Option For Reducing Emissions Research Articles

Optimized demand-based charging networks for long-haul trucking in Europe

Abstract Battery electric trucks (BETs) are the most promising option for fast and large-scale CO2 emission reduction in road freight transport. Yet, the limited range and longer charging times compared to diesel trucks make long-haul BET applications challenging, so a comprehensive fast charging network for BETs is required. However, little is known about optimal truck charging locations for long-haul trucking in Europe. Here we derive optimized truck charging networks consisting of publicly accessible locations across the continent. Based on European truck traffic flow estimates for 2030 and actual truck stop locations we construct a long-term charging network that minimizes the total number of required locations. Our approach introduces an origin-destination pair sampling method and includes local capacity constraints to compute an optimized stepwise network expansion along the highest demand routes in Europe. For an electrification target of 15% BET share in long-haul and without depot charging, our results suggest that about 91% of electric long-haul truck traffic across Europe can be enabled already with a network of 1,000 locations, while 500 locations would suffice for about 50%. We furthermore show how the coverage of origin-destination flows scales with the number of locations and the size of the stations. Ideal locations to cover many truck trips are at highway intersections and along major European road freight corridors (TEN-T core network).

CO2 sequestration by indirect mineral carbonation of serpentine with (NH4)2SO4 as a recyclable extractant

Mineral carbonation with serpentine can offer a sustainable and safe process option for simultaneous CO2 emission reduction and utilization of nature mineral. In this study, a sustainable process for CO2 mineral sequestration was proposed by using serpentine and ammonium sulfate as feedstocks. The mixture of feedstocks was subjected to roasting with temperature ranging from 390°C to 480°C, converting magnesium into the corresponding sulfate. Then, water leaching was employed to dissolve the magnesium sulfate from the roasted samples. Finally, through a mineralization reaction, the corresponding magnesium bicarbonate was generated after sequestrating CO2. Under the optimal roasting-leaching conditions, i.e. roasting temperature of 420ºC, roasting time of 2 hours, and mass ratio of ammonium sulfate/serpentine of 3; leaching temperature of 80ºC, leaching time of 1 hour, and a liquid-to-solid ratio of 1, the magnesium extraction efficiency reached 76 %. Thermodynamics and experimental results demonstrated that during the sulfation roasting process, the products generated during roasting, magnesium sulfate and silicon dioxide, adhered to the surface of the serpentine, thus inhibiting the mass transfer process and impeding the progress of the reaction. However, the liquid-solid reaction facilitated by molten ammonium sulfate and the gas-solid reaction provided by the decomposition of ammonium salts into SO2 played a promoting role in the sulfation roasting reaction. The carbonation of sulfated serpentine results indicated that the optimal CO2 storage capacity can reach 204 kg/t serpentine.

Achieving Canada's Nationally Determined Contribution: Assessing the Cost of Reducing GHG Emissions

Amidst the growing urgency of climate change, this study delves into Canada's commitment to reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions as part of its Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) under the Paris Agreement. It aims to comprehensively understand the economic dimensions of Canada's NDC goals. Through an extensive literature review, the research establishes the groundwork for examining emission reduction targets, policy effectiveness, technological feasibility, and socio- political factors. Building on this foundation, a conceptual framework is developed, outlining key relationships among NDC targets, policies, economics, feasibility, socio-political contexts, and international cooperation. The research employs a multifaceted methodology, incorporating data collection and a marginal cost of abatement analysis to assess cost-effectiveness across emission reduction options. We expect to build the marginal cost of abatement curve based on the results from research institutions, government websites, and other NGOs. All in all, this research contributes nuanced insights into Canada's emission reduction pursuits, unveiling the intricate dynamics between policies, economics, and technology.

Life of field emission forecast development and reduction option screening for a multi-train LNG hub

The Karratha Gas Plant (KGP) is a complex integrated facility which produces liquified natural gas (LNG), domestic gas (Domgas), condensate, propane and butane products. The multi-train facility has been operating for 40 years with several phases of expansion resulting in a range of gas turbine technology and energy efficiency levels across the facility. The challenge for the next phase of KGP operation is to manage declining North West Shelf (NWS) feed gas levels, and the addition of Other Resource Owners feed gas while reducing emissions and maintaining energy efficiency. A flexible emissions forecasting tool has been developed which allows unit and whole of facility emissions reduction and energy efficiency options to be assessed. The tool builds on current quarterly timestep production forecasts and models ambient temperature, unit turndown and turn-off strategies, and potential implementation of lower emissions technology. The ability to generate and compare life of field emissions profiles for extrapolated operating modes and proposed modifications allows unit strategies and phasing of emissions reduction modifications to be investigated and screened before further economic assessment and creation of marginal abatement cost curves (MACC).

Shared pooled mobility essential complement to decarbonize China’s transport sector until 2060

Greenhouse gas emission reduction in the passenger transport sector is a main challenge for China’s climate mitigation agenda. Electrification and shared mobility provide encouraging options for carbon emissions reduction in road transport. Based on an integrated scenario-based assessment framework, a provincial-level projection is made for vehicle growth and CO2 emissions in China under shared socioeconomic pathways (SSPs). This work illustrates how passenger car electrification and sharing contribute to China’s “30·60” climate goals (peaking of CO2 emissions by 2030 and carbon neutrality by 2060). The results demonstrate that China is en route to achieving the goal of a 2030 carbon peak (1.0Gt CO2) under current conditions, and could reach peak emissions around 2026 with optimistic growth in EVs and shared mobility. Compared with no policy action, the single EV policy (shifting from ICEVs to EVs) can reduce 71% of emissions by 2060, thus narrowing but not closing the mitigation gap to carbon neutrality in passenger cars (302 Mt CO2). Shared mobility can provide further emission reduction support, reducing emissions by 83% in 2060. Comprehensive climate actions (including electrification, sharing mobility to reduce car use, and improving vehicle efficiency and fuel carbon intensity) are needed to achieve deep decarbonization to net-zero by 2060 in the passenger transport sector.

Reassessing the need for carbon dioxide removal: moral implications of alternative climate target pathways

Abstract Non-technical summary Scenarios compatible with the Paris agreement's temperature goal of 1.5 °C involve carbon dioxide removal measures – measures that actively remove CO2 from the atmosphere – on a massive scale. Such large-scale implementations raise significant ethical problems. Van Vuuren et al. (2018), as well as the current IPCC scenarios, show that reduction in energy and or food demand could reduce the need for such activities. There is some reluctance to discuss such societal changes. However, we argue that policy measures enabling societal changes are not necessarily ethically problematic. Therefore, they should be discussed alongside techno-optimistic approaches in any kind of discussions about how to respond to climate change. Technical summary The 1.5 °C goal has given impetus to carbon dioxide removal (CDR) measures, such as bioenergy combined with carbon capture and storage, or afforestation. However, land-based CDR options compete with food production and biodiversity protection. Van Vuuren et al. (2018) looked at alternative pathways including lifestyle changes, low-population projections, or non-CO2 greenhouse gas mitigation, to reach the 1.5 °C temperature objective. Underlined by the recently published IPCC AR6 WGIII report, they show that demand-side management measures are likely to reduce the need for CDR. Yet, policy measures entailed in these scenarios could be associated with ethical problems themselves. In this paper, we therefore investigate ethical implications of four alternative pathways as proposed by Van Vuuren et al. (2018). We find that emission reduction options such as lifestyle changes and reducing population, which are typically perceived as ethically problematic, might be less so on further inspection. In contrast, options associated with less societal transformation and more techno-optimistic approaches turn out to be in need of further scrutiny. The vast majority of emission reduction options considered are not intrinsically ethically problematic; rather everything rests on the precise implementation. Explicitly addressing ethical considerations when developing, advancing, and using integrated assessment scenarios could reignite debates about previously overlooked topics and thereby support necessary societal discourse. Social media summary Policy measures enabling societal changes are not necessarily as ethically problematic as commonly presumed and reduce the need for large-scale CDR.

Decarbonisation strategies for manufacturing: A technical and economic comparison

Decarbonisation strategies for eight German manufacturing companies of different industries (electrical, chemical, beverage, mechanical engineering, automotive, polymer processing) are developed and analysed. The abatement potential and economic feasibility of strategies depend to a large extent on individual preconditions e.g., the area available for renewable energy systems, and dynamic effects, for example the changing emission intensity of local electricity generation. The strategies lead to a reduction of between 41 % and 88 % for seven of the eight companies.The in-depth case studies show that energy efficiency measures and expanding the company's own renewable energy plants, except for solar heat, are particularly cost-effective, while shutting-down existing combined heat and power plants has the highest abatement costs between 169 and 1686 EUR/tCO2e. Decarbonising electricity procurement and switching from natural gas to biomethane have the highest greenhouse gas abatement potential in Scope 1 and 2.The novelty of this work is the linking of economic and ecological considerations of measures in the context of company-specific decarbonisation strategies. Using marginal abatement cost curves, different options for emission reductions are discussed and general conclusions for the development of decarbonisation strategies in the manufacturing sector are drawn.

Application of CO2-loaded geopolymer in Zn removal from water: A multi-win strategy for coal fly ash disposal, CO2 emission reduction, and heavy metal-contaminated water treatment

Coal fly ash accumulation, global warming, and heavy metal-contaminated water environments are three primary environmental concerns. Porous geopolymers are economical porous adsorbents that can be produced using coal fly ash as a raw material and employed for heavy metal removal from water. However, residual alkalis on the geopolymer can lead to extreme increases in pH and cause environmental stresses, which limits the large-scale production and application of geopolymers in industries and environments. A green approach to alleviating the high basicity of geopolymers through CO2 exposure is proposed, with CO2 adsorption experiments as well as Zn removal batch and column experiments conducted to evaluate the practicality of the synergistic strategy. CO2 adsorption experiments show the CO2 capture capacity of fresh geopolymer (F@PG) is 0.80 mmol g−1, greater than that of the conventionally washed geopolymer (W@PG, 0.26 mmol g−1), with the pH of the geopolymer decreasing after both washing and CO2 exposure. Batch experiments suggest neither washing nor CO2 exposure cause a significant change in the Zn adsorption capacity of the geopolymer; column experiments show the CO2-exposed geopolymer (C@PG) has a pH < 9.5 and a satisfactory Zn removal performance similar to W@PG, but F@PG with a pH ∼12 results in a conversion of Zn to anionic forms and a decrease in Zn removal efficiency. These results indicate CO2 exposure is a practical method to decrease the pH of geopolymers for applications related to heavy metal-contaminated water treatment and provide a large-scale industrial option for coal fly ash consumption and CO2 emission reduction.

Carbon offset potential of biochar based straw management under rice- wheat system along Indo-Gangetic Plains of India

The Paris Agreement goal of a net-zero equation will require decarbonization technologies in agriculture. Agri-waste biochar offers huge potential for carbon abatement in agricultural soils. The present experiment was carried out to compare the effects of residue management, viz., no residue (NR), residue incorporation (RI), and biochar (BC), as well as nitrogen options for emission reduction and carbon capture under the rice-wheat cropping sequence (RWCS) of the Indo-Gangetic Plains (IGP), India. After two cycles of cropping pattern, the analysis revealed that the biochar application (BC) reduces the RWCS's annual CO2 emissions by 18.1 % over residue incorporation (RI), while CH4 and N2O emissions were reduced by 23 % and 20.6 % over RI and 11 % and 29.3 % over no residue (NR), respectively. The application of biochar-based nutrient composites with rice straw biourea (RSBU) at 100 % and 75 % significantly reduced greenhouse gases (CH4 and N2O) compared to commercial urea at 100 %. The global warming potential of cropping systems recorded with BC was 7 % and 19.3 % lower than NR and RI, respectively, while 6–15 % under RSBU over urea 100 %. The annual carbon footprint (CF) under BC and NR decreased by 37.2 % and 30.8 % over RI, respectively. The net CF under residue burning was estimated to be the highest (132.5 Tg CO2-Ce), followed by RI (55.3 Tg CO2-Ce), showing net positive emissions; however, net negative emissions were found under a biochar-based system. The estimated annual carbon offset potential of a complete biochar system over residue burning, incorporation, and partial biochar as calculated was 189, 112, and 92 Tg CO2-Ce yr−1, respectively. A biochar-based approach to managing rice straw had great carbon offset potential through a large drop in greenhouse gas emissions and an improved soil carbon pool under the rice wheat system along the IGP, India.

Natural climate solution potential in theASEANregion—Opportunity for investment in natural climate solution readiness in national climate policies with meaningful co‐benefits

AbstractNatural climate solutions (NCS) are attracting more attention as viable emissions reduction and removal options, especially from the private sector as more governments and corporations commit to carbon neutrality. Southeast Asia harbors as much as 42% of NCS potential through its vast extent of tropical ecosystems that are under threat. Blue carbon, in particular, provides great potential to the region, yet efforts to incorporate blue carbon into national climate policies of ASEAN member countries are weak. ASEAN may take full advantage of its NCS potentials as well as opportunities arising within the international carbon market by investing in the policy readiness for supplying NCS, including REDD+ and blue carbon, to carbon markets.

Reductive calcination of calcium carbonate in hydrogen and methane: A thermodynamic analysis on different reaction routes and evaluation of carbon dioxide mitigation potential

Calcium carbonate (CaCO3) minerals represent a valuable resource, but its exploitation is based on the decarboxylation reaction at high temperatures, which inevitably release carbon dioxide (CO2) into the atmosphere. Here, a reductive calcination of CaCO3 in the hydrogen (H2) and methane (CH4) atmospheres was proposed, thermodynamic analysis and process simulation were carried out. In CH4 atmosphere, lower CaCO3 decomposition temperature and higher CO2 conversion can be achieved, while undesirable solid carbon deposition was produced as well. Optimized H2:CH4 ratio in feeding can effectively avoid carbon deposition and achieve the complete decomposition of CaCO3 at 738 °C which reaching CO2 conversion of 69.69 %. In addition, this work established the traditional route as a reference process to compare the energy efficiency and carbon footprint of the different CaCO3 calcination processes. CaCO3 calcination in H2:CH4 atmosphere with 1:1 ratio achieved an energy efficiency of 67.01 % and a GWP value of 0.954 kgCO2/kgCaCO3. With sustainable energy (bio-power, bio-H2, and bio-CH4) substitution, even lower GWP value of −0.640 kgCO2/kgCaCO3 can be achieved. This work performed that direct reduction of CaCO3 to syngas and CaO under H2 or CH4 atmosphere, which not only reduces the reaction temperature but also alleviates the CO2 emission, which offers a promising option for carbon emission reduction in the carbonate industry.

Temporal Stability of Attitudes towards Climate Change and Willingness to Pay for the Emissions Reduction Options in Queensland, Australia

Citizens’ attitudes towards and their perceptions of climate change are widely believed to influence citizens’ actions related to climate change. Knowledge of these attitudes and willingness to pay (WTP) for environmental improvement can be useful in designing an environmental policy. Although citizens’ attitudes and perceptions are likely to affect their WTP, they are rarely included in the non-market valuation. Furthermore, over time, attitudes and perceptions of environmental issues are likely to change. An understanding of temporal stability of attitudes towards climate change could shed the light on changes in citizens’ WTP for environmental quality over time. This study examined changes in perceptions, attitudes, and actions towards climate change using two surveys in Queensland, Australia. The surveys were administered 10 years apart (2009 and 2018). The effect of attitudes over time on WTP was analysed using a contingent valuation (CV) method. The results confirmed that attitudes and perceptions of climate change were important factors affecting actions of respondents. Furthermore, over time, some attitudes and perceptions changed significantly. However, only some attitudes and perceptions were significant predictors of consumers’ WTP for a change in environmental quality.

Ignoring the Effects of Photovoltaic Array Deployment on Greenhouse Gas Emissions May Lead to Overestimation of the Contribution of Photovoltaic Power Generation to Greenhouse Gas Reduction.

Photovoltaic (PV) power generation is one of the world's most promising options for carbon emission reduction. However, whether the operation period of solar parks can increase greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in hosting natural ecosystems has not been fully considered. Here, we conducted a field experiment to compensate for the lack of evaluation of the effects of PV array deployment on GHG emissions. Our results show that the PV arrays caused significant differences in air microclimate, soil properties, and vegetation characteristics. Simultaneously, PV arrays had more significant effects on CO2 and N2O emissions but a minor impact on CH4 uptake in the growing season. Of all the environmental variables included, soil temperature and moisture were the main drivers of GHG flux variation. The sustained flux global warming potential from the PV arrays significantly increased by 8.14% compared to the ambient grassland. Our evaluation models identified that the GHG footprint of PV arrays during the operation period on grasslands was 20.62 g CO2-eq kW h-1. Compared with our model estimates, GHG footprint estimates reported in previous studies were generally less by 25.46-50.76%. The contribution of PV power generation to GHG reduction may be overestimated without considering the impact of PV arrays on hosting ecosystems.

Analysis on temporal variation law of ozone pollution and meteorological driving factors in Pudong New Area of Shanghai

AbstractIn order to deeply understand the influence of meteorological drivers on ozone (O3) pollution during the high season and explore O3 pollution control options, we analyzed the temporal variation characteristics of O3 pollution based on the ambient air observation data of Pudong New Area, Shanghai from 2020 to 2021, studied the influence of meteorological drivers on O3 pollution, and explored seasonal emission reduction options based on the results of EKMA (Empirical Kinetics Modeling Approach) curves. The results show that the seasonal O3 concentration variation is spring &gt; summer &gt; autumn &gt; winter; relative humidity, temperature and wind speed are the main meteorological drivers of O3 pollution; the cross‐regional transport of high O3 concentrations and precursors from the south and southwest has a strong influence on the local O3 concentration; Pudong New Area is in the “VOCs control zone” during the O3 pollution period in May. Therefore, it is important to control the production and emission of local VOCs and to strengthen the synergistic control of O3 and its precursors between regions for the control of spring O3 in Pudong New Area.

Decarbonizing the International Shipping and Aviation Sectors

The Paris Agreement requires a drastic reduction of global carbon emissions towards the net zero transition by mid-century, based on the large-scale transformation of the global energy system and major emitting sectors. Aviation and shipping emissions are not on a trajectory consistent with Paris goals, driven by rapid activity growth and the lack of commercial mitigation options, given the challenges for electrification of these sectors. Large-scale models used for mitigation analysis commonly do not capture the specificities and emission reduction options of international shipping and aviation, while bottom-up sectoral models do not represent their interlinkages with the entire system. Here, I use the global energy system model PROMETHEUS, enhanced with a detailed representation of the shipping and aviation sector, to explore transformation pathways for these sectors and their emission, activity, and energy mix impacts. The most promising alternative towards decarbonizing these sectors is the large-scale deployment of low-carbon fuels, including biofuels and synthetic clean fuels, accompanied by energy efficiency improvements. The analysis shows that ambitious climate policy would reduce the trade of fossil fuels and lower the activity and the mitigation effort of international shipping, indicating synergies between national climate action and international transport.

Accelerating emission reduction in Israel: Carbon pricing vs. policy standards

The implementation of a carbon pricing policy to comply with GHG emission targets faces opposition in small economies. An integrated modeling exercise was carried out for Israel to assess the cost-effectiveness of GHG emission reduction options. Alternative policies in terms of carbon pricing and policy standards are evaluated. The results show that modest carbon pricing is effective. It achieves a 67% reduction in emissions, by 2050 relative to the reference year 2015, while having only a minor impact on economic growth. Policy standards currently proposed by the government will only reach a 40% emissions reduction in the same timeframe. Clean energy standards not coupled with carbon pricing may hinder efficiency but have a lesser impact on income distribution.

Factors influencing decision to sulphur oxide emission abatement for cruise shipping companies

ABSTRACT Like the rest of the shipping industry, the cruise industry needs to meet the requirements of the IMO's sulphur cap 2020. Cruise lines have three options: (1) using alternative fuels; (2) switching to low-sulphur fuels; (3) installing scrubbers. This paper aims to identify the influencing factors of abatement decisions through multinomial logit regression. The results indicate cruise shipping companies have different patterns in choosing emission reduction options for existing fleets and new ships. Abatement options are found to be dependent on the cruise ship's size, age, and flag but are irrelated to its sailing area. In addition, cruise lines’ decisions are influenced by headquarters’ location, but fuel price fluctuations and the competitiveness of cruise lines have no decisive effect. This study fills a gap in the empirical analysis of actual abatement choices for cruise lines and provides practical policy implications for the green transition of the cruise industry.

Assessment of comprehensive energy systems for achieving carbon neutrality in road transport

The world is seeking to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050. In general, electrification is a key measure in all sectors. Meanwhile, there are several emissions reduction options also in the road transport sector to achieve carbon neutrality when considering the energy system as a whole. Hydrogen, hydrogen-based synthetic fuels, and bioenergy can serve as alternative energy sources, and carbon dioxide removal (CDR) technologies, including direct air capture, can offset CO2 emissions from petroleum fuels. Comprehensive analyses that consider outlooks for both automobiles and energy supply with spatiotemporal variation are thus needed to explore possible strategies for the rational achievement of carbon neutrality. Our analyses, based on the integrated assessment model DNE21+, show that, although battery electric vehicles (BEV) are important, hybrid and plug-in hybrid vehicles, accompanied by the introduction of CDR and synthetic fuels, can play important roles. Globally uniform regulations for introducing only BEV could hinder cost-effective emissions reduction.

Decomposition and scenario analysis of final demand embedded manufacturing consumption emissions: insights from the province-level data.

In order to support the emissions reduction options in manufacturing industry effectively, it is necessary to quantify the final demand embedded manufacturing consumption (DEMC) emissions which can be estimated by converting intermediate manufacturing consumption into all final demand categories. Here, we quantify the DEMC emissions in China's 30 provinces during 2007-2017 using a multi-regional input-output (MRIO) model and the modified hypothetical extraction method (HEM). Then, we analyze impacts of four factors (including emissions multipliers, consumption structure, investment efficiency, and investment scale) on the DEMC emissions. Finally, considering a large driving effect of investment scale on manufacturing emissions, we conduct four scenarios to quantify the mitigation potential of DEMC emissions during 2020-2035. We find that from 2007 to 2012, the DMEC emissions increased doubled, while during 2012-2017, it decreased from 1217 to 634 Mt. The capital-intensive manufacturing and the labor-intensive manufacturing industries were main sources of intra- and inter-sectoral emissions, respectively. Investment scale was the main driver of the growth in DEMC emissions during 2007-2015, while it led to a reduction of DEMC emissions during 2015-2017. Emission multipliers had the largest positive impact on the reduction of DEMC emissions during the whole period. Consumption structure increased DEMC emissions during 2007-2012, while with the consumption structure shift towards knowledge-intensive manufacturing industry, it induced a reduction of DEMC emissions during 2012-2017. Moreover, implementing an integrated mitigation measures (including reducing emissions multipliers, decreasing investment efficiency, and adjusting consumption structure) could help China to realize the emissions peaking target. However, there are still 8 provinces whose DEMC emissions are unlikely to peak before 2030.

Analysis of hydrogen production costs in Steam-Methane Reforming considering integration with electrolysis and CO2 capture

Global hydrogen production is dominated by the Steam-Methane Reforming (SMR) route, which is associated with significant CO 2 emissions and excess process heat. Two paths to lower specific CO 2 emissions in SMR hydrogen production are investigated: (1) the integration of CO 2 capture and compression for subsequent sequestration or utilization, and (2) the integration of electrolysis for increased hydrogen production. In both cases, the excess process heat is utilized to drive the emissions reduction options. Four different design regimes for integration of carbon capture and compression with the SMR process are identified. Techno-economic analyses are performed to study the effect of CO 2 mitigation on hydrogen production costs compared to grey hydrogen production without emissions mitigation options. Integration with electrolysis is shown to be less attractive compared to the proposed heat and power integration schemes for the SMR process with CO 2 capture and compression for subsequent sequestration or utilization, which can reduce emissions by 90% with hydrogen production costs increasing only moderately by 13%. This blue hydrogen production is compared in terms of costs and emissions against the emerging alternative production by electrolysis in the context of renewable and fossil electricity generation and electricity mixes while considering life-cycle emissions. • Two paths for specific CO 2 emissions reduction in H 2 production via SMR are studied. • Path 1: Excess process heat used to boost H 2 production by electrolysis integration. • Path 2: Excess process heat used to capture and compress CO 2 for usage or storage. • Cost profiles developed across a wide range of CO 2 removals from grey to blue H 2 . • Cost and emission comparison with alternative electrolysis technology based on LCA.