Largest Greenhouse Gas Research Articles

The greenhouse effect of the agriculture-economic growth-renewable energy nexus: Evidence from G20 countries

Agriculture is the world's second largest greenhouse gas (GHG) emitter due to the use of fossil fuel-based fertilizers, agricultural machinery, and the burning of biomass. Meanwhile, the Group of Twenty (G20) countries, which include the world's top three agricultural markets, have a significant impact on world agricultural development. This study is the first attempt to examine the effects of the agriculture-economic growth-renewable energy nexus on carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions within the framework of the environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) in a panel of 19 nations of the G20 countries from 1990 to 2014. To do so, panel data unit root tests, cointegration tests, and the panel fully modified ordinary least squares (FMOLS) estimator are used. The main findings are as follows: (1) Panel data unit root and cointegration tests confirm the existence of a long-run relationship among the selected variables, (2) agriculture significantly increases CO2 emissions in the full sample and the developing economies of the G20, while renewable energy consumption reduces the CO2 emissions in the full sample and the developed economies of the G20, (3) the EKC indeed exists in the full sample and developed economies, while economic growth only exerts a positive impact on CO2 emissions for developing economies, indicating that the peak of CO2 emissions for developing economies has not yet been reached, and (4) varied causality links exist among the variables across the different income levels of the G20 countries. Based on the above findings, to suppress the greenhouse effect, the G20 countries' policymakers should not only promote the development of sustainable agriculture, but also stimulate renewable energy consumption, especially in developing economies.

Integration in a depot‐based decentralized biorefinery system: Corn stover‐based cellulosic biofuel

AbstractThe current or “conventional” paradigm for producing process energy in a biorefinery processing cellulosic biomass is on‐site energy recovery through combustion of residual solids and biogas generated by the process. Excess electricity is then exported, resulting in large greenhouse gas (GHG) credits. However, this approach will cause lifecycle GHG emissions of biofuels to increase as more renewable energy sources (wind, solar, etc.) participate in grid‐electricity generation, and the GHG credits from displacing fossil fuel decrease. To overcome this drawback, a decentralized (depot‐based) biorefinery can be integrated with a coal‐fired power plant near a large urban area. In an integrated, decentralized, depot‐based biorefinery (IDB), the residual solids are co‐fired with coal either in the adjacent power plant or in coal‐fired boilers elsewhere to displace coal. An IDB system does not rely on indirect GHG credits through grid‐electricity displacement. In an IDB system, biogas from the wastewater treatment facility is also upgraded to biomethane and used as a transportation biofuel. The GHG savings per unit of cropland in the IDB systems (2.7–2.9 MgCO2/ha) are 1.5–1.6 fold greater than those in a conventional centralized system (1.7–1.8 MgCO2/ha). Importantly, the biofuel selling price in the IDBs is lower by 28–30 cents per gasoline‐equivalent liter than in the conventional centralized system. Furthermore, the total capital investment per annual biofuel volume in the IDB is much lower (by ~80%) than that in the conventional centralized system. Therefore, utilization of biomethane and residual solids in the IDB systems leads to much lower biofuel selling prices and significantly greater GHG savings per unit of cropland participating in the biorefinery system compared to the conventional centralized biorefineries.

Assessing the carbon and climate benefit of restoring degraded agricultural peat soils to managed wetlands

Restoring degraded peat soils presents an attractive, but largely untested, climate change mitigation approach. Drained peat soils used for agriculture can be large greenhouse gas sources. By restoring subsided peat soils to managed, impounded wetlands, significant agricultural emissions are avoided, and soil carbon can be sequestered and protected. Here, we synthesize 36 site-years of continuous carbon dioxide and methane flux data from a mesonetwork of eddy covariance towers in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta in California, USA to compute carbon and greenhouse gas budgets for drained agricultural land uses and compare these to restored deltaic wetlands. We found that restored wetlands effectively sequestered carbon and halted soil carbon loss associated with drained agricultural land uses. Depending on the age and disturbance regime of the restored wetland, many land use conversions from agriculture to restored wetland resulted in emission reductions over a 100-year timescale. With a simple model of radiative forcing and atmospheric lifetimes, we showed that restored wetlands do not begin to accrue greenhouse gas benefits until nearly a half century, and become net sinks from the atmosphere after a century. Due to substantial interannual variability and uncertainty about the multi-decadal successional trajectory of managed, restored wetlands, ongoing ecosystem flux measurements are critical for understanding the long-term impacts of wetland restoration for climate change mitigation.

Strategies for improving the sustainability of structural metals

Metallic materials have enabled technological progress over thousands of years. The accelerated demand for structural (that is, load-bearing) alloys in key sectors such as energy, construction, safety and transportation is resulting in predicted production growth rates of up to 200 per cent until 2050. Yet most of these materials require a lot of energy when extracted and manufactured and these processes emit large amounts of greenhouse gases and pollution. Here we review methods of improving the direct sustainability of structural metals, in areas including reduced-carbon-dioxide primary production, recycling, scrap-compatible alloy design, contaminant tolerance of alloys and improved alloy longevity. We discuss the effectiveness and technological readiness of individual measures and also show how novel structural materials enable improved energy efficiency through their reduced mass, higher thermal stability and better mechanical properties than currently available alloys.

Research on the changing trend of the carbon footprint of residents' consumption in Beijing.

Emission of greenhouse gas is a global environmental problem. In recent years, China has been facing growing international pressure because of its large energy consumption and elevated greenhouse gas emissions. As the capital of China, Beijing is central to the study of carbon emission reduction since its carbon emissions have ranked at the forefront nationwide. The existing literature mainly revolves around carbon emissions of a few specific years, and there is a lack of trend study of multiple years in Beijing. This paper, based on the input-output method, calculates carbon emissions in Beijing by carbon footprints; the changing trend analysis was carried out by researching available statistical data of three years, 2002, 2007, and 2012, from the perspective of the entire city of Beijing and from that of urban and rural residents' consumption. The reasons for the changing trends of total carbon emission in Beijing have also been analysed using the Structural Decomposition Analysis (SDA) model. Results show that the total direct carbon footprint as well as the urban and rural direct carbon footprints of residents' consumption in Beijing is all increasing gradually. The direct carbon footprint of urban residents' consumption is mainly produced by electricity, gasoline, and heating power, while that of rural residents' consumption is mainly produced by raw coal and electricity. The indirect carbon footprint of residents' consumption in Beijing is increasing gradually, and that of urban areas is higher than that of rural areas. The compositions of indirect carbon footprints of rural and urban residents' consumption are consistent, and both come mainly from the transportation and communication industry, housing, food, culture, education, entertainment, etc. The SDA results show that the per capita consumption level is the main driving factor for the increase of the indirect carbon footprint of Beijing residents' consumption, and the intensity of CO2 emission is the main inhibiting factor. Finally, suggestions for reducing carbon emissions from urban and rural perspectives have been put forward.

Nitrous oxide emissions of a mesh separated single stage deammonification reactor.

It is widely accepted that partial nitrification by ANAMMOX has the potential to become one of the key processes in wastewater treatment. However, large greenhouse gas emissions have been panobserved in many cases. A novel mesh separated reactor, developed to allow continuous operation of deammonification at smaller scale without external biomass selection, was compared to a conventional single-chamber deammonification sequencing batch reactor (SBR), where both were equally-sized pilot-scale reactors. The mesh reactor consisted of an aerated and an anoxic zone separated by a mesh. The resulting differences in the structure of the microbial community were detected by next-generation sequencing. When both systems were operated in a sequencing batch mode, both systems had comparable nitrous oxide emission factors in the range of 4% to 5% of the influent nitrogen load. A significant decrease was observed after switching from sequencing batch mode to continuous operation.

Large greenhouse gases emissions from China's lakes and reservoirs

Freshwaters are important sources of greenhouse gases (GHGs) to the atmosphere that may partially offset the terrestrial carbon sink. However, current emission estimates from inland waters remain uncertain due to data paucity in key regions with a large freshwater surface area, such as China. Here, we show that the areal fluxes of GHGs (carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide) from lakes and reservoirs in China are much larger than previous estimates. Our work summarized data from 310 lakes and 153 reservoirs, and revealed diffusive emissions of 1.56 (95% confidence interval: 1.12–2.00) Tg C-CH4/y and 25.2 (20.8–29.5) Tg C-CO2/y from reservoirs and lakes. Chinese lakes and reservoirs emit 175.0 (134.7–215.3) Tg CO2 equivalent, with 73.4% of this forcing contributed by lakes. These aquatic sources are equivalent to 14.1%–22.6% of China's estimated terrestrial carbon sink. Our results suggest a disproportionally high contribution of China's reservoirs and lakes to national and global GHGs emissions, highlighting major data gaps and the need of including more artificial and natural lakes data from developing countries like China in global GHGs budgets.

Converting conventional agriculture to poplar bioenergy crops: soil greenhouse gas flux

ABSTRACTConversion of agricultural fields to bioenergy crops can affect greenhouse gases (GHG) such as carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), and nitrous oxide (N2O). Soil GHG emissions were measured seasonally in poplar bioenergy and agricultural fields at three Northwestern US locations. A forest stand was also used at one location for comparison. A portable gas analyzer was used to measure CO2 efflux and CH4 and N2O fluxes were first measured with chambers and later with gradients. Agricultural soil had 17% larger CO2 efflux rates than poplar soil. Chamber fluxes showed no differences in CH4 uptake but did show higher N2O fluxes in poplar than agricultural soil. Gradient CH4 uptake rates were highest in agricultural soil in the summer but showed no N2O flux differences. Forest soils had smaller quarterly CO2 efflux rates than agricultural soils and greater CH4 uptake rates than poplar soils. The largest GHG contributor to soil GHG flux was CO2, with those being ∼1000 times larger than CH4 flux rates and ∼500 times larger than N2O flux rates based on CO2 equivalences. Converting conventional agricultural cropland to poplar bioenergy production does not have adverse effects on soil greenhouse gas flux and these results could be useful for modeling or life cycle analysis of land use conversion.

Prospecting the sustainability implications of an emerging industrial symbiosis network

In order to enable industrial symbiosis (IS) as an approach for regional sustainable development, it is important that stakeholders involved in facilitating symbiotic exchanges can measure and comprehend the potential benefits and impacts. However, previous assessments have been sporadic and limited to only a few indicators, primarily focused only on existing IS examples or networks and very few have examined potential developments. This study expands the assessment of IS networks by reviewing the environmental and socio-economic implications of an emerging network on the west coast of Sweden using life cycle assessment and socio-economic assessments to illustrate the implications for the firms of the network and regional sustainability. The results suggest that the IS network has the potential to make a positive contribution to the environmental performance of the industries and the socio-economic status of the region. Of key importance is the potential to cascade the use of nutrients and avoid large eutrophication impacts to the neighboring sea in addition to the large greenhouse gas emissions reductions by avoiding and replacing conventional processes and products. The socio-economic assessment illustrated that the IS network could make a substantial contribution to the region for job creation, revenues, local skills base, research and innovation and regional identity. The results provide insights on the potential of industrial symbiosis for regional sustainable development, which may be important for decision makers, firms involved in the network and municipalities, nationally and internationally to advance local efforts with facilitating industrial symbiosis and to understand how these networks can be assessed.

A meta-analysis of the greenhouse gas abatement of bioenergy factoring in land use changes

Non-food biomass production is developing rapidly to fuel the bioenergy sector and substitute dwindling fossil resources, which is likely to impact land-use patterns worldwide. Recent publications attempting to factor this effect into the climate mitigation potential of bioenergy chains have come to widely variable conclusions depending on their scope, data sources or methodology. Here, we conducted a first of its kind, systematic review of scientific literature on this topic and derived quantitative trends through a meta-analysis. We showed that second-generation biofuels and bioelectricity have a larger greenhouse gas (GHG) abatement potential than first generation biofuels, and stand the best chances (with a 80 to 90% probability range) of achieving a 50% reduction compared to fossil fuels. Conversely, directly converting forest ecosystems to produce bioenergy feedstock appeared as the worst-case scenario, systematically leading to negative GHG savings. On the other hand, converting grassland appeared to be a better option and entailed a 60% chance of halving GHG emissions compared to fossil energy sources. Since most climate mitigation scenarios assume still larger savings, it is critical to gain better insight into land-use change effects to provide a more realistic estimate of the mitigation potential associated with bioenergy.

Replacing Recycling Rates with Life-Cycle Metrics as Government Materials Management Targets.

In Florida, the passing of the Energy, Climate Change, and Economic Security Act of 2008 established a statewide mass-based municipal solid waste recycling rate goal of 75% by 2020. In this study, we describe an alternative approach to tracking performance of materials management systems that incorporates life-cycle thinking. Using both greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and energy use as life-cycle indicators, we create two different materials management baselines based on a hypothetical 75% recycling rate in Florida in 2008. GHG emission and energy use footprints resulting from various 2020 materials management strategies are compared to these baselines, with the results normalized to the same mass-based 75% recycling rate. For most scenarios, LCI-normalized recycling rates are greaterthan mass-based recycling rates. Materials management strategies that include recycling of curbside-collected materials such as metal, paper, and plastic result in the largest GHG- and energy-normalized recycling rates. Waste prevention or increase, determined as the net difference in per-person mass discard rate for individual materials, is a major contributor to the life-cycle-normalized recycling rates. The methodology outlined here provides policy makers with one means of transitioning to life-cycle thinking in state and local waste management goal setting and planning.

Use of Nitrates and Sulphates as Hydrogen Sink in Reducing Enteric Methane Production

Abstract Methane (CH4) and other gases like carbon dioxide (CO2), nitrous oxide (N2O), are green house gases (GHGs) that aggravates the effects of solar and thermal radiation on surface and atmospheric temperature. CH4 is the second largest GHG having 21 times more heat generation potential than CO2. Global livestock agriculture was responsible for 18% of the anthropogenic GHG emissions annually. CH4 production in the rumen accounts for 2–12 % loss of gross energy and consequently influence performance of ruminants. So, reducing ruminant CH4 emissions is an important objective for ensuring the sustainability of ruminant-based livestock farming. CH4 is formed in the rumen by methanogens (part of the domain Archaea), mainly from H2 and CO2. Within the rumen microbial food web, methanogens perform the beneficial task of removing H2, that allows reduced cofactors to be reoxidized and recycled, thereby enhancing the breakdown and fermentation of plant material. Therefore, rumen CH4 mitigation strategies need to consider alternative routes of H2 utilization. Nitrates and sulphates are potent inhibitors of CH4 in many anaerobic system including rumen; these salts have greater affinity for H2 as compared to CO2 resulting in net reduction in CH4 production. Experimental evidence suggest that nitrate and sulphate inhibit CH4 production both in vitro and in vivo without any adverse effect on rumen fermentation but the drawback is that nitrate is toxic to the animals; so supplementation at lower level helps the animal to acclimatize and reduces the chances of toxicity Keywords: Methane (CH4), sulphates, hydrogen, methanogens, fermentation Cite this Article Uniyal S, Mishra AK, Aswin K, et al. Use of Nitrates and Sulphates as Hydrogen Sink in Reducing Enteric Methane Production. Research & Reviews: Journal of Veterinary Science and Technology. 2016; 5(2): 5–8p.

(Invited) Mid-IR Metamaterial Absorber Platform for Gas and Chemical Sensing Applications

Metamaterial based optical nanostructures refer to engineered material with properties not readily available in nature, and diversified sensing applications have been investigated. For example, metamaterial absorber is gaining attention for energy efficient Nondispersive Infrared sensor for large scale green-house CO2 gas monitoring applications. However, miniaturization of the technology remains a major issue. Integration with smart, gas selective material toward the realization of “hybrid metamaterial” absorber is believed to be a viable approach for the system miniaturization. Here, we present a novel hybrid polymer-metamaterial absorber approach for miniaturized and selective optical sensing of CO2 gas in the 5-8 μm mid IR (Infrared) spectral window for the first time. The new class of sensor offers ppm-level limit of detection at ambient temperature, fast response time (~2 minutes) and large differential change for all-optical monitoring on a small foot print (20μm by 20μm). As proof-of-concept, we report net absorption enhancement of 0.0282%/ppm and wavelength shift of 0.5319 nm/ppm. The gas selective smart material is found to enable dual-mode multiplexed sensing for cross checking and validation of gas concentration on the single platform. The obtained results will pave the way for physical understanding of metamaterial based sensing when integrated with mid-IR detector for on-chip readout and extending the mid-IR functionalities of selective materials for the detection of technologically relevant gases. Meanwhile, the feasibility of using this platform for chemical sensing and biomolecule detection will be highlighted as well.

Fish aggregating sound technique (FAST): how low-frequency sound could be used in fishing and ranching of cod

Abstract In marine fisheries, considerable development has occurred in capture technology. Yet, some of the current fishing methods impact the environment by large greenhouse gas emission, harmful effects to benthic communities, and/or high bycatch of juvenile and unwanted species. It is proposed that for some fish species these deficiencies could be mitigated by classical conditioning using sound and food reward to concentrate wild fish before capture with environmentally friendly fishing gear. Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua), which globally is among the fish species with the highest landed value, can be acoustically trained. In a sea cage, it takes about a week to train a group of naïve cod to associate low frequency (250 Hz) sound with food, whereas the training of a group of naïve cod accompanied with one trained cod takes less than a day. In inshore areas, it takes a few weeks to attract thousands of cod to stations where food is regularly delivered. These conditioned cod wait at the stations for their meals and do not mingle much with the unconditioned cod which hunt for wild prey. It is suggested that by calling acoustically conditioned fish between stations, a much larger number of naïve fish can be gathered. This so-called fish aggregating sound technique (FAST) may thus facilitate the accumulation of wild fish and expedite their capture with a purse seine or a trap in a way that minimizes fuel consumption and mortality of juveniles and unwanted species. The operation of FAST requires exclusive rights of a designated fishing area. The exclusivity makes it possible to on-grow the fish in free-ranging schools and sea cages for several months to increase their size and food quality before capture.

Investigating the greenhouse gas emissions of grass-fed beef relative to other greenhouse gas abatement strategies

Beef is often identified as one of the foods with the largest greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, causing climate-conscious persons to seek changes in their diets. This study evaluated the ability of a household to reduce its GHG emissions by replacing conventional US beef with grass-fed beef and compared its effectiveness to three other strategies: replacing beef with chicken, becoming a vegetarian, and purchasing carbon offsets. These potential GHG-reducing strategies were considered within a model of a typical US household, using a framework that accounts for all household expenditures and carbon emissions. Replacing beef with chicken and adopting vegetarianism reduced the household’s GHG emissions by 1% and 3%, respectively. Grass-fed beef only reduced emissions if the GHG sequestration rate for pastureland and/or the price of grass-fed beef was high. It is shown that persons paying higher prices for grass-fed beef with the goal of smaller GHG emissions might want to consider buying conventional beef instead and using the savings to purchase carbon offsets. Also, although vegetarianism is often touted as a climate-friendly diet, the model shows that meat-eaters can achieve the same GHG reduction by spending only US$19 per year on carbon offsets. These results assume that additional land for grazing is acquired from recently abandoned cropland, which gives grass-fed beef its best chance at being climate-friendly. Alternative land-use assumptions would only reinforce the result that grass-fed beef does not emit less GHG emissions than conventional beef.

Towards Sustainable Food Production: Exploring the Opportunities and Challenges in Indonesia

The increasing intensity of food production in the past few decades have been considered as giving rise to the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. This includes the large energy usage, food waste throughout the supply chain, air and water pollution. The sustainable production concept can potentially reduce the food waste within the production process whilst maintaining economic prosperity. Indonesia is the largest GHG emitter in Southeast Asia. This research draws an empirical finding from the food and beverage (F&B) sector in East Java to explore the level of environmental awareness and companies’ engagement with environmental activities. Drawn from the survey of 59 F&B companies, this research examines the key opportunities and challenges for the companies to engage with sustainability. The stepwise regression analysis method was applied to explore the firm-level characteristics on the environmental awareness and practices. This research is concluded with a proposed strategy for Indonesian government to make a transition toward sustainable production within the F&B sector. It is suggested that Indonesia needs more collaborative efforts within its decentralized governance system to an inclusive and effective sustainable food production policies.

THE CARBON FOOTPRINT OF A MEAT PROCESSING COMPANY

Plans for mitigating greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the agri-food sector should not only include the production of agricultural raw materials but also the food processing industry. The aim of the research was to determine the carbon footprint of a meat processing enterprise and to analyze the intensity indicators of GHG emissions. The study was conducted in a medium-sized company, located in the Wielkopolska Province, for which pork is a basic feedstock for the production (over 81.0%). The results show that the largest GHG emissions were related to the consumption of electricity, natural gas and fuels in the transport of products. There were estimated values of several indicators of emission intensity. The main indicator of GHG emissions related to the unit of product was 519 g CO2 eq. per 1 kg. It is concluded that the analysis of the carbon footprint can be an important instrument for the management of GHG emissions at the company level and can also serve the purpose of assessing the effects of implementing plans for a low-carbon economy in the meat processing sector.

Including GHG emissions from mangrove forests LULUC in LCA: a case study on shrimp farming in the Mekong Delta, Vietnam

PurposeMangrove forests have been recognized as important regulators of greenhouse gases (GHGs), yet the resulting land use and land-use change (LULUC) emissions have rarely been accounted for in life cycle assessment (LCA) studies. The present study therefore presents up-to-date estimates for GHG emissions from mangrove LULUC and applies them to a case study of shrimp farming in Vietnam.MethodsTo estimate the global warming impacts of mangrove LULUC, a combination of the International Panel for Climate Change (IPCC) guidelines, the Net Committed Emissions, and the Missed Potential Carbon Sink method were used. A literature review was then conducted to characterize the most critical parameters for calculating carbon losses, missed sequestration, methane fluxes, and dinitrogen monoxide emissions.Results and discussionOur estimated LUC emissions from mangrove deforestation resulted in 124 t CO2 ha−1 year−1, assuming IPCC’s recommendations of 1 m of soil loss, and 96% carbon oxidation. In addition to this, 1.25 t of carbon would no longer be sequestered annually. Discounted over 20 years, this resulted in total LULUC emissions of 129 t CO2 ha−1 year−1 (CV = 0.441, lognormal distribution (ln)). Shrimp farms in the Mekong Delta, however, can today operate for 50 years or more, but are 1.5 m deep (50% oxidation). In addition to this, Asian tiger shrimp farming in mixed mangrove concurrent farms (the only type of shrimp farm that resulted in mangrove deforestation since 2000 in our case study) resulted in 533 kg methane and 1.67 kg dinitrogen monoxide per hectare annually. Consequently, the LULUC GHG emissions resulted in 184 and 282 t CO2-eq t−1 live shrimp at farm gate, using mass and economic allocation, respectively. These GHG emissions are about an order of magnitude higher than from semi-intensive or intensive shrimp farming systems. Limitations in data quality and quantity also led us to quantify the uncertainties around our emission estimates, resulting in a CV of between 0.4 and 0.5.ConclusionsOur results reinforce the urgency of conserving mangrove forests and the need to quantify uncertainties around LULUC emissions. It also questions mixed mangrove concurrent shrimp farming, where partial removal of mangrove forests is endorsed based upon the benefits of partial mangrove conservation and maintenance of certain ecosystem services. While we recognize that these activities limit the chances of complete removal, our estimates show that large GHG emissions from mangrove LULUC question the sustainability of this type of shrimp farming, especially since mixed mangrove farming only provide 5% of all farmed shrimp produced in Vietnam.

Humans have already increased the risk of major disruptions to Pacific rainfall

Intermittent disruptions to rainfall patterns and intensity over the Pacific Ocean lasting up to ∼ 1 year have major impacts on severe weather, agricultural production, ecosystems, and disease within the Pacific, and in many countries beyond. The frequency with which major disruptions to Pacific rainfall occur has been projected to increase over the 21st century, in response to global warming caused by large 21st century greenhouse gas emissions. Here we use the latest generation of climate models to show that humans may have contributed to the major disruption that occurred in the real world during the late 20th century. We demonstrate that although marked and sustained reductions in 21st century anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions can greatly moderate the likelihood of major disruption, elevated risk of occurrence appears locked in now, and for at least the remainder of the 21st century.

The Role of Sustainability Resources of Large Greenhouse Gas Emitters: The Case of Corporations in Alberta, Canada

With the global challenge of climate change, it becomes crucial to understand the factors that can guide carbon intensive companies to comply with environmental regulations through significant reductions in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Using the natural-resource-based view, the argument in this paper is that focusing on sustainability-driven resources by companies is a way to meet environmental compliance and reduce GHG emissions while gaining differential competitive benefits. A specific analysis on Alberta case has discussed large GHG emitters’ environmental compliance mechanisms in the context of their sustainability resources. The aim is examining if large GHG emitters in Alberta related to corporations having sustainability resources are complying with the Specified Gas Emitters Regulation (SGER) reduction requirement through cleaner-production driven internal mechanisms. The paper examines the existence of the sustainability resources in the reporting companies related to large GHG emitters responsible for 86% of total GHG reported by facilities with emissions above the threshold of 100 kilotonnes of GHG per year under SGER in Alberta. Corporations are found not using their sustainability resource potential to achieve internal reductions in GHG emissions throughout their facilities. Thus, some recommendations are presented for Alberta case as well as for environmental regulations in other jurisdictions that can potentially help policy makers improve their climate change regulations and achieve their global targets and enable companies to gain competitive advantage while meeting GHG reduction compliance.