Impacts of Autonomous Vehicles on Greenhouse Gas Emissions—Positive or Negative?

The potential effects of autonomous vehicles (AVs) on greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions are uncertain, although numerous studies have been conducted to evaluate the impact. This paper aims to synthesize and review all the literature regarding the topic in a systematic manner to eliminate the bias and provide an overall insight, while incorporating some statistical analysis to provide an interval estimate of these studies. This paper addressed the effect of the positive and negative impacts reported in the literature in two categories of AVs: partial automation and full automation. The positive impacts represented in AVs’ possibility to reduce GHG emission can be attributed to some factors, including eco-driving, eco traffic signal, platooning, and less hunting for parking. The increase in vehicle mile travel (VMT) due to (i) modal shift to AVs by captive passengers, including elderly and disabled people and (ii) easier travel compared to other modes will contribute to raising the GHG emissions. The result shows that eco-driving and platooning have the most significant contribution to reducing GHG emissions by 35%. On the other side, easier travel and faster travel significantly contribute to the increase of GHG emissions by 41.24%. Study findings reveal that the positive emission changes may not be realized at a lower AV penetration rate, where the maximum emission reduction might take place within 60–80% of AV penetration into the network.

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Impacts of Government Policies, Fuel Cell Cost, and Battery Cost on Greenhouse Gas Emission of Light-Duty Vehicles

Volume 4: 18th Design for Manufacturing and the Life Cycle Conference; 2013 ASME/IEEE International Conference on Mechatronic and Embedded Systems and Applications ◽

10.1115/detc2013-12701 ◽

2013 ◽

Author(s):

Swithin S. Razu ◽

Shun Takai

Keyword(s):

Public Policy ◽

Fuel Cell ◽

Greenhouse Gas ◽

Greenhouse Gas Emission ◽

Ghg Emissions ◽

Government Policies ◽

Alternative Fuel Vehicles ◽

Enterprise Model ◽

The Government ◽

The Impact

The aim of this paper is to study the impact of public government policies, fuel cell cost, and battery cost on greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the US transportation sector. The model includes a government model and an enterprise model. To examine the effect on GHG emissions that fuel cell and battery cost has, the optimization model includes public policy, fuel cell and battery cost, and a market mix focusing on the GHG effects of four different types of vehicles, 1) gasoline-based 2) gasoline-electric hybrid or alternative-fuel vehicles (AFVs), 3) battery-electric (BEVs) and 4) fuel-cell vehicles (FCVs). The public policies taken into consideration are infrastructure investments for hydrogen fueling stations and subsidies for purchasing AFVs. For each selection of public policy, fuel cell cost and battery cost in the government model, the enterprise model finds the optimum vehicle design that maximizes profit and updates the market mix, from which the government model can estimate GHG emissions. This paper demonstrates the model using FCV design as an illustrative example.

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Effect of wheat varieties and growth regulators on soil greenhouse gas emissions

10.5194/egusphere-egu21-8605 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Elsbe von der Lancken ◽

Victoria Nasser ◽

Katharina Hey ◽

Stefan Siebert ◽

Ana Meijide

Keyword(s):

Winter Wheat ◽

Grain Yield ◽

Greenhouse Gas ◽

Growth Regulators ◽

Production Systems ◽

Ghg Emissions ◽

Closed Chamber ◽

Wheat Varieties ◽

The Impact ◽

Modern Varieties

The need to sustain global food demand while mitigating greenhouse gases (GHG) emissions is a challenge for agricultural production systems. Since the reduction of GHGs has never been a breeding target, it is still unclear to which extend different crop varieties will affect GHG emissions. The objective of this study was to evaluate the impact of N-fertilization and of the use of growth regulators applied to three historical and three modern varieties of winter wheat on the emissions of the three most important anthropogenic GHGs, i.e. carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide (N2O). Furthermore, we aimed at identifying which combination of cultivars and management practises could mitigate GHG emissions in agricultural systems without compromising the yield. GHG measurements were performed using the closed chamber method in a field experiment located in G&#246;ttingen (Germany) evaluating three historical and three modern winter wheat varieties, with or without growth regulators under two fertilization levels (120 and 240&#160;kg nitrogen ha-1). GHG measurements were carried out for 2 weeks following the third nitrogen fertilizer application (where one third of the total nitrogen was applied), together with studies on the evolution of mineral nitrogen and dissolved organic carbon in the soil. Modern varieties showed significantly higher CO2 emissions (i.e. soil and plant respiration; +23&#160;%) than historical varieties. The soils were found to be a sink for CH4, but CH4 fluxes were not affected by the different treatments. N2O emissions were not significantly influenced by the variety age or by the growth regulators, and emissions increased with increasing fertilization level. The global warming potential (GWP) for the modern varieties was 7284.0 &#177; 266.9&#160;kg CO2-eq ha-1. Even though the GWP was lower for the historic varieties (5939.5 &#177; 238.2&#160;kg CO2-eq ha-1), their greenhouse gas intensity (GHGI), which relates GHG and crop yield, was larger (1.5 &#177; 0.3&#160;g CO2-eq g-1 grain), compared to the GHGI of modern varieties (0.9 &#177; 0.0&#160;g CO2-eq g-1 grain), due to the much lower grain yield in the historic varieties. Our results suggest that in order to mitigate GHG emissions without compromising the grain yield, the best management practise is to use modern high yielding varieties with growth regulators and a fertilization scheme according to the demand of the crop.

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Greenhouse Gas Emissions from the Petroleum Industry

Natural Resources Management ◽

10.4018/978-1-5225-0803-8.ch011 ◽

2017 ◽

pp. 213-241

Author(s):

Lidia Hrnčević

Keyword(s):

Greenhouse Gas ◽

Global Climate ◽

Petroleum Industry ◽

Ghg Emissions ◽

High Energy ◽

Global Market ◽

Special Focus ◽

Global Industry ◽

High Emission ◽

The Impact

Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions occur, more or less, in all aspects of the petroleum industry's activities. Besides the direct emissions of some GHG, the petroleum industry is also characterised with high energy intensity usually followed by emissions of adverse gases, especially at old facilities, and also the products with high emission potential. Being the global industry and one of the major players on global market, the petroleum industry is also subjected to global regulatory provisions regarding GHG emissions. In this chapter, the impact of global climate change on the petroleum industry is discussed. The emissions from the petroleum industry are analysed with a special focus on greenhouse gases that occur in petroleum industry activities and types and sources of emissions from the petroleum industry activities. In addition, recommendations for estimation, monitoring, and reductions of GHG emissions from the petroleum industry are given.

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Implications of potential future grand solar minimum for ozone layer and climate

10.5194/acp-2017-818 ◽

2017 ◽

Author(s):

Pavle Arsenovic ◽

Eugene Rozanov ◽

Julien Anet ◽

Andrea Stenke ◽

Thomas Peter

Keyword(s):

Solar Activity ◽

Greenhouse Gas ◽

21St Century ◽

Atmospheric Chemistry ◽

Solar Minimum ◽

Climate Model ◽

Ghg Emissions ◽

Ozone Production ◽

22Nd Century ◽

The Impact

Abstract. Continued anthropogenic greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions are expected to cause further global warming throughout the 21st century. Understanding potential interferences with natural forcings is thus of great interest. Here we investigate the impact of a recently proposed 21st century grand solar minimum on atmospheric chemistry and climate using the SOCOL3-MPIOM chemistry-climate model with interactive ocean. We examine several model simulations for the period 2000–2199, following the greenhouse gas scenario RCP4.5, but with different solar forcings: the reference simulation is forced by perpetual repetition of solar cycle 23 until the year 2199, whereas the grand solar minimum simulations assume strong declines in solar activity of 3.5 and 6.5 W m−2 with different durations. Decreased solar activity is found to yield up to a doubling of the GHG induced stratospheric and mesospheric cooling. Under the grand solar minimum scenario tropospheric temperatures are also projected to decrease. On the global scale the reduced solar forcing compensates at most 15 % of the expected greenhouse warming at the end of 21st and around 25 % at the end of 22nd century. The regional effects are predicted to be stronger, in particular in northern high latitude winter. In the stratosphere, the reduced incoming ultraviolet radiation leads to less ozone production by up to 8 %, which overcompensates the anticipated ozone increase due to reduced stratospheric temperatures and an acceleration of the Brewer-Dobson circulation. This, in turn, leads to a delay in total ozone column recovery from anthropogenic chlorine-induced depletion, with a global ozone recovery to the pre-ozone hole values happening only upon completion of the grand solar minimum in the 22nd century or later.

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Assessing the Environmental Benefits of Dry Port Usage: A Case of Inland Container Transport in Turkey

Sustainability ◽

10.3390/su11236793 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 11 (23) ◽

pp. 6793 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Kurtulus ◽

Cetin

Keyword(s):

Discrete Event ◽

Ghg Emissions ◽

Simulation Modelling ◽

Environmental Benefits ◽

Modal Shift ◽

Empty Container ◽

Railway Line ◽

On The Road ◽

Container Movement ◽

The Impact

Inland transportation of maritime freight conducted by trucks creates extensive emissions. These emissions can be mitigated by using intermodal-rail transport through dry ports. In that regard, this study evaluated the environmental benefits of dry port usage by using discrete event simulation modelling. The results show that the current level of dry port-based intermodal transportation decreases greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 5.79% compared to transportation of all containers on the road. Evaluating the impact of the electrified railway line on the GHG emissions revealed unexpected results; the electrification of the railway line would decrease GHG emissions only by 0.06%. The improvements in empty container movement and scheduling slightly reduced GHG emissions by 0.69% and 0.63% respectively, however, highest GHG emissions reduction resulted from modal shift by 6.56%. This study extended the previous literature by assessing not only the environmental benefits of dry port usage but also its effects on train capacity usage, while taking the empty container movement into account.

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Carbon Footprint Analysis of an Educational Institution

Applied Mechanics and Materials ◽

10.4028/www.scientific.net/amm.787.187 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 787 ◽

pp. 187-191

Author(s):

P.M. Sivaram ◽

N. Gowdhaman ◽

D.Y. Ebin Davis ◽

M. Subramanian

Keyword(s):

Greenhouse Gas ◽

Carbon Footprint ◽

Greenhouse Gas Emission ◽

Educational Institution ◽

Ghg Emissions ◽

Liquefied Petroleum Gas ◽

Diesel Generator ◽

Working Paper ◽

Corporate Carbon Footprint ◽

The Impact

Global warming and climate change are the foremost environmental challenges facing the world today. It is our responsibility to minimize the consumption of energy and hence reduce the emissions of greenhouse gases. Companies choose ‘Carbon Footprint’ as a tool to calculate the greenhouse gas emission to show the impact of their activities on the environment. In this working paper, we assess the carbon foot print of an educational institution and suggest suitable measures for reducing it. Greenhouse gas emitting protocol for an academic institution in terms of tones of equivalent CO2 per year is projected using three basic steps includes planning (assessment of data’s), calculation and estimation of CO2 emitted. The estimation of carbon foot print is calculated by accounting direct emission from sources owned/controlled by the educational institution and from indirect emission i.e. purchased electricity, electricity produced by diesel Generator (DG), transport, cooking (Liquefied Petroleum Gas) and other outsourced distribution. The CO2 absorbed by trees are also accounted. Some of the options are identified in order to reduce CO2 level. The information of corporate carbon footprint helps us identifying the Green House Gases (GHG) emission “hot spots” and identifies where the greatest capacity exists in order to reduce the GHG emissions. The main prioritization goes to transport and then followed by DG, cooking and then electricity. The per capita CO2 emission and the total CO2 emission for a typical educational institution are estimated.

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Environmental Changes Produced by Household Consumption

Energies ◽

10.3390/en14185730 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 14 (18) ◽

pp. 5730

Author(s):

Miguel A. Martínez ◽

Ángeles Cámara

Keyword(s):

Greenhouse Gas Emissions ◽

Greenhouse Gas ◽

Manufacturing Industry ◽

Environmental Changes ◽

Ghg Emissions ◽

Household Consumption ◽

Retail Trade ◽

Gas Emissions ◽

Before And After ◽

The Impact

This paper analyzes the impact of the fall in household consumption after an economic crisis in Spain on greenhouse gas emissions. To this end, household consumption is differentiated by the age of the main provider by using a conversion matrix that relates consumption groups to activity sectors. A multisectoral model was used to quantify and compare the environmental impact caused by the consumption of each age group, indicating that the older the age of the main household provider, the smaller the reduction in GHG emissions associated with their consumption. The results facilitate an analysis of how the greenhouse gas emissions of the different sectors of the Spanish economy, associated with the population under study, varied before and after the 2008 crisis, and confirm that the sectors with the greatest reduction in emissions were, in this order, extractive industries, construction, manufacturing industry, wholesale and retail trade and transport and storage. This is relevant for decision making in the field of environmental policies in crises, akin to the one the world is currently experiencing.

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Smallholder African farms in western Kenya have limited greenhouse gas fluxes

Biogeosciences Discussions ◽

10.5194/bgd-12-15301-2015 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 12 (18) ◽

pp. 15301-15336 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

D. E. Pelster ◽

M. C. Rufino ◽

T. Rosenstock ◽

J. Mango ◽

G. Saiz ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Greenhouse Gas ◽

Crop Production ◽

Crop Yields ◽

N Uptake ◽

Ghg Emissions ◽

Sub Saharan Africa ◽

N2o Emissions ◽

Vegetation Types ◽

Western Kenya ◽

The Impact

Abstract. Few field studies examine greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from African agricultural systems resulting in high uncertainty for national inventories. We provide here the most comprehensive study in Africa to date, examining annual CO2, CH4 and N2O emissions from 59 plots, across different vegetation types, field types and land classes in western Kenya. The study area consists of a lowland area (approximately 1200 m a.s.l.) rising approximately 600 m to a highland plateau. Cumulative annual fluxes ranged from 2.8 to 15.0 Mg CO2-C ha−1, −6.0 to 2.4 kg CH4-C ha−1 and −0.1 to 1.8 kg N2O-N ha−1. Management intensity of the plots did not result in differences in annual fluxes for the GHGs measured (P = 0.46, 0.67 and 0.14 for CO2, N2O and CH4 respectively). The similar emissions were likely related to low fertilizer input rates (≤ 20 kg ha−1). Grazing plots had the highest CO2 fluxes (P = 0.005); treed plots were a larger CH4 sink than grazing plots (P = 0.05); while N2O emissions were similar across vegetation types (P = 0.59). This case study is likely representative for low fertilizer input, smallholder systems across sub-Saharan Africa, providing critical data for estimating regional or continental GHG inventories. Low crop yields, likely due to low inputs, resulted in high (up to 67 g N2O-N kg−1 aboveground N uptake) yield-scaled emissions. Improving crop production through intensification of agricultural production (i.e. water and nutrient management) may be an important tool to mitigate the impact of African agriculture on climate change.

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Local Climate Action Planning as a Tool to Harness Greenhouse Gas Emissions Mitigation and the Equity Potential of Autonomous Vehicles and On-Demand Mobility

Transportation Research Record Journal of the Transportation Research Board ◽

10.1177/03611981211052541 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 036119812110525

Author(s):

Serena Alexander ◽

Asha Weinstein Agrawal ◽

Benjamin Clark

Keyword(s):

Content Analysis ◽

Greenhouse Gas ◽

Public Transportation ◽

Autonomous Vehicles ◽

Ghg Emissions ◽

Action Planning ◽

Transportation System ◽

Emissions Reduction ◽

On Demand ◽

Climate Action

This paper focuses on how cities can use climate action plans (CAPs) to ensure that on-demand mobility and autonomous vehicles (AVs) help reduce, rather than increase, greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and inequitable impacts from the transportation system. We employed a three-pronged research strategy involving: (1) an analysis of the current literature on on-demand mobility and AVs; (2) a systematic content analysis of 23 CAPs and general plans (GPs) developed by municipalities in California; and (3) a comparison of findings from the literature and content analysis of plans to identify opportunities for GHG emissions reduction and mobility equity. Findings indicate that policy and planning discussions should consider the synergies between AVs and on-demand mobility as two closely related emerging mobility trends, as well as the key factors (e.g., vehicle electrification, fuel efficiency, use and ownership, access, and distribution, etc.) that determine whether the deployment of AVs would help reduce GHG emissions from transportation. Additionally, AVs and on-demand mobility have the potential to contribute to a more equitable transportation system by improving independence and quality of life for individuals with disabilities and the elderly, enhancing access to transit, and helping alleviate the geographic gap in public transportation services. Although many municipal CAPs and GPs in California have adopted several strategies and programs relevant to AVs and on-demand mobility, several untapped opportunities exist to harness the GHG emissions reduction and social benefits potential of AVs and on-demand mobility.

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A framework for reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions through carbon pricing for offshore outsourcing

10.32920/ryerson.14663991.v1 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Amulya Gurtu

Keyword(s):

Supply Chain ◽

Greenhouse Gas ◽

National Level ◽

Ghg Emissions ◽

Carbon Price ◽

Offshore Outsourcing ◽

Primary Concern ◽

Fuel Prices ◽

Supply Chain Costs ◽

The Impact

Reducing supply chain costs is a primary concern of every organization. Organizations have implemented offshore outsourcing as an effective strategy towards reducing supply chain costs. However, neither government nor corporate organizations have sufficiently taken into account the effects of this strategy on global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The purpose of this research is to analyze the impact of offshore outsourcing on global GHG emissions, and the effect of changes in fuel prices in addition to a carbon price on additional emissions on supply chain costs. The purpose is supported by five key objectives. The objectives are addressed through a systematic methodology. The analysis is supported by a literature review, and the development and testing of mathematical models. Finally, a framework to reduce global GHG emissions through a carbon price on differential emissions from manufacturing and additional emissions from international transportation is proposed. The findings suggest that offshore outsourcing has increased global emissions. The fuel prices are increasing at a rate higher than the overall rate. A carbon price on excess emissions due to outsourcing coupled with increasing fuel prices impacts supply chain costs adversely and leads to bigger lot-sizes. As an illustration at the national level, the framework showed that emissions for the USA increased by about 20% for every year between 2007 and 2010. As another example from a corporate organization, the net profit (profit after tax) for Wal-Mart was reduced by about 19% for 2006 due to a carbon price on manufacturing emissions alone. The suggested framework is a major contribution for quantifying the extent of changes in the emissions due to offshore outsourcing and the value of these emissions at a prevailing rate of carbon tax in North America. It is intended to provide a basis for reducing emissions and costs from global supply chains. The proposed framework provides a level playing field to manufacturers in different countries using different technologies, provides incentives to organizations for manufacturing in locations where net emissions are low, helps national governments determine how they can generate revenue for dealing with emissions, and, most importantly, aids in reducing overall global GHG emissions.

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