Greenhouse Gas Monitoring Research Articles

Design and fabrication of a novel core-suspended optic fiber for distributed gas sensor

We designed a novel core-suspended capillary fiber that the core was suspended in the air hole and close to the inner surface of the capillary, and experimentally demonstrated its fabrication technology. In addition, a method for linking a single mode fiber and a core-suspended fiber was proposed based on splicing and tapering at the fusion point between the two fibers. By combining with the optical time domain reflectometer technology, we constructed a distributed gas sensor system to monitor greenhouse gas based on this novel fiber.

CO<sub>2</sub>, CO, and CH<sub>4</sub> measurements from tall towers in the NOAA Earth System Research Laboratory's Global Greenhouse Gas Reference Network: instrumentation, uncertainty analysis, and recommendations for future high-accuracy greenhouse gas monitoring efforts

Abstract. A reliable and precise in situ CO2 and CO analysis system has been developed and deployed at eight sites in the NOAA Earth System Research Laboratory's (ESRL) Global Greenhouse Gas Reference Network. The network uses very tall (> 300 m) television and radio transmitter towers that provide a convenient platform for mid-boundary-layer trace-gas sampling. Each analyzer has three sample inlets for profile sampling, and a complete vertical profile is obtained every 15 min. The instrument suite at one site has been augmented with a cavity ring-down spectrometer for measuring CO2 and CH4. The long-term stability of the systems in the field is typically better than 0.1 ppm for CO2, 6 ppb for CO, and 0.5 ppb for CH4, as determined from repeated standard gas measurements. The instrumentation is fully automated and includes sensors for measuring a variety of status parameters, such as temperatures, pressures, and flow rates, that are inputs for automated alerts and quality control algorithms. Detailed and time-dependent uncertainty estimates have been constructed for all of the gases, and the uncertainty framework could be readily adapted to other species or analysis systems. The design emphasizes use of off-the-shelf parts and modularity to facilitate network operations and ease of maintenance. The systems report high-quality data with > 93% uptime. Recurrent problems and limitations of the current system are discussed along with general recommendations for high-accuracy trace-gas monitoring. The network is a key component of the North American Carbon Program and a useful model for future research-grade operational greenhouse gas monitoring efforts.

건설사업의 온실가스 모니터링 시스템 개발

지난 수십 년간의 경제성장은 환경보다는 생산성과 효율성을 중시하며 진행되었다. 그 결과, 현재 전 세계는 인류의 생존을 위협하는 지구온난화라는 심각한 환경위기에 직면하게 되었다. 이에 따라 온실가스 감축과 지속가능한 발전을 위한 국제적 노력으로 '기후변화에 관한 UN협약(UNFCCC)'과 '교토의정서(Kyoto Protocol)'가 공식 발효되었다. 그러나 건설 산업의 노력은 에너지 저감 기술의 개발과 적용에 치중되어있다. 따라서 본 연구는 건설 산업의 온실 가스배출량을 모니터링 하기 위한 시스템을 개발하였다. 본 연구에서 제안한 모니터링 시스템은 온실가스 배출전망치와 실제배출치의 산정을 통해 단계별로 모니터링하고 이를 비교 평가한다. 이를 위해, 건설 프로젝트의 일반적인 생애주기에 따르는 온실가스 배출요인을 분석하였으며, 이를 설계도서 등 기초 데이터자료의 수집용이성, 배출계수의 구축여부를 기준으로 본 연구의 온실가스 모니터링 분석범위를 결정하였다. 또한, 사업단계별 배출량 산정방법의 구축을 통해 모니터링 시스템을 구축하였다. 본 연구의 모니터링 시스템은 설계시점에서 배출전망치 산정을 통한 친환경적인 의사결정과 실제 시공 및 운영시점에서 실제 배출치 산정을 통한 녹색건설현장 구현, 그리고 배출전망치와 실제 배출치 간의 비교 평가를 통한 녹색건설 성과평가 지원도구로 활용이 기대된다. For several decades, economic growth has achieved in the aspect of productivity and effectiveness not environmental friendly. As a result, global warming is a major agenda to solve. Therefore, global effort to sustainable development has been adopted like UNFCCC and Kyoto protocol that aimed to reduce greenhouse gas. However, the construction industry has only focused on applying techniques for using less energy sources not monitoring sustainable construction and development. Therefore, this study developed a tool for monitoring greenhouse gas emissions in construction industry. The proposed system evaluates and estimates BAU (Business as usual) for each phase of a construction project. For this purpose, analyzed the greenhouse gas emission factors coincide to life cycle of a construction project. The scope of monitoring is determined according to data availability and emission factor. Then, the system framework is developed and the calculation logic is proposed the system features provide comparison between the emission estimates for eco-friendly design and the actual emission of construction and operation phases. The system would be utilized as a tool for supporting to green construction realization and green construction performance evaluation.

Ground-based remote sensing of atmospheric total column CO2 and CH4 by direct sunlight in Hefei

Fourier transform spectrometry has played an important role in the three-dimensional greenhouse gas monitoring as the focus of attention on global warming in the past few years. In this paper, a ground-based low-resolution remote sensing system measuring the total columns of CO2 and CH4 is developed, which tracks the sun automatically and records the spectra in real-time and has the advantages of portability and low cost. A spectral inversion algorithm based on nonlinear least squares spectral fitting procedure for determining the column concentrations of these species is described. Atmospheric transmittance spectra are computed line-by-line in the forward model and observed on-line by direct solar radiation. Also, the wavelength shifts are introduced and the influence of spectral resolution is discussed. Based on this system and algorithm, the vertical columns of O2, CO2, and CH4 are calculated from total atmospheric observation transmittance spectra in Hefei, and the results show that the column averaged dry-air mole fractions of CO2 and CH4 are measured with accuracies of 3.7% and 5%, respectively. Finally, the H2O columns are compared with the results observed by solar radiometer at the same site and the calculated correlation coefficient is 0.92, which proves that this system is suitable for field campaigns and used to monitor the local greenhouse gas sources under the condition of higher accuracy, indirectly.

Assessing the performance of the photo‐acoustic infrared gas monitor for measuring CO2, N2O, and CH4 fluxes in two major cereal rotations

Rapid, precise, and globally comparable methods for monitoring greenhouse gas (GHG) fluxes are required for accurate GHG inventories from different cropping systems and management practices. Manual gas sampling followed by gas chromatography (GC) is widely used for measuring GHG fluxes in agricultural fields, but is laborious and time-consuming. The photo-acoustic infrared gas monitoring system (PAS) with on-line gas sampling is an attractive option, although it has not been evaluated for measuring GHG fluxes in cereals in general and rice in particular. We compared N2 O, CO2 , and CH4 fluxes measured by GC and PAS from agricultural fields under the rice-wheat and maize-wheat systems during the wheat (winter), and maize/rice (monsoon) seasons in Haryana, India. All the PAS readings were corrected for baseline drifts over time and PAS-CH4 (PCH4 ) readings in flooded rice were corrected for water vapor interferences. The PCH4 readings in ambient air increased by 2.3ppm for every 1000mgcm(-3) increase in water vapor. The daily CO2 , N2 O, and CH4 fluxes measured by GC and PAS from the same chamber were not different in 93-98% of all the measurements made but the PAS exhibited greater precision for estimates of CO2 and N2 O fluxes in wheat and maize, and lower precision for CH4 flux in rice, than GC. The seasonal GC- and PAS-N2 O (PN2 O) fluxes in wheat and maize were not different but the PAS-CO2 (PCO2 ) flux in wheat was 14-39% higher than that of GC. In flooded rice, the seasonal PCH4 and PN2 O fluxes across N levels were higher than those of GC-CH4 and GC-N2 O fluxes by about 2- and 4fold, respectively. The PAS (i) proved to be a suitable alternative to GC for N2 O and CO2 flux measurements in wheat, and (ii) showed potential for obtaining accurate measurements of CH4 fluxes in flooded rice after making correction for changes in humidity.

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Urban land planning: The role of a Master Plan in influencing local temperatures

Land use planning (LUP) is central for managing issues related to climatic variation in urban environments. However, Master Plans (MPs) usually do not include climatic aspects, and few studies have addressed climate change at the urban scale, especially in developing countries. This paper proposes a framework with ten categories for assessment of climatic variation in urban LUP. Each category comprises attributes that describe a complex of relationships in influencing local temperature variations. They are analyzed for the case of the Master Plan of Porto Alegre (MPPA), the Southernmost metropolis of Brazil. It is concluded that the MPPA is strongly grounded in climate-related land and zoning coordination, but exhibits weaknesses in building, cartographical and social aspects considered synergistically relevant for tackling problems related to urban climate variation. Furthermore, the MPPA does not contain provisions related to monitoring of local climate and greenhouse gases (GHG) emissions and it is ineffective for improving energy efficiency. Specific MPPA failures stemming from these weaknesses include: an increase of 21.79% in the city’s urbanized area from 1986 to 2011 to accommodate a similar increase in population, with significant horizontal sprawl; average temperature rise of 0.392°C from 1991–2000 to 2001–2010, with statistically significant increases in temperature found since 1931; significant vehicle traffic increases, especially since 2007. From these findings, it is possible to conclude that the MPPA does not offer answers to all the imbalances related to land use, and therefore gives insufficient support to tackle the issue of rising temperatures.

Progress and opportunities for monitoring greenhouse gases fluxes in Mexican ecosystems: the MexFlux network

Understanding ecosystem processes from a functional point of view is essential to study relationships among climate variability, biogeochemical cycles, and surface-atmosphere interactions. Increasingly during the last decades, the eddy covariance (EC) method has been applied in terrestrial, marine and urban ecosystems to quantify fluxes of greenhouse gases (e.g., CO2, H2O) and energy (e.g., sensible and latent heat). Networks of EC systems have been established in different regions and have provided scientific information that has been used for designing environmental and adaptation policies. In this context, this article outlines the conceptual and technical framework for the establishment of an EC regional network (i.e., MexFlux) to measure the surface-atmosphere exchange of heat and greenhouse gases in Mexico. The goal of the network is to improve our understanding of how climate variability and environmental change influence the dynamics of Mexican ecosystems. First, we discuss the relevance of CO2 and water vapor exchange between terrestrial ecosystems and the atmosphere. Second, we briefly describe the EC basis and present examples of measurements in terrestrial and urban ecosystems of Mexico. Finally, we describe the conceptual and operational goals at short-, medium-, and long-term scales for continuity of the MexFlux network.

A new strategy for global climate protection

This essay proposes an innovative institutional strategy for global climate protection, quite distinct from but ultimately complementary to the UNFCCC climate treaty negotiations. Our “building block” strategy relies on a variety of smaller-scale transnational cooperative arrangements, involving not only states, but also subnational jurisdictions, firms, and civil society organizations, to undertake activities whose primary goal is not climate mitigation but which will achieve greenhouse gas reductions as a byproduct. This strategy avoids the problems inherent in developing an enforceable, comprehensive treaty regime by mobilizing other incentives—including economic self-interest, energy security, cleaner air, and furtherance of international development— to motivate a range of actors to cooperate on actions that will also produce climate benefits. The strategy uses three specific models of regime formation (club, linkage, and dominant actor models) which emerge from economics, international relations, and organizational behavior, to develop a variety of transnational regimes that are generally self-enforcing and sustainable, avoiding the free rider and compliance problems endemic in collective action to provide public goods. These regimes will contribute to global climate action not only by achieving emissions reductions in the short term, but also by creating global webs of cooperation and trust, and by linking the building block regimes to the UNFCCC system through greenhouse gas monitoring and reporting systems. We argue that the building blocks regimes would thereby help secure eventual agreement on a comprehensive climate treaty.

Atmospheric column-averaged mole fractions of carbon dioxide at 53 aircraft measurement sites

Abstract. Atmospheric column-averaged mole fractions of carbon dioxide (XCO2) at 53 locations around the world were derived from aircraft measurements covering the altitude range of about 1–10 km. We used CO2 vertical profile measurements from three major carbon cycle programs, a global climatological data set of air number density profiles and tropopause height for calculating XCO2 for the period of 2007–2009. Vertical profiles of the CO2 mixing ratio are complemented by tall tower data up to 400 m from the earth's surface and by simulated profiles in the stratosphere from a chemistry-transport model. The amplitude of the seasonal cycle of calculated XCO2 values shows clear latitudinal dependence, and the amplitude decreases from about 10 ppm at high latitudes in the Northern Hemisphere to at most 2 ppm in the tropics and the Southern Hemisphere. The uncertainties of XCO2 were estimated from assumptions about CO2 profiles for each flight. Typically, uncertainties were less than 1 ppm; thus, this data set is within the level of uncertainty needed for primary validation of XCO2 measurements by the Greenhouse gases Observing SATellite (GOSAT) and by future satellite missions for monitoring greenhouse gases.

Design and performance of a Nafion dryer for continuous operation at CO<sub>2</sub> and CH<sub>4</sub> air monitoring sites

Abstract. In preparation for routine deployment in a network of greenhouse gas monitoring stations, we have designed and tested a simple method for drying ambient air to near or below 0.2% (2000 ppm) mole fraction H2O using a Nafion dryer. The inlet system was designed for use with cavity ring-down spectrometer (CRDS) analyzers such as the Picarro model G2301 that measure H2O in addition to their principal analytes, in this case CO2 and CH4. These analyzers report dry-gas mixing ratios without drying the sample by measuring H2O mixing ratio at the same frequency as the main analytes, and then correcting for the dilution and peak broadening effects of H2O on the mixing ratios of the other analytes measured in moist air. However, it is difficult to accurately validate the water vapor correction in the field. By substantially lowering the amount of H2O in the sample, uncertainties in the applied water vapor corrections can be reduced by an order of magnitude or more, thus eliminating the need to determine instrument-specific water vapor correction coefficients and to verify the stability over time. Our Nafion drying inlet system takes advantage of the extra capacity of the analyzer pump to redirect 30% of the dry gas exiting the Nafion to the outer shell side of the dryer and has no consumables. We tested the Nafion dryer against a cryotrap (−97 °C) method for removing H2O and found that in wet-air tests, the Nafion reduces the CO2 dry-gas mixing ratios of the sample gas by as much as 0.1 ± 0.01 ppm due to leakage across the membrane. The effect on CH4 was smaller and varied within ± 0.2 ppb, with an approximate uncertainty of 0.1 ppb. The Nafion-induced CO2 bias is partially offset by sending the dry reference gases through the Nafion dryer as well. The residual bias due to the impact of moisture differences between sample and reference gas on the permeation through the Nafion was approximately −0.05 ppm for CO2 and varied within ± 0.2 ppb for CH4. The uncertainty of this partial drying method is within the WMO compatibility guidelines for the Northern Hemisphere, 0.1 ppm for CO2 and 2 ppb for CH4, and is comparable to experimentally determining water vapor corrections for each instrument but less subject to concerns of possible drift in these corrections.

Assessment of a multi-species in situ FTIR for precise atmospheric greenhouse gas observations

Abstract. We thoroughly evaluate the performance of a multi-species, in situ Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) analyser with respect to high-accuracy needs for greenhouse gas monitoring networks. The in situ FTIR analyser is shown to measure CO2, CO, CH4 and N2O mole fractions continuously, all with better reproducibility than the inter-laboratory compatibility (ILC) goals, requested by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) for the Global Atmosphere Watch (GAW) programme. Simultaneously determined δ13CO2 reaches reproducibility as good as 0.03‰. Second-order dependencies between the measured components and the thermodynamic properties of the sample, (temperature, pressure and flow rate) and the cross sensitivities among the sample constituents are investigated and quantified. We describe an improved sample delivery and control system that minimises the pressure and flow rate variations, making post-processing corrections for those quantities non-essential. Temperature disequilibrium effects resulting from the evacuation of the sample cell are quantified and improved by the usage of a faster temperature sensor. The instrument has proven to be linear for all measured components in the ambient concentration range. The temporal stability of the instrument is characterised on different time scales. Instrument drifts on a weekly time scale are only observed for CH4 (0.04 nmol mol−1 day−1) and δ13CO2 (0.02‰ day−1). Based on 10 months of continuously collected quality control measures, the long-term reproducibility of the instrument is estimated to ±0.016 μmol mol−1 CO2, ±0.03‰ δ13CO2, ±0.14 nmol mol−1 CH4, ±0.1 nmol mol−1 CO and ±0.04 nmol mol−1 N2O. We propose a calibration and quality control scheme with weekly calibrations of the instrument that is sufficient to reach WMO-GAW inter-laboratory compatibility goals.

Biomass Yield and Greenhouse Gas Emissions from a Drained Fen Peatland Cultivated with Reed Canary Grass under Different Harvest and Fertilizer Regimes

Reed canary grass (RCG, Phalaris arundinacea L.) is a suitable energy crop for cultivation in northern peatlands. However, the atmospheric impact of RCG cultivation as influenced by harvest frequency and fertilization is not clear. Here, we compared the biomass yield and greenhouse gas (GHG) balance for RCG cultivation in peatlands affected by cutting frequency and fertilizer managements. The managements included one-cut (OC) and two-cut (TC) systems that were either fertilized (TC-F) or unfertilized (TC-U) after the first cut in summer. Biomass yield of OC, TC-F and TC-U were 12, 16 and 11 Mg dry biomass per hectare per year, respectively. GHG fluxes of CO2, N2O and CH4 were measured with closed chamber techniques in the period between first and second (final) harvest of the TC managements, i.e. from 15 June to 23 September 2011. In the GHG monitoring period of 100 days, all systems were net sources of CO2 corresponding to 64 ± 3, 217 ± 15 and 50 ± 23 g CO2-C m−2 (mean ± standard error, n = 3) from the OC, TC-F and TC-U systems, respectively. In the same period, emissions of N2O from TC-F were ten times higher as compared to OC and TC-U. Emissions of CH4 were negligible from all systems. The TC systems could not improve the GHG balance during cultivation (271, 663 and 210 g CO2e-C m−2 emissions from the OC, TC-F and TC-U systems, respectively), but in a broader GHG life cycle perspective, the increased biomass yield by TC-F could replace more fossil fuel and offset at least some of the higher emissions from the system.

Imputing forest carbon stock estimates from inventory plots to a nationally continuous coverage.

The U.S. has been providing national-scale estimates of forest carbon (C) stocks and stock change to meet United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) reporting requirements for years. Although these currently are provided as national estimates by pool and year to meet greenhouse gas monitoring requirements, there is growing need to disaggregate these estimates to finer scales to enable strategic forest management and monitoring activities focused on various ecosystem services such as C storage enhancement. Through application of a nearest-neighbor imputation approach, spatially extant estimates of forest C density were developed for the conterminous U.S. using the U.S.’s annual forest inventory. Results suggest that an existing forest inventory plot imputation approach can be readily modified to provide raster maps of C density across a range of pools (e.g., live tree to soil organic carbon) and spatial scales (e.g., sub-county to biome). Comparisons among imputed maps indicate strong regional differences across C pools. The C density of pools closely related to detrital input (e.g., dead wood) is often highest in forests suffering from recent mortality events such as those in the northern Rocky Mountains (e.g., beetle infestations). In contrast, live tree carbon density is often highest on the highest quality forest sites such as those found in the Pacific Northwest. Validation results suggest strong agreement between the estimates produced from the forest inventory plots and those from the imputed maps, particularly when the C pool is closely associated with the imputation model (e.g., aboveground live biomass and live tree basal area), with weaker agreement for detrital pools (e.g., standing dead trees). Forest inventory imputed plot maps provide an efficient and flexible approach to monitoring diverse C pools at national (e.g., UNFCCC) and regional scales (e.g., Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation projects) while allowing timely incorporation of empirical data (e.g., annual forest inventory).

Building a More Effective Global Climate Regime Through a Bottom-Up Approach

This Article presents an innovative institutional strategy for global climate protection, quite distinct from, but ultimately complementary to and supportive of the currently stalled UNFCCC climate treaty negotiations. The bottom-up strategy relies on a variety of smallerscale transnational cooperative arrangements, involving not only states but sub-national jurisdictions, firms, and CSOs, to undertake activities whose primary goal is not climate mitigation but which will achieve greenhouse gas reductions as an inherent byproduct. This strategy avoids the inherent problems in securing an enforceable treaty to secure the global public good of climate protection by mobilizing other incentives - including economic self-interest, energy security, cleaner air, and furtherance of international development - to motivate such actors to cooperate on actions that will also benefit the climate. These bottom-up regimes will contribute to global climate action not only by achieving emissions reductions in the short-term, but also by linking the bottom-up regimes to the UNFCCC system through greenhouse gas monitoring and reporting systems. In these ways, the bottom-up strategy will help secure eventual agreement on a global climate treaty.

Ground-based Remote Sensing with Open-path Fourier- transform Infrared (OP-FTIR) Spectroscopy for Large-scale Monitoring of Greenhouse Gases

To successfully monitor carbon dioxide capture and storage facilities, it is necessary to select appropriate methods which can provide required information from different scales, both in desired resolutions and in real time. This paper will provide an assessment of open-path Fourier-transform infrared (OP-FTIR) spectroscopy as part of a hierarchical monitoring concept. The technology is introduced as a promising ground-based remote sensing technology for large- scale monitoring of leakage detection. Initial tests using this method were carried out at natural analogue sites where different degassing situations are present, providing optimal conditions for evaluating OP-FTIR spectroscopy capability. The application of this technology focused on determining spatial atmospheric CO2 distribution and to help obtain insights into how CO2 spreads in the vicinity of the degassing vents using scanned images.

Feasibility of Time-lapse Seismic Methodology for Monitoring the Injection of Small Quantities of CO2 into a Saline Formation, CO2CRC Otway Project

A key objective of Stage 2 of the CO2CRC Otway Project is to explore the ability of geophysical methods to detect and monitor injection of greenhouse gas into a saline formation. For this purpose, injection o f some 10,000 30,000 tonnes of CO2-rich mixture into the Paaratte formation, a saline aquifer located at a depth of about 1,400 m, is planned. Before such an injection experiment is undertaken, we assess the feasibility of geophysical monitoring using computer modelling. To examine the detectability of the plume we need to estimate the time-lapse signal and time- lapse noise. The time lapse signal is modelled using flow simulations, fluid substitution and seismic forward modelling. In order to assess the applicability of time-lapse seismic to monitor the injection, the predicted signal is compared to the time-lapse noise level from the recent 4D seismic survey acquired at the Otway site in 2009-2010. The methodology is applied to two alternative reservoir intervals located at a depth of 1392-1399 m and 1445-1465 m below the sea level, respectively. These intervals are considered to be the two possible options for the injection. The results show that injection into the lower interval will produce a plume of a larger thickness and smaller lateral extent, and a seismic response that is more likely to be detectable. The developed feasibility assessment workflow, and the results of its application to the Otway site, can be used to assess the ability of seismic methods to detect and monitor greenhouse gas leakage in other CCS projects.

Monitoring of CCS Areas using Micro Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (MUAVs)

Carbon capture & storage (CCS) is one of the most promising technologies for greenhouse gas (GHG) management. However, an unsolved issue of CCS is the development of appropriate long-term monitoring systems for leak detection of the stored CO2. To complement already existing monitoring infrastructure for CO2 storage areas, and to increase the granularity of gas concentration measurements, a quickly deployable, mobile measurement device is needed. In this paper, we present an autonomous gas-sensitive micro-drone, which can be used to monitor GHG emissions, more specifically, CO2. Two different measurement strategies are proposed to address this task. First, the use of predefined sensing trajectories is evaluated for the task of gas distribution mapping using the micro-drone. Alternatively, we present an adaptive strategy, which suggests sampling points based on an artificial potential field (APF). The results of real-world experiments demonstrate the feasibility of using gas-sensitive micro-drones for GHG monitoring missions. Thus, we suggest a multi-layered surveillance system for CO2 storage areas.

NGN 기능 기반의 온실가스감시 서비스 시나리오

온실가스(green house gas: GHG) 감시는 지구의 기후변화를 방지하기 위해 필수적인 수단이 되고 있다. 기존 연구에서 글로벌 인프라인 NGN(next generation network)을 통해 온실가스감시를 수행하기 위한 서비스 시나리오가 제시되었으나 추상적인 단계에 머무르고 있어서 실제로 NGN에 적용하는 데에는 어려움이 있다. 본 논문에서는 NGN 내에 탑재될 기능들을 중심으로 온실가스감시서비스 시나리오를 제시하여 실제 NGN에서 적용이 가능하게 하기 위한 기반을 제공한다. The GHG(green house gas) monitoring has been an essential method to prevent climate change. Service scenarios for GHG monitoring over NGN(next generation network), a global infrastructure, was proposed in the previous study, which stays at the abstract level that may lead to difficulties for the actual implementation of the monitoring service in NGN. This paper proposes GHG monitoring service scenarios, based on functions to be incorporated in NGN, that provides the basis for actual implementation in NGN.

Building Blocks for Global Climate Protection

The paper presents an innovative institutional strategy for global climate protection, quite distinct from, but ultimately complementary to the stalled UNFCCC climate treaty negotiations. The building blocks strategy relies on a variety of smaller-scale transnational cooperative arrangements, involving not only states but sub-national jurisdictions, firms, and NGOs, to undertake activities whose primary goal is not climate mitigation but which will achieve greenhouse gas reductions as an inherent byproduct. This strategy avoids the inherent problems in securing an enforceable treaty to secure the global public good of climate protection by mobilizing other incentives — including economic self-interest, energy security, cleaner air, and furtherance of international development — to motivate such actors to cooperate on actions that will also benefit the climate. The paper outlines three specific models of regime formation (club, linkage and dominant actor models) which draws on economics, international relations, and organizational behavior to create transnational regimes that are generally self-enforcing and sustainable, avoiding the free rider and compliance problems that are endemic in a climate treaty. These regimes will contribute to global climate action not only by achieving emissions reductions in the short-term, but also by creating global webs of cooperation and trust, and by linking the building block regimes to the UNFCCC system through greenhouse gas monitoring and reporting systems. In these ways, the building blocks regimes will help secure eventual agreement on a global climate treaty.