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Environ Resource Econ. 2021; 80: 1-20. 10.1007/s10640-021-00576-8 4 Gersbach H, Hummel N, Winkle R. Long-Term Climate Treaties with a Refunding Club. For over a decade, at its annual conference the European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists (EAERE) has awarded a prize generously donated by Springer, for the best paper published within its journal Environmental and Resource Economics (ERE). Bans on discarding fish are a feature of EU fisheries policy that have created some controversy. [Extracted from the article]

Highlights: [•] Flexible ceramic papers were prepared for diesel soot abatement. [•] Cobalt and cerium oxides were impregnated to develop catalytic activity. [•] Cerium nanoparticles, added to confer mechanical resistance, allowed anchoring catalytic species. [•] A filter designed from catalytic papers properly resisted testing bench experiments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An effective and just industrial transition is necessary both to mitigate climate change and protect jobs, and as a precursor to enable other sectors to decarbonise. Activity is at an early stage and examples of successful sector-wide interventions to decarbonise industry do not yet exist. Governments of industrialised countries are beginning to develop policy and provide funding to support deployment of carbon capture and low-carbon hydrogen infrastructures into high-emitting industrial clusters, but options for sites outside of clusters, denoted here as 'dispersed sites', are also required. This paper takes a mixed methods approach to provide the first analysis of the issues facing dispersed industrial sites on their route to decarbonisation and to suggest solutions to the challenges they face. Using the UK as a case study, it first characterises dispersed sites in terms of location, emissions released, sectors involved, and size of companies affected. It then shows how these features mean that simply expanding the geographical scope of the present UK decarbonisation strategy, which focuses on the provision of carbon capture and low-carbon hydrogen, would face a number of challenges and so will need to be broadened to include a wider range of abatement options and other considerations to meet the needs of dispersed sites. While the solutions for each place will be different, these are likely to include some combination of the expansion of shared infrastructure, the development of local zero-carbon hubs, research into a wider range of novel abatement technologies and facilitating local participation in energy planning. The paper concludes with a discussion of remaining knowledge gaps before outlining how its findings might apply to industrial decarbonisation strategies in other countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The first paper of this special issue, "Climate Policy and Wealth Distribution" by Dao, [[1]] develops a model with intergenerational bequest transfers and climate damage on the wealth of heterogeneous households. A sound climate policy would have to reduce this "option value of waiting" due to commodity price uncertainties. According to scientific data, climate change and environmental deterioration have become severe issues threatening human society and sustainability. [Extracted from the article]

The Coupled Climate-Economy-Biosphere (CoCEB) model described herein takes an integrated assessment approach to simulating global change. By using an endogenous economic growth module with physical and human capital accumulation, this paper considers the sustainability of economic growth, as economic activity intensifies greenhouse gas emissions that in turn cause economic damage due to climate change. Different types of fossil fuels and different technologies produce different volumes of carbon dioxide in combustion. The shares of different fuels and their future evolution are not known. We assume that the dynamics of hydrocarbon-based energy share and their replacement with renewable energy sources in the global energy balance can be modeled into the 21st century by use of logistic functions. Various climate change mitigation policy measures are considered. While many integrated assessment models treat abatement costs merely as an unproductive loss of income, we consider abatement activities also as an investment in overall energy eficiency of the economy and decrease of overall carbon intensity of the energy system. The paper shows that these efforts help to reduce the volume of industrial carbon dioxide emissions, lower temperature deviations, and lead to positive effects in economic growth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate change and urbanization have led to an increase in the amount of water flowing into traditional drainage systems, which results in frequent urban flooding. Low–Impact Development (LID) facilities, with their distributed feature, are one of the important means to mitigate flooding and have been widely used. In this paper, based on integrated catchment management (ICM), we compare the abatement of runoff, flooding, and ponding under two durations of rainfall and eight different return periods with runoff as the control objective (RACO) and flooding as the control objective (FACO) for the deployment of LID facilities. The waterlogged area of FACO is higher by a range of 92.462 m2 to 24,124.39 m2 compared to RACO. Both percentage reduction of overflow volume and runoff volume tend to decrease gradually with the increase in the return period. For the percentage reduction of runoff volume per unit area, sometimes RACO is greater than FACO, and sometimes vice versa, while for the percentage reduction of overflow volume per unit area, the range where FACO exceeds RACO is between 0.29 to 10.95 (%/ha). The cost of FACO has decreased by 4.94% to 46.20% compared to RACO. This shows that FACO's LID deployment method can fully utilize the capacity of LID facilities to mitigate inundation, reducing the cost of LID facilities to a certain extent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Several countries have imposed either a ban or a tax on single-use plastic packaging, motivated by their contribution to marine plastic pollution. This may lead consumers to opt for similar unregulated substitutes, potentially undermining or even counteracting the intended effect of the policy instrument. The purpose of this study is to theoretically and empirically compare the environmental and welfare effects of the first-best Pigouvian taxes on both plastic bags and a substitute (paper bags), with two alternative second-best policy instruments: a tax on plastic products alone, and a common uniform tax on all packaging materials. The empirical analysis accounts for two different types of environmental externalities from the use of both bag types: marine pollution and greenhouse gas emissions. It also compares results for two countries, Denmark and the USA, which differ in the demand for plastic and paper bags. The theoretical analysis shows that a unilateral tax on plastic bags should equal the marginal environmental damage of plastic bags minus a fraction of the marginal environmental cost of paper bags, hence being lower than the Pigouvian tax. The optimal common tax should equal a weighted average of the marginal environmental damage of the two bag types and would be lower than the Pigouvian tax on plastics if the marginal external cost of plastic bags exceeds that for paper bags. The empirical analysis shows that for default parameters, the variation in tax level across the studied scenarios is small. It also shows that if Pigouvian taxes cannot be implemented, a common uniform tax on both bag types would result in a higher welfare gain than a tax on plastic bags alone. Sensitivity analysis reveals that the level of the second-best taxes and their associated environmental and welfare impacts are sensitive to assumptions regarding the littering rate and decay rate of plastic bags in the marine environment. • A separate tax on plastic bags leads to substitution towards unregulated products. • Both plastic bags and substitutes cause marine pollution and GHG emissions. • We estimate first and second-best environmental taxes on plastic and paper bags. • Pigouvian taxes on both plastic and paper bags yield the highest welfare effect. • A uniform tax on all bags yields higher welfare than a single tax on plastic bags. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The collection of papers in this special issue examines empirical evidence from Asia, Europe, and North America, analyzes how climate change affects the spatial economy, and explores the feasibility of carbon neutrality as a countermeasure to climate change. It begins by discussing the research background, the motivation for emphasizing spatial considerations, and the analysis in climate change studies. Each accepted paper is then elaborated upon regarding topic selection, methodology, and findings. The issue highlights the crucial role of spatial elements in climate studies and aims to inspire further research in this direction. By leveraging regional science and analytical tools, the goal is to develop more effective and equitable policies for carbon abatement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The upcoming network investment decisions and regulatory framework adopted by distribution system operators (DSOs) are most likely to be impacted by the integration of fluctuating distributed generation. The economical hosting capacity (HC) improvement method is investigated in this paper as a trade‐off between curtailment and upgrade using a Monte Carlo simulation procedure. The associated costs of both methods are vital indicators for network operators that are trying to maximize the HC and minimize cost. In addition, the breakeven point where curtailment and upgrade costs intersect is the decisive point at which network upgrade becomes sensible as marginal curtailment cost exceeds upgrade cost. A shift in global climate conditions can impact the photovoltaic (PV) levels that motivate network operators to investigate PV penetration, especially in colder climate regions. Thus, the primary objective of this paper is to investigate the shift of the breakeven point to guide DSOs to either adopt PV curtailment as a temporary measure or grid upgrade as a risk aversion strategy considering Finnish climate and load patterns. The real‐time load and PV generation data are utilized for the simulations to consider the dynamic performance indication of three Finnish distribution networks. Curtailment remains a low‐cost option to obtain a percentage HC rise of 13%, 7%, and 8% for rural, suburban, and urban regions, respectively, beyond which curtailment compensation cost surpasses upgrade cost. In essence, PV curtailment serves as an immediate and least‐cost solution to relieve network violations and defer network investment until the HC level (118%, 106%, 97%) making the upgrade a practical option afterwards. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, the optimization of the flow channel structure of the U-shaped air distributor is proposed. Fluent meshing was used to mesh the multipatch meshing of the original model of the grid air distributor, and then the CFD numerical simulation was carried out by using Fluent 2022R1 to obtain the internal air flow state of the air distributor flow channel. Through the orthogonal experimental design and a comprehensive analysis method, the optimal size structure for resistance performance is obtained as S = 60 mm, RL = 125 mm, L = 160 mm, D = 100 mm, the resistance coefficient of the new structure as 1.375, and the pressure loss as 56.87 Pa, by using 3D modeling software (SOLIDWORKS 2015) and Fluent. Compared with the initial scheme, the resistance coefficient and pressure loss are reduced by 3.03% and 6.29%, respectively. To summarize, the research in this paper offers a substantial contribution to the realm of energy conservation and emission abatement in ship air conditioning systems, simultaneously furnishing invaluable guidance for the design of air distributors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of China Population Resources & Environment is the property of Shandong Normal University and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Numerical optimization models are used to develop scenarios of the future energy system. Usually, they optimize the energy mix subject to engineering costs such as equipment and fuel. For onshore wind energy, some of these models use cost-potential curves that indicate how much electricity can be generated at what cost. These curves are upward sloping mainly because windy sites are occupied first and further expanding wind energy means deploying less favorable resources. Meanwhile, real-world wind energy expansion is curbed by local resistance, regulatory constraints, and legal challenges. This presumably reflects the perceived adverse effect that onshore wind energy has on the local human population, as well as other negative external effects. These disamenity costs are at the core of this paper. We provide a comprehensive and consistent set of cost-potential curves of wind energy for all European countries that include disamenity costs, and which can be used in energy system modeling. We combine existing valuation of disamenity costs from the literature that describe the costs as a function of the distance between turbine and households with gridded population data, granular geospatial data of wind speeds, and additional land-use constraints to calculate such curves. We find that disamenity costs are not a game changer: for most countries and assumptions, the marginal levelized cost of onshore wind energy increase by 0.2–12.5 €/MWh. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The nature of renewable energy resources (RERs), such as wind energy, makes them highly unstable, unpredictable, and intermittent. As a result, they must be optimized to reduce costs and emissions, increase reliability, and also to find the optimal size and location for RERs and energy storage systems (ESSs). Microgrids (MG) can be modified using ESSs to gradually reduce traditional energy use. In order to integrate RERs in a financially viable scheme, ESSs should be sized and operated optimally. The paper presents an enhanced biogeography-driven optimization algorithm for optimizing the operations and sizes of battery ESSs (BESSs) taking into account MGs that experience wind energy penetration in a way that migration rates are adaptively adjusted based on habitat suitability indexes and differential perturbations added to migration operators. An optimization problem was applied to a BESS to determine its depth of discharge and lifespan. This paper considers three different scenarios in using simulations and compares them to existing optimization methods for the purpose of demonstrating the effectiveness of the offered scheme. Out of all the case studies examined, the optimized BESS-linked case study was the least expensive. We also show that a BESS must be of an optimum size to function both economically and healthily. For economic and efficient functioning of MGs, it has been shown that finding the optimum size of the ESS is important and potentially extends battery lifespan. The IBBOA obtained a more precise size for BESS's volume, and the final outcomes are compared in this paper with other methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper documents evidence that financial constraints increase firms' toxic emissions given that firms actively trade off abatement costs against potential legal liabilities. Exploring three quasi-natural experiments in which firms' financial resources are likely exogenously affected, we find that relaxing financial constraints reduces U.S. public firms' toxic releases. The effects of financial constraints on toxic releases are amplified when regulatory enforcement and external monitoring weaken. Overall, our evidence highlights the real effects of financial constraints in the form of environmental pollution, which is a costly negative externality imposed on society and public health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the increasingly strict regulations for the energy-saving and emission-reduction technology of ships, minimizing fuel cost and thus reducing the carbon intensity index (CII) is one of the most critical issues in the design and operation of merchant ships. More recently, many wind-assisted devices, such as rotors, wind sails, etc., have been investigated and designed to utilize renewable wind energy. With the equipment of wind-assisted rotors, the optimization of ship routes becomes more important because the effect of this wind-assisted device highly depends on the local wind field along the shipping route. In this paper, an improved ship weather routing framework based on the A* algorithm has been proposed to determine the optimal ship route and ship operations with wind-assisted rotors. The proposed framework effectively utilizes different sources of data, including ship design, weather forecasting and historical sailing information, to produce a better estimation of fuel consumption under the effect of sea states. Several improvements on the classic A* algorithm, including directed searching and three-dimensional extension, are proposed to improve the routing effect and efficiency. Finally, the proposed method was applied to test cases of a VLCC operating from China to the Middle East and the results show that the total fuel consumption could be reduced compared to the minimum distance route. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigated a novel electrocatalyst with a core–shell structure of CoNiP@N,P-C. The unique carbon shell of this catalyst serves a dual purpose: exposing numerous active sites and safeguarding CoNiP nanoparticles from dissolution caused by the electrolyte. As a result, the CoNiP@N,P-C nanoparticles exhibit exceptional electrochemical properties. The CoNiP@N,P-C catalyst displays overpotentials of 234 and 314 mV for the HER and OER, respectively, within a simulated seawater solution (1 M KOH + 0.5 M NaCl), indicating its outstanding catalytic performance. Moreover, when subjected to full seawater splitting, the CoNiP@N,P-C catalyst exhibited high activity, achieving a 1.71 V cell voltage at a current density of 10 mA cm−2. As revealed by density functional theory (DFT) calculations, the CoNiP@N,P-C catalyst exhibits Gibbs free energy for hydrogen adsorption (ΔGH* = −0.19 eV) that is decreased in comparison with CoP@N,P-C, NiP@N,P-C, and N,P-C (−0.321 eV, −0.434 eV, and 0.723 eV, respectively). This finding confirms that the core–shell structure plays a role in enhancing the HER kinetics and improving the catalytic performance, which is consistent with the experimental observations. Consequently, this study introduces the concept of utilizing bimetal phosphide core–shell structures for overall seawater splitting, offering a novel approach in this field of research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Low-carbon economy has become a topic of great concern to the international community. Sea level rise caused by climate change, flood disasters, biodiversity reduction, global famine, and other issues have begun to threaten the normal survival of human beings, and the climate problem needs to be solved urgently. While ensuring rapid economic development, in order to better control the total amount of greenhouse gas emissions, this paper, based on the theory of low-carbon economy, takes control of total carbon emissions for low-carbon economic development, as a perspective, and selects the optimization for the development of low-carbon economy. From the aspects of structural emission reduction technology and emission reduction, a carbon emission control optimization index system for low-carbon economic development based on total carbon emission control is constructed. Under the framework of the index system, construct an optimization model for the total amount of carbon emissions in a low-carbon economy and use the BP neural network model to seek the balance point between economic development, energy consumption, and carbon emissions so as to promote the rational and scientific development of the low-carbon economy. Planning and development. First of all, on the premise of maintaining the same economic growth rate, the optimization plan will reduce carbon emissions. Secondly, on the premise of keeping the cost of energy consumption unchanged, it is more reasonable to adjust the energy consumption structure. Taking the optimization plan as the suggestion for the development direction of the low-carbon economy, it provides scientific and feasible technical support for achieving the emission reduction target of reducing the unit greenhouse gas emission to 40%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The framework of this paper is the study of gas treatments (NOx abatement) by dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) at atmospheric pressure. To investigate the impact of various solutions for electrical energy injection on the treatment process, two diagnostic methods are considered to evaluate the discharging ratio on the reactor surface: an image processing method and a DBD equivalent circuit analysis, both presented in this paper. For the image analysis, the discharge area is first translated into gray levels, then segmented using the Otsu's method in order to perform the discharging ratio diagnostic. The equivalent circuit approach, derived from the classical Manley's diagram analysis, includes the behavior of the part of the reactor in which no discharge is happening. The identification of its parameters is used to estimate the discharging ratio, which evaluates the percentage of the reactor surface covered by the discharge. Experimental results with specifically developed power supplies are presented: they show a good agreement between the two methods. To allow a quantitative comparison of the discharge uniformity according to the operating conditions, the statistical analysis of gray level distribution is performed: non-uniform discharges with intense energy channels are shown to be clearly distinguished from more diffuse ones. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Estimates of the environmental impacts of constructing and operating buildings are critical for improving the sustainability of construction. To identify the best design, a holistic approach is necessary, considering emissions, energy use, direct costs, potential earthquake costs, etc. Accordingly, this paper addresses a multitude of lifecycle impacts associated with the manufacturing, construction, operations, damage, and demolition of buildings. All impacts are translated into a common utility, measured in dollars. A collection of cost models is developed, and detailed building models are created from BIM, i.e., building information modelling. A comprehensive analysis is conducted for a six-story building. Results show that the steel material option results in the lowest construction cost. The wood option results in the lowest cost of emissions, while the concrete option contributes the most to climate change. Earthquake damage accounts for about 3% of the total expected cost, but the worst-case earthquake cost exceeds the building value. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An increase in policy ambition is needed to close the gaps related to climate change mitigation and those required to meet the targets of Paris Agreement. This article examines the contemporary situation of carbon pricing and suggests how carbon costs would help countries adopt comprehensive climate policies. This paper explores the carbon pricing imitative across different regions and the associated issues and proposes how to format holistic, ambitious approaches for effective implementation of carbon pricing. The carbon taxes and emission trading programs are the primary tools for implementation costs. Carbon taxes, fuel taxes, subsidies for fossil energy, and emission trading systems (ETSs) all contribute to these costs. Different countries have adopted different approaches to adopt and mitigate the adverse effect of carbon emissions, but coordinated and integrated efforts are needed. This paper emphasizes the effective carbon pricing and integrating role of finance departments in climate policy; new synergies can be developed to boost government agencies' ability to implement climate policy. Governments may increase their involvement in carbon pricing beyond direct carbon pricing if they implement efficient carbon pricing. Governments, international organizations, and civil society can all play a role in pushing for effective carbon prices to encourage more ambitious targets. Furthermore, the article stresses the need for open communication and a proper understanding of carbon pricing potential to implement climate policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While the energy sector is the largest global contributor to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, the agriculture, forestry, and other land use (AFOLU) sector account for up to 80% of GHG emissions in the least developed countries (LDCs). Despite this, the nationally determined contributions (NDCs) of LDCs, including Nepal, focus primarily on climate mitigation in the energy sector. This paper introduces green growth—a way to foster economic growth while ensuring access to resources and environmental services—as an approach to improving climate policy coherence across sectors. Using Nepal as a case country, this study models the anticipated changes in resource use and GHG emissions between 2015 and 2030, that would result from implementing climate mitigation actions in Nepal's NDC. The model uses four different scenarios. They link NDC and policies across economic sectors and offer policy insights regarding (1) energy losses that could cost up to 10% of gross domestic product (GDP) by 2030, (2) protection of forest resources by reducing the use of biomass fuels from 465 million gigajoules (GJ) in 2015 to 195 million GJ in 2030, and (3) a significant reduction in GHG emissions by 2030 relative to the business‐as‐usual (BAU) case by greater use of electricity from hydropower rather than biomass. These policy insights are significant for Nepal and other LDCs as they seek an energy transition towards using more renewable energy and electricity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ventilation Air Methane (VAM) refers to the release of fugitive methane (CH4) emissions into the atmosphere during underground coal mining operations. Growing concerns regarding the greenhouse effects of CH4 have led to a worldwide effort in developing efficient and cost-effective methods of capturing CH4. Among these, absorption-based processes, particularly those using Ionic Liquids (ILs) are appealing due to their advantages over conventional methods. In this study, the solubility of CH4 in various ILs, expressed by Henry's law constant, is first reviewed by examining a wide range of experimental techniques. This is followed by a review of thermodynamic modelling tools such as the extended Henry's law model, extended Pitzer's model, Peng–Robinson (PR) equation of state, and Krichevsky−Kasarnovsky (KK) equation of state as well as computational (Artificial Neural Network) modelling approaches. The comprehensive analysis presented in this paper aims to provide a deeper understanding of the factors that significantly influence the process of interest. Furthermore, the study provides a critical examination of recent advancements and innovations in CH4 capture by ILs. ILs, in general, have a higher selectivity for methane compared to conventional solvents. This means that ILs can remove methane more effectively from VAM, resulting in a higher purity of the recovered methane. Overall, ILs offer several advantages over conventional solvents for the after treatment of VAM. They are more selective, less volatile, have a wider temperature range, are chemically stable, and can be made from renewable materials. As a result of their many advantages, ILs are becoming increasingly popular for the after treatment of VAM. They offer a more sustainable, efficient, and safe alternative to conventional solvents, and they are likely to continue gaining market share in the coming years. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate change and environmental protection have a significant impact on thermal plants. So, the main principles of combined economic-emission dispatch (CEED) problem are indeed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and fuel costs. Many approaches have demonstrated their efficacy in addressing CEED problem. However, designing a robust algorithm capable of achieving the Pareto optimal solutions under its multimodality and non-convexity natures caused by valve ripple effects is a true challenge. In this paper, chaos-enhanced multi-objective tunicate swarm algorithm (CMOTSA) for CEED problem. To promote the exploration and exploitation abilities of the basic tunicate swarm algorithm (TSA), an exponential strategy based on chaotic logistic map (ESCL) is incorporated. Based on ESCL in CMOTSA, it can improve the possibility of diversification feature to search different areas within the solution space, and then, gradually with the progress of iterative process it converts to emphasize the intensification ability. The efficacy of CMOTSA is approved by applying it to some of multi-objective benchmarking functions which have different Pareto front characteristics including convex, discrete, and non-convex. The inverted generational distance (IGD) and generational distance (GD) are employed to assess the robustness and the good quality of CMOTSA against some successful algorithms. Additionally, the computational time is evaluated, the CMOTSA consumes less time for most functions. The CMOTSA is applied to one of the practical engineering problems such as combined economic and emission dispatch (CEED) with including the valve ripples. By using three different systems (IEEE 30-bus with 6 generators system, 10 units system and IEEE 118-bus with 14 generating units), the methodology validation is made. It can be stated for the large-scale case of 118-bus systems that the results of the CMOTSA are equal to 8741.3 $/h for the minimum cost and 2747.6 ton/h for the minimum emission which are very viable to others. It can be pointed out that the cropped results of the proposed CMOTSA based methodology as an efficient tool for CEED is proven. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

According to China's 14th Five-Year Development Plan, China aims to peak its carbon emissions by 2030 and achieve carbon neutral by 2060, which will be a major strategy for China to implement in the coming period of time. All kinds of industries need to take the industry characteristics into account and gradually form relative carbon reduction targets according to the National Carbon Summit Action Program. Under the constraints of carbon emission reduction, enterprises face trade-off when making emission reduction decisions. How to systematically optimize the profitable and environmentally friendly decisions, under the consideration of carbon emission production, is gradually becoming a main concern of regulated enterprises. In this paper, a Cournot game model is constructed to explore optimal production carbon abatement decisions for two oligopolistic firms, under the governance of a cap-and-trade mechanism. Real case data collected from China's airlines is an example to test the validity of our model. The qualitative analysis shows that, through a reasonable output and emission reduction investment, companies are capable of efficiently minimizing the negative impact brought about by the carbon trading system. A numerical experiment indicates that the companies on one side can reach a decision equilibrium in some circumstances, but on the other side, there exists a lack of incentive to reduce their emissions. Additional government incentives or increased investment in technological improvements will be needed to encourage companies to further reduce carbon emissions. In this paper, while analyzing the choice of emission reduction strategy for enterprises under the carbon trading system, it also provides effective emission reduction approaches for the government and industry managers, hoping to provide some references for the establishment of emission reduction system and policy formulation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to vast territory and disparate regional energy varieties and efficiency in China, the spatial and temporal distribution of CO2 emissions in regions is quite different. But the formulation of previous carbon reduction policies was mainly based on national or provincial emissions data, lacking of refined scale data. This paper first collected Defense Meteorological Satellite Program's Operational Linescan System (DMSP/OLS) night light datasets from 1992 to 2013 and constructed a CO2 emissions inversion estimation model. Then, the spatiotemporal dynamics were analyzed by global and local spatial autocorrelation methods. Findings are as follows: (1) Total CO2 emissions in the Yangtze River Delta showed an overall growth trend from 396 million tons in 1992 to 1.825 billion tons in 2013, with an average annual growth rate of 17.18%. (2) The relatively slow growth accounted for the highest proportion in five growth types of CO2 emissions and were mainly concentrated in the underdeveloped southwestern regions of the Yangtze River Delta. The rapid-growth were agglomerated in the eastern coast areas. (3) Hot spots and sub-hot spots were concentrated in Shanghai, Suzhou, and Ningbo. Cold spots and sub-cold spots included southwest part of Anhui and Zhejiang. The findings provided a decision-making basis for mitigating CO2 emissions more reasonably. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate change has made the decarbonization of the different domestic economies a widely accepted and urgent priority. Yet, this is a very challenging task in a largely uncharted territory. In this context, in this paper, we address the issue of energy taxation reform with an environmental focus in Portugal. We do so using a multi-sector and multi-household dynamic computable general equilibrium model of the Portuguese economy. We analyze the environmental, macroeconomic, and distributional effects of different policies replacing current energy taxation with carbon taxation and, then, extend the carbon taxation to the levels necessary to achieve the IPCC 2018 emissions reduction targets. Our analysis indicates a clear path in the quest for decarbonization. First, replace energy taxes with a carbon tax; second, adopt the levels of carbon taxation necessary to achieve the emissions goals; third, use extra tax revenues from the carbon tax to reverse any potential adverse macroeconomic and distributional effects of carbon taxation. In the process, this would be a way around the pervasive problem of perverse fossil fuel subsidies, which would effectively disappear and, as such, would improve the efficiency of the tax system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As a kind of common nitrogen pollutants, ammonia seriously pollutes water and soil environments and threatens human health. The treatment of water contaminated with ammonia was carried out in an electrochemical-adsorption system (ECAS). This paper discusses the capacity, kinetics, and mechanism of ammonia electrosorption, which is accurately described by a pseudo-first-order model, indicating that physical adsorption is the dominating mechanism. A high adsorption capacity of 4.086 mg N/g was attributed to the formation of a large number of adsorption sites and the highly acidic nature of dealumination of zeolites during electrolysis. Fast directional migration of ammonia in the electric field weakened the negative effect of boundary layer on adsorption and accelerated adsorption procedure. Brunauer, Emmett, and Teller measurements and scanning electron microscopy indicated that the formation of new channels and surface erosion, which resulted in a large surface area and pore volume of zeolites and a low resistance towards ion migration. As a whole, this study achieved efficient ammonia removal without the addition of chemical reagents to avoid secondary pollution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Entre Ciencia e Ingeniería is the property of Entre Ciencia e Ingenieria and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The article discusses about the 1970 US Clean Air Act and market-based environmental policy in the United States affected pollution disparities between communities. Topics of discussion includes the data collected from California and Texas on the locations of facilities that sold permanent rights to emit a specific amount of pollution and the locations of facilities that purchased these rights that presents different marginal abatement costs.

Morocco's commitment to the Marrakech and Paris Agreements' sustainability goals necessitates the implementation of Net Zero Energy Building (NZEB) initiatives to mitigate climate change and promote sustainable development for the built environment industry. Utilizing Morocco's abundant solar resources, NZEBs aim to minimize energy use and carbon emissions in buildings, aligning with global climate objectives and enhancing economic stability through reduced energy costs. This approach aids Morocco in adapting to climate change and achieving international financial and environmental targets. This paper explores Morocco's energy strategy and the regulatory framework for Nearly Zero Energy Buildings, providing a NZEB definition, assessment metrics, and performance indicators, while addressing the challenges posed by existing laws on energy-efficient buildings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The effectiveness of Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) as an imperative decarbonization technology relies on the sealing capacity of a fine‐grained caprock to permanently store CO2 deep underground. Uncertainties in assessing the caprock sealing capacity increase with the spatial and temporal scales and may delay CCS deployment at the gigatonne scale. We have developed a computationally efficient transport model to capture the dynamics of basin‐wide upward CO2 migration in a multi‐layered setting over geological time scales. We find that massive capillary breakthrough and viscous flow of CO2, even through pervasively fractured caprocks, are unlikely to occur and compromise the storage security. Potential leakage from the injection reservoir is hampered by repetitive layering of overlying caprocks. This finding agrees with geologic intuition and should be understandable by the public, contributing to the development of climate policies around this technology with increased confidence that CO2 will be indefinitely contained in the subsurface. Plain Language Summary: Massive and timely deployment of Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) at the gigatonne scale is a critical component of the majority of pathways toward reaching the Paris Agreement emissions abatement targets to mitigate climate change. Although CCS has been successfully deployed at multiple sites around the world, concerns about long‐term containment, especially for gigatonne‐scale storage, are causing uncertainty about the ability of geological layers to permanently store CO2 underground. This uncertainty is delaying the widespread deployment of CCS. This paper focuses on assessing the possibility of basin‐wide CO2 leakage through a typical multi‐layered geological setting with a sequence of aquifers and fine‐grained caprocks (e.g., shales). Numerical transport models, constrained by hydraulic properties of intact and pervasively fractured caprocks (as the best‐ and worst‐case scenarios, respectively), enable us to draw unambiguous limits on the CO2 leakage rates over previously unexplored temporal and spatial scales. We show that CO2 leakage to shallow sediments in both extreme scenarios is quite unlikely and the injected CO2 will be contained in the subsurface over millions of years. These findings should offer confidence to industrial developers, policy‐makers, investors, and most importantly, the public that CCS provides a secure and environmentally sound carbon removal option. Key Points: We develop a numerical transport model to understand the long‐term fate of CO2 in gigatonne‐scale geologic carbon storageCO2 leakage is dominated by molecular diffusion at inherently slow rates, hardly approaching a meter per several thousands of yearsThe long‐term potential for CO2 leakage from a multi‐layered system is low, making geologic storage a secure decarbonization technology [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In markets with strict emission legislations Selective Catalytic Reduction (SCR) has become the industry standard for NO x abatement in heavy-duty vehicles, and therefore modeling and control of these systems are vital. Many SCR catalyst models are available in the literature and in this paper different models are discussed and classified into groups. Two models, based on the two most popular classes for control-oriented models, are implemented and compared with each other, one based on the continuously stirred-tank reactor approximation, and the other on a quasi-static behavior of the gas phase. The results show that assuming a quasi-static behavior of the gas phase in the catalyst gives better results in terms of accuracy and simulation time, especially when it comes to predictions of ammonia slip. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines how enhanced flexibility across space, time, and a regulatory dimension affects the economic costs and CO 2 emissions of integrating large shares of intermittent renewable energy from wind and solar. We develop a numerical model which resolves hourly dispatch and investment choices among heterogeneous energy technologies and natural resources in interconnected wholesale electricity markets, cross-country trade (spatial flexibility), energy storage (temporal flexibility), and tradable green quotas (regulatory flexibility). Taking the model to the data for the case of Europe's system of interconnected electricity markets, we find that the appropriate combination of flexibility can bring about substantial gains in economic efficiency, reduce costs (up to 13.8%) and lower CO 2 emissions (up to 51.2%). Regulatory flexibility is necessary to realize most of the maximum possible benefits. We also find that gains from increased flexibility are unevenly distributed and that some countries incur welfare losses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The ship's power system is one of the most important systems on board. It is designed for uninterrupted power supply to all ship consumers under different conditions of exploitation. When designing a ship, various optimizations are conducted to build the ship as economically and environmentally friendly as possible. The paper aims to analyze the possibility of applying renewable energy sources (RES), particularly solar and wind energy, on an existing vessel by conducting technical and economic analysis. Data for the solar hour's number and wind distribution are gathered from the six locations in the Adriatic Sea over 32 years period. Firstly, it was investigated if data were position dependent or independent. Performing a Pearson correlation coefficient and an ANOVA analysis with F-test, it was concluded that the RES analysis is position-independent (p > 0.05, p = 0.826). Secondly, the energy system model created in Simulink was used for the analysis of the electrical network fundamental parameters. Finally, the object of the analysis is the total costs of procurement, installation, and maintenance of the system within a period of 25 years. Consequences are savings in the cost of exploitation and reduction of harmful gas emissions. The use of solar energy would result in savings of 111,556 L of diesel fuel, while the savings from wind energy would be 170,274 L of diesel fuel for 25 years. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Morgenstern et al. (J Environ Econ Manag 43:412–436, 2002. doi:10.1006/jeem.2001.1191) are well-known for its investigation of the employment effects of environmental regulations. However, the cost function specified in that paper is handicapped by its reliance on survey data of the costs of inputs assigned to pollution abatement. In this paper, we specify an input distance function that models the joint production of good and bad outputs. This allows us to measure the relative importance of factors associated with changes in employment without pollution abatement cost data. We operationalize our model using a sample of 80 coal-fired electric power plants from 1995 to 2005. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This review paper is devoted to the intensification of processes for nitrate removal. First, the developments of microfluidic sensors for nitrate detection and analysis have addressed. Second, the process variables of photocatalytic nitrate removal have been categorized according to their relationship with activity, selectivity and stability of the catalyst. The objective of this classification is to generate guidelines toward the photocatalytic process optimization. Third, because of the fact that a single method for nitrate removal faces some challenges, hybrid methods have been presented, and the best choice for nitrate removal can be referred to as photocatalytic – reverse osmosis method. Finally, brine management strategies have also been stated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the free rider problem that exists in the joint effort to mitigate climate change. There is a need to develop a model that is stable and that provides evidence of an objective burden sharing rule so that the environmental agreement is more acceptable. This study approaches this problem via a cooperative game at the global level to make International Environmental Agreements (IEA) more stable. For this purpose, we apply the Shapley value transfer mechanism and find that under the commitment scenario, some regions attain the maximum benefits by joining the coalition. Shapley value transfer improves the coalition size and increases the global benefits at a certain level of abatement under perfect cooperation. Imperfect cooperation leads to lower levels of global benefits. Our findings offer new implications on how to improve the international cooperation for climate change. Commitments by major regions could activate the IEA (e.g., Paris agreement) efficiently. For the maximum global response to climate change, the national governments must reformulate and implement policies to meet their intended nationally determined contributions (INDCs). The results of this study also help the national governments to set their implementation priorities to implement the Paris Accord at global level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In areas where hot gases and nanoparticulate materials are released uncontrollably from pollutants generating sources which are human population density dependent, the rainfall is significantly affected. When these hot gases and nanoparticulate materials mix with clouds, the cloud droplets evaporate, causing no rain or less intense rain. For increasing rain, the abatement of these pollutants is necessary and the washout of these pollutants by water drops is one of the effective removal mechanisms. Taking this into account, in this paper, a nonlinear mathematical model is proposed to analyse the effect of hot pollutants on rainfall and its control by washout of hot pollutants at sources of emission using spraying water droplets. To model the phenomenon, five nonlinearly interacting variables are considered namely densities of water vapours, clouds droplets, raindrops, the cumulative concentration of hot pollutants and the density of water drops introduced in the atmosphere to washout the hot pollutants. On analysing the model, using the stability theory of differential equations, it is found that the rain fall decreases as the cumulative concentration of hot pollutants increases. The spraying of water drops at the sources of emissions in the industrial area reduces the cumulative concentration of hot pollutants, which ultimately stimulates an increase in the density of raindrops in the atmosphere. Numerical simulation is also done to validate analytical results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Green credit encompasses financial instruments and services utilized to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions and facilitate adaptation to global climate change. Establishing a long-term stable green credit institution is crucial to promoting carbon abatement goals. This study uses the difference-in-difference (DID) model to discuss the impact of green credit policy (GCP) on environmental performance based on the China industrial enterprise data. Our results show that GCP inhibits the pollution emissions and improve firm environmental performance. This improvement effect is attributed to a reduction in production scale, and financing constraints. Moreover, GCP increases the firms' exit risk from market and promotes the technological innovation of incumbent firms. Economic growth target constraints trigger a positive moderation role in the implementation of GCP. Heterogeneity results show that such improvement effect is more pronounced in state-owned firm, large-scale firms, and high R&D intensity firms. Importantly, our findings also suggest the environmental monitoring effect of green credit is dependent on the institutional quality. Only in a sound market environment can GCP effectively improve firm environmental performance. Finally, we propose to build a systematic incentives and constraints mechanism to achieve the sustainable development. The conclusions of this paper provide empirical evidence and policy implications for the implementation of GCP. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Combined economic emission dispatch (CEED) problems are among the most crucial problems in electrical power systems. The purpose of the CEED is to plan the outputs of all production units available in the electrical power system in such a way that the cost of fuel and polluted emissions are minimized while respecting the equality and inequality constraints of the system and efficiently responding to the power load required. The rapid depletion of these sources causes limitation and increases the price of fuel. It is therefore very important that scientific research in the last few decades has been oriented toward the integration of renewable energy systems (RES) such as wind and PV as an alternative source. Furthermore, the CEED problem including RES is the most important problem with regard to electrical power field optimization. In this study, a classification of optimization techniques that are widely used, such as traditional methods, non-conventional methods, and hybrid methods, is summarized. Many optimization methods have been presented and each of them has its own advantages and disadvantages for solving this complex CEED problem, including renewable energy. A review of different optimization techniques for solving this CEED problem is explored in this present paper. This review will encourage researchers in the future to gain knowledge of the best approaches applicable to solve CEED problems for practical electrical systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS) technologies are expected to contribute significantly to climate abatement, but the technologies have not been widely adopted and remain relatively unfamiliar to the public. Public opinions and attitudes can contribute significantly to the deployment of technologies and can be studied through discourses. Discourses can reveal underlying attitudes from widespread narratives. This paper investigates the attitude atmosphere around CCUS technologies through Finnish media discourses, building on 51 articles from 13 different national newspapers or news media sites. The findings of this research confirm that CCUS technologies are fairly unfamiliar to the public but indicate positive attitudes particularly towards carbon capture and utilization (CCU) technologies. However, information provision to the public does not necessarily translate towards increasingly positive attitudes. Communication should be genuine and focused on interaction instead of persuading the public of the benefits of the technologies. Methodologically, this paper points out that media discourses can provide possibilities to assess attitude atmospheres around unfamiliar technologies, such as CCUS. • Public opinions can have significant impact on the deployment of technologies. • Exploring attitude atmosphere around CCUS technologies. • Media discourses can unveil the opinions of the public. • Information provision should be genuine and participatory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The physical/chemical abatement of gas pollutants creates many technical problems, is costly and entails significant environmental impacts. Biological purification of off-gases is a cheap and ecologically safe way of neutralization of gas pollutants. Despite the recent advances, the main technological challenge nowadays is the purification of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) of hydrophobic character due to their low solubility in water. Among all known biological methods of air purification, the most cost-effective biodegradation of hydrophobic VOCs is conducted by biotrickling filters. In this context, fungi have gained an increasing interest in this field based on their ability to biodegrade hydrophobic VOCs. In addition, biotrickling filtration using fungi can support a superior hydrophobic VOC abatement when compared to the bacterial biofilters. This paper aims at reviewing the latest research results concerning biocatalytic activity of fungi and evaluating the possibilities of their practical application in biofiltration systems to remove hydrophobic VOCs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper utilizes the thermal and wind energies in power to gas (P2G) process. The purpose of the proposed P2G system is to reduce the operating costs and environmental pollutions. The wind energy is used to produce Hydrogen (H2) via water electrolyzer. The Carbon dioxide (CO2) of thermal energies is also captured by Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS). The achieved H2 and CO2 are combined to make Methane (CH4) through Methanation reaction. The unit commitment denotes the optimal operation schedule of thermal generating units at each hour. The proposed model also determines the optimal size of wind energy. In the case of any event or outage, the wind energy recovery is studied by application of hybrid battery-capacitor storage system. The achieved CH4 from wind energy is sold to make profit. The wind speed volatility is included in the model and handled by stochastic programming. The proposed P2G achieves several purposes including optimal wind turbine sizing, uncertainty management, CO2 decrease and operating cost reduction. It is demonstrated that the Carbon tax can reduce the CO2 pollutions up to 8%. The high-cost and high-polluting generating systems like oil fired steam turbines are only used at on-peak hours like 17–21. These units produce about 6% of total energy but releases 11% of total CO2. The optimal capacity of wind generating system is obtained equal to 107 MW and the profit of process is estimated about 2.383 million $ in year. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Cities are key actors in the fight against climate change. They have developed integrated strategies harnessing the power of information and communication technologies (ICT) as part of the move towards smart(er) cities. In spite of our knowledge of the role of technological infrastructure in tackling climate change, the role of governance mechanisms to actively pursue environmental sustainability is often understated. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to analyse governmentality mechanisms developed by a small town in Europe to render energy savings and new energy sources visible and to create new identities with which the citizen and other cities could then identify with, thereby participating in the fight against climate change. Design/methodology/approach: Data were gathered through non-participant observation, interviews and access to internal data from the city's energy control project. Findings: The outcome of these governmentality mechanisms was to create two new identities: the "good citizen", responsible to lower his impact on climate change, and the "model city", a laboratory that would serve as a guide for future policies to tackle climate change at the city level. While the "model city" was successful and identification happened with other small cities taking example from it, the "good citizen" failed and inhabitants did not identify with this role model that was defined for them as a way to participate in the fight against climate change. Practical implications: This case study is a concrete example, based on a longitudinal study, of a city's strategy and actions on climate change. Other small cities will be able to use this case study to gauge their possibilities for action on climate change. Notably, it is an example of how a network of mechanisms can achieve results in CO2 emissions reduction. It also demonstrates the difficulty to enrol citizens into an environmental sustainability scheme. Social implications: This paper has implications for how climate change can be tackled in rural areas by small cities. While the role of organizations and large cities (e.g. C40 city network) has been acknowledged, there is a possibility for smaller local actors to act upon grand challenges with local strategies and their own governmentality mechanisms. Originality/value: The case study contributes to the literature on cities, bringing new insights into how they can become actors of climate change beyond acting on internal controls, and the literature on governmentality by demonstrating how mechanisms can act upon a population without being calculative. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Automotive exhaust catalysts with NOx and/or oxygen storage functionalities remain one of the key contributors to the high environmental performance of internal combustion engines. However, the exposure of catalysts to sulfur during real-world operation reduces progressively their NOx abatement performance. The aim of this paper is to demonstrate the capability of advanced physico-chemical models to simulate the competitive storage of sulfur and NOx on the catalyst surface and predict the various interactions, in particular the negative effect of sulfur on NOx storage and reduction efficiency. It is clarified that predicting the sulfur storage on sites where NOx can be adsorbed and on sites which are not related to NOx storage allows the accurate simulation of the NOx storage efficiency over sulfur loading. Moreover, the spatial interplay of the formed nitrites, nitrates and sulfates during the sulfation of the catalyst is highlighted. The model is validated in steady state conditions using synthetic gas bench tests and ultimately in transient conditions using actual driving cycles data derived from engine test bench measurements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to estimate shadow prices of agricultural carbon emissions produced by agricultural inputs, rice paddy and burning crop residue, and to explore the impact of cropping pattern on marginal abatement cost (MAC).Design/methodology/approach The shadow price of agricultural carbon emissions is estimated by applying directional distance function and non-parametric methods.Findings The estimated shadow price of agricultural carbon emissions ranges from 6.78 to 557.83 yuan/ton, and the average value is 62.50 yuan/ton (or $10.18/ton). The MAC value varies in different provinces and years. The regional difference of MAC shows a decreasing trend during the investigation period. Cropping pattern shows a significant negative impact on agricultural MAC. A 1 percent decrease of rice proportion leads to a 0.31 percent increase in MAC value. This implies that the higher the proportion of rice is, the lower the economic cost to reduce agricultural carbon emissions would be.Practical implications It is feasible to draw up appropriate mechanisms for the allocation of emission reduction responsibilities according to conditions in various regions, with emphasis on the local cropping patterns. There is a trade-off between reducing carbon emission and increasing crop yields.Originality/value This study calculates agricultural MAC by using the shadow price approach, taking agricultural carbon emissions as undesired environmental output. The study also provides a reference emission right price and provides guidance to make use of cropping structure adjustment and optimization for exploring the emission reduction strategy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]