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Product service systems (PSS) are an example of a novel business model billed as having the potential to significantly reduce the environmental burdens of production and consumption processes. However, despite widespread interest in PSS, consensus regarding their actual environmental impacts, particularly with regard to salient issues such as global warming, is lacking. Hence this paper explores existing research to investigate the state of the art regarding the climatic impacts of PSS, alongside the set of factors that influence climatic impacts. The paper comprises a systematic review of peer-reviewed academic literature, quantifying the extent to which different types of PSS have the capacity to reduce greenhouse gas emissions across multiple product categories. Our study shows that significant reductions in climatic emissions are possible, but PSS are in many cases associated with more modest reductions and, in some cases, increased emissions. Further, we observe no clear differences in climatic impacts according to the type of PSS model that is deployed. Rather, differences in climatic impact are influenced by factors such as production and design alongside use-phase impacts and contextual factors such as transportation and the energy mix. The study argues that further research is needed to establish a more robust baseline upon which to draw conclusions regarding the sources of climatic impacts, and outlines fruitful ways for companies to tackle the complexities of climatic emissions that are beyond their control. • In some cases, product service systems can reduce climatic impacts by up to 80%. • In other cases, climatic impacts increase compared to traditional product sales. • Climatic impacts are influenced by use intensity, transportation and production. • Other contextual factors such as the energy mix play a role. • More quantitative assessments are needed with less reliance on estimations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Roads play a vital role in transportation systems, and their construction and maintenance expenses are high. Those reasons make crucial the examination of factors that accelerate road deterioration and those factors' negative impacts on societies. Climatic-related elements, especially temperature and precipitation, significantly affect the quality and lifespans of roads. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has reported that increasing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions is causing changes in climate and that the rate of change has accelerated during the past several decades. To assess the impacts of changing climatic parameters on flexible-pavement performance, this study used 32 climate models to evaluate the performance of interstate, primary, and secondary roads across 11 diverse locations with varying traffic and climatic conditions. The study's findings reveal that changing climate exacerbates pavement distresses, leading to reduced pavement lifespans and increased numbers of reconstruction projects, which in turn raise demands for materials and equipment and contribute to higher GHG emissions. The effects of changing climate and changing climate's associated economic and environmental costs make the application of various engineering solutions to enhance pavement resilience essential, as described in this paper, in the absence of comprehensive emissions reduction strategies. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reducing the dependence on traditional energy sources and shifting towards the utilization of renewable energy sources (RES) of energy in the maritime sector is imperative for reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Inherently, RES sources like solar and wind are intermittent and variable, resulting in inconsistent power availability and hence leading to energy supply fluctuations and potential shortages. In this respect, an efficient control strategy to maintain system stability and address intermittency effectively is essential. This work considers a hybrid marine microgrid with various energy sources like photovoltaics (PV), wind energy conversion system (WECS), marine biodiesel generator, Archimedes wave power generation, solid oxide fuel cell, and batteries. A 2-degree of freedom (2DOF) structure is designed and implemented with the tilt-integral-derivative filter (TIDN) to address frequency variations. Furthermore, an Archimedes optimization algorithm (AOA) is used to optimize the 2DOF-TIDN controller. The stability of the proposed microgrid system is assessed under various combinations of RES availabilities, including real-time data from WECS and PV. The AOA-based 2DOF-TIDN performance is compared to the following algorithms: genetic, Jaya, bat, grasshopper optimization, particle swarm optimization, and moth flame optimization. Simulation results obtained show that the AOA-based 2DOF-TIDN control strategy achieves shorter settling times in mitigating the changes of marine microgrid systems under different dynamic conditions as compared to the other algorithms. Finally, the controller being proposed in this paper was tested for robustness with parameter deviations of +25%, −20%, and − 40% from the nominal values, and proved to be the proposed 2DOF-TIDN controller parameters demonstrate significant robustness in effectively managing the uncertainties and parametric variations. • Maritime Microgrid system is designed for investigations with RE & storage units. • PV, Wind, MBG, AWPG, SOFC, and battery storage units are considered. • 2DOF-TIDN controller is developed to mitigate the changes in the system. • The AOA method is proposed for optimal gains of the 2DOF-TIDN under uncertainties. • Sensitivity analysis, Time delay analysis, and stability analysis are performed [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 2022, Saudi Arabia's anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions amounted to 810 million tons of CO 2 e. The country has pledged to cut its emissions by 278 million tons of CO 2 e per year by 2030. This paper contributes a modeling view on the climate-related effects of various energy policies on the Saudi energy system. We use an energy system model designed to represent seven sectors in the Saudi economy. In addition to a baseline, which entails the continuation of current domestic policies, we look at a scenario that incorporates some of the plans announced by the Saudi government. We also examine the baseline scenario with a cap on total CO 2 emissions equal to those exhibited with the announced plans. The model then makes the necessary decisions to abate CO 2. We find that the energy system contributes 130 million tons of CO 2 e to the nationally determined contribution amount in 2030. Also, a non-prescriptive scenario that caps energy-system CO 2 emissions produces the same emissions reductions as the announced plans while lowering the present cost by 2030 by $70 billion. The corresponding implicit marginal abatement cost of CO 2 approaches 35 $/tonCO 2 by 2045. This cost would displace around half of crude and fuel oil use in the Saudi energy system. • Saudi Arabia plans to cut annual greenhouse gas emissions by 278 million tonsCO 2 e. • We use a multi-sector model built from the ground up for Saudi Arabia. • The energy system can contribute 130 million tons of CO 2 e in reductions in 2030. • We find a scenario that achieves GHG abatement at a lower cost than official plans. • The marginal value attributed to CO 2 approaches 35 $ per tonCO 2 by 2045. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract The purpose of this paper is to evaluate greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of a Chinese highway tunnel in the life cycle. Life cycle assessment (LCA) method is adopted in the paper. Based on rock mass classification and pavement categories, five different functional units have been proposed for the first time. The system boundaries, processes and assumptions are defined. The study results indicate: 1) the GHG emissions of a double-track four-lane Chinese highway tunnel in 100 years can be up to 375.5 thousand tons of CO 2 eq. Cement and electricity contribute to more than 80% of the total emissions in all functional units. 2) The construction stage, operation stage and maintenance stage emit 30.89%, 56.12% and 12.99% of the total GHG respectively. During the construction stage, casting and lining, rock support and road work are the top three GHG emission processes. 3) Rock conditions are discovered to be an important factor of affecting GHG emissions in tunnels. The GHG emissions of the 1-m Chinese highway tunnel are between 82 t to 113 t CO 2 eq. With the increase of rock mass grades, GHG emissions rapidly rise if the pavement design stays the same. The emission differences among the functional units are mainly from materials. 4) Asphalt pavements tend to generate more GHG emissions than concrete pavement due to the more frequent replacements of asphalt pavements. This paper investigates the influences of rock conditions and pavement types on the GHG emissions of Chinese tunnels in the life cycle, which can provide a scientific reference for policy making of the Chinese government. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To mitigate climate change and achieve sustainable development, Chinese governments have introduced "1+N" "dual-carbon" policy system aimed at reducing CO 2 emissions, transforming energy structures and controlling pollution. An effective policy mix and synergy is crucial for achieving the emission reduction targets and for ensuring the effectiveness of the policies, and it is therefore of great practical importance to provide a pathway for policy synergy based on assessing policy effectiveness. This paper selects three policies, namely the carbon Emission Trading System (ETS), Coal Control and Clean Utilization (CCCU), and Green Financial Reform and Innovation Pilot Zone (GFPZ), sets up ten scenarios, adopts difference-in-differences (DID) models to evaluate the impact, and give a pathway for policy synergy. The results show that ETS, CCCU, and GFPZ policies have significant positive effects on carbon emission reduction, energy structure transformation, and industrial environmental pollution control, respectively; CCCU has synergistic effects with ETS and GFPZ policies in controlling coal consumption and increasing the completion of industrial pollution control investments, respectively; while GFPZ policies have conflicting effects with CCCU and ETS in reducing carbon emissions and coal consumption, the GFPZ policy has conflicting effects with CCCU and ETS in reducing carbon emissions and controlling coal consumption. Finally, the study proposes a phased policy support system around carbon emission reduction in the power generation industry, energy structure transformation, and industrial environmental pollution control before 2030 and from 2030 to 2060. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The industrial sector has significantly contributed to global climate change and urban air pollution while driving economic development. This paper takes the synergistic CO2 and SO2 emission reduction in China's industrial sector as an entry point quantifies the synergistic CO2 and SO2 emission reduction effect using the Kaya extension model and analyzes the synergistic emission reduction expansion mechanism in depth. It is found that the synergistic effect of CO2 and SO2 in the industrial sector is prevalent in most provinces in China. Every 10,000 tons of CO2 emission reduction leads to 1600 tons of SO2 emission reduction. Regional heterogeneity also clarifies that there are differences in synergistic emission reduction among different provinces, with most regions having a significant positive effect of synergistic emission reduction, while a small number of regions have an inverse effect, and direct SO2 reduction measures should be considered separately. The interaction effect analysis found that energy efficiency improvement in the industrial sector is the critical path to synergistic effect enhancement. At the same time, R&D expenditure and fixed asset investment have a weak effect on synergistic emission reduction. The interaction of the three factors can synergize the emission reduction effect by more than twice. The study's findings can be used as a reference for China's industrial sector to achieve the goal of reducing pollution and carbon emissions and for the practice of regional synergistic emission reduction, as well as for the formulation of international synergistic emission reduction policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Decarbonisation of stationary energy supply, particularly electricity grids, is the current focus of climate change mitigation policy. However, studies have suggested that this narrow policy focus is insufficient to achieve meaningful global emissions reductions. Using Iceland as a case study, this paper demonstrates that significant emissions arise from transport and imported products, which are often not fully captured in territorial GHG inventories. This results in high greenhouse gas emissions per capita regardless of the nation's domestic energy supply. The result is a low carbon illusion in which rich economies believe they are reducing their GHG responsibility whilst global emissions continue to grow. This paper presents the first consumption-based carbon footprint (CBCF) analysis for Iceland, a nation where the stationary energy supply is 99% renewable, and could be viewed as a decarbonisation ‘future case’ for rich nations globally. The study combines Icelandic household expenditure data with the Multi-Regional Input-Output database Eora to calculate the CBCF of Icelandic households. The average annual CBCF of Icelandic households was 10.4 tCO 2 eq/capita, similar in magnitude to other EU nations despite Iceland's unique energy supply. GHG emissions from transport, food and goods dominated the household CBCF. The national CBCF was higher than most European nations and 55% higher than the territorial emissions inventory. Approximately 71% of household emissions were attributed to imported goods, which were mapped globally revealing that the GHG emissions burden of Icelandic consumption falls primarily on developing nations. The findings suggest that a broader GHG accounting framework and resulting policy focus is required, both in Iceland and globally, that incorporates both supply and demand-based GHG reduction strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To mitigate climate change while catering to the needs of a growing population, cities need to find smarter ways to manage their resources, while reducing their greenhouse gas emissions. Since waste management and circular economy will be instrumental in this endeavour, the current level of circularity in cities, the environmental impact of related activities and sharable best practices need to be explored. This paper examines the roadmap to zero emissions of the 362 cities that expressed interest in the Horizon Europe 100 Climate-Neutral and Smart Cities Mission. Based on an unprecedented suite of city inputs, this study answers a set of research questions so far unaddressed due to the lack of a suitable dataset. The analysis focusses on a) current actions undertaken by cities in achieving a circular economy and reducing/optimising waste streams, b) envisioned circular actions in supporting climate neutrality by 2030, and c) urban sectors and metabolic flows for which circularity has a particularly high potential to mitigate climate change. Best practices are captured to create an informative set of actions aimed at policy-makers and at encouraging peer-to-peer learning. Finally, the barriers to incrementing circular approaches that emerge from the cities' self-assessments are compared to those identified in existing scientific literature to provide input for a more comprehensive conceptual framework. Overall, this study distils how circular economy imaginaries are translated into local governance and policy-making by focussing on a large group of cities. This is key to truly understand why some initiatives fail and others succeed and can inform all relevant stakeholders on the next steps to take. • Circular economy can be a strategy for cities to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. • Data from 362 cities pursuing climate neutrality is analysed. • Policy evolution, current/future actions, and barriers for circularity are examined. • Digital solutions, co-creation with citizens, and innovation are key strategies. • Frontiers for circularity are in construction, bioeconomy, and valorisation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, a demand-driven growth model is used to explore climate change scenarios faced by the South African economy. The focus is on key macroeconomic variables including employment, productivity, income distribution, trade, and fiscal balances. Results show that emission reduction alone will not put South Africa on a sustainable and equitable growth path. Expansionary macroeconomic policies are necessary. We show that, under sufficient global mitigation, expansionary fiscal and monetary policies lead to faster output and productivity growth, higher employment, and lower inequality. By contrast, macroeconomic tightening or "free riding" on global emission reduction lead to inferior outcomes, putting sustainable development out of reach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Cities, the core of the global climate change mitigation and strategic low-carbon development, are shelters to more than half of the world population and responsible for three quarters of global energy consumption and greenhouse gas (GHG). This special volume (SV) provides a platform that promotes multi- and inter- disciplinary analyses and discussions on the climate change mitigation for cities. All papers are divided into four themes, including GHG emission inventory and accounting, climate change and urban sectors, climate change and sustainable development, and strategies and mitigation action plans. First, this SV provides methods for constructing emission inventory from both production and consumption perspectives. These methods are useful to improve the comprehensiveness and accuracy of carbon accounting for international cities. Second, the climate change affects urban sectors from various aspects; simultaneously, GHG emissions caused by activities in urban sectors affect the climate system. This SV focuses on mitigation policies and assessment of energy, transport, construction, and service sectors. Third, climate change mitigation of cities is closely connected to urban sustainable development. This SV explores the relationships between climate change mitigation with urbanization, ecosystems, air pollution, and extreme events. Fourth, climate change mitigation policies can be divided into two categories: quantity-based mechanism (e.g., carbon emission trading) and price-based mechanism (e.g., carbon tax). This SV provides experiences of local climate change mitigation all over the world and proposes the city-to-city cooperation on climate change mitigation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract The use of biomass for production of chemicals is gaining interest because of its potential to contribute towards a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions and other environmental benefits linked to the substitution of fossil resources. But, conversely to biofuels, studies focusing on environmental impacts of biomass-derived chemicals are scarce. This paper uses life cycle assessment to evaluate the environmental sustainability of bio-ethylene from poplar produced by the following three thermo-chemical routes: direct and indirect dehydration of ethanol and production of olefins via dimethyl ether. The indirect route is the best option for most impact categories for all three allocation methods considered: system expansion, economic and energy basis. However, the dimethyl ether-to-olefins route has the lowest global warming potential. In comparison to ethylene produced bio-chemically from sugar beet, the thermo-chemical indirect route has lower impacts for all categories except human, terrestrial and freshwater toxicities. All three thermo-chemical alternatives show a significant reduction in global warming potential (up to 105% in the case of dimethyl ether-to-olefins) and depletion of fossil fuels when compared to conventional ethylene production from fossil fuels. However, the results also suggest that bio-ethylene produced by any of the three thermo-chemical routes would lead to a significant increase in most other impact categories relative to fossil fuels. Therefore, while trying to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, the overall environmental sustainability of bio-ethylene suffers from the increase in other environmental impacts. Highlights • Three thermo-chemical bio-ethylene processes are compared environmentally. • Indirect route is best for several impacts but the dimethyl ether is better for GWP. • Indirect route is better than 1st generation ethanol dehydration except for toxicities. • Net saving in GHG emissions of 44%–105% achieved compared to fossil alternatives. • However, other impacts are higher than for the fossil alternatives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper explores the economic feasibility and environmental sustainability of producing second-generation biofuel in Italy from Brassica carinata, a non-edible flowering plant of the Brassicaceae family, in a context of rotation with wheat (and eventually other crops). The framework considered allows to rule out issues of ILUC and is highly relevant in a country where extensive monoculture is extremely widespread and there is a high degree of dependence on foreign imports for both biofuels and biofuels-related raw materials, especially from countries such as Indonesia, where the adverse impacts of first-generation biofuel production on the environment are most felt. Using yield and cost data from 5 experimental fields in Italy and taking into account potential returns from the sale of biodiesel and its by-products, glycerine and expeller/meal, the economic sustainability of the entire biodiesel production chain (cultivation, oil extraction and oil refining) is established. Implementation of the Argonne National Laboratory's GREET life cycle model, suitably adjusted so as to apply it to the BC case, confirms also a high environmental sustainability. The range of positive economic effects and externalities that may be triggered by the development of a BC-derived biofuel production chain justifies some form of policy intervention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Paris Agreement aims to limit global mean temperature rise this century to well below 2 °C above pre-industrial levels. This target has wide-ranging implications for Europe and its cities, which are the source of substantial greenhouse gas emissions. This paper reports the state of local planning for climate change by collecting and analysing information about local climate mitigation and adaptation plans across 885 urban areas of the EU-28. A typology and framework for analysis was developed that classifies local climate plans in terms of their alignment with spatial (local, national and international) and other climate related policies. Out of eight types of local climate plans identified in total we document three types of stand-alone local climate plans classified as type A1 (autonomously produced plans), A2 (plans produced to comply with national regulations) or A3 (plans developed for international climate networks). There is wide variation among countries in the prevalence of local climate plans, with generally more plans developed by central and northern European cities. Approximately 66% of EU cities have a type A1, A2, or A3 mitigation plan, 26% an adaptation plan, and 17% a joint adaptation and mitigation plan, while about 33% lack any form of stand-alone local climate plan (i.e. what we classify as A1, A2, A3 plans). Mitigation plans are more numerous than adaptation plans, but planning for mitigation does not always precede planning for adaptation. Our analysis reveals that city size, national legislation, and international networks can influence the development of local climate plans. We found that size does matter as about 80% of the cities with above 500,000 inhabitants have a comprehensive and stand-alone mitigation and/or an adaptation plan (A1). Cities in four countries with national climate legislation (A2), i.e. Denmark, France, Slovakia and the United Kingdom, are nearly twice as likely to produce local mitigation plans, and five times more likely to produce local adaptation plans, compared to cities in countries without such legislation. A1 and A2 mitigation plans are particularly numerous in Denmark, Poland, Germany, and Finland; while A1 and A2 adaptation plans are prevalent in Denmark, Finland, UK and France. The integration of adaptation and mitigation is country-specific and can mainly be observed in two countries where local climate plans are compulsory, i.e. France and the UK. Finally, local climate plans produced for international climate networks (A3) are mostly found in the many countries where autonomous (type A1) plans are less common. This is the most comprehensive analysis of local climate planning to date. The findings are of international importance as they will inform and support decision-making towards climate planning and policy development at national, EU and global level being based on the most comprehensive and up-to-date knowledge of local climate planning available to date. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The basic materials industries together with the utility sector account for significant carbon footprints and are challenged to meet emerging Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions targets. The emitting processes are often co-located in industrial parks, resulting in spatially concentrated, stationary carbon dioxide emissions. Given the multitude of sources from which carbon dioxide could be captured and of possible sinks in which carbon dioxide could be utilized or stored, there is a need to systematically screen the lowest cost footprint reduction options for a given industrial park. This paper presents the first approach to the systematic design of low cost carbon integration networks for industrial parks through integrated analysis of sources, utilization and storage options, as well as capture, separation, compression and transmission options. The paper outlines the optimisation-based approach and illustrates its application with an example. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The majority of the total greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in China are energy-related. Thus, full understanding of energy-related GHG emissions is crucial for local governments to establish a baseline for tracking emission trends and developing mitigation strategies. In this paper, we present a survey-based GHG emission accounting method for sectoral energy consumption and apply it in Xiaolan, a typical town of Zhongshan. The method combines scope and sectoral analyses on the basis of local statistical approach, and pays more attention to data collection process. Scenarios of core findings in the study are list as below: (1) The energy-related GHG emissions of Xiaolan in 2010 was 2,072,444 tons of carbon dioxide equivalents (CO 2 e). Of this, 31.83% was Scope 1 emissions (direct emissions) and 68.17% was Scope 2 emissions (indirect emissions); (2) Emissions from “manufacturing”, “residents”, and “power, gas & water production and supply” made up 90.27%, among which, “manufacturing” represents the biggest emitting sector as 69.09%; (3) In 2010, the per capita GHG emissions was lower than that in most of the other Chinese cities, but higher than several Asian cities including Amman and Tokyo. Some strategic approaches to reduce GHG emissions were proposed: (1) save energy and improve energy efficiency; (2) optimize energy structure and develop low-carbon energy; (3) update manufacturing structure; (4) improve GHG emission management for the resident sector. Finally, we identified a number of key research issues to advance the town level GHG emission method for future research needs. This paper provides a useful method to understand and profile GHG emissions for towns. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Greenhouse gases are the prime cause of climate change, to which India is a significant party. Globally the issue of sub-national or local emissions is increasingly gaining relevance, particularly post-2009, when greater-half of the world has become urbanized for the first time in the human history. International Energy Agency, in its World Energy Outlook report estimates that 70% of the greenhouse gases are produced within the cities. But, there is limited empirical evidence to substantiate such claims in the Indian context. It being a developing country with a large rural population base, the carbon footprint of cities goes unnoticed. On the other hand, unreeling economic growth and rapid urbanization during the last two decades, coupled with limited data in the subject pressingly seeks a systematic determination of urban emission baseline. This research analyzes historic trends of urbanization, thermal power generation and greenhouse gases (GHG) emissions, and evaluates their growth trajectories for the imminent future. This paper is also a first time investigation of urban India's (covering over 7000 Indian towns and cities) contribution of GHG emissions. In absence of any international protocol or a standard methodology to estimate urban GHG burdens of a nation, this paper deals with theoretical issues evident while allocating city emissions like methodological differences, defining ‘urban’ and its boundary and the need to consider downscaling of nationally reported emissions using spatial analysis based on production or location perspective of the most significantly contributing sector namely, energy. Dataset of 454 thermal units reported by Central Electricity Authority for 2011–12 from over hundred coal, diesel, gas and liquid fuel based gas turbine plants has been assessed. The individual plants are verified for their name, capacity, generation and local address from their respective state generation corporations or electricity boards, as applicable. They are then spatially located real time, using universally available (and verifiable) web-based mapping tool of Google Earth and Wikimapia. The information has been assessed on the urban-rural gradient, using population based Census definition for class/hierarchy of towns and their location with respect to the urban boundary. The thermal power plants have eventually been classified within the urban area, on the periphery, transitional or rurban and absolutely rural. The results present an array of emissions, across the urban hierarchy and location in space, underpinning how substantial GHG emissions are attributable to urban and urbanizing areas. The research puts forth, with strong evidence, that in contrast to the general postulation, urban settlements radically contribute to national carbon footprint, which is further bound to increase with urbanization. The findings bear significance to influence research, policy and action in energy and urban sectors and greater cross-sector integration for co-benefits in climate change mitigation at the local city level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Given the need to rein in the rise in the global average temperature, decarbonizing the electricity sector, which accounts for nearly 50% of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, is crucial. The suitability of nuclear power as a base-load technology and its relatively negligible GHG emissions raised expectations of a nuclear renaissance, until the Fukushima disaster brought discussions about nuclear power’s potential to a standstill. However, completely ruling out nuclear may not be sustainable owing to the realities of rising energy demand, climate change considerations, and the need for reliable base-load supply technology, especially in the case of fast growing economies in the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN). The Fukushima disaster was a wake-up call for both governments and the nuclear industry. Led by the International Atomic Energy Agency, the more advanced economies conducted stringent reviews of safety standards and emergency response procedures in the event of a catastrophe. Meanwhile the industry responded with strong commitments towards “Fukushima proof” designs, alongside other advancements towards “safer” fission power. In the ASEAN context, we argue in this paper that in addition to the economic advantage, nuclear power can help address the twin objectives of energy security and mitigating climate change effects. In ASEAN, there is still a strong momentum towards nuclear power development due to strategic considerations. In this paper, we reviewed in a holistic approach the various factors influencing decision making on nuclear power. Using ASEAN as a case study, we argue that nuclear power remains an important option and should be taken up rapidly if decarbonizing electricity generation is a grave concern. We also provide some recommendations towards the “safer nuclear” for ASEAN at the end of this paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cities are mainly responsible for greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the atmosphere and thus for climate change. The European Union (EU) set up a series of strategies and policies to facilitate the elaboration of climate change mitigation and adaptation of urban plans. To do this, it is necessary to measure the city's GHG emission level. The Urban Carbon Footprint (UCF) and its derivation, the Relative Carbon Footprint (RCF), represent the most appropriate tools for obtaining this important information. The present paper applies these indicators to a small city (150 000 inhabitants) located in Southern Italy, a novelty for academic studies, which usually concentrate on megacities. The study focuses only on CO 2 emissions, as these represent 90% of the total GHGs released in urban areas. The findings showed that in 2015 the total UCF was equal to 288 ktCO 2 , specifically deriving from electricity and natural gas consumption. Moreover, Residential, Industry and Tertiary are the most carbon-intensive economic sectors. The RCF was equal to 0.30; the city emission levels were lower than the national average. Therefore, the municipality represents a typical “net-consumer” community, dominated by homes with territorial emissions due to consumption and characterized by a low number of industries and an average income per capita that is 50% lower than the national one. Starting from these results, the study proposed an urban action plan according to the EU mitigation and adaptation policies. This plan could help the local government improve its environmental sustainability, even if more public city-level data is required for a more comprehensive analysis. Finally, it would be more appropriate for all actions to be aligned under a unique policy process to seize the opportunity to link the various local intervention policies from different fields, taking into account their existing funding, tools, processes, and resources. Capitalizing on the adaptation/mitigation connection will allow municipalities to leverage their climate change action efforts and accelerate progress toward their climate and energy goals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

GHG emissions are important footprints because of increasing concern over climate change. Remediation methods produces GHGs in varying quantities based on which activities are involved through its entire life cycle and which contaminants are present, often because some contaminants are more difficult to remove from soil than others. Accounting for emissions from all phases of the project requires a life cycle assessment (LCA) approach. LCA can help in choosing the best available technology to reduce the environmental burden of the remediation technology or to improve the sustainability of the technology by implementing systematic approaches to ensure that future developments are optimized for environmental performance throughout the life cycle. The primary objective of this paper is to review existing LCA studies that report GHG emissions (CO 2-eq ) or Global warming potential (GWP) from six ex-situ soil remediation technologies (ESRTs), including excavation and disposal, ex-situ thermal desorption, ex-situ soil vapor extraction, ex-situ bioremediation, excavation and incineration, and soil washing, and present the variability in GHG/GWP results and how this data can help in selecting an ex-situ soil remediation technology with a lower global warming potential. A second objective of this study is to compare the GWP levels of ex-situ remediation to the GWP levels of typical in situ remediation methods. Our results showed a large variation in GHG emissions of treated soil from six ESRTs varying from 3.1 × 10 −7  t to 8.2 t CO 2 -eq/m 3 . Incineration had the highest mean GHG emissions (0.7 t CO 2 -eq/m 3 ) and thermal desorption the lowest (0.07 t CO 2 -eq/m 3 ). It was also found that there was a large variation range of GHG emissions from the ex-situ excavation and disposal method soil treatment technologies, varying from 3.1 × 10 −7  t to 8.2 t CO 2 -eq/m 3 of treated soil. This knowledge provides opportunities to increase sustainability of soil remediation throughout the investigation, design, construction, operation, and monitoring phases of site remediation regardless of the selected cleanup remedy. This shows data on LCA GHGs are useful to assess the impact of different scenarios and management practices on ESRTs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper tests for the applicability of the Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) hypothesis at the Canadian and provincial/territorial levels using greenhouse gas emissions as an indicator for environmental degradation. The hypothesis is tested using provincial and territorial panel data from 1990 to 2014. The results vary depending on the econometric estimation method. The pooled regression results are mixed, with the EKC hypothesis confirmed at the Canadian level and in half of the provinces and territories. However, the fixed-effects regression results confirm the EKC hypothesis at the Canadian level and in all provinces and territories. The results also highlight the significance of technological change and province/territory specific characteristics in determining the level of greenhouse gas emissions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Interaction between mitigation and adaptation is a key question for the design of climate policies. In this paper, we study how land use adaptation to climate change impacts land use competition in the agriculture, forest and other land use (AFOLU) sector and how a mitigation policy in agriculture might affect this competition. We use for this purpose two sector-specific bio-economic models of agriculture and forest combined with an econometric land use shares model to simulate the impacts of two climate change scenarios (A2 and B1, 2100 horizon), and a greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture policy consisting of a tax of between 0 and 200 €/tCO 2 equivalent. Our results show that both climate change scenarios lead to an increase in the area devoted to agriculture at the expense of forest which could have a negative impact on reducing greenhouse gas emissions responsible for climate change. The mitigation policy would curtail agricultural expansion, and thus could counteract the effects of land use adaptation to climate change. In other words, accounting for land use competition results in a reduction of the abatement costs of the mitigation policy in the agricultural sector. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The ambitious goals to limit global warming can only be reached with a broad acceptance and participation of the general public. This paper relies on surveys among citizens in China, Germany and the U.S. and investigates the determinants of the acceptance of national and international adaptation and mitigation efforts. The empirical findings indicate that specific beliefs and environmental awareness are important drivers in all three countries, while political attitudes and socio-economic characteristics are the main sources of cross-country heterogeneity. The study thereby points at important starting points and target groups for raising the acceptance of national and international climate policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cities can play a key role in the low-carbon transition, with an increasing number of cities engaging in carbon mitigation actions. The literature on urban low-carbon transition shows that low-carbon urban development is an inevitable trend of urban sustainable future; there is a great potential albeit with some limitations for cities to reduce its carbon footprints, and there are diverse pathways for cities to achieve low-carbon development. There is, however, a limited understanding in terms of the internal mechanism of urban low-carbon transition, especially in rapidly developing economies. This paper attempts to address this gap. We examine how low-carbon policies emerge and evolve, and what are the enabling mechanisms, taking Shanghai as a case study. We developed an analytical framework drawing on system innovation theory and sustainability experiments for this purpose. A total of 186 relevant policies were selected and analyzed, which is supplemented by the interviews with stakeholders in the government to gain a deeper insight into the policy contexts in Shanghai. We found that the city's low-carbon initiatives are embedded and integrated into its existing policy frameworks. A strong vertical linkage between the central and the local governments, and more importantly, a nested structure for innovative policy practices were identified, where a top-down design is met with bottom-up innovation and proactive adoption of enabling mechanism. The structure includes two layers of experiments that facilitate learning through policy experiments across scales. The uniqueness, effectiveness, applicability and limitations of these efforts are discussed. The findings provide new theoretical and empirical insights into the multilevel governance of low-carbon transition in cities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate change mitigation requires the reduction of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The majority of the discussions on climate change policy focus exclusively on the reduction of carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) emissions but ignore other important GHGs such as methane. This paper investigates the optimal choice of policy instruments under the joint consideration of CO 2 and methane in a dynamic setting with asymmetric information and pollutant correlations. We develop a dynamic programming model with two state variables and calibrate it to the global warming case. The results show that it is optimal to levy tax on both CO 2 and methane. A mixed strategy that implements a tax on CO 2 and a quota on methane is the second-ranked choice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A passenger transport model, Asia-pacific Integrated Model (AIM)/Transport, incorporating travelers’ mode of choice and transport technological details was developed in this study. This AIM/Transport was coupled with the AIM/Computable General Equilibrium (AIM/CGE) to capture interactive mechanisms between the transport sector, energy consumption, greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, and the macro-economy. This paper presents the model structure and mathematical formulation of AIM/Transport, and explains how it was integrated with the CGE model by an iterative algorithm, taking into consideration the feedback between AIM/Transport and AIM/CGE. A numerical simulation proved that the integration of AIM/CGE and AIM/Transport can achieve a convergence after 13 iterations. A business-as-usual (BaU) scenario and a mitigation scenario were created to test the robustness of the model integration and how the mitigation potential and cost would be modified by coupling AIM/Transport. The key finding was that the carbon price and mitigation cost were modified with the coupled CGE-Transport model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Concerns about climate change are growing, and so is the demand for information about the costs and benefits of mitigating greenhouse gas emissions. This paper seeks to estimate the benefits of climate change mitigation, as measured by the public's willingness to pay for such policies. We investigate the preferences of Italian and Czech households towards climate change mitigation policy options directly related to residential energy use. We use discrete choice experiments, which are administered in a standardized fashion to representative samples in the two countries through computer-assisted web interviews. Our preferred estimates of the willingness to pay per ton of CO 2 emissions avoided is €133 for the Italians and €94 Euro for the Czech respondents (at 2014 purchasing power parity). We find evidence of considerable heterogeneity in WTP driven by income. The two samples differ in their within-sample income elasticities of WTP, but comparison across the two countries suggests an income elasticity of WTP of one—or even greater than one for certain mixed logit specifications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Choosing an effective and efficient building design option for energy management as well as for reducing greenhouse-gas (GHG) emissions associated with a building life-cycle is always highly challenging to any designers in the battle to tackle global climate change issues. Researchers around the world are thriving in building optimization models for developing strategies that would result in an overall reduction of a building's energy consumption aside from decreasing GHG emissions. Despite using similar input data sources, challenges to get similar results which are simulated from different software to assess environmental and financial aspects in a life-cycle of a system are still the dilemma to all sustainable development designers. Another difficulty, which happens in the progress of sustainable development in Australia, is that designers may have to follow a variety of green building rating tools to minimize environmental footprint and to increase the efficiency of buildings operation during their lifetime. Time will be consumed if design options are not appropriately and automatically calculated and assessed. In order to obtain building's life-cycle assessment (LCA) along with to achieve Green Star's certificate, choosing an appropriate program to calculate life-cycle energy consumption, life-cycle cost and life-cycle GHG emissions are a necessity to designers. This paper presents a comprehensive review of all considerable researches focus on the biologically inspired algorithms to different fields of sustainable building designs and their module modelling development in recent years (up to 2016). Major fields are reviewed in detail, including building envelope design, comprehensive optimization of several areas simultaneously as well as configuration and control of building energy consumption. The outcomes of this study can assist researchers to choose which program is the best suitable for their study on sustainable assessment. In Australia, based on these design, practitioners can decide the optimum option for their project which can achieve their sustainability goals as well as can be granted the Green Star's certificate less sophisticated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The so-called Paris Agreement, signed by 195 countries, has led to the setting of some ambitious target reductions in greenhouse gas emissions by most developed countries. The over-arching goal of those reduction targets is to limit global warming to less than 2 o C compared to pre-industrial levels. Yet, despite these commitments from the highest governance levels, there is still no deterministic model on how these national target reductions will be cascaded down to the commercial sector, which accounts for the lion's share of these emissions. In this paper, we present a novel framework which enables the setting, measurement and tracking of the emissions performance of every commercial entity based on a single metric. We further present empirical evidence from the automotive industry to illustrate how the model helps to readily identify the low versus high performers. The model also reveals one car company that stands out as the industry benchmark by already exceeding the performance required by the 2025 emissions target set by the US. The model proves successful in achieving the objectives of being: science-based, goal-driven, equitable, comparable and actionable, and as such can be readily used to accurately compare competitors from the same industry and provide the basis of a more equitable, performance-based carbon tax market, as well as the ability to assess accurately how well a specific country is meeting its reduction quota and how the various industry sectors are impacting that goal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As a way of disposing municipal solid waste, waste-to-energy not only generates energy but also reduces greenhouse gas emissions. Indeed, waste-to-energy plays a crucial role in addressing various environmental issues such as climate change and security of energy supply. Two waste-to-energy approaches were compared with simple landfill in this study, i.e. incineration with energy recovery (electricity and heat), and landfill with landfill gas utilization. It is imperative to investigate which approach is more effective in terms of GHG emission reduction in the context of different climatic conditions. The effects on GHG emission reductions are examined in the Temperate Dry Zone and Tropical Moist Zone. An assumption is made that in 2020, the waste disposal approach will be switched from simple landfill to waste-to-energy approach in China. The contribution of different waste disposal approach to the GHG reduction (1 t municipal solid waste annually) during 2020–2060 is examined in this paper. Both landfill gas utilization and incineration with energy recovery approaches reduce GHG emissions in all cases compared to the simple landfill. However, this study revealed that landfill gas power generation system is more effective in the Tropical Moist Zone, whereas incineration with energy recovery is a better choice in the Temperate Dry Zone according to the comprehensive benefit. Similarly, the improvement of landfill gas collection rate and the heat recovery efficiency play a crucial role to reduce greenhouse gas emissions during the process of managing the municipal solid waste. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A comprehensive GHG inventory provides an overview and the information of sources of emissions, and can serve as a sound scientific basis for mitigation actions. This study was the first initiative to develop a complete and transparent GHG inventory of Beijing, to document the current situation and to help governmental officials to clarify their priorities for reducing GHG emissions. The authors investigated and calculated the emission sources defined by the GPC, and assessed data accuracy. The contents of the detailed inventory were documented and are open for research verification and for methodological references for other cities. The results showed that three emission sources, i.e. CO 2 emissions from fossil fuel consumption, CO 2 emissions from industrial production and CH 4 emissions from landfills, contributed 97% of Beijing's GHGs. Considering the problem of missing data and low data quality, the authors suggested that instead of seeking to compile a complete inventory, Chinese cities should first report their GHG emissions from these sources, while improving the data quality for the long run. The authors anticipate that the findings reported in this paper will help to strengthen city-level GHG inventory research in China and throughout the world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The need for an interdisciplinary and integrative approach for doing research on business strategies and climate change is gaining increasing recognition. However, there is a consensus that such cross-fertilization is currently missing. Multilevel research methods by virtue of being interdisciplinary in nature may address this need. This paper proposes to advance the adoption of multilevel research approach in the context of business strategies and climate change. As a guide for conducting multilevel assessment, a flexible analytical framework is presented. The framework is developed through a process of structured literature review. The framework consists of thirteen contextual factors spread across five levels and identifies the key multilevel relationships that moderate organisational level climate change related strategy formulation. Level specificities of several theories across these five levels are also identified to facilitate application of the framework in building multilevel hypotheses for business strategies on climate change. In addition, a concise summary of the fundamental concepts of multilevel modelling techniques is provided to help researchers in selecting suitable multilevel models during the operationalization of the framework. The operationalization of the framework is demonstrated by building and testing a three level hypotheses on corporate lobbying activities on climate change issues. It is observed that irrespective of their locations, financially underperforming companies with a larger workforce and belonging to sectors with higher Green House Gas emission intensities particularly lobby intensely on climate change issues. In conclusion, the potential challenges and opportunities in applying the framework for building multilevel theories in the context of business strategies and climate change are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate change is one of the most daunting challenges human kind has ever faced. In the paper, we provide a survey of the micro and macro economics of climate change from a complexity science perspective and we discuss the challenges ahead for this line of research. We identify four areas of the literature where complex system models have already produced valuable insights: (i) coalition formation and climate negotiations, (ii) macroeconomic impacts of climate-related events, (iii) energy markets and (iv) diffusion of climate-friendly technologies. On each of these issues, accounting for heterogeneity, interactions and disequilibrium dynamics provides a complementary and novel perspective to the one of standard equilibrium models. Furthermore, it highlights the potential economic benefits of mitigation and adaptation policies and the risk of under-estimating systemic climate change-related risks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Biomass plays a dual role as an energy source and a solution for climate change mitigation. There are complexities surrounding decentralized electricity generation, and Ghana could not achieve its 10% renewable energy target in 2020. The paper assesses the greenhouse gas mitigation potential and economic impact of electricity from major food crop residues subjected to anaerobic digestion technology in 16 regions and 88 districts in Ghana from 2017 to 2020. Buswell equation was applied to calculate the biogas and methane yield. The environmental impact assessment was expressed as global warming potential, and the economic feasibility was conducted. The results showed that crop residues' annual theoretical and technical potential was 28.92 Mt and 17.24 Mt. The top four residues with the largest share of technical potential were maize (5.41 Mt), yam (3.58 Mt), plantain (3.05 Mt) and cassava (2.39 Mt). Biogas and electricity potentials were 1,912.74 Mm3 and 3,068.34 GWh, which could offset 15.56% of electricity consumption in Ghana. The Ashanti (478.18 GWh), Eastern (430.20 GWh), Bono East (318.29 GWh) and Northern (314 GWh) regions demonstrated the highest electricity potential. Ghana could generate the highest electricity potential of 46.52 GWh in the districts and a minimum potential of 0.89 GWh annually. Power generation potential from anaerobic digestion had a diesel displacement capacity of 923.35 × 10 6 L with a GHG emissions reduction of 2,507.35 kt CO 2 eq. The largest GHG reduction potential was 38.15 kt CO 2 eq at the district level. The findings show that the project is economically viable, with an average net present value of $ 10,105,904 per region and an electricity cost of $ 0.0321/kWh. The study provides critical insights to policymakers and industry developers for decentralized biomass-based electricity generation in Ghana. • A sustainable crop residue assessment is conducted in Ghana. • The total biogas-based electricity is 3,068.34 GWh. • Ashanti region has high electricity (478.18 GWh) than Greater Accra (9.82 GWh). • The total GHG mitigation is estimated as 2507.35 kt CO 2 eq. • The project is economically viable at a cost of $ 0.0321/kWh. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate change has become a major issue in recent years owing to the emission of greenhouse gases. Mitigation measures are required to overcome the challenges pertained to greenhouse gases emissions. This research paper attributes to the utilization of catalyzed waste vegetable oil as a binder for the production of roofing tiles to replace the conventional construction materials such as clay and cement. A novel methodology of utilizing catalyzed waste oil incorporated with sand and filler was adopted and the innovative product produced is entitled as catalyzed Vege-Roofing tiles that discovered to be economical and environmentally friendly in contrast to the traditional binders. It is believed that an extended heat curing of vegetable oil resulted in a complex oxy-polymerization reaction converting it into a rigid binder. Triplicate prototypes samples were manufactured to optimize the final conditions for the fabrication of catalyzed Vege-Roofing tiles. Optimized conditions were then implemented to produce standard catalyzed Vege-Roofing tiles and these fabricated tiles have shown flexural stress of up to 12 MPa for 18 h of curing. Moreover, these novel tiles were tested for permeability and water absorption according to the ASTM standards and have shown impermeability and remarkably low water absorption. Progressively, the embodied energy and embodied carbon requirements for these tiles found to be 0.64 MJ/kg and 0.327 kg CO 2 per equivalent respectively which is quite less in comparison to the traditional binders. Conclusively, environmentally friendly and economic production of tiles, conservation of existing resources and overcoming the issue of waste management are the remarkable outcomes of this research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The literature on metrics to measure contributions to climate change from emissions of different greenhouse gases divides into studies that highlight physical aspects and studies that show the importance of economic factors. This paper distinguishes the physical aspects and implications of economic factors by asking what is demanded from physically based metrics if used for a specific policy objective. We study the aim of maximizing the welfare of emissions generated by consumption when there is a limit to the increase in global mean temperature. In that case, metrics ought to change over time, with increasing weight on short-living gases before the temperature limit is met. Metrics for short-living gases increase also with increasing uncertainty. Adjustments to new information spur higher metrics for short-living gases if it reduces the expected allowable emissions before the target is met, and lower metrics in the opposite case. Under a binding target, metrics refer to the instantaneous impact on radiative forcing multiplied by the lifetime of the respective gases, and adjusted by the attitude to risk. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There are many opportunities for consumers to design their lives more sustainably. While a rapidly growing body of literature has investigated how consumers can reduce carbon footprints in key consumption areas, such as food, housing and mobility, an overall framework that allows structuring those options across all consumption areas is still missing. Hence, this paper presents a novel and systematic framework to identify improvement options that promote climate change mitigation and structure them based on their primary mode of impact on GHG emissions. The framework targets consumer practices and focuses on ambitious, but technically and socioeconomically feasible strategies for consumers to lower their carbon footprint. Four major categories for reducing consumption-based emissions form the basic framework, which are then subdivided into behavioural strategies and sub-strategies. The practical application of the framework is illustrated by using food consumption as an example. Systematically identifying improvement options can advance a holistic understanding of the range of behavioural strategies targeting consumer choices that operate at different stages in the supply chain. It thus provides a starting point for addressing critical questions related to the role of consumers in supporting climate change mitigation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Decreasing household size is a global trend, driven by urbanization and multiple other socioeconomic trends. Going solo poses a great environmental challenge, as the possibility to benefit from scale economies in consumption and its greenhouse gas impacts is not taken advantage of. In other words, understanding of intra-household sharing patterns of different consumption categories is increasingly important in climate change mitigation. This paper explores the relationship between household sizes, urban structures, and greenhouse gas impacts of lifestyles. When urban areas grow outwards, the household sizes also grow. As a result of this, the increase in intra-household sharing seems to alleviate the negative GHG implications of urban sprawl, which is highly logical but yet not comprehended. Thus, the rise of collaborative consumption offers potential to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions of solo dwellers, and compensate for the lower intra-household sharing with inter-household sharing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) sets an overall framework for intergovernmental efforts to tackle the challenge posed by climate change. Besides the “flexibility mechanisms” defined by the Kyoto Protocol to lower the overall costs of achieving their emissions targets, The Voluntary Green House Gases (GHG) reduction projects can have a lead role in GHG reduction in “non Emissions Trading System ETS sectors”. Nowadays, the voluntary market is characterised by critical aspects, such as fragmentation, lack of accounting, monitoring and validation rules that have led to the low spread of voluntary emission reduction projects developed by local authorities in the European Union despite their high potentiality. The aim of this paper is to test the applicability of voluntary emission reduction projects in the public sector following a homogeneous and consistent pattern. A research has been performed at local level on 143 voluntary emission reduction projects implemented by Public Administrations in Northern and Central Italy in renewable energy, energy efficiency and transport sectors. The applicable standards and methodologies have been checked and the case studies have been analysed though a three-step process: Preliminary additionality assessment; Projects selection; Validation of the selected project. The assessment shows that energy efficiency projects, once overcoming additionality issues, are the most promising for public entities while renewable energy and transport projects resulted to be mainly affected by double counting problems and lack of reliable methodologies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The use of fossil fuels as a main source of energy is directly linked to global climate change (due to CO 2 emission), so there is a necessity to find new, cheap and easily available energy sources for the earth’s inhabitants. Nowadays renewable energy sources are forced also for the mitigation of the effects of climate change as a result of greenhouse gases emission control. Decentralized sources of low-cost renewable fuels that may be used, in particular, in those households where there is no possibility of using gas or heat delivered from other sources should be of special interest. This paper describes the possibility of using untreated plants such as Canadian goldenrod ( Solidago canadensis L.), mugwort wormwood ( Artemisia absinthium L.) and common tansy ( Tanacetum vulgare L.) as a source of biofuels. These plants are considered weeds and have many advantages, enabling a wider use for energy purposes, especially in cases where there is a large acreage of land set aside. Clean, full-biogenic, renewable fuel without transportation energy demand and taxes is an interesting economical alternative to usually expensive processed wood biomass, such as pellets or briquettes. The following parameters of the studied fuels were investigated: the yield per hectare, density of growth, dry matter content during the harvest, bulk density, ash content and calorific value. Results revealed that the investigated species could be considered as great primary energy sources due high calorific value (over 16 MJ kg −1 ), low moisture, low costs and availability. Canadian Goldenrod was found to be especially promising since it covers most of uncultivated land and could be burned in large number of rural households without boiler and heating system change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Finance has become a crucial agenda in climate change negotiations in recent years. Meanwhile, multilateral negotiations on climate change as a whole are making meager progress, and increasingly observed are activities by national governments and transnational non-state actors. The purpose of this paper is to illustrate how investment towards low-carbon development could be materialized in Asia. A thorough review of current financial assistance for developing countries in Asia was conducted, and the amount of funding proved to be relatively modest to achieve the aim. We then examined financial policy instruments that could be implemented in the region. We estimated that USD125–149 billion per year would be needed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the region by 2035. We also estimated that more than a half of this amount of funding could be achieved by public sector if several key policy instruments were agreed upon and enacted at regional and national levels in Asia. The role of private sector investment was also found to be indispensable in fulfilling all the long-term investment needs related to climate mitigation in the region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Policies to assure combatting climate change and realising energy security have stimulated a rapid growth in global installed capacity of renewable energy generation. The expansion of power generation from renewables, though, has so far lagged behind the growth in generation capacity. This indicates missed and relatively cheap opportunities to reduce GHG emissions. This paper sheds light on the mismatch between installed capacity and power generation for the case of wind power. It analyses and compares wind power developments in the four countries that contributed most to the increase in wind power capacity during the last decade: namely, China, the United States, Germany and Spain. We estimate the dynamics of capacity utilisation of wind power installations and identify its drivers. Finally, we identify potential policies to reduce the gap between power capacity and generation, which will contribute to cost-effective reduction of GHG emissions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Belt and Road Initiative was proposed by China in 2013 to promote the interconnected development and prosperity of all participating countries. In the context of global response to climate change, understanding the embodied carbon transfer change along economic trade before and after the Belt and Road Initiative is essential to reduce carbon overall emission. In this paper, we used a multi-regional input-output model to study the embodied carbon transfer in trade between the Belt and Road countries that have signed cooperation documents with China from 2004 to 2017. The results showed that from 2004 to 2017, the growth rate that China's carbon emissions imported from other Belt and Road Initiative countries was about 1.9 times that of its exports. From 2004 to 2017, the proportion of China's carbon imports from other Belt and Road countries in China's total carbon imports increased from 3.41% to 3.73%, and exports decreased from 6.52% to 6.03%. In both 2004 and 2017, Electricity, Gas and Water sector, Heavy Industry sector, Transport sector were the three largest carbon transfer sectors in China's multilateral trade. In 2017, the embodied carbon transfer by multilateral trade among other Belt and Road countries except China increased by 15.53% compared with 2004. By comparing the characteristics of carbon transfer between China and the Belt and Road countries from 2004 to 2017, this study will provide insights for carbon emission reduction policy setting of Belt and Road Initiative countries. • We took countries that have signed documents with China as research objects. • MRIO model was used to analyze the carbon transfer change from 2004 to 2017. • The embodied carbon transfer in 2017 of BRI increased by 15.53% compared with 2004. • The growth rate of China's carbon imports from BRI was 1.9 times that of exports. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Thermal energy loss in the process industry is a significant issue due to the high temperatures and multiple heat intensive processes involved. High-grade thermal energy is typically recovered within processes. However, lower grade heat is often rejected to the environment. The benefits of capturing and utilising low grade thermal energy are highly dependent on the qualities and properties of the heat in the waste streams. The temperature of the low grade heat stream is the most important parameter, as the effective use of the residual heat or the efficiency of energy recovery from the low grade heat sources will mainly depend on the temperature difference between the source and a suitable sink, e.g. another process or space heating/cooling. In general, the temperatures of these waste heat sources are too low to produce electricity and direct heat use will depend on whether potential user can be found. This paper presents past and current drivers for heat recovery studies. High and low grade heat sources are defined according to the viability of recovery within the processes. Firstly, high grade heat capture within the processes is reviewed. Then, the focus is on the potential for low grade heat capture outside of the original plant. The paper addresses the potential for low grade heat recovery with regard to new incentives and technological advances. Finally, different aspects which influence the decision making for low grade heat recovery in the process industry are discussed. It is concluded that organisational, financial and economic barriers might be overcome and benefits from a holistic vision could be gained with stronger governmental policy and regulation incentives. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Methane emission from livestock manure is increasingly contributing to the global green house gas emissions. In this paper the methane emission from cattle, pig, sheep, goat and chicken manure in four West African countries; Nigeria, Ghana, Burkina Faso and Mali were estimated. A systematic estimation of the methane emission was done based on the livestock production projections by FAO from 1998 to 2008 and guidelines provided by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). During this period, cattle were found to have emitted more methane followed by pigs, goats, sheep and chicken in that order. A total of about 845 Gg of methane was emitted by the livestock during the period of which cattle contributed about 40%, whereas pigs, goats, sheep and chicken contributed 21.2%, 18.7%, 13.1% and 6.6% respectively. The methane emission from manure management in these countries increased from 64.1 Gg in 1998 to 90.5 Gg in 2008, with an annual growth rate of 3.4% y−1. The methane estimated from livestock manure over the period was shown to be consistent with the linear group model which predicts that in 2018, 2.4 Mt CO2-eq will be emitted increasing to 3.0 Mt CO2-eq in 2028 if the mechanism of manure management remains unchanged. This paper reveals that generating methane from the manure produced by the livestock under controlled conditions could supplement the energy needs, increase Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and consequently reduce the direct impact of methane on climate change. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Climate change and its consequences present one of the most important threats to biodiversity and the functions of ecosystems. The stress on biodiversity is far beyond the levels imposed by the natural global climatic changes occurring in the recent evolutionary past. It includes temperature increases, shifts of climate zones, melting of snow and ice, sea level rise, droughts, floods, and other extreme weather events. Natural systems are vulnerable to such changes due to their limited adaptive capacity. Based on an analysis using the DPSIR framework, this paper discusses some of the important socio-economic driving forces of climate change, with a focus on energy use and transportation. The paper also analyses observed and potential changes of climate and the pressures they exert on biodiversity, the changes in biodiversity, the resulting impacts on ecosystem functions, and possible policy responses. The latter can be divided into mitigation and adaptation measures. Both strategies are needed, mitigation in order to stabilise the greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere, and adaptation in order to adjust to changes that have already occurred or cannot be avoided. One mitigation option, increased biofuel production, which is also a response to oil depletion, would change land use patterns and increase human appropriation of net primary production of biomass, thereby threatening biodiversity. By considering the first order and second order impacts of climate change on biodiversity when developing policy measures, it will be possible to integrate ecosystem and biodiversity protection into decision-making processes. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

• Constructing a new welfare function considering economy, equity and ecology. • Optimizing carbon emission pathways from multiple perspectives. • Focusing on the emission pathways in China achieving the ambitious targets. With the increasing climate warming, reducing carbon emissions has gradually become a consensus around the world. However, the process of carbon emission reduction will inevitably lead to the transformation of economic structure, industrial structure and energy structure, which will bring huge changes in economic output, employment and other aspects, thus affecting the overall social welfare and equity. Therefore, it is particularly important for each country to determine a scientific and effective carbon emission pathway which take into account both social development and climate targets. As the largest carbon emitter, China has put forward the targets of carbon peak and carbon neutrality. In this regard, the corresponding carbon emission reduction scenarios are designed according to the new situation of China's emission reduction in this paper, firstly. Furthermore, under the premise of maximizing social welfare, an optimization model which integrating economic growth-equity-environment is developed to determine China's emission pathways under different scenarios from 2020 to 2050. Besides quantitatively showing the future total amount and peak value of carbon emissions under different scenarios, the results can also identify its evolution pathway over time. Therein, the peak under most scenarios will concentrate in 2025–2030, which is about 10.7 to 11.8 billion tons. With the increasingly stringent constraints on carbon emission reduction, the cost of emission reduction will increase correspondingly, but the overall social welfare will increase slightly. Finally, our findings provide practical guidance on achieving carbon emission reduction and enlightenments on policymaking. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cleantech projects can significantly contribute to the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions globally. However, they often lack investments from the conventional finance sector. Crowdfunding represents an alternative for financing cleantech projects. By using a Qualitative Comparative Analysis, this paper explores the combinational effect of the six success factors identified in the general crowdfunding literature for cleantech projects published on Kickstarter platform. The results indicate that crowdfunding success of cleantech projects is highly contextual, and identify a set of core conditions that cleantech entrepreneurs are advised to consider for their crowdfunding campaign design. • Crowdfunding represents an alternative for financing cleantech projects. • It is important to understand the combined effect of crowdfunding success factors. • Crowdfunding success of cleantech projects is context dependent. • Communication, short campaign duration and use of emotional appeal enables success. • Entrepreneurs make use of five different types of updates for communication. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the reality of climate change facing the planet, industry is being challenged to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Due to the large number of industrial parks around the world, they are an important and arguably, an appropriate level at which to manage GHG. The question being considered in this paper is whether a multi-disciplinary, muti-dimensional and integrated approach could result in a practical and cost-effective management plan for a carbon neutral eco-industrial park. Taking Debert Air Industrial Park (DAIP), Nova Scotia as an example, a combination of tenant and park strategies, which companies can adopt both individually and collectively in concert with industrial park planners and management are identified and are already being implemented in parks to reduce GHG emissions. The study also involved a survey of business managers. While we agree that some individual strategies such as enhancing renewable energy sources and energy efficiency initiatives will have significant impact, we conclude that a wider mix of strategies including land use planning will be necessary to result in a low carbon, resilient and ecologically sustainable park. Implementing these strategies will be helpful to reduce or offset GHG emissions at an industrial park level and facilitate the transition of industrial parks towards an eco-industrial development in both regenerative and preventative ways through planning, design and management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the European Union, the share of renewable energy has increased significantly over the past few years. Among renewable energy options, bioenergy is considered to be the dominant energy source. Previous literature is inconclusive regarding the suitability of bioenergy to mitigate greenhouse gases. The goal of this paper is to address this research gap. Life Cycle Assessments (LCAs) of biomass systems for electricity generation were gathered via a systematic literature review and form the empirical basis of this study. A quantitative exploratory analysis and a Qualitative Comparative Analysis were carried out to identify the greenhouse gas mitigation potential of different biomass systems used for electricity generation. Significant variations in LCA results are due to the heterogeneity of these systems; therefore, the transferability of LCA results to similar systems must be investigated on a case-by-case basis. Results show that electricity from biomass can be an appropriate measure for greenhouse gas mitigation in the European Union. To mitigate greenhouse gases, it is recommended to promote the employment of (1) non-dedicated lignocellulosic biomass with thermochemical conversion, (2) dedicated lignocellulosic biomass with thermochemical conversion, and (3) dedicated lignocellulosic biomass with direct combustion. For a more holistic assessment, future research should focus not only on greenhouse gas emissions, but also on other environmental, economic, and social impact categories. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]