Estimating GHG emission mitigation supply curves of large-scale biomass use on a country level

BackgroundThe key problem of non-grain energy plants’ scale development is how to estimate the potential of GHG emission reduction accurately and scientifically. This study presents a method coupled DSSAT (the Decision Support System for Agrotechnology Transfer) and the life cycle assessment (LCA) method to simulate the spatial distribution of sweet sorghum-based ethanol production potential on saline–alkali land. The GHG (greenhouse gas) emission mitigation and net energy gains of the whole life of sweet sorghum-based ethanol production were then analyzed.ResultsThe results of the case study in Dongying, Shandong Province, China showed that developing sweet sorghum-based ethanol on saline–alkali land had GHG emission mitigation and energy potentials. The LC-GHG emission mitigation potential of saline–alkali land in Dongying was estimated at 63.9 thousand t CO2 eq, equivalent to the carbon emission of 43.4 Kt gasoline. The LC-NEG potential was predicted at 5.02 PJ, equivalent to the caloric value of 109 Kt gasoline. On average, LC-GHG emission mitigation and LC-NEG were predicted at 55.09 kg CO2 eq/t ethanol and 4.33 MJ/kg ethanol, respectively.ConclusionsThe question of how to evaluate the potential of sweet sorghum-based ethanol development scientifically was solved primarily in this paper. The results will provide an important theoretical support for planning the bioenergy crops on saline–alkali land and develop the fuel ethanol industry.

Mitigating Curtailment and Carbon Emissions through Load Migration between Data Centers

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 ...

Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from unsustainable land-use practices around the world contribute significantly to anthropogenic climate change. Growing population pressure and low efficiency of agricultural production systems in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) trigger the expansion of agricultural land into natural ecosystems, which leads to deforestation and land degradation, and causes GHG emissions. At the same time, prolonged droughts and increasingly erratic weather patterns due to climate change jeopardise food security in SSA countries such as Kenya.

This experiment was carried out to find out the mitigation of greenhouse gases (GHGs) emission and changes of soil carbon contents in the cropland. In order to minimize the soil disturbance, this study was conducted without crop cultivation at the pots treated with different biomass. Different biomass was buried in the soil for 12 months. Decomposition rates of expander rice hull, pig manure compost and carbonized rice hull were 18%, 11~11.5% and 0.5~1.2%, respectively. It was appeared that carbonized rice hull was slightly decomposed. No difference was shown between chemical fertilizer treatment plot and non-application plot. It was appeared that soil carbon content in the non chemical fertilizer application plot was high when compared to its chemical fertilizer. Its content at soil depth of 20 cm more decreased than the upper layer of soil. Accumulative emission of CO₂ with different treatments of biomass was highest of 829.0~876.6 g CO₂ m -2 in the application plot of PMC (Pig Manure Compost) regardless of chemical fertilizer treatment during 16 months of experiment. However, the emission for expander rice hull treatment plot was lowest of 672.3~808.1 g CO₂ m -2 . For application plot of the carbonized rice hull, it was shown that non chemical fertilizer plot, 304.1 mg N₂O m-2, was higher than the chemical fertilizer treatment, 271.6 mg N₂O m -2 . Greenhouse gas emissions in the PMC treatment were highest of 0.94 ton CO₂ eq ha -1 yr -1 . However, it was estimated to be the lowest in the expander rice hull treatment.

A diachronic study of greenhouse gas emissions of French dairy farms according to adaptation pathways

The U.K. government has published plans to reduce U.K. agriculture's greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. At the same time, the goal of global food security requires an increase in arable crop yields. Foliar disease control measures such as fungicides have an important role in meeting both objectives. It is estimated that U.K. winter barley production is associated with GHG emissions of 2770 kg CO2 eq. ha(-1) of crop and 355 kg CO2 eq. t(-1) of grain. Foliar disease control by fungicides is associated with decreases in GHG emissions of 42-60 kg CO2 eq. t(-1) in U.K. winter barley and 29-39 kg CO2 eq. t(-1) in U.K. spring barley. The sensitivity of these results to the impact of disease control on yield and to variant GHG emissions assumptions is presented. Fungicide treatment of the major U.K. arable crops is estimated to have directly decreased U.K. GHG emissions by over 1.5 Mt CO2 eq. in 2009. Crop disease control measures such as fungicide treatment reduce the GHG emissions associated with producing a tonne of grain. As national demand for food increases, greater yields as a result of disease control also decrease the need to convert land from non-arable to arable use, which further mitigates GHG emissions.

Fuel conservation and GHG (Greenhouse gas) emissions mitigation scenarios for China’s passenger vehicle fleet

Roadmapping green economic restructuring: A Ricardian gradient approach

Role of biochar amendment in mitigation of nitrogen loss and greenhouse gas emission during sewage sludge composting

Peatlands play an important role in global climate regulation and carbon (C) cycling. To evaluate the potential effect of peatland restoration on greenhouse gas (GHG) emission mitigation, and preservation of peat C stock or enhancement of atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) sequestration, we used a manual chamber method to measure soil heterotrophic respiration CO2 emissions (Rhet) and ecosystem GHG emissions. Ecosystem emission measurements included methane (CH4), nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions and forest floor CO2 emissions (Rfloor) in forested peatlands or ecosystem CO2 emissions (Reco) in peatlands without tree cover. Measurements of Reco and Rfloor were conducted using chambers that included all vegetation present in the ecosystem or ground vegetation, respectively. Rhet measurements were performed after the removal of ground vegetation and litter layer and trenching of the roots. In addition to GHG emission measurements, C input into the soil with vegetation litter was estimated, and environmental variables (including soil temperature and moisture, groundwater level, water chemistry and others) that potentially can affect the magnitude of GHG emissions were monitored. The monitoring was initiated in 2023 and continued in 2024 at seven study sites located in raised bogs within the hemiboreal vegetation zone of Europe, specifically in Latvia. Study sites included different habitats of pristine peatlands, restored peatlands through rewetting, and areas in both strong and weak drainage impact zones where the development of woody vegetation characteristic of the forest ecosystem has occurred. Preliminary results of GHG emission measurements show that the annualized monthly mean ecosystem gross GHG emissions, expressed in CO2 equivalents (excluding C sequestration by vegetation), ranged from 9.7 to 45.9 t CO2 eq. ha−1 year−1 in degraded (drained) peatlands, while in restored (including rewetted) peatland GHG emissions ranged from 11.0 to 25.3 t CO2 eq. ha−1 year−1.Acknowledgements: The research was conducted within the scope of the European Commission LIFE Climate Action Programme Project “Peatland restoration for greenhouse gas emission reduction and carbon sequestration in the Baltic Sea region” (LIFE21 - CCM - LV - LIFE PeatCarbon, Project number: 101074396).

Smallholder farmers struggle to achieve food security in many countries of sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). It is urgently required to find appropriate practices for enhancing crop production while avoiding large increases in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in SSA. This review aims to identify common smallholder farming practices for enhancing crop production, to assess how these affect GHG emissions and to identify strategies that not only enhance crop production but also mitigate GHG emissions in SSA. To increase crop production and ensure food security, smallholder farmers usually expand agricultural land, develop water harvesting and irrigation techniques and increase cropping intensity and fertilizer use. These practices may result in changing carbon stocks and GHG emissions, potentially creating trade-offs between food security and GHG mitigation. Agricultural land expansion at the expense of forests is the most dominant source of GHG emissions in SSA. While water harvesting and irrigation can increase soil organic carbon, they can trigger GHG emissions. Increasing cropping intensity can enhance the decomposition of soil organic matter, thus releasing carbon dioxide. Increasing nitrogen fertilizer use can enhance soil organic carbon, but also leads to increasing nitrous oxide emissions. An integrated land, water and nutrient management strategy is necessary to enhance crop production and mitigate GHG emissions. Among the most relevant strategies found, agroforesty practices in degraded and marginal lands could replace expanding agricultural croplands. In addition, water management, via adequate rainwater harvesting and irrigation techniques, together with appropriate nutrient management should be considered. Therefore, a land-water-nutrient nexus (LWNN) approach will enable an integrated and sustainable solution to increasing crop production and mitigating GHG emissions. Various technical, economic and policy barriers hinder implementing the LWNN approach on the ground, but these may be overcome through developing appropriate technologies, disseminating them through farmer to farmer approaches and developing specific policies to address smallholder land tenure issues and motivate long-term investment.

What drives popular opinion on climate change? Recent failures to mobilize popular opinion in favour of the mitigation of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions have been blamed on the unseasonably cool local weather and the unhealthy state of the economy. Using data from the European Union (EU), this article examines the effects of both annual temperature variations and economic growth rates on people's attitudes regarding the mitigation of GHG emissions. It is found that although the state of the economy has a significant effect on people's attitudes towards the mitigation of GHG emissions, variations in the annual temperature do not. Thus, while pessimism regarding policy changes during bad economic times appears justified, pessimism based on isolated spells of unseasonably cool weather does not.

Integrated systems (crops, livestock, and forest) are tools to avoid increases in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, such as CO2, CH4, and N2O. The objective of this study was to evaluate the GHG emissions and soil biological and chemical characteristics in an integrated system. The experiment was carried out in an area with crop-livestock-forest integration systems (CLFI), in Pindaré-Mirim, state of Maranhão, Brazil. The treatments consisted of maize (Zea mays) intercropped with forage (Urochloa brizantha cv. Marandú) between eucalyptus trees (Eucalyptus urophylla × Eucalyptus tereticornis) (S1); maize intercropped with forage (Megathyrsus maximus cv. Massai) (S2); and degraded pasture areas with no soil or forage management for more than 14 years (S3), which was used as reference treatment. The experiment was conducted with four replications of four trenches for soil collection or four static chambers for gas flow assessments. The GHG emissions were collected by static chambers and analyzed by gas chromatography, and the soil quality was determined by chemical analysis. The interaction between GHG emissions and soil characteristics was assessed for each treatment, using multivariate analysis and PCA. The soil of the degraded pasture presented higher GHG emissions. The integrated systems presented negative methane fluxes, which denote their mitigating effect on GHG emissions. The CLFI system with eucalyptus and maize intercropped with U. brizantha cv. Marandú was the best option to improve the soil biological characteristics and mitigate GHG emissions. Crop-livestock-forest integration with Eucalyptus, maize, and U. brizantha cv. Marandú is indicated to improve soil biological characteristics and mitigate GHG emissions in the Amazonian region of the state of Maranhão, Brazil.

The aim of this study was to estimate the total greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions generated from whole life cycle stages of a sewer pipeline system and suggest the strategies to mitigate GHG emissions from the system. The process-based life cycle assessment (LCA) with a city-scale inventory database of a sewer pipeline system was conducted. The GHG emissions (direct, indirect, and embodied) generated from a sewer pipeline system in Daejeon Metropolitan City (DMC), South Korea, were estimated for a case study. The potential improvement actions which can mitigate GHG emissions were evaluated through a scenario analysis based on a sensitivity analysis. The amount of GHG emissions varied with the size (150, 300, 450, 700, and 900 mm) and materials (polyvinyl chloride (PVC), polyethylene (PE), concrete, and cast iron) of the pipeline. Pipes with smaller diameter emitted less GHG, and the concrete pipe generated lower amount of GHG than pipes made from other materials. The case study demonstrated that the operation (OP) stage (3.67 × 104 t CO2eq year−1, 64.9%) is the most significant for total GHG emissions (5.65 × 104 t CO2eq year−1) because a huge amount of CH4 (3.51 × 104 t CO2eq year−1) can be generated at the stage due to biofilm reaction in the inner surface of pipeline. Mitigation of CH4 emissions by reducing hydraulic retention time (HRT), optimizing surface area-to-volume (A/V) ratio of pipes, and lowering biofilm reaction during the OP stage could be effective ways to reduce total GHG emissions from the sewer pipeline system. For the rehabilitation of sewer pipeline system in DMC, the use of small diameter pipe, combination of pipe materials, and periodic maintenance activities are suggested as suitable strategies that could mitigate GHG emissions. This study demonstrated the usability and appropriateness of the process-based LCA providing effective GHG mitigation strategies at a city-scale sewer pipeline system. The results obtained from this study could be applied to the development of comprehensive models which can precisely estimate all GHG emissions generated from sewer pipeline and other urban environmental systems.