Intergovernmental Panel On Climate Change Guidelines Research Articles

Carbon Dioxide Uptake Estimation for Spanish Cement-Based Materials.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), which is the United Nations body for assessing the science related to climate change, has recently recognized the natural carbonation process as a way of carbon offsetting with mortar and concrete. Accordingly, this activity could be recognized as a carbon removal process for which certification should be granted. The aim of the certification of carbon removal is to promote the development of adequate and efficient new carbon removal processes. Therefore, the main objective of this study is to provide reliable results on carbon dioxide uptake by cement-based materials in Spain. Yearly, greenhouse gas emissions are reported to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) by each country, and the natural carbonation should be added up to the carbon accounting. Therefore, natural carbonation should be included in the IPCC Guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories, and such accounting information should be made available promptly to the national regulatory authorities. This paper provides the results of carbon dioxide uptake by Spanish cement-based materials from 1990 to 2020 by using an easy method of estimating the net carbon dioxide emissions (simplified method) considering the carbon dioxide released by the calcination during clinker production (process emissions). The outcome of this study reveals that there was 93,556,000 tons of carbon dioxide uptake by the mortar and concrete manufactured in Spain from 1990 to 2020.

Degradation increases peat greenhouse gas emissions in undrained tropical peat swamp forests

AbstractTropical peat swamp degradation can modify net peat greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions even without drainage. However, current Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) guidelines do not provide default emission factors (EF) for anthropogenically-degraded undrained organic soils. We reviewed published field measurements of peat GHG fluxes in undrained undegraded and degraded peat swamp forests in Southeast Asia (SEA) and Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC). Degradation without drainage shifted the peat from a net CO2 sink to a source in both SEA (− 2.9 ± 1.8 to 4.1 ± 2.0 Mg CO2–C ha−1 yr−1) and LAC (− 4.3 ± 1.8 to 1.4 ± 2.2 Mg CO2–C ha−1 yr−1). It raised peat CH4 emissions (kg C ha−1 yr−1) in SEA (22.1 ± 13.6 to 32.7 ± 7.8) but decreased them in LAC (218.3 ± 54.2 to 165.0 ± 4.5). Degradation increased peat N2O emissions (kg N ha−1 yr−1) in SEA forests (0.9 ± 0.5 to 4.8 ± 2.3) (limited N2O data). It shifted peat from a net GHG sink to a source in SEA (− 7.9 ± 6.9 to 20.7 ± 7.4 Mg CO2-equivalent ha−1 yr−1) and increased peat GHG emissions in LAC (9.8 ± 9.0 to 24.3 ± 8.2 Mg CO2-equivalent ha−1 yr−1). The large observed increase in net peat GHG emissions in undrained degraded forests compared to undegraded conditions calls for their inclusion as a new class in the IPCC guidelines. As current default IPCC EF for tropical organic soils are based only on data collected in SEA ombrotrophic peatlands, expanded geographic representation and refinement of peat GHG EF by nutrient status are also needed.

New model for evaluating greenhouse gas emissions from sludge treatment based on fossil and biogenic carbon migration

The treatment and disposal of massive amounts of sewage sludge are potential emission sources of greenhouse gases (GHGs) which strongly depend on the migration of fossil and biogenic carbon into GHGs. Owing to the lack of fossil carbon data and suitable estimation models, CO2 emissions generated from sludge combustion and biodegradation are considered carbon-neutral according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), increasing the inaccuracy of GHG emissions accounting. Therefore, this study aimed to build a new comprehensive assessment model to accurately evaluate GHG emissions from four typical sludge treatment and disposal approaches. Notably, fossil and biogenic carbon migration were considered, rather than the emission factor method when measuring direct GHG emissions. The results of 14C analysis, which quantified the contributions of fossil and biogenic carbon to the sludge samples, showed significant differences in the average fossil carbon fractions among the four types of sludge: 84.11% for chemical sludge, 25.99% for tannery sludge, 79.19% for textile dyeing sludge, and 45.97% for municipal sludge. According to our model, the route of safely landfilling deep-dewatered sludge possessed the highest GHG emission factors of 1.18–3.75 tCO2eq/t dry sludge. The optimal sludge treatment option was anaerobic digestion followed by land application. This treatment maintained a low and stable level of GHG emissions (0.48–0.54 tCO2eq/t dry sludge) and exhibited low sensitivity to changes in fossil carbon fraction and carbon content according to the sensitivity analysis results. For sludge with a high calorific value and a low fossil carbon fraction, the route of dry incineration + utilization of ash and slag as building materials was carbon-negative and more suitable than anaerobic digestion to achieve carbon neutrality. This study complements the fossil carbon data gaps of sludge in the IPCC Guidelines and provides a more accurate GHG emissions accounting model, which will support the sludge treatment industry in developing effective strategies to reduce GHG emissions.

Considerations on the methane correction factor and fraction of methane parameters in the IPCC first-order decay model for active aeration landfills

Understanding the behavior of organic carbon in municipal solid waste landfills is a major challenge for estimating methane (CH4) emissions using the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) first-order decay (FOD) model. According to the IPCC guidelines, the default values of CH4 correction factor (MCF) and fraction of CH4 (F) for active aeration landfills are set as 0.4 and 0.5, respectively. However, whether it is reasonable to apply the default values of MCF and F to active aeration landfills is questionable. This study aims to estimate the MCF and develop a method to determine the F value for active aeration landfills. In this investigation, three landfill sites were operated as active aeration landfills to estimate the MCF and the F. The study results indicate that MCF values were lower than the default value of 0.4 provided in the IPCC guidelines under aerobic conditions with a CH4 concentration of less than 5%. According to the carbon balance analyses, there was a mismatch between the theoretical CH4/CO2 ratio based on the F default value of 0.5 and the measured CH4/CO2 ratio. Using the F calculation method proposed in this study, the theoretical CH4/CO2 ratio and the measured CH4/CO2 ratio was calculated equally. The F values during air injection ranged from 0.25 to 0.93 at three landfill sites, suggesting that adapting the F default value of 0.5 for active aeration landfills may lead to significant errors in the estimation of CH4 emissions using the IPCC FOD model.

Insights from the Field: How North Carolina Local Government Climate Communications Compare to IPCC Guidelines

As climate change increasingly threatens the United States, many local governments are implementing programs in response, helping to reduce their communities' contributions to climate change and enhancing their resilience to climate impacts. The purpose of this study is to understand how local governments in North Carolina communicate with residents about their climate change programming. Twelve local government sustainability employees participated in interviews about how they communicated with and received input from residents about such programs. Interview transcripts were coded and analyzed using Atlas.ti 9, and communications approaches were compared to Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) recommendations. Participants' communications could be characterized as applying some of the IPCC recommendations, and findings suggest opportunities for greater adoption of IPCC strategies in local government communication about climate programs. The Covid-19 pandemic was primarily described as a barrier to communicating about climate programs but also was credited as creating an opportunity for enhanced connections in one community. Additionally, participants described misconceptions about climate change programming expressed by residents, such as initiatives being perceived as impractical when they were in fact feasible.

On-farm greenhouse gas emissions associated with the cultivation of two new bioenergy crops in the UK

• A greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions model was developed using the IPCC guidelines. • Establishment and cultivation were compared between arable and bioenergy crops. • Growing Sida for solid fuel over 16 years would emit 3.0 t CO2eq ha−1y−1. • Cultivating Silphium over 16 years could sequester 0.6 t CO2eq ha−1 y−1. Before using novel energy crops to produce bioenergy, feasibility studies should be completed to determine their effect on net greenhouse gas emissions. The current study developed a model to study the greenhouse gas emissions associated with the cultivation of two novel bioenergy crops: Sida hermaphrodita (L.) Rusby and Silphium perfoliatum L., using Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) guidelines. The establishment and cultivation of Sida hermaphrodita and Silphium perfoliatum were compared with an arable rotation, short rotation coppice (SRC) and Miscanthus. Under the assumptions specified in the current study, including annual fertilisation and a high root: shoot ratio for Sida, the cultivation of Sida hermaphrodita and Silphium perfoliatum resulted in a mean net emission of 3.0 Mg CO 2 eq ha −1 y −1 and mean net sequestration of 0.6 Mg CO 2 eq ha −1 y −1 respectively over a 16 year rotation. This compared to predicted mean net emissions of 4.2 Mg CO 2 eq ha −1 y −1 for an arable rotation, and intermediate values for the SRC and Miscanthus crop (1.0 and 2.2 Mg CO 2 eq ha − 1 y − 1 , respectively).

Methodological Comparison of the Production Approach 2013 and 2019 for Quantifying the Carbon Stock in Harvested Wood Products in China

Harvested wood products (HWP) play an important role in global climate change mitigation. The Production Approach, an internationally accepted HWP carbon accounting approach by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), has been revised several times to enhance the accuracy of the accounting results. This study compared the methodological differences in the Production Approach elaborated in the 2013 Revised Supplementary Methods and Good Practice Guidance Arising from the Kyoto Protocol (PA2013) and 2019 Refinement to the 2006 IPCC Guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories (PA2019). We used PA2019 to calculate the HWP carbon stock in China under different wood utilization scenarios. In terms of recycling and reusing of recovered paper, we found that PA2019 has a more accurate representation of the increasing proportion of paper and paperboard materials produced using recovered paper in the world. In 2019, the HWP carbon stock in China was 815.94 Mt (1 Mt = 106 t) using PA2019. In detail, the carbon stock of sawnwood, wood-based panels, and paper and paperboard were 208.52 Mt, 559.73 Mt, and 47.69 Mt, respectively. Scenario simulation results show that half-life was an important factor that affecting HWP carbon stock. China can improve HWP carbon stock by increasing the recovered paper utilization rate for paper products or increasing the utilization rate of HWP with long half-life in construction (structural material). The additional carbon stock obtained by changing the utilization structure of wood and improve the half-life of HWP will not be large until decades later but nonetheless important.

Fossil fraction of CO2 emissions of biofuels

The reliance on petroleum derivatives and the increasing trend of fuel consumption in the transport sector have brought attention to biofuels as a measure to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, enhance energy security and boost economic development. The incentive for utilizing biofuels is their potential to reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions compared to fossil fuels. Biofuels are considered to be carbon-neutral, regarding the direct CO2 emissions associated with their combustion, on the grounds that the carbon dioxide absorbed by the plants through photosynthesis is equivalent to the CO2 released during their combustion. However, a part of the carbon of biofuels may have a fossil origin and therefore, it is responsible for “non-neutral” CO2 emissions. This was recognized by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) in its guidelines for greenhouse gas inventories. Nevertheless, specific guidance of how to estimate fossil CO2 emissions per each type of biofuel, in order to facilitate the work of emission inventory compilers and practitioners, is neither available in the IPCC guidelines nor in the scientific literature. The purpose of this paper is to define a higher tier method to estimate the associated CO2 emissions with the fossil carbon content of biofuels, aiming to cover all possible biofuel types that are mainly used nowadays to replace diesel and gasoline.

Aboveground forest biomass varies across continents, ecological zones and successional stages: refined IPCC default values for tropical and subtropical forests

For monitoring and reporting forest carbon stocks and fluxes, many countries in the tropics and subtropics rely on default values of forest aboveground biomass (AGB) from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Inventories. Default IPCC forest AGB values originated from 2006, and are relatively crude estimates of average values per continent and ecological zone. The 2006 default values were based on limited plot data available at the time, methods for their derivation were not fully clear, and no distinction between successional stages was made. As part of the 2019 Refinement to the 2006 IPCC Guidelines for GHG Inventories, we updated the default AGB values for tropical and subtropical forests based on AGB data from >25 000 plots in natural forests and a global AGB map where no plot data were available. We calculated refined AGB default values per continent, ecological zone, and successional stage, and provided a measure of uncertainty. AGB in tropical and subtropical forests varies by an order of magnitude across continents, ecological zones, and successional stage. Our refined default values generally reflect the climatic gradients in the tropics, with more AGB in wetter areas. AGB is generally higher in old-growth than in secondary forests, and higher in older secondary (regrowth >20 years old and degraded/logged forests) than in young secondary forests (⩽20 years old). While refined default values for tropical old-growth forest are largely similar to the previous 2006 default values, the new default values are 4.0–7.7-fold lower for young secondary forests. Thus, the refined values will strongly alter estimated carbon stocks and fluxes, and emphasize the critical importance of old-growth forest conservation. We provide a reproducible approach to facilitate future refinements and encourage targeted efforts to establish permanent plots in areas with data gaps.

Оцінка летучих викидів у газовій галузі України з врахуванням Уточнень 2019 р. до керівних принципів МГЕЗК 2006 р. з національних інвентаризацій парникових газів

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) was established in 1988 to assess the risks and possible consequences of anthropogenic climate change. The IPCC includes a task force on national inventories, which develops methodological documents for national greenhouse gas inventories. The report 2019 Refinement to the 2006 IPCC Guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories was adopted and accepted during the 49th Session of the IPCC in May 2019. The development of 2019 Refinement is related to the improvement of existing and the emergence of new technologies in the world economy, which has led to the need to update emission parameters and take into account new sources of greenhouse gas emissions and removals. The purpose of the article is to study and apply changes in the methods of estimating fugitive emissions in Ukraine’s gas industry, taking into account 2019 Refinement to the 2006 IPCC Guidelines for national greenhouse gas inventories. The article examines the state of greenhouse gas emissions in the gas industry in 2019 according to the Ukraine’s Greenhouse Gas Inventory Report data. The formation methane and carbon dioxide fugitive emissions in the last National Inventory Report according to the 2006 IPCC Guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories is analyzed. The changes in the methods for national inventories in the energy sector 2019 Refinement are compared to the 2006 IPCC Guidelines. The estimation methane and carbon dioxide fugitive emissions in Ukraine’s gas industry in 2019 according to 2019 Refinement is made (taking into account the new emission factors and a new subcategory of abandoned wells). The article provides a comparative analysis the results with fugitive emissions in the gas industry in 2019 according to data of National Inventory Report. A study of the results shows that the use of 2019 Refinement for future greenhouse gas inventories will reduce methane and carbon dioxide emissions. Keywords: gas industry, greenhouse gas emissions, methane, carbon dioxide, inventory

The default methods in the 2019 Refinement drastically reduce estimates of global carbon sinks of harvested wood products

BackgroundThe stock dynamics of harvested wood products (HWPs) are a relevant component of anthropogenic carbon cycles. Generally, HWP stock increases are treated as carbon removals from the atmosphere, while stock decreases are considered emissions. Among the different approaches suggested by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) for accounting HWPs in national greenhouse gas inventories, the production approach has been established as the common approach under the Kyoto Protocol and Paris Agreement. However, the 24th session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change decided that alternative approaches can also be used. The IPCC has published guidelines for estimating HWP carbon stocks and default parameters for the various approaches in the 2006 Guidelines, 2013 Guidance, and 2019 Refinement. Although there are significant differences among the default methods in the three IPCC guidelines, no studies have systematically quantified or compared the results from the different guidelines on a global scale. This study quantifies the HWP stock dynamics and corresponding carbon removals/emissions under each approach based on the default methods presented in each guideline for 235 individual countries/regions.ResultsWe identified relatively good consistency in carbon stocks/removals between the stock-change and the atmospheric flow approaches at a global level. Under both approaches, the methodological and parameter updates in the 2019 Refinement (e.g., considered HWPs, starting year for carbon stocks, and conversion factors) resulted in one-third reduction in carbon removals compared to the 2006 Guidelines. The production approach leads to a systematic underestimation of global carbon stocks and removals because it confines accounting to products derived from domestic harvests and uses the share of domestic feedstock for accounting. The 2013 Guidance and the 2019 Refinement reduce the estimated global carbon removals under the production approach by 15% and 45% (2018), respectively, compared to the 2006 Guidelines.ConclusionsGradual refinements in the IPCC default methods have a considerably higher impact on global estimates of HWP carbon stocks and removals than the differences in accounting approaches. The methodological improvements in the 2019 Refinement halve the global HWP carbon removals estimated in the former version, the 2006 Guidelines.

Developing Country-Specific Methane Emission Factors and Carbon Fluxes from Enteric Fermentation in South Korean Dairy Cattle Production

Dairy cattle farming contributes significantly to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions through methane (CH4) from enteric fermentation. To complement global efforts to mitigate climate change, there is a need for accurate estimations of GHG emissions using country-specific emission factors (EFs). The objective of this study was to develop national EFs for the estimation of CH4 emissions from enteric fermentation in South Korean dairy cattle. Information on dairy cattle herd characteristics, diet, and management practices specific to South Korean dairy cattle farming was obtained. Enteric CH4 EFs were estimated according to the 2019 refinement of the 2006 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) using the Tier 2 approach. Three animal subcategories were considered according to age: milking cows >2 years, 650 kg body weight (BW); heifers 1–2 years, 473 kg BW; and growing animals <1 year, 167 kg BW. The estimated enteric CH4 EFs for milking cows, heifers, and growing animals, were 139, 83 and 33 kg/head/year, respectively. Currently, the Republic of Korea adopts the Tier 1 default enteric CH4 EFs from the North America region for GHG inventory reporting. Compared with the generic Tier 1 default EF of 138 (kg CH4/head/year) proposed by the 2019 refinement to the 2006 IPCC guidelines for high-milking cows, our suggested value for milking cows was very similar (139 kg CH4 /head/year) and different to heifers and growing animals EFs. In addition, enteric CH4 EFs were strongly correlated with the feed digestibility, level of milk production, and CH4 conversion rate. The adoption of the newly developed EFs for dairy cattle in the next national GHG inventory would lead to a potential total GHG reduction from the South Korean dairy sector of 97,000 tons of carbon dioxide-equivalent per year (8%). The outcome of this study underscores the importance of obtaining country-specific EFs to estimate national enteric CH4 emissions, which can further support the assessment of mitigation actions.

2019 개선된 IPCC 가이드라인에 따른 농업분야 재배(경종)부문의 배출량 산정방법 개선연구

Accurate estimation of national greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions is very important for mitigation action of climate change. The IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) guidelines have been used for calculating emissions from the energy, industrial processes, agriculture, and LULUCF (Land Use, Land-Use Change and Forestry), and waste sectors in national country. Assessment of national GHG emissions from the agriculture sector has been conducted using the 2000 Good Practice Guidance and 2006 IPCC Guidelines. In 2019, refined guidelines, such as the 2019 Refinement to the 2006 IPCC Guidelines were published. We conducted to this study to investigate application of the new guidelines which including calculation equation, emission factor, fractions and so on to compare of the old one.<BR> Some emission factors and fractions were changed to disaggregated ones considering climate zone and fertilizer type. Also, the default cultivation period of rice was provided for the fist time in the guideline and that was 112 days in the East Asia region. The nitrous oxide emission factor for flooded rice fields was changed from 0.003 to 0.005 kg N₂O-N (kg N)<SUP>-1</SUP> when applied to single and multiple drainage of rice paddies. In addition to fraction of N loss through leaching and runoff, fraction of synthetic fertilizer N and organic N fertilizer that volatilize as NH₃ and NO<SUB>x</SUB> were changed. When the changed parameters including emission factors, were applied to estimation of national GHG inventory of the agricultural sector, total emissions were reduced by 1,132 Gg CO₂-eq.

219 Developing country specific enteric methane emission factor of the South Korean dairy cattle production using the 2019 refined IPCC Tier 2 methodology

Abstract Dairy cattle farming was identified as an important source of enteric methane (CH4) emissions. In order to contribute to the improvement of the national greenhouse gas emission inventory, this work aims to develop emission factors (EF) for CH4 emissions from enteric fermentation in dairy cattle in South Korea. Information on dairy cattle herd characteristics, diet and management practices specific to the Korean dairy cattle population were gathered. EF was estimated according to the 2019 refinement to the 2006 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) using the Tier 2 approach. Three animal subcategories were considered: milking cows (650 kg body weight, BW), heifers 1~2 years (473 kg BW) and growing animals &amp;lt; 1 year (167 kg BW). The estimated enteric CH4 EFs for milking cows, heifers 1~2 years, growing animal &amp;lt; 1 year, were 139, 83 and 33 kg/head/year, respectively. South Korea adopted the Tier 1 default enteric CH4 EFs for GHG inventory reporting from the North America region. Compared with the generic Tier 1 default EF of 138 kg CH4/head/year proposed by the 2019 refinement to the 2006 IPCC guidelines for high milking cows, our suggested value is quite similar (139 kg CH4/ head/year). While enteric CH4 EFs values were 23% higher and 49% lower for heifers and growing animals &amp;lt; one year than Tier 1 default EFs values, respectively. In addition, enteric CH4 EF is highly correlated with the level of milk production, feed intake and digestibility and methane conversion factor (%Ym). The outcome of this study underscores the importance of obtaining country-specific EF to estimate national enteric CH4 emissions. Thus, this work is a step forward in the revision of dairy cattle enteric CH4 EF and can further support assessment of mitigation strategies in South Korean livestock farming systems.

Nitrous Oxide Emission from Fertilized Soils: An Analytical Review

Soils are among the main biological sources of nitrous oxide (N2O), and nitrification and denitrification processes are the major N2O production factors in soils. The nitrogen of mineral and organic fertilizers applied to the fields is easily involved in the biogeochemical cycle of soil nitrogen and contributes to the N2O emission to the atmosphere. A longer lifetime (121 years) of nitrous oxide and a higher global warming potential as compared with CO2 and CH4 are responsible for its high importance in the greenhouse effect. An increase in the N2O concentrations enhances the destruction of the ozone layer. To evaluate the regional contributions of agricultural soils to the total world greenhouse gas emissions, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) recommends using emission factors ( $${\text{E}}{{{\text{F}}}_{{{{{\text{N}}}_{{\text{2}}}}{\text{O}}}}}$$ ) for national N2O inventories. The $${\text{E}}{{{\text{F}}}_{{{{{\text{N}}}_{{\text{2}}}}{\text{O}}}}}$$ value depends on many factors, including soil and climatic conditions, type of mineral fertilizer, organic amendments, and nitrogen-containing waste. The data on the direct measurements of N2O emission from soils in Russia are rather limited and the estimates for N2O emission from soils for The Russian National Greenhouse Gas Inventory rely on the data calculated according to the IPCC Guidelines. The nitrogen budget in the Russian agriculture in the past 25 years has been sharply deficient. This means that a considerable part of the crop yield is formed at the expense of mineralized soil nitrogen, which is quickly assimilated by plants and microorganisms and almost does not accumulate in a free state. The estimated $${\text{E}}{{{\text{F}}}_{{{{{\text{N}}}_{{\text{2}}}}{\text{O}}}}}$$ value for fertilized cereal crops (22–27 million hectares) and cereal crops is 0.66–0.70 and 0.54–2.56, which is considerably lower as compared with the IPCC default (1.0) recommended for ecologically permissible level of fertilizer nitrogen.

Nitrous oxide emissions of undrained, forestry-drained, and rewetted boreal peatlands

Drained peatlands, especially nitrogen (N) -rich ones, are sources of nitrous oxide (N2O) to the atmosphere. As this emission is largely caused by N mineralization in oxic peat soil, rewetting the peat soil is likely to decrease the N2O emissions to similar levels with natural, undrained peatlands. Emissions from these water-saturated peat soils have often been assumed negligible, for example in the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) guidelines for national greenhouse gas inventories. However, the number of published data of annual N2O emissions from undrained peatlands is small and even smaller for rewetted peatlands. Thus, we still have limited understanding of the effects of land-use change such as drainage and rewetting. We analyzed N2O flux data, mostly previously unpublished, from 28 undrained, 65 forestry-drained, and 24 rewetted boreal peatland study sites in Finland and calculated annual N2O emissions for each site, including emissions from ditches at 51 sites. We classified the sites into nutrient-rich and nutrient-poor ones, similar to the IPCC guidelines. Annual N2O emissions from the undrained peatlands were consistently small, but not negligible, averaging 0.11 and 0.10 g m−2 a–1 in the nutrient-rich and nutrient-poor sites, respectively. Emissions from the drained peatlands were significantly higher than from the undrained peatlands in the nutrient-rich (mean 0.23 g m−2 a–1) but not in the nutrient-poor (mean 0.08 g m−2 a–1) sites. Emissions from the rewetted peatlands (means 0.05 and 0.08 g m−2 a–1 for nutrient-rich and nutrient-poor sites, respectively) were similar or lower than from the undrained ones. Emissions from ditches were similar to those from strips and correlated positively with strip emissions at the drained sites. Nutrient-rich soil (low CN ratio) and a low water table increased emissions significantly at the drained sites, whereas the continuously higher water tables kept emissions low at all undrained and rewetted sites. In conclusion, rewetting is an effective means to decrease the N2O emissions of nutrient-rich drained peatlands back to natural levels, although this natural level is not zero, as has been suggested earlier.

Updated potential soil carbon sequestration rates on U.S. agricultural land based on the 2019 IPCC guidelines

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) recently updated the 2006 IPCC Guidelines to reflect the most current research and information available for countries to accurately estimate their reporting data for greenhouse gas emissions. To report on changes in soil organic carbon (SOC), the IPCC method uses fixed factors to estimate how land-use and management changes affect default reference SOC stocks. The 2019 IPCC Guidelines incorporate additional studies and more recent research to modify the default reference SOC stocks and the factors used to estimate the effect of land use and management changes on SOC stocks. The research presented here applies the 2019 IPCC factors to agricultural land in the conterminous U.S. and compares the results to the same research conducted using the 1996 IPCC factors. Baseline SOC stocks were slightly higher estimated with 1996 IPCC factors compared to 2019 factors (17.1 vs 15.2 Tg C yr−1 (million metric tonnes of carbon per year)), but the source was quite different. Applying the 1996 factors resulted in about 52 percent of the SOC stock increase from land-use-change (LUC) and 42 percent from tillage effects while the 2019 factors indicate about two-thirds of the SOC stock increase was from LUC and one-third from tillage effects. Using the 1996 IPCC documentation provided estimates of annual SOC stock increases of 83.2 Tg C yr−1 for twenty years (66 Tg C yr−1 more than the baseline) from set-aside, including winter-cover crops, eliminating fallow, and no-till adoption. Smaller increases from these same activities are estimated when using the 2019 IPCC factors with a total potential increase of 47.3 Tg C yr−1. The SOC stock increases are predominantly in the wetter regions. The two activities that provide the greatest increase in estimated SOC stocks were from the addition of cover crops, which increased SOC by 17.7 Tg C yr−1 using 2019 IPCC factors compared to 22.8 Tg C yr−1 using the 1996 IPCC factors, and full adoption of no-till which increased SOC by 18.4 compared to 30.3 Tg C yr−1 for the same comparison.

Calculating the Carbon Footprint in ports by using a standardized tool

One of the significant environmental threats in ports in recent years are carbon dioxide emissions generated by different activities carried out in these areas, which lead to Climate Change. In the maritime industry, this topic is getting more critical every day. The main cause of Climate Change is the emission of Greenhouse Gases (GHG). The total amount of GHG that are emitted both directly and indirectly by an activity are calculated by the following indicator: the Carbon Footprint.The review of different case studies shows while in recent years many ports calculate their Carbon Footprint and report it, each port uses its own method and there is not any unified and complete method to calculate Carbon Footprint. This makes comparing results among different ports a difficult task and proves the need for such a method. Therefore, it has been developed a standardized tool to calculate GHG emissions in ports. The tool has been developed by using Excel and Visual Basic software and it is based on the WPCI (World Ports Climate Initiative) and IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) guidelines and the GHG Protocol. Such tool is specifically designed so that port authorities can calculate their Carbon Footprint and report it accordingly.The tool has different steps taking into account the three scopes of emissions defined by the WPCI guideline for ports. Once developed, it was validated by a set of selected ports and environmental experts. The final aim is to distribute this tool to all ports and make it freely available.

Emission profile of Pakistan’s agriculture: past trends and future projections

Reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions is a global concern after Paris Agreement (PA). Identification of GHG emission sources and accurate and precise estimation of the corresponding emissions is the first step to meet reduction targets under PA. Increasing share of agricultural emissions in the global concentration has raised concerns on this sector. Now, reducing agricultural emissions without compromising food security is a real challenge. The present study was aimed to provide the current emission profile of Pakistan’s agriculture, historical emission trends and future projections under agricultural growth scenarios according to prescribed guidelines of Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) for national GHGs inventory development. In this study, GHG emissions were estimated using United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Non-Annex-I Inventory Software (NAIIS), version 1.3.2 as per prescribed Revised 1996 IPCC Guidelines. In these emission estimations, tier-1 approach (which employs default emission factors) was used in accordance with national circumstances and data availability in the country. The emissions baseline was projected for 2030 under business as usual (BAU), food security (FS) and enhanced consumption pattern (ECP) scenarios. Agriculture sector emitted 174.6 million tons (Mt) of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2-equivalent) emissions, of which 89.8 Mt is methane (CH4) and 83.7 Mt is nitrous oxide (N2O). Carbon monoxide (CO) emissions were found to be 1.07 Mt of CO2-equivalent. Emission from agricultural soils constituted 45.5% of the total agricultural emissions followed by 45.1% from enteric fermentation and 6.5% from livestock manure management. The rest of 1.7% of the emissions were from rice cultivation followed by 1.1% from burning of crop residue. Historical emission trends showed that the agricultural emissions grew from 71.6 to 174.6 Mt of CO2-equivalent from 1994 to 2015, a 143.8% increase over the period of 21 years. Emissions baseline projections were found to be 271.9, 314.3 and 362.9 Mt tons of CO2-equivalent under BAU, FS and ECP scenarios, respectively.

Carbon Dioxide Uptake by Cement-Based Materials: A Spanish Case Study

The European parliament has declared a global “climate and environmental emergency” on 28 November 2019. Given that, climate change is a clear strategic issue all around the world. Then, greenhouse gas emissions are reported by each country to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) every year. In addition, The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) in the “2006 IPCC Guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories” give the procedure to calculate and manage the national greenhouse gases (GHG) emissions. However, these guidelines do not provide any method to consider the net carbon dioxide emissions to the atmosphere (released in clinker fabrication minus those due to concrete carbonation) by the Portland cement clinker industry. This topic should be implemented in the climatic models of the next IPCC assessment report. This paper provides an easy procedure of estimating net CO2 emissions proposed in the “recarbonation project” (simplified method); that is to say, carbon dioxide uptake during the service-life stage is considered as the 20% of the CO2 released by the calcination (process emissions), whereas the end-of-life and secondary usage is only the 3% of the CO2 released by calcination. The outcome of this study reveals that 31,290.753 tons of carbon dioxide will be absorbed by the cement-based materials produced in Spain with the cements manufactured from 2005 to 2015.