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The pulp and paper industry, which provides cellulose pulp and paper, bio-based energy and chemicals, is one of the largest energy consumers, greenhouse gases (GHG) and pollutant emitters among manufacturing industries. Although the environmental impact of the pulp and paper industry has been extensively studied, life cycle assessment (LCA) results have not yet reached a consensus. By means of a systematic review and meta-analysis, this article contributes to the quantification and harmonization of the life cycle environmental impacts of pulp making and paper making systems. Based on the screening of 45 cases of paper making and 18 cases of pulp making, we found that 1 t of paper results in about 950 kg carbon dioxide (CO2) equivalent (CO2-eq) GHG emissions on average. However, there are distinct differences between countries and pulp and paper categories. The dominant factor influencing GHG emissions is energy use. In paper making, the pulp making process is responsible for 62% of energy use, 45% of GHG emissions, 48% of acidification potential, and 49% of eutrophication potential. The kg CO2-eq emissions of three different types of pulp were as follows: Kraft, 508 kg CO2-eq/t; chemi-mechanical, 513 kg CO2-eq/t; and recycled pulp, 408 kg CO2-eq/t. Excluding emissions from electricity and steam production, the convergence of carbon emissions is observed within the same categories of pulp. Straw-based pulp caused far more environmental impact than any other type because of the intensive inputs in agricultural activities as well as in the pulp making process. This research highlighted the inconsistencies in functional units, system boundaries, and methodologies and carbon neutrality assumptions in different LCA studies of pulp and paper making. Future studies should focus on the environmental impact of straw-based pulp making, system boundary unification, and calculation of biogenic carbon emissions.

Small modular reactors (SMRs) are small-scale reactor designs (< 300 MWe), generally planned for deployment as multi-module nuclear power plants. Due to their small size, SMR modules could be manufactured in a factory and deployed to a site via truck or rail for installation and fueling. SMRs are being evaluated for their ability to provide both power and steam, such that they could be a viable replacement for fossil fuels. SMRs have been considered for coupling to manufacturing processes in addition to being connected to the grid, allowing them to follow the net grid demand in a “load following” operational mode during times of high renewable generation. Alternately, SMRs could be used to replace cogeneration and combined-cycle processes at manufacturing plants which utilize natural gas and other fossil fuels. Idaho National Laboratory (INL) is studying the use of SMRs for large-scale manufacturing processes that require both electricity and steam. The current study examines the integration of a SMR with two mid-size pulp and paper mills in the southeastern United States. The study consists of three parts: steady-state analysis of the mill, elimination of fossil fuel use in the lime kilns, and economic analysis of the modified plant operations. A steady-state model of each mill is developed in Aspen HYSIS based on real data from the operation of each mill. The steady-state model is then modified to include the SMR while maintaining production steam quality and making as few changes to existing equipment as possible. This model gives an estimate of the minimum requirements for SMR output, as well as the change in generation by existing boilers and turbines. With an overall picture of the new plant operation and determining the number of SMR modules required, further changes are suggested to minimize or completely eliminate fossil fuel use from the plant. Apart from steam generation, the largest consumer of fossil fuels at the plant is typically the lime kilns. Conversion of the lime kilns from fossil fuel combustion to electric heating is the most feasible solution to eliminate fossil fuels. This study finds that electric lime kilns are economical when the plant has a surplus This study presents a feasible example of using an SMR as a substitute for fossil fuel cogeneration. If this approach were expanded across the manufacturing industry, it would have a significant impact on environmental emissions and air quality.

As China puts forward its “carbon emissions peak and carbon neutrality” goals, how to achieve carbon reductions has become a key for China’s goal. The manufacturing industry is a significant source of carbon dioxide emissions. For a manufacturing country such as China, adjustments in various aspects of the industry would have a huge impact on its carbon emissions. As an important reform of the contemporary production mode, the process of production automation in China will inevitably affect China’s carbon emissions; therefore, the analysis of the impact of that production automation on the carbon dioxide emissions is an important basis for judging the future carbon reductions in China. Referring to the traditional study of the carbon Kuznets curve, this paper analyzes the impact of an average wage on production automation and the role of production automation in the carbon Kuznets curve (CKC). This paper proposes that production automation plays a mediating role in the process of carbon emissions, and gives a verification model of that mediating role. By analyzing the relationship between average wages and the production automation process, the U-shaped curve relationship between them was verified. By examining the relationship between carbon dioxide emissions data and the production automation industry in China, we verified that production automation plays a partial mediating role in the change of the carbon Kuznets curve. Combined with the analysis of the two parts, this paper believes that with the continuous development of China’s intelligent manufacturing industry, China’s carbon reduction prospects are more optimistic, and that there is a good industrial foundation to achieve the “carbon peaking and carbon neutrality” goals. Finally, this paper proposes policy suggestions so as to increase research investment in production automation, to help promote the application of production automation, encourage the research and application development of low-carbon technology, especially encouraging modular design, and to give full play to the role of production automation in the process of carbon neutrality in China.

A transition to a carbon neutral society will require a shift from fossil to renewable resources. This will affect the conversion of biomass and related industries such as the pulp and paper industry. The purpose of this paper is two-fold: first, to describe and analyse the transformation processes in the Swedish pulp and paper industry and the adoption of biorefinery options, and second, to demonstrate how conceptualisations from strategic management can be used to describe regime destabilisation. The industry's adoption of biorefinery options has been modest so far, but there is development along two trajectories. The first centres on gasification and the second on separation and refining. Such diverging strategies in response to external pressure can be explained by differences that exist between firms. Signs of increasing firm divergence, or ‘regime fragmentation’, might indicate the entry into a phase of regime destabilisation, and a critical point in a transition.

There is a significant opportunity now for investors to build, own, and operate biorefineries at existing pulp and paper sites that will work synergistically and economically for the pulp and paper mill owner and the biorefinery owner. The pulp and paper industry is the world’s largest nonfood biomass collection system. The pulp and paper industry is a mature industry producing low-margin commodity products. But it has the ideal infrastructure, experience, and resources to capitalize on the strategic interest in renewable fuels via the biorefinery. Industry leaders, investors, policy-makers, and others are now beginning to better understand the vital role to be played by biorefineries as we move from a fossil fuel-based energy economy toward a bio-based one. When properly located and operated, the potential of an integrated forest biorefinery is expected to be huge: a very attractive and synergistic business opportunity for both the colocated pulp and paper mill and the biorefinery itself. Biorefineries are a key pathway to our biofuture, displacing fossil fuels and supplying clean, renewable, and carbon neutral energy. Biorefineries fit very well at pulp and paper mills because of their inherent ability to gather and process biomass and create energy from biomass.

Energy technologies based on biomass conversion are put forward as major means to curb climate change and enable a transition to a carbon neutral society. Many policies at international and national level are set up to support this transition. The pulp and paper industry is strongly linked to the conversion of biomass in Sweden and have a decisive role for the future of these technologies. This study aims to describe and explain the Swedish pulp and paper industry’s reaction to policy with regard to the development of biorefineries. It turns out that firms are developing along two technological trajectories; 1) gasification for fuel production with a business model similar to the current one and 2) separation and refining for production of high value products, which requires a modified business model. Firms are also repositioning themselves within the regime and across regime borders. We conclude that the regime is in a phase of fragmentation. The policy implications from this analysis are that effective policy intervention needs to consider that multiple signals that are affecting the regime and policies should be designed depending on what degree of regime fragmentation that is desirable.

Whereas the implementation of the Tourism Protocol of the Alpine Convention seems far from its completion, the Alpine Convention fourth report on the state of the Alps "Sustainable Tourism in the Alps" is under preparation and it is expected by the end of 2012. One of the main critical challenges that Alpine tourism needs to face in the quest for sustainability is climate change. In recent years several research and cooperation projects focusing on the Alpine region have been dealing with the issue of climate change. In particular the Alpine Space Programme, starting with ClimChAlp (2006-2008), focused on the issue of adaptation to climate change in the following call (2008-2011) through several projects: CLISP, ClimAlpTour, Manfred, AdaptAlp, AlpWaterScarce, ParaMount, PermaNet, SILMAS, AlpFFIRS. These projects led to a capitalization project named C3Alps that recently started. At the same time, the Alpstar project, which also started recently, will focus on climate change mitigation and on making the Alps a carbon neutral environment. The Euro-Mediterranean Centre for Climate Change (CMCC) contributed to several of these Alpine Space projects (ClimChAlp, AdaptAlp, ClimAlpTour and C3Alps). Other non Alpine Space projects have also contributed to this research and cooperation issue, such as CC.ALPS (by CIPRA), KLIWA (by various German and Bavarian institutions), Histalp (Austrian weather service), etc. However, ClimAlpTour is the only project that explicitly focused on tourism. This paper builds on these projects’ findings, especially for what concerns the implications for the tourism sector, and on the existing relevant literature.

Chemical oxygen demand (COD) is widely used as an organic pollution indicator in wastewater treatment plants. Large amounts of organic matter are removed during treatment processes to meet environmental standards, and consequently, substantial greenhouse gases (GHGs) such as methane (CH4) are released. However, the COD indicator covers a great amount of refractory organic matter that is not a pollutant and could be a potential carbon sink. Here, we collected and analysed COD data from 86 worldwide municipal wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) and applied a model published by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change to estimate the emission of CH4 due to recalcitrant organic compound processing in China’s municipal wastewater treatment systems Our results showed that the average contribution of refractory COD to total COD removal was 55% in 86 WWTPs. The amount of CH4 released from the treatment of recalcitrant organic matter in 2018 could have been as high as 38.22 million tons of carbon dioxide equivalent, which amounts to the annual carbon sequestered by China’s wetlands. This suggests that the use of COD as an indicator for organic pollution is undue and needs to be revised to reduce the emission of GHG. In fact, leaving nontoxic recalcitrant organic matter in the wastewater may create a significant carbon sink and will save energy during the treatment process, aiming at carbon neutrality in the wastewater treatment industry.

Pollution and climate change induced by fossil fuel usage are calling for the development of a circular bioeconomy based on carbon neutral resources such as marine macroalgae, also named seaweeds. Macroalgal biomass can generate biofuels and valuable bioproducts such as hydrocolloids and other unique biomolecules. Biorefinery of marine macroalgae involves a minimum use of energy and chemicals, and low waste generation, as demonstrated in recent laboratory-scale studies. Here, we review biorefinery of marine macroalgae with focus on non-energy bioproducts and advances in the separation of biomolecules. We found that metabolites with bioactive properties are in high demand for food, cosmetic, medicine and pharmaceutical industries. These metabolites can be obtained together with energy products to improve macroalgae valorization. Emerging extraction methods facilitate the generation of more qualitative bioproducts in higher yields with less energy.

The past decade has witnessed a spectacular growth in bioproducts development due to the intense interest in creating a more diverse energy supply and a carbon neutral bioeconomy. Such a burgeoning...

A recent study by DeCicco et al. (Climatic Change 138:667–680, 2016) claims that corn used for ethanol should not be considered to be inherently biogenically carbon-neutral because not all that corn was grown additional to the level otherwise. By assessing the extent of carbon neutrality of corn for ethanol using the reference point baseline approach and historical data that study concluded that the carbon intensity of US corn ethanol is 27% higher than that of gasoline. We develop a framework to determine the carbon neutrality of corn for ethanol by assessing the additional carbon uptake by crops using an anticipated baseline approach. We also apply this framework to determine the additional corn produced for ethanol and include the direct life cycle carbon emissions of only that portion of corn in the direct life cycle carbon intensity of corn ethanol. We implement this framework by integrating an economic model of the agricultural sector in the USA with a biogenic carbon model and life cycle analysis to quantify biogenic carbon uptake and direct life cycle emissions with and without corn ethanol expansion over the 2007–2027 period. We find that the combined biogenic carbon emissions and direct life cycle carbon emission intensity of corn ethanol (not including indirect land use related emissions) is 21% lower than gasoline. The lower value of this carbon intensity of corn ethanol compared with gasoline is robust to a wide range of parametric assumptions.

Renewable sources of energy and chemicals are a viable solution in current situation where world is facing extreme energy crisis. Achieving carbon neutral options for energy supply and high productive options for bulk chemicals by renewable source. Microalgal Biomass is a promising option and has the potential to provide renewable energy and products for future grown in minimum inputs and gives higher output. In this review paper three cultivation techniques are discussed such as autotrophic, heterotrophic, and mixotrophic. Mixotrophic cultivation involves combination of both auto and heterotrophic modes where both light reaction and dark reaction are combined for maximum results. Cost effective options of bioenergy and valuable co products are efficiently produced from microalgae in mixotrophic cultivation conditions. Bioprospection of microalgal options for bioenergy and cultivating those strains in mixotrophic conditions combining with wastewater treatment and CO2 fixation from atmosphere to produce biofuel and valuable co products in the main theme of this review. Concept of biorefinery is prescribed for future options.

Since the 20th century, plastics that are widely being used in general life and industries are causing enormous plastic waste problems since improperly discarded plastics barely degrade and decompose. Thus, the demand for polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs), biodegradable polymers with material properties similar to conventional petroleum-based plastics, has been increased so far. The microbial production of PHAs is an environment-friendly solution for the current plastic crisis, however, the carbon sources for the microbial PHA production is a crucial factor to be considered in terms of carbon-neutrality. One‑carbon (C1) resources, such as methane, carbon monoxide, and carbon dioxide, are greenhouse gases and are abundantly found in nature and industry. C1 resources as the carbon sources for PHA production have a completely closed carbon loop with much advances; i) fast carbon circulation with direct bioconversion process and ii) simple fermentation procedure without sterilization as non-preferable nutrients. This review discusses the biosynthesis of PHAs based on C1 resource utilization by wild-type and metabolically engineered microbial host strains via biorefinery processes.

Sugarcane biorefineries, despite their contribution to sustainable transportation fuels and mitigation of carbon emissions in the mobility sector, produce a large amount of carbon dioxide in their conversion processes. According to the Paris climate agreement, a carbon neutral energy system has to be launched in the years to come, and in this scenario, greenhouse gases emission free industrial processes and alternative carbon sources will be needed. Therefore, this paper presents the evaluation of carbon mass balance of a typical Brazilian ethanol mill to better understand its potential for energy and carbon yield improvement. Due to the fact that Brazilian sugarcane mills are evolving from first generation to integrated first and second generation plant, four different scenarios were analysed. For a first generation plant without (S-I) and with conversion of straw to electricity (S-II) and for the integrated plant (S-III), results of carbon mass balance showed that the harvested sugarcane carbon was mainly converted into CO2 and in a smaller proportion into ethanol. In the modelled cases S-I to S-III the conversion of sugarcane carbon into CO2 and ethanol ranged from 41% to 53% and 17%–22%, respectively. Because this carbon amount in the CO2 flows provides an interesting platform to both increase the bioenergy produced and the harvested carbon-to-fuels ratio, a fourth scenario (S-IV) that studies the integration of power-to-gas (PtG) technologies into the mill was also considered. PtG can increase the sugarcane fuels energy content from 9.3 kW/ha to 33.6 kW/ha using 1361.3 MWe of electricity, increasing the amount of sugarcane carbon transformed into sugarcane based fuels to 54% and converting CO2 into a high value added product.

Microalgae have been used commercially since the 1950s and 1960s, particularly in the Far East for human health foods and in the United States for wastewater treatment. Initial attempts to produce bulk chemicals such as biofuels from microalgae were not successful, despite commercially favorable conditions during the 1970s oil crisis. However, research initiatives at this time, many using extremophilic microalgae and cyanobacteria (e.g., Dunaliella and Spirulina), did solve many problems and clearly identified biomass productivity and harvesting as the two main constraints stopping microalgae producing bulk chemicals, such as biofuels, on a large scale. In response to the growing unease around global warming, induced by anthropogenic CO2 emissions, microalgae were again suggested as a carbon neutral process to produce biofuels. This recent phase of microalgae biofuels research can be thought to have started around 2007, when a very highly cited review by Chisti was published. Since 2007, a large body of scientific publications have appeared on all aspects of microalgae biotechnology, but with a clear emphasis on neutral lipid (triacylglycerol) synthesis and the use of neutral lipids as precursors for biodiesel production. In this review, the key research on microalgal biotechnology that took place prior to 2007 will be summarized and then the research trends post 2007 will be examined emphasizing the research into producing biodiesel from microalgae.

Biomass utilization has arouse great attention and interest in recent years as it offers a net zero carbon footprint and security of the feedstocks. Current utilization process of biomass can be classified into biochemical and thermochemical conversion process. Pyrolysis process seems to be the promising conversion process in securing chemical feedstock as pyrolysis oil can be futher upgraded for chemical extraction. This paper reviews the most abundance biomass in Malaysia which is palm waste and discusses the its utilization by prolysis process. Upgrading research of pyrolysis oil also been discussed as to promotes the effective utilization of waste and securing alternative energy source.

In the past three decades, many studies on the production of biofuels and other chemicals have been conducted using renewable sources such as lignocellulosic biomass. Lignocellulosic biomasses are abundantly available in most countries and furthermore they are carbon neutral. However, the main problem in utilizing lignocellulosic materials lies in the recalcitrance of its bonding. This review provides a comprehensive overview and a brief discussion on producing biofuel and valuable chemicals from lignocellulose biomass. Various aspects of the physical, chemical, thermophysical, thermochemical and biological pretreatment of lignocellulosic materials are discussed in this review. The success in biofuel and chemical production strongly depends on the pretreatment method used. Overall, pretreatment is the major step in the successful production of valuable products from lignocellulosic biomass.

Any technology needs to be environmentally sustainable to be successful. The biomass gasification technology is often perceived to be carbon neutral. However, these perceptions need to be confirmed using a rigorous life-cycle assessment (LCA). This chapter presents a sustainability assessment of the biomass gasification technology for the production of ammonia. Conventional ammonia production that is based on hydrocarbon feedstock is known to be energy-intensive and tends to make a substantial contribution to the global greenhouse gas emissions. Therefore, an environmentally benign feedstock in the form of biomass is proposed as an alternative. Biomass, when used as a feedstock for ammonia production, is expected to yield a considerable reduction in environmental impacts. This chapter undertakes a cradle-to-gate life-cycle assessment (LCA) for ammonia production from biomass through the gasification route. Three different biomass feedstocks, namely wood, straw, and bagasse, are compared for their environmental sustainability by using different environmental indicators. Furthermore, these feedstocks are modeled for cultivation in three different geographical regions. The results suggest that different biomass feedstocks and geographical regions have their own niche environmental advantages. The global warming potential (GWP) for the straw-based ammonia production was found to be close to natural gas-based ammonia production. Contrariwise, 78% reduction in GWP compared to natural gas-based ammonia production is noticed when bagasse is used as a feedstock for ammonia production.

Because of decreasing crude-oil reserves, and increasing concerns regarding global climate change and higher energy demands, focus has recently turned to the exploration of new renewable alternatives to fossil feedstocks for the production of energy fuels and chemicals. Recently, biomass has attracted much attention and been rapidly developed because it is readily available, cheap, and carbon neutral. In particular, the catalytic production of polyols from biomass and its derived compounds has become the subject of global research. Polyols, which are important industrial raw materials, are widely used for the production of hydrogen, liquid fuels, and chemicals. Cellulose, the most abundant source of biomass in nature, can be catalytically converted to polyols. This review summarizes and comments on recent advances in cellulose upgrading for the production of polyols (sorbitol, isosorbide, ethylene glycol, and 1,2-propylene glycol); it also outlines the challenges in this field, and our research work.

It is often assumed that wood fuels are carbon neutral. This is approximately true in the very long run since the emissions from burning wood fuels are compensated by the uptake from new trees. But it is not true in the short- and the medium term due to a number of factors. This problem is analyzed in detail in this paper, where the net carbon (dioxide) effect of using wood residues in Sweden 1980–2100 is calculated. Two important implications of the program for using wood fuels are considered: (i) the decrease of carbon stored in logging residues due to a faster transformation to carbon dioxide and (ii) delayed growth of new forest generations when logging residues are removed from the forest and used as fuel. The effects of both these factors are calculated (and projected) for the period 1980–2100. The main result is that wood fuels (in the form of wood residues) emits about 60% of the carbon dioxide that would have been emitted if the corresponding amount of energy would, have been produced by oil. One policy implication of this is that emissions from wood fuels should not, as is now the practice, be ignored and by definition equaled to zero, in national and international statistics of green house gas emissions.

Large amounts of rice husk ash (RHA) are produced every year worldwide, and difficulties related to its disposal may cause this product to become an environmental hazard. Owing to its high amorphous silica content, RHA has shown to be a valid supplementary cementing material in the production of concrete. This paper presents the physical and chemical properties of a new generation RHA that is off-white in color, is carbon neutral, and has no crystalline SiO2 and toxic metals. The effects on mechanical properties of a mixture using off-white rice hull ash (OWRHA) as partial replacement of white cement were also investigated. The OWRHA-blended concrete has higher compressive and splitting tensile strengths at various ages compared with the control mixture. It is shown that up to 15% of OWRHA could be advantageously blended with white cement to enhance white concrete performance without modifying the aesthetics of the final product.

In the past three decades, many studies on the production of biofuels and other chemicals have been conducted using renewable sources such as lignocellulosic biomass. Lignocellulosic biomasses are abundantly available in most countries and furthermore they are carbon neutral. However, the main problem in utilizing lignocellulosic materials lies in the recalcitrance of its bonding. This review provides a comprehensive overview and a brief discussion on producing biofuel and valuable chemicals from lignocellulose biomass. Various aspects of the physical, chemical, thermophysical, thermochemical and biological pretreatment of lignocellulosic materials are discussed in this review. The success in biofuel and chemical production strongly depends on the pretreatment method used. Overall, pretreatment is the major step in the successful production of valuable products from lignocellulosic biomass.

Purpose – Dairy has been the backbone of agriculture in regional Norway, and the processing of milk has been dominated by co-operatives owned by milk farmers. During the social democratic order (1945–1979), productivist agriculture thrived, while a more multifunctional agriculture was developed after 1980. As a measure against overproduction, a quota system was introduced in 1983. The purpose of this study is to see if there are signs of a neo-productivism revival after climate change and other global shocks, like the food crisis, featured prominently on the political agenda. Design/methodology/approach – The chapter reviews the radical structural changes in Norwegian dairy production since the early 1960s, which reduced the number of milk farms radically from 148,000 in 1959 to almost 16,000 in 2009. According to the Agricultural Agreement between the Norwegian government and the farmers' organisations, the co-operatives are given an important semi-public role as market-price regulators and stock keepers. This Norwegian system may be described as a classical regulated dairy regime. The Norwegian dairy regime has been through several deregulations and re-regulations over the last 20 years, partly forced by internal pressures and partly inspired by liberalisation tendencies abroad. Findings – After mid-1990s, there has been an increase in the number of joint dairy farms, where individual ownership of land is maintained while herds, buildings and machinery are merged. Three thousand six hundred thirty dairy farmers are now participating in 1,510 joint farming firms, producing 29 per cent of the milk in Norway. This rapid growth of joint farming is transforming the dairy sector in Norway. Analysis has shown that its evolution is closely tied to farmer socio-economic demands, including social benefits, such as increased leisure time, and security during illness. While there has been pressure to increase productivity, the food crisis changed attitudes, making the current policy of import tariffs and subsidies easier to defend. Originality/value – This chapter shows that neo-liberalism in Norway was not pursued as far as in most other OECD countries, although some deregulation was taking place. Norwegian agricultural policies are still regulating the sector to a substantial degree, with the annual Agricultural Agreement negotiations serving as a centrepiece. Norway has ambitious climate goals, and by 2020 greenhouse gases emissions should be reduced to 30 per cent of the 1990 rate. A further goal is that Norway will be carbon neutral by 2030. As part of the implementation of its climate policy, a White Paper on agriculture and climate change was put forward in May 2009. For Norwegian food production as a whole, a change towards more grazing at the expense of crops would improve carbon storage and reduce the overall use of fertiliser. Such a shift in land use would benefit the dairy sector, in part because of easier access to domestically grown cow feed.

Biomass is nearly carbon neutral and can be used for the production of various liquid fuels and chemicals. Decisions on biomass utilization should be based on the most economical and mature route. This study analyzes mountain pine beetle (MPB) killed wood as the feedstock for production of bio-ethanol and bio-oil and compares it with the direct combustion route to produce electricity. The MPB infestation of British Columbia's (BC), a western province of Canada, forest has reached an epidemic proportion and is spread over an area of 10 millionha. According to the current estimates of BC's Ministry of Forests and Range, about 1 billion m(3) of trees would be killed by MPB by 2013. This infestation would result in large scale loss of jobs and the standing dead trees are a fire hazard and if left unharvested will decay and release carbon back to the atmosphere. The cost of bio-ethanol production from a 2100dry tonne/day plant using the infested wood for two locations (one remote and other near the industry) in BC is in the range of C$0.37-C$0.40/l (C$1.40-C$1.51/gallon). Similarly, cost of bio-oil production from a 220dry tonne/day plant using the infested wood for same two locations in BC is in the range of C$0.27-C$0.29/l (C$1.02-C$1.09/gallon). The cost of producing electricity using this bio-oil is above C$100/MWh which is higher than the current power price in BC. This cost is also higher than the cost of production of electricity by direct combustion of infested wood in a boiler (C$68-C$74/MWh).

Generating biofuel crops with higher biomass and bioethanol yield is inevitable to meet growing demands of renewable energy. Manipulation of phytohormone-related genes that control plant architecture via biotechnological and functional genomics tools adapted from model species will accelerate crop improvement., Background Biofuels hold the promise to replace an appreciable proportion of fossil fuels. Not only do they emit significantly lower amounts of greenhouse gases, they are much closer to being ‘carbon neutral’, since the source plants utilize carbon dioxide for their growth. In particular, second-generation lignocellulosic biofuels from agricultural wastes and non-food crops such as switchgrass promise sustainability and avoid diverting food crops to fuel. Currently, available lignocellulosic biomass could yield sufficient bioethanol to replace ∼10 % of worldwide petroleum use. Increasing the biomass used for biofuel production and the yield of bioethanol will thus help meet global energy demands while significantly reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Scope We discuss the advantages of various biotechnological approaches to improve crops and highlight the contribution of genomics and functional genomics in this field. Current knowledge concerning plant hormones and their intermediates involved in the regulation of plant architecture is presented with a special focus on gibberellins and cytokinins, and their signalling intermediates. We highlight the potential of information gained from model plants such as Arabidopsis thaliana and rice (Oryza sativa) to accelerate improvement of fuel crops.

This paper presents a comprehensive assessment of the policy instruments adopted by the Netherlands to reach carbon neutrality in its manufacturing sector by 2050. The analysis illustrates the strength of combining a strong commitment to raising carbon prices with ambitious technology support, uncovers the pervasiveness of competitiveness provisions, and highlights the trade-off between short-term emissions cuts and longer-term technology shift. The Netherlands’ carbon levy sets an ambitious price trajectory to 2030, but is tempered by extensive preferential treatment to energy-intensive users, yielding a highly unequal carbon price across firms and sectors. The country’s technology support focuses on the cost-effective deployment of low-carbon options, which ensures least-cost decarbonisation in the short run but favours relatively mature technologies. The paper offers recommendations for policy adjustments to reach the country’s carbon neutrality objective, including the gradual removal of exemptions, enhanced support for emerging technologies and greater visibility over future infrastructure plans.

In the context of carbon neutrality, the electric vehicles (EVs) are increasingly used in city logistics service. To utilize EVs in the logistics delivery service in a cost-effective manner, this paper proposes a coordinated operational planning method for EVs considering the real road networks and battery swapping for EVs. Specifically, utilizing the EVs parked in the depot to discharge to power the depot or feed to the grid for an arbitrage, this paper is to minimize the sum of transportation cost and energy cost by determining the optimal number of EVs assigned to delivery goods and their driving route, as well as the charge–discharge operation decisions of all EVs including those without a delivery assignment and those returning to the depot after completing delivery. In simulation study, the effectiveness of the proposed methods is finally validated.

Climate change has become a major global challenge. At present, few studies have reviewed the application practices and theoretical research of carbon neutrality. This paper summarizes the practical progress of carbon neutrality, the realization path of carbon neutrality, and the carbon neutrality research in typical fields, and concludes that the previous research has made some progress in the carbon neutrality goal domestic and overseas, the pathways to carbon neutrality, and the carbon neutrality issues in various fields. However, this paper also points out existing problems. Firstly, more studies should be carried out on the quantitative evaluation of carbon neutrality by adopting empircal datas and tools in various fields; Secondly, the correlation between paths and industries should be taken more attention; Additionally, how to measure carbon neutral capability, d potential and costis of great significance in subsequent studies.

Urban residents’ travel is an important component of carbon emissions and is becoming a hot topic in discussions on how to achieve carbon neutrality by 2060. Existing studies mainly focus on low-carbon travel behaviours and intentions independently, ignoring the inconsistency between the two. This paper uses a bivariate probit model based on questionnaire survey data to explore the consistency between urban residents’ intentions and behaviour. The results show that sociodemographic factors, TPB (theory of planned behaviour) factors, and situational factors all significantly impact the inconsistency. This paper provides careful analysis, and based on the results and analysis, proposes targeted suggestions to enhance the public intention of low-carbon travel and proper policies to improve low-carbon travel in cities.

In 2020, China promised to achieve carbon peaking by 2030 and carbon neutrality by 2060, and these targets are famous as “Goal 3060” in China. Chinese resource-based cities are concerned about the realization of Goal 3060 to practice national action against environmental change. In this paper, this study evaluates the impact of population, economic growth, energy intensity, industrial structure, fixed asset investment, and urbanization level on carbon emissions in Chinese cities. To do so, the paper divides 36 Chinese cities into four types (growing city, mature city, recessionary city, and regenerative city) from 2003 to 2017 by factor investigation according to the diverse development stages. The extended STIRPAT model is used to assess the impact of various factors on CO2 emissions in the Yellow River basin and diverse city levels. The panel regression analysis was conducted for the basin as a whole and cities at different development stages through a fixed-effects model and a linear regression model with Driscoll-Kraay standard errors. The results show that (1) the total carbon emissions in the Yellow River basin continued to climb during the study period. However, the growth rate slowed down significantly after 2012. In addition, there are differences in the total carbon emissions and growth rate of different cities. (2) Population, real GDP, energy intensity, industrial structure, and fixed asset investment all have a significant positive impact on carbon emissions in the overall basin except the urbanization level which has a significant negative influence on carbon emissions. (3) There is heterogeneity in the influencing factors of carbon emissions in resource-based cities at various development stages. Based on these results, corresponding policies are proposed for different types of cities to help resource-based cities achieve the 3060 dual carbon goal.

The production capacity of indirect coal liquefaction (ICL) in use in China has reached a level of 8 million t/a, which corresponds to a carbon footprint of >60 million t/a. ICL is facing mountainous pressure to reduce its carbon emissions when its development is planned with carbon neutrality as a background objective. This paper studies the pathways that can lead to carbon neutrality for ICL in China, constructing four carbon-neutral pathways for ICL systems with the introduction of green hydrogen, biomass as feedstock and with CCS (carbon capture and storage), which can reduce significant carbon emissions from coal-gasification and water–gas shift processes. The carbon-neutral biomass is used to replace some coal as co-feed to gasification and combustion, leading to reduced carbon emissions as well. Calculations and economic analyses are performed on different carbon-reduction pathways using a carbon-neutral ICL system on a 1 million t/a scale as an example. The results are that the pathway of direct coal substitution with biomass is the lowest carbon-reduction route at RMB 31~125/t CO2, substitution with green hydrogen costs the highest at RMB 84~422/t CO2 and CCS costs are in the middle at RMB 96~148/t CO2. Each pathway has its pros and cons, and a combination of the three may be used for the best outcome. Furthermore, a comprehensive study and systematic summation of the critical technological processes and their underlying challenges for carbon-neutral ICL together with direction for a technological breakthrough are presented. These ICL carbon-reduction pathways presented in this paper are capable of realizing an integrated development between fossil and renewable energy sources, helping the carbon-intense coal-chemical industries to achieve their goals of carbon peak and carbon neutrality.

Based on China's energy consumption structure, the reduction of energy intensity is conducive to the realization of China's carbon neutrality goal, and technological innovation is the core driving force for reducing energy intensity. This paper utilizes the statistical data of industrial enterprises in China during the period of 2011–2018 to explore the technological innovation value chain efficiency under the background of the new development stage. This study divides the innovation value chain into technological innovation stage and the economic conversion stage. The network slacks-based measure (NSBM) approach is applied to calculate the two different stages’ efficiency. LSDV is utilized to analyze the influence mechanism of technological innovation factors on industrial energy intensity. The main results are as follows: first, the development trend of technological innovation efficiency (TIE) and the economic conversion efficiency (ECE) has heterogeneous effect across economic regions. The comprehensive development trend of innovation value chain in central China is the best among the four economic regions. Second, the effect of TIE on industrial energy intensity is negative, while the ECE is positive related to industrial energy intensity. In terms of technology spillover effect, the impact of import and FDI on industrial energy intensity is negative, respectively. The relationship between export and energy intensity is positive. The energy price has the negative relationship with industrial energy intensity, and the impact of energy price on industrial energy intensity is the largest. Through analyzing the efficiency of innovation value chain and the influence mechanism of technological innovation factors on energy intensity, this paper puts forwards relevant countermeasures and suggestions for effectively reducing industrial energy intensity and promoting high-quality industrial sustainable development. In addition, relevant theoretical research is provided for the sustainable green development.

Green building development(GBD) plays an important role in improving carbon emission reduction efficiency of the construction industry(CEEOCI), and accelerating the construction industry to achieve carbon neutrality goals. In this paper, for the first time, the topic of "green building development promotes carbon neutrality in the construction industry" is included in the crossover research category of industrial economics and space economics. A framework for the analysis of the impact mechanism of GBD and CEEOCI under the dual perspective of "industry-space" is proposed. Based on China's provincial panel data from 2008 to 2019, using the intermediary adjustment model and the spatial Dubin model to analyze and test the industrial mechanism, spatial mechanism, and spatial effect attenuation boundary of the GBD effect on CEEOCI. The results show GBD is found to promote CEEOCI, and both the GBD and CEEOCI have a clear "center-periphery" spatial pattern. Meanwhile, the impact of GBD on CEEOCI has a "industry-space" two-dimensional mechanism. From an industrial perspective, GBD can change the supply-demand relationship of the construction market by promoting the greening of supporting industries in the construction industry and stimulating green consumption in the market, and ultimately achieve the overall improvement of CEEOCI. From a spatial perspective, GBD can form a new sectoral growth pole and provide elemental support for the improvement of CEEOCI through the polarization effect, but the polarization effect is higher in the range of 1000 km, while attenuation occurs outside the range of 1000 km. This paper provides not only a scientific and effective medium and macro analysis framework for green building development emission reduction performance evaluation but also a new theoretical basis and policy direction for the construction industry to improve carbon reduction efficiency and achieve industrial carbon neutrality.

Major changes are needed in the energy system to meet the objectives of carbon neutrality and decarbonization. To identify possible bottlenecks hindering these required changes, stakeholders from various subsectors of the Finnish energy system were involved in a series of workshops, interviews, and questionnaires. In this paper, these identified bottlenecks are discussed in the case of reaching decarbonization in Finland by 2050. This paper also presents policy recommendations and other key actions to mitigate these bottlenecks. Post-print / Final draft

With China already committing to peak carbon dioxide emissions before 2030 and achieving carbon neutrality before 2060, green development is urgent. It is necessary to clarify the driving mechanism of green development to design the path of green development scientifically. From the internal perspective of the green development system, this paper divides the green development power into external power and internal power. The external power is the political pressure formed by the public's green demands. The internal power is the endogenous power of green development transformed by the political promotion willingness of local government leaders. The research shows that (1) the green demands from the public and the accompanying political pressure can form the driving force of green development. (2) The political promotion intention has not been transformed into the endogenous driving force to promote green development in the research period. (3) The external driving force of public appeal is closely related to economic development, income and consumption levels, and education. This paper enriches the research literatures on the driving mechanism of green development and provides theoretical and practical exploration for the driving path of green development.

Dr. Le Xie is a Professor, Chancellor EDGES Fellow, and Presidential Impact Fellow in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Texas A&M, and the Assistant Director-Energy Digitization at Texas A&M Energy Institute. He was awarded the 2017 IEEE PES Outstanding Young Engineer Award for the best power engineer under 35. He is the founding chair of IEEE PES Subcommittee on Big Data & Analytics for Grid Operations. Dr. Chanan Singh is Irma Runyon Chair Professor in Electrical and Computer Engineering at Texas A&M. He is a member of the U.S. National Academy of Engineering, a Foreign Fellow of the Indian National Academy of Engineering, and a Foreign Fellow of Chinese Society of Electrical Engineering. He is a Fellow of IEEE. He received the inaugural IEEE-PES Roy Billinton Power System Reliability Award. He received the 1998 Outstanding Power Engineering Educator Award given by the IEEE Power Engineering Society. Dr. Sanjoy K. Mitter joined MIT in 1969 where he has been a Professor of Electrical Engineering since 1973. He was the Director of the MIT Laboratory for Information and Decision Systems from 1981 to 1999. Dr. Mitter was elected a Foreign Fellow of the Indian National Academy of Engineering. He is a Fellow of the IEEE and IFAC. He is the winner of the 2000 IEEE Control Systems Award. In 1988, he was elected to the U.S. National Academy of Engineering. Dr. Munther A. Dahleh is the founding Director of MIT’s Institute for Data Systems and Society, and the William A. Coolidge Professor in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science. He is a four-time recipient of the George Axelby outstanding paper award for best paper in IEEE Transactions on Automatic Control. He is also the recipient of the Donald P. Eckman award from the American Control Council in 1993 for the best control engineer under 35. He is a Fellow of IEEE and a Fellow of IFAC. Dr. Shmuel S. Oren is Professor of the Graduate School and the Earl J. Isaac Professor in the Science and Analysis of Decision Making in the Department of Industrial Engineering and Operations Research at the University of California at Berkeley and former Chairman of that department. He is a co-founder and the Berkeley site director, of PSerc—a multi-university Power Systems Research Center since 1996. He has also been a member of the California ISO Market Surveillance Committee. He is a Life Fellow of the IEEE, Fellow of INFORMS and a member of the U.S. National Academy of Engineering.

In recent years, the rapid rise of carbon dioxide concentration makes global warming increasingly serious, which leads to sea-level rise, coastal lowland inundation, glacier melting, extreme weather, species extinction and other environmental problems. China, as the largest carbon dioxide emitter, is facing climate change. In 2020, the Chinese government promised at the UN General Assembly to achieve the peak of carbon by 2030, and also put forward the goal of achieving carbon neutrality by 2060. To achieve the carbon peak and carbon in target, China needs to reduce the use of fossil energy and replace the use of fossil energy with renewable energy with less carbon dioxide emissions. Tidal energy, as a low-carbon renewable energy, is an important alternative to fossil energy. But can the tide be developed at the expense of the environment? In this paper, the impact of the development of tidal energy on the environment is analyzed and elaborated. According to the environmental impact, the solutions of developing environment-friendly tidal energy, wave energy and temperature difference energy are given. Based on this, policy suggestions are put forward to the Chinese government. The research results of this paper will provide reference for developing countries to develop and utilize tidal energy for power generation.

Purpose The University of Michigan (U-M) is planning its course toward carbon neutrality. A key component in U-M carbon accounting is the calculation of carbon sinks via estimation of carbon storage and biosequestration on U-M landholdings. Here, this paper aims to compare multiple remote sensing methods across U-M natural lands and urban campuses to determine the accurate and efficient protocol for land assessment and ecosystem service valuation that other institutions may scale as relevant. Design/methodology/approach This paper tested three remote sensing methods to determine land use and land cover (LULC), namely, unsupervised classification, supervised classification and supervised classification incorporating delineated wetlands. Using confusion matrices, this paper tested remote sensing approaches to ground-truthed data, the paper obtained via field-based vegetation surveys across a subset of U-M landholdings. Findings In natural areas, supervised classification incorporating delineated wetlands was the most accurate and efficient approach. In urban settings, maps incorporating institutional knowledge and campus tree surveys better estimated LULC. Using LULC and literature-based carbon data, this paper estimated that U-M lands store 1.37–3.68 million metric tons of carbon and sequester 45,000–86,000 Mt CO2e/yr, valued at $2.2m–$4.3m annually ($50/metric ton, social cost of carbon). Originality/value This paper compared methods to identify an efficient and accurate remote sensing methodology to identify LULC and estimate carbon storage, biosequestration rates and economic values of ecosystem services provided.

Along with a global carbon neutral basis, the development of combustion technologies for greenhouse gas reduction is essential. Transitional technologies that are easy to commercialize within a relatively short period of time are required for the reinforced environmental pollutant reduction regulations and fulfillment of the promise with the international community. As a carbon-free fuel, ammonia is expected to play a important role through hydrogen energy carriers and direct use technology. This paper examines the history of the energy and resource sectors up to the formation of a carbon-neutral system in Korea, and also investigates the necessity of using ammonia to advance to a hydrogen economy. In order to secure the technical feasibility of ammonia combustion, this article discusses related domestic and foreign policies, the current state of the life cycle technology development from fuel ammonia production process to utilization, the characteristics of fuel ammonia, and the possibility of application as a combustion technology. This paper is divided into two parts, and in Part 1, we will discuss the background and economic feasibility of expanding the supply of fuel ammonia.

Low-carbon tourism is an important way for the tourism industry to achieve the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and the goals of carbon peaking and carbon neutrality. In order to promote the development of Guilin as a world-class tourism city and ensure the sustainable development of the tourism industry in Guilin, this paper combines the concept of carbon footprint and the theory of life cycle to build a tourists’ carbon footprint life cycle analysis model of Guilin. Taking tourists in Guilin as an example, the composition and changes of tourists’ carbon footprint are dynamically analyzed. The research shows that: (1) The overall tourism carbon footprint of Guilin showed an upward trend during 2011–2019. From 2020 to 2022, due to the impact of COVID-19, Guilin’s tourism carbon footprint has decreased significantly. The per capita carbon footprint of tourism in Guilin showed a downward trend from 2011 to 2022; (2) The order of the size of Guilin’s tourism carbon footprint is tourism transportation > tourism catering > tourism accommodation > tourism activities; (3) From 2011 to 2022, the carbon footprint of tourism transportation in Guilin showed an obvious narrowing state, while the carbon footprint of tourism accommodation, tourism activities, and tourism catering showed an obvious expanding trend. Based on the characteristics of the carbon footprint of Guilin’s tourism and the current situation of the development of Guilin’s tourism, this paper puts forward suggestions on reducing carbon emissions, forms a new tool for evaluating and constructing low-carbon tourism, and provides a scientific basis and practical reference significance for the sustainable development of low-carbon tourism in Guilin.

This paper builds on research conducted and developed in the framework of the Joint Research Centre’s URBAN2030 and URBAN2030-II project. The URBAN2030-II Project aims at fostering the achievement of SDGs in European cities and regions. It focuses on providing methodological support and inspiration for the design and implementation of SDG voluntary local reviews. It builds on the knowledge and experience gained in the URBAN2030 project (2018–2020) developed with the support of the Directorate General for Regional and Urban Policy. [Abstract:] Madrid’s Roadmap to Climate Neutrality by 2050 is the city’s strategy to attain a 65% reduction in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 2030 and decarbonisation in 2050. This paper analyses the Roadmap to extract a concept of neutrality, as defined from the perspective of a local or regional government (LRG). It then runs a semantic comparison between the Roadmap’s policy lines and indicators and the metrics used in a sample of other LRGs voluntary local reviews on the localisation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). It assesses the extent to which the roadmap’s policy priorities and goals fit with the idea of climate neutrality and decarbonisation that other LRGs are monitoring. The paper also links the Roadmap with the SDGs, studying to what extent certain goals resonate with the climate neutrality dimension monitored therein and the other reviews in the sample. The paper suggests that there is still significant diversity in the way LRGs approach climate neutrality, although carbon emissions and sustainable transport remain common priorities. A large majority of indicators monitoring climate neutrality still refer to key climate-related SDGs, such as SDG 7, 11, 12, and 13, even though there is growing evidence that LRGs are diversifying the concept of decarbonisation policy with which they are working.

Subnational entities are recognizing the need to systematically examine options for reducing their carbon footprints. However, few robust and comprehensive analyses are available that lay out how US states and regions can most effectively contribute. This paper describes an approach developed for Georgia—a state in the southeastern United States called “Drawdown Georgia”, our research involves (1) understanding Georgia’s baseline carbon footprint and trends, (2) identifying the universe of Georgia-specific carbon-reduction solutions that could be impactful by 2030, (3) estimating the greenhouse gas reduction potential of these high-impact 2030 solutions for Georgia, and (4) estimating associated costs and benefits while also considering how the solutions might impact societal priorities, such as economic development opportunities, public health, environmental benefits, and equity. We began by examining the global solutions identified by Project Drawdown. The resulting 20 high-impact 2030 solutions provide a strategy for reducing Georgia’s carbon footprint in the next decade using market-ready technologies and practices and including negative emission solutions. This paper describes our systematic and replicable process and ends with a discussion of its strengths, weaknesses, and planned future research.

The research of carbon neutrality is summarized in this paper. First, the general concept of carbon neutrality is described. Then, the impact of carbon neutrality on energy and electric power industry is introduced. Finally, this paper introduces the solution of the new power system to achieve the objective of carbon neutrality, from the perspective of power system. This study provides some reference for the exploration of carbon neutrality solutions.

Global warming – mainly caused by carbon emissions – is a major global challenge for human sustainable development. Carbon emission reduction and resource recovery from sludge treatment are critical to the carbon neutralisation of future wastewater treatment plants. This paper analyses the key elements of carbon emissions during sludge treatment and disposal, namely energy source carbon emissions, fugitive carbon emissions and carbon compensation. Of the four mainstream process routes analysed in this work, anaerobic digestion + dry incineration is identified as the route with the highest potential for reducing carbon emissions in the future. Finally, based on a review of current international research hotspots, the future development directions for sludge treatment and resource recovery are discussed. This paper thus provides a comprehensive understanding of the current sludge treatment processing routes and serves as a reference for process route selection and future research on carbon neutralisation. HIGHLIGHTS The key elements of carbon emissions during sludge treatment are analysed.; Four mainstream process routes of sludge treatment from the perspective of carbon neutralisation are analyzed.; The route with the highest potential for reducing carbon emissions is proposed.; Current international research hotspots of resource recovery from sludge are overviewed.; Innovative low-carbon technologies for resource recovery are expected.

The purpose for both the technical report and the thesis paper was to research what strategies are being taken to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to climate change. The long-term shifts of climate change in temperature and weather are becoming increasingly concerning and can be detrimental to the environment unless drastic measures are taken. The thesis paper outlines the Paris Agreement of 2015 and specifically studies the initiatives America is taking and the technology that exists to meet the goals set by the international treaty. The technical report introduces an example of the use of technology in decreasing greenhouse gas emissions: a gas emissions calculator. This tool incorporates different factors that affect the gas emissions from heating systems in building upgrades, helping building owners make environmentally informed decisions. The University of Virginia Life Cycle Cost Calculator that evaluated the emissions and finances throughout the life cycle of heating systems was used as the building block for the Capstone project. The preexisting tool analyzed buildings with the preimposed notion that it used natural gas. However, the extreme potency of the greenhouse gasses that are a product from using natural gas have instigated research into finding an alternative. The introduction of all-electric heating alternatives or ‘certified’ or ‘renewable’ gas alternatives complicated the emissions and economic profiles of building upgrades. These factors were incorporated into the new model made by the Capstone group so that stakeholders had an accurate, holistic scope of the lifetime of heating systems and can find the alternative that suited their economic and environmental needs. The tool currently being used by UVA also disregarded the fugitive emissions that result from leaky infrastructure. Fugitive emissions differ depending on the pipe material, age of pipe, etc of the natural gas distribution lines. The data used in the Capstone tool came from all the major metropolitan areas in the United States and can be adjusted to a specific city. Taking fugitive emissions into consideration will give decision makers more accurate estimates of the emissions over the lifetime of a heating unit. Users can input various heating systems into the tool to find the impact each has on economic factors (return on investment, estimated lifetime cost, etc.) and environmental factors (carbon dioxide-equivalents avoided per year, lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions, etc). Ultimately, this new tool assesses capital expenditures with location-specific fugitive emissions and cost estimates as well as full cost-accounting of both the economic and greenhouse gas emissions associated with different heating options. Before 2015, there were multiple efforts from national governments to cooperate in a movement to become more carbon neutral but all were in vain until the Paris Agreement. The legally binding treaty produced in the aforementioned convention was unprecedented in that the goals and expectations set were unilaterally agreed upon by 190 countries. This climate change treaty covers climate change mitigation, adaptation, and finance. The most notable goal of the treaty is that it promises to limit global warming changes to under 2 degrees Celsius and become carbon neutral by midcentury. The thesis paper studies climate change in the lenses of the main sectors in the United States that contribute the most emissions annually: electricity and heat production, industry, agriculture and other land use, transportation, buildings. The current research and existing technologies that may be a solution to mitigating greenhouse gas emissions that pertain to each sector are enumerated in the paper. These engineering solutions are studied using the technological fix STS framework. Climate change is an issue that cannot be undone. There is no way to extract the gasses that have already been emitted into the atmosphere, therefore, technological fix is the best strategy to tackle these negative environmental effects. It will not completely ‘cure’ climate change, but it will curb the effects and avoid worsening the problem. Although government intervention and regulations are the most standard routes to achieve carbon neutrality and reduction in greenhouse gas emissions, smaller entities hold great potential for change. The research done in the technical and thesis paper highlights the development of new tools that are more environmentally friendly. It is up to smaller entities to adopt and implement these changes. Smaller entities can take initiative by finding existing or inventing technological alternatives that work more efficiently and emit less greenhouse gasses into the atmosphere. With all the main sectors switching to eco-friendly alternatives, the accumulation of these changes can make a significant impact on cutting emissions and help America meet the goals set out by the Paris Agreement of 2015.

To deal with climate change, low carbon economy is an utmost necessity for the present world. Energy requirement is growing faster exponentially in each decade. Over the long term some of the traditional sources (coal, gas, oil) have become inadequate to meet up the increasing demand. Current consumption rate of fossil fuel will make them extinct by year 2050 to 2100. Based on these facts nuclear power plant is a strategic choice to develop a clean energy. This paper presents - the role of nuclear electricity in low carbon economy. Though nuclear energy can't be called as 'carbon neutral' but it gives rise to much less emission of carbon dioxide than fossil fuels. Comparing with other energy structures, nuclear electricity chain emits a limited amount of greenhouse gas emission. Despite the uncertainty of building future nuclear power plants, this paper further discussed climate policies have larger impact than the policies that are against nuclear electricity production. The safety issue which is a public concern is also discussed here in short.

With increasing global GHG emissions it is very important for global to reduce the harmful effect of GHG emissions for future generations. Since the last decade Carbon footprint has become one of the major concern for educational institutions to get their environmental impact and quantify sustainability effort. MNIT Jaipur campus is one of the technical institutes that decided to measure its carbon footprint. This research presents the maiden Carbon Footprint study of MNIT Jaipur Campus. This study was conducted using IPCC methodology with scope 1, scope 2 and scope 3. The scope 1 includes the direct transportation of campus and LPG consumptions. In scope 2, electricity was the only source of emission whereas scope 3 includes staff commuting, bore well water supply, wastewater treatment, papers, aluminum can and solid waste. The total carbon footprint of MNIT Jaipur Campus was calculated to be 1182.69 ton CO2 eq. This study concludes that 29% of the overall carbon footprint was found from purchased electricity. While emissions from LPG consumption (26%), solid waste (16%), water supply (12%) and aluminum can (10%). The activities wastewater (4%), staff commuting (1%) and direct transportation (1%) have low emission compare to other activities. GHG emission percentage from papers, staff commuting, and direct transportation are negligible. This has a great contribution to achieving carbon neutrality of the campus. The per capita average emission found to be 0.273 ton CO2 eq. per person per year. Scope 3 emission has the highest contribution to the overall emission. From the literature, it was found that very few previous studies included scope 3 for calculating the carbon footprint, but this study shows that educational institutions have a significant impact on scope 3. Therefore every institution has needed to include the entire source associated with scope 3.