Exploring the relationship between internal pressures, greenhouse gas management and performance of Brazilian companies

This data article is related to the research article “Exploring the Relationship between Internal Pressures, Greenhouse Gas Management and Performance of Brazilian Companies” (Rosa et al, 2019). This presents data collected from 63 large Brazilian companies organized as follows: Industrial Goods (2); Construction and Transportation (12); Cyclical Consumption (3); Non-Cyclical Consumption (3); Financial and Other (6); Basic Materials (4); Information Technology (2); Telecommunications (2); and Electricity (29). These data were collected by the questionnaire administered by the São Paulo Stock Exchange (Brazil) about internal factors of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) of an Environmental Management System (EMS) and the reduction of emission of greenhouse gases and economic performance. The data were used to show a relationship between the use of EMS and the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions and economic performance. The data also show that risk management and the pursuit of opportunities related to climate change and establishing incentives at different levels linked to reduction targets, together with employee awareness and training, have an impact on managing greenhouse gas emissions and the greenhouse effect.

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

Mitigating Curtailment and Carbon Emissions through Load Migration between Data Centers

Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reduction in the electricity sector: Implications of increasing renewable energy penetration in Ghana's electricity generation mix

Harmonizing the quantification of CCS GHG emission reductions through oil and natural gas industry project guidelines

For all its cachet, you might think that hybrid drivetrain technology is inherently green. But only 13 of 34 hybrid vehicles assessed achieve better than a 25% reduction in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, and just 3 exceed a 40% reduction, according to an evaluation by the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS).1 Moreover, reductions in GHG emissions do not necessarily correlate with reductions in other toxic emissions. Like any engine output–improving technology, hybrid technology can boost both fuel efficiency and power—but the more you boost one, the less you can boost the other. That dichotomy spurred the UCS to develop its “hybrid scorecard,” which rates each hybrid according to how well it lives up to its promise of reducing air pollution.2 All the vehicles were from model year 2011 except for one, the 2012 Infiniti M Hybrid. First the UCS scored each hybrid on how much it reduced its GHG emissions relative to its conventional counterpart, on a scale of zero (least reduction) to 10 (greatest reduction). These scores reflect the percentage in fuel efficiency gain. For example, the Toyota Prius gets 50 mpg3 compared with 28 mpg for the comparable Toyota Matrix. This represents a 44.0% reduction in GHG emissions, earning the Prius a GHG score of 9.4. At the bottom of the scale, the 21-mpg hybrid VW Touareg reduces GHG emissions only 10% over the 19-mpg conventional Toureg, for a score of 0.0. With a 46% improvement, the luxury Lincoln MKZ Hybrid had the greatest reduction over its conventional counterpart. The UCS also scored hybrids for absolute emissions (rather than relative to the conventional model) of air pollutants including particulate matter, carbon monoxide, hydrocarbons, and nitrogen oxides. These scores, on a scale of zero (dirtiest) to 10 (cleanest), are based on California certifications for tailpipe emissions. As the scorecard showed, a vehicle that emits less heat-trapping gases may not necessarily emit less of other air pollutants. For example, the Mercedes Benz S400 Hybrid scored 9 on air pollution reduction, alongside the Prius and the Lincoln MKZ, but only 1.3 on GHG emissions. HYBRID SCORECARD: Top 10 Nonluxury Hybrids by Total Environmental Improvement Score “Hybrid technology doesn’t add additional challenges [to reducing exhaust pollutants] that can’t be addressed through design of the vehicle’s emission controls,” says Don Anair, senior vehicles analyst at the UCS. “Numerous manufacturers of hybrids are meeting the lowest emissions levels. Hybrid manufacturers who aren’t delivering the lowest smog-forming emissions have chosen not to do so.” Each vehicle’s air pollution and GHG scores were averaged into a total “environmental improvement score,” again with the MKZ and the Prius leading the pack, and the Touareg scraping bottom. The UCS also scored “hybrid value” (the cost of reducing GHG emissions in dollars per percent reduction) and “forced features” (options you must buy with the hybrid whether you want them or not). HYBRID SCORECARD: Top 10 Luxury Hybrids by Total Environmental Improvement Score Luke Tonachel, vehicles analyst with the Natural Resources Defense Council, compliments the scorecard for illustrating that hybrid technology is not automatically green. He says, “We should improve the efficiency of all vehicles, and [hybrid technology] is just one technology that can get us there if applied with that goal in mind.” Nonetheless, Jamie Kitman, the New York bureau chief for Automobile Magazine, questions the wisdom of emphasizing percentage improvement in gas mileage rather than absolute miles per gallon. At 21 mpg, the hybrid Cadillac Escalade 4WD represents a 29% improvement over the 15-mpg conventional model, saving nearly 2 gallons per 100 miles. But the hybrid Escalade is still a gas guzzler, and Kitman says he wishes people would see through the marketing that encourages them to buy SUVs and “crossovers” rather than ordinary cars, which are more efficient than either. Says Anair, “The scorecard shows that automakers can pair hybrid technology with advanced emission controls to help tackle climate change while reducing the health impacts from breathing polluted air.” However, he adds, alluding to the stark variation in how much hybrid technology boosted fuel efficiency, “Not all automakers are delivering on the full promise of this technology.”

Taking Stock of Strategies on Climate Change and the Way Forward: A Strategic Climate Change Framework for Australia

In persuasion of global commitment of the country on reduction of Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emission, India’s ‘National Mission on Sustainable Habitat’ has included promotion of energy efficiency in residential and commercial sector and has envisaged that energy use in buildings varies significantly across income groups, building construction typology, climate and several other factors. Though substantial energy savings can be achieved in the housing sector through implementation of various carbon mitigation options, it was stated that the incremental cost of implementing energy efficient measures is estimated to vary between 3 and 5% for residential houses. The challenge before the engineers, architects and other professionals associated with building construction sector is to find out appropriate technologies that will ensure reduction of GHG emission without increasing cost of construction. As majority of construction in government sector will come from construction of small residential house belonging to Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) as part of government’s commitment to provide housing for all by 2020, assessment of GHG reduction potential of various cost-effective construction technologies is very essential to provide guidance to the stakeholders. This paper has surveyed various prevalent construction technologies in different parts of the country, analyzed the cost and embodied GHG emission for construction of the building envelope by collecting data through extensive search of literature and information obtained from construction sites. It has been found that there is ample scope of adoption of location-specific, cost-effective and eco-friendly construction technologies for construction of houses for EWS which are capable of reduction of GHG emission without any increase in cost of construction. The technologies can meet the commitment of the country at international level on reduction of GHG emission without any extra burden to state exchequer.

<div class="section abstract"><div class="htmlview paragraph">In recognizing the potential for large, damaging impacts from climate change, California enacted Executive Order S-03-05, requiring a reduction in statewide greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions to 80% below 1990 levels by 2050. Given that the transportation light-duty vehicle (LDV) segment accounts for 28% of the state's GHG emissions today, it will be difficult to meet the 2050 goal unless a portfolio of near-zero carbon transportation solutions is pursued. Because it takes decades for a new propulsion system to capture a large fraction of the passenger vehicle market due to vehicle fleet turn-over rates, it is important to accelerate the introduction of these alternatives to ensure markets enter into early commercial volumes (10,000s) between 2015 and 2020.</div><div class="htmlview paragraph"> This report summarizes the results and conclusions of a modeling exercise that simulated GHG emissions from the LDV sector to 2050 in California. Specifically, the analysis addressed two policy questions: (1) what fraction of the on-road fleet in 2050 needs to be zero-emission vehicles (ZEVs) <sup><span class="xref">1</span></sup> in order for the LDV sector to achieve an 80% GHG reduction, and (2) what annual ZEV sales are necessary between 2015 and 2025 to initiate these fleet volumes? </div><div class="htmlview paragraph">Two scenarios were developed revealing how difficult it will be to achieve this goal. Scenario 1 achieves a 66% reduction in GHG emissions by 2050 using aggressive assumptions. This scenario assumes ZEV sales reach a quarter of a million units annually by 2025 and become 100% of new vehicle sales by 2050. Scenario 2 was developed to show what would be required to achieve the full 80% GHG goal. To achieve this, two key parameters were modified with more aggressive and less certain assumptions. A steeper ZEV sales projection was simulated that achieves half a million ZEVs annually by 2025 and becomes 100% of new vehicle sales by 2040. Additionally, the availability of biofuels was increased to 1.7 billion gallons gasoline equivalent (BGGE), where it was limited to 1 BGGE in Scenario 1.</div></div>

Supply chain solutions are based on first-mile and last-mile deliveries; their efficiency significantly influences the total cost of operation. Drone technologies make it possible to improve first-mile and last-mile operations, but the design and optimization of these solutions offers new challenges. Within the frame of this article, the author focuses on the impact of integrated first-mile/last-mile drone-based delivery services from trucks, analyzing the impact of solutions on energy efficiency, the environmental impact and sustainability. The author describes a novel model of drone-based integrated first-mile/last-mile services which makes it possible to analyze the impact of different typical solutions on sustainability. As the numerical examples and computational results show, the integrated first-mile-last-mile drone-based service from trucks could lead to a significant reduction in energy consumption and a reduction in virtual greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, which would lead to a more sustainable logistics system. The numerical analysis of the scenarios shows that the increased application of drones and the integration of first-mile and last-mile delivery operations could decrease energy consumption by about 87%. This reduction in energy consumption, depending on the generation source of electricity, significantly increases the reduction in greenhouse gas emission.

IntroductionRemote digitally-supported care can drive carbon emission reductions, as well as increase access to health and patient comfort. IBD Home®, incorporating a PIFU pathway, minimises face-to-face appointments and relocates testing...

National and international agreements aim to limit climate change and thus call for a reduction of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions to nearly zero. A wide range of technologies promise to reduce the heat demand of buildings and also promote renewable energies. One of these technologies is the use of solid building structures as thermal storage, so called thermally activated building parts or TABS. Thermal simulations of such energy concept for a typical single-family house with 140 m² living space featuring a heat pump, a solar thermal collector and TABS show that the share of solar heat for heat supply can be increased, resulting in a decreased use of the heat pump and thus a lower demand of electric energy. This leads to reduced greenhouse gas emissions and lower operating costs. Furthermore, the simulations show that larger sizes of the TABS and the solar thermal collector lead to lower demand of electric energy. To secure a reduction of greenhouse gas emissions and costs over the whole lifecycle of a building also production and dismantling, disposal and recycling must be considered. A Life Cycle Cost (LCC) Analysis shows that TABS in combination with solar heat reduce LCC, expressed as present values, by app. 34%. The reductions are mainly due to the lower operating costs of the heating system. Increasing the size of south-facing solar collectors leads to asymptotically decreasing costs. For the less favourable orientations to the West and East, the optimum size of the collector is between 30 and 40 m², depending on the orientation and the size of the TABS. A minimum size of the TABS must be available, while additional TABS do not lead to further reductions. Also in an ecologic sense, the use of TABS in combination with solar heat is beneficial. The simulations in this research show that the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions over the whole lifecycle can be reduced by 27%. Again, the reduction mainly results from the decreased demand of electric energy and only slightly higher GHG emissions from the production of the TABS. Larger collector sizes lead to asymptotically reduced GHG emissions, when south facing. In contrast, orientations to the East and West lead to increased GHG emissions as the size of the collector increases. Integrated systems of heat pumps, solar thermal collectors and TABS could also be considered for multi-family housing and other building types. Simulations of LCC and LCA offer a suited means for assessing economic and ecologic impacts of innovative buildings concepts and should be used on a wider scale, ideally in combination.

A study on opportune reduction in greenhouse gas emissions via adoption of electric drive vehicles in light duty vehicle fleets

본 연구의 목적은 실행 가능한 온실가스 감축목표를 설정하기 위해 가능한 온실가스의 감축잠재량을 산정하기 위한 것이다. 2020년 BAU 대비 온실가스 감축목표가 30%로 설정되어있기 때문에 우리나라는 온실가스 의무감축국이 아니다. 그러나 온실가스 총 배출량 세계 9위(2009년 기준)로 높고, 세계 15위 경제규모를 갖추고 있어 2020년 온실가스 의무감축국에 편입될 가능성이 커지고 있다. 이를 대비한 각 지자체의 역할이 중요해지고 있으며, 지자체는 현실적으로 온실가스 감축목표 설정을 하는 데 노력해야 한다. 이를 위해 본 연구는 총 3단계로 진행되었다. 첫째, 온실가스 감축목표와 감축잠재량, 온실가스 감축목표 설정 방법에 대한 이론적 고찰을 하였다. 둘째, 시나리오 기법을 이용하여 시나리오 별로 감축목표를 설정하였다. 셋째, 각 시나리오의 감축목표별로 감축기법의 적용비율을 설정하여 감축잠재량을 산정하였다. 이러한 결과로 본 연구는 각 시나리오에 따른 감축기법의 적용비율을 적용하여 감축잠재량을 산정하였다.This study intends to estimate reduction potential using scenarios to set a practical target for greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reduction. Since South Korea does not have a mandatory obligation to reduce GHG emissions, its target for GHG reduction is set at 30% of that of BAU in 2020. However, South Korea is increasingly likely to be obliged to reduce its emissions according to 2020 GHG emission target, and thus the local governments should make efforts to set its own realistic reduction target as their roles become more important. This study has proceeded in three stages as follows. First, it reviewed the literature about GHG reduction target, GHG reduction potential, and the relevant methodology for setting GHG emission reduction target. Second, reduction targets were set up by scenario. Third, reduction potential was estimated by setting the application rate of reduction technique for each of the scenarios on a practical target for GHG emission reduction.

With the global challenge of climate change, it becomes crucial to understand the factors that can guide carbon intensive companies to comply with environmental regulations through significant reductions in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Using the natural-resource-based view, the argument in this paper is that focusing on sustainability-driven resources by companies is a way to meet environmental compliance and reduce GHG emissions while gaining differential competitive benefits. A specific analysis on Alberta case has discussed large GHG emitters’ environmental compliance mechanisms in the context of their sustainability resources. The aim is examining if large GHG emitters in Alberta related to corporations having sustainability resources are complying with the Specified Gas Emitters Regulation (SGER) reduction requirement through cleaner-production driven internal mechanisms. The paper examines the existence of the sustainability resources in the reporting companies related to large GHG emitters responsible for 86% of total GHG reported by facilities with emissions above the threshold of 100 kilotonnes of GHG per year under SGER in Alberta. Corporations are found not using their sustainability resource potential to achieve internal reductions in GHG emissions throughout their facilities. Thus, some recommendations are presented for Alberta case as well as for environmental regulations in other jurisdictions that can potentially help policy makers improve their climate change regulations and achieve their global targets and enable companies to gain competitive advantage while meeting GHG reduction compliance.