Need For Climate Change Mitigation Research Articles

Using Data Mining Techniques to Develop Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies in Nigeria

Climate change is a severe and growing challenge facing Nigeria, with significant impacts on the country's economy, environment, and society. To cope with this challenge, there is a need for climate change mitigation and adaptation strategies that are evidence-based and tailored to the country's unique vulnerabilities and opportunities. This study aimed to develop such strategies using data mining techniques. A range of climate and non-climate data sources were explored to identify key drivers of climate change in Nigeria and their associated impacts on different sectors, such as agriculture, water resources, and energy. Subsequently, data mining algorithms, including decision trees, clustering, and association rule mining, were applied to model and analyze the complex relationships between these drivers and their impacts on the sectors. The study found that a combination of mitigation and adaptation measures could be effective in reducing the severity of climate change impacts in Nigeria. These measures include promoting the use of renewable energy sources, improving water-use efficiency, and developing climate-smart agricultural practices. The data mining techniques used in this study proved useful for identifying these measures and for predicting their effectiveness under different scenarios. The results of this study provide important insights to policymakers and practitioners in Nigeria and other countries facing similar climate change challenges. It also highlights the potential of data mining techniques for developing climate change mitigation and adaptation strategies that are evidence-based, effective, and tailored to specific local contexts. Overall, this study contributes to the growing body of literature on leveraging data mining and machine learning techniques for addressing complex environmental and societal challenges.

Walking a thin line: a reputational account of green central banking

ABSTRACT In this article, we provide a comparative case study analysis of the differentiated climate change engagement of the Bank of England (BoE), European Central Bank (ECB) and Federal Reserve (Fed). Drawing on semi-structured interviews and a newly composed database of central banker speeches and legislative documents, we argue that climate (in)actions of these central banks are shaped by concerns over their reputation. A broad socio-political consensus on the need for climate change mitigation enabled the BoE and ECB to begin integrating CRFRs into their supervisory frameworks without affecting their socio-political reputation while the carbon bias in their own asset purchase programs compelled both central banks to also start greening their monetary policy to preserve their performative reputation. The Fed’s more cautious moves have been driven by a fear of loss of technical reputation in the face of a growing transnational consensus on the financial stability risks of climate change.

Estimating the economic value of carbon losses from wildfires using publicly available data sources: Eagle Creek Fire, Oregon 2017

BackgroundWildfires are increasingly frequent in the Western US and impose a number of costs including from the instantaneous release of carbon when vegetation burns. Carbon released into the atmosphere aggravates climate change while carbon stored in vegetation helps to mitigate climate change. The need for climate change mitigation is becoming more and more urgent as achieving the Paris climate agreement target of limiting global warming to 1.5 °C seems ever more challenging. A clear understanding of the role of different carbon sources is required for understanding the degree of progress toward meeting mitigation objectives and assessing the cost and benefits of mitigation policies.ResultsWe present an easily replicable approach to calculate the economic cost from carbon released instantaneously from wildfires at state and county level (US). Our approach is straightforward and relies exclusively on publicly available data that can be easily obtained for locations throughout the USA. We also describe how to apply social cost of carbon estimates to the carbon loss estimates to find the economic value of carbon released from wildfires. We demonstrate our approach using a case study of the 2017 Eagle Creek Fire in Oregon. Our estimated value of carbon lost for this medium-sized (19,400 ha) fire is $187.2 million (2020 dollars), which highlights the significant role that wildfires can have in terms of carbon emissions and their associated cost. The emissions from this fire were equivalent to as much as 2.3% of non-fire emissions for the state of Oregon in 2020.ConclusionsOur results demonstrate an easily replicable method for estimating the economic cost of instantaneous carbon dioxide emissions for individual wildfires. Estimates of the potential economic costs associated with carbon dioxide emissions help to provide a more complete picture of the true economic costs of wildfires, thus facilitating a more complete picture of the potential benefits of wildfire management efforts.

Impact of Climate Change on water security and Endorsing importance of Rainwater Harvesting Technology in Nepal

The day-by-day increment in the concentration of greenhouse gases (GHGs) in the atmosphere is widely believed to be a main contributing factor for climate change. It affects widely on diverse sectors such as water resources, agriculture, forestry, human health, biodiversity, and snow cover and aquatic life. Nepal is experiencing the adverse impact of climate change; this includes such as a variability in temperature and precipitation, overbank flooding from snow-fed rivers, and variability in available river and stream water quantity. Climate in the Nepal Himalayas is changing faster than the global average. Moreover, the changes in the high-altitudes have been found more pronounced than in the low-altitudes. Since, there is no definite trend that could be found in the annual precipitation records, clear decreasing trends could be seen in annual number of rainy days during the study period of 1971-2000. The glaciers in the Nepal Himalayas are shrinking rapidly and there will be no glaciers left by 2180. An accelerated glacier melt will cause an increase in water availability at the beginning but ultimately a decrease in water availability after the glaciers disappear. This will widen the gap between water supply and demand. Changing climate may further exacerbate the water stress which already happening in Nepal due to the monsoon dominated climate. Climate change (CC) will also further increase the seasonal imbalance- too much of water during rainy season and too less of it during dry seasons. Rainwater harvesting technology has the potential to provide numerous benefits to communities and individuals, particularly in areas where water resources are scarce or unreliable. From the analysis and through our research work it is found that if we can simply install and construct rainwater harvesting technology in our individual household only. It nearly fulfills about 15-25% of our domestic water demand. As in urban and rural area of Nepal still nearly about 50% of water demand is fulfilled by groundwater source which increase to 60-70% in dry season. The projected physical impacts of climate change on water resources would have substantial socioeconomic impacts and consequences for Nepal. The hydropower potential and agricultural production would be seriously affected by global warming. A reduction in agricultural production would be experienced due to water security and have significant impact on the food security and livelihoods of the subsistence farmers, who make the majority of the Nepal’s population. As the urgent need for climate change mitigation remains crucial, putting all the necessary resources and institutions in place for future adaptation is indispensable. The Inter-governmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has listed rainwater-harvesting as a key strategy for a planned adaptation in the water sector. The policy statements about rainwater harvesting-based climate change adaptation are currently not being effectively coordinated.

Bioenergy-livestock integration in Brazil: Unraveling potentials for energy production and climate change mitigation

Future projections indicate an expansion for both food and energy demands, which can increase pressure on land use, while there is an urgent global need for climate change mitigation. Bioenergy is foreseen as key option to meet future energy demands and reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, however its sustainability depends on locations and regional characteristics. Simultaneously, agricultural production models that co-produce food, feed, and energy offer sustainability synergies and co-benefits, but site-specific sustainability assessments of their large-scale implementation are missing. This study presents a bottom-up approach to assess spatially explicit sustainability aspects of bioenergy-livestock integrated systems (BLI) in Brazil and shed light on their contribution to future energy demands, to climate change mitigation targets, and their impacts on selected ecosystem services, including bioenergy production, climate change mitigation, reduction of food competition, biodiversity conservation, and avoided deforestation. The proposed integration considers livestock intensification and use of biofuels by-products as animal feed supplement, taking advantage of synergies between these two value chains. The expansion of the BLI system in the Center-South region of Brazil produce up to 89 billion liters of ethanol, enough to meet future domestic ethanol demands from multiple shared socioeconomic pathways and generating surpluses for export. This production takes place on 16 million hectares of pastureland within the Sugarcane Agroecological Zoning, excluding the Amazon and Pantanal biomes, and biodiversity hotspots. BLI expansion mitigate up to 250 million tonnes of CO2eq and generate 15 billion dollars of profits. The best locations to maximize the selected ecosystem services are west of São Paulo, east of Mato Grosso do Sul, and the south-central region of the states of Goiás. This study may encourage the formulation of enhanced public policies for the integration of bioenergy and livestock value chains and guide a sustainable large-scale deployment of BLI systems.

Climate change and the city: analysis of the urban heat island effect on mortality in Valencia, Spain

Abstract Background Heatwaves are increasing due to climate change and they are responsible for more fatalities than any other extreme meteorological phenomenon. An excess of mortality can occur during heatwaves, and it is usually higher in cities than in rural areas. This can be partly explained by the urban heat island effect, a human-induced modification of the local temperatures. This study assessed the effects of the July 2017 heatwave -one of the highest in recent years according to Heat Index available data- in Valencia (Spain). Methods Analytic, observational, and retrospective study on the effects of the 27-31 July 2017 heatwave in the city and province of Valencia on population mortality. Observed and expected number of deaths in our population were compared, using the same period of 2013 as a reference, and Standardized Mortality Ratio (SMR) was calculated for the capital city (urban area) and the province (suburban and rural areas) of the Valencian Region (Spain). Results The analysis showed a significant excess of mortality in the city of Valencia (787,808 pop) during the July 2017 heatwave, with an SMR of 1.634 (95% CI 1.356-1.952). In that period 116 deaths occurred, mean age 79.7 years, 50,7% women. By age groups, the population above 65 years was identified as the most vulnerable, with an SMR of 1.607 (95% CI 1.311-1.949). The mortality excess was 8% higher among men compared to women, although the difference was not significant. No significant increase in mortality was found in the province of Valencia (1,752,899 pop). Conclusions The July 2017 heatwave in the Region of Valencia brought an excess of mortality in its capital city, which did not take place in rural areas. Elderly are especially vulnerable to these extreme temperature events. Our findings raise awareness on the importance of climate change mitigation and adaptation measures, especially as regards its effects in urban areas. The regional heatwave protocol for nursing homes was enhanced. Key messages Adverse climate events are increasing due to global warming. The July 2017 heatwave in the Region of Valencia brought an excess of mortality in its capital city, especially among elderly. This study raises awareness on the need for climate change mitigation and adaptation measures, especially as regards the urban heat island effect.

Developing a Sustainable and Circular Bio-Based Economy in EU: By Partnering Across Sectors, Upscaling and Using New Knowledge Faster, and For the Benefit of Climate, Environment & Biodiversity, and People & Business.

This paper gives an overview of development of the EU-bioeconomy, 2014–2020. The Vision of the new Circular Bio-based Economy, CBE is presented: Unlocking the full potential of all types of sustainably sourced biomass, crop residues, industrial side-streams, and wastes by transforming it into value-added products. The resulting product portfolio consists of a wide spectrum of value-added products, addressing societal and consumer needs. Food and feed, bio-based chemicals, materials, health-promoting products; and bio-based fuels. The pillars of CBE are described, including biotechnology, microbial production, enzyme technology, green chemistry, integrated physical/chemical processing, policies, conducive framework conditions and public private partnerships. Drivers of CBE are analyzed: Biomass supply, biorefineries, value chain clusters, rural development, farmers, foresters and mariners; urgent need for climate change mitigation and adaptation, and stopping biodiversity loss. Improved framework conditions can be drivers but also obstacles if not updated to the era of circularity. Key figures, across the entire BBI-JU project portfolio (2014–2020) are provided, including expansion into biomass feedstocks, terrestrial and aquatic, and an impressive broadening of bio-based product portfolio, including higher-value, health-promoting products for man, animal, plants and soil. Parallel to this, diversification of industrial segments and types of funding instruments developed, reflecting industrial needs and academic research involvement. Impact assessment is highlighted. A number of specific recommendations are given; e.g., including international win/win CBE-collaborations, as e.g., expanding African EU collaboration into CBE. In contrast to fossil resources biological resources are found worldwide. In its outset, circular bio-based economy, can be implemented all over, in a just manner, not the least stimulating rural development.

A new integrated framework to estimate the climate change impacts of biomass utilization for biofuel in life cycle assessment

The urgent need for climate change mitigation and the potential threat of energy crisis have allowed the popularity of biomass for biofuels to increase. However, the approaches to assess the climate change impacts of biomass utilization are still questionable. To allow a more accurate assessment, we developed a new framework by integrating six impact components including (1) fossil fuel-derived greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, (2) biogenic CO2 emissions-loss, (3) biogenic CO2 emissions-combustion, (4) emissions from land-use practice change, (5) regrowth for compensation, and (6) difference in carbon sequestration. To illustrate the performance of the framework, seven case studies, which covered the first-, second-, and third-generation biofuels, were conducted. The majority of the positive impacts were contributed to by the fossil fuel-derived emissions, biogenic CO2 emissions, and regrowth for compensation. For the first-generation biofuels, the life cycle GHG emissions were much higher than those of energy-equivalent fossil fuels (144 and 218 kg CO2/GJ for Soybean-to-Biodiesel and Corn-to-Ethanol). The second- and third-generation biofuels had less accountable positive GHG emissions (−62 to 53 kg CO2/GJ) due to the offset of negative impacts from land-use practice change and difference in carbon sequestration. However, the negative effects are not determinist. High uncertainty from model-simulated carbon sequestration and decomposition is perceivable. High life cycle GHG emissions for the second- and third-generation biofuels are possible.

Energy Accounting for a Renewable Energy Future

For millennia, humans relied almost entirely on renewable energy (RE), largely biomass, for their energy needs. Over the past century, fossil fuels (FFs) have not only largely replaced RE, but have enabled a many-fold rise in total energy use. This FF dominance changed the way we think about and accounted for energy use. If (as at present) the world essentially continues to ignore climate change, eventual resource depletion will force conversion to RE and, perhaps, nuclear energy will once again have to provide most of the world’s energy use. However, the change is more likely to come about because of the urgent need for climate change mitigation. At present, primary RE electricity accounting is done by calculating the FF energy that would be needed to produce it. But as FFs disappear, this approach makes less sense. Instead, a new approach to energy accounting will be needed, one that allows for the intermittent nature of the two most abundant RE sources, wind and solar power. Surplus intermittent RE might be converted to H2, further complicating energy accounting. An additional complication will be the treatment of energy reductions, especially from passive solar energy, likely to be more important in the coming decades. This paper is a review of the evidence to try to determine the best approach to future energy accounting.

Organised neighbourhood support during extreme weather events in rural areas : Using the "volunteers on-site system" to strategically adapt to crisis situations caused by climate change

Climate change is one of the greatest challenges of the 21st century. The impacts are globally and regionally visible through more and more frequent extreme weather events, be they devastating storms, longer periods of cold and heat or prolonged periods of drought alternating with heavy rain and flooding. In addition to the urgent need for climate change mitigation, therefore, the question has been raised for some time as to which measures cities and municipalities, rural districts and regions can use to prepare themselves against the consequences of climate change.The region of Northern Hesse developed strategies and measures for climate adaptation at an early stage as part of the KLIMZUG (shaping climate change for the future in regions) federal support programme. The question remains open as to what will happen in rural regions - and especially in remote places - when there is no more civil protection assistance available in the event of adisaster either because they are needed elsewhere, roads are impassable or electricity, telephone and Internet connections are no longer functioning. For this case, aproject consortium led by the Regionalmanagement Nordhessen GmbH has now developed the "volunteers on-site system" (Freiwilligen-vor-Ort-System [FvOS]) as an organised form of neighbourhood support.This model project, which is unique in Germany, is intended to show how care for people in need of help and care can be ensured in rural areas in the event of adisaster.The project has sensitised citizens and task forces to this task and initiated aprocess that is intended to lead to more self-responsibility, but also safety in the event of adisaster situation. FvOS is intended to signal the need for climate change mitigation throughout Germany.

The Road to Biorenewables: Carbohydrates to Commodity Chemicals

The pressing need for climate change mitigation has focused attention on reducing global emissions of carbon dioxide by effectuating the transition from fossil-based chemicals manufacture to a carbon neutral alternative based on lignocellulosic waste. The first step involves fractionation of the lignocellulose into cellulose, hemicellulose, and lignin. Subsequently, a cellulase enzyme cocktail is used to catalyze the hydrolysis of the polysaccharides into their constituent sugars. This is followed by selective conversion of the carbohydrates into commodity chemicals using a variety of sustainable bio- and chemocatalytic methodologies. These include, inter alia, fermentative production of alcohols, diols, and carboxylic acids and a variety of chemocatalytic reductions and oxidations. Hence, the transition from fossil feedstocks to lignocellulose represents a switch from hydrocarbons to carbohydrates as the primary basic chemicals. To compare these renewable biomass-based routes with their petrochemical equ...

Determinants of voluntary carbon disclosure in the corporate real estate sector of Malaysia

Corporate real estate management holds the tent that risk which is not understood cannot be measured or managed. The effect of global warming on real estate investment and need for climate change mitigation through disclosures by companies of carbon emission information has becomes a sine-qua-non for the management of companies' carbon footprint and reducing its overall effect on global warming. This study applied the structural equation modeling technique to determine the determinants influencing Carbon Disclosure in Real Estate Companies in a developing economy. The analysis was based on 2013 annual reports of 126 property sector companies listed in Malaysia stock exchange market. The model was validated through convergent validity, discriminant validity, composite reliability and goodness of fit. The result reveals that social and financial market were critical determinant factors for carbon disclosure while the economic and institutional factors did not achieve significant effect on voluntary carbon disclosure. The result is consistent with legitimacy theory and agency theories. The implication of this finding is that increase in public education and awareness will enhance community demand for disclosure from companies and they will increase level of disclosure; also as financial institutions consider sustainability practice as a viable investment and term for credit financing, companies will be motivated to increase disclosure.

Engineering a more sustainable world through catalysis and green chemistry.

The grand challenge facing the chemical and allied industries in the twenty-first century is the transition to greener, more sustainable manufacturing processes that efficiently use raw materials, eliminate waste and avoid the use of toxic and hazardous materials. It requires a paradigm shift from traditional concepts of process efficiency, focusing on chemical yield, to one that assigns economic value to replacing fossil resources with renewable raw materials, eliminating waste and avoiding the use of toxic and/or hazardous substances. The need for a greening of chemicals manufacture is readily apparent from a consideration of the amounts of waste generated per kilogram of product (the E factors) in various segments of the chemical industry. A primary source of this waste is the use of antiquated 'stoichiometric' technologies and a major challenge is to develop green, catalytic alternatives. Another grand challenge for the twenty-first century, driven by the pressing need for climate change mitigation, is the transition from an unsustainable economy based on fossil resources--oil, coal and natural gas--to a sustainable one based on renewable biomass. In this context, the valorization of waste biomass, which is currently incinerated or goes to landfill, is particularly attractive. The bio-based economy involves cross-disciplinary research at the interface of biotechnology and chemical engineering, focusing on the development of green, chemo- and biocatalytic technologies for waste biomass conversion to biofuels, chemicals and bio-based materials. Biocatalysis has many benefits to offer in this respect. The catalyst is derived from renewable biomass and is biodegradable. Processes are performed under mild conditions and generally produce less waste and are more energy efficient than conventional ones. Thanks to modern advances in biotechnology 'tailor-made' enzymes can be economically produced on a large scale. However, for economic viability it is generally necessary to recover and re-use the enzyme and this can be achieved by immobilization, e.g. as solid cross-linked enzyme aggregates (CLEAs), enabling separation by filtration or centrifugation. A recent advance is the use of 'smart', magnetic CLEAs, which can be separated magnetically from reaction mixtures containing suspensions of solids; truly an example of cross-disciplinary research at the interface of physical and life sciences, which is particularly relevant to biomass conversion processes.

Carbon blinkers and policy blindness: The difficulties of ‘Growing Our Woodland in Wales’

The need for climate change mitigation has led to a recent upsurge in policies aimed to deliver re-afforestation across the globe, but with mixed successes observed depending upon the levels of private land ownership and ability of governments to engage land managers. This paper evaluates a new government-led scheme in Wales, which is intended to increase woodland cover from 14% to 20% by 2030 to offset the greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture. As the scheme is primarily intended to promote woodland creation on farms, the analysis of the paper focusses upon the question of how to incentivise farmers, and the reasons why difficulties have been experienced engaging land owners in the scheme. Whilst a number of recommendations are made from this policy evaluation, the paper also demonstrates that key lessons have not been applied from existing literature on farmers’ behaviour and environmental scheme uptake, and that policy makers are not integrating practice across departmental divisions. As such, the paper suggests that the new focus on carbon sequestration has acted as a distraction to the development of a more robust governance strategy that builds on previous successes and failures in agri-environment policy.

Need for relevant timescales when crediting temporary carbon storage

Purpose Earth faces an urgent need for climate change mitigation, and carbon storage is discussed as an option. Approaches for assessing the benefit of temporary carbon storage in relation to carbon footprinting exist, but many are based on a 100-year accounting period, disregarding impacts after this time. The aim of this paper is to assess the consequences of using such approaches that disregard the long timescale on which complete removal of atmospheric CO2 occurs. Based on these findings, an assessment is made on what are relevant timescales to consider when including the value of temporary carbon storage in carbon footprinting.

Can biochar amendment be an ecological engineering technology to depress N2O emission in rice paddies?—A cross site field experiment from South China

Approaches to reduce N2O emission from crop ecosystems deserves urgent need for climate change mitigation in world agriculture. Yet, unique ecological measures to depress N emission while conserving crop productivity have not yet been well developed for wide ranges of crop ecosystems. In order to establish an ecological engineering option to mitigate N2O emission in rice ecosystems, we conducted a field experiment with biochar amendment on N2O emission from rice paddies in three sites across South China in 2010. This experiment was performed with 6 treatments of biochar rates of 0, 20, and 40tha−1 with and without N fertilization respectively. The rice ecosystem was managed with conventional crop production practices as seasonally man-managed wetlands, which were under flooding after seedling transplantation till panicling and drainage during spiking followed by a subsequent moist condition (F-D-M) till harvest across sites. Emission of N2O from rice soil was monitored with closed chambers at 7 days interval throughout the whole rice growing season (WRGS) and the gas samples analyzed with a gas chromatograph (Agilent 7890D) equipped with an electron capture detector (ECD). Total emission of N2O-N ranged from 1.5kgN2O-Nha−1 to 1.9kgN2O-Nha−1 without biochar, and from 0.8kgN2O-Nha−1 to 1.3kgN2O-Nha−1 and from 0.7kgN2O-Nha−1 to 0.9kgN2O-Nha−1 with biochar amendment at 20tha−1 and 40tha−1, respectively. Thus, biochar amendment depressed total N2O emission from chemical N fertilizer, as the calculated EF of N2O-N emission was reduced from 0.57±0.15% under chemical N fertilizer only to 0.36±0.08% and 0.22±0.04% under biochar amendment at 20tha−1 and 40tha−1 respectively. The value under biochar amendment at 40tha−1 was found even much smaller than that of a continuously flooding rice ecosystem. As soil pH (H2O), content of soil organic carbon and total N were all upraised significantly, biochar amendment improved rice ecosystem functioning by decreasing N2O-N emission per metric ton of rice production from 0.17±0.02kgN2O-N without biochar to 0.10±0.02 and 0.07±0.03kgN2O-N under biochar respectively at 20tha−1 and 40tha−1. Thus, soil amendment of biochar from crop straw could be adopted as a unique ecological engineering measure to reduce N2O emission while enhancing soil fertility and sustaining rice productivity in rice ecosystems.

Challenges in the conservation and sustainable use of genetic resources

The meeting on 'Genetic Resources in the Face of New Environmental, Economic and Social Challenges' held in Montpellier (France) from 20-22 September 2011 brought together about 200 participants active in research and management of the genetic diversity of plant, animal, fungal and microbial species. Attendees had the rare opportunity to hear about agronomy, botany, microbiology, mycology, the social sciences and zoology in the same conference. The research teams presented the results of about 50 projects funded by the French Foundation for Research on Biodiversity to preserve genetic diversity carried out in Africa, Asia, Europe and the Americas. These projects aimed to better understand and manage genetic resources in a rapidly changing world (e.g. structural changes in the agricultural industry, the need for climate change mitigation and adaptation, the challenge of achieving food security despite the growing world population and changing dietary habits, the opportunities provided by the many new molecular biology tools, the problems caused by widespread scientific budget cuts). The meeting also hosted some roundtables open to all participants which provided a forum to establish a much needed dialogue between policy-makers, managers and researchers.

The distribution of breeding birds around upland wind farms

Summary 1. There is an urgent need for climate change mitigation, of which the promotion of renewable energy, such as from wind farms, is an important component. Birds are expected to be sensitive to wind farms, although effects vary between sites and species. Using data from 12 upland wind farms in the UK, we examine whether there is reduced occurrence of breeding birds close to wind farm infrastructure (turbines, access tracks and overhead transmission lines). To our knowledge, this is the first such multi‐site comparison examining wind farm effects on the distribution of breeding birds. 2. Bird distribution was assessed using regular surveys during the breeding season. We took a conservative analytical approach, with bird occurrence modelled as a function of habitat, before examining the additional effects of wind farm proximity. 3. Seven of the 12 species studied exhibited significantly lower frequencies of occurrence close to the turbines, after accounting for habitat variation, with equivocal evidence of turbine avoidance in a further two. No species were more likely to occur close to the turbines. There was no evidence that raptors altered flight height close to turbines. Turbines were avoided more strongly than tracks, whilst there was no evidence for consistent avoidance of overhead transmission lines connecting sites to the national grid. 4. Levels of turbine avoidance suggest breeding bird densities may be reduced within a 500‐m buffer of the turbines by 15–53%, with buzzard Buteo buteo, hen harrier Circus cyaneus, golden plover Pluvialis apricaria, snipe Gallinago gallinago, curlew Numenius arquata and wheatear Oenanthe oenanthe most affected. 5. Despite being a correlative study, with potential for Type I error, we failed to detect any systematic bias in our likelihood of detecting significant effects. 6. Synthesis and applications. This provides the first evidence for consistent and significant effects of wind farms on a range of upland bird species, emphasizing the need for a strategic approach to ensure such development avoids areas with high densities of potentially vulnerable species. Our results reduce the uncertainty over the magnitude of such effects, and will improve future environmental impacts assessments.

Land Use Implications of Increased Biomass Production Identified by GIS-Based Suitability and Yield Mapping for Miscanthus in England

The need for climate change mitigation and to meet increasing energy demands has led to a rise in the land area under bioenergy crops in many countries. There are concerns that such large-scale land conversion will conflict with food production and impact on the environment. Perennial biomass crops could be grown on more marginal agricultural land. However, for sustainable solutions, biomass yields will need to be sufficient and the wider implications of land-use changes considered. Here, focus- ing on Miscanthus in England as an example, we combined an empirical model with GIS to produce a yield map and estimated regional energy generation potentials after mask- ing out areas covered by environmental and socio-economic factors which could preclude the planting of energy crops. Agricultural land quality and the distributions of currently grown food crops were then taken into account. Results showed that: (i) regional contrasts occur in the importance of different factors affecting biomass planting; (ii) areas with the highest biomass yields co-locate with food producing areas on high grade land, and; (iii) when such high grade land and unsuitable areas are excluded, a policy-related scenario for increased planting on350,000 ha utilised 4-28% (depending on the region) of lower grade land and would not necessarily greatly impact on UK food security. We conclude that the GIS-based yield and suitability mapping described here can help identify important issues in bioenergy generation potentials and land use implications at regional or finer spatial scales that would be missed in analyses at the national level.

Policies to overcome barriers to the spread of bioenergy technologies in India

India has over two decades of experience of formulating and implementing bioenergy programmes. These programmes have undergone changes from time to time, reflecting the dynamics of the policy environment. The Ministry of Non-conventional Energy Sources (MNES), the prime mover of the programmes in India, has now responded with a comprehensive renewable energy policy to give a further fillip to the evolving sector. The need for climate change mitigation provides an opportunity for promoting the renewable energy (RE) sector. This calls for an assessment of the policy barriers to the spread of bioenergy technologies (BETs) in India. This paper attempts to (1) assess technical potential and achievements of BETs, (2) analyse the institutional framework for bioenergy development, (3) review policies on BETs being promoted under various RE programmes in India, (4) identify barriers to the spread of BETs, and (5) consider policy options to overcome some of the key barriers. The experience shows that despite several financial incentives and favourable policy measures, the rate of spread of BETs is low because of the existence of institutional, technical, market and credit barriers. These barriers are by and large known, but what still remains to be understood is the type and size of barriers from the stakeholders' perspective, which varies for a given technology and the stakeholder. Policy options suggested to overcome such barriers include (1) rational energy pricing, (2) incentives to promote private sector participation, (3) institutions to empower and enable community participation, (4) financial support for large-scale demonstration programmes and for focused research and development on BETs for cost reduction and efficiency improvement, and finally, (5) favourable land tenurial arrangements to promote sustained biomass supply. The global mechanisms for addressing climate change such as the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) and the Global Environment Facility (GEF) provide additional incentives to promote BETs.