Regional Greenhouse Gas Research Articles

Interactions between microtopography, root exudate analogues and temperature determine CO2 and CH4 production rates in fire-degraded tropical peat

Repeated fires can alter the microtopography, vegetation composition, peat surface temperature and can increase the risk of flooding in tropical peatlands. However, difficult site conditions limit our understanding of these critical factors regulating greenhouse gas (GHG, viz. CO2 and CH4) production and emissions from fire-degraded tropical peatlands. We aimed to relate the complex interactions between peat oxic and anoxic conditions due to changes in microtopography, labile C inputs in the form of plant root exudates (from ferns and sedges), and diurnal temperature change in affecting CO2 and CH4 production from fire-degraded tropical peat. We found that the mesic condition, which reflects the field moisture or water-saturated oxic conditions in hummocks, acted as a strong source of CO2 (230 ± 29 μgCO2 g−1 hr−1) and weak sink for CH4 (−5.6 ± 0.2 ngCH4 g−1 hr−1), while anoxic acted as a weak source of CO2 and strong source of CH4 (61.3 ± 6.2 μgCO2 g−1 hr−1; 592 ± 111 ngCH4 g−1 hr−1). Addition of labile C enhanced both the CO2 and CH4 production across treatments by five and two times for the two gases, respectively. Temperature sensitivity (Q10) for CO2 was higher for peat incubated under mesic conditions (1.21 ± 0.28) whereas for CH4 it was higher in peat under anoxic conditions (1.56 ± 0.35). Collectively, our result highlights how microscale changes in microtopography coupled with the quality and quantity of labile C and temperature variation can regulate GHGs production from fire-degraded tropical peatland areas, which are projected to increase with frequent fire episodes and future climate warming in the region. More importantly, changes in these critical factors may result in a net positive carbon emission with long-term elevated CH4 production and emissions rates from such fire-degraded tropical peatland areas.

Interactions between climate warming and land management regulate greenhouse gas fluxes in a temperate grassland ecosystem

Greenhouse gas (GHG) fluxes from grasslands are affected by climate warming and agricultural management practices including nitrogen (N) fertiliser application and grazing. However, the interactive effects of these factors are poorly resolved in field studies. We used a factorial in situ experiment - combining warming, N-fertiliser and above-ground cutting treatments - to explore their individual and interactive effects on plant-soil properties and GHG fluxes in a temperate UK grassland over two years. Our results showed no interactive treatment effects on plant productivity despite individual effects of N-fertiliser and warming on above- and below-ground biomass. There were, however, interactive treatment effects on GHG fluxes that varied across the two years. In year 1, warming and N-fertiliser increased CO2 and reduced N2O fluxes. N-fertilised also interacted with above-ground biomass (AGB) removal increasing N2O fluxes in year one and reducing CO2 fluxes in year two. The grassland was consistently a sink of CH4; N-fertilised increased the sink by 45% (year 1), AGB removal and warming reduced CH4 consumption by 44% and 43%, respectively (year 2). The majority of the variance in CO2 fluxes was explained by above-ground metrics (grassland productivity and leaf dry matter content), with microclimate (air and soil temperature and soil moisture) and below-ground (root N content) metrics also significant. Soil chemistry (soil mineral N and net mineralisation rate), below-ground (specific root length) and microclimate (soil moisture) metrics explained 49% and 24% of the variance in N2O and CH4 fluxes, respectively. Overall, our work demonstrates the importance of interactions between climate and management as determinants of short-term grassland GHG fluxes. These results show that reduced cutting combined with lower inorganic N-fertilisers would constrain grassland C and N cycling and GHG fluxes in warmer climatic conditions. This has implications for strategic grassland management decisions to mitigate GHG fluxes in a warming world.

Carbon Pricing in the US: Examining State-Level Policy Support and Federal Resistance

Carbon pricing is a key policy instrument used to steer markets towards the adoption of low-carbon technologies. In the last two decades, several carbon pricing policies have been implemented or debated at the state and federal levels in the US. The Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative and the California cap-and-trade policy are the two regional policies operational today. While there is no federal policy operational today, several carbon pricing proposals have been introduced in Congress in the last decade. Using the literature on interest group politics and policy entrepreneurship, this article examines the carbon pricing policies at the subnational and federal levels in the US. First, the article explores the evolution of two main regional carbon pricing policies, the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative and California cap-and-trade, to identify how interest groups and policy entrepreneurs shaped the design and implementation of the respective policies. Second, the article details the federal carbon pricing policy proposals and bills discussed in the last decade. Third, it examines the factors that limit the prospects of realizing an ambitious federal carbon price for pursuing deep decarbonization of the US economy. The article finds that federal carbon pricing in the US suffers from the lack of any natural and/or consistent constituency to support it through policy development, legislation, and implementation. While interest group politics have been mitigated by good policy entrepreneurship at the subnational level, the lack of policy entrepreneurship and the changing positions of competing interest groups have kept a federal carbon pricing policy from becoming a reality.

Overview of the Legal Framework for the Regulation of Greenhouse Gases in the Russian Federation

The need for global action to counter climate change is one of today’s most urgent challenges, the solution for which is the transition of the world economy and energy to development with low greenhouse gas emissions. For most countries, this is a new reality in which competitiveness can be secured only by taking into account the climate agenda. The main task for the Russian legislation is to formulate the main criteria and terms in the sphere of countering climate change. These regulatory legal acts must meet all the requirements of high-quality implementation.
 Keywords: greenhouse gases, carbon, climate change prevention

Mind your Ps and Qs! Variable allowance supply in the US Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative

We investigate the new institutional design for the US Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI). The scheme incorporates two allowance reserves that adjust the supply of allowances in the event of unexpectedly high or low allowance demand. These reserves are enacted if the clearing price breaches a predetermined set of trigger prices. Our experiment finds trigger prices act as focal points: the distribution of clearing prices is bimodal and aligns with the trigger prices. We find the existence of focal points can be explained by both the institutional design and subjects’ behavior. Further, decreasing the range between trigger prices increases total revenue but decreases allocative efficiency. The regulation is more sensitive to changes in trigger prices than reserve quantities.

Seasonal and annual variations of CO2 and CH4 at Shadnagar, a semi-urban site

Carbon dioxide (CO2) and methane (CH4) are the most important greenhouse gases (GHGs) due to their significant role in anthropogenic global climate change. The spatio-temporal variations of their concentration are characterized by the terrestrial biosphere, seasonal weather patterns and anthropogenic emissions. Hence, to understand the variability in regional surface GHG fluxes, high precision GHGs measurements were initiated by the National Remote Sensing Center (NRSC) of India. We report continuous CO2 and CH4measurements during 2014 to 2017 for the first time from Shadnagar, a suburban site in India. Annual mean CO2 and CH4 concentrations are 399.56 ± 5.46 ppm and 1.929 ± 0.09 ppm, respectively, for 2017. After the strong El Niño of 2015–2016, an abnormal rise in CO2 growth rate of 5.5 ppm year−1 was observed in 2017 at the study site, compared to 3.03 ppm year−1 at Mauna Loa. Thus, the repercussion of the El Niño effect diminishes the net uptake by the terrestrial biosphere accompanied by increased soil respiration. Seasonal tracer to tracer correlation between CO2 and CH4 was also analyzed to characterize the possible source-sink relationship between the species. We compared CO2 and CH4 concentrations to simulations from an atmospheric chemistry transport model (ACTM). The seasonal phases of CH4 were well captured by the ACTM, whereas the seasonal cycle amplitude of CO2 was underestimated by about 30%.

Анализ стратегических проблем и перспектив развития газомоторного рынка в условиях различных сценариев «зеленого перехода» энергетики в России и за рубежом

The paper considers the status and main approaches to solving the problems of reducing greenhouse gas emissions in the world and the Russian Federation, taking into account possible scenarios of the «green transition», the strategy of low-carbon development of Russia until 2050 and the prospects for using natural gas as a motor fuel. The purpose of this study is to analyze international and Russian approaches, as well as the tools for regulating greenhouse gas emissions. The study has summarized the administrative, technical and market measures used in the world practice to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The conclusion is made about the relevance of research aimed at studying the commercial potential of using natural gas in order to achieve the planned indicators for reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The results of the study open up a new theoretical direction in the study of the problems of reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

Non-Contact, Low-Cost Regional Greenhouse Gases Detection Via 3d Laminated Graphene-Based Photoelectric Construct

Non-Contact, Low-Cost Regional Greenhouse Gases Detection Via 3d Laminated Graphene-Based Photoelectric Construct

Measurements of saturation pressures for the novel refrigerant R1132(E)

R1132(E) (trans-1,2-difluoroethylene, C2H2F2) is a potential next generation refrigerant to be utilized in air conditioning applications. This hydrofluoroolefin (HFO) refrigerant possesses an extremely low-GWP value below 1 and it is an excellent candidate for replacing R32 in blends such as R410A, which are subjected to local and international greenhouse gas regulations for limiting global warming. Two isochoric apparatus were used to measure the saturation pressures of R1132(E) from 240 K to its critical temperature. At the critical temperature, the critical pressure of R1132(E) was also directly measured. Twenty-four saturation pressures including the critical point were used for optimizing a Wagner-type equation representing the saturation pressure curve. The absolute average deviation of the saturation pressures of R1132(E) predicted by the model using the fitted parameters and the experimental data is 0.02%. The optimized Wagner-type equation of saturation pressures is used for determining the acentric factor of R1132(E) as 0.2433, which is further utilized for the prediction of the saturation pressures using the Peng-Robinson cubic equation of state within an absolute average deviation of 0.31%.

Limitations of the radon tracer method (RTM) to estimate regional greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions – a case study for methane in Heidelberg

Abstract. Correlations of nighttime atmospheric methane (CH4) and 222radon (222Rn) observations in Heidelberg, Germany, were evaluated with the radon tracer method (RTM) to estimate the trend of annual nocturnal CH4 emissions from 1996–2020 in the footprint of the station. After an initial 30 % decrease in emissions from 1996 to 2004, there was no further systematic trend but small inter-annual variations were observed thereafter. This is in accordance with the trend of total emissions until 2010 reported by the EDGARv6.0 inventory for the surroundings of Heidelberg and provides a fully independent top-down verification of the bottom-up inventory changes. We show that the reliability of total nocturnal CH4 emission estimates with the RTM critically depends on the accuracy and representativeness of the 222Rn exhalation rates estimated from soils in the footprint of the site. Simply using 222Rn fluxes as estimated by Karstens et al. (2015) could lead to biases in the estimated greenhouse gas (GHG) fluxes as large as a factor of 2. RTM-based GHG flux estimates also depend on the parameters chosen for the nighttime correlations of CH4 and 222Rn, such as the nighttime period for regressions and the R2 cut-off value for the goodness of the fit. Quantitative comparison of total RTM-based top-down flux estimates with bottom-up emission inventories requires representative high-resolution footprint modelling, particularly in polluted areas where CH4 emissions show large heterogeneity. Even then, RTM-based estimates are likely biased low if point sources play a significant role in the station footprint as their emissions may not be fully captured by the RTM method, for example, if stack emissions are injected above the top of the nocturnal inversion layer or if point-source emissions from the surface are not well mixed into the footprint of the measurement site. Long-term representative 222Rn flux observations in the footprint of a station are indispensable in order to apply the RTM method for reliable quantitative flux estimations of GHG emissions from atmospheric observations.

Assessing the role of deltaic flood plain wetlands on regulating methane and carbon balance

Present study deals with the role of wetland for regulating greenhouse gases (GHG) particularly methane (CH4) emission and carbon (C) sequestration in mature Ganges deltaic environment. The annual total amount of emission and sequestration in wetlands of varying types was estimated along with the seasonal variation. Result showed that the streams were the highest emitter of CH4 followed by ox-bow lakes in all the seasons whereas the bheries (embanked pisciculture arresting tidal water) consistently exhibited the lowest average emission. The average sequestration of C was the highest in ox-bow lakes followed by marshes and mudflats. The average emission in monsoon season was 43% and 78% higher than the average emission of pre and post-monsoon seasons respectively. The yearly total emission was 8.01 × 103 ton and yearly total sequestration was estimated 908.98 × 103 ton. From the perspective of GHG regulation, the wetlands were found to yearly uptake four times higher carbon dioxide (CO2) than the CO2 equivalent (CO2e) of emitted CH4. After offsetting the fixation cost of emitted CH4, the yearly surplus sequestrated C in the wetlands of the entire region was worthy of 68.46 million US dollar (USD). So, wetland plays positive role for reducing greenhouse gas effect and associated temperature rise which is considered to be serious issue. Such result has made a good agreement on the debated issue of wetland CH4 emission and C sequestration and will encourage restoring wetland for even mediating GHG issue.

Historical global land surface air apparent temperature and its future changes based on CMIP6 projections

The warming magnitudes under different shared socioeconomic pathways (SSPs) and the spatial distribution of global land surface air apparent temperature (APT) since the early of the 20 century were systematically analyzed, based on the comparisons among in-situ observations, extended reanalysis, and the CMIP6 model output. The warming of APT by the mid and late 21st century was then projected, as well as under the 1.5 °C and 2.0 °C threshold for global warming. The study reveals: 1) the CMIP6 multi-model ensemble mean (MME) agrees well with the observations in terms of the climatological mean and temporal variations for the global land surface air temperature (SAT) and the calculated APT over the past 100 years. 2) Although the spatial gradient distribution of SAT and APT is quite similar under SSP2-4.5 and SSP5-8.5, the warming trend of global surface APT over land is significantly larger than that of SAT. Population living in low latitudes will be more vulnerable to the enhanced warming of APT. 3) Under the global warming thresholds of 1.5 °C and 2.0 °C, the global mean APT estimated under SSP2-4.5 and SSP5-8.5 is identical, which are 1.9 °C and 2.7 °C, respectively. The projected APT will increase by 3.9 °C under SSP2-4.5 and 6.7 °C under SSP5-8.5 at the end of the 21st century relative to the pre-industrial. This study highlights that the probability and intensity of extreme warm events for land SAT and APT around the globe under SSP5-8.5 will be remarkably higher than SSP2-4.5 in the 21st century, implying the urgent demand of regulating greenhouse gas emissions toward reducing thermal discomfort in the future.

Nitrous Oxide Emissions from Smallholders’ Cropping Systems in Sub-Saharan Africa

Increased concentration of atmospheric nitrous oxide (N2O), a potent greenhouse gas (GHG), is of great concern due to its impact on ozone layer depletion leading to climate change. Ozone layer depletion allows penetration of ultraviolet radiations, which are hazardous to human health. Climate change culminates in reduced food productivity. Limited empirical studies have been conducted in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) to quantify and understand the dynamics of soil N2O fluxes from smallholder cropping systems. The available literature on soil N2O fluxes in SSA is limited; hence, there is a pressing need to consolidate it to ease mitigation targeting and policy formulation initiatives. We reviewed the state of N2O emissions from selected cropping systems, drivers that significantly influence N2O emissions, and probable soil N2O emissions mitigation options from 30 studies in SSA cropping systems have been elucidated here. The review outcome indicates that coffee, tea, maize, and vegetables emit N2O ranging from 1 to 1.9, 0.4 to 3.9, 0.1 to 4.26, and 48 to 113.4 kg N2O-N ha-1 yr−1, respectively. The yield-scaled and N2O emissions factors ranged between 0.08 and 67 g N2O-N kg−1 and 0.01 and 4.1%, respectively, across cropping systems. Soil characteristics, farm management practices, and climatic and environmental conditions were significant drivers influencing N2O emissions across SSA cropping systems. We found that site-specific soil N2O emissions mitigation measures are required due to high variations in N2O drivers across SSA. We conclude that appropriate fertilizer and organic input management combined with improved soil management practices are potential approaches in N2O emissions mitigation in SSA. We recommend that (i) while formulating soil N2O emissions mitigation approaches, in SSA, policymakers should consider site-specific targeting approaches, and (ii) more empirical studies need to be conducted in diverse agroecological zones of SSA to qualify various mitigation options on N2O emissions, yield-scaled N2O emissions, and N2O emission factors which are essential in improving national and regional GHG inventories.

Coalitions in climate mitigation policy re-design processes: The case of the regional greenhouse gas initiative

Using the recently proposed concept of “design coalitions,” this paper analyzes stakeholder participation in a subnational U.S. climate change mitigation policy redesign process. We demonstrate the utility of design coalitions for analyzing policy design processes, contending that it provides an opportunity to examine the understudied “secondary beliefs” of actors as described by the advocacy coalition framework. Our case study consists of an iterative, inductive content analysis of written input to the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative’s 2016 policy redesign process. We developed a typology of 12 distinct stakeholder types who coalesced in 19 separate design coalitions, each espousing a stance on one of 11 elements of the policy design. These coalitions were dynamic, with radically different sets of stakeholder types participating simultaneously in many different design coalitions without coordination, usually for their own unique reasons. We observe that, although the updated policy reflected many stakeholder’s stances, their influence was limited by their exclusion from the agenda-setting phase of this policy redesign process. In this critical era of climate mitigation policy proliferation, it is important to develop a better understanding of climate policy design coalitions and how they engage in and influence climate mitigation policy design processes.

Methodological approaches to the formation of a unified national system of monitoring and accounting of carbon balance and greenhouse gas emissions on lands of the agricultural fund of the Russian Federation

Methodological approaches to the formation of a unified national system for monitoring and accounting the balance of carbon and greenhouse gas emissions are considered. The purpose, typification, requirements for the spatial placement of “carbon” polygons, assessment of the carbon absorption capacity of forests and agricultural ecosystems in the Russian Federation, the standard methodology recommended by the international community for assessing carbon stocks in soils, which should be applied in the Russian Federation to ensure comparability of the results of greenhouse gas accounting between countries, determination of the carbon absorption capacity of natural ecosystems and soils are discussed. The potential of carbon uptake by agricultural soils is shown. The list of indicators for assessing soil carbon according to the IPCC methodology for Tiers 2 and 3 is given. Taking into account the analysis of international practice, as well as on the basis of theoretical and applied experience of national science, the priority measures have been developed, they are aimed at working out and implementation of the national strategy for the use of terrestrial ecosystems in order to regulate greenhouse gas emissions to mitigate climate change.

Preventing Increased Air Pollution in Pennsylvania’s Environmental Justice Communities

Air pollutants are known to cause serious health impacts, and historically marginalized groups are disproportionately exposed to these risks. Other hazardous pollutants often accompany carbon dioxide emissions during fossil fuel combustion, and therefore reductions in greenhouse gas emissions from climate policy can also improve air quality. However, although these policies may reduce pollution overall, existing programs have often increased local emissions levels – particularly in the most overburdened neighborhoods. The adverse health effects caused by a redistribution of emissions must be considered as Pennsylvania plans to join the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative. We recommend the Department of Environmental Protection include an annual impact assessment of their cap-and-trade program on vulnerable communities using both the available carbon dioxide emissions data and additional local air quality measurements.

Metagenomic analysis of the diversity of microbes in the Napahai plateau wetland and their carbon and nitrogen metabolisms

Due to the special geographical location and the complex ecosystem types, plateau wetlands play important ecological roles in water supply, greenhouse gas regulation and biodiversity preservation. Napahai plateau wetland is a special wetland type with low latitude and high altitude, and its microbial diversity was rarely studied. The diversity of microbial communities in the Napahai plateau wetland was analyzed using metagenomics method. Among the microbes detected, 184 phyla, 3 262 genera and 24 260 species belong to the bacterial domain, 13 phyla and 32 genera belong to the archaeal domain, and 13 phyla and 47 genera belong to the fungal domain. Significant differences in species diversity between soil and water were observed. Acidobacteria, Proteobacteria and Actinobacteria were dominant phyla in soil, while Proteobacteria and Bacteroides were dominant phyla in water. Since the carbon and nitrogen metabolism genes were abundant, the pathways of carbon fixation and nitrogen metabolism were analyzed. Calvin cycle, reductive tricarboxylic acid cycle and 3-hydroxypropionic acid cycle were the main carbon fixation pathways, while Proteobacteria, Chloroflexi, and Crenarchaeota were the main carbon-fixing bacteria group. As for the nitrogen cycle, nitrogen fixation and dissimilatory nitrate reduction were dominant in water, while nitrification and denitrification were dominant in soil. Proteobacteria, Nitrospirae, Verrucomicrobia, Actinobacteria, Thaumarchaeota and Euryarchaeota contributed to the nitrogen cycle. The study on microbial diversity of Napahai plateau wetlands provides new knowledge for the comprehensive management and protection of wetland environment in China.

The Atmospheric Carbon and Transport (ACT)-America Mission

AbstractThe Atmospheric Carbon and Transport (ACT)-America NASA Earth Venture Suborbital Mission set out to improve regional atmospheric greenhouse gas (GHG) inversions by exploring the intersection of the strong GHG fluxes and vigorous atmospheric transport that occurs within the midlatitudes. Two research aircraft instrumented with remote and in situ sensors to measure GHG mole fractions, associated trace gases, and atmospheric state variables collected 1,140.7 flight hours of research data, distributed across 305 individual aircraft sorties, coordinated within 121 research flight days, and spanning five 6-week seasonal flight campaigns in the central and eastern United States. Flights sampled 31 synoptic sequences, including fair-weather and frontal conditions, at altitudes ranging from the atmospheric boundary layer to the upper free troposphere. The observations were complemented with global and regional GHG flux and transport model ensembles. We found that midlatitude weather systems contain large spatial gradients in GHG mole fractions, in patterns that were consistent as a function of season and altitude. We attribute these patterns to a combination of regional terrestrial fluxes and inflow from the continental boundaries. These observations, when segregated according to altitude and air mass, provide a variety of quantitative insights into the realism of regional CO2 and CH4 fluxes and atmospheric GHG transport realizations. The ACT-America dataset and ensemble modeling methods provide benchmarks for the development of atmospheric inversion systems. As global and regional atmospheric inversions incorporate ACT-America’s findings and methods, we anticipate these systems will produce increasingly accurate and precise subcontinental GHG flux estimates.

Emissions and Health Implications of Pennsylvania’s Entry into the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative

The Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) is a cap-and-trade system targeting CO2 emissions from the electricity sector in the northeastern United States. As a major power producer and carbon emitter, Pennsylvania plans to join RGGI in 2022, which will affect both the carbon market (i.e., RGGI) and the regional electricity market (i.e., PJM). Combining a PJM power system model with a reduced-form model of CO2 emissions abatement from RGGI states that are not in PJM, we find the annual average emissions from power plants in Pennsylvania can be reduced by 40%, 79%, 68%, and 76% for CO2, SO2, NOx, and PM2.5, respectively, during 2022-2030. Then, based on a range of source-specific marginal damage estimates, we find the cumulative monetized health cobenefits to be 17.7 to 40.8 billion USD. However, the reduced emissions and health damages in Pennsylvania are slightly offset by increases in the other states in PJM that do not participate in RGGI. Our study hence highlights the potential cross-state leakage issue that warrants careful consideration in the policy design and implementation process.

On the possibilities of launching a regional pilot project for the development of a low-carbon economy in the Republic of Tatarstan

Decarbonization is one of the main trends in global development of the last decade. More than 120 countries have already announced plans to achieve net-zero emissions by the middle of the century. Among them are Russia’s largest trading partners, including the European Union, China, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Kazakhstan, as well as the United States. These ambitions are supported by a tightening carbon regulation: carbon pricing has already been set up in 64 countries and regions. In the largest emissions trading system – the European one – carbon price has already exceeded 50 euros per ton of emissions. Significant effort in decarbonization has been taken in many industries (e.g., civil aviation, maritime transport, oil and gas industry), companies (which set up carbon neutrality targets and introduce internal carbon pricing) and the financial sector. Standards for corporate information disclosure about emissions and strategies for their reduction, in particular CDP and TCFD, are being developed and adopted. At the same time, ways to put pressure on competitors who do not want to bear the costs associated with reducing greenhouse gas emissions are being developed. For example, the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) will be launched by the European Union in 2023. All these trends mean that products with low carbon footprint become not just a competitive advantage for a company, but also an inevitable condition for its presence on the international market. Companies with a high carbon footprint face less favorable conditions of borrowing, as well as trading barriers and growing pressure from customers both corporate and individual. In this regard, the development of low-carbon economy in Russia is inevitable to minimize the costs associated with tightening regulation. It is becoming particularly relevant for export-oriented regions with large emissions, including the Republic of Tatarstan. In our opinion, the launch of a pilot project to regulate greenhouse gas emissions in this region is important not only for GHG reduction itself, but also for increasing competitiveness of Tatarstan companies on international markets and attracting investment from both Russian and foreign investors. In this paper, we explain the need to launch such a pilot and relying on the existing Russian and international experience on the one hand and taking into account the characteristics of Tatarstan’s economy on the other, we demonstrate a scheme by which such a project can be organized.