International Treaties and U.S. Laws as Tools to Regulate the Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Ships and Ports

2010 ◽  
Vol 25 (3) ◽  
pp. 347-376 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alison Torbitt ◽  
Richard Hildreth
Keyword(s):  
United Nations ◽  
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ◽  
Greenhouse Gas ◽  
Environmental Protection Agency ◽  
Carbon Dioxide Emissions ◽  
Control Area ◽  
Mitigation Strategies ◽  
Gas Emissions ◽  
The United Nations ◽  
Marine Vessels

AbstractRegulations on marine greenhouse gas emissions are possible, and some are in progress, using international treaty law and federal regulations. Under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (LOSC), port and coastal States have jurisdiction over ships entering their waters and have the ability to implement mitigation strategies, ranging from mandatory speed reduction to installing shore-side electricity or sequestration equipment. Under the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships (MARPOL) Annex VI, the International Maritime Organization (IMO) is determining the feasibility of design, fuel, and operation reforms. Alternatively, the implementation may be usurped by a global cap-and-trade scheme from the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. In the U.S., the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is tightening the Clean Air Act § 213 regulations governing marine vessels and U.S. waters were recently designated a SOx Emission Control Area. However, carbon dioxide emissions from marine vessels remain unregulated.

The Adoption of the Kyoto Protocol of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change

2018 ◽  
Vol 58 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Tomaž Gerden
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
United States ◽  
United Nations ◽  
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ◽  
Greenhouse Gas ◽  
United States Of America ◽  
Developed Countries ◽  
The United States ◽  
Gas Emissions ◽  
The United Nations

The measures at the level of the United Nations have been implemented in light of the scientific research on the increasing emissions of gases, predominantly created during fossil fuels combustion, which cause the warming of the atmosphere and result in harmful climate change effects. The adoption of this measures has also been demanded by non-governmental environmental organisations. The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change was adopted by the leaders of the intergovernmental organisation members at the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development in June 1992 in Rio de Janeiro. After the ratification process, it came into force in March 1994. It also provided for the drawing-up of an appendix: a Protocol on the obligatory reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. The Parties to the Framework Convention started the negotiations at their first annual conference COP1 in Berlin in March and April 1995. Due to their modest greenhouse gas emissions per capita and their right to development, the developing states demanded that the obligatory reductions of these emissions only be implemented by the industrially-developed countries. In the latter camp, the European Union favoured a tougher implementation; the United States of America argued for a less demanding agreement due to the pressure of the oil and coal lobbies; while the OPEC member countries were against all measures. After lengthy negotiations, the Protocol was adopted at the end of the COP3 Conference in Kyoto on 11 December 1997. It only involved a group of industrially developed countries, which undertook to reduce their emissions by 5.2 %, on average, until the year 2012 in comparison with the base-year of 1990. In the EU as well as in Slovenia, an 8 % reduction was implemented. As the United States of America withdrew from the Kyoto Protocol in 2001, its ratification was delayed. It came into force on 16 February 2005, after it had been ratified by more than 55 UN member states, together responsible for more than 55 % of the total global greenhouse gas emissions.

CO2 temporal variability over Mexico City metropolitan area  from ground-based FTIR column measurements

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Noémie Taquet ◽  
Wolfgang Stremme ◽  
Eugenia González del Castillo ◽  
Alejandro Bezanilla ◽  
Michel Grutter ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ◽  
Greenhouse Gas ◽  
Mexico City ◽  
Metropolitan Area ◽  
Temporal Variability ◽  
Carbon Dioxide Emissions ◽  
Mitigation Strategies ◽  
Spatial And Temporal Variability ◽  
Gas Emissions ◽  
Spatial And Temporal Scales

<p>About seventy-five percent of the global carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuel come from cities. Reducing anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions, in particular in developing countries, is a major concern for local, national and international policies. Different mitigation strategies are and will be implemented to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and the evaluation of their success and their perennization depends on the ability to continuously measure and quantify the effects at different spatial and temporal scales.</p><p>Using continuous solar absorption Fourier transform Spectroscopy (FTIR) column measurements in both urban and background environments over the Mexico City metropolitan area, together with in situ datasets, we explore the spatial and temporal variability of the CO2 concentration over the 5 last years in the region. Measurements were performed from three permanent stations equipped with high and low spectral resolution FTIR spectrometers since 2012, 2016 and 2018, respectively, the first is part of the NDACC network while the other two contribute to the COCCON international initiative.</p><p>In the frame of the Mexico City’s Regional Carbon Impacts (MERCI-CO2) project, 4 complementary sites equipped with EM27/Sun instruments were temporarily implemented within the megacity since autumn 2020. In particular, our time series encompass the COVID shutdown in MCMA. In this contribution we present results of the long term measurements in background and urban environment, intercomparison measurements, and preliminary results of the temporary MERCI-CO2 stations. In addition we report about the obstacles and opportunities of this intensive measurement campaign.</p>

Farming Facts

Eating Earth ◽  
2014 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lisa Kemmerer
Keyword(s):  
Carbon Dioxide ◽  
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ◽  
Greenhouse Gas ◽  
Carbon Dioxide Emissions ◽  
Gas Emissions ◽  
Animal Products ◽  
Plant Foods ◽  
Dietary Choice ◽  
Ocean Environment ◽  
Carbon Dioxide Co2

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.

From Paris to Poland

2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 27-46
Author(s):  
Tim Cadman ◽  
Klaus Radunsky ◽  
Andrea Simonelli ◽  
Tek Maraseni
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Human Rights ◽  
United Nations ◽  
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ◽  
Greenhouse Gas ◽  
Paris Agreement ◽  
Climate Justice ◽  
Gas Emissions ◽  
Social Quality ◽  
United Nations Framework Convention

This article tracks the intergovernmental negotiations aimed at combatting human-induced greenhouse gas emissions under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change from COP21 and the creation of the Paris Agreement in 2015 to COP24 in Katowice, Poland in 2018. These conferences are explored in detail, focusing on the Paris Rulebook negotiations around how to implement market- and nonmarket-based approaches to mitigating climate change, as set out in Article 6 of the Paris Agreement, and the tensions regarding the inclusion of negotiating text safeguarding human rights. A concluding section comments on the collapse of Article 6 discussions and the implications for climate justice and social quality for the Paris Agreement going forward.

Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Refrigeration Equipment in Malaysia

2009 ◽  
Vol 20 (4) ◽  
pp. 533-551 ◽  
Author(s):  
R Saidur ◽  
MA Sattar ◽  
H.H. Masjuki ◽  
M.Y. Jamaluddin
Keyword(s):  
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ◽  
Greenhouse Gas ◽  
Environmental Protection Agency ◽  
Fossil Fuels ◽  
Energy Savings ◽  
Ghg Emissions ◽  
Electricity Consumption ◽  
Air Conditioner ◽  
Gas Emissions ◽  
Refrigeration Equipment

This paper presents an analysis of the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from refrigeration equipment. The refrigeration equipments use refrigerants such as chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) and hydrofluorocarbons HFCs, which are believed to contribute the ozone depletion and global warming. Refrigeration equipment thus contributes indirectly through emission due to electricity consumption and directly due to the emission of refrigerants. Greenhouse gas emissions resulting from the burning of fossil fuels are quantified and presented in this paper. The calculation was carried out based on emissions per unit electricity generated and the type of fuel used. The direct emission of refrigerant was calculated based on emission factor and according to the procedure of Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), USA. A study was conducted to evaluate the refrigerant losses to the atmosphere and the CO2 emission from fossil fuels to generate power to run the refrigeration and air-conditioning systems. In this paper, total appliance annual energy consumption by refrigerator-freezer and air conditioner as well as emission has been estimated for a period of 19 years (1997–2015) using the survey data. Energy savings and emission reductions achievable by raising thermostat set point temperature have been calculated for a period of 10 (i.e. 2005–2015) years.

scholarly journals Feasibility study for the use of variable air volume systems for office buildings

2021 ◽  
Vol 36 ◽  
pp. 62-79
Author(s):  
A. Moskvitina ◽  
M.  Shyshyna ◽  
M. Korchminskyi
Keyword(s):  
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ◽  
Greenhouse Gas ◽  
Carbon Dioxide Emissions ◽  
Air Conditioning ◽  
Office Buildings ◽  
Operating Costs ◽  
Gas Emissions ◽  
Variable Air Volume ◽  
Air Volume ◽  
Air Conditioning Systems

The main factor contributing to greenhouse gas emissions is the building up of the surrounding area. Studies have shown that buildings globally consume 30-40 % of energy use and release 40-50 % of global carbon dioxide emissions. Among all systems in houses, heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) systems are by far the most energy intensive. They consume approximately 50 % of the total energy demand of buildings. However, the systems are some of the most important systems in today's buildings. The number of these systems that are being installed has increased dramatically over the past few years. This is mainly due to the increasing demands for thermal energy, comfort and climate change. This paper presents a feasibility and ecology study between two ventilation or air-conditioning systems: constant air volume (CAV) and variable air volume (VAV). One of the purposes of this work is to determine the energy costs for each of the systems. An air conditioning system that saves operating costs usually requires a large initial investment. In this case, engineers must decide whether it is worth paying the additional upfront costs for a system that has lower operating costs. Despite the low attractiveness from the point of view of the investor, the VAV systems reduce the amount of greenhouse gas emissions and the amount of energy resources for servicing the commercial sector. Such system have less metal consumption. Thus, the cost of metal processing is also reduced. The results of this study can contribute to the future selection of ventilation systems, as well as contribute to the design and improvement of the systems under study. Energy saving is one of the main reasons why VAV systems are very popular today for the design of ventilation and air conditioning systems for office buildings and in many industries abroad. With these systems, the volume of transported air is reduced as soon as the operating load falls below the maximum projected load. The calculation of emissions of harmful substances into the environment was made while ensuring the operation of CAV and VAV systems.

scholarly journals Development of Low Carbon Cities: Assessment of Carbon Dioxide Emissions from Energy Facilities in Irkutsk City

2021 ◽  
pp. 9-16
Author(s):  
E. Maysyuk
Keyword(s):  
Carbon Dioxide ◽  
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ◽  
Greenhouse Gas ◽  
Carbon Dioxide Emissions ◽  
Current Trend ◽  
City Management ◽  
Low Carbon ◽  
Gas Emissions ◽  
Urban Energy ◽  
The City

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.

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