Enhancing the Cost-Effectiveness of Climate Change Mitigation Policies in Sweden

Well-to-wheel greenhouse gas emissions of electric versus combustion vehicles from 2018 to 2030 in the US

Devising policies for a low carbon city requires a careful understanding of the characteristics of urban residential lifestyle and consumption. The production-based accounting approach based on top-down statistical data has a limited ability to reflect the total greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from residential consumption. In this paper, we present a survey-based GHG emissions accounting methodology for urban residential consumption, and apply it in Xiamen City, a rapidly urbanizing coastal city in southeast China. Based on this, the main influencing factors determining residential GHG emissions at the household and community scale are identified, and the typical profiles of low, medium and high GHG emission households and communities are identified. Up to 70% of household GHG emissions are from regional and national activities that support household consumption including the supply of energy and building materials, while 17% are from urban level basic services and supplies such as sewage treatment and solid waste management, and only 13% are direct emissions from household consumption. Housing area and household size are the two main factors determining GHG emissions from residential consumption at the household scale, while average housing area and building height were the main factors at the community scale. Our results show a large disparity in GHG emissions profiles among different households, with high GHG emissions households emitting about five times more than low GHG emissions households. Emissions from high GHG emissions communities are about twice as high as from low GHG emissions communities. Our findings can contribute to better tailored and targeted policies aimed at reducing household GHG emissions, and developing low GHG emissions residential communities in China.

The decarbonisation of the construction sector is critical to meet national and international climate goals. Literature gives many examples of measures for the reduction of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from buildings. However, few studies investigate the trade-offs between potentially conflicting GHG emission reduction measures or the affordability of these measures. Ydalir is a Zero Emission Neighbourhood (ZEN) pilot area in the Norwegian research centre for Zero Emission Neighbourhoods in smart cities. One of the major challenges Ydalir faces is how to reduce GHG emissions from the neighbourhood towards a net zero emission building (nZEB). Additional challenges include retaining social, environmental, and economical sustainability for both the project developer and building owners and avoid suboptimal solutions. This paper investigates the trade-offs between energy efficiency and material use for two scenarios. The scenarios are a Norwegian building code scenario and a passive house scenario. The analysis ascertains total energy demand, whole life cycle GHG emissions, and cost assessment for two housing units within Ydalir Torg. The results show lower total GHG emissions and lower GHG emissions from operational energy use in the passive house scenario, and an increase in GHG emissions from the production phase due to thicker levels of insulation. The cost assessment shows increased investment costs for the project developer in the passive house scenario, despite lower operational costs for the building owner. Total GHG emission payback times for the passive house scenario are at 18 - 19 years. Cost payback time varies between 10 - 37 years. This paper is useful for practitioners that wish to balance GHG emission reduction requirements between operational energy use, material use and affordability.

Polyethylene film mulch (PM) is a kind of widely used technology to improve crop yields worldwide; however, because of a problem related with plastic residual pollution, it has gradually been replaced by biodegradable plastic film mulch (BDP). Although BDP has helped to solve the plastic residual pollution, its consequences in terms of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions have rarely been revealed. Related knowledge is important for forming low-carbon development strategies for the plastic industry and agriculture. The objective of this study is to evaluate the influence of BDP on GHG emissions at different stages of its life cycle, and determine whether replacing polyethylene (PE) film with BDP film is a helpful way to reduce national GHG emissions. The results of this study suggest that the application of BDP improved the GHG emissions associated with agricultural inputs, but induced lower GHG emissions at the growing stage and the waste disposal stage, and resulted in lower total area-scale GHG emissions. Compared to the no mulch (NM) cultivation system, the yield-scale carbon footprint was reduced in both the PM and BDP cultivation systems, which meant that both PM and BDP produced lower GHG emissions than NM for the production of the same amount of grain. It was concluded that BDP is not only a measure to control the problem of plastic residue pollution in agriculture, but it can also mitigate the GHG emissions.

The Earth's surface temperature is steadily increasing due to the accumulation of greenhouse gases, a phenomenon known as global warming. Human activities are the root cause of this significant global issue. Reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions is one of the most critical actions in climate change mitigation. Organizations can engage in activities that promote change and reduce greenhouse gases by acknowledging the significance of addressing climate change. By reducing GHG emissions and promoting the use of renewable energy, organizations can begin to address environmental issues. Therefore, the purpose of this investigation is to assess the reduction of GHG emissions in an educational institution by substituting electricity consumption from the electrical grid with renewable energy in the form of a solar PV rooftop on-grid system. The School of Renewable Energy's GHG emissions were assessed, covering three scopes of GHG emissions activities: direct emissions, indirect emissions, and other indirect emissions. The organization's activity data were collected over a 12-month period. Without installing a solar panel system, the organization reported total GHG emissions of 310.40 tCO2e, relying solely on imported electricity for internal use. The highest GHG emissions were from Scope 2, amounting to 239.38 tCO2e, primarily due to electricity importation. Scope 3 had the second highest GHG emissions, totaling 65.76 tCO2e, resulting from employee commuting and the use of purchased goods such as paper and tap water. Scope 1 had the lowest GHG emissions at 5.26 tCO2e, produced by the combustion of diesel and gasoline in both stationary and mobile sources, as well as CH4 emissions from the septic tank. The percentage of GHG emissions from Scope 2 activities was 77.12%, which was considered to have a significant environmental impact and contribute to global warming. This was because 478,851 kWh of electricity were imported. The installation of on-grid solar cells for power generation reduced imported electricity to 113,120 kWh. Consequently, GHG emissions from Scope 2 decreased to 56.55 tCO2e, leading to an overall reduction in the organization's GHG emissions to 127.57 tCO2e. The organization's GHG emissions decreased by 182.83 tCO2e as a result of using alternative energy to generate electricity. This assessment can serve as a database for educational institutions and prepare the government to report greenhouse gas emissions. Furthermore, it can serve as carbon credits for trading and exchanging carbon with other organizations to offset GHG emissions from various activities. In addition, it endorses the government's goal of achieving carbon neutrality and net zero emissions in the future.

Reply to L Aleksandrowicz et al.

Aquaculture is a major source of protein in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), a region experiencing rapid population growth, changing lifestyles and preferences, and increased health awareness. However, the industry is still underdeveloped and is of a subsistence nature. Climate change has impacted aquaculture production (AQUAP) in SSA because of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. However, AQUAP activities also results in GHG emissions. In SSA, the causal effect of GHG emissions and AQUAP has not yet been empirically established and quantified. The objective of the study was to determine the relationship between GHG emissions and AQUAP in SSA. The parsimonious vector autoregressive (VAR) model was used in the study, with annual time series data of Gross Domestic Product (GDP), meat production (MP), GHG emissions, and AQUAP from 1970 to 2020. The findings demonstrate that AQUAP in SSA was suppressed until 2006 when it suddenly increased. Western and Central Africa have dominated AQUAP in SSA. GHG emissions were dropping sporadically until 1991 when they began to rise gradually. In both the long and short run, GHG emissions had a negative influence on AQUAP, while AQUAP had an asymmetric impact on GHG emissions. AQUAP impacts GDP positively in both the long and short run, and GHG emissions had an asymmetric impact on GDP. In conclusion, GHG emissions negatively affect AQUAP. In addition, AQUAP reduced GHG emissions in the short run but however increased it in the long run. This indicates the infancy of the sector in SSA, the initial phase of the Environmental Kuznets Curves (EKC). Furthermore, GDP is positively affected by both GHG emissions and AQUAP. This also cements the initial stages of the EKC, with economic development also powered by GHG emissions, with also the positive contribution of AQUAP to economic growth. Overall, the study concludes of initial economic, and aquaculture sectoral development powered by GHG emissions. However, this is also leading to increased emissions. The study recommends upscaling AQUAP in SSA given its infancy, huge economic potential, sustainability and low GHG emission potential but should be grounded on environmentally sustainable practices.

SummaryThis research reports on a multivariate analysis that examined the relationship between direct greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and socioeconomic and well‐being variables for 1,920 respondents living in Halifax Regional Municipality, Nova Scotia, Canada, using results from the Halifax Space‐Time Activity Research Project. The unique data set allows us to estimate direct GHG emissions with an unprecedented level of specificity based on household energy use survey data and geographic positioning system–verified personal travel data. Of the variables analyzed, household size, income, community zone, age, and marital status are all statistically significant predictors of direct GHG emissions. Birthplace, ethnicity, educational attainment, perceptions of health, life satisfaction, job satisfaction, happiness, volunteering, or community belonging did not seem to matter. In addition, we examined whether those reporting energy‐efficient behaviors had lower GHG emissions. No significant differences were discovered among the groups analyzed, supporting a growing body of research indicating a disconnect between environmental attitudes and behaviors and environmental impact. Among the predictor variables, those reporting to be married, young, low income, and living in households with more people have correspondingly lower direct GHG emissions than other categories in respective groupings. Our finding that respondents with lifestyles that generate higher GHG emissions did not report to be healthier, happier, or more connected to their communities suggest that individuals can experience similar degrees of well‐being regardless of the amount of GHG emissions associated with his or her respective lifestyle.

This study assesses and compares lifecycle (LC) greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from the two main railway track construction types: ballasted track and slab track. In this study, preexisting soil conditions are considered, as they significantly influence necessary measures during the construction phase for each type. This study is executed for Austrian boundary conditions with speeds up to 250 km/h. The results show that ballasted track is associated with 11–20% lower LC GHG emissions, whereby the variation in relative emission reduction is associated with additional soil reinforcement treatments due to varying preexisting soil conditions. Poor preexisting soil conditions increase LC GHG emissions by 26%, underlying the necessity to integrate this parameter into the lifecycle assessment of railway track. In contrast to the higher service life of slab track construction, this type amounts to higher masses of concrete and demands more extensive measures for soil enhancement due to the higher stiffness of the track panel. Only in tunnel areas does slab track cause lower GHG emissions since soil reinforcements are not necessary due to an existing concrete base layer after tunnel construction. For both construction types, over 80% of the GHG emissions stem from material production. Hence, circular economy as well as innovations within steel and concrete production processes hold significant potential for reducing GHG emissions.

Identifying a sustainable rice-based cropping system via on-farm evaluation of grain yield, carbon sequestration capacity and carbon footprints in Central China

The studies on municipal solid waste (MSW) management in Pakistan and its impacts on greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions are glaringly missing. Therefore, this study examines the effect of MSW management on GHG emissions in Pakistan and suggests the best suitable strategies for alleviating GHG emissions. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) 2006 waste model (WM) was used to create inventory of GHG emissions from landfilling. The solid waste management GHG (SWM-GHG) calculator and strengths-weaknesses-opportunities-threat (SWOT) analyses were used as strategic planning tools to reduce GHG emissions by improving MSW management in Pakistan. The IPCC 2006 WM estimated 14,987,113 metric tonnes (Mt) carbon dioxide equivalents (CO2-eq) of GHG emissions in 2016. The SWM-GHG calculator, on the other hand, estimated 23,319,370 Mt CO2-eq of GHG emissions from management of 30,764,000 Mt of MSW in 2016, which included 8% recycling, 2% composting, and 90% disposal in open dumps. To reduce GHG emissions, two strategies including recycling-focused and incineration-focused were analysed. The recycling approach can reduce more GHG emissions than incineration, as it can reduce 36% of GHG emissions (as compared to GHG emission in 2016) by recycling 23% of MSW, anaerobically digesting 10% of MSW, and disposing of 67% of MSW in sanitary landfills (with energy recovery). Moreover, the SWOT analysis suggested integration of the informal sector, adoption of anaerobic digestion and formulation of explicit MSW regulations for improving the current management of MSW which will also result in lower GHG emissions.

Abstract. To track progress towards keeping global warming well below 2 ∘C or even 1.5 ∘C, as agreed in the Paris Agreement, comprehensive up-to-date and reliable information on anthropogenic emissions and removals of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions is required. Here we compile a new synthetic dataset on anthropogenic GHG emissions for 1970–2018 with a fast-track extension to 2019. Our dataset is global in coverage and includes CO2 emissions, CH4 emissions, N2O emissions, as well as those from fluorinated gases (F-gases: HFCs, PFCs, SF6, NF3) and provides country and sector details. We build this dataset from the version 6 release of the Emissions Database for Global Atmospheric Research (EDGAR v6) and three bookkeeping models for CO2 emissions from land use, land-use change, and forestry (LULUCF). We assess the uncertainties of global greenhouse gases at the 90 % confidence interval (5th–95th percentile range) by combining statistical analysis and comparisons of global emissions inventories and top-down atmospheric measurements with an expert judgement informed by the relevant scientific literature. We identify important data gaps for F-gas emissions. The agreement between our bottom-up inventory estimates and top-down atmospheric-based emissions estimates is relatively close for some F-gas species (∼ 10 % or less), but estimates can differ by an order of magnitude or more for others. Our aggregated F-gas estimate is about 10 % lower than top-down estimates in recent years. However, emissions from excluded F-gas species such as chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) or hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs) are cumulatively larger than the sum of the reported species. Using global warming potential values with a 100-year time horizon from the Sixth Assessment Report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), global GHG emissions in 2018 amounted to 58 ± 6.1 GtCO2 eq. consisting of CO2 from fossil fuel combustion and industry (FFI) 38 ± 3.0 GtCO2, CO2-LULUCF 5.7 ± 4.0 GtCO2, CH4 10 ± 3.1 GtCO2 eq., N2O 2.6 ± 1.6 GtCO2 eq., and F-gases 1.3 ± 0.40 GtCO2 eq. Initial estimates suggest further growth of 1.3 GtCO2 eq. in GHG emissions to reach 59 ± 6.6 GtCO2 eq. by 2019. Our analysis of global trends in anthropogenic GHG emissions over the past 5 decades (1970–2018) highlights a pattern of varied but sustained emissions growth. There is high confidence that global anthropogenic GHG emissions have increased every decade, and emissions growth has been persistent across the different (groups of) gases. There is also high confidence that global anthropogenic GHG emissions levels were higher in 2009–2018 than in any previous decade and that GHG emissions levels grew throughout the most recent decade. While the average annual GHG emissions growth rate slowed between 2009 and 2018 (1.2 % yr−1) compared to 2000–2009 (2.4 % yr−1), the absolute increase in average annual GHG emissions by decade was never larger than between 2000–2009 and 2009–2018. Our analysis further reveals that there are no global sectors that show sustained reductions in GHG emissions. There are a number of countries that have reduced GHG emissions over the past decade, but these reductions are comparatively modest and outgrown by much larger emissions growth in some developing countries such as China, India, and Indonesia. There is a need to further develop independent, robust, and timely emissions estimates across all gases. As such, tracking progress in climate policy requires substantial investments in independent GHG emissions accounting and monitoring as well as in 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.5566761.

Pennsylvania State University, USADespite overwhelming consensus among scientists about thereality of anthropogenic climate change (Bray, 2010; Oreskes,2004), there remains significant reluctance on the part ofcitizens and politicians to take the action needed to addressit. This resistance has been repeatedly identified in socialresearch (Leiserowitz & Maibach, 2010; Leviston, Leitch,Greenhill, Leonard, & Walker, 2011; Lorenzoni & Pidgeon,2006; McCright & Dunlap, 2011; Reser, Bradley, Glendon,Ellul, & Callaghan, 2012) and is mirrored by the lack of prog-ress made by salient political summits (Rogelj et al., 2010).Perhaps as a response to this, scholarly journals and articlesthat are focused on climate change are growing. Naturalscientists tell us that we know what needs to be done to avertdangerous climate change (IPCC, 2014), and economists tellus that delaying action in the short term will lead to muchgreater costs in the long term (Stern, 2007). Understandingpublic responses to climate change and developing solutionsto catalyse action is a critical challenge for the social sciences,and we propose that the development and elaboration of asocial psychology of climate change would be a cornerstoneof such an approach.We do not make the claim that social psychology has all theanswers but rather that the theories, models and researchmethods of social psychology can provide a powerful arsenalto complement the approaches of other disciplines. Re-searchers have already begun to apply social psychologicaltheory and methods to the issue of climate change, and wehighlight in the following sections examples of the insightsthat have flowed from this. We cannot assume, though, thatour theories and findings will automatically generalise to theclimate change context. As Moser (2010) has noted, thereare unique dimensions to climate change that make it distinctfrom other environmental, risk and health issues: The causesof climate change are invisible to humans, the impacts are dis-tal and it is complex and riddled with uncertainties. Modernurban humans are to some extent insulated from their physicalenvironment, and the lags between the climate and social sys-tems make it difficult for people to understand their role ininfluencing climate.These factors suggest the importance of developing a socialpsychology of climate change, empirically testing, integratingand refining existing theories and models to develop newframeworks. The notion that psychology can play a role inunderstanding and addressing climate change is not a newone. The American Psychological Association’s Task Forceon the interface between psychology and global climatechange comprehensively detailed the ways in which psycho-logical research can help to understand people’s perceptionsof the risks of climate change, the contribution of human be-haviour to climate change, the psychosocial impacts of climatechange, the ways in which people can adapt and cope withclimate change and the psychological barriers that could limitclimate change action (Swim et al., 2009, 2011).It is also not a new idea that social psychology can play animportant role in understanding and addressing environmentalproblems and solutions (Clayton & Brook, 2005). Social psy-chology, specifically, has a long tradition oftheory andresearchthat is relevant to addressing key climate change questions.Attitudes, social cognition, persuasion and attitude change, so-cial influence, and intragroup and intergroup behaviour, forinstance, are fundamental foci for social psychology and havedirect relevance for understanding the human and social dimen-sionsofclimatechange.Thetimeisripetounderstandtherangeof research that has been developing in social psychology onattitudes, beliefs and actions, to build upon these insights, andintegrate them with knowledge from other sciences to developmodels and theories indigenous to the climate change context.In the following section, we provide a brief overview of re-cent social psychological research that addresses three broadthemes relevant to understanding and responding to climatechange. These themes are as follows: (i) social psychologicalinfluences on climate change attitudes and beliefs; (ii) facilita-tors and barriers to climate change action; and (iii) changingclimate change attitudes and behaviour. Although there issome overlap in these themes, as an organising principle theyintuitively map on to key questions that arise in relation to cli-mate change. Our aim is to highlight recent examples of socialpsychological research that provide interesting and importantinsights in relation to these themes. Swim, Markowitz, andBloodhart (2012) have noted that much of the social psycho-logical research on climate change has emerged since 2006;we focus in on the most recent of this research that has beenpublished since 2010. We also outline how the studies in thespecial issue relate to these themes. We recognise that theseare not the only areas where social psychological researchand theory can make important contributions but they never-theless relate to key questions that need to be addressed. Weconclude the introduction by proposing considerations thatsocial psychologists could take into account in their futureresearch on climate change.European Journal of Social Psychology, Eur. J. Soc. Psychol. 44, 413–420 (2014)

Anthropogenic climate change, caused by greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, will have negative if not catastrophic consequences for the livelihoods of many across the globe. With the Paris Agreement in 2015, most countries have pledged to reduce territorial GHG emissions. Per-capita emission levels are highest in today's rich countries, and many have started reducing their emissions. Current middle-income economies such as China, Ghana, India or Indonesia have experienced rapid economic, population, and emission growth in recent years, and today's poor countries are projected to be responsible for the lion's share of growth in energy demand and emissions in the coming decades. As of 2019, middle-income countries were responsible for over half of global GHG emissions. While the implementation of climate policies in middle-income countries is crucial for global mitigation efforts, the same is difficult to defend for low-income countries due to justified growth ambitions and very low historical and current emission levels. Besides switching to renewable energy sources for electricity generation, carbon pricing – either through taxes or trading schemes – as well as fossil fuel subsidy removal are arguably the most important mitigation policy tools available. These policies increase energy prices at least in the short term, thus incurring costs that may harm sustainable development goals. People and firms adapted their behaviour to low and often subsidized fossil energy. Many firms rely on generators powered by cheap diesel, while large parts of the population rely on cheap transportation and buy LPG cookstoves due to subsidized fuel prices. Clean cooking fuel adoption objectives may be hampered by taxing the fossil fuel LPG – the only viable clean cooking fuel in many regions of the world. Rising energy prices come with negative welfare consequences for households that may directly threaten poverty reduction efforts. Further, potential competitiveness losses of firms can dampen economic development prospects. Economic development has always been associated with both an increase in per-capita emissions and a decrease in poverty rates, although considerable country-level heterogeneity exists. For instance, China's and Thailand's growth have been associated with steep rises in per-capita emissions (and steep declines in poverty rates), while India's, Indonesia's, and Ghana's emission trajectories are much flatter. South African and Mexican growth rates and per-capita emissions have been relatively stagnant in the past 30 years, but these countries achieved considerable reductions in poverty rates. The trade-offs between climate policy and economic development may explain why only few middle-income countries (and no low-income country) have implemented carbon pricing to date. Those countries that have implemented carbon pricing have done so at very low price levels. The removal of fossil fuel subsidies, labelled as "second-best" climate policy for developing countries, has been more frequent. In addition to public welfare and economic growth concerns, the implementation of policies raising energy prices is frequently met with public protests – be it in China, Ecuador, France, Kazakhstan, Kenya or Mexico. These incidences are likely related to in some cases considerable short-term costs of such policies, which are clearly important from a political economy perspective, irrespective of long-term gains. Policy design needs to take into account these costs in order to avoid adverse consequences and to increase public acceptance. For instance, well-designed social transfer schemes can in theory compensate for welfare losses among the poorer population, and reforms can be phased in gradually to avoid sudden price shocks. This dissertation investigates the impact of rising energy prices, caused by different policies, on different segments of society in two lower-middle-income countries – Ghana and Indonesia – and an upper-middle income country, that is, Mexico. The analyses shed light on the short-term impacts of an increase in energy prices on the performance of small firms in Mexico and on large manufacturing firms in Indonesia, on household welfare impacts and consumption-based GHG emission reduction potential of carbon taxes in Mexico, and on the impact of fossil fuel subsidy removal on clean cooking fuel objectives in Ghana. These analyses hence provide evidence on the effects of climate policies in developing countries and their immediate trade-offs with sustainable development goals. This empirical basis can inform decision makers on how to design complementary policies aimed at mitigating adverse impacts for sustainable development, and thus may also contribute to a more rapid introduction of mitigation policies.

Mitigating greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from the production of concrete, a critical infrastructure material around the world, has been highlighted as necessary to meet climate change goals. Concrete is made of water, aggregates (e.g., crushed rocks), and Portland cement (PC), a hydraulic binder. PC is the primary source of GHG emissions from concrete, a function of the emissions derived from the production of its clinker, a kilned, quenched material composed of calcium silicates that, by mass, makes up the majority of PC. While considerable attention has been given to reducing the GHG emissions from PC manufacture, better utilization of other resources used in concrete can lower the demand for the level of clinker necessary in any given mixture. In this work, we examine how changing the size of aggregates, the use of a superplasticizer (SP), and the use of supplementary cementitious materials (SCMs) can lower GHG emissions from concrete. We derive a system of equations based fundamentally on standard mixture proportioning guidelines to determine the most efficient use of PC in a concrete mixture for specified strength and workability and quantify GHG emissions using life cycle assessment methods. Findings show that the use of reactive SCMs can contribute to reduced GHG emissions, as can the use of a higher maximum aggregate diameter and higher SP dosage. Our models also suggest that a concrete producer could follow standard mixture proportioning guidelines and yield a mixture that has over 2 times the PC content needed. The efficient use of PC within concrete mixtures by appropriately selecting other constituents can lower GHG emissions, contributing to GHG emissions reduction goals.