electricity). Renewable jet fuel can contribute to significant reduction of aviation-related GHG emissions, provided the right feedstock and conversion technology are used. The GHG emission performance of RJF may be further improved by using sustainable hydrogen sources or applying carbon capture and storage. Based on the character and impact of different co-product allocation methods, we recommend using energy and economic allocation (for non-energy co-products) at a global level, as it leverages the universal character of energy allocation while adequately valuing non-energy co-products.

Reducing greenhouse gas emissions for climate stabilization: framing regional options.

PubMed

Olabisi, Laura Schmitt; Reich, Peter B; Johnson, Kris A; Kapuscinski, Anne R; Su, Sangwon H; Wilson, Elizabeth J

2009-03-15

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has stated that stabilizing atmospheric CO2 concentrations will require reduction of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by as much as 80% by 2050. Subnational efforts to cut emissions will inform policy development nationally and globally. We projected GHG mitigation strategies for Minnesota, which has adopted a strategic goal of 80% emissions reduction by 2050. A portfolio of conservation strategies, including electricity conservation, increased vehicle fleet fuel efficiency, and reduced vehicle miles traveled, is likely the most cost-effective option for Minnesota and could reduce emissions by 18% below 2005 levels. An 80% GHG reduction would require complete decarbonization of the electricity and transportation sectors, combined with carbon capture and sequestration at power plants, or deep cuts in other relatively more intransigent GHG-emitting sectors. In order to achieve ambitious GHG reduction goals, policymakers should promote aggressive conservation efforts, which would probably have negative net costs, while phasing in alternative fuels to replace coal and motor gasoline over the long-term.

Overview of the Special Issue: A Multi-Model Framework to ...

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

The Climate Change Impacts and Risk Analysis (CIRA) project establishes a new multi-model framework to systematically assess the impacts, economic damages, and risks from climate change in the United States. The primary goal of this framework to estimate how climate change impacts and damages in the United States are avoided or reduced due to global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions mitigation scenarios. Scenarios are designed to explore key uncertainties around the measurement of these changes. The modeling exercise presented in this Special Issue includes two integrated assessment models and 15 sectoral models encompassing six broad impacts sectors - water resources, electric power, infrastructure, human health, ecosystems, and forests. Three consistent emissions scenarios are used to analyze the benefits of global GHG mitigation targets: a reference and two policy scenarios, with total radiative forcing in 2100 of 10.0W/m2, 4.5W/m2, and 3.7W/m2. A range of climate sensitivities, climate models, natural variability measures, and structural uncertainties of sectoral models are examined to explore the implications of key uncertainties. This overview paper describes the motivations, goals, design, and academic contribution of the CIRA modeling exercise and briefly summarizes the subsequent papers in this Special Issue. A summary of results across impact sectors is provided showing that: GHG mitigation provides benefits to the United States that increase over

Bioenergy crop productivity and potential climate change mitigation from marginal lands in the United States: An ecosystem modeling perspective

DOE PAGES

Qin, Zhangcai; Zhuang, Qianlai; Cai, Ximing

2014-06-16

Growing biomass feedstocks from marginal lands is becoming an increasingly attractive choice for producing biofuel as an alternative energy to fossil fuels. Here, we used a biogeochemical model at ecosystem scale to estimate crop productivity and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from bioenergy crops grown on marginal lands in the United States. Two broadly tested cellulosic crops, switchgrass, and Miscanthus, were assumed to be grown on the abandoned land and mixed crop–vegetation land with marginal productivity. Production of biomass and biofuel as well as net carbon exchange and nitrous oxide emissions were estimated in a spatially explicit manner. We found that,more » cellulosic crops, especially Miscanthus could produce a considerable amount of biomass, and the effective ethanol yield is high on these marginal lands. For every hectare of marginal land, switchgrass and Miscanthus could produce 1.0–2.3 kl and 2.9–6.9 kl ethanol, respectively, depending on nitrogen fertilization rate and biofuel conversion efficiency. Nationally, both crop systems act as net GHG sources. Switchgrass has high global warming intensity (100–390 g CO 2eq l –1 ethanol), in terms of GHG emissions per unit ethanol produced. Miscanthus, however, emits only 21–36 g CO 2eq to produce every liter of ethanol. To reach the mandated cellulosic ethanol target in the United States, growing Miscanthus on the marginal lands could potentially save land and reduce GHG emissions in comparison to growing switchgrass. Furthermore, the ecosystem modeling is still limited by data availability and model deficiencies, further efforts should be made to classify crop–specific marginal land availability, improve model structure, and better integrate ecosystem modeling into life cycle assessment.« less

Wastewater treatment and reuse in urban agriculture: exploring the food, energy, water, and health nexus in Hyderabad, India

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Miller-Robbie, Leslie; Ramaswami, Anu; Amerasinghe, Priyanie

2017-07-01

Nutrients and water found in domestic treated wastewater are valuable and can be reutilized in urban agriculture as a potential strategy to provide communities with access to fresh produce. In this paper, this proposition is examined by conducting a field study in the rapidly developing city of Hyderabad, India. Urban agriculture trade-offs in water use, energy use and GHG emissions, nutrient uptake, and crop pathogen quality are evaluated, and irrigation waters of varying qualities (treated wastewater, versus untreated water and groundwater) are compared. The results are counter-intuitive, and illustrate potential synergies and key constraints relating to the food-energy-water-health (FEW-health) nexus in developing cities. First, when the impact of GHG emissions from untreated wastewater diluted in surface streams is compared with the life cycle assessment of wastewater treatment with reuse in agriculture, the treatment-plus-reuse case yields a 33% reduction in life cycle system-wide GHG emissions. Second, despite water cycling benefits in urban agriculture, only <1% of the nutrients are able to be captured in urban agriculture, limited by the small proportion of effluent divertible to urban agriculture due to land constraints. Thus, water treatment plus reuse in urban farms can enhance GHG mitigation and also directly save groundwater; however, very large amounts of land are needed to extract nutrients from dilute effluents. Third, although energy use for wastewater treatment results in pathogen indicator organism concentrations in irrigation water to be reduced by 99.9% (three orders of magnitude) compared to the untreated case, crop pathogen content was reduced by much less, largely due to environmental contamination and farmer behavior and harvesting practices. The study uncovers key physical, environmental, and behavioral factors that constrain benefits achievable at the FEW-health nexus in urban areas.

Climate change affects winter chill for temperate fruit and nut trees.

PubMed

Luedeling, Eike; Girvetz, Evan H; Semenov, Mikhail A; Brown, Patrick H

2011-01-01

Temperate fruit and nut trees require adequate winter chill to produce economically viable yields. Global warming has the potential to reduce available winter chill and greatly impact crop yields. We estimated winter chill for two past (1975 and 2000) and 18 future scenarios (mid and end 21st century; 3 Global Climate Models [GCMs]; 3 greenhouse gas emissions [GHG] scenarios). For 4,293 weather stations around the world and GCM projections, Safe Winter Chill (SWC), the amount of winter chill that is exceeded in 90% of all years, was estimated for all scenarios using the "Dynamic Model" and interpolated globally. We found that SWC ranged between 0 and about 170 Chill Portions (CP) for all climate scenarios, but that the global distribution varied across scenarios. Warm regions are likely to experience severe reductions in available winter chill, potentially threatening production there. In contrast, SWC in most temperate growing regions is likely to remain relatively unchanged, and cold regions may even see an increase in SWC. Climate change impacts on SWC differed quantitatively among GCMs and GHG scenarios, with the highest GHG leading to losses up to 40 CP in warm regions, compared to 20 CP for the lowest GHG. The extent of projected changes in winter chill in many major growing regions of fruits and nuts indicates that growers of these commodities will likely experience problems in the future. Mitigation of climate change through reductions in greenhouse gas emissions can help reduce the impacts, however, adaption to changes will have to occur. To better prepare for likely impacts of climate change, efforts should be undertaken to breed tree cultivars for lower chilling requirements, to develop tools to cope with insufficient winter chill, and to better understand the temperature responses of tree crops.

GHG emissions inventory for on-road transportation in the town of Sassari (Sardinia, Italy)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sanna, Laura; Ferrara, Roberto; Zara, Pierpaolo; Duce, Pierpaolo

2016-04-01

The IPCC Fifth Assessment Report (AR5) accounts an increase of the total annual anthropogenic GHG emissions between 2000 and 2010 that directly came from the transport sector. In 2010, 14% of GHG emissions were released by transport and fossil-fuel-related CO2 emissions reached about 32 GtCO2 per year. The report also considers adaptation and mitigation as complementary strategies for reducing the risks of climate change for sustainable development of urban areas. This paper describes the on-road traffic emission estimated in the framework of a Sardinian regional project [1] for the town of Sassari (Sardinia, Italy), one of the Sardinian areas where the fuel consumption for on-road transportation purposes is higher [2]. The GHG emissions have been accounted (a) by a calculation-based methodology founded on a linear relationship between source activity and emission, and (b) by the COPERT IV methodology through the EMITRA (EMIssions from road TRAnsport) software tool [3]. Inventory data for annual fossil fuel consumption associated with on-road transportation (diesel, gasoline, gas) have been collected through the Dogane service, the ATP and ARST public transport services and vehicle fleet data are available from the Public Vehicle Database (PRA), using 2010 as baseline year. During this period, the estimated CO2 emissions accounts for more than 180,000 tCO2. The calculation of emissions due to on-road transport quantitatively estimates CO2 and other GHG emissions and represents a useful baseline to identify possible adaptation and mitigation strategies to face the climate change risks at municipal level. Acknowledgements This research was funded by the Sardinian Regional Project "Development, functional checking and setup of an integrated system for the quantification of CO2 net exchange and for the evaluation of mitigation strategies at urban and territorial scale", (Legge Regionale 7 agosto 2007, No. 7). References [1] Sanna L., Ferrara R., Zara P. & Duce P. (2014), GHG emissions inventory at urban scale: the Sassari case study, Energy Procedia, No. 59, pp. 344 - 350. [2] Bellasio R, Bianconi R, Corda G, Cucca P. (2007), Emission inventory for the road transport sector in Sardinia (Italy), Atmospheric Environment, No. 41, pp. 677-691. [3] Gkatzoflias D., Kouridis C., Ntziachristos L. & Samaras Z. (2012), COPERT 4, Computer programme to calculate emissions from road transport, User manual (version 9.0), Emisia.

Greenhouse gas mitigation for U.S. plastics production: energy first, feedstocks later

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Posen, I. Daniel; Jaramillo, Paulina; Landis, Amy E.; Griffin, W. Michael

2017-03-01

Plastics production is responsible for 1% and 3% of U.S. greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and primary energy use, respectively. Replacing conventional plastics with bio-based plastics (made from renewable feedstocks) is frequently proposed as a way to mitigate these impacts. Comparatively little research has considered the potential for green energy to reduce emissions in this industry. This paper compares two strategies for reducing greenhouse gas emissions from U.S. plastics production: using renewable energy or switching to renewable feedstocks. Renewable energy pathways assume all process energy comes from wind power and renewable natural gas derived from landfill gas. Renewable feedstock pathways assume that all commodity thermoplastics will be replaced with polylactic acid (PLA) and bioethylene-based plastics, made using either corn or switchgrass, and powered using either conventional or renewable energy. Corn-based biopolymers produced with conventional energy are the dominant near-term biopolymer option, and can reduce industry-wide GHG emissions by 25%, or 16 million tonnes CO2e/year (mean value). In contrast, switching to renewable energy cuts GHG emissions by 50%-75% (a mean industry-wide reduction of 38 million tonnes CO2e/year). Both strategies increase industry costs—by up to 85/tonne plastic (mean result) for renewable energy, and up to 3000 tonne-1 plastic for renewable feedstocks. Overall, switching to renewable energy achieves greater emission reductions, with less uncertainty and lower costs than switching to corn-based biopolymers. In the long run, producing bio-based plastics from advanced feedstocks (e.g. switchgrass) and/or with renewable energy can further reduce emissions, to approximately 0 CO2e/year (mean value).

The importance of health co-benefits in macroeconomic assessments of UK Greenhouse Gas emission reduction strategies.

PubMed

Jensen, Henning Tarp; Keogh-Brown, Marcus R; Smith, Richard D; Chalabi, Zaid; Dangour, Alan D; Davies, Mike; Edwards, Phil; Garnett, Tara; Givoni, Moshe; Griffiths, Ulla; Hamilton, Ian; Jarrett, James; Roberts, Ian; Wilkinson, Paul; Woodcock, James; Haines, Andy

We employ a single-country dynamically-recursive Computable General Equilibrium model to make health-focussed macroeconomic assessments of three contingent UK Greenhouse Gas (GHG) mitigation strategies, designed to achieve 2030 emission targets as suggested by the UK Committee on Climate Change. In contrast to previous assessment studies, our main focus is on health co-benefits additional to those from reduced local air pollution. We employ a conservative cost-effectiveness methodology with a zero net cost threshold. Our urban transport strategy (with cleaner vehicles and increased active travel) brings important health co-benefits and is likely to be strongly cost-effective; our food and agriculture strategy (based on abatement technologies and reduction in livestock production) brings worthwhile health co-benefits, but is unlikely to eliminate net costs unless new technological measures are included; our household energy efficiency strategy is likely to breakeven only over the long term after the investment programme has ceased (beyond our 20 year time horizon). We conclude that UK policy makers will, most likely, have to adopt elements which involve initial net societal costs in order to achieve future emission targets and longer-term benefits from GHG reduction. Cost-effectiveness of GHG strategies is likely to require technological mitigation interventions and/or demand-constraining interventions with important health co-benefits and other efficiency-enhancing policies that promote internalization of externalities. Health co-benefits can play a crucial role in bringing down net costs, but our results also suggest the need for adopting holistic assessment methodologies which give proper consideration to welfare-improving health co-benefits with potentially negative economic repercussions (such as increased longevity).

Renewable biocatalyst for swine manure treatment and mitigation of odorous VOCs, ammonia and hydrogen sulfide emissions: Review

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Comprehensive control of odors, hydrogen sulfide (H2S), ammonia (NH3), and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions associated with swine production is a critical need. The objective of this paper is to review the use of soybean peroxidase (SBP) and peroxides as a manure additive to mitigate emissions of odor...

Impact of water table level on annual carbon and greenhouse gas balances of a restored peat extraction area

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Järveoja, J.; Peichl, M.; Maddison, M.; Soosaar, K.; Vellak, K.; Karofeld, E.; Teemusk, A.; Mander, Ü.

2015-10-01

Peatland restoration may provide a potential after-use option to mitigate the negative climate impact of abandoned peat extraction areas; currently, however, knowledge about restoration effects on the annual balances of carbon (C) and greenhouse gas (GHG) exchanges is still limited. The aim of this study was to investigate the impact of contrasting water table levels (WTL) on the annual C and GHG balances of restoration treatments with high (Res-H) and low (Res-L) WTL relative to an unrestored bare peat (BP) site. Measurements of carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide (N2O) fluxes were conducted over a full year using the closed chamber method and complemented by measurements of abiotic controls and vegetation cover. Three years following restoration, the difference in the mean WTL resulted in higher bryophyte and lower vascular plant cover in Res-H relative to Res-L. Consequently, greater gross primary production and autotrophic respiration associated with greater vascular plant cover were observed in Res-L compared to Res-H. However, the means of the measured net ecosystem CO2 exchanges (NEE) were not significantly different between Res-H and Res-L. Similarly, no significant differences were observed in the respective means of CH4 and N2O exchanges in Res-H and Res-L, respectively. In comparison to the two restored sites, greater net CO2, similar CH4 and greater N2O emissions occurred in BP. On the annual scale, Res-H, Res-L and BP were C sources of 111, 103 and 268 g C m-2 yr-1 and had positive GHG balances of 4.1, 3.8 and 10.2 t CO2 eq ha-1 yr-1, respectively. Thus, the different WTLs had a limited impact on the C and GHG balances in the two restored treatments three years following restoration. However, the C and GHG balances in Res-H and Res-L were considerably lower than in BP owing to the large reduction in CO2 emissions. This study therefore suggests that restoration may serve as an effective method to mitigate the negative climate impacts of abandoned peat extraction areas.

Mitigating environmental impacts through the energetic use of wood: Regional displacement factors generated by means of substituting non-wood heating systems.

PubMed

Wolf, Christian; Klein, Daniel; Richter, Klaus; Weber-Blaschke, Gabriele

2016-11-01

Wood biomass, especially when applied for heating, plays an important role for mitigating environmental impacts such as climate change and the transition towards higher shares of renewable energy in today's energy mix. However, the magnitude of mitigation benefits and burdens associated with wood use can vary greatly depending on regional parameters such as the displaced fossil reference or heating mix. Therefore, regionalized displacement factors, considering region-specific production conditions and substituted products are required when assessing the precise contribution of wood biomass towards the mitigation of environmental impacts. We carried out Life Cycle Assessments of wood heating systems for typical Bavarian conditions and substitute energy carriers with a focus on climate change and particulate matter emissions. In order to showcase regional effects, we created weighted displacement factors for the region of Bavaria, based on installed capacities of individual wood heating systems and the harvested tree species distribution. The study reveals that GHG displacements between -57gCO2-eq.∗MJ(-1) of useful energy through the substitution of natural gas with a 15kW spruce pellets heating system and -165gCO2-eq.∗MJ(-1) through the substitution of power utilized for heating with a modern 6kW beech split log heating system can be achieved. It was shown that the GHG mitigation potentials of wood utilization are overestimated through the common use of light fuel oil as the only reference system. We further propose a methodology for the calculation of displacement factors which is adaptable to other regions worldwide. Based on our approach it is possible to generate displacement factors for wood heating systems which enable accurate decision-making for project planning in households, heating plants, communities and also for entire regions. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Role of the Freight Sector in Future Climate Change Mitigation Scenarios

DOE PAGES

Muratori, Matteo; Smith, Steven J.; Kyle, Page; ...

2017-02-27

The freight sector's role is examined using the Global Change Assessment Model (GCAM) for a range of climate change mitigation scenarios and future freight demand assumptions. Energy usage and CO 2 emissions from freight have historically grown with a correlation to GDP, and there is limited evidence of near-term global decoupling of freight demand from GDP. Over the 21 st century, greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from freight are projected to grow faster than passenger transportation or other major end-use sectors, with the magnitude of growth dependent on the assumed extent of long-term decoupling. In climate change mitigation scenarios that applymore » a price to GHG emissions, mitigation of freight emissions (including the effects of demand elasticity, mode and technology shifting, and fuel substitution) is more limited than for other demand sectors. In such scenarios, shifting to less-emitting transportation modes and technologies is projected to play a relatively small role in reducing freight emissions in GCAM. Finally, by contrast, changes in the supply chain of liquid fuels that reduce the fuel carbon intensity, especially deriving from large-scale use of biofuels coupled to carbon capture and storage technologies, are responsible for the majority of freight emissions mitigation, followed by price-induced reduction in freight demand services.« less

Role of the Freight Sector in Future Climate Change Mitigation Scenarios

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

Muratori, Matteo; Smith, Steven J.; Kyle, Page

The freight sector's role is examined using the Global Change Assessment Model (GCAM) for a range of climate change mitigation scenarios and future freight demand assumptions. Energy usage and CO 2 emissions from freight have historically grown with a correlation to GDP, and there is limited evidence of near-term global decoupling of freight demand from GDP. Over the 21 st century, greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from freight are projected to grow faster than passenger transportation or other major end-use sectors, with the magnitude of growth dependent on the assumed extent of long-term decoupling. In climate change mitigation scenarios that applymore » a price to GHG emissions, mitigation of freight emissions (including the effects of demand elasticity, mode and technology shifting, and fuel substitution) is more limited than for other demand sectors. In such scenarios, shifting to less-emitting transportation modes and technologies is projected to play a relatively small role in reducing freight emissions in GCAM. Finally, by contrast, changes in the supply chain of liquid fuels that reduce the fuel carbon intensity, especially deriving from large-scale use of biofuels coupled to carbon capture and storage technologies, are responsible for the majority of freight emissions mitigation, followed by price-induced reduction in freight demand services.« less

Role of the Freight Sector in Future Climate Change Mitigation Scenarios.

PubMed

Muratori, Matteo; Smith, Steven J; Kyle, Page; Link, Robert; Mignone, Bryan K; Kheshgi, Haroon S

2017-03-21

The freight sector's role is examined using the Global Change Assessment Model (GCAM) for a range of climate change mitigation scenarios and future freight demand assumptions. Energy usage and CO 2 emissions from freight have historically grown with a correlation to GDP, and there is limited evidence of near-term global decoupling of freight demand from GDP. Over the 21 st century, greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from freight are projected to grow faster than passenger transportation or other major end-use sectors, with the magnitude of growth dependent on the assumed extent of long-term decoupling. In climate change mitigation scenarios that apply a price to GHG emissions, mitigation of freight emissions (including the effects of demand elasticity, mode and technology shifting, and fuel substitution) is more limited than for other demand sectors. In such scenarios, shifting to less-emitting transportation modes and technologies is projected to play a relatively small role in reducing freight emissions in GCAM. By contrast, changes in the supply chain of liquid fuels that reduce the fuel carbon intensity, especially deriving from large-scale use of biofuels coupled to carbon capture and storage technologies, are responsible for the majority of freight emissions mitigation, followed by price-induced reduction in freight demand services.

Field-based estimates of global warming potential in bioenergy systems of Hawaii: Crop choice and deficit irrigation

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

Pawlowski, Meghan N.; Crow, Susan E.; Meki, Manyowa N.

Replacing fossil fuel with biofuel is environmentally viable from a climate change perspective only if the net greenhouse gas (GHG) footprint of the system is reduced. The effects of replacing annual arable crops with perennial bioenergy feedstocks on net GHG production and soil carbon (C) stock are critical to the system-level balance. Here, we compared GHG flux, crop yield, root biomass, and soil C stock under two potential tropical, perennial grass biofuel feedstocks: conventional sugarcane and ratoon-harvested, zero-tillage napiergrass. Evaluations were conducted at two irrigation levels, 100% of plantation application and at a 50% deficit. Peaks and troughs of GHGmore » emission followed agronomic events such as ratoon harvest of napiergrass and fertilization. Yet, net GHG flux was dominated by carbon dioxide (CO 2), as methane was oxidized and nitrous oxide (N 2O) emission was very low even following fertilization. High N 2O fluxes that frequently negate other greenhouse gas benefits that come from replacing fossil fuels with agronomic forms of bioenergy were mitigated by efficient water and fertilizer management, including direct injection of fertilizer into buried irrigation lines. From soil intensively cultivated for a century in sugarcane, soil C stock and root biomass increased rapidly following cultivation in grasses selected for robust root systems and drought tolerance. The net soil C increase over the two-year crop cycle was three-fold greater than the annualized soil surface CO 2 flux. Furthermore, deficit irrigation reduced yield, but increased soil C accumulation as proportionately more photosynthetic resources were allocated below ground. In the first two years of cultivation napier grass did not increase net greenhouse warming potential (GWP) compared to sugarcane, and has the advantage of multiple ratoon harvests per year and less negative effects of deficit irrigation to yield.« less

Field-based estimates of global warming potential in bioenergy systems of Hawaii: Crop choice and deficit irrigation

DOE PAGES

Pawlowski, Meghan N.; Crow, Susan E.; Meki, Manyowa N.; ...

2017-01-04

Replacing fossil fuel with biofuel is environmentally viable from a climate change perspective only if the net greenhouse gas (GHG) footprint of the system is reduced. The effects of replacing annual arable crops with perennial bioenergy feedstocks on net GHG production and soil carbon (C) stock are critical to the system-level balance. Here, we compared GHG flux, crop yield, root biomass, and soil C stock under two potential tropical, perennial grass biofuel feedstocks: conventional sugarcane and ratoon-harvested, zero-tillage napiergrass. Evaluations were conducted at two irrigation levels, 100% of plantation application and at a 50% deficit. Peaks and troughs of GHGmore » emission followed agronomic events such as ratoon harvest of napiergrass and fertilization. Yet, net GHG flux was dominated by carbon dioxide (CO 2), as methane was oxidized and nitrous oxide (N 2O) emission was very low even following fertilization. High N 2O fluxes that frequently negate other greenhouse gas benefits that come from replacing fossil fuels with agronomic forms of bioenergy were mitigated by efficient water and fertilizer management, including direct injection of fertilizer into buried irrigation lines. From soil intensively cultivated for a century in sugarcane, soil C stock and root biomass increased rapidly following cultivation in grasses selected for robust root systems and drought tolerance. The net soil C increase over the two-year crop cycle was three-fold greater than the annualized soil surface CO 2 flux. Furthermore, deficit irrigation reduced yield, but increased soil C accumulation as proportionately more photosynthetic resources were allocated below ground. In the first two years of cultivation napier grass did not increase net greenhouse warming potential (GWP) compared to sugarcane, and has the advantage of multiple ratoon harvests per year and less negative effects of deficit irrigation to yield.« less

Nutritional and greenhouse gas impacts of removing animals from US agriculture.

PubMed

White, Robin R; Hall, Mary Beth

2017-11-28

As a major contributor to agricultural greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, it has been suggested that reducing animal agriculture or consumption of animal-derived foods may reduce GHGs and enhance food security. Because the total removal of animals provides the extreme boundary to potential mitigation options and requires the fewest assumptions to model, the yearly nutritional and GHG impacts of eliminating animals from US agriculture were quantified. Animal-derived foods currently provide energy (24% of total), protein (48%), essential fatty acids (23-100%), and essential amino acids (34-67%) available for human consumption in the United States. The US livestock industry employs 1.6 × 10 6 people and accounts for $31.8 billion in exports. Livestock recycle more than 43.2 × 10 9 kg of human-inedible food and fiber processing byproducts, converting them into human-edible food, pet food, industrial products, and 4 × 10 9 kg of N fertilizer. Although modeled plants-only agriculture produced 23% more food, it met fewer of the US population's requirements for essential nutrients. When nutritional adequacy was evaluated by using least-cost diets produced from foods available, more nutrient deficiencies, a greater excess of energy, and a need to consume a greater amount of food solids were encountered in plants-only diets. In the simulated system with no animals, estimated agricultural GHG decreased (28%), but did not fully counterbalance the animal contribution of GHG (49% in this model). This assessment suggests that removing animals from US agriculture would reduce agricultural GHG emissions, but would also create a food supply incapable of supporting the US population's nutritional requirements. Copyright © 2017 the Author(s). Published by PNAS.

Nutritional and greenhouse gas impacts of removing animals from US agriculture

PubMed Central

White, Robin R.; Hall, Mary Beth

2017-01-01

As a major contributor to agricultural greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, it has been suggested that reducing animal agriculture or consumption of animal-derived foods may reduce GHGs and enhance food security. Because the total removal of animals provides the extreme boundary to potential mitigation options and requires the fewest assumptions to model, the yearly nutritional and GHG impacts of eliminating animals from US agriculture were quantified. Animal-derived foods currently provide energy (24% of total), protein (48%), essential fatty acids (23–100%), and essential amino acids (34–67%) available for human consumption in the United States. The US livestock industry employs 1.6 × 106 people and accounts for $31.8 billion in exports. Livestock recycle more than 43.2 × 109 kg of human-inedible food and fiber processing byproducts, converting them into human-edible food, pet food, industrial products, and 4 × 109 kg of N fertilizer. Although modeled plants-only agriculture produced 23% more food, it met fewer of the US population’s requirements for essential nutrients. When nutritional adequacy was evaluated by using least-cost diets produced from foods available, more nutrient deficiencies, a greater excess of energy, and a need to consume a greater amount of food solids were encountered in plants-only diets. In the simulated system with no animals, estimated agricultural GHG decreased (28%), but did not fully counterbalance the animal contribution of GHG (49% in this model). This assessment suggests that removing animals from US agriculture would reduce agricultural GHG emissions, but would also create a food supply incapable of supporting the US population’s nutritional requirements. PMID:29133422

Energy-efficient drinking water disinfection for greenhouse gas mitigation

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

Gadgil, A.J.; Greene, D.M.; Rosenfeld, A.

Anecdotal evidence suggests that approximately one billion people worldwide use cookstoves to boil their drinking water. About half of this population is in China. Some populations (e.g. Jakarta) spend 1% of their GDP on boiling drinking water. Impoverished and/or ignorant populations not yet boiling their drinking water will do so when they can both afford it and understand the risks of unsafe drinking water. A recently developed water disinfection technology (UV Waterworks) can produce safe drinking water while earning tradable carbon credits (or credit as a clean development mechanism) when implemented as part of national energy, health, and carbon emissionsmore » trading policy, UV Waterworks uses approximately 6,000 times less energy than boiling over a biomass cookstove. Each unit that replaces boiling may save up to 175 or 300 tons/year of carbon-equivalent GHG emissions, depending on if it replaces sustainably harvested biomass (SHB) or non-SHB. For the approximately 500M Chinese boiling their drinking water over biomass (assumed SHB), this suggests a technical potential (that is, potential under the limiting case of 100% market adoption) of saving 87M tons/year of carbon-equivalent non-CO{sub 2} GHG emissions. The energy savings and corresponding emissions reductions will vary with cookstove fuels and stove efficiency: non-SHB and kerosene represent the most and least GHG-producing cookstove fuels, respectively, among those readily available to the populations of interest. The authors bracket the global technical potential for carbon emission reductions resulting from implementation of UV Waterworks, and estimate the value of tradable carbon credits earned from these reductions.« less

Nitrous Oxide Metabolism in Nitrate-Reducing Bacteria: Physiology and Regulatory Mechanisms.

PubMed

Torres, M J; Simon, J; Rowley, G; Bedmar, E J; Richardson, D J; Gates, A J; Delgado, M J

2016-01-01

Nitrous oxide (N2O) is an important greenhouse gas (GHG) with substantial global warming potential and also contributes to ozone depletion through photochemical nitric oxide (NO) production in the stratosphere. The negative effects of N2O on climate and stratospheric ozone make N2O mitigation an international challenge. More than 60% of global N2O emissions are emitted from agricultural soils mainly due to the application of synthetic nitrogen-containing fertilizers. Thus, mitigation strategies must be developed which increase (or at least do not negatively impact) on agricultural efficiency whilst decrease the levels of N2O released. This aim is particularly important in the context of the ever expanding population and subsequent increased burden on the food chain. More than two-thirds of N2O emissions from soils can be attributed to bacterial and fungal denitrification and nitrification processes. In ammonia-oxidizing bacteria, N2O is formed through the oxidation of hydroxylamine to nitrite. In denitrifiers, nitrate is reduced to N2 via nitrite, NO and N2O production. In addition to denitrification, respiratory nitrate ammonification (also termed dissimilatory nitrate reduction to ammonium) is another important nitrate-reducing mechanism in soil, responsible for the loss of nitrate and production of N2O from reduction of NO that is formed as a by-product of the reduction process. This review will synthesize our current understanding of the environmental, regulatory and biochemical control of N2O emissions by nitrate-reducing bacteria and point to new solutions for agricultural GHG mitigation. © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Mitigation Strategies for Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Agriculture and Land-Use Change: Consequences for Food Prices.

PubMed

Stevanović, Miodrag; Popp, Alexander; Bodirsky, Benjamin Leon; Humpenöder, Florian; Müller, Christoph; Weindl, Isabelle; Dietrich, Jan Philipp; Lotze-Campen, Hermann; Kreidenweis, Ulrich; Rolinski, Susanne; Biewald, Anne; Wang, Xiaoxi

2017-01-03

The land use sector of agriculture, forestry, and other land use (AFOLU) plays a central role in ambitious climate change mitigation efforts. Yet, mitigation policies in agriculture may be in conflict with food security related targets. Using a global agro-economic model, we analyze the impacts on food prices under mitigation policies targeting either incentives for producers (e.g., through taxes) or consumer preferences (e.g., through education programs). Despite having a similar reduction potential of 43-44% in 2100, the two types of policy instruments result in opposite outcomes for food prices. Incentive-based mitigation, such as protecting carbon-rich forests or adopting low-emission production techniques, increase land scarcity and production costs and thereby food prices. Preference-based mitigation, such as reduced household waste or lower consumption of animal-based products, decreases land scarcity, prevents emissions leakage, and concentrates production on the most productive sites and consequently lowers food prices. Whereas agricultural emissions are further abated in the combination of these mitigation measures, the synergy of strategies fails to substantially lower food prices. Additionally, we demonstrate that the efficiency of agricultural emission abatement is stable across a range of greenhouse-gas (GHG) tax levels, while resulting food prices exhibit a disproportionally larger spread.

Energy demand for materials in an international context.

PubMed

Worrell, Ernst; Carreon, Jesus Rosales

2017-06-13

Materials are everywhere and have determined society. The rapid increase in consumption of materials has led to an increase in the use of energy and release of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Reducing emissions in material-producing industries is a key challenge. If all of industry switched to current best practices, the energy-efficiency improvement potential would be between 20% and 35% for most sectors. While these are considerable potentials, especially for sectors that have historically paid a lot of attention to energy-efficiency improvement, realization of these potentials under current 'business as usual' conditions is slow due to a large variety of barriers and limited efforts by industry and governments around the world. Importantly, the potentials are not sufficient to achieve the deep reductions in carbon emissions that will be necessary to stay within the climate boundaries as agreed in the 2015 Paris Conference of Parties. Other opportunities need to be included in the menu of options to mitigate GHG emissions. It is essential to develop integrated policies combining energy efficiency, renewable energy and material efficiency and material demand reduction, offering the most economically attractive way to realize deep reductions in carbon emissions.This article is part of the themed issue 'Material demand reduction'. © 2017 The Author(s).

Energy Feedback at the City-Wide Scale A comparison to building scale studies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Carter, Richard Allan

Climate change is a growing concern throughout the world. In the United States, leadership has so far failed to establish targeted reductions and agreement on mitigation strategies. Despite this, many large cities are taking on the challenge of measuring their emissions, establishing targeted reductions, and defining strategies for mitigation in the form of Climate Action Plans. Reporting of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by these cities is usually based on a one-time, annual calculation. Many studies have been conducted on the impact of providing energy use data or feedback to households, and in some cases, institutional or commercial businesses. In most of those studies, the act of providing feedback has resulted in a reduction of energy use, ranging from 2% to 15%, depending upon the features of the feedback. Many of these studies included only electric use. Studies where all energy use was reported are more accurate representations of GHG emissions. GHG emissions and energy use are not the same, depending on the fuel source and in the case of this paper, the focus is on reducing energy use. This research documents the characteristics of the feedback provided in those studies in order to determine which are most effective and should be considered for application to the community-wide scale. Eleven studies, including five primary and six secondary research papers, were reviewed and analyzed for the features of the feedback. Trends were established and evaluated with respect to their effectiveness and potential for use at the community-wide scale. This paper concludes that additional research is required to determine if the use of energy feedback at the city scale could result in savings similar to those observed at the household scale. This additional research could take advantage of the features assessed here in order to be more effective and to implement the features that are best able to scale up. Further research is needed to determine whether combining city-wide feedback with feedback for individual energy users within the city, both residential and commercial, has an even greater impact on reducing energy use and lowering GHG emissions.

Integrating uncertainties for climate change mitigation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rogelj, Joeri; McCollum, David; Reisinger, Andy; Meinshausen, Malte; Riahi, Keywan

2013-04-01

The target of keeping global average temperature increase to below 2°C has emerged in the international climate debate more than a decade ago. In response, the scientific community has tried to estimate the costs of reaching such a target through modelling and scenario analysis. Producing such estimates remains a challenge, particularly because of relatively well-known, but ill-quantified uncertainties, and owing to limited integration of scientific knowledge across disciplines. The integrated assessment community, on one side, has extensively assessed the influence of technological and socio-economic uncertainties on low-carbon scenarios and associated costs. The climate modelling community, on the other side, has worked on achieving an increasingly better understanding of the geophysical response of the Earth system to emissions of greenhouse gases (GHG). This geophysical response remains a key uncertainty for the cost of mitigation scenarios but has only been integrated with assessments of other uncertainties in a rudimentary manner, i.e., for equilibrium conditions. To bridge this gap between the two research communities, we generate distributions of the costs associated with limiting transient global temperature increase to below specific temperature limits, taking into account uncertainties in multiple dimensions: geophysical, technological, social and political. In other words, uncertainties resulting from our incomplete knowledge about how the climate system precisely reacts to GHG emissions (geophysical uncertainties), about how society will develop (social uncertainties and choices), which technologies will be available (technological uncertainty and choices), when we choose to start acting globally on climate change (political choices), and how much money we are or are not willing to spend to achieve climate change mitigation. We find that political choices that delay mitigation have the largest effect on the cost-risk distribution, followed by geophysical, future energy demand, and mitigation technology uncertainties. This information provides central information for policy making, since it helps to understand the relationship between mitigation costs and their potential to reduce the risk of exceeding 2°C, or other temperature limits like 3°C or 1.5°C, under a wide range of scenarios.

Quantifying and valuing potential climate change impacts on coral reefs in the United States: comparison of two scenarios.

PubMed

Lane, Diana R; Ready, Richard C; Buddemeier, Robert W; Martinich, Jeremy A; Shouse, Kate Cardamone; Wobus, Cameron W

2013-01-01

The biological and economic values of coral reefs are highly vulnerable to increasing atmospheric and ocean carbon dioxide concentrations. We applied the COMBO simulation model (COral Mortality and Bleaching Output) to three major U.S. locations for shallow water reefs: South Florida, Puerto Rico, and Hawaii. We compared estimates of future coral cover from 2000 to 2100 for a "business as usual" (BAU) greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions scenario with a GHG mitigation policy scenario involving full international participation in reducing GHG emissions. We also calculated the economic value of changes in coral cover using a benefit transfer approach based on published studies of consumers' recreational values for snorkeling and diving on coral reefs as well as existence values for coral reefs. Our results suggest that a reduced emissions scenario would provide a large benefit to shallow water reefs in Hawaii by delaying or avoiding potential future bleaching events. For Hawaii, reducing emissions is projected to result in an estimated "avoided loss" from 2000 to 2100 of approximately $10.6 billion in recreational use values compared to a BAU scenario. However, reducing emissions is projected to provide only a minor economic benefit in Puerto Rico and South Florida, where sea-surface temperatures are already close to bleaching thresholds and coral cover is projected to drop well below 5% cover under both scenarios by 2050, and below 1% cover under both scenarios by 2100.

Quantifying and Valuing Potential Climate Change Impacts on Coral Reefs in the United States: Comparison of Two Scenarios

PubMed Central

Lane, Diana R.; Ready, Richard C.; Buddemeier, Robert W.; Martinich, Jeremy A.; Shouse, Kate Cardamone; Wobus, Cameron W.

2013-01-01

The biological and economic values of coral reefs are highly vulnerable to increasing atmospheric and ocean carbon dioxide concentrations. We applied the COMBO simulation model (COral Mortality and Bleaching Output) to three major U.S. locations for shallow water reefs: South Florida, Puerto Rico, and Hawaii. We compared estimates of future coral cover from 2000 to 2100 for a “business as usual” (BAU) greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions scenario with a GHG mitigation policy scenario involving full international participation in reducing GHG emissions. We also calculated the economic value of changes in coral cover using a benefit transfer approach based on published studies of consumers' recreational values for snorkeling and diving on coral reefs as well as existence values for coral reefs. Our results suggest that a reduced emissions scenario would provide a large benefit to shallow water reefs in Hawaii by delaying or avoiding potential future bleaching events. For Hawaii, reducing emissions is projected to result in an estimated “avoided loss” from 2000 to 2100 of approximately $10.6 billion in recreational use values compared to a BAU scenario. However, reducing emissions is projected to provide only a minor economic benefit in Puerto Rico and South Florida, where sea-surface temperatures are already close to bleaching thresholds and coral cover is projected to drop well below 5% cover under both scenarios by 2050, and below 1% cover under both scenarios by 2100. PMID:24391717

Net global warming potential and greenhouse gas intensity

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Various methods exist to calculate global warming potential (GWP) and greenhouse gas intensity (GHG) as measures of net greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from agroecosystems. Little is, however, known about net GWP and GHGI that account for all sources and sinks of GHG emissions. Sources of GHG include...

Emerging Energy-Efficiency and Greenhouse Gas Mitigation Technologies for the Pulp and Paper Industry

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

Kong, Lingbo; Hasanbeigi, Ali; Price, Lynn

2012-11-01

The pulp and paper industry ranks fourth in terms of energy consumption among industries worldwide. Globally, the pulp and paper industry accounted for approximately 5 percent of total world industrial final energy consumption in 2007, and contributed 2 percent of direct carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from industry. Worldwide pulp and paper demand and production are projected to increase significantly by 2050, leading to an increase in this industry’s absolute energy use and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Development of new energy-efficiency and GHG mitigation technologies and their deployment in the market will be crucial for the pulp and paper industry’s mid-more » and long-term climate change mitigation strategies. This report describes the industry’s processes and compiles available information on the energy savings, environmental and other benefits, costs, commercialization status, and references for 36 emerging technologies to reduce the industry’s energy use and GHG emissions. Although studies from around the world identify a variety of sector-specific and cross-cutting energy-efficiency technologies that have already been commercialized for the pulp and paper industry, information is scarce and/or scattered regarding emerging or advanced energy-efficiency and low-carbon technologies that are not yet commercialized. The purpose of this report is to provide engineers, researchers, investors, paper companies, policy makers, and other interested parties with easy access to a well-structured resource of information on these technologies.« less

High-resolution techno-ecological modelling of a bioenergy landscape to identify climate mitigation opportunities in cellulosic ethanol production

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Field, John L.; Evans, Samuel G.; Marx, Ernie; Easter, Mark; Adler, Paul R.; Dinh, Thai; Willson, Bryan; Paustian, Keith

2018-03-01

Although dedicated energy crops will probably be an important feedstock for future cellulosic bioenergy production, it is unknown how they can best be integrated into existing agricultural systems. Here we use the DayCent ecosystem model to simulate various scenarios for growing switchgrass in the heterogeneous landscape that surrounds a commercial-scale cellulosic ethanol biorefinery in southwestern Kansas, and quantify the associated fuel production costs and lifecycle greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. We show that the GHG footprint of ethanol production can be reduced by up to 22 g of CO2 equivalent per megajoule (CO2e MJ-1) through careful optimization of the soils cultivated and corresponding fertilizer application rates (the US Renewable Fuel Standard requires a 56 gCO2e MJ-1 lifecycle emissions reduction for `cellulosic' biofuels compared with conventional gasoline). This improved climate performance is realizable at modest additional costs, less than the current value of low-carbon fuel incentives. We also demonstrate that existing subsidized switchgrass plantings within this landscape probably achieve suboptimal GHG mitigation, as would landscape designs that strictly minimize the biomass collection radius or target certain marginal lands.

Advancing agricultural greenhouse gas quantification*

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Olander, Lydia; Wollenberg, Eva; Tubiello, Francesco; Herold, Martin

2013-03-01

1. Introduction Better information on greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and mitigation potential in the agricultural sector is necessary to manage these emissions and identify responses that are consistent with the food security and economic development priorities of countries. Critical activity data (what crops or livestock are managed in what way) are poor or lacking for many agricultural systems, especially in developing countries. In addition, the currently available methods for quantifying emissions and mitigation are often too expensive or complex or not sufficiently user friendly for widespread use. The purpose of this focus issue is to capture the state of the art in quantifying greenhouse gases from agricultural systems, with the goal of better understanding our current capabilities and near-term potential for improvement, with particular attention to quantification issues relevant to smallholders in developing countries. This work is timely in light of international discussions and negotiations around how agriculture should be included in efforts to reduce and adapt to climate change impacts, and considering that significant climate financing to developing countries in post-2012 agreements may be linked to their increased ability to identify and report GHG emissions (Murphy et al 2010, CCAFS 2011, FAO 2011). 2. Agriculture and climate change mitigation The main agricultural GHGs—methane and nitrous oxide—account for 10%-12% of anthropogenic emissions globally (Smith et al 2008), or around 50% and 60% of total anthropogenic methane and nitrous oxide emissions, respectively, in 2005. Net carbon dioxide fluxes between agricultural land and the atmosphere linked to food production are relatively small, although significant carbon emissions are associated with degradation of organic soils for plantations in tropical regions (Smith et al 2007, FAO 2012). Population growth and shifts in dietary patterns toward more meat and dairy consumption will lead to increased emissions unless we improve production efficiencies and management. Developing countries currently account for about three-quarters of direct emissions and are expected to be the most rapidly growing emission sources in the future (FAO 2011). Reducing agricultural emissions and increasing carbon sequestration in the soil and biomass has the potential to reduce agriculture's contribution to climate change by 5.5-6.0 gigatons (Gt) of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2eq)/year. Economic potentials, which take into account costs of implementation, range from 1.5 to 4.3 GT CO2eq/year, depending on marginal abatement costs assumed and financial resources committed, with most of this potential in developing countries (Smith et al 2007). The opportunity for mitigation in agriculture is thus significant, and, if realized, would contribute to making this sector carbon neutral. Yet it is only through a robust and shared understanding of how much carbon can be stored or how much CO2 is reduced from mitigation practices that informed decisions can be made about how to identify, implement, and balance a suite of mitigation practices as diverse as enhancing soil organic matter, increasing the digestibility of feed for cattle, and increasing the efficiency of nitrogen fertilizer applications. Only by selecting a portfolio of options adapted to regional characteristics and goals can mitigation needs be best matched to also serve rural development goals, including food security and increased resilience to climate change. Expansion of agricultural land also remains a major contributor of greenhouse gases, with deforestation, largely linked to clearing of land for cultivation or pasture, generating 80% of emissions from developing countries (Hosonuma et al 2012). There are clear opportunities for these countries to address mitigation strategies from the forest and agriculture sector, recognizing that agriculture plays a large role in economic and development potential. In this context, multiple development goals can be reinforced by specific climate funding granted on the basis of multiple benefits and synergies, for instance through currently negotiated mechanisms such as Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Actions (NAMAs) (REDD+, Kissinger et al 2012). 3. Challenges to quantifying GHG information for the agricultural sector The quantification of GHG emissions from agriculture is fundamental to identifying mitigation solutions that are consistent with the goals of achieving greater resilience in production systems, food security, and rural welfare. GHG emissions data are already needed for such varied purposes as guiding national planning for low-emissions development, generating and trading carbon credits, certifying sustainable agriculture practices, informing consumers' choices with regard to reducing their carbon footprints, assessing product supply chains, and supporting farmers in adopting less carbon-intensive farming practices. Demonstrating the robustness, feasibility, and cost effectiveness of agricultural GHG inventories and monitoring is a necessary technical foundation for including agriculture in the international negotiations under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), and is needed to provide robust data and methodology platforms for global corporate supply-chain initiatives (e.g., SAFA, FAO 2012). Given such varied drivers for GHG reductions, there are a number of uses for agricultural GHG information, including (1) reporting and accounting at the national or company level, (2) land-use planning and management to achieve specific objectives, (3) monitoring and evaluating impact of management, (4) developing a credible and thus tradable offset credit, and (5) research and capacity development. The information needs for these uses is likely to differ in the required level of certainty, scale of analysis, and need for comparability across systems or repeatability over time, and they may depend on whether descriptive trends are sufficient or an understanding of drivers and causes are needed. While there are certainly similar needs across uses and users, the necessary methods, data, and models for quantifying GHGs may vary. Common challenges for quantification noted in an informal survey of users of GHG information by Olander et al (2013) include the following. 3.1. Need for user-friendly methods that work across scales, regions, and systems Much of the data gathered and models developed by the research community provide high confidence in data or indicators computed at one place or for one issue, thus they are relevant for only specific uses, not transparent, or not comparable. These research approaches need to be translated to practitioners though the development of farmer friendly, transparent, comparable, and broadly applicable methods. Many users noted the need for quantification data and methods that work and are accurate across region and scales. One of the interviewed users, Charlotte Streck, summed it up nicely: 'A priority would be to produce comparable datasets for agricultural GHG emissions of particular agricultural practices for a broad set of countries ... with a gradual increase in accuracy'. 3.2. Need for lower cost, feasible approaches Concerns about cost and complexity of existing quantification methods were raised by a number of users interviewed in the survey. In the field it is difficult to measure changes in GHGs from agricultural management due to spatial and temporal variability, and the scale of the management-induced changes relative to background pools and fluxes. Many users noted data gaps and inconsistencies and insufficient technical capacity and infrastructure to generate necessary information, particularly in developing countries. The need for creative approaches for data collection and analysis, such as crowd sourcing and mobile technology, were noted. 3.3. Need for methods that can crosswalk between emission-reduction strategy and inventories or reporting A few users emphasized the need for information and quantification approaches that cannot only track GHGs but also help with strategic planning on what to grow where and when to maximize mitigation and adaptation benefits. Methods need to incorporate the quantification context, taking into account climate impacts, viability, and cost of management options. Thus, data and methods are needed that integrate climate impacts into models used to assess the potential and costs of GHG mitigation strategies. 3.4. Need for confidence thresholds and rules that are appropriate for use Users noted that national inventories through the UNFCCC or Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) require 95% confidence, while some offset market standards leave confidence levels to the discretion of the developer, using discounts in value for greater uncertainty. Nonetheless, these standards tend to have expectations of 20% confidence or better. In fact, both regulatory and voluntary reporting suffer from large uncertainties in the underlying activity data as well as in emission factors. In some circumstances emissions factors may add as much as 50-150% uncertainty to GHG estimates (IPCC 2006). Uncertainty clearly needs to be assessed in implementing projects and programs. In some cases there are uncertainty thresholds, while in others uncertainty is assessed and used as part of the quantification process. What is not always clear is where uncertainty thresholds are necessary to maintain the usefulness of the information and where they are hindering early progress. 3.5. Easily understood and common metrics for policy and market users Inventories usually track tons of CO2 equivalents, while supply-chain and corporate reporting are more likely to track efficiency metrics, such as GHG emissions per unit of product; offsets protocols may combine both approaches. As demand for food rises, efficiency of production becomes an increasingly important metric, even if total CO2 equivalents need to be tracked in parallel to assess climate impacts. For livestock systems it is unclear which metrics are most important to track, GHGs per unit of meat or milk or perhaps per calorie? Different metrics are likely needed for different uses. 3.6. Capacity development in developing countries There is need to improve on the current lack of capacities to monitor land use and land-use change and their associated GHG emissions and removals for national inventories (UNFCCC 2008, Romijn et al 2012). Since there are ongoing efforts to improve, data, methods and capacities for monitoring forests in the context of REDD+ (Herold and Skutsch 2011), synergies should be sought to use and build upon joint data sources and approaches, such as remote sensing, field inventories, crowd sourcing. and human capacities to estimate and report on GHG balance in both forests and agriculture. A number of specific objectives to meet these challenges are discussed in this special issue. Improve the accuracy of emissions factors across regional differences. Improve national inventory data of management activities, crop type and variety, and livestock breeds. Use historical data and data collection over time to show trends. Test the extent of model applications through field validation (e.g., can they be used in regions with less data?). Enhance technical capacity and infrastructure for data acquisition and for application of mitigation strategies in field programs. Increase understanding of which mitigation practices result in more resilient systems. Improve understanding of the GHG tradeoffs of expanding fertilizer use. While data sources and methods are improving and research and operational monitoring are increasing, the international community can be strategic in targeting support for this work and coordinating data and information collection to move toward revised good practice guidelines that would address the particular circumstances and practices dominant in developing countries. 4. Current data infrastructure and systems supporting GHG quantification in the agricultural sector To understand the challenges facing GHG quantification it is helpful to understand the existing supporting infrastructure and systems for quantification. The existing and developing structures for national and local data acquisition and management are the foundation for the empirical and process-based models used by most countries and projects currently quantifying agricultural greenhouse gases. Direct measurement can be used to complement and supplement such models, but this is not yet sufficient by itself given costs, complexities, and uncertainties. One of the primary purposes of data acquisition and quantification is for national-level inventories and planning. For such efforts countries are conducting national-level collection of activity data (who is doing which agricultural practices where) and some are also developing national or regional-level emissions factors. Infrastructure that supports these efforts includes intergovernmental panels, global alliances, and data-sharing networks. Multilateral data sharing for applications, such as the FAO Statistical Database (FAOSTAT) (FAO 2012), the IPCC Emission Factor Database (IPCC 2012), and UNFCCC national inventories (UNFCCC 2012), are building greater consistency and standardization by using global standards such as the IPCC's Good Practice Guidance for Land Use, Land-Use Change and Forestry (e.g., IPCC 1996, 2003, 2006). There is also work on common quantification methods and accounting, for example agreed on global warming potentials for different contributing gases and GHG quantification methodologies for projects (e.g., the Verified Carbon Standard Sustainable Agricultural Land Management [SALM] protocol, VCS 2011). Other examples include the Global Research Alliance on Agricultural Greenhouse Gases (2012) and GRACEnet (Greenhouse gas Reduction through Agricultural Carbon Enhancement network) (USDA Agricultural Research Service 2011), which aim to improve consistency of field measurement and data collection for soil carbon sequestration and soil nitrous oxide fluxes. Often these national-level activity data and emissions factors are the basis for regional and smaller-scale applications. Such data are used for model-based estimates of changes in GHGs at a project or regional level (Olander et al 2011). To complement national data for regional-, landscape-, or field-level applications, new data are often collected through farmer knowledge or records and field sampling. Ideally such data could be collected in a standardized manner, perhaps through some type of crowd sourcing model to improve regional—and national—level data, as well as to improve consistency of locally collected data. Data can also be collected by companies working with agricultural suppliers and in country networks, within efforts aimed at understanding firm and product (supply-chain) sustainability and risks (FAO 2009). Such data may feed into various certification processes or reporting requirements from buyers. Unfortunately, this data is likely proprietary. A new process is needed to aggregate and share private data in a way that would not be a competitive concern so such data could complement or supplement national data and add value. A number of papers in this focus issue discuss issues surrounding quantification methods and systems at large scales, global and national levels, while others explore landscape- and field-scale approaches. A few explore the intersection of top-down and bottom-up data measurement and modeling approaches. 5. The agricultural greenhouse gas quantification project and ERL focus issue Important land management decisions are often made with poor or few data, especially in developing countries. Current systems for quantifying GHG emissions are inadequate in most low-income countries, due to a lack of funding, human resources, and infrastructure. Most non-Annex 1 countries reporting agricultural emissions to the UNFCCC have used only Tier I default emissions factors (Nihart 2012, unpublished data), yet default numbers are based on a very limited number of studies. Furthermore, most non-Annex I countries have reported their National Communications only one or two times in the period 1990-2010. China, for instance, has not submitted agricultural inventory data since 1994. As we move toward the next IPCC assessment report on climate change and while UNFCCC negotiations give greater attention to the role of agriculture within international agreements, it is valuable to understand our current and potential near-term capacity to quantify and track emissions and assess mitigation potential in the agriculture sector, providing countries—especially least developed countries (LDCs)—with the information they need to promote and implement actions that, while conducive to mitigation, are also consistent with their rural development and food security goals. The purpose of this focus issue is to improve the knowledge and practice of quantifying GHG emissions from agriculture around the globe. The issue discusses methodological, data, and capacity gaps and needs across scales of quantification, from global and national-scale inventories to landscape- and farm-scale measurement. The inherent features of agriculture and especially smallholder farming have made quantification expensive and complicated, as farming systems and farmers' practices are diverse and impermanent and exhibit high temporal and spatial variability. Quantifying the emissions of the complex crop livestock or diverse cropping systems that characterize smallholder systems presents particular challenges. New ideas, methods, and uses of technology are needed to address these challenges. Many papers in this special issue synthesize the state of the art in their respective fields, analyze gaps, identify innovations, and make recommendations for improving quantification. Special attention is given to methods appropriate to low-income countries, where strategies are needed for getting robust data with extremely limited resources in order to support national mitigation planning within widely accepted standards and thus provide access to essential international support, including climate funding. Managing agricultural emissions needs to occur in tandem with managing for agricultural productivity, resilience to climate change, and ecosystem impacts. Management decisions and priorities will require measures and information that identify GHG efficiencies in production and reduce inputs without reducing yields, while addressing climate resilience and maintaining other essential environmental services, such as water quality and support for pollinators. Another set of papers in this issue considers the critical synergies and tradeoffs possible between these multiple objectives of mitigation, resilience, and production efficiency to help us understand how we need to tackle these in our quantification systems. Significant capacity to quantify greenhouse gases is already built, and with some near-term strategic investment, could become an increasingly robust and useful tool for planning and development in the agricultural sector around the world. Acknowledgments The Climate Change Agriculture and Food Security Program of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research, the Technical Working Group on Agricultural Greenhouse Gases (T-AGG) at Duke University's Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions, and the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) have come together to guide the development of this focus issue and associated activities and papers, given their common desire to improve our understanding of the state of agricultural greenhouse gas (GHG) quantification and to advance ideas for building data and methods that will help mitigation policy and programs move forward around the world. We thank the David and Lucile Packard Foundation for their support of this initiative. The project has been developed with guidance from an esteemed steering group of experts and users of mitigation information (http://nicholasinstitute.duke.edu/ecosystem/t-agg/international-project). Many of the papers in this issue were commissioned. Authors of each of the commissioned papers met with guest editors at FAO in Rome in April 2012 to further develop their ideas, synthesize state of the art knowledge and generate new ideas (http://nicholasinstitute.duke.edu/ecosystem/t-agg/events-and-presentations). Additional interesting and important research has come forward through the general call for papers and has been incorporated into this issue. References CCAFS (Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security) 2011 Victories for food and farming in Durban climate deals Press Release 13 December 2011 (http://ccafs.cgiar.org/news/press-releases/victories-food-and-farming-durban-climate-deals) FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations) 2009 Expert consultation on GHG emissions and mitigation potentials in the agricultural, forestry and fisheries sectors (Rome: FAO) FAO 2011 Linking Sustainability and Climate Financing: Implications for Agriculture (Rome: FAO) FAO 2012 FAOSTAT online database (http://faostat.fao.org/) Global Research Alliance on Agricultural Greenhouse Gases 2012 www.globalresearchalliance.org/ Herold M and Skutsch M 2011 Monitoring, reporting and verification for national REDD+ programmes: two proposals Environ. Res. Lett. 6 014002 Hosonuma N, Herold M, De Sy V, De Fries R S, Brockhaus M, Verchot L, Angelsen A and Romijn E 2012 An assessment of deforestation and forest degradation drivers in developing countries Environ. Res. Lett. 7 044009 IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) 1996 Guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories (Paris: Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) IPCC 2003 Good Practice Guidance for Land Use, Land-Use Change and Forestry (Hayama: IPCC National Greenhouse Gas Inventories Programme) IPCC 2006 Guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories. Prepared by the National Greenhouse Gas Inventories Programme ed H S Eggleston et al (Hayama: IGES) IPCC 2012 IPCC Emission Factor Database (EFDB) (www.ipcc-nggip.iges.or.jp/EFDB/main.php) Kissinger G, Herold M and De Sy V 2012 Drivers of Deforestation and Forest Degradation: A Synthesis Report for REDD+ Policymakers (Vancouver: Lexeme Consulting) (www.decc.gov.uk/assets/decc/11/tackling-climate-change/international-climate-change/6316-drivers-deforestation-report.pdf) Murphy D, McCandless M and Drexhage J 2010 Expanding Agriculture's Role in the International Climate Change Regime: Capturing the Opportunities (Winnipeg: International Institute for Sustainable Development) Nihart A 2012 unpublished data Olander L, Wollenberg L and Van de Bogert A 2013 Understanding the users and uses of agricultural greenhouse gas information CCAFS/NI T-AGG Report (in progress) Olander L P and Haugen-Kozyra K with contributions from Del Grosso S, Izaurralde C, Malin D, Paustian K and Salas W 2011 Using Biogeochemical Process Models to Quantify Greenhouse Gas Mitigation from Agricultural Management Projects (Durham, NC: Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions, Duke University) (http://nicholasinstitute.duke.edu/ecosystem/t-agg/using-biogeochemical-process) Romijn J E, Herold M, Kooistra L, Murdiyarso D and Verchot L 2012 Assessing capacities of non-Annex I countries for national forest monitoring in the context of REDD+ Environ. Sci. Policy 20 33-48 Smith P et al 2007 Agriculture Climate Change 2007: Mitigation. Contribution of Working Group III to the Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change ed B Metz, O R Davidson, P R Bosch, R Dave and L A Meyer (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press) Smith P et al 2008 Greenhouse gas mitigation in agriculture Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B 363 789-813 UNFCCC (United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change) 2008 Financial support provided by the Global Environment Facility for the preparation of National Communications from Parties not included in Annex I to the Convention FCCC/SBI/2008/INF.10 (http://unfccc.int/resource/docs/2008/sbi/eng/inf10.pdf) UNFCCC 2012 GHG Data from UNFCCC (http://unfccc.int/ghg_data/ghg_data_unfccc/items/4146.php) USDA (US Department of Agriculture) 2011 Agricultural Research Service (www.ars.usda.gov/research/programs/programs.htm?np_code=204&docid=17271) VCS (Verified Carbon Standard) 2011 New Methodology: VM0017 Sustainable Agricultural Land Management (http://v-c-s.org/SALM_methodology_approved) * We dedicate this special issue to the memory of Daniel Martino, a generous leader in greenhouse gas quantification and accounting from agriculture, land-use change, and forestry.

Mitigating the environmental impacts of milk production via anaerobic digestion of manure: case study of a dairy farm in the Po Valley.

PubMed

Battini, F; Agostini, A; Boulamanti, A K; Giuntoli, J; Amaducci, S

2014-05-15

This work analyzes the environmental impacts of milk production in an intensive dairy farm situated in the Northern Italy region of the Po Valley. Three manure management scenarios are compared: in Scenario 1 the animal slurry is stored in an open tank and then used as fertilizer. In scenario 2 the manure is processed in an anaerobic digestion plant and the biogas produced is combusted in an internal combustion engine to produce heat (required by the digester) and electricity (exported). Scenario 3 is similar to scenario 2 but the digestate is stored in a gas-tight tank. In scenario 1 the GHG emissions are estimated to be equal to 1.21 kg CO2 eq.kg(-1) Fat and Protein Corrected Milk (FPCM) without allocation of the environmental burden to the by-product meat. With mass allocation, the GHG emissions associated to the milk are reduced to 1.18 kg CO2 eq.kg(-1) FPCM. Using an economic allocation approach the GHG emissions allocated to the milk are 1.13 kg CO2 eq.kg(-1) FPCM. In scenarios 2 and 3, without allocation, the GHG emissions are reduced respectively to 0.92 (-23.7%) and 0.77 (-36.5%) kg CO2 eq.kg(-1) FPCM. If land use change due to soybean production is accounted for, an additional emission of 0.53 kg CO2 eq. should be added, raising the GHG emissions to 1.74, 1.45 and 1.30 kg CO2 eq kg(-1) FPCM in scenarios 1, 2 and 3, respectively. Primary energy from non-renewable resources decreases by 36.2% and 40.6% in scenarios 2 and 3, respectively, with the valorization of the manure in the biogas plant. The other environmental impact mitigated is marine eutrophication that decreases by 8.1% in both scenarios 2 and 3, mostly because of the lower field emissions. There is, however, a trade-off between non-renewable energy and GHG savings and other environmental impacts: acidification (+6.1% and +5.5% in scenarios 2 and 3, respectively), particulate matter emissions (+1.4% and +0.7%) and photochemical ozone formation potential (+41.6% and +42.3%) increase with the adoption of a biogas plant. The cause of the increase is mostly emissions from the CHP engine. These impacts can be tackled by improving biogas combustion technologies to reduce methane and NOx emissions. Freshwater eutrophication slightly increases (+0.8% in both scenarios 2 and 3) because of the additional infrastructures needed. In conclusion, on-farm manure anaerobic digestion with the production of electricity is an effective technology to significantly reduce global environmental impacts of dairy farms (GHG emissions and non-renewable energy consumption), however local impacts may increase as a consequence (especially photochemical ozone formation). Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Using biochar in animal farming to recycle nutrients and reduce greenhouse gas emissions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schmidt, Hans-Peter; Wilson, Kelpie; Kammann, Claudia

2017-04-01

Charcoal has been used to treat digestive disorder in animals since several thousand years. But only since about 2010 biochar has increasingly been used as regular feed additive in animal farming usually mixed with standard feed at approximately 1% of the daily feed intake. The use of biochar as feed additive has the potential to improve animal health, feed efficiency and the animal-stable environment; to reduce nutrient losses and GHG emissions; and to increase soil organic mater and thus soil fertility. The evaluation of more than 150 scientific papers on feeding (activated) biochar showed in most of the studies and for all investigated livestock species positive effects on parameters like toxin adsorption, digestion, blood values, feed use efficiency and livestock weight gain, meat quality and GHG emissions. The facilitation of direct electron transfers between different species of bacteria or microbial consortia via the biochar mediator in the animal digestion tract is hypothesized to be the main reason for a more energy efficient digestion and thus higher feed efficiency, for its selective probiotic effect, for reduced N-losses and eventually for less GHG emissions. While chicken, pigs, fish and other omnivore animals provoke GHG-emissions (mainly NH3, CH4, N2O) when their liquid and solid excretions decompose anaerobically, ruminants cause direct methane emissions through flatulence and burps (eructation). Preliminary studies demonstrated that feeding high temperature biochars might reduce ruminant CH4 emissions though more systematic research is needed. It is likely that microbial decomposition of manure containing digested biochar produces less ammonia, less methane and thus retain more nitrogen, as seen when manure was composted with and without biochar or when biochar is used as bedding or manure treatment additive. Laboratory adsorption trials estimated that using biochar for liquid manure treatment could safe 57,000 t NH4 and 4,600 t P2O5 fertilizer per year in California alone. It was further shown that feeding 0.3 to 1% biochar could replace antibiotic treatment in chicken and ducks, respectively. Feeding biochar could thus have an indirect effect on GHG emissions when it is able to replace regular antibiotic "feeding" that produces high indirect GHG emissions after soil application of antibiotic contaminated manure. Moreover, it was demonstrated that feeding biochar to grazing cows had positive secondary effects on soil fertility and fertilizer efficiency reducing mineral N-fertilizing requirements which could be another indirect biochar GHG mitigation effect. Considering an average C-content of fed biochar of 80% and produced at recommended temperatures above 500°C resulting in H/Corg ratios below 0.4, at least 56% of the dry weight of the fed and manure-applied biochar would persist as stable carbon in soil for at least 100 years. If the global livestock would receive 1% of their feed in form of such a biochar, a total of about 400 Mt of CO2eq or 1.2 % of the global CO2 emissions could be compensated. The apparent potential for improving animal health and nutrient efficiency, for reducing enteric methane emissions as well as GHG emissions from manure management and for sequestering carbon with soil fertility improvements makes it compelling to increase the scientific effort to investigate, measure and optimize the GHG reduction potential of biochar use in animal farming systems. The main results from literature and own experiments will be presented to illustrate and calculate this potential.

A Life Cycle Assessment Case Study of Coal-Fired Electricity Generation with Humidity Swing Direct Air Capture of CO2 versus MEA-Based Postcombustion Capture.

PubMed

van der Giesen, Coen; Meinrenken, Christoph J; Kleijn, René; Sprecher, Benjamin; Lackner, Klaus S; Kramer, Gert Jan

2017-01-17

Most carbon capture and storage (CCS) envisions capturing CO 2 from flue gas. Direct air capture (DAC) of CO 2 has hitherto been deemed unviable because of the higher energy associated with capture at low atmospheric concentrations. We present a Life Cycle Assessment of coal-fired electricity generation that compares monoethanolamine (MEA)-based postcombustion capture (PCC) of CO 2 with distributed, humidity-swing-based direct air capture (HS-DAC). Given suitable temperature, humidity, wind, and water availability, HS-DAC can be largely passive. Comparing energy requirements of HS-DAC and MEA-PCC, we find that the parasitic load of HS-DAC is less than twice that of MEA-PCC (60-72 kJ/mol versus 33-46 kJ/mol, respectively). We also compare other environmental impacts as a function of net greenhouse gas (GHG) mitigation: To achieve the same 73% mitigation as MEA-PCC, HS-DAC would increase nine other environmental impacts by on average 38%, whereas MEA-PCC would increase them by 31%. Powering distributed HS-DAC with photovoltaics (instead of coal) while including recapture of all background GHG, reduces this increase to 18%, hypothetically enabling coal-based electricity with net-zero life-cycle GHG. We conclude that, in suitable geographies, HS-DAC can complement MEA-PCC to enable CO 2 capture independent of time and location of emissions and recapture background GHG from fossil-based electricity beyond flue stack emissions.

Quantifying the biophysical climate change mitigation potential of Canada's forest sector

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Smyth, C. E.; Stinson, G.; Neilson, E.; Lemprière, T. C.; Hafer, M.; Rampley, G. J.; Kurz, W. A.

2014-07-01

The potential of forests and the forest sector to mitigate greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions is widely recognized, but challenging to quantify at a national scale. Forests and their carbon (C) sequestration potential are affected by management practices, where wood harvesting transfers C out of the forest into products, and subsequent regrowth allows further C sequestration. Here we determine the mitigation potential of the 2.3 × 106 km2 of Canada's managed forests from 2015 to 2050 using the Carbon Budget Model of the Canadian Forest Sector (CBM-CFS3), a harvested wood products (HWP) model that estimates emissions based on product half-life decay times, and an account of emission substitution benefits from the use of wood products and bioenergy. We examine several mitigation scenarios with different assumptions about forest management activity levels relative to a base case scenario, including improved growth from silvicultural activities, increased harvest and residue management for bioenergy, and reduced harvest for conservation. We combine forest management options with two mitigation scenarios for harvested wood product use involving an increase in either long-lived products or bioenergy uses. Results demonstrate large differences among alternative scenarios, and we identify potential mitigation scenarios with increasing benefits to the atmosphere for many decades into the future, as well as scenarios with no net benefit over many decades. The greatest mitigation impact was achieved through a mix of strategies that varied across the country and had cumulative mitigation of 254 Tg CO2e in 2030, and 1180 Tg CO2e in 2050. There was a trade-off between short-term and long-term goals, in that maximizing short-term emissions reduction could reduce the forest sector's ability to contribute to longer-term objectives. We conclude that (i) national-scale forest sector mitigation options need to be assessed rigorously from a systems perspective to avoid the development of policies that deliver no net benefits to the atmosphere, (ii) a mix of strategies implemented across the country achieves the greatest mitigation impact, and (iii) because of the time delays in achieving carbon benefits for many forest-based mitigation activities, future contributions of the forest sector to climate mitigation can be maximized if implemented soon.

Greenhouse gas flux from cropland and restored wetlands in the Prairie Pothole Region

USGS Publications Warehouse

Gleason, R.A.; Tangen, B.A.; Browne, B.A.; Euliss, N.H.

2009-01-01

It has been well documented that restored wetlands in the Prairie Pothole Region of North America do store carbon. However, the net benefit of carbon sequestration in wetlands in terms of a reduction in global warming forcing has often been questioned because of potentially greater emissions of greenhouse gases (GHGs) such as nitrous oxide (N2O) and methane (CH4). We compared gas emissions (N2O, CH4, carbon dioxide [CO2]) and soil moisture and temperature from eight cropland and eight restored grassland wetlands in the Prairie Pothole Region from May to October, 2003, to better understand the atmospheric carbon mitigation potential of restored wetlands. Results show that carbon dioxide contributed the most (90%) to net-GHG flux, followed by CH4 (9%) and N2O (1%). Fluxes of N2O, CH4, CO2, and their combined global warming potential (CO2 equivalents) did not significantly differ between cropland and grassland wetlands. The seasonal pattern in flux was similar in cropland and grassland wetlands with peak emissions of N2O and CH4 occurring when soil water-filled pore space (WFPS) was 40-60% and >60%, respectively; negative CH4 fluxes were observed when WFPS approached 40%. Negative CH4 fluxes from grassland wetlands occurred earlier in the season and were more pronounced than those from cropland sites because WFPS declined more rapidly in grassland wetlands; this decline was likely due to higher infiltration and evapotranspiration rates associated with grasslands. Our results suggest that restoring cropland wetlands does not result in greater emissions of N2O and CH4, and therefore would not offset potential soil carbon sequestration. These findings, however, are limited to a small sample of seasonal wetlands with relatively short hydroperiods. A more comprehensive assessment of the GHG mitigation potential of restored wetlands should include a diversity of wetland types and land-use practices and consider the impact of variable climatic cycles that affect wetland hydrology.

The advantage of calculating emission reduction with local emission factor in South Sumatera region

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Buchari, Erika

2017-11-01

Green House Gases (GHG) which have different Global Warming Potential, usually expressed in CO2 equivalent. German has succeeded in emission reduction of CO2 in year 1990s, while Japan since 2001 increased load factor of public transports. Indonesia National Medium Term Development Plan, 2015-2019, has set up the target of minimum 26% and maximum 41% National Emission Reduction in 2019. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), defined three types of accuracy in counting emission of GHG, as tier 1, tier 2, and tier 3. In tier 1, calculation is based on fuel used and average emission (default), which is obtained from statistical data. While in tier 2, calculation is based fuel used and local emission factors. Tier 3 is more accurate from those in tier 1 and 2, and the calculation is based on fuel used from modelling method or from direct measurement. This paper is aimed to evaluate the calculation with tier 2 and tier 3 in South Sumatera region. In 2012, Regional Action Plan for Greenhouse Gases of South Sumatera for 2020 is about 6,569,000 ton per year and with tier 3 is about without mitigation and 6,229,858.468 ton per year. It was found that the calculation in tier 3 is more accurate in terms of fuel used of variation vehicles so that the actions of mitigation can be planned more realistically.

Effects of disease control by fungicides on greenhouse gas emissions by U.K. arable crop production.

PubMed

Hughes, David J; West, Jonathan S; Atkins, Simon D; Gladders, Peter; Jeger, Michael J; Fitt, Bruce Dl

2011-09-01

The U.K. government has published plans to reduce U.K. agriculture's greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. At the same time, the goal of global food security requires an increase in arable crop yields. Foliar disease control measures such as fungicides have an important role in meeting both objectives. It is estimated that U.K. winter barley production is associated with GHG emissions of 2770 kg CO2 eq. ha(-1) of crop and 355 kg CO2 eq. t(-1) of grain. Foliar disease control by fungicides is associated with decreases in GHG emissions of 42-60 kg CO2 eq. t(-1) in U.K. winter barley and 29-39 kg CO2 eq. t(-1) in U.K. spring barley. The sensitivity of these results to the impact of disease control on yield and to variant GHG emissions assumptions is presented. Fungicide treatment of the major U.K. arable crops is estimated to have directly decreased U.K. GHG emissions by over 1.5 Mt CO2 eq. in 2009. Crop disease control measures such as fungicide treatment reduce the GHG emissions associated with producing a tonne of grain. As national demand for food increases, greater yields as a result of disease control also decrease the need to convert land from non-arable to arable use, which further mitigates GHG emissions. Copyright © 2011 Society of Chemical Industry.

Air quality co-benefits of subnational carbon policies

DOE PAGES

Thompson, Tammy M.; Rausch, Sebastian; Saari, Rebecca K.; ...

2016-05-18

To mitigate climate change, governments ranging from city to multi-national have adopted greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reduction targets. While the location of GHG reductions does not affect their climate benefits, it can impact human health benefits associated with co-emitted pollutants. Here, an advanced modeling framework is used to explore how subnational level GHG targets influence air pollutant co-benefits from ground level ozone and fine particulate matter. Two carbon policy scenarios are analyzed, each reducing the same total amount of GHG emissions in the Northeast US: an economy-wide Cap and Trade (CAT) program reducing emissions from all sectors of the economy,more » and a Clean Energy Standard (CES) reducing emissions from the electricity sector only. Results suggest that a regional CES policy will cost about 10 times more than a CAT policy. Despite having the same regional targets in the Northeast, carbon leakage to non-capped regions varies between policies. Consequently, a regional CAT policy will result in national carbon reductions that are over six times greater than the carbon reduced by the CES in 2030. Monetized regional human health benefits of the CAT and CES policies are 844% and 185% of the costs of each policy, respectively. Benefits for both policies are thus estimated to exceed their costs in the Northeast US. The estimated value of human health co-benefits associated with air pollution reductions for the CES scenario is two times that of the CAT scenario. Implications: In this research, an advanced modeling framework is used to determine the potential impacts of regional carbon policies on air pollution co-benefits associated with ground level ozone and fine particulate matter. Study results show that spatially heterogeneous GHG policies have the potential to create areas of air pollution dis-benefit. It is also shown that monetized human health benefits within the area covered by policy may be larger than the model estimated cost of the policy. These findings are of particular interest both as U.S. states work to develop plans to meet state-level carbon emissions reduction targets set by the EPA through the Clean Power Plan, and in the absence of comprehensive national carbon policy.« less

Greenhouse gas emissions of an agro-biogas energy system: Estimation under the Renewable Energy Directive.

PubMed

Rana, Roberto; Ingrao, Carlo; Lombardi, Mariarosaria; Tricase, Caterina

2016-04-15

Agro-biogas from energy crops and by-products is a renewable energy carrier that can potentially contribute to climate change mitigation. In this context, application of the methodology defined by the Renewable Energy Directive 2009/28/EC (RED) was performed in order to estimate the 100-year Global Warming Potential (GWP100) associated with an agro-biogas supply chain (SC) in Southern Italy. Doing so enabled calculation of Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emission saving in order to verify if it is at least equal to 35% compared to the fossil fuel reference system, as specified by the RED. For the assessment, an attributional Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) approach (International Organization for Standardization (ISO), 2006a,b) was integrated with the RED methodology applied following the guidelines reported in COM(2010)11 and updated by SWD(2014)259 and Report EUR 27215 EN (2015). Moreover, primary data were collected with secondary data extrapolated from the Ecoinvent database system. Results showed that the GWP100 associated with electricity production through the biogas plant investigated was equal to 111.58gCO2eqMJe(-1) and so a 40.01% GHG-emission saving was recorded compared to the RED reference. The highest contribution comes from biomass production and, in particular, from crop cultivation due to production of ammonium nitrate in the overall amount used for crop cultivation. Based upon the findings of the study, the GHG saving calculated slightly exceeds the related minimum proposed by the RED: therefore, improvements are needed anyway. In particular, the authors documented that through replacement of ammonium nitrate with urea the GHG-emission saving would increase to almost 68%, thus largely satisfying the RED limit. In addition, the study highlighted that conservation practices, such as NT, can significantly enable reduction of the GHG-emissions coming from agricultural activities. Therefore, those practices should be increasingly adopted for cultivation of energy crops, because the latter significantly contribute to biogas production yield enhancement. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Air quality co-benefits of subnational carbon policies.

PubMed

Thompson, Tammy M; Rausch, Sebastian; Saari, Rebecca K; Selin, Noelle E

2016-10-01

To mitigate climate change, governments ranging from city to multi-national have adopted greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reduction targets. While the location of GHG reductions does not affect their climate benefits, it can impact human health benefits associated with co-emitted pollutants. Here, an advanced modeling framework is used to explore how subnational level GHG targets influence air pollutant co-benefits from ground level ozone and fine particulate matter. Two carbon policy scenarios are analyzed, each reducing the same total amount of GHG emissions in the Northeast US: an economy-wide Cap and Trade (CAT) program reducing emissions from all sectors of the economy, and a Clean Energy Standard (CES) reducing emissions from the electricity sector only. Results suggest that a regional CES policy will cost about 10 times more than a CAT policy. Despite having the same regional targets in the Northeast, carbon leakage to non-capped regions varies between policies. Consequently, a regional CAT policy will result in national carbon reductions that are over six times greater than the carbon reduced by the CES in 2030. Monetized regional human health benefits of the CAT and CES policies are 844% and 185% of the costs of each policy, respectively. Benefits for both policies are thus estimated to exceed their costs in the Northeast US. The estimated value of human health co-benefits associated with air pollution reductions for the CES scenario is two times that of the CAT scenario. In this research, an advanced modeling framework is used to determine the potential impacts of regional carbon policies on air pollution co-benefits associated with ground level ozone and fine particulate matter. Study results show that spatially heterogeneous GHG policies have the potential to create areas of air pollution dis-benefit. It is also shown that monetized human health benefits within the area covered by policy may be larger than the model estimated cost of the policy. These findings are of particular interest both as U.S. states work to develop plans to meet state-level carbon emissions reduction targets set by the EPA through the Clean Power Plan, and in the absence of comprehensive national carbon policy.

Aerosol reductions could dominate regional climate responses in low GHG emission scenarios

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Samset, B. H.; Sand, M.; Smith, C. J.; Bauer, S.; Forster, P.; Fuglestvedt, J. S.; Osprey, S. M.; Schleussner, C. F.

2017-12-01

Limiting global warming to current political goals requires strong, rapid mitigation of anthropogenic greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Concurrently, emissions of anthropogenic aerosols will decline sharply, due to co-emission with greenhouse gases, and future measures to improve air quality. As the net climate effect of GHG and aerosol emissions over the industrial era is poorly constrained, predicting the impact of strong aerosol emission reductions remains challenging. Here we investigate the isolated and compound climate impacts from removing present day anthropogenic emissions of black carbon (BC), organic carbon (OC) and SO2, and moderate, near term GHG dominated global warming, using four coupled climate models. As the dominating effect of aerosol emission reduction is a removal of cooling from sulphur, the resulting climate impacts amplify those of GHG induced warming. BC emissions contribute little to reducing surface warming, but have stronger regional impacts. For the major aerosol emission regions, extreme weather indices are more sensitive to aerosol removal than to GHG increases, per degree of surface warming. East Asia in particular stands out, mainly due to the high present regional aerosol emissions. We show how present climate models indicate that future regional climate change will depend strongly on changes in loading and distribution of aerosols in the atmosphere, in addition to surface temperature change.

Lifecycle greenhouse gas implications of US national scenarios for cellulosic ethanol production

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Scown, Corinne D.; Nazaroff, William W.; Mishra, Umakant; Strogen, Bret; Lobscheid, Agnes B.; Masanet, Eric; Santero, Nicholas J.; Horvath, Arpad; McKone, Thomas E.

2012-03-01

The Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 set an annual US national production goal of 39.7 billion l of cellulosic ethanol by 2020. This paper explores the possibility of meeting that target by growing and processing Miscanthus × giganteus. We define and assess six production scenarios in which active cropland and/or Conservation Reserve Program land are used to grow to Miscanthus. The crop and biorefinery locations are chosen with consideration of economic, land-use, water management and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reduction objectives. Using lifecycle assessment, the net GHG footprint of each scenario is evaluated, providing insight into the climate costs and benefits associated with each scenario’s objectives. Assuming that indirect land-use change is successfully minimized or mitigated, the results suggest two major drivers for overall GHG impact of cellulosic ethanol from Miscanthus: (a) net soil carbon sequestration or emissions during Miscanthus cultivation and (b) GHG offset credits for electricity exported by biorefineries to the grid. Without these factors, the GHG intensity of bioethanol from Miscanthus is calculated to be 11-13 g CO2-equivalent per MJ of fuel, which is 80-90% lower than gasoline. Including soil carbon sequestration and the power-offset credit results in net GHG sequestration up to 26 g CO2-equivalent per MJ of fuel.

Bridging the data gap: engaging developing country farmers in greenhouse gas accounting

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Paustian, Keith

2013-06-01

For many developing countries, the land use sector, particularly agriculture and forestry, represents a large proportion of their greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, making this sector a priority for GHG mitigation activities. Previous global surveys (e.g., IPCC 2000) as well as the most recent IPCC assessment report clearly indicate that the greatest technical potential for carbon sequestration and reductions of non-CO2 GHG emissions from the land use sector is in developing countries. Estimates that consider economic feasibility suggest that agriculture and forestry together provide among the greatest opportunities for short-term and low-cost mitigation measures across all sectors of the global economy1 (IPCC 2007). In addition, it is widely recognized that the ecosystem changes entailed by most mitigation practices, i.e., building soil organic matter, reducing losses and tightening nutrient cycles, more efficient production systems and preserving native vegetation, are well aligned with goals of increasing food security and rural development as well as buffering land use systems against climate change (Lal 2004). Hence, there is growing interest in jump-starting the capacity for broad-based engagement in agriculturally-based GHG mitigation projects in developing countries. Against this favorable background, there are a number of significant challenges—in addition to the fundamental need for comprehensive mandatory reduction policies—to accelerating the involvement of agriculture in GHG mitigation. As detailed by articles in this special issue, quantifying emissions and emission reductions/sequestration of agricultural sources of CO2,N2O and CH4 is difficult. Emissions and C sequestration are distributed across the landscape, with high spatial and temporal variability and with multiple and interacting climate, soil and management factors that affect rates. In most cases, this makes instrument-based measurement of fluxes and C stock changes in agricultural environments difficult, expensive and impractical for routine project-scale deployment. However, there is growing acceptance in the use of models—ranging from simple empirical emission factors to dynamic process-based models—for quantifying emissions and stock changes at project scales2. This approach relies on the strategic use of direct instrument-based measurements carried out by university and government researchers (Jawson et al 2005, Skiba et al 2009) to calibrate and validate appropriate models, in which the models represent the relationship between key environmental variables (e.g., precipitation, temperature, soil texture and mineralogy, etc) and land management practices (e.g., fertilizer use, tillage, crop selection, residue management, land cover changes, etc) that determine anthropogenic GHG fluxes. National or regional scale monitoring networks can provide additional, independent measurements to estimate model-based uncertainties and to incrementally improve model performance (van Wesemael et al 2011). In many developing countries the information infrastructure to support model-based GHG estimates is just beginning to emerge; however initiatives such as the World Digital Soils Map project (Sanchez et al 2009) and growing availability of free or low-cost climate data sets and remote sensing data (e.g. land cover/land use, fire, vegetation condition, etc) suggest that our knowledge of many of the environmental variables controlling GHG emissions and C sequestration will increase greatly in the next few years. However, the other key ingredient to GHG quantification—knowing where and what land management activities are actually occurring on the landscape—will require its own technological breakthrough. In its most basic form, the emission rate of a greenhouse gas can be expressed as the product of an emission factor and a measure of the activity that is causing the emission. In this simplified depiction, the emission factor embodies the set of research-based measurements, environmental variables, process models and monitoring networks described above. The second part of the equation is generally referred to as activity data, which includes the type and amount of human-activities (i.e., management) responsible for the emissions. In most developed countries, there is a well-developed infrastructure to collect and analyze data on land use and management activities that are used for a variety of purposes, including greenhouse gas inventories. For example, the US Department of Agriculture's (USDA) National Agricultural Statistical Service (NASS) conducts a variety of surveys of farmers to collect information on management practices as well as economic and demographic data; other entities such as USDA National Resource Inventory use remote sensing and field visits to gather agricultural resource use data. These and other data sources are utilized for the national agricultural emissions inventory in the US (EPA 2012). However, even these well-established and resourced (e.g., 2011 NASS budget was 165 million) data collections lack some variables of interest for GHG estimates and more importantly tend to be available only as aggregated averages (e.g., state or county level) that do not fully capture the local interaction of environmental variables (e.g. climate and soil properties) and management practices that determine GHG emissions. In most developing countries, this type of agricultural activity data is much scarcer and most countries do not have the resources to collect extensive survey data on agricultural practices as in the developed world. Country-level statistics such as compiled in FAOSTAT provide a useful first-order estimate of agricultural activities that can be used in national and global GHG accounting (see Tubiello et al 2013), but are inadequate for finer scale and more accurate emissions estimates. Given financial and resource constraints, there is little expectation of dramatic near-term improvements in the availability of data on agricultural management practices in many developing countries using traditional top-down agency-directed surveys. So how do we overcome this critical data gap, which I would argue is a prerequisite for broad-based implementation of GHG mitigation policies and projects in the developing world. A potential answer—have the farmers tell us themselves! The explosive growth in mobile phone accessibility and use in developing countries has been widely noted and has begun to be exploited for a variety of purposes to support rural development (Qiang et al 2011). To date, applications have centered mainly on providing market information to farmers so that they can make more profitable decisions on where and when to market their products. Dissemination of advice, such as weather forecasts and management recommendations is another area of development. The use of mobile device technology for 'crowd-sourcing' of land management data to support local-scale greenhouse gas accounting is still very much 'on-the-drawing board' (Paustian 2012); however, several factors argue in favor of the viability of this type of approach. First, is the fact that many key variables driving agricultural emissions (e.g., fertilizer applications, manure management) cannot be obtained by means other than asking the farmers themselves—either by traditional survey methods or through self-reporting. Remote sensing can provide data on variables such as land cover and land cover change, as well as some 'within land cover' management variables such as crop species, crop residue coverage, extent and periodicity of flooding (e.g. for rice) (NAS 2010). However, these latter observations are still highly uncertain and particularly challenging in the heterogeneous, fine-grained, land use mosaics that are typical for small-holder agriculture in the tropics. Hence, most of the management information needed as activity data, e.g., land area farmed, amount, type and timing of fertilizer applied, tillage implements used, crops growth, etc, are best known by the land users themselves. At present, second generation (2G) mobile phones predominate in developing countries (Qiang et al 2011), but with the likely increase in future smart phone usage, the possibility for powerful applications for data collection as well as computation and reporting (e.g., for GHG mitigation project participants) is far-reaching. Capabilities include geo-referencing of locations, uploading photos for image analysis (e.g., crop species present, canopy density, surface coverage by crop residues) and wireless connection to remote sensing imagery, geospatial databases and cloud-computing. Sophisticated web-based applications for GHG accounting are becoming available in the US and Europe (Denef et al 2012, Paustian et al 2012) which opens the opportunity for similar deployments to support GHG mitigation projects in developing countries (Milne et al 2013). Incentivizing farmers to supply management information and ensuring timely and accurate reporting are two major challenges to a 'crowd-sourcing' system for activity data collection. A logical place to start might be with participants or field coordinators of GHG offset projects or other funded agricultural development projects, as they would have a direct incentive to provide data as a condition of project participation. However, a cost-effective means of collecting land use data might also be of interest to governmental and regulatory agencies, in which case direct financial incentives for reporting could be developed. Compensation such as awarding cell phone minutes would be an alternative that would entail minimal transaction costs. Data quality control would be an important component, requiring careful formulation of the data gathering procedures (i.e., the design of a mobile-app based survey) as well as data screening for outliers and independent resampling of a portion of the responses. However, QA/QC procedures for traditional self-reporting and polling methods (which face the same challenges) are well-developed and could be adapted to a mobile-app system. Finally, opportunities for incorporating graphics/pictures as a substitute or complement to text, as well as increasingly sophisticated voice recognition capabilities, could provide added benefits for working with populations having low literacy and education levels. Many issues remain to be resolved for improving our capabilities to quantify emissions and emission reductions from agriculture—both in developed and developing parts of the globe—including improvements in emission factors/models, better geospatial databases for soils and climate, and deployment of distributed monitoring networks. Similarly, a crowd-sourcing approach to compile activity data on agricultural management practices faces challenges such as making applications simple and locally relevant, literacy barriers, data quality control, and incentivizing the data providers. However, the growing use by developing country farmers of mobile apps for marketing, financing and extension services, suggests that engaging them directly, as the true experts of what is happening on the landscape, could be a key to bridging the data gap and realizing the potential for agricultural GHG mitigation. References Denef K, Paustian K, Archibeque S, Biggar S and Pape D 2012 Report of greenhouse gas accounting tools for agriculture and forestry sectors Interim Report to USDA Under Contract No GS23F8182H (www.usda.gov/oce/climate_change/techguide/Denef_et_al_2012_GHG_Accounting_Tools_v1.pdf (ver. 30/10/2012)) EPA 2012 Inventory of US Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Sinks: 1990-2010 (EPA 430-R-12-001) (Washington, DC: Office of Atmospheric Programs) (www.epa.gov/climatechange/ghgemissions/usinventoryreport/archive.html (ver. 23/03/2013)) IPCC 2000 Land Use, Land Use Change, and Forestry (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Special Report) (Oxford: Oxford University Press) p 377 IPCC 2007 Agriculture Climate Change 2007: Mitigation. Contribution of Working Group III to the Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change ed B Metz, O R Davidson, P R Bosch, R Dave and L A Meyer (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press) chapter 8, pp 498-540 Jawson M D, Shafer S R, Franzluebbers A J, Parkin T B and Follett R F 2005 GRACEnet: greenhouse gas reduction through agricultural carbon enhancement network Soil Tillage Res. 83 167-72 Lal R 2004 Soil carbon sequestration impacts on global climate change and food security Science 304 1623-7 Milne E et al 2013 Methods for the quantification of GHG emissions at the landscape level for developing countries in smallholder contexts Environ. Res. Lett. 8 015019 National Academy of Sciences 2010 Verifying Greenhouse Gas Emissions: Methods to Support International Climate Agreements (Committee: S Pacala, C Breidenich, P Brewer, I Fung, M Gunson, G Heddle, B Law, G Marland, K Paustian, M Prather, J Randerson, P Tans, S Wofsy) (Washington, DC: National Academies Press) p 110 Paustian K 2012 Agriculture, farmers and GHG mitigation: a new social network? Carbon Manag. 3 253-7 Paustian K et al 2012 COMET 2.0—decision support system for agricultural greenhouse gas accounting Managing Agricultural Greenhouse Gases: Coordinated Agricultural Research through GraceNet to Address Our Changing Climate ed M Liebig, A Franzluebbers and R Follett (San Diego, CA: Academic) pp 251-70 Qiang C Z, Kuek S C, Dymond A and Esselaar S 2011 Mobile Applications for Agriculture and Rural Development (Washington, DC: ICT Sector Unit, World Bank) (http://siteresources.worldbank.org/INFORMATIONANDCOMMUNICATIONANDTECHNOLOGIES/Resources/MobileApplications_for_ARD.pdf) Sanchez P A et al 2009 Digital soil map of the world Science 325 680-1 Skiba U et al 2009 Biosphere-atmosphere exchange of reactive nitrogen and greenhouse gases at the NitroEurope core flux measurement sites: measurement strategy and first data sets Agric. Ecosyst. Environ. 133 139-49 Tubiello F N et al 2013 The FAOSTAT database of greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture Environ. Res. Lett. 8 015009 van Wesemael B et al 2011 How can soil monitoring networks be used to improve predictions of organic carbon pool dynamics and CO2 fluxes in agricultural soils? Plant Soil 338 247-59 1 About 4.7 Pg CO2eq yr-1, at 50 tonne-1 CO2eq. 2 In practice, virtually all emission estimates in national GHG inventories rely fully or partially on model-based methods. At project scales, one of the few examples of direct instrument-based measurement approaches in agriculture is that of methane abatement from manure management, in which enclosed storage facilities allow gases to be collected and measured as a point source.

The effects of rape residue mulching on net global warming potential and greenhouse gas intensity from no-tillage paddy fields.

PubMed

Zhang, Zhi-Sheng; Cao, Cou-Gui; Guo, Li-Jin; Li, Cheng-Fang

2014-01-01

A field experiment was conducted to provide a complete greenhouse gas (GHG) accounting for global warming potential (GWP), net GWP, and greenhouse gas intensity (GHGI) from no-tillage (NT) paddy fields with different amounts of oilseed rape residue mulch (0, 3000, 4000, and 6000 kg dry matter (DM) ha(-1)) during a rice-growing season after 3 years of oilseed rape-rice cultivation. Residue mulching treatments showed significantly more organic carbon (C) density for the 0-20 cm soil layer at harvesting than no residue treatment. During a rice-growing season, residue mulching treatments sequestered significantly more organic C from 687 kg C ha(-1) season(-1) to 1654 kg C ha(-1) season(-1) than no residue treatment. Residue mulching significantly increased emissions of CO2 and N2O but decreased CH4 emissions. Residue mulching treatments significantly increased GWP by 9-30% but significantly decreased net GWP by 33-71% and GHGI by 35-72% relative to no residue treatment. These results suggest that agricultural economic viability and GHG mitigation can be achieved simultaneously by residue mulching on NT paddy fields in central China.

Greenhouse gas emissions from green waste composting windrow.

PubMed

Zhu-Barker, Xia; Bailey, Shannon K; Paw U, Kyaw Tha; Burger, Martin; Horwath, William R

2017-01-01

The process of composting is a source of greenhouse gases (GHG) that contribute to climate change. We monitored three field-scale green waste compost windrows over a one-year period to measure the seasonal variance of the GHG fluxes. The compost pile that experienced the wettest and coolest weather had the highest average CH 4 emission of 254±76gCday -1 dry weight (DW) Mg -1 and lowest average N 2 O emission of 152±21mgNday -1 DW Mg -1 compared to the other seasonal piles. The highest N 2 O emissions (342±41mgNday -1 DW Mg -1 ) came from the pile that underwent the driest and hottest weather. The compost windrow oxygen (O 2 ) concentration and moisture content were the most consistent factors predicting N 2 O and CH 4 emissions from all seasonal compost piles. Compared to N 2 O, CH 4 was a higher contributor to the overall global warming potential (GWP) expressed as CO 2 equivalents (CO 2 eq.). Therefore, CH 4 mitigation practices, such as increasing O 2 concentration in the compost windrows through moisture control, feedstock changes to increase porosity, and windrow turning, may reduce the overall GWP of composting. Based on the results of the present study, statewide total GHG emissions of green waste composting were estimated at 789,000Mg of CO 2 eq., representing 2.1% of total annual GHG emissions of the California agricultural sector and 0.18% of the total state emissions. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Projected Growth in Small-Scale, Fossil-Fueled Distributed Generation: Potential Implications for the U.S. Greenhouse Gas Inventory

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

Eberle, Annika; Heath, Garvin A

The generation capacity of small-scale (less than one megawatt) fossil-fueled electricity in the United States is anticipated to grow by threefold to twenty-fold from 2015 to 2040. However, in adherence with internationally agreed upon carbon accounting methods, the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA's) U.S. Greenhouse Inventory (GHGI) does not currently attribute greenhouse gases (GHGs) from these small-scale distributed generation sources to the electric power sector and instead accounts for these emissions in the sector that uses the distributed generation (e.g., the commercial sector). In addition, no other federal electric-sector GHG emission data product produced by the EPA or the U.S. Energymore » Information Administration (EIA) can attribute these emissions to electricity. We reviewed the technical documentation for eight federal electric-sector GHG emission data products, interviewed the data product owners, collected their GHG emission estimates, and analyzed projections for growth in fossil-fueled distributed generation. We show that, by 2040, these small-scale generators could account for at least about 1%- 5% of total CO2 emissions from the U.S. electric power sector. If these emissions fall outside the electric power sector, the United States may not be able to completely and accurately track changes in electricity-related CO2 emissions, which could impact how the country sets GHG reduction targets and allocates mitigation resources. Because small-scale, fossil-fueled distributed generation is expected to grow in other countries as well, the results of this work also have implications for global carbon accounting.« less

Subsurface watering resulted in reduced soil N2O and CO2 emissions and their global warming potentials than surface watering

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wei, Qi; Xu, Junzeng; Yang, Shihong; Liao, Linxian; Jin, Guangqiu; Li, Yawei; Hameed, Fazli

2018-01-01

Water management is an important practice with significant effect on greenhouse gases (GHG) emission from soils. Nitrous oxide (N2O) and carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions and their global warming potentials (GWPs) from subsurface watering soil (SUW) were investigated, with surface watering (SW) as a control. Results indicated that the N2O and CO2 emissions from SUW soils were somewhat different to those from SW soil, with the peak N2O and CO2 fluxes from SUW soil reduced by 28.9% and 19.4%, and appeared 72 h and 168 h later compared with SW. The fluxes of N2O and CO2 from SUW soils were lower than those from SW soil in both pulse and post-pulse periods, and the reduction was significantly (p<0.05) in pulse period. Compare to SW, the cumulative N2O and CO2 emissions and its integrative GWPs from SUW soil decreased by 21.0% (p<0.05), 15.9% and 18.0%, respectively. The contributions of N2O to GWPs were lower than those of CO2 during most of time, except in pulse emission periods, and the proportion of N2O from SUW soil was 1.4% (p>0.1) lower that from SW soil. Moreover, N2O and CO2 fluxes from both watering treatments increased exponentially with increase of soil water-filled pore space (WFPS) and temperature. Our results suggest that watering soil from subsurface could significantly reduce the integrative greenhouse effect caused by N2O and CO2 and is a promising strategy for soil greenhouse gases (GHGs) mitigation. And the pulse period, contributed most to the reduction in emissions of N2O and CO2 from soils between SW and SUW, should be a key period for mitigating GHGs emissions. Response of N2O and CO2 emissions to soil WFPS and temperature illustrated that moisture was the dominant parameters that triggering GHG pulse emissions (especially for N2O), and temperature had a greater effect on the soil microorganism activity than moisture in drier soil. Avoiding moisture and temperature are appropriate for GHG emission at the same time is essential for GHGs mitigation, because peak N2O and CO2 emission were observed only when moisture and temperature are both appropriate.

Bioenergy costs and potentials with special attention to implications for the land system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Popp, A.; Lotze-Campen, H.; Dietrich, J.; Klein, D.; Bauer, N.; Krause, M.; Beringer, T.; Gerten, D.

2011-12-01

In the coming decades, an increasing competition for global land and water resources can be expected, due to rising demand for agricultural products, goals of nature conservation, and changing production conditions due to climate change. Especially biomass from cellulosic bioenergy crops, such as Miscanthus or poplar, is being proposed to play a substantial role in future energy systems if climate policy aims at stabilizing greenhouse gas (GHG) concentration at low levels. However, the potential of bioenergy for climate change mitigation remains unclear due to large uncertainties about future agricultural yield improvements, land availability for biomass plantations, and implications for the land system. In order to explore the cost-effective contribution of bioenergy to a low carbon transition with special attention to implications for the land system, we present a modeling framework with detailed biophysical and economic representation of the land and energy sector: We have linked the global dynamic vegetation and water balance model LPJmL (Bondeau et al. 2007, Rost et al. 2008), the global land and water use model MAgPIE (Lotze-Campen et al. 2008, Popp et al. 2010), and the global energy-economy-climate model ReMIND (Leimbach et al. 2009). In this modeling framework LPJmL supplies spatially explicit (0.5° resolution) agricultural yields as well as carbon and water stocks and fluxes. Based on this biophysical input MAgPIE delivers cost-optimized land use patterns (0.5° resolution), associated GHG emissions and rates of future yield increases in agricultural production. Moreover, shadow prices are calculated for irrigation water (as an indicator for water scarcity), food commodities, and bioenergy (as an indicator for changes in production costs) under different land use constraints such as forest conservation for climate change mitigation and as a contribution to biodiversity conservation. The energy-economy-climate model ReMIND generates the demand for bioenergy, taking into account the direct competition with other energy technology options for GHG mitigation, based on economic costs of bioenergy production. As a result, we find that bioenergy from specialized grassy and woody bioenergy crops can contribute approximately 100 EJ in 2055 and up to 300 EJ of primary energy in 2095. Protecting natural forests decreases biomass availability for energy production in the medium run, but not in the long run. Reducing the land available for agricultural use can partially be compensated for by higher rates of technological change in agriculture; however, bioenergy crops will occupy large shares of available cropland in both scenarios. In addition, our trade-off analysis indicates that forest protection combined with large-scale cultivation of dedicated bioenergy is likely to affect bioenergy potentials, but also to increase global food prices and increase water scarcity.

The climate impacts of bioenergy systems depend on market and regulatory policy contexts.

PubMed

Lemoine, Derek M; Plevin, Richard J; Cohn, Avery S; Jones, Andrew D; Brandt, Adam R; Vergara, Sintana E; Kammen, Daniel M

2010-10-01

Biomass can help reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by displacing petroleum in the transportation sector, by displacing fossil-based electricity, and by sequestering atmospheric carbon. Which use mitigates the most emissions depends on market and regulatory contexts outside the scope of attributional life cycle assessments. We show that bioelectricity's advantage over liquid biofuels depends on the GHG intensity of the electricity displaced. Bioelectricity that displaces coal-fired electricity could reduce GHG emissions, but bioelectricity that displaces wind electricity could increase GHG emissions. The electricity displaced depends upon existing infrastructure and policies affecting the electric grid. These findings demonstrate how model assumptions about whether the vehicle fleet and bioenergy use are fixed or free parameters constrain the policy questions an analysis can inform. Our bioenergy life cycle assessment can inform questions about a bioenergy mandate's optimal allocation between liquid fuels and electricity generation, but questions about the optimal level of bioenergy use require analyses with different assumptions about fixed and free parameters.

Benefits of Leapfrogging to Superefficiency and Low Global Warming Potential Refrigerants in Room Air Conditioning

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

Shah, Nihar; Wei, Max; Letschert, Virginie

2015-10-01

Hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) emitted from uses such as refrigerants and thermal insulating foam, are now the fastest growing greenhouse gases (GHGs), with global warming potentials (GWP) thousands of times higher than carbon dioxide (CO2). Because of the short lifetime of these molecules in the atmosphere, mitigating the amount of these short-lived climate pollutants (SLCPs) provides a faster path to climate change mitigation than control of CO2 alone. This has led to proposals from Africa, Europe, India, Island States, and North America to amend the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer (Montreal Protocol) to phase-down high-GWP HFCs. Simultaneously, energymore » efficiency market transformation programs such as standards, labeling and incentive programs are endeavoring to improve the energy efficiency for refrigeration and air conditioning equipment to provide life cycle cost, energy, GHG, and peak load savings. In this paper we provide an estimate of the magnitude of such GHG and peak electric load savings potential, for room air conditioning, if the refrigerant transition and energy efficiency improvement policies are implemented either separately or in parallel. We find that implementing HFC refrigerant transition and energy efficiency improvement policies in parallel for room air conditioning, roughly doubles the benefit of either policy implemented separately. We estimate that shifting the 2030 world stock of room air conditioners from the low efficiency technology using high-GWP refrigerants to higher efficiency technology and low-GWP refrigerants in parallel would save between 340-790 gigawatts (GW) of peak load globally, which is roughly equivalent to avoiding 680-1550 peak power plants of 500MW each. This would save 0.85 GT/year annually in China equivalent to over 8 Three Gorges dams and over 0.32 GT/year annually in India equivalent to roughly twice India’s 100GW solar mission target. While there is some uncertainty associated with emissions and growth projections, moving to efficient room air conditioning (~30% more efficient than current technology) in parallel with low-GWP refrigerants in room air conditioning could avoid up to ~25 billion tonnes of CO2 in 2030, ~33 billion in 2040, and ~40 billion in 2050, i.e. cumulative savings up to 98 billion tonnes of CO2 by 2050. Therefore, superefficient room ACs using low-GWP refrigerants merit serious consideration to maximize peak load reduction and GHG savings.« less

CHARACTERIZING COSTS, SAVINGS AND BENEFITS OF A SELECTION OF ENERGY EFFICIENT EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES IN THE UNITED STATES

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

Xu, T.; Slaa, J.W.; Sathaye, J.

2010-12-15

Implementation and adoption of efficient end-use technologies have proven to be one of the key measures for reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions throughout the industries. In many cases, implementing energy efficiency measures is among one of the most cost effective investments that the industry could make in improving efficiency and productivity while reducing CO2 emissions. Over the years, there have been incentives to use resources and energy in a cleaner and more efficient way to create industries that are sustainable and more productive. With the working of energy programs and policies on GHG inventory and regulation, understanding and managing themore » costs associated with mitigation measures for GHG reductions is very important for the industry and policy makers around the world. Successful implementation of emerging technologies not only can help advance productivities and competitiveness but also can play a significant role in mitigation efforts by saving energy. Providing evaluation and estimation of the costs and energy savings potential of emerging technologies is the focus of our work in this project. The overall goal of the project is to identify and select emerging and under-utilized energy-efficient technologies and practices as they are important to reduce energy consumption in industry while maintaining economic growth. This report contains the results from performing Task 2"Technology evaluation" for the project titled"Research Opportunities in Emerging and Under-Utilized Energy-Efficient Industrial Technologies," which was sponsored by California Energy Commission and managed by CIEE. The project purpose is to analyze market status, market potential, and economic viability of selected technologies applicable to the U.S. In this report, LBNL first performed re-assessments of all of the 33 emerging energy-efficient industrial technologies, including re-evaluation of the 26 technologies that were previously identified by Martin et al. (2000) and their potential significance to energy use in the industries, and new evaluation of additional seven technologies. The re-assessments were essentially updated with recent information that we searched and collected from literature to the extent possible. The progress of selected technologies as they diffused into the marketplace from 2000 to 2010 was then discussed in this report. The report also includes updated detailed characterizations of 15 technologies studied in 2000, with comparisons noted.« less

Emissions of CH4 and N2O under Different Tillage Systems from Double-Cropped Paddy Fields in Southern China

PubMed Central

Zhang, Hai-Lin; Bai, Xiao-Lin; Xue, Jian-Fu; Chen, Zhong-Du; Tang, Hai-Ming; Chen, Fu

2013-01-01

Understanding greenhouse gases (GHG) emissions is becoming increasingly important with the climate change. Most previous studies have focused on the assessment of soil organic carbon (SOC) sequestration potential and GHG emissions from agriculture. However, specific experiments assessing tillage impacts on GHG emission from double-cropped paddy fields in Southern China are relatively scarce. Therefore, the objective of this study was to assess the effects of tillage systems on methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide (N2O) emission in a double rice (Oryza sativa L.) cropping system. The experiment was established in 2005 in Hunan Province, China. Three tillage treatments were laid out in a randomized complete block design: conventional tillage (CT), rotary tillage (RT) and no-till (NT). Fluxes of CH4 from different tillage treatments followed a similar trend during the two years, with a single peak emission for the early rice season and a double peak emission for the late rice season. Compared with other treatments, NT significantly reduced CH4 emission among the rice growing seasons (P<0.05). However, much higher variations in N2O emission were observed across the rice growing seasons due to the vulnerability of N2O to external influences. The amount of CH4 emission in paddy fields was much higher relative to N2O emission. Conversion of CT to NT significantly reduced the cumulative CH4 emission for both rice seasons compared with other treatments (P<0.05). The mean value of global warming potentials (GWPs) of CH4 and N2O emissions over 100 years was in the order of NT

Climate Change Affects Winter Chill for Temperate Fruit and Nut Trees

PubMed Central

Luedeling, Eike; Girvetz, Evan H.; Semenov, Mikhail A.; Brown, Patrick H.

2011-01-01

Background Temperate fruit and nut trees require adequate winter chill to produce economically viable yields. Global warming has the potential to reduce available winter chill and greatly impact crop yields. Methodology/Principal Findings We estimated winter chill for two past (1975 and 2000) and 18 future scenarios (mid and end 21st century; 3 Global Climate Models [GCMs]; 3 greenhouse gas emissions [GHG] scenarios). For 4,293 weather stations around the world and GCM projections, Safe Winter Chill (SWC), the amount of winter chill that is exceeded in 90% of all years, was estimated for all scenarios using the “Dynamic Model” and interpolated globally. We found that SWC ranged between 0 and about 170 Chill Portions (CP) for all climate scenarios, but that the global distribution varied across scenarios. Warm regions are likely to experience severe reductions in available winter chill, potentially threatening production there. In contrast, SWC in most temperate growing regions is likely to remain relatively unchanged, and cold regions may even see an increase in SWC. Climate change impacts on SWC differed quantitatively among GCMs and GHG scenarios, with the highest GHG leading to losses up to 40 CP in warm regions, compared to 20 CP for the lowest GHG. Conclusions/Significance The extent of projected changes in winter chill in many major growing regions of fruits and nuts indicates that growers of these commodities will likely experience problems in the future. Mitigation of climate change through reductions in greenhouse gas emissions can help reduce the impacts, however, adaption to changes will have to occur. To better prepare for likely impacts of climate change, efforts should be undertaken to breed tree cultivars for lower chilling requirements, to develop tools to cope with insufficient winter chill, and to better understand the temperature responses of tree crops. PMID:21629649

Emissions of CH4 and N2O under different tillage systems from double-cropped paddy fields in Southern China.

PubMed

Zhang, Hai-Lin; Bai, Xiao-Lin; Xue, Jian-Fu; Chen, Zhong-Du; Tang, Hai-Ming; Chen, Fu

2013-01-01

Understanding greenhouse gases (GHG) emissions is becoming increasingly important with the climate change. Most previous studies have focused on the assessment of soil organic carbon (SOC) sequestration potential and GHG emissions from agriculture. However, specific experiments assessing tillage impacts on GHG emission from double-cropped paddy fields in Southern China are relatively scarce. Therefore, the objective of this study was to assess the effects of tillage systems on methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide (N2O) emission in a double rice (Oryza sativa L.) cropping system. The experiment was established in 2005 in Hunan Province, China. Three tillage treatments were laid out in a randomized complete block design: conventional tillage (CT), rotary tillage (RT) and no-till (NT). Fluxes of CH4 from different tillage treatments followed a similar trend during the two years, with a single peak emission for the early rice season and a double peak emission for the late rice season. Compared with other treatments, NT significantly reduced CH4 emission among the rice growing seasons (P<0.05). However, much higher variations in N2O emission were observed across the rice growing seasons due to the vulnerability of N2O to external influences. The amount of CH4 emission in paddy fields was much higher relative to N2O emission. Conversion of CT to NT significantly reduced the cumulative CH4 emission for both rice seasons compared with other treatments (P<0.05). The mean value of global warming potentials (GWPs) of CH4 and N2O emissions over 100 years was in the order of NT

GHG emission control and solid waste management for megacities with inexact inputs: a case study in Beijing, China.

PubMed

Lu, Hongwei; Sun, Shichao; Ren, Lixia; He, Li

2015-03-02

This study advances an integrated MSW management model under inexact input information for the city of Beijing, China. The model is capable of simultaneously generating MSW management policies, performing GHG emission control, and addressing system uncertainty. Results suggest that: (1) a management strategy with minimal system cost can be obtained even when suspension of certain facilities becomes unavoidable through specific increments of the remaining ones; (2) expansion of facilities depends only on actual needs, rather than enabling the full usage of existing facilities, although it may prove to be a costly proposition; (3) adjustment of waste-stream diversion ratio directly leads to a change in GHG emissions from different disposal facilities. Results are also obtained from the comparison of the model with a conventional one without GHG emissions consideration. It is indicated that (1) the model would reduce the net system cost by [45, 61]% (i.e., [3173, 3520] million dollars) and mitigate GHG emissions by [141, 179]% (i.e., [76, 81] million tons); (2) increased waste would be diverted to integrated waste management facilities to prevent overmuch CH4 emission from the landfills. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Greenhouse gas emissions from production chain of a cigarette manufacturing industry in Pakistan

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

Hussain, Majid, E-mail: majid_qau86@yahoo.com; Department of Forestry and Wildlife Management, University of Haripur, Hattar Road, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Haripur 22620; Zaidi, Syed Mujtaba Hasnian

This study quantified greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from the Pakistan Tobacco Company (PTC) production using a life cycle approach. The PTC production chain comprises of two phases: agricultural activities (Phase I) and industrial activities (Phase II). Data related to agricultural and industrial activities of PTC production chain were collected through questionnaire survey from tobacco growers and records from PTC manufacturing units. The results showed that total GHG emissions from PTC production chain were 44,965, 42,875, and 43,839 tCO{sub 2}e respectively in 2009, 2010, and 2011. Among the agricultural activities, firewood burning for tobacco curing accounted for about 3117, 3565, andmore » 3264 tCO{sub 2}e, fertilizer application accounted for 754, 3251, and 4761 tCO{sub 2}e in 2009, 2010, and 2011, respectively. Among the industrial activities, fossil fuels consumption in stationary sources accounted for 15,582, 12,733, and 13,203 tCO{sub 2}e, fossil fuels used in mobile sources contributed to 2693, 3038, and 3260 tCO{sub 2}e, and purchased electricity consumed resulted in 15,177, 13,556, and 11,380 tCO{sub 2}e in 2009, 2010, and 2011, respectively. The GHG emissions related to the transportation of raw materials and processed tobacco amounted to 6800, 6301, and 7317 respectively in 2009, 2010, and 2011. GHG emissions from energy use in the industrial activities constituted the largest emissions (i.e., over 80%) of GHG emissions as PTC relies on fossil fuels and fossil fuel based electrical power in industrial processes. The total emissions of carbon footprint (CFP) from PTC production were 0.647 tCO{sub 2}e per million cigarettes produced in 2009, 0.675 tCO{sub 2}e per million cigarettes in 2010 and 0.59 tCO{sub 2}e per million cigarettes in 2011. Potential strategies for GHG emissions reductions for PTC production chain include energy efficiency, reducing reliance on fossil fuels in non-mobile sources, adoption of renewable fuels including solar energy, energy from crop residues, and promotion of organic fertilizers. - Highlights: • We quantified greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from the Pakistan Tobacco Company (PTC). • PTC production chain comprises of two phases: agricultural and industrial activities. • GHG emissions accounts to 44,965, 42,875 and 43,839 tCO{sub 2}e in 2009, 2010, and 2011, respectively. • GHG emissions from energy use in the industrial activities constituted the largest emissions i.e. 80%. • Implications for GHG emissions mitigation strategies for PTC are also discussed in detail.« less

LIFE CLIMATREE project: A novel approach for accounting and monitoring carbon sequestration of tree crops and their potential as carbon sink areas

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Stergiou, John; Tagaris, Efthimios; -Eleni Sotiropoulou, Rafaella

2016-04-01

Climate Change Mitigation is one of the most important objectives of the Kyoto Convention, and is mostly oriented towards reducing GHG emissions. However, carbon sink is retained only in the calculation of the forests capacity since agricultural land and farmers practices for securing carbon stored in soils have not been recognized in GHG accounting, possibly resulting in incorrect estimations of the carbon dioxide balance in the atmosphere. The agricultural sector, which is a key sector in the EU, presents a consistent strategic framework since 1954, in the form of Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). In its latest reform of 2013 (reg. (EU) 1305/13) CAP recognized the significance of Agriculture as a key player in Climate Change policy. In order to fill this gap the "LIFE ClimaTree" project has recently founded by the European Commission aiming to provide a novel method for including tree crop cultivations in the LULUCF's accounting rules for GHG emissions and removal. In the framework of "LIFE ClimaTree" project estimation of carbon sink within EU through the inclusion of the calculated tree crop capacity will be assessed for both current and future climatic conditions by 2050s using the GISS-WRF modeling system in a very fine scale (i.e., 9km x 9km) using RCP8.5 and RCP4.5 climate scenarios. Acknowledgement: LIFE CLIMATREE project "A novel approach for accounting and monitoring carbon sequestration of tree crops and their potential as carbon sink areas" (LIFE14 CCM/GR/000635).

Greenhouse Gas and Criteria Air Pollutant Emission Reductions from Forest Fuel Treatment Projects in Placer County, California

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Saah, D. S.; Moritz, M.; Ganz, D. J.; Stine, P. A.; Moody, T.

2010-12-01

Years of successful fire suppression activities have left forests unnaturally dense, overstocked, and with high hazardous fuel loads. Wildfires, particularly those of high severity, may dramatically reduce carbon stocks and convert forested lands from carbon sinks to decades-long carbon sources . Forest resource managers are currently pursuing fuels reduction and mitigation strategies to reduce wildfire risk and maintain carbon stocks. These projects include selective thinning and removal of trees and brush to return forest ecosystems to more natural stocking levels, resulting in a more fire-resilient forest that in theory would retain higher carry capacity for standing above ground carbon. Resource managers are exploring the possibility of supporting these local forest management projects by offering greenhouse gas (GHG) offsets to project developers that require GHG emissions mitigation. Using robust field data, this research project modeled three types of carbon benefits that could be realized from forest management: 1. Fuels treatments in the study area were shown to reduce the GHG and Criteria Air Pollutant emissions from wildfires by decreasing the probability, extent, and severity of fires and the corresponding loss in forest carbon stocks; 2. Biomass utilization from fuel treatment was shown to reduce GHG and Criteria Air Pollutant emissions over the duration of the fuels treatment project compared to fossil fuel energy. 3. Management and thinning of forests in order to stimulate growth, resulting in more rapid uptake of atmospheric carbon and approaching a carbon carrying capacity stored in a forest ecosystem under prevailing environmental conditions and natural disturbance regimes.

Wabash Valley Integrated Gasification Combined Cycle, Coal to Fischer Tropsch Jet Fuel Conversion Study

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

Shah, Jayesh; Hess, Fernando; Horzen, Wessel van

This reports examines the feasibility of converting the existing Wabash Integrated Gasification Combined Cycle (IGCC) plant into a liquid fuel facility, with the goal of maximizing jet fuel production. The fuels produced are required to be in compliance with Section 526 of the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 (EISA 2007 §526) lifecycle greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions requirements, so lifecycle GHG emissions from the fuel must be equal to or better than conventional fuels. Retrofitting an existing gasification facility reduces the technical risk and capital costs associated with a coal to liquids project, leading to a higher probability ofmore » implementation and more competitive liquid fuel prices. The existing combustion turbine will continue to operate on low cost natural gas and low carbon fuel gas from the gasification facility. The gasification technology utilized at Wabash is the E-Gas™ Technology and has been in commercial operation since 1995. In order to minimize capital costs, the study maximizes reuse of existing equipment with minimal modifications. Plant data and process models were used to develop process data for downstream units. Process modeling was utilized for the syngas conditioning, acid gas removal, CO 2 compression and utility units. Syngas conversion to Fischer Tropsch (FT) liquids and upgrading of the liquids was modeled and designed by Johnson Matthey Davy Technologies (JM Davy). In order to maintain the GHG emission profile below that of conventional fuels, the CO 2 from the process must be captured and exported for sequestration or enhanced oil recovery. In addition the power utilized for the plant’s auxiliary loads had to be supplied by a low carbon fuel source. Since the process produces a fuel gas with sufficient energy content to power the plant’s loads, this fuel gas was converted to hydrogen and exported to the existing gas turbine for low carbon power production. Utilizing low carbon fuel gas and process steam in the existing combined cycle power plant provides sufficient power for all plant loads. The lifecycle GHG profile of the produced jet fuel is 95% of conventional jet fuel. Without converting the fuel gas to a low carbon fuel gas, the emissions would be 108% of conventional jet fuel and without any GHG mitigation, the profile would be 206%. Oil prices greater than $120 per barrel are required to reach a targeted internal rate of return on equity (IRROE) of 12%. Although capital expenditure is much less than if a greenfield facility was built, the relatively small size of the plant, assumed coal price, and the CTL risk profile used in the economic assumptions lead to a high cost of production. Assuming more favorable factors, the economic oil price could be reduced to $78 per barrel with GHG mitigation and $55 per barrel with no GHG mitigation.« less

Long-term effect of biochar application on yield-scaled greenhouse gas emissions in a rice paddy cropping system: A four-year case study in south China.

PubMed

Qin, Xiaobo; Li, Yu'e; Wang, Hong; Liu, Chong; Li, Jianling; Wan, Yunfan; Gao, Qingzhu; Fan, Fenliang; Liao, Yulin

2016-11-01

To evaluate long-term effect of biochar application on yield-scaled greenhouse gas emissions (YSGE) in a paddy rice cropping system, a 4-year field experiment by static chamber - gas chromatograph method was conducted in South China. Principal component analysis and terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism (T-RFLP) and real-time qPCR was used to unravel the microbial mechanisms of biochar addition. Six treatments were included: control (CK), application of 5tha(-1) biochar (BC1), application of 10tha(-1) biochar (BC2), application of 10tha(-1) biochar (BC3), rice straw return at 2400kgha(-1)(RS) and inoculated rice straw return at 2400kgha(-1)(RI). The results indicated that biochar amendment significantly decreased methane (CH4) and gross greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. This may primarily be ascribed to the stimulated biodiversity and abundance of methanotrophic microbes, increased soil pH and improved aeration by reducing bulk density after biochar incorporation. Compared with CK, RS and RI, 26.18%, 70.02%, 66.47% of CH4 flux and 26.14%, 70.16%, 66.46% of gross GHG emissions were reduced by biochar (mean of three biochar treatments), respectively. Furthermore, biochar significantly increased harvest index of double rice production (p<0.05). In comparison with CK, RS and RI, 29.14%, 68.04%, 62.28% of YSGE was reduced by biochar, respectively, and the highest biochar addition rate (20tha(-1)) contributed most to the mitigation of GHG emissions (36.24% decrease compared to CK) and improvement of rice yield (7.65% increase compared to CK). Results of our study suggested that long-term application of biochar should be the potential way to mitigate GHGs emissions and simultaneously improve rice productivity in the paddy rice system. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Forecasting the relative influence of environmental and anthropogenic stressors on polar bears

USGS Publications Warehouse

Atwood, Todd C.; Marcot, Bruce G.; Douglas, David C.; Amstrup, Steven C.; Rode, Karyn D.; Durner, George M.; Bromaghin, Jeffrey F.

2016-01-01

Effective conservation planning requires understanding and ranking threats to wildlife populations. We developed a Bayesian network model to evaluate the relative influence of environmental and anthropogenic stressors, and their mitigation, on the persistence of polar bears (Ursus maritimus). Overall sea ice conditions, affected by rising global temperatures, were the most influential determinant of population outcomes. Accordingly, unabated rise in atmospheric greenhouse gas (GHG) concentrations was the dominant influence leading to worsened population outcomes, with polar bears in three of four ecoregions reaching a dominant probability of decreased or greatly decreased by the latter part of this century. Stabilization of atmospheric GHG concentrations by mid-century delayed the greatly reduced state by ≈25 yr in two ecoregions. Prompt and aggressive mitigation of emissions reduced the probability of any regional population becoming greatly reduced by up to 25%. Marine prey availability, linked closely to sea ice trend, had slightly less influence on outcome state than sea ice availability itself. Reduced mortality from hunting and defense of life and property interactions resulted in modest declines in the probability of a decreased or greatly decreased population outcome. Minimizing other stressors such as trans-Arctic shipping, oil and gas exploration, and contaminants had a negligible effect on polar bear outcomes, although the model was not well-informed with respect to the potential influence of these stressors. Adverse consequences of loss of sea ice habitat became more pronounced as the summer ice-free period lengthened beyond four months, which could occur in most of the Arctic basin after mid-century if GHG emissions are not promptly reduced. Long-term conservation of polar bears would be best supported by holding global mean temperature to ≤ 2°C above preindustrial levels. Until further sea ice loss is stopped, management of other stressors may serve to slow the transition of populations to progressively worsened outcomes, and improve the prospects for their long-term persistence.

Cross-scale modelling of the climate-change mitigation potential of biochar systems: Global implications of nano-scale processes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Woolf, Dominic; Lehmann, Johannes

2014-05-01

With CO2 emissions still tracking the upper bounds of projected emissions scenarios, it is becoming increasingly urgent to reduce net greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, and increasingly likely that restricting future atmospheric GHG concentrations to within safe limits will require an eventual transition towards net negative GHG emissions. Few measures capable of providing negative emissions at a globally-significant scale are currently known. Two that are most often considered include carbon sequestration in biomass and soil, and biomass energy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS). In common with these two approaches, biochar also relies on the use of photosynthetically-bound carbon in biomass. But, because biomass and land are limited, it is critical that these resources are efficiently allocated between biomass/soil sequestration, bioenergy, BECCS, biochar, and other competing uses such as food, fiber and biodiversity. In many situations, biochar can offer advantages that may make it the preferred use of a limited biomass supply. These advantages include that: 1) Biochar can provide valuable benefits to agriculture by improving soil fertility and crop production, and reducing fertlizer and irrigation requirements. 2) Biochar is significantly more stable than biomass or other forms of soil carbon, thus lowering the risk of future losses compared to sequestration in biomass or soil organic carbon. 3) Gases and volatiles produced by pyrolysis can be combusted for energy (which may offset fossil fuel emissions). 4) Biochar can further lower GHG emissions by reducing nitrous oxide emissions from soil and by enhancing net primary production. Determining the optimal use of biomass requires that we are able to model not only the climate-change mitigation impact of each option, but also their economic and wider environmental impacts. Thus, what is required is a systems modelling approach that integrates components representing soil biogeochemistry, hydrology, crop production, land use, thermochemical conversion (to both biochar and energy products), climate, economics, and also the interactions between these components. Early efforts to model the life-cycle impacts of biochar systems have typically used simple empirical estimates of the strength of various feedback mechanisms, such as the impact of biochar on crop-growth, soil GHG fluxes, and native soil organic carbon. However, an environmental management perspective demands consideration of impacts over a longer time-scale and in broader agroecological situations than can be reliably extrapolated from simple empirical relationships derived from trials and experiments of inevitably limited scope and duration. Therefore, reliable quantification of long-term and large-scale impacts demands an understanding of the fundamental underlying mechanisms. Here, a systems-modelling approach that incorporates mechanistic assumptions will be described, and used to examine how uncertainties in the biogeochemical processes which drive the biochar-plant-soil interactions (particularly those responsible for priming, crop-growth and soil GHG emissions) translate into sensitivities of large scale and long-term impacts. This approach elucidates the aspects of process-level biochar biogeochemistry most critical to determining the large-scale GHG and economic impacts, and thus provides a useful guide to future model-led research.

Carbon footprint related to cattle production in Brazil, management practices and new alternatives.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

de Figueiredo, Eduardo; de oliveira, Ricardo; Berchielli, Telma; Reis, Ricardo; La Scala, Newton

2013-04-01

Brazil has the World largest commercial beef cattle herd, over 209.5 million heads in 2010 and is the leading exports of cattle meat. It has been argued that this activity has an important impact on GHG emissions, but a variety of options exists for greenhouse gases (GHG) mitigation in agriculture. Among those, the most prominent options are associated to the improvement of crops and grazing land management. Our study is focused on the GHG balance related to the improvement of brachiaria spp. pasture, leading to increases in the animal stocking rate and meat production per area and time. This study is based on the IPCC (2006) methodology and others Brazil specific data and results presented by scientific literature to estimate GHG balance (emissions sources and sinks) for three scenarios proposed for brachiaria pasture: 1) degraded pasture, 2) managed pasture and 3) crop-livestock-forest integration system (CLFIS). The approach takes into account the amounts of supplies per hectare used for each of the simulated scenario projected over a 20 years period. The GHG estimates are presented in kg CO2eq per kg of liveweight, considering the following emission sources and sinks within farm-gate: i) CH4 from enteric fermentation, ii) CH4 from manure deposited on pasture, iii) N2O emissions from urine and dung deposited by cattle on pasture, iv) N2O emissions from N synthetic fertilizer, v) N2O emissions from crop residues as of N-fixing crops and pasture renewal returned to soils, vi) CO2 from potassium use, vii) CO2 from phosphorus use, viii) CO2 from insecticides use, ix) CO2 from herbicides use, x) CO2 emissions due to lime application, xi) emissions due to diesel combustion, xii) eucalyptus biomass sequestration and xiii) soil carbon sequestration. We considered initial body weight of 200 kg for each heifer and a final slaughter weight of 450 kg head-1 for all scenarios; for degraded pasture a stocking rate of 0,5 head ha-1 year-1 and liveweight gain of 83 kg head-1year-1 or a gain of 41.5 kg of liveweight ha-1 year-1 and three years to reach slaughter weight. In contrast, for managed pasture and for CLFIS scenarios, two years to reach slaughter time and liveweight gain of 125 kg head-1 year-1 with 4 heads ha-1 year-1, resulting in a gain of 500 kg of liveweight ha-1 year-1. Our results indicate a GHG emission of 17.7 kg CO2eq kg-1 of liveweight to the scenario degraded pasture (1), 11.4 kg CO2eq kg-1 to the scenario managed pasture (2) and a positive balance of 4.9 kg CO2eq kg-1 in the scenario CLFIS (3), which is mainly related to the eucalyptus biomass and soil C sequestrations. Our simulation indicates a great potential not only to reduce GHG emissions associated to cattle production on managed pasture in Brazil, but also a C sequestration in CLFIS, which would be an additional strategy to mitigate the climate change.

GHG emissions quantification at high spatial and temporal resolution at urban scale: the case of the town of Sassari (NW Sardinia - Italy)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sanna, Laura; Ferrara, Roberto; Zara, Pierpaolo; Duce, Pierpaolo

2014-05-01

The European Union has set as priorities the fight against climate change related to greenhouse gas releases. The largest source of these emissions comes from human activities in urban areas that account for more than 70% of the world's emissions and several local governments intend to support the European strategic policies in understanding which crucial sectors drive GHG emissions in their city. Planning for mitigation actions at the community scale starts with the compilation of a GHG inventories that, among a wide range of measurement tools, provide information on the current status of GHG emissions across a specific jurisdiction. In the framework of a regional project for quantitative estimate of the net exchange of CO2 (emissions and sinks) at the municipal level in Sardinia, the town of Sassari represents a pilot site where a spatial and temporal high resolution GHG emissions inventory is built in line with European and international standard protocols to establish a baseline for tracking emission trends. The specific purpose of this accurate accounting is to obtain an appropriate allocation of CO2 and other GHG emissions at the fine building and hourly scale. The aim is to test the direct measurements needed to enable the construction of future scenarios of these emissions and for assessing possible strategies to reduce their impact. The key element of the methodologies used to construct this GHG emissions inventory is the Global Protocol for Community-Scale Greenhouse Gas Emissions (GPC) (March 2012) that identifies four main types of emission sources: (i) Stationary Units, (ii) Mobile Units, (iii) Waste, and (iv) Industrial Process and Product Use Emissions. The development of the GHG emissions account in Sassari consists in the collection of a range of alternative data sources (primary data, IPCC emission factors, national and local statistic, etc.) selected on the base on relevance and completeness criteria performed for 2010, as baseline year, using top-down, bottom-up or mixed approaches. GPC protocol also defines three standard scopes for downscaling emissions from the national to the community level, that allow to handle the attribution of releases that occur outside the community boundary as a result of activity or consumption within it. The procedures for data processing have simple and concise structure, applicable in different communities that led to the possibility to compare the results with other national contexts. An appropriate GHG emissions allocation over detailed spatial and temporal scales has been achieved on the basis of specific indicators (population, industrial employees, amount of product, etc.) and of geo-location and size of all buildings, using appropriate models, that enable to properly georeference them respect to their uses. The main advantage of neighborhood-level quantification consists in the identification of the main productive sources and emissive activities within the urban boundaries that mostly contribute to the current GHG emissions and then focus the efforts on possible mitigation.

Life cycle assessment of biochar systems: estimating the energetic, economic, and climate change potential.

PubMed

Roberts, Kelli G; Gloy, Brent A; Joseph, Stephen; Scott, Norman R; Lehmann, Johannes

2010-01-15

Biomass pyrolysis with biochar returned to soil is a possible strategy for climate change mitigation and reducing fossil fuel consumption. Pyrolysis with biochar applied to soils results in four coproducts: long-term carbon (C) sequestration from stable C in the biochar, renewable energy generation, biochar as a soil amendment, and biomass waste management. Life cycle assessment was used to estimate the energy and climate change impacts and the economics of biochar systems. The feedstocks analyzed represent agricultural residues (corn stover), yard waste, and switchgrass energy crops. The net energy of the system is greatest with switchgrass (4899 MJ t(-1) dry feedstock). The net greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions for both stover and yard waste are negative, at -864 and -885 kg CO(2) equivalent (CO(2)e) emissions reductions per tonne dry feedstock, respectively. Of these total reductions, 62-66% are realized from C sequestration in the biochar. The switchgrass biochar-pyrolysis system can be a net GHG emitter (+36 kg CO(2)e t(-1) dry feedstock), depending on the accounting method for indirect land-use change impacts. The economic viability of the pyrolysis-biochar system is largely dependent on the costs of feedstock production, pyrolysis, and the value of C offsets. Biomass sources that have a need for waste management such as yard waste have the highest potential for economic profitability (+$69 t(-1) dry feedstock when CO(2)e emission reductions are valued at $80 t(-1) CO(2)e). The transportation distance for feedstock creates a significant hurdle to the economic profitability of biochar-pyrolysis systems. Biochar may at present only deliver climate change mitigation benefits and be financially viable as a distributed system using waste biomass.

The role of CSP in Brazil: A multi-model analysis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Soria, Rafael; Lucena, André F. P.; Tomaschek, Jan; Fichter, Tobias; Haasz, Thomas; Szklo, Alexandre; Schaeffer, Roberto; Rochedo, Pedro; Fahl, Ulrich; Kern, Jürgen; Hoffmann, Susanne

2016-05-01

MESSAGE, TIMES and REMIX-CEM are potential tools for modelling a larger penetration of variable renewable energy (VRE) into the Brazilian power system. They also allow devising the opportunities that concentrated solar power (CSP) plants offer to the power system and to the wider energy system. There are different opportunities for CSP in Brazil in the short and medium term, consolidating this technology as a feasible alternative for greenhouse gas (GHG) mitigation in Brazil. This work verified that CSP is a cost-effective option only under very stringent mitigation scenarios (4DS and 2DS) and when carbon capture and storage (CCS) is not available. Still, according to the findings of REMIX-CEM-B, CSP can provide firm energy and dispatchable capacity in the Northeast region of Brazil, optimally complementing wind and PV generation. Moreover, CSP can offer additional flexibility to the Northeast power system, especially during winter and after 2030.

The Elum Project: A Network of UK Sites to Understand Land-Use Transitions to Bioenergy and Their Implications for Greenhouse Gas Balance and Carbon Cycling

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Harris, Z. M.; Alberti, G.; Bottoms, E.; Rowe, R.; Parmar, K.; Marshall, R.; Elias, D.; Smith, P.; Dondini, M.; Pogson, M.; Richards, M.; Finch, J.; Ineson, P.; Keane, B.; Perks, M.; Wilkinson, M.; Yamulki, S.; Donnison, I.; Farrar, K.; Massey, A.; McCalmont, J.; Drewer, J.; Sohi, S.; McNamara, N.; Taylor, G.

2014-12-01

Rising anthropogenic greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions coupled with an increasing need to address energy security are resulting in the development of cleaner, more sustainable alternatives to traditional fossil fuel sources. Bioenergy crops have been proposed to be able to mitigate the effects of climate change as well as provide increased energy security. The aim of this project is to assess the impact of land conversion to second generation non-food bioenergy crops on GHG balance for several land use transitions, including from arable, grassland and forest. A network of 6 sites was established across the UK to assess the processes underpinning GHG balance and to provide input data to a model being used to assess the sustainability of different land use transitions. Monthly analysis of soil GHGs shows that carbon dioxide contributes most to the global warming potential of these bioenergy crops, irrespective of transition. Nitrous oxide emissions were low for all crops except arable cropping and methane emissions were very low for all sites. Nearly all sites have shown a significant decrease in CO2 flux from the control land use. Eddy flux approaches, coupled with soil assessments show that for the transition from grassland to SRC willow there is a significant reduction in GHG emissions from soil and a negative net ecosystem exchange due to increased GPP and ecosystem respiration. These results suggest for this land use transition to bioenergy in a UK specific context, there may be a net benefit for ecosystem GHG exchange of transition to bioenergy Finally we are developing a meta-modelling tool to allow land use managers to make location-specific, informed decisions about land use change to bioenergy. This work is based on the Ecosystem Land Use Modelling & Soil Carbon GHG Flux Trial (ELUM) project, which was commissioned and funded by the Energy Technologies Institute (ETI). This project is co-ordinated by the Centre for Ecology & Hydrology (www.elum.ac.uk).

EPA Science Matters Newsletter: Breaking Through? Evaluating Technologies for Greenhouse Gas Mitigation (Published April 2014)

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

Read about the MARKet ALlocation (MARKAL) model that Dan Loughlin and his research colleagues created to help researchers to identify technologies that can make a true difference in reducing Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions.

GREENHOUSE GASES (ATMOSPHERIC PROTECTION BRANCH, AIR POLLUTION PREVENTION AND CONTROL DIVISION, NRMRL)

EPA Science Inventory

Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions are projected for various scenarios and the most appropriate approaches and technologies for mitigation are identified by NRMRL's Air Pollution Prevention and Control Division's Atmospheric Protection Branch (APB). These methods contribute to reduct...

Solid waste treatment as a high-priority and low-cost alternative for greenhouse gas mitigation.

PubMed

Ayalon, O; Avnimelech, Y; Shechter, M

2001-05-01

The increased concern about environmental problems caused by inadequate waste management, as well as the concern about global warming, promotes actions toward a sustainable management of the organic fraction of the waste. Landfills, the most common means to dispose of municipal solid waste (MSW), lead to the conversion of the organic waste to biogas, containing about 50% methane, a very active greenhouse gas (GHG). One unit of methane has a global warming potential of 21 computed for a 100-year horizon or 56 computed for 20 years. The waste sector in Israel contributes 13% of total greenhouse gases (GHG) emissions for a time horizon of 100 years (for a time horizon of 20 years, the waste sector contribution equals to more than 25% of total GHG emissions). The ultimate goal is to minimize the amount of methane (CH4) by converting it to CO2. This can be achieved by physicochemical means (e.g., landfill gas flare, incineration) or by biological processes (e.g., composting, anaerobic digestion). Since the waste in Israel has a high organic material content, it was found that the most cost-effective means to treat the degradable organic components is by aerobic composting (investment of less than US$ 10 to reduce emission of one ton CO2 equivalent per year). Another benefit of this technology is the ability to implement it within a short period. The suggested approach, which should be implemented especially in developing countries, could reduce a significant amount of GHG at relatively low cost and short time. The development of a national policy for proper waste treatment can be a significant means to abate GHG emissions in the short term, enabling a gain in time to develop other means for the long run. In addition, the use of CO2 quotas will credit the waste sector and will promote profitable proper waste management.

What can we learn from field experiments about the development of SOC and GHG emissions under different management practices?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Spiegel, Heide; Lehtinen, Taru; Schlatter, Norman; Haslmayr, Hans-Peter; Baumgarten, Andreas; ten Berge, Hein

2015-04-01

Successful agricultural management practices are required to maintain or enhance soil quality; at the same time climate change mitigation is becoming increasingly important. Within the EU project CATCH-C we analysed the effects of different agricultural practices not only on crop productivity, but also on soil quality indicators (e.g. soil organic carbon (SOC)) and climate change (CC) mitigation indicators (e.g. CO2, CH4, N2O emissions). European data sets and associated literature, mainly from long-term experiments were evaluated. This evaluation of agricultural management practices was carried out comparing a set of improved ("best") and often applied ("current") management practices. Positive and negative effects occurred when best management practices are adopted. As expected, none of the investigated practices could comply with all objectives simultaneously, i.e. maintaining high yields, mitigating climate change and improving chemical, physical and biological soil quality. The studied soil management practices "non-inversion tillage", "organic fertilisation" (application of farm yard manure, slurry, compost) and "incorporation of crop residues" represent important management practices for farmers to increase SOC, thus improving soil quality. However, CO2 and, especially, N2O emissions may rise as well. The evaluation of CC mitigation is often limited by the lack of data from - preferably - continuous GHG emission measurements. Thus, more long-term field studies are needed to better assess the CO2, CH4 and, especially, N2O emissions following the above mentioned favorably rated MPs. Only if SOC and GHG emissions are measured in the same field experiments, it will be possible to compute overall balances of necessary CO2-C equivalent emissions. CATCH-C is funded within the 7th Framework Programme for Research, Technological Development and Demonstration, Theme 2 - Biotechnologies, Agriculture & Food. (Grant Agreement N° 289782).

Soils as a Solution: The Potential of Rangelands to Contribute to Climate Change Mitigation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Silver, W. L.; Ryals, R.; DeLonge, M. S.; Owen, J. J.

2015-12-01

The majority of soil-related climate change research has focused on describing the problem - estimating rates of carbon (C) losses and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from natural and managed ecosystems. More research is needed to explore potential solutions to climate change through mitigation and adaptation. Here we report on an integrated set of studies aimed at critically evaluating the biogeochemical potential of rangeland soils to help mitigate climate change, while improving the sustainability and productivity of food production systems. We explored direct effects through enhanced net primary production (NPP) and soil C sequestration, and indirect effects through diversion of high emitting sources to lower emitting organic matter dynamics. We used a combination of long- and short-term field experiments, modeling, laboratory assays, life cycle assessment (LCA), and meta-analyses in consultation with a diverse group of stakeholders from both the private and public sectors. We found that organic matter amendments held particularly strong potential. Compost amendments increased soil C storage by 0.5-1.0 Mg C ha-1 y-1 in surface soils over 5 y, and increased NPP and water holding capacity. We measured 1.0 Mg of new C ha-1 y-1 over 3 y. Long-term amendment of cattle manure increased surface soil C by 19.0±7.3 Mg C ha-1 relative to unmanured fields. However, field and modeling experiments suggested that manure amendments lead to large nitrous oxide emissions that eventually eliminated CO2e benefits, whereas compost amendments continued to benefit climate for decades longer. An LCA identified a broader range of climate impacts. When scaled to an area of 25% of California's rangelands, new C sequestered following compost amendments (21 million Mg CO2e) exceeded emissions from cattle (15 million Mg CO2e); diverting organics from waste streams to amendments led to additional GHG savings. In collaboration with our partners, our research contributed to the development of a protocol for compost amendments, which is being used by stakeholders in C markets and by government agencies in climate action planning. In summary, we hope that our research and related activities will serve as a "call to arms" to the scientific community by highlighting a new and much needed arena for rigorous scientific research.

Production versus environmental impact trade-offs for Swiss cropping systems: a model-based approach

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Necpalova, Magdalena; Lee, Juhwan; Six, Johan

2017-04-01

There is a growing need to improve sustainability of agricultural systems. The key focus remains on optimizing current production systems in order to deliver food security at low environmental costs. It is therefore essential to identify and evaluate agricultural management practices for their potential to maintain or increase productivity and mitigate climate change and N pollution. Previous research on Swiss cropping systems has been concentrated on increasing crop productivity and soil fertility. Thus, relatively little is known about management effects on net soil greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and environmental N losses in the long-term. The aim of this study was to extrapolate findings from Swiss long-term field experiments and to evaluate the system-level sustainability of a wide range of cropping systems under conditions beyond field experimentation by comparing their crop productivity and impacts on soil carbon, net soil GHG emissions, NO3 leaching and soil N balance over 30 years. The DayCent model was previously parameterized for common Swiss crops and crop-specific management practices and evaluated for productivity, soil carbon dynamics and N2O emissions from Swiss cropping systems. Based on a prediction uncertainty criterion for crop productivity and soil carbon (rRMSE<0.3), in total 39 cropping systems were selected. Each system was evaluated under soil and climate conditions representative of Therwil, Frick, Reckenholz and Changins sites with four replications. Soil inputs were sampled from normal probability distributions defined by available site-specific data using the Latin hypercube sampling method. Net soil GHG emissions were derived from changes in soil carbon, N2O emissions and CH4 oxidation and the annual net global warming potential (GWP) was calculated using IPCC (2014). For statistical analyses, the systems were grouped into the following categories: (a) farming system: organic (ORG), integrated (IN) and mineral (MIN); (b) tillage: conventional (CT), reduced (RT) and no-till (NT); (c) cover cropping: no cover cropping (NCC), winter cover cropping (CC) and winter green manuring (GM). The productivity of Swiss cropping systems was mainly driven by total N inputs to the systems. The GWP of systems ranged from -450 to 1309 kg CO2 eq ha-1 yr-1. All studied systems, except for ORG-RT-GM systems, acted as a source of net soil GHG emissions with the relative contribution of soil N2O emissions to GWP of more than 60%. The GWP of systems with CT decreased consistently with increasing use of organic manures (MIN>IN>ORG). NT relative to RT management showed to be more effective in reducing GWP from MIN systems due to reduced soil N2O emissions and positive effects on soil C sequestration. GM relative to CC management was shown to be more effective in mitigating NO3 leaching and overall N losses from MIN systems; particularly in combination with NT management. GM management also increased soil N balance of MIN and ORG systems relative to CC management, which caused an additional N removal through CC harvest. Our results suggest that there is a substantial potential for improvement and optimizing the sustainability of Swiss cropping systems across sites especially in the context of climate change mitigation and adaptation.

76 FR 15249 - Deferral for CO2

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-03-21

... Agency FR Federal Register GHG Greenhouse gas GWP Global warming potential HFC Hydrofluorocarbon ICR... year, weighted by the global warming potential (GWP) of the particular GHG pollutant, normalized to the... global GHG. Carbon dioxide emissions from a subset of bioenergy sources are reported as information items...

Cost-effectiveness analysis of policy instruments for greenhouse gas emission mitigation in the agricultural sector.

PubMed

Bakam, Innocent; Balana, Bedru Babulo; Matthews, Robin

2012-12-15

Market-based policy instruments to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions are generally considered more appropriate than command and control tools. However, the omission of transaction costs from policy evaluations and decision-making processes may result in inefficiency in public resource allocation and sub-optimal policy choices and outcomes. This paper aims to assess the relative cost-effectiveness of market-based GHG mitigation policy instruments in the agricultural sector by incorporating transaction costs. Assuming that farmers' responses to mitigation policies are economically rationale, an individual-based model is developed to study the relative performances of an emission tax, a nitrogen fertilizer tax, and a carbon trading scheme using farm data from the Scottish farm account survey (FAS) and emissions and transaction cost data from literature metadata survey. Model simulations show that none of the three schemes could be considered the most cost effective in all circumstances. The cost effectiveness depends both on the tax rate and the amount of free permits allocated to farmers. However, the emissions trading scheme appears to outperform both other policies in realistic scenarios. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Can restoration convert a degraded bog in southern Bavaria to a carbon sink and climate cooler?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Förster, Christoph; Drösler, Matthias

2014-05-01

The peatland area of Germany is about 14.000 km² (Succow & Joosten 2001) with 8% natural like bogs and 4% natural like fens (Höper 2006). All other peatland areas are more or less intensively used and thus, lost their sink function for carbon. If, theoretically, all German peatlands would be rewetted, this restoration would lead to a carbon mitigation of 9.5 Mio. t CO2-C equivalents (Freibauer et al. 2009). In test areas like the studied bog, the viability and potential of peatland restoration for climate mitigation can be proofed. The investigated bog is situated close to the Bavarian Alps; one part of this bog is extensively used and had been rewetted in 1993 except of a small stripe; management was stopped totally at another stripe. The second part of this bog had been drained without any further use. Here a Calluna heath established, accompanied by Pine trees. The restoration of this bog heath was done in two time steps; here a chronosequence of succession after restoration at different water table levels was investigated. To get to the greenhouse gas (GHG) balances of CO2 CH4 and N2O, gas flux measurements were done for two years using the chamber technique of Drösler (2005). At both areas, the degraded sites were sources for GHG (+203 to +736 g CO2-C-equiv m-2 a-1). Restoration reduced these emissions depending on water table and succession of bog species (-51 to +557 g CO2-C-equiv m-2 a-1). Depending on the vegetation's vitality GHG balances of already established natural like sites varied in between the years (-189 to +264 g CO2-C-equiv m-2 a-1) mainly driven by the oscillation of their water table. Stop of management and development of Sphagnum communities turned most of the sites into sinks for GHG (-216 to +7 g CO2-C-equiv m-2 a-1). Thus restoration turned degraded bogs efficiently to carbon sinks and climate coolers in dependence of a proper water table management, withdrawal of land use and vegetation succession. Key words: bog, greenhouse gases, restoration, water table

Evaluation of metrics and baselines for tracking greenhouse gas emissions trends: Recommendations for the California climate action registry

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

Price, Lynn; Murtishaw, Scott; Worrell, Ernst

2003-06-01

Executive Summary: The California Climate Action Registry, which was initially established in 2000 and began operation in Fall 2002, is a voluntary registry for recording annual greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The purpose of the Registry is to assist California businesses and organizations in their efforts to inventory and document emissions in order to establish a baseline and to document early actions to increase energy efficiency and decrease GHG emissions. The State of California has committed to use its ''best efforts'' to ensure that entities that establish GHG emissions baselines and register their emissions will receive ''appropriate consideration under any futuremore » international, federal, or state regulatory scheme relating to greenhouse gas emissions.'' Reporting of GHG emissions involves documentation of both ''direct'' emissions from sources that are under the entity's control and indirect emissions controlled by others. Electricity generated by an off-site power source is consider ed to be an indirect GHG emission and is required to be included in the entity's report. Registry participants include businesses, non-profit organizations, municipalities, state agencies, and other entities. Participants are required to register the GHG emissions of all operations in California, and are encouraged to report nationwide. For the first three years of participation, the Registry only requires the reporting of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, although participants are encouraged to report the remaining five Kyoto Protocol GHGs (CH4, N2O, HFCs, PFCs, and SF6). After three years, reporting of all six Kyoto GHG emissions is required. The enabling legislation for the Registry (SB 527) requires total GHG emissions to be registered and requires reporting of ''industry-specific metrics'' once such metrics have been adopted by the Registry. The Ernest Orlando Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) was asked to provide technical assistance to the California Energy Commission (Energy Commission) related to the Registry in three areas: (1) assessing the availability and usefulness of industry-specific metrics, (2) evaluating various methods for establishing baselines for calculating GHG emissions reductions related to specific actions taken by Registry participants, and (3) establishing methods for calculating electricity CO2 emission factors. The third area of research was completed in 2002 and is documented in Estimating Carbon Dioxide Emissions Factors for the California Electric Power Sector (Marnay et al., 2002). This report documents our findings related to the first areas of research. For the first area of research, the overall objective was to evaluate the metrics, such as emissions per economic unit or emissions per unit of production that can be used to report GHG emissions trends for potential Registry participants. This research began with an effort to identify methodologies, benchmarking programs, inventories, protocols, and registries that u se industry-specific metrics to track trends in energy use or GHG emissions in order to determine what types of metrics have already been developed. The next step in developing industry-specific metrics was to assess the availability of data needed to determine metric development priorities. Berkeley Lab also determined the relative importance of different potential Registry participant categories in order to asses s the availability of sectoral or industry-specific metrics and then identified industry-specific metrics in use around the world. While a plethora of metrics was identified, no one metric that adequately tracks trends in GHG emissions while maintaining confidentiality of data was identified. As a result of this review, Berkeley Lab recommends the development of a GHG intensity index as a new metric for reporting and tracking GHG emissions trends.Such an index could provide an industry-specific metric for reporting and tracking GHG emissions trends to accurately reflect year to year changes while protecting proprietary data. This GHG intensity index changes while protecting proprietary data. This GHG intensity index would provide Registry participants with a means for demonstrating improvements in their energy and GHG emissions per unit of production without divulging specific values. For the second research area, Berkeley Lab evaluated various methods used to calculate baselines for documentation of energy consumption or GHG emissions reductions, noting those that use industry-specific metrics. Accounting for actions to reduce GHGs can be done on a project-by-project basis or on an entity basis. Establishing project-related baselines for mitigation efforts has been widely discussed in the context of two of the so-called ''flexible mechanisms'' of the Kyoto Protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (Kyoto Protocol) Joint Implementation (JI) and the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM).« less

Green house gas emissions from composting and mechanical biological treatment.

PubMed

Amlinger, Florian; Peyr, Stefan; Cuhls, Carsten

2008-02-01

In order to carry out life-cycle assessments as a basis for far-reaching decisions about environmentally sustainable waste treatment, it is important that the input data be reliable and sound. A comparison of the potential greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions associated with each solid waste treatment option is essential. This paper addresses GHG emissions from controlled composting processes. Some important methodological prerequisites for proper measurement and data interpretation are described, and a common scale and dimension of emission data are proposed so that data from different studies can be compared. A range of emission factors associated with home composting, open windrow composting, encapsulated composting systems with waste air treatment and mechanical biological waste treatment (MBT) are presented from our own investigations as well as from the literature. The composition of source materials along with process management issues such as aeration, mechanical agitation, moisture control and temperature regime are the most important factors controlling methane (CH4), nitrous oxide (N2O) and ammoniac (NH3) emissions. If ammoniac is not stripped during the initial rotting phase or eliminated by acid scrubber systems, biofiltration of waste air provides only limited GHG mitigation, since additional N2O may be synthesized during the oxidation of NH3, and only a small amount of CH4 degradation occurs in the biofilter. It is estimated that composting contributes very little to national GHG inventories generating only 0.01-0.06% of global emissions. This analysis does not include emissions from preceding or post-treatment activities (such as collection, transport, energy consumption during processing and land spreading), so that for a full emissions account, emissions from these activities would need to be added to an analysis.

MAGGnet: An international network to foster mitigation of agricultural greenhouse gases

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Research networks provide a framework for review, synthesis, and systematic testing of theories by multiple scientists across international borders critical for addressing global-scale issues. In 2012, a greenhouse gas (GHG) research network referred to as MAGGnet (Managing Agricultural Greenhouse ...

Dave Bielen | NREL

Science.gov Websites

Dave Bielen Photo of Dave Bielen Dave Bielen Energy and Environmental Policy Analyst David.Bielen Energy Analysis Center. Areas of Expertise Environmental policy design Dynamic programming Time series energy policy GHG emissions mitigation in the electricity and transportation sectors Optimal control of

Evaluation of the effect of accounting method, IPCC v. LCA, on grass-based and confinement dairy systems' greenhouse gas emissions.

PubMed

O'Brien, D; Shalloo, L; Patton, J; Buckley, F; Grainger, C; Wallace, M

2012-09-01

Life cycle assessment (LCA) and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) guideline methodology, which are the principal greenhouse gas (GHG) quantification methods, were evaluated in this study using a dairy farm GHG model. The model was applied to estimate GHG emissions from two contrasting dairy systems: a seasonal calving pasture-based dairy farm and a total confinement dairy system. Data used to quantify emissions from these systems originated from a research study carried out over a 1-year period in Ireland. The genetic merit of cows modelled was similar for both systems. Total mixed ration was fed in the Confinement system, whereas grazed grass was mainly fed in the grass-based system. GHG emissions from these systems were quantified per unit of product and area. The results of both methods showed that the dairy system that emitted the lowest GHG emissions per unit area did not necessarily emit the lowest GHG emissions possible for a given level of product. Consequently, a recommendation from this study is that GHG emissions be evaluated per unit of product given the growing affluent human population and increasing demand for dairy products. The IPCC and LCA methods ranked dairy systems' GHG emissions differently. For instance, the IPCC method quantified that the Confinement system reduced GHG emissions per unit of product by 8% compared with the grass-based system, but the LCA approach calculated that the Confinement system increased emissions by 16% when off-farm emissions associated with primary dairy production were included. Thus, GHG emissions should be quantified using approaches that quantify the total GHG emissions associated with the production system, so as to determine whether the dairy system was causing emissions displacement. The IPCC and LCA methods were also used in this study to simulate, through a dairy farm GHG model, what effect management changes within both production systems have on GHG emissions. The findings suggest that single changes have a small mitigating effect on GHG emissions (<5%), except for strategies used to control emissions from manure storage in the Confinement system (14% to 24%). However, when several management strategies were combined, GHG emissions per unit of product could be reduced significantly (15% to 30%). The LCA method was identified as the preferred approach to assess the effect of management changes on GHG emissions, but the analysis indicated that further standardisation of the approach is needed given the sensitivity of the approach to allocation decisions regarding milk and meat.

Bridging Climate Change Resilience and Mitigation in the Electricity Sector Through Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency: Emerging Climate Change and Development Topics for Energy Sector Transformation

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

Cox, Sarah L; Hotchkiss, Elizabeth L; Bilello, Daniel E

Reliable, safe, and secure electricity is essential for economic and social development and a necessary input for many sectors of the economy. However, electricity generation and associated processes make up a significant portion of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions contributing to climate change. Furthermore, electricity systems are vulnerable to climate change impacts - both short-term events and changes over the longer term. This vulnerability presents both near-term and chronic challenges in providing reliable, affordable, equitable, and sustainable energy services. Within this context, developing countries face a number of challenges in the energy sector, including the need to reliably meet growingmore » electricity demand, lessen dependence on imported fuels, expand energy access, and improve stressed infrastructure for fuel supply and electricity transmission. Energy efficiency (EE) and renewable energy (RE) technical solutions described in this paper can bridge action across climate change mitigation and resilience through reducing GHG emissions and supporting electric power sector adaptation to increasing climate risk. Integrated planning approaches, also highlighted in this paper, play an integral role in bringing together mitigation and resilience action under broader frameworks. Through supporting EE and RE deployment and integrated planning approaches, unique to specific national and local circumstances, countries can design and implement policies, strategies, and sectoral plans that unite development priorities, climate change mitigation, and resilience.« less

Reconciling oil palm expansion and climate change mitigation in Kalimantan, Indonesia.

PubMed

Austin, Kemen G; Kasibhatla, Prasad S; Urban, Dean L; Stolle, Fred; Vincent, Jeffrey

2015-01-01

Our society faces the pressing challenge of increasing agricultural production while minimizing negative consequences on ecosystems and the global climate. Indonesia, which has pledged to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from deforestation while doubling production of several major agricultural commodities, exemplifies this challenge. Here we focus on palm oil, the world's most abundant vegetable oil and a commodity that has contributed significantly to Indonesia's economy. Most oil palm expansion in the country has occurred at the expense of forests, resulting in significant GHG emissions. We examine the extent to which land management policies can resolve the apparently conflicting goals of oil palm expansion and GHG mitigation in Kalimantan, a major oil palm growing region of Indonesia. Using a logistic regression model to predict the locations of new oil palm between 2010 and 2020 we evaluate the impacts of six alternative policy scenarios on future emissions. We estimate net emissions of 128.4-211.4 MtCO2 yr(-1) under business as usual expansion of oil palm plantations. The impact of diverting new plantations to low carbon stock land depends on the design of the policy. We estimate that emissions can be reduced by 9-10% by extending the current moratorium on new concessions in primary forests and peat lands, 35% by limiting expansion on all peat and forestlands, 46% by limiting expansion to areas with moderate carbon stocks, and 55-60% by limiting expansion to areas with low carbon stocks. Our results suggest that these policies would reduce oil palm profits only moderately but would vary greatly in terms of cost-effectiveness of emissions reductions. We conclude that a carefully designed and implemented oil palm expansion plan can contribute significantly towards Indonesia's national emissions mitigation goal, while allowing oil palm area to double.

Greenhouse gas emissions from the waste sector in Argentina in business-as-usual and mitigation scenarios.

PubMed

Santalla, Estela; Córdoba, Verónica; Blanco, Gabriel

2013-08-01

The objective of this work was the application of 2006 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Guidelines for the estimation of methane and nitrous oxide emissions from the waste sector in Argentina as a preliminary exercise for greenhouse gas (GHG) inventory development and to compare with previous inventories based on 1996 IPCC Guidelines. Emissions projections to 2030 were evaluated under two scenarios--business as usual (BAU), and mitigation--and the calculations were done by using the ad hoc developed IPCC software. According to local activity data, in the business-as-usual scenario, methane emissions from solid waste disposal will increase by 73% by 2030 with respect to the emissions of year 2000. In the mitigation scenario, based on the recorded trend of methane captured in landfills, a decrease of 50% from the BAU scenario should be achieved by 2030. In the BAU scenario, GHG emissions from domestic wastewater will increase 63% from 2000 to 2030. Methane emissions from industrial wastewater, calculated from activity data of dairy, swine, slaughterhouse, citric, sugar, and wine sectors, will increase by 58% from 2000 to 2030 while methane emissions from domestic will increase 74% in the same period. Results show that GHG emissions calculated from 2006 IPCC Guidelines resulted in lower levels than those reported in previous national inventories for solid waste disposal and domestic wastewater categories, while levels were 18% higher for industrial wastewater. The implementation of the 2006 IPCC Guidelines for National Greenhouse Inventories is now considering by the UNFCCC for non-Annex I countries in order to enhance the compilation of inventories based on comparable good practice methods. This work constitutes the first GHG emissions estimation from the waste sector of Argentina applying the 2006 IPCC Guidelines and the ad doc developed software. It will contribute to identifying the main differences between the models applied in the estimation of methane emissions on the key categories of waste emission sources and to comparing results with previous inventories based on 1996 IPCC Guidelines.

Analyzing the greenhouse gas impact potential of smallholder development actions across a global food security program

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Grewer, Uwe; Nash, Julie; Gurwick, Noel; Bockel, Louis; Galford, Gillian; Richards, Meryl; Costa Junior, Ciniro; White, Julianna; Pirolli, Gillian; Wollenberg, Eva

2018-04-01

This article analyses the greenhouse gas (GHG) impact potential of improved management practices and technologies for smallholder agriculture promoted under a global food security development program. Under ‘business-as-usual’ development, global studies on the future of agriculture to 2050 project considerable increases in total food production and cultivated area. Conventional cropland intensification and conversion of natural vegetation typically result in increased GHG emissions and loss of carbon stocks. There is a strong need to understand the potential greenhouse gas impacts of agricultural development programs intended to achieve large-scale change, and to identify pathways of smallholder agricultural development that can achieve food security and agricultural production growth without drastic increases in GHG emissions. In an analysis of 134 crop and livestock production systems in 15 countries with reported impacts on 4.8 million ha, improved management practices and technologies by smallholder farmers significantly reduce GHG emission intensity of agricultural production, increase yields and reduce post-harvest losses, while either decreasing or only moderately increasing net GHG emissions per area. Investments in both production and post-harvest stages meaningfully reduced GHG emission intensity, contributing to low emission development. We present average impacts on net GHG emissions per hectare and GHG emission intensity, while not providing detailed statistics of GHG impacts at scale that are associated to additional uncertainties. While reported improvements in smallholder systems effectively reduce future GHG emissions compared to business-as-usual development, these contributions are insufficient to significantly reduce net GHG emission in agriculture beyond current levels, particularly if future agricultural production grows at projected rates.

Potential GHG mitigation options for agriculture in China

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

Erda, Lin; Yue, Li; Hongmin, Dong

1996-12-31

Agriculture contributes more or less to anthropogenic emissions of carbon dioxide (CO{sub 2}), methane (CH{sub 4}), and nitrous oxide (N{sub 2}O). China`s agriculture accounts for about 5-15% of total emissions for these gases. Land-use changes related to agriculture are not major contributors in China. Mitigation options are available that could result in significant decrease in CH{sub 4} and N{sub 2}O emissions from agricultural systems. If implemented, they are likely to increase crop and animal productivity. Implementation has the potential to decrease CH{sub 4} emissions from rice, ruminants, and animal waste by 4-40%. The key to decreasing N{sub 2}O emissions ismore » improving the efficiency of plant utilization of fertilizer N. This could decrease N{sub 2}O emissions from agriculture by almost 20%. Using animal waste to produce CH{sub 4} for energy and digested manure for fertilizer may at some time be cost effective. Economic analyses of options proposed should show positive economic as well as environmental benefits.« less

Alternative Land-Use Scenarios for Bioenergy Production in the U.S. and Brazil

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Campbell, J. E.; Spak, S.; Tsao, C. C.; Mena, M.; Chen, Y.

2015-12-01

Agriculture is historically a dominant form of global environmental degradation, and the potential for increased future degradation may be enhanced by growing demand for biofuels. Here, we apply high-resolution cropland inventories and agronomic models to characterize land-use impacts and mitigation scenarios for bioenergy production in the U.S. and Brazil. In the U.S., our gridded historical cropland maps show potential for production in the U.S. on 68 Mha of abandoned croplands in the U.S. which is as much as 70% larger than previous estimates due to a reduction in aggregation effects. In Brazil, a critical land-use impact is associated with non-GHG air pollutants from the management and expansion of sugarcane feedstocks. Our bottom-up estimate for these Brazilian land-use emissions is seven times larger than estimated from remote-sensing data due to the improved spatial resolution of our approach. While current land-use policies in Brazil and the U.S. seek to reduce life-cycle biofuel emissions, these policies may not support the mitigation alternatives identified here.

Assessing GHG emissions, ecological footprint, and water linkage for different fuels.

PubMed

Chavez-Rodriguez, Mauro F; Nebra, Silvia A

2010-12-15

Currently, transport is highly dependent on fossil fuels and responsible for about 23% of world energy-related GHG (greenhouse gas) emissions. Ethanol from sugar cane and corn emerges as an alternative for gasoline in order to mitigate GHG emissions. Additionally, deeper offshore drilling projects such as in the Brazilian Pre-Salt reservoirs and mining projects of nonconventional sources like Tar Sands in Canada could be a solution for supplying demand of fossil fuels in the short and midterm. Based on updated literature, this paper presents an assessment of GHG emissions for four different fuels: ethanol from sugar cane and from corn and gasoline from conventional crude oil and from tar sands. An Ecological Footprint analysis is also presented, which shows that ethanol from sugar cane has the lowest GHG emissions and requires the lowest biocapacity per unit of energy produced among these fuels. Finally, an analysis using the Embodied Water concept is made with the introduction of a new concept, the "CO(2)-Water", to illustrate the impacts of releasing carbon from underground to atmosphere and of the water needed to sequestrate it over the life cycle of the assessed fuels. Using this method resulted that gasoline from fossil fuels would indirectly "require" on average as much water as ethanol from sugar cane per unit of fuel energy produced.

Building Planner Commitment : Are California's SB 375 and Oregon's SB 1059 Models for Climate-Change Mitigation?

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2017-11-01

California's Sustainable Communities and Climate Protection Act (SB 375) and the Oregon Sustainable Transportation Initiative (SB 1059) have made them the first states in the nation to try and reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions using the transport...

A Nuclear Renaissance: The Role of Nuclear Power in Mitigating Climate Change

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Winslow, Anne

2011-06-01

The U. N. Framework Convention on Climate Change calls for the stabilization of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions at double the preindustrial atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration to avoid dangerous anthropogenic interference with the climate system. To achieve this goal, carbon emissions in 2050 must not exceed their current level, despite predictions of a dramatic increase in global electricity demand. The need to reduce GHG emissions and simultaneously provide for additional electricity demand has led to a renewed interest in the expansion of alternatives to fossil fuels—particularly renewable energy and nuclear power. As renewable energy sources are often constrained by the intermittency of natural energy forms, scale-ability concerns, cost and environmental barriers, many governments and even prominent environmentalist turn to nuclear energy as a source of clean, reliable base-load electricity. Described by some as a "nuclear renaissance", this trend of embracing nuclear power as a tool to mitigate climate change will dramatically influence the feasibility of emerging nuclear programs around the world.

A Nuclear Renaissance: The Role of Nuclear Power in Mitigating Climate Change

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

Winslow, Anne

2011-06-28

The U. N. Framework Convention on Climate Change calls for the stabilization of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions at double the preindustrial atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration to avoid dangerous anthropogenic interference with the climate system. To achieve this goal, carbon emissions in 2050 must not exceed their current level, despite predictions of a dramatic increase in global electricity demand. The need to reduce GHG emissions and simultaneously provide for additional electricity demand has led to a renewed interest in the expansion of alternatives to fossil fuels--particularly renewable energy and nuclear power. As renewable energy sources are often constrained by the intermittencymore » of natural energy forms, scale-ability concerns, cost and environmental barriers, many governments and even prominent environmentalist turn to nuclear energy as a source of clean, reliable base-load electricity. Described by some as a ''nuclear renaissance'', this trend of embracing nuclear power as a tool to mitigate climate change will dramatically influence the feasibility of emerging nuclear programs around the world.« less

A techno-economic & environmental analysis of a novel technology utilizing an internal combustion engine as a compact, inexpensive micro-reformer for a distributed gas-to-liquids system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Browne, Joshua B.

Anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) contribute to global warming, and must be mitigated. With GHG mitigation as an overarching goal, this research aims to study the potential for newfound and abundant sources of natural gas to play a role as part of a GHG mitigation strategy. However, recent work suggests that methane leakage in the current natural gas system may inhibit end-use natural gas as a robust mitigation strategy, but that natural gas as a feedstock for other forms of energy, such as electricity generation or liquid fuels, may support natural-gas based mitigation efforts. Flaring of uneconomic natural gas, or outright loss of natural gas to the atmosphere results in greenhouse gas emissions that could be avoided and which today are very large in aggregate. A central part of this study is to look at a new technology for converting natural gas into methanol at a unit scale that is matched to the size of individual natural gas wells. The goal is to convert stranded or otherwise flared natural gas into a commercially valuable product and thereby avoid any unnecessary emission to the atmosphere. A major part of this study is to contribute to the development of a novel approach for converting natural gas into methanol and to assess the environmental impact (for better or for worse) of this new technology. This Ph. D. research contributes to the development of such a system and provides a comprehensive techno-economic and environmental assessment of this technology. Recognizing the distributed nature of methane leakage associated with the natural gas system, this work is also intended to advance previous research at the Lenfest Center for Sustainable Energy that aims to show that small, modular energy systems can be made economic. This thesis contributes to and analyzes the development of a small-scale gas-to-liquids (GTL) system aimed at addressing flared natural gas from gas and oil wells. This thesis includes system engineering around a design that converts natural gas to synthesis gas (syngas) in a reciprocating internal combustion engine and then converts the syngas into methanol in a small-scale reactor. With methanol as the product, this research aims to show that such a system can not only address current and future natural gas flaring regulation, but eventually can compete economically with historically large-scale, centralized methanol production infrastructure. If successful, such systems could contribute to a shift away from large, multi-billion dollar capital cost chemical plants towards smaller systems with shorter lifetimes that may decrease the time to transition to more sustainable forms of energy and chemical conversion technologies. This research also quantifies the potential for such a system to contribute to mitigating GHG emissions, not only by addressing flared gas in the near-term, but also supporting future natural gas infrastructure ideas that may help to redefine the way the current natural gas pipeline system is used. The introduction of new, small-scale, distributed energy and chemical conversion systems located closer to the point of extraction may contribute to reducing methane leakage throughout the natural gas distribution system by reducing the reliance and risks associated with the aging natural gas pipeline infrastructure. The outcome of this thesis will result in several areas for future work. From an economic perspective, factors that contribute to overall system cost, such as operation and maintenance (O&M) and capital cost multiplier (referred to as the Lang Factor for large-scale petro-chemical plants), are not yet known for novel systems such as the technology presented here. From a technical perspective, commercialization of small-scale, distributed chemical conversion systems may create a demand for economical compression and air-separation technologies at this scale that do not currently exist. Further, new business cases may arise aimed at utilizing small, remote sources of methane, such as biogas from agricultural and municipal waste. Finally, while methanol was selected as the end-product for this thesis, future applications of this technology may consider methane conversion to hydrogen, ammonia, and ethylene for example, challenging the orthodoxy in the chemical industry that "bigger is better."

GRACEnet: addressing policy needs through coordinated cross-location research

USGS Publications Warehouse

Jawson, Michael D.; Walthall, Charles W.; Shafer, Steven R.; Liebig, Mark; Franzluebbers, Alan J.; Follett, Ronald F.

2012-01-01

GRACEnet (Greenhouse gas Reduction through Agricultural Carbon Enhancement network) was conceived to build upon ongoing USDA Agricultural Research Service (ARS) research to improve soil productivity, while addressing the challenges and opportunities of interest in C sequestration from a climate change perspective. The vision for GRACEnet was and remains: Knowledge and information used to implement scientifically based agricultural management practices from the field to national policy scales on C sequestration, greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, and environmental benefits. The national focus of GRACEnet uses a standardized approach by ARS laboratories and university and land manager (e.g. farmer and rancher) cooperators to assess C sequestration and GHG emission from different crop and grassland systems. Since 2002, GRACEnet has significantly expanded GHG mitigation science and delivered usable information to agricultural research and policy organizations. Recent developments suggest GRACEnet will have international impact by contributing leadership and technical guidance for the Global Research Alliance on Agricultural Greenhouse Gases.

Upscaling of greenhouse gas emissions in upland forestry following clearfell

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Toet, Sylvia; Keane, Ben; Yamulki, Sirwan; Blei, Emanuel; Gibson-Poole, Simon; Xenakis, Georgios; Perks, Mike; Morison, James; Ineson, Phil

2016-04-01

Data on greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions caused by forest management activities are limited. Management such as clearfelling may, however, have major impacts on the GHG balance of forests through effects of soil disturbance, increased water table, and brash and root inputs. Besides carbon dioxide (CO2), the biogenic GHGs nitrous oxide (N2O) and methane (CH4) may also contribute to GHG emissions from managed forests. Accurate flux estimates of all three GHGs are therefore necessary, but, since GHG emissions usually show large spatial and temporal variability, in particular CH4 and N2O fluxes, high-frequency GHG flux measurements and better understanding of their controls are central to improve process-based flux models and GHG budgets at multiple scales. In this study, we determined CO2, CH4 and N2O emissions following felling in a mature Sitka spruce (Picea sitchensis) stand in an upland forest in northern England. High-frequency measurements were made along a transect using a novel, automated GHG chamber flux system ('SkyLine') developed at the University of York. The replicated, linear experiment aimed (1) to quantify GHG emissions from three main topographical features at the clearfell site, i.e. the ridges on which trees had been planted, the hollows in between and the drainage ditches, and (2) to determine the effects of the green-needle component of the discarded brash. We also measured abiotic soil and climatic factors alongside the 'SkyLine' GHG flux measurements to identify drivers of the observed GHG emissions. All three topographic features were overall sources of GHG emissions (in CO2 equivalents), and, although drainage ditches are often not included in studies, GHG emissions per unit area were highest from ditches, followed by ridges and lowest in hollows. The CO2 emissions were most important in the GHG balance of ridges and hollows, but CH4 emissions were very high from the drainage ditches, contributing to over 50% of their overall net GHG emissions. Ridges usually emitted N2O, whilst N2O emissions from hollows and ditches were very low. As much as 25% of the total GHG flux resulted from large intermittent emissions from the ditches following rainfall. Addition of green needles from the brash immediately increased soil respiration and reduced CH4 emission in comparison to controls. To upscale our high-frequency 'SkyLine' GHG flux measurements at the different topographic features to the field scale, we collected high resolution imagery from unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) flights. We will compare results using this upscaling technique to GHG emissions simultaneously measured by eddy covariance with the 'SkyLine' system in the predominant footprint. This detailed knowledge of the spatial and temporal distribution of GHG emissions in an upland forest after felling and their drivers, and development of robust upscaling techniques can provide important tools to improve GHG flux models and to design appropriate management practices in upland forestry to mitigate GHG emissions following clearfell.

Recent Advances in Measurement and Dietary Mitigation of Enteric Methane Emissions in Ruminants

PubMed Central

Patra, Amlan K.

2016-01-01

Methane (CH4) emission, which is mainly produced during normal fermentation of feeds by the rumen microorganisms, represents a major contributor to the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Several enteric CH4 mitigation technologies have been explored recently. A number of new techniques have also been developed and existing techniques have been improved in order to evaluate CH4 mitigation technologies and prepare an inventory of GHG emissions precisely. The aim of this review is to discuss different CH4 measuring and mitigation technologies, which have been recently developed. Respiration chamber technique is still considered as a gold standard technique due to its greater precision and reproducibility in CH4 measurements. With the adoption of recent recommendations for improving the technique, the SF6 method can be used with a high level of precision similar to the chamber technique. Short-term measurement techniques of CH4 measurements generally invite considerable within- and between-animal variations. Among the short-term measuring techniques, Greenfeed and methane hood systems are likely more suitable for evaluation of CH4 mitigation studies, if measurements could be obtained at different times of the day relative to the diurnal cycle of the CH4 production. Carbon dioxide and CH4 ratio, sniffer, and other short-term breath analysis techniques are more suitable for on farm screening of large number of animals to generate the data of low CH4-producing animals for genetic selection purposes. Different indirect measuring techniques are also investigated in recent years. Several new dietary CH4 mitigation technologies have been explored, but only a few of them are practical and cost-effective. Future research should be directed toward both the medium- and long-term mitigation strategies, which could be utilized on farms to accomplish substantial reductions of CH4 emissions and to profitably reduce carbon footprint of livestock production systems. This review presents recent developments and critical analysis on different measurements and dietary mitigation of enteric CH4 emissions technologies. PMID:27243027

Recent Advances in Measurement and Dietary Mitigation of Enteric Methane Emissions in Ruminants.

PubMed

Patra, Amlan K

2016-01-01

Methane (CH4) emission, which is mainly produced during normal fermentation of feeds by the rumen microorganisms, represents a major contributor to the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Several enteric CH4 mitigation technologies have been explored recently. A number of new techniques have also been developed and existing techniques have been improved in order to evaluate CH4 mitigation technologies and prepare an inventory of GHG emissions precisely. The aim of this review is to discuss different CH4 measuring and mitigation technologies, which have been recently developed. Respiration chamber technique is still considered as a gold standard technique due to its greater precision and reproducibility in CH4 measurements. With the adoption of recent recommendations for improving the technique, the SF6 method can be used with a high level of precision similar to the chamber technique. Short-term measurement techniques of CH4 measurements generally invite considerable within- and between-animal variations. Among the short-term measuring techniques, Greenfeed and methane hood systems are likely more suitable for evaluation of CH4 mitigation studies, if measurements could be obtained at different times of the day relative to the diurnal cycle of the CH4 production. Carbon dioxide and CH4 ratio, sniffer, and other short-term breath analysis techniques are more suitable for on farm screening of large number of animals to generate the data of low CH4-producing animals for genetic selection purposes. Different indirect measuring techniques are also investigated in recent years. Several new dietary CH4 mitigation technologies have been explored, but only a few of them are practical and cost-effective. Future research should be directed toward both the medium- and long-term mitigation strategies, which could be utilized on farms to accomplish substantial reductions of CH4 emissions and to profitably reduce carbon footprint of livestock production systems. This review presents recent developments and critical analysis on different measurements and dietary mitigation of enteric CH4 emissions technologies.

In Situ Carbon Dioxide and Methane Measurements from a Tower Network in Los Angeles

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Verhulst, K. R.; Karion, A.; Kim, J.; Sloop, C.; Salameh, P.; Yadav, V.; Mueller, K.; Pongetti, T.; Newman, S.; Wong, C.; Hopkins, F. M.; Rao, P.; Miller, J. B.; Keeling, R. F.; Weiss, R. F.; Miller, C. E.; Duren, R. M.; Andrews, A. E.

2016-12-01

Urbanization has concentrated a significant fraction of the world's anthropogenic greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions into a relatively small fraction of the earth's land surface. Concern about rising GHG levels has motivated many nations to begin regulating and/or mitigating emissions, motivating the need for robust, consistent, traceable GHG observation methods in complex urban domains. The Los Angeles Megacity Carbon Project involves continuous and flask sampling of GHGs, trace gases, and isotopes at surface sites situated throughout the greater Los Angeles (LA) area. There are three signals of interest for utilizing urban GHG measurements in local or regional inverse modeling studies: (1) changes in the measured mole fraction at one location within a 24-hour period, (2) gradients in the measured mole fraction between locations within the surface measurement network, (3) local enhancements, or the difference between a measurement at one location and an inferred local "background" mole fraction. We report CO2 and CH4 measurements collected from eleven wavelength-scanned cavity ring-down analyzers (Picarro, Inc.). All sites use an internally consistent sampling protocol and calibration strategy. We show that the LA observation sites exhibit significant GHG enhancements relative to background, with evidence of systematic diurnal, weekly, and monthly variability. In Los Angeles, the "ideal" background sampling location could vary substantially depending on the time of year and local meteorology. Use of a single site for background determination may not be sufficient for reliable determination of GHG enhancements. We estimate the total uncertainty in the enhancement and examine how the choice of background influences the GHG enhancement signal. Uncertainty in GHG enhancements will ultimately translate into uncertainty in the fluxes derived from inverse modeling studies. In future work, the LA surface observations will be incorporated into an inverse-modeling framework to provide "top down," spatially-resolved GHG flux estimates, constrained by observations, for comparison with inventory-based ("bottom-up") estimates.

Co-benefits of mitigating global greenhouse gas emissions for future air quality and human health

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

West, J. Jason; Smith, Steven J.; Silva, Raquel A.; Naik, Vaishali; Zhang, Yuqiang; Adelman, Zachariah; Fry, Meridith M.; Anenberg, Susan; Horowitz, Larry W.; Lamarque, Jean-Francois

2013-10-01

Actions to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions often reduce co-emitted air pollutants, bringing co-benefits for air quality and human health. Past studies typically evaluated near-term and local co-benefits, neglecting the long-range transport of air pollutants, long-term demographic changes, and the influence of climate change on air quality. Here we simulate the co-benefits of global GHG reductions on air quality and human health using a global atmospheric model and consistent future scenarios, via two mechanisms: reducing co-emitted air pollutants, and slowing climate change and its effect on air quality. We use new relationships between chronic mortality and exposure to fine particulate matter and ozone, global modelling methods and new future scenarios. Relative to a reference scenario, global GHG mitigation avoids 0.5+/-0.2, 1.3+/-0.5 and 2.2+/-0.8 million premature deaths in 2030, 2050 and 2100. Global average marginal co-benefits of avoided mortality are US$50-380 per tonne of CO2, which exceed previous estimates, exceed marginal abatement costs in 2030 and 2050, and are within the low range of costs in 2100. East Asian co-benefits are 10-70 times the marginal cost in 2030. Air quality and health co-benefits, especially as they are mainly local and near-term, provide strong additional motivation for transitioning to a low-carbon future.

Effort Optimization in Minimizing Food Related Greenhouse Gas Emissions, a look at "Organic" and "Local"

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bowen, E.; Martin, P. A.; Eshel, G.

2008-12-01

The adverse environmental effects, especially energy use and resultant GHG emissions, of food production and consumption are becoming more widely appreciated and increasingly well documented. Our insights into the thorny problem of how to mitigate some of those effects, however, are far less evolved. Two of the most commonly advocated strategies are "organic" and "local", referring, respectively, to growing food without major inputs of fossil fuel based synthetic fertilizers and pesticides and to food consumption near its agricultural origin. Indeed, both agrochemical manufacture and transportation of produce to market make up a significant percentage of energy use in agriculture. While there can be unique environmental benefits to each strategy, "organic" and "local" each may potentially result in energy and emissions savings relative to conventionally grown produce. Here, we quantify the potential energy and greenhouse gas emissions savings associated with "organic" and "local". We take note of energy use and actual GHG costs of the major synthetic fertilizers and transportation by various modes routinely employed in agricultural distribution chains, and compare them for ~35 frequently consumed nutritional mainstays. We present new, current, lower-bound energy and greenhouse gas efficiency estimates for these items and compare energy consumption and GHG emissions incurred during producing those food items to consumption and emissions resulting from transporting them, considering travel distances ranging from local to continental and transportation modes ranging from (most efficient) rail to (least efficient) air. In performing those calculations, we demonstrate the environmental superiority of either local or organic over conventional foods, and illuminate the complexities involved in entertaining the timely yet currently unanswered, and previously unanswerable, question of "Which is Environmentally Superior, Organic or Local?". More broadly, we put forth a database that amounts to a general blueprint for rigorous comparative evaluation of any competing diets.

The Immediacy of Arctic Change: New 2016-17 Extremes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Overland, J. E.; Kattsov, V.; Olsen, M. S.; Walsh, J. E.

2017-12-01

Additional recent observations add increased certainty to cryospheric Arctic changes, and trends are very likely to continue past mid-century. Observed and projected Arctic changes are large compared with those at mid-latitude, driven by greenhouse gas (GHG) increase and Arctic feedbacks. Sea ice has undergone a regime shift from mostly multi-year to first-year sea ice, and summer sea ice is likely to be esentially gone within the next few decades. Spring snow cover is decreasing, and Arctic greening is increasing, although somewhat variable. There are potential emerging impacts of Arctic change on mid-latitude weather and sea level rise. Model assessments under different future GHG concentration scenarios show that stabilizing global temperatures near 2° C compliant with Paris agreement could slow, but not halt further major changes in the Arctic before mid- 21st century; foreseeable Arctic temperature changes are 4-5° C for fall/winter by 2040-2050. Substantial and immediate mitigation reductions in GHG emissions (at least at the level of the RCP 4.5 emission scenario) should reduce the risk of further change for most cryospheric components after mid-century, and reduce the likelyhood of potential runaway loss of ice sheets and glaciers and their impact on sea level rise. Extreme winter 2016 Arctic temperatures and a large winter 2017 sea ice deficit demonstrate contemporary climate states outside the envelope of previous experience. While there is confidence in the sign of Arctic changes, recent observations increase uncertainty in projecting the rate for future real world scenarios. Do events return to mean conditions, represent irreversible changes, or contribute to accelerating trends beyond those provided by climate models? Such questions highlight the need for improved quantitative prediction of the cryosphere and its global impacts, crucial for adaptation actions and risk management at local to global scales.

A Sub-category Disaggregated Greenhouse Gas Emission Inventory for the Bogota Region, Colombia

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pulido-Guio, A. D.; Rojas, A. M.; Ossma, L. J.; Jimenez-Pizarro, R.

2012-12-01

Several international organizations, such as UNDP and UNEP, have recently recognized the importance of empowering sub-national decision levels on climatic governance according to the subsidiarity principle. Regional and municipal authorities are directly responsible for land use management and for regulating economic sectors that emit greenhouse gases (GHG) and are vulnerable to climate change. Sub-national authorities are also closer to the population, which make them better suited for educating the public and for achieving commitment among stakeholders. This investigation was developed within the frame of the Regional Integrated Program on Climate Change for the Cundinamarca-Bogota Region (PRICC), an initiative aimed at incorporating the climate dimension into the regional and local decision making. The region composed by Bogota and its nearest, semi-rural area of influence (Province of Cundinamarca) is the most important population and economic center of Colombia. Our investigation serves two purposes: a) to establish methodologies for estimating regional GHG emissions appropriate to the Colombian context, and b) to disaggregate GHG emissions by economic sector as a mitigation decision-making tool. GHG emissions were calculated using IPCC 1996 - Tier 1 methodologies, as there are no regional- or country-specific emission factors available for Colombia. Top-Down (TD) methodologies, based on national and regional energy use intensity, per capita consumption and fertilizer use, were developed and applied to estimate activities for following categories: fuel use in industrial, commercial and residential sectors (excepting NG and LPG), use of ozone depleting substances (ODS) and substitutes, and fertilizer use (for total emissions of agricultural soils). The emissions from the remaining 22 categories were calculated using Bottom-Up (BU) methodologies given the availability of regional information. The total GHG emissions in the Cundinamarca-Bogota Region on 2008 are estimated at 22.96±1.25 (1-sigma) Tg of CO2 equivalent (10.46±0.93 Tg CO2-e from Cundinamarca and 12.51±0.83 Tg CO2-eq from Bogota). 63% of Cundinamarca's GHG emissions are due to road transportation, agricultural soil management, enteric fermentation and fuel use in the cement industry. The road transportation and waste disposal sectors share 62% of emissions in Bogota. These activity sectors are considered to be the main GHG mitigation assessment targets. The calculated per capita emissions, 1.7 ton CO2-eq/hab-year for Bogota and 4.4 ton CO2-eq/hab-year for Cundinamarca (excluding emissions due to land-use change), do not reflect the fact that Cundinamarca provides goods and services to the city of Bogota. A deeper analysis is thus required to quantitatively account for Bogota's urban metabolism, including GHG emissions associated with consumption patterns. It is expected that the developed and applied methodologies, and the systematic compilation of the gathered information, will facilitate the development of GHG inventories for other regions of Colombia.

Environmental effects of shifts in a regional heating mix through variations in the utilization of solid biofuels.

PubMed

Wolf, Christian; Klein, Daniel; Richter, Klaus; Weber-Blaschke, Gabriele

2016-07-15

Solid Biofuels, i.e. wood, play an important role in present and future national and global climate change mitigation policies. Wood energy, while displaying favorable properties for the mitigation of climate change also exhibits several drawbacks, such as potentially high emission of particulate matter. To assess the environmental effects of shifts in the heating mix, emission factors of the comprising energy carriers and the Bavarian heating mix were determined. Through the application of regionalized substitution percentiles the environmental effects caused by shifts in the amount of final energy provided by solid biofuels could be identified. For this purpose, four scenarios, based on political and scientific specifications were assessed. In 2011 a total amount of 663.715 TJ of final energy was used for the provision of heat in Bavaria, with solid biofuels exhibiting the third largest share of 12.6% (83% of renewable heat). Environmental effects were evaluated through life cycle assessments assessing the impact categories of Global Warming (GW), Particulate Matter emissions (PM), Freshwater Eutrophication (ET) and Acidification (AC). Additionally, the non-renewable primary energy consumption (PE) was analyzed. The heating mix in Bavaria (Baseline) causes emissions of 49.6 Mt CO2-eq. * yr(-1)(GW), 14.555 t of PM2.5-eq. * yr(-1) (PM), 873.4 t P-eq. * yr(-1) (ET), and 82.299 kmol H(+) eq. * yr(-1) (AC), for which 721,745 TJ of primary energy were expended. Current policies entail a GHG reduction potential of approximately 1 Mt CO2-eq. * yr(-1) while increasing the amount of energy wood by 15%. The maximum, hypothetical share of solid biofuels of the heating mix cannot surpass 25%, while the climate change mitigation performance of the current use of solid biofuels is approximately 6.4 Mt CO2-eq. * yr(-1). GHG-emissions would be 13% higher and PM emissions 77% lower without this energetic use of wood. Furthermore, our calculations allow for new specified displacement factors through energy substitution, based on the current wood energy mix for regionalized conditions. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Assessing uncertainties in crop and pasture ensemble model simulations of productivity and N2O emissions

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Simulation models are extensively used to predict agricultural productivity and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. However, the uncertainties of (reduced) model ensemble simulations have not been assessed systematically for variables affecting food security and climate change mitigation, within multisp...

Development of cost effective fenceline monitoring methods to support advanced leak detection and repair strategies

EPA Science Inventory

Improved mitigation of fugitive emissions of hazardous air pollutants (HAPs), volatile organic compounds (VOCs), and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions is an important emerging topic in many industrial sectors. Efficacious leak detection and repair (LDAR) programs of the future yiel...

Focus on Agriculture and Forestry Benefits of Reducing Climate Change Impacts

EPA Science Inventory

The objective of this focus issue is to present the methods and results of modeling exercises that estimate the impacts of climate change on agriculture and forestry under a consistent set of climate projections that represent futures with and without global-scale GHG mitigation....

A common framework for GHG assessment protocols in temperate agroforestry systems: connecting via GRACEnet

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

There are technical and financial advantages for pursuing agroforestry-derived mitigation and adaptation services simultaneously, with a recognition that carbon (C) payments could assist in supporting the deployment of adaptation strategies (Motocha et al. (2012). However, we lack the repeated/repea...

Assessment of the GHG budget mitigation potential of intercrops: analysis on several trials and intercrops species in the Southwest of France.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ferlicoq, M.; Ceschia, E.; Brut, A.; VandeWalle, A.

2012-04-01

To reduce organic carbon loss from the soil and nitrate leaching to groundwater, the European directives have promoted Good Agricultural Practices (GAP), such as the use of intercrops (IC). As shown by Béziat et al. 2009, Ceschia et al. 2010, the IC (or voluntary regrowth from the previous crop) limit net CO2 release from the ecosystem or even contribute to carbon storage during their development. However, the seeding and destruction of IC can be difficult on soil with high clay content, especially when soil is wet, and they must be destroyed early enough so that the nitrogen they contain can be released in the soil and used by the following crops. For these reasons, the Midi-Pyrenees Agriculture Department obtained a 2-year temporary derogation to test the implementation of several nitrates catch crops (mustard, diploïd oat, black oat, oat/vetch, oat/phacelia) on clay soils in order to evaluate the best management practices for growing and destroying them. Their impact on the next crop development was also analysed. In this study, the CESBIO helped the Midi-Pyrénées Agriculture Department to 1) calculate a carbon budget for the different trials and 2) to estimate GHG budgets for those trials by using a life cycle analysis (LCA) approach. Emissions associated to Field Operations (FO) were estimated based on study by Ceschia et al. (2010). During long periods of bare soil, the net CO2 flux is reduced to heterotrophic respiration. Since this component of NEE is not measured on the IC sites, it has been estimated using data from a GHG-Europe instrumented site in the same region, the same year and on similar soils (Auradé site, Gers). Heterotrophic respiration was estimated to range between 96.4 and 131 g eq-C m-2 during the IC cycle that lasted between 65 and 89 days. At the end of the IC period, biomass was (in g eq-C) 0.77, 0.18, 9.89, 0.42, 0.48 for mustard, diploïd oat, black oat, oat/vetch, oat/phacelia respectively. The low amount of biomass is explained by a very dry summer in 2009. FO ranged between 9.9 and 12.7 for the different trials. Compared to the other terms, they have a relative low impact on the GHG budget. They represented at most 13g eq-C during the IC period, 60% of those emissions are caused by the use of machinery. GHG budgets over the IC period are largely positive (source effect), due to low biomass production, mainly because of poor emergence and/or development. Still carbon fixation in the biomass mitigated the emissions. To balance the GHG budget, biomass production should be doubled for mustard (1.5 ton biomass ha-1) which is realistic and increased by a factor 4 for oat/phacelia and oat/vetch associations. In general, we can conclude that except for the black oat (biomass production is too low), these intercrops improve the GHG budget. Nevertheless, to get real advantages from these intercrops, they need to produce more than 0.26 t/ ha to compensate technical operations and additional CO2 emissions associated to IC decomposition will have to be assessed.

Towards a measurement-based national verification system for GHG emissions: UK emission estimates of CO2 from the GAUGE experiment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gonzi, Siegfried; Palmer, Paul; O'Doherty, Simon; Young, Dickon; Stanley, Kieran; Stavert, Ann; Grant, Aoife; Helfter, Carole; Mullinger, Neil; Nemitz, Eiko; Allen, Grant; Pitt, Joseph; Le Breton, Michael; Bösch, Hartmut; Sembhi, Harjinder; Sonderfeld, Hannah; Parker, Robert; Bauguitte, Stephane

2016-04-01

Robust quantification of emissions of greenhouse gases (GHG) is central to the success of ongoing international efforts to slow current emissions and mitigate future climate change. The Greenhouse gAs Uk and Global Emissions (GAUGE) project aims to quantify the magnitude and uncertainty of country-scale emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide (N2O) using concentration measurements from a network of tall towers and mobile platforms (aircraft and ferry) distributed across the UK. The GAUGE measurement programme includes: (a) GHG measurements on a regular ferry route down the North Sea aimed at sampling UK outflow; (b) campaign deployment of the UK BAe-146 research aircraft to provide vertical profile measurements of GHG over and around the UK; (c) a high-density GHG measurement network over East Anglia that is primarily focused on the agricultural sector; and (d) regular measurements of CO2 and CH4 isotopologues used for GHG source attribution. We also use satellite observations from the Japanese Greenhouse gases Observing SATellite (GOSAT) to provide continental-scale constraints on GHG flux estimates. We present CO2 flux estimates for the UK inferred from GAUGE measurements using a nested, high-resolution (25 km) version of the GEOS-Chem global atmospheric chemistry and transport model and an ensemble Kalman filter. We will present our current best estimate for CO2 fluxes and a preliminary assessment of the efficacy of individual GAUGE data sources to spatially resolve CO2 flux estimates over the UK. We will also discuss how flux estimates inferred from the different models used within GAUGE can help to assess the role of transport model error and to determine an ensemble CO2 flux estimate for the UK.

PROTOTYPE TOOL FOR EVALUATING THE COST AND EFFECTIVENESS OF GREENHOUSE GAS MITIGATION TECHNOLOGIES

EPA Science Inventory

The paper introduces the structure of a tool, being developed by the U.S. EPA's Office of Research and Development, that will be able to analyze the benefits of new technologies and strategies for controlling greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. When completed, the tool will be able ...

Genetic Resources of Energy Crops: Biological Systems to Combat Climate Change

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Biological systems are expected to contribute to renewable energy production, help stabilize rising levels of green house gases (GHG), and mitigate the risk of global climate change (GCC). Bioenergy crop plants that function as solar energy collectors and thermo-chemical energy storage systems are t...

Low-Carbon Watershed Management: Potential of Greenhouse Gas Reductions from Wastewater Treatment in Rural Vietnam.

PubMed

Nguyen, Lan Huong; Mohan, Geetha; Jian, Pu; Takemoto, Kazuhiko; Fukushi, Kensuke

2016-01-01

Currently in many cities and rural areas of Vietnam, wastewater is discharged to the environment without any treatment, which emits considerable amount of greenhouse gas (GHG), particularly methane. In this study, four GHG emission scenarios were examined, as well as the baseline scenario, in order to verify the potential of GHG reduction from domestic wastewater with adequate treatment facilities. The ArcGIS and ArcHydro tools were employed to visualize and analyze GHG emissions resulting from discharge of untreated wastewater, in rural areas of Vu Gia Thu Bon river basin, Vietnam. By applying the current IPCC guidelines for GHG emissions, we found that a reduction of GHG emissions can be achieved through treatment of domestic wastewater in the studied area. Compared with baseline scenario, a maximum 16% of total GHG emissions can be reduced, in which 30% of households existing latrines are substituted by Japanese Johkasou technology and other 20% of domestic wastewater is treated by conventional activated sludge.

Low-Carbon Watershed Management: Potential of Greenhouse Gas Reductions from Wastewater Treatment in Rural Vietnam

PubMed Central

Mohan, Geetha; Jian, Pu; Takemoto, Kazuhiko; Fukushi, Kensuke

2016-01-01

Currently in many cities and rural areas of Vietnam, wastewater is discharged to the environment without any treatment, which emits considerable amount of greenhouse gas (GHG), particularly methane. In this study, four GHG emission scenarios were examined, as well as the baseline scenario, in order to verify the potential of GHG reduction from domestic wastewater with adequate treatment facilities. The ArcGIS and ArcHydro tools were employed to visualize and analyze GHG emissions resulting from discharge of untreated wastewater, in rural areas of Vu Gia Thu Bon river basin, Vietnam. By applying the current IPCC guidelines for GHG emissions, we found that a reduction of GHG emissions can be achieved through treatment of domestic wastewater in the studied area. Compared with baseline scenario, a maximum 16% of total GHG emissions can be reduced, in which 30% of households existing latrines are substituted by Japanese Johkasou technology and other 20% of domestic wastewater is treated by conventional activated sludge. PMID:27699202

Climate change risk analysis framework (CCRAF) a probabilistic tool for analyzing climate change uncertainties

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Legget, J.; Pepper, W.; Sankovski, A.; Smith, J.; Tol, R.; Wigley, T.

2003-04-01

Potential risks of human-induced climate change are subject to a three-fold uncertainty associated with: the extent of future anthropogenic and natural GHG emissions; global and regional climatic responses to emissions; and impacts of climatic changes on economies and the biosphere. Long-term analyses are also subject to uncertainty regarding how humans will respond to actual or perceived changes, through adaptation or mitigation efforts. Explicitly addressing these uncertainties is a high priority in the scientific and policy communities Probabilistic modeling is gaining momentum as a technique to quantify uncertainties explicitly and use decision analysis techniques that take advantage of improved risk information. The Climate Change Risk Assessment Framework (CCRAF) presented here a new integrative tool that combines the probabilistic approaches developed in population, energy and economic sciences with empirical data and probabilistic results of climate and impact models. The main CCRAF objective is to assess global climate change as a risk management challenge and to provide insights regarding robust policies that address the risks, by mitigating greenhouse gas emissions and by adapting to climate change consequences. The CCRAF endogenously simulates to 2100 or beyond annual region-specific changes in population; GDP; primary (by fuel) and final energy (by type) use; a wide set of associated GHG emissions; GHG concentrations; global temperature change and sea level rise; economic, health, and biospheric impacts; costs of mitigation and adaptation measures and residual costs or benefits of climate change. Atmospheric and climate components of CCRAF are formulated based on the latest version of Wigley's and Raper's MAGICC model and impacts are simulated based on a modified version of Tol's FUND model. The CCRAF is based on series of log-linear equations with deterministic and random components and is implemented using a Monte-Carlo method with up to 5000 variants per set of fixed input parameters. The shape and coefficients of CCRAF equations are derived from regression analyses of historic data and expert assessments. There are two types of random components in CCRAF - one reflects a year-to-year fluctuations around the expected value of a given variable (e.g., standard error of the annual GDP growth) and another is fixed within each CCRAF variant and represents some essential constants within a "world" represented by that variant (e.g., the value of climate sensitivity). Both types of random components are drawn from pre-defined probability distributions functions developed based on historic data or expert assessments. Preliminary CCRAF results emphasize the relative importance of uncertainties associated with the conversion of GHG and particulate emissions into radiative forcing and quantifying climate change effects at the regional level. A separates analysis involves an "adaptive decision-making", which optimizes the expected future policy effects given the estimated probabilistic uncertainties. As uncertainty for some variables evolve over the time steps, the decisions also adapt. This modeling approach is feasible only with explicit modeling of uncertainties.

Measuring Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Sinks Across California Land Cover

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fischer, M. L.

2017-12-01

Significant reductions in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions are needed to limit rising planetary temperatures that will otherwise limit Earth's capacity to support life, introducing geopolitical instability. To help mitigate this threat, California has legislated landmark reductions in state-level greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions that set an example for broader action. Beginning with relatively assured reduction of current emissions to 1990 levels by 2020, future goals are much more challenging with 40% and 80% reductions below 1990 emissions by 2030 and 2050, respectively. While the majority of the reductions must focus on fossil fuels, inventory estimates of non-CO2 GHG emissions (i.e., CH4, N2O, and industrial compounds) constitute 15% of the total, suggesting reductions are required across multiple land use sectors. However, recent atmospheric inversion studies show methane and nitrous oxide (CH4 & N2O) emissions exceed current inventory estimates by factors of 1.2-1.8 and 1.6-2.6 (at 95% confidence), respectively, perhaps constituting up to 30% of State total emissions. The discrepancy is likely because current bottom-up models used for inventories do not accurately capture important management or biophysical factors. In the near term, process level experiments and sector-specific inversions are being planned to quantify the factors controlling non-CO2 GHG emissions for several of the dominant emission sectors. For biosphere carbon, California forests lands, which also depend on the combination of management, climate, and weather, lost above ground carbon from 2001-2010, and may be expected to lose soil and root carbon as a longer-term result. Here, it is important to identify and apply the best principles in forestry and agriculture to increase carbon stocks in depleted forest and agricultural areas, focusing on approaches that provide resilience to future climate and weather variations. Taken together, improved atmospheric, plant, and soil observations, together with empirical and/or process-level models should be developed to quantify current trajectories of both biological CO2 exchange and non-CO2 GHG emissions, identify knowledge gaps, and guide mitigation policies.

Implications for sustainability of a changing agricultural mosaic in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, California, USA

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lucero, C. E.; Deverel, S. J.; Jacobs, P.; Kelsey, R.

2015-12-01

Transformed from the largest wetland system on the west coast of the United States to agriculture, the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta is an extreme teaching example of anthropogenic threats to sustainability. For over 6,000 years, over 280,000 ha of intertidal freshwater marsh accreted due to seal level rise and sediment deposition. Farming of organic soils since 1850 resulted in land subsidence caused primarily by oxidation. Over 2 billion cubic meters of soil were lost resulting in elevations on Delta islands ranging from -1 to -8 m and increased risk of levee failures and water supply disruption. Alteration of water flows and habitat caused dramatic declines in aquatic species. A cycle in which oxidation of organic soils leads to deepening of drainage ditches to maintain an aerated root zone which in turn results in sustained oxidation and subsidence is perpetuated by the momentum of the status quo despite evidence that agricultural practices are increasingly unsustainable. Flooding of the soils breaks the oxidation/subsidence cycle. We assessed alternate land uses and the carbon market as a potential impetus for change. Using the peer-reviewed and locally calibrated SUBCALC model, we estimated net global warming potential for a range of scenarios for a representative island, from status quo to incorporating significant proportions of subsidence-mitigating land use. We analyzed economic implications by determining profit losses or gains when a simulated GHG offset market is available for wetlands using a regional agricultural production and economic optimization model, We estimated baseline GHG emissions at about 60,000 tons CO2-e per year. In contrast, modeled implementation of rice and wetlands resulted in substantial emissions reductions to the island being a net GHG sink. Subsidence would be arrested or reversed where these land uses are implemented. Results of economic modeling reveal that conversion to wetlands can have significant negative farm financial impacts even when a GHG offset market is in place. Conversion to large areas of rice would result in near carbon neutrality and increased farm income. Our derived wetland supply function can help inform future policy that may incentivize adoption of a more sustainable landscape.

Long-term no-till and stover retention each decrease the global warming potential of irrigated continuous corn.

PubMed

Jin, Virginia L; Schmer, Marty R; Stewart, Catherine E; Sindelar, Aaron J; Varvel, Gary E; Wienhold, Brian J

2017-07-01

Over the last 50 years, the most increase in cultivated land area globally has been due to a doubling of irrigated land. Long-term agronomic management impacts on soil organic carbon (SOC) stocks, soil greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, and global warming potential (GWP) in irrigated systems, however, remain relatively unknown. Here, residue and tillage management effects were quantified by measuring soil nitrous oxide (N 2 O) and methane (CH 4 ) fluxes and SOC changes (ΔSOC) at a long-term, irrigated continuous corn (Zea mays L.) system in eastern Nebraska, United States. Management treatments began in 2002, and measured treatments included no or high stover removal (0 or 6.8 Mg DM ha -1  yr -1 , respectively) under no-till (NT) or conventional disk tillage (CT) with full irrigation (n = 4). Soil N 2 O and CH 4 fluxes were measured for five crop-years (2011-2015), and ΔSOC was determined on an equivalent mass basis to ~30 cm soil depth. Both area- and yield-scaled soil N 2 O emissions were greater with stover retention compared to removal and for CT compared to NT, with no interaction between stover and tillage practices. Methane comprised <1% of total emissions, with NT being CH 4 neutral and CT a CH 4 source. Surface SOC decreased with stover removal and with CT after 14 years of management. When ΔSOC, soil GHG emissions, and agronomic energy usage were used to calculate system GWP, all management systems were net GHG sources. Conservation practices (NT, stover retention) each decreased system GWP compared to conventional practices (CT, stover removal), but pairing conservation practices conferred no additional mitigation benefit. Although cropping system, management equipment/timing/history, soil type, location, weather, and the depth to which ΔSOC is measured affect the GWP outcomes of irrigated systems at large, this long-term irrigated study provides valuable empirical evidence of how management decisions can impact soil GHG emissions and surface SOC stocks. © 2017 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Effect of farming strategies on environmental impact of intensive dairy farms in Italy.

PubMed

Guerci, Matteo; Bava, Luciana; Zucali, Maddalena; Sandrucci, Anna; Penati, Chiara; Tamburini, Alberto

2013-08-01

Agriculture and animal husbandry are important contributors to global emissions of greenhouse (GHG) and acidifying gases. Moreover, they contribute to water pollution and to consumption of non-renewable natural resources such as land and energy. The Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) methodology allows evaluation of the environmental impact of a process from the production of inputs to the final product and to assess simultaneously several environmental impact categories among which GHG emissions, acidification, eutrophication, land use and energy use. The main purpose of this study was to evaluate, using the LCA methodology, the environmental impact of milk production in a sample of 41 intensive Italian dairy farms and to identify, among different farming strategies, those associated with the best environmental performances. The functional unit was 1 kg Fat and Protein Corrected Milk (FPCM). Farms showed characteristics of high production intensity: FPCM, expressed as tonnes per hectare, was 30·8±15·1. Total GHG emission per kg FPCM at farm gate was 1·30±0·19 kg CO2 eq. The main contributors to climate change potential were emissions from barns and manure storage (50·1%) and emissions for production and transportation of purchased feeds (21·2%). Average emission of gases causing acidification to produce 1 kg FPCM was 19·7±3·6 g of SO2 eq. Eutrophication potential was 9·01±1·78 ${\\rm PO}_{\\rm 4}^{{\\rm 3} -} {\\rm eq}.$ per kg FPCM on average. Farms from this study needed on average 5·97±1·32 MJ per kg FPCM from non-renewable energy sources. Energy consumption was mainly due to off-farm activities (58%) associated with purchased factors. Land use was 1·51±0·25 m2 per kg FPCM. The farming strategy based on high conversion efficiency at animal level was identified as the most effective to mitigate the environmental impact per kg milk at farm gate, especially in terms of GHG production and non-renewable energy use per kg FPCM.

Multiple greenhouse gas feedbacks from the land biosphere under future climate change scenarios

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Stocker, Benjamin; Roth, Raphael; Joos, Fortunat; Spahni, Renato; Steinacher, Marco; Zaehle, Soenke; Bouwman, Lex; Xu-Ri, Xu-Ri; Prentice, Colin

2013-04-01

Atmospheric concentrations of the three important greenhouse gases (GHG) CO2, CH4, and N2O are mediated by processes in the terrestrial biosphere. The sensitivity of terrestrial GHG emissions to climate and CO2 contributed to the sharp rise in atmospheric GHG concentrations since preindustrial times and leads to multiple feedbacks between the terrestrial biosphere and the climate system. The strength of these feedbacks is determined by (i) the sensitivity of terrestrial GHG emissions to climate and CO2 and (ii) the greenhouse warming potential of the respective gas. Here, we quantify feedbacks from CO2, CH4, N2O, and land surface albedo in a consistent and comprehensive framework based on a large set of simulations conducted with an Earth System Model of Intermediate Complexity. The modeled sensitivities of CH4 and N2O emissions are tested, demonstrating that independent data for non-land (anthropogenic, oceanic, etc.) GHG emissions, combined with simulated emissions from natural and agricultural land reproduces historical atmospheric budgets within their uncertainties. 21st-century scenarios for climate, land use change and reactive nitrogen inputs (Nr) are applied to investigate future GHG emissions. Results suggest that in a business-as-usual scenario, terrestrial N2O emissions increase from 9.0 by today to 9.8-11.1 (RCP 2.6) and 14.2-17.0 TgN2O-N/yr by 2100 (RCP 8.5). Without anthropogenic Nr inputs, the amplification is reduced by 24-32%. Soil CH4 emissions increase from 221 at present to 228-245 in RCP 2.6 and to 303-343 TgCH4/yr in RCP 8.5, and the land becomes a net source of C by 2100 AD. Feedbacks from land imply an additional warming of 1.3-1.5°C by 2300 in RCP 8.5, 0.4-0.5°C of which are due to N2O and CH4. The combined effect of multiple GHGs and albedo represents an increasingly positive total feedback to anthropogenic climate change with positive individual feedbacks from CH4, N2O, and albedo outweighing the diminishing negative feedback from CO2 fertilisation of terrestrial C storage. This positive feedback from terrestrial biogeochemistry amplifies the traditionally defined physical equilibrium climate sensitivity by 23-28%, Strong mitigation, reducing Nr inputs and preserving natural vegetation limits the amplification of terrestrial GHG emissions and prevents the land biosphere from acting as an increasingly strong amplifier of anthropogenic climate change.

Measurement and mitigation of methane emissions from beef cattle in tropical grazing systems: a perspective from Australia and Brazil.

PubMed

Berndt, A; Tomkins, N W

2013-06-01

The growing global demand for food of animal origin will be the incentive for countries such as Australia and Brazil to increase their beef production and international exports. This increased supply of beef is expected to occur primarily through on-farm productivity increases. The strategies for reducing resultant greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions should be evaluated in the context of the production system and should encompass a broader analysis, which would include the emissions of methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide (N2O) and carbon sequestration. This paper provides an insight into CH4 measurement techniques applicable to grazing environments and proposed mitigation strategies, with relevance to the production systems that are predominant in grazing systems of Australia and Brazil. Research and technology investment in both Australia and Brazil is aimed at developing measurement techniques and increasing the efficiency of cattle production by improving herd genetics, utilization of the seasonal feed-base and reducing the proportion of metabolizable energy lost as CH4. Concerted efforts in these areas can be expected to reduce the number of unproductive animals, reduce age at slaughter and inevitably reduce emission intensity (EI) from beef production systems. Improving efficiency of livestock production systems in tropical grazing systems for Australia and Brazil will be based on cultivated and existing native pastures and the use of additives and by-products from other agricultural sectors. This approach spares grain-based feed reserves typically used for human consumption, but potentially incurs a heavier EI than current intensive feeding systems. The determination of GHG emissions and the value of mitigation outcomes for entire beef production systems in the extensive grazing systems is complex and require a multidisciplinary approach. It is fortunate that governments in both Australia and Brazil are supporting ongoing research activities. Nevertheless, to achieve an outcome that feeds a growing population while reducing emissions on a global scale continues to be a monumental challenge for ruminant nutritionists.

Monitoring, Reporting and Verification (MRV) of drainage and rewetting of organic soils in national greenhouse gas inventories

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tiemeyer, Bärbel

2017-04-01

Drained organic soils are large sources of anthropogenic greenhouse gases (GHG) in many European and Asian countries including Germany. Therefore, they urgently need to be considered and adequately be accounted for when attempting to increase the carbon sequestration in agricultural soils. Here, we describe the methodology, data and results of the German detailed Tier 3 methodology for reporting anthropogenic GHG emissions from drained organic soils developed for, and applied in, the German GHG inventory under the UNFCCC and the Kyoto Protocol. The approach is based on national data and offers the potential for tracking changes in land-use and water management associated with intensification, peatland restoration or GHG mitigation measures in case time series of relevant activity data are available. Drained organic soils were defined as soils with a mean annual water level of -0.1 m below surface or drier. The organic soil area was considered constant, neglecting a certain gradual conversion of shallow organic soils into mineral soils by subsidence, peat loss or anthropogenic disturbance. Activity data comprise high resolution maps of climate, land-use, the type of organic soil and the mean annual groundwater level. The groundwater map was derived by a boosted regressions trees model from data from > 1000 dipwells. These maps were sampled by a nested 250 m raster where each raster corner is represented by four sample points, balancing between spatial representativeness and effort to track small-scale variability and land-use changes. Carbon dioxide and methane emissions were synthesized from a unique national data set comprising more than 200 GHG balances in most land-use categories and types of organic soils. The measurements were performed with fully harmonized protocols. Non-linear response functions describe the dependency of carbon dioxide and methane fluxes on the mean annual groundwater level, stratified by land-use and organic soil type where appropriate. Resulting "applied emission factors" for each land-use category take into account both the uncertainty of the response functions and the distribution of the groundwater levels within each land-use category. No functional relationships were found for nitrous oxide emissions. Emission factors for nitrous oxide were thus calculated as the mean observed flux by land-use category. IPCC default emission factors were used for minor GHG sources such as methane emissions from ditches and the losses of dissolved organic carbon (DOC). In Germany, drained organic soils annually emit nearly 50 million tons of GHGs, equivalent to 5% of the national GHG emissions. They are the largest GHG source from German agriculture and forestry. The described methodology is applicable as well to the project scale as to other countries where similar data is available.

Life cycle environmental impacts of substituting food wastes for traditional anaerobic digestion feedstocks.

PubMed

Pérez-Camacho, María Natividad; Curry, Robin; Cromie, Thomas

2018-03-01

In this study, life cycle assessment has been used to evaluate life cycle environmental impacts of substituting traditional anaerobic digestion (AD) feedstocks with food wastes. The results have demonstrated the avoided GHG emissions from substituting traditional AD feedstocks with food waste (avoided GHG-eq emissions of 163.33 CO 2 -eq). Additionally, the analysis has included environmental benefits of avoided landfilling of food wastes and digestate use as a substitute for synthetic fertilisers. The analysis of the GHG mitigation benefits of resource management/circular economy policies, namely, the mandating of a ban on the landfilling of food wastes, has demonstrated the very substantial GHG emission reduction that can be achieved by these policy options - 2151.04 kg CO 2 eq per MWh relative to UK Grid. In addition to the reduction in GHG emission, the utilization of food waste for AD instead of landfilling can manage the leakage of nutrients to water resources and eliminate eutrophication impacts which occur, typically as the result of field application. The results emphasise the benefits of using life-cycle thinking to underpin policy development and the implications for this are discussed with a particular focus on the analysis of policy development across the climate, renewable energy, resource management and bioeconomy nexus and recommendations made for future research priorities. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The role of dung beetles in reducing greenhouse gas emissions from cattle farming

PubMed Central

Slade, Eleanor M.; Riutta, Terhi; Roslin, Tomas; Tuomisto, Hanna L.

2016-01-01

Agriculture is one of the largest anthropogenic sources of greenhouse gases (GHGs), with dairy and beef production accounting for nearly two-thirds of emissions. Several recent papers suggest that dung beetles may affect fluxes of GHGs from cattle farming. Here, we put these previous findings into context. Using Finland as an example, we assessed GHG emissions at three scales: the dung pat, pasture ecosystem, and whole lifecycle of milk or beef production. At the first two levels, dung beetles reduced GHG emissions by up to 7% and 12% respectively, mainly through large reductions in methane (CH4) emissions. However, at the lifecycle level, dung beetles accounted for only a 0.05–0.13% reduction of overall GHG emissions. This mismatch derives from the fact that in intensive production systems, only a limited fraction of all cow pats end up on pastures, offering limited scope for dung beetle mitigation of GHG fluxes. In contrast, we suggest that the effects of dung beetles may be accentuated in tropical countries, where more manure is left on pastures, and dung beetles remove and aerate dung faster, and that this is thus a key area for future research. These considerations give a new perspective on previous results perspective, and suggest that studies of biotic effects on GHG emissions from dung pats on a global scale are a priority for current research. PMID:26728164

The role of dung beetles in reducing greenhouse gas emissions from cattle farming

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Slade, Eleanor M.; Riutta, Terhi; Roslin, Tomas; Tuomisto, Hanna L.

2016-01-01

Agriculture is one of the largest anthropogenic sources of greenhouse gases (GHGs), with dairy and beef production accounting for nearly two-thirds of emissions. Several recent papers suggest that dung beetles may affect fluxes of GHGs from cattle farming. Here, we put these previous findings into context. Using Finland as an example, we assessed GHG emissions at three scales: the dung pat, pasture ecosystem, and whole lifecycle of milk or beef production. At the first two levels, dung beetles reduced GHG emissions by up to 7% and 12% respectively, mainly through large reductions in methane (CH4) emissions. However, at the lifecycle level, dung beetles accounted for only a 0.05-0.13% reduction of overall GHG emissions. This mismatch derives from the fact that in intensive production systems, only a limited fraction of all cow pats end up on pastures, offering limited scope for dung beetle mitigation of GHG fluxes. In contrast, we suggest that the effects of dung beetles may be accentuated in tropical countries, where more manure is left on pastures, and dung beetles remove and aerate dung faster, and that this is thus a key area for future research. These considerations give a new perspective on previous results perspective, and suggest that studies of biotic effects on GHG emissions from dung pats on a global scale are a priority for current research.

The role of dung beetles in reducing greenhouse gas emissions from cattle farming.

PubMed

Slade, Eleanor M; Riutta, Terhi; Roslin, Tomas; Tuomisto, Hanna L

2016-01-05

Agriculture is one of the largest anthropogenic sources of greenhouse gases (GHGs), with dairy and beef production accounting for nearly two-thirds of emissions. Several recent papers suggest that dung beetles may affect fluxes of GHGs from cattle farming. Here, we put these previous findings into context. Using Finland as an example, we assessed GHG emissions at three scales: the dung pat, pasture ecosystem, and whole lifecycle of milk or beef production. At the first two levels, dung beetles reduced GHG emissions by up to 7% and 12% respectively, mainly through large reductions in methane (CH4) emissions. However, at the lifecycle level, dung beetles accounted for only a 0.05-0.13% reduction of overall GHG emissions. This mismatch derives from the fact that in intensive production systems, only a limited fraction of all cow pats end up on pastures, offering limited scope for dung beetle mitigation of GHG fluxes. In contrast, we suggest that the effects of dung beetles may be accentuated in tropical countries, where more manure is left on pastures, and dung beetles remove and aerate dung faster, and that this is thus a key area for future research. These considerations give a new perspective on previous results, [corrected] and suggest that studies of biotic effects on GHG emissions from dung pats on a global scale are a priority for current research.

Quantifying the Contribution of Urban-Industrial Efficiency and Symbiosis to Deep Decarbonization: Impact of 637 Chinese Cities

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ramaswami, A.; Tong, K.; Fang, A.; Lal, R.; Nagpure, A.; Li, Y.; Yu, H.; Jiang, D.; Russell, A. G.; Shi, L.; Chertow, M.; Wang, Y.; Wang, S.

2016-12-01

Urban activities in China contribute significantly to global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and to local air pollution-related health risks. Co-location analysis can help inform the potential for energy- and material-exchanges across homes, businesses, infrastructure and industries co-located in cities. Such co-location dependent urban-industrial symbiosis strategies offer a new pathway toward urban energy efficiency and health that have not previously been quantified. Key examples includes the use of waste industrial heat in other co-located industries, and in residential-commercial district heating-cooling systems of cities. To quantify the impact of these strategies: (1) We develop a new data-set of 637 Chinese cities to assess the potential for efficiency and symbiosis across co-located homes, businesses, industries and the energy and construction sectors in the different cities. (2) A multi-scalar urban systems model quantifies trans-boundary CO2 impacts as well as local health benefits of these uniquely urban, co-location-dependent strategies. (3) CO2 impacts are aggregated across the 637 Chinese cities (home to 701 million people) to quantify national CO2 mitigation potential. (4) The local health benefits are modeled specific to each city and mapped geospatially to identify areas where co-benefits between GHG mitigation and health are maximized. Results: A first order conservative analysis of co-location dependent urban symbiosis indicates potential for reducing 6% of China's national total CO2 emissions in a relatively short time period, yielding a new pathway not previously considered in China's energy futures models. The magnitude of these reductions (6%) was similar in magnitude to sector specific industrial, power sector and buildings efficiency strategeies that together contributed 9% CO2 reduction aggregated across the nation. CO2 reductions mapped to the 637 cities ranged from <1% to 40%, depending upon co-location patterns, climate and other features of the cities. The modeled reductions in fossil-fuel use yield reductions in PM-2.5 emissions from <1% to 73%, depending on the city, and avoided annual mortality >40,000 premature deaths (avoided) across all cities. These results demonstrate the contribution urban symbiosis on decarbonization and health co-benefits.

Carbon soundings: greenhouse gas emissions of the UK music industry

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bottrill, C.; Liverman, D.; Boykoff, M.

2010-01-01

Over the past decade, questions regarding how to reduce human contributions to climate change have become more commonplace and non-nation state actors—such as businesses, non-government organizations, celebrities—have increasingly become involved in climate change mitigation and adaptation initiatives. For these dynamic and rapidly expanding spaces, this letter provides an accounting of the methods and findings from a 2007 assessment of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the UK music industry. The study estimates that overall GHG emissions associated with the UK music market are approximately 540 000 t CO2e per annum. Music recording and publishing accounted for 26% of these emissions (138 000 t CO2e per annum), while three-quarters (74%) derived from activities associated with live music performances (400 000 t CO2e per annum). These results have prompted a group of music industry business leaders to design campaigns to reduce the GHG emissions of their supply chains. The study has also provided a basis for ongoing in-depth research on CD packaging, audience travel, and artist touring as well as the development of a voluntary accreditation scheme for reducing GHG emissions from activities of the UK music industry.

Contribution of Anaerobic Digesters to Emissions Mitigation and Electricity Generation Under U.S. Climate Policy

PubMed Central

2011-01-01

Livestock husbandry in the U.S. significantly contributes to many environmental problems, including the release of methane, a potent greenhouse gas (GHG). Anaerobic digesters (ADs) break down organic wastes using bacteria that produce methane, which can be collected and combusted to generate electricity. ADs also reduce odors and pathogens that are common with manure storage and the digested manure can be used as a fertilizer. There are relatively few ADs in the U.S., mainly due to their high capital costs. We use the MIT Emissions Prediction and Policy Analysis (EPPA) model to test the effects of a representative U.S. climate stabilization policy on the adoption of ADs which sell electricity and generate methane mitigation credits. Under such policy, ADs become competitive at producing electricity in 2025, when they receive methane reduction credits and electricity from fossil fuels becomes more expensive. We find that ADs have the potential to generate 5.5% of U.S. electricity. PMID:21761880

Contribution of anaerobic digesters to emissions mitigation and electricity generation under U.S. climate policy.

PubMed

Zaks, David P M; Winchester, Niven; Kucharik, Christopher J; Barford, Carol C; Paltsev, Sergey; Reilly, John M

2011-08-15

Livestock husbandry in the U.S. significantly contributes to many environmental problems, including the release of methane, a potent greenhouse gas (GHG). Anaerobic digesters (ADs) break down organic wastes using bacteria that produce methane, which can be collected and combusted to generate electricity. ADs also reduce odors and pathogens that are common with manure storage and the digested manure can be used as a fertilizer. There are relatively few ADs in the U.S., mainly due to their high capital costs. We use the MIT Emissions Prediction and Policy Analysis (EPPA) model to test the effects of a representative U.S. climate stabilization policy on the adoption of ADs which sell electricity and generate methane mitigation credits. Under such policy, ADs become competitive at producing electricity in 2025, when they receive methane reduction credits and electricity from fossil fuels becomes more expensive. We find that ADs have the potential to generate 5.5% of U.S. electricity.

Multiyear greenhouse gas balances at a rewetted temperate peatland.

PubMed

Wilson, David; Farrell, Catherine A; Fallon, David; Moser, Gerald; Müller, Christoph; Renou-Wilson, Florence

2016-12-01

Drained peat soils are a significant source of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions to the atmosphere. Rewetting these soils is considered an important climate change mitigation tool to reduce emissions and create suitable conditions for carbon sequestration. Long-term monitoring is essential to capture interannual variations in GHG emissions and associated environmental variables and to reduce the uncertainty linked with GHG emission factor calculations. In this study, we present GHG balances: carbon dioxide (CO 2 ), methane (CH 4 ) and nitrous oxide (N 2 O) calculated for a 5-year period at a rewetted industrial cutaway peatland in Ireland (rewetted 7 years prior to the start of the study); and compare the results with an adjacent drained area (2-year data set), and with ten long-term data sets from intact (i.e. undrained) peatlands in temperate and boreal regions. In the rewetted site, CO 2 exchange (or net ecosystem exchange (NEE)) was strongly influenced by ecosystem respiration (R eco ) rather than gross primary production (GPP). CH 4 emissions were related to soil temperature and either water table level or plant biomass. N 2 O emissions were not detected in either drained or rewetted sites. Rewetting reduced CO 2 emissions in unvegetated areas by approximately 50%. When upscaled to the ecosystem level, the emission factors (calculated as 5-year mean of annual balances) for the rewetted site were (±SD) -104 ± 80 g CO 2 -C m -2  yr -1 (i.e. CO 2 sink) and 9 ± 2 g CH 4 -C m -2  yr -1 (i.e. CH 4 source). Nearly a decade after rewetting, the GHG balance (100-year global warming potential) had reduced noticeably (i.e. less warming) in comparison with the drained site but was still higher than comparative intact sites. Our results indicate that rewetted sites may be more sensitive to interannual changes in weather conditions than their more resilient intact counterparts and may switch from an annual CO 2 sink to a source if triggered by slightly drier conditions. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Applying a Systems Approach to Monitoring and Assessing Climate Change Mitigation Potential in Mexico's Forest Sector

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Olguin-Alvarez, M. I.; Wayson, C.; Fellows, M.; Birdsey, R.; Smyth, C.; Magnan, M.; Dugan, A.; Mascorro, V.; Alanís, A.; Serrano, E.; Kurz, W. A.

2017-12-01

Since 2012, the Mexican government through its National Forestry Commission, with support from the Commission for Environmental Cooperation, the Forest Services of Canada and USA, the SilvaCarbon Program and research institutes in Mexico, has made important progress towards the use of carbon dynamics models ("gain-loss" approach) for greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions monitoring and projections into the future. Here we assess the biophysical mitigation potential of policy alternatives identified by the Mexican Government (e.g. net zero deforestation rate, sustainable forest management) based on a systems approach that models carbon dynamics in forest ecosystems, harvested wood products and substitution benefits in two contrasting states of Mexico. We provide key messages and results derived from the use of the Carbon Budget Model of the Canadian Forest Sector and a harvested wood products model, parameterized with input data from Mexicós National Forest Monitoring System (e.g. forest inventories, remote sensing, disturbance data). The ultimate goal of this tri-national effort is to develop data and tools for carbon assessment in strategic landscapes in North America, emphasizing the need to include multiple sectors and types of collaborators (scientific and policy-maker communities) to design more comprehensive portfolios for climate change mitigation in accordance with the Paris Agreement of the United Nation Framework Convention on Climate Change (e.g. Mid-Century Strategy, NDC goals).

Emission Inventory of Halogenated greenhouse gases in China during 1980-2050

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fang, X.; Velders, G. J. M.; Ravishankara, A. R.; Molina, M.; Su, S.; Zhang, J.; Zhou, X.; Hu, J.; Prinn, R. G.

2015-12-01

China is currently the largest producer and consumer of ozone-depleting substances (ODSs) which are regulated by the Montreal Protocol (MP). Many ODSs are also powerful greenhouse gases (GHGs). The Multilateral Fund has subsidized ~1 billion US dollars for the ODS phase out in China, and thus the return on this investment is of great interest. This study gives a comprehensive emission inventory in China from 1980 to 2013 of halocarbons including ODSs and their alternatives, the hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) that are also greenhouse gases. We then project these emissions up to 2050 according to the MP and several policy options. Total emissions of ODS and HFCs were estimated to be ~500 CO2-eq Tg/yr in 2013 which are equivalent to ~5% of total GHG emissions in China including fossil fuel CO2 emissions. Our estimate shows that China has succeeded in substantially reducing CFC-11-equivalent emissions (to protect the ozone layer), and CO2-equivalent emissions (to protect climate) of ODSs since the mid-1990s when their phase out started in China in compliance with the MP. Furthermore, the avoided CO2-eq emissions due to compliance with the MP are even greater compared to the reduced emissions, for example net cumulative avoided emissions during 19 year period between 1995-2013 are comparable to the current one year CO2 emissions from fossil fuels in China. We find that HFC CO2-eq emissions increased rapidly in last decade, which make up ~2% in 2005 to ~20% of total halocarbon CO2-eq emissions in 2013. Under a baseline scenario in which HFCs are used as alternatives in the ongoing phase out of HCFCs in China, emissions of HFCs are predicted to be important components of both China's and global future GHG emissions. However, potential exists for minimizing China's HFC emissions under mitigation scenarios. Our conclusions about China's past and future ODS and HFC emission trajectories are likely to apply to other developing countries, with important implications for mitigating global GHG emissions.

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.

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

How much land-based greenhouse gas mitigation can be achieved without compromising food security and environmental goals?

PubMed

Smith, Pete; Haberl, Helmut; Popp, Alexander; Erb, Karl-Heinz; Lauk, Christian; Harper, Richard; Tubiello, Francesco N; de Siqueira Pinto, Alexandre; Jafari, Mostafa; Sohi, Saran; Masera, Omar; Böttcher, Hannes; Berndes, Göran; Bustamante, Mercedes; Ahammad, Helal; Clark, Harry; Dong, Hongmin; Elsiddig, Elnour A; Mbow, Cheikh; Ravindranath, Nijavalli H; Rice, Charles W; Robledo Abad, Carmenza; Romanovskaya, Anna; Sperling, Frank; Herrero, Mario; House, Joanna I; Rose, Steven

2013-08-01

Feeding 9-10 billion people by 2050 and preventing dangerous climate change are two of the greatest challenges facing humanity. Both challenges must be met while reducing the impact of land management on ecosystem services that deliver vital goods and services, and support human health and well-being. Few studies to date have considered the interactions between these challenges. In this study we briefly outline the challenges, review the supply- and demand-side climate mitigation potential available in the Agriculture, Forestry and Other Land Use AFOLU sector and options for delivering food security. We briefly outline some of the synergies and trade-offs afforded by mitigation practices, before presenting an assessment of the mitigation potential possible in the AFOLU sector under possible future scenarios in which demand-side measures codeliver to aid food security. We conclude that while supply-side mitigation measures, such as changes in land management, might either enhance or negatively impact food security, demand-side mitigation measures, such as reduced waste or demand for livestock products, should benefit both food security and greenhouse gas (GHG) mitigation. Demand-side measures offer a greater potential (1.5-15.6 Gt CO2 -eq. yr(-1) ) in meeting both challenges than do supply-side measures (1.5-4.3 Gt CO2 -eq. yr(-1) at carbon prices between 20 and 100 US$ tCO2 -eq. yr(-1) ), but given the enormity of challenges, all options need to be considered. Supply-side measures should be implemented immediately, focussing on those that allow the production of more agricultural product per unit of input. For demand-side measures, given the difficulties in their implementation and lag in their effectiveness, policy should be introduced quickly, and should aim to codeliver to other policy agenda, such as improving environmental quality or improving dietary health. These problems facing humanity in the 21st Century are extremely challenging, and policy that addresses multiple objectives is required now more than ever. © 2013 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

A Techno-Economic Analysis of Emission Controls on Hydrocarbon Biofuel Production

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

Bhatt, Arpit; Zhang, Yimin; Davis, Ryan

Biofuels have the potential to reduce our dependency on petroleum-derived transportation fuels and decrease greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Although the overall GHG emissions from biofuels are expected to be lower when compared to those of petroleum fuels, the process of converting biomass feedstocks into biofuels emits various air pollutants, which may be subject to federal air quality regulation or emission limits. While prior research has evaluated the technical and economic feasibility of biofuel technologies, gaps still exist in understanding the regulatory issues associated with the biorefineries and their economic implications on biofuel production costs (referred to as minimum fuel sellingmore » price (MFSP) in this study). The aim of our research is to evaluate the economic impact of implementing emission reduction technologies at biorefineries and estimate the cost effectiveness of two primary control technologies that may be required for air permitting purposes. We analyze a lignocellulosic sugars-to-hydrocarbon biofuel production pathway developed by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) and implement air emission controls in Aspen Plus to evaluate how they affect the MFSP. Results from this analysis can help inform decisions about biorefinery siting and sizing, as well as mitigate the risks associated with air permitting.« less

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

Cowlin, S.; Cochran, J.; Cox, S.

Low emission development strategies (LEDS) articulate policies and implementation plans that enable countries to advance sustainable, climate-resilient development and private sector growth while significantly reducing the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions traditionally associated with economic growth. In creating a LEDS, policy makers often have access to information on abatement potential and costs for clean energy technologies, but there is a scarcity of economy-wide approaches for evaluating and presenting information on other dimensions of importance to development, such as human welfare, poverty alleviation, and energy security. To address this shortcoming, this paper proposes a new tool for communicating development benefits to policymore » makers as part of a LEDS process. The purpose of this tool is two-fold: 1. Communicate development benefits associated with each clean energy-related intervention; 2. Facilitate decision-making on which combination of interventions best contributes to development goals. To pilot this tool, the authors created a visual using data on developmental impacts identified through the Technology Needs Assessment (TNA) project in Montenegro. The visual will then be revised to reflect new data established through the TNA that provides information on cost, GHG mitigation, as well as the range and magnitude of developmental impacts.« less

From California dreaming to California data: Challenging historic models for landfill CH4 emissions

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Improved quantification of diverse CH4 sources at the urban scale is needed to guide local greenhouse gas (GHG) mitigation strategies in the Anthropocene. Herein, we focus on landfill CH4 emissions in California, challenging the current IPCC methodology which focuses on a climate dependency for land...

Growth-promoting technologies decrease the carbon footprint, ammonia emissions, and costs of California beef production systems

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Improved animal performance is suggested as one of the most effective mitigation strategies to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) and ammonia (NH3) emissions from livestock production per unit of product produced. However, little information exists on the effects of increased animal productivity on the net...

Substitution of pig feed preparation using firewood with biogas in Samosir Island: transforming an environmental catastrophe into environmental, social, economic benefits

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ginting, N.

2018-02-01

In Samosir Island, Indonesia pigs care was not environmentally friendly as people were used firewood in pig feed preparation. A series of research has been conducted from March until September 2017 which was preceded by survey. It was found that people cut tree for firewood. As Samosir Island was under Toba Go Green Project which was a tree planting project so feed pig preparation was in contrast to the project. More over, Indonesia has been committed to reduce its green house gases (GHG) by 26% in 2020, any mitigation on GHG was strongly recommended. One way of mitigation in Samosir was by installing biogas for pig feed preparation. 5 biodigesters 500 liters capacity each were installed in Parbaba Village, Samosir Island and biodigester input were pig manure, water hyacinth. Research design was Randomized Completely Design. Parameters were gas production, pH, temperature and C/N ratio. Biogas than used to cook feed pig. It was known that to cook for 5 finisher pigs, 3 kg firewood could be substituted by 250 liters of biogas.

Assessing the greenhouse gas emissions of Brazilian soybean biodiesel production.

PubMed

Cerri, Carlos Eduardo Pellegrino; You, Xin; Cherubin, Maurício Roberto; Moreira, Cindy Silva; Raucci, Guilherme Silva; Castigioni, Bruno de Almeida; Alves, Priscila Aparecida; Cerri, Domingos Guilherme Pellegrino; Mello, Francisco Fujita de Castro; Cerri, Carlos Clemente

2017-01-01

Soybean biodiesel (B100) has been playing an important role in Brazilian energy matrix towards the national bio-based economy. Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions is the most widely used indicator for assessing the environmental sustainability of biodiesels and received particular attention among decision makers in business and politics, as well as consumers. Former studies have been mainly focused on the GHG emissions from the soybean cultivation, excluding other stages of the biodiesel production. Here, we present a holistic view of the total GHG emissions in four life cycle stages for soybean biodiesel. The aim of this study was to assess the GHG emissions of Brazilian soybean biodiesel production system with an integrated life cycle approach of four stages: agriculture, extraction, production and distribution. Allocation of mass and energy was applied and special attention was paid to the integrated and non-integrated industrial production chain. The results indicated that the largest source of GHG emissions, among four life cycle stages, is the agricultural stage (42-51%) for B100 produced in integrated systems and the production stage (46-52%) for B100 produced in non-integrated systems. Integration of industrial units resulted in significant reduction in life cycle GHG emissions. Without the consideration of LUC and assuming biogenic CO2 emissions is carbon neutral in our study, the calculated life cycle GHG emissions for domestic soybean biodiesel varied from 23.1 to 25.8 gCO2eq. MJ-1 B100 and those for soybean biodiesel exported to EU ranged from 26.5 to 29.2 gCO2eq. MJ-1 B100, which represent reductions by 65% up to 72% (depending on the delivery route) of GHG emissions compared with the EU benchmark for diesel fuel. Our findings from a life cycle perspective contributed to identify the major GHG sources in Brazilian soybean biodiesel production system and they can be used to guide mitigation priority for policy and decision-making. Projected scenarios in this study would be taken as references for accounting the environmental sustainability of soybean biodiesel within a domestic and global level.

Assessing the greenhouse gas emissions of Brazilian soybean biodiesel production

PubMed Central

You, Xin; Cherubin, Maurício Roberto; Moreira, Cindy Silva; Raucci, Guilherme Silva; Castigioni, Bruno de Almeida; Alves, Priscila Aparecida; Cerri, Domingos Guilherme Pellegrino; Mello, Francisco Fujita de Castro; Cerri, Carlos Clemente

2017-01-01

Soybean biodiesel (B100) has been playing an important role in Brazilian energy matrix towards the national bio-based economy. Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions is the most widely used indicator for assessing the environmental sustainability of biodiesels and received particular attention among decision makers in business and politics, as well as consumers. Former studies have been mainly focused on the GHG emissions from the soybean cultivation, excluding other stages of the biodiesel production. Here, we present a holistic view of the total GHG emissions in four life cycle stages for soybean biodiesel. The aim of this study was to assess the GHG emissions of Brazilian soybean biodiesel production system with an integrated life cycle approach of four stages: agriculture, extraction, production and distribution. Allocation of mass and energy was applied and special attention was paid to the integrated and non-integrated industrial production chain. The results indicated that the largest source of GHG emissions, among four life cycle stages, is the agricultural stage (42–51%) for B100 produced in integrated systems and the production stage (46–52%) for B100 produced in non-integrated systems. Integration of industrial units resulted in significant reduction in life cycle GHG emissions. Without the consideration of LUC and assuming biogenic CO2 emissions is carbon neutral in our study, the calculated life cycle GHG emissions for domestic soybean biodiesel varied from 23.1 to 25.8 gCO2eq. MJ-1 B100 and those for soybean biodiesel exported to EU ranged from 26.5 to 29.2 gCO2eq. MJ-1 B100, which represent reductions by 65% up to 72% (depending on the delivery route) of GHG emissions compared with the EU benchmark for diesel fuel. Our findings from a life cycle perspective contributed to identify the major GHG sources in Brazilian soybean biodiesel production system and they can be used to guide mitigation priority for policy and decision-making. Projected scenarios in this study would be taken as references for accounting the environmental sustainability of soybean biodiesel within a domestic and global level. PMID:28493965

Effectiveness of state climate and energy policies in reducing power-sector CO2 emissions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Martin, Geoff; Saikawa, Eri

2017-12-01

States have historically been the primary drivers of climate change policy in the US, particularly with regard to emissions from power plants. States have implemented policies designed either to directly curb greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from power plants, or to encourage energy efficiency and renewable energy growth. With the federal government withdrawing from the global climate agreement, understanding which state-level policies have successfully mitigated power-plant emissions is urgent. Past research has assessed policy effectiveness using data for periods before the adoption of many policies. We assess 17 policies using the latest data on state-level power-sector CO2 emissions. We find that policies with mandatory compliance are reducing power-plant emissions, while voluntary policies are not. Electric decoupling, mandatory GHG registry/reporting and public benefit funds are associated with the largest reduction in emissions. Mandatory GHG registry/reporting and public benefit funds are also associated with a large reduction in emissions intensity.

Developing Automatic Water Table Control System for Reducing Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Paddy Fields

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Arif, C.; Fauzan, M. I.; Satyanto, K. S.; Budi, I. S.; Masaru, M.

2018-05-01

Water table in rice fields play important role to mitigate greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from paddy fields. Continuous flooding by maintenance water table 2-5 cm above soil surface is not effective and release more GHG emissions. System of Rice Intensification (SRI) as alternative rice farming apply intermittent irrigation by maintaining lower water table is proven can reduce GHG emissions reducing productivity significantly. The objectives of this study were to develop automatic water table control system for SRI application and then evaluate the performances. The control system was developed based on fuzzy logic algorithms using the mini PC of Raspberry Pi. Based on laboratory and field tests, the developed system was working well as indicated by lower MAPE (mean absolute percentage error) values. MAPE values for simulation and field tests were 16.88% and 15.80%, respectively. This system can save irrigation water up to 42.54% without reducing productivity significantly when compared to manual irrigation systems.

Open-source LCA tool for estimating greenhouse gas emissions from crude oil production using field characteristics.

PubMed

El-Houjeiri, Hassan M; Brandt, Adam R; Duffy, James E

2013-06-04

Existing transportation fuel cycle emissions models are either general and calculate nonspecific values of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from crude oil production, or are not available for public review and auditing. We have developed the Oil Production Greenhouse Gas Emissions Estimator (OPGEE) to provide open-source, transparent, rigorous GHG assessments for use in scientific assessment, regulatory processes, and analysis of GHG mitigation options by producers. OPGEE uses petroleum engineering fundamentals to model emissions from oil and gas production operations. We introduce OPGEE and explain the methods and assumptions used in its construction. We run OPGEE on a small set of fictional oil fields and explore model sensitivity to selected input parameters. Results show that upstream emissions from petroleum production operations can vary from 3 gCO2/MJ to over 30 gCO2/MJ using realistic ranges of input parameters. Significant drivers of emissions variation are steam injection rates, water handling requirements, and rates of flaring of associated gas.

Life cycle assessment of ethanol derived from sawdust.

PubMed

Roy, Poritosh; Dutta, Animesh

2013-12-01

The life cycle of ethanol derived from sawdust by enzymatic hydrolysis process is evaluated to determine if environmentally preferable and economically viable ethanol can be produced. Two scenarios are considered to estimate net energy consumption, greenhouse gas (GHG) emission and production costs. The estimated net energy consumption, GHG emission and production costs are 12.29-13.37 MJ/L, 0.75-0.92 kg CO2 e/L and about $0.98-$1.04/L, respectively depending on the scenarios of this study. The result confirmed that environmental benefit can be gained with present technologies; however, economic viability remains doubtful unless Feed-in Tariff (FiT) is considered. The production cost of ethanol reduces to $0.5/L, if FiT is considered to be $0.025/MJ. This study indicates that the implementation of FiT program for ethanol industry not only helps Ontario mitigate GHG emissions, but may also attract more investment and create rural employment opportunities. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Hydrofluorocarbon (HFC) Emissions in China: An Inventory for 2005-2013 and Projections to 2050.

PubMed

Fang, Xuekun; Velders, Guus J M; Ravishankara, A R; Molina, Mario J; Hu, Jianxin; Prinn, Ronald G

2016-02-16

Many hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) that are widely used as substitutes for ozone-depleting substances (now regulated under the Montreal Protocol) are very potent greenhouse gases (GHGs). China's past and future HFC emissions are of great interest because China has emerged as a major producer and consumer of HFCs. Here, we present for the first time a comprehensive inventory estimate of China's HFC emissions during 2005-2013. Results show a rapid increase in HFC production, consumption, and emissions in China during the period and that the emissions of HFC with a relatively high global warming potential (GWP) grew faster than those with a relatively low GWP. The proportions of China's historical HFC CO2-equivalent emissions to China's CO2 emissions or global HFC CO2-equivalent emissions increased rapidly during 2005-2013. Using the "business-as-usual" (BAU) scenario, in which HFCs are used to replace a significant fraction of hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs) in China (to date, there are no regulations on HFC uses in China), emissions of HFCs are projected to be significant components of China's and global future GHG emissions. However, potentials do exist for minimizing China's HFC emissions (for example, if regulations on HFC uses are established in China). Our findings on China's historical and projected HFC emission trajectories could also apply to other developing countries, with important implications for mitigating global GHG emissions.

Global health and climate change: moving from denial and catastrophic fatalism to positive action.

PubMed

Costello, Anthony; Maslin, Mark; Montgomery, Hugh; Johnson, Anne M; Ekins, Paul

2011-05-13

The health effects of climate change have had relatively little attention from climate scientists and governments. Climate change will be a major threat to population health in the current century through its potential effects on communicable disease, heat stress, food and water security, extreme weather events, vulnerable shelter and population migration. This paper addresses three health-sector strategies to manage the health effects of climate change-promotion of mitigation, tackling the pathways that lead to ill-health and strengthening health systems. Mitigation of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions is affordable, and low-carbon technologies are available now or will be in the near future. Pathways to ill-health can be managed through better information, poverty reduction, technological innovation, social and cultural change and greater coordination of national and international institutions. Strengthening health systems requires increased investment in order to provide effective public health responses to climate-induced threats to health, equitable treatment of illness, promotion of low-carbon lifestyles and renewable energy solutions within health facilities. Mitigation and adaptation strategies will produce substantial benefits for health, such as reductions in obesity and heart disease, diabetes, stress and depression, pneumonia and asthma, as well as potential cost savings within the health sector. The case for mitigating climate change by reducing GHGs is overwhelming. The need to build population resilience to the global health threat from already unavoidable climate change is real and urgent. Action must not be delayed by contrarians, nor by catastrophic fatalists who say it is all too late. © 2011 Royal Society

Reconciling Oil Palm Expansion and Climate Change Mitigation in Kalimantan, Indonesia

PubMed Central

Austin, Kemen G.; Kasibhatla, Prasad S.; Urban, Dean L.; Stolle, Fred; Vincent, Jeffrey

2015-01-01

Our society faces the pressing challenge of increasing agricultural production while minimizing negative consequences on ecosystems and the global climate. Indonesia, which has pledged to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from deforestation while doubling production of several major agricultural commodities, exemplifies this challenge. Here we focus on palm oil, the world’s most abundant vegetable oil and a commodity that has contributed significantly to Indonesia’s economy. Most oil palm expansion in the country has occurred at the expense of forests, resulting in significant GHG emissions. We examine the extent to which land management policies can resolve the apparently conflicting goals of oil palm expansion and GHG mitigation in Kalimantan, a major oil palm growing region of Indonesia. Using a logistic regression model to predict the locations of new oil palm between 2010 and 2020 we evaluate the impacts of six alternative policy scenarios on future emissions. We estimate net emissions of 128.4–211.4 MtCO2 yr-1 under business as usual expansion of oil palm plantations. The impact of diverting new plantations to low carbon stock land depends on the design of the policy. We estimate that emissions can be reduced by 9-10% by extending the current moratorium on new concessions in primary forests and peat lands, 35% by limiting expansion on all peat and forestlands, 46% by limiting expansion to areas with moderate carbon stocks, and 55–60% by limiting expansion to areas with low carbon stocks. Our results suggest that these policies would reduce oil palm profits only moderately but would vary greatly in terms of cost-effectiveness of emissions reductions. We conclude that a carefully designed and implemented oil palm expansion plan can contribute significantly towards Indonesia’s national emissions mitigation goal, while allowing oil palm area to double. PMID:26011182

Quantification of physical and economic impacts of climate change on public infrastructure in Alaska and benefits of global greenhouse gas mitigation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Melvin, A. M.; Larsen, P.; Boehlert, B.; Martinich, J.; Neumann, J.; Chinowsky, P.; Schweikert, A.; Strzepek, K.

2015-12-01

Climate change poses many risks and challenges for the Arctic and sub-Arctic, including threats to infrastructure. The safety and stability of infrastructure in this region can be impacted by many factors including increased thawing of permafrost soils, reduced coastline protection due to declining arctic sea ice, and changes in inland flooding. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is coordinating an effort to quantify physical and economic impacts of climate change on public infrastructure across the state of Alaska and estimate how global greenhouse gas (GHG) mitigation may avoid or reduce these impacts. This research builds on the Climate Change Impacts and Risk Analysis (CIRA) project developed for the contiguous U.S., which is described in an EPA report released in June 2015. We are using a multi-model analysis focused primarily on the impacts of changing permafrost, coastal erosion, and inland flooding on a range of infrastructure types, including transportation (e.g. roads, airports), buildings and harbors, energy sources and transmission, sewer and water systems, and others. This analysis considers multiple global GHG emission scenarios ranging from a business as usual future to significant global action. These scenarios drive climate projections through 2100 spanning a range of outcomes to capture variability amongst climate models. Projections are being combined with a recently developed public infrastructure database and integrated into a version of the Infrastructure Planning Support System (IPSS) we are modifying for use in the Arctic and sub-Arctic region. The IPSS tool allows for consideration of both adaptation and reactive responses to climate change. Results of this work will address a gap in our understanding of climate change impacts in Alaska, provide estimates of the physical and economic damages we may expect with and without global GHG mitigation, and produce important insights about infrastructure vulnerabilities in response to warming at northern latitudes.

The carbon footprint of integrated milk production and renewable energy systems - A case study.

PubMed

Vida, Elisabetta; Tedesco, Doriana Eurosia Angela

2017-12-31

Dairy farms have been widely acknowledged as a source of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The need for a more environmentally friendly milk production system will likely be important going forward. Whereas methane (CH 4 ) enteric emissions can only be reduced to a limited extent, CH 4 manure emissions can be reduced by implementing mitigation strategies, such as the use of an anaerobic digestion (AD). Furthermore, implementing a photovoltaic (PV) electricity generation system could mitigate the fossil fuels used to cover the electrical needs of farms. In the present study to detect the main environmental hotspots of milk production, a Life Cycle Assessment was adopted to build the Life Cycle Inventory according to ISO 14040 and 14044 in a conventional dairy farm (1368 animals) provided by AD and PV systems. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change tiered approach was adopted to associate the level of emission with each item in the life cycle inventory. The functional unit refers to 1kg of fat-and-protein-corrected-milk (FPCM). In addition to milk products, other important co-products need to be considered: meat and renewable energy production from AD and PV systems. A physical allocation was applied to attribute GHG emissions among milk and meat products. Renewable energy production from AD and PV systems was considered, discounting carbon credits due to lower CH 4 manure emissions and to the minor exploitation of fossil energy. The CF of this farm scenario was 1.11kg CO 2 eq/kg FPCM. The inclusion of AD allowed for the reduction of GHG emissions from milk production by 0.26kg CO 2 eq/kg FPCM. The PV system contribution was negligible due to the small dimensions of the technology. The results obtained in this study confirm that integrating milk production with other co-products, originated from more efficient manure management, is a successful strategy to mitigate the environmental impact of dairy production. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Quantification and mapping of the supply of and demand for carbon storage and sequestration service in woody biomass and soil to mitigate climate change in the socio-ecological environment.

PubMed

Sahle, Mesfin; Saito, Osamu; Fürst, Christine; Yeshitela, Kumelachew

2018-05-15

In this study, the supply of and demand for carbon storage and sequestration of woody biomass in the socio-ecological environment of the Wabe River catchment in Gurage Mountains, Ethiopia, were estimated. This information was subsequently integrated into a map that showed the balance between supply capacities and demand in a spatially explicit manner to inform planners and decision makers on methods used to manage local climate change. Field data for wood biomass and soil were collected, satellite images for land use and land cover (LULC) were classified, and secondary data from statistics and studies for estimation were obtained. Carbon storage, the rate of carbon sequestration and the rate of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from diverse sources at different LULCs, was estimated accordingly by several methods. Even though a large amount of carbon was stored in the catchment, the current yearly sequestration was less than the CO 2 -eq. GHG emissions. Forest and Enset-based agroforestry emissions exhibited the highest amount of woody biomass, and cereal crop and wetland exhibited the highest decrease in soil carbon sequestration. CO 2 -eq. GHG emissions are mainly caused by livestock, nitrogenous fertilizer consumption, and urban activities. The net negative emissions were estimated for the LULC classes of cereal crop, grazing land, and urban areas. In conclusion, without any high-emission industries, GHG emissions can be greater than the regulatory capacity of ecosystems in the socio-ecological environment. This quantification approach can provide information to policy and decision makers to enable them to tackle climate change at the root level. Thus, measures to decrease emission levels and enhance the sequestration capacity are crucial to mitigate the globally delivered service in a specific area. Further studies on the effects of land use alternatives on net emissions are recommended to obtain in-depth knowledge on sustainable land use planning. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Inversion Estimate of California Methane Emissions Using a Bayesian Inverse Model with Multi-Tower Greenhouse Gas Monitoring Network and Aircraft Measurements

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cui, Y.; Falk, M.; Chen, Y.; Herner, J.; Croes, B. E.; Vijayan, A.

2017-12-01

Methane (CH4) is an important short-lived climate pollutant (SLCP), and the second most important greenhouse gas (GHG) in California which accounts for 9% of the statewide GHG emissions inventory. Over the years, California has enacted several ambitious climate change mitigation goals, including the California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 which requires ARB to reduce statewide GHG emissions to 1990 emission level by 2020, as well as Assembly Bill 1383 which requires implementation of a climate mitigation program to reduce statewide methane emissions by 40% below the 2013 levels. In order to meet these requirements, ARB has proposed a comprehensive SLCP Strategy with goals to reduce oil and gas related emissions and capture methane emissions from dairy operations and organic waste. Achieving these goals will require accurate understanding of the sources of CH4 emissions. Since direct monitoring of CH4 emission sources in large spatial and temporal scales is challenging and resource intensive, we developed a complex inverse technique combined with atmospheric three-dimensional (3D) transport model and atmospheric observations of CH4 concentrations from a regional tower network and aircraft measurements, to gain insights into emission sources in California. In this study, develop a comprehensive inversion estimate using available aircraft measurements from CalNex airborne campaigns (May-June 2010) and three years of hourly continuous measurements from the ARB Statewide GHG Monitoring Network (2014-2016). The inversion analysis is conducted using two independent 3D Lagrangian models (WRF-STILT and WRF-FLEXPART), with a variety of bottom-up prior inputs from national and regional inventories, as well as two different probability density functions (Gaussian and Lognormal). Altogether, our analysis provides a detailed picture of the spatially resolved CH4 emission sources and their temporal variation over a multi-year period.

Carbon footprint of dairy production systems

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and their potential impact on global warming has become an important national and international concern. Dairy production systems along with all other types of animal agriculture are recognized as a source of GHG. Although little information exists on the net GHG emiss...

Environmental and economic evaluation of bioenergy in Ontario, Canada.

PubMed

Zhang, Yimin; Habibi, Shiva; MacLean, Heather L

2007-08-01

We examined life cycle environmental and economic implications of two near-term scenarios for converting cellulosic biomass to energy, generating electricity from cofiring biomass in existing coal power plants, and producing ethanol from biomass in stand-alone facilities in Ontario, Canada. The study inventories near-term biomass supply in the province, quantifies environmental metrics associated with the use of agricultural residues for producing electricity and ethanol, determines the incremental costs of switching from fossil fuels to biomass, and compares the cost-effectiveness of greenhouse gas (GHG) and air pollutant emissions abatement achieved through the use of the bioenergy. Implementing a biomass cofiring rate of 10% in existing coal-fired power plants would reduce annual GHG emissions by 2.3 million metric tons (t) of CO2 equivalent (7% of the province's coal power plant emissions). The substitution of gasoline with ethanol/gasoline blends would reduce annual provincial lightduty vehicle fleet emissions between 1.3 and 2.5 million t of CO2 equivalent (3.5-7% of fleet emissions). If biomass sources other than agricultural residues were used, additional emissions reductions could be realized. At current crude oil prices ($70/barrel) and levels of technology development of the bioenergy alternatives, the biomass electricity cofiring scenario analyzed is more cost-effective for mitigating GHG emissions ($22/t of CO2 equivalent for a 10% cofiring rate) than the stand-alone ethanol production scenario ($92/t of CO2 equivalent). The economics of biomass cofiring benefits from existing capital, whereas the cellulosic ethanol scenario does not. Notwithstanding this result, there are several factors that increase the attractiveness of ethanol. These include uncertainty in crude oil prices, potential for marked improvements in cellulosic ethanol technology and economics, the province's commitment to 5% ethanol content in gasoline, the possibility of ethanol production benefiting from existing capital, and there being few alternatives for moderate-to-large-scale GHG emissions reductions in the transportation sector.

A half-century of production-phase greenhouse gas emissions from food loss & waste in the global food supply chain.

PubMed

Porter, Stephen D; Reay, David S; Higgins, Peter; Bomberg, Elizabeth

2016-11-15

Research on loss & waste of food meant for human consumption (FLW) and its environmental impact typically focuses on a single or small number of commodities in a specific location and point in time. However, it is unclear how trends in global FLW and potential for climate impact have evolved. Here, by utilising the Food and Agriculture Organization's food balance sheet data, we expand upon existing literature. Firstly, we provide a differentiated (by commodity, country and supply chain stage) bottom-up approach; secondly, we conduct a 50-year longitudinal analysis of global FLW and its production-phase greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions; and thirdly, we trace food wastage and its associated emissions through the entire food supply chain. Between 1961 and 2011 the annual amount of FLW by mass grew a factor of three - from 540Mt to 1.6Gt; associated production-phase (GHG) emissions more than tripled (from 680Mt to 2.2Gt CO2e). A 44% increase in global average per capita FLW emissions was also identified - from 225kg CO2e in 1961 to 323kg CO2e in 2011. The regional weighting within this global average changing markedly over time; in 1961 developed countries accounted for 48% of FLW and less than a quarter (24%) in 2011. The largest increases in FLW-associated GHG emissions were from developing economies, specifically China and Latin America - primarily from increasing losses in fruit and vegetables. Over the period examined, cumulatively such emissions added almost 68Gt CO2e to the atmospheric GHG stock; an amount the rough equivalent of two years of emissions from all anthropogenic sources at present rates. Building up from the most granular data available, this study highlights the growth in the climate burden of FLW emissions, and thus the need to improve efficiency in food supply chains to mitigate future emissions. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Factors affecting methane production and mitigation in ruminants.

PubMed

Shibata, Masaki; Terada, Fuminori

2010-02-01

Methane (CH(4)) is the second most important greenhouse gas (GHG) and that emitted from enteric fermentation in livestock is the single largest source of emissions in Japan. Many factors influence ruminant CH(4) production, including level of intake, type and quality of feeds and environmental temperature. The objectives of this review are to identify the factors affecting CH(4) production in ruminants, to examine technologies for the mitigation of CH(4) emissions from ruminants, and to identify areas requiring further research. The following equation for CH(4) prediction was formulated using only dry matter intake (DMI) and has been adopted in Japan to estimate emissions from ruminant livestock for the National GHG Inventory Report: Y = -17.766 + 42.793X - 0.849X(2), where Y is CH(4) production (L/day) and X is DMI (kg/day). Technologies for the mitigation of CH(4) emissions from ruminants include increasing productivity by improving nutritional management, the manipulation of ruminal fermentation by changing feed composition, the addition of CH(4) inhibitors, and defaunation. Considering the importance of ruminant livestock, it is essential to establish economically feasible ways of reducing ruminant CH(4) production while improving productivity; it is therefore critical to conduct a full system analysis to select the best combination of approaches or new technologies to be applied under long-term field conditions.

Climate change and trace gases.

PubMed

Hansen, James; Sato, Makiko; Kharecha, Pushker; Russell, Gary; Lea, David W; Siddall, Mark

2007-07-15

Palaeoclimate data show that the Earth's climate is remarkably sensitive to global forcings. Positive feedbacks predominate. This allows the entire planet to be whipsawed between climate states. One feedback, the 'albedo flip' property of ice/water, provides a powerful trigger mechanism. A climate forcing that 'flips' the albedo of a sufficient portion of an ice sheet can spark a cataclysm. Inertia of ice sheet and ocean provides only moderate delay to ice sheet disintegration and a burst of added global warming. Recent greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions place the Earth perilously close to dramatic climate change that could run out of our control, with great dangers for humans and other creatures. Carbon dioxide (CO2) is the largest human-made climate forcing, but other trace constituents are also important. Only intense simultaneous efforts to slow CO2 emissions and reduce non-CO2 forcings can keep climate within or near the range of the past million years. The most important of the non-CO2 forcings is methane (CH4), as it causes the second largest human-made GHG climate forcing and is the principal cause of increased tropospheric ozone (O3), which is the third largest GHG forcing. Nitrous oxide (N2O) should also be a focus of climate mitigation efforts. Black carbon ('black soot') has a high global warming potential (approx. 2000, 500 and 200 for 20, 100 and 500 years, respectively) and deserves greater attention. Some forcings are especially effective at high latitudes, so concerted efforts to reduce their emissions could preserve Arctic ice, while also having major benefits for human health, agricultural productivity and the global environment.

Emissions of ammonia and greenhouse gases during combined pre-composting and vermicomposting of duck manure.

PubMed

Wang, Jinzhi; Hu, Zhengyi; Xu, Xingkai; Jiang, Xia; Zheng, Binghui; Liu, Xiaoning; Pan, Xubin; Kardol, Paul

2014-08-01

Combined pre-composting and vermicomposting has shown potential for reclamation of solid wastes, which is a significant source of ammonia (NH3), and greenhouse gases (GHG), including nitrous oxide (N2O), methane (CH4), and carbon dioxide (CO2). Earthworms and amendments may both affect physico-chemical characteristics that control gas-producing processes, and thus affect NH3 and GHG emissions. Here, we used two-way ANOVA to test the effects of addition of reed straw and combined addition of reed straw and zeolite on NH3 and GHG emissions during pre-composting of duck manure, either with or without a follow-up phase of vermicomposting. Results showed that cumulative N2O, CH4, and CO2 emissions during pre-composting and vermicomposting ranged from 92.8, 5.8, and 260.6 mg kg(-)(1) DM to 274.2, 30.4, and 314.0 mg kg(-1) DM, respectively. Earthworms and amendments significantly decreased N2O and CH4 emissions. Emission of CO2 was not affected by earthworms, but increased in responses to addition of reed straw. Cumulative NH3 emission ranged from 3.0 to 8.1 g kg(-1) DM, and was significantly decreased by reed straw and zeolite addition. In conclusion, combined pre-composting and vermicomposting with reed straw and zeolite addition would be strongly recommended in mitigating emissions of N2O, CH4, and NH3 from duck manure. Moreover, this method also provides nutrient-rich products that can be used as a fertilizer. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Greenhouse gas emissions under conservation agriculture compared to traditional cultivation of maize in the central highlands of Mexico.

PubMed

Dendooven, Luc; Gutiérrez-Oliva, Vicente F; Patiño-Zúñiga, Leonardo; Ramírez-Villanueva, Daniel A; Verhulst, Nele; Luna-Guido, Marco; Marsch, Rodolfo; Montes-Molina, Joaquín; Gutiérrez-Miceli, Federico A; Vásquez-Murrieta, Soledad; Govaerts, Bram

2012-08-01

In 1991, the 'International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center' (CIMMYT) started a field experiment in the rain fed Mexican highlands to investigate conservation agriculture (CA) as a sustainable alternative for conventional maize production practices (CT). CT techniques, characterized by deep tillage, monoculture and crop residue removal, have deteriorated soil fertility and reduced yields. CA, which combines minimum tillage, crop rotations and residue retention, restores soil fertility and increases yields. Soil organic matter increases in CA compared to CT, but increases in greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) in CA might offset the gains obtained to mitigate global warming. Therefore, CO(2), CH(4) and N(2)O emissions, soil temperature, C and water content were monitored in CA and CT treatments in 2010-2011. The cumulative GHG emitted were similar for CA and CT in both years, but the C content in the 0-60 cm layer was higher in CA (117.7 Mg C ha(-1)) than in CT (69.7 Mg C ha(-1)). The net global warming potential (GWP) of CA (considering soil C sequestration, GHG emissions, fuel use, and fertilizer and seeds production) was -7729 kg CO(2) ha(-1) y(-1) in 2008-2009 and -7892 kg CO(2) ha(-1) y(-1) in 2010-2011, whereas that of CT was 1327 and 1156 kg CO(2) ha(-1) y(-1). It was found that the contribution of CA to GWP was small compared to that of CT. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Soil greenhouse gas emissions affected by irrigation, tillage, crop rotation, and nitrogen fertilization.

PubMed

Sainju, Upendra M; Stevens, William B; Caesar-Tonthat, Thecan; Liebig, Mark A

2012-01-01

Management practices, such as irrigation, tillage, cropping system, and N fertilization, may influence soil greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. We quantified the effects of irrigation, tillage, crop rotation, and N fertilization on soil CO, NO, and CH emissions from March to November, 2008 to 2011 in a Lihen sandy loam in western North Dakota. Treatments were two irrigation practices (irrigated and nonirrigated) and five cropping systems (conventional-tilled malt barley [ L.] with N fertilizer [CT-N], conventional-tilled malt barley with no N fertilizer [CT-C], no-tilled malt barley-pea [ L.] with N fertilizer [NT-PN], no-tilled malt barley with N fertilizer [NT-N], and no-tilled malt barley with no N fertilizer [NT-C]). The GHG fluxes varied with date of sampling and peaked immediately after precipitation, irrigation, and/or N fertilization events during increased soil temperature. Both CO and NO fluxes were greater in CT-N under the irrigated condition, but CH uptake was greater in NT-PN under the nonirrigated condition than in other treatments. Although tillage and N fertilization increased CO and NO fluxes by 8 to 30%, N fertilization and monocropping reduced CH uptake by 39 to 40%. The NT-PN, regardless of irrigation, might mitigate GHG emissions by reducing CO and NO emissions and increasing CH uptake relative to other treatments. To account for global warming potential for such a practice, information on productions associated with CO emissions along with NO and CH fluxes is needed. Copyright © by the American Society of Agronomy, Crop Science Society of America, and Soil Science Society of America, Inc.

Establishing a Regional Nitrogen Management Approach to Mitigate Greenhouse Gas Emission Intensity from Intensive Smallholder Maize Production

PubMed Central

Wu, Liang; Chen, Xinping; Cui, Zhenling; Zhang, Weifeng; Zhang, Fusuo

2014-01-01

The overuse of Nitrogen (N) fertilizers on smallholder farms in rapidly developing countries has increased greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and accelerated global N consumption over the past 20 years. In this study, a regional N management approach was developed based on the cost of the agricultural response to N application rates from 1,726 on-farm experiments to optimize N management across 12 agroecological subregions in the intensive Chinese smallholder maize belt. The grain yield and GHG emission intensity of this regional N management approach was investigated and compared to field-specific N management and farmers' practices. The regional N rate ranged from 150 to 219 kg N ha−1 for the 12 agroecological subregions. Grain yields and GHG emission intensities were consistent with this regional N management approach compared to field-specific N management, which indicated that this regional N rate was close to the economically optimal N application. This regional N management approach, if widely adopted in China, could reduce N fertilizer use by more than 1.4 MT per year, increase maize production by 31.9 MT annually, and reduce annual GHG emissions by 18.6 MT. This regional N management approach can minimize net N losses and reduce GHG emission intensity from over- and underapplications, and therefore can also be used as a reference point for regional agricultural extension employees where soil and/or plant N monitoring is lacking. PMID:24875747

Impacts of nationally determined contributions on 2030 global greenhouse gas emissions: uncertainty analysis and distribution of emissions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Benveniste, Hélène; Boucher, Olivier; Guivarch, Céline; Le Treut, Hervé; Criqui, Patrick

2018-01-01

Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), submitted by Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change before and after the 21st Conference of Parties, summarize domestic objectives for greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reductions for the 2025-2030 time horizon. In the absence, for now, of detailed guidelines for the format of NDCs, ancillary data are needed to interpret some NDCs and project GHG emissions in 2030. Here, we provide an analysis of uncertainty sources and their impacts on 2030 global GHG emissions based on the sole and full achievement of the NDCs. We estimate that NDCs project into 56.8-66.5 Gt CO2eq yr-1 emissions in 2030 (90% confidence interval), which is higher than previous estimates, and with a larger uncertainty range. Despite these uncertainties, NDCs robustly shift GHG emissions towards emerging and developing countries and reduce international inequalities in per capita GHG emissions. Finally, we stress that current NDCs imply larger emissions reduction rates after 2030 than during the 2010-2030 period if long-term temperature goals are to be fulfilled. Our results highlight four requirements for the forthcoming ‘climate regime’: a clearer framework regarding future NDCs’ design, an increasing participation of emerging and developing countries in the global mitigation effort, an ambitious update mechanism in order to avoid hardly feasible decarbonization rates after 2030 and an anticipation of steep decreases in global emissions after 2030.

Soil biochar amendment as a climate change mitigation tool: Key parameters and mechanisms involved.

PubMed

Brassard, Patrick; Godbout, Stéphane; Raghavan, Vijaya

2016-10-01

Biochar, a solid porous material obtained from the carbonization of biomass under low or no oxygen conditions, has been proposed as a climate change mitigation tool because it is expected to sequester carbon (C) for centuries and to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from soils. This review aimed to identify key biochar properties and production parameters that have an effect on these specific applications of the biochar. Moreover, mechanisms involved in interactions between biochar and soils were highlighted. Following a compilation and comparison of the characteristics of 76 biochars from 40 research studies, biochars with a lower N content, and consequently a higher C/N ratio (>30), were found to be more suitable for mitigation of N2O emissions from soils. Moreover, biochars produced at a higher pyrolysis temperature, and with O/C ratio <0.2, H/Corg ratio <0.4 and volatile matter below 80% may have high C sequestration potential. Based on these observations, biochar production and application to the field can be used as a tool to mitigate climate change. However, it is important to determine the pyrolysis conditions and feedstock needed to produce a biochar with the desired properties for a specific application. More research studies are needed to identify the exact mechanisms involved following biochar amendment to soil. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Ranking factors affecting emissions of GHG from incubated agricultural soils.

PubMed

García-Marco, S; Ravella, S R; Chadwick, D; Vallejo, A; Gregory, A S; Cárdenas, L M

2014-07-01

Agriculture significantly contributes to global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and there is a need to develop effective mitigation strategies. The efficacy of methods to reduce GHG fluxes from agricultural soils can be affected by a range of interacting management and environmental factors. Uniquely, we used the Taguchi experimental design methodology to rank the relative importance of six factors known to affect the emission of GHG from soil: nitrate (NO 3 - ) addition, carbon quality (labile and non-labile C), soil temperature, water-filled pore space (WFPS) and extent of soil compaction. Grassland soil was incubated in jars where selected factors, considered at two or three amounts within the experimental range, were combined in an orthogonal array to determine the importance and interactions between factors with a L 16 design, comprising 16 experimental units. Within this L 16 design, 216 combinations of the full factorial experimental design were represented. Headspace nitrous oxide (N 2 O), methane (CH 4 ) and carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) concentrations were measured and used to calculate fluxes. Results found for the relative influence of factors (WFPS and NO 3 - addition were the main factors affecting N 2 O fluxes, whilst glucose, NO 3 - and soil temperature were the main factors affecting CO 2 and CH 4 fluxes) were consistent with those already well documented. Interactions between factors were also studied and results showed that factors with little individual influence became more influential in combination. The proposed methodology offers new possibilities for GHG researchers to study interactions between influential factors and address the optimized sets of conditions to reduce GHG emissions in agro-ecosystems, while reducing the number of experimental units required compared with conventional experimental procedures that adjust one variable at a time.

Ranking factors affecting emissions of GHG from incubated agricultural soils

PubMed Central

García-Marco, S; Ravella, S R; Chadwick, D; Vallejo, A; Gregory, A S; Cárdenas, L M

2014-01-01

Agriculture significantly contributes to global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and there is a need to develop effective mitigation strategies. The efficacy of methods to reduce GHG fluxes from agricultural soils can be affected by a range of interacting management and environmental factors. Uniquely, we used the Taguchi experimental design methodology to rank the relative importance of six factors known to affect the emission of GHG from soil: nitrate (NO3−) addition, carbon quality (labile and non-labile C), soil temperature, water-filled pore space (WFPS) and extent of soil compaction. Grassland soil was incubated in jars where selected factors, considered at two or three amounts within the experimental range, were combined in an orthogonal array to determine the importance and interactions between factors with a L16 design, comprising 16 experimental units. Within this L16 design, 216 combinations of the full factorial experimental design were represented. Headspace nitrous oxide (N2O), methane (CH4) and carbon dioxide (CO2) concentrations were measured and used to calculate fluxes. Results found for the relative influence of factors (WFPS and NO3− addition were the main factors affecting N2O fluxes, whilst glucose, NO3− and soil temperature were the main factors affecting CO2 and CH4 fluxes) were consistent with those already well documented. Interactions between factors were also studied and results showed that factors with little individual influence became more influential in combination. The proposed methodology offers new possibilities for GHG researchers to study interactions between influential factors and address the optimized sets of conditions to reduce GHG emissions in agro-ecosystems, while reducing the number of experimental units required compared with conventional experimental procedures that adjust one variable at a time. PMID:25177207

Public willingness to pay for CO2 mitigation and the determinants under climate change: a case study of Suzhou, China.

PubMed

Yang, Jie; Zou, Liping; Lin, Tiansheng; Wu, Ying; Wang, Haikun

2014-12-15

This study explored the factors that influence respondents' willingness to pay (WTP) for CO2 mitigation under climate change. A questionnaire survey combined with contingent valuation and psychometric paradigm methods were conducted in the city of Suzhou, Jiangsu Province in China. Respondents' traditional demographic attributes, risk perception of greenhouse gas (GHG), and attitude toward the government's risk management practices were established using a Tobit model to analyze the determinants. The results showed that about 55% of the respondents refused to pay for CO2 mitigation, respondent's WTP increased with increasing CO2 mitigation percentage. Important factors influencing WTP include people's feeling of dread of GHGs, confidence in policy, the timeliness of governmental information disclosure, age, education and income level. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Strategies for reducing the impacts of surface transportation on global climate change : a synthesis of policy research and state and local mitigation strategies

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2009-03-01

Climate change is likely to have more impact on the future of surface transportation than any other issue. The challenges and implications for surface transportation and for state DOTs include: the need to support major GHG reductions, the need to me...

Agriculture in the climate change negotiations; ensuring that food production is not threatened.

PubMed

Muldowney, J; Mounsey, J; Kinsella, L

2013-06-01

With the human population predicted to reach nine billion by 2050, demand for food is predicted to more than double over this time period, a trend which will lead to increased greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from agriculture. Furthermore, expansion in food production is predicted to occur primarily in the developing world, where adaptation to climate change may be more difficult and opportunities to mitigate emissions limited. In the establishment of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), 'ensuring that food production is not threatened' is explicitly mentioned in the objective of the Convention. However, the focus of negotiations under the Convention has largely been on reducing GHG emissions from energy, and industrial activities and realizing the potential of forestry as a carbon sink. There has been little attention by the UNFCCC to address the challenges and opportunities for the agriculture sector. Since 2006, concerted efforts have been made to raise the prominence of agriculture within the negotiations. The most recent The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report and 'The Emissions Gap Report' by the UNEP highlighted the significant mitigation potential of agriculture, which can help contribute towards keeping global temperature rises below the 2°C limit agreed in Cancun. Agriculture has to be a part of the solution to address climate change, but this will also require a focus on how agriculture systems can adapt to climate change in order to continue to increase food output. However, to effectively realize this potential, systematic and dedicated discussion and decisions within the UNFCCC are needed. UNFCCC discussions on a specific agriculture agenda item started in 2012, but are currently inconclusive. However, Parties are generally in agreement on the importance of agriculture in contributing to food security and employment as well as the need to improve understanding of agriculture and how it can contribute to realizing climate objectives. Discussions on agriculture are continuing with a view to finding an acceptable approach to address the climate change related challenges faced by agriculture worldwide and to ensure that 'food production is not threatened'.

Carbon Lock-In: Barriers to the Deployment of Climate Change Mitigation Technologies

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

Lapsa, Melissa Voss; Brown, Marilyn A.

The United States shares with many other countries the objective of stabilizing greenhouse gas (GHG) concentrations in the Earth's atmosphere at a level that would prevent dangerous interference with the climate system. Many believe that accelerating the pace of technology improvement and deployment could significantly reduce the cost of achieving this goal. The critical role of new technologies is underscored by the fact that most anthropogenic greenhouse gases emitted over the next century will come from equipment and infrastructure built in the future. As a result, new technologies and fuels have the potential to transform the nation's energy system whilemore » meeting climate change as well as energy security and other goals.« less

Water level, vegetation composition, and plant productivity explain greenhouse gas fluxes in temperate cutover fens after inundation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Minke, Merten; Augustin, Jürgen; Burlo, Andrei; Yarmashuk, Tatsiana; Chuvashova, Hanna; Thiele, Annett; Freibauer, Annette; Tikhonov, Vitalij; Hoffmann, Mathias

2016-07-01

Peat extraction leaves a land surface with a strong relief of deep cutover areas and higher ridges. Rewetting inundates the deep parts, while less deeply extracted zones remain at or above the water level. In temperate fens the flooded areas are colonized by helophytes such as Eriophorum angustifolium, Carex spp., Typha latifolia or Phragmites australis dependent on water depth. Reeds of Typha and Phragmites are reported as large sources of methane, but data on net CO2 uptake are contradictory for Typha and rare for Phragmites. Here, we analyze the effect of vegetation, water level and nutrient conditions on greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions for representative vegetation types along water level gradients at two rewetted cutover fens (mesotrophic and eutrophic) in Belarus. Greenhouse gas emissions were measured campaign-wise with manual chambers every 2 to 4 weeks for 2 years and interpolated by modelling. All sites had negligible nitrous oxide exchange rates. Most sites were carbon sinks and small GHG sources. Methane emissions generally increased with net ecosystem CO2 uptake. Mesotrophic small sedge reeds with water table around the land surface were small GHG sources in the range of 2.3 to 4.2 t CO2 eq. ha-1 yr-1. Eutrophic tall sedge - Typha latifolia reeds on newly formed floating mats were substantial net GHG emitters in the range of 25.1 to 39.1 t CO2 eq. ha-1 yr. They represent transient vegetation stages. Phragmites reeds ranged between -1.7 to 4.2 t CO2 eq. ha-1 yr-1 with an overall mean GHG emission of 1.3 t CO2 eq. ha-1 yr-1. The annual CO2 balance was best explained by vegetation biomass, which includes the role of vegetation composition and species. Methane emissions were obviously driven by biological activity of vegetation and soil organisms. Shallow flooding of cutover temperate fens is a suitable measure to arrive at low GHG emissions. Phragmites australis establishment should be promoted in deeper flooded areas and will lead to moderate, but variable GHG emissions or even occasional sinks. The risk of large GHG emissions is higher for eutrophic than mesotrophic peatlands. Nevertheless, flooding of eutrophic temperate fens still represents a safe GHG mitigation option because even the hotspot of our study, the floating tall sedge - Typha latifolia reeds, did not exceed the typical range of GHG emissions from drained fen grasslands and the spatially dominant Phragmites australis reed emitted by far less GHG than drained fens.

Greenhouse gas emissions from rice, peanut and millet farms in peninsular India: Effects of water and nitrogen management

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kritee, K.; Tiwari, R.; Nair, D.; Loecke, T. D.; Adhya, T. K.; Rudek, J.; Ahuja, R.; Hamburg, S.

2013-12-01

At Environmental Defense Fund (EDF), we recognize that any intervention to mitigate greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions should meet the interests of small scale farmers and low-carbon farming (LCF) is an integral component of our work on international climate. As a part of our Emissions Measurement and Methodology Development (EMD) Project, a joint undertaking with Indian NGO partners of the Fair Climate Network (FCN), five GHG measurement laboratories were set up across three states in peninsular (south) India. These labs represent different agro-ecological zones within the dryland agriculture belt in South India for which no reliable datasets on GHG emission have been available. Our approach for collecting gas samples was based on the Gracenet protocol. Sampling for nitrous oxide and methane emissions were made on approximately 50% of the total number of days in a growing season and once a week during fallow periods. In order to capture the peak emissions of nitrous oxide, samples were collected for 3-4 consecutive days after critical events like tillage, weeding, fertilization, and rainfall/irrigation. The research team collected field data at the time of sampling (temperature of the soil, water and air; and water levels). We also recorded parameters (e.g. water, fertilizer, labor and energy use; and yields) which were necessary for calculating farm profitability. Our data from 2012-2013 suggest that, for peninsular India, low-carbon rice cultivation techniques offer very large emission reduction potential (2-5 metric tons CO2e per acre per year), with smaller reductions from peanut and millet (0.15-0.5 metric ton CO2e per acre per season). The Tier 1 IPCC emissions factors 1) grossly underestimate both the amount of nitrous oxide emission from conventional rice cultivation practices, and the extent to which it can be reduced through better fertilizer management and 2) overestimate the methane emission reduction possible due to water management for rice paddies by a small but significant amount. It is crucial to customize fertilizer and water management to each agro-ecological zone such that net GHG emission reduction is maximized. Further comprehensive measurements over next 2-3 growing seasons will make Indian GHG emissions calculations from peninsular region more accurate. Even more importantly, these measurements will enable the region to more effectively reduce emissions from rice cultivation. Our preliminary assessments also show that LCF practices also have the potential to decrease water use by 10-30%, reduce total nitrogen loading in local water bodies by 20-40%, and improve long term soil health by optimizing organic matter and increasing water-holding capacity. Thus, we demonstrate immediate benefits of LCF practices in reducing input costs as well as lay the path for methodology development for better quantification of GHG emission reductions. Monetization of these reductions can provide an additional income stream to small scale farms, thereby helping incentivize adoption of LCF practices. The central payoff is a 'triple win' for society: increased long-term food security (including through enhanced yields), rural economic development (through improved farm profitability and adaptation to climate change), and lower environmental impacts (including lower GHG emissions).

Potential for negative emissions of greenhouse gases (CO2, CH4 and N2O) through coastal peatland re-establishment: Novel insights from high frequency flux data at meter and kilometer scales

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Windham-Myers, Lisamarie; Bergamaschi, Brian; Anderson, Frank; Knox, Sara; Miller, Robin; Fujii, Roger

2018-04-01

High productivity temperate wetlands that accrete peat via belowground biomass (peatlands) may be managed for climate mitigation benefits due to their global distribution and notably negative emissions of atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) through rapid storage of carbon (C) in anoxic soils. Net emissions of additional greenhouse gases (GHG)—methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide (N2O)—are more difficult to predict and monitor due to fine-scale temporal and spatial variability, but can potentially reverse the climate mitigation benefits resulting from CO2 uptake. To support management decisions and modeling, we collected continuous 96 hour high frequency GHG flux data for CO2, CH4 and N2O at multiple scales—static chambers (1 Hz) and eddy covariance (10 Hz)—during peak productivity in a well-studied, impounded coastal peatland in California’s Sacramento Delta with high annual rates of C fluxes, sequestering 2065 ± 150 g CO2 m‑2 y‑1 and emitting 64.5 ± 2.4 g CH4 m‑2 y‑1. Chambers (n = 6) showed strong spatial variability along a hydrologic gradient from inlet to interior plots. Daily (24 hour) net CO2 uptake (NEE) was highest near inlet locations and fell dramatically along the flowpath (‑25 to ‑3.8 to +2.64 g CO2 m‑2 d‑1). In contrast, daily net CH4 flux increased along the flowpath (0.39 to 0.62 to 0.88 g CH4 m‑2 d‑1), such that sites of high daily CO2 uptake were sites of low CH4 emission. Distributed, continuous chamber data exposed five novel insights, and at least two important datagaps for wetland GHG management, including: (1) increasing dominance of CH4 ebullition fluxes (15%–32% of total) along the flowpath and (2) net negative N2O flux across all sites as measured during a 4 day period of peak biomass (‑1.7 mg N2O m‑2 d‑1 0.51 g CO2 eq m‑2 d‑1). The net negative emissions of re-established peat-accreting wetlands are notably high, but may be poorly estimated by models that do not consider within-wetland spatial variability due to water flowpaths.

Measurement and prediction of enteric methane emission

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sejian, Veerasamy; Lal, Rattan; Lakritz, Jeffrey; Ezeji, Thaddeus

2011-01-01

The greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from the agricultural sector account for about 25.5% of total global anthropogenic emission. While CO2 receives the most attention as a factor relative to global warming, CH4, N2O and chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) also cause significant radiative forcing. With the relative global warming potential of 25 compared with CO2, CH4 is one of the most important GHGs. This article reviews the prediction models, estimation methodology and strategies for reducing enteric CH4 emissions. Emission of CH4 in ruminants differs among developed and developing countries, depending on factors like animal species, breed, pH of rumen fluid, ratio of acetate:propionate, methanogen population, composition of diet and amount of concentrate fed. Among the ruminant animals, cattle contribute the most towards the greenhouse effect through methane emission followed by sheep, goats and buffalos, respectively. The estimated CH4 emission rate per cattle, buffaloe, sheep and goat in developed countries are 150.7, 137, 21.9 and 13.7 (g/animal/day) respectively. However, the estimated rates in developing countries are significantly lower at 95.9 and 13.7 (g/animal/day) per cattle and sheep, respectively. There exists a strong interest in developing new and improving the existing CH4 prediction models to identify mitigation strategies for reducing the overall CH4 emissions. A synthesis of the available literature suggests that the mechanistic models are superior to empirical models in accurately predicting the CH4 emission from dairy farms. The latest development in prediction model is the integrated farm system model which is a process-based whole-farm simulation technique. Several techniques are used to quantify enteric CH4 emissions starting from whole animal chambers to sulfur hexafluoride (SF6) tracer techniques. The latest technology developed to estimate CH4 more accurately is the micrometeorological mass difference technique. Because the conditions under which animals are managed vary greatly by country, CH4 emissions reduction strategies must be tailored to country-specific circumstances. Strategies that are cost effective, improve productivity, and have limited potential negative effects on livestock production hold a greater chance of being adopted by producers. It is also important to evaluate CH4 mitigation strategies in terms of the total GHG budget and to consider the economics of various strategies. Although reductions in GHG emissions from livestock industries are seen as high priorities, strategies for reducing emissions should not reduce the economic viability of enterprises.

Greenhouse gas emissions and the interrelation of urban and forest sectors in reclaiming one hectare of land in the Pacific Northwest.

PubMed

Trlica, Andrew; Brown, Sally

2013-07-02

The interrelation between urban areas and land use options for greenhouse gas mitigation was evaluated by assessing the utility of urban residuals for soil reclamation. Long-term impacts on soil C storage for mine lands restored with urban organic residuals were quantified by sampling historic sites reclaimed both conventionally and with residuals-based amendments. Use of amendments resulted in greater C storage compared to conventional practices for all sites sampled, with increases ranging from 14.2 Mg C ha(-1) in a coalmine in WA to 38.4 Mg C ha(-1) for a copper mine in British Columbia. Expressed as Mg C per Mg amendment, effective C increases ranged from 0.03 to 0.31 Mg C per Mg amendment. Results were applied to three alternative land-use scenarios to model the net GHG balance for a site restored to forest or low-density development. The model included construction of 3.9 243 m(2)-homes, typical of urban sprawl. Emissions for home and road construction and use over a 30-year period resulted in net emissions of 1269 Mg CO2. In contrast, conventional reclamation to forestland or reclamation with 100 Mg of residuals resulted in net GHG reductions of -293 and -475 Mg CO2. Construction of an equivalent number of smaller homes in an urban core coupled with restoration of 1 ha with amendments was close to carbon neutral. These results indicate that targeted use of urban residuals for forest reclamation, coupled with high-density development, can increase GHG mitigation across both sectors.

Relevance of carbon stocks of marine sediments for national greenhouse gas inventories of maritime nations.

PubMed

Avelar, Silvania; van der Voort, Tessa S; Eglinton, Timothy I

2017-12-01

Determining national carbon stocks is essential in the framework of ongoing climate change mitigation actions. Presently, assessment of carbon stocks in the context of greenhouse gas (GHG)-reporting on a nation-by-nation basis focuses on the terrestrial realm, i.e., carbon held in living plant biomass and soils, and on potential changes in these stocks in response to anthropogenic activities. However, while the ocean and underlying sediments store substantial quantities of carbon, this pool is presently not considered in the context of national inventories. The ongoing disturbances to both terrestrial and marine ecosystems as a consequence of food production, pollution, climate change and other factors, as well as alteration of linkages and C-exchange between continental and oceanic realms, highlight the need for a better understanding of the quantity and vulnerability of carbon stocks in both systems. We present a preliminary comparison of the stocks of organic carbon held in continental margin sediments within the Exclusive Economic Zone of maritime nations with those in their soils. Our study focuses on Namibia, where there is a wealth of marine sediment data, and draws comparisons with sediment data from two other countries with different characteristics, which are Pakistan and the United Kingdom. Results indicate that marine sediment carbon stocks in maritime nations can be similar in magnitude to those of soils. Therefore, if human activities in these areas are managed, carbon stocks in the oceanic realm-particularly over continental margins-could be considered as part of national GHG inventories. This study shows that marine sediment organic carbon stocks can be equal in size or exceed terrestrial carbon stocks of maritime nations. This provides motivation both for improved assessment of sedimentary carbon inventories and for reevaluation of the way that carbon stocks are assessed and valued. The latter carries potential implications for the management of human activities on coastal environments and for their GHG inventories.

Vista-LA: Mapping methane-emitting infrastructure in the Los Angeles megacity

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Carranza, Valerie; Rafiq, Talha; Frausto-Vicencio, Isis; Hopkins, Francesca M.; Verhulst, Kristal R.; Rao, Preeti; Duren, Riley M.; Miller, Charles E.

2018-03-01

Methane (CH4) is a potent greenhouse gas (GHG) and a critical target of climate mitigation efforts. However, actionable emission reduction efforts are complicated by large uncertainties in the methane budget on relevant scales. Here, we present Vista, a Geographic Information System (GIS)-based approach to map potential methane emissions sources in the South Coast Air Basin (SoCAB) that encompasses Los Angeles, an area with a dense, complex mixture of methane sources. The goal of this work is to provide a database that, together with atmospheric observations, improves methane emissions estimates in urban areas with complex infrastructure. We aggregated methane source location information into three sectors (energy, agriculture, and waste) following the frameworks used by the State of California GHG Inventory and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Guidelines for GHG Reporting. Geospatial modeling was applied to publicly available datasets to precisely geolocate facilities and infrastructure comprising major anthropogenic methane source sectors. The final database, Vista-Los Angeles (Vista-LA), is presented as maps of infrastructure known or expected to emit CH4. Vista-LA contains over 33 000 features concentrated on < 1 % of land area in the region. Currently, Vista-LA is used as a planning and analysis tool for atmospheric measurement surveys of methane sources, particularly for airborne remote sensing, and methane hotspot detection using regional observations. This study represents a first step towards developing an accurate, spatially resolved methane flux estimate for point sources in SoCAB, with the potential to address discrepancies between bottom-up and top-down methane emissions accounting in this region. The Vista-LA datasets and associated metadata are available from the Oak Ridge National Laboratory Distributed Active Archive Center for Biogeochemical Dynamics (ORNL DAAC; https://doi.org/10.3334/ORNLDAAC/1525).

Energy System and Thermoeconomic Analysis of Combined Heat and Power High Temperature Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell Systems for Light Commercial Buildings

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

Colella, Whitney G.; Pilli, Siva Prasad

2015-06-01

The United States (U.S.) Department of Energy (DOE)’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) is spearheading a program with industry to deploy and independently monitor five kilowatt-electric (kWe) combined heat and power (CHP) fuel cell systems (FCSs) in light commercial buildings. This publication discusses results from PNNL’s research efforts to independently evaluate manufacturer-stated engineering, economic, and environmental performance of these CHP FCSs at installation sites. The analysis was done by developing parameters for economic comparison of CHP installations. Key thermodynamic terms are first defined, followed by an economic analysis using both a standard accounting approach and a management accounting approach. Keymore » economic and environmental performance parameters are evaluated, including (1) the average per unit cost of the CHP FCSs per unit of power, (2) the average per unit cost of the CHP FCSs per unit of energy, (3) the change in greenhouse gas (GHG) and air pollution emissions with a switch from conventional power plants and furnaces to CHP FCSs; (4) the change in GHG mitigation costs from the switch; and (5) the change in human health costs related to air pollution. From the power perspective, the average per unit cost per unit of electrical power is estimated to span a range from $15–19,000/ kilowatt-electric (kWe) (depending on site-specific changes in installation, fuel, and other costs), while the average per unit cost of electrical and heat recovery power varies between $7,000 and $9,000/kW. From the energy perspective, the average per unit cost per unit of electrical energy ranges from $0.38 to $0.46/kilowatt-hour-electric (kWhe), while the average per unit cost per unit of electrical and heat recovery energy varies from $0.18 to $0.23/kWh. These values are calculated from engineering and economic performance data provided by the manufacturer (not independently measured data). The GHG emissions were estimated to decrease by one-third by shifting from a conventional energy system to a CHP FCS system. The GHG mitigation costs were also proportional to the changes in the GHG gas emissions. Human health costs were estimated to decrease significantly with a switch from a conventional system to a CHP FCS system.« less

DairyGHG: a tool for evaluating the greenhouse gas emissions and carbon footprint of dairy production systems

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and their potential impact on the environment have become important national and international concerns. Dairy production, along with all other animal agriculture, is a recognized source of GHG emissions, but little information exists on the net emissions from our farm...

Predicting Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Soil Carbon from Changing Pasture to an Energy Crop

PubMed Central

Duval, Benjamin D.; Anderson-Teixeira, Kristina J.; Davis, Sarah C.; Keogh, Cindy; Long, Stephen P.; Parton, William J.; DeLucia, Evan H.

2013-01-01

Bioenergy related land use change would likely alter biogeochemical cycles and global greenhouse gas budgets. Energy cane (Saccharum officinarum L.) is a sugarcane variety and an emerging biofuel feedstock for cellulosic bio-ethanol production. It has potential for high yields and can be grown on marginal land, which minimizes competition with grain and vegetable production. The DayCent biogeochemical model was parameterized to infer potential yields of energy cane and how changing land from grazed pasture to energy cane would affect greenhouse gas (CO2, CH4 and N2O) fluxes and soil C pools. The model was used to simulate energy cane production on two soil types in central Florida, nutrient poor Spodosols and organic Histosols. Energy cane was productive on both soil types (yielding 46–76 Mg dry mass⋅ha−1). Yields were maintained through three annual cropping cycles on Histosols but declined with each harvest on Spodosols. Overall, converting pasture to energy cane created a sink for GHGs on Spodosols and reduced the size of the GHG source on Histosols. This change was driven on both soil types by eliminating CH4 emissions from cattle and by the large increase in C uptake by greater biomass production in energy cane relative to pasture. However, the change from pasture to energy cane caused Histosols to lose 4493 g CO2 eq⋅m−2 over 15 years of energy cane production. Cultivation of energy cane on former pasture on Spodosol soils in the southeast US has the potential for high biomass yield and the mitigation of GHG emissions. PMID:23991028

Role of waste management with regard to climate protection: a case study.

PubMed

Hackl, Albert; Mauschitz, Gerd

2008-02-01

According to the Kyoto Protocol and the burden-sharing agreement of the European Union, Austria is required to cut greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions during the years 2008 to 2012 in order to achieve an average reduction of 13%, based on the level of emissions for the year 1990. The present contribution gives an overview of the history of GHG emission regulation in Austria and identifies the progress made towards the realization of the national climate strategy to attain the GHG emission targets. The contribution uses Austria as an example of the way in which proper waste management can help to reduce GHG emissions. The GHG inventories show that everything must be done to minimize the carbon input due to waste deposition at landfill sites. The incineration of waste is particularly helpful in reducing GHG emissions. The waste-to-energy by incineration plants and recovery of energy yield an ecologically proper treatment of waste using state-of-the-art techniques of a very high standard. The potential for GHG reduction of conventional waste treatment technologies has been estimated by the authors. A growing number of waste incinerators and intensified co-incineration of waste in Austrian industry will both help to reduce national GHG emissions substantially. By increasing the number and capacity of plants for thermal treatment of waste the contribution of proper waste management to the national target for reduction of GHG emissions will be in the range of 8 to 14%. The GHG inventories also indicate that a potential CO2 reduction of about 500 000 t year(-1) is achievable by co-incineration of waste in Austrian industry.

Co-benefits, trade-offs, barriers and policies for greenhouse gas mitigation in the agriculture, forestry and other land use (AFOLU) sector.

PubMed

Bustamante, Mercedes; Robledo-Abad, Carmenza; Harper, Richard; Mbow, Cheikh; Ravindranat, Nijavalli H; Sperling, Frank; Haberl, Helmut; Pinto, Alexandre de Siqueira; Smith, Pete

2014-10-01

The agriculture, forestry and other land use (AFOLU) sector is responsible for approximately 25% of anthropogenic GHG emissions mainly from deforestation and agricultural emissions from livestock, soil and nutrient management. Mitigation from the sector is thus extremely important in meeting emission reduction targets. The sector offers a variety of cost-competitive mitigation options with most analyses indicating a decline in emissions largely due to decreasing deforestation rates. Sustainability criteria are needed to guide development and implementation of AFOLU mitigation measures with particular focus on multifunctional systems that allow the delivery of multiple services from land. It is striking that almost all of the positive and negative impacts, opportunities and barriers are context specific, precluding generic statements about which AFOLU mitigation measures have the greatest promise at a global scale. This finding underlines the importance of considering each mitigation strategy on a case-by-case basis, systemic effects when implementing mitigation options on the national scale, and suggests that policies need to be flexible enough to allow such assessments. National and international agricultural and forest (climate) policies have the potential to alter the opportunity costs of specific land uses in ways that increase opportunities or barriers for attaining climate change mitigation goals. Policies governing practices in agriculture and in forest conservation and management need to account for both effective mitigation and adaptation and can help to orient practices in agriculture and in forestry towards global sharing of innovative technologies for the efficient use of land resources. Different policy instruments, especially economic incentives and regulatory approaches, are currently being applied however, for its successful implementation it is critical to understand how land-use decisions are made and how new social, political and economic forces in the future will influence this process. © 2014 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Analysis of environmental impacts of renewable energy on the Moroccan electricity sector: A System Dynamics approach

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chentouf, M.; Allouch, M.

2018-05-01

Producing electricity at an affordable price while taking into account environmental concerns has become a major challenge in Morocco. Moreover, the technical and financial issues related to renewable electricity plants are still hindering their efficient integration in the country. In fact, the energy sector (both electricity and heat) accounted for more than half of all Greenhouse Gases (GHG) emissions in the kingdom due to the major reliance on fossil fuels for answering the growing local demand. The key strategies to alleviate this critical situation include the integration of more renewable energies in the total energy mix and the enhancement of energy efficiency measures in different sectors. This paper strives to (1) evaluate the potential of carbon dioxide mitigation in Moroccan electricity sector following the actual and projected strategies and (2) highlight the policy schemes to be taken in order to achieve the ambitious carbon dioxide mitigation targets in the mid-term. A system dynamics model was built in order to simulate different scenarios of carbon dioxide mitigation policies up to 2030. The results shows that the achievement of renewable energies projects by 2030 could save 228.143 MtCO2 between 2020 and 2030 and an additional 18.127 MtCO2 could be avoided in the same period by enhancing energy efficiency measures.

Albedo impact on the suitability of biochar systems to mitigate global warming.

PubMed

Meyer, Sebastian; Bright, Ryan M; Fischer, Daniel; Schulz, Hardy; Glaser, Bruno

2012-11-20

Biochar application to agricultural soils can change the surface albedo which could counteract the climate mitigation benefit of biochar systems. However, the size of this impact has not yet been quantified. Based on empirical albedo measurements and literature data of arable soils mixed with biochar, a model for annual vegetation cover development based on satellite data and an assessment of the annual development of surface humidity, an average mean annual albedo reduction of 0.05 has been calculated for applying 30-32 Mg ha(-1) biochar on a test field near Bayreuth, Germany. The impact of biochar production and application on the carbon cycle and on the soil albedo was integrated into the greenhouse gas (GHG) balance of a modeled pyrolysis based biochar system via the computation of global warming potential (GWP) characterization factors. The analysis resulted in a reduction of the overall climate mitigation benefit of biochar systems by 13-22% due to the albedo change as compared to an analysis which disregards the albedo effect. Comparing the use of the same quantity of biomass in a biochar system to a bioenergy district heating system which replaces natural gas combustion, bioenergy heating systems achieve 99-119% of the climate benefit of biochar systems according to the model calculation.

Pilot-scale testing of renewable biocatalyst for swine manure treatment and mitigation of odorous VOCs, ammonia and hydrogen sulfide emissions

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Comprehensive control of odors, hydrogen sulfide (H2S), ammonia (NH3), and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions associated with swine production is a critical need. A pilot-scale experiment was conducted to evaluate the topical application of soybean peroxidase (SBP) and calcium peroxide (CaO2) as a manu...

Reducing Urban Greenhouse Gas Footprints.

PubMed

Pichler, Peter-Paul; Zwickel, Timm; Chavez, Abel; Kretschmer, Tino; Seddon, Jessica; Weisz, Helga

2017-11-07

Cities are economically open systems that depend on goods and services imported from national and global markets to satisfy their material and energy requirements. Greenhouse Gas (GHG) footprints are thus a highly relevant metric for urban climate change mitigation since they not only include direct emissions from urban consumption activities, but also upstream emissions, i.e. emissions that occur along the global production chain of the goods and services purchased by local consumers. This complementary approach to territorially-focused emission accounting has added critical nuance to the debate on climate change mitigation by highlighting the responsibility of consumers in a globalized economy. Yet, city officials are largely either unaware of their upstream emissions or doubtful about their ability to count and control them. This study provides the first internationally comparable GHG footprints for four cities (Berlin, Delhi NCT, Mexico City, and New York metropolitan area) applying a consistent method that can be extended to other global cities using available data. We show that upstream emissions from urban household consumption are in the same order of magnitude as cities' overall territorial emissions and that local policy leverage to reduce upstream emissions is larger than typically assumed.

Gas Mitigation in Paper Production

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Santos, AS; Bittencourt, C.

2017-07-01

The Brazilian paper industry has competitive advantages offered by the favorable climate, which favors an increase in the yield of forest restoration, and consequently, in the productive process. On the other hand, following the greenhouse gases (GHG), we can see our constantly changing sun, causing the solar storms, allowing their prevention or mitigating measures. The objective of this work is to contribute to the construction of the understanding necessary for the reduction of GHG emission from a preliminary analysis of the pulp and paper sector. As a secondary objective, the text preliminarily analyzes a company’s behavior against the backdrop of the Paris Accord, which strengthens the global response to the threat of climate change and strengthens the capacity of countries to deal with the impacts of such changes. The identification of best practices in the pulp and paper industry is understood, focusing on environmental sustainability, such as the adoption of reforestation, obtaining significant results. In the case of the paper industry, the management of public forests for sustainable production, within the structure of the Ministry of the Environment, establishes the promotion of public awareness about the importance of conservation, recovery and sustainable management of forest resources.

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

Bertram, Christoph; Johnson, Nils; Luderer, Gunnar

Stringent long-term climate targets necessitate a strict limit on cumulative emissions in this century for which sufficient policy signals are so far lacking. Based on an ensemble of ten energy-economy models, we explore how long-term transformation pathways depend on policies pursued during the next two decades. We find that weak GHG emission targets for 2030 lead, in that year alone, to excess carbon dioxide emissions of nearly half of the annual emissions in 2010, mainly through coal electricity generation. Furthermore, by consuming more of the long-term cumulative emissions budget in the first two decades, weak policy increases the likelihood ofmore » overshooting the budget and the urgency of reducing GHG emissions. Therefore, to be successful under weak policies, models must prematurely retire much of the additional coal capacity post-2030 and remove large quantities of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere in the latter half of the century. While increased energy efficiency lowers mitigation costs considerably, even with weak near-term policies, it does not substantially reduce the short term reliance on coal electricity. However, increased energy efficiency does allow the energy system more flexibility in mitigating emissions and, thus, makes the post-2030 transition easier.« less

Summary for Policymakers IPCC Fourth Assessment Report, WorkingGroup III

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

Barker, Terry; Bashmakov, Igor; Bernstein, Lenny

2007-04-30

A. Introduction 1. The Working Group III contribution to theIPCC Fourth Assessment Report (AR4) focuses on new literature on thescientific, technological, environmental, economic and social aspects ofmitigation of climate change, published since the IPCC Third AssessmentReport (TAR) and the Special Reports on COB2B Capture and Storage (SRCCS)and on Safeguarding the Ozone Layer and the Global Climate System (SROC).The following summary is organised into six sections after thisintroduction: - Greenhouse gas (GHG) emission trends, - Mitigation in theshort and medium term, across different economic sectors (until 2030), -Mitigation in the long-term (beyond 2030), - Policies, measures andinstruments to mitigate climate change,more » - Sustainable development andclimate change mitigation, - Gaps in knowledge. References to thecorresponding chapter sections are indicated at each paragraph in squarebrackets. An explanation of terms, acronyms and chemical symbols used inthis SPM can be found in the glossary to the main report.« less

Silk industry and carbon footprint mitigation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Giacomin, A. M.; Garcia, J. B., Jr.; Zonatti, W. F.; Silva-Santos, M. C.; Laktim, M. C.; Baruque-Ramos, J.

2017-10-01

Currently there is a concern with issues related to sustainability and more conscious consumption habits. The carbon footprint measures the total amount of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions produced directly and indirectly by human activities and is usually expressed in tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO2) equivalents. The present study takes into account data collected in scientific literature regarding the carbon footprint, garments produced with silk fiber and the role of mulberry as a CO2 mitigation tool. There is an indication of a positive correlation between silk garments and carbon footprint mitigation when computed the cultivation of mulberry trees in this calculation. A field of them mitigates CO2 equivalents in a proportion of 735 times the weight of the produced silk fiber by the mulberry cultivated area. At the same time, additional researches are needed in order to identify and evaluate methods to advertise this positive correlation in order to contribute to a more sustainable fashion industry.

Assessing CO2 Mitigation Options Utilizing Detailed Electricity Characteristics and Including Renewable Generation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bensaida, K.; Alie, Colin; Elkamel, A.; Almansoori, A.

2017-08-01

This paper presents a novel techno-economic optimization model for assessing the effectiveness of CO2 mitigation options for the electricity generation sub-sector that includes renewable energy generation. The optimization problem was formulated as a MINLP model using the GAMS modeling system. The model seeks the minimization of the power generation costs under CO2 emission constraints by dispatching power from low CO2 emission-intensity units. The model considers the detailed operation of the electricity system to effectively assess the performance of GHG mitigation strategies and integrates load balancing, carbon capture and carbon taxes as methods for reducing CO2 emissions. Two case studies are discussed to analyze the benefits and challenges of the CO2 reduction methods in the electricity system. The proposed mitigations options would not only benefit the environment, but they will as well improve the marginal cost of producing energy which represents an advantage for stakeholders.

Can farmers mitigate environmental impacts through combined production of food, fuel and feed? A consequential life cycle assessment of integrated mixed crop-livestock system with a green biorefinery.

PubMed

Parajuli, Ranjan; Dalgaard, Tommy; Birkved, Morten

2018-04-01

This study evaluates environmental impacts of an integrated mixed crop-livestock system with a green biorefinery (GBR). System integration included production of feed crops and green biomasses (Sys-I) to meet the demand of a livestock system (Sys-III) and to process green biomasses in a GBR system (Sys-II). Processing of grass-clover to produce feed protein was considered in Sys-II, particularly to substitute the imported soybean meal. Waste generated from the livestock and GBR systems were considered for the conversion to biomethane (Sys-IV). Digestate produced therefrom was assumed to be recirculated back to the farmers' field (Sys-I). A consequential approach of Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) method was used to evaluate the environmental impacts of a combined production of suckler cow calves (SCC) and Pigs, calculated in terms of their live weight (LW). The functional unit (FU) was a basket of two products "1kg LW -SCC+1kg LW -Pigs", produced at the farm gate. Results obtained per FU were: 19.6kg CO 2 eq for carbon footprint; 0.11kg PO 4 eq for eutrophication potential, -129MJ eq for non-renewable energy use and -3.9 comparative toxicity units (CTU e ) for potential freshwater ecotoxicity. Environmental impact, e.g. greenhouse gas (GHG) emission was primarily due to (i) N 2 O emission and diesel consumption within Sys-I, (ii) energy input to Sys-II, III and IV, and (iii) methane emission from Sys-III and Sys-IV. Specifically, integrating GBR with the mixed crop-livestock system contributed 4% of the GHG emissions, whilst its products credited 7% of the total impact. Synergies among the different sub-systems showed positive environmental gains for the selected main products. The main effects of the system integration were in the reductions of GHG emissions, fossil fuel consumption, eutrophication potential and freshwater ecotoxicity, compared to a conventional mixed crop-livestock system, without the biogas conversion facility and the GBR. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

CAP payments and agricultural GHG emissions in Italy. A farm-level assessment.

PubMed

Coderoni, Silvia; Esposti, Roberto

2018-06-15

The Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) is an important external driver of European agricultural production. Nowadays and in its envisioned future structure post-2020, the CAP has among its major objectives tackling climate change, for what concerns both adaptation and mitigation strategies. However, little is known about the link between past CAP reforms and agricultural greenhouse gases (GHG) emissions. This paper investigates the possible role played by the Fischler Reform (FR) on the agricultural GHG emissions at the farm level. The FR represents a major CAP reform for which data availability allows an ex-post analysis about its actual impacts. The empirical analysis concerns a balanced panel of 6542 Italian Farm Accountancy Data Network observed over years the 2003-2007. Multinomial Logit models are estimated in sequence to express how the farm-level production choices, and the respective emissions, vary over time also in response to CAP expenditure. Results suggest that CAP expenditure had a role in the evolution of the farm-level emissions, though the direction of this effect may differ across farms and deserves further investigation. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Climate-Smart Livestock Systems: An Assessment of Carbon Stocks and GHG Emissions in Nicaragua.

PubMed

Gaitán, Lucía; Läderach, Peter; Graefe, Sophie; Rao, Idupulapati; van der Hoek, Rein

2016-01-01

Livestock systems in the tropics can contribute to mitigate climate change by reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and increasing carbon accumulation. We quantified C stocks and GHG emissions of 30 dual-purpose cattle farms in Nicaragua using farm inventories and lifecycle analysis. Trees in silvo-pastoral systems were the main C stock above-ground (16-24 Mg ha-1), compared with adjacent secondary forests (43 Mg C ha-1). We estimated that methane from enteric fermentation contributed 1.6 kg CO2-eq., and nitrous oxide from excreta 0.4 kg CO2-eq. per kg of milk produced. Seven farms that we classified as climate-smart agriculture (CSA) out of 16 farms had highest milk yields (6.2 kg cow-1day-1) and lowest emissions (1.7 kg CO2-eq. per kg milk produced). Livestock on these farms had higher-quality diets, especially during the dry season, and manure was managed better. Increasing the numbers of CSA farms and improving CSA technology will require better enabling policy and incentives such as payments for ecosystem services.

Climate-Smart Livestock Systems: An Assessment of Carbon Stocks and GHG Emissions in Nicaragua

PubMed Central

Gaitán, Lucía; Läderach, Peter; Graefe, Sophie; Rao, Idupulapati; van der Hoek, Rein

2016-01-01

Livestock systems in the tropics can contribute to mitigate climate change by reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and increasing carbon accumulation. We quantified C stocks and GHG emissions of 30 dual-purpose cattle farms in Nicaragua using farm inventories and lifecycle analysis. Trees in silvo-pastoral systems were the main C stock above-ground (16–24 Mg ha-1), compared with adjacent secondary forests (43 Mg C ha-1). We estimated that methane from enteric fermentation contributed 1.6 kg CO2-eq., and nitrous oxide from excreta 0.4 kg CO2-eq. per kg of milk produced. Seven farms that we classified as climate-smart agriculture (CSA) out of 16 farms had highest milk yields (6.2 kg cow-1day-1) and lowest emissions (1.7 kg CO2-eq. per kg milk produced). Livestock on these farms had higher-quality diets, especially during the dry season, and manure was managed better. Increasing the numbers of CSA farms and improving CSA technology will require better enabling policy and incentives such as payments for ecosystem services. PMID:28030599

Alternate wetting and drying practice for reducing greenhouse gas emissions in flooded rice agroecosystems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Adviento-Borbe, A.; Anders, M. M.; Runkle, B.; Reba, M. L.; Suvocarev, K.; Massey, J. H.; Linquist, B.

2017-12-01

Alternate wetting and drying management (AWD) practices which minimize flooding times have been shown to reduce both CH4 emissions and water use but effects on N2O emissions and grain yields are variable. Grain yield and seasonal CH4 and N2O emissions were measured from AWD treatments with various soil water thresholds and conventionally flooded water treatment in two commercial farms in Arkansas and in an experimental field in Biggs, CA during 2015 and 2016 crop seasons. Methane and N2O emissions were measured using vented flux chamber and gas chromatography methods. Grain yields ( 10 Mg ha-1) were similar in AWD and conventional water treatments. Total CH4 emissions ranged from 21 to 338 kg CH4-C ha-1 season-1. The AWD practice reduced growing season CH4 emissions by 44-73% while N2O emissions remained low and represented only <2% of the total seasonal global warming potential in all treatments. The long aerobic periods and proper implementation of AWD drain events showed greatest CH4 reduction. However, N2O emissions can increase if soil inorganic N levels are potentially high prior to initiating the dry cycle. Our results showed that AWD can reduce CH4 and N2O emissions while maintaining optimal grain yields. However, adoption of AWD to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) in commercial farms requires proper implementation of AWD to avoid risk of yield loss and high GHG emissions.

Review of PSR framework and development of a DPSIR model to assess greenhouse effect in Taiwan.

PubMed

Huang, Hui-Fen; Kuo, Jeff; Lo, Shang-Lien

2011-06-01

In dealing with the complex issues of greenhouse gas (GHG) emission and climate change mitigation, many interrelated factors such as cost, level of technology development, supply and demand of energy, structure of industry, and expenditures on research and development exist. Using indicators to monitor environmental impacts and evaluate the efficacies of policies and regulations has been practiced for a long time, and it can serve as a useful tool for decision making and for comparison between different countries. Although numerous indicators have been developed for relevant subjects, integrated approaches that consider individual changes, dynamic interaction, and multi-dimensions of indicators are scarce. This paper aimed to develop a Driving Force-Pressure-State-Impact-Response (DPSIR) framework to assess the problems. This DPSIR model is mainly related to energy consumption, environmental impacts, and policy responses. The objectives of the paper were: (1) conduct a literature review on the indicators that have been used in GHG-related studies; (2) develop a DPSIR model that incorporates GHG-related indicators and evaluate their relationships using a cause-effect chain of GHG emission; and (3) develop a calculative method that can be used to explain the dynamic correlation among the interdependent indicators. Taiwan is a significant source of global GHG emissions. A case study, using the developed framework and Taiwan's actual data of the past two decades, was conducted. The results indicate that regulatory strategies for pollution control are inadequate in terms of ensuring environmental quality, and the nature does not have the capability to revert the impacts from the existing level of pollution.

Assessment of potential greenhouse gas mitigation from changes to crop root mass and architecture

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

Paustian, Keith; Campbell, Nell; Dorich, Chris

Reducing (and eventually reversing) the increase in greenhouse gases (GHGs) in the atmosphere due to human activities, and thus reducing the extent and severity of anthropogenic climate change, is one of the great challenges facing humanity. While most of the man-caused increase in GHGs has been due to fossil fuel use, land use (including agriculture) currently accounts for about 25% of total GHG emissions and thus there is a need to include emission reductions from the land use sector as part of an effective climate change mitigation strategy. In addition, analyses included in the recent IPCC 5th Climate Change Assessmentmore » report suggests that it may not be possible to achieve large enough emissions reductions in the energy, transport and industrial sectors alone to stabilize GHG concentrations at a level commensurate with a less than 2°C global average temperature increase, without the help of a substantial CO 2 sink (i.e., atmospheric CO 2 removal) from the land use sector. One of the potential carbon sinks that could contribute to this goal is increasing C storage in soil organic matter on managed lands. This report details a preliminary scoping analysis, to assess the potential agricultural area in the US – where appropriate soil, climate and land use conditions exist – to determine the land area on which ‘improved root phenotype’ crops could be deployed and to evaluate the potential long-term soil C storage, given a set of ‘bounding scenarios’ of increased crop root input and/or rooting depth for major crop species (e.g., row crops (corn, sorghum, soybeans), small grains (wheat, barley, oats), and hay and pasture perennial forages). The enhanced root phenotype scenarios assumed 25, 50 and 100% increase in total root C inputs, in combination with five levels of modifying crop root distributions (i.e., no change and four scenarios with increasing downward shift in root distributions). We also analyzed impacts of greater root production on the soil-crop nitrogen balance, from the standpoint of increased need for additional N inputs and consequences for increased N 2O flux, as well as potential impacts if more and deeper roots contributed to reduced N leaching. In the enhanced root phenotype scenarios, the implicit assumption was that increases in overall plant production could be achieved (e.g., through increased CO 2 assimilation, greater growth efficiency) without reducing the harvested yield – that is, we did not include potential leakage and land substitution effects from potential decreased crop yield in the analysis.« less

Greenhouse gas balance of mountain dairy farms as affected by grassland carbon sequestration.

PubMed

Salvador, Sara; Corazzin, Mirco; Romanzin, Alberto; Bovolenta, Stefano

2017-07-01

Recent studies on milk production have often focused on environmental impacts analysed using the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) approach. In grassland-based livestock systems, soil carbon sequestration might be a potential sink to mitigate greenhouse gas (GHG) balance. Nevertheless, there is no commonly shared methodology. In this work, the GHG emissions of small-scale mountain dairy farms were assessed using the LCA approach. Two functional units, kg of Fat and Protein Corrected Milk (FPCM) and Utilizable Agricultural Land (UAL), and two different emissions allocations methods, no allocation and physical allocation, which accounts for the co-product beef, were considered. Two groups of small-scale dairy farms were identified based on the Livestock Units (LU) reared: <30 LU (LLU) and >30 LU (HLU). Before considering soil carbon sequestration in LCA, performing no allocation methods, LLU farms tended to have higher GHG emission than HLU farms per kg of FPCM (1.94 vs. 1.59 kg CO 2 -eq/kg FPCM, P ≤ 0.10), whereas the situation was reversed upon considering the m 2 of UAL as a functional unit (0.29 vs. 0.89 kg CO 2 -eq/m 2 , P ≤ 0.05). Conversely, considering physical allocation, the difference between the two groups became less noticeable. When the contribution from soil carbon sequestration was included in the LCA and no allocation method was performed, LLU farms registered higher values of GHG emission per kg of FPCM than HLU farms (1.38 vs. 1.10 kg CO 2 -eq/kg FPCM, P ≤ 0.05), and the situation was likewise reversed in this case upon considering the m 2 of UAL as a functional unit (0.22 vs. 0.73 kg CO 2 -eq/m 2 , P ≤ 0.05). To highlight how the presence of grasslands is crucial for the carbon footprint of small-scale farms, this study also applied a simulation for increasing the forage self-sufficiency of farms to 100%. In this case, an average reduction of GHG emission per kg of FPCM of farms was estimated both with no allocation and with physical allocation, reaching 27.0% and 28.8%, respectively. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

High Resolution Atmospheric Inversion of Urban CO2 Emissions During the Dormant Season of the Indianapolis Flux Experiment (INFLUX)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lauvaux, Thomas; Miles, Natasha L.; Deng, Aijun; Richardson, Scott J.; Cambaliza, Maria O.; Davis, Kenneth J.; Gaudet, Brian; Gurney, Kevin R.; Huang, Jianhua; O'Keefe, Darragh;

Agricultural peat lands; towards a greenhouse gas sink - a synthesis of a Dutch landscape study

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schrier-Uijl, A. P.; Kroon, P. S.; Hendriks, D. M. D.; Hensen, A.; Van Huissteden, J. C.; Leffelaar, P. A.; Berendse, F.; Veenendaal, E. M.

2013-06-01

It is generally known that managed, drained peatlands act as carbon sources. In this study we examined how mitigation through the reduction of management and through rewetting may affect the greenhouse gas (GHG) emission and the carbon balance of intensively managed, drained, agricultural peatlands. Carbon and GHG balances were determined for three peatlands in the western part of the Netherlands from 2005 to 2008 by considering spatial and temporal variability of emissions (CO2, CH4 and N2O). One area (Oukoop) is an intensively managed grass-on-peatland, including a dairy farm, with the ground water level at an average annual depth of 0.55 m below the soil surface. The second area (Stein) is an extensively managed grass-on-peatland, formerly intensively managed, with a dynamic ground water level at an average annual depth of 0.45 m below the soil surface. The third area is an (since 1998) rewetted former agricultural peatland (Horstermeer), close to Oukoop and Stein, with the average annual ground water level at a depth of 0.2 m below the soil surface. During the measurement campaigns we found that both agriculturally managed sites acted as carbon and GHG sources but the rewetted agricultural peatland acted as a carbon and GHG sink. The terrestrial GHG source strength was 1.4 kg CO2-eq m-2 yr-1 for the intensively managed area and 1.0 kg CO2-eq m-2 yr-1 for the extensively managed area; the unmanaged area acted as a GHG sink of 0.7 kg CO2-eq m-2 yr-1. Water bodies contributed significantly to the terrestrial GHG balance because of a high release of CH4 and the loss of DOC only played a minor role. Adding the farm-based CO2 and CH4 emissions increased the source strength for the managed sites to 2.7 kg CO2-eq m-2 yr-1 for Oukoop and 2.1 kg CO2-eq m-2 yr-1 for Stein. Shifting from intensively managed to extensively managed grass-on-peat reduced GHG emissions mainly because N2O emission and farm-based CH4 emissions decreased. Overall, this study suggests that managed peatlands are large sources of GHG and carbon, but, if appropriate measures are taken they can be turned back into GHG and carbon sinks within 15 yr of abandonment and rewetting.

Energy paths and political commitments: Their roles in environmental inequality

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ong, Corinne

Decentralized renewable energy procurement has gained traction in recent years for its potential to alleviate rural energy poverty and environmental degradation in developing countries. Hence, this study investigates if deploying renewable energy can mitigate rural energy poverty in developing countries as often claimed. Because any energy regime cannot be initiated or sustained without the conviction of local political leaders, the study also evaluates the extent to which government investments in the development of renewable energy technologies and the energy sector, affect the environmental quality (i.e. greenhouse gas emissions) of developing countries. Energetic theory and environmental inequality constitute the key conceptual premises guiding this study. Ordinary least squares regression is utilized to analyze the relationship between key variables. The results reveal that as of 2010, use of renewable energy can indeed support rural electrification. Higher GNI per capita and use of conventional fuels are also positively related to rural electrification, all else equal. As for environmental degradation in 2005 and 2008, R&D; investments actually tend to increase GHG emissions; procuring energy from either renewable or non-renewable sources is however, found to be environmentally detrimental, net of all other variables. Finally, some evidence is found for the role of aid funds and multilateral debt in abating GHG emissions.

New technologies reduce greenhouse gas emissions from nitrogenous fertilizer in China

PubMed Central

Dou, Zheng-xia; He, Pan; Ju, Xiao-Tang; Powlson, David; Chadwick, Dave; Norse, David; Lu, Yue-Lai; Zhang, Ying; Wu, Liang; Chen, Xin-Ping; Cassman, Kenneth G.; Zhang, Fu-Suo

2013-01-01

Synthetic nitrogen (N) fertilizer has played a key role in enhancing food production and keeping half of the world’s population adequately fed. However, decades of N fertilizer overuse in many parts of the world have contributed to soil, water, and air pollution; reducing excessive N losses and emissions is a central environmental challenge in the 21st century. China’s participation is essential to global efforts in reducing N-related greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions because China is the largest producer and consumer of fertilizer N. To evaluate the impact of China’s use of N fertilizer, we quantify the carbon footprint of China’s N fertilizer production and consumption chain using life cycle analysis. For every ton of N fertilizer manufactured and used, 13.5 tons of CO2-equivalent (eq) (t CO2-eq) is emitted, compared with 9.7 t CO2-eq in Europe. Emissions in China tripled from 1980 [131 terrogram (Tg) of CO2-eq (Tg CO2-eq)] to 2010 (452 Tg CO2-eq). N fertilizer-related emissions constitute about 7% of GHG emissions from the entire Chinese economy and exceed soil carbon gain resulting from N fertilizer use by several-fold. We identified potential emission reductions by comparing prevailing technologies and management practices in China with more advanced options worldwide. Mitigation opportunities include improving methane recovery during coal mining, enhancing energy efficiency in fertilizer manufacture, and minimizing N overuse in field-level crop production. We find that use of advanced technologies could cut N fertilizer-related emissions by 20–63%, amounting to 102–357 Tg CO2-eq annually. Such reduction would decrease China’s total GHG emissions by 2–6%, which is significant on a global scale. PMID:23671096

New technologies reduce greenhouse gas emissions from nitrogenous fertilizer in China.

PubMed

Zhang, Wei-Feng; Dou, Zheng-Xia; He, Pan; Ju, Xiao-Tang; Powlson, David; Chadwick, Dave; Norse, David; Lu, Yue-Lai; Zhang, Ying; Wu, Liang; Chen, Xin-Ping; Cassman, Kenneth G; Zhang, Fu-Suo

2013-05-21

Synthetic nitrogen (N) fertilizer has played a key role in enhancing food production and keeping half of the world's population adequately fed. However, decades of N fertilizer overuse in many parts of the world have contributed to soil, water, and air pollution; reducing excessive N losses and emissions is a central environmental challenge in the 21st century. China's participation is essential to global efforts in reducing N-related greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions because China is the largest producer and consumer of fertilizer N. To evaluate the impact of China's use of N fertilizer, we quantify the carbon footprint of China's N fertilizer production and consumption chain using life cycle analysis. For every ton of N fertilizer manufactured and used, 13.5 tons of CO2-equivalent (eq) (t CO2-eq) is emitted, compared with 9.7 t CO2-eq in Europe. Emissions in China tripled from 1980 [131 terrogram (Tg) of CO2-eq (Tg CO2-eq)] to 2010 (452 Tg CO2-eq). N fertilizer-related emissions constitute about 7% of GHG emissions from the entire Chinese economy and exceed soil carbon gain resulting from N fertilizer use by several-fold. We identified potential emission reductions by comparing prevailing technologies and management practices in China with more advanced options worldwide. Mitigation opportunities include improving methane recovery during coal mining, enhancing energy efficiency in fertilizer manufacture, and minimizing N overuse in field-level crop production. We find that use of advanced technologies could cut N fertilizer-related emissions by 20-63%, amounting to 102-357 Tg CO2-eq annually. Such reduction would decrease China's total GHG emissions by 2-6%, which is significant on a global scale.

Atmospheric circulation and hydroclimate impacts of alternative warming scenarios for the Eocene

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Carlson, Henrik; Caballero, Rodrigo

2017-08-01

Recent work in modelling the warm climates of the early Eocene shows that it is possible to obtain a reasonable global match between model surface temperature and proxy reconstructions, but only by using extremely high atmospheric CO2 concentrations or more modest CO2 levels complemented by a reduction in global cloud albedo. Understanding the mix of radiative forcing that gave rise to Eocene warmth has important implications for constraining Earth's climate sensitivity, but progress in this direction is hampered by the lack of direct proxy constraints on cloud properties. Here, we explore the potential for distinguishing among different radiative forcing scenarios via their impact on regional climate changes. We do this by comparing climate model simulations of two end-member scenarios: one in which the climate is warmed entirely by CO2 (which we refer to as the greenhouse gas (GHG) scenario) and another in which it is warmed entirely by reduced cloud albedo (which we refer to as the low CO2-thin clouds or LCTC scenario) . The two simulations have an almost identical global-mean surface temperature and equator-to-pole temperature difference, but the LCTC scenario has ˜ 11 % greater global-mean precipitation than the GHG scenario. The LCTC scenario also has cooler midlatitude continents and warmer oceans than the GHG scenario and a tropical climate which is significantly more El Niño-like. Extremely high warm-season temperatures in the subtropics are mitigated in the LCTC scenario, while cool-season temperatures are lower at all latitudes. These changes appear large enough to motivate further, more detailed study using other climate models and a more realistic set of modelling assumptions.

Climate change mitigation for agriculture: water quality benefits and costs.

PubMed

Wilcock, Robert; Elliott, Sandy; Hudson, Neale; Parkyn, Stephanie; Quinn, John

2008-01-01

New Zealand is unique in that half of its national greenhouse gas (GHG) inventory derives from agriculture--predominantly as methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide (N2O), in a 2:1 ratio. The remaining GHG emissions predominantly comprise carbon dioxide (CO2) deriving from energy and industry sources. Proposed strategies to mitigate emissions of CH4 and N2O from pastoral agriculture in New Zealand are: (1) utilising extensive and riparian afforestation of pasture to achieve CO2 uptake (carbon sequestration); (2) management of nitrogen through budgeting and/or the use of nitrification inhibitors, and minimizing soil anoxia to reduce N2O emissions; and (3) utilisation of alternative waste treatment technologies to minimise emissions of CH4. These mitigation measures have associated co-benefits and co-costs (disadvantages) for rivers, streams and lakes because they affect land use, runoff loads, and receiving water and habitat quality. Extensive afforestation results in lower specific yields (exports) of nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), suspended sediment (SS) and faecal matter and also has benefits for stream habitat quality by improving stream temperature, dissolved oxygen and pH regimes through greater shading, and the supply of woody debris and terrestrial food resources. Riparian afforestation does not achieve the same reductions in exports as extensive afforestation but can achieve reductions in concentrations of N, P, SS and faecal organisms. Extensive afforestation of pasture leads to reduced water yields and stream flows. Both afforestation measures produce intermittent disturbances to waterways during forestry operations (logging and thinning), resulting in sediment release from channel re-stabilisation and localised flooding, including formation of debris dams at culverts. Soil and fertiliser management benefits aquatic ecosystems by reducing N exports but the use of nitrification inhibitors, viz. dicyandiamide (DCD), to achieve this may under some circumstances impair wetland function to intercept and remove nitrate from drainage water, or even add to the overall N loading to waterways. DCD is water soluble and degrades rapidly in warm soil conditions. The recommended application rate of 10 kg DCD/ha corresponds to 6 kg N/ha and may be exceeded in warm climates. Of the N2O produced by agricultural systems, approximately 30% is emitted from indirect sources, which are waterways draining agriculture. It is important therefore to focus strategies for managing N inputs to agricultural systems generally to reduce inputs to wetlands and streams where these might be reduced to N2O. Waste management options include utilizing the CH4 resource produced in farm waste treatment ponds as a source of energy, with conversion to CO2 via combustion achieving a 21-fold reduction in GHG emissions. Both of these have co-benefits for waterways as a result of reduced loadings. A conceptual model derived showing the linkages between key land management practices for greenhouse gas mitigation and key waterway values and ecosystem attributes is derived to aid resource managers making decisions affecting waterways and atmospheric GHG emissions. Copyright (c) IWA Publishing 2008.

Carbon Footprint Analysis for a GRAPE Production Case Study

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sirca, C.; Marras, S.; Masia, S.; Duce, P.; Zara, P.; Spano, D.

2013-12-01

Agriculture activities can play a double role in emitting or sequestering carbon from the atmosphere. Mitigation of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in agriculture is one of the most urgent research subjects in the framework of enhancing environmental stewardship. However, little is known about the role of the agriculture in the global carbon balance, since most of the studies applied the Eddy Covariance technique in natural or semi-natural ecosystems to investigate their role in mitigate the anthropogenic carbon release. The application of the Eddy Covariance technique in agricultural systems could greatly improve our knowledge about their role on the global carbon budget and help in modeling the related processes. In addition, there is a growing request from producers, trade companies, and customers on the assessment of the environmental impact of a production process related to agricultural high quality products. In recent years, particular attention was put on the estimation of GHG emissions deriving from productive processes. In this context, a useful tool is the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA), which represents a methodology to estimate GHG emissions related to the entire life cycle of a product. The Carbon Footprint (CF) analysis represents a subset of the LCA, which only considers CO2 emissions with an impact on climate change. With respect to the wine industry, most of studies focused on the CF analysis related to the wine making process in the cellar, while a few studies analyzed the GHG emissions related to the grape production. The aim of this work was to quantify the CO2 emissions due to the grape production and emphasize the double role of a vineyard as a carbon sink or source. An Eddy Covariance station was set up in a representative vineyard located in the Mediterranean Basin (Sardinia, Italy) to measure the net carbon exchange between the surface and the atmosphere. The CF analysis was also conducted to compute the carbon balance of the grape production process in terms of CO2-equivalent emissions by following the International Wine Carbon Protocol (IWCP). Additional terms (e.g. emissions due to fossil fuel combustion, fertilizers, soil tillage) were also quantified. Results showed that the vineyard is able to store net amounts of carbon both in biomass and soil. Human added inputs for the vineyard management practices (e.g. soil tillage) are responsible for the release of significant quantities of GHG in the atmosphere. Results also showed that data obtained from the EC measurements could allow for a direct quantification of part of the terms involved in the grape production process, but the assessment of the carbon sequestration capacity in agricultural sites requires to account for GHG emissions from additional anthropogenic inputs.

Application effects of coated urea and urease and nitrification inhibitors on ammonia and greenhouse gas emissions from a subtropical cotton field of the Mississippi delta region.

PubMed

Tian, Zhou; Wang, Jim J; Liu, Shuai; Zhang, Zengqiang; Dodla, Syam K; Myers, Gerald

2015-11-15

Nitrogen (N) fertilization affects both ammonia (NH3) and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions that have implications in air quality and global warming potential. Different cropping systems practice varying N fertilizations. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of applications of polymer-coated urea and urea treated with N process inhibitors: NBPT [N-(n-butyl)thiophosphoric triamide], urease inhibitor, and DCD [Dicyandiamide], nitrification inhibitor, on NH3 and GHG emissions from a cotton production system in the Mississippi delta region. A two-year field experiment consisting of five treatments including the Check (unfertilized), urea, polymer-coated urea (ESN), urea+NBPT, and urea+DCD was conducted over 2013 and 2014 in a Cancienne loam (Fine-silty, mixed, superactive, nonacid, hyperthermic Fluvaquentic Epiaquepts). Ammonia and GHG samples were collected using active and passive chamber methods, respectively, and characterized. The results showed that the N loss to the atmosphere following urea-N application was dominated by a significantly higher emission of N2O-N than NH3-N and the most N2O-N and NH3-N emissions were during the first 30-50 days. Among different N treatments compared to regular urea, NBPT was the most effective in reducing NH3-N volatilization (by 58-63%), whereas DCD the most significant in mitigating N2O-N emissions (by 75%). Polymer-coated urea (ESN) and NBPT also significantly reduced N2O-N losses (both by 52%) over urea. The emission factors (EFs) for urea, ESN, urea-NBPT, urea+DCD were 1.9%, 1.0%, 0.2%, 0.8% for NH3-N, and 8.3%, 3.4%, 3.9%, 1.0% for N2O-N, respectively. There were no significant effects of different N treatments on CO2-C and CH4-C fluxes. Overall both of these N stabilizers and polymer-coated urea could be used as a mitigation strategy for reducing N2O emission while urease inhibitor NBPT for reducing NH3 emission in the subtropical cotton production system of the Mississippi delta region. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Renewable energy and greenhouse gas emissions from the waste sectors of European Union member states: a panel data analysis.

PubMed

Domingos, Hélde Araujo; De Melo Faria, Alexandre Magno; Fuinhas, José Alberto; Marques, António Cardoso

2017-08-01

In the last two decades, there has been a rich debate about the environmental degradation that results from exposure to solid urban waste. Growing public concern with environmental issues has led to the implementation of various strategic plans for waste management in several developed countries, especially in the European Union. In this paper, the relationships were assessed between economic growth, renewable energy extraction and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the waste sector. The Environmental Kuznets Curve hypothesis was analysed for the member states of the European Union, in the presence of electricity generation, landfill and GHG emissions for the period 1995 to 2012. The results revealed that there is no inverted-U-shaped relationship between income and GHG emissions in European Union countries. The renewable fuel extracted from waste contributes to a reduction in GHG, and although the electricity produced also increases emissions somewhat, they would be far greater if the waste-based generation of renewable energy did not take place. The waste sector needs to strengthen its political, economic, institutional and social communication instruments to meet its aims for mitigating the levels of pollutants generated by European economies. To achieve the objectives of the Horizon 2020 programme, currently in force in the countries of the European Union, it will be necessary to increase the share of renewable energy in the energy mix.

Reducing emissions from agriculture to meet the 2 °C target.

PubMed

Wollenberg, Eva; Richards, Meryl; Smith, Pete; Havlík, Petr; Obersteiner, Michael; Tubiello, Francesco N; Herold, Martin; Gerber, Pierre; Carter, Sarah; Reisinger, Andrew; van Vuuren, Detlef P; Dickie, Amy; Neufeldt, Henry; Sander, Björn O; Wassmann, Reiner; Sommer, Rolf; Amonette, James E; Falcucci, Alessandra; Herrero, Mario; Opio, Carolyn; Roman-Cuesta, Rosa Maria; Stehfest, Elke; Westhoek, Henk; Ortiz-Monasterio, Ivan; Sapkota, Tek; Rufino, Mariana C; Thornton, Philip K; Verchot, Louis; West, Paul C; Soussana, Jean-François; Baedeker, Tobias; Sadler, Marc; Vermeulen, Sonja; Campbell, Bruce M

2016-12-01

More than 100 countries pledged to reduce agricultural greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the 2015 Paris Agreement of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. Yet technical information about how much mitigation is needed in the sector vs. how much is feasible remains poor. We identify a preliminary global target for reducing emissions from agriculture of ~1 GtCO 2 e yr -1 by 2030 to limit warming in 2100 to 2 °C above pre-industrial levels. Yet plausible agricultural development pathways with mitigation cobenefits deliver only 21-40% of needed mitigation. The target indicates that more transformative technical and policy options will be needed, such as methane inhibitors and finance for new practices. A more comprehensive target for the 2 °C limit should be developed to include soil carbon and agriculture-related mitigation options. Excluding agricultural emissions from mitigation targets and plans will increase the cost of mitigation in other sectors or reduce the feasibility of meeting the 2 °C limit. © 2016 The Authors Global Change Biology Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Comparative analysis of environmental impacts of maize-biogas and photovoltaics on a land use basis

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

Graebig, Markus; Fenner, Richard; Bringezu, Stefan

2010-07-15

This study aims to stimulate the discussion on how to optimize a sustainable energy mix from an environmental perspective and how to apply existing renewable energy sources in the most efficient way. Ground-mounted photovoltaics (PV) and the maize-biogas-electricity route are compared with regard to their potential to mitigate environmental pressure, assuming that a given agricultural area is available for energy production. Existing life cycle assessment (LCA) studies are taken as a basis to analyse environmental impacts of those technologies in relation to conventional technology for power and heat generation. The life-cycle-wide mitigation potential per area used is calculated for themore » impact categories non-renewable energy input, green house gas (GHG) emissions, acidification and eutrophication. The environmental performance of each system depends on the scenario that is assumed for end energy use (electricity and heat supply have been contemplated). In all scenarios under consideration, PV turns out to be superior to biogas in almost all studied impact categories. Even when maize is used for electricity production in connection with very efficient heat usage, and reduced PV performance is assumed to account for intermittence, PV can still mitigate about four times the amount of green house gas emissions and non-renewable energy input compared to maize-biogas. Soil erosion, which can be entirely avoided with PV, exceeds soil renewal rates roughly 20-fold on maize fields. Regarding the overall Eco-indicator 99 (H) score under most favourable assumptions for the maize-biogas route, PV has still a more than 100% higher potential to mitigate environmental burden. At present, the key advantages of biogas are its price and its availability without intermittence. In the long run, and with respect to more efficient land use, biogas might preferably be produced from organic waste or manure, whereas PV should be integrated into buildings and infrastructures. (author)« less

Spatial variability of soil carbon and nitrogen in two hybrid poplar-hay crop systems in southern Quebec, Canada

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Winans, K. S.

2013-12-01

Canadian agricultural operations contribute approximately 8% of national GHG emissions each year, mainly from fertilizers, enteric fermentation, and manure management (Environment Canada, 2010). With improved management of cropland and forests, it is possible to mitigate GHG emissions through carbon (C) sequestration while enhancing soil and crop productivity. Tree-based intercropped (TBI) systems, consisting of a fast-growing woody species such as poplar (Populus spp.) planted in widely-spaced rows with crops cultivated between tree rows, were one of the technologies prioritized for investigation by the Agreement for the Agricultural Greenhouse Gases Program (AAGGP), because fast growing trees can be a sink for atmospheric carbon-dioxide (CO2) as well as a long-term source of farm income (Montagnini and Nair, 2004). However, there are relatively few estimates of the C sequestration in the trees or due to tree inputs (e.g., fine root turnover, litterfall that gets incorporated into SOC), and hybrid poplars grow exponentially in the first 8-10 years after planting. With the current study, our objectives were (1) to evaluate spatial variation in soil C and nitrogen (N) storage, CO2 and nitrogen oxide (N20), and tree and crop productivity for two hybrid poplar-hay intercrop systems at year 9, comparing TBI vs. non-TBI systems, and (2) to evaluate TBI systems in the current context of C trading markets, which value C sequestration in trees, unharvested crop components, and soils of TBI systems. The study results will provide meaningful measures that indicate changes due to TBI systems in the short-term and in the long-term, in terms of GHG mitigation, enhanced soil and crop productivity, as well as the expected economic returns in TBI systems.

A life-cycle approach to technology, infrastructure, and climate policy decision making: Transitioning to plug-in hybrid electric vehicles and low-carbon electricity

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Samaras, Constantine

In order to mitigate the most severe effects of climate change, large global reductions in the current levels of anthropogenic greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions are required in this century to stabilize atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) concentrations at less than double pre-industrial levels. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) fourth assessment report states that GHG emissions should be reduced to 50-80% of 2000 levels by 2050 to increase the likelihood of stabilizing atmospheric CO2 concentrations. In order to achieve the large GHG reductions by 2050 recommended by the IPCC, a fundamental shift and evolution will be required in the energy system. Because the electric power and transportation sectors represent the largest GHG emissions sources in the United States, a unique opportunity for coupling these systems via electrified transportation could achieve synergistic environmental (GHG emissions reductions) and energy security (petroleum displacement) benefits. Plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs), which use electricity from the grid to power a portion of travel, could play a major role in reducing greenhouse gas emissions from the transport sector. However, this thesis finds that life cycle GHG emissions from PHEVs depend on the electricity source that is used to charge the battery, so meaningful GHG emissions reductions with PHEVs are conditional on low-carbon electricity sources. Power plants and their associated GHGs are long-lived, and this work argues that decisions made regarding new electricity supplies within the next ten years will affect the potential of PHEVs to play a role in a low-carbon future in the coming decades. This thesis investigates the life cycle engineering, economic, and policy decisions involved in transitioning to PHEVs and low-carbon electricity. The government has a vast array of policy options to promote low-carbon technologies, some of which have proven to be more successful than others. This thesis uses life cycle assessment to evaluate options and opportunities for large GHG reductions from plug-in hybrids. After the options and uncertainties are framed, engineering economic analysis is used to evaluate the policy actions required for adoption of PHEVs at scale and the implications for low-carbon electricity investments. A logistic PHEV adoption model is constructed to parameterize implications for low-carbon electricity infrastructure investments and climate policy. This thesis concludes with an examination of what lessons can be learned for climate, innovation, and low-carbon energy policies from the evolution of wind power from an emerging alternative energy technology to a utility-scale power source. Policies to promote PHEVs and other emerging energy technologies can take lessons learned from the successes and challenges of wind power's development to optimize low-carbon energy policy and R&D programs going forward. The need for integrated climate policy, energy policy, sustainability, and urban mobility solutions will accelerate in the next two decades as concerns regarding GHG emissions and petroleum resources continue to be environmental and economic priorities. To assist in informing the discussions on climate policy and low-carbon energy R&D, this research and its methods will provide stakeholders in government and industry with plug-in hybrid and energy policy choices based on life cycle assessment, engineering economics, and systems analysis.

Chapter 8: Estimating net greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from wood energy use; Issues and the current state of knowledge

Treesearch

Prakash Nepal; Kenneth E. Skog

2014-01-01

Use of woody biomass from sustainably managed sources to produce energy is considered an important strategy to mitigate climate change because the resource is renewable (biomass regrowth on land recaptures emitted carbon dioxide (CO2) due to biomass burning) and can substitute for fossil-fuel-based energy such as coal and natural gas. However,...

An Environmental and Economic Evaluation of Pyrolysis for Energy Generation in Taiwan with Endogenous Land Greenhouse Gases Emissions

PubMed Central

Kung, Chih-Chun; McCarl, Bruce A.; Chen, Chi-Chung

2014-01-01

Taiwan suffers from energy insecurity and the threat of potential damage from global climate changes. Finding ways to alleviate these forces is the key to Taiwan’s future social and economic development. This study examines the economic and environmental impacts when ethanol, conventional electricity and pyrolysis-based electricity are available alternatives. Biochar, as one of the most important by-product from pyrolysis, has the potential to provide significant environmental benefits. Therefore, alternative uses of biochar are also examined in this study. In addition, because planting energy crops would change the current land use pattern, resulting in significant land greenhouse gases (GHG) emissions, this important factor is also incorporated. Results show that bioenergy production can satisfy part of Taiwan’s energy demand, but net GHG emissions offset declines if ethanol is chosen. Moreover, at high GHG price conventional electricity and ethanol will be driven out and pyrolysis will be a dominant technology. Fast pyrolysis dominates when ethanol and GHG prices are low, but slow pyrolysis is dominant at high GHG price, especially when land GHG emissions are endogenously incorporated. The results indicate that when land GHG emission is incorporated, up to 3.8 billion kWh electricity can be produced from fast pyrolysis, while up to 2.2 million tons of CO2 equivalent can be offset if slow pyrolysis is applied. PMID:24619159

An environmental and economic evaluation of pyrolysis for energy generation in Taiwan with endogenous land greenhouse gases emissions.

PubMed

Kung, Chih-Chun; McCarl, Bruce A; Chen, Chi-Chung

2014-03-11

Taiwan suffers from energy insecurity and the threat of potential damage from global climate changes. Finding ways to alleviate these forces is the key to Taiwan's future social and economic development. This study examines the economic and environmental impacts when ethanol, conventional electricity and pyrolysis-based electricity are available alternatives. Biochar, as one of the most important by-product from pyrolysis, has the potential to provide significant environmental benefits. Therefore, alternative uses of biochar are also examined in this study. In addition, because planting energy crops would change the current land use pattern, resulting in significant land greenhouse gases (GHG) emissions, this important factor is also incorporated. Results show that bioenergy production can satisfy part of Taiwan's energy demand, but net GHG emissions offset declines if ethanol is chosen. Moreover, at high GHG price conventional electricity and ethanol will be driven out and pyrolysis will be a dominant technology. Fast pyrolysis dominates when ethanol and GHG prices are low, but slow pyrolysis is dominant at high GHG price, especially when land GHG emissions are endogenously incorporated. The results indicate that when land GHG emission is incorporated, up to 3.8 billion kWh electricity can be produced from fast pyrolysis, while up to 2.2 million tons of CO2 equivalent can be offset if slow pyrolysis is applied.

Soil mapping and processes models to support climate change mitigation and adaptation strategies: a review

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Muñoz-Rojas, Miriam; Pereira, Paulo; Brevik, Eric; Cerda, Artemi; Jordan, Antonio

2017-04-01

As agreed in Paris in December 2015, global average temperature is to be limited to "well below 2 °C above pre-industrial levels" and efforts will be made to "limit the temperature increase to 1.5 °C above pre-industrial levels. Thus, reducing greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) in all sectors becomes critical and appropriate sustainable land management practices need to be taken (Pereira et al., 2017). Mitigation strategies focus on reducing the rate and magnitude of climate change by reducing its causes. Complementary to mitigation, adaptation strategies aim to minimise impacts and maximize the benefits of new opportunities. The adoption of both practices will require developing system models to integrate and extrapolate anticipated climate changes such as global climate models (GCMs) and regional climate models (RCMs). Furthermore, integrating climate models driven by socio-economic scenarios in soil process models has allowed the investigation of potential changes and threats in soil characteristics and functions in future climate scenarios. One of the options with largest potential for climate change mitigation is sequestering carbon in soils. Therefore, the development of new methods and the use of existing tools for soil carbon monitoring and accounting have therefore become critical in a global change context. For example, soil C maps can help identify potential areas where management practices that promote C sequestration will be productive and guide the formulation of policies for climate change mitigation and adaptation strategies. Despite extensive efforts to compile soil information and map soil C, many uncertainties remain in the determination of soil C stocks, and the reliability of these estimates depends upon the quality and resolution of the spatial datasets used for its calculation. Thus, better estimates of soil C pools and dynamics are needed to advance understanding of the C balance and the potential of soils for climate change mitigation. Here, we discuss the most recent advances on the application of soil mapping and modeling to support climate change mitigation and adaptation strategies; and These strategies are a key component of the implementation of sustainable land management policies need to be integrated are critical to. The objective of this work is to present a review about the advantages of soil mapping and process modeling for sustainable land management. Muñoz-Rojas, M., Pereira, P., Brevic, E., Cerda, A., Jordan, A. (2017) Soil mapping and processes models for sustainable land management applied to modern challenges. In: Pereira, P., Brevik, E., Munoz-Rojas, M., Miller, B. (Eds.) Soil mapping and process modelling for sustainable land use management (Elsevier Publishing House) ISBN: 9780128052006

Options to reduce greenhouse gas emissions during wastewater treatment for agricultural use.

PubMed

Fine, Pinchas; Hadas, Efrat

2012-02-01

Treatment of primarily-domestic sewage wastewater involves on-site greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions due to energy inputs, organic matter degradation and biological nutrient removal (BNR). BNR causes both direct emissions and loss of fertilizer value, thus eliminating possible reduction of emissions caused by fertilizer manufacture. In this study, we estimated on-site GHG emissions under different treatment scenarios, and present options for emission reduction by changing treatment methods, avoiding BNR and by recovering energy from biogas. Given a typical Israeli wastewater strength (1050mg CODl(-1)), the direct on-site GHG emissions due to energy use were estimated at 1618 and 2102g CO(2)-eq m(-3), respectively, at intermediate and tertiary treatment levels. A potential reduction of approximately 23-55% in GHG emissions could be achieved by fertilizer preservation and VS conversion to biogas. Wastewater fertilizers constituted a GHG abatement potential of 342g CO(2)-eq m(-3). The residual component that remained in the wastewater effluent following intermediate (oxidation ponds) and enhanced (mechanical-biological) treatments was 304-254g CO(2)-eq m(-3) and 65-34g CO(2)-eq m(-3), respectively. Raw sludge constituted approximately 47% of the overall wastewater fertilizers load with an abatement potential of 150g CO(2)-eq m(-3) (385kg CO(2)-eq dry tonne(-1)). Inasmuch as anaerobic digestion reduced it to 63g CO(2)-eq m(-3) (261kg CO(2)-eq dry tonne(-1)), the GHG abatement gained through renewable biogas energy (approx. 428g CO(2)-eq m(-3)) favored digestion. However, sludge composting reduced the fertilizer value to 17g CO(2)-eq m(-3) (121kg CO(2)-eq dry tonne(-1)) or less (if emissions, off-site inputs and actual phytoavailability were considered). Taking Israel as an example, fully exploiting the wastewater derived GHG abatement potential could reduce the State overall GHG emissions by almost 1%. This demonstrates the possibility of optional carbon credits which might be exploited in the construction of new wastewater treatment facilities, especially in developing countries. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Situated lifestyles: I. How lifestyles change along with the level of urbanization and what the greenhouse gas implications are—a study of Finland

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Heinonen, Jukka; Jalas, Mikko; Juntunen, Jouni K.; Ala-Mantila, Sanna; Junnila, Seppo

2013-06-01

An extensive body of literature demonstrates how higher density leads to more efficient energy use and lower greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from transport and housing. However, our current understanding seems to be limited on the relationships between the urban form and the GHG emissions, namely how the urban form affects the lifestyles and thus the GHGs on a much wider scale than traditionally assumed. The urban form affects housing types, commuting distances, availability of different goods and services, social contacts and emulation, and the alternatives for pastimes, meaning that lifestyles are actually situated instead of personal projects. As almost all consumption, be it services or products, involves GHG emissions, looking at the emissions from transport and housing may not be sufficient to define whether one form would be more desirable than another. In the paper we analyze the urban form-lifestyle relationships in Finland together with the resulting GHG implications, employing both monetary expenditure and time use data to portray lifestyles in different basic urban forms: metropolitan, urban, semi-urban and rural. The GHG implications are assessed with a life cycle assessment (LCA) method that takes into account the GHG emissions embedded in different goods and services. The paper depicts that, while the direct emissions from transportation and housing energy slightly decrease with higher density, the reductions can be easily overridden by sources of indirect emissions. We also highlight that the indirect emissions actually seem to have strong structural determinants, often undermined in studies concerning sustainable urban forms. Further, we introduce a concept of ‘parallel consumption’ to explain how the lifestyles especially in more urbanized areas lead to multiplication of consumption outside of the limits of time budget and the living environment. This is also part I of a two-stage study. In part II we will depict how various other contextual and socioeconomic variables are actually also very important to take into account, and how diverse GHG mitigation strategies would be needed for different types of area in different locations towards a low-carbon future.

Determination of the carbon footprint of all Galician production and consumption activities: Lessons learnt and guidelines for policymakers.

PubMed

Roibás, Laura; Loiseau, Eléonore; Hospido, Almudena

2017-08-01

Galicia is an Autonomous Community located in the north-west of Spain. As a starting point to implement mitigation and adaptation measures to climate change, a regional greenhouse gas (GHG) inventory is needed. So far, the only regional GHG inventories available are limited to the territorial emissions of those production activities which are expected to cause major environmental degradation. An alternative approach has been followed here to quantify all the on-site (direct) and embodied (indirect) GHG emissions related to all Galician production and consumption activities. The carbon footprint (CF) was calculated following the territorial life cycle assessment (LCA) methodology for data collection, that combines bottom-up and top-down approaches. The most up-to-date statistical data and life cycle inventories available were used to compute all GHG emissions. This case study represents a leap of scale when compared to existing studies, thus addressing the issue of double counting, which arises when considering all the production activities of a large region. The CF of the consumption activities in Galicia is 17.8 ktCO 2 e/year, with 88% allocated to Galician inhabitants and 12% to tourist consumption. The proposed methodology also identifies the main important contributors to GHG emissions and shows where regional reduction efforts should be made. The major contributor to the CF of inhabitants is housing (32%), followed by food consumption (29%). Within the CF of tourist consumption, the share of transport is highest (59%), followed by housing (26%). The CF of Galician production reaches 34.9 MtCO 2 e/y, and its major contributor is electricity production (21%), followed by food manufacturing (19%). Our results have been compared to those reported for other regions, actions aimed at reducing GHG emissions have been proposed, and data gaps and limitations identified. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Methods to determine the relative value of genetic traits in dairy cows to reduce greenhouse gas emissions along the chain.

PubMed

van Middelaar, C E; Berentsen, P B M; Dijkstra, J; van Arendonk, J A M; de Boer, I J M

2014-01-01

Current decisions on breeding in dairy farming are mainly based on economic values of heritable traits, as earning an income is a primary objective of farmers. Recent literature, however, shows that breeding also has potential to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The objective of this paper was to compare 2 methods to determine GHG values of genetic traits. Method 1 calculates GHG values using the current strategy (i.e., maximizing labor income), whereas method 2 is based on minimizing GHG per kilogram of milk and shows what can be achieved if the breeding results are fully directed at minimizing GHG emissions. A whole-farm optimization model was used to determine results before and after 1 genetic standard deviation improvement (i.e., unit change) of milk yield and longevity. The objective function of the model differed between method 1 and 2. Method 1 maximizes labor income; method 2 minimizes GHG emissions per kilogram of milk while maintaining labor income and total milk production at least at the level before the change in trait. Results show that the full potential of the traits to reduce GHG emissions given the boundaries that were set for income and milk production (453 and 441kg of CO2 equivalents/unit change per cow per year for milk yield and longevity, respectively) is about twice as high as the reduction based on maximizing labor income (247 and 210kg of CO2 equivalents/unit change per cow per year for milk yield and longevity, respectively). The GHG value of milk yield is higher than that of longevity, especially when the focus is on maximizing labor income. Based on a sensitivity analysis, it was shown that including emissions from land use change and using different methods for handling the interaction between milk and meat production can change results, generally in favor of milk yield. Results can be used by breeding organizations that want to include GHG values in their breeding goal. To verify GHG values, the effect of prices and emissions factors should be considered, as well as the potential effect of variation between farm types. Copyright © 2014 American Dairy Science Association. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Air Permitting Streamlining Techniques and Approaches for Greenhouse Gases, 2012

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

This report presents potential GHG permit streamlining options and observations developed by the Clean Air Act Advisory Committee (CAAAC): Permits, New Source Review and Toxics Subcommittee GHG Permit Streamlining Workgroup

Soil Greenhouse Gas Fluxes, Environmental Controls, and the Partitioning of N2O Sources in UK Natural and Seminatural Land Use Types

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sgouridis, Fotis; Ullah, Sami

2017-10-01

Natural and seminatural terrestrial ecosystems (unmanaged peatlands and forests and extensive and intensive grasslands) have been under-represented in the UK greenhouse gas (GHG) inventory. Mechanistic studies of GHG fluxes and their controls can improve the prediction of the currently uncertain GHG annual emission estimates. The source apportionment of N2O emissions can further inform management plans for GHG mitigation. We have measured in situ GHG fluxes monthly in two replicated UK catchments and evaluated their environmental controlling factors. An adapted 15N-gas flux method with low addition of 15N tracer (0.03-0.5 kg 15N ha-1) was used to quantify the relative contribution of denitrification to net N2O production. Total N2O fluxes were 40 times higher in the intensive grasslands than in the peatlands (range: -1.32 to 312.3 μg N m-2 h-1). The contribution of denitrification to net N2O emission varied across the land use types and ranged from 9 to 60%. Soil moisture was the key parameter regulating the partitioning of N2O sources (r2 = 0.46). Total N2O fluxes were explained by a simple model (r2 = 0.83) including parameters such as total dissolved nitrogen, organic carbon, and water content. A parsimonious model with the soil moisture content as a single scalar parameter explained 84% of methane flux variability across land uses. The assumption that 1% of the atmospherically deposited N on natural ecosystems is emitted as N2O could be overestimated or underestimated (0.3-1.6%). The use of land use-specific N2O emission factors and further information on N2O source partitioning should help constrain this uncertainty.

Effects of aeration method and aeration rate on greenhouse gas emissions during composting of pig feces in pilot scale.

PubMed

Jiang, Tao; Li, Guoxue; Tang, Qiong; Ma, Xuguang; Wang, Gang; Schuchardt, Frank

2015-05-01

The aim of this study was to uncover ways to mitigate greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and reduce energy consumption during the composting process. We assessed the effects of different aeration rates (0, 0.18, 0.36, and 0.54 L/(kg dry matter (dm)·min)) and methods (continuous and intermittent) on GHG emissions. Pig feces and corn stalks were mixed at a ratio of 7:1. The composting process lasted for 10 weeks, and the compost was turned approximately every 2 weeks. Results showed that both aeration rate and method significantly affected GHG emissions. Higher aeration rates increased NH3 and N2O losses, but reduced CH4 emissions. The exception is that the CH4 emission of the passive aeration treatment was lower than that of the low aeration rate treatment. Without forced aeration, the CH4 diffusion rates in the center of the piles were very low and part of the CH4 was oxidized in the surface layer. Intermittent aeration reduced NH3 and CH4 losses, but significantly increased N2O production during the maturing periods. Intermittent aeration increased the nitrification/denitrification alternation and thus enhanced the N2O production. Forced aeration treatments had higher GHG emission rates than the passive aeration treatment. Forced aeration accelerated the maturing process, but could not improve the quality of the end product. Compared with continuous aeration, intermittent aeration could increase the O2 supply efficiency and reduced the total GHG emission by 17.8%, and this reduction increased to 47.4% when composting was ended after 36 days. Copyright © 2015. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Estimating the potential of carbon sequestration by Korean forestry sector under climate change and management scenarios

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lee, J.; Kim, M.; Son, Y.; Lee, W. K.

2017-12-01

Korean forests have recovered by the national-scale reforestation program and can contribute to the national greenhouse gas (GHG) mitigation goal. The forest carbon (C) sequestration is expected to change by climate change and forest management regime. In this context, estimating the changes in GHG mitigation potential of Korean forestry sector by climate and management is a timely issue. Thus, we estimated the forest C sequestration of Korea under four scenarios (2010­-2050): constant temperature with no management (CT_No), representative concentration pathway (RCP) 8.5 with no management (RCP_No), constant temperature with thinning management (CT_Man), and RCP 8.5 with thinning management (RCP_Man). Dynamic stand growth model (KO-G-Dynamic; for biomass) and forest C model (FBDC model; for non-biomass) were used at approximately 64,000 simulation units (1km2). As model input data, the forest data (e.g., forest type and stand age) and climate data were spatially prepared from the national forest inventories and the RCP 8.5 climate data. The model simulation results showed that the mean annual C sequestrations during the period (Tg C yr-1) were 11.0, 9.9, 11.5, and 10.5, respectively, under the CT_No, RCP_No, CT_Man, and RCP_Man, respectively, at the national scale. The C sequestration decreased with the time passage due to the maturity of the forests. The climate change seemed disadvantageous to the C sequestration by the forest ecosystems (≒ -1.0 Tg C yr-1) due to the increase in organic matter decomposition. In particular, the decrease in C sequestration by the climate change was greater for the needle-leaved species, compared to the broad-leaved species. Meanwhile, the forest management enhanced forest C sequestration (≒ 0.5 Tg C yr-1). Accordingly, implementing appropriate forest management strategies for adaptation would contribute to maintaining the C sequestration by Korean forestry sector under climate change. Acknowledgement: This study was supported by Korean Ministry of Environment (2014001310008).

Progress toward an Integrated Global GHG Information System (IG3IS)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

DeCola, Philip

2016-04-01

Accurate and precise atmospheric measurements of greenhouse gas (GHG) concentrations have shown the inexorable rise of global GHG concentrations due to human socioeconomic activity. Scientific observations also show a resulting rise in global temperatures and evidence of negative impacts on society. In response to this amassing evidence, nations, states, cities and private enterprises are accelerating efforts to reduce emissions of GHGs, and the UNFCCC process recently forged the Paris Agreement. Emission reduction strategies will vary by nation, region, and economic sector (e.g., INDCs), but regardless of the strategies and mechanisms applied, the ability to implement policies and manage them effectively over time will require consistent, reliable and timely information. A number of studies [e.g., Verifying Greenhouse Gas Emissions: Methods to Support International Climate Agreements (2010); GEO Carbon Strategy (2010); IPCC Task Force on National GHG Inventories: Expert Meeting Report on Uncertainty and Validation of Emission Inventories (2010)] have reported on the state of carbon cycle research, observations and models and the ability of these atmospheric observations and models to independently validate and improve the accuracy of self-reported emission inventories based on fossil fuel usage and land use activities. These studies concluded that by enhancing our in situ and remote-sensing observations and atmospheric data assimilation modeling capabilities, a GHG information system could be achieved in the coming decade to serve the needs of policies and actions to reduce GHG emissions. Atmospheric measurements and models are already being used to provide emissions information on a global and continental scale through existing networks, but these efforts currently provide insufficient information at the human-dimensions where nations, states, cities, and private enterprises can take valuable, and additional action that can reduce emissions for a specific GHG from a specific human activity. Based upon the recent advances in GHG observation technologies, new data-mining tools for acquiring socioeconomic activity data, and enhancements to the computational models used to merge this data, WMO and its partners are developing a plan for an Integrated Global GHG Information System (IG3IS) able to evaluate the efficacy of policy, reduce emission inventory uncertainty, and inform additional mitigation actions. The presentation will cover the principles and objectives of IG3IS, as well as progress toward answering the questions: What research capabilities are ready and able to deliver useful information for whom? What decisions will be informed? What valuable and additional outcomes will result?

Assessment of the GHG Reduction Potential from Energy Crops Using a Combined LCA and Biogeochemical Process Models: A Review

PubMed Central

Jiang, Dong; Hao, Mengmeng; Wang, Qiao; Huang, Yaohuan; Fu, Xinyu

2014-01-01

The main purpose for developing biofuel is to reduce GHG (greenhouse gas) emissions, but the comprehensive environmental impact of such fuels is not clear. Life cycle analysis (LCA), as a complete comprehensive analysis method, has been widely used in bioenergy assessment studies. Great efforts have been directed toward establishing an efficient method for comprehensively estimating the greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reduction potential from the large-scale cultivation of energy plants by combining LCA with ecosystem/biogeochemical process models. LCA presents a general framework for evaluating the energy consumption and GHG emission from energy crop planting, yield acquisition, production, product use, and postprocessing. Meanwhile, ecosystem/biogeochemical process models are adopted to simulate the fluxes and storage of energy, water, carbon, and nitrogen in the soil-plant (energy crops) soil continuum. Although clear progress has been made in recent years, some problems still exist in current studies and should be addressed. This paper reviews the state-of-the-art method for estimating GHG emission reduction through developing energy crops and introduces in detail a new approach for assessing GHG emission reduction by combining LCA with biogeochemical process models. The main achievements of this study along with the problems in current studies are described and discussed. PMID:25045736

Applying a systems approach to assess carbon emission reductions from climate change mitigation in Mexico’s forest sector

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Olguin, Marcela; Wayson, Craig; Fellows, Max; Birdsey, Richard; Smyth, Carolyn E.; Magnan, Michael; Dugan, Alexa J.; Mascorro, Vanessa S.; Alanís, Armando; Serrano, Enrique; Kurz, Werner A.

2018-03-01

The Paris Agreement of the United Nation Framework Convention on Climate Change calls for a balance of anthropogenic greenhouse emissions and removals in the latter part of this century. Mexico indicated in its Intended Nationally Determined Contribution and its Climate Change Mid-Century Strategy that the land sector will contribute to meeting GHG emission reduction goals. Since 2012, the Mexican government through its National Forestry Commission, with international financial and technical support, has been developing carbon dynamics models to explore climate change mitigation options in the forest sector. Following a systems approach, here we assess the biophysical mitigation potential of forest ecosystems, harvested wood products and their substitution benefits (i.e. the change in emissions resulting from substitution of wood for more emissions-intensive products and fossil fuels), for policy alternatives considered by the Mexican government, such as a net zero deforestation rate and sustainable forest management. We used available analytical frameworks (Carbon Budget Model of the Canadian Forest Sector and a harvested wood products model), parameterized with local input data in two contrasting Mexican states. Using information from the National Forest Monitoring System (e.g. forest inventories, remote sensing, disturbance data), we demonstrate that activities aimed at reaching a net-zero deforestation rate can yield significant CO2e mitigation benefits by 2030 and 2050 relative to a baseline scenario (‘business as usual’), but if combined with increasing forest harvest to produce long-lived products and substitute more energy-intensive materials, emissions reductions could also provide other co-benefits (e.g. jobs, illegal logging reduction). We concluded that the relative impact of mitigation activities is locally dependent, suggesting that mitigation strategies should be designed and implemented at sub-national scales. We were also encouraged about the ability of the modeling framework to effectively use Mexico’s data, and showed the need to include multiple sectors and types of collaborators (scientific and policy-maker communities) to design more comprehensive portfolios for climate change mitigation.

Greenhouse gas emissions in the state of Morelos, Mexico: a first approximation for establishing mitigation strategies.

PubMed

Quiroz-Castañeda, Rosa Estela; Sánchez-Salinas, Enrique; Castrejón-Godínez, María Luisa; Ortiz-Hernández, Ma Laura

2013-11-01

In this study, the authors report the first greenhouse gas emission inventory of Morelos, a state in central Mexico, in which the emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), and nitrous oxide (N2O) have been identified using the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) methodology. Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions were estimated as CO2 equivalents (CO2 eq) for the years 2005, 2007, and 2009, with 2005 being treated as the base year. The percentage contributions from each category to the CO2 eq emissions in the base year were as follows: 38% from energy, 30% from industrial processes, 23% from waste, 5% from agriculture, and 4% from land use/land use change and forestry (LULUCF). As observed in other state inventories in Mexico, road transportation is the main source of CO2 emissions, wastewater handling and solid waste disposal are the main sources of CH4 emissions, and agricultural soils are the source of the most significant N2O emissions. The information reported in this inventory identifies the main emission sources. Based on these results, the government can propose public policies specifically designed for the state of Morelos to establish GHG mitigation strategies in the near future.

Ecological network analysis for carbon metabolism of eco-industrial parks: a case study of a typical eco-industrial park in Beijing.

PubMed

Lu, Yi; Chen, Bin; Feng, Kuishuang; Hubacek, Klaus

2015-06-16

Energy production and industrial processes are crucial economic sectors accounting for about 62% of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions globally in 2012. Eco-industrial parks are practical attempts to mitigate GHG emissions through cooperation among businesses and the local community in order to reduce waste and pollution, efficiently share resources, and help with the pursuit of sustainable development. This work developed a framework based on ecological network analysis to trace carbon metabolic processes in eco-industrial parks and applied it to a typical eco-industrial park in Beijing. Our findings show that the entire metabolic system is dominated by supply of primary goods from the external environment and final demand. The more carbon flows through a sector, the more influence it would exert upon the whole system. External environment and energy providers are the most active and dominating part of the carbon metabolic system, which should be the first target to mitigate emissions by increasing efficiencies. The carbon metabolism of the eco-industrial park can be seen as an evolutionary system with high levels of efficiency, but this may come at the expense of larger levels of resilience. This work may provide a useful modeling framework for low-carbon design and management of industrial parks.

Environmental building policy by the use of microalgae and decreasing of risks for Canadian oil sand sector development.

PubMed

Avagyan, Armen B

2017-09-01

Environmental building recommendations aimed towards new environmental policies and management-changing decisions which as example demonstrated in consideration of the problems of Canadian oil sands operators. For the implementation of the circular economic strategy, we use an in-depth analysis of reported environmental after-consequence on all stages of the production process. The study addressed the promotion of innovative solutions for greenhouse gas emission, waste mitigation, and risk of falling in oil prices for operators of oil sands with creating market opportunities. They include the addition of microalgae biomass in tailings ponds for improvement of the microbial balance for the water speedily cleaning, recycling, and reusing with mitigation of GHG emissions. The use of food scraps for the nutrition of microalgae will reduce greenhouse gas emission minimally, on 0.33 MtCO 2 eq for Alberta and 2.63 MtCO 2 eq/year for Canada. Microalgae-derived biofuel can reduce this emission for Alberta on 11.9-17.9 MtCO 2 eq and for Canada on 71-106 MtCO 2 eq/year, and the manufacturing of other products will adsorb up to 135.6 MtCO 2 and produce 99.2 MtO 2 . The development of the Live Conserve Industry and principal step from non-efficient protection of the environment to its cultivation in a large scale with mitigation of GHG emission and waste as well as generating of O 2 and value-added products by the use of microalgae opens an important shift towards a new design and building of a biological system.

An Evaluation of the Potential for Shifting of Freight from Truck to Rail and Its Impacts on Energy Use and GHG Emissions

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

Zhou, Yan; Vyas, Anant D.; Guo, Zhaomiao

This report summarizes our evaluation of the potential energy-use and GHG-emissions reduction achieved by shifting freight from truck to rail under a most-likely scenario. A sensitivity analysis is also included. The sensitivity analysis shows changes in energy use and GHG emissions when key parameters are varied. The major contribution and distinction from previous studies is that this study considers the rail level of service (LOS) and commodity movements at the origin-destination (O-D) level. In addition, this study considers the fragility and time sensitivity of each commodity type.

Climate change and sustainable food production.

PubMed

Smith, Pete; Gregory, Peter J

2013-02-01

One of the greatest challenges we face in the twenty-first century is to sustainably feed nine to ten billion people by 2050 while at the same time reducing environmental impact (e.g. greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, biodiversity loss, land use change and loss of ecosystem services). To this end, food security must be delivered. According to the United Nations definition, 'food security exists when all people, at all times, have physical and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food to meet their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life'. At the same time as delivering food security, we must also reduce the environmental impact of food production. Future climate change will make an impact upon food production. On the other hand, agriculture contributes up to about 30% of the anthropogenic GHG emissions that drive climate change. The aim of this review is to outline some of the likely impacts of climate change on agriculture, the mitigation measures available within agriculture to reduce GHG emissions and outlines the very significant challenge of feeding nine to ten billion people sustainably under a future climate, with reduced emissions of GHG. Each challenge is in itself enormous, requiring solutions that co-deliver on all aspects. We conclude that the status quo is not an option, and tinkering with the current production systems is unlikely to deliver the food and ecosystems services we need in the future; radical changes in production and consumption are likely to be required over the coming decades.

Energy performance and greenhouse gas emissions of kelp cultivation for biogas and fertilizer recovery in Sweden.

PubMed

Pechsiri, Joseph S; Thomas, Jean-Baptiste E; Risén, Emma; Ribeiro, Mauricio S; Malmström, Maria E; Nylund, Göran M; Jansson, Anette; Welander, Ulrika; Pavia, Henrik; Gröndahl, Fredrik

2016-12-15

The cultivation of seaweed as a feedstock for third generation biofuels is gathering interest in Europe, however, many questions remain unanswered in practise, notably regarding scales of operation, energy returns on investment (EROI) and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, all of which are crucial to determine commercial viability. This study performed an energy and GHG emissions analysis, using EROI and GHG savings potential respectively, as indicators of commercial viability for two systems: the Swedish Seafarm project's seaweed cultivation (0.5ha), biogas and fertilizer biorefinery, and an estimation of the same system scaled up and adjusted to a cultivation of 10ha. Based on a conservative estimate of biogas yield, neither the 0.5ha case nor the up-scaled 10ha estimates met the (commercial viability) target EROI of 3, nor the European Union Renewable Energy Directive GHG savings target of 60% for biofuels, however the potential for commercial viability was substantially improved by scaling up operations: GHG emissions and energy demand, per unit of biogas, was almost halved by scaling operations up by a factor of twenty, thereby approaching the EROI and GHG savings targets set, under beneficial biogas production conditions. Further analysis identified processes whose optimisations would have a large impact on energy use and emissions (such as anaerobic digestion) as well as others embodying potential for further economies of scale (such as harvesting), both of which would be of interest for future developments of kelp to biogas and fertilizer biorefineries. Copyright © 2016. Published by Elsevier B.V.

[Effects of biochar and nitrification inhibitor incorporation on global warming potential of a vegetable field in Nanjing, China].

PubMed

Li, Bo; Li, Qiao-Ling; Fan, Chang-Hua; Sun, Li-Ying; Xiong, Zheng-Qin

2014-09-01

The influences of biochar and nitrification inhibitor incorporation on global warming potential (GWP) of a vegetable field were studied using the static chamber and gas chromatography method. Compared with the treatments without biochar addition, the annual GWP of N2O and CH4 and vegetable yield were increased by 8.7%-12.4% and 16.1%-52.5%, respectively, whereas the greenhouse gas intensity (GHGI) were decreased by 5.4%-28.7% following biochar amendment. Nitrification inhibitor significantly reduced the N2O emission while had little influence on CH4 emission, decreased GWP by 17.5%-20.6%, increased vegetable yield by 21.2%-40.1%, and decreased the GHGI significantly. The combined application of biochar and nitrification inhibitor significantly increased both vegetable yield and GWP, but to a greater extent for vegetable yield. Therefore, nitrification inhibitor incorporation could be served as an appropriate practice for increasing vegetable yield and mitigating GHG emissions in vegetable field.

Regional Approaches to Climate Change for Inland Pacific Northwest Cereal Production Systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Eigenbrode, S. D.; Abatzoglou, J. T.; Burke, I. C.; Capalbo, S.; Gessler, P.; Huggins, D. R.; Johnson-Maynard, J.; Kruger, C.; Lamb, B. K.; Machado, S.; Mote, P.; Painter, K.; Pan, W.; Petrie, S.; Paulitz, T. C.; Stockle, C.; Walden, V. P.; Wulfhorst, J. D.; Wolf, K. J.

2011-12-01

The long-term environmental and economic sustainability of agriculture in the Inland Pacific Northwest (northern Idaho, north central Oregon, and eastern Washington) depends upon improving agricultural management, technology, and policy to enable adaptation to climate change and to help realize agriculture's potential to contribute to climate change mitigation. To address this challenge, three land-grant institutions (Oregon State University, the University of Idaho and Washington State University) (OSU, UI, WSU) and USDA Agricultural Research Service (ARS) units are partners in a collaborative project - Regional Approaches to Climate Change for Pacific Northwest Agriculture (REACCH-PNA). The overarching goal of REACCH is to enhance the sustainability of Inland Pacific Northwest (IPNW) cereal production systems under ongoing and projected climate change while contributing to climate change mitigation. Supporting goals include: - Develop and implement sustainable agricultural practices for cereal production within existing and projected agroecological zones throughout the region as climate changes, - Contribute to climate change mitigation through improved fertilizer, fuel, and pesticide use efficiency, increased sequestration of soil carbon, and reduced greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions consistent with the 2030 targets set by the USDA National Institute for Food and Agriculture (NIFA), - Work closely with stakeholders and policymakers to promote science-based agricultural approaches to climate change adaptation and mitigation, - Increase the number of scientists, educators, and extension professionals with the skills and knowledge to address climate change and its interactions with agriculture. In this poster, we provide an overview of the specific goals of this project and activities that are underway since its inception in spring of 2011.

Global farm animal production and global warming: impacting and mitigating climate change.

PubMed

Koneswaran, Gowri; Nierenberg, Danielle

2008-05-01

The farm animal sector is the single largest anthropogenic user of land, contributing to many environmental problems, including global warming and climate change. The aim of this study was to synthesize and expand upon existing data on the contribution of farm animal production to climate change. We analyzed the scientific literature on farm animal production and documented greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, as well as various mitigation strategies. An analysis of meat, egg, and milk production encompasses not only the direct rearing and slaughtering of animals, but also grain and fertilizer production for animal feed, waste storage and disposal, water use, and energy expenditures on farms and in transporting feed and finished animal products, among other key impacts of the production process as a whole. Immediate and far-reaching changes in current animal agriculture practices and consumption patterns are both critical and timely if GHGs from the farm animal sector are to be mitigated.

Key sources and seasonal dynamics of greenhouse gas fluxes from yak grazing systems on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, Yang; Yan, Caiyu; Matthew, Cory; Wood, Brennon; Hou, Fujiang

2017-01-01

Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from livestock grazing systems are contributing to global warming. To examine the influence of yak grazing systems on GHG fluxes and relationships between GHG fluxes and environmental factors, we measured carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide (N2O) fluxes over three key seasons in 2012 and 2013 from a range of potential sources, including: alpine meadows, dung patches, manure heaps and yak night pens, on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau. We also estimated the total annual global warming potential (GWP, CO2-equivalents) from family farm grazing yaks using our measured results and other published data. In this study, GHG fluxes per unit area from night pens and composting manure heaps were higher than from dung patches and alpine meadows. Increased moisture content and surface temperature of soil and manure were major factors increasing CO2 and CH4 fluxes. High contributions of CH4 and N2O (21.1% and 44.8%, respectively) to the annual total GWP budget (334.2 tonnes) strongly suggest these GHG other than CO2 should not be ignored when estimating GWP from the family farm grazing yaks on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau for the purposes of determining national and regional land use policies or compiling global GHG inventories.

Key sources and seasonal dynamics of greenhouse gas fluxes from yak grazing systems on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau

PubMed Central

Liu, Yang; Yan, Caiyu; Matthew, Cory; Wood, Brennon; Hou, Fujiang

2017-01-01

Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from livestock grazing systems are contributing to global warming. To examine the influence of yak grazing systems on GHG fluxes and relationships between GHG fluxes and environmental factors, we measured carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide (N2O) fluxes over three key seasons in 2012 and 2013 from a range of potential sources, including: alpine meadows, dung patches, manure heaps and yak night pens, on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau. We also estimated the total annual global warming potential (GWP, CO2-equivalents) from family farm grazing yaks using our measured results and other published data. In this study, GHG fluxes per unit area from night pens and composting manure heaps were higher than from dung patches and alpine meadows. Increased moisture content and surface temperature of soil and manure were major factors increasing CO2 and CH4 fluxes. High contributions of CH4 and N2O (21.1% and 44.8%, respectively) to the annual total GWP budget (334.2 tonnes) strongly suggest these GHG other than CO2 should not be ignored when estimating GWP from the family farm grazing yaks on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau for the purposes of determining national and regional land use policies or compiling global GHG inventories. PMID:28106070

Key sources and seasonal dynamics of greenhouse gas fluxes from yak grazing systems on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau.

PubMed

Liu, Yang; Yan, Caiyu; Matthew, Cory; Wood, Brennon; Hou, Fujiang

2017-01-20

Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from livestock grazing systems are contributing to global warming. To examine the influence of yak grazing systems on GHG fluxes and relationships between GHG fluxes and environmental factors, we measured carbon dioxide (CO 2 ), methane (CH 4 ) and nitrous oxide (N 2 O) fluxes over three key seasons in 2012 and 2013 from a range of potential sources, including: alpine meadows, dung patches, manure heaps and yak night pens, on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau. We also estimated the total annual global warming potential (GWP, CO 2 -equivalents) from family farm grazing yaks using our measured results and other published data. In this study, GHG fluxes per unit area from night pens and composting manure heaps were higher than from dung patches and alpine meadows. Increased moisture content and surface temperature of soil and manure were major factors increasing CO 2 and CH 4 fluxes. High contributions of CH 4 and N 2 O (21.1% and 44.8%, respectively) to the annual total GWP budget (334.2 tonnes) strongly suggest these GHG other than CO 2 should not be ignored when estimating GWP from the family farm grazing yaks on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau for the purposes of determining national and regional land use policies or compiling global GHG inventories.

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

Penev, Michael; Melaina, Marc; Bush, Brian

This report improves on the understanding of the long-term technology potential of low-carbon natural gas (LCNG) supply pathways by exploring transportation market adoption potential through 2035 in California. Techno-economic assessments of each pathway are developed to compare the capacity, cost, and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of select LCNG production pathways. The study analyzes the use of fuel from these pathways in light-, medium-, and heavy-duty vehicle applications. Economic and life-cycle GHG emissions analysis suggest that landfill gas resources are an attractive and relatively abundant resource in terms of cost and GHG reduction potential, followed by waste water treatment plants andmore » biomass with gasification and methanation. Total LCNG production potential is on the order of total natural gas demand anticipated in a success scenario for future natural gas vehicle adoption by 2035 across light-, medium-, and heavy-duty vehicle markets (110 trillion Btu/year).« less

Global warming potential and greenhouse gas emission under different soil nutrient management practices in soybean-wheat system of central India.

PubMed

Lenka, Sangeeta; Lenka, Narendra Kumar; Singh, Amar Bahadur; Singh, B; Raghuwanshi, Jyothi

2017-02-01

Soil nutrient management is a key component contributing to the greenhouse gas (GHG) flux and mitigation potential of agricultural production systems. However, the effect of soil nutrient management practices on GHG flux and global warming potential (GWP) is less understood in agricultural soils of India. The present study was conducted to compare three nutrient management systems practiced for nine consecutive years in a soybean-wheat cropping system in the Vertisols of India, in terms of GHG flux and GWP. The treatments were composed of 100% organic (ONM), 100% inorganic (NPK), and integrated nutrient management (INM) with 50% organic + 50% inorganic inputs. The gas samples for GHGs (CO 2 , CH 4 , and N 2 O) were collected by static chamber method at about 15-day interval during 2012-13 growing season. The change in soil organic carbon (SOC) content was estimated in terms of the changes in SOC stock in the 0-15 cm soil over the 9-year period covering 2004 to 2013. There was a net uptake of CH 4 in all the treatments in both soybean and wheat crop seasons. The cumulative N 2 O and CO 2 emissions were in the order of INM > ONM > NPK with significant difference between treatments (p < 0.05) in both the crop seasons. The annual GWP, expressed in terms of CH 4 and N 2 O emission, also followed the same trend and was estimated to be 1126, 1002, and 896 kg CO 2 eq ha -1  year -1 under INM, ONM, and NPK treatments, respectively. However, the change in SOC stock was significantly higher under ONM (1250 kg ha -1  year -1 ) followed by INM (417 kg ha -1  year -1 ) and least under NPK (198 kg ha -1  year -1 ) treatment. The wheat equivalent yield was similar under ONM and INM treatments and was significantly lower under NPK treatment. Thus, the GWP per unit grain yield was lower under ONM followed by NPK and INM treatments and varied from 250, 261, and 307 kg CO 2 eq Mg -1 grain yield under ONM, NPK, and INM treatments, respectively.

Studies on the role of goat heart galectin-1 as an erythrocyte membrane perturbing agent.

PubMed

Ashraf, Ghulam Md; Perveen, Asma; Zaidi, Syed Kashif; Tabrez, Shams; Kamal, Mohammad A; Banu, Naheed

2015-01-01

Galectins are β-galactoside binding lectins with a potential hemolytic role on erythrocyte membrane integrity and permeability. In the present study, goat heart galectin-1 (GHG-1) was purified and investigated for its hemolytic actions on erythrocyte membrane. When exposed to various saccharides, lactose and sucrose provided maximum protection against hemolysis, while glucose and galactose provided lesser protection against hemolysis. GHG-1 agglutinated erythrocytes were found to be significantly hemolyzed in comparison with unagglutinated erythrocytes. A concentration dependent rise in the hemolysis of trypsinized rabbit erythrocytes was observed in the presence of GHG-1. Similarly, a temperature dependent gradual increase in percent hemolysis was observed in GHG-1 agglutinated erythrocytes as compared to negligible hemolysis in unagglutinated cells. The hemolysis of GHG-1 treated erythrocytes showed a sharp rise with the increasing pH up to 7.5 which became constant till pH 9.5. The extent of erythrocyte hemolysis increased with the increase in the incubation period, with maximum hemolysis after 5 h of incubation. The results of this study establish the ability of galectins as a potential hemolytic agent of erythrocyte membrane, which in turn opens an interesting avenue in the field of proteomics and glycobiology.

Evaluating and ranking threats to the long-term persistence of polar bears

USGS Publications Warehouse

Atwood, Todd C.; Marcot, Bruce G.; Douglas, David C.; Amstrup, Steven C.; Rode, Karyn D.; Durner, George M.; Bromaghin, Jeffrey F.

2015-01-01

The polar bear (Ursus maritimus) was listed as a globally threatened species under the U.S. Endangered Species Act (ESA) in 2008, mostly due to the significant threat to their future population viability from rapidly declining Arctic sea ice. A core mandate of the ESA is the development of a recovery plan that identifies steps to maintain viable populations of a listed species. A substantive evaluation of the relative influence of putative threats to population persistence is helpful to recovery planning. Because management actions must often be taken in the face of substantial information gaps, a formalized evaluation hypothesizing potential stressors and their relationships with population persistence can improve identification of relevant conservation actions. To this end, we updated a Bayesian network model previously used to forecast the future status of polar bears worldwide. We used new information on actual and predicted sea ice loss and polar bear responses to evaluate the relative influence of plausible threats and their mitigation through management actions on the persistence of polar bears in four ecoregions. We found that polar bear outcomes worsened over time through the end of the century under both stabilized and unabated greenhouse gas (GHG) emission pathways. Under the unabated pathway (i.e., RCP 8.5), the time it took for polar bear populations in two of four ecoregions to reach a dominant probability of greatly decreased was hastened by about 25 years. Under the stabilized GHG emission pathway (i.e., RCP 4.5), where GHG emissions peak around the year 2040, the polar bear population in the Archipelago Ecoregion of High Arctic Canada never reached a dominant probability of greatly decreased, reinforcing earlier suggestions of this ecoregion’s potential to serve as a long-term refugium. The most influential drivers of adverse polar bear outcomes were declines to overall sea ice conditions and to the marine prey base. Improved sea ice conditions substantively lowered the probability of a decreased or greatly decreased outcome, while an elevated marine prey base was slightly less influential in lowering the probability of a decreased or greatly decreased outcome. Stressors associated with in situ human activities exerted considerably less influence on population outcomes. Reduced mortality from hunting and defense of life and property interactions resulted inmodest declines in the probability of a decreased or greatly decreased population outcome. Minimizing other stressors such as trans-Arctic shipping, oil and gas exploration, and point-source pollution had negligible effects on polar bear outcomes, but that could be attributed to uncertainties in the ecological relevance of those specific stressors. Our findings suggest adverse consequences of loss of sea ice habitat become more pronounced as the summer ice-free period lengthens beyond 4 months, which could occur in portions of the Arctic by the middle of this century under the unabated pathway. The long-term persistence of polar bears may be achieved through ameliorating the loss of sea ice habitat, which will likely require stabilizing CO2emissions at or below the ceiling represented by RCP 4.5. Management of other stressors may serve to slow the transition of polar bear populations to progressively worsened outcomes, and improve the prospects of persistence, pending GHG mitigation.

Drivers of potential GHG fluxes under bioenergy land use change in the UK

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Parmar, Kim; Keith, Aidan M.; Perks, Mike; Rowe, Rebecca; Sohi, Saran; McNamara, Niall

2013-04-01

The greatest contributors to global greenhouse gases (GHG's) are CO2 emissions from fossil fuel use and following land use change (LUC). Globally, soils contain three times more carbon than the atmosphere and have the potential to act as GHG sources or sinks. A significant amount of land may be converted to bioenergy production to help meet UK 2050 renewable energy and GHG emissions reduction targets. This raises considerable sustainability concerns with respect to the effects of LUC on soil carbon (C) conservation and GHG emissions. Forests are a key component in the global C cycle and when managed effectively can reduce atmospheric GHG concentrations. Together with other dedicated bioenergy crops, Short Rotation Forestry (SRF) could be used to meet biomass requirements. SRF is defined as high density plantations of fastgrowing tree species grown on short rotational lengths (8-20 years) for biomass (McKay 2011). As SRF is likely to be an important domestic source of biomass for energy it is imperative that we gain an understanding of the implications for large-scale commercial application on soil C and the GHG balance. We utilized a paired-site approach to investigate how LUC to SRF could potentially alter the underlying processes of soil GHG production and consumption. This work was linked to a wider soil C stock inventory for bioenergy LUC, so our major focus was on changes to soil respiration. Specifically, we examined the relative importance of litter, soil, and microbial properties in determining potential soil respiration, and whether these relationships were consistent at different soil temperatures (10 ° C and 20 ° C). Soils were sampled to a depth of 30 cm from 30 LUC transitions across the UK and incubated under controlled laboratory conditions, with gas samples taken over a seven day enclosure period. CO2, N2O and CH4 gas fluxes were measured by gas chromatography and were examined together with other soil properties measured in the field and laboratory. LUC to SRF resulted in a significant reduction in CO2 fluxes overall at 0-15 cm (on both a soil mass and carbon mass basis). Furthermore, this response of CO2 flux to LUC was similar at both 10 ° C and 20 ° C. Reductions in CO2 flux at 0-15 cm are significantly related to decreased bacterial biomass, as measured by Phospholipid Fatty Acids (PLFA), soil pH and bulk density. These patterns suggest that changes in the quality and quantity of organic inputs under SRF may drive a reduction in soil respiration. While changes in soil C were limited, reduced respiration was supported by the increase in litter C stock under SRF. These findings indicate that LUC to SRF can strengthen the soils potential as a C sink whilst contributing successfully towards meeting GHG emissions reduction targets. This work is based on the Ecosystem Land Use Modelling & Soil Carbon GHG Flux Trial (ELUM) project, which was commissioned and funded by the Energy Technologies Institute (ETI)

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.

CH4 and N2O Emissions from Rice Paddy Soils in Vietnam - Identifying Regional Hotspots and Quantifying the Total Emission Strength using a Biogeochemical Model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Werner, C.; Kraus, D.; Mai, T. V.; Butterbach-Bahl, K.

2016-12-01

Agriculture is the economic backbone for over two thirds of Vietnam's population, providing food security, employment and income. However, agriculture in Vietnam is challenged by climate change and climate extremes and at the same time, agriculture remains a key source of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The first bi-annual update report (BUR1), published in 2014 indicated that while the proportion of GHG emissions from agriculture had fallen from 43.1% to 33.2% from 2000 to 2010, the emission total increased from 65.1 mio to 88.4 mio t CO2e. Reducing GHG emissions from agriculture has thus become a key issue within the national strategy of GHG emission management. Here we present first data using IPCC Tier 3 modeling for quantifying the source strength of rice based crop systems for CH4 and N2O. We used LandscapeDNDC and linked it to a newly developed spatial landuse and land management database (climate, soil properties, and detailed field management data). Site application showed good agreement of simulated biomass, yield and GHG emissions with field observations, providing confidence for model use at national scale. Our results also show good agreement with national yield data and total annual emissions of the simulated period (2006-2015) ranged from 1060 - 1502 kt CH4 and 6.2 - 7.7 kt N2O, respectively. The dominating emission hotspot for CH4 is the Mekong Delta region with its double and triple rice cropping systems (819 kt CH4/yr, Fig. 1). With regard to N2O, emission hotspots have been identified to be closely related to regions with high fertilizer use and single to double rice cropping systems (Fig. 1). Though, our emission estimates are likely representing the best of current knowledge on national GHG emissions from rice based systems in Vietnam, the uncertainty is significant as information on rice system management remains vague. Sensitivity studies show that changes in field management affecting the soil organic carbon dynamics (duration of flooding, stubble amounts and fraction tilled or manure application) can lead to substantial differences in emission rates. In a next step we plan to explore mitigation options such as Alternative Wetting and Drying for reducing national GHG emissions from the agricultural sector and to identify regions which are most suitable and most promising in terms of GHG reduction.

Agricultural peatlands: towards a greenhouse gas sink - a synthesis of a Dutch landscape study

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schrier-Uijl, A. P.; Kroon, P. S.; Hendriks, D. M. D.; Hensen, A.; Van Huissteden, J.; Berendse, F.; Veenendaal, E. M.

2014-08-01

It is generally known that managed, drained peatlands act as carbon (C) sources. In this study we examined how mitigation through the reduction of the intensity of land management and through rewetting may affect the greenhouse gas (GHG) emission and the C balance of intensively managed, drained, agricultural peatlands. Carbon and GHG balances were determined for three peatlands in the western part of the Netherlands from 2005 to 2008 by considering spatial and temporal variability of emissions (CO2, CH4 and N2O). One area (Oukoop) is an intensively managed grass-on-peatland area, including a dairy farm, with the ground water level at an average annual depth of 0.55 (±0.37) m below the soil surface. The second area (Stein) is an extensively managed grass-on-peatland area, formerly intensively managed, with a dynamic ground water level at an average annual depth of 0.45 (±0.35) m below the soil surface. The third area is a (since 1998) rewetted former agricultural peatland (Horstermeer), close to Oukoop and Stein, with the average annual ground water level at a depth of 0.2 (±0.20) m below the soil surface. During the measurement campaigns we found that both agriculturally managed sites acted as C and GHG sources and the rewetted former agricultural peatland acted as a C and GHG sink. The ecosystem (fields and ditches) total GHG balance, including CO2, CH4 and N2O, amounted to 3.9 (±0.4), 1.3 (±0.5) and -1.7 (±1.8) g CO2-eq m-2 d-1 for Oukoop, Stein and Horstermeer, respectively. Adding the farm-based emissions to Oukoop and Stein resulted in a total GHG emission of 8.3 (±1.0) and 6.6 (±1.3) g CO2-eq m-2 d-1, respectively. For Horstermeer the GHG balance remained the same since no farm-based emissions exist. Considering the C balance (uncertainty range 40-60%), the total C release in Oukoop and Stein is 5270 and 6258 kg C ha-1 yr-1, respectively (including ecosystem and management fluxes), and the total C uptake in Horstermeer is 3538 kg C ha-1 yr-1. Water bodies contributed significantly to the terrestrial GHG balance because of a high release of CH4. Overall, this study suggests that managed peatlands are large sources of GHGs and C, but, if appropriate measures are taken, they can be turned back into GHG and C sinks within 15 years of abandonment and rewetting. The shift from an intensively managed grass-on-peat area (Oukoop) to an extensively managed one (Stein) reduced the GHG emissions mainly because N2O emission and farm-based CH4 emissions decreased.

Evaluating the potential of reforestation as a mitigative measure for greenhouse gas induced global warming using an energy balance global climate model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Starheim, Fred John

The subject of global warming due to the human addition of greenhouse gases (GHGs) to the atmosphere has been the subject of considerable attention and research in the last two decades. The principal GHG of concern related to human influence is carbon dioxide (CO2). Emissions of this gas have grown rapidly since the industrial revolution in response to the energy and agricultural demands of an increasing world population. Concern exists that the atmospheric concentrations of GHGs may rise sufficiently high so as to impose dangerous interference with the climate system. Numerous methods and measures for the sequestration and avoidance of GHGs have been proposed with the object of decreasing the growth and ultimately stabilizing atmospheric GHG concentrations. The purpose of this work is to examine the effectiveness of one such measure-that of the feasibiltiy of large-scale reforestation/afforestation efforts to mitigate projected global warming. An energy balance global climate model was selected to conduct this work. The model is based on previous work of Pease (1987) in the Annals of the AAG, (77), 450-461, which has been expanded to include dimensions of time and space. The assumed reforestation/afforestation activities are based on a World Resources Institute study by Trexler and Haugen (1995) entitled Keeping it Green Tropical Forest Opportunities for Mitigating Climate Change. The forestry activities are assumed to take place in the tropics where a year-round growing season, plentiful rainfall, and relatively low land development costs should provide the most economically favorable conditions for instituting such a program. The climate model simulations examine the effect of carbon absorption and sequestration in isolation, and then in a subsequent step, examine the combined effect of carbon absorption/sequestration and albedo changes attendant with increased forest cover. Results of the modeling show only small temperature benefits (an approximate 0.1 degree C cooling) associated with implementation of this large-scale reforestation program versus a CO2 doubling case with no forestry programs. Of the approximate 0.1 degree C temperature change, the largest effect was due to CO2 sequestration with the surface albedo effect being negligible (less than 0.01 degree C).

Climate Change Mitigation through Enhanced Weathering in Bioenergy Crops

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kantola, I. B.; Masters, M. D.; Wolz, K. J.; DeLucia, E. H.

2016-12-01

Bioenergy crops are a renewable alternative to fossil fuels that reduce the net flux of CO2 to the atmosphere through carbon sequestration in plant tissues and soil. A portion of the remaining atmospheric CO2 is naturally mitigated by the chemical weathering of silica minerals, which sequester carbon as carbonates. The process of mineral weathering can be enhanced by crushing the minerals to increase surface area and applying them to agricultural soils, where warm temperatures, moisture, and plant roots and root exudates accelerate the weathering process. The carbonate byproducts of enhanced weathering are expected accumulate in soil water and reduce soil acidity, reduce nitrogen loss as N2O, and increase availability of certain soil nutrients. To determine the potential of enhanced weathering to alter the greenhouse gas balance in both annual (high disturbance, high fertilizer) and perennial (low disturbance, low fertilizer) bioenergy crops, finely ground basalt was applied to fields of maize, soybeans, and miscanthus at the University of Illinois Energy Farm. All plots showed an immediate soil temperature response at 10 cm depth, with increases of 1- 4 °C at midday. Early season CO2 and N2O fluxes mirrored soil temperature prior to canopy closure in all crops, while total N2O fluxes from miscanthus were lower than corn and soybeans in both basalt treatment and control plots. Mid-season N2O production was reduced in basalt-treated corn compared to controls. Given the increasing footprint of bioenergy crops, the ability to reduce GHG emissions in basalt-treated fields has the potential to mitigate atmospheric warming while benefitting soil fertility with the byproducts of weathering.

Biochars mitigate greenhouse gas emissions and bioaccumulation of potentially toxic elements and arsenic speciation in Phaseolus vulgaris L.

PubMed

Ibrahim, Muhammad; Li, Gang; Khan, Sardar; Chi, Qiaoqiao; Xu, Yaoyang; Zhu, Yongguan

2017-08-01

Anthropogenic and natural activities can lead to increased greenhouse gas emissions and discharge of potentially toxic elements (PTEs) into soil environment. Biochar amendment to soils is a cost-effective technology and sustainable approach used to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions, improve phytoremediation, and minimize the health risks associated with consumption of PTE-contaminated vegetables. Greenhouse pot experiments were conducted to investigate the effects of peanut shell biochar (PNB) and sewage sludge biochar (SSB) on greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, plant growth, PTE bioaccumulation, and arsenic (As) speciation in bean plants. Results indicated that amendments of PNB and SSB increased plant biomass production by increasing soil fertility and reducing bioavailability of PTEs. Addition of biochars also increased soil pH, total nitrogen (TN), total carbon (TC), dissolved organic carbon (DOC), and ammonium-nitrogen (NH 4 -N) but decreased available concentrations of PTEs such as cadmium (Cd), lead (Pb), and As. The concentration of nitrate-nitrogen (NO 3 - -N) was also decreased in biochar-amended soils. In addition, PNB and SSB amendments significantly (P < 0.01) reduced the bioaccumulation of chromium (Cr), As, Cd, Pb, and nickel (Ni) in stalks, leaves, and fruits of Phaseolus vulgaris L. Similarly, PNB and SSB amendments significantly (P ≤ 0.05) reduced inorganic As species like arsenite (As (III)) and arsenate (As (V)). Greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) and methane (CH 4 ) emissions were significantly (P < 0.01) reduced but nitrous oxide (N 2 O) emissions first increased and then decreased amended with both biochars. Current findings demonstrate that SSB and PNB are two beneficial soil amendments simultaneous mitigating greenhouse gas emissions and PTE bioaccumulation as well as arsenic speciation in P. vulgaris L.

Environmental and natural resource implications of sustainable urban infrastructure systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bergesen, Joseph D.; Suh, Sangwon; Baynes, Timothy M.; Kaviti Musango, Josephine

2017-12-01

As cities grow, their environmental and natural resource footprints also tend to grow to keep up with the increasing demand on essential urban services such as passenger transportation, commercial space, and thermal comfort. The urban infrastructure systems, or socio-technical systems providing these services are the major conduits through which natural resources are consumed and environmental impacts are generated. This paper aims to gauge the potential reductions in environmental and resources footprints through urban transformation, including the deployment of resource-efficient socio-technical systems and strategic densification. Using hybrid life cycle assessment approach combined with scenarios, we analyzed the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, water use, metal consumption and land use of selected socio-technical systems in 84 cities from the present to 2050. The socio-technical systems analyzed are: (1) bus rapid transit with electric buses, (2) green commercial buildings, and (3) district energy. We developed a baseline model for each city considering gross domestic product, population density, and climate conditions. Then, we overlaid three scenarios on top of the baseline model: (1) decarbonization of electricity, (2) aggressive deployment of resource-efficient socio-technical systems, and (3) strategic urban densification scenarios to each city and quantified their potentials in reducing the environmental and resource impacts of cities by 2050. The results show that, under the baseline scenario, the environmental and natural resource footprints of all 84 cities combined would increase 58%-116% by 2050. The resource-efficient scenario along with strategic densification, however, has the potential to curve down GHG emissions to 17% below the 2010 level in 2050. Such transformation can also limit the increase in all resource footprints to less than 23% relative to 2010. This analysis suggests that resource-efficient urban infrastructure and decarbonization of electricity coupled with strategic densification have a potential to mitigate resources and environmental footprints of growing cities.

Transportation Energy Futures: Combining Strategies for Deep Reductions in Energy Consumption and GHG Emissions (Brochure)

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

Not Available

2013-03-01

This fact sheet summarizes actions in the areas of light-duty vehicle, non-light-duty vehicle, fuel, and transportation demand that show promise for deep reductions in energy use. Energy efficient transportation strategies have the potential to simultaneously reduce oil consumption and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The Transportation Energy Futures (TEF) project examined how the combination of multiple strategies could achieve deep reductions in GHG emissions and petroleum use on the order of 80%. Led by NREL, in collaboration with Argonne National Laboratory, the project's primary goal was to help inform domestic decisions about transportation energy strategies, priorities, and investments, with an emphasismore » on underexplored opportunities. TEF findings reveal three strategies with the potential to displace most transportation-related petroleum use and GHG emissions: 1) Stabilizing energy use in the transportation sector through efficiency and demand-side approaches. 2) Using additional advanced biofuels. 3) Expanding electric drivetrain technologies.« less

U.S. Geological Survey Methodology Development for Ecological Carbon Assessment and Monitoring

USGS Publications Warehouse

Zhu, Zhi-Liang; Stackpoole, S.M.

2009-01-01

Ecological carbon sequestration refers to transfer and storage of atmospheric carbon in vegetation, soils, and aquatic environments to help offset the net increase from carbon emissions. Understanding capacities, associated opportunities, and risks of vegetated ecosystems to sequester carbon provides science information to support formulation of policies governing climate change mitigation, adaptation, and land-management strategies. Section 712 of the Energy Independence and Security Act (EISA) of 2007 mandates the Department of the Interior to develop a methodology and assess the capacity of our nation's ecosystems for ecological carbon sequestration and greenhouse gas (GHG) flux mitigation. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) LandCarbon Project is responding to the Department of Interior's request to develop a methodology that meets specific EISA requirements.

Dynamic Geospatial Modeling of the Building Stock to Project Urban Energy Demand.

PubMed

Breunig, Hanna Marie; Huntington, Tyler; Jin, Ling; Robinson, Alastair; Scown, Corinne Donahue

2018-06-26

In the United States, buildings account for more than 40 percent of total energy consumption, and the evolution of the urban form will impact the effectiveness of strategies to reduce energy use and mitigate emissions. This paper presents a broadly applicable approach for modeling future commercial, residential, and industrial floorspace, thermal consumption (heating and cooling), and associated GHG emissions at the tax assessor land parcel level. The approach accounts for changing building standards and retrofitting, climate change, and trends in housing and industry. We demonstrate the automated workflow for California, and project building stock, thermal energy consumption, and associated GHG emissions out to 2050. Our results suggest that if buildings in California have long lifespans, and minimal energy efficiency improvements compared to building codes reflective of 2008, then the state will face a 20% or higher increase in thermal energy consumption by 2050. Baseline annual GHG emissions associated with thermal energy consumption in the modeled building stock in 2016 is 34% below 1990 levels (110 Mt CO2eq/y).While the 2020 targets for the reduction of GHG emissions set by the California Senate Bill 350 have already been met, none of our scenarios achieve >80% reduction from 1990 levels by 2050, despite assuming an 86% reduction in electricity carbon intensity in our "Low Carbon" scenario. The results highlight the challenge California faces in meeting its new energy efficiency targets unless the State's building stock undergoes timely and strategic turnover, paired with deep retrofitting of existing buildings and natural gas equipment.

Health effects of adopting low greenhouse gas emission diets in the UK

PubMed Central

Milner, James; Green, Rosemary; Dangour, Alan D; Haines, Andy; Chalabi, Zaid; Spadaro, Joseph; Markandya, Anil; Wilkinson, Paul

2015-01-01

Objective Dietary changes which improve health are also likely to be beneficial for the environment by reducing emissions of greenhouse gases (GHG). However, previous analyses have not accounted for the potential acceptability of low GHG diets to the general public. This study attempted to quantify the health effects associated with adopting low GHG emission diets in the UK. Design Epidemiological modelling study. Setting UK. Participants UK population. Intervention Adoption of diets optimised to achieve the WHO nutritional recommendations and reduce GHG emissions while remaining as close as possible to existing dietary patterns. Main outcome Changes in years of life lost due to coronary heart disease, stroke, several cancers and type II diabetes, quantified using life tables. Results If the average UK dietary intake were optimised to comply with the WHO recommendations, we estimate an incidental reduction of 17% in GHG emissions. Such a dietary pattern would be broadly similar to the current UK average. Our model suggests that it would save almost 7 million years of life lost prematurely in the UK over the next 30 years and increase average life expectancy by over 8 months. Diets that result in additional GHG emission reductions could achieve further net health benefits. For emission reductions greater than 40%, improvements in some health outcomes may decrease and acceptability will diminish. Conclusions There are large potential benefits to health from adopting diets with lower associated GHG emissions in the UK. Most of these benefits can be achieved without drastic changes to existing dietary patterns. However, to reduce emissions by more than 40%, major dietary changes that limit both acceptability and the benefits to health are required. PMID:25929258

The influence of catalysts on biofuel life cycle analysis (LCA)

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

Benavides, Pahola Thathiana; Cronauer, Donald C.; Adom, Felix K.

Catalysts play an important role in biofuel production but are rarely included in biofuel life cycle analysis (LCA). In this work, we estimate the cradle-to-gate energy consumption and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of Pt/γ-Al 2O 3, CoMo/γ-Al 2O 3, and ZSM-5, catalysts that could be used in processes to convert biomass to biofuels. We also consider the potential impacts of catalyst recovery and recycling. Integrating the energy and environmental impacts of CoMo/γ-Al 2O 3 and ZSM-5 into an LCA of renewable gasoline produced via in-situ and ex-situ fast pyrolysis of a blended woody feedstock revealed that the ZSM-5, with cradle-to-gatemore » GHG emissions of 7.7 kg CO 2e/kg, could influence net life-cycle GHG emissions of the renewable gasoline (1.7 gCO 2e/MJ for the in-situ process, 1.2 gCO 2e/MJ for the ex-situ process) by up to 14% depending on the loading rate. CoMo/γ-Al 2O 3 had a greater GHG intensity (9.6 kg CO 2e/kg) than ZSM-5, however, it contributed approximately only 1% to the life-cycle GHG emissions of the renewable gasoline because of the small amount of this catalyst needed per kg of biofuel produced. As a result, given that catalysts can contribute significantly to biofuel life-cycle GHG emissions depending on the GHG intensity of their production and their consumption rates, biofuel LCAs should consider the potential influence of catalysts on LCA results.« less

The influence of catalysts on biofuel life cycle analysis (LCA)

DOE PAGES

Benavides, Pahola Thathiana; Cronauer, Donald C.; Adom, Felix K.; ...

2017-01-21

Catalysts play an important role in biofuel production but are rarely included in biofuel life cycle analysis (LCA). In this work, we estimate the cradle-to-gate energy consumption and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of Pt/γ-Al 2O 3, CoMo/γ-Al 2O 3, and ZSM-5, catalysts that could be used in processes to convert biomass to biofuels. We also consider the potential impacts of catalyst recovery and recycling. Integrating the energy and environmental impacts of CoMo/γ-Al 2O 3 and ZSM-5 into an LCA of renewable gasoline produced via in-situ and ex-situ fast pyrolysis of a blended woody feedstock revealed that the ZSM-5, with cradle-to-gatemore » GHG emissions of 7.7 kg CO 2e/kg, could influence net life-cycle GHG emissions of the renewable gasoline (1.7 gCO 2e/MJ for the in-situ process, 1.2 gCO 2e/MJ for the ex-situ process) by up to 14% depending on the loading rate. CoMo/γ-Al 2O 3 had a greater GHG intensity (9.6 kg CO 2e/kg) than ZSM-5, however, it contributed approximately only 1% to the life-cycle GHG emissions of the renewable gasoline because of the small amount of this catalyst needed per kg of biofuel produced. As a result, given that catalysts can contribute significantly to biofuel life-cycle GHG emissions depending on the GHG intensity of their production and their consumption rates, biofuel LCAs should consider the potential influence of catalysts on LCA results.« less

Quantifying and managing regional greenhouse gas emissions: waste sector of Daejeon, Korea.

PubMed

Yi, Sora; Yang, Heewon; Lee, Seung Hoon; An, Kyoung-Jin

2014-06-01

A credible accounting of national and regional inventories for the greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction has emerged as one of the most significant current discussions. This article assessed the regional GHG emissions by three categories of the waste sector in Daejeon Metropolitan City (DMC), Korea, examined the potential for DMC to reduce GHG emission, and discussed the methodology modified from Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and Korea national guidelines. During the last five years, DMC's overall GHG emissions were 239 thousand tons CO2 eq./year from eleven public environmental infrastructure facilities, with a population of 1.52 million. Of the three categories, solid waste treatment/disposal contributes 68%, whilst wastewater treatment and others contribute 22% and 10% respectively. Among GHG unit emissions per ton of waste treatment, the biggest contributor was waste incineration of 694 kg CO2 eq./ton, followed by waste disposal of 483 kg CO2 eq./ton, biological treatment of solid waste of 209 kg CO2 eq./ton, wastewater treatment of 0.241 kg CO2 eq./m(3), and public water supplies of 0.067 kg CO2 eq./m(3). Furthermore, it is suggested that the potential in reducing GHG emissions from landfill process can be as high as 47.5% by increasing landfill gas recovery up to 50%. Therefore, it is apparent that reduction strategies for the main contributors of GHG emissions should take precedence over minor contributors and lead to the best practice for managing GHGs abatement. Copyright © 2014 The Research Centre for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Health effects of adopting low greenhouse gas emission diets in the UK.

PubMed

Milner, James; Green, Rosemary; Dangour, Alan D; Haines, Andy; Chalabi, Zaid; Spadaro, Joseph; Markandya, Anil; Wilkinson, Paul

2015-04-30

Dietary changes which improve health are also likely to be beneficial for the environment by reducing emissions of greenhouse gases (GHG). However, previous analyses have not accounted for the potential acceptability of low GHG diets to the general public. This study attempted to quantify the health effects associated with adopting low GHG emission diets in the UK. Epidemiological modelling study. UK. UK population. Adoption of diets optimised to achieve the WHO nutritional recommendations and reduce GHG emissions while remaining as close as possible to existing dietary patterns. Changes in years of life lost due to coronary heart disease, stroke, several cancers and type II diabetes, quantified using life tables. If the average UK dietary intake were optimised to comply with the WHO recommendations, we estimate an incidental reduction of 17% in GHG emissions. Such a dietary pattern would be broadly similar to the current UK average. Our model suggests that it would save almost 7 million years of life lost prematurely in the UK over the next 30 years and increase average life expectancy by over 8 months. Diets that result in additional GHG emission reductions could achieve further net health benefits. For emission reductions greater than 40%, improvements in some health outcomes may decrease and acceptability will diminish. There are large potential benefits to health from adopting diets with lower associated GHG emissions in the UK. Most of these benefits can be achieved without drastic changes to existing dietary patterns. However, to reduce emissions by more than 40%, major dietary changes that limit both acceptability and the benefits to health are required. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://group.bmj.com/group/rights-licensing/permissions.

The global economic long-term potential of modern biomass in a climate-constrained world

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Klein, David; Humpenöder, Florian; Bauer, Nico; Dietrich, Jan Philipp; Popp, Alexander; Bodirsky, Benjamin Leon; Bonsch, Markus; Lotze-Campen, Hermann

2014-07-01

Low-stabilization scenarios consistent with the 2 °C target project large-scale deployment of purpose-grown lignocellulosic biomass. In case a GHG price regime integrates emissions from energy conversion and from land-use/land-use change, the strong demand for bioenergy and the pricing of terrestrial emissions are likely to coincide. We explore the global potential of purpose-grown lignocellulosic biomass and ask the question how the supply prices of biomass depend on prices for greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from the land-use sector. Using the spatially explicit global land-use optimization model MAgPIE, we construct bioenergy supply curves for ten world regions and a global aggregate in two scenarios, with and without a GHG tax. We find that the implementation of GHG taxes is crucial for the slope of the supply function and the GHG emissions from the land-use sector. Global supply prices start at 5 GJ-1 and increase almost linearly, doubling at 150 EJ (in 2055 and 2095). The GHG tax increases bioenergy prices by 5 GJ-1 in 2055 and by 10 GJ-1 in 2095, since it effectively stops deforestation and thus excludes large amounts of high-productivity land. Prices additionally increase due to costs for N2O emissions from fertilizer use. The GHG tax decreases global land-use change emissions by one-third. However, the carbon emissions due to bioenergy production increase by more than 50% from conversion of land that is not under emission control. Average yields required to produce 240 EJ in 2095 are roughly 600 GJ ha-1 yr-1 with and without tax.

Spatial and temporal disaggregation of transport-related carbon dioxide emissions in Bogota - Colombia

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hernandez-Gonzalez, L. A.; Jimenez Pizarro, R.; Néstor Y. Rojas, N. Y.

2011-12-01

As a result of rapid urbanization during the last 60 years, 75% of the Colombian population now lives in cities. Urban areas are net sources of greenhouse gases (GHG) and contribute significantly to national GHG emission inventories. The development of scientifically-sound GHG mitigation strategies require accurate GHG source and sink estimations. Disaggregated inventories are effective mitigation decision-making tools. The disaggregation process renders detailed information on the distribution of emissions by transport mode, and the resulting a priori emissions map allows for optimal definition of sites for GHG flux monitoring, either by eddy covariance or inverse modeling techniques. Fossil fuel use in transportation is a major source of carbon dioxide (CO2) in Bogota. We present estimates of CO2 emissions from road traffic in Bogota using the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) reference method, and a spatial and temporal disaggregation method. Aggregated CO2 emissions from mobile sources were estimated from monthly and annual fossil fuel (gasoline, diesel and compressed natural gas - CNG) consumption statistics, and estimations of bio-ethanol and bio-diesel use. Although bio-fuel CO2 emissions are considered balanced over annual (or multi-annual) agricultural cycles, we included them since CO2 generated by their combustion would be measurable by a net flux monitoring system. For the disaggregation methodology, we used information on Bogota's road network classification, mean travel speed and trip length for each vehicle category and road type. The CO2 emission factors were taken from recent in-road measurements for gasoline- and CNG-powered vehicles and also estimated from COPERT IV. We estimated emission factors for diesel from surveys on average trip length and fuel consumption. Using IPCC's reference method, we estimate Bogota's total transport-related CO2 emissions for 2008 (reference year) at 4.8 Tg CO2. The disaggregation method estimation is 16% lower, mainly due to uncertainty in activity factors. With only 4% of Bogota's fleet, diesel use accounts for 42% of the CO2 emissions. The emissions are almost evenly shared between public (9% of the fleet) and private transport. Peak emissions occur at 8 a.m. and 6 p.m. with maximum values over a densely industrialized area at the northwest of Bogota. This investigation allowed estimating the relative contribution of fuel and vehicle categories to spatially- and temporally-resolved CO2 emissions. Fuel consumption time series indicate a near-stabilization trend on energy consumption for transportation, which is unexpected taking into account the sustained economic and vehicle fleet growth in Bogota. The comparison of the disaggregation methodology with the IPCC methodology contributes to the analysis of possible error sources on activity factor estimations. This information is very useful for uncertainty estimation and adjustment of primary air pollutant emissions inventories.

Global carbon benefits of material substitution in passenger cars until 2050 and the impact on the steel and aluminum industries.

PubMed

Modaresi, Roja; Pauliuk, Stefan; Løvik, Amund N; Müller, Daniel B

2014-09-16

Light-weighting of passenger cars using high-strength steel or aluminum is a common emissions mitigation strategy. We provide a first estimate of the global impact of light-weighting by material substitution on GHG emissions from passenger cars and the steel and aluminum industries until 2050. We develop a dynamic stock model of the global car fleet and combine it with a dynamic MFA of the associated steel, aluminum, and energy supply industries. We propose four scenarios for substitution of conventional steel with high-strength steel and aluminum at different rates over the period 2010-2050. We show that light-weighting of passenger cars can become a "gigaton solution": Between 2010 and 2050, persistent light-weighting of passenger cars can, under optimal conditions, lead to cumulative GHG emissions savings of 9-18 gigatons CO2-eq compared to development business-as-usual. Annual savings can be up to 1 gigaton per year. After 2030, enhanced material recycling can lead to further reductions: closed-loop metal recycling in the automotive sector may reduce cumulative emissions by another 4-6 gigatons CO2-eq. The effectiveness of emissions mitigation by material substitution significantly depends on how the recycling system evolves. At present, policies focusing on tailpipe emissions and life cycle assessments of individual cars do not consider this important effect.

Quantifying Biodiversity Losses Due to Human Consumption: A Global-Scale Footprint Analysis.

PubMed

Wilting, Harry C; Schipper, Aafke M; Bakkenes, Michel; Meijer, Johan R; Huijbregts, Mark A J

2017-03-21

It is increasingly recognized that human consumption leads to considerable losses of biodiversity. This study is the first to systematically quantify these losses in relation to land use and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions associated with the production and consumption of (inter)nationally traded goods and services by presenting consumption-based biodiversity losses, in short biodiversity footprint, for 45 countries and world regions globally. Our results showed that (i) the biodiversity loss per citizen shows large variations among countries, with higher values when per-capita income increases; (ii) the share of biodiversity losses due to GHG emissions in the biodiversity footprint increases with income; (iii) food consumption is the most important driver of biodiversity loss in most of the countries and regions, with a global average of 40%; (iv) more than 50% of the biodiversity loss associated with consumption in developed economies occurs outside their territorial boundaries; and (v) the biodiversity footprint per dollar consumed is lower for wealthier countries. The insights provided by our analysis might support policymakers in developing adequate responses to avert further losses of biodiversity when population and incomes increase. Both the mitigation of GHG emissions and land use related reduction options in production and consumption should be considered in strategies to protect global biodiversity.

Scientists' views about attribution of global warming.

PubMed

Verheggen, Bart; Strengers, Bart; Cook, John; van Dorland, Rob; Vringer, Kees; Peters, Jeroen; Visser, Hans; Meyer, Leo

2014-08-19

Results are presented from a survey held among 1868 scientists studying various aspects of climate change, including physical climate, climate impacts, and mitigation. The survey was unique in its size, broadness and level of detail. Consistent with other research, we found that, as the level of expertise in climate science grew, so too did the level of agreement on anthropogenic causation. 90% of respondents with more than 10 climate-related peer-reviewed publications (about half of all respondents), explicitly agreed with anthropogenic greenhouse gases (GHGs) being the dominant driver of recent global warming. The respondents' quantitative estimate of the GHG contribution appeared to strongly depend on their judgment or knowledge of the cooling effect of aerosols. The phrasing of the IPCC attribution statement in its fourth assessment report (AR4)-providing a lower limit for the isolated GHG contribution-may have led to an underestimation of the GHG influence on recent warming. The phrasing was improved in AR5. We also report on the respondents' views on other factors contributing to global warming; of these Land Use and Land Cover Change (LULCC) was considered the most important. Respondents who characterized human influence on climate as insignificant, reported having had the most frequent media coverage regarding their views on climate change.

[Reduction of meat consumption and greenhouse gas emissions associated with health benefits in Italy].

PubMed

Farchi, Sara; Lapucci, Enrica; Michelozzi, Paola

2015-01-01

the reduction in red meat consumption has been proposed as one of the climate change mitigation policies associated to health benefits. In the developed world, red meat consumption is above the recommended intake level. the aim is to evaluate health benefits, in term of mortality decline, associated to different bovine meat consumption reduction scenarios and the potential reduction in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. meat consumption in Italy has been estimated using the Italian National Food Consumption Survey INRAN-SCAI (2005-2006) and the Multipurpose survey on household (2012) of the Italian National Institute for Statistics. Colorectal cancer and stoke mortality data are derived from the national survey on causes of death in 2012. Bovine meat consumption risk function has been retrieved from systematic literature reviews. Mean meat consumption in Italy is equal to 770 grams/week; gender and geographical variations exist: 69 per cent of the adult population are habitual bovine meat consumers; males have an average intake of over 400 grams/week in all areas of Italy (with the exception of the South), while females have lower intakes (360 grams per week), with higher consumption in the North-West (427 gr) and lower in the South of Italy. Four scenarios of reduction of bovine meat consumption (20%, 40%, 50% e 70%, respectively) have been evaluated and the number of avoidable deaths by gender and area of residence have been estimated. GHG emissions attributed to bovine meat adult consumption have been estimated to be to 10 gigagrams CO2-eq. from low to high reduction scenario, the percentage of avoidable deaths ranged from 2.1% to 6.5% for colorectal cancer and from 1.6% to 5.6% for stroke. Health benefits were greatest for males and for people living in the North-Western regions of Italy. in Italy, in order to adhere to bovine meat consumption recommendations and to respect EU GHG emission reduction targets, scenarios between 50% and 70% need to be adopted.

Combination of wet irrigation and nitrification inhibitor reduced nitrous oxide and methane emissions from a rice cropping system.

PubMed

Liu, Gang; Yu, Haiyang; Zhang, Guangbin; Xu, Hua; Ma, Jing

2016-09-01

To conserve water resources and guarantee food security, a new technology termed as "wet irrigation" is developed and practiced in rice fields; thus, its impact on radiative forcing derived from nitrous oxide (N2O) and methane (CH4) emissions merits serious attention. Dicyandiamide (DCD), a kind of nitrification inhibitor, is proposed as a viable means to mitigate greenhouse gas (GHG) emission while enhancing crop productivity. However, little is known about the response of GHG emission and grain yield to DCD application in a rice system under wet irrigation. In these regard, effects of water regime and DCD application on CH4 and N2O emissions, grain yield, global warming potential (GWP), and greenhouse gas intensity (GHGI) from rice fields were studied. For this study, a field experiment, designed: Treatment II (intermittent irrigation), Treatment WI (wet irrigation), Treatment IID (II plus DCD), and Treatment WID (WI plus DCD), was conducted in Jurong, Jiangsu Province, China, from 2011 to 2012. Relative to Treatment II, Treatment WI decreased CH4 emission significantly by 49-71 % while increasing N2O emission by 33-72 %. By integrating CH4 and N2O emissions and grain yield, Treatment WI was 20-28 and 11-15 % lower than Treatment II in GWP and GHGI, respectively. The use of DCD under wet irrigation reduced N2O emission significantly by 25-38 % (p < 0.05) and CH4 emission by 7-8 %, relative to Treatment WI, resulting in a decline of 18-30 % in GWP. Due to the increase in N use efficiency, maximal grain yield (6-7 %) and minimal GHGI (22-34 %) was observed in Treatment WID. These findings indicate that combined application of N fertilizer and DCD is a win-win strategy in water-saving high-yield rice production with less GHG emission.

CO2 abatement costs of greenhouse gas (GHG) mitigation by different biogas conversion pathways.

PubMed

Rehl, T; Müller, J

2013-01-15

Biogas will be of increasing importance in the future as a factor in reducing greenhouse gas emissions cost-efficiently by the optimal use of available resources and technologies. The goal of this study was to identify the most ecological and economical use of a given resource (organic waste from residential, commercial and industry sectors) using one specific treatment technology (anaerobic digestion) but applying different energy conversion technologies. Average and marginal abatement costs were calculated based on Life Cycle Cost (LCC) and Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) methodologies. Eight new biogas systems producing electricity, heat, gas or automotive fuel were analyzed in order to identify the most cost-efficient way of reducing GHG emissions. A system using a combined heat and power station (which is connected to waste treatment and digestion operation facilities and located nearby potential residential, commercial or industrial heat users) was found to be the most cost-efficient biogas technology for reducing GHG emissions. Up to € 198 per tonne of CO(2) equivalents can be saved by replacing the "business as usual" systems based on fossil resources with ones based on biogas. Limited gas injection (desulfurized and dried biogas, without compression and upgrading) into the gas grid can also be a viable option with an abatement cost saving of € 72 per tonne of CO(2) equivalents, while a heating plant with a district heating grid or a system based on biogas results in higher abatement costs (€ 267 and € 270 per tonne CO(2) eq). Results from all systems are significantly influenced by whether average or marginal data are used as a reference. Beside that energy efficiency, the reference system that was replaced and the by-products as well as feedstock and investment costs were identified to be parameters with major impacts on abatement costs. The quantitative analysis was completed by a discussion of the role that abatement cost methodology can play in decision-making. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Climate change impacts on flood risk and asset damages within mapped 100-year floodplains of the contiguous United States

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wobus, Cameron; Gutmann, Ethan; Jones, Russell; Rissing, Matthew; Mizukami, Naoki; Lorie, Mark; Mahoney, Hardee; Wood, Andrew W.; Mills, David; Martinich, Jeremy

2017-12-01

A growing body of work suggests that the extreme weather events that drive inland flooding are likely to increase in frequency and magnitude in a warming climate, thus potentially increasing flood damages in the future. We use hydrologic projections based on the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 5 (CMIP5) to estimate changes in the frequency of modeled 1 % annual exceedance probability (1 % AEP, or 100-year) flood events at 57 116 stream reaches across the contiguous United States (CONUS). We link these flood projections to a database of assets within mapped flood hazard zones to model changes in inland flooding damages throughout the CONUS over the remainder of the 21st century. Our model generates early 21st century flood damages that reasonably approximate the range of historical observations and trajectories of future damages that vary substantially depending on the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions pathway. The difference in modeled flood damages between higher and lower emissions pathways approaches USD 4 billion per year by 2100 (in undiscounted 2014 dollars), suggesting that aggressive GHG emissions reductions could generate significant monetary benefits over the long term in terms of reduced flood damages. Although the downscaled hydrologic data we used have been applied to flood impacts studies elsewhere, this research expands on earlier work to quantify changes in flood risk by linking future flood exposure to assets and damages on a national scale. Our approach relies on a series of simplifications that could ultimately affect damage estimates (e.g., use of statistical downscaling, reliance on a nationwide hydrologic model, and linking damage estimates only to 1 % AEP floods). Although future work is needed to test the sensitivity of our results to these methodological choices, our results indicate that monetary damages from inland flooding could be significantly reduced through substantial GHG mitigation.

Fluxes of carbon dioxide and methane across the water-atmosphere interface of aquaculture shrimp ponds in two subtropical estuaries: The effect of temperature, substrate, salinity and nitrate.

PubMed

Yang, Ping; Zhang, Yifei; Lai, Derrick Y F; Tan, Lishan; Jin, Baoshi; Tong, Chuan

2018-04-20

While aquaculture pond is a dominant land use/cover type and a distinct aquatic ecosystem in the coastal zones of China and southeast Asia, their contributions to the fluxes of greenhouse gases (GHGs) have only been poorly quantified. Fluxes of CO 2 and CH 4 in the shrimp ponds with different salinities were simultaneously measured in situ using the floating chamber technique in two different subtropical estuaries, namely, the Min River Estuary (MRE) and Jiulong River Estuary (JRE). The average CO 2 and CH 4 fluxes in the shrimp ponds over the observation periods varied from -2.09 to 3.37mmol CO 2 m -2 h -1 and from 0.28 to 16.28mmol CH 4 m -2 h -1 , respectively, with higher fluxes being detected during the middle stage of aquaculture. The temporal variation of CO 2 and CH 4 fluxes in both estuaries ponds closely followed the seasonal cycle of temperature. Higher CH 4 emissions were observed in MRE ponds than in JRE ponds because of the lower water salinity and N-NO 3 - concentrations as well as a greater supply of carbon substrates. Our findings suggested that shrimp ponds were CH 4 emission "hotspots" in the subtropical estuaries of China. Based on a new global warming potential model, we conservatively estimated an anuual GHG emission rate of approximately 63.68Tg CO 2 -eq during the culture period from aquaculture ponds across the subtropical estuaries of China. Our results demonstrate the importance of aquaculture ponds as a major GHG source and a contributor to climate warming in the subtropical estuarine regions of China, and call for effective regulation of GHG emissions from these ponds for climate mitigation in future. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Methane Leak Rates from Natural Gas Wells in Norther California

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cui, Y.; Yoon, S.; Chen, Y.; Falk, M.; Kuwayama, T.; Croes, B. E.; Herner, J.; Vijayan, A.

2017-12-01

Methane is a potent greenhouse gas (GHG) and is the second most prevalent GHG emitted in California from human activities. As part of a comprehensive effort to reduce GHG emissions and meet the statewide climate goals, California has proposed a Short Lived Climate Pollutant (SLCP) Strategy that includes a 40% reduction of methane emissions from 2013 levels by 2030, with goals to reduce oil and gas related emissions and capture methane emissions from dairy operations and organic waste. There is growing evidence in the recent scientific literature suggesting that methane emissions can come from every stage of the oil and gas supply chain. During oil and gas production operations, studies reported that a small number of oil and gas wells made up a large fraction of total methane emissions from the wells. In such a fat-tail distribution, the mean methane leak rate from wells is orders of magnitude larger than the median, which indicates the presence of super emitter sources. However, since the super emitters are often positioned as outliers in a fat-tail distribution and do not always behave consistently, measuring their leak rates is challenging, but critical to quantify their impacts and identify potential mitigation opportunities. This presentation will discuss of methane leak rates measured from natural gas wells in Northern California for different well operations: active, idle, and plugged. The leak rates demonstrated fat-tail distributions, and the mean leak rates for each well operation status were an order of magnitude higher than the median leak rates. It was also observed that roughly 20% of wells contributed more than 80% of methane emissions. Further data collection is needed with a larger number of samples to better understand the relationship between the leak rates and well operation status. Such measurements could help improve the estimate of methane emissions from natural gas wells and inform methane reduction policies and programs in California.

Nitrogen nutrition in cotton and control strategies for greenhouse gas emissions: a review.

PubMed

Khan, Aziz; Tan, Daniel Kean Yuen; Munsif, Fazal; Afridi, Muhammad Zahir; Shah, Farooq; Wei, Fan; Fahad, Shah; Zhou, Ruiyang

2017-10-01

Cotton (Gossypium hirustum L.) is grown globally as a major source of natural fiber. Nitrogen (N) management is cumbersome in cotton production systems; it has more impacts on yield, maturity, and lint quality of a cotton crop than other primary plant nutrient. Application and production of N fertilizers consume large amounts of energy, and excess application can cause environmental concerns, i.e., nitrate in ground water, and the production of nitrous oxide a highly potent greenhouse gas (GHG) to the atmosphere, which is a global concern. Therefore, improving nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) of cotton plant is critical in this context. Slow-release fertilizers (e.g., polymer-coated urea) have the potential to increase cotton yield and reduce environmental pollution due to more efficient use of nutrients. Limited literature is available on the mitigation of GHG emissions for cotton production. Therefore, this review focuses on the role of N fertilization, in cotton growth and GHG emission management strategies, and will assess, justify, and organize the researchable priorities. Nitrate and ammonium nitrogen are essential nutrients for successful crop production. Ammonia (NH 3 ) is a central intermediate in plant N metabolism. NH 3 is assimilated in cotton by the mediation of glutamine synthetase, glutamine (z-) oxoglutarate amino-transferase enzyme systems in two steps: the first step requires adenosine triphosphate (ATP) to add NH 3 to glutamate to form glutamine (Gln), and the second step transfers the NH 3 from glutamine (Gln) to α-ketoglutarate to form two glutamates. Once NH 3 has been incorporated into glutamate, it can be transferred to other carbon skeletons by various transaminases to form additional amino acids. The glutamate and glutamine formed can rapidly be used for the synthesis of low-molecular-weight organic N compounds (LMWONCs) such as amides, amino acids, ureides, amines, and peptides that are further synthesized into high-molecular-weight organic N compounds (HMWONCs) such as proteins and nucleic acids.