scholarly journals A Global Roll-out of Nationally Relevant Policies Bridges the Emissions Gap

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Heleen van Soest ◽  
Lara Aleluia Reis ◽  
Luiz Bernardo Baptista ◽  
Christoph Bertram ◽  
Jacques Després ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Energy Demand ◽  
Global Climate ◽  
Good Practice ◽  
Scale Up ◽  
Local Context ◽  
Success Stories ◽  
Early Action ◽  
Nationally Determined Contributions ◽  
Global Emissions ◽  
Roll Out

Abstract Closing the remaining emissions gap between Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) and the global emissions levels needed to achieve the Paris Agreement’s climate goals will likely require a comprehensive package of policy measures. National and sectoral policies can help fill the gap, but success stories in one country cannot be automatically replicated in other countries, but need to be adapted to the local context. Here, we develop a new Bridge scenario based on nationally relevant measures informed by interactions with country experts. We implement this scenario with an ensemble of global integrated assessment models (IAMs). We show that a global roll-out of these good practice policies closes the emissions gap between current NDCs and a cost-optimal well below 2 °C scenario by two thirds by 2030 and more than fully by 2050, while being less disruptive than a scenario that delays cost-optimal mitigation to 2030. The Bridge scenario leads to a scale-up of renewable energy (reaching 50%-85% of global electricity supply by 2050), electrification of end-uses, efficiency improvements in energy demand sectors, and enhanced afforestation and reforestation. Our analysis suggests that early action via good-practice policies is less costly than a delay in global climate cooperation.

scholarly journals Global roll-out of comprehensive policy measures may aid in bridging emissions gap

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Heleen L. van Soest ◽  
Lara Aleluia Reis ◽  
Luiz Bernardo Baptista ◽  
Christoph Bertram ◽  
Jacques Després ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Energy Demand ◽  
Global Climate ◽  
Good Practice ◽  
Scale Up ◽  
Local Context ◽  
Success Stories ◽  
Early Action ◽  
Nationally Determined Contributions ◽  
Policy Measures

AbstractClosing the emissions gap between Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) and the global emissions levels needed to achieve the Paris Agreement’s climate goals will require a comprehensive package of policy measures. National and sectoral policies can help fill the gap, but success stories in one country cannot be automatically replicated in other countries. They need to be adapted to the local context. Here, we develop a new Bridge scenario based on nationally relevant, short-term measures informed by interactions with country experts. These good practice policies are rolled out globally between now and 2030 and combined with carbon pricing thereafter. We implement this scenario with an ensemble of global integrated assessment models. We show that the Bridge scenario closes two-thirds of the emissions gap between NDC and 2 °C scenarios by 2030 and enables a pathway in line with the 2 °C goal when combined with the necessary long-term changes, i.e. more comprehensive pricing measures after 2030. The Bridge scenario leads to a scale-up of renewable energy (reaching 52%–88% of global electricity supply by 2050), electrification of end-uses, efficiency improvements in energy demand sectors, and enhanced afforestation and reforestation. Our analysis suggests that early action via good-practice policies is less costly than a delay in global climate cooperation.

scholarly journals Permafrost carbon feedbacks threaten global climate goals

2021 ◽  
Vol 118 (21) ◽  
pp. e2100163118
Author(s):  
Susan M. Natali ◽  
John P. Holdren ◽  
Brendan M. Rogers ◽  
Rachael Treharne ◽  
Philip B. Duffy ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Carbon Emissions ◽  
Global Climate ◽  
Paris Agreement ◽  
Arctic Warming ◽  
Permafrost Thaw ◽  
Nationally Determined Contributions ◽  
Thawing Permafrost ◽  
Reduce Emissions ◽  
Climate Crisis ◽  
Global Emissions

Rapid Arctic warming has intensified northern wildfires and is thawing carbon-rich permafrost. Carbon emissions from permafrost thaw and Arctic wildfires, which are not fully accounted for in global emissions budgets, will greatly reduce the amount of greenhouse gases that humans can emit to remain below 1.5 °C or 2 °C. The Paris Agreement provides ongoing opportunities to increase ambition to reduce society’s greenhouse gas emissions, which will also reduce emissions from thawing permafrost. In December 2020, more than 70 countries announced more ambitious nationally determined contributions as part of their Paris Agreement commitments; however, the carbon budgets that informed these commitments were incomplete, as they do not fully account for Arctic feedbacks. There is an urgent need to incorporate the latest science on carbon emissions from permafrost thaw and northern wildfires into international consideration of how much more aggressively societal emissions must be reduced to address the global climate crisis.

scholarly journals A Theoretical Study on Reversible Solid Oxide Cells as Key Enablers of Cyclic Conversion between Electrical Energy and Fuel

Energies ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (15) ◽  
pp. 4517
Author(s):  
Saheli Biswas ◽  
Shambhu Singh Rathore ◽  
Aniruddha Pramod Kulkarni ◽  
Sarbjit Giddey ◽  
Sankar Bhattacharya
Keyword(s):  
Energy Demand ◽  
Electrode Materials ◽  
Scale Up ◽  
High Capacity ◽  
Electrical Energy ◽  
Solid Oxide ◽  
Lower Efficiency ◽  
Internal Reforming ◽  
Fuels And Chemicals ◽  
The Cost

Reversible solid oxide cells (rSOC) enable the efficient cyclic conversion between electrical and chemical energy in the form of fuels and chemicals, thereby providing a pathway for long-term and high-capacity energy storage. Amongst the different fuels under investigation, hydrogen, methane, and ammonia have gained immense attention as carbon-neutral energy vectors. Here we have compared the energy efficiency and the energy demand of rSOC based on these three fuels. In the fuel cell mode of operation (energy generation), two different routes have been considered for both methane and ammonia; Routes 1 and 2 involve internal reforming (in the case of methane) or cracking (in the case of ammonia) and external reforming or cracking, respectively. The use of hydrogen as fuel provides the highest round-trip efficiency (62.1%) followed by methane by Route 1 (43.4%), ammonia by Route 2 (41.1%), methane by Route 2 (40.4%), and ammonia by Route 1 (39.2%). The lower efficiency of internal ammonia cracking as opposed to its external counterpart can be attributed to the insufficient catalytic activity and stability of the state-of-the-art fuel electrode materials, which is a major hindrance to the scale-up of this technology. A preliminary cost estimate showed that the price of hydrogen, methane and ammonia produced in SOEC mode would be ~1.91, 3.63, and 0.48 $/kg, respectively. In SOFC mode, the cost of electricity generation using hydrogen, internally reformed methane, and internally cracked ammonia would be ~52.34, 46.30, and 47.11 $/MWh, respectively.

scholarly journals Evolution of the Global Climate Governance System and Its Implications

2015 ◽  
Vol 01 (03) ◽  
pp. 423-446
Author(s):  
Hongyuan Yu
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Global Climate ◽  
Developmental Trend ◽  
Governance System ◽  
Early 21St Century ◽  
Security Challenges ◽  
New Energy ◽  
Nationally Determined Contributions ◽  
Two Sides ◽  
The Eu

Climate change has emerged as one of the top security challenges in the early 21st century. It is now widely acknowledged that international cooperation and collective action will be the key to addressing challenges caused by climate change. This article will give an explanation on the evolution of the global climate change governance system by linking history, governance, and diplomacy. The challenge of climate change involves not only international competition for new energy but also related adjustments in the global governance pattern. Specifically, the carbon emission reduction to be discussed at the 2015 UN Paris Climate Conference will still be problematic, and negotiations with regard to financing mechanisms between developed and developing countries will remain in doubt. Furthermore, the attitudes of the two sides toward common but differentiated responsibilities (CBDR) and the intended nationally determined contributions (INDCs) are disparate. In addition, negotiations among China, the UN, the U.S., and the EU are decisive in tackling this tricky matter. Finally, this article outlines some potential diplomatic options for China's future developmental trend.

Flood forecast skill for Early Action: Results and Learnings from the development of the Early-Action Protocol for Floods in Uganda

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrea Ficchì ◽  
Hannah Cloke ◽  
Linda Speight ◽  
Douglas Mulangwa ◽  
Irene Amuron ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
River Flow ◽  
National Level ◽  
Scale Up ◽  
Forecast Skill ◽  
Red Cross ◽  
Flood Forecast ◽  
Global Team ◽  
Early Action ◽  
Skill Scores ◽  
Local Risk

<p>Global flood forecasting systems are helpful in complementing local resources and in-country data to support humanitarians and trigger early action before an impactful flood occurs. Freely available global flood forecast information from the European Commission’s Global Flood Awareness System (GloFAS, a Copernicus EMS service) is being used by the Uganda Red Cross Society (URCS) alongside in-country knowledge to develop appropriate triggers for early actions for flood preparedness, within the Forecast-based Financing (FbF) initiative. To scale up the first FbF pilot to a national level, in 2020 URCS collaborated with several partners including the Red Cross Red Crescent Climate Centre (RCCC), the Uganda’s Ministry of Water and Environment, through the Directorate of Water Resources Management (DWRM), the Uganda National Meteorological Authority (UNMA), the 510 Global team and the University of Reading, through the UK-supported project Forecasts for Anticipatory Humanitarian Action (FATHUM). The new Early Action Protocol (EAP) for floods, submitted to the IFRC’s validation committee in September 2020, is now under review.</p><p>One of the aims of an EAP is to set the triggers for early action, based on forecast skill information, alongside providing a local risk analysis, and describing the early actions, operational procedures, and responsibilities. Working alongside our partners and practitioners in Uganda, we developed a methodology to tailor flood forecast skill analysis to EAP development, that could be potentially useful for humanitarians in other Countries and forecasters engaging with them. The key aim of the analysis is to identify skilful lead times and appropriate triggers for early action based on available operational forecasts, considering action parameters, such as an Action Lifetime of 30 days, and focusing on relevant flood thresholds and skill scores. We analysed the skill of probabilistic flood forecasts from the operational GloFAS (v2.1) system across Uganda against river flow observations and reanalysis data. One of the challenges was to combine operational needs with statistical robustness requirements, using relevant flood thresholds for action. Here we present the results from the analysis carried out for Uganda and the verification workflow, that we plan to make openly available to all practitioners and scientists working on the implementation of forecast-based actions.</p>

scholarly journals Achieving Net Zero Carbon Dioxide by Sequestering Biomass Carbon

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeffrey Amelse
Keyword(s):  
Carbon Dioxide ◽  
Carbon Cycle ◽  
Co2 Emissions ◽  
Energy Demand ◽  
Co2 Sequestration ◽  
Fossil Fuels ◽  
Scale Up ◽  
Biomass Carbon ◽  
Net Zero ◽  
The World

Mitigation of global warming requires an understanding of where energy is produced and consumed, the magnitude of carbon dioxide generation, and proper understanding of the Carbon Cycle. The latter leads to the distinction between and need for both CO2 and biomass CARBON sequestration. Short reviews are provided for prior technologies proposed for reducing CO2 emissions from fossil fuels or substituting renewable energy, focusing on their limitations. None offer a complete solution. Of these, CO2 sequestration is poised to have the largest impact. We know how to do it. It will just cost money, and scale-up is a huge challenge. Few projects have been brought forward to semi-commercial scale. Transportation accounts for only about 30% of U.S. overall energy demand. Biofuels penetration remains small, and thus, they contribute a trivial amount of overall CO2 reduction, even though 40% of U.S. corn and 30% of soybeans are devoted to their production. Bioethanol is traced through its Carbon Cycle and shown to be both energy inefficient, and an inefficient use of biomass carbon. Both biofuels and CO2 sequestration reduce FUTURE CO2 emissions from continued use of fossil fuels. They will not remove CO2 ALREADY in the atmosphere. The only way to do that is to break the Carbon Cycle by growing biomass from atmospheric CO2 and sequestering biomass CARBON. Theoretically, sequestration of only a fraction of the world’s tree leaves, which are renewed every year, can get the world to Net Zero CO2 without disturbing the underlying forests.

scholarly journals Erosion Control Success Stories and Challenges in the Context of Sustainable Landscape Management, Rwanda Experience

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jules Rutebuka
Keyword(s):  
Scale Up ◽  
Landscape Management ◽  
Erosion Control ◽  
Management Approach ◽  
Agriculture Sector ◽  
Success Stories ◽  
The Government ◽  
Sustainable Landscape Management ◽  
Sustainable Landscape ◽  
Farm Livestock

The Government of Rwanda sets up a conducive policy environment to invest in several development initiatives. Agriculture sector as the main contributor in the economic development received supports to sustainably manage Rwandan hilly landscape, dominantly ranging from 5 to 55% slope gradient. Intensive erosion control interventions confronted with different approaches have been introduced in the country such as participatory landscape management, (participatory) integrated watershed management and site-located intervention without any specified approach. This chapter intends to describe and evaluate the impacts of these previous approaches used in Rwanda in order to retrieve the success stories and encountered challenges as lessons learnt in the future interventions for optimizing land productivity in a sustainable manner. Participatory landscape approach in Gishwati area was a success story in protecting degraded lands and generating ecosystem benefits. It leads to more sustainable natural resources management from participatory planning up to implementation which addressed the frequent landslides, erosion and flooding while sustainably exploit the land to the profit of local farmers in the livelihoods. About 6,600 ha of lands have been successfully protected with full-packaged bench terraces, rangeland blocks and forest regeneration. This participatory approach also helped to relocate people from high risk zones to other safe places and build capacities of farmers through farm-livestock cooperatives. On the other side, Nyanza and Karongi sites under LWH project also emphasized strong evidences how land husbandry technologies (terraces) efficiently reduced erosion risks and improved farmers’ livelihoods. Lands were made productive with implementation of bench terraces on 3212 and 2673 hectares respectively for the two selected sites. However, challenges were observed from technical and socio-economic contexts which might have caused farmers to abandon or under-exploit the terraced lands. Finally, the chapter suggests to scale up the participatory landscape management approach which supports the involvement of farmers’ communities in the process.

scholarly journals Demographic determinants of energy consumption in the European Union: Econometric analysis results

Stanovnistvo ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 55 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-20 ◽  
Author(s):  
Predrag Petrovic ◽  
Goran Nikolic ◽  
Ivana Ostojic
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Energy Consumption ◽  
Global Climate Change ◽  
Energy Demand ◽  
Fossil Fuels ◽  
Senior Citizens ◽  
Global Climate ◽  
Transport Infrastructure ◽  
Energy Sources ◽  
Human Society

Over the past several decades there has been a strong intensifying trend of human society impact on ecosystems, consumption of natural resources and global change. The environmental impact of the society is fully apparent and dominantly implemented through various greenhouse gases emissions (GHG), leading towards global climate change with considerably spread harmful effects. Global climate change includes the earth and ocean surface and atmospheric warming, but also melting of snow and ice, increase of sea levels and ocean acidity, as well as ever more common natural phenomena extremes (winds, various forms of rainfall/precipitation, extremely low or high temperatures, etc.). Scientists are well-familiarized with the fact that use of fossil fuels, such as oil derivatives and coal, is the main generator of harmful gases. In addition, possible substitutions for fossil fuels in the form of other energy sources are very limited, and it should be remembered that other energy sources also have certain adverse environmental effects. Bearing in mind climate change caused by products of fossil fuels combustion, as well as inevitable depletion of natural crude oil resources, management of growing global energy demand becomes one of the key goals and challenges of 21st century. If these reasons are coupled with obligations emanating from Kyoto Protocol, it is clear that attention of researches should be more than reasonably focused on the main determinants of energy consumption. This study is focused on illumination of key demographic and economic determinants of energy consumption in 28 EU member states in the period 1960- 2014. The results obtained demonstrate that population positively and quite strongly influence total energy consumption. An increase of population of 1% will result in an increase of energy consumption of 1.59% to 1.76%. Such relation most probably can be explained by the fact that demographic growth of the society aggravates and complicates planning processes of efficient energy consumption, diminishing the ability of society to be energy efficient. The population effect of persons aged 65 and above to energy consumption is also positive. An increase in share of this age group of 1% will result in an increase in energy consumption of approximately 0.43%. Positive elasticity coefficient should be understood as a proof that European societies with higher share of senior citizens consume more energy that societies with higher share of younger population, not necessarily as an argument that senior citizens use more energy than younger population. The explanation for such nature of a cause-andeffect relation could be that high share of senior citizens influences the structure of production and consumption, spatial distribution of population, transport infrastructure and social services provided. A significant influence on energy consumption in the EU is made by the level of economic development of countries, which is in accordance with the Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC), suggesting a relation of inverted letter ?U?. The amount of income per capita needed to have the EKC expressed ranges between 54,183 and 81,552 dollars.

Capacity building for proportionate climate policy: Lessons from India and South Africa

2020 ◽  
pp. 019251212096388
Author(s):  
Prabhat Upadhyaya ◽  
Manish Kumar Shrivastava ◽  
Ganesh Gorti ◽  
Saliem Fakir
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Capacity Building ◽  
Climate Policy ◽  
Global Climate ◽  
The State ◽  
Successful Implementation ◽  
Discretionary Power ◽  
Nationally Determined Contributions ◽  
Definitive Role

Countries must develop their capacity to credibly revise their nationally determined contributions (NDCs) proportionate to the global climate goal. This paper argues that long-lasting capacity is necessarily embedded in the institutions governing cooperation between state and non-state actors. This institutional capacity for cooperation is determined by the two interactive processes of conception and calibration, where the state plays a definitive role in mediating between competing interests. In conception, the state uses its discretionary power to set the long-term vision, whereas during calibration it exercises flexibility to accommodate concerns and capacity of other actors. We conclude that proportionality of policy response is better understood, and achieved, through the convergence of both these processes. Drawing on climate policy experiences of India and South Africa, we recommend that successful implementation and enhancement of NDCs would require a greater emphasis on capacity building for calibration in developing countries.

scholarly journals Modelling Future Agricultural Mechanisation of Major Crops in China: An Assessment of Energy Demand, Land Use and Emissions

Energies ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (24) ◽  
pp. 6636
Author(s):  
Iván García Kerdan ◽  
Sara Giarola ◽  
Ellis Skinner ◽  
Marin Tuleu ◽  
Adam Hawkes
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
Energy Demand ◽  
Energy Use ◽  
Mainland China ◽  
Bioenergy Crops ◽  
Direct Energy ◽  
Total Investment ◽  
On Farm ◽  
Global Emissions

Agricultural direct energy use is responsible for about 1–2% of global emissions and is the major emitting sector for methane (2.9 GtCO2eq y−1) and nitrous oxide (2.3 GtCO2eq y−1). In the last century, farm mechanisation has brought higher productivity levels and lower land demands at the expense of an increase in fossil energy and agrochemicals use. The expected increase in certain food and bioenergy crops and the uncertain mitigation options available for non-CO2 emissions make of vital importance the assessment of the use of energy and the related emissions attributable to this sector. The aim of this paper is to present a simulation framework able to forecast energy demand, technological diffusion, required investment and land use change of specific agricultural crops. MUSE-Ag & LU, a novel energy systems-oriented agricultural and land use model, has been used for this purpose. As case study, four main crops (maize, soybean, wheat and rice) have been modelled in mainland China. Besides conventional direct energy use, the model considers inputs such as fertiliser and labour demand. Outputs suggest that the modernisation of agricultural processes in China could have the capacity to reduce by 2050 on-farm emissions intensity from 0.024 to 0.016 GtCO2eq PJcrop−1 (−35.6%), requiring a necessary total investment of approximately 319.4 billion 2017$US.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document