scholarly journals Policy Watch: Corporate Average Fuel Economy Standards

1992 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 171-180 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert W Crandall
Keyword(s):  
Carbon Dioxide ◽  
Global Warming ◽  
Greenhouse Gas ◽  
Fuel Economy ◽  
Carbon Tax ◽  
Empirical Literature ◽  
Oil Shocks ◽  
Corporate Average Fuel Economy ◽  
The Past ◽  
Policy Watch

Initially, the minimum corporate average fuel economy (CAFE) program was promoted as a policy to reduce U.S. vulnerability to oil shocks. In the past two years, however, concern about global warming has resulted in new political pressures to raise CAFE once again to reduce the growth in U.S. emissions of carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas. In this paper, I do not attempt to provide a detailed critique of these two objectives. I simply take the goals as given and draw upon estimates from the empirical literature to show that CAFE is a very costly instrument for achieving them. In addition, I compare the costs of meeting the same objectives through a fuel or carbon tax.

scholarly journals Impact of Livestock Enteric Emission on Climate and its Mitigation

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 247-256
Author(s):  
Shahzada Mudasir Rashid ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Carbon Dioxide ◽  
Global Warming ◽  
Greenhouse Gases ◽  
Greenhouse Gas ◽  
Greenhouse Gas Emission ◽  
Carbon Tax ◽  
Carbon Dioxide Emission ◽  
Gas Production ◽  
Mitigation Measures ◽  
Livestock Species

The increase in production of greenhouse gases is a major cause of global warming for which livestock holds a big share in total greenhouse gas emission annually. The greenhouse gases produced by livestock include carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide etc. Cattle and buffalo are the major contributors responsible for 90% emission of GHG followed by sheep and goat. Increase in carbon dioxide emission by livestock, decaying of dung in absence of oxygen, enteric fermentations are the major sources of greenhouse gas production by livestock species. Owing to greenhouse effect, the elevated greenhouse gases cause global warming resulting in the increase of surface temperature of earth, decreased precipitation, and huge damage to environment and affect the flora and fauna turning the conditions on earth unfavorable for survival of living forms. The major impacts are loss of biodiversity, loss of habitat for animals and plants, uncertainty in climate, increase in livestock diseases, damage to feed sources (plants), decrease in productivity of livestock species and many more. Mitigation measures needed to be focused on decreasing the global meat consumption, implementing carbon tax, feeding dietary oils/nitrates, manure management and its biodigestion, genetic manipulations besides strengthening of global livestock environmental assessment models.

Sir Nicholas John Shackleton. 23 June 1937 — 24 January 2006

2011 ◽  
Vol 57 ◽  
pp. 435-462 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ian Nicholas McCave ◽  
Henry Elderfield
Keyword(s):  
Carbon Dioxide ◽  
Global Warming ◽  
Climatic Changes ◽  
Future Climate ◽  
The Past ◽  
Earth’S Climate ◽  
Natural Climate ◽  
Precise Role ◽  
Present Understanding

Nick Shackleton was an international scientist of great renown who fundamentally changed our understanding of how Earth processes work. His research on ancient oceans and climates was both innovative and pioneering, and he clarified the precise role of carbon dioxide in warming and cooling the Earth's climate. His work contributed greatly to our present understanding of the mechanism and causes of global warming. When he began his research, the investigation of past climatic changes was an area of ‘academic’ interest only. Four decades later, his lifetime achievements define the emergence of our understanding of the operation of Earth's natural climate system. This understanding of the past is now central to efforts to predict the future climate we have begun to create. As well as his many scientific accomplishments, Nick Shackleton excelled in another area, that of music, which was almost as important to him as science, and he was a very accomplished clarinet player. In his work he was spirited and curiosity-driven. He let his students and an entire community share in his brilliance and vision.

scholarly journals Heating with Steam Methane Reformed Hydrogen

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark Barrett ◽  
Tiziano Gallo Cassarino
Keyword(s):  
Carbon Dioxide ◽  
Global Warming ◽  
Natural Gas ◽  
Greenhouse Gas ◽  
Carbon Dioxide Emission ◽  
Heat Pumps ◽  
Economic Security ◽  
Gas Emissions ◽  
Steam Methane ◽  
Gas Supply

Abstract Hydrogen produced from natural gas with steam methane reforming coupled with carbon capture and sequestration (SMRCCS) is proposed as fuel for consumer heating and cooking systems. This paper presents estimates of the energy losses and methane and carbon dioxide emission and global warming across the whole gas to hydrogen heat supply chain – from production to consumer. Processed natural gas is typically about 95% methane which is a potent greenhouse gas with a global warming potential (GWP) such that, with 20 year and 100 year GWP horizons, about 4% and 8% leakage respectively will cause as much global warming as the carbon dioxide formed when burning the methane. Data on gas emissions and SMRCCS costs and performance are sparse and wide ranging and this presents a major problem in accurately appraising the possible role of hydrogen from methane. The survey indicates emissions between 50 and 200 gCO2eq per unit of heat (kWhth) for SMRCCS H2 heat depending on leakage and GWP time horizon assumed. The second part of the paper reviews gas supply pricing and security and presents a cost minimised configuration of a SMRCCS hydrogen heating system derived with a simple model. Uncertainty in SMRCCS greenhouse gas emissions coupled with a net zero emission target and the long term issue of the physical and economic security of natural gas supply, bear on the potential advantages of SMRCCS as compared to other options, such as heating with renewable electricity driving consumer or district heating heat pumps.

scholarly journals Analysis of Carbon Tax on Selected European Countries: Does Carbon Tax Reduce Emissions?

2017 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 29
Author(s):  
Ali Eren Alper
Keyword(s):  
Carbon Dioxide ◽  
Global Warming ◽  
Natural Gas ◽  
Carbon Dioxide Emissions ◽  
Fossil Fuels ◽  
Carbon Tax ◽  
Panel Data Analysis ◽  
Rapid Development ◽  
European Countries ◽  
Environmental Taxes

Since the first days of its existence, the humanity had been using natural resources to meet its needs. Especially along with the globalization period as a result of the Industrial Revolution and the rapid development of communication technologies within the last fifty years, the production has increased significantly in the world and has created negative effects on the environment. The leading adverse effects involve the emission of greenhouse gases and the global warming, which stem from the energy supply of fossil fuels as the main inputs of production. The global warming can be described as an increase in temperature worldwide. Irreversibility is the most important feature of the global warming. Therefore, in the absence of objective measures, the future costs would be much higher than the current ones. For this reason, governments need to take various measures to reduce the volume of emissions. The most important of these measures is carbon taxes. Carbon taxation encourages individuals to use fewer fossil fuels and to find new sources of energy by increasing the cost of using fossil fuels that cause carbon dioxide emissions through the price mechanism. To this end, the impacts of carbon tax levied in 18 selected European countries on economic growth, urbanization, natural gas and petroleum usage, and CO2 emissions are examined by panel data analysis for the 1995-2015 period. The analysis results indicate that a 1% increase in environmental taxes reduces carbon dioxide emissions by 0.9%. Furthermore, it is reported that a 1% increase in natural gas and petroleum consumption among the variables included in the analysis increased carbon dioxide emissions by 0.1% and 0.7%, respectively; while a 1% increase in urbanization reduced carbon dioxide emissions by 0.9%.

scholarly journals Mixing the Message: Do Dung Beetles (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae) Affect Dung-Generated Greenhouse Gas Emissions?

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fallon Fowler ◽  
Christopher J. Gillespie ◽  
Steve Denning ◽  
Shuijin Hu ◽  
Wes Watson
Keyword(s):  
Carbon Dioxide ◽  
Nitrous Oxide ◽  
Global Warming ◽  
Greenhouse Gases ◽  
Greenhouse Gas ◽  
Ghg Emissions ◽  
Dung Beetle ◽  
Dung Beetles ◽  
Literature Analysis ◽  
Carbon Dioxide Equivalent

AbstractBy mixing and potentially aerating dung, dung beetles may affect the microbes producing the greenhouse gases (GHGs): carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), and nitrous oxide (N2O). Here, their sum-total global warming effect is described as the carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e). Our literature analysis of reported GHG emissions and statistics suggests that most dung beetles do not, however, reduce CO2e even if they do affect individual GHGs. Here, we compare the GHG signature of homogenized (“premixed”) and unhomogenized (“unmixed”) dung with and without dung beetles to test whether mixing and burial influence GHGs. Mixing by hand or by dung beetles did not reduce any GHG – in fact, tunneling dung beetles increased N2O medians by ≥1.8x compared with dung-only. This suggests that either: 1) dung beetles do not meaningfully mitigate GHGs as a whole; 2) dung beetle burial activity affects GHGs more than mixing alone; or 3) greater dung beetle abundance and activity is required to produce an effect.

The End of Meat

World on Fire ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 109-128
Author(s):  
Mark Rowlands
Keyword(s):  
Carbon Dioxide ◽  
Global Warming ◽  
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ◽  
Greenhouse Gas ◽  
Global Warming Potential ◽  
Energy Supply ◽  
Fossil Fuels ◽  
Gas Emissions ◽  
Eating Meat ◽  
Very High

The edge required by renewable technologies is provided by a simplification of the energy supply train. This simplification consists in no longer eating animals. Animals have upside-down energy returned on energy invested values (EROIs), with up to 30 times as much energy having to be put into raising them as we get out of them through eating them or their products. At one time, when our fossil fuels sported extraordinarily high EROIs—100:1 in some cases—we could afford to take this sort of hit on our food-based energy supply. Now, however, we can no longer afford to do so. Moreover, the results of this grossly inefficient energy exchange are rising greenhouse gas emissions. By no longer eating meat, we can reduce greenhouse gas emissions by roughly 14%. Importantly, much of this reduction will be in methane and nitrous dioxide, which have very high global warming potential relative to carbon dioxide.

scholarly journals Performance, Cost, and Market Share of Conventional Vehicle Efficiency Technologies?: Retrospective Comparison of Regulatory Document Projections for Corporate Average Fuel Economy and Greenhouse Gas Standards

2017 ◽  
Vol 2628 (1) ◽  
pp. 67-77 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fei Xie ◽  
Zhenhong Lin ◽  
Rachael Nealer
Keyword(s):  
Greenhouse Gas ◽  
Fuel Economy ◽  
Gasoline Engine ◽  
Vehicle Body ◽  
Corporate Average Fuel Economy ◽  
Conventional Vehicle ◽  
Retrospective Comparison ◽  
Vehicle Efficiency ◽  
Gas Standards ◽  
Current Energy

This study conducted an analysis of regulatory documents on current energy- and greenhouse gas–relevant conventional vehicle efficiency technologies in the corporate average fuel economy standards (2017 to 2025) and greenhouse gas rulemaking context by NHTSA and EPA. The focus was on identifying what technologies today—as estimated now (2015 to 2016)—receive higher or lower expectations with regard to effectiveness, cost, and consumer adoption than what experts projected during the 2010 to 2011 rulemaking period. A broad range of conventional vehicle efficiency technologies, including gasoline engine and diesel engine, transmission, accessory, hybrid, and vehicle body technologies, was investigated in this analysis. Most assessed technologies were found to have had better competitiveness than expected with regard to effectiveness or costs, or both, with costs and market penetration more difficult to predict than technology effectiveness.

scholarly journals Policy Watch: The Economics of Fuel Economy Standards

2003 ◽  
Vol 17 (4) ◽  
pp. 203-217 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul R Portney ◽  
Ian W.H Parry ◽  
Howard K Gruenspecht ◽  
Winston Harrington
Keyword(s):  
Energy Policy ◽  
Fuel Economy ◽  
Traffic Congestion ◽  
Oil Price ◽  
Oil Price Shocks ◽  
Corporate Average Fuel Economy ◽  
Price Shocks ◽  
Policy Issues ◽  
Light Duty ◽  
Policy Watch

One of the most hotly contested of all energy policy issues involves Corporate Average Fuel Economy (or CAFE) standards for new cars and light-duty trucks. Tighter standards would reduce gasoline consumption, and hence both greenhouse gas emissions as well as this country's vulnerability to oil price shocks. But they would also increase the price of new vehicles, worsen traffic congestion and–depending on how they are phased in–possibly even reduce occupant safety. These effects are amenable to economic analysis, and we review the evidence to date bearing on this interesting and important question.

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