Local GHG Research Articles

The green economy in the Italian Alps: A geospatial indicator-based territorial assessment

This paper, through a geospatial multicriteria analysis, evaluates the green economy's (GE) development in over 2700 Local Administrative Units (LAUs) of Italian Alps, incorporating geographical, environmental, and socio-economic variables). LAUs have been classified across altitude and urbanization to examine how socio-demographic and territorial peculiarities impact GE indexes performance. Results highlight heterogeneous GE domain performance that depend on socio-demographic and territorial conditions. Low-density municipalities score lower in local economic competitiveness, accessibility, GHG reduction, and air pollution. High-density municipalities have lower equality and human well-being scores. Findings suggest regional and province-level regulations' relevance in driving performance variation, aiding local and national governments in shaping ad hoc policies for territorial advancement.

A methodology for multi-criteria assessment of renewable integrated energy supply options and alternative HVAC systems in a household

This study presents a systematic approach for a comprehensive multi-criteria assessment of household energy systems (HES). For this purpose, fourteen energy systems with different combinations of energy mix and HVAC systems are evaluated in four climates. Firstly, energy systems are analyzed for meeting the building demand for electricity, heating, cooling, and hot water by conducting annual simulations in TRNSYS. The performance criteria of HES are non-renewable energy savings, load cover factor, life cycle emissions, life cycle costs, thermal comfort, levelized cost of electricity, and levelized cost of thermal energy. Then the multi-criteria decision making (MCDM) is employed using CRITIC-TOPSIS framework to decide the best HVAC system and renewable integrated energy supply in each location. Finally, a sensitive analysis tests the stability of MCDM results by altering weights of performance indicators (PIs). The multi-criteria assessment shows that the choice of HES is strongly influenced by the climate conditions and local energy tariffs and GHG emissions. The ground source heat pump (GSHP) is a favorable HVAC system regarding energy consumption and operating GHG emissions in cold climates. On the other hand, the absorption chiller with flat plate collectors (FPCs) is suitable for energy efficiency and life cycle emissions in warm or hot climates. Overall, the energy systems with air-to-water heat pump + PV + radiator (Stockholm), brine-to-water heat pump + PV + radiator (Saarbrücken), air-to-air heat pump + PV + FPC (Quetta), and absorption chiller + PV + FPCs (Jakarta) are the best options in different locations. Furthermore, altering the weights of PIs has little influence on the choice of HES except for energy efficiency-prioritized scenario. The results indicate that while applying the MCDM concept to a building energy system, the proposed PIs provide better insight than the traditionally employed evaluation criteria.

Optimal design of stand-alone solutions based on RES + hydrogen storage feeding off-grid communities

Concerning off-grid areas, diesel engines still dominate the scene of local electricity generation, despite the related pollution concerns and high operating costs. There is thus a huge global potential, in remote areas, for exploiting local renewable energy sources (RES) in place of fossil generation. Energy storage systems become hence essential for off-grid communities to cope with the issue of RES intermittency, allowing them to rely on locally harvested RES.In this work, we analysed different typologies of off-grid renewable power systems, involving batteries and hydrogen as means to store energy, to find out which is the most cost-effective configuration in remote areas. Both Li-ion and lead-acid batteries were included in the analysis, and both alkaline and PEM electrolysis technologies were considered for the production of hydrogen. Starting from single cell electrochemical models, the performance curves of the electrolyser and fuel cell devices were derived for a more detailed techno-economic assessment. Lifetimes of batteries and H2-based components were also computed based on how the power-to-power (P2P) system operates along the reference year. The particle swarm optimization (PSO) algorithm was employed to find the component sizes that allow minimizing the levelized cost of energy (LCOE) while keeping the off-grid area energy autonomous. As a case study, the Ginostra village, on the island of Stromboli (North of Sicily, Southern Italy), was analysed since it is well representative of small insular locations in the Mediterranean area. The renewable P2P solution (0.51 €/kWh for the cheapest configuration) was found to be economically preferable than the current existing power system relying on diesel generators (0.86 €/kWh). Hydrogen, in particular, can prevent the oversizing of both battery and PV systems, thus reducing the final cost of electricity delivered by the P2P system. Moreover, unlike diesel generators, the RES-based configuration allows avoiding the production of local air pollutants and GHG emissions during its operation.

Factors That Contribute to Changes in Local or Municipal GHG Emissions: A Framework Derived from a Systematic Literature Review

The changes observed in a municipal or local energy system over a period of time is due a number of concurrent dynamics such as the local social and economic trends, higher-level policies (e.g., national), and the local policies. Thus, a thorough identification and characterization of the many factors of change is key for an adequate assessment of the effectiveness of policies adopted at the local level, as well as for future planning. Such thorough identification and characterization of the factors that are determinant for the evolution of the local energy system is the content of this paper. The identification is performed through a systematic literature review, followed by a synthesis process. The factors identified are grouped into the categories of local context, local socio-economic and cultural evolution, higher-level governance framework, and local climate change mitigation actions. They are represented through a set of measurable variables. The factors and respective variables can be used to improve the disaggregation of changes in the local energy system into individual causes, leading to a better assessment of the evolution over time.

Cover Fuel Cells 5/2019

Fuel CellsVolume 19, Issue 5 p. 513-513 Cover Picture Free Access Cover Fuel Cells 5/2019 First published: 03 October 2019 https://doi.org/10.1002/fuce.201970051 AboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onEmailFacebookTwitterLinked InRedditWechat Abstract The Cover Picture shows major steps in the development of battery, electric, and fuel cell vehicles. The discussion on the future automotive technology has already been ongoing for many years and seems to intensify recently. Over the years, there had been many hypes regarding possible technologies and fuels, enabling sustainable developments in the transport sector. Although the technological developments in the transport sector have been diverging in different directions, the major goals are the same – to decrease energy consumption and the corresponding local pollution and GHG emission, as well as to increase energy supply security. To be successful and acceptable, all alternative mobility solutions should be comparable to conventional means of transportation regarding cost and performance (e.g., driving range, comfort, charging time, etc.) or provide some significant benefits for car users and the environment. More details can be found in the Review by A. Ajanovic and R. Haas in this issue (https://doi.org/10.1002/fuce.201800171). Volume19, Issue5October 2019Pages 513-513 RelatedInformation

Effectiveness of local air pollution and GHG taxes: The case of Chilean industrial sources

In 2017, environmental taxes began to be applied to CO2, PM, NOx and SO2 emissions in Chile to reduce the negative environmental effects of fossil fuels burned in industrial and thermoelectric sources with a thermal power greater than or equal to 50 MW. In this context, the present study generates an economic optimization model to simulate how different tax scenarios would modify the behavior of regulated industrial sources considering the alternatives they have to minimize their costs (tax payment, fuel change and/or installation of abatement technologies). The main results show that, under the current tax scenario, CO2, PM and SO2 emissions would decrease by 11%, 48% and 49% respectively, while NOX emissions would increase by 5%. By extending the tax to all industrial sources regardless of their thermal power, CO2, PM and SO2 emissions would decrease respectively by 14%, 98% and 66%, while NOX emissions would increase by 7.1%. Finally, it is determined that modifying the tax rate of a single pollutant while maintaining the rest of the constant rates generates a low impact on the other pollutants emissions.

Counting carbon: contextualization or harmonization in municipal GHG accounting?

ABSTRACTThis article conducts an assessment of what should be considered best practice in municipal GHG accounting, contrasting the call for increased global harmonization with the need for local relevance and applicability. Taking as its point of departure an analysis of GHG accounting methodologies applied by local governments in Denmark, we identify eight Danish methodologies and assess them based on international good practice criteria. We observe a high degree of convergence among the Danish approaches in the application of data sources, quantification approaches, and scope, identifying data availability as the key barrier to improving the specificity and dynamic properties of local GHG accounts. In furthering an international best practice, the Danish approaches indicate that relevance to local planning necessarily involves an adaptation to the context of local systems and data sources, and that best practice guidelines should acknowledge limitations in inventory quality and provide guidelines for weighing trade-offs and exploring synergetic improvements. In Denmark, synergies can be found in improved data quality and regional cooperation on account development, which may improve relevance, quality, and comparability simultaneously, and act as an adaptive approach to methodology harmonization, without thereby reducing inventory relevance.

The Padanian LiMeS. Spatial Interpretation of Local GHG Emission Data

The relevant role of spatial planning in the enforcement of climate change mitigation, managing the development of new low-carbon infrastructures and increasing system-wide efficiencies across sectors, has been addressed at global level (IPCC, 2014 WGIII). In this context, local GHG inventories appear a relevant tool toward the definition of a coherent, inter-sectorial background for local planning, mitigation, and adaptation policies. Taking advantage of consistent GHG emissions data availability in the Lombard context, local maps of direct GHG emissions have been linked with geographic data, including municipal boundaries, population data, and land-use information, produced and organized within the research PRIN 2007 From metropolitan city to metropolitan corridor: the case of the Po Valley Corridor . The results of this mapping exercise have been evaluated on the background of consolidated knowledge about northern Italy urban patterns, including the Linear Metropolitan System – LiMeS – and preliminary observations about characteristics, potential, and limits of the tool are proposed.

Global Meat Consumption Trends and Local Deforestation in Madre de Dios: Assessing Land Use Changes and other Environmental Impacts

Meat consumption is becoming one of the most relevant sectors in terms of environmental impacts globally. In the Brazilian Amazon the effects of this process are seen in the ongoing deforestation and land-use change (about 65% of deforestation can be linked to cattle ranching). One of the main causes of this trend is the increased efficiency of the transport infrastructure: along both sides of the Brazilian Inter-Oceanic highway, about 50km of rainforest have been converted to cattle ranching. In 2011 the Inter-Oceanic highway was finalized also on the Peruvian side: the region of Madre de Dios is neighboring the Brazilian Amazon, therefore the risk is that this area will undergo the same kind of development.The objective of this analysis is to highlight the contribution of global meat demand trend as cause of land use change and deforestation in the Madre de Dios region. This focus has been chosen since, nowadays, the magnitude of cattle ranching activities is hidden by more evident and damaging activities (e.g., gold mining), and its near-future effects risk to be underestimated. By starting with investigating the preliminary signals of cattle ranching contribution to the local deforestation process, this analysis will serve as basis for more comprehensive future works on local data, including monitoring campaigns of local biodiversity and GHG emissions. Land-use change is, thus, analyzed through FAO data and also through data acquired with remote sensing carried out within other projects. Meat consumption and production outcomes are obtained from the FAOSTAT database. By integrating trends in the regional meat consumption with the emerging trading effects, which are incremented by the new highway, it is possible to highlight the risk that the global convergence in meat consumption trends can locally influence the deforestation in Madre de Dios.

From California dreaming to California data: Challenging historic models for landfill CH4 emissions

Abstract Improved quantification of diverse CH4 sources at the urban scale is needed to guide local GHG mitigation strategies in the Anthropocene. Herein, we focus on landfill CH4 emissions in California, challenging the current IPCC methodology which focuses on a climate dependency for landfill CH4 generation (methanogenesis), but does not explicitly consider climate or soil dependencies for emissions. Relying on a comprehensive California landfill database, a field-validated process-based model for landfill CH4 emissions (CALMIM), and select field measurements at 10 California sites with a variety of methods, we support the contrary position: Limited climate dependency for methanogenesis, but strong climate dependency for landfill CH4 emissions. Contrary to the historic IPCC empirical model for methanogenesis with kinetic constants related to climate, we demonstrate a simpler and more robust linear empirical relationship (r2 = 0.85; n=128) between waste mass and landfill biogas recovery [126 × 10-6 Nm3 CH4 hr-1 Mgwaste-1]. More interestingly, there are no statistically significant relationships with climate, site age, or status (open/closed) for landfill biogas recovery. The current IPCC methodology does not consider soil or climate drivers for gaseous transport or seasonal methanotrophy in different cover soils. On the other hand, we illustrate strong climate and soil dependencies for landfill emissions—e.g., average intermediate cover emissions below 20 g CH4 m-2 d-1 when the site’s mean annual precipitation is >500 mm y-1. Thereby, for the California landfill CH4 inventory, the highest-emitting sites shift from landfills containing the largest mass of waste to sites dominated by intermediate cover types having a reduced rate of soil CH4 oxidation during the annual cycle. These differences have profound implications for developing more realistic, science-based urban and regional scale GHG inventories for landfill CH4 while reducing uncertainties for this important anthropogenic source.

Entropy and the City. GHG Emissions Inventory: a Common Baseline for the Design of Urban and Industrial Ecologies

From a thermodynamic point of view, the attribution of the adjective sustainable to an open system like the is, at least, very problematic. The biosphere is a closed system, kept far from the thermodynamic equilibrium by the flow of energy coming from the sun. The biosphere maintains and increases its internal order dispersing entropy, generated by all the internal processes, as thermal infrared radiation. But then, the elegant picture of sustainability given by thermodynamics can not be applied to open systems, and notably to the city, without raising both theoretical and practical problems. The is almost by definition a place of consumption and of degradation of potentials, kept in local equilibrium by external flows of matter and energy, but at the same time plays a key role in shaping and maintaining the global flows of matter, energy, and information, and this role must be taken into account when interpreting thermodynamic-based descriptions. The urban capital probably represents the greatest investment made by mankind. Materials have been harvested from the earth crust and from the natural systems, and have been concentrated and ordered in the city. But the city is not the infrastructure: it's concept of a different logical type. The is a further level of organization that produces services of higher level. The urban infrastructure is necessary, but not sufficient to produce the services. The is the most important social and health device. A proper accounting must consider the city-performance of the urban infrastructure, beyond the mere, local energy and carbon efficiency. In this context, local GHG accounting is proposed as a rather simple and useful basis to ground process-wise studies and projects, including the creation of effective local industrial ecologies, in a continuous city-making effort toward higher sustainability.

Project Financing Renewable Energy Projects: Can the Clean Development Mechanism Improve the Bankability of Renewable Energy Projects in Developing Countries?

Project financing renewable energy projects in developing countries is a daunting task which is further limited by the geo-political, economic and regulatory risk present in the developing countries. Renewable Energy is affected by the intermittent seasonal supply which makes it a high risk activity. But, Renewable energy is the new dispensation in the world’s energy mix. It has the potentials of meeting and surpassing the world’s energy demand, generating a secure and long term sustainable energy supply and reducing local and global GHG emissions.There is few renewable energy technologies that can compete with conventional fuels in terms of costs even though Renewable Energy offers a solution to the global environmental problems associated with conventional fossil fuels, it is still more expensive.The major problem associated with development of renewable energy is the fact that it has been difficult raising finance for renewable energy projects mainly due to the risks associated with it. But, can CDM be the answer for renewable energy development in developing countries? Will it encourage the technology transfer that will lead to transfer of skills and knowledge that will result in the sustainable development goal of the Kyoto Protocol for project based mechanisms in developing countries? Furthermore, is it able to give investors the confidence to invest in developing countries?

A comparative analysis of city-based emission trading schemes: key design and management factors for environmental cost effectiveness

With more than half the world’s population living in urban areas, cities have become a major source of local and global atmospheric pollution. Originally developed in the 1990s to decrease local pollution, Local Emission Trading Schemes (ETSs) are now emerging as a promising cost-efficient instrument to achieve local GHG emissions reductions. This paper compares four existing city-based ETS covering both local pollutants and greenhouse gases. It identifies common and distinguishing features and assesses the environmental and economic performance of the various existing ETS. Based on this analysis, this paper highlights the factors contributing to the success of local ETS and makes recommendations for future implementation. Finally, this paper underlines that in order to improve the effectiveness of market incentives, the legal nature of tradable credits must be well defined and that overlaps between local ETS and other regulations must be limited.

The application of a hybrid energy-economy model to a key developing country – China

Energy security, local air pollution and GHG emissions are three key challenges facing China's decision-makers. In this study, we first applied CIMS, a hybrid (bottom-up/top-down) energy-economy model, to test how different policy packages could be designed to alleviate China's energy and environment challenges. Secondly, we compared the marginal abatement cost curve of this study with those of other analysts, and found that modeling methodology differences had significant impacts on cost estimates of GHG emission abatement. Finally, we derived the long-run autonomous energy efficiency indices (AEEIs) and elasticity of substitution (ESUB) values for China, and found that the aggregate Chinese AEEIs are somewhere between top-down and bottom-up estimates in the literature. Moreover, because the simulated ESUBs and AEEIs differ from one sector to another, this suggests that aggregated models with economy-wide values for these parameters may be unhelpful to policy-makers seeking to explore the effects of structural evolution on energy demand and emissions.

Empirical study of environmental ancillary benefits due to greenhouse gas mitigation in Korea

This study is a part of the International Co-Control Analysis Program (ICAP), which is an initiative sponsored by the US EPA to assist developing countries in evaluating the environmental and human health benefits of technologies and policies for reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The goal of the Korea study is primarily two-fold: i) to assess and quantify the environmental ancillary benefit resulting from greenhouse gas mitigation and ii) to help government officials and stakeholders to understand the air pollution benefits of energy technologies that will reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Thus the results of this analysis can enhance support for appropriate policy for the United Nations Framework on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and air quality control programmes. The results reveal that modest greenhouse gas reduction scenarios (5–15% reductions in 2020) can result in significant health benefits through reductions in PM10 concentrations. For instance, these greenhouse gas reduction measures for Korea’s energy sector could avoid 40 to 120 premature deaths per year and 2800 to 8300 cases per year of asthma and other respiratory diseases in the Seoul Metropolitan Area in 2020. The annual cumulative value of these avoided health effects is estimated to range from 17 to 21 million US$ (in 1999 dollars). This is equivalent to a benefit of $6.8 to $7.5 per ton of carbon emissions reduced for the climate change scenarios. Policy-makers agreed that the ICAP approach and the results of this project were useful in informing policy-makers and the public of the co-benefit impacts of policy decisions and assisting with the development of cost-effective integrated strategies to address both local air quality issues and GHG mitigation concerns simultaneously.

Compressed natural gas vehicles: Motoring towards a cleaner Beijing

This paper first describes the state-of-the-art of compressed natural gas (CNG) technologies and evaluates the market prospects for CNG vehicles in Beijing. An analysis of the natural gas resource supply for fleet vehicles follows. The costs and benefits of establishing natural gas filling stations and promoting the development of vehicle technology are evaluated. The quantity of GHG reduction is calculated. The objective of the paper is to provide information of transfer niche of CNG vehicle and equipment production in Beijing. This paper argues that the development of CNG vehicles is a cost-effective strategy for mitigating both local air pollution and GHG.