Development of a tool for rapidly assessing the implementation difficulty and emissions benefits of innovations

Consumer goods manufacturers aiming to reduce the environmental impact associated with their products commonly pursue incremental change strategies, but more radical approaches may be required if we are to address the challenges of sustainable consumption. One strategy to realize step change reductions is to prepare a portfolio of innovations providing different levels of impact reduction in exchange for different levels of organizational resource commitment. In this research a tool is developed to support this strategy, starting with the assumption that through brainstorming or other eco-innovation approaches, a long-list of candidate innovations has been created. The tool assesses the potential greenhouse gas benefit of an innovative option against the difficulty of its implementation. A simple greenhouse gas benefit assessment method based on streamlined LCA was used to analyze impact reduction potential, and a novel measure of implementation difficulty was developed. The predictions of implementation difficulty were compared against expert opinion, and showed similar results indicating the measure can be used sensibly to predict implementation difficulty. The assessment of the environmental gain versus implementation difficulty is visualized in a matrix, showing the trade-offs of several options. The tool is deliberately simple with scalar measures of CO 2 emissions benefits and implementation difficulty so tool users must remain aware of other potential environmental burdens besides greenhouse gases (e.g. water, waste). In addition, although relative life cycle emissions benefits of an option may be low, the absolute impact of an option can be high and there may be other co-benefits, which could justify higher levels of implementation difficulty. Different types of consumer products (e.g. household, personal care, foods) have been evaluated using the tool. Initial trials of the tool within Unilever demonstrate that the tool facilitates rapid evaluation of low-carbon innovations. © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Carbon dioxide from earthworks: a bottom-up approach.

Concerns over climate change mean engineers need to understand the greenhouse gas emissions associated with infrastructure projects. Standard coefficients are increasingly used to calculate the embodied emissions of construction materials, but these are not generally appropriate to inherently variable earthworks. This paper describes a new tool that takes a bottom-up approach to calculating carbon dioxide emissions from earthworks operations. In the case of bulk earthworks this is predominantly from the fuel used by machinery moving materials already on site. Typical earthworks solutions are explored along with the impact of using manufactured materials such as lime.

The roles of energy and material efficiency in meeting steel industry CO2 targets.

Identifying strategies for reducing greenhouse gas emissions from steel production requires a comprehensive model of the sector but previous work has either failed to consider the whole supply chain or considered only a subset of possible abatement options. In this work, a global mass flow analysis is combined with process emissions intensities to allow forecasts of future steel sector emissions under all abatement options. Scenario analysis shows that global capacity for primary steel production is already near to a peak and that if sectoral emissions are to be reduced by 50% by 2050, the last required blast furnace will be built by 2020. Emissions reduction targets cannot be met by energy and emissions efficiency alone, but deploying material efficiency provides sufficient extra abatement potential.

City versus national energy use: implications for urban energy policy and strategies

The global trend towards urbanization means that over half of the world's population now lives in cities. Cities use energy in different proportions to national energy use averages, typically corresponding to whether a country is industrialized or developing. Cities in industrialized countries tend to use less energy per capita than the national average while cities in developing countries use more. This paper looks at existing World Bank data in respect to urban energy consumption, the emissions inventory work done by New York City, and discusses how this data highlights the need for a focus on: energy policy for buildings in industrialized cities; masterplanning and new construction standards in developing cities; and how urban energy policy can become more effective in reducing urban greenhouse gas emissions.

Sustainability: A new imperative in contaminated land remediation

Land is not only a critical component of the earth's life support system, but also a precious resource and an important factor of production in economic systems. However, historical industrial operations have resulted in large areas of contaminated land that are only slowly being remediated. In recent years, sustainability has drawn increasing attention in the environmental remediation field. In Europe, there has been a movement towards sustainable land management; and in the US, there is an urge for green remediation. Based on a questionnaire survey and a review of existing theories and empirical evidence, this paper suggests the expanding emphasis on sustainable remediation is driven by three general factors: (1) increased recognition of secondary environmental impacts (e.g., life-cycle greenhouse gas emissions, air pollution, energy consumption, and waste production) from remediation operations, (2) stakeholders' demand for economically sustainable brownfield remediation and "green" practices, and (3) institutional pressures (e.g., social norm and public policy) that promote sustainable practices (e.g., renewable energy, green building, and waste recycling). This paper further argues that the rise of the "sustainable remediation" concept represents a critical intervention point from where the remediation field will be reshaped and new norms and standards will be established for practitioners to follow in future years. This paper presents a holistic view of sustainability considerations in remediation, and an integrated framework for sustainability assessment and decision making. The paper concludes that "sustainability" is becoming a new imperative in the environmental remediation field, with important implications for regulators, liability owners, consultants, contractors, and technology vendors. © 2014 Elsevier Ltd.

Production planning of multi-stage multi-option seru production systems with sustainable measures

With the concerns over climate change and the escalation in worldwide population, sustainable development attracts more and more attention of academia, policy makers, and businesses in countries. Sustainable manufacturing is an inextricable measure to achieve sustainable development since manufacturing is one of the main energy consumers and greenhouse gas contributors. In the previous researches on production planning of manufacturing systems, environmental factor was rarely considered. This paper investigates the production planning problem under the performance measures of economy and environment with respect to seru production systems, a new manufacturing system praised as Double E (ecology and economy) in Japanese manufacturing industries. We propose a mathematical model with two objectives minimizing carbon dioxide emission and makespan for processing all product types by a seru production system. To solve this mathematical model, we develop an algorithm based on the non-dominated sorting genetic algorithm II. The computation results and analysis of three numeral examples confirm the effectiveness of our proposed algorithm. © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

农田土壤有机碳的影响因素及其研究

大气温室效应气体N2O、CO2增多与全球气温变暖有着密切的关系,由于农业活动导致的碳排放量占碳总排放量的25%,因此研究农田土壤有机碳的影响因素,对增加农田碳素固定和保持,减少由于不合理的土地使用而导致大量CO2的排放,维持农业和生物圈生态系统的可持续发展有着重要意义。本文分析了温度、水分、土地开垦、休闲和撩荒、耕翻、轮作、秸秆还田、肥料管理等对土壤有机碳的影响。减少翻耕次数,增加秸秆还田,优化氮、磷、钾等养分用量及配比,是提高农田,尤其是旱地农田土壤有机碳含量,培肥、改良土壤的重要途径。

Potential CO2 Emission Reduction by Development of Non-Grain-Based Bioethanol in China

Assessment of the potential CO2 emission reduction by development of non-grain-based ethanol in China is valuable for both setting up countermeasures against climate change and formulating bioethanol policies. Based on the land occupation property, feedstock classification and selection are conducted, identifying sweet sorghum, cassava, and sweet potato as plantation feedstocks cultivated from low-quality arable marginal land resources and molasses and agricultural straws as nonplantation feedstocks derived from agricultural by-products. The feedstock utilization degree, CO2 reduction coefficient of bioethanol, and assessment model of CO2 emission reduction potential of bioethanol are proposed and established to assess the potential CO2 emission reduction by development of non-grain-based bioethanol. The results show that China can obtain emission reduction potentials of 10.947 and 49.027 Mt CO2 with non-grain-based bioethanol in 2015 and 2030, which are much higher than the present capacity, calculated as 1.95 Mt. It is found that nonplantation feedstock can produce more bioethanol so as to obtain a higher potential than plantation feedstock in both 2015 and 2030. Another finding is that developing non-grain-based bioethanol can make only a limited contribution to China's greenhouse gas emission reduction. Moreover, this study reveals that the regions with low and very low potentials for emission reduction will dominate the spatial distribution in 2015, and regions with high and very high potentials will be the majority in 2030.

黄土中主要温室气体组分特征

Scientists have paid much attention to the greenhouse effects and the greenhouse gases for the fact of global warming. There are many uncertainties in the prediction of future climatic change. One of the important reasons causing the uncertainties is insufficient researches of the sources and sinks of greenhouse gases, especially, there is a missing sink in the global carbon cycle. The recent researches proposal that there may be an important carbon sink in the middle-latitude terrestrial ecosystems (vegetation and soil) in the North Hemisphere, despite that there is much disputation about its position and amplitude. Chinese loess is located in the middle latitude area in the North Hemisphere, what kind of role does it play in and how does it influence on the balance of the global greenhouse gases budget? For this reason, many samples were taken and analyzed from wide range and multi-stratum of Chinese loess to understand characteristics of major greenhouse gases in loess and loess possible effect on global greenhouse gas budget. Using self-made spiral corer, we totally took 81 gas samples and 65 soil samples from 7 loess profiles in China such as Zhaitang loess section of Beijing, Pianguan, Xingxian, Lishi, Puxian, Jishan loess section of Shanxi Province, and Luochuan loess section of Shaanxi Province. The gas concentrations for CO_2, CH_4 and N_2O, the contents of N_2, O_2 and carbonate, and the carbon isotopic compositions of CO_2 and carbonate in loess strata sequences are observed and measured. In addition, 19 gas samples data of the Weinan loess section, Shaanxi Province are combination with this research to study characteristics of greenhouse gases in loess. This research indicates that (1) the free gases in loess are neither paleo-atmospheric gases nor modern atmospheric gases; (2) the concentrations of CO_2, CH_4 and N_2O in loess are higher than atmospheric level; (3) the δ~(13)C of loess CO_2 shows that the CO_2 in loess mainly comes from the oxygenolysis of organic matters, but because of isotopic exchange with carbonate in loess, the carbon isotopic exchange with carbonate in loess, the carbon isotopic compositions of loess CO_2 are much more heavier than organic original CO_2; (4) the concentration of CH_4 in Malan loess is lower because it is not favorable for the decomposition of anaerobic bacteria in the Malan Loess; (5) estimation of the total amount of the carbonate in loess reveals that loess is a huge carbon reservoir (about 850PgC). In addition, the impact of the deuterogenic carbonatization during the loess accumulation on the global carbon cycle was discussed, and the preliminary conclusion is that the research work is still not enough to evaluate the effect of loess on the sources and sinks of the anthropogenic CO_2.

Tecnologias CAC e Inquéritos de Percepção da Opinião Pública sobre “O papel da Captação e do Armazenamento/Sequestração de Dióxido de Carbono no Futuro da Energia na Europa”:O caso-de-estudo da Comunidade Fernando Pessoa

O carvão e outros combustíveis fósseis, continuarão a ser, por décadas, a principal matéria-prima energética para as Centrais Térmicas, não obstante os esforços para, dentro do possível, substituir os combustíveis fósseis por fontes de energia renovável.Tal como está, hoje, bem documentado, a produção de gases com efeito estufa (GEE), designadamente CO2, resulta da combustão dos ditos combustíveis fósseis, sendo que se espera ser possível mitigar substancialmente a emissão de tais gases com a aplicação das chamadas Tecnologias Limpas do Carvão.Há, pois, necessidade de promover o abatimento do CO2 através de Tecnologias de Emissão Zero ou Tecnologias Livres de Carbono, incluindo designadamente a Captura, o Transporte e a Sequestração geológica de CO2 correspondentes ao que é costume designar por Tecnologias CAC (Captação e Armazenamento de Carbono). De facto, tais tecnologias e, designadamente, o armazenamento geológico de CO2 são as únicas que, no estado actual do conhecimento, são capazes de permitir que se cumpram as metas do ambicioso programa da EU para a energia e o ambiente conhecido por “20 20 para 2020” em conjugação com os aspectos económicos das directivas relativas ao Comércio Europeu de Licenças de Emissão – CELE (Directivas 2003/87/EC, 2004/101/EC e 2009/29/EC).A importância do tema está, aliás, bem demonstrada com o facto da Comissão Europeia ter formalmente admitido que as metas supracitadas serão impossíveis de atingir sem Sequestração Geológica de CO2. Esta é, pois, uma das razões de ter sido recentemente publicada a Directiva Europeia 2009/31/EC de 23 de Abril de 2009 expressamente dedicada ao tema do Armazenamento Geológico de CO2.Ora, a questão do armazenamento geológico de CO2 implica, para além das Tecnologias CAC acima mencionadas e da sua viabilização em termos tanto técnicos como económicos, ou seja, neste último aspecto, competitiva com o sistema CELE, também o conhecimento, da percepção pública sobre o assunto. Isto é, a praticabilidade das Tecnologias CAC implica que se conheça a opinião pública sobre o tema e, naturalmente, que face a esta realidade se prestem os esclarecimentos necessários como, aliás, é reconhecido na própria Directiva Europeia 2009/31/EC.Dado que a Fundação Fernando Pessoa / Universidade Fernando Pessoa através do seu Centro de Investigação em Alterações Globais, Energia, Ambiente e Bioengenharia – CIAGEB tem ultimado um Projecto de Engenharia relativo à Sequestração Geológica de CO2 nos Carvões (Metantracites) da Bacia Carbonífera do Douro – o Projecto COSEQ, preocupou-se naturalmente, desde o início, com o lançamento de inquéritos de percepção da opinião pública sobre o assunto.Tal implicou, nesta fase, a tradução para português e o lançamento do inquérito europeu ACCSEPT que não tinha sido ainda formalmente lançado de forma generalizada entre nós. Antes, porém, de lançar publicamente tal inquérito – o que está actualmente já em curso – resolveu-se testar o método de lançamento, a recolha de dados e o seu tratamento com uma amostra correspondente ao que se designou por Comunidade Fernando Pessoa, i.e. o conjunto de docentes, discentes, funcionários e outras pessoas relacionadas com a Universidade Fernando Pessoa (cerca de 5000 individualidades).Este trabalho diz, precisamente, respeito à preparação, lançamento e análise dos resultados do dito inquérito Europeu ACCSEPT a nível da Comunidade Fernando Pessoa. Foram recebidas 525 respostas representando 10,5% da amostra. A análise de resultados foi sistematicamente comparada com os obtidos nos outros países europeus, através do projecto ACCSEPT e, bem assim, com os resultados obtidos num inquérito homólogo lançado no Brasil. The use of coal, and other fossil fuels, will remain for decades as the main source of energy for power generation, despite the important efforts made to replace, as far as possible, fossil fuels with renewable power sources.As is well documented, the production of Greenhouse Gases (GHG), mainly CO2, arises primarily from the combustion of fossil fuels. The increasing application of Clean Coal Technologies-CCTs, is expected to mitigate substantially against the emission of such gases.There is consequently a need to promote the CO2 abatement through Zero Emission (Carbon Free) Technologies - ZETs, which includes CO2 capture, transport and geological storage, i.e. the so-called CCS (Carbon, Capture and Storage) technologies. In fact, these technologies are the only ones that are presently able to conform to the ambitious EU targets set out under the “20 20 by 2020” EU energy and environment programme, jointly with the economic aspects of the EU Directives 2003/87/EC, 2004/101/EC and 2009/29/EC concerned with the Greenhouse Gas Emissions Allowance Trading Scheme – ETS scheme. The European Commission formal admission that the referred targets will be impossible to reach without the implementation and contribution of geological storage clearly demonstrate the importance of this particular issue, and for this reason the EC Directive 2009/31/EC of April 23, 2009 on Geological Storage of CO2 was recently published.In considering the technical and economical viabilities of CCS technologies, the latter in competition with the ETS scheme, it is believed that public perception will dictate the success of the development and implementation of CO2 geological storage at a large industrial level. This means that, in order to successfully implement CCS technologies, not only must public opinion be taken into consideration but objective information must also be provided to the public in order to raise subject awareness, as recognized in the referred Directive 2009/31/EC.In this context, the Fernando Pessoa Foundation / University Fernando Pessoa, through its CIAGEB (Global Change, Energy, Environment and Bioengineering) RDID&D Unit, is the sponsor of an Engineering Project for the Geological Sequestration of CO2 in Douro Coalfield Meta-anthracites - the COSEQ Project, and is therefore also engaged in public perception surveys with regards to CCS technologies.At this stage, the original European ACCSEPT inquiry was translated to Portuguese and submitted only to the “Fernando Pessoa Community” - comprising university lecturers, students, other employees, as well as, former students and persons that have a professional or academic relationship with the university (c. 5000 individuals). The results obtained from this first inquiry will be used to improve the survey informatics system in terms of communication, database, and data treatment prior to resubmission of the inquiry to the Portuguese public at large.The present publication summarizes the process and the results obtained from the ACCSEPT survey distributed to the “Fernando Pessoa Community”. 525 replies, representing 10.5% of the sample, have been received and analysed. The assessment of the results was systematically compared with those obtained from other European Countries, as reported by the ACCSEPT inquiry, as well as with those from an identical inquiry launched in Brazil.

Transport energy demand: techno-economic modelling and scenarios for Irish climate policy

The case for energy policy modelling is strong in Ireland, where stringent EU climate targets are projected to be overshot by 2015. Policy targets aiming to deliver greenhouse gas and renewable energy targets have been made, but it is unclear what savings are to be achieved and from which sectors. Concurrently, the growth of personal mobility has caused an astonishing increase in CO2 emissions from private cars in Ireland, a 37% rise between 2000 and 2008, and while there have been improvements in the efficiency of car technology, there was no decrease in the energy intensity of the car fleet in the same period. This thesis increases the capacity for evidenced-based policymaking in Ireland by developing techno-economic transport energy models and using them to analyse historical trends and to project possible future scenarios. A central focus of this thesis is to understand the effect of the car fleet‘s evolving technical characteristics on energy demand. A car stock model is developed to analyse this question from three angles: Firstly, analysis of car registration and activity data between 2000 and 2008 examines the trends which brought about the surge in energy demand. Secondly, the car stock is modelled into the future and is used to populate a baseline “no new policy” scenario, looking at the impact of recent (2008-2011) policy and purchasing developments on projected energy demand and emissions. Thirdly, a range of technology efficiency, fuel switching and behavioural scenarios are developed up to 2025 in order to indicate the emissions abatement and renewable energy penetration potential from alternative policy packages. In particular, an ambitious car fleet electrification target for Ireland is examined. The car stock model‘s functionality is extended by linking it with other models: LEAP-Ireland, a bottom-up energy demand model for all energy sectors in the country; Irish TIMES, a linear optimisation energy system model; and COPERT, a pollution model. The methodology is also adapted to analyse trends in freight energy demand in a similar way. Finally, this thesis addresses the gap in the representation of travel behaviour in linear energy systems models. A novel methodology is developed and case studies for Ireland and California are presented using the TIMES model. Transport Energy

Climate and energy scenarios for Ireland to 2050 using the Irish TIMES energy systems model

Due to growing concerns regarding the anthropogenic interference with the climate system, countries across the world are being challenged to develop effective strategies to mitigate climate change by reducing or preventing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The European Union (EU) is committed to contribute to this challenge by setting a number of climate and energy targets for the years 2020, 2030 and 2050 and then agreeing effort sharing amongst Member States. This thesis focus on one Member State, Ireland, which faces specific challenges and is not on track to meet the targets agreed to date. Before this work commenced, there were no projections of energy demand or supply for Ireland beyond 2020. This thesis uses techno-economic energy modelling instruments to address this knowledge gap. It builds and compares robust, comprehensive policy scenarios, providing a means of assessing the implications of different future energy and emissions pathways for the Irish economy, Ireland’s energy mix and the environment. A central focus of this thesis is to explore the dynamics of the energy system moving towards a low carbon economy. This thesis develops an energy systems model (the Irish TIMES model) to assess the implications of a range of energy and climate policy targets and target years. The thesis also compares the results generated from the least cost scenarios with official projections and target pathways and provides useful metrics and indications to identify key drivers and to support both policy makers and stakeholder in identifying cost optimal strategies. The thesis also extends the functionality of energy system modelling by developing and applying new methodologies to provide additional insights with a focus on particular issues that emerge from the scenario analysis carried out. Firstly, the thesis develops a methodology for soft-linking an energy systems model (Irish TIMES) with a power systems model (PLEXOS) to improve the interpretation of the electricity sector results in the energy system model. The soft-linking enables higher temporal resolution and improved characterisation of power plants and power system operation Secondly, the thesis develops a methodology for the integration of agriculture and energy systems modelling to enable coherent economy wide climate mitigation scenario analysis. This provides a very useful starting point for considering the trade-offs between the energy system and agriculture in the context of a low carbon economy and for enabling analysis of land-use competition. Three specific time scale perspectives are examined in this thesis (2020, 2030, 2050), aligning with key policy target time horizons. The results indicate that Ireland’s short term mandatory emissions reduction target will not be achieved without a significant reassessment of renewable energy policy and that the current dominant policy focus on wind-generated electricity is misplaced. In the medium to long term, the results suggest that energy efficiency is the first cost effective measure to deliver emissions reduction; biomass and biofuels are likely to be the most significant fuel source for Ireland in the context of a low carbon future prompting the need for a detailed assessment of possible implications for sustainability and competition with the agri-food sectors; significant changes are required in infrastructure to deliver deep emissions reductions (to enable the electrification of heat and transport, to accommodate carbon capture and storage facilities (CCS) and for biofuels); competition between energy and agriculture for land-use will become a key issue. The purpose of this thesis is to increase the evidence-based underpinning energy and climate policy decisions in Ireland. The methodology is replicable in other Member States.

Feasibility of combined wind-wave energy platforms

The European Union has set out an ambitious 20% target for renewable energy use by 2020. It is expected that this will be met mainly by wind energy. Looking towards 2050, reductions in greenhouse gas emissions of 80-95% are to be sought. Given the issues securing this target in the transport and agriculture sectors, it may only be possible to achieve this target if the power sector is carbon neutral well in advance of 2050. This has permitted the vast expansion of offshore renewables, wind, wave and tidal energy. Offshore wind has undergone rapid development in recent years however faces significant challenges up to 2020 to ensure commercial viability without the need for government subsidies. Wave energy is still in the very early stages of development so as yet there has been no commercial roll out. As both of these technologies are to face similar challenges in ensuring they are a viable alternative power generation method to fossil fuels, capitalising on the synergies is potentially a significant cost saving initiative. The advent of hybrid solutions in a variety of configurations is the subject of this thesis. A singular wind-wave energy platform embodies all the attributes of a hybrid system, including sharing space, transmission infrastructure, O&M activities and a platform/foundation. This configuration is the subject of this thesis, and it is found that an OWC Array platform with multi-MegaWatt wind turbines is a technically feasible, and potentially an economically feasible solution in the long term. Methods of design and analysis adopted in this thesis include numerical and physical modelling of power performance, structural analysis, fabrication cost modelling, simplified project economic modelling and time domain reliability modelling of a 210MW hybrid farm. The application of these design and analysis methods has resulted in a hybrid solution capable of producing energy at a cost between €0.22/kWh and €0.31/kWh depending on the source of funding for the project. Further optimisation through detailed design is expected to lower this further. This thesis develops new and existing methods of design and analysis of wind and wave energy devices. This streamlines the process of early stage development, while adhering to the widely adopted Concept Development Protocol, to develop a technically and economically feasible, combined wind-wave energy hybrid solution.

Valuing ecosystem services from wetlands restoration in the Mississippi Alluvial Valley

This study assesses the value of restoring forested wetlands via the U.S. government's Wetlands Reserve Program (WRP) in the Mississippi Alluvial Valley by quantifying and monetizing ecosystem services. The three focal services are greenhouse gas (GHG) mitigation, nitrogen mitigation, and waterfowl recreation. Site- and region-level measurements of these ecosystem services are combined with process models to quantify their production on agricultural land, which serves as the baseline, and on restored wetlands. We adjust and transform these measures into per-hectare, valuation-ready units and monetize them with prices from emerging ecosystem markets and the environmental economics literature. By valuing three of the many ecosystem services produced, we generate lower bound estimates for the total ecosystem value of the wetlands restoration. Social welfare value is found to be between $1435 and $1486/ha/year, with GHG mitigation valued in the range of $171 to $222, nitrogen mitigation at $1248, and waterfowl recreation at $16. Limited to existing markets, the estimate for annual market value is merely $70/ha, but when fully accounting for potential markets, this estimate rises to $1035/ha. The estimated social value surpasses the public expenditure or social cost of wetlands restoration in only 1 year, indicating that the return on public investment is very attractive for the WRP. Moreover, the potential market value is substantially greater than landowner opportunity costs, showing that payments to private landowners to restore wetlands could also be profitable for individual landowners. © 2009 Elsevier B.V.

Identification and assessment of potential wind energy project sites in the State of Maryland

Gemstone Team Renewables