Assessment Of CO2 Emissions Research Articles

Assessment of Co2 emissions in Oil Palm Cultivation and Processing: A Case Study of Selected Mills in the South-South and South-Western Nigeria

Assessment of Co2 emissions in Oil Palm Cultivation and Processing: A Case Study of Selected Mills in the South-South and South-Western Nigeria

Photovoltaic water pumping systems as alternative to gasoline water pumping systems in agriculture in Cameroon: CO2 emissions assessment

With the decline in price of the photovoltaic’s (PVs) and the increase in greenhouse gases due to the use of fossil fuels the use of photovoltaic as a power source for water pumping is becoming the more attractive solution instead of using diesel/gasoline generators. This paper deal with the optimal sizing of the water pumping system instead of gasoline generator for the irrigation of the onion farms in Cameroon it also discusses a share of greenhouse gas emitted from the cultivation of onions. The study uses the data generated from a survey carried out between 2014 and 2015 of consumption gasoline/lubrificant and water production from generators on the duration of the culture in the main production Area ''10°35’N, 14°18’E''. The results of the analysis indicates that the Life Cycle Cost, 'LCC' of the photovoltaic water pumping system depends on its capital costs (67 % of LCC) while the LCC of gasoline pumping system depends largely on recurring costs (79 % of LCC). The CO2 emissions depend not only on the type of land but on the stage of plant growth. This research work also demonstrates that using the PV water pumping system can improve living conditions of farmers.

Assessment of contribution of Australia's energy production to CO2 emissions and environmental degradation using statistical dynamic approach

Energy production remains the major emitter of atmospheric emissions, thus, in accordance with Australia's Emissions Projections by 2030, this study analyzed the impact of Australia's energy portfolio on environmental degradation and CO2 emissions using locally compiled data on disaggregate energy production, energy imports and exports spanning from 1974 to 2013. This study employed the fully modified ordinary least squares, dynamic ordinary least squares, and canonical cointegrating regression estimators; statistically inspired modification of partial least squares regression analysis with a subsequent sustainability sensitivity analysis. The validity of the environmental Kuznets curve hypothesis proposes a paradigm shift from energy-intensive and carbon-intensive industries to less-energy-intensive and green energy industries and its related services, leading to a structural change in the economy. Thus, decoupling energy services provide better interpretation of the role of the energy sector portfolio in environmental degradation and CO2 emissions assessment. The sensitivity analysis revealed that nonrenewable energy production above 10% and energy imports above 5% will dampen the goals for the 2030 emission reduction target. Increasing the share of renewable energy penetration in the energy portfolio decreases the level of CO2 emissions, while increasing the share of non-renewable energy sources in the energy mix increases the level of atmospheric emissions, thus increasing climate change and their impacts.

Investigating driving forces of aggregate carbon intensity of electricity generation in China

In addition to total CO2 emissions, an intensity indicator is also important to assess CO2 emissions from electricity generation, allowing the spatial differences to be analyzed, which is crucial for regionally heterogeneous countries like China. This study analyzed the driving forces of aggregate carbon intensity (ACI), a measure of CO2 emissions per unit of electricity generation, in China between 1995 and 2014, using the LMDI method incorporating geographical effects. Both the entire study period and individual 5-year periods were analyzed. The results show that the geographic distribution effect, utilization efficiency effect, and thermal power proportion effect were responsible for a decrease in ACI during this period, whereas the energy composition effect showed an inhibitory influence on reduction. The dominant factor was the utilization efficiency effect, and the thermal power proportion effect showed the largest growth. Geographic distribution is a non-negligible factor in the reduction of ACI, and the regional ACI can be reduced by redistributing electricity generation to areas with lower ACI through trans-regional policy guidance. For future policies on reduction of ACI from electricity generation, this study proposes focusing on the thermal power proportion and geographic distribution effects to the same extent as on the utilization efficiency effect.

An assessment of CO2 emissions avoided by energy-efficiency programs: A general methodology and a case study in Brazil

Abstract Energy efficiency has been proposed as one of the most effective instruments for mitigating greenhouse gas emissions. However, the methodologies to estimate the impact of energy savings on these emissions are generally aggregated and simplified. This study presents an approach for evaluating the emissions avoided by energy-efficiency programs; decomposing the energy savings in the national electrical system load curve and correlating it with the emission factor observed in different periods of this curve. This methodology was applied to the three main programs that promote the rational use of electricity in Brazil: National Electric Energy Conservation Program (PROCEL), Energy Efficiency Law and Energy Efficiency Program (PEE) coordinated by National Agency of Electric Energy (ANEEL). A specific mitigation effect ranging from 0,329 to 0,332 tCO2avoided/MWhsaved is found, which is above the value currently assumed in governmental estimates. The basis for this difference is the fact that energy saved occurs mainly in uses such as lighting, which happen at the load curve peak (or near it) when the thermal power plants are dispatched. The proposed methodology presents more consistent results than those obtained by conventional approaches, endorsing the energy-efficiency role as an instrument for climate change mitigation.

Integrated analysis model for assessing CO2 emissions, seismic performance, and costs of buildings through performance-based optimal seismic design with sustainability

An integrated sustainable seismic analysis model is developed to investigate the relationships of CO2 emissions, the seismic performance, and material production costs of seismic design schemes of buildings. In this study, a green seismic analysis model is presented in the form of performance-based optimal seismic design with sustainability (PBODS) that considers the economic feasibility, environmental sustainability, and seismic performance of a building based on the life cycle assessment (LCA) data subject to various performance objectives prescribed in performance-based seismic engineering. This analysis model is applied to reinforced concrete (RC) frame buildings, which comprise two heterogeneous materials—concrete and steel—that have different environmental impacts and thus have a high potential for CO2 emission mitigation. In the PBODS method presented in this study, CO2 emissions, material production costs, and the coefficient of variation (COV) of the inter-story drift ratio, which reflects the seismic performance, are set as the objective functions, and optimal designs that can minimize these three objective functions. The optimal designs for a 4-story and a 10-story RC buildings are then evaluated with respect to environmental sustainability, economic feasibility, and seismic performance using the presented integrated analysis model. Furthermore, the proposed model is used to quantitatively investigate the variations in CO2 emissions and material production costs depending on variations in the performance objectives.

Carbon footprint in the ethanol feedstocks cultivation – Agricultural CO2 emission assessment

CO2 emission is a current global concern and has progressively increased due fossil fuel use, leading to climatic changes. As a workaround to this problem low carbon fuel use has been the key to mitigate it in several countries. Brazil is a leader in ethanol sugarcane production and has a high demand expected for this biofuel, which means that large areas will be cultivated to supply this demand. Although biofuels help to reduce carbon emissions, agriculture is highlighted in the emission of CO2 to the atmosphere as from the soil. Considering that the amount of soil carbon lost to the atmosphere is tightly coupled to the vegetation type, soil properties and climate conditions, the main objective of this study was to estimate and compare the CO2 emission in the agricultural phase of ethanol production, as from its main feedstocks. A model based on carbon flux of the soil-plant-atmosphere system, was used. From the five crops assessed (sugarcane, sugar-beet, corn, rice and cassava), sugarcane and corn crops presented, the less CO2 emission at nowadays and over the next 30years, in opposite of the sugar-beet crop, which was the less sustainable feedstock for ethanol production in terms of CO2 emission. The outcomes of this study contribute to develop scenarios to better understand the impact of ethanol production in the GEEs emission, both in nowadays and in the future, considering the increasing demand for biofuel. Also is presented in this study a detailed discussion regarding important environmental issues of sugarcane and corn ethanol production, which are essential to be considered in the ethanol-policy decision. To our knowledge this is the first study that compares the CO2 emitted from the main ethanol feedstocks based on field tests, under the same conditions of soil and climate.

Assessing CO2 emissions in China’s commercial sector: Determinants and reduction strategies

The commercial sector is one of the key sectors in China’s economic transformation and carbon emissions control. This paper applies VAR and STIRPAT models to investigate the major influencing factors of CO2 emissions in China’s commercial sector over the period 1980–2014. According to the empirical results, per capita GDP, urbanization and energy structure have positive effects on CO2 emissions while energy intensity has negative effect on CO2 emissions in the long term. Besides, per capita GDP ranks as the most important driving factors of CO2 in China’s commercial sector, followed by urbanization, energy structure and energy intensity in that order. This paper argues that reducing energy intensity and improving energy structure are the means to realize CO2 emission reductions in the commercial sector in the short and long term, respectively. Besides, this paper forecasts that CO2 emissions in China’s commercial sector will be 1942 Mt by 2030, which is huge and about half of the CO2 emissions of the European Union in 2014. The findings have important implications for policy-makers to enact CO2 emission reduction policies.

Assessing CO2 emissions in China's iron and steel industry: Evidence from quantile regression approach

China is currently the largest carbon dioxide (CO2) emitter in the world, and the iron and steel industry is the main contributor to the growth in CO2 emissions. Most of the existing studies use the average estimation method to investigate the main drivers of CO2 emissions in the iron and steel industry. However, the data distribution of economic variables is often not normal distribution, and the tail of the data hidden important information. In order to provide a realistic basis for emission reduction in this industry, this study uses the quantile regression model to explore the driving forces of CO2 emissions under high, medium and low emission levels. The results show that the effect of economic growth on CO2 emissions in the upper 90th quantile provinces is stronger than those in other quantile provinces due to the differences in fixed–asset investment and automobile production. However, the impact of energy efficiency in the upper 90th quantile provinces is lower than those in other quantile provinces. The influence of industrialization in the lower 10th quantile provinces is stronger than those in other quantile provinces. The influence intensity of energy structure has a similar story owing to the differences in coal consumption. Therefore, policymakers should focus on the heterogeneous effects of driving forces on CO2 emissions in different quantiles during the process of carbon reductions.

Life Cycle Assessment of CO<sub>2</sub> Emission of Concrete Considering Carbonation and Structural Element Types

Concrete industry is the main contributor of CO2 emission, and abundant studies were done for evaluating life cycle CO2 during production stage, construction stage, and use stage. The uptake of CO2 due to carbonation in service life is not detailed considered. Furthermore, the uptake of CO2 in demolition stage and the influences of structural element types on CO2 uptake performance are also not detailed considered. To overcome the weak points of current study, this paper proposed a numerical procedure about life cycle assessment of CO2 emission of concrete considering carbonation and structural element types. The CO2 emission and uptake in production stage, construction stage, use stage, and demolition stage are calculated. The influences of structural element types, shapes, and sizes on CO2 uptake performance are clarified. For concrete structures with different structural types, such as frame structures and shear-wall structures, the relative ratios for different structural element are different, hence the CO2 uptake ability are also different.

Proposing of new building scheme and composite towards global warming mitigation for Malaysia

The building sector has been regarded as a potential sector where there is large capacity to reduce the climate change effect. This study has proposed solutions to mitigate environmental impacts and achieve low CO2 emission from residential sector. Therefore, full life cycle assessment (LCA) has been run to assess the CO2 emission and its effect on the atmosphere and climate change. Based on the result, timber scheme is the best choice due to releasing less CO2 emissions to the atmosphere. However, house builders in Malaysia have almost completely neglected timber as a building material, with timber use as building components reduced to 5%. In this study, LCA Software was used to assess CO2 emissions from different wall construction. The alternative building scheme has been made by reinforce steel stud, wooden beam and timber wall (S8) to improve the scheme deficiency while releasing less CO2 emissions compared to other schemes. Therefore, S8 has a decreased CO2 effect by 85% less than precast concrete frame and 90% less than brick over their lifetime. (S8) increased the load bearing compared to conventional timber beam. Thus, new scheme S8 could be replaced by current scheme and promote more adjustable scheme for Malaysian housing.

Critical Assessment of CO2 Emissions in an Inhabited Room on the Basis of the Stress Theory

In this paper the authors have set off from a critical approach in order to evaluate the CO2 emission in a lecture hall (amphitheater) with a high number of occupants – 62 -, in order to determine the moment when it is required for the ventilation systems to intervene in the provision of air exchanges necessary to assure the hygienic conditions. The notion of stress used in this context refers to the continuous and degrading action of the CO2 emissions against the occupants, we named the CO2 emission external agent, and the increase of CO2 emission will lead to the decrease of the efficiency of occupants activity inside the amphitheatre. The CO2 measurements were made in the amphitheatre on a group of students, and it helped to evaluate the phenomenon and the mathematical apparatus confirmed the application of the theory of reliability stress in the studied problem. We hope that this approach will contribute to the establishment of some practices referring to the control and management of the functioning of ventilation systems in buildings with a significant number of occupiers and will contribute to the design of a device to command and control the functioning of the ventilation installation in concordance with the CO2 emissions on the basis of the theory presented in this paper.

Comparison of regression models to estimate biomass losses and CO2 emissions using low-density airborne laser scanning data in a burnt Aleppo pine forest

ABSTRACTThe knowledge of the forest biomass reduction produced by a wildfire can assist in the estimation of greenhouse gases to the atmosphere. This study focuses on the estimation of biomass losses and CO2 emissions by combustion of Aleppo pine forest in a wildfire occurred in the municipality of Luna (Spain). The availability of low point density airborne laser scanning (ALS) data allowed the estimation of pre-fire aboveground forest biomass. A comparison of nine regression models was performed in order to relate the biomass, estimated in 46 field plots, to several independent variables extracted from the ALS data. The multivariate linear regression selected model, including the percentage of first returns above 2 m and 40th percentile of the return heights, was validated using a leave-one-out cross-validation technique (6.1 ton/ha root mean square error). Biomass losses were estimated in a three-phase approach: (i) wildfire severity was obtained using the difference normalized burn ratio , (ii) Aleppo pine forest was delimited using the National Forest Map and ALS data and (iii) burning efficiency factors were applied considering severity levels. Post-fire biomass was then transformed into CO2 emissions (426,754.8 ton). This study evidences the usefulness of low-density ALS data to accurately estimate pre-fire biomass, in order to assess CO2 emissions in a Mediterranean Aleppo pine forest.

Dynamic Hybrid Life Cycle Assessment of CO2 Emissions of a Typical Biogas Project

Abstract Biogas project has been earmarked as an efficient way to achieve climate change benefits due to the comprehensive utilization of biogas products. However, CO2 emission would occur during the construction, operation and dispose stages of biogas project, and it requires a holistic and systematic accounting framework to evaluate both emissions and reductions over the lifetimes. In this study, a dynamic hybrid LCA model combining both process analysis and input-output analysis was proposed to dynamically characterize both direct and embodied carbon emissions and mitigation of a typical household biogas project. Moreover, the time-varying social-economic development factors are also taken into account to reduce the uncertainty and increase accuracy. Results show that biogas project is a good choice to achieve carbon emission reduction with 17.09 tons of net CO2 emission reduction over the lifespan. In addition, indirect CO2 emission (5.45 tons) plays significant part in the total emissions, in which the construction stages are the largest contributor due to the large amount of energy-intensive materials consumption. Moreover, with the CO2 emission intensity of fertilizer changing over years, the net emission reduction decreases 2.18 tons. The proposed dynamic hybrid LCA framework could unveil both direct and indirect carbon emission and reduction of the biogas project with consideration of technology development.

건설현장의 CO2 배출 저감형 콘크리트 조달에 관한 사례분석

The purpose of this study is to conduct a case study for procurement of CO2 emissions reduction concrete in the construction site. For this purpose, mix-proportion and energy consumption for ready mixed concrete were collected from 27 ready mixed concrete manufacturing plant in Korea using on-line questionnaire, visiting, telephone conversation and so on. And Concrete CO2 emission assessment was conducted observing Life Cycle Assessment method defined by ISO 14040 series with mix-proportion and energy consumption. With this, CO2 emission characteristic was analyzed dividing into the group such as compressive strength, admixture, plant region using the result of assessment. Furthermore, comparison analysis of real CO2 emission of a concrete plant and the minimum CO2 emission following was conducted.

Spatiotemporal assessment of CO2 emissions and its satellite remote sensing over Pakistan and neighboring regions

For the first time, anthropogenic CO2 emissions and spatiotemporal variability of mid-tropospheric CO2 has been discussed using EDGAR database and Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) onboard Aqua satellite observations. The EDGAR data indicate an increase of 147% in anthropogenic CO2 emissions from 66,101 to 163,737 Gg for Pakistan during the period of 1990–2008. Dera Ghazi Khan (Pakistan) is found with the highest increase of 260% of anthropogenic CO2 emissions followed by Delhi (India) 153%, Karachi (Pakistan) 66% and Lahore (Pakistan) 59% whereas a decreasing trend of −53% is observed for Kabul (Afghanistan) during 1990–2008. Industrial activities, road transportation, open field crop-waste burning, and energy production have been identified as major anthropogenic emission sources of CO2 in the studied region. AIRS CO2 retrievals over Pakistan and adjoining areas of India and Afghanistan show an averaged CO2 to be 383±5ppm with a positive trend of 5.05% during December 2002 to February 2012. An elevated value of CO2 has been observed over northern mountainous and high human settlement regions. The seasonal analysis shows a spring maximum 385±5ppm with a secondary peak in late autumn, and the highest increasing trend of 5.5% associated with winter. May and August showed maximum and minimum mean monthly values of 385±5ppm and 382±5ppm respectively. HYSPLIT trajectories of air masses movement have been drawn to track CO2 transport.

A qualitative and quantitative design of low-carbon development in Cambodia: Energy policy

The formulation of a policy for a low-carbon development plan is one of the most important steps to help Cambodia achieve sustainable development objectives, promote a greener development path, and contribute to the global effort to reducing CO2 emissions. This study is designed to propose some low-carbon energy strategies and quantitatively to assess CO2 emissions and reductions. The Extended Snapshot (ExSS) tool is used to quantify socioeconomic assumptions and to estimate CO2 emissions and reduction potentials. The results show that CO2 emissions are projected to increase to about 23,277 (by about 5.5 times) and 91,325 ktCO2/year (by about 21.6 times) in 2030BaU and 2050BaU, respectively, from 4,221 ktCO2/year in 2010. This study proposes five strategies for low-carbon development plan towards 2050 which are expected to reduce CO2 emissions by about 12,826 (about 55%) and 52,153 ktCO2/year (about 57%) in 2030CM and 2050CM, respectively. The present results should help researchers and experts gain a better understanding of CO2 emissions and reduction potentials by applying a number of low-carbon measures in Cambodia. While the results should be counted as a preliminary study because of limited available country information, they are expected to provide useful insights for the government in formulating a concrete climate change mitigation policy for the country.

Assessment of greenhouse CO2 emissions associated with the cement manufacturing process

ABSTRACTThe goal of the present work was to identify the impact of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions on a cement plant's workplace environment and its surrounding area. The concentration levels of CO2 over the study domain were investigated by means of the Weather Research and Forecasting/California Puff Model (WRF/CALPUFF) integrated modeling system (TRC Environmental Corporation, Windsor, CT, USA). Two sources were modeled for the current study: CO2 resulting from the calcination of raw materials and fuel consumption in three kilns and power plant emissions, which were treated as point sources, and vehicular-based CO2 emissions, emitted during the transportation of raw materials from the quarry to the crusher, which was modeled as a line source and calculated using the activity data collected from the cement plant and the emission factors as described by various environmental agencies. A comparison between the predicted results and the allowable limits of CO2 were made to investigate the environmental quality in the study area. The results of the study revealed that the CO2 contributions due to line source emissions were higher within and outside the plant than those from the point sources during the selected winter days. On the other hand, the individual contributions made by the point sources in the selected summer days exceeded the line source contributions, even though the combined contribution of CO2 (from both types of sources in the workplace and nearby areas) was at its height during the chosen winter days. Furthermore, maximum average concentrations, as predicted by CALPUFF for a standard period of 1 hr, were at higher than permissible levels during the selected days in both winter and summer. Within an average 24-hr period, the maximum modeled concentrations of CO2 were at the higher end of allowable limits during the designated winter days and at the lower end throughout the summer days.

A National Accounting Framework for the Petroleum Cycle: A Case Study of China

Abstract: In a world of climate change and socio-economic development, oil is the strategic resource that is closely intertwined and interdependent. Tracing the evolution of petroleum resources flow is fundamental to understanding petroleum supply and demand, and can also serve as the basis for assessing CO2 emissions from petroleum products. This paper aims to provide a petroleum products flow accounting framework that divides petroleum flow into four phases, three flows, three libraries, and two processes, and summarizes the approach to measure and analyze petroleum resources flows. It takes China as an example for empirical research, and finds that: ① China's petroleum production, consumption and import have significantly increased over the past two decades, and the combination of increasing demand and limited supply have created an urgent need for China to diversify its petroleum sources globally to ensure its oil security. ② Final consumption accounts for the use of most petroleum products and specia...

Monitoring CO2 emissions to gain a dynamic view of carbon allocation to arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi.

Quantification of carbon (C) fluxes in mycorrhizal plants is one of the important yet little explored tasks of mycorrhizal physiology and ecology. 13CO2 pulse-chase labelling experiments are increasingly being used to track the fate of C in these plant-microbial symbioses. Nevertheless, continuous monitoring of both the below- and aboveground CO2 emissions remains a challenge, although it is necessary to establish the full C budget of mycorrhizal plants. Here, a novel CO2 collection system is presented which allows assessment of gaseous CO2 emissions (including isotopic composition of their C) from both belowground and shoot compartments. This system then is used to quantify the allocation of recently fixed C in mycorrhizal versus nonmycorrhizal Medicago truncatula plants with comparable biomass and mineral nutrition. Using this system, we confirmed substantially greater belowground C drain in mycorrhizal versus nonmycorrhizal plants, with the belowground CO2 emissions showing large variation because of fluctuating environmental conditions in the glasshouse. Based on the assembled 13C budget, the C allocation to the mycorrhizal fungus was between 2.3% (increased 13C allocation to mycorrhizal substrate) and 2.9% (reduction of 13C allocation to mycorrhizal shoots) of the plant gross photosynthetic production. Although the C allocation to shoot respiration (measured during one night only) did not differ between the mycorrhizal and nonmycorrhizal plants under our experimental conditions, it presented a substantial part (∼10%) of the plant C budget, comparable to the amount of CO2 released belowground. These results advocate quantification of both above- and belowground CO2 emissions in future studies.