A Strategic Program to Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Food Industry

The Earth`s capacity to support life depends on the moderating influences of gases that envelop the planet and warm its surface and protect it from harmful radiation. These gases are referred to as ``greenhouse gases.`` Their warming capacity, called ``the greenhouse effect,`` is essential to maintaining a climate hospitable to all plant, animal, and human life. In recent years, however, there has been increasing concern that human activity may be affecting the intricate balance between the Earth`s absorption of heat from the sun and its capacity to reradiate excess heat back into space. Emissions of greenhouse gases from human activities may be an important mechanism that affects global climate. Thus, research is intensifying to improve our understanding of the role human activities might play in influencing atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases. On the basis of scientific findings of the past few decades, the US Government and the international community at large are now taking steps toward stabilizing greenhouse gas emissions. This report contributes to that process. Mandated by Congress this report provides estimates of US emissions of the principal greenhouse gases--carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, chlorofluorcarbons, carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides, and nonmethane volatile organic compounds. Estimates are for the period 1985 to 1990. Preliminary estimates for 1991 have also been included, whenever data were available.

This paper presents a summary of the Preliminary Inventory on Sources and Sinks of Greenhouse Gases in Venezuela, the final version of which will be submitted to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change as an official document of the Venezuelan Government. This inventory is one of the components of the National Study to Address Climate Change. The gases included in this inventory are carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, oxides of nitrogen, carbon monoxide, and non-methane volatile organic compounds. Chlorofluorocarbons are excluded, because they are controlled by the Montreal Protocol. The estimation of emissions of greenhouse gas was based on the IPCC Methodology. National greenhouse gas emissions mainly result from the use of energy as fuel, from land-use change, and from fugitive emissions generated by oil and gas production. Carbon dioxide is the most important contributor to national greenhouse gas emissions, with emissions estimated to be 190,618 Gg CO2, originating primarily from fuel combustion and forest clearing. Methane emissions were also significant at 3,178 Gg CH4, generated primarily by oil and gas production and by agricultural activities. This national inventory is a valuable tool for predicting future greenhouse gas emissions under various economic development scenarios and for identifying the best mitigation strategies Venezuela can implement in its effort to reduce greenhouse gas emission levels.KeywordsMethane EmissionUnited Nations Environment ProgrammeForest ClearingEnteric FermentationSavanna BurningThese keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.

One of the major risks mankind has encountered during recent years is, without a doubt, the anthropogenic contribution to environmental pollution [...]

Three main categories of pollutant emissions into the atmosphere from Croatian oil and natural gas activities are: fuel combustion, fugitive and carbon dioxide separated from natural gas. The pollutants (or pollutant classes) emitted into the air are: main greenhouse gases such as CO2, CH4; indirect greenhouse gases such as NOx, CO and NMVOC gases (with no direct greenhouse effect, but they influence generation and disintegration of tropospheric and stratospheric ozon who has properties of a greenhouse gases); suspended particulate matter (SPM) and sulphur dioxide (SO2). These pollutants are emitted into the air during normal well operations, production, processing and distribution of gas and oil products. SNAP94 for CORINAIR inventory three level hierarchical emission source nomenclatures (covers 4 main sectors, 9 sub-sectors and 33 activities) has been used to characterise the cause of the emissions and to relate it to anthropogenic activity in petroleum industry. Point, line and area sources of air pollution in petroleum industry are considered. Emission estimations are based on detailed activity/technology information covering stationary sources. IPCC simplified method (Tier 1-production based average emission factor approach) for estimating CO2 non-CO2 greenhouse gases emissions, based on activity level and average emission factors, has been used. EMEP/CORINAIR detailed method (mass balance approach) to estimate fugitive emissions of ozone precursors (NOx, CO and NMVOC) from oil and natural gas activities has been also used. Comparison (in graph form) between emissions of air pollutants from INA- Petroleum Industry and emissions in Croatia has been made. Introduction Three main categories of pollutant emissions into the atmosphere from INA Croatian petroleum industry are: fuel combustion, fugitive emissions and emissions of carbon dioxide removed from natural gas. Fuel combustion result in emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2), and non-CO2 emissions such as emissions of methane (CH4), nitrous oxide (N2O), oxides of nitrogen (NOx), carbon monoxide (CO), nonmethane volatile organic compounds (NMVOC) and sulfur dioxide (SO2). Result of fugitive emissions are emissions of methane from oil and natural gas activities, emissions of ozone percursors (CO, NOx, NMVOC) and emission of SO2 from oil refining. Removal of CO2 by amine scrubbing result in subseqent emissions of CO2 into the atmosphere. The emissions of these polutants influence the air quality on local, regional and global level. Local level: Emissions of NOx, SO2, (fines) suspended particulate matter (SPM), heavy metals (HM), such as Pb, Hg, Cd, As, Ni and smoke from emission sources (stationary fuel combustion, oil refining) at petroleum refineries contribute to air quality in the urban areas where refineries are located (Rijeka, Sisak). Today, ground level concentrations of SO2 and soot at the sources at petrolum rafineries primarily due to combustion of gas instead of liquid fuel has been decreased to degree that the air quality at this urban areas belongs to first category. Regional level: Emissions from petroleum industry contribute to the problems on regional level, such as acid rains (SO2, NOx), eutrophication (NOx), high concentrations of tropospheric ozon (NOx), and pollutions with heavy metals and persistent organic pollutants (POP) such as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) and dioxin. According to data, emissions of SO2, NOx from refineries (Sisak, Rijeka) contribute with 8 percent to total emissions of SO2, NOx from liquid fuels in Croatia (1).

Human activities have substantially increased the atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases. Greenhouse gases, consisting mainly of water vapor, carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, nitrogen oxides, chlorofluorocarbons, and halons, absorb and reradiate some of the heat radiated from the earth’s surface, resulting in global warming. The buildup of greenhouse gases as a result of anthropogenic activities seems to be the dominant factor contributing to global climate change. In 1992, the Rio Earth Summit called on all signatories to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change to “develop, update, publish... their national inventories of anthropogenic emissions of all GHG... using comparable methodologies....” Zimbabwe was one of the first signatories, and this report is a step toward meeting these commitments. The IPCC Methodology was used in the development of the inventory. Overall, results reveal that the net CO2 flux is into the biosphere (−124,238 Gg) indicating a significant carbon sink (sequestration). Other greenhouse gas emissions into the atmosphere considered in this inventory include methane (381 Gg), nitrous oxide (3.34 Gg), nitrogen oxides (12.38 Gg), and carbon monoxide (564 Gg).

This paper presents a summary and discussion of seven national greenhouse gas inventory assessments, including completed draft inventories from Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, and Kazakstan, and preliminary inventories from Estonia, Hungary, Slovakia, and Ukraine. Emissions of carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, carbon monoxide, oxides of nitrogen, and non-methane volatile organic compounds from various sources in each country are compared and examined in the context of demographic and economic characteristics. Fossil fuel consumption is by far the largest source of carbon dioxide emissions for all seven countries, while the land-use change and forestry sector is a significant carbon sink in all seven countries. The major sources of methane emissions are the energy sector (that is, coal mining and oil and gas systems), livestock management, and waste management. On a per capita and per unit gross domestic product basis, national emissions display a great deal of variability among the seven countries. This appears to be driven in part by different levels of industrialization. Two countries, Bulgaria and Hungary, have compiled emission estimates for both 1990 and earlier years. Emissions in both countries decreased in the late 1980s, primarily due to economic decline. Comparison of the national inventory estimates to other published estimates in international emissions databases showed close agreement for carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuel consumption, and substantial differences for non-carbon dioxide emissions from non-energy sources.KeywordsGross Domestic ProductCarbon Dioxide EmissionFossil Fuel CombustionNational InventoryFossil Fuel ConsumptionThese keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.

The study on the air pollutants embodied in goods for consumption and trade in China – Accounting and structural decomposition analysis

Anthropogenic emissions of reactive gases, aerosols and aerosol precursor compounds are responsible for the ozone hole, global warming and climate change, which have altered ecosystems and worsened human health. Environmental authorities worldwide have responded to these climate challenges through the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. In this context, it is key to ascertain empirically whether emission levels are converging among the countries forming the industrialized world. In doing so, we focus on 23 industrialized countries using a novel dataset with ten series of annual estimates of anthropogenic emissions that include aerosols, aerosol precursor and reactive compounds, and carbon dioxide over the 1820–2018 period. We apply four state-of-the-art panel unit root tests that allow for several forms of time-dependent and state-dependent nonlinearity. Our evidence supports stochastic convergence following a linear process for carbon dioxide, whereas the adjustment is nonlinear for black carbon, carbon monoxide, methane, non-methane volatile organic compounds, nitrous oxide, nitrogen oxides and sulfur dioxide. In contrast, ammonia and organic carbon emissions appear to diverge. As for deterministic convergence, carbon dioxide converges linearly, while black carbon, carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides, non-methane volatile organic compounds and sulfur dioxide adjust nonlinearly. Our results carry important policy implications concerning the achievement of SDG13 of the global 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, which appears to be feasible for the converging compounds.

Global change can be viewed as the sum of all environmental pollution (Trevor, 2003). To sustain human activities, massive amounts of pollutants are discharged into the biosphere. The sum of all these activities results in warming the biosphere, weather extremes, loss of biodiversity and pollution of the water, air and soil components of the biosphere. Prior to 1940, when atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases (GHG) were low, solar radiation explains most of the northern hemisphere (NH) temperature changes. Since 1975, emission of GHGs and aerosols explains most of the observed temperature increases (National Assessment Synthesis Team, 2000). The largest change in climate may not be temperature but increased precipitation (a few tenths to 1% per decade in NH) and cloudiness (∼2% per decade in NH). Precipitation seems to be coming in the form of heavier events rather than being spread out over time. The additional water runs off into streams are predicted to cause erosion and flooding but not substantial increase of long-term soil moisture (Keller, 2003). Carbon dioxide (CO2), resulting mainly from burning of fossil fuels, is a main driver of climate change and in that regard is followed by methane (CH4), halocarbons and nitrous oxide (N2O) (IPCC, 2001). Aerosols and particulate matter can have either a positive or negative effect on climate depending on their composition. Tropospheric ozone (O3), the secondary pollutant generated from non-methane volatile organic compounds (VOCs), carbon monoxide (CO) and nitrogen oxides (NOx) in photochemical reactions, is particularly relevant for the linkages between climate change and air pollution. Climate change, especially high radiation and temperature, promotes increases in O3 concentrations when precursors are present. The steadily growing background O3 concentrations affect climate due to O3 being a potent GHG itself and indirectly influencing concentrations of other GHGs such as CH4 (Bytnerowicz et al., 2007). Ozone concentrations in NH have been increasing for more than 100 years. Highest peak concentrations were observed in 1950–1980 in the areas with high emissions of O3 precursors and high solar radiation. Classical example of extremely high levels of O3 is the Los Angeles Basin in southern California where in the 1960s and 1970s peak values occasionally were approaching 1 ppm. Even in the 1980s, the peak hourly O3 values as measured in the mountains surrounding Los Angeles occasionally Environ Monit Assess (2007) 128:1–3 DOI 10.1007/s10661-006-9408-1

Under the framework of the U.S. Country Studies Program, an inventory of greenhouse gas emissions in the Czech Republic for the year 1990 was performed. The following greenhouse gases were taken into account: carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide, methane, oxides of nitrogen, carbon monoxide, non-methane volatile organic compounds, and chlorofluorocarbons. The sources of greenhouse gases were grouped according to the IPCC Methodology. For emissions calculations, locally developed emission coefficients were used whenever they were available. IPCC default coefficients and CORINAIR were used when no local information was available. The total emission of greenhouse gases covered by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change was 195 million tons carbon dioxide-equivalent. In addition, 36 million tons carbon dioxide-equivalent of chlorofluorocarbons and hydrochlorofluorocarbons were emitted. The most significant greenhouse gas is carbon dioxide, which accounts for 84% of the greenhouse gases emitted in the Czech Republic, excluding chlorofluorocarbons and hydrochlorofluorocarbons. A comparison with the CORINAIR methodology was performed. From the knowledge gained during this work, a concept of in-depth and routine inventories is proposed.

Atmospheric pollutants change our environment in a variety of ways. Specifically, airborne pollution is known to harm forests, crops, wildlife, aquatic ecosystems, and freshwater. In addition to damaging the natural environment, air pollution also affects buildings and the cultural material heritage such as outdoor sculptures and carvings. Direct effects of atmospheric pollutants on local and regional air quality and therefore on human health are a major concern. The European Environment Agency (EEA 2013) reported that despite the significant decrease of emissions over the past decades, the levels of air pollutants still frequently exceed the thresholds set by the European Union Air Quality Directives. In many parts of Europe, the levels of sulfur dioxide (SO2), nitrogen oxides (NOx), ammonia (NH3), and non-methane volatile organic compounds (NMVOCs) are becoming a public health risk issue. The same applies to particulate matter (PM) levels. The World Health Organization has recently reported that black carbon (BC) may not be a major toxic component of fine PM, but it may operate as a universal carrier of a wide variety of toxic chemicals to different parts of the body (Janssen et al. 2012). High levels of pollutants, especially tropospheric ozone (O3), adversely affect human health by causing respiratory problems and vegetation and ecosystem damage (EPA). Ozone is formed from the atmospheric degradation of NMVOCs, such as alkanes, alkenes, and oxygenated compounds (aldehydes and esters), in the presence of NOx and sunlight. Ground-level ozone is also a potent greenhouse gas (GHG) that modifies the atmospheric radiative forcing and, thus, global temperatures. GHGs such as carbon dioxide (CO2) and methane (CH4) and, in a lesser extent, nitrous oxide (N2O) and fluorinated compounds are behind pressing global environmental problems such as the warming of Earth's atmosphere. Another climate forcer of combustion-related air pollution is BC aerosols (commonly referred to as “soot”), which directly absorb both the incoming and reflected sunlight and the infrared radiation, increasing the surface air temperature. This Special Issue (SI) of Environmental Science and Pollution Research addresses some of those problems, with special emphasis on tropospheric reactivity, gas monitoring, and the potential impacts of air pollution on climate and people and biota. Drawing from selected contributions to the 2013 Energy and Environment Knowledge Week (E2KW International Congress, Toledo, Spain), the SI gathers novel and timely research on how atmospheric pollutants modify our environment, also highlighting the many links between energy Research Development and Demonstration (RD&D) policies and GHG emissions.

Total Intravenous Anesthetic Versus Inhaled Anesthetic: Pick Your Poison.

So far, the climate on the Earth, from beginning to end, has been changing, making in circle and not stopping. About this point, the specialists seemly have no disagreement. However, About causes of climate change, they indeed have divergence, and as for whether carbon dioxide is or not main cause of global climate warming, their divergence is much more large. Some specialists considered that natural factors are main causes led to climate change, and influence of anthropological factors on climate change is very very small. However, the other specialists considered that anthropological factors are important cause led to climate change, and also emission of greenhouse gases is main causes led to climate warming and at which, emission of carbon dioxide is the most main cause led to global climate warming. Still also some specialists consisted that carbon dioxide emitted by human activities is a chief culprit led to global warming. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) stated that the climate on the Earth is warming. Emission of greenhouse gases led to climate warming, and carbon dioxide is main cause led to climate warming, and especially the carbon dioxide emitted by human activities is the most main cause led to global warming. Now, the climate on the earth is getting more and more warming. If the people did not control emission of carbon dioxide, the global climate warming would bring ecological cataclysm to the mankind. The climate change theory described by IPCC is called “Global warming” theory, or “Greenhouse effect” theory. The global warming theory, or greenhouse effect theory, has had very large influence on the all over the world. In China, also there are a lot of people who believe that “global warming” is true, is right and is scientific. Especially in Chinese academic circles, there are many specialists who especially believe “global warming”, and they forcefully trumpeted that the global climate is getting more and more warming. The carbon dioxide was considered as a chief culprit resulted led to global warming. Still also there are some people who placed “ global warming” theory on the god altar, and accepted some people to prostrate themselves in worship. The “Global warming” theory put forward by IPCC, at home and abroad, all has received a lot of serious criticism. According to basic theory of classical physics and basic fact of climate observation, we can prove that emission of greenhouse gases is not main cause led to climate change, and also carbon dioxide is not most main cause led to climate warming, and still also carbon dioxide emitted by human activities was not a chief culprit led to global warming. Thus, large decrease of emission of carbon dioxide cannot control the greenhouse effect, and also cannot prevent climate warming, and still also cannot stop happening of climate cataclysm.

Forecasting environmental and social benefits of adopting cleaner technologies in Indian brick manufacturing industry

Wildfire emissions are a major contributor of atmospheric gaseous and particulate pollutants for local air pollution levels. With respect to wildfires, Turkey faces one of Europe’s most severe problems during summer. In this study, a database which holds data for wildfire emissions in Turkey for the last decade (between 2000 and 2009) was established in order to create a wildfire emissions inventory. The emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2), carbon monoxide (CO), methane (CH4), non-methane volatile organic compounds (NMVOC), nitrogen oxides (NOx), ammonia (NH3), nitrous oxide (N2O) sulphur oxides (SOx), total suspended particulate (TSP), particulate matter <10 µm diameter (PM10) and particulate matter <2.5 µm diameter (PM2.5) are estimated from wildfires in Turkey. European Monitoring and Evaluation Programme/European Environment Agency (EMEP/EEA) emission factors were used for different biomes of Turkey including temperate forest, Mediterranean forest and steppe. Total emissions from wildfires were estimated as 6,265,180 tons CO2, 386,530 tons CO, 18,078 tons CH4, 35,901 tons NMVOC, 13,444 tons NOx, 1,303 tons NH3, 414 tons N2O, 2,690 tons SOx, 63,974 tons TSP, 41,395 tons PM10 and 33,869 tons PM2.5 for the last decade. Comparing the total emissions in Turkey for the year 2000, wildfire emissions constitute 2.78% of CO2, 0.27% of PM (PM10+PM2.5), 0.02% of SOx, 0.40% NOx, 2.00% of VOC and 5.32% of CO emissions.