Healthcare accounts for 4%-5% of global CO2 equivalent (CO2e) emissions, of which hospitals form a considerable component. Identifying evidence-based targets for carbon reduction in pediatric anesthesia can help guide meaningful reductions in healthcare-related environmental harm. A narrative review was conducted integrating published data on carbon emissions associated with anesthetic agents, perioperative workflows, waste generation, and hospital energy systems. Quantitative CO2e estimates were incorporated when available. Preoperative strategies with measurable carbon savings include early anesthesia assessment, telehealth consultations, and standardization of diagnostic testing. Intraoperatively, avoidance of nitrous oxide and desflurane yield the largest individual reductions. Propofol waste can be reduced through dose calculators and optimized vial selection. Switching to reusable equipment further limits environmental harm. Institutional actions, including decommissioning nitrous oxide pipeline systems, enhancing sustainability training, and optimizing heating, ventilation, and air conditioning systems, offer the largest measurable carbon reductions. Pediatric anesthetists can reduce environmental harm while optimizing patient care. While individual clinician choices -in particular avoiding desflurane and nitrous oxide use-are impactful, the largest and most sustainable emissions reductions derive from coordinated institutional and systems level changes.

Climate change poses the greatest threat to human health in the 21st century. The healthcare sector contributes approximately 5% of global greenhouse gas emissions and has a significant environmental impact. Although clinical trials are crucial for identifying effective and safe treatments and preventing disease, their environmental impact is poorly documented. Our study aimed to assess the environmental impact of a publicly funded, academic clinical trial by adapting life cycle assessment (LCA) methodology to clinical research. We performed a retrospective, simplified, full LCA using the EF 3.0 methodology on a prospective, double-blind, randomised controlled neurosurgery trial. The trial included 202 patients at 18 university hospitals throughout France. To identify hotspots of interest, 16 impact indicators and their combination into a single score were evaluated. The results showed that climate change (or greenhouse gas emissions) was the most important indicator, accounting for almost 30% of the single score. Greenhouse gas emissions were estimated at 31.6 t of carbon dioxide equivalent. The next most important were resource use of fossils (24%), resource use of minerals and metals (12%), and particulate matter emissions (8%). The main hotspots identified were patient transport and travel by clinical research assistants for source data verification. In conclusion, by using a full LCA approach, our study confirms that conducting a clinical trial has a substantial environmental impact, particularly with regard to greenhouse gas emissions. The main hotspots identified were related to patient transport and clinical research assistants' travel. Trial Registration: The SUCRE study (Treatment of Chronic Subdural Hematoma by Corticosteroids: A Prospective Randomised Study)-clinicaltrials.gov identifier: NCT02650609.

• A nested optimization framework for marine hybrid propulsion systems is proposed. • The framework integrates optimal power management and component sizing. • Pareto-optimal solutions minimize system investment cost and GHG emissions. • Case study shows 27% less emissions or 6% investment cost reduction compared to requirement-based design. • The framework is tested for robustness to ship power request variations. The growing demand for decarbonization of the shipping sector calls for integrated design strategies that simultaneously address energy management and propulsion system sizing. This paper presents a nested optimization framework for designing ship hybrid propulsion systems that identifies the Pareto-optimal front balancing economic and Well-to-Wake environmental performance. The framework utilizes a multi-objective genetic algorithm (NSGA-II) in the outer layer to efficiently explore the design space for battery capacity and generator sizing. For each candidate design, an inner optimization layer determines the minimum achievable greenhouse gas emissions through optimal power resource management. This nested approach ensures that each point on the resulting Pareto frontier represents a design in which both sizing and operation are simultaneously optimized. The methodological accuracy is validated by benchmarking NSGA-II against an exhaustive grid search, while its effectiveness is demonstrated in a small ferry case study by comparing results with a standard requirement-based design (RBD) approach. The results demonstrate that the optimized framework can achieve up to a 27% reduction in emissions at the same investment cost, or a 6% reduction in investment cost at the same level of emissions, compared to the RBD baseline. A sensitivity analysis is conducted to assess the method’s robustness to realistic variations in power demand and to evaluate the impact of component cost fluctuations on the resulting Pareto frontier. The proposed optimization framework serves as a decision-support tool for ship designers, enabling them to make informed, consistent choices when designing marine hybrid propulsion systems. The proposed structure is generalizable to a wide range of vessel types and operational scenarios.

Abstract Ocean alkalinity enhancement (OAE) is a promising marine carbon dioxide removal (CDR) option, but its net climate benefit and wider environmental implications depend strongly on where, and how it is implemented and on decarbonized energy and material supply chains. We develop a prospective, site-specific, life cycle assessment (pLCA) that couples a field trials’ validated high-resolution ocean biogeochemical model with LCA for five OAE pathways deployed via wastewater outfalls in Halifax Harbor, Canada: three on magnesium hydroxide (two from serpentinite, via ammonium sulfate (AS) and HCl leaching (HCl), one from bischofite brine (BIS)) and two on sodium hydroxide (from industrial-grade sodium chloride (NaOHs) and seawater desalination brine hydroxide (NaOHb)). Using the functional unit of removing and permanently storing 1 t of atmospheric CO₂, we compare present-day conditions with a 2050 scenario and quantify eighteen ReCiPe 2016 midpoint impacts. Present-day results show little to no net climate benefit: net climate effects range from −0.09 to +0.71 t CO2-equivalent (CO2e) per t CO₂ removed, with fossil electricity and heat supply dominating the impact. By 2050, all pathways are net removers with uptake efficiencies of 81–95% as energy supply decarbonizes. BIS performs best in sixteen of eighteen impact categories, whereas NaOHs and AS are consistently worst across most categories. As energy decarbonizes, burdens shift from fossil fuel combustion to materials, metals, and related mining (especially copper), chemicals, and biofuels production for feedstock transport. The analysis shows that robust OAE assessment requires site-specific CO₂ uptake efficiencies, prospective supply-chain representation, and multi-criteria evaluation rather than focusing only on net CO₂ removal, because climate-attractive pathways can carry substantial burdens in (eco)toxicity, resource depletion, or other impact categories. The proposed coupling of a regional ocean model with pLCA provides a transferable template to evaluate OAE and other marine CDR options in CDR portfolios.

Management of chronic obstructive respiratory diseases involves the use of inhaled therapies, including pressurized metered-dose inhalers (pMDIs) that contain hydrofluoroalkane (HFA). These propellant gases contribute to greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) due to their infrared radiation absorption capacity, resulting in a high Global Warming Potential, far higher than carbon dioxide (CO2), contributing to climate change. The aim of this study was to estimate the carbon footprint of the propellant gases contained in all pressurized metered-dose inhalers prescribed in France, over an 11-year period. Data were extracted from the French Health System Open Medic Database, covering 2014 to 2024. Gas quantities were obtained from the French Theriaque Database and, when unavailable, from pharmaceutical companies. Emissions were expressed as CO2 equivalents based on their corresponding Global Warming Potential values. Over the past decade, 500 million inhalers were dispensed, pressurized metered-dose inhalers representing 44% of them. Gas quantity data was available for 83% of the units. Over the 11-year period, total emissions reached 4.5 million MtCO2eq. The mean annual emission was 409 ktCO2eq, representing a 38,7% increase, particularly pronounced since 2021. This exhaustive national study shows that pressurized metered-dose inhalers emitted more than 4,5 MtCO2eq in 11 years, increasing annually. These findings highlight the substantial carbon footprint associated with current inhalers containing high Global Warming Potential propellant gases and underline the need to promote lower-impact therapeutic alternatives.

Estimating wildfire greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in Mediterranean landscapes is challenging due to heterogeneous fuel mosaics and limited scalability of field-based approaches. This study presents a Geographic Information System (GIS) based framework that integrates land-cover data, pre-fire biomass estimates, fire severity mapping, and established emission factors to produce spatially explicit estimates of biomass consumption and GHG emissions. Fire severity was derived from multitemporal Sentinel-2 imagery using the differenced Normalized Burn Ratio (ΔNBR) and combined with land-cover information to define vegetation–severity classes for emission estimation. A key innovation is the identification of co-occurring vegetation types within the same spatial units, allowing emissions to be quantified across vegetation mixtures rather than single classes, providing a more realistic representation of Mediterranean forests. Applied to the 2022 Bejis wildfire, pre-fire biomass within the burned area was 673,601 tons. Coniferous forests dominated, but co-occurrence with shrubland and herbaceous layers produced the highest emission contributions, highlighting the role of vegetation interactions. Total emissions were estimated at 625,938 tons of equivalent CO2, and comparison with large-scale datasets (CAMS Global Fire Assimilation System, Global Fire Emissions Database) shows general coherence. This severity-driven, vegetation-explicit framework demonstrates robust potential for quantifying wildfire emissions across heterogeneous Mediterranean landscapes, though uncertainties remain due to pre-defined biomass, burning efficiency, emission factors, assumptions in fire severity mapping, and limited field validation. The approach can support improved regional GHG inventories and wildfire management strategies.

Genetic selection for feed efficiency in dairy cattle is a promising strategy to mitigate environmental emissions reduce the environmental footprint of dairy production. In this study, genetic selection for residual feed intake (RFI) using the EcoFeed index developed by STgenetics was evaluated as a tool to improve feed efficiency and reduce GHG emissions. A life cycle assessment approach was used to quantify emissions from feed production, enteric fermentation, and manure management under 3 RFI selection scenarios: baseline (average genomic RFI [gRFI]), a 1-SD improvement in the genomic breeding value for RFI in heifers and cows (gRFIheifer and gRFIcow), and fa 3-SD improvement in gRFIheifer and gRFIcow. As expected, selection for improved gRFI led to enhanced feed efficiency. Animals with a 1-SD improvement in gRFI consumed 2.73% less feed over their lifetime, whereas those with a 3-SD improvement consumed 8.2% less, with no impact on productivity. These improvements in feed efficiency translated into a 2.42% reduction in lifetime CO2 equivalent (CO2e) emissions (35,769 vs. 34,902 kg CO2e) in the 1-SD group, and a 7.31% reduction (35,769 vs. 33,153 kg CO2e) in the 3-SD group. Enteric CH4 emissions were the largest contributor to the lifetime carbon footprint, accounting for 38.9% of total emissions in the baseline scenario, highlighting the importance of genetic selection for methane mitigation. Feed production and manure management accounted for 17.51% and 32.53% of total emissions, respectively. These findings suggest that genetic selection for RFI using the EcoFeed index significantly reduces the carbon intensity of milk production through improved lifetime feed efficiency and subsequently reduced feed intake per unit of milk production, establishing it as a key strategy for reducing GHG emissions the dairy sector.

The aim of this study was to quantify and compare the environmental impact and cost associated with transitioning from disposable under pads (blueys) and bed protectors (pinkies) to reusable linen products in the intensive care unit (ICU). A process-based life cycle assessment (LCA) was employed to evaluate carbon emissions and cost across the manufacturing, transportation, laundering, landfill, and disposal stages of disposable versus reusable linen. The analysis compared data from the pre (April 2022 - March 2023) and post-implementation (April 2023 - March 2024) phases of adopting reusable linen in a single centre metropolitan ICU in Melbourne, Australia. The introduction of reusable linens to replace single use products resulted in a 50% reduction in total carbon emissions, decreasing from 7,206kg CO2 equivalent (CO2e) to 3,605kg CO2e. The intervention avoided approximately 3.6 tonnes of CO2e emissions and 2.2 tonnes of landfill waste, despite a 3% ($1,005) increase in overall costs driven mainly by reusable pinkies. Reusable blueys required more frequent use to achieve CO2e emissions parity with single use variants due to their higher initial carbon footprint, while pinkies reached parity earlier in their lifecycle. These data underscore the environmental advantages of adopting reusable medical products in healthcare settings, and highlights both environmental impact and financial considerations. The findings support wider implementation of reusable products in healthcare to advance sustainability goals while maintaining patient care standards. Exploration is required of long-term trends when reusables are introduced, and studies in other socioeconomic settings, on the overall financial and environmental outcomes.

To assess the environmental impact of radiography and fluoroscopy, using life cycle assessment (LCA), focusing on energy use and emissions. This International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 14040-guided LCA-based study focused on radiography and fluoroscopy services, including the production and use of two radiography and two fluoroscopy machines, at a quaternary care 800-bed academic medical center in the Southeastern United States over a 1-year period. Data were collected through direct observation, record review, staff interviews, and energy metering. Environmental impacts were assessed using SimaPro 9.3.0.2 and the Ecoinvent v3.8 database. Radiography and fluoroscopy activities generated an estimated 55,100 kilograms of CO2 equivalents (kg CO2e) per year. Energy use was the main contributor (47%), with fluoroscopy having much higher per-scan emissions (4.8 and 9.6 kg CO2e per scan) than radiography (0.8 kg CO2e per scan). Medical linens or textiles accounted for 24% of total emissions. Other significant environmental impacts included ozone depletion, smog, acidification, and eutrophication. Reducing energy consumption by decarbonizing electricity sources and optimizing equipment use can significantly decrease greenhouse gas emissions. Implementing sustainable practices in linen use, procurement, and end-of-life management is also crucial. Reducing low-value imaging can further mitigate environmental impact.

How sustainable agricultural management practices mitigate greenhouse gas emissions in paddy fields.

Understanding the environmental effects of surgery can help develop environmentally sound practices.Examine the environmental impact of performing septorhinoplasty.Case study.A primary septorhinoplasty was selected. Materials, medications, devices, and energy used were identified, and medical waste and torn plastics were characterized and measured. Global warming potential (GWP) and microplastics generated were calculated using published conversion rates.GWP of this septorhinoplasty was 192.3 kg CO2 equivalent (CO2e). The greatest contributor to GWP was the use of disposable supplies (160.95 kg CO2e), with smaller contributions from the sterilization of surgical equipment, anesthetic gases, environmental HVAC energy, surgical instrument manufacturing, and incineration of regulated medical waste. Microplastic production ranged between 97,637 and 530,638 microplastics.The environmental cost of septorhinoplasty was dominated by disposable items, contributing to GWP and microplastic production. Through awareness of the environmental impact of their choices, surgeons can develop mitigation strategies to minimize their effect.

This study assessed the phytosociological characteristics, soil physicochemical properties, and carbon stock of Jibiro Grazing Reserve. A systematic line transect design was used, consisting of two parallel transects (1500 m each) spaced 500 m apart. Along each transect, four 50 m × 50 m sample plots were established alternately at 100 m intervals, resulting in eight plots. All living trees with diameter at breast height (DBH) ≥10 cm were identified and measured for DBH, basal diameter, and total height. Soil samples were collected from three points per plot at depths of 0–15, 16–30, 31–45, and 46–60 cm. Data were analysed using one-way ANOVA and Student’s t-test. A total of 12 tree species belonging to 7 families and 68 individuals were recorded, with a stand density of 34 trees ha⁻¹. Phyllanthaceae had the highest frequency, while Sapotaceae was least represented. Total basal area and tree volume were 0.22 m² ha⁻¹ and 1.63 m³ ha⁻¹, respectively. Diameter classes ranged from 0–50 cm, and height classes ranged from <11 m to 20 m. Estimated biomass, carbon stock, and CO₂ equivalents were 3.10 t ha⁻¹, 1.55 t ha⁻¹, and 5.68 kg, respectively. Soils were predominantly sandy loam to sandy clay loam, with high sand content (67.25%). Bulk density was lower than particle density, while porosity (39.10%) and water-holding capacity (13.00%) were low. The soil was slightly acidic (pH 7.14), with moderate organic matter and available phosphorus, and high base saturation (79.25%), indicating nutrient limitations affecting vegetation growth.

Hot-air drying is widely adopted for herbs because it is robust and easy to control, yet it is often energy-intensive and may operate far from optimal conditions when industrial dryers rely on fixed airflow paths and large air recirculation rates. This work investigates a conventional basket-type, adiabatic hot-air dryer through an instrumented 30 h drying campaign and a psychrometric energy analysis. The hot-air drier is designed to reduce the relative humidity of herbs from the environmental value (highly variable as a function of the species, the weather conditions, and, mostly, the seasonality) to 20%. Temperature and relative humidity were measured at four positions to characterize the shelf-by-shelf drying sequence and to identify process phases. A mass balance indicated that approximately 3.8 t of water was removed during the trial. Based on the measured thermodynamic states of the moist air and estimated airflow rates (35,000–53,000 m3/h), the baseline configuration was analyzed and an upgrade strategy was proposed to improve dehumidification and overall efficiency while preserving the conventional hot-air-drying concept. The alternative solution integrates a refrigeration-based dehumidification loop (heat pump) to decouple moisture removal from sensible heating; three plant layouts and seasonal boundary conditions (summer/winter) were simulated. For the most favorable configurations, the specific final–primary energy demand and the associated CO2-equivalent emissions were reduced by about 70–85% compared with the baseline, depending on the airflow rate and recirculation strategy. The results highlight practical retrofit options for existing herb dryers and provide a transparent framework for translating measured psychrometric states into energy and emission indicators. The results, achieved and discussed in this study, were used to optimize the utilization of an already existing and operative hot-air dryer. Based on the proposed working configuration, the dryer now allows achieving the fixed target for herb mixtures of the previous configuration and, at the same time, reducing the energy consumption and associated equivalent CO2 emitted, as well as achieving process completion in less time.

Fuelwood remains a major traditional energy source for more than 264 million households worldwide. However, its global impacts on sustainability are poorly quantified. Here, we develop an integrated framework combining energetic, economic, and environmental perspectives to evaluate the livelihood, economic, carbon emission, and biodiversity impacts of global fuelwood consumption from 2000 to 2021 and to project outcomes under alternative energy and management scenarios for 2030 and 2050. We find that global fuelwood consumption reached 1.9 billion m3 in 2021 (2.5% of primary energy use). The economic value was $190 billion, accounting for 0.2% of global GDP but up to 6.7% in low-income countries. Fuelwood use by all income levels together generated 1.1-1.7 Gt CO2 emissions and significantly undermined global biodiversity integrity. Counterfactual simulations show that substituting 90% of unsustainably harvested fuelwood with renewable energy could reduce global primary energy emissions by 3.2-4.4% and increase biodiversity integrity by 0.3%. By 2050, policy interventions would markedly improve carbon and biodiversity outcomes. Forest certification reduces emissions by up to 99.7, 98.4, and 74.0% in high-, upper-middle-, and lower-middle-income countries, respectively. In low-income countries, clean energy substitution reduces emissions by 61.3%, while LPG and clean energy scenarios increase biodiversity integrity by up to 65.6% and further improve outcomes in higher-income groups. These findings underscore the importance of systemic approaches that explicitly account for trade-offs and synergies among energy access, livelihoods, carbon mitigation, and biodiversity conservation in fuelwood management.

This comprehensive study investigated the significant potential of eggshell, a readily available calcium-rich bio-waste, as an effective and sustainable additive in bioplastics. This innovative approach aims to substantially improve soil fertility during the material's biodegradation, while concurrently mitigating the environmental impacts associated with conventional limestone mining, the traditional source of calcium, as well as addressing the disposal of fossil-derived plastics. The robust methodology involved preparing plant-based raw materials, developing prototypes with systematic variations in composition and concentration, and comprehensively characterizing the formulated biomaterial. Analyses included precise thickness measurements and rigorous soil biodegradation tests through mass loss coupled with calcium carbonate equivalent (CaCO₃) quantification and carbon dioxide (CO₂) emission monitoring. The formulations were systematically studied at concentrations of 0%, 0.25%, 0.5%, and 1% eggshell, with thicknesses ranging from 0.37846 mm to 0.53594 mm. The biomaterials demonstrated promising average soil biodegradation rates of 52.42%, 51.26%, 52.94%, and 57.64% for concentrations of 0%, 0.25%, 0.5%, and 1%, respectively. During the 16 days of biodegradation, the samples released an average of 102.36, 117.55, 128.87, and 138.84 g kg⁻¹ of CaCO₃. These values disregard the baseline CaCO₃ (g kg⁻¹) value found in the soil without the presence of the samples, and it is possible to observe a consistent growing trend in the quantity of this essential nutrient that directly accompanies the increase in eggshell concentration in the formulation. The average aerobic biodegradability rate corresponded to 44.70% within a 14-day interval. Thus, eggshell presented itself as a strong potential additive in bioplastics, enabling formulations that are simultaneously biodegradable and capable of fertilizing the soil.

The development of renewable energy in rural areas presents significant potential. Integrating renewable energy sources, such as wind power and photovoltaics, into microgrids as distributed generation systems offers a viable approach for local energy utilization. In recent years, the rapid advancement of agriculture, forestry, animal husbandry, and fisheries has led to an increasing demand for electricity in these regions. However, the existing power infrastructure remains underdeveloped, resulting in a pronounced imbalance between supply and demand. This paper investigates the optimization of rural microgrid configurations by incorporating demand response strategies and the synergistic interactions among wind turbines, photovoltaic systems, batteries, and loads. A multi-objective optimization model is developed to maximize annual profits and environmental externality (namely, the proposed microgrid achieves equivalent carbon dioxide emissions reductions by replacing thermal power generation through either selling green electricity to the main grid or meeting rural load demands), which is subsequently transformed into a single-objective formulation using the Shapley value method and solved via a global harmonic search algorithm. Simulation results validate the applicability of the proposed solution method and demonstrate the economic performance, development potential, and environmental benefits of the optimized microgrid configurations.

Akira Miyawaki developed a unique reforestation method (the Miyawaki method) in Japan during the 1980s, aimed at restoring native ecosystems, conserving natural habitats, improving disaster resilience and reducing CO2 emissions. This study evaluates the growth performance of tree species planted using the Miyawaki technique at New Thermal Power Station II, Neyveli Lignite Corporation India Limited (NLCIL), Neyveli, where afforestation was completed in 2022. Using a high-density planting strategy, 50 tree species were planted, including timber-species, fruit-bearing trees and ornamental species. Biometric parameters such as plant height and basal diameter were recorded, along with biochemical traits including crude protein, crude fiber and crude fat. Carbon biomass was calculated for each tree and CO₂ sequestration by individual trees was measured to assess their carbon capture potential. The tree species Albizzia lebbeck (14.03 kg tree-1), Diospyros ebenum (13.25 kg tree-1), Terminalia arjuna (12.73 kg tree-1) and Pithecellobium dulce (10.97 kg tree-1) exhibited higher CO₂ equivalents than other species. The Miyawaki plantation alter the local microclimate, with a moderate cooling effect observed during winter, reducing air temperatures to 31.25 °C compared to 32.54 °C in the open area. Relative humidity increased to 59.13 % within the plantation compared to 48.79 % in the open area. The plantation also led to marginal increase in soil organic carbon content. Miyawaki plantations demonstrated positive effects on microclimatic regulation and ecosystem functioning. The findings of this study help identify tree species with superior performance under Miyawaki planting conditions, providing useful guidance for future afforestation programs in areas with comparable climatic and ecological settings.

Food systems account for about 30% of anthropogenic emissions, of which agriculture contributes 12%-14%. Agro-ecosystems have large ecological footprints (EFP). Thus, the objective of the review is to examine land-use and management practices that can reduce EFP and sequester carbon (C) in soil. Decomposition of soil organic matter is accelerated by plow tillage and on-farm burning of crop residues. Livestock are also a source of CH4 through enteric fermentation and manure management. Approaches to reducing the global EFP of agroecosystems are discussed with the objective of adaptation and mitigation of anthropogenic climate change. Sequestration of atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) in soil, as soil organic carbon and soil inorganic carbon, can offset emissions. Examples of best management practices include conservation agriculture, judicious use of chemicals, drip fertigation, agroforestry, improved livestock grazing and manure management. The rate of C sequestration varies widely depending on soil, climate, and management. Soils of agroecosystems have the potential to sequester 4 to 10 Pg CO2 equivalents (CO2eq) per year (Pg = petagram = 1015g = 1 giga ton or Gt = 1 billion metric ton). However, the gross rate of C sequestration in soil varies among soils, eco-regions and management. The EFP of agro-ecosystems can be reduced by enhancing use efficiency of inputs, decreasing leakage of chemicals into the environment, conserving soil and water, and adopting regenerative agriculture. The importance of C farming and approaches to its adoption are discussed as payments for ecosystem services and the establishment of the Soil Health Act. Reducing EFP of agro-ecosystems is narrated in relation to Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations.

Decarbonising the building stock relies on the strategies of efficiency, sufficiency and consistency. Building stock energy scenarios (BSES) help evaluate the effect of these measures by modelling the existing building stock and using appropriate inputs, but must also account for boundary conditions, such as the structure of the energy system. In renewable energy (RE)-based systems, high summer generation contrasts with winter building stock demand, creating a seasonal gap. This study presents two BSES for Austria: a BAU scenario with standard decarbonisation measures (HVAC change and renovation rates) and a BEST scenario with more ambitious rates. Three energy system configurations are considered: (A) a demand-independent energy system based on current data of the Austrian electricity generation, (B) a RE-based generation system in terms of net-annual balance with the energy demand but connected with surrounding countries, and (C) an autarkic RE-based system with seasonal storage (based on green hydrogen). The key performance indicators (KPIs) used to assess the decarbonisation of a system are the equivalent CO 2 emissions, the load cover factor (LCF) and the required PV generation to reach energy autarky. The results show that the assumption of the energy system structure has a strong impact on the effectiveness of different measures. Hence, the choice of the KPIs is sensitive with respect to the boundary conditions. A building stock within a RE-based domestic energy system relying on energy imports to cover the winter gap cannot be considered fully decarbonised, if the import electricity mix is not known. On the other hand, an autarkic system is not feasible if the domestic demand exceeds the RE potential. The RE mix of the generation system, along with the load characteristics, has an impact on the winter gap magnitude, consequently influencing the energy imports or the seasonal storage requirements.

This study presents a methodological refinement of calculating greenhouse gas emissions from agricultural land management in the Czech Republic according to IPCC requirements. The authors utilize the SoilClim model providing input data in a 500 × 500 m grid for finer division of the Czech territory into climate zones according to IPCC. The research analyses the application of nitrogen fertilizers at the district level for the period 2015–2023 instead of national data. Results show significant dynamics of climate zones, where the extent of “dry” areas fluctuated in individual years from 40% to more than 80%. Implementation of the refined model led to a reduction in reported nitrous oxide emissions by an average of more than 9% in the reported period 1990–2023, representing savings of 20 Mt CO2 equivalent. The model-based use of district-level data on fertilizer application led to an additional reduction of 1.2 Mt CO₂ equivalent for the years 2015–2023. The study demonstrates that methodological refinement and the use of region-specific activity data can significantly influence the national greenhouse gas inventory. It highlights the need for continuous updates of calculation methods and activity data to improve the quality of national reporting and provides essential insights for a more effective emission reduction strategy in the agricultural sector of the Czech Republic.