A systems approach to reducing institutional GHG emissions

Major US electric utility climate pledges have the potential to collectively reduce power sector emissions by one-third

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).

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.

Greenhouse gas emissions reduction in different economic sectors: Mitigation measures, health co-benefits, knowledge gaps, and policy implications

Energy efficiency activities driven by White Certificate Trading schemes (WCT) achieve the objective of conserving energy, and in most circumstances, also that of reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The potential therefore exists that both objectives could be targeted by a single policy mechanism. Energy efficiency activities are important from a GHG mitigation perspective as they represent some of the least costly GHG mitigation activities available to economies. However, there are some significant differences between the use of a direct policy instrument to target GHG emissions mitigation, and the use of an indirect instrument such as WCT, whose direct policy objective is to achieve energy efficiency. Most importantly, WCT utilises intensity targets, whereas GHG mitigation is required by science to comprise absolute reductions. International experience does however suggest that white certificates can be fully fungible with a GHG mitigation policy instrument such as an emissions trading scheme, as long as double counting rules are firmly in place, and the design of the schemes are compatible.Given that 80 percent of the South African GHG emissions are energy related, with energy efficiency measures in industry, commerce and the residential sector representing the bulk of negative cost mitigation options available in the economy, energy efficiency has an important role to play in the country’s mitigation strategy.This paper presents results on research into WCT as a policy option for South Africa conducted in 2008 and presented at the Climate Change Summit 2009. It investigates in particular the Electricity Conservation Scheme (ECS) as an option for incorporating a WCT mechanism.There is limited experience and therefore analysis on WCS available to date, and even less on the potential interaction and linkages of WCS and emissions trading schemes. This paper therefore identifies significa

The public health co-benefits that curbing climate change would have may make greenhouse gas (GHG) mitigation strategies more attractive and increase their implementation. The primary purpose of this chapter is to review the evidence on GHG mitigation measures and the related health co-benefits; identify potential mechanisms, uncertainties, and knowledge gaps; and provide recommendations to promote further development and implementation of climate change response policies at both national and global levels. Evidence of the effects of GHG abatement measures and related health co-benefits has been observed at regional, national, and global levels, involving both low- and high-income societies. GHG mitigation actions have mainly been taken in five sectors—energy generation, transport, food and agriculture, households, and industry—consistent with the main sources of GHG emissions. GHGs and air pollutants to a large extent stem from the same sources and are inseparable in terms of their atmospheric evolution and effects on ecosystems; thus, reductions in GHG emissions are usually, although not always, estimated to have cost-effective co-benefits for public health. Some integrated mitigation strategies involving multiple sectors, which tend to create greater health benefits, have also been investigated, and this chapter discusses the pros and cons of different mitigation measures, issues with existing knowledge, priorities for research, and policy implications. Findings from this study can play a role not only in motivating large GHG emitters to make decisive changes in GHG emissions, but also in facilitating cooperation at international, national, and regional levels to promote GHG mitigation policies that protect public health from climate change and air pollution simultaneously.

Brazilian cattle production is mostly carried out in pastures, and the need to mitigate the livestock's greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and its environmental footprint has become an important requirement. The adoption of well-suited breeds and the intensification of pasture-based livestock production systems are alternatives to optimize the sector's land use. However, further research on tropical systems is necessary. The objective of this research was to evaluate the effect of Holstein (HO) and Jersey–Holstein (JE x HO) crossbred cows in different levels of pasture intensification (continuous grazing system with low stocking rate–CLS; irrigated rotational grazing system with high stocking rate–RHS), and the interaction between these two factors on GHG mitigation. Twenty-four HO and 24 JE x HO crossbred dairy cows were used to evaluate the effect of two grazing systems on milk production and composition, soil GHG emissions, methane (CH4) emission, and soil carbon accumulation (0–100 cm). These variables were used to calculate carbon balance (CB), GHG emission intensity, the number of trees required to mitigate GHG emission, and the land-saving effect. The number of trees necessary to mitigate GHG emission was calculated, considering the C balance within the farm gate. The mitigation of GHG emissions comes from the annual growth rate and accumulation of C in eucalyptus trees' trunks. The CB of all systems and genotypes presented a deficit in carbon (C); there was no difference for genotypes, but RHS was more deficient than CLS (-4.99 to CLS and −28.72 to RHS ton CO2e..ha−1.year−1). The deficit of C on GHG emission intensity was similar between genotypes and higher for RHS (−0.480 to RHS and −0.299 to CLS kg CO2e..kg FCPCmilk−1). Lower GHG removals (0.14 to CLS higher than 0.02 to RHS kg CO2e..kg FCPCmilk−1) had the greatest influence on the GHG emission intensity of milk production. The deficit number of trees to abatement emissions was higher to HO (−46.06 to HO and −38.37 trees/cow to JE x HO) and to RHS (−51.9 to RHS and −33.05 trees/cow to CLS). However, when the results are expressed per ton of FCPCmilk, there was a difference only between pasture management, requiring −6.34 tree. ton FCPCmilk−1 for the RHS and −3.99 tree. ton FCPCmilk−1 for the CLS system. The intensification of pastures resulted in higher milk production and land-saving effect of 2.7 ha. Due to the reservation of the pasture-based dairy systems in increasing soil C sequestration to offset the GHG emissions, especially enteric CH4, planting trees can be used as a mitigation strategy. Also, the land-save effect of intensification can contribute to the issue, since the area spared through the intensification in pasture management becomes available for reforestation with commercial trees.

Spatially explicit database on crop-livestock management, soil, climate, greenhouse gas emissions and mitigation potential for all of Bangladesh

Agriculture is widely recognized as a source of considerable greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, with opportunities for mitigation. The limited capacity to identify and collect reliable activity data and to quantify emissions by sources and removals by sinks needs to be addressed. One proposed solution is to adapt IPCC methodologies that include estimations of both CO2 emissions and carbon sequestration in agricultural systems, which were applied to Colombia at the farm level in this study. The aim of this work was to provide an assessment of GHG balances through these IPCC methodologies to identify potential GHG mitigation in sustainable agricultural systems used in Colombia that provide acceptable GHG trade‐offs to the atmosphere. Agroforestry systems made the largest contribution to this mitigation potential because of the potential to sequester carbon in both soil and biomass, giving a negative GHG emission to the atmosphere. GHG balance analysis at the Colombian farm level indicated that conventional agriculture with pastures of Pennisetum clandestinum in rotation with potatoes (PRP) in the Andean zone of Nariño (Colombia) is a large emitter of GHG with 9.1 ton CO2eq ha−1 year−1. On the other hand, in livestock systems in the Andean zone (Antioquia), intensive silvopastoral systems with 500 Eucalyptus tereticornis trees ha−1 (SSPi) on pastures is a great neutralizer of GHG emissions, accounting for −26.6 t CO2eq ha−1 year−1. Agroforestry systems play a leading role, as crop rotation and improved pastures can represent a GHG mitigation opportunity for sustainable agricultural production at the farm level in Colombia. © 2021 Society of Chemical Industry and John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

This paper analyzes how a firm’s management of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions affects its economic performance. The theoretical model we derive from Cobb–Douglas production and inverse demand functions predict that in conducting GHG emissions management, a firm will enhance its economic performance because it promotes an increase in demand for its output and improves its productivity. The estimation results, using panel data on Japanese manufacturing firms during the period 2007–2008, support the view that a firm’s GHG emissions management enhances a firm’s economic performance through an increase in demand and improvement in productivity. However, the latter effect is conditional. Although a firm’s efforts to maintain lower GHG emissions improves productivity, efforts to reduce GHG emissions further does not always improve it, especially for energy-intensive firms. Because firms attempting to maintain lower GHG emissions are more likely to improve their productivity, there is a possibility that firms with high GHG emissions can also enhance economic performance by reducing their emissions in the long term, even if additional costs are incurred. In addition, better GHG emissions management increases the demand of environmentally conscious customers because a product’s life cycle GHG emissions in the upper stream of the supply chain influence those in the lower stream, and customers evaluate the suppliers’ GHG emissions management in terms of green supply-chain management.

Drawing from the literature on public participation and stakeholder collaboratives, this article investigates the influence of power and wealth, as well as political and economic context on the output of stakeholders advisory committees convened to formulate state greenhouse gas (GHG) mitigation policies. Using small sample regression techniques, we analyze the outputs of stakeholder groups in 18 states that have completed Climate Action Plans to reduce GHGs. We find that an increase of 1 percent in the number of energy industry representatives that participate in Climate Action Councils significantly predicts a 4 percent reduction of GHG mitigation targets for the energy sector. More surprisingly, the results also show that where the utilities represent a larger share of the state economy, the Climate Action Plans identify more aggressive GHG reduction goals for the energy sector. We also find that the political orientation of the executive of the state is not correlated with GHG mitigation requirements for the energy sector, suggesting that GHG mitigation is less partisan at the state level than in Washington, DC. We find no evidence that state wealth is associated with GHG mitigation requirements. Finally, we suggest additional research needed to clarify the role of stakeholder participation processes in the evolving arena of climate change policy.

The greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of the global ceramic production is estimated at more than 400 Mt CO2/year, which have increased steadily from economic growth. Among ceramic industries, ceramic tableware industry (CTI) is a highly energy-intensive and high GHG emissions industry. Thailand was the fourth highest ranking ceramic tableware exporting country in the world. However, information on GHG emission from this industry was limited. This research aimed to investigate the carbon dioxide(CO2) intensity of CTI in Thailand and the annual projections of GHG emission during 2017–2050 with different GDP growths. Then, the energy saving potentials and GHG mitigation measures with their GHG abatement cost for small and large-scale CTI were proposed. The results indicated that the average CO2 intensity of Thailand CTI was 1.75 kg CO2e/kg of product. The projections for GHG emissions of ceramic tableware production with gross domestic production (GDP) growth rates of 1.5, 3.5 (BAU), and 5.5%, reached their maximum emissions at 220,500 t CO2 in 2029, 2022, and 2020, respectively. Under a BAU scenario, ceramic tableware production in 2022 would emit GHG at a rate approximately 1.37 times greater compared to the emissions in 2016. The maximum GHG reduction (100% implementation) was 48,902 t CO2e, accounting for 22% of GHG emissions in 2030. The average mitigation cost was 6.64 USD/t CO2e reduction. This study provided a guideline for the assessment of CO2 intensity and the technical information for long-term GHG emission projection in CTI which could be applied in worldwide.

Greenhouse gas emissions and mitigation measures in Chinese agroecosystems

ABSTRACTThis study aims at the development of Thailand’s low-carbon society in 2030 by using the Asia-Pacific Integrated Model/Extended Snap Shot model for analysis of greenhouse gas (GHG) mitigation through renewable energy (RE) utilization. This article presents the potentials of RE in power generation, industrial, and transport sectors in Thailand for GHG mitigation in 2030. The deployment of the RE sources is used in the analyses with potentials of mini-hydro of 390 MW, wind power of 960 MW, solar power of 600 MW, biomass energy of 4,400 MW, biogas power of 144 MW, waste to power of 192 MW, bioenergy of 4,634 ktoe, and RE for thermal of 8,088 ktoe in 2030. According to the proposed development, the amount of GHG emissions is estimated based on business-as-usual (BAU) without mitigation measures and countermeasures with GHG mitigation options of adopted RE technologies available during 2005–2030. Results show that annual GHG emissions in the base year of 2005 are 185,983 kt-CO2. In 2030 the GHG emissions in the BAU scenario will increase to 563,730 kt-CO2 or 3.03 times higher than the base year 2005. The GHG emissions in the 2030 can be decreased dramatically to 443,043 kt-CO2, and accounted for 21.4% of GHG reduction by deployment of RE technologies.

Assessment of renewable energy and energy efficiency plans in Thailand’s industrial sector