Greenhouse Gas Emissions

Towards real energy economics: Energy policy driven by life-cycle carbon emission

by Joshua Pearce

R. Kenny, C. Law, J.M. Pearce, “Towards Real Energy Economics: Energy Policy Driven by Life-Cycle Carbon Emission”, Energy Policy 38, pp. 1969–1978, 2010.

Alternative energy technologies (AETs) have emerged as a solution to the challenge of simultaneously meeting rising... more Alternative energy technologies (AETs) have emerged as a solution to the challenge of simultaneously meeting rising electricity demand while reducing carbon emissions. However, as all AETs are responsible for some greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions during their construction, carbon emission “Ponzi Schemes” are currently possible, wherein an AET industry expands so quickly that the GHG emissions prevented by a given technology are negated to fabricate the next wave of AET deployment. In an era where there are physical constraints to the GHG emissions the climate can sustain in the short term this may be unacceptable. To provide quantitative solutions to this problem, this paper introduces the concept of dynamic carbon life-cycle analyses, which generate carbon neutral growth rates. These conceptual tools become increasingly important as the world transitions to a low-carbon economy by reducing fossil fuel combustion. In choosing this method of evaluation it was possible to focus uniquely on reducing carbon emissions to the recommended levels by outlining the most carbon-effective approach to climate change mitigation. The results of using dynamic life-cycle analysis provide policy makers with standardized information that will drive the optimization of electricity generation for effective climate change mitigation.

Eddy-covariance measurements of nitrous oxide fluxes above a city

by Gavin Phillips

Controls of carbon dioxide concentrations and fluxes above central London: Supplementary Material

by Gavin Phillips

Measurements of N2O fluxes from the city of Edinburgh

by Gavin Phillips

Poster

Emissões: Os impactos mais renegados das hidrelétricas.

by Philip Fearnside

Fearnside, P.M. 2011. Emissões: Os impactos mais renegados das hidrelétricas. Contra Corrente, No. 3: 27-30.

Desmatamento e o efeito estufa

by Philip Fearnside

Fearnside, P.M. 1999. Desmatamento e o efeito estufa. Jornal do Comércio [Manaus] 29 novembro 1999, caderno Textos JC 1(10): 7.

Controvérsias sobre o efeito estufa. Por que a energia hidrelétrica não é limpa.

by Philip Fearnside

Fearnside, P.M. 2008. Controvérsias sobre o efeito estufa. Por que a energia hidrelétrica não é limpa. pp. 270-271 In: I. S. Gorayeb (ed.). Amazônia. Jornal "O Liberal"/VALE, Belém, Pará. 384 pp. ISBN 978-85-61628-00-0 [também publicado no jornal O Liberal 30 Jan. 2008].

See Amazon Controversies:
http://philip.inpa.gov.br/publ_livres/AMAZONIAN CONTROVERSIES.htm

English version:
Fearnside, P.M. 2007. Why hydropower is not clean energy. Scitizen, Paris, France (peer-reviewed website). http://www.scitizen.com/screens/blogPage/viewBlog/sw_viewBlog.php?idTheme=14&idContribution=298
http://philip.inpa.gov.br/publ_livres/2007/Why hydro not clean energy-Article as posted.pdf

Deforestation in Amazonia

by Philip Fearnside

Fearnside, P.M. 2007. Deforestation in Amazonia. Encyclopedia of Earth. Eds. C.J. Cleveland (General Editor) & M. Hall-Beyer (Topic Editor). Environmental Information Coalition, National Council for Science and the Environment, Washington, D.C., U.S.A. <http://www.eoearth.org/article/Deforestation_in_Amazonia&gt;

Tropical deforestation and global warming

by Philip Fearnside

Fearnside, P.M. 2006. Tropical deforestation and global warming. Science 312: 1137 (letter) DOI: 10.1126/science.312.5777.1137c

Deforestation and carbon emissions projected for southern Amazonas, Brazil: A summary of modeling results for deforestation and emissions in the municipality of Apuí and in the area of the Manaus-Porto Velho (BR-319) Highway over the 2007-2050 period.

by Philip Fearnside

Fearnside, P.M. 2007. Deforestation and carbon emissions projected for southern Amazonas, Brazil: A summary of modeling results for deforestation and emissions in the municipality of Apuí and in the area of the Manaus-Porto Velho (BR-319) Highway over the 2007-2050 period. p. 22. In: Government of the state of Amazonas, Secretariat for the Environment and Sustainable Development (SDS). Amazonas Initiative on Climate Change, Forest Conservation and Sustainable Development. SDS, Manaus, Amazonas, Brazil. 34 pp.

Biomassa e carbono: Incertezas metodológicas para o mecanismo REDD

by Philip Fearnside

Fearnside, P.M. 2009. Biomassa e carbono: Incertezas metodológicas para o mecanismo REDD. pp 28-34. In: RELATÓRIO DO SEMINÁRIO: Perspectivas e Potencial do Mecanismo de Redução de Emissões por Desmatamento e Degradação (REDD) no Estado do Pará. IDESP, MPEG & SEMA, Belém, Pará. http://www.museu-goeldi.br/Relatorio%20Seminario%20REDD_final.pdf

Environmental Impacts of An International Conference

by Lorenz Hilty

A conference in the conventional form is a very resource-demanding process with considerable environmental impacts. As... more A conference in the conventional form is a very resource-demanding process with considerable environmental impacts. As the host of the 15th International Environmental Informatics Symposium, held in Zurich, October 10-12, 2001, EMPA assessed the effectiveness of different measures to reduce the environmental impact of the conference using the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) method.

Scenario Analysis: Exploring the Macroeconomic Impacts of Information and Communication Technologies on Greenhouse Gas Emissions

by Lorenz Hilty

During the past decade, several macroeconomic studies on the potentials of information and communication technology... more During the past decade, several macroeconomic studies on the potentials of information and communication technology (ICT) to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions have been published. The mitigation potentials identified in them vary to a high degree, mainly because they are not consistently defined and diverse methodologies are applied. The characteristics of ICT—exceptional dynamics of innovation and diffusion, social embedment and cross-sector application, diverse and complex impact patterns—are a challenge for macroeconomic studies that quantify ICT impacts on GHG emissions.

This article first reviews principal macroeconomic studies on ICT and GHG emissions. In the second part, we reconsider our own study on this topic and present an in-depth scenario analysis of the future impacts of ICT applications on GHG emissions. We conclude that forthcoming macroeconomic studies could strengthen the state of the art in environmental ICT impact modeling (1) by accounting for the dynamics of new ICT applications and their first-, second-, and third-order effects on a global scale, (2) by reflecting the error margins resulting from data uncertainty in the final results, and (3) by using scenario techniques to explore future uncertainty and its impacts on the results.

Effects of Internet-based multiple-site conferences on greenhouse gas emissions

by Lorenz Hilty

There is a growing consensus that ICT can contribute to the reduction of anthropogenic greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions,... more There is a growing consensus that ICT can contribute to the reduction of anthropogenic greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, both by increasing the efficiency of existing processes and by enabling substitution effects to usher in more energy efficient patterns of production and consumption. While, however, many studies based on theoretical reduction potentials have been presented, in practice it has only been possible to cite a few examples of such reductions thus far.

This article presents the results of a field experiment for one particular domain in which ICT can be substituted for more carbon-intensive technologies: using advanced videoconferencing technology to reduce intercontinental conference travel and thus travel-related GHG emissions. We organized a large resource management conference simultaneously on two continents and assessed the emissions caused by the attendees’ travel and by the additional ICT equipment utilized to connect the two venues. We further assessed, based on a survey, the emissions in the alternative scenarios of holding the conference at either one of the places, and the satisfaction of the participants with the two-site conference format.

The results show that reductions of 37% and 50% in travel-related GHG emissions were attained as compared to the single-site alternatives, although more people took part than in any of these alternatives. At the same time, the attendees’ experience was clearly positive, showing that the multiple-site format can serve as an acceptable alternative to the traditional one-site format of holding an international conference.

A critique of the green house gas converter proposed by Azad et al.

by Adharsh R

Methane flux and oxidation at two types of intermediate landfill covers

by Jennifer Stern

Life-Cycle Greenhouse Gas Emissions From Clean Coal, Clean Gas and Wind Generators

by Matthias Fripp

Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Operating Reserves Used to Backup Large-Scale Wind Power

by Matthias Fripp

published in Environmental Science & Technology, 2011

Wind farms provide electricity with no direct emissions. However, their output cannot be forecasted perfectly, even a... more Wind farms provide electricity with no direct emissions. However, their output cannot be forecasted perfectly, even a short time ahead. Consequently, power systems with large amounts of wind power may need to keep extra fossil-fired generators turned on and ready to provide power if wind farm output drops unexpectedly. In this work, I introduce a new model for estimating the uncertainty in short-term wind power forecasts, and how this uncertainty varies as wind power is aggregated over larger regions. I then use this model to estimate the reserve requirements in order to compensate for wind forecast errors to a 99.999% level of reliability, and an upper limit on the amount of carbon dioxide that would be emitted if natural gas power plants are used for this purpose. I find that for regions larger than 500 km across, operating reserves will undo 6% or less of the greenhouse gas emission savings that would otherwise be expected from wind power.

The Problem of the Competitiveness of Nuclear Energy: A Biophysical Explanation

by François Diaz Maurin

This Working Paper intends to provide a sound explanation for the systemic problem of low competitiveness of nuclear energy.

Parts of this working paper are under process for publication in different international peer reviewed journals soon.

Refer to as:
F. Diaz Maurin: The Problem of the Competitiveness of Nuclear Energy: A Biophysical Explanation, Working Papers on Environmental Sciences
http://www.recercat.net/handle/2072/169668
Institut de Ciència i Tecnologia Ambientals (ICTA)
Edifici Cn, Campus UAB
08193 Cerdanyola del Vallès, Spain
Tel: (+34) 935812974
http://icta.uab.cat
icta@uab.cat

This work is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 2.5 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.5/)

In this study I try to explain the systemic problem of the low economic competitiveness of nuclear energy for the... more In this study I try to explain the systemic problem of the low economic competitiveness of nuclear energy for the production of electricity by carrying out a biophysical analysis of its production process. Given the fact that neither econometric approaches nor onedimensional methods of energy analyses are effective, I introduce the concept of biophysical explanation as a quantitative analysis capable of handling the inherent ambiguity associated with the concept of energy. In particular, the quantities of energy, considered as relevant for the assessment, can only be measured and aggregated after having agreed on a pre-analytical definition of a grammar characterizing a given set of finite transformations. Using this grammar it becomes possible to provide a biophysical explanation for the low economic competitiveness of nuclear energy in the production of electricity. When comparing the various unit operations of the process of production of electricity with nuclear energy to the analogous unit operations of the process of production of fossil energy, we see that the various phases of the process are the same. The only difference is related to characteristics of the process associated with the generation of heat which are completely different in the two systems. Since the cost of production of fossil energy provides the base line of economic competitiveness of electricity, the (lack of) economic competitiveness of the production of electricity from nuclear energy can be studied, by comparing the biophysical costs associated with the different unit operations taking place in nuclear and fossil power plants when generating process heat or net electricity. In particular, the analysis focuses on fossil-fuel requirements and labor requirements for those phases that both nuclear plants and fossil energy plants have in common: (i) mining; (ii) refining/enriching; (iii) generating heat/electricity; (iv) handling the pollution/radioactive wastes. By adopting this approach, it becomes possible to explain the systemic low economic competitiveness of nuclear energy in the production of electricity, because of: (i) its dependence on oil, limiting its possible role as a carbon-free alternative; (ii) the choices made in relation to its fuel cycle, especially whether it includes reprocessing operations or not; (iii) the unavoidable uncertainty in the definition of the characteristics of its process; (iv) its large inertia (lack of flexibility) due to issues of time scale; and (v) its low power level.

A review of greenhouse gas emissions and potential mitigation strategies in the livestock sector

by Sara Burbi

MSc International Rural Development dissertation
Climate Change & Development pathway
Part 1 - Review paper

The livestock sector contributes to GHG emissions (CO2, CH4, N2O) by land- use change, manure, ruminants enteric... more The livestock sector contributes to GHG emissions (CO2, CH4, N2O) by land- use change, manure, ruminants enteric fermentation, fertiliser use. Mitigation strategies lower methane and nitrous oxide emissions mostly by improving animal diets: lower forage/concentrate ratio, feed supplementation (monensin, fatty acids and oils, defaunation, saponins), reduced excess N; and selective breeding, grazing and housing management, manure storage. Carbon efficiency can be increased by recycling manure (anaerobic digester). Life Cycle Analysis of GHG has been improved, but land use changes, herd dynamics, biodiversity, soil quality and animal welfare are still not considered. A better framework is needed for farmers to obtain reliable emissions estimates and the expected reduction by applying quantified mitigation strategies