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Over the past century, the concentration of carbon dioxide (CO2) has significantly increased in our atmosphere, creating numerous catastrophic effects and environmental impacts. There are three main CO2 capture methods: (a) post-combustion, (b) pre-combustion, and (c) oxy-fuel combustion implemented to capture CO2 from significant CO2 emitting sources. Further, the captured CO2 is utilized to convert it into value-added products. The current status of potential combined CO2 capture and CO2 utilization methods provide the solution to the issues of greenhouse-gas CO2 emissions from anthropogenic activities and the ever-growing energy demand challenges. These unique approaches dramatically reduce the overall energy penalty, cost-effective, and have a low environmental impact. As of now, carbon management is more intensively shifting toward the carbon utilization for minimizing energy consumption and replacing fossil fuel with the cleaner energy sources. This paper presents an idea of co-integration pathways for CO2 capture and CO2 utilization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Achieving a transition to a low-carbon energy system is now widely recognised as a key challenge facing humanity. To date, the vast majority of research addressing this challenge has been conducted within the disciplines of science, engineering and economics utilising quantitative and modelling techniques. However, there is growing awareness that meeting energy challenges requires fundamentally sociotechnical solutions and that the social sciences have an important role to play. This is an interdisciplinary challenge but, to date, there remain very few explorations of, or reflections on, interdisciplinary energy research in practice. This paper seeks to change that by reporting on an interdisciplinary experiment to build new models of energy demand on the basis of cutting-edge social science understandings. The process encouraged the social scientists to communicate their ideas more simply, whilst allowing engineers to think critically about the embedded assumptions in their models in relation to society and social change. To do this, the paper uses a particular set of theoretical approaches to energy use behaviour known collectively as social practice theory – and explores the potential of more quantitative forms of network analysis to provide a formal framework by means of which to diagram and visualise practices. The aim of this is to gain insight into the relationships between the elements of a practice, so increasing the ultimate understanding of how practices operate. Graphs of practice networks are populated based on new empirical data drawn from a survey of different types (or variants) of laundry practice. The resulting practice networks are analysed to reveal characteristics of elements and variants of practice, such as which elements could be considered core to the practice, or how elements between variants overlap, or can be shared. This promises insights into energy intensity, flexibility and the rootedness of practices (i.e. how entrenched/established they are) and so opens up new questions and possibilities for intervention. The novelty of this approach is that it allows practice data to be represented graphically using a quantitative format without being overly reductive. Its usefulness is that it is readily applied to large datasets, provides the capacity to interpret social practices in new ways and serves to open up potential links with energy modelling. More broadly, a significant dimension of novelty has been the interdisciplinary approach, radically different to that normally seen in energy research. This paper is relevant to a broad audience of social scientists and engineers interested in integrating social practices with energy engineering. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper provides a premise and the motivation for making a case for lightweight vehicle body structures, with embedded functionality, using actively controlled materials. Such active materials have the ability to change the structural properties in the event of varying conditions, including dynamic loading and vibrations, with the extreme scenario being that of a collision. Prompted by ever stringent legislation concerning crashworthiness and CO2 emissions, coupled with the fact that all new vehicles in the future will be fully equipped with advanced driver-assisted systems, including on-board active safety systems, the paper proposes a strategy for actively controlling the energy absorption of the vehicle body structure. The concept of an active buckling control approach, while still in its early development stage, is described. Encouraging results have been obtained via simulation, and the potential control approach for specifying a buckling load, related to the smallest positive buckling eigenvalue, hence onset of energy absorption, is discussed. It is conjectured that an active buckling control approach may become part of future legislation for testing vehicle body structures, where the issues of compatibility and reduced aggressivity are deemed to become compulsory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As the world's largest carbon emitter, China is under great pressure to cut down carbon emissions. Understanding the evolution of carbon emissions across Chinese cities is important for policymakers when allocating carbon emission quota among these cities. This paper draws upon the Open-source Data Inventory for Anthropogenic CO2 to calculate city-level per capita carbon emissions in China from 2001 to 2016. Overall, we find that per capita carbon emissions of Chinese cities have been generally on the rise during the 2001–2016 period. However, there has been on average a modest decline in per capita carbon emissions of cities in China's Yangtze River Delta region and Pearl River Delta region from 2011 to 2016, after a remarkable increase during the 2001–2011 period. Besides, the average north-south gap has been enlarged, with northern cities having a relatively higher level of per capita carbon emissions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Globally as well as in China, cities have contributed to most of economic output and have accordingly given rise to most of CO2 emissions. In particular, given unprecedented urbanization, cities will play an even greater role in shaping energy demand and CO2 emissions. Therefore, cities are the key to meeting its proposed carbon intensity target in 2020 and whatever climate commitments beyond 2020 that China may take. Given the paramount importance of cities, China is practicing low carbon city (LCC) development. Against this background, this paper first summarizes the general situation and main characteristics of China's LCC development. The paper then indentifies eight problems and challenges for China's LCC development including the absence of sound carbon accounting systems, lack of low-carbon specific evaluation system, rare use of market-based instruments, insufficient government-enterprise interactions, excessive budget dependence on land concession, increasing difficulty in further carbon mitigation, inevitable emissions growth due to rising living standards, and coal-dominant energy structure in the foreseeable future. Since these challenges are not applied to one or few cities, but are to all cities across the country, finally, the paper discusses how governments, in particular the central government, should address these problems and challenges. Given that China has faced great difficulty ensuring that local governments act in accordance with centrally-directed policies, the paper in particular discusses ways to incentivize local governments not to focus on economic growth alone and to move away from a heavy reliance on land concession. The paper ends with emphasizing on putting a price on carbon a crucial step for China's endeavor of harnessing the market forces to reduce its energy consumption and carbon emissions and genuinely transiting into a low-carbon economy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Although forecasting electric vehicles' growth in China was frequently reported in the literature, predicting electric vehicles market penetration as well as corresponding energy saving and carbon dioxide mitigation potential in a more suitable method is not well understood. Methods: This study chose the double species model to predict electric vehicles' growth trajectory under mutually competitive conditions between electric vehicles and internal combustion engine vehicles. For comparison, it set two scenarios: with 200 and 300 vehicles per thousand persons at 2050. To give details on energy saving and carbon dioxide mitigation potential induced by electric vehicles' market penetration, it further divided electric vehicles into five subgroups and internal combustion engine vehicles into seven subgroups, therein forming respective measurement formulas. Results: This paper solved the double species model and thus got its analytical formula. Then it employed the analytical formula to conduct an empirical study on electric vehicles market penetration in China from year 2010 to 2050. Under scenario 300, electric vehicles growth trajectory will emerge a quick growth stage during 2021–2035, thereafter keeping near invariant till 2050. Meanwhile, current internal combustion engine vehicles' quick growth will continue up to 2027, then holding constant during 2028–2040, afterwards following a 10-year slowdown period. Scenario 200 has similar features, but a 2-year delay for electric vehicles and a 5-year lead time for internal combustion engine vehicles were found. On average, scenario 300 will save 114.4 Mt oil and 111.5 Mt carbon dioxide emissions, and scenario 200 will save 77.1 Mt oil and 73.4 Mt carbon dioxide emissions each year. Beyond 2032, annual 50.0% of road transport consumed oil and 18.6% of carbon dioxide emissions from this sector will be saved under scenario 300. Discussion: Compared with scenario 200, scenario 300 was more suitable to predict electric vehicle market penetration in China. In the short-term electric vehicle penetration only brings about trivial effects, while in the long-term it will contribute a lot to both energy security and carbon dioxide mitigation. The contribution of this article provided a more suitable methodology for predicting electric vehicle market penetration, simulated two coupled trajectories of electric vehicles and internal combustion engine vehicles, and discussed relative energy-saving and climate effects from 2010 to 2050. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Although forecasting electric vehicles' growth in China was frequently reported in the literature, predicting electric vehicles market penetration as well as corresponding energy saving and carbon dioxide mitigation potential in a more suitable method is not well understood. Methods: This study chose the double species model to predict electric vehicles' growth trajectory under mutually competitive conditions between electric vehicles and internal combustion engine vehicles. For comparison, it set two scenarios: with 200 and 300 vehicles per thousand persons at 2050. To give details on energy saving and carbon dioxide mitigation potential induced by electric vehicles' market penetration, it further divided electric vehicles into five subgroups and internal combustion engine vehicles into seven subgroups, therein forming respective measurement formulas. Results: This paper solved the double species model and thus got its analytical formula. Then it employed the analytical formula to conduct an empirical study on electric vehicles market penetration in China from year 2010 to 2050. Under scenario 300, electric vehicles growth trajectory will emerge a quick growth stage during 2021-2035, thereafter keeping near invariant till 2050. Meanwhile, current internal combustion engine vehicles' quick growth will continue up to 2027, then holding constant during 2028-2040, afterwards following a 10-year slowdown period. Scenario 200 has similar features, but a 2-year delay for electric vehicles and a 5-year lead time for internal combustion engine vehicles were found. On average, scenario 300 will save 114.4 Mt oil and 111.5 Mt carbon dioxide emissions, and scenario 200 will save 77.1 Mt oil and 73.4 Mt carbon dioxide emissions each year. Beyond 2032, annual 50.0% of road transport consumed oil and 18.6% of carbon dioxide emissions from this sector will be saved under scenario 300. Discussion: Compared with scenario 200, scenario 300 was more suitable to predict electric vehicle market penetration in China. In the short-term electric vehicle penetration only brings about trivial effects, while in the long-term it will contribute a lot to both energy security and carbon dioxide mitigation. The contribution of this article provided a more suitable methodology for predicting electric vehicle market penetration, simulated two coupled trajectories of electric vehicles and internal combustion engine vehicles, and discussed relative energy-saving and climate effects from 2010 to 2050. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

South China’s Guangdong Province, the Chinese largest provincial economy and the global 14th biggest economy, has been facing a huge challenge of achieving economic growth without emission growth. Developing new strategy for making economic growth compatible carbon reduction requires better understanding of the decoupling carbon emission from economic growth. In this paper, we conduct a comprehensive decoupling and decomposition analysis of carbon emission from economic output in Guangdong Province from a sector perspective. We firstly calculate carbon emission in six sectors based on the energy consumption of each sector and carbon coefficient of 13 types of fuels during 2000–2014, and then quantify the decoupling status between CO2 emissions and economic growth in those six sectors by using the Tapio decoupling index, finally, investigate the influencing factors of emissions by using the decomposition techniques. The modeling results show that agricultural sector has strong decoupling, industrial, transport and others sectors are weak decoupling; construction and trade sectors are expansive negative decoupling. We also find that energy intensity and economic output are the major factors influencing carbon emission, also the effects of energy structure and emission factor among six sectors are studied. Some policy recommendations finally are put forward. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A pressing question facing policy makers today in developing a long-term strategy to manage carbon emissions from the electric power sector is how to appropriately balance investment in R&D for driving innovation in emerging low- and zerocarbon technologies with investment in commercially available technologies for meeting existing energy needs. Likewise, policy makers need to determine how to allocate limited funding across multiple technologies. Unfortunately, existing modeling tools to study these questions lack a realistic representation of electric power system operations, the innovation process, or both. In this paper, we present a new modeling framework for long-term R&D and electricity generation capacity planning that combines an economic representation of endogenous non-linear technical change with a detailed representation of the power system. The model captures the complementary nature of technologies in the power sector; physical integration constraints of the system; and the opportunity to build new knowledge capital as a non-linear function of R&D and accumulated knowledge, reflective of the diminishing marginal returns to research inherent in the energy innovation process. Through a series of numerical experiments and sensitivity analyses--with and without carbon policy--we show how using frameworks that do not incorporate these features can over- or under-estimate the value of different emerging technologies, and potentially misrepresent the cost-effectiveness of R&D opportunities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines both the intended and unintended consequences of current U.S. ethanol policy. Originally, the 2007 legislation was intended to benefit consumers with lower gasoline prices, to reduce carbon emissions, and to promote oil security by displacing imported oil with domestically produced ethanol. While well-intentioned, the realized benefits have been minimal to consumers, the environment, and oil security. Alternatively, the unintended consequences on corn and other food commodity prices are having severe repercussions particularly in developing countries where consumers have more limited substitution possibilities. The extreme drought of 2012 illustrated the folly of mandating fixed quantities of ethanol use in gasoline, while allowing the residual to be left for food uses. It is time to reconsider and rescind the ethanol mandates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores how theories and epistemological understandings from the disciplines of human geography and environmental ethics may be usefully deployed to further understanding of public perceptions of carbon dioxide capture and storage (CCS). In particular, the themes of values, place and embodied experience are explored in turn. The aim of doing this is to consider how reflection on some of the 'deeper' issues underpinning CCS projects has the potential to shed new light on how people come to hold particular viewpoints. This paper argues that alongside the endeavour of producing very practical advice and guidelines on public engagement in CCS, there is room to reflect critically on the contexts in which people form their perceptions of CCS and perform these perceptions. Doing this has the potential to offer new insights into what exactly it is publics may find troubling - or, indeed, appealing - about CCS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the Kyoto Protocol officially came into effect on February 16, 2005, many countries have gradually changed their wait-and-see attitudes, becoming more serious in confronting the possible future impact of global warming. Finding a balance among economic development, energy consumption, and environmental protection has become a common concern to the international community. For this reason, it may be important for Taiwan to increase the speed at which it implements regulations related to greenhouse gas and thereby reduce emissions. This paper will discuss and evaluate in depth the various energy policies and objectives that emerged after Taiwan's first National Energy Conference held in 1998 using a decomposition input-output analysis model. We also analyze the effects of different energy policies on reducing CO2 emissions. This analysis not only helps the relevant governmental organizations understand the possible effects of various policies, but it also serves as an important reference for future energy policy-making and allocations of governmental resources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Social housing organisations are increasingly installing renewable energy technologies, particularly for the provision of heating and hot water. To meet carbon reduction targets, uptake and installation must allow occupants to use the technology effectively. This paper describes research which investigated the service of installing heat pumps into UK social housing properties, from both landlords’ and tenants’ experiences. Adopting a user centred design approach, the research was in three phases: an exploration study to investigate landlords’ and tenants’ experiences of heat pump installation and use; refinement and development of the requirements for improved service delivery, primarily technology introduction and control; and the development and initial evaluation of an information leaflet as a key touchpoint in the service delivery. Recommendations for improved service delivery, to enable heat pumps to be accepted and used more effectively, are presented, as well as reflection on the process of applying user centred design in this context. In a relatively immature area of industry, installations to date have been heavily focused on technical aspects. This paper provides an insight into the human aspects of the service delivery of heat pumps in social housing, providing designers and social housing landlords with insight about how to improve the service. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While transportation currently accounts for 23% of total global energy-related CO2 emissions, transport emissions are projected to double by 2050, driven significantly by continued high growth in global passenger demand for air travel. Addressing high growth in aviation emissions is critical to climate stabilization. Currently we rely on individual decisions to forego air travel as the means of reducing these high-risk emissions. In this paper we argue that encouraging voluntary responses to such risks cannot succeed because of the nature of human reason and the structure of the problem itself. We use decision-making theory to explore why individuals have been generally unwilling or unable to act upon these risks, and collective action theory to illustrate the futility of relying on uncoordinated actors in such cases. Participation in the high-carbon air travel regime is a social convention, and transition from social conventions requires coordination among players. Our theoretical discussions lead us to conclude that it is our moral duty to promote coordinated collective action, via national or global policy mechanisms, to address tourist aviation emissions. We offer various avenues of future research to advance this moral duty. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the 2010s, major US initiatives framed urban retrofitting as a decarbonization solution. These programs address an obtrusive legacy of industrial capitalism: its built environments shed energy and emissions when they fall into disrepair. Political ecology and economy have been slow to engage retrofitting, an absence that is conspicuous as these fields take on planetary repair as a conceptual provocation and turn in mainstream conservation. This paper explores US retrofitting as a distinctive material repair practice, one born as an energy poverty program amid the scarcity fears of the 1970s Energy Crisis but seeing a renaissance today as a program for green capitalist growth. I interrogate two economies of repair now emerging around retrofitting, energy market and cleantech aspirations to make energy efficiency a resource and articulated efforts to sell retrofits as new green value for real estate development and investment. Such urban revaluation efforts join an expanding array of green gentrification schemes today. Paradoxically, even as would-be green entrepreneurs are drawn to these seemingly intangible and "clean" forms of waste and value-in-waiting, retrofitting presents intransigent materialities. Its decarbonization ambitions demand not just profit-generating urban repair today but large-scale urban maintenance into the future. This need confronts longstanding efforts to render US cities and built environments flexible to recurrent creative destruction in service of ongoing economic growth. Such logics of de/revaluation and essential disposability permit concurrent US programs for gentrification and urban abandonment today. However, decarbonization requires a more substantial confrontation with capitalist ruination-as-usual. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the coming years, the European building sector faces a large challenge in reducing the energy consumption and CO2 emission. To reach these targets private homeowners must participate by renovating their buildings, but various barriers prevent them from conducting extensive energy renovations. Studies have, nonetheless, shown that improvements in indoor environment, comfort and architecture can motivate the Danish homeowners. This paper examines which elements of respective indoor environment and comfort the homeowners would find essential, and which level of architectural changes they would prefer for renovation. The presented results were derived from a survey conducted in January 2012 where 883 homeowners completed a questionnaire about energy renovation, indoor environment, comfort and architecture. For good indoor environment and comfort ‘stable temperature at a comfortable level’, ‘good and plenty daylight’, ‘the ability to open windows and get fresh air inside’, ‘optimal lay-out’ and ‘no draught’ were found to be most crucial. Preferably, the architecture should undergo some changes, but the original style of the house should be respected. The homeowners’ stage in their life cycle (life-cycle situation) is the key element to consider when motivating them to perform an energy renovation since this stage can affect their motivation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Energy from biomass is potentially an important contributor to U.S. climate change mitigation efforts. However, large-scale implementation of bioenergy competes with other uses of land, including agriculture and forest production and terrestrial carbon storage in non-commercial lands. And with trade, bioenergy could mean greater reliance on imported energy. Based on EMF-24 policy specifications, this paper explores these dimensions of bioenergy's role in U.S. climate policy and the relationship to alternative measures for ameliorating the trade and land use consequences. It shows how widespread use of biomass in the U.S. could lead to imports; and it highlights that the relative stringency of domestic and international carbon mitigation policy will heavily influence the amount of imports. It demonstrates that limiting biomass imports could alter the balance of trade in other agricultural products. Finally, it shows that increasing efforts to protect both U.S. and international forests could also affect the balance of trade in other agricultural products. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A persistent rise in the emission of CO2 among several economies in the world makes it challenging to fulfil the aims of the Sustainable Development Goals. The present study empirically examines the connection between economic complexity, which is understood to be structural conversion headed for more refined information-based production, renewable energy demand, per capita income, trade openness, industrialisation, and CO2 emissions among income-based groups of nations from 1998–2021. It also incorporates partner economies of the One Belt One Road (OBOR) project because these cover 65% of the global population. The findings of the panel autoregressive distributed lag model confirms that virtually all of the chosen samples of the various economies, aside from high-income economies, show that economic complexity degrades the environment. On the other hand, the demand for renewable energy enhances global environmental quality. The study highlights the significance of clean energy ventures and the production of greener quality products globally to minimise environmental damage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although the idea of carbon tax was debated widely in the early 1970s, the first carbon taxes were imposed in some Northern European countries at the beginning of the 1990s. Since the Paris summit in 2015, there has been a growing interest in carbon tax that has begun to increase again. Although Turkey’s share of carbon emissions in terms of total global emissions is low, the rate of increase in emissions has increased in recent years and should be a cause for concern. Therefore, the aim of this paper is to analyze the possible effects of carbon taxes on Turkey’s economy by disaggregating the electricity sectora by using the computable general equilibrium model. Simulation results show that carbon taxation is a highly effective means to reduce carbon emissions. Despite all sectors being adversely affected, some low emission energy, textile, and other service sectors benefit from carbon pricing. The results also indicate macroeconomic costs of imposing a carbon tax at $7 per ton of carbon in terms of the decrease in GDP by 0.061% and associated with per capita utility of the representative household by 0.09% in scenario a. Imposition of successively higher carbon taxes in scenario b and scenario c results in 5.75, 12.02, and 16.95% reduction in carbon emissions at decreasing rate, respectively. However, these reductions are also accompanied by a decrease in real GDP and per capita utility from household expenditure, as macroeconomic costs, in scenarios a, b, and c at increasing rates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper uses a model with Directed Technical Change to theoretically analyse observable heterogeneous energy intensity developments. Based on the empirical evidence, we decompose changes in aggregate energy intensity into structural changes in the economy (structural effect) and within-sector energy efficiency improvements (efficiency effect). The relative importance of these effects is deter mined by energy price growth and sectoral productivities that drive the direction of technical change. When research is directed to the labour-intensive sector, the structural effect is the main driver of energy intensity dynamics. In contrast, the efficiency effect dominates energy intensity developments, when research is directed to energy-intensive industries. Increasing energy price generally leads to lower energy intensities and temporal energy price shocks might induce a permanent redirection of innovation activities. We calibrate the model to empirical data and simulate energy intensity developments across countries. The results of our very stylised model are largely consistent with empirical evidence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To offer a fresh angle on the state capacity to advance decarbonization, this article brings into dialog political economies of scale and the Mannian notion of state infrastructural power, animating this conceptual cross-fertilization with an analysis of China's evolving policy framework for decarbonization. This article begins with building the conceptual construct of scalar practice as a source of state infrastructural power and categorizing three key scalar practices, namely, interscalar rearranging, interregional reshuffling, and urban‒rural scalar mixing. Building upon this, the article critically evaluates China's policy framework and state actions against the notion of infrastructural power: the Chinese state applies noncoercive means to elicit support, extract resources, and coordinate actions while transitioning to decarbonization-driven accumulation regimes, and these noncoercive means are mobilized together with coercive means through the art of scalar structuration that (re)defines central–local, urban‒rural, and interregional relations. Overall, this study elucidates how state-orchestrated processes of (re)territorialization for the decarbonization agenda give rise to the expansion of the state's autonomous power in relation to civil society, albeit in a manner that manifests contested power struggle and conflicting internal logics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A rapidly expanding number of companies have pledged to contribute towards the Paris Agreement's goal by establishing 2050 net-zero emissions targets. However, the literature lacks an in-depth analysis of firms' strategies to reach those targets and their underlying assumptions. Scholars increasingly use time and space as functional constructs to theorise what motivates different business responses to climate change. Organisational boundaries represent an additional critical dimension when analysing companies' climate actions. Hence, we adopted a novel tri-dimensional framework (time, sense of place, and organisational boundaries) to analyse the link between the targets companies set and their proposed decarbonisation strategies. We conducted a qualitative content analysis of self-reported and tertiary data from 45 European manufacturing companies rated as leaders in climate action. By investigating how time, sense of place, and organisational boundaries substantiate companies' decarbonisation strategies' present and possible future impact, we delineate how different approaches to the three dimensions enable or constrain the comprehensives of net-zero strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ambitiously, the UK aims to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 80 per cent by 2050. Since the use of housing accounts for about 27 per cent of UK CO2, and most new-build adds to the number of homes rather than substituting for them, housing's biggest contribution to better energy use and lower carbon emissions in the UK will come from retrofitting the country's existing stock. Moreover retrofitting particularly matters to registered providers of social housing, who seek guidance about the energy efficiency of their properties. This paper argues that an exclusive focus on just one of the technical, economic or social aspects of retrofit is inadequate. Using both theory and case-based experience, it discusses a number of ways, both technical and qualitative, of best measuring what retrofitting can do. It concludes that an integrated, comprehensive understanding of the retrofit process is essential to the making of informed decisions on the energy efficiency of homes, particularly at the scales required. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Gloucestershire County Council (GCC) in the United Kingdom has recently initiated a project to replace all of its halogen lamps in traffic lights with low energy Light Emitting Diode (LED) lamp heads across the County. In order to assess energy savings and carbon reductions from the initiative before implementation, baseline energy monitoring was carried out at 45 sample sites using a power analyzer equipped with a data logger. A regression model to predict annual energy consumption was developed with the numbers of each type of lamp head for each junction as independent variables. The model parameters were then used to estimate baseline emissions for a single trial site where LEDs have been installed and for which energy monitoring was carried out. The estimated baseline energy consumption for this site and the monitored energy consumption after the LEDs have been installed were used to estimate the actual energy savings that can be expected from GCC's initiative. Annual energy savings from this analysis were estimated to range from 64.2 to 74.1 percent (95% Confidence Intervals). The cost savings resulting from the LED initiative were found to payback the investment over a period of about six years. This paper presents a low cost approach and method by which the energy and cost savings of a large scale replacement initiative can be estimated with a single pilot replacement installation of a traffic signal. Such an exercise would be useful for local governments to carry out before making large investment decisions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Like the Stern Review the IPCC Working Group 3 Reports have been taken as showing that the greenhouse gas emissions problem can be solved at negligible cost, primarily by development of alternative energy technologies. The lengthy Fourth Assessment Report summarises the findings of many studies, rather than present analyses that can be clearly assessed. The argument in this paper is that most and probably all of the studies drawing conclusions about the mitigation potential of alternatives are invalid because they do not consider the possible limitations to renewable energy sources, nuclear energy and geo-sequestration. They are economic modelling studies which take the cost of a unit of carbon mitigation and multiply this by the amount of mitigation required, without regard to the difficulties and limits affecting the extent to which these sources can be scaled up. If the greenhouse problem is to be solved by resort to these technologies then the magnitude of the scale-ability problem is huge. This paper argues that there are major reasons why the alternatives cannot be scaled up sufficiently, and that it is not possible to explain how the anticipated 2050 energy budget could be met without exceeding safe greenhouse limits. If this analysis is sound Stern and the IPCC have been seriously misleading and the greenhouse problem cannot be solved at any cost in a society that is committed to affluent living standards and economic growth. The discussion accepts the climate science in both sources, and does not dispute the desirability of moving to renewable energy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To address the problem of human induced climate change effectively, climate policy must embody the principles of economic efficiency, environmental effectiveness and equity. In this paper it is shown that such a climate change policy should include a broad coverage of major greenhouse gases and sources. ABARE's Global Trade and Environment Model (GTEM) is used to analyse the economic impact of meeting a radiative forcing target using policies that focus on carbon dioxide emissions only and policies that focus on all major greenhouse gases and sources, including land use change and forestry emissions. It is projected that incorporating non-carbon dioxide gases into climate change policy reduces the economic adjustment cost significantly. Broadening the sources of carbon dioxide to include land use change and forestry emissions further reduces the economic adjustment costs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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The official Dutch green energy policy aims at increasing the total wind turbine capacity in the Netherlands to 10.5 Gigawatts. This paper analyses the possible fossil fuel savings due to the resulting contribution of 25% wind to the national power grid. The planned wind contribution amounts to 3.25% of the country's total energy consumption, as 13% of the total energy need in the Netherlands is used in the form of electricity. The effects of curtailment, grid accommodation losses and self-energy are discussed. It is shown from performance data that these three factors reduce the fuel saving due to wind energy to less than 31% of the nominal saving, The three factors effectively reduce the total fuel saving due to wind from 3.25 to one percent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Carbon capture and storage (CCS) facilities coupled to coal-fired power plants provide a climate change mitigation strategy that potentially permits the continued use of coal whilst reducing the carbon dioxide emissions. However, the still-high cost of CCS is one of the major obstacles, especially for developing countries. In this paper, we will assess techno-economic aspect of various carbon capture and storage technology in coal-fired power plants, including pre-combustion capture, post-combustion capture, oxy-combustion capture, as well as carbon storage. For various coal-fired power plants, integrated gasification combined cycle with precombustion capture has the highest potential to capture carbon dioxide with the lowest energy penalties and capital & operational costs, post-combustion capture can be retrofitted at relatively low cost to existing pulverized coal power plants and allows the combustion process to be kept relatively unchanged, and oxycombustion capture is relatively immature at present. Although CCS has been accepted as clean development mechanism (CDM) project activities under the Kyoto Protocol, current carbon trading mechanism is inadequate to strongly promote investments on CCS facilities coupled to coal-fired power plants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper seeks to understand how the UK government's headline climate change targets are translated into action at the local level in the transport sector drawing on the findings of research in two English regions. In doing so, these headline targets are identified as a symbolic meta-policy that results in little action on the ground and which challenges established conceptions of policy implementation. Both the 'meta' and 'symbolic' aspects of the policy offer part of the explanation for the lack of substantive action on the ground. As a meta-policy, the headline targets across government require the elaboration of other policies at other levels such as targets for government departments and local authorities, but these are largely absent, leaving the meta-policy without teeth. Over time, these headline targets have developed into a symbolic policy, serving political goals but having little practical effectiveness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate change has become a priority issue since the beginning of the '90s, but binding agreements on GHG (Greenhouse Gas) emission reduction valid worldwide have not been reached yet. The European Union has been a forerunner on regional binding targets with its "20-20-20" Climate and Energy Package approved in 2009, followed in Dec. 2011 by more ambitious targets implying a dramatic reduction by 2050 of GHG emissions to 80-95% below 1990 levels.After a review of the present world situation with respect to primary energy resources, electricity production and CO2 emissions, the paper addresses the present and foreseen penetration of the power generation from RES (Renewable Energy Sources) in the EU (European Union), underlining also the economic impact on final clients caused by generous feed in tariffs.The impact of a substantial increase of RES generation both in power and energy on the power market operation and system reliability and security are presented with practical examples from the Italian situations; e.g.: distortion of the day-ahead power market prices, critical load following requirements for conventional plants, need for additional reserve and risk of excess of non-programmable generation ("overgeneration") in some hours, risk of dynamic stability and worsening of power quality.The main solutions to overcome the above problems are reviewed and a methodology developed by CESI is described explaining how to attain the maximum share of RES generation in a specific power system, in compliance with reliability and security standards.In authors'opinion, the technical and economic aspects must be treated together and it is mandatory to arrive quickly at agreed costs for the environmental impact of electrical infrastructures, particularly CO2 and other GHG emissions. Coherently, new RES generation and related network assets must be planned in an appropriate way to be a real asset and not a problem. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As the development of more advanced capture and storage technologies continues along with gradual scale-up of demonstration projects, the imminent deployment of commercial-scale carbon capture and storage is becoming increasingly likely. The transport stage needs to undergo similar development as there is much that needs to be better understood. In particular, there is a need for an equation of state which can accurately describe the physical behaviour of mixtures of carbon dioxide with impurities during the transport stage of carbon capture and storage in a simple, effective way. Presented here is the early development of a new, analytic equation of state, specifically designed to be highly accurate within the window 0 to 30.9782 ℃ and up to 150 bar (the anticipated usual region of operation for carbon capture and storage pipelines). In this paper, the potential of the proposed equation of state is demonstrated with descriptions for the pressure (from which density can be directly calculated) and phase behaviour of pure CO2. Comparisons with the Peng–Robinson equation of state are made in order to demonstrate the potential of the model, which has both simplicity similar to that of the Peng–Robinson equation and accuracy similar to that of the Span–Wagner equation. Presently, it is found that inside this window, the maximum percentage error of the new equation in the description of pressure for the case of pure carbon dioxide is not more than approximately 2.53%, compared with 40.85% for the Peng–Robinson equation, whilst for the description of phase behaviour, it is not more than 2.41%, compared with 18.23% for the Peng–Robinson equation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Studies of the factors involved in public perceptions of CO2 storage projects reveal a level of complexity and diversity that arguably confounds a comprehensive theoretical account. To some extent, a conceptual approach that simply organises the relevant social scientific knowledge thematically, rather than seeking an integrated explanation, is as useful as any single account that fails to do justice to the contingencies involved. This paper reviews and assembles such knowledge in terms of six themes and applies these themes to five European cases of carbon capture and storage (CCS) implementation. We identify the main factors involved in community responses to CCS as relating to: the characteristics of the project; the engagement process; risk perceptions; the actions of the stakeholders; the characteristics of the community, and the socio-political context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Internationally, the level of public awareness of carbon dioxide capture and storage (CCS) technology remains low. The mainstream media have a salient influence in shaping the debate on CCS's implementation and its risks. This paper presents the results of analysis of print media coverage of CCS worldwide between August 2009 and June 2010. A total of 1138 articles from the Carbon Sequestration Leadership Forum were reviewed and analysed. The majority of these articles were balanced or neutral in tone and lacking in technical detail. Fifteen key themes were identified. Two of these emerged the most frequently across all sources: CCS pilot and demonstration projects, and funding issues. This suggests a pattern of media curiosity over how financial support for CCS is provided and what results are occurring at pilot and demonstration efforts. Cross-regional key risks included: time, cost, and implementation issues; technical validity; and storage capacity issues. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines where and how claims of procedural injustice, or demands for procedural justice, might arise with respect to carbon capture and storage (CCS), taking a broad view of the CCS research, development and deployment process. It considers the principles that might govern such claims and seeks to identify where responsibility might lie for ensuring justice, or addressing contested claims of injustice. It is suggested that claims of procedural injustice arising from CCS are most likely to arise during implementation, from locally affected populations, raising concerns of inadequate information or consultation; but they may also arise from representatives of other indirectly affected groups, such as those affected by upstream impacts of coal mining, or energy market consequences of CCS policy. It is further suggested that claims are most likely to be directed at public authorities in respect of decisions over policy, strategy or authorisations for individual developments, but there are also routes by which claims may be directed at the corporations involved, especially under human rights provisions. The paper suggests a need for careful consideration of both procedural and, by implication, distributive justice matters in the emerging regulatory and support framework for CCS, with a particular imperative for moving public engagement upstream prior to deployment and indeed even to research programmes, to maximise the scope for legitimate influence on future outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The pilot study described in this paper has investigated how UK Climate Change Agreements have affected the operations of British small and medium sized enterprises, using semi-structured interviews in a sample of companies. Results from the interviews show that the decision to sign a Climate Change Agreement was primarily economic, driven by the financial incentive of recouping up to 80 per cent of the Climate Change Levy. The procedures introduced to meet the Agreement's targets also assisted in coping with subsequent rising energy prices. Further discussions also revealed that trade associations played a positive role in providing information about opportunities provided by Climate Change Agreements and assistance in completion of the relevant documentation. The research also shows that the choice of relative, rather than absolute, targets has caused recent difficulties in view of lower production volumes during the economic downturn. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper discusses the development of a new structural composite hybrid system that is able to replace a conventional residential structural system in which space is partitioned using concrete walls. The new structural system consists of structural tees and wide flange steel beams, with the bottom flange and/or portion of the web partially encased in pre-cast concrete, which is then mechanically anchored by headed stud shear connectors both to the bottom flange and the web of the structural tees. In composite frame built apartments, materials known to be heavy carbon dioxide (CO2) emitters can then be either excluded or reduced with consequent reduction in CO2 emissions. This study has investigated 36 selected multi-residential apartment buildings of linear shape to compare the CO2 emissions of the new composite hybrid and conventional multi-residential apartments. The CO2 emissions resulting from the composite hybrid apartments were reduced to approximately 75-80% in comparison to the emissions occurring from the construction of conventional load-bearing wall apartments. This was achieved by reducing the main sources responsible for CO2 emission. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The reduction of greenhouse gases (to which CO2 contributes over 60%) to stop global warming is now a major priority for governments around the world. One approach, described in this paper, concerns the ''clean energy'' or ''zero-emission'' technologies. An original concept of a semi-closed zero emission ion transport membrane oxygen power (ZEITMOP) cycle is being developed. It can be compared to other research initiatives such as clean energy systems and zero-emission natural gas, as a response to the wellrecognised challenges. As an answer to the crucial question of reduction of greenhouse gas emissions we propose new zero-emission fuel-fired power plants and boiler houses (''ZEITMOP Boiler & Air Cooler'' and ''Zero Emission Membrane Smokeless Heating''). Zero-emission co-generation of power and heat allows such plants to be located in densely populated areas close to the consumer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The UK government has set out a clear framework for tackling climate change which establishes a carbon reduction pathway to 2050. If, as is claimed, this is the first of its kind anywhere in the world, can the obligation it brings be converted into 'first mover' opportunities for businesses and the economy as a whole? This question will be of heightened importance to the English Regional Development Agencies and local authorities following the government's recently strengthened endorsement of their responsibility for economic growth and efficiency at regional and local levels. This paper considers the policy levers that can help turn the obligation into opportunity and the role that regional and local agencies can play in this through spatial planning, innovation, procurement, skills development and enterprise. It summarises and updates a previous SQW Viewpoint which can be found at www.sqw.co.uk. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Concerns about the cost of CO2 capture and sequestration, and the effectiveness of carbon abatement policies loom large in discussions on climate change mitigation. Several writers address the issue from various perspectives. This paper attempts to add relative realism to discussions on CO2 capture costs, and, the deployment of carbon capture technology in the UK by using publicly available company data on the long term capacity expansion and CO2 capture investment programmes of selected power plants in the UK. With an estimated £8 billion plan to install a generation capacity of 11 GW and capture capability of 44 MtCO2/year, it is imperative to optimise this huge potential investment. A least-cost optimisation model was formulated and solved with the LP algorithm available in GAMS. The model was then applied to address a number of issues, including the choice of an optimal carbon abatement policy within the EU-ETS framework. The major findings of the study include (a) the long term total cost curve of CO2 capture has three phases -- rising, plateau, rising; (b) alternative capture technologies do not have permanent relative cost advantages or disadvantages; (c) Government incentives encourage carbon capture and the avoidance of emission penalty charges; and (d) the goals of EU-ETS are more effectively realised with deeper cuts in the EUA ratios titan merely hiking the emission penalty, as proposed in EU-ETS Phase II. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Traditionally, economic analyses of greenhouse gas (GHG) mitigation focused on carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from energy sources, while non-CO2 GHGs were not incorporated into the studies, due to the lack of data on abatement costs of non-CO2 GHGs. In recent years, however, increasing attention has been dedicated to the benefits of reducing emissions of non-CO2 GHGs such as methane and nitrous oxide. Increased attention to the potential role of these gases in a GHG reduction policy increased the need for better data on the costs of non-CO2 GHG abatement for countries and regions outside of the US and the European Union (EU). Using a net present value calculation, this analysis develops regionally adjusted costs per mitigation option and marginal abatement cost curves by region for use in economic models. The result is worldwide cost estimates for methane and nitrous oxide from waste, energy and the industrial sectors. This paper also demonstrates the ability to significantly reduce greenhouse gases from these sectors with current technologies and the low cost of methane and nitrous oxide relative to CO2 reductions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Throughout the past years, the first carbon credits - though not yet certified by the UNFCCC - have been traded. The technologies used, project size and regional preferences of carbon transactions via Joint Implementation and the Clean Development Mechanism approved under major programmes are reviewed in this paper. The current full JI and CDM project portfolio aims to reduce some 100 MtCO2-eq. This market is highly monopsonic; the buyers determine which credits are sold. The 12 JI projects are mainly implemented in Romania and Poland and constitute a diverse technology portfolio. Most of the 37 CDM projects are implemented in Latin America. Hydro and wind energy projects dominate in terms of numbers of projects. One large-scale fuel switch and one afforestation project bias the portfolio in terms of absolute CO2 reduction. Comments are made on the baseline consistency and additionality of the currently selected projects. The assessment of emissions trading programmes is more difficult than that of separate projects, because of the characteristics of an emissions trading market. Yet, depending on the starting conditions, the ET programmes vary in their success. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many governments, businesses, and institutions are committing to net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, a goal and process known as deep decarbonization. Achieving this goal in the United States requires a national, economy-wide transformation in energy production and use in five sectors: electricity, transportation, industry, land-based carbon sinks, and buildings. All of these sectors interact with planning for the built environment and land use, so planning scholars and practitioners have many opportunities to engage policymakers working on national-level decarbonization strategies. This article analyzes the consequences of deep decarbonization for the future speed, scale, scope, role, and relevance of planning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Biomass can be converted into energy, fuels, and value-added products by adopting proper conversion or production methods. For many years, biomass has been considered to be a good candidate for producing biochar or activated carbon. The awareness created on mitigation of carbon dioxide (CO2), which is the major cause of global warming, necessitated developing potential methods and materials for curbing CO2 originating from various sources. Adsorption is the most viable option to mitigate CO2 by using activated carbon which can be derived from various biomass sources. In recent years, activated carbon has been produced from different biomass substances by varying carbonization and activation duration, carbonization and activation temperature, impregnation ratio, and the concentration of the activating agent to improve its surface area and porosity. This review article provides a comprehensive review on utilization, production and characterization of biomass-based activated carbon for CO2 adsorption. Initially, the article discusses the review of research works carried out on utilization of biomass-based activated carbon for CO2 adsorption. Furthermore, the article presents the research works carried out on surface textural characteristics, physicochemical properties, and maximum adsorption capacity of activated carbon obtained from different biomass substances. Finally, the article presents the research works carried out related to the biomass-based activated carbon and the parameters significantly enhancing the CO2 adsorption performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The debate regarding mitigation of carbon dioxide emissions and fiscal decentralization has gained extreme attention, but only a little evidence supports this issue. Therefore, this study adopts fiscal decentralization, green technology innovation, and institutional efficiency that reduce environmental degradation and help to create a sustainable environment in seventeen developed countries. This study applies a novel Methods of Moment's Quantiles Regression (MMQR) which helps to deal with asymmetricity, structural change and non-normality. The overall results exhibit emissions mitigating effect of fiscal decentralization, green technology innovation and institutional efficiency. However, the emissions mitigating effects of fiscal decentralization is the lowest for lower quantiles and the highest for higher emissions quantiles. In contrast, emission reduction effect of green technology innovation and institutional efficiency is higher for lowest quantiles and lower for highest quantiles. These results confirm the asymmetric effect of fiscal decentralization, green technology innovation, and institutional efficiency on carbon emissions, and validating that their effect is not alike across all distribution, rather significantly varied at lower, medium, and higher quantiles. These results offer valuable suggestions to improve the environmental sustainability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In today's world, owing to industrial expansion, urbanization, the rapid growth of the human population, and the high standard of living, the utilization of the most advanced technologies is unavoidable. The enhanced anthropogenic activities worldwide result in a continuous increase in global warming potential, thereby raising a global concern. The constant rise in global warming potential forces the world to mitigate greenhouse gases, particularly carbon dioxide. Carbon dioxide is considered as the primary contributor responsible for global warming and climatic changes. The global anthropogenic carbon dioxide emissions released into the atmosphere can eventually deteriorate the environment and endanger the ecosystem. Combating global warming is one of the main challenges in achieving sustainable development. Carbon capture and storage is a potential solution to mitigate carbon dioxide emissions. There are three main methods for carbon capture and storage: post-combustion, pre-combustion, and oxy-fuel combustion. Among them, post-combustion is used in thermal power plants and industrial sectors, all of which contribute a significant amount of carbon dioxide. Different techniques such as physical and chemical absorption, physical and chemical adsorption, membrane separation, and cryogenic distillation used for carbon capture are thoroughly discussed and presented. Currently, there are various materials including absorbents, adsorbents, and membranes used in carbon dioxide capture. Still, there is a search for new and novel materials and processes for separating and capturing carbon dioxide. This review article provides a comprehensive review of different methods, techniques, materials, and processes used for separating and capturing carbon dioxide from significant stationary point sources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the role that attention to emotions around climate change can play for third sector climate change engagement initiatives, an area to which the literature on such initiatives has paid little attention. It focuses on Carbon Conversations, a programme that explicitly acknowledges the role of difficult emotions and underlying values in people's engagement with climate change. While there are limitations to this approach, results show that it can help certain audiences engage more deeply with issues around climate change and carbon reduction. Important lessons can be drawn for other initiatives that aim to engage the public on climate change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Corporate action to tackle climate change is affected by multifaceted tensions, which are insufficiently investigated. It therefore remains unclear how tensions become salient and how they are responded to when a new strategy is introduced. We propose that translation theory can inform paradox theory and explore this conceptualization using a qualitative case-study research design. Specifically, we examine how retail translates the decarbonization strategy of a car manufacturer. We show how retail employees, in their role as translators, compare the manufacturer's strategy against their context and thereby make tensions salient in a context-dependent manner. Additionally, we examine how translators respond to salient tensions by applying eight different contextualization mechanisms to resolve the tensions between the new strategy and contextual factors. In one subunit, the translation of the new strategy fails, and the tension persists. We derive two theoretical propositions from the studied patterns of the salience of and response to tensions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Following the introduction of the European Union Emissions Trading Scheme (EU-ETS), CO2 emissions have become a tradable commodity. As a regulated party, emitters are forced to take into account the additional cost of carbon emissions in their production costs structure. Given the high volatility in the carbon price, the importance of price risk management becomes unquestionable. This study is the first attempt that has been made to calculate hedge ratios and to investigate their hedging effectiveness in the EU-ETS carbon market by applying conventional, recently developed estimation models. These hedge ratios are then compared with those derived for other markets. In spite of the uniqueness and novelty of the carbon market, the results of the study are consistent with those found in other markets – that the hedge ratio is in the range of 0.5–1.0 and is still best estimated by simple regression models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on the developments which took place after the 2007 workshop which aimed at defining a roadmap for the deployments of carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology for carbon dioxide mitigation in Great Britain. It mentions that after the workshop, a CCS demonstration competition was announced and climatic change policies have been imposed to control carbon emissions. It informs that the first CCS project will be ready for commercial deployment by 2015.