Seasonal and diurnal methane and carbon dioxide emissions from the littoral area of the Miyun Reservoir in Beijing, China

2018 ◽  
Vol 69 (5) ◽  
pp. 751 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gang Li ◽  
Hongli Li ◽  
Meng Yang ◽  
Ting Lei ◽  
Mingxiang Zhang ◽  
...  

Reservoirs have been regarded as hot spots for greenhouse gas emissions since the 1990s. However, there is scant research about littoral zones of reservoirs. In the present study, static closed chamber and gas chromatograph techniques were used to measure methane (CH4) and carbon dioxide (CO2) flux in the littoral area of a temperate reservoir from 2009 to 2010. The littoral area comprises three zones, namely supralittoral, eulittoral and infralittoral. The patterns of CH4 and CO2 emissions from these three littoral zones were significantly different during the sampling periods, with the eulittoral zone having the highest CH4 flux and the supralittoral zone having the highest CO2 flux. Temperature and biomass correlated with CH4 and CO2 emissions. Measurement of CO2 emissions after removing vegetation varied in each zone and according to time of sampling. A large littoral area of the reservoir sampled herein will be submerged and converted to a pelagic area with deep standing water after the South to North Water Transfer Project is completed, in 2050. The results of the present study suggest further research and monitoring are needed, and should focus on likely effects of extreme climate events and the effects of human-mediated factors on greenhouse gas emissions.

Author(s):  
Lisa Kemmerer

Cheap meat, dairy, and eggs are an illusion—we pay for each with depleted forests, polluted freshwater, soil degradation, and climate change. Diet is the most critical decision we make with regard to our environmental footprint—and what we eat is a choice that most of us make every day, several times a day. Dietary choice contributes powerfully to greenhouse gas emissions (GHGE) and water pollution. Animal agriculture is responsible for an unnerving quantity of greenhouse gas emissions. Eating animal products—yogurt, ice cream, bacon, chicken salad, beef stroganoff, or cheese omelets—greatly increases an individual’s contribution to carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide emissions. Collectively, dietary choice contributes to a classic “tragedy of the commons.” Much of the atmosphere’s carbon dioxide (CO2) is absorbed by the earth’s oceans and plants, but a large proportion lingers in the atmosphere—unable to be absorbed by plants or oceans (“Effects”). Plants are not harmed by this process, but the current overabundance of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere causes acidification of the earth’s oceans. As a result of anthropogenic carbon dioxide emissions, the “acidity of the world’s ocean may increase by around 170% by the end of the century,” altering ocean ecosystems, and likely creating an ocean environment that is inhospitable for many life forms (“Expert Assessment”). Burning petroleum also leads to wars that devastate human communities and annihilate landscapes and wildlife—including endangered species and their vital habitats. Additionally, our consumption of petroleum is linked with oil spills that ravage landscapes, shorelines, and ocean habitat. Oil pipelines run through remote, fragile areas—every oil tanker represents not just the possibility but the probability of an oil spill. As reserves diminish, our quest for fossil fuels is increasingly environmentally devastating: Canada’s vast reserves of tar sands oil—though extracted, transported, and burned only with enormous costs to the environment—are next in line for extraction. Consuming animal products creates ten times more fossil fuel emission per calorie than does consuming plant foods directly (Oppenlander 18). (This is the most remarkable given that plant foods are not generally as calorically dense as animal foods.) Ranching is the greatest GHGE offender.


2014 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 252 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mohamed Mourad

Because of their high efficiency and low emissions, fuel cell vehicles are undergoing extensive research and development. When considering the introduction of advanced vehicles, a complete evaluation must be performed to determine the potential impact of a technology on carbon dioxide (CO2) and greenhouse gases emissions. However, the reduction of CO2 emission from the vehicle became the most important objective for all researches institutes of vehicle technologies worldwide. There interest recently to find unconventional methods to reduce greenhouse gas emission from vehicle to keep the environment clean. This paper offers an overview and simulation study to fuel cell vehicles, with the aim of introducing their main advantages and evaluates their influence on emissions of carbon dioxide from fuel cell vehicle and compares advanced propulsion technologies on a well-to-wheel energy basis by using current technology for conventional and fuel cell. The results indicate that the use of fuel cells, and especially fuel cells that consume hydrogen, provide a good attempt for enhancing environment quality and reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Moreover, the emission reduction percentage of fuel cell vehicle reaches to 64% comparing to the conventional vehicle. Keywords: Fuel Cell Electric Vehicle, Performance, Simulation, Driving Cycle, CO2 Emissions, Greenhouse Gas Emissions, Fuel Consumption.


2021 ◽  
pp. 9-16
Author(s):  
E. Maysyuk

Decrease in greenhouse gas emissions is a current trend in solving the climate change problems. The concept of low-carbon cities is extensively discussed nowadays. It aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions through integrated mechanisms and measures, which comply with socio-economic development and city management. Since a considerable part of the population lives in cities, the utmost goal of the study is to analyze the situation with emissions of the main greenhouse gas, i.e., carbon dioxide, in the urban environment. The major sources of carbon dioxide emissions are stationary energy facilities of different capacities burning fuel. The paper considers the city of Irkutsk as an example of the populated area included in the study on low carbon cities under the auspices of the Social and Economic Commission for Asia and the Pacific of the UN - UNESCAP. The first stage of the studies involved assessing the current carbon dioxide emissions from energy facilities of the city through the calculation of carbon dioxide emissions from boiler houses and the city cogeneration plant for 1990. The findings revealed the potential of reducing carbon dioxide emissions from energy facilities in Irkutsk. The paper suggests the basic directions and measures to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions from the urban energy facilities.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rebekka Artz ◽  
Mhairi Coyle ◽  
Gillian Donaldson-Selby ◽  
Ross Morrison

Abstract The net impact of greenhouse gas emissions from degraded peatland environments on national Inventories and subsequent mitigation of such emissions has only been seriously considered within the last decade. Data on greenhouse gas emissions from special cases of peatland degradation, such as eroding peatlands, are particularly scarce. Here, we report the first eddy covariance-based monitoring of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from an eroding Atlantic blanket bog. The CO2 budget across the period July 2018 to November 2019 was 147 (+/- 9) g C m-2. For an annual budget that contained proportionally more of the extreme 2018 drought and heat wave, cumulative CO2 emissions were nearly double (191 g C m-2) of that of an annual period without drought (106 g C m-2), suggesting that direct CO2 emissions from eroded peatlands are at risk of increasing with projected changes in temperatures and precipitation due to global climate change. The results of this study are consistent with chamber-based and modelling studies that suggest degraded blanket bogs to be a net source of CO2 to the atmosphere, and provide baseline data against which to assess future peatland restoration efforts in this region.


Author(s):  
Mary Schmeida ◽  
Ramona Sue McNeal

The Obama Administration Climate Action Plan is enforcing goals to reduce greenhouse gas emissions below 2005 levels by 2020, regulating both stationary and mobile sources of pollution. As energy-related carbon dioxide emissions account for the majority of greenhouse gas emissions, the plan proposed carbon pollution standards for both new and existing plants. Impacts related to upgraded regulations have been projected as both favorable and not, with public and political opinions showing support among some groups and among other interests a concern. The purpose of this chapter is to analyze factors predicting which groups are supportive and non-supportive on setting stricter carbon dioxide emission limits on coal-fired electricity generating power plants. This topic is explored using multivariate regression analysis and individual level data. Findings suggest that comprehension of the policy area and individual financial situation are the most important factors in predicting support for stricter emission limits.


2014 ◽  
Vol 962-965 ◽  
pp. 1437-1443
Author(s):  
Hui Qin Dong ◽  
Hong Lin ◽  
Chao Huang ◽  
Ji Sun

This paper intends to improve the Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS) method in view of the traditional TOPSIS method and combines with the current development of Chinese enterprises. By determining the index weights and attributes, it also constructs a new enterprise decision-making method which based on energy saving and greenhouse gas emissions. According to the survey's raw data, this paper not only calculates the energy levels of conventional coal-fired power plant in North China and an integrated gasification gas-steam combined cycle (IGCC) power plant, but also computes their carbon dioxide emissions. The results show that under the same circumstances, the energy consumption of IGCC power plant is lower than that of the conventional coal-fired power plants, has less carbon dioxide emissions, lower carbon intensity and higher carbon productivity. On the basis, using the improved TOPSIS method, the paper calculates the numerical superiority of two schemes and sorts of them, verified the correctness of this construction method.


2017 ◽  
pp. 1196-1215 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mary Schmeida ◽  
Ramona Sue McNeal

The Obama Administration Climate Action Plan is enforcing goals to reduce greenhouse gas emissions below 2005 levels by 2020, regulating both stationary and mobile sources of pollution. As energy-related carbon dioxide emissions account for the majority of greenhouse gas emissions, the plan proposed carbon pollution standards for both new and existing plants. Impacts related to upgraded regulations have been projected as both favorable and not, with public and political opinions showing support among some groups and among other interests a concern. The purpose of this chapter is to analyze factors predicting which groups are supportive and non-supportive on setting stricter carbon dioxide emission limits on coal-fired electricity generating power plants. This topic is explored using multivariate regression analysis and individual level data. Findings suggest that comprehension of the policy area and individual financial situation are the most important factors in predicting support for stricter emission limits.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Eisen ◽  
Patrick O Brown

We used public data on greenhouse-gas emissions and land use to evaluate the potential impact of eliminating animal agriculture on atmospheric greenhouse gas levels, and global warming potential. We first updated estimates of carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide emissions from livestock and livestock feed production. We used these data, along with recent estimates of the atmospheric carbon dioxide that could be converted by photosynthesis into perennial biomass on land currently engaged in animal agriculture, to develop models of net anthropogenic emissions under food-system scenarios ranging from business as usual to the complete elimination of animal agriculture. We then used simple simulations to project atmospheric levels of these three gases through the end of the century under each scenario. Using cumulative differences in radiative forcing as a measure of the impact of different diets, we found that a gradual transition over the next 15 years to a plant-only diet would have the same effect through the rest of the century as an annual reduction of 28 Gt of CO2 emissions. This would effectively negate 56 percent of global emissions at the current rate of 50 Gt CO2eq per year, with a net negation of 2,200 gigatonnes of CO2 emissions by the year 2100. The climate benefits would accrue rapidly - most in the first few decades, effectively pausing greenhouse-gas accumulation for 30 years. These results establish the replacement of animal agriculture as by far the most powerful option in our arsenal of climate-defense strategies, especially given the urgency of the climate threat. How to orchestrate such a shift to maximize its beneficial environmental, public health, food security, economic and social consequences and minimize potential harms should therefore be at the center of climate policy discussions.


2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (3) ◽  
pp. 43-47
Author(s):  
Kamil Khafizov

The article is devoted to the search for ways to reduce carbon dioxide emissions into the atmosphere when performing technological operations in agricultural production. It is proposed to calculate the efficiency of using machine and tractor units based on the methods of physical economics, when not a monetary unit is used as an indicator of efficiency, but an energy unit, which is an indirect indicator of saving or increasing emissions of carbon dioxide. It is substantiated that a decrease in total energy costs when performing technological operations for the production of grain and other crops directly leads to a decrease in greenhouse gas emissions into the atmosphere. Examples of computational experiments are given to identify the most optimal brand of a tractor and optimize the parameters of the working width and speed of the seeding machine-tractor unit K-5250 + Agromaster, leading to a decrease in total energy costs and, accordingly, to a decrease in carbon dioxide emissions and carbon sequestration from the air by reducing losses harvest


2002 ◽  
Vol 13 (6) ◽  
pp. 833-850
Author(s):  
Caleb Stewart ◽  
Mir-Akbar Hessami

This paper presents information related to greenhouse gas emissions due to the power consumption of the following household appliances: refrigerators, clothes washers, clothes dryers, freezers, and dishwashers; a possible extension to this analysis would include heaters and air-conditioners. Actual energy consumption data for the period 1993 to 1999 were used to estimate the total carbon dioxide emissions for 1994 to 2009 incremented at 5 years; these data can also be used to estimate the energy consumption of these appliances for 2008–2012 with reference to 1990 for reasons of comparison under the Kyoto Protocol. The total carbon dioxide equivalent emissions for the above household appliances show a peak of 29.6 mega-tonnes CO2 around 1999 with a decreasing trend post 1999 to 27.4 mega-tonnes CO2 in 2009. Details of the analysis for selected appliances show that refrigerators account for over half of total emissions, decreasing from 60.1% in 1994 to 51.6% in 2009. The aggregate trend activity was found to highly depend on the trend activity for emissions for refrigerators. The trend activity for freezers, clothes dryers and clothes washers is increasing for consecutive years from 1994 to 2009 defying the trend exhibited by refrigerators and dishwashers. The reason for this discrepancy is the relatively higher decreases in kWh/annum for refrigerators and dishwashers in contrast to other appliances. The energy consumption curves for each appliance take this differential into account. The energy consumption curve for refrigerators predicts a much faster decrease in kWh/annum than for other appliances thus causing the downward trend post 1999.


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