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Abstract: Low carbon cities. What, exactly, are we talking about? Are we talking about lifestyles, activities, or enterprises? Are we talking about individual or group voluntary behavior change or a policy framework that seeks to encourage behavior change by regulatory force? Faced with an enormous literature that mixes related topics like sustainable development/climate change/energy conservation/low carbon, it is not surprising to hear about local governments’ or planners’ “climate change initiatives”. This paper describes/reflects on how officials in Broward County, Florida, are dealing with issues of awareness, governance, measurement, and instruments for challenges arising from the combined threats of energy depletion and climate change. The overriding objective of this paper is to provide some pith for the discussion of planning for low carbon cities. To this end, we describe and reflect on the planning management responses of Broward County, Florida, USA – as an illustrative local government – in dealing with climate change challenges (CCC), energy conservation (EC) and greenhouse gas reduction (GHG). Both description and reflection are important as it is primarily the latter that provides the critical perspective necessary for assessing both potential and effect. The paper is organized into five sections. The first two sections address the “contextual” questions raised above: what is the level of knowledge and/or awareness among the collection of planners and/or local governments; and, what are/is appropriate responses of different levels of government. In the next section, we review overall levels of knowledge and awareness of basic science and policy dimensions, with particular attention paid to (a version of the) US planning profession. This is followed by a discussion of “theoretical” prescriptions for actions at different levels of government. The third and fourth sections focus on Broward County. The third section describes the county and presents a current measurement of its carbon footprint (at least at the level to which it can be measured). The fourth section describes the operational response of Broward County government. The final section returns to the original questions of knowledge and appropriate types of responses and argues that while the Broward response is generally effective in certain aspects, the current policy paradigm contains both strengths and weaknesses, which are generally outlined and discussed. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This paper examines the relationship between renewable energy production and greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) using U.S. state-level data for 2010. After controlling for other sources of emissions, U.S. states that produce a larger share of renewable energy are found to have lower GHG emissions. It is estimated that a 10% increase in the share of renewable energy could decrease CH 4 emissions by about 0.26%. Since the use of renewable energy sources does not release GHG emissions, this effect can be interpreted as stabilizing if renewable energy is added to coal use or as corrective if it replaces coal. After accounting for the role of coal as a baseload power source, an increase in the share of renewable energy is estimated to mitigate N 2 O emissions at the U.S. state level only if states individually decrease their share of coal use to levels below 41.47%. These findings have significant policy implications for the provision of guidance to policymakers in identifying optimal energy mixes and in pursuing realistic goals to enhance renewable energy penetration and to contribute to the current efforts of tackling climate change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The primary objectives of recent energy initiatives have been: (1) lowering greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions; and (2) increasing US energy security by reducing oil imports for the purposes of making the US less vulnerable to the actions of other countries. The concern is that relying on sometimes adversarial, sometimes unstable countries for a quarter of our oil carries certain risks. For that reason, reducing the external oil dependence has been of interest to policy makers. This paper examines the impacts and costs of transportation-based policies on light-duty vehicle fleet energy usage and emissions. Using the 2010 elastic version of the US Environmental Protection Agency's Market Allocation (MARKAL) model, recent increases in US Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) Standards are compared to what some economists suggest would be a much more “efficient” alternative-asystem-wide oil tax internalizing a number of environmental externalities. We discover that our series of oil taxes produce larger and more cost-effective reductions in economy-wide emissions than CAFE. The same cannot be said in regards to net oil imports. Stricter fuel economy regulations result in much larger cutbacks in imports than the oil tax. In fact, we found that in 2040 import demands are roughly 250 million BOE (barrels of oil equivalent) higher with our oil tax regime than they are with CAFE. The additional import reductions achieved with stricter CAFE Standards do come, however, at a much larger cost to society. A great deal of these additional economic costs stems from greater usage of more energy-efficient automobiles and the higher initial capital costs associated with their adoption. In our supplementary analysis, we find that even if the costs of these types of vehicles are lowered by as much as 75%, oil taxes would still be able to maintain their competitive edge over CAFE standards in regards to cost-effectiveness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Renewable energy is an option for many countries simultaneously seeking to reduce dependence on imported petroleum and to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions that contribute to climate change. Forestry can play a role in environmental policies, such as renewable portfolio standards for bioelectricity, renewable fuel standards for biofuels, and forest carbon sequestration. This paper models interactions and interdependencies between bioelectricity and biofuel production, particularly from forest biomass. A global computable general equilibrium (CGE) model is used to measure the economic effects of bioenergy production from forest products, forest residues, and dedicated energy crops. The land use and emissions impacts on the global economy of revenue-neutral GHG mitigation policies are evaluated. Results show that mandated bioenergy production can substantially reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, especially through fossil fuel substitution in the electricity sector. Although emissions reductions from bioenergy production in the transportation fuel sector are less dramatic than those in the electricity sector, biofuels also have lower emissions rates than petroleum-based transportation fuels. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Highlights: [•] We collect greenhouse mitigation options data to support rule making analysis and research work. [•] We develop a greenhouse mitigation options database and a model to perform user-defined scenarios analysis. [•] The database contains cost and performance information for GHG mitigation options for the power, cement, and pulp and paper sectors. [•] The database is a repository of data on available GHG technologies in various stages of development for several industry sectors. [•] The database contains approximately 350 studies for all three sectors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This paper investigates the challenge that U.S. aviation would face in meeting future Greenhouse Gas (GHG) reduction goals to mitigate global climate change via technological options. This investigation is done within a framework that considers aviation GHG emissions as a function of aviation growth, aircraft efficiency, operational efficiency, and life cycle GHG emissions of aviation fuels. The concept of life cycle GHG intensity (LGI) with units of grams carbon dioxide equivalent per payload distance traveled is used for this purpose as it can be decomposed into components that quantify improvements in aircraft design, operations, and alternative fuels. For example, the life cycle GHG intensity of U.S. aviation in 2005 was 1.37g CO2e/kgkm. If U.S. aviation is to meet the IATA 2050 goal of a 50% reduction in CO2 relative to a 2005 baseline while allowing for a 3.2% annual growth rate in payload–distance traveled, it will need to decrease to 0.22g CO2e/kgkm in 2050, an 84% reduction. The analysis framework that is developed in this manuscript was used to compare the improvements in life cycle GHG intensity that could accompany the use of advanced aircraft designs, operational improvements, and alternative fuels to those required on a fleet-wide basis to meet the future GHG reduction goals under varied aviation growth scenarios. The results indicate that the narrow body segment of the fleet could indeed meet ambitious goals of reducing GHG emissions by 50%, relative to 2005 levels, with a 3.2% annual growth rate; however, it would require relatively rapid adoption of innovative aircraft designs and the widespread use of alternative fuels with relatively low life cycle GHG emissions. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Carbon capture and storage (CCS) is the only technology available to mitigate greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from large-scale fossil fuel usage. U.S. and China are the world’s largest GHG emitters. Collaboration between the two nations, therefore, offers the greatest opportunity for achieving meaningful reductions in global GHG emissions. Two countries’ current cooperation on CCS through Clean Energy Research Center based on the U.S.–China Strategic Forum on Clean Energy Cooperation mechanism provides an important initial step towards even closer and stronger cooperation in the future. In this paper, we justify such possibility by discourse on the seemly different but complementary social–political context in two countries including political system, government structure, economic policy, national innovation system, energy strategy, and energy market structure. We further address the key elements of future cooperation model by carefully considering the principle of equality and mutual beneficiary, the role of two countries in the whole value chain according to their comparative advantages, and the scale and mechanism of the funding. A milestone for the cooperation until 2030 is drafted and priority areas for both countries in the cooperation are identified. Such cooperation will provide the imperative leadership for global climate change and speed up the global CCS deployment. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Since 2001, the United States government has blithely avoided developing a coherent climate change policy, even though the US economy is responsible for about a quarter of global greenhouse gas emissions. In this paper, I examine passenger transport, an important source of these emissions, and point out major barriers to achieving deep reductions that are necessary from this sector. Interventions would have to be based on an understanding of social psychology, whereby vehicle users are provided incentives and reasons for changing behaviour and attitudes. These appear to be essential to bring about both the technology policy and behavioural changes needed to meet emission reduction goals. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]