Vehicle fleet electrification: impacts on energy demand, air quality and GHG emissions. An integrated assessment approach

The scope of this paper is to describe the existing problems with respect to the lack of a harmonised assessment approach for air quality, and to provide general recommendations and priorities for an assessment approach at the European scale. Taken that the approach for assessment may diverge among the European countries and the players involved, recommendations are general and aim at providing the overall framework on the basis of which the formulation of specific assessment approaches could be worked out. The starting point for the paper is a synopsis of the characteristics of air quality assessments, as well as of the drawbacks for a harmonised assessment approach at the European scale. The assessment of air quality is then described in relation to sources as well as to effects. At a final stage the assessment goals are recognised and the link between air quality assessment and integrated assessment is also discussed.

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A comparative study of floor construction on sloping sites: an analysis of cumulative energy demand and greenhouse gas emissions

Construction Economics and Building ◽

10.5130/ajceb.v16i1.4813 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 16 (1) ◽

pp. 33-49 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Grace Ding ◽

Perry Forsythe

Keyword(s):

Greenhouse Gas ◽

Energy Demand ◽

Ghg Emissions ◽

Housing Construction ◽

Cumulative Energy ◽

Cumulative Energy Demand ◽

Foundation Soil ◽

Housing Projects ◽

Construction Methods ◽

Assessment Approach

In order to make environmentally aware decisions, there is growing interest in the comparative energy and greenhouse gas (GHG) performance of competing construction methods. Little research has been done concerning competing ground floor construction methods, especially given different site variables, such as slope and soil type. A life cycle assessment approach was adopted to analyse environmental impacts, including cumulative energy demand and GHG emissions for detached housing construction in Australia. Data was drawn from 24 case study housing projects, including 12 reinforced concrete and 12 suspended timber floor projects. The data presented in the paper compares cumulative energy demand, GHG and the constituent parts of competing construction methods. The findings indicate that the timber floors use/create significantly less cumulative energy demand and GHG emissions than concrete floors—approximately 2.1 to 2.7 times less energy and 2.3 to 2.9 times less GHG. These findings are limited to the site slope and foundation soil types identified in the paper. The main application of the work is in guidance concerning the lowest environmental impact options for detached housing construction.

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Window operation behaviour and indoor air quality during lockdown: A monitoring-based simulation-assisted study in London

Building Services Engineering Research and Technology ◽

10.1177/01436244211017786 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 014362442110177

Author(s):

Farhang Tahmasebi ◽

Yan Wang ◽

Elizabeth Cooper ◽

Daniel Godoy Shimizu ◽

Samuel Stamp ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Air Quality ◽

Indoor Air Quality ◽

Indoor Air ◽

Energy Demand ◽

Natural Ventilation ◽

Probabilistic Models ◽

Performance Model ◽

Outdoor Environment ◽

Ventilation Strategies ◽

The Impact

The Covid-19 outbreak has resulted in new patterns of home occupancy, the implications of which for indoor air quality (IAQ) and energy use are not well-known. In this context, the present study investigates 8 flats in London to uncover if during a lockdown, (a) IAQ in the monitored flats deteriorated, (b) the patterns of window operation by occupants changed, and (c) more effective ventilation patterns could enhance IAQ without significant increases in heating energy demand. To this end, one-year’s worth of monitored data on indoor and outdoor environment along with occupant use of windows has been used to analyse the impact of lockdown on IAQ and infer probabilistic models of window operation behaviour. Moreover, using on-site CO2 data, monitored occupancy and operation of windows, the team has calibrated a thermal performance model of one of the flats to investigate the implications of alternative ventilation strategies. The results suggest that despite the extended occupancy during lockdown, occupants relied less on natural ventilation, which led to an increase of median CO2 concentration by up to 300 ppm. However, simple natural ventilation patterns or use of mechanical ventilation with heat recovery proves to be very effective to maintain acceptable IAQ. Practical application: This study provides evidence on the deterioration of indoor air quality resulting from homeworking during imposed lockdowns. It also tests and recommends specific ventilation strategies to maintain acceptable indoor air quality at home despite the extended occupancy hours.

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Evaluation of a Novel Poultry Litter Amendment on Greenhouse Gas Emissions

Atmosphere ◽

10.3390/atmos12050563 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 12 (5) ◽

pp. 563

Author(s):

Kelsey Anderson ◽

Philip A. Moore ◽

Jerry Martin ◽

Amanda J. Ashworth

Keyword(s):

Air Quality ◽

Greenhouse Gas ◽

Co2 Emissions ◽

Management Practices ◽

Block Design ◽

Poultry Litter ◽

Ghg Emissions ◽

Nitrous Oxide Emissions ◽

Gaseous Emissions ◽

Poultry Facilities

Gaseous emissions from poultry litter causes production problems for producers as well as the environment, by contributing to climate change and reducing air quality. Novel methods of reducing ammonia (NH3) and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in poultry facilities are needed. As such, our research evaluated GHG emissions over a 42 d period. Three separate flocks of 1000 broilers were used for this study. The first flock was used only to produce litter needed for the experiment. The second and third flocks were allocated to 20 pens in a randomized block design with four replicated of five treatments. The management practices studied included an unamended control; a conventional practice of incorporating aluminum sulfate (referred to as alum) at 98 kg/100 m2); a novel litter amendment made from alum mud, bauxite, and sulfuric acid (alum mud litter amendment, AMLA) applied at different rates (49 and 98 kg/100 m2) and methods (surface applied or incorporated). Nitrous oxide emissions were low for all treatments in flocks 2 and 3 (0.40 and 0.37 mg m2 hr−1, respectively). The formation of caked litter (due to excessive moisture) during day 35 and 42 caused high variability in CH4 and CO2 emissions. Alum mud litter amendment and alum did not significantly affect GHGs emissions from litter, regardless of the amendment rate or application method. In fact, litter amendments such as alum and AMLA typically lower GHG emissions from poultry facilities by reducing ventilation requirements to maintain air quality in cooler months due to lower NH3 levels, resulting in less propane use and concomitant reductions in CO2 emissions.

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The use of temporal factors for improved CO2 emissions accounting in buildings

Building Services Engineering Research and Technology ◽

10.1177/0143624417753297 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 39 (2) ◽

pp. 196-210 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Barny Evans ◽

Sabbir Sidat

Keyword(s):

Air Quality ◽

Energy Demand ◽

Energy System ◽

Net Energy ◽

Electricity Grid ◽

Electrical Grid ◽

Significant Difference ◽

Emissions Factor ◽

Single Number ◽

The Impact

This paper is an investigation into the issues around how we calculate CO2 emissions in the built environment. At present, in Building Regulations and GHG Protocol calculations used for buildings and corporate CO2 emissions calculations, it is standard to use a single number for the CO2 emission factor of each source. This paper considers how energy demand, particularly electricity at different times of the day, season and even year can differ in terms of its CO2 emissions. This paper models three different building types (retail, office and home) using standard software to estimate a profile of energy demand. It then considers how CO2 emissions calculations differ between using the single standard emissions factor and using an hourly emissions factor based on real electrical grid generation over a year. The paper also examines the impact of considering lifetime emissions factors rather than one-year factors using UK government projections. The results show that there is a significant difference to the analysis of benefit in terms of CO2 emissions from different measures – both intra- and inter-year – due to the varying CO2 emissions intensity, even when they deliver the same amount of net energy saving. Other factors not considered in this paper, such as impact on peak generation and air quality, are likely to be important when considering whole-system impacts. In line with this, it is recommended that moves are made to incorporate intra- and inter-year emissions factor changes in methodologies for calculating CO2 emissions. (This is particularly important as demand side response and energy storage, although generally accepted as important in the decarbonisation of the energy system at present will show as an increase in CO2 emissions when using a single number.) Further work quantifying the impact on air quality and peak generation capacity should also be considered. Practical application: This paper aims to help practitioners to understand the performance gap between how systems need to be designed in order to meet regulations compared to how buildings perform in reality – both today and in the future. In particular, it considers the use of ‘real-time’ carbon factors in order to attain long-term CO2 reductions. This methodology enables decision makers to understand the impacts of different energy reduction technologies, considering each of their unique characteristics and usage profiles. If implemented, the result is a simple-to-use dataset which can be embedded into the software packages already available onto the market which mirrors the complexity of the electricity grid that is under-represented through the use of a static carbon figure.

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Resource use and environmental impacts from Australian export lamb production: a life cycle assessment

Animal Production Science ◽

10.1071/an14647 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 56 (7) ◽

pp. 1070 ◽

Cited By ~ 10

Author(s):

S. G. Wiedemann ◽

M.-J. Yan ◽

C. M. Murphy

Keyword(s):

Land Use ◽

Fresh Water ◽

Water Use ◽

Water Consumption ◽

Energy Demand ◽

Production Systems ◽

Arable Land ◽

Ghg Emissions ◽

Land Occupation ◽

Fossil Fuel Energy

This study conducted a life cycle assessment (LCA) investigating energy, land occupation, greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, fresh water consumption and stress-weighted water use from production of export lamb in the major production regions of New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia. The study used data from regional datasets and case study farms, and applied new methods for assessing water use using detailed farm water balances and water stress weighting. Land occupation was assessed with reference to the proportion of arable and non-arable land and allocation of liveweight (LW) and greasy wool was handled using a protein mass method. Fossil fuel energy demand ranged from 2.5 to 7.0 MJ/kg LW, fresh water consumption from 58.1 to 238.9 L/kg LW, stress-weighted water use from 2.9 to 137.8 L H2O-e/kg LW and crop land occupation from 0.2 to 2.0 m2/kg LW. Fossil fuel energy demand was dominated by on-farm energy demand, and differed between regions and datasets in response to production intensity and the use of purchased inputs such as fertiliser. Regional fresh water consumption was dominated by irrigation water use and losses from farm water supply, with smaller contributions from livestock drinking water. GHG emissions ranged from 6.1 to 7.3 kg CO2-e/kg LW and additional removals or emissions from land use (due to cultivation and fertilisation) and direct land-use change (due to deforestation over previous 20 years) were found to be modest, contributing between –1.6 and 0.3 kg CO2-e/kg LW for different scenarios assessing soil carbon flux. Excluding land use and direct land-use change, enteric CH4 contributed 83–89% of emissions, suggesting that emissions intensity can be reduced by focussing on flock production efficiency. Resource use and emissions were similar for export lamb production in the major production states of Australia, and GHG emissions were similar to other major global lamb producers. The results show impacts from lamb production on competitive resources to be low, as lamb production systems predominantly utilised non-arable land unsuited to alternative food production systems that rely on crop production, and water from regions with low water stress.

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