Strategies to Lower Carbon Emissions in Industry

The built environment is one of the greatest contributors to carbon emissions, climate change, and to the unsustainable pressure on the natural environment and its ecosystems. The use of more timber in construction is one possible response, and an authoritative contribution to this growing movement comes from the UK’s Committee on Climate Change, which identifies a “substantial increase in the use of wood in the construction of buildings” as a top priority. However, a global encouragement of such a strategy raises some difficult questions. Given the urgency of effective solutions for low-carbon built environments, and the likely continued growth in demand for timber in construction, this article reviews its sustainability and identifies future challenges and unanswered questions. Existing evidence points indeed towards timber as the lower carbon option when modelled through life cycle assessment without having to draw on arguments around carbon storage. Issues however remain on the timing of carbon emissions, land allocation, and the environmental loads and benefits associated with the end-of-life options: analysis of environmental product declarations for engineered timber suggests that landfill might either be the best or the worst option from a climate change perspective, depending on assumptions.

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Waterbed leakage drives EU ETS emissions: COVID-19, the Green Deal & the recovery plan

10.21203/rs.3.rs-270917/v1 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Kenneth Bruninx ◽

Marten Ovaere

Keyword(s):

Carbon Emissions ◽

Eu Ets ◽

Limited Effect ◽

Demand Shock ◽

Recovery Plan ◽

Lower Carbon ◽

The Eu ◽

Stimulus Package

Abstract Because of the EU ETS' cancellation policy, its fixed cap or waterbed is punctured, meaning that shocks and overlapping policies can change cumulative carbon emissions, i.e., waterbed leakage. This paper explains the mechanisms behind waterbed leakage and quantifies the effect of COVID-19, the European Green Deal, and the recovery stimulus package on cumulative EU ETS emissions and allowance prices. We find that the negative demand shock of the pandemic has limited effect on the EU ETS price and is almost completely translated into lower carbon emissions, because of high waterbed leakage. Increasing the 2030 reduction target to -55% increases the price of allowances to 67 euro/ton CO2 today and decreases carbon emissions in the period 2020-2050 by around 16.3 GtCO2 or 42% of the cumulative cap under current policies. These results are robust to significant changes in allowance demand triggered by overlapping policies in the period 2021-2031.

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Solving the Two Echelon Vehicle Routing Problem Using Simulated Annealing Algorithm Considering Drop Box Facilities and Emission Cost: A Case Study of Reverse Logistics Application in Indonesia

Algorithms ◽

10.3390/a14090259 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 14 (9) ◽

pp. 259

Author(s):

Marco Reinaldi ◽

Anak Agung Ngurah Perwira Redi ◽

Dio Fawwaz Prakoso ◽

Arrie Wicaksono Widodo ◽

Mochammad Rizal Wibisono ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Vehicle Routing ◽

Carbon Emissions ◽

Reverse Logistics ◽

Vehicle Routing Problem ◽

Distribution System ◽

Simulated Annealing Algorithm ◽

Routing Problem ◽

Annealing Algorithm ◽

Lower Carbon

A two echelon distribution system is often used to solve logistics problems. This study considers a two-echelon distribution system in reverse logistics context with the use of drop box facility as an intermediary facility. An optimization model of integer linear programming is proposed, representing a two-echelon vehicle routing problem with a drop box facility (2EVRP-DF). The aim is to find the minimum total costs consisting of vehicle transportation costs and the costs to compensate customers who have to travel to access these intermediary facilities. The results are then compared to those of common practice in reverse logistics. In common practice, customers are assumed to go directly to the depot to drop their goods. In addition, this study analyzes the environmental impact by adding a component of carbon emissions emitted by the vehicles. A set of comprehensive computational experiments is conducted. The results indicate that the 2EVRP-DF model can provide optimal costs and lower carbon emissions than the common practice.

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News - Analysis. Aviation - Airlines fall short in race to lower carbon emissions

Engineering & Technology ◽

10.1049/et.2019.0324 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 14 (3) ◽

pp. 15-15

Author(s):

J. Loughran

Keyword(s):

Carbon Emissions ◽

News Analysis ◽

Lower Carbon

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End-use efficiency to lower carbon emissions

IEEE Power Engineering Review ◽

10.1109/39.911345 ◽

2001 ◽

Vol 21 (3) ◽

pp. 10-12, 18 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

C. Marnay ◽

J. Osborn ◽

C. Webber

Keyword(s):

Carbon Emissions ◽

Use Efficiency ◽

End Use ◽

Lower Carbon

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Japan’s nuclear revival won’t lower carbon emissions enough

Nature ◽

10.1038/524143a ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 524 (7564) ◽

pp. 143-144

Author(s):

Davide Castelvecchi

Keyword(s):

Carbon Emissions ◽

Lower Carbon

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Chloride-mediated selective electrosynthesis of ethylene and propylene oxides at high current density

Science ◽

10.1126/science.aaz8459 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 368 (6496) ◽

pp. 1228-1233 ◽

Cited By ~ 13

Author(s):

Wan Ru Leow ◽

Yanwei Lum ◽

Adnan Ozden ◽

Yuhang Wang ◽

Dae-Hyun Nam ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Ethylene Oxide ◽

Carbon Emissions ◽

High Current Density ◽

High Current ◽

Renewable Electricity ◽

Faradaic Efficiency ◽

Commodity Chemicals ◽

Current Densities ◽

Global Carbon ◽

Lower Carbon

Chemicals manufacturing consumes large amounts of energy and is responsible for a substantial portion of global carbon emissions. Electrochemical systems that produce the desired compounds by using renewable electricity offer a route to lower carbon emissions in the chemicals sector. Ethylene oxide is among the world’s most abundantly produced commodity chemicals because of its importance in the plastics industry, notably for manufacturing polyesters and polyethylene terephthalates. We applied an extended heterogeneous:homogeneous interface, using chloride as a redox mediator at the anode, to facilitate the selective partial oxidation of ethylene to ethylene oxide. We achieved current densities of 1 ampere per square centimeter, Faradaic efficiencies of ~70%, and product specificities of ~97%. When run at 300 milliamperes per square centimeter for 100 hours, the system maintained a 71(±1)% Faradaic efficiency throughout.

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Biden offers a new impetus for US-German relations

Emerald Expert Briefings ◽

10.1108/oxan-db258539 ◽

2021 ◽

Keyword(s):

Carbon Emissions ◽

Western Europe ◽

Infrastructure Projects ◽

Content Type ◽

Nord Stream ◽

The Relationship ◽

Lower Carbon

Significance While the election of Joe Biden will facilitate the return of a more trusting and cooperative German-US relationship, Trump’s actions and tone toward Western Europe and Germany in particular damaged the relationship in ways that may not be easily or fully reversed. Impacts US sanctions on participants in Russian infrastructure projects, such as the Nord Stream 2 pipeline to Germany, will likely proliferate. Biden’s election opens the door for deeper EU-US cooperation on the technologies crucial in meeting lower carbon emissions targets. Biden will look to engage with EU partners on Iran by rejoining the nuclear deal, but conservatives’ demands will complicate progress.

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Leasing or Selling? Durable Goods Manufacturer Marketing Model Selection under a Mixed Carbon Trading-and-Tax Policy Scenario

International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health ◽

10.3390/ijerph16020251 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 16 (2) ◽

pp. 251 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Yuxiang Zhang ◽

Deqing Tan ◽

Zhi Liu

Keyword(s):

Carbon Dioxide ◽

Model Selection ◽

Carbon Emissions ◽

Durable Goods ◽

Carbon Tax ◽

Carbon Trading ◽

Carbon Policy ◽

Marketing Model ◽

The Government ◽

Lower Carbon

Many carbon reduction policies have been implemented to reduce carbon dioxide in the manufacturing process of products. However, many products emit more carbon dioxide in the consumption process. From the consumer’s utility perspective, this paper firstly analyses the manufacturing and marketing model selection decisions of a monopoly manufacturer under the mixed carbon policy, and then a win-win result that can encourage the manufacturer to choose the marketing model with lower carbon emissions while at the same time obtaining the optimal profit is discussed. The results show that the production activity will proceed only when the carbon trading price is lower than a certain threshold. When the carbon trading price is lower than a certain threshold, leasing represents the manufacturer’s optimal marketing model. When the carbon trading price is higher than the threshold, selling represents the manufacturer’s optimal marketing model. For the carbon cap Q, there are equilibrium intervals in which the government can achieve the aim of controlling carbon emissions, while not overly affecting the manufacturer’s enthusiasm for production. For the carbon trading price and the carbon tax rate, there are two different intervals in which leasing gains more profit for the manufacturer while emitting lower carbon emissions.

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