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We shed new light on a long-standing question in political science: When confronted with costly policy choices, do citizens form their preferences using material (economic) concerns or other-regarding motivations, such as the distribution of costs, and how are these moderated by political ideology? Using the case of carbon taxation, a widely advocated policy solution to climate change, we conducted survey experiments in Germany and the United States to assess the relative importance of these forms of preferences. The results show that individuals are primarily concerned with how a carbon tax would affect their individual income. There are also important cross-national differences with high-income German respondents being more receptive to redistributive policy design, especially in contrast to high-income Democrats who significantly decrease support for carbon taxation. These findings highlight how the constituencies generated by new policies can significantly alter the distribution of mass support for action on emerging societal problems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Corporate environmental, social, and governance (ESG) commitments promise to make capitalism better. Unfortunately, ESG has become a hotbed of hype and controversy. The core problem is that ESG mixes vague environmental and social goals with a profit maximization goal and does not provide a framework for resolving the conflicts that exist between them. The result is confusion that invites deception and cynicism. This Article proposes a mechanism for resolving conflicts between goals by translating them into the common language of money. Once non-pecuniary environmental or social goals are translated into dollar values, they can provide clear and actionable guidance for firms and investors, enabling ESG to fulfill its promise. To achieve this, corporations and institutional investors that claim to be ESG-friendly should publicly commit to specific valuations for ESG issues. For example, a company or mutual fund concerned with both climate change and profit might commit to valuing a metric ton of carbon emissions at $100 in its charter. The company would use that valuation as a metric in its assessment of projects, pursuing only those projects that would remain "profitable" after adjusting its forecasted cashflows by subtracting $100 for every ton of additional carbon emitted. A mutual fund would use the valuation when voting on climate-related governance issues or investment decisions. For example, the fund would back a shareholder resolution supporting lower corporate carbon emissions so long as the resolution would not reduce profits by more than $100 per ton of carbon saved. Similarly, the fund might pick stocks for investment based on potential profitability at a carbon price of $100. In effect, companies and investors would bid on their valuation of ESG impacts relative to ordinary profit maximization, sending clear and actionable signals on actual and desired behavior. By providing concrete standards and a sorting mechanism for making sense of competing goals, valuation would help realize the potential of ESG investing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In a move some have called the beginning of the end for the internal combustion engine, the California Air Resources Board has created regulations, Advanced Clean Cars II, to target California's carbon pollution, banning the sale of new gas-powered cars and light trucks in the state by 2035. These regulations come from a special privilege held only by the state of California through a preemption waiver from the emissions regulations set by the Clean Air Act. Other states can sign on to California's waiver, taking it from a special privilege to a second set of emissions regulations, almost equal in power to the federal regulations. Pushback to California's waiver comes in the form of an equal sovereignty argument that may go all the way to the Supreme Court. But consumers, and the automotive industry, are moving towards electric vehicles regardless of the regulations. This Note seeks to defend the continued ability of states to choose (despite equal sovereignty concerns) between a federal standard and a Californialed standard through the lens of the electric vehicle market. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Currently, significant attention is paid to environmental issues at all levels of management. Over the long history of human civilization, significant environmental damage has been accumulated, because not only large-scale industrial production, but also ordinary human life leads to the formation of a significant amount of harmful products that pollute the atmosphere, soil, and water spaces. The huge scale of the accumulated damage makes it necessary to resolve environmental issues at the highest level - the level of international organizations and the leadership of individual states. At the same time, interest in the environmental agenda is connected both with the health of the population and with economic aspects, because in the near future in Europe, and then, possibly, in Russia, much more significant taxes and fines for nonenvironmentally friendly production and products will be introduced. Among a significant number of important environmental issues of our time, one of the most acute is the issue related to emissions of the so-called greenhouse gases (primarily carbon dioxide CO2 and methane, but also other gases) and the environmental damage resulting from this phenomenon. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Minnesota passed House File 7 in early 2023, requiring all electricity supplied in Minnesota be generated by renewable resources by 2040. Potentially, this could have a significant impact on North Dakota as the vast majority of its electricity is generated using fossil fuels. North Dakota may file a lawsuit against Minnesota given the negative financial consequences of being unable to sell electricity generated by fossil fuels to Minnesota wholesalers under this law. If a lawsuit were filed, North Dakota would likely pursue constitutional claims under the dormant commerce clause and the Supremacy Clause. Under the dormant commerce clause, North Dakota could also use the extraterritorial doctrine to show that the Minnesota statute has an impermissible effect on interstate commerce. Additionally, using the Pike test, North Dakota may argue the local benefits to Minnesota from the clean energy mandate do not outweigh the burden to interstate commerce. Lastly, North Dakota could also argue that the Federal Power Act preempts House File 7 under the Supremacy Clause. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The transition from petroleum to electricity as a fuel source for vehicles is an essential step in the effort to stop harmful climate change. The transportation sector currently produces more carbon emissions in the United States than any other area. Recognizing this, the federal government and several states have recently devoted resources to facilitating the transition to large-scale electric vehicle (EV) use. In particular, there must be a nationwide network of EV charging infrastructure so that EV drivers can confidently drive EVs anywhere. Much of the legal research on increasing the number of EV charging facilities and consumer EV purchases focuses on states and areas where support of EVs is more likely, dismissing conservative-leaning Southeastern states, some Midwestern states, and rural areas as places where people "do not recognize climate change as a problem." However, it is not enough to successfully prepare for and achieve mass EV adoption in liberal states. To sufficiently reduce US carbon emissions, the transition to EV use must be widespread across all states and regions, types of communities, and demographics. If environmentalists want to reduce emissions as much as possible in today's polarized political environment, they must take a new approach to creating policy solutions. Instead of pushing large-scale, public EV projects across the board, policy makers should tailor state-level policy proposals that specifically appeal to conservative-leaning states. They should incorporate conservatives' preferred instrument choices--namely, private businesses--as the drivers of EV infrastructure growth. While some environmentalists may prefer government-driven climate action, a privatized system of EV charging infrastructure will be more likely and more easily adopted by both governments and consumers in conservative states. In the context of climate change, decarbonizing the transportation sector as quickly as possible is more important than the policy tool used to do it; therefore, choosing a politically feasible policy is the best strategy. With this approach in mind, this Note proposes specific policies that enable and support the growth of privately owned charging station businesses within the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) region. Using Tennessee as a case study, this Note first explains how the TVA Act and state law would grant TVA a monopoly on the EV charging market in Tennessee. It then proposes changes to state and federal law that could remove the legal barriers to privately owned charging station businesses in the TVA region. Lastly, this Note argues that allowing a private EV charging market will increase conservative Tennessee's EV charging capabilities and encourage the purchase of EVs by Tennessee consumers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

India is the second most populous country in the world and stood at seventh rank in a major climate risk index in 2019, which is a grave concern for the Indian government, policymakers and environmentalists. Therefore, the present study examines the role of fiscal policy and monetary policy instruments along with select macroeconomic variables on carbon emission in India over the period 1971–2019 in the non‐linear framework. The outcome of the study reveals that the impact of fiscal and monetary policy instruments on carbon emission is asymmetric in nature. In addition, the positive and negative shocks in fiscal and monetary policy instruments have a positive and negative impact on carbon emissions, respectively. Based on the coefficients' magnitude, the role of fiscal policy instruments has a more prominent effect on carbon emissions than monetary policy instruments. The findings of the study imply that the Indian government is required to implement green fiscal and monetary policies. Use fiscal policy to implement a 'green tax ratio' and a 'green subsidy programme' for manufacturers and investors to reduce CO2 emissions. A 'green lending programme' should be introduced for commercial banks by implementing monetary policy via the central bank. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Concurrent measurements of atmospheric O2 and CO2 amount fractions have been used for decades now to estimate fluxes of carbon to and from the oceans and the land biosphere. The equations used in these estimates explicitly include fossil fuel combustion but are built on the assumption that fossil fuels are oxidized solely by atmospheric O2, ignoring the small fraction of fossil fuel oxidation by oxide ores that occurs during refining of metals, and thereby overestimating losses of atmospheric O2. Here, we address this deficiency by quantifying the effective O2 fluxes associated with the processing of iron, aluminium and copper. We also consider the potential impact of sulfur. We find that consideration of the oxygen mobilized during metal processing (equivalent to a net O2 flux of -0.005+0.002)Tmol a-1) leads to an increased estimate of ocean carbon uptake in the years 2000-2010 of (0.144-0.005+0.002)Pg a-1 of carbon with a corresponding decrease in estimated land uptake. A rough estimate of oxygen uptake due to sulfur chemistry during fossil fuel combustion (2.4 Tmol a--1) decreases ocean carbon uptake but by a much smaller amount. These corrections are small compared to existing estimates of the fluxes and their uncertainties ((2.27 ± 0.60) and (1.05 ± 0.84) Pg a--1 of carbon for ocean and land respectively (Keeling and Manning, 2014)) but should be employed in future analyses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Caribbean nations are amongst those considered the most vulnerable to climate change impacts. This necessitates climate change education (CCE) to enhance the mitigation and adaptation capacities of the region's populace. CCE is necessary at all levels of the education system, from pre-primary through to the tertiary level. To facilitate this, teachers must be exposed to CCE, understanding what climate change is, its impacts, and how to respond to climate change. Additionally, in order to facilitate students' (as well as their own) abilities to visualise various climate futures and respond to the range of emotions associated with climate change, teachers' own visioning skills must be developed. This article focuses on educators' engagement' with a low-carbon visioning exercise in a CCE course for educators at a regional university in the Caribbean. Thematic analysis of the document and interview data offers illustrations of the possibilities of visioning for awakening students to alternative future possibilities and engendering hope. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Resource conflicts and human–environment conflicts are active around the globe. As planetary, carbon-induced climate change necessitates new responses, the policies and practices of decarbonisation add new dimensions to existing conflicts. Using examples from two nations with ambitious aims for the decarbonisation of their economies, Ethiopia and Morocco, we illustrate how unintended conflicts and adverse ecosystem impacts arise when nature cannot participate in decision-making processes. Transition to low-carbon economies, we argue, generates and exacerbates multi-dimensional conflicts of interest between state and society, as well as between society and ecosystems. Taking an interdisciplinary perspective, we suggest establishing procedural rights of nature via (1) stronger consideration of scientific expertise, (2) an enhancement of environmental safeguards and (3) making funding linked to Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) conditional upon participation of nature in decision-making processes through legal guardians. We use counterfactuals as a method to demonstrate how procedural rights of nature, in the cases of Ethiopia and Morocco, could change green economy and climate mitigation projects, making them less conflict-prone and more sustainable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Production and inventory management for deteriorating items is homogenizing the environmental concerns with great significance. This paper intricates a sustainable economic production quantity model for improvished deteriorating items that pivot on deteriorating items at a constant rate and the control of deteriorating progress, emission of carbon due to production operations and to benchmark by investing in carbon reduction technology and to enchase the quality of unsaleable manufactured product by investing in quality improvement. The objective of this paper is to review the influence of preservation and carbon reduction technologies on the total profit to succour the administrator, mark maximum structured restocking and pricing decisions using Non-Linear Programming technique. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the Working Group 1 in the Sixth Assessment Report (AR6) of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change which reports the physical science of climate change in the form of a Summary for Policy Makers. Topics include a "Guardian" report that carried the headline "Code red for humanity" after the release of the AR6, the focus of the report on the role of humanity in climate change, and the relationship between carbon emissions and the manifestations of global warming.

The present study develops a methodology to assess transportation-related CO2 emissions of European city tourism. In doing so, not only is travel distance considered, but also the chosen transportation modes and the particularities of the different cities' source markets. The major contribution of this study is the implementation of this learning methodology into a decision support system for destination management organizations of cities. Based on a sample from 2018 of 48 European cities with at least 40 source markets, the range of aggregate transportation-related CO2 emissions of European city tourism is estimated. Moreover, a longitudinal analysis of the exemplary city of Vienna covering the period of 1990 to 2018 is carried out. Finally, some policy recommendations of how destination management organizations can contribute to make the estimated transportation-related CO2 emissions even more precise and on how to make European city tourism more environmentally sustainable are drawn. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The tourism industry contributes eight percent to global carbon emissions, directly and indirectly. Indirect carbon emissions are often neglected because they are difficult to calculate. The traditional approach to calculating indirect emissions – Life Cycle Assessment – is expensive and requires an expert data analyst. We introduce an alternative approach, the Environmentally Extended Input-Output Analysis. We show how this approach – currently used at macro-level to estimate carbon emissions at national or regional level – can be applied to the business level using carbon emissions generated by one hotel room clean as an example. Our comparative analysis shows that Environmentally Extended Input-Output Analysis leads to similar results as Life Cycle Assessment, while being substantially cheaper and more user-friendly. Environmentally Extended Input-Output Analysis, we conclude, enables tourism businesses to estimate the indirect carbon emissions of their operations, which is the key to identifying target areas for improvement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• We find a positive link between cofinancing and Chinese overseas infrastructure project outcomes. • Cofinanced projects are 3.3–7.1 percentage points less likely to be cancelled or suspended compared to non-cofinanced projects. • Projects cofinanced with recipient partners are more likely to have localized implementation. • Projects cofinanced with international partners have lower carbon emission intensity and lower biodiversity risk. • Our results underscore the importance of a collaborative approach to developing infrastructure projects in the Global South. Cofinancing from government agencies, development banks, and private actors is acknowledged as an important tool to bridge the infrastructure finance gap in developing countries, but relatively little is known about outcomes for cofinanced projects. To fill this void, we explore the role of cofinancing in shaping Chinese lending and overseas development finance for infrastructure projects in terms of implementation outcomes and environmental performance. We examine a sample of 2997 infrastructure projects committed between 2000 and 2017 that were funded by Chinese finance, among which 15 percent are cofinanced. Our study shows that cofinancing correlates with higher infrastructure project completion rates, as cofinanced projects are 3.3–7.1 percentage points less likely to be cancelled or suspended than non-cofinanced ones. We also find that cofinancing with certain partners suggests specific benefits. Cofinancing with partners from the recipient country is associated with more localized implementation, whereas cofinancing with international partners has demonstrated improved environmental performance, with a 2.7 percent lower carbon dioxide emissions intensity and a 0.42 standard deviation decrease in biodiversity risks. The results suggest that cofinancing could be an effective tool to enhance infrastructure project success and achieve greater sustainable performance in Chinese lending and overseas development finance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate change makes stringent demands on thinking about our future. We need two-sided reasoning to contend equitably with the risks of climate change and the risks of “solutions.” We need to differentiate the future 500 years from now and 50 years from now. This essay explores three pressing climate change issues, using both the 500-year and the 50-year time frames: sea level rise, the nuclear power “solution,” and fossil carbon abundance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Given the increasing interest in keeping global warming below 1.5°C, a key question is what this would mean for China’s emission pathway, energy restructuring, and decarbonization. By conducting a multimodel study, we find that the 1.5°C-consistent goal would require China to reduce its carbon emissions and energy consumption by more than 90 and 39%, respectively, compared with the “no policy” case. Negative emission technologies play an important role in achieving near-zero emissions, with captured carbon accounting on average for 20% of the total reductions in 2050. Our multimodel comparisons reveal large differences in necessary emission reductions across sectors, whereas what is consistent is that the power sector is required to achieve full decarbonization by 2050. The cross-model averages indicate that China’s accumulated policy costs may amount to 2.8 to 5.7% of its gross domestic product by 2050, given the 1.5°C warming limit. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This manuscript examines the driving forces of carbon emissions in China's tourism industry. Tourism carbon emissions are estimated by constructing China's Economic-Environmental Accounts (EEA). Analysis is divided into five-time intervals and specifically examines intensity, scale, structure, and technology. Following index and structural decomposition methods, changes in tourism carbon emissions were segmented into sixteen economy-wide and tourism-specific driving forces. Results demonstrate that direct and total tourism carbon emissions compose 0.7% and 2.7% of total carbon emissions in China. Analysis revealed the positive driver of tourism emissions was domestic tourists, representing 140.4% increase in direct and 263.4% increase in total tourism carbon emissions. Modelling identified energy intensity as the main negative driver in total and direct tourism carbon emissions, especially for national economic sectors (−208.6%) and non-transport tourism sectors (−33.8%). Future research should focus on the measurement and implementation of mitigation policies for domestic tourism emissions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on green capitalism, an economic system that values natural resources and addresses both equity and efficiency using carbon negative technology. Topics include requirement of creation of global limits or property rights for the use of atmosphere, biodiversity and bodies of water , the building blocks for green capitalism as well as practical examples to put these principles into practice, and building of carbon negative power plants for developing nations.

The Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) is a key mechanism of heat, freshwater, and carbon redistribution in the climate system. The precept that the AMOC has changed abruptly in the past, notably during and at the end of the last ice age, and that it is "very likely" to weaken in the coming century due to anthropogenic climate change is a key motivation for sustained observations of the AMOC. This paper reviews the methodology and technology used to observe the AMOC and assesses these ideas and systems for accuracy, shortcomings, potential improvements, and sustainability. We review hydrographic techniques and look at how these traditional techniques can meet modern requirements. Transport mooring arrays (TMAs) provide the "gold standard" for sustained AMOC observing, utilizing dynamic height, current meter, and other instrumentation and techniques to produce continuous observations of the AMOC. We consider the principle of these systems and how they can be sustained and improved into the future. Techniques utilizing indirect measurements, such as satellite altimetry, coupled with in situ measurements, such as the Argo float array, are also discussed. Existing technologies that perhaps have not been fully exploited for estimating AMOC are reviewed and considered for this purpose. Technology is constantly evolving, and we look to the future of technology and how it can be deployed for sustained and expanded AMOC measurements. Finally, all of these methodologies and technologies are considered with a view to a sustained and sustainable future for AMOC observation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the impact of oil palm plantations and the oil palm industry on the environment. Topics include concerns regarding oil palm plantations replacing tropical rainforests and depriving animal species of their natural habitat, the efforts of scientists to work with oil palm companies and activists to manage surviving wildlife in the concessions of oil palm companies, and the efforts of SMARTRI to study carbon dynamics in plantations and promote biodiversity in palm plantations.

The large share of carbon emitted by energy-intensive industries in the extraction and processing of basic materials must be limited to decarbonise society and the economy. Ways in which the state can govern industrial decarbonisation and contributes to green state theory are explored by addressing a largely ignored issue: the green state's industrial relations and its role in industrial governance. With insights from a Swedish case study, the tension between the state's economic imperative and ecological concerns in greening industry are shown to persist. However, as the energy-intensive industry's previously privileged position in the economy is weakening, industry is opened to decarbonisation strategies. While the case exposes a number of governance challenges, it also suggests potential areas where the state can pursue decarbonisation in energy-intensive industry and points the way to an active role of the green state in governing industrial decarbonisation and greening industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Stable carbon isotopes of riparian tree rings are enabling improved reconstruction of past climate variability, but this advance is limited by difficulty distinguishing the effects of tree age from those of climate. We investigated relative influence of age and climate trends in genus Populus , which dominates floodplain forests in Europe, Asia and North America. We related precipitation and river flow to annual variation in stable carbon isotope ratio (δ13C) in trees with a broad distribution of ages spanning two hundred years. On the floodplain of the lightly regulated Little Missouri River, North Dakota, USA, we examined a total of 845 rings from seven specimens of cottonwood tree (Populus deltoides W. Bartram ex Marshall ssp. monilifera [Aiton] Eckenwalder). Cottonwood δ13C decreased from pith to bark in whole wood, but this trend was almost completely eliminated in purified cellulose. The δ13C offset between whole wood and cellulose increased from pith to bark, consistent with trends of decreasing cellulose and increasing hemicellulose as a proportion of whole wood. While annual ring width was correlated with monthly precipitation from April through June, δ13C showed strong correlations only in June and July, suggesting that these complementary proxies allow resolution of seasonal variation in water availability. We conclude that past climate can be reconstructed from δ13C of purified cellulose from cottonwood without detrending for tree age. • The δ13C of cellulose in annual rings of Populus is independent of age. • The δ13C of whole wood decreases from pith to bark as the proportion of cellulose declines. • Multi-century records of past drought can be reconstructed from δ13C of Populus cellulose. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract The closed-loop network design of a hybrid manufacturing and recovering system plays an important role on improving both the production efficiency and environmental quality, especially under a multi-product multi-stage scenario. Besides, with the growing awareness of environmental concerns by legislators, decision makers have been forced not only to enhance utilization of the returned products or components but also to control carbon emission of the whole hybrid system. To optimize the closed-loop logistics superstructure design, a multi-objective model integrating the manufacturing and recovering process in a multi-product multi-stage environment is proposed in this research. Both operations cost and environmental influence are regarded as two objective categories. In addition, the carbon emission regulation is considered in the model by integrating and characterizing the energy input and greenhouse output throughout the hybrid system. Finally, a numerical case originated from an electronic assembly plant is presented under different scenarios to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed approach. A sensitivity analysis is given to compare the impacts of carbon emission and return rate on each sub-objective of the logistics and environmental issues. Highlights • A closed-loop network for a hybrid manufacturing and recovering system is designed. • The energy input and greenhouse output models are proposed and embedded. • A multi-objective multi-echelon model for carbon-efficient scheduling is proposed. • Impacts on interdependence of economic and environmental dimensions are analyzed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reduction of carbon emissions and climate-resilience in cities are becoming important objectives to be achieved in order to ensure sustainable urban development pathways. Traditionally, cities have treated climate mitigation and adaptation strategies in isolation, without addressing their potential synergies, conflicts or trade-offs. Recent studies have shown that this can lead to inefficiencies in urban planning, conflicting policy objectives and lost opportunities for synergistic actions. However, in the last few years, we have observed that cities are increasingly moving towards addressing both mitigation and adaptation in urban planning. Cities need to pay particular attention and understand the rationale of both policy objectives whilst considering the integration of the two policies in urban planning and decision-making. This study presents an analytical framework to evaluate the level of integration of climate mitigation and adaptation in cities' local climate action plans. We tested this framework in nine selected major cities, representatives from all inhabited continents, which are frontrunners in climate action both in their regions and globally. We applied the framework in order to evaluate the level of mitigation and adaptation integration in cities' CCAPs and further explored the different types of mitigation—adaptation interrelationships that have been considered. A scoring system was also devised in order to allow comparing and ranking of the different CCAPs for their level of integration of adaptation and mitigation. The paper draws good practices to support cities in developing climate change action plans in an integrated way. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Emission measurements of black carbon (BC) mass were conducted on a T63 turboshaft engine, operated at idle and cruise power with conventional and alternative fuels, using an Artium LII-300 laser-induced incandescence analyzer (LII) and AVL model 483 micro soot sensor (MSS) photoacoustic instrument using the manufacturer's calibration for both instruments. These measurements were compared with elemental carbon (EC) determined by manual and semicontinuous thermal-optical transmission analyses according to National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) method 5040 as the reference method. The results indicate that both the LII and MSS instruments show good linear correlation with EC for the two fuels and two engine power conditions evaluated. The LII measurements were observed to be biased high (27–49%) and the MSS measurements were biased low (24–35%) relative to EC. The agreement between the instruments and the reference method was substantially improved by applying a calibration of the instruments against a common BC aerosol source. Test data also suggest that the two instruments show some sensitivity to particle size (or properties related to size), specifically for particles with a geometric mean diameter (GMD) <30 nm. This sensitivity is problematic, since new engines or certain combustion conditions in current engines will produce smaller particles compared with the T63 model tested in this study. Further assessments of instrument performance for particles within this size range are therefore warranted. Implications: Accurate black carbon emission measurements are needed to certify new and in-production commercial aircraft engines. Both the Artium LII-300 and AVL 483 micro soot sensor are currently approved by the International Civil Aviation Organization for this purpose. This study compares the two instruments against elemental carbon (EC) using NIOSH method 5040 as the reference using a T63 turboshaft engine. The results indicate that both instruments correlate reasonably well with EC, and the correlation substantially improved when applying a calibration against a common aerosol source. Sensitivity to particle size may be an issue for both instruments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract The price and service time are two critical aspects that affect the benefits for customers and rail operators. In the rail freight transportation system, the profit maximization object is explored deeply, which is widely adopted by rail operators. This paper bridges the gap between the maximization profit of rail operators and the minimization of customers' waiting queue (backlog). We propose a new optimization model which encompasses pricing, operation planning, carbon emissions and service queuing for an infinite-horizon decision process. The infinite-horizon decision problem is NP-hard. More precisely, a backlog control and pricing optimization algorithm is proposed to solve the NP-hard problem. In particular, it is theoretically proved that the result of the proposed algorithm is equal to the optimal solution. The explicit trade-off between the optimization objective and queue backlog is also proven. Finally, a case study was carried out to testify the efficiency of the proposed model. The result shows that the proposed methodology not only improve the rail freight service quality but also reduce the greenhouse gas emission at the freight transportation sector. Highlights • An integrated optimization model is designed for rail cargo operators, which aims to optimize the pricing policy, the operation planning, the reduction of green gas emissions, and the freight service quality. • The Lyapunov penalty drift is adopted to transform the NP-hard model to a greedy decision model, which is equal to the original model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: Lignin is one of the largest carbon reservoirs in the environment, playing an important role in the global carbon cycle. However, lignin degradation in bacteria, especially non‐model organisms, has not been well characterized either enzymatically or genetically. Here, a lignin‐degrading bacterial strain, Pseudomonas putida A514, was used as the research model. Genomic and proteomic analyses suggested that two B subfamily dye‐decolorizing peroxidases (DypBs) were prominent in lignin depolymerization, while the classic O2‐dependent ring cleavage strategy was utilized in central pathways to catabolize lignin‐derived aromatic compounds that were funnelled by peripheral pathways. These enzymes, together with a range of transporters, sequential and expression‐dose dependent regulation and stress response systems coordinated for lignin metabolism. Catalytic assays indicated these DypBs show unique Mn2+ independent lignin depolymerization activity, while Mn2+ oxidation activity is absent. Furthermore, a high synergy between DypB enzymes and A514 cells was observed to promote cell growth (5 × 1012 cfus/ml) and lignin degradation (27%). This suggested DypBs are competitive lignin biocatalysts and pinpointed limited extracellular secretion capacity as the rate‐limiting factor in bacterial lignin degradation. DypB production was, therefore, optimized in recombinant strains and a 14,141‐fold increase in DypB activity (56,565 U/l) was achieved, providing novel insights for lignin bioconversion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper critically questions the legal and economic foundation of price regulation in environmental markets, with a focus on the European Union (EU) and Chinese Emissions Trading Schemes (ETSs). In 2018, the EU adopted a structural reform of its own ETS with the objective of increasing and stabilising carbon prices. This reform raises fundamental questions concerning the free market nature of the ETS and its function as a driver of low‐carbon investments. On the one hand, regulatory adjustments are necessary to address the large surplus of allowances that can result from exogenous shocks (e.g. economic downturn). On the other hand, the risk of regulatory intervention in the market undermines investor certainty. In China, limited regulatory independence and more stringent government control over the market exacerbates the threat posed by price control measures to the integrity of China's ETS and its role as a driver of investments in environmental protection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research demonstrates an economical and efficient reduction of carbon foot print. Tapioca powder as a source of organic carbon was utilized in the synthesis of carbon dots through optimization of the synthesis parameters such as temperature, dosage and time. Photoluminescent quantum yield (PLQY) was obtained under the visible region of 340 nm at 34.9%, which was achieved without dopants such as sulfur and nitrogen that are popularly used to increase the value of photoluminescence. The characterization of carbon dots such as FTIR and HrTem, were carried out for the analysis of functional groups, particle sizes (1‐5 nm) and shapes (quasi‐spherical). The high carbon‐carbon bonds and oxygen groups detected in FTIR analysis validates the basis of fluorescence of carbon dots and also presence of hydroxyl (OH), carboxylic acids (COO), and other vital functional groups (C=O, C−O‐C, C−H). These characteristics makes tapioca based carbon dots suitable for application in the fields of environmental studies including sensitive detection and absorbance of pollutants in water and bio imaging in health sciences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Forest carbon stocks have increased in both Europe and North America in recent decades. National forest inventories are often used to indicate recent carbon dynamics, but the data from unmanaged forests are often incomplete. Here we calculate changing biomass carbon stocks for a mixed, unmanaged British woodland with two different management histories: (1) older growth stands untouched since 1902 and (2) younger growth stands clear felled in 1943 but have developed naturally since. Transects in the older growth have been monitored since 1945 and the younger growth since 1977. Separate estimates of tree carbon (C), soil C and dead wood C were obtained to verify how C is apportioned in these stands. Tree biomass C stocks had approximately doubled in the older growth stands since 1945 and 60% of C was stored in tree biomass, 38% was stored in soil and 2% stored in coarse woody debris. This study suggests that natural older growth stands are storing more C than typical managed forests, with tree biomass the most important compartment for C stores. If management is to be shifted from biomass production to increased C stores, due consideration should be given to the role of unmanaged, older growth forests. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on discuss the costs and benefits of state-level climate change legislation using Massachusetts carbon tax proposals as an example. Topics include combating climate change; the impact of carbon taxes carbon emissions and supply momentum; and enactment of National Environmental Policy Act for protecting environment.

Abstract Given the fast-paced world economy, increasing carbon dioxide (CO 2) emissions have caused serious concern regarding global warming. Many studies have examined the nexus between CO 2 emissions and economic growth and inconsistent results are provided. Limited evidence suggests that different time periods under investigation could be a source of inconsistency, but there lacks of a thorough analysis. This paper systematically focuses on the evolutionary characteristics of the nexus to explore the influence of time periods. The panel data are reorganized by considering different time periods in various countries, and an intelligent data-driven approach, symbolic regression, is applied to discover models for each period without predefined structure and parameters. Three issues (Does the time period matter? What are the trends in different time periods? What are the applicable scopes of the models?) have been addressed in this paper. The results reveal the evolutionary nature of the nexus and it is verified that an intrinsic time period distinction does generate extrinsic inconsistency. The detailed dynamics of models indicate that the optimal models tend to be more complex as the time periods are extended. For countries with different locations and income levels, the applicable scopes of the four superior models (monotonically increasing, inverted U-shaped, inverted N-shaped, and M-shaped) vary in different time periods. The findings highlight that the effect of time periods cannot be ignored and the models should not be applied unconditionally when conducting empirical research. Finally, several policy implications are provided, which are critical for the balance of economic growth and CO 2 emissions, particularly in some developing countries. Highlights • The inconsistency of nexus between CO 2 emissions and economic growth is examined. • The intrinsic time period difference does generate extrinsic nexus inconsistency. • The effect of time period is verified from geographic and socioeconomic aspects. • Rich evidence is revealed for the evolutionary nature of the relationship. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Boreal forests are crucial in regulating global vegetation‐atmosphere feedbacks, but the impact of climate change on boreal tree carbon fluxes is still unclear. Given the sensitivity of global vegetation models to photosynthetic and respiration parameters, we determined how predictions of net carbon gain (C‐gain) respond to variation in these parameters using a stand‐level model (MAESTRA). We also modelled how thermal acclimation of photosynthetic and respiratory temperature sensitivity alters predicted net C‐gain responses to climate change. We modelled net C‐gain of seven common boreal tree species under eight climate scenarios across a latitudinal gradient to capture a range of seasonal temperature conditions. Physiological parameter values were taken from the literature together with different approaches for thermally acclimating photosynthesis and respiration. At high latitudes, net C‐gain was stimulated up to 400% by elevated temperatures and CO2 in the autumn but suppressed at the lowest latitudes during midsummer under climate scenarios that included warming. Modelled net C‐gain was more sensitive to photosynthetic capacity parameters (Vcmax, Jmax, Arrhenius temperature response parameters, and the ratio of Jmax to Vcmax) than stomatal conductance or respiration parameters. The effect of photosynthetic thermal acclimation depended on the temperatures where it was applied: acclimation reduced net C‐gain by 10%–15% within the temperature range where the equations were derived but decreased net C‐gain by 175% at temperatures outside this range. Thermal acclimation of respiration had small, but positive, impacts on net C‐gain. We show that model simulations are highly sensitive to variation in photosynthetic parameters and highlight the need to better understand the mechanisms and drivers underlying this variability (e.g., whether variability is environmentally and/or biologically driven) for further model improvement. Photosynthetic parameters have strong impacts on the temperature response of net carbon assimilation, which can alter the magnitude and direction of modelled carbon gain responses to climate warming. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]