scholarly journals Nutritional and greenhouse gas impacts of removing animals from US agriculture

2017 ◽  
Vol 114 (48) ◽  
pp. E10301-E10308 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robin R. White ◽  
Mary Beth Hall
Keyword(s):  
Greenhouse Gas ◽  
Essential Fatty Acids ◽  
Ghg Emissions ◽  
Essential Amino Acids ◽  
The United States ◽  
Human Consumption ◽  
Nutrient Deficiencies ◽  
The Us ◽  
Simulated System ◽  
Fiber Processing

As a major contributor to agricultural greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, it has been suggested that reducing animal agriculture or consumption of animal-derived foods may reduce GHGs and enhance food security. Because the total removal of animals provides the extreme boundary to potential mitigation options and requires the fewest assumptions to model, the yearly nutritional and GHG impacts of eliminating animals from US agriculture were quantified. Animal-derived foods currently provide energy (24% of total), protein (48%), essential fatty acids (23–100%), and essential amino acids (34–67%) available for human consumption in the United States. The US livestock industry employs 1.6 × 106 people and accounts for $31.8 billion in exports. Livestock recycle more than 43.2 × 109 kg of human-inedible food and fiber processing byproducts, converting them into human-edible food, pet food, industrial products, and 4 × 109 kg of N fertilizer. Although modeled plants-only agriculture produced 23% more food, it met fewer of the US population’s requirements for essential nutrients. When nutritional adequacy was evaluated by using least-cost diets produced from foods available, more nutrient deficiencies, a greater excess of energy, and a need to consume a greater amount of food solids were encountered in plants-only diets. In the simulated system with no animals, estimated agricultural GHG decreased (28%), but did not fully counterbalance the animal contribution of GHG (49% in this model). This assessment suggests that removing animals from US agriculture would reduce agricultural GHG emissions, but would also create a food supply incapable of supporting the US population’s nutritional requirements.

scholarly journals Life cycle carbon footprint analysis of pulp and paper grades in the United States using production-line-based data and integration

BioResources ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 3899-3914
Author(s):  
Kristen E. Tomberlin ◽  
Richard Venditti ◽  
Yuan Yao
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle ◽  
Greenhouse Gas ◽  
Production Line ◽  
Paper Industry ◽  
Ghg Emissions ◽  
Weighted Average ◽  
The United States ◽  
Pulp And Paper ◽  
The Us ◽  
Emission Reduction Strategies

Greenhouse gas (GHG) emission levels are causing concern as climate change risks are growing, emphasizing the importance of GHG research for better understanding of emission sources. Previous studies on GHG emissions for the pulp and paper industry have ranged in scope from global to regional to site-specific. This study addresses the present knowledge gap of how GHG emissions vary among paper grades in the US. A cradle-to-gate life cycle carbon analysis for 252 mills in the US was performed by integrating large datasets at the production line level. The results indicated that one metric ton of paper product created a production weighted average of 942 kg of carbon dioxide equivalent (kg CO2eq) of GHG emissions. Greenhouse gas emissions varied by pulp and paper grade, from 608 kg CO2eq per metric ton of product to 1978 kg CO2eq per metric ton of product. Overall, fuels were the greatest contributor to the GHG emissions and should be the focus of emission reduction strategies across pulp and paper grades.

Optimal Plug-In Hybrid Vehicle Design and Allocation for Minimum Life Cycle Cost, Petroleum Consumption and Greenhouse Gas Emissions

2010 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ching-Shin Norman Shiau ◽  
Scott B. Peterson ◽  
Jeremy J. Michalek
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle ◽  
Greenhouse Gas ◽  
Life Cycle Cost ◽  
Hybrid Electric Vehicle ◽  
Operating Cost ◽  
Ghg Emissions ◽  
The United States ◽  
Vehicle Design ◽  
Battery Capacity ◽  
Hybrid Electric

Plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV) technology has the potential to help address economic, environmental, and national security concerns in the United States by reducing operating cost, greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and petroleum consumption from the transportation sector. However, the net effects of PHEVs depend critically on vehicle design, battery technology, and charging frequency. To examine these implications, we develop an integrated optimization model utilizing vehicle physics simulation, battery degradation data, and U.S. driving data to determine optimal vehicle design and allocation of vehicles to drivers for minimum life cycle cost, GHG emissions, and petroleum consumption. We find that, while PHEVs with large battery capacity minimize petroleum consumption, a mix of PHEVs sized for 25–40 miles of electric travel produces the greatest reduction in lifecycle GHG emissions. At today’s average US energy prices, battery pack cost must fall below $460/kWh (below $300/kWh for a 10% discount rate) for PHEVs to be cost competitive with ordinary hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs). Carbon allowance prices have marginal impact on optimal design or allocation of PHEVs even at $100/tonne. We find that the maximum battery swing should be utilized to achieve minimum life cycle cost, GHGs, and petroleum consumption. Increased swing enables greater all-electric range (AER) to be achieved with smaller battery packs, improving cost competitiveness of PHEVs. Hence, existing policies that subsidize battery cost for PHEVs would likely be better tied to AER, rather than total battery capacity.

USING A CARBON TAX TO MEET US INTERNATIONAL CLIMATE PLEDGES

2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (01) ◽  
pp. 1950002 ◽  
Author(s):  
YUNGUANG CHEN ◽  
MARC A. C. HAFSTEAD
Keyword(s):  
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ◽  
Greenhouse Gas ◽  
Computable General Equilibrium ◽  
Carbon Dioxide Emissions ◽  
Carbon Tax ◽  
Carbon Price ◽  
The United States ◽  
Gas Emissions ◽  
The Us ◽  
International Climate

The United States is currently on pace to fall well short of its promises to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 26–28%, relative to 2005, by 2025, under the UN Framework and Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Paris Agreement, even if President Trump did not eliminate most Obama-era climate regulations. However, there still exists interest in reducing emissions, especially from some members of Congress, and there are a number of federal policy options to reduce greenhouse gas emissions if Congress (or a new administration in 2021) so chooses. In this paper, we show that a federal economy-wide carbon tax on US carbon dioxide emissions could significantly contribute to the reductions necessary to fulfill the US international climate commitments. Using a detailed multi-sector computable general equilibrium (CGE) model, we predict the carbon price paths that would be necessary to meet the 28% emissions target and show the economic costs of such carbon-pricing policies. We then demonstrate how both the price paths and associated costs change if action is delayed.

Mix of First- and Second-Generation Biofuels to Meet Multiple Environmental Objectives: Implications for Policy at a Watershed Scale

2015 ◽  
Vol 01 (03) ◽  
pp. 1550006 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mashor Housh ◽  
Madhu Khanna ◽  
Ximing Cai
Keyword(s):  
Greenhouse Gas ◽  
Energy Security ◽  
Ghg Emissions ◽  
Corn Ethanol ◽  
Cellulosic Biofuels ◽  
Runoff Reduction ◽  
Environmental Objectives ◽  
The Us ◽  
Different Types ◽  
Optimal Mix

Biofuel mandates are being widely used by countries to achieve multiple objectives of energy security and climate change mitigation. The Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) in the US specifies arbitrarily chosen volumetric targets for different types of biofuels in the US based on their greenhouse gas intensity only. Cellulosic biofuels from high yielding energy crops like miscanthus have the potential to co-generate multiple environmental impacts, including reducing nitrate runoff, being a sink for Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions and providing a given volume of biofuel with less diversion of land from food crop production than corn ethanol, but at a significantly higher cost. This paper quantifies the tradeoffs between profitability, food and fuel production, GHG emissions and nitrate runoff reduction with different types of biofuels in the Sangamon watershed in Illinois and analyzes the optimal mix of biofuels as well as the policies that should supplement the mandate to achieve multiple environmental outcomes. We find that a two-thirds share of cellulosic biofuel in the mandated level could reduce nitrate run-off by 20% while reducing GHG emissions by 88–100% but would reduce profits by 15–27% depending on whether a GHG policy or a Nitrate policy is used relative to the case where the mandate is met by corn ethanol alone. Additionally, the ratio of corn stover to miscanthus used to produce cellulosic biofuels is higher under a GHG policy compared to a Nitrate policy that achieves the same level of nitrate reduction. Our results show that the optimal mix of different types of biofuels and the policy to induce it depend on the environmental objectives and the tradeoffs that society is willing to make between low cost energy security, food production and various environmental benefits.

scholarly journals Alternative-Fuel-Vehicle Policy Interactions Increase U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alan Jenn ◽  
Inês Azevedo ◽  
Jeremy Joseph Michalek
Keyword(s):  
Greenhouse Gas ◽  
Ghg Emissions ◽  
Alternative Fuel ◽  
The United States ◽  
Energy Information Administration ◽  
Emission Rates ◽  
Passenger Cars ◽  
Light Duty ◽  
Alternative Fuel Vehicle ◽  
Light Duty Vehicle

The transportation sector is currently the largest contributor of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the United States, and light-duty vehicles produce the majority of transportation emissions. Federal standards for fleet-averaged vehicle GHG emission rates and their corresponding corporate average fuel economy standards cap GHG emissions of the US light-duty vehicle fleet. In addition, two key policies aim to encourage a future fleet transition to alternative fuel vehicle (AFV) technologies: (1) incentives that treat AFVs favorably in the federal GHG standard, and (2) state zero-emission vehicle (ZEV) policy, which mandates AFV sales in some states. While each of these AFV policies can encourage AFV adoption, we show that net GHG emissions increase when both policies are present simultaneously. Specifically, we estimate changes in life cycle GHG emissions and gasoline consumption, relative to a pure federal fleet GHG standard (without AFV incentives or mandates), resulting from the introduction of (1) AFV incentives in federal fleet GHG policy, (2) state ZEV mandates, and (3) the combination of the two. We find that under fairly general conditions the combined AFV policies produce higher GHG emissions than either policy alone. This result is a consequence of state mandates increasing AFV sales in the presence of federal incentives that relax the fleet GHG standard when AFVs are sold. Using AFV sales projections from the Energy Information Administration and the California Air Resources Board, we estimate that the combined policies produce an increase on the order of 100 million tons of CO2 emissions cumulatively for new passenger cars sold from 2012 through 2025 relative to a pure GHG standard. AFV incentives in the GHG standard conflate policy goals by encouraging AFV adoption at the cost of higher fleet GHG emissions, and they permit even higher fleet GHG emissions when other policies, such as the ZEV mandate, increase AFV adoption.

scholarly journals The effects of greenhouse gas emissions and governance factors on corporate socially responsibility disclosure

2015 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 92-106 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nikolaos Sariannidis ◽  
George Konteos ◽  
Grigoris Giannarakis
Keyword(s):  
Greenhouse Gas ◽  
Linear Regression Analysis ◽  
Ghg Emissions ◽  
Multiple Linear Regression Analysis ◽  
The United States ◽  
Different Types ◽  
Dow Jones Sustainability Index ◽  
Csr Disclosure ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The Relationship

This paper investigates the impact of a plausible set of determinants, namely, greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, Dow Jones Sustainability Index (DJSI), anti-bribery policy, the industry’s profile and the company’s size on the extent of CSR disclosure in the United States (US). The Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) disclosure score is used as a proxy for the extent of CSR disclosure calculated by Bloomberg, incorporating different - in terms of importance - disclosure items. The relationship between the extent of CSR disclosure and its determinants was examined using multiple linear regression analysis incorporating 133 companies listed in S&P Composite 1500 Index for the year 2011. The results illustrate that the company’s size, GHG emissions, DJSI and anti-bribery policy are significantly positively associated with the extent of CSR disclosure. In addition, there are significant differences among the industries’ profile concerning the extent of CSR disclosure. The results cannot be generalized because the sample is based on US listed companies for the year 2011. This study presents initial empirical data investigating different types of disclosures and determinants which extend the scope of previous studies

Optimal Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicle Design and Allocation for Diverse Charging Patterns

2009 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nikhil Kaushal ◽  
Ching-Shin Norman Shiau ◽  
Jeremy J. Michalek
Keyword(s):  
Greenhouse Gas ◽  
Fuel Consumption ◽  
Electric Vehicle ◽  
Hybrid Electric Vehicle ◽  
Optimal Allocation ◽  
Operating Cost ◽  
Ghg Emissions ◽  
The United States ◽  
Large Capacity ◽  
Hybrid Electric

Plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEVs) technology has the potential to address economic, environmental, and national security concerns in the United States by reducing operating cost, greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and petroleum consumption. However, the net implications of PHEVs depend critically on the distances they are driven between charges: Urban drivers with short commutes who can charge frequently may benefit economically from PHEVs while also reducing fuel consumption and GHG emissions, but drivers who cannot charge frequently are unlikely to make up the cost of large PHEV battery packs with future fuel cost savings. We construct an optimization model to determine the optimal PHEV design and optimal allocation of PHEVs, hybrid-electric vehicles (HEVs) and conventional vehicles (CVs) to drivers in order to minimize net cost, fuel consumption, and GHG emissions. We use data from the 2001 National Household Transportation Survey to estimate the distribution of distance driven per day across vehicles. We find that (1) minimum fuel consumption is achieved by assigning large capacity PHEVs to all drivers; (2) minimum cost is achieved by assigning small capacity PHEVs to all drivers; and (3) minimum greenhouse gas emissions is achieved by assigning medium-capacity PHEVs to drivers who can charge frequently and large-capacity PHEVs to drivers who charge less frequently.

scholarly journals Measuring and mitigating agricultural greenhouse gas production in the US Great Plains, 1870–2000

2015 ◽  
Vol 112 (34) ◽  
pp. E4681-E4688 ◽  
Author(s):  
William J. Parton ◽  
Myron P. Gutmann ◽  
Emily R. Merchant ◽  
Melannie D. Hartman ◽  
Paul R. Adler ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Greenhouse Gas ◽  
Great Plains ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Census Data ◽  
Ghg Emissions ◽  
The United States ◽  
Global Market ◽  
Gas Production ◽  
Nitrous Oxide Emissions ◽  
Ghg Fluxes

The Great Plains region of the United States is an agricultural production center for the global market and, as such, an important source of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. This article uses historical agricultural census data and ecosystem models to estimate the magnitude of annual GHG fluxes from all agricultural sources (e.g., cropping, livestock raising, irrigation, fertilizer production, tractor use) in the Great Plains from 1870 to 2000. Here, we show that carbon (C) released during the plow-out of native grasslands was the largest source of GHG emissions before 1930, whereas livestock production, direct energy use, and soil nitrous oxide emissions are currently the largest sources. Climatic factors mediate these emissions, with cool and wet weather promoting C sequestration and hot and dry weather increasing GHG release. This analysis demonstrates the long-term ecosystem consequences of both historical and current agricultural activities, but also indicates that adoption of available alternative management practices could substantially mitigate agricultural GHG fluxes, ranging from a 34% reduction with a 25% adoption rate to as much as complete elimination with possible net sequestration of C when a greater proportion of farmers adopt new agricultural practices.

The potential for increasing the concentrations of micro-nutrients relevant to human nutrition in meat, milk and eggs

2010 ◽  
Vol 148 (5) ◽  
pp. 603-614 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. A. ROOKE ◽  
J. F. FLOCKHART ◽  
N. H. SPARKS
Keyword(s):  
Trace Elements ◽  
Greenhouse Gas ◽  
Nutrient Intake ◽  
Human Population ◽  
Ghg Emissions ◽  
Dietary Supplementation ◽  
Nutrient Concentrations ◽  
Human Consumption ◽  
Dietary Manipulation ◽  
Livestock Products

SUMMARYA possible outcome of policies designed to reduce obesity in the human population and to mitigate greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions may be a decrease in human consumption of livestock products. However, livestock products currently make substantial contributions to intakes of specific micro-nutrients. Therefore, the present review examines the potential for increasing micro-nutrient concentrations of milk, muscle meats and eggs by nutritional and genetic means. Of the trace elements, copper (Cu), iron (Fe) and zinc (Zn) concentrations were largely resistant to manipulation by dietary means, but iodine (I) and selenium (Se) could be readily manipulated. Similarly, whileα-tocopherol concentrations were readily manipulated, responses to dietary supplementation with retinol, folate and cobalamin were lower and riboflavin was resistant to dietary manipulation. There were differences between products in the ease with which composition could be manipulated: egg concentrations were most responsive followed by milk and muscle meats. However, livestock products with increased micro-nutrients concentrations can supply a substantial proportion of the daily reference nutrient intake.

scholarly journals The role of concrete in life cycle greenhouse gas emissions of US buildings and pavements

2021 ◽  
Vol 118 (37) ◽  
pp. e2021936118
Author(s):  
Jeremy Gregory ◽  
Hessam AzariJafari ◽  
Ehsan Vahidi ◽  
Fengdi Guo ◽  
Franz-Josef Ulm ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle ◽  
Greenhouse Gas ◽  
Ghg Emissions ◽  
The United States ◽  
Critical Component ◽  
Industrial Sectors ◽  
New Construction ◽  
Use Phase ◽  
Future Emissions

Concrete is a critical component of deep decarbonization efforts because of both the scale of the industry and because of how its use impacts the building, transportation, and industrial sectors. We use a bottom-up model of current and future building and pavement stocks and construction in the United States to contextualize the role of concrete in greenhouse gas (GHG) reductions strategies under projected and ambitious scenarios, including embodied and use phases of the structures’ life cycle. We show that projected improvements in the building sector result in a reduction of 49% of GHG emissions in 2050 relative to 2016 levels, whereas ambitious improvements result in a 57% reduction in 2050, which is 22.5 Gt cumulative saving. The pavements sector shows a larger difference between the two scenarios with a 14% reduction of GHG emissions for projected improvements and a 65% reduction under the ambitious scenario, which is ∼1.35 Gt. This reduction occurs despite the fact that concrete usage in 2050 in the ambitious scenario is over three times that of the projected scenario because of the ways in which concrete lowers use phase emissions. Over 70% of future emissions from new construction are from the use phase.

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