scholarly journals Making Agriculture Carbon Neutral Amid a Changing Climate: The Case of South-Western Australia

Land ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (11) ◽  
pp. 1259
Author(s):  
Ross Kingwell
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Western Australia ◽  
Climate Change Projections ◽  
Real Cost ◽  
Carbon Neutrality ◽  
Tree Survival ◽  
Agricultural Emissions ◽  
Carbon Neutral ◽  
The Cost ◽  
The Impact

Making Australian agriculture carbon neutral by 2050 is a goal espoused by several agricultural organisations in Australia. How costly might it be to attain that goal, especially when adverse climate change projections apply to agriculture in southern Australia? This study uses scenario analysis to examine agricultural emissions and their abatement via reforestation in south-western Australia under projected climate change. Most scenarios include the likelihood of agricultural emissions being reduced in the coming decades. However, the impact of projected adverse climate change on tree growth and tree survival means that the cost of achieving agricultural carbon neutrality via reforestation is forecast to increase in south-western Australia. Agricultural R&D and innovation that enable agricultural emissions to diminish in the coming decades will be crucial to lessen the cost of achieving carbon neutrality. On balance, the more likely scenarios reveal the real cost of achieving carbon neutrality will not greatly increase. The cost of achieving carbon neutrality under the various scenarios is raised by an additional AUD22 million to AUD100 million per annum in constant 2020 dollar terms. This magnitude of cost increase is very small relative to the region’s gross value of agricultural production that is regularly greater than AUD10 billion.

scholarly journals Impact of climate change on hydropower production in the Upper Danube

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ignacio Martin Santos ◽  
Mathew Herrnegger ◽  
Hubert Holzmann
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Spatial Resolution ◽  
Transfer Functions ◽  
Danube River ◽  
Emission Scenarios ◽  
Hydropower Generation ◽  
Climate Change Projections ◽  
Impact Of Climate Change ◽  
The Future ◽  
The Impact

<p>In the last two decades, different climate downscaling initiatives provided climate scenarios for Europe. The most recent initiative, CORDEX, provides Regional Climate Model (RCM) data for Europe with a spatial resolution of 12.5 km, while the previous initiative, ENSEMBLES, had a spatial resolution of 25 km. They are based on different emission scenarios, Representative Concentration Pathways (RCPs) and Special Report on Emission Scenarios (SRES) respectively.</p><p>A study carried out by Stanzel et al. (2018) explored the hydrological impact and discharge projections for the Danube basin upstream of Vienna when using either CORDEX and ENSEMBLES data. This basin covers an area of 101.810<sup></sup>km<sup>2</sup> with a mean annual discharge of 1923 m<sup>3</sup>/s at the basin outlet. The basin is dominated by the Alps, large gradients and is characterized by high annual precipitations sums which provides valuable water resources available along the basin. Hydropower therefore plays an important role and accounts for more than half of the installed power generating capacity for this area. The estimation of hydropower generation under climate change is an important task for planning the future electricity supply, also considering the on-going EU efforts and the “Green Deal” initiative.</p><p>Taking as input the results from Stanzel et al. (2018), we use transfer functions derived from historical discharge and hydropower generation data, to estimate potential changes for the future. The impact of climate change projections of ENSEMBLE and CORDEX in respect to hydropower generation for each basin within the study area is determined. In addition, an assessment of the impact on basins dominated by runoff river plants versus basins dominated by storage plants is considered.</p><p>The good correlation between discharge and hydropower generation found in the historical data suggests that discharge projection characteristics directly affect the future expected hydropower generation. Large uncertainties exist and stem from the ensembles of climate runs, but also from the potential operation modes of the (storage) hydropower plants in the future.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>References:</p><p>Stanzel, P., Kling, H., 2018. From ENSEMBLES to CORDEX: Evolving climate change projections for Upper Danube River flow. J. Hydrol. 563, 987–999. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhydrol.2018.06.057</p><p> </p>

scholarly journals Using building adaptation to deliver sustainability in Australia

2009 ◽  
Vol 27 (1) ◽  
pp. 46-61 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sara J. Wilkinson ◽  
Kimberley James ◽  
Richard Reed
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Decision Making ◽  
Office Building ◽  
Building Stock ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Carbon Neutrality ◽  
Building Adaptation ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Decision Making Tool

PurposeThis paper seeks to establish the rationale for existing office building adaptation within Melbourne, Australia, as the city strives to become carbon neutral by 2020. The problems faced by policy makers to determine which buildings have the optimum adaptation potential are to be identified and discussed.Design/methodology/approachThis research adopts the approach of creating a database of all the buildings in the Melbourne CBD including details of physical, social, economic and technological attributes. This approach will determine whether relationships exist between attributes and the frequency of building adaptation or whether triggers to adaptation can be determined.FindingsThis research provided evidence that a much faster rate of office building adaptation is necessary to meet the targets already set for carbon neutrality. The findings demonstrate that a retrospective comprehensive examination of previous adaptation in the CBD is a unique and original approach to determining the building characteristics associated with adaptation and whether triggers can be identified based on previous practices. The implication is that a decision‐making tool should be developed to allow policy makers to target sectors of the office building stock to deliver carbon neutrality within the 2020 timeframe.Practical implicationsDrastic reductions in greenhouse gas emissions are required to mitigate global warming and climate change and all stakeholders should be looking at ways of reducing emissions from existing stock.Originality/valueThis paper adds to the existing body of knowledge by raising awareness of the way in which the adaptation of large amounts of existing stock can be fast tracked to mitigate the impact of climate change and warming associated with the built environment, and in addition it establishes a framework for a decision‐making tool for policy makers.

Carbon Tail Risk

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Emirhan Ilhan ◽  
Zacharias Sautner ◽  
Grigory Vilkov
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Business Models ◽  
Policy Uncertainty ◽  
Tail Risk ◽  
Climate Regulation ◽  
Combat Climate Change ◽  
The Cost ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Cost Of Protection ◽  
Regulatory Actions

Abstract Strong regulatory actions are needed to combat climate change, but climate policy uncertainty makes it difficult for investors to quantify the impact of future climate regulation. We show that such uncertainty is priced in the option market. The cost of option protection against downside tail risks is larger for firms with more carbon-intense business models. For carbon-intense firms, the cost of protection against downside tail risk is magnified at times when the public’s attention to climate change spikes, and it decreased after the election of climate change skeptic President Trump.

scholarly journals The Impact of Carbon Trade on Outsourcing Remanufacturing

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (20) ◽  
pp. 10804
Author(s):  
Xiqiang Xia ◽  
Mengya Li ◽  
Biao Li ◽  
Hao Wang
Keyword(s):  
Trade Policy ◽  
Carbon Emissions ◽  
Consumer Preferences ◽  
Consumer Surplus ◽  
Green Manufacturing ◽  
Consumer Preference ◽  
Carbon Neutrality ◽  
Trade Prices ◽  
The Cost ◽  
The Impact

Outsourcing remanufacturing is an important way to achieve resource recycling, green manufacturing and carbon neutrality goals. To analyze the impact of carbon trade on manufacturing/remanufacturing under outsourcing remanufacturing, this article builds a game model between an original equipment manufacturer (OEM) and a remanufacturer under the carbon trade policy. In the outsourcing remanufacturing model, this article compares the impact of the carbon trade policy on the unit retail price, sales volume, revenue, environmental impact, and consumer surplus of new and remanufactured products. The research mainly draws the following conclusions: (1) Carbon trade increases the prices of both new and remanufactured products and the cost of outsourcing. Only when certain conditions are met can increased carbon trade prices increase revenue. (2) The carbon trade policy helps reduce the adverse impact on the environment, but only when the carbon trade price is greater than a certain threshold can it increase consumer surplus. (3) Consumer preferences and carbon emissions of the unit product affect manufacturers’ profits. Increased consumer preference for remanufactured products and reduced carbon emissions of remanufactured products contribute to increased sales and revenues.

scholarly journals The impact of a future solar minimum on climate change projections in the Northern Hemisphere

2016 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 034015 ◽  
Author(s):  
G Chiodo ◽  
R García-Herrera ◽  
N Calvo ◽  
J M Vaquero ◽  
J A Añel ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Northern Hemisphere ◽  
Solar Minimum ◽  
Climate Change Projections ◽  
The Impact

Is Institutional Democracy a Good Proxy for Model Independence?

2016 ◽  
Vol 29 (23) ◽  
pp. 8301-8316 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martin Leduc ◽  
René Laprise ◽  
Ramón de Elía ◽  
Leo Šeparović
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Model Comparison ◽  
Climate Models ◽  
Regional Climate ◽  
Burden Of Proof ◽  
Climate Projections ◽  
Climate Change Projections ◽  
Cross Model ◽  
Structural Differences ◽  
The Impact

Abstract Climate models developed within a given research group or institution are prone to share structural similarities, which may induce resembling features in their simulations of the earth’s climate. This assertion, known as the “same-center hypothesis,” is investigated here using a subsample of CMIP3 climate projections constructed by retaining only the models originating from institutions that provided more than one model (or model version). The contributions of individual modeling centers to this ensemble are first presented in terms of climate change projections. A metric for climate change disagreement is then defined to analyze the impact of typical structural differences (such as resolution, parameterizations, or even entire atmosphere and ocean components) on regional climate projections. This metric is compared to a present climate performance metric (correlation of error patterns) within a cross-model comparison framework in terms of their abilities to identify the same-center models. Overall, structural differences between the pairs of same-center models have a stronger impact on climate change projections than on how models reproduce the observed climate. The same-center criterion is used to detect agreements that might be attributable to model similarities and thus that should not be interpreted as implying greater confidence in a given result. It is proposed that such noninformative agreements should be discarded from the ensemble, unless evidence shows that these models can be assumed to be independent. Since this burden of proof is not generally met by the centers participating in a multimodel ensemble, the authors propose an ensemble-weighting scheme based on the assumption of institutional democracy to prevent overconfidence in climate change projections.

Groundwater levels under climate change in the Gnangara system, Western Australia

2013 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 52-62 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adrian H. Gallardo
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Water Table ◽  
Western Australia ◽  
Water Levels ◽  
Good Correspondence ◽  
Groundwater Levels ◽  
Aquifer Systems ◽  
The Status ◽  
Rainfall Reduction ◽  
The Impact

The Gnangara system is the main source of freshwater for Perth, Western Australia. However, aquifers in the region are under severe stress due to a drying climate, intensive pumping and changes in land use. The aim of this study is to apply the mean rainfall cumulative deviation and Mann-Kendall analyses at 77 monitoring bores to investigate the response of the water table to key recharge components. This information is critical for setting new allocation limits and reviewing current policies in the region. Results show that overall there is a good correspondence between water levels and rainfall fluctuations. Areas of groundwater recharge are highly sensitive to climate change and have been severely affected by reduction in rainfall rates in recent years. Further, removal of pine plantations correlated well with a rise in groundwater levels although the effect seems to be temporary. The impact of pumping is mainly observed in vicinities of public-supply borefields. Elsewhere, water table trends show a relative stabilisation indicating that storage still exceeds the influence of rainfall reduction in areas dominated by through flow or groundwater discharge. The study contributes to update the status of the Gnangara groundwater resource, and provides new insights for the sustainable management of one of the main aquifer systems in Australia.

scholarly journals Multi-gas and multi-source comparisons of six land use emission datasets and AFOLU estimates in the Fifth Assessment Report

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rosa Maria Roman-Cuesta ◽  
Martin Herold ◽  
Mariana C. Rufino ◽  
Todd S. Rosenstock ◽  
Richard A. Houghton ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Land Use ◽  
Forest Sector ◽  
Intergovernmental Panel ◽  
Enteric Fermentation ◽  
Assessment Report ◽  
Carbon Neutrality ◽  
Ipcc Guidelines ◽  
Agricultural Emissions ◽  
The Tropics

Abstract. The Agriculture, Forestry and Other Land Use (AFOLU) sector contributes with ca. 20–25 % of global anthropogenic emissions (2010), making it a key component of any climate change mitigation strategy. AFOLU estimates remain, however, highly uncertain, jeopardizing the mitigation effectiveness of this sector. Global comparisons of AFOLU emissions have shown divergences of up to 25 %, urging for improved understanding on the reasons behind these differences. Here we compare a diversity of AFOLU emission datasets (e.g. FAOSTAT, EDGAR, the newly developed AFOLU "Hotspots", "Houghton", "Baccini", and EPA) and estimates given in the Fifth Assessment Report, for the tropics (2000–2005), to identify plausible explanations for the differences in: i) aggregated gross AFOLU emissions, and ii) disaggregated emissions by sources, and by gases (CO2, CH4, N2O). We also aim to iii) identify countries with low agreement among AFOLU datasets, to navigate research efforts. Aggregated gross emissions were similar for all databases for the AFOLU: 8.2 (5.5–12.2), 8.4 and 8.0 Pg CO2e. yr−1 (Hotspots, FAOSTAT and EDGAR respectively), Forests: 6.0 (3.8–10), 5.9, 5.9 and 5.4 Pg CO2e. yr−1 (Hotspots, FAOSTAT, EDGAR, and Houghton), and Agricultural sectors: 1.9 (1.5–2.5), 2.0, 2.1, and 2.0 Pg CO2e. yr−1 (Hotspots, FAOSTAT, EDGAR, and EPA). However, this agreement was lost when disaggregating by sources, continents, and gases, particularly for the forest sector (fire leading the differences). Agricultural emissions were more homogeneous, especially livestock, while croplands were the most diverse. CO2 showed the largest differences among datasets. Cropland soils and enteric fermentation led the smaller N2O and CH4 differences. Disagreements are explained by differences in conceptual frameworks (e.g. carbon-only vs multi-gas assessments, definitions, land use versus land cover, etc), in methods (Tiers, scales, compliance with Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) guidelines, legacies, etc) and in assumptions (e.g. carbon neutrality of certain emissions, instantaneous emissions release, etc) that call for more complete and transparent documentation for all the available datasets. Enhanced dialogue between the carbon (CO2) and the AFOLU (multi-gas) communities is needed to reduce discrepancies of land use estimates.

scholarly journals This Changes Everything

2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (79) ◽  
Author(s):  
Serhan Cevik ◽  
João Tovar Jalles
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Developing Countries ◽  
Global Economy ◽  
Statistical Significance ◽  
Large Body ◽  
Economic Consequences ◽  
Sovereign Risk ◽  
Bond Yields ◽  
The Cost ◽  
The Impact

Climate change is already a systemic risk to the global economy. While there is a large body of literature documenting potential economic consequences, there is scarce research on the link between climate change and sovereign risk. This paper therefore investigates the impact of climate change vulnerability and resilience on sovereign bond yields and spreads in 98 advanced and developing countries over the period 1995–2017. We find that the vulnerability and resilience to climate change have a significant impact on the cost government borrowing, after controlling for conventional determinants of sovereign risk. That is, countries that are more resilient to climate change have lower bond yields and spreads relative to countries with greater vulnerability to risks associated with climate change. Furthermore, partitioning the sample into country groups reveals that the magnitude and statistical significance of these effects are much greater in developing countries with weaker capacity to adapt to and mitigate the consequences of climate change.

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