Total Emission Level Research Articles

Permissible emission limit estimation via iterative back-calculation: Case of Assaluyeh energy zone, southern Iran.

In the present research work, an environmental policy procedure for setting a cap on emissions, as a crucial step in any total emission control system, has been provided and evaluated. It is shown that general regulations on emission intensities and rates do not guarantee that ambient air quality standards are met in intense industrial zones. Local emission limits are necessary to meet ambient air quality standards in these zones. To that end, we used dispersion simulators to back-calculate pollutant concentration thresholds for a large and intense energy system in the Assaluyeh region of southern Iran. Verified modeling results indicate 218 d of pollutant concentration threshold exceedance in Assaluyeh in a simulated year. Back-calculation to assess the total permissible emission level indicates the need for 68% reduction in total emission to meet ambient air quality standards. We then used the model to help identify effective control strategies, including emission reductions and appropriate timing of specific operations. Integr Environ Assess Manag 2018;14:130-138. © 2017 SETAC.

Radio emission in Mercury magnetosphere

Context: Active stars possess magnetized wind that has a direct impact on planets that can lead to radio emission. Mercury is a good test case to study the effect of the solar wind and interplanetary magnetic field on radio emission driven in the planet magnetosphere. Such studies could be used as proxies to characterize the magnetic field topology and intensity of exoplanets. Aims: The aim of this study is to quantify the radio emission in the Hermean magnetosphere. Methods: We use the MHD code PLUTO in spherical coordinates with an axisymmetric multipolar expansion for the Hermean magnetic field, to analyze the effect of the interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) orientation and intensity, as well as the hydrodynamic parameters of the solar wind (velocity, density and temperature), on the net power dissipated on the Hermean day and night side. We apply the formalism derived by Zarka [2001, 2007] to infer the radio emission level from the net dissipated power. We perform a set of simulations with different hydrodynamic parameters of the solar wind, IMF orientations and intensities, that allow us to calculate the dissipated power distribution and infer the existence of radio emission hot spots on the planet day side, and to calculate the integrated radio emission of the Hermean magnetosphere. Results: The obtained radio emission distribution of dissipated power is determined by the IMF orientation (associated with the reconnection regions in the magnetosphere), although the radio emission strength is dependent on the IMF intensity and solar wind hydro parameters. The calculated total radio emission level is in agreement with the one estimated in [Zarka, 2001], between $5 \times 10^{5}$ and $2 \times 10^{6}$ W.

The importance of toxicity in determining the impact of hazardous air pollutants on the respiratory health of children in Tennessee

Respiratory diseases, exacerbated through point source pollution, are currently among the leading causes of hospitalization of children in the United States. This paper investigates the relationship between the proximity of hazardous air pollutants (HAPs) emitted from Toxic Release Inventory (TRI) facilities and the number of children diagnosed in hospitals with a respiratory disease in Tennessee. The importance of controlling for toxicity of those HAPs is of particular interest. Hospital discharge, socioeconomic, TRI emission, and HAP toxicity data are used to estimate, via Generalized Linear Methods, a logistic regression model describing the relationship between the percent of children living in a zip code area treated for respiratory illness and the average annual emissions over the previous 10 years of HAPs from TRI sites in that area. Controlling for area socioeconomic characteristics, we find that accounting for toxicity is important in uncovering the relationship between HAP emissions and respiratory health of children. A one standard deviation increase in toxicity-weighted emissions per 100 square miles is associated with an increase in the number of children diagnosed with asthma (chronic bronchitis) by about 1205 (260). The evidence suggests that, with a goal to improving children’s respiratory health, monitoring the toxicity of chemicals being emitted is at least as important as simply monitoring total emission levels. This suggests that the EPA should consider making efforts toward establishing toxicity adjusted emission guidelines.

Heterogeneous Beliefs and Climate Catastrophes

We study how heterogeneous beliefs about the causes and extent of global warming affect local mitigation and adaptation strategies and therefore global climate dynamics. Local policies are determined by expectations of policy makers about future climate. There are three types of expectations: strong skeptic, weak skeptic and ‘science-based’. Strong skeptics deny human-induced climate change and a possibility of a climate catastrophe. Weak skeptics believe that industrial emissions cause global warming, but deny catastrophic climate change. Science-based policy makers, considering the warning of the scientific community, account for both: human influence on climate and possible catastrophic shifts. Aggregate behavior of policy makers determines the total emission level which influences global climate dynamics. The paper argues that even if there are only skeptical policy makers the climate catastrophe can still be avoided.

A multi-objective model for cordon-based congestion pricing schemes with nonlinear distance tolls

Congestion pricing is an important component of urban intelligent transport system. The efficiency, equity and the environmental impacts associated with road pricing schemes are key issues that should be considered before such schemes are implemented. This paper focuses on the cordon-based pricing with distance tolls, where the tolls are determined by a nonlinear function of a vehicles’ travel distance within a cordon, termed as toll charge function. The optimal tolls can give rise to: 1) higher total social benefits, 2) better levels of equity, and 3) reduced environmental impacts (e.g., less emission). Firstly, a deterministic equilibrium (DUE) model with elastic demand is presented to evaluate any given toll charge function. The distance tolls are non-additive, thus a modified path-based gradient projection algorithm is developed to solve the DUE model. Then, to quantitatively measure the equity level of each toll charge function, the Gini coefficient is adopted to measure the equity level of the flows in the entire transport network based on equilibrium flows. The total emission level is used to reflect the impacts of distance tolls on the environment. With these two indexes/measurements for the efficiency, equity and environmental issues as well as the DUE model, a multi-objective bi-level programming model is then developed to determine optimal distance tolls. The multi-objective model is converted to a single level model using the goal programming. A genetic algorithm (GA) is adopted to determine solutions. Finally, a numerical example is presented to verify the methodology.

Cost, emission and reserve pondered pre‐dispatch of thermal power generating units coordinated with real coded grey wolf optimisation

The optimisation of unit commitment (UC) problem in the daily operation and planning of the power system may save the electric utilities millions of dollars per year in production costs. Though many works in the literature uses evolutionary techniques to solve the pre-dispatch of thermal power generating units, search for optimal generation schedules in order to minimise total operating cost is still an interesting research task. In viewpoint of this, a new population-based bio-inspired algorithm namely grey wolf optimisation (GWO) has been implemented to solve thermal generation scheduling problem and the core objectives such as minimisations of total operating cost, emission level and maximisation of reliability are optimised subject to various prevailing constraints. Additionally, real coding scheme is adopted in order to handle the constraints effectively. The effectiveness of real coded GWO (RCGWO) has been verified on standard 10, 20, 40, 60, 80 and 100 unit systems. Further, a practical 38-unit system has been utilised to show the feasibility of the RCGWO. The simulation results show that RCGWO is very competent in solving the UC problem in comparison to the state-of-the-art methods.

Greenhouse gas emissions from current and enhanced policies of China until 2030: Can emissions peak before 2030?

In June 2015, China announced its post-2020 reduction targets, its central element being the intention to peak CO2 emissions by 2030 or earlier. China has implemented several policies to reduce its greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. This study provides emission projections for China up to 2030 given current policies and a selected set of enhanced policies, and compares the results with projected CO2 emission trajectories that are consistent with the announced target for 2030. The projections are based on existing scenarios and energy system and land use model calculations. We project that the 2030 CO2 emission level consistent with a peak in CO2 emissions by 2030 ranges from 11.3 to 11.8 GtCO2. The corresponding total GHG emission level ranges from 13.5 to 14.0 GtCO2e in 2030. Current policies are likely not to be sufficient to achieve the 2030 targets, as our projected total GHG emission level under current policies ranges from 14.7 to 15.4 GtCO2e by 2030. However, an illustrative set of enhancement policy measures, all of which are related to national priorities, leads to projected GHG emission levels from 13.1 to 13.7 GtCO2e by 2030 – and thus below the levels necessary for peaking CO2 emissions before 2030.

Numerical study of combustion characteristics of ammonia as a renewable fuel and establishment of reduced reaction mechanisms

With its high hydrogen density and already existing infrastructure, ammonia (NH3) is believed to be an excellent green fuel that can be used in energy generation and transportation systems. Combustion of ammonia has certain challenges (associated with its low flame speed and fuel bond NOx emissions) that need to be addressed before its widespread use in practical systems. The primary objective of this study is to develop a reduced reaction mechanism for the combustion of ammonia which can be used to expedite the design of effective ammonia combustors through numerical simulations of realistic combustor geometries with accurate kinetics models. First we have investigated the combustion characteristics of NH3/H2/air mixtures at elevated pressure and lean conditions which are encountered in practical systems such as gas turbine combustors. Laminar premixed freely propagating flame model is used to calculate the combustion properties. The results of sensitivity study of total NOx formation with respect to the equivalence ratio indicates the possibility of localized rich combustion as an effective way to reduce the NOx concentration down to levels that are the same order as the modern gas turbine engines. In the second part of the study, by considering a wide range of conditions in terms of pressure, fuel mixture, and equivalence ratio we have developed two reduced mechanisms based on the Konnov mechanism. The reduced mechanisms are capable of predicting the total NOx emission level and the laminar flame speed at an acceptable accuracy over a wide range of conditions. Evaluating the performance of the reduced mechanisms with respect to the full mechanism and experimental data shows that the mechanisms are able to predict the combustion properties almost at the same accuracy level as the Konnov mechanism, but at a nearly five times less CPU time expense.

Temporal variation of VOC emission from solvent and water based wood stains

Solvent- and water-based wood stains were monitored using a small test emission chamber in order to characterize their emission profiles in terms of Total and individual VOCs. The study of concentration–time profiles of individual VOCs enabled to identify the compounds emitted at higher concentration for each type of stain, to examine their decay curve and finally to estimate the concentration in a reference room. The solvent-based wood stain was characterized by the highest Total VOCs emission level (5.7 mg/m3) that decreased over time more slowly than those related to water-based ones. The same finding was observed for the main detected compounds: Benzene, Toluene, Ethylbenzene, Xylenes, Styrene, alpha-Pinene and Camphene. On the other hand, the highest level of Limonene was emitted by a water-based wood stain. However, the concentration–time profile showed that water-based product was characterized by a remarkable reduction of the time of maximum and minimum emission: Limonene concentration reached the minimum concentration in about half the time compared to the solvent-based product. According to AgBB evaluation scheme, only one of the investigated water-based wood stains can be classified as a low-emitting product whose use may not determine any potential adverse effect on human health.

Momentive launches flame lamination additive for polyether foams

US-based advanced materials firm Momentive Performance Materials Inc (MPM) has introduced Niax flame lamination additive, FLE-500. According to the company, the new product can help manufacturers meet strict fogging and emissions specifications for flame and heat lamination of polyether foams by improving the total emission levels of finished foam goods. The additive was launched at UTECH Asia in Shanghai, China, in September.

Measuring Systemwide Impacts of New Aircraft on the Environment

Many efforts to mitigate the environmental impact of aviation, like NASA’s Subsonic Fixed Wing Project, place high importance on reducing fuel burn, nitrogen oxide () emissions, and noise of future aircraft. However, the environmental and economic impact of a new aircraft is not solely a function of the aircraft’s performance but also of how airlines use new aircraft along with other existing aircraft to satisfy the passenger demand for air transportation. In this work, an optimization problem finds the optimal allocation of existing and future aircraft to routes representing commercial air transportation within or to/from the United States to measure various fleet-level metrics. Examining fleet-level environmental metrics helps assess how aircraft meeting NASA’s Subsonic Fixed Wing Project goals could impact fleet-level environmental goals established by the International Air Transport Association. The goal set forth by the International Air Transport Association examined in this paper is to reduce total aviation emission levels to 50% of 2005 levels in 2050. The International Air Transport Association recognizes multiple approaches to reduce emissions, referred to as the “four-pillar strategy for reducing emissions.” Of these approaches, this paper looks specifically at how improvements in aircraft concepts and technology will impact systemwide environmental impacts. Results indicate that goals set forth by the International Air Transport Association for 2050 emissions appear attainable, with an aircraft allocation to minimize fuel burn and future aircraft that meet the NASA and Subsonic Fixed Wing Project fuel-consumption goals.

Regulation of Spoilage-Related Activities of S hewanella putrefaciens and S hewanella baltica by an Autoinducer-2 Analogue, (Z)-5-(Bromomethylene)furan-2(5H)-One

Shewanella putrefaciens (SHP) and S. baltica (SHB) are involved in spoilage of refrigerated shrimp (Litopenaeus vannamei). The bacteria possess the luxS gene and produce autoinducer-2 (AI-2). (Z)-5-(bromomethylene) furan-2(5H)-one (BMF), an AI-2 inhibitor, significantly (P < 0.05) decreased luxS expression and AI-2 activities of SHP and SHB. BMF inhibited extracellular proteolytic activities, but increased biofilm formation. Total volatile basic nitrogen production and emission levels of some sulfuric compounds (dimethyl trisulfide, sulphuric acid dibutyl ester, methanethiol and methyl disulfide), aldehydes and ketones (acetone, acetaldehyde, methyl-glyoxal aldehydes), and alcohols (2-methyl-2-propanol, 3-methyl-1-butanol, 2-ethylhexan-1-ol) in shrimp meat samples inoculated with SHP and SHB were significantly (P < 0.05) decreased by the BMF treatment. Practical Applications Our findings provide evidence for the potential application of AI-2 inhibitors in prolonging the shelf life of fresh shrimp meat.

Effects of recovered wood on the formaldehyde release of particleboards

Abstract Three-layer polymeric diphenyl-methane-diisocyanate (pMDI)-bonded particleboards (PBs) were produced with different proportions of simulated recovered wood (rW) in the core layers (cLs) to assess the effect of rW on the formaldehyde (FA) release of PB. A pre-test was conducted on furniture and particle mixtures of rW to determine the range of expectable FA emission of rW. The FA content of the raw particle mixtures could be predicted from the contents of the individual raw material and did not change compared to the PB. FA content correlated strongly with PB-FA emission. It was possible to predict the maximum PB-FA contents, which should not be exceeded according to F**** and CARB 2 by linear regression models. At moderate and high total FA emission levels, the FA emission of the particle mixtures was approximately 60% higher than the emission of PB blocks. At low total FA level, the flask method and the gas analysis method exhibited different results with regard to the emissions from particles and their respective PBs.

Allocation of emission permits using DEA: centralised and individual points of view

This paper discusses mechanisms for the allocation of emission permits (AEP) among a group of manufacturing companies aiming at controlling the total emission level of the group. Data envelopment analysis is adopted and extended to construct the AEP models. Proposed methods allocate the permits on the basis of the current input and output levels of individual firms, rather than historical records. Two variations of AEP mechanisms are considered. One situation is that one of the member firms dominates the responsibility of allocating emission permits on behalf of the group (individual AEP scenario). This dominating firm will maximise its own emission permit before allocating permits among other members in the group. The other situation is that a third-party central governing body is centrally responsible for coordinating the AEP among all group members (Central AEP scenario). Proposed mechanisms are applied to analyse efficiencies of a group of paper mills. The result shows that the mode of central AEP mechanism is a better choice than that of the individual AEP mechanism. Central AEP not only maximises the whole efficiency of the group but also improves efficiencies of individual firms. In contrast, with individual AEP, one firm gains efficiency at the loss of others.

Application of Particle Swarm Optimisation in solving Emission Constrained Economic Dispatch

Production of electricity has long been equated with emission of hazardous greenhouse gases and pollutants. One of the ways to reduce this negative impact is via emission constrained economic dispatch (ECED). The ECED is aimed to simultaneously minimize the total cost of generation and the total emission level. In order to overcome the limitations of the widely-used conventional method (CM) such as lack of flexibility and accuracy and the probability of achieving only local minima, meta-heuristic optimisers are gaining popularity. The paper presents the formulation of the ECED problem and proposes the use of Particle Swarm Optimizer (PSO) as a better alternative to the CM. The effectiveness of using PSO to solve the ECED problem as compared to CM is demonstrated and discussed.

A DEA-based approach for fair reduction and reallocation of emission permits

How to allocate initial emission permits is vital for the cap-and-trade system in controlling the total emission level and improving the operation efficiency of the trade mechanism. And data envelopment analysis (DEA) has been proved to be more suitable to fairly resolve the problem as a performance-based allocation is involved here. In this paper, we present a novel DEA approach for fair reduction and reallocation of emission permits for areas under administration. The presented DEA models are based on the ideas, where, according to their eco-efficiency and current emission levels, all decision making units (DMUs) compete with each other for the least reduction amount by introducing a bargaining game, on the other hand, the central authority can improve the overall efficiency by reallocating the remaining emission permits. The approach is applied on the dataset of agricultural greenhouse gas emissions from 15 European Union members (EU15). The results of the application show that the reduction and reallocation mechanism is fair, which benefits the countries that work at the optimal scale operation while punishes those that fail to operate on the optimal scale. Furthermore, it is effective in improving the overall efficiency of the system.

A Bayesian approach to the detection of small low emission sources

This paper addresses the problem of detecting the presence and location of a small low emission source inside an object, when the background noise dominates. This problem arises, for instance, in some homeland security applications. The goal is to reach the signal-to-noise ratio levels in the order of 10−3. A Bayesian approach to this problem is implemented in 2D. The method allows inference not only about the existence of the source, but also about its location. We derive Bayes factors for model selection and estimation of location based on Markov chain Monte Carlo simulation. A simulation study shows that with sufficiently high total emission level, our method can effectively locate the source.

Operational efficiency integrating the evaluation of environmental investment: the case of Japan

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to explore whether a connection exists between business operational efficiency and environmental responsibility.Design/methodology/approachThis research adopts the DEA method through a four‐step analysis to examine inter‐industry differences in terms of operational efficiency with environmental consideration. The sample comprises 32 Japanese firms from three different industries listed in the Tokyo Stock Exchange between 2001 and 2006.FindingsThe results indicate a positive correlation with statistical significance in terms of a firm's environmental conservation cost, net income and economic benefit of environmental conservation for the three Japanese industries. In addition, the relationship among a firm's environmental conservation cost, CO2emission reduction and total CO2emission are positively correlated but without significance. In particular, business operational efficiency integrating social responsibility for anti‐global warming initiatives ( = total CO2emission level) could be applied to distinguish differences in terms of operational efficiency among industries.Research limitations/implicationsJapanese firms adopt a voluntary environmental disclosure; therefore this study is constrained by the availability of long‐term data.Social implicationsThis study enables environmentally conscious investors and fund managers to distinguish the operationally efficient industries when taking environmental performance into account.Originality/valueThe study is a novel attempt to analyze inter‐industry differences in terms of operational efficiency when considering environmental conservation through the DEA method using a four‐step analysis.

AN INTEGRATED MODELING FRAMEWORK FOR ENVIRONMENTALLY EFFICIENT CAR OWNERSHIP AND TRIP BALANCE

Urban transport emissions generated by automobile trips are greatly responsible for atmospheric pollution in both developed and developing countries. To match the long-term target of sustainable development, it seems to be important to specify the feasible level of car ownership and travel demand from environmental considerations. This research intends to propose an integrated modeling framework for optimal construction of a comprehensive transportation system by taking into consideration environmental constraints. The modeling system is actually a combination of multiple essential models and illustrated by using a bi-level programming approach. In the upper level, the maximization of both total car ownership and total number of trips by private and public travel modes is set as the objective function and as the constraints, the total emission levels at all the zones are set to not exceed the relating environmental capacities. Maximizing the total trips by private and public travel modes allows policy makers to take into account trip balance to meet both the mobility levels required by travelers and the environmentally friendly transportation system goals. The lower level problem is a combined trip distribution and assignment model incorporating traveler's route choice behavior. A logit-type aggregate modal split model is established to connect the two level problems. In terms of the solution method for the integrated model, a genetic algorithm is applied. A case study is conducted using road network data and person-trip (PT) data collected in Dalian city, China. The analysis results showed that the amount of environmentally efficient car ownership and number of trips by different travel modes could be obtained simultaneously when considering the zonal control of environmental capacity within the framework of the proposed integrated model. The observed car ownership in zones could be increased or decreased towards the macroscopic optimization objective with zonal limit of emissions.

Piecemeal Multilateral Environmental Policy Reforms under Asymmetric Oligopoly

AbstractWe develop a general two‐country model with oligopolistic interdependence in which a fixed number of firms make their output and emission decisions simultaneously. We examine the effect of multilateral reforms of emission taxes on global emission levels. With sufficient asymmetry in pollution intensities between the two countries, a proportional multilateral increase in emission tax rates can increase global emission levels. However, a multilateral equal increase of emission tax rates unambiguously reduces global emission levels. We also consider the case of free entry and exit of firms, and find a rule of multilateral reforms which unambiguously lowers total emission levels.