Accounting Of Greenhouse Gas Emissions Research Articles

Initial forest age distribution may generate computational sinks or sources of carbon: A generic approach to test assumptions underlying the EU LULUCF forest reference levels

BackgroundThe current EU LULUCF regulation calls for member state-specific Forest Reference Levels (FRLs) for benchmark in the accounting of greenhouse gas emissions and removals of managed forest land during the compliance period (2021–2030). According to the technical guidance on developing and reporting the FRLs, it could be actualized by projecting a ratio of harvested to total available biomass. We tested how the initial age distribution may affect the aforementioned ratio by simulating the continuation of forest management based on several descriptive shapes of forest age class distribution.ResultsOur simulations suggest that when the FRLs are prepared by employing the harvest ratio and forest management is assumed strictly age dynamics driven, the shape of the initial forest age class distribution gives rise to computational sinks or sources of carbon in managed forest land. Harvests projected according to the ratio corresponded those resulting from the age dynamics only in the case of uniform age distribution.ConclusionsThe result calls for a better consideration of variation in initial states between countries when determining the future LULUCF regulation. Our exercise demonstrates how generic simulations in a standardized modeling framework could help in ex-ante impact assessment of proposed changes to the LULUCF regulation.

A more complete accounting of greenhouse gas emissions and sequestration in urban landscapes

Understanding interactions between complex human and natural systems involved in urban carbon cycling is important when balancing the dual goals of urban development to accommodate a growing population, while also achieving urban carbon neutrality. This study develops a systems breakdown accounting method to assess the urban carbon cycle. The method facilitates greater understanding of the complex interactions within and between systems involved in this cycle, in order to identify ways in which humans can adapt their interactions to reduce net greenhouse gas emissions from urban regions. Testing the systems breakdown accounting method in Stockholm County, Sweden, we find that it provides new insights into the carbon interactions with urban green-blue areas in the region. Results show how Stockholm County can reduce its emissions and achieve its goal of local carbon net-neutrality, if the green areas protect its carbon sequestration potential and maintain it to offset projected remaining active emissions. Results also show that the inland surface waters and inner archipelago waters within Stockholm County are a considerable source of greenhouse gases to the atmosphere. A better understanding of these water emissions is necessary to formulate effective planning and policy measures that can reduce urban emissions. The insights gained from this study can also be applied in other regions. In particular, water bodies could play a significant role in the urban carbon cycle and using this knowledge for more complete carbon accounting, and a better understanding of green-blue interactions could help to reduce net urban emissions in many places.

Classification of Nemoral Forests with Fusion of Multi-Temporal Sentinel-1 and 2 Data

Mapping forest extent and forest cover classification are important for the assessment of forest resources in socio-economic as well as ecological terms. Novel developments in the availability of remotely sensed data, computational resources, and advances in areas of statistical learning have enabled the fusion of multi-sensor data, often yielding superior classification results. Most former studies of nemoral forests fusing multi-sensor and multi-temporal data have been limited in spatial extent and typically to a simple classification of landscapes into major land cover classes. We hypothesize that multi-temporal, multi-sensor data will have a specific strength in the further classification of nemoral forest landscapes owing to the distinct seasonal patterns in the phenology of broadleaves. This study aimed to classify the Danish landscape into forest/non-forest and further into forest types (broadleaved/coniferous) and species groups, using a cloud-based approach based on multi-temporal Sentinel 1 and 2 data and a random forest classifier trained with National Forest Inventory (NFI) data. Mapping of non-forest and forest resulted in producer accuracies of 99% and 90%, respectively. The mapping of forest types (broadleaf and conifer) within the forested area resulted in producer accuracies of 95% for conifer and 96% for broadleaf forest. Tree species groups were classified with producer accuracies ranging 34–74%. Species groups with coniferous species were the least confused, whereas the broadleaf groups, especially Quercus species, had higher error rates. The results are applied in Danish national accounting of greenhouse gas emissions from forests, resource assessment, and assessment of forest biodiversity potentials.

Extending urban stocks and flows analysis to urban greenhouse gas emission accounting: A case of Odense, Denmark

AbstractCities generate greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions both in the construction phase of their built environment stocks and durable goods and in their operation phase with energy and material flows. Existing urban GHG accounting methods, however, focus largely on emissions related to energy and material flows and have rarely considered the role of urban stocks. In this article, we have extended urban stocks and flows analysis to urban GHG accounting, using bottom‐up and high‐resolution urban stocks and flows information for a case of Odense, Denmark. We introduced a complementary indicator of carbon replacement value (CRV) to account for emissions embodied in the urban stocks and determined the CRV of Odense as 10.7 megatons of CO2 equivalent (or 53 metric tons per capita) in 2017, equivalent to 13 years of Odense's operational emissions. The comparison between CRV and operational emissions across urban activities facilitates a better understanding of the carbon profile of the city and opportunities for decarbonization. Such urban metabolic based GHG accounting and inclusion of stocks can help to estimate the amount of GHG emissions to be expected from the further urbanization in developing countries as their urban stocks continue to increase and inform their potentials for leapfrogging in emission reduction.

Great Divergence Exists in Chinese Provincial Trade-Related CO2 Emission Accounts.

Accurate accounting of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions considering interregional trade are important for developing regional-specific strategies for climate mitigation in countries like China where vast heterogeneity exists among regions. Trade-related provincial CO2 emission accounts have been reported and analyzed for China using three independently developed multiregional input-output (MRIO) models which have been widely used. Here we show that significant divergence exists in both consumption-based and income-based CO2 emission accounts for Chinese provinces in 2012 using different MRIO models. For example, the difference of CO2 emissions for Shandong Province calculated from two MRIO models can reach 208Mt, more than the terrestrial emissions of Argentina, United Arab Emirates, or The Netherlands. Reducing such divergence, however, requires only the agreement among various MRIO models on a small number of critical data elements. Our results demonstrate the need of careful interpretation of previous studies on trade-related provincial GHG emission accounts in China, and prioritize future efforts to harmonize GHG emission accounting within China.

Climate Security of the Russian Federation: Statistics, Facts, Analysis

This article outlines climate security of the Russian Federation and its regions based on official (state and administrative) statistics and widely used statistical analytical tools. Building on the conceptual authors’ position on possibilities of managing natural and climatic risks and increasing national and regional resilience against negative impact of natural and climatic factors (climatic stability), the article examines system of indicators of «climate intensity» and «energy intensity».The article bases conclusions concerning the decrease of natural and climatic risks to Russian economy in recent years on the results of the conducted analysis. These positive trends are the result of adoption of the 2009 Climate Doctrine. However, growth of economy is still provided generally with use of traditional energy sources - non-renewable minerals. It leads to considerable greenhouse gases concentration in the atmosphere.The assessment of the regions of Russia by the indicator «GRP energy intensity» allowed to identify territorial entities with the greatest relative impact on the climate due to high energy consumption. The top 10 regions for this indicator include mainly those with developed metallurgy, energy, mining and manufacturing industries. Less than one third of constituent entities of the Russian Federation have energy intensity of the economy below the Russian average.The work justifies the feasibility of statistical accounting of greenhouse gas emissions by region for integrated assessment of climate risks. The results of such an assessment can then be used in the formulation and implementation of national and regional climate policies.

Unbalanced economic benefits and the electricity-related carbon emissions embodied in China's interprovincial trade

Quantifying the economic benefits and environmental costs brought about by trade can help reveal the environmental inequalities behind regional trade. There have been many studies on the accounting of greenhouse gas emissions and pollutants embodied in regional trade, but there are insufficient studies analyzing the imbalance between the economic benefits and environmental costs embodied in trade. Electricity-related carbon emissions are the main contributor to global warming, explaining more than 40% of carbon emissions both globally and in China. This study uses the network approach and multiregional input-output (MRIO) model to quantify the electricity-related carbon emissions and value added embodied in China's interprovincial trade from 2007 to 2012 and also applies the regional environmental inequality (REI) index to measure the imbalance of electricity-related carbon emissions and economic benefits embodied in such trade. The results show that 20–80% of the electricity-related carbon emissions and 15–70% of the value added of a province's final demand are outsourced to other provinces. The major directions of the net value added and electricity-related carbon emissions embodied in China's interprovincial trade were from north to south and from the center to the east. Unequal bilateral interprovincial trade mainly occurred between inland provinces and developed provinces, and western provinces (such as Guizhou, Gansu, and Ningxia) suffered economic and environmental losses from interprovincial trade. This study can promote understanding of the distribution impacts of domestic trade on environmental costs and economic benefits and provide a reference for China's cross-provincial carbon emission mitigation policies.

Estimating burn severity and carbon emissions from a historic megafire in boreal forests of China.

Wildfires, especially those of large size, worsen air quality and alter the carbon cycle through combustion of large quantities of biomass and release of carbon into the atmosphere. The Black Dragon fire, which occurred in 1987 in the boreal forests of China is among the top five of such megafires ever recorded in the world. With over 30years of accumulation of data and availability of new greenhouse gas emission accounting methods, carbon emissions from this megafire can now be estimated with improved precision and greater spatial resolution. To do this, we combined field and remote sensing data to map four burn severity classes and calculated combustion efficiency in terms of the biomass immediately consumed in the fire. Results of the study showed that 1.30 million hectares burned and 52% of that area burned with high severity. The emitted carbon dioxide equivalents (CO2e), accounted for approximately 10% of total fossil fuel emissions from China in 1987, along with CO (2%-3% of annual anthropogenic CO emissions from China) and non-methane hydrocarbons (NMHC) contributing to the atmospheric pollutants. Our study provides an important basis for carbon emission estimation and understanding the impacts of megafires.

Catalyzing political momentum for the effective implementation of decarbonization for urban buildings

This paper expands the toolkit available to consider the effectiveness of urban climate responses by examining political effectiveness in the implementation of urban decarbonization initiatives. By focusing on the politics of implementation, this approach complements dominant approaches for assessing effectiveness that emphasize greenhouse gas emission accounting. Drawing on case studies of urban building low carbon governance in Stockholm, London and San Francisco incorporating 40 expert interviews, the analysis provides insight into whether climate change mitigation measures are catalyzing political momentum that is untangling fossil fuels from institutions. It finds that urban decarbonization is gaining political momentum when it comes to new buildings, although with concerning implications for inequality and uneven development, but systemic change is limited since efforts to target existing buildings are stumbling over challenges. Two key insights are highlighted: 1) reframing the policy goal of urban climate mitigation to decarbonization productively refocuses attention on systemic change; 2) effective urban carbon governance is not only about providing instrumental tools, but it also involves triggering political dynamics that build momentum. Future urban decarbonization initiatives should consider the complementary roles of offering instrumental solutions and catalyzing political momentum through implementation.

The effect of administrative form and stability on cities’ use of greenhouse gas emissions inventories as a basis for mitigation

ABSTRACTSparked by their emergence as innovative climate policy leaders, cities’ decisions to engage in greenhouse gas (GHG) mitigation planning have been the subject of extensive examination over the last decade. The impact that these planning and subsequent local policy actions have on addressing actual emissions, however, remains under-explored and even less is known about the conditions under which cities’ climate planning efforts result in meaningful mitigation. Data limitations, specifically the sporadic and unstandardized accounting of local GHG emissions, underlie the minimal empirical attention given to understanding cities’ climate policy outcomes. To circumvent these data challenges, we quantify the impact of local efforts through expert evaluation. We utilize nation-wide survey data collected from U.S. cities in 2010 and 2015 to empirically assess how community and city government characteristics influence the extent to which cities’ climate planning efforts serve as the basis for emissions reductions. The results suggest that the dynamics shaping cities’ decisions to complete an inventory are different from those that influence whether it is used as a basis for emissions reductions. Results also point to the positive effect of regular inventory updates and to the importance of stability in the administrative leadership of sustainability in a city’s government.

Better accounting of greenhouse gas emissions from Indian coal mining activities — A field perspective

Fugitive methane emissions from coal mining activities have been frequently talked about in the literature due to concerns about climate change. However, indirect and direct CO2 emissions may also result from coal mining processes. The indirect CO2 emissions include those from diesel combustion from equipment while direct CO2 emissions are a relatively new area of research and have been recently brought into the purview of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) inventory guidelines. We discuss some of the preliminary results which can give some directions into the potential research areas for better accounting of greenhouse gas emissions from coal mining activities. These have been derived from practical studies undertaken at selected coal mines in India.

Dynamic accounting of greenhouse gas emissions from cascading utilisation of wood waste

Cascading utilisation of post-consumer wood waste has recently gained increasing attention in the European Union, aiming for a society in which the resource's properties are optimized through sequential uses. To date, material utilisation of wood waste has been limited to particleboard production, with additional niche alternatives being restricted by quality requirements for wood waste. In this consequential life cycle assessment focusing on post-consumer wood collected at Danish recycling centres, Global Warming Potential (GWP) impacts from quality-driven choices for cascading management of wood waste were compared with those from handling mixed wood waste qualities. GWPs were modelled by considering the dynamic profile of greenhouse gas emissions (including biogenic carbon dioxide) for two time horizons (100 and 500 years). The robustness of the results was tested by varying modelling assumptions with respect to electricity system, wood sourcing and associated rotation period, and impacts from indirect land use changes. The results demonstrated that valuing quality over quantity in wood waste management can ensure larger GWP savings, especially if recycling applications have a long lifetime and/or substitute energy-intensive products; such results were confirmed under all scenario analyses. Inclusion of land use changes credited land-intensive products. More cascade steps of the wood waste resource ensured larger savings; however, assumptions on the electricity mix, on the source of the wood alongside the choice of the time horizon for GWP greatly influenced the results on cascading management.

Impact of cutting meat intake on hidden greenhouse gas emissions in an import-reliant city

Greenhouse gas emissions embodied in trade is a growing concern for the international community. Multiple studies have highlighted drawbacks in the territorial and production-based accounting of greenhouse gas emissions because it neglects emissions from the consumption of goods in trade. This creates weak carbon leakage and complicates international agreements on emissions regulations. Therefore, we estimated consumption-based emissions using input-output analysis and life cycle assessment to calculate the greenhouse gas emissions hidden in meat and dairy products in Hong Kong, a city predominately reliant on imports. We found that emissions solely from meat and dairy consumption were higher than the city’s total greenhouse gas emissions using conventional production-based calculation. This implies that government reports underestimate more than half of the emissions, as 62% of emissions are embodied in international trade. The discrepancy emphasizes the need of transitioning climate targets and policy to consumption-based accounting. Furthermore, we have shown that dietary change from a meat-heavy diet to a diet in accordance with governmental nutrition guidelines could achieve a 67% reduction in livestock-related emissions, allowing Hong Kong to achieve the Paris Agreement targets for 2030. Consequently, we concluded that consumption-based accounting for greenhouse gas emissions is crucial to target the areas where emissions reduction is realistically achievable, especially for import-reliant cities like Hong Kong.

Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Pecan Orchards in Semiarid Southern New Mexico

Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions are fueling global climate change, with methane and nitrous oxide being the primary agricultural gases emitted. It has been shown that N2O emissions correlate to moisture content fluctuations; however, emissions from agricultural fields in the semiarid regions of the Southwest where rewetting events occur regularly are not well established. The scope of this study was to quantify GHG emissions in correlation to soil moisture fluctuations and fertilizer application. The study was conducted continuously in two pecan [Carya illinoinensis (Wangenh.) K. Koch] orchards between Aug. 2010 and Aug. 2011 on a sandy loam soil (La Mancha) and a silty clay loam soil (Leyendecker), both under normal management practices. The small chamber technique was used to measure GHGs. Emissions varied greatly throughout the year. The largest flux of CO2 at La Mancha and Leyendecker both occurred during a drying event immediately following an irrigation event: 84,642.49 μg·m−2·h−1 and 30,338.24 μg·m−2·h−1, respectively. The net CH4 flux at Leyendecker and La Mancha was close to zero with the largest emissions occurring during wetting events. Results showed that N2O emissions were maintained near the baseline except for the few days following an irrigation event. The largest emission peak at La Mancha occurred after irrigation and nitrogen application: 322.06 μg·m−2·h−1. The largest emission peaks of 26.37 and 1.13 μg·m−2·h−1 at Leyendecker and La Mancha, respectively, occurred after irrigation, nitrogen application, and tillage. Nitrogen application was the driving factor affecting N2O emissions at La Mancha, whereas soil moisture content was the driving factor at Leyendecker. Emission factors (EFs) at La Mancha and Leyendecker were 0.49% and 0.05%, respectively. A thorough accounting of GHG emissions is necessary for budgeting and identifying mitigation policy.

Interpretation of Series National Standards of China on “Greenhouse Gas Emissions Accounting and Reporting for Enterprises”

Standardization is playing an increasingly important role in reducing greenhouse gas emission and in climatic change adaptation, especially in the “three” greenhouse gas emission aspects (measurement, report, verification). Standardization has become one of the most important ways in mitigating the global climate change. Standardization Administration of China (SAC) has taken many productive measures in actively promoting standardization work to cope with climate change. In April 2014, SAC officially approved the establishment of “National Carbon Emission Management Standardization Technical Committee” In November 2015, SAC officially issued the first 11 national standards on carbon management including <<General Guideline of the Greenhouse Gas Emissions Accounting and Reporting for Industrial Enterprises>> and the requirements of the greenhouse gas emissions accounting and reporting in 10 sectors including power generation, power grid, iron and steel, chemical engineering, electrolytic aluminum, magnesium smelting, plate glass, cement, ceramics and civil aviation, which proposes unified requirements of “what to calculate and how to calculate” the greenhouse gas emission for enterprises. This paper focuses on the detailed interpretation of the main contents of the first 11 national standards, so as to provide technical supports for users of the standards and to comprehensively promote the emission reduction of greenhouse gas at the enterprise level.

Widening the perspective in greenhouse gas emissions accounting: The way forward for supporting climate and energy policies at municipal level

The transition towards low-carbon economy requires a number of specific actions by a multiplicity of actors in order to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, entailing energy efficiency, production of energy from renewable resources as well as the diffusion of more sustainable production and consumption patterns. Among the actors, local authorities can play a leading role for climate action. However, properly accounting for GHG emissions at local scale and identifying actions for GHG reduction are still an open challenge in many contexts. In this paper, we propose a method for GHG emissions accounting to support the identification of proper actions to achieve GHG reduction targets. The method widens the classical production-based approach to accounting, by proposing an extension of the accounting to three main areas: waste management and recycling, consumption patterns, and local land management. Life cycle thinking is applied as methodological basis for such extension. To illustrate the benefit of the proposed approach, the method has been applied to 16 municipalities (in Northern Italy), which were signatories of the Covenant of Mayors (CoM) initiative. CoM is a European initiative by which local authorities voluntarily commit to reduce their GHG emissions through the implementation of Sustainable Energy Action Plans. A comparison of the emission profile of the different municipalities helps identifying common patterns and local peculiarities to be addressed to achieve the reduction target. For the analysed case studies, the biggest contribution to GHG emissions comes from the consumption of the natural gas and electricity by the household sector. Emissions from waste generation play a minor role in the selected case studies. However, the inclusion of avoided emissions coming from waste recycling highlights the reduction potential if an appropriate waste management system is in place. Consumption patterns, as well, may play a relevant role. For example, assessing GHG emissions related to food consumption on top of those due to other drivers, the total municipal emissions change by increasing for an average of 22.6% for the selected case studies. Moreover, local land use planning and management should be included in the assessment, being crucial not only for the emissions uptake but also for climate mitigation and adaptation. The proposed approach to GHG accounting, including consumption-based aspects, may help identifying a wider set of climate actions to be implemented by local authorities to reduce environmental burdens.

Embodied Emissions in Inputs and Outputs: A Value-Added Approach to National Emissions Accounting

We present a consumption-based greenhouse gas (GHG) accounting model for Canada, based on a multiregional input–output formulation. The outputs resulting from this model comprise a set of detailed input–output tables displaying trade in embodied emissions across regions and sectors (in contrast to the usual financial value input–output tables). After a complete exposition of our embodied GHG emission accounting model, we provide a brief analysis of production- and consumption-based GHG emission footprints and the related interregional trade in embodied emissions across Canadian provinces for 2004–2011. Our initial analysis is intended to present the model and illustrate general conclusions to highlight the utility of the resulting detailed GHG input–output tables as a resource for future research.

Investigation of the potential impact of the Paris Agreement on national mitigation policies and the risk of carbon leakage; an analysis of the Irish bioenergy industry

A criticism of production-based reporting and accounting of greenhouse gas emissions, as implemented under the UNFCCC and Kyoto Protocol, is the risk of mitigation measures adoption in one country to reduce national emissions, leading consequentially to the displacement of the source activity to other jurisdictions, thus resulting in an increase in net global emissions referred to as “carbon leakage”. An important outcome of the 21st Conference of the Parties (COP) to the 1992 UNFCCC may be “plugging” of carbon leakage. This study examined the bioenergy industry in Ireland to determine the extent of existing carbon leakage due to national energy policy and to establish if measures identified within the relevant intended nationally determined contributions will result in plugging of carbon leakage. The study focused on co-firing of biomass with peat, the major use of biomass for energy generation in Ireland. The results show that significant levels of carbon leakage occur due to reliance on imported biomass feedstocks to meet co-firing targets under Irish energy policy. In the post-COP21 scenario, one of the three Intended Nationally Determined Contributions analysed contains a measure which has the potential to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from imported biomass by 32%, highlighting the potential of the Paris Agreement to reduce carbon leakage.

GHG emission accounting and mitigation strategies to reduce the carbon footprint in conventional port activities – a case of the Port of Chennai

ABSTRACTPorts as an industry account for ∼3% of the total greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions worldwide. The Port of Chennai, India, uses an enormous amount of electricity and diesel for intermodal transportation of goods and for other essential services. The inventory of GHG emissions in the Port of Chennai is made by accounting the various facilities of the port along with the housing colony and fishing harbor which come under the management of the Port of Chennai. Quantification of GHG emissions is made following the guidelines of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and World Port Climate Initiative (WPCI). The estimation of GHG emissions showed that 280,558 tonnes of CO2e/year was generated from the port and port-related facilities. Several GHG mitigation strategies and their impact are quantified and discussed. The technology suggestions presented in the paper will be very useful to plan effective mitigation strategies incorporating technological advancement and management policies.

Better Greenhouse Gas Emissions Accounting for Biofuels: A Key to Biofuels Sustainability

Biofuels are promoted by governments as a replacement for fossil fuels in the transport sector. However, according to current scientific evidence, their use does not necessarily significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions. This article examines issues related to the regulation of biofuels’ life-cycle ghg emissions. It finds that a regulatory gap exists at the international level, whilst regulation at the domestic level faces limits or is insufficient to fill this gap. It remains to be seen whether, taking into account the scientific complexities, coherent international rules for biofuels will be adopted. Until then, a polycentric regulatory approach on the use of biofuels, which addresses the sustainability problem at multiple scales, thereby enabling experimentation and cross-influence among different levels of standard-setting, will remain in place across the world. The current approach entails a potentially beneficial learning process on how to properly regulate biofuels. However, there is a risk that national regulators will promote biofuels without knowing or accounting exactly for the extent to which they contribute to greenhouse gas reductions.