Global Emission Aspects and Proposals for “No Regret’’ Measures in India

Keyword(s):  
Author(s):  
Kunal Wagh ◽  
Pankaj Dhatrak

The transport industry is a major contributor to both local pollution and greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs). The key challenge today is to mitigate the adverse impacts on the environment caused by road transportation. The volatile market prices and diminishing supplies of fuel have led to an unprecedented interest in battery electric vehicles (BEVs). In addition, improvements in motor efficiencies and significant advances in battery technology have made it easier for BEVs to compete with internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles. This paper describes and assesses the latest technologies in different elements of the BEV: powertrain architectures, propulsion and regeneration systems, energy storage systems and charging techniques. The current and future trends of these technologies have been reviewed in detail. Finally, the key issue of electric vehicle component recycling (battery, motor and power electronics) has been discussed. Global emission regulations are pushing the industry towards zero or ultra-low emission vehicles. Thus, by 2025, most cars must have a considerable level of powertrain electrification. As the market share of electric vehicles increases, clear trends have emerged in the development of powertrain systems. However, some significant barriers must be overcome before appreciable market penetration can be achieved. The objective of the current study is to review and provide a complete picture of the current BEV technology and a framework to assist future research in the sector.


2021 ◽  
Vol 67 (2) ◽  
pp. 205-227
Author(s):  
Marilyn A. Brown ◽  
Blair Beasley ◽  
Fikret Atalay ◽  
Kim M. Cobb ◽  
Puneet Dwiveldi ◽  
...  

AbstractSubnational entities are recognizing the need to systematically examine options for reducing their carbon footprints. However, few robust and comprehensive analyses are available that lay out how US states and regions can most effectively contribute. This paper describes an approach developed for Georgia—a state in the southeastern United States called “Drawdown Georgia”, our research involves (1) understanding Georgia’s baseline carbon footprint and trends, (2) identifying the universe of Georgia-specific carbon-reduction solutions that could be impactful by 2030, (3) estimating the greenhouse gas reduction potential of these high-impact 2030 solutions for Georgia, and (4) estimating associated costs and benefits while also considering how the solutions might impact societal priorities, such as economic development opportunities, public health, environmental benefits, and equity. We began by examining the global solutions identified by Project Drawdown. The resulting 20 high-impact 2030 solutions provide a strategy for reducing Georgia’s carbon footprint in the next decade using market-ready technologies and practices and including negative emission solutions. This paper describes our systematic and replicable process and ends with a discussion of its strengths, weaknesses, and planned future research.


Holzforschung ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 74 (11) ◽  
pp. 1011-1020
Author(s):  
Danyang Tong ◽  
Susan Alexis Brown ◽  
David Corr ◽  
Gianluca Cusatis

AbstractRising global emission have led to a renewed popularity of timber in building design, including timber-concrete tall buildings up to 18 stories. In spite of this surge in wood construction, there remains a gap in understanding of long-term structural behavior, particularly wood creep. Unlike concrete, code prescriptions for wood design are lacking in robust estimates for structural shortening. Models for wood creep have become increasingly necessary due to the potential for unforeseen shortening, especially with respect to differential shortening. These effects can have serious impacts as timber building heights continue to grow. This study lays the groundwork for wood compliance prediction models for use in timber design. A thorough review of wood creep studies was conducted and viable experimental results were compiled into a database. Studies were chosen based on correlation of experimental conditions with a realistic building environment. An unbiased parameter identification method, originally applied to concrete prediction models, was used to fit multiple compliance functions to each data curve. Based on individual curve fittings, statistical analysis was performed to determine the best fit function and average parameter values for the collective database. A power law trend in wood creep, with lognormal parameter distribution, was confirmed by the results.


2020 ◽  
Vol 494 (2) ◽  
pp. 2823-2838 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ana Trčka ◽  
Maarten Baes ◽  
Peter Camps ◽  
Sharon E Meidt ◽  
James Trayford ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT We compare the spectral energy distributions (SEDs) and inferred physical properties for simulated and observed galaxies at low redshift. We exploit UV-submillimetre mock fluxes of ∼7000 z = 0 galaxies from the EAGLE suite of cosmological simulations, derived using the radiative transfer code skirt. We compare these to ∼800 observed galaxies in the UV-submillimetre range, from the DustPedia sample of nearby galaxies. To derive global properties, we apply the SED fitting code cigale consistently to both data sets, using the same set of ∼80 million models. The results of this comparison reveal overall agreement between the simulations and observations, both in the SEDs and in the derived physical properties, with a number of discrepancies. The optical and far-infrared regimes, and the scaling relations based upon the global emission, diffuse dust, and stellar mass, show high levels of agreement. However, the mid-infrared fluxes of the EAGLE galaxies are overestimated while the far-UV domain is not attenuated enough, compared to the observations. We attribute these discrepancies to a combination of galaxy population differences between the samples and limitations in the subgrid treatment of star-forming regions in the EAGLE-skirt post-processing recipe. Our findings show the importance of detailed radiative transfer calculations and consistent comparison, and provide suggestions for improved numerical models.


2016 ◽  
Vol 113 (3) ◽  
pp. 526-531 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yanxu Zhang ◽  
Daniel J. Jacob ◽  
Hannah M. Horowitz ◽  
Long Chen ◽  
Helen M. Amos ◽  
...  

Observations of elemental mercury (Hg0) at sites in North America and Europe show large decreases (∼1–2% y−1) from 1990 to present. Observations in background northern hemisphere air, including Mauna Loa Observatory (Hawaii) and CARIBIC (Civil Aircraft for the Regular Investigation of the atmosphere Based on an Instrument Container) aircraft flights, show weaker decreases (<1% y−1). These decreases are inconsistent with current global emission inventories indicating flat or increasing emissions over that period. However, the inventories have three major flaws: (i) they do not account for the decline in atmospheric release of Hg from commercial products; (ii) they are biased in their estimate of artisanal and small-scale gold mining emissions; and (iii) they do not properly account for the change in Hg0/HgII speciation of emissions from coal-fired utilities after implementation of emission controls targeted at SO2 and NOx. We construct an improved global emission inventory for the period 1990 to 2010 accounting for the above factors and find a 20% decrease in total Hg emissions and a 30% decrease in anthropogenic Hg0 emissions, with much larger decreases in North America and Europe offsetting the effect of increasing emissions in Asia. Implementation of our inventory in a global 3D atmospheric Hg simulation [GEOS-Chem (Goddard Earth Observing System-Chemistry)] coupled to land and ocean reservoirs reproduces the observed large-scale trends in atmospheric Hg0 concentrations and in HgII wet deposition. The large trends observed in North America and Europe reflect the phase-out of Hg from commercial products as well as the cobenefit from SO2 and NOx emission controls on coal-fired utilities.


2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexandra-Jane Henrot ◽  
Tanja Stanelle ◽  
Sabine Schröder ◽  
Colombe Siegenthaler ◽  
Domenico Taraborrelli ◽  
...  

Abstract. A biogenic emission scheme based on the Model of Emissions of Gases and Aerosols from Nature (MEGAN) version 2.1 (Guenther et al., 2012) has been integrated into the ECHAM6-HAMMOZ chemistry climate model in order to calculate the emissions from terrestrial vegetation of 32 compounds. The estimated annual global total for the simulation period (2000–2012) is 634 Tg C yr−1. Isoprene is the main contributor to the average emission total accounting for 66 % (417 Tg C yr−1), followed by several monoterpenes (12 %), methanol (7 %), acetone (3.6 %) and ethene (3.6 %). Regionally, most of the high annual emissions are found to be associated to tropical regions and tropical vegetation types. In order to evaluate the implementation of the biogenic model in ECHAM-HAMMOZ, global and regional BVOC emissions of the reference simulation were compared to previous published experiment results with the MEGAN model. Several sensitivity simulations were performed to study the impact of different model input and parameters related to the vegetation cover and the ECHAM6 climate. BVOC emissions obtained with the biogenic model are within the range of previous published estimates. The large range of emission estimates can be attributed to the use of different input data and empirical coefficients within different setups of the MEGAN model. The biogenic model shows a high sensitivity to the changes in plant functional type (PFT) distributions and associated emission factors for most of the compounds. The global emission impact for isoprene is about −9 %, but reaches +75 % for α-pinene when switching to PFT-dependent emission factor distributions. Isoprene emissions show the highest sensitivity to soil moisture impact, with a global decrease of 12.5 % when the soil moisture activity factor is included in the model parameterization. Nudging ECHAM6 climate towards ERA-Interim reanalysis has impact on the biogenic emissions, slightly lowering the global total emissions and their interannual variability.


2006 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 107-173 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Guenther ◽  
T. Karl ◽  
P. Harley ◽  
C. Wiedinmyer ◽  
P. I. Palmer ◽  
...  

Abstract. Reactive gases and aerosols are produced by terrestrial ecosystems, processed within plant canopies, and can then be emitted into the above-canopy atmosphere. Estimates of the above-canopy fluxes are needed for quantitative earth system studies and assessments of past, present and future air quality and climate. The Model of Emissions of Gases and Aerosols from Nature (MEGAN) is described and used to quantify net terrestrial biosphere emission of isoprene into the atmosphere. MEGAN is designed for both global and regional emission modeling and has global coverage with ~1 km2 spatial resolution. Field and laboratory investigations of the processes controlling isoprene emission are described and data available for model development and evaluation are summarized. The factors controlling isoprene emissions include biological, physical and chemical driving variables. MEGAN driving variables are derived from models and satellite and ground observations. Broadleaf trees, mostly in the tropics, contribute about half of the estimated global annual isoprene emission due to their relatively high emission factors and because they are often exposed to conditions that are conducive for isoprene emission. The remaining flux is primarily from shrubs which are widespread and dominate at higher latitudes. MEGAN estimates global annual isoprene emissions of ~600 Tg isoprene but the results are very sensitive to the driving variables, including temperature, solar radiation, Leaf Area Index, and plant functional type. The annual global emission estimated with MEGAN ranges from about 500 to 750 Tg isoprene depending on the driving variables that are used. Differences in estimated emissions are more than a factor of 3 for specific times and locations. It is difficult to evaluate isoprene emission estimates using the concentration distributions simulated using chemistry and transport models due to the substantial uncertainties in other model components. However, comparison with isoprene emissions estimated from satellite formaldehyde observations indicates reasonable agreement. The sensitivity of isoprene emissions to earth system changes (e.g., climate and landcover) suggests potentially large changes in future emissions. Using temperature distributions simulated by global climate models for year 2100, MEGAN estimates that isoprene emissions increase by more than a factor of two. This is considerably greater than previous estimates and additional observations are needed to evaluate and improve the methods used to predict future isoprene emissions.


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