2011 Iowa Statewide Greenhouse Gas Emissions Inventory Report - Technical Support Document

This Technical Support Document is an addendum to the "2011 Iowa Statewide Greenhouse Gas Emission Inventory Report".

2012 Iowa Statewide Greenhouse Gas Emissions Inventory Report

This policy-neutral report is the seventh statewide greenhouse gas inventory conducted for Iowa as required by Iowa Code 455B.104. Note: This report was amended on 12/11/14 to correct minor typographical errors.

2012 Iowa Statewide Greenhouse Gas Emissions Inventory Report Technical Support Document

This technical support document is an addendum to the 2012 Iowa Statewide Greenhouse Gas Emissions Inventory Report. Note: This report was amended on 12/11/14 to correct minor typographical errors.

2013 Iowa Statewide Greenhouse Gas Emissions Inventory Report

This policy-neutral report is the eighth statewide greenhouse gas inventory conducted for Iowa as required by Iowa Code 455B.104.

2013 Iowa Statewide Greenhouse Gas Emissions Inventory Report Technical Support Document.

This technical support document is an addendum to the 2013 Iowa Statewide Greenhouse Ga Emissions Inventory.

ASSESSMENT OF ENERGY CONSUMPTION IN GREENHOUSE PRODUCTION IN THE WEST REGION OF PORTUGAL

Greenhouse production is a very important activity in the West region of Portugal, with an area of approximately 800 ha where the regular production consists in two crops per year, one in winter-spring and the other in summer-autumn. Many growers are now prepared to better exploit market opportunities, since they know that the big export window opportunity is from June to September, when the production is difficult in other regions of south due to high temperatures. Grower’s use new and more productive varieties, either in soil or hydroponic systems, mostly in unheated greenhouses, naturally ventilated, and equipped with modern fertigation systems. Greenhouse production causes some environmental impacts due to the high use of inputs. Several improvements in technologies and crop practices may contribute to increase the use efficiency of resources, decreasing the negative environmental impacts. Greenhouse vegetable production in Northern EU countries is based on the supply of heating and differs significantly from the production system in the Southern EU countries. In the Northern countries, direct energy inputs, mostly for heating, are predominant while in the South the indirect energy input is also important, mainly associated with fertilizers, plastic cover materials and other auxiliary materials. The main objective of this work was to characterise the greenhouse production systems in the West region of Portugal, in order to evaluate the energetic consumptions (direct and indirect), the GHH emissions, the production costs and the farmer’s income. With this work the mostly important inputs were identified, allowing proposing alternative measures to improve efficiency and sustainability. All the data was obtained by surveys performed directly with growers, previously selected to be representative of the crop practices and greenhouse type of the region. However, more research should be performed in order to develop and to test technologies capable to improve resources use efficiency in greenhouse production.

Sensible use of primary energy in organic greenhouse production.

This document addresses the direct and indirect use of energy in European organic greenhouse horticulture (OGH) with the aim of reviewing available means for making it more environmental friendly and identifying knowledge gaps that should be addressed to attain this aim. The first observation is that there is no common regulation for energy use in OGH, which is not unexpected, since the need for climatisation is not uniformly distributed in the EU (and outside). Accordingly, the EU directive on organic agriculture does not set limitations on the use of energy, but rather promotes the responsible use of energy and of natural resources. The restrictions and rules of most private standards are slightly more stringent. Some standards have specific restrictions on the amount and sources of energy and/or on the seasonal use of energy for heating. Some standards also address processes that may affect (in)direct energy use, such as cultivation methods, mulching, lighting and growing media or substrates. However, most private standards have no or little restrictions or regulations on energy use. Accordingly, it should not surprise that very little quantitative information is available about energy use in OGH. In the present document we have filled the gaps with data with estimates drawn on energy use in conventional greenhouses. With respect to ongoing research, whereas many of the present research results about energy use and saving in conventional greenhouses are relevant (and also applied) in OGH, little research is devoted to address the energy use that is peculiar to OGH, particularly energy use for humidity control. In short, there are still a lot of knowledge gaps to improve quality and to lower energy use in organic greenhouses. The purpose of this document is a summary of present relevant knowledge about energy use and energy saving and of the perspective for improvement. In particular, the goal is to make an overview on the methods and technologies which can be used to reduce the energy use in OGH. We start from the assumption that methods and technologies that are used for reducing direct and indirect energy in conventional greenhouses can also be applied in organic greenhouses. Research on reducing energy use in conventional greenhouses is also more widely available because the area of conventional greenhouse horticulture is much larger than the area of OGH. When implementing these methods and techniques we should take into account the specific characteristics of organic agriculture like soil-based cultivation, use of organic fertilizers and the limited use of crop protection products. This document is organised as follows: first we report the results of a survey about energy use and relevant standards in the countries participating to the COST action (chapter 1); then we review the energy use for climatisation: heating (chapter 2) and humidity (chapter 3). In chapter 4 we review the available design and management means that would either reduce energy use and/or increase energy use efficiency by increasing productivity of OGH. In chapter 5 we present a short summary of existing information on indirect energy use, that is the energy required to manufacture production means (greenhouse structure and cover, fertilisers, equipment etc.) and for crop protection, particularly steaming, and briefly discuss possible savings. Finally (chapter 6) we review briefly the potential for application of renewable energy sources in OGH.

Greenhouse gases of animal agriculture in Brazil: urrent status and perspectives.

2007

A black foot extract can delay downy mildew progress in grapevine under greenhouse conditions.

2011

Agronomic performance of selected sweet potato cultivars under greenhouse and field infested with meloigogyne incognita and soilborne insect pests.

The root knot nematode (RKN), Meloidogyne incognita, is widespread worldwide and a major pathogen of several cultivated crops. The use of resistant genotypes is the most effective and environmentally sound way to manage RKN. In this study, we screened 16 selected sweet potato cultivars including Amanda, Bárbara, Beatriz, Beauregard, Brazlândia Branca, Brazlândia Rosada, Brazlândia Roxa, BRS Amélia, BRS Cuia, BRS Rubissol, Carolina Vitória, Duda, Júlia, Marcela, PA-26/2009, and Princesa obtained from Embrapa and Universidade Federal do Tocantins? germplasm bank. Studies were conducted under greenhouse and field conditions and the agronomic performance of the cultivars was evaluated in a nematode and soilborne insect-infested field. All 16 sweet potato cultivars tested were rated as resistant to this nematode both under greenhouse and field conditions with reproduction factors < 1. In the field infested with M. incognita, sweet potato cultivars Duda, BRS Amélia, Beauregard, Brazlândia Rosada, and Brazlândia Roxa stood out as superior cultivars, with average yield ranging from 26 to 47 tons per ha. Overall, most cultivars exhibited a fusiform to near fusiform root shape, a good characteristic for the market, and were moderately affected by insects (attack incidence 1 to 30%). As global demand for energy continues to rise, selecting new cultivars of sweet potatoes with increased resistance to nematode diseases and with high yield will be important for food security and biofuel production.

MAGGnet: an international network to foster mitigation of agricultural greenhouse gases.

Research networks provide a framework for review, synthesis and systematic testing of theories by multiple scientists across international borders critical for addressing global-scale issues. In 2012, a GHG research network referred to as MAGGnet (Managing Agricultural Greenhouse Gases Network) was established within the Croplands Research Group of the Global Research Alliance on Agricultural Greenhouse Gases (GRA). With involvement from 46 alliance member countries, MAGGnet seeks to provide a platform for the inventory and analysis of agricultural GHG mitigation research throughout the world. To date, metadata from 315 experimental studies in 20 countries have been compiled using a standardized spreadsheet. Most studies were completed (74%) and conducted within a 1-3-year duration (68%). Soil carbon and nitrous oxide emissions were measured in over 80% of the studies. Among plant variables, grain yield was assessed across studies most frequently (56%), followed by stover (35%) and root (9%) biomass. MAGGnet has contributed to modeling efforts and has spurred other research groups in the GRA to collect experimental site metadata using an adapted spreadsheet. With continued growth and investment, MAGGnet will leverage limited-resource investments by any one country to produce an inclusive, globally shared meta-database focused on the science of GHG mitigation.

Raman spectroscopic study of the magnesium carbonate minerals– artinite and dypingite

Magnesium minerals are important in the understanding of the concept of geosequestration. The two hydrated hydroxy magnesium carbonate minerals artinite and dypingite have been studied by Raman spectroscopy. Intense bands are observed at 1092 cm-1 for artinite and at 1120 cm-1 for dypingite attributed CO32- ν1 symmetric stretching mode. The CO32- ν3 antisymmetric stretching vibrations are extremely weak and are observed at1412 and 1465 cm-1 for artinite and at 1366, 1447 and 1524 cm-1 for dypingite. Very weak Raman bands at 790 cm-1 for artinite and 800 cm-1 for dypingite are assigned to the CO32- ν2 out-of-plane bend. The Raman band at 700 cm-1 of artinite and at 725 and 760 cm-1 of dypingite are ascribed to CO32- ν2 in-plane bending mode. The Raman spectrum of artinite in the OH stretching region is characterised by two sets of bands: (a) an intense band at 3593 cm-1 assigned to the MgOH stretching vibrations and (b) the broad profile of overlapping bands at 3030 and 3229 cm-1 attributed to water stretching vibrations. X-ray diffraction studies show the minerals are disordered. This is reflected in the difficulty of obtaining Raman spectra of reasonable quality and explains why the Raman spectra of these minerals have not been previously or sufficiently described.

New insights into rebound effects : theory and empirical evidence

The main objective of the thesis is to seek insights into the theory, and provide empirical evidence of rebound effects. Rebound effects reduce the environmental benefits of environmental policies and household behaviour changes. In particular, win-win demand side measures, in the form of energy efficiency and household consumption pattern changes, are seen as ways for households and businesses to save money and the environment. However, these savings have environmental impacts when spent, which are known as rebound effects. This is an area that has been widely neglected by policy makers. This work extends the rebound effect literature in three important ways, (1) it incorporates the potential for variation of rebound effects with household income level, (2) it enables the isolation of direct and indirect effects for cases of energy efficient technology adoption, and examines the relationship between these two component effects, and (3) it expands the scope of rebound effect analysis to include government taxes and subsidies. MACROBUTTON HTMLDirect Using a case study approach it is found that the rebound effect from household consumption pattern changes targeted at electricity is between 5 and 10%. For consumption pattern changes with reduced vehicle fuel use, the rebound effect is in the order of 20 to 30%. Higher income households in general are found to have a lower total rebound effect; however the indirect effect becomes relatively more significant at higher household income levels. In the win-lose case of domestic photovoltaic electricity generation, it is demonstrated that negative rebound effects can occur, which can potentially amplify the environmental benefits of this action. The rebound effect from a carbon tax, which occurs due to the re-spending of raised revenues, was found to be in the range of 11-32%. Taxes and transfers between households of different income levels also have environmental implications. For example, a more progressive tax structure, with increased low income welfare payments is likely to increase greenhouse gas emissions. Subsidies aimed at encouraging environmentally friendly consumption habits are also subject to rebound effects, as they constitute a substitution of government expenditure for household expenditure. For policy makers, these findings point to the need to incorporate rebound effects in the environmental policy evaluation process.’