Evaluating carbon footprint of municipal solid waste treatment: Methodological proposal and application to a case study

城市能源利用碳足迹分析——以厦门市为例

Relationship between urbanization, direct and indirect greenhouse gas emissions, and expenditures: A multivariate analysis

Health Care and Climate Change: Challenges and Pathways to Sustainable Health Care.

The greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions caused by tourism have been studied from several perspectives, but few studies exist that include all direct and indirect emissions, particularly those from aviation. In this study, an input/output-based hybrid life-cycle assessment (LCA) method is developed to assess the consumption-based carbon footprint of the average tourist including direct and indirect emissions. The total inbound tourism-related GHG emissions are also calculated within a certain region. As a demonstration of the method, the full carbon footprint of an average tourist is assessed as well as the total GHG emissions induced by tourism to Iceland over the period of 2010–2015, with the presented approach applicable in other contexts as well. Iceland provides an interesting case due to three features: (1) the tourism sector in Iceland is the fastest-growing industry in the country with an annual growth rate of over 20% over the past five years; (2) almost all tourists arrive by air; and (3) the country has an almost emissions-free energy industry and an import-dominated economy, which emphasise the role of the indirect emissions. According to the assessment, the carbon footprint for the average tourist is 1.35 tons of CO2-eq, but ranges from 1.1 to 3.2 tons of CO2-eq depending on the distance travelled by air. Furthermore, this footprint is increasing due to the rise in average flight distances travelled to reach the country. The total GHG emissions caused by tourism in Iceland have tripled from approximately 600,000 tons of CO2-eq in 2010 to 1,800,000 tons in 2015. Aviation accounts for 50%–82% of this impact (depending on the flight distance) underlining the importance of air travel, especially as tourism-related aviation is forecasted to grow significantly in the near future. From a method perspective, the carbon footprinting application presented in the study would seem to provide an efficient way to study both the direct and indirect emissions and to provide new insights and information to enable the development of appropriate GHG mitigation policies in the tourism sector.

Carbon footprint of a conventional wastewater treatment plant: An analysis of water-energy nexus from life cycle perspective for emission reduction

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

The climate change phenomenon related to the progressive increase in anthropogenic greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, is one of the greatest concerns in this century, not only from an environmental point of view, but also as a problem with economic and social effects. Hence, the estimation of the GHG emissions (carbon footprint - CF) is an indicator for supporting carbon efficiency and promotes environmental responsibility, as a baseline for the establishment of mitigation strategies. In this work we performed the first CF estimation exercise in the Universidad Nacional de Colombia (UNAL) Sede Manizales, year base 2019, covering three main scopes: direct emissions (fuel consumption of own vehicles, stationary sources and external vehicles), indirect emissions (electricity consumption) and other indirect emissions (disposal of ordinary and special-chemical wastes). For those scopes with detailed base information, the exercise implied the adjustment of emission factors to particular conditions of Manizales city; In addition, a computational code developed in R software allowed us to systematize the analysis procedure of baseline information, coupling a calculation module to estimate the CF in a range of years selected by the user, allowing the automatic generation of figures and numerical results. The results obtained suggest that 386.2 tons of CO2-eq was the total CF estimated in 2019. The use of electricity was the largest contributor with 49% of the total GHG emission, followed by the fuel consumption of own vehicles with 30%. In this specific scope, bus transportation for students, in vehicles which use diesel as fuel, contributed with 57% of GHG emissions. We compare results with other studies at a national and international level based on the estimation of a CF per capita index. The present exercise constitutes a fundamental baseline for the environmental management at UNAL Manizales, also allowing the possibility for applying the methodology and computational tools developed to estimate the CF in other universities in the region.

This study uncovered the direct and indirect energy-related greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of 213 Chinese national-level industrial parks, providing 11% of China's gross domestic product, from a life-cycle perspective. Direct emissions are sourced from fuel combustion, and indirect emissions are embodied in energy production. The results indicated that in 2015, the direct and indirect GHG emissions of the parks were 1042 and 181 million tonne CO2 equiv, respectively, totally accounting for 11% of national GHG emissions. The total energy consumption of the parks accounted for 10% of national energy consumption. Coal constituted 74% of total energy consumption in these parks. Baseline and low-carbon scenarios are established for 2030, and five GHG mitigation measures targeting energy consumption are modeled. The GHG mitigation potential for these parks in 2030 is quantified as 111 million tonne, equivalent to 9.1% of the parks' total emission in 2015. The measures that increase the share of natural gas consumption, reduce the GHG emission factor of electricity grid, and improve the average efficiency of industrial coal-fired boilers, will totally contribute 94% and 98% in direct and indirect GHG emissions reductions, respectively. These findings will provide a solid foundation for the low carbon development of Chinese industrial parks.

In order to limit climate changes, we need to reduce the carbon footprint of human activities, including those due to health systems. We performed an estimation of the carbon footprint of our nuclear medicine department using a methodology developed with the help of a specialized consulting firm. The estimate of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions comprises direct and indirect emissions. Direct emissions are due to fuels consumption (by the hospital and by hospital's vehicles), refrigerant leaks and impact of buildings on biomass (land use change). Indirect emissions include upstream and downstream emissions. Upstream emissions are linked to electricity and heating consumption, transport of merchandises, transport of patients and employees, business travels, purchases, and fixed assets. Downstream emissions are due to usage and disposal of manufactured products created by the hospital. Different GHGs (CO2, CH4, N2O…) each have a different global warming potential. To aggregate all GHG emissions, the results were expressed in carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e). In 2022, 13,303 diagnostic and therapeutic procedures were performed in our department, for an estimated carbon footprint reaching 772 tons of CO2 equivalent. Transport of people accounts for 67% of total emissions. Purchases are responsible for 14% of total emissions, of which 11.8% are due to radiotracers supply. Energy consumption accounts for 6.9% of total emissions. Imaging devices (2 PET/CT, 2 SPECT/CT and 1 cardiac imaging dedicated CZT camera) account for 5.5% of emissions. Our emissions are mainly due to indirect emission which is a common result in tertiary sector.

Location of mixed municipal waste treatment facilities: Cost of reducing greenhouse gas emissions

The evaluation of GHG emissions from Shanghai municipal wastewater treatment plants based on IPCC and operational data integrated methods (ODIM)

The main sources of greenhouse gas emissions and air pollution from the transport sector are diesel- and gasoline-powered passenger cars. The combustion of large amounts of conventional fuels by cars contributes to a significant release of various compounds into the atmosphere, such as solid particles, nitrogen oxides, carbon monoxide, and carbon dioxide. In order to reduce these pollutants in places of their high concentration (especially in urban agglomerations), the use of ecological means of transport for daily driving is highly recommended. Electric vehicles (EV) are characterized by ecological potential due to their lack of direct emissions and low noise. However, in Poland and many other countries, electricity production is still based on fossil fuels which can significantly influence the indirect emissions of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere associated with battery charging. Thus, indirect emissions from electric cars may be comparable or even higher than direct emissions related to the use of traditional cars. Therefore, the aim of the work was to analyze the amount of carbon dioxide emissions associated with the use of electric vehicles for daily driving (City, Sedan, SUV) and their impact on the environment on a local and global scale. Based on the assumed daily number of kilometers driven by the vehicle and the collected certified catalog data (Car Info Nordic AB), the direct emissions generated by the internal combustion engines (ICE) were calculated for specific cars. These values were compared to the indirect emissions related to the source of electricity generation, for the calculation of which the CO2 emission coefficient for a particular energy source and energy mix was used, as well as reference values of electricity generation efficiency in a given combustion installation, in accordance with the KOBiZE (The National Centre for Emissions Management) and European Union regulation. Indirect emissions generated from non-renewable fuels (lignite, hard coal, natural gas, diesel oil, heating oil, municipal waste) and renewable emissions (wind energy, solar energy, hydro energy, biomass, biogas) were considered. The results indicated that for the Polish case study, indirect carbon dioxide emission associated with the daily driving of EV (distance of 26 km) ranges 2.49–3.28 kgCO2∙day−1. As a result, this indirect emission can be even higher than direct emissions associated with ICE usage (2.55–5.64 kgCO2∙day−1).

Introducción: La industria de la transformación primaria de la madera libera gases de efecto invernadero (GEI); su mitigación implica medir la huella de carbono. Objetivo: Estimar la huella de carbono de dos empresas forestales dedicadas a la transformación primaria de la madera.Materiales y métodos: Las empresas establecidas como los límites organizacionales L1 y L2 poseen dos (Q1 y Q2) y un (D) aserradero, respectivamente. Los límites operacionales fueron A1 (emisiones directas por consumo de combustibles fósiles), A2 (emisiones indirectas por consumo de energía eléctrica) y A3 (fuentes de emisión que no son propiedad de L1 y L2). Las emisiones de GEI se calcularon en dos anualidades mediante el método uso de datos de actividad y factores de emisión documentados nivel 1. Las anualidades se compararon con la prueba t de Student y Wilcoxon, y los aserraderos con la prueba Kruskal-Wallis.Resultados y discusión: La huella de carbono estimada en L1 fue 480.06 tCO 2 e·año -1 , donde A1, A2 y A3 representaron 29.32 %, 14.59 % y 56.09 %, respectivamente. En L2, la huella fue 230.56 tCO 2 e·año -1 de la cual 9.39 %, 11.78 % y 78.83 % correspondieron a las categorías A1, A2 y A3, respectivamente. La incertidumbre acumulada se ubicó en un rango de precisión justo (±25 %). Solo las emisiones directas de GEI entre anualidades de L1 fueron estadísticamente diferentes (P < 0.05). La tecnología mecánica marcó la diferencia de emisión de gases de efecto invernadero entre aserraderos (P < 0.05).Conclusiones: La huella de carbono es inherente a la energía utilizada; la administración de la energía garantiza la mitigación de emisiones de GEI.

Food processing is a major thriving industry globally and provides livelihood to millions of workers. Food processing is an energy intensive process and often has an impact on the environment which remains undiagnosed and hence not quantified. Food processing industry comprises the organized as well as unorganized sector with varying levels of energy requirement and therefore the carbon foot prints also significantly vary. Higher energy use is often related to higher greenhouse gas (GHG) emission which is responsible for global warming and climate change. Carbon footprint (CFP) of food industry is an estimate of the energy use and GHG emissions caused due to the processing and delivery of food items to the consumer and also disposal of packaging. Recently there is a growing interest in estimating the carbon footprint of food industries to know how improved technologies can be used to make food processing less energy and carbon intensive. In this book chapter we would like to provide an overview of energy use and carbon footprint of different types of food industries. Quantification of CFP is generally done using Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) in which GHG emissions are measured from the very beginning of the production process to its final use and disposal. GHG emission from a food industry will include both direct emissions as well as indirect emissions. The CFP of different sectors like fruit and beverage industry, sugar production, dairy sector, fisheries, meat and poultry supply chains are presented. Apart from this, research gaps and possible steps to minimize the carbon footprint will be mentioned. Assessing the CFP of food industries can help in identifying the GHG sources and can be useful in developing alternative technologies which are more energy efficient and reduces GHG emission. Further, change in dietary pattern also contributes immensely to reduce the environmental impact of food consumption.

Does urbanization lead to more direct and indirect household carbon dioxide emissions? Evidence from China during 1996–2012