scholarly journals A Double-Weighted Bankruptcy Method to Allocate CO2 Emissions Permits

Games ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 78
Author(s):  
Stefano Moretti ◽  
Raja Trabelsi

Global warming, as a result of greenhouse gases, is exceeding the planet’s temperature stabilization capacities. Thus, greenhouse gas emissions must be reduced. We analyse a bankruptcy situation aimed at allocating emissions permits of CO2, the predominant greenhouse gas emitted by human activities. Inspired by the Constrained Equal Awards (CEA) solution for bankruptcy situations, we introduce a new allocation protocol based on the extension of the CEA solution over double-weighted bankruptcy situations, including two exogenous parameters aimed at providing a balance, in the request of emissions permits, between economic activities and the production of renewable energy. In these bi-criteria allocation problems, we focus on a computational approach to find an allocation protocol that does not prioritize any particular parameter. As an application of our method, we first consider CO2 permit allocation problems in European Union (EU) countries, using real data about the gross domestic product (GDP), the production rate of renewable energies, and countries’ ‘demands’ of CO2 emissions from 2010 to 2014. Then, we compare our approach with the CEA solution and its single-weighted extension to show the impact of using two weights over the distribution of CO2 emissions permits; we analyse the correlation between allocations of CO2 emission permits and the distribution of power within the EU Council to study the acceptability of alternative allocations.

Agronomy ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (8) ◽  
pp. 1477
Author(s):  
Antonio Marín-Martínez ◽  
Alberto Sanz-Cobeña ◽  
Mª Angeles Bustamante ◽  
Enrique Agulló ◽  
Concepción Paredes

In semi-arid vineyard agroecosystems, highly vulnerable in the context of climate change, the soil organic matter (OM) content is crucial to the improvement of soil fertility and grape productivity. The impact of OM, from compost and animal manure, on soil properties (e.g., pH, oxidisable organic C, organic N, NH4+-N and NO3−-N), grape yield and direct greenhouse gas (GHG) emission in vineyards was assessed. For this purpose, two wine grape varieties were chosen and managed differently: with a rain-fed non-trellising vineyard of Monastrell, a drip-irrigated trellising vineyard of Monastrell and a drip-irrigated trellising vineyard of Cabernet Sauvignon. The studied fertiliser treatments were without organic amendments (C), sheep/goat manure (SGM) and distillery organic waste compost (DC). The SGM and DC treatments were applied at a rate of 4600 kg ha−1 (fresh weight, FW) and 5000 kg ha−1 FW, respectively. The use of organic amendments improved soil fertility and grape yield, especially in the drip-irrigated trellising vineyards. Increased CO2 emissions were coincident with higher grape yields and manure application (maximum CO2 emissions = 1518 mg C-CO2 m−2 d−1). In contrast, N2O emissions, mainly produced through nitrification, were decreased in the plots showing higher grape production (minimum N2O emissions = −0.090 mg N2O-N m−2 d−1). In all plots, the CH4 fluxes were negative during most of the experiment (−1.073−0.403 mg CH4-C m−2 d−1), indicating that these ecosystems can represent a significant sink for atmospheric CH4. According to our results, the optimal vineyard management, considering soil properties, yield and GHG mitigation together, was the use of compost in a drip-irrigated trellising vineyard with the grape variety Monastrell.


2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 488 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paola Fezzigna ◽  
Simone Borghesi ◽  
Dario Caro

International trade shifts production of a large amount of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions embodied in traded goods from the importing country to the exporting country. The European Union (EU) plays a prominent role in the flow of international-related emissions as it accounts for the second largest share of global exports and imports of goods. Consumption-based accountings (CBA) emerged as alternative to the traditional emission inventories based on the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) guidelines. According to the IPCC criteria, countries where products are consumed take no responsibility for the emissions produced by exporter countries, thus neglecting the emissions embodied in trade. By taking this aspect into account, CBA are considered of great importance in revealing emissions attributed to the final consumer. Using a CBA approach, this paper evaluates the impact of international trade in the EU in terms of CO2 emissions, looking both at the internal trade flows within the EU-28 and at the external trade flows between the EU and the rest of the world during the period 2012–2015. We find that the EU is a net importer of emissions as its emissions due to consumption exceed those due to production. In particular, in 2015 the ratio between import- and export-embodied emissions was more than 3:1 for the EU-28 that imported 1317 Mt CO2 from the rest of the world (mainly from China and Russia) while exporting only 424 Mt CO2. Concerning emissions flows among EU countries, Germany represents the largest importer, followed by the UK. To get a deeper understanding on possible environmental implications of Brexit on UK emission responsibilities, the paper also advances a few hypotheses on how trade flows could change based on the existing trade patterns of the UK. Data analysis shows that a 10% shift of UK imports from EU partners to its main non-EU trading partners (India, China, and US) would increase its emission responsibility by 5%. The increase in UK emission responsibility would more than double (+11%) in case of a 30% shift of UK imports. Similar results would apply if UK replaced its current EU partners with its main Commonwealth trading partners as a result of Brexit.


European View ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 18 (2) ◽  
pp. 171-177 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicole M. Schmidt

Agriculture in the context of climate change is often a provocative subject because agriculture is both heavily impacted by the warming world and also a principal contributor to climate change. As efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions increase, the EU is pushing all sectors to integrate measures to combat climate change. This article argues that the agricultural sector has instigated a process of integrating climate concerns. However, these efforts will not lead to a large number of disruptive changes in the agricultural sector. While the EU is putting climate change firmly on the agricultural agenda, ranking the issue even higher than the environment, the Union’s primary goal is still to support the income of farmers. Hence, the EU’s intentions will likely lead to raising awareness of the issue of climate change in the context of agriculture but will not lead to any transformative changes in European agricultural policymaking.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
João Pedro Bazzo ◽  
Carlos Kauê Vieira Braga ◽  
Rafael H. M. Pereira

The drastic reduction in economic activities caused by the COVID-19 pandemic creates a unique and timely opportunity to examine the environmental impacts of human activity. In several countries, the aviation sector was dramatically affected by the travel restrictions, resulting in a change of trip demand and in a drop of fuel consumption. Nonetheless, little attention has been paid to the impact of the pandemic on air travel demand, one of the fastest-growing sources of emissions globally. This paper estimates the impact of the COVID-19 on air travel demand and emissions in Brazil, the largest aviation market in Latin America. Combining detailed flight data with daily number of passengers and fuel consumption and data on combustion emission factors, we estimate CO2 emissions of domestic flights in Brazil. A Bayesian structural time-series model was used to estimate the impact of COVID-19 on daily trends of air travel demand and emissions. We find that the COVID-19 pandemic caused a reduction of 68% on national passengers and 62% in total CO2 emissions compared to what would have occurred if the pandemic had not happened. It avoided a total of approximately 4.6 megatons of CO2 between March and December 2020 in Brazil, the equivalent of one year of domestic flight emissions in France. Despite such a sharp drop in commercial aviation, passenger demand recovered to 64.2% of pre-pandemic levels by the end of 2020. CO2 emissions had a 52.6% reduction in 2020 and the emissions per capita increased after the COVID-19 outbreak. Although the precise impact of the COVID-19 on this figure is not yet fully understood, the fast recovery in domestic flights by December 2020 indicates that the emissions could soon return to pre-pandemic levels, demonstrating the challenges of reducing emissions in the aviation sector in the short term.


2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (4) ◽  
pp. 135-147
Author(s):  
Bartosz Fortuński

Aim: CO2 emissions and the related climate change are a global problem, where the direct impact of actions of individual countries depends on their total share in CO2 emissions. In order to assess the potential for policy measures, the openness of an economy, and the related import and export and their impacts on emissions should be considered. The aim of this paper is the attempt to show the real CO2 emissions of the Netherlands as well as the impact of its trade on CO2 emissions in other countries in the world and in the EU in 2015.Design / Research methods: This study was conducted on the group of countries that are the major emitters of CO2 in the world including most of the EU members. Countries with negligible CO2 emissions were omitted. Actual CO2 emissions were obtained by applying the actual emission factor. This takes into account the transfer of CO2 in export products and services as well as those imported by particular countries.Conclusions / findings: The real CO2 emissions in the Netherlands are significantly different from the gross values, which represent the CO2 emissions in the particular countries. It is also important to indicate that isolated actions of a single country within the European Union itself do not deliver the intended global and regional target – significant CO2 emissions reduction. The approach proposed in this study, when applied, may have serious implications for individual EU member states in implementing their energy policy objectives.Originality / value of the article: The article shows a different approach to the issue of CO2 emission, including the importance of international trade in a globalizing world.


2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (8) ◽  
pp. 3363 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bartosz Fortuński

One of the ways of implementing the concept of sustainable development by the European Union is their energy policy. Among the three main objectives in its energy policy is a reduction in greenhouse gases (mainly CO2) emissions to at least 20% below 1990 levels by 2020. This study aims to assess the impact of international trade on actual CO2 emission in the EU, China and the USA for the period 1997–2017. For this aim, the Actual-Open CO2 emissions were calculated, taking into account the transfer of CO2 in exported products and services from China and the USA to the EU and vice versa. It is concluded that the actual CO2 emissions in China, the USA, and the EU differed from the traditionally calculated emissions. This has serious consequences for policy, as the factual level of implementation of the EU energy policy goals may be different from what is assumed. Without including the goals of energy policy into trade policy, the effectiveness of measures may be limited. This also has implications for the effectiveness of environmental management systems. When improvements rely on increasing trade with large CO2 emitting countries, the final effect may be opposed to the assumed effect.


Atmosphere ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (11) ◽  
pp. 1222
Author(s):  
Janusz Zyśk ◽  
Artur Wyrwa ◽  
Wojciech Suwała ◽  
Marcin Pluta ◽  
Tadeusz Olkuski ◽  
...  

Poland faces two great challenges in the field of environment and atmosphere protection: improving air quality, especially by reducing particulate matter (PM) emissions, and reducing relatively high greenhouse gas emissions. The aim of this research was to investigate how the fuel and technological transformations in the power, road transport, and household and tertiary sectors aimed at reducing carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions in Poland would affect air quality, human health, and the associated external costs. The study was conducted for 2050 while considering 2015 as the base year. Ambient PM2.5 (particles with a diameter of less than 2.5 µm) concentration was used as a proxy air quality indicator. The analysis was based on decarbonization scenarios developed within the REFLEX Project (Analysis of the European energy system under the aspects of flexibility and technological progress). The three scenarios of the REFLEX Project focused on the reduction of CO2 emissions up to 2050 from various sectors, mainly by the means of fuel and technological switches. This also led to the changes in the emission levels of pollutants that directly affect air quality, which were calculated with the use of fuel- and technology-specific emission factors. Next, for each emission scenario, ambient concentrations of PM2.5 and others pollutants were calculated with the use of the Polyphemus—an Eulerian-type air quality modelling system. Subsequently, the health impact of population exposed to air pollution and associated external costs were calculated using the πESA (Platform for Integrated Energy System Analysis) platform. The health impacts considered were the number of years of life lost, restricted activity days, and number of chronic bronchitis cases. The results showed that the largest reductions in both greenhouse gas and PM emissions—and consequently improvements of air quality resulting in a decrease of negative impacts on human health and a decrease of external costs—can be achieved by the transformation of heat production in the household and tertiary sector. The results also showed that the decrease in PM2.5 emissions envisaged in the analyzed scenarios in 2050 will lead to a reduction in the number of lost years of life by about 35 thousand and an avoidance of external costs by EUR 2.4 billion.


2017 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 37
Author(s):  
Rahayu Kusumaningrum

Frequent occurrence of severe traffic congestion between Taoyuan City and Zhongli City has encouraged Taoyuan County Government to build elevated railway between these two cities. Besides, this plan also intended to merge all road signage by constructing new roads under the newly built elevated railway. Based on the environmental point of view, railway infrastructure improvement may be able to reduce the congestion and also emission. But the construction of new roads under it may result conversely, especially for the area neighboring the project. Therefore, the impact of railway elevation project parallel with the construction of new road on greenhouse gas emissions generated by road transport needs to be further studied.This study integrates transportation planning model and emission estimation model in order to estimate CO2 emissions as an impact of road improvement and further shows the spatial distribution of emission in grid-based emission. Short-term and long-term period analysis were done both for Taoyuan County and the affected area. Short-term period analysis analyze the project’s impact on emission for short-term after the project is implemented. Meanwhile, long-term period analysis analyze the impact of the project 20 years later.The results shows that in term of emission, the implementation of railway elevation project parallel with the construction of new roads generates the lowest CO2 emissions for whole Taoyuan County area both for short-term and long-term period analysis. In contrary, for project-affected area, the lowest emission is derived from the implementation of railway elevation project without construction of new roads both for short-term and long-term period analysis. Keywords: Railway elevation project, road improvement, emission estimation model, grid-based emission, Taoyuan County  


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