Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Freshwater Reservoirs: What Does the Atmosphere See?

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Freshwater reservoirs are a known source of greenhouse gas (GHG) to the atmosphere, but their quantitative significance is still only loosely con- strained. Although part of this uncertainty can be attributed to the difficulties in measuring highly variable fluxes, it is also the result of a lack of a clear accounting methodology, particularly about what constitutes new emissions and potential new sinks. In this paper, we review the main processes involved in the generation of GHG in reservoir systems and propose a simple approach to quantify the reservoir GHG footprint in terms of the net changes in GHG fluxes to the atmosphere induced by damming, that is, 'what the atmosphere sees.' The approach takes into account the pre-impoundment GHG balance of the landscape, the temporal evolution of reservoir GHG emission profile as well as the natural emissions that are displaced to or away from the reservoir site resulting from hydrological and other changes. It also clarifies the portion of the reservoir carbon burial that can potentially be considered an offset to GHG emissions.

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برآورد هزینة اقتصادی انتشار گازهای گلخانهای حبوبات در ایران
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انتشار گازهای گلخانه‌ای و اثرات آن بر گرمایش جهانی یکی از چالش‌های جدی کشورهای توسعه‌یافته و درحال‌توسعه محسوب می‌شود. بر اساس پیمان کیوتو، کشورهای مختلف موظف به محاسبه و اعلام میزان انتشار گازهای گلخانه‌ای شدند. بررسی میزان انتشار گازهای گلخانه‌ای کشورهای مختلف این امکان را فراهم می‌آورد تا ضمن ارائه تصویری از سهم کشورها در تولید گازهای گلخانه‌ای، جایگاه ایران نیز در این مجموعه مشخص شود. این مقاله تلاش دارد تا میزان و ارزش انتشار گازهای گلخانه‌ای اکسید نیتروس (N2O) و دی‌اکسید کربن (CO2) حاصل از دانه های روغنی تولیدی منتخب در ایران (سویا، کلزا، ذرت دانه ای و سایر دانه های روغنی) را با استفاده از مدل GHGE، برای سال زراعی 91-90 برآورد نماید. نتایج نشان داد استان‌های خوزستان و زنجان به ترتیب، با تولید سالانه 49/341 و 004/0 تن، بیش ترین و کم ترین میزان تولید گاز گلخانه‌ای N2O را در سطح کشور دارا می‌باشند. همچنین استان‌های گلستان و هرمزگان نیز به ترتیب، با تولید سالانه 47/7841 و 24/0 تن دی‌اکسید کربن بیش ترین و کم ترین میزان تولید گاز گلخانه‌ای CO2 را به خود اختصاص داده‌اند. مجموع هزینه‌های انتشار گازهای گلخانه‌ای N2O و CO2 کل کشور نیز حدود 331/27 میلیارد ریال برآورد گردید. باتوجه به یافته ها، اصلاح و تغییر شیوه‌های مدیریتی کشاورزی نسبت به سطح زیرکشت محصولات زراعی، مدیریت و افزایش کارایی کودهای ازته مصرفی در مزارع و توسعه سیاست‌های کاهش میزان انتشار به‌همراه مالیات زیست-محیطی انتشار گازهای گلخانه ای به سیاست‌گذاران این عرصه پیشنهاد شد.

  • Discussion
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180 Screening the carbon footprint of intensive Korean dairy cattle farms: Transition towards low emissions’ production system
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In the context of global climate change, carbon footprint (CF) becomes an important sustainability indicator for dairy production systems. To mitigation the CF of the dairy sector, insight into greenhouse gases (GHG) emissions from individual farms is required. The objective of this study was to determine the primary contributors to GHG emissions at the farm-gate level, expressed as a carbon dioxide equivalents (CO2-eq), to produce one kg of fat-and protein corrected milk (FPCM). Primary data about farms’ management and feeding practices were collected from twelve dairy farms that belong to Gyeonggi-do province, which represent the most important region for milk production in South Korea. Allocation of GHG emissions between meat and milk was assessed as a physical allocation, 98% allocated to milk and 2% to meat (surplus of calves and culled cows). The CF of the evaluated farms averaged to 0.61 CO2-eq/kg of FPCM and ranged from 0.49 to 0.78 CO2-eq/kg of FPCM. Results indicated that the largest source of GHG comes mostly from enteric fermentation (83%), followed by manure management (6%), manure and fertilizer land application (8%) and energy consumption (3%). By type of gas emitted, methane accounted for 86% of total emissions, originating from enteric fermentation and manure management. Nitrous oxide and carbon dioxide accounted for 11.6 % and 2.8% of total GHG emissions, respectively. Lactating cows contributed by 70% of total GHG emissions, whereas dry cows, heifers and calves contributed by 5, 22 and 3%, respectively. Differences in GHG emissions from the evaluated farms could be explained by differences in feed quality and management practices through manure and fertilizers application on cropland. This study contributes to identify the main sources of GHG production in dairy farms, which can help to define mitigation strategies towards the transition to neutral carbon emissions of the dairy sector.

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