ADJUSTING THE STRUCTURE COMBINATIONS OF PLANT COMMUNITIES IN URBAN GREENSPACE REDUCED THE MAINTENANCE ENERGY CONSUMPTION AND GHG EMISSIONS

Wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) exhibit significant energy consumption and produce large amounts of Greenhouse Gas emissions (GHG emissions). Energy efficiency and reduction in GHG emissions in WWTPs have become important issues, especially in view of the climate crisis. The core objective of this work is to assess the energy and carbon footprint of Greek WWTPs and to propose methods to improve energy efficiency and reduce GHG emissions. Data were collected from 31 Greek WWTPs with an average treatment capacity between 250 and 3,650,000 population equivalents (PE). The total population served by the 31 WWTPs was over 6,000,000, which is more than half of the population in Greece with access to WWTPs. Based on the results, the annual average energy consumption for small, medium and large WWTPs equals 137 kWh/PE, 48 kWh/PE and 32 kWh/PE, respectively. Accordingly, annual average GHG emissions, both biogenic and non-biogenic in small, medium and large WWTPs are equal to 207 kgCO2e/PE, 144 kgCO2e/PE and 89 kgCO2e/PE, respectively. Annual average on-site GHG emissions are equal to 56.5 kgCO2e/PE, while the average off-site GHG emissions account for 16.9 kgCO2e/PE. Based on the results, acceptable and attainable targets for WWTPs energy consumption and GHG emissions are proposed.

Effectively addressing today’s energy challenges requires advanced technologies along with policies that influence economic markets while advancing the public good.

The demand for production of cements is ever increasing to meet the infrastructure development globally. The energy and emission factors available for cements in most of the life cycle assessment (LCA) databases may not exactly suit for all the geographical locations. The main challenge in Indian scenario is the absence of database for LCA study. This study attempts to develop the energy and emission factors for the manufacturing of cements in Indian context. In the present study, five different cement manufacturing plants located in north, south, east, west and central zones of India are considered to assess the energy dissipation and carbon dioxide emission involved during the production of ordinary Portland cement (OPC). Most of the data is collected from the field, so that the energy and emission factors determined will be suitable for the zonal study. The study is then extended to assess the energy consumption and carbon dioxide emission for three blended cements, viz. Portland Pozzolan cement (PPC), Portland slag cement (PSC) and composite cement (CC) with permissible known replacement levels of fly ash, granulated blast furnace slag and both fly ash and slag, respectively. The average energy use and carbon emission is found to be on higher side in India by 15.14% and 12.64%, respectively, compared to other countries in manufacturing of cements. An average energy consumption in manufacturing of PPC, PSC and CC is found to be respectively 24.5%, 35.3% and 43.13% less compared to that of OPC. The CO2 emission intensity for OPC is found to vary between 893 and 940kg/tonne of cement from five different zones, and an average of respectively 24.8%, 40.97% and 47.18% lower CO2 emission was observed from PPC, PSC and CC compared to OPC. From the inventory results, CC has proven to be a more sustainable cement with low energy consumption and lower CO2 emission compared to other cements.

Life cycle energy use and GHG emission assessment of coal-based SNG and power cogeneration technology in China

Abstract. To track progress towards keeping warming well below 2 °C, as agreed upon in the Paris Agreement, comprehensive and reliable information on anthropogenic sources of greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) is required. Here we provide a dataset on anthropogenic GHG emissions 1970–2019 with a broad country and sector coverage. We build the dataset from recent releases of the “Emissions Database for Global Atmospheric Research” (EDGAR) for CO2 emissions from fossil fuel combustion and industry (FFI), CH4 emissions, N2O emissions, and fluorinated gases, and use a well-established fast-track method to extend this dataset from 2018 to 2019. We complement this with data on net CO2 emissions from land use, land-use change and forestry (LULUCF) from three bookkeeping models. We provide an assessment of the uncertainties in each greenhouse gas at the 90 % confidence interval (5th–95th percentile) by combining statistical analysis and comparisons of global emissions inventories with an expert judgement informed by the relevant scientific literature. We identify important data gaps: CH4 and N2O emissions could be respectively 10–20 % higher than reported in EDGAR once all emissions are accounted. F-gas emissions estimates for individual species in EDGARv5 do not align well with atmospheric measurements and the F-gas total exceeds measured concentrations by about 30 %. However, EDGAR and official national emission reports under the UNFCCC do not comprehensively cover all relevant F-gas species. Excluded F-gas species such as chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) or hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs) are larger than the sum of the reported species. GHG emissions in 2019 amounted to 59 ± 6.6 GtCO2eq: CO2 emissions from FFI were 38 ± 3.0 Gt, CO2 from LULUCF 6.6 ± 4.6 Gt, CH4 11 ± 3.3 GtCO2eq, N2O 2.4 ±1.5 GtCO2eq and F-gases 1.6 ± 0.49 GtCO2eq. Our analysis of global, anthropogenic GHG emission trends over the past five decades (1970–2019) highlights a pattern of varied, but sustained emissions growth. There is high confidence that global anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions have increased every decade. Emission growth has been persistent across different (groups of) gases. While CO2 has accounted for almost 75 % of the emission growth since 1970 in terms of CO2eq as reported here, the combined F-gases have grown at a faster rate than other GHGs, albeit starting from low levels in 1970. Today, F-gases make a non-negligible contribution to global warming – even though CFCs and HCFCs, regulated under the Montreal Protocol and not included in our estimates, have contributed more. There is further high confidence that global anthropogenic GHG emission levels were higher in 2010-2019 than in any previous decade and GHG emission levels have grown across the most recent decade. While average annual greenhouse gas emissions growth slowed between 2010–2019 compared to 2000–2009, the absolute increase in average decadal GHG emissions from the 2000s to the 2010s has been the largest since the 1970s – and within all human history as suggested by available long-term data. We note considerably higher rates of change in GHG emissions between 2018 and 2019 than for the entire decade 2010–2019, which is numerically comparable with the period of high GHG emissions growth during the 2000s, but we place low confidence in this finding as the majority of the growth is driven by highly uncertain increases in CO2-LULUCF emissions as well as the use of preliminary data and extrapolation methodologies for these most recent years. While there is a growing number of countries today on a sustained emission reduction trajectory, our analysis further reveals that there are no global sectors that show sustained reductions in GHG emissions. We conclude by highlighting that tracking progress in climate policy requires substantial investments in independent GHG emission accounting and monitoring as well as the available national and international statistical infrastructures. The data associated with this article (Minx et al. 2021) can be found at https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.5053056 .

Through their consumption behavior, households are responsible for more than 70% of total global greenhouse gas emissions. Therefore, the GHG emission reduction potential due to the household behavior is very high. Energy consumption is the main source of the GHG emission in households. There are two main ways to reduce GHG emissions in households: use of renewable energy, energy efficiency improvement, and energy conservation due to changes in the energy use patterns. The highest energy saving potential in households is linked with building renovation, followed by the use of energy efficient appliances (including lighting). Renewable energy microgeneration technologies in households also provide opportunities for GHG emission reduction. Although there have been many policies developed to reduce GHG emissions from energy consumption in households, they still need to be more effective. This paper aims to assess willingness of Lithuanian households to reduce GHG emissions from energy consumption in households by embarking on energy renovation of buildings, use of energy efficient appliances and use of renewable energy technologies. The willingness to pay for these GHG emission reduction measures allows to compare household preferences with respect to available support measures and assess the adequacy of such measures. The paper also discusses household attitudes toward the main policies and measures for GHG emission reduction. The results show the highest willingness to pay for energy efficient appliances, followed by renewable energy technologies. The willingness to pay for energy renovation is the lowest one and such s measure requires significant state support.

Mitigating Curtailment and Carbon Emissions through Load Migration between Data Centers

Can we live within environmental limits and still reduce poverty? Degrowth or decoupling?

We analyze the interdependencies between energy usage, energy costs, renewable energy shares, economic growth, and GHG emissions in the Korean industrial sector. We employ a time-series panel vector model with a firm-level data set of over 240 companies from 2007-2016. Our empirical findings highlight a difference in dynamics between large companies and small and mid-size enterprises (SMEs). Our common findings reflect common knowledge, in that the energy use of companies is positively related to their energy costs and GHG emission levels, and a positive shock in GDP increases the energy usage and GHG emissions and has a positive relationship with renewable energy shares. However, this study demonstrates the disparate dynamics for different size companies in particular. In the case of large companies, the increase in energy consumption has a greater impact on their energy costs and GHG emissions than for SMEs. Moreover, it has a significant effect on GDP. In addition, the increase in renewable energy shares only has a significant influence on the energy consumption and GHG emission levels of large companies.

The report discusses the serious environmental issues Indonesia's growing economy and rising energy use have brought about. In addition to examining government initiatives to lessen these impacts through sustainable development regulations, the goals include evaluating the connection between economic indicators and environmental results. The research employs a mixed-approaches strategy, combining quantitative and qualitative methods. The quantitative analysis, which employs time series data from 1991 to 2020, focuses on carbon dioxide emissions per capita as the dependent variable and GDP and energy consumption per capita as independent variables. Multiple linear regression using Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) evaluates these correlations. A thorough grasp of the relationship between economic growth, energy consumption, and environmental deterioration is provided by qualitative analysis, which entails a review of the literature to investigate government initiatives addressing environmental concerns. The study results show a substantial positive correlation between Indonesia's carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions, energy consumption, and economic development. The analysis indicates that the ongoing economic activities driven by fossil fuel consumption will exacerbate environmental degradation without significant intervention, necessitating effective government policies for sustainable development and emission reduction. The study concludes that economic growth and energy consumption significantly contribute to Indonesia's environmental degradation, particularly through increased carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions. It recommends that the government strengthen policies promoting sustainable energy use, increase investment in renewable energy technologies, and implement stricter regulations on industrial emissions. Additionally, fostering public awareness and education on environmental sustainability is crucial for effective long-term solutions.

Summary Cities, contributing more than 75% of global carbon emissions, are at the heart of climate change mitigation. Given cities' heterogeneity, they need specific low-carbon roadmaps instead of one-size-fits-all approaches. Here, we present the most detailed and up-to-date accounts of CO2 emissions for 294 cities in China and examine the extent to which their economic growth was decoupled from emissions. Results show that from 2005 to 2015, only 11% of cities exhibited strong decoupling, whereas 65.6% showed weak decoupling, and 23.4% showed no decoupling. We attribute the economic-emission decoupling in cities to several socioeconomic factors (i.e., structure and size of the economy, emission intensity, and population size) and find that the decline in emission intensity via improvement in production and carbon efficiency (e.g., decarbonizing the energy mix via building a renewable energy system) is the most important one. The experience and status quo of carbon emissions and emission-GDP (gross domestic product) decoupling in Chinese cities may have implications for other developing economies to design low-carbon development pathways.

Increased wealth and per capita energy use have transformed lives and shaped societies, but energy poverty remains a global challenge. Previous research has shown positive relationships among metrics of health and happiness and economic indices such as income and gross domestic product and between energy use and human development. To our knowledge, however, no comprehensive assessment has examined to what extent energy use may limit national‐level trends in such metrics. We analyze the maximum global performance of nine health, economic, and environmental metrics by country, determining which metrics increase with per capita energy use and which show thresholds or plateaus in maximum performance. Across the dataset, eight of nine metrics, including life expectancy, infant mortality, happiness, food supply, and access to basic sanitation services, improve steeply and then plateau at levels of average primary annual energy consumption between 10 and 75 GJ person−1 computed nationally (five metrics plateau between 10 and 30 GJ person−1). One notable exception is air quality (energy threshold of 125 GJ person−1 across 133 countries). Averaged across metrics, the 10 countries (with at least seven metrics) showing the best performance given their per capita primary energy use are Malta, Sri Lanka, Cuba, Albania, Iceland, Finland, Bangladesh, Norway, Morocco, and Denmark. If distributed equitably, today's average global energy consumption of 79 GJ person−1 could, in principle, allow everyone on Earth to realize 95% or more of maximum performance across all metrics (and assuming no other limiting factors). Dozens of countries have average per capita energy use below this 79 GJ energy sufficiency threshold, highlighting the need to combat energy poverty. Surprisingly, our analysis also suggests that reduced per capita primary energy consumption could in principle occur in many higher energy‐consuming countries with little or no loss in health, happiness, or other outcomes, reducing the need for global energy infrastructure and increasing global equity.

This study aimed to model energy use, energy efficiency, and greenhouse gas emissions in rain-fed wheat production by using a nonparametric data envelopment analysis (DEA) method. Data were collected through face-to-face interviews with 140 wheat farmers in 4 districts of Antalya Province. The energy inputs (independent variables) were human labor, seeds, chemical fertilizers, herbicides, and diesel fuel, and the energy output was the dependent variable. The results showed that the average energy consumption and the output energy for the studied wheat production system were 21. 07GJ ha−1 and 50. 99 GJ ha−1, respectively, and the total GHG emissions were calculated to be 592.12 kg CO2eq ha−1. Chemical fertilizer has the highest share of energy consumption and total GHG emissions. Based on the results from DEA, the technical efficiency of the farmers was found to be 0.81, while pure technical and scale efficiencies were 0.65 and 0.76, respectively. The results also highlighted that there is a potential opportunity to save approximately 14% (2.93 GJ ha−1) of the total energy consumption and consequently a 17% reduction in GHG emissions by following the optimal amounts of energy consumption while keeping the wheat yield constant. Efficient use of energy and reduction in GHG emissions will lead to resource efficiency and sustainable production, which is the main aim of the green economy.

Energy-related activities are a major contributor of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. A growing body of knowledge clearly depicts the links between human activities and climate change. Over the last century the burning of fossil fuels such as coal and oil and other human activities has released carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions and other heat-trapping GHG emissions into the atmosphere and thus increased the concentration of atmospheric CO2 emissions. The main human activities that emit CO2 emissions are (1) the combustion of fossil fuels to generate electricity, accounting for about 37% of total U.S. CO2 emissions and 31% of total U.S. GHG emissions in 2013, (2) the combustion of fossil fuels such as gasoline and diesel to transport people and goods, accounting for about 31% of total U.S. CO2 emissions and 26% of total U.S. GHG emissions in 2013, and (3) industrial processes such as the production and consumption of minerals and chemicals, accounting for about 15% of total U.S. CO2 emissions and 12% of total ...

Environmental data and facts in the semiconductor manufacturing industry: An unexpected high water and energy consumption situation