scholarly journals Opinion: Coordinated Development of Emission Inventories for Climate Forcers and Air Pollutants

2022 ◽  
Author(s):  
Steven J. Smith ◽  
Erin E. McDuffie ◽  
Molly Charles
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Ghg Emissions ◽  
Air Pollutant ◽  
Emission Inventories ◽  
Fine Particulates ◽  
Coordinated Development ◽  
Intergovernmental Panel ◽  
Radiative Balance ◽  
Potential Benefits ◽  
Inventory Development

Abstract. Emissions into the atmosphere of fine particulates, their precursors, and precursors to tropospheric ozone, not only impact human health and ecosystems, but also impact the climate by altering Earth’s radiative balance. Accurately quantifying these impacts across local to global scales, historically, and in future scenarios, requires emission inventories that are accurate, transparent, complete, comparable, and consistent. In an effort to better quantify the emissions and impacts of these pollutants, also called short-lived climate forcers (SLCFs), the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) is developing a new SLCF emissions methodology report. This report would supplement existing IPCC reporting guidance on greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions inventories, currently used by inventory compilers to fulfill national reporting requirements under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and new requirements of the Enhanced Transparency Framework (ETF) under the Paris Agreement starting in 2024. We review the relevant issues, including how air pollutant and GHG inventory activities have historically been structured, as well as potential benefits, challenges, and recommendations for coordinating GHG and air pollutant inventory efforts. We argue that while there are potential benefits to increasing coordination between air pollutant and GHG inventory development efforts, we also caution that there are differences in appropriate methodologies and applications that must jointly be considered.

Intergovernmental panel on climate change’s landfill methane protocol: Reviewing 20 years of application

2018 ◽  
Vol 36 (9) ◽  
pp. 827-840 ◽  
Author(s):  
Max J Krause
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Organic Carbon ◽  
Landfill Gas ◽  
Emission Inventories ◽  
Field Validation ◽  
Intergovernmental Panel ◽  
Site Specific ◽  
Methane Generation ◽  
National Estimates ◽  
Practical Tool

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) protocol for predicting national methane emission inventories from landfills was published 22 years ago in the 1996 Revised Guidelines. There currently exists a broad dataset to review landfill parameters and reported values and their appropriateness in use and application in a range of site-specific, regional, and national estimates. Degradable organic carbon (DOC) content was found to range from 0.0105 to 0.65 g C/g waste, with an average of 0.166 g C/g waste. The fraction of DOC that would anaerobically degrade (DOC f) was reported to range from 50–83%, whereas higher and lower values have been experimentally determined for a variety of waste components, such as wood (0–50%) and food waste (50–75%). Where field validation occurred for the methane correction factor, values were substantially lower than defaults. The fraction of methane in anaerobic landfill gas ( F) default of 50% is almost universally applied and is appropriate for cellulosic wastes. The methane generation rate constant ( k) varied widely from 0.01 to 0.51 y−1, representing half-lives from 1 to 69 years. Methane oxidation (OX) default values of 0 and 10% may be valid, but values greater than 30% have been reported for porous covers at managed sites. The IPCC protocol is a practical tool with uncertainties and limitations that must be addressed when used for purposes other than developing inventories.

The case for long-term studies of greenhouse gas emissions

1999 ◽  
Vol 26 (3) ◽  
pp. 166-168 ◽  
Author(s):  
TIM NEWCOMB
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Carbon Dioxide ◽  
Greenhouse Gases ◽  
Greenhouse Gas ◽  
Carbon Dioxide Emissions ◽  
Ghg Emissions ◽  
Industrialized Countries ◽  
Intergovernmental Panel ◽  
Long Term Studies

Many nations have recognized the need to reduce the emissions of greenhouse gases (GHGs). The scientific assessments of climate change of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) support the need to reduce GHG emissions. The 1997 Kyoto Protocol to the 1992 Convention on Climate Change (UNTS 30822) has now been signed by more than 65 countries, although that Protocol has not yet entered into force. Some 14 of the industrialized countries listed in the Protocol face reductions in carbon dioxide emissions of more than 10% compared to projected 1997 carbon dioxide emissions (Najam & Page 1998).

scholarly journals All change for climate change

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tony R Walker
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
New York ◽  
Global Warming ◽  
United Nations ◽  
Circular Economy ◽  
Global Economy ◽  
Ghg Emissions ◽  
Intergovernmental Panel ◽  
Ipcc Report ◽  
Single Use

Governments, corporations and individuals all need to take immediate action to help change the global economy toward a circular economy. A circular economy which uses fewer resources and based on renewable clean technologies to help limit global warming to 1.5 °C. The 2018 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report warned that limiting global warming to 1.5 °C above pre-industrial levels would require current greenhouse-gas (GHG) emissions to be cut in half by 2030. Yet actions by governments, corporations and individuals are lagging behind. Many countries are failing their obligations made under the 2015 Paris climate agreement. Even the International Maritime Organization, a United Nations agency set a 50% reduction target of GHG emissions for global shipping by 2050, but this falls short of the IPCC target by 20 years. The United Nations climate summit in New York this week (September 2019) needs to send a strong wake up call to the entire world for us all to change. Change makers like Greta Thunberg has already done that. Individual actions to change consumer behaviour can play a major role to help reduce GHG emissions. Even reducing use of single-use plastics (a petroleum derivative) and incineration can help reduce GHG emissions. GHG emissions from plastics could reach 15% of the global carbon budget by 2050 if not curbed. In Europe, plastic production and incineration emits an estimated ~400 million tonnes of CO2 per year. Therefore, reducing single-use plastic use could curb GHG emissions.

scholarly journals INTEGRATES ASSESSMENT MODELS (IAMS) APPLIED TO CLIMATRE CHANGE AND ENERGY TRANSITION

10.6036/9922 ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 96 (3) ◽  
pp. 316-321
Author(s):  
IGNACIO DE BLAS ◽  
LUIS JAVIER MIGUEL GONZALEZ ◽  
CARLOS DE CASTRO CARRANZA
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Ghg Emissions ◽  
Energy Transition ◽  
Simulation Models ◽  
Intergovernmental Panel ◽  
Number Of Factors ◽  
Complex Simulation ◽  
Energy Economy ◽  
Mitigate Climate Change ◽  
Complex Relationships

The climate change that is currently occurring is due to the increase in the concentration of greenhouse gases (GHG) in the atmosphere as a result of human activity. The large number of factors and variables that directly or indirectly affect GHG emissions, as well as the multiple and complex relationships between them, makes it difficult to make decisions on the best measures to be adopted to slow down or mitigate climate change and to analyze the consequences that each decision entails. This has led to the development of complex simulation models called Integrated Assessment Models (IAMs) or Energy-Economy-Environment Models (E3 models), with a particular focus on climate change. The development and use of these models to guide policy decisions on climate change has grown very significantly in recent years, as evidenced by the reports of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). This paper is a panoramic review of the main existing IAMs and analyzes their main characteristics. The paper focuses especially on the analysis of the limitations of the current IAMs, which should mark the future developments of these tools.

scholarly journals Assessing Carbon Pools in Dipterocarp Forests of Peninsular Malaysia

2015 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 214-221
Author(s):  
Hamdan Omar ◽  
Norsheilla Mohd Johan Chuah ◽  
Ismail Parlan ◽  
Abdul Khalim Abu Samah
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Forest Cover ◽  
Carbon Sink ◽  
Ghg Emissions ◽  
Peninsular Malaysia ◽  
Carbon Pools ◽  
Intergovernmental Panel ◽  
Flux Dynamics ◽  
Ground Biomass ◽  
Dipterocarp Forests

Modification and loss of forests due to natural and anthropogenic disturbances contribute an estimated 20% of annual greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions worldwide. Accounting GHG emissions associated with forestry, specifically, and land use generally is crucial in recent days because forests play major roles in balancing terrestrial carbon and contribute to the mitigation of global warming and climate change. Consequent to the awareness of climate change, reducing emission from deforestation and forest degradation, and conservation (REDD+) programmed was introduced at the international level to promote forest conservation and enhance forest governances. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) came out with protocols on how to account the carbonstored and released from the forests. Principally there are five primary carbon pools in a forest, which are above-ground biomass, below-ground biomass, deadwood, litter, and soils that accumulate and in some conditions release carbon. However, about 98% of carbon stored in a forest comprises trees components (aboveground and belowground living biomass, deadwood and litters) and the remaining is stored in soils. Many factors interact to affect the flux dynamics of these carbon pools, including the type of forest ecosystem, the age of the forest, and if harvested, the length of stand rotation cycles and the forestry practices used. Logging these forests, in a sense, represents an opportunity cost, as the time necessary for a harvested forest to regain its carbon sink capacity can take many decades, and if left undisturbed, would have gone on to expand its carbon pool or at least remain in constant over time. In this study, the lowland dipterocarp forest, where logging often takes place, is profiled in terms of biomass carbon. Pahang, which has the largest forest cover and biggest timber production in Peninsular Malaysia, was selected as the study area. The dipterocarp forests comprise both protection and production functions were categorized into strata based on year elapsed after logging (i.e. logged 1-10, 11-20, 21-30, and > 30 years). Measurements have been conducted on the ground and all the carbon pools in these strata were assessed. The study found significant differences between each stratum in terms of carbon and the results are presented in this paper. The effects of harvesting practices on carbon pools are also discussed.

scholarly journals Updated Global Fuel Exploitation Inventory (GFEI) for methane emissions from the oil, gas, and coal sectors: evaluation with inversions of atmospheric methane observations

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tia R. Scarpelli ◽  
Daniel J. Jacob ◽  
Shayna Grossman ◽  
Xiao Lu ◽  
Zhen Qu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Methane Emissions ◽  
Emission Inventories ◽  
Atmospheric Methane ◽  
Intergovernmental Panel ◽  
Gas Emissions ◽  
The Us ◽  
Prior Estimate ◽  
Future Evaluation ◽  
Oil Gas

Abstract. We present an updated version of the Global Fuel Exploitation Inventory (GFEI) for methane emissions and evaluate it with results from global inversions of atmospheric methane observations from satellite (GOSAT) and in situ platforms (GLOBALVIEWplus). GFEI allocates methane emissions from oil, gas, and coal sectors and subsectors to a 0.1° × 0.1° grid by using the national emissions reported by individual countries to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and mapping them to infrastructure locations. Our updated GFEI v2 gives annual emissions for 2010–2019 that incorporate the most recent UNFCCC national reports, new oil/gas well locations, and improved spatial distribution of emissions for Canada, Mexico, and China. Russia's oil/gas emissions decrease by 83 % in its latest UNFCCC report while Nigerian emissions increase sevenfold, reflecting changes in assumed emission factors. Global gas emissions in GFEI v2 show little net change from 2010 to 2019 while oil emissions decrease and coal emissions slightly increase. Global emissions in GFEI v2 are lower than the EDGAR v6 and IEA inventories for all sectors though there is considerable variability in the comparison for individual countries. GFEI v2 estimates higher emissions by country than the Climate TRACE inventory with notable exceptions in Russia, the US, and the Middle East. Inversion results using GFEI as a prior estimate confirm the lower Russian emissions in the latest UNFCCC report but Nigerian emissions are too high. Oil/gas emissions are generally underestimated by the national inventories for the highest emitting countries including the US, Venezuela, Uzbekistan, Canada, and Turkmenistan. Offshore emissions in GFEI tend to be overestimated. Our updated GFEI v2 provides a platform for future evaluation of national emission inventories reported to the UNFCCC using the newer generation of satellite instruments such as TROPOMI with improved coverage and spatial resolution. It responds to recent aspirations of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) to integrate top-down and bottom-up information into the construction of national emission inventories.

The impact of climate change on electricity demand in Australia

2018 ◽  
Vol 29 (7) ◽  
pp. 1263-1297 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nnaemeka Vincent Emodi ◽  
Taha Chaiechi ◽  
ABM Rabiul Alam Beg
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Peak Load ◽  
Electricity Consumption ◽  
Electricity Demand ◽  
Policy Uncertainty ◽  
Intergovernmental Panel ◽  
Distributed Lag ◽  
Potential Benefits ◽  
The Impact

This study estimates the short- and long-term impacts of climate change on electricity demand in Australia. We used an autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) model with monthly data from 1999 to 2014 for six Australian states and one territory. The results reveal significant variations in electricity demand. We then used long-term coefficients for climatic response to simulate future electricity demand using four scenarios based on the representative concentration pathways (RCPs) of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). Our results show a gradual increase in electricity consumption due to warmer temperatures with the possibility of peak demand in winter; however, demand tends to decrease in the middle of the twenty-first century across the RCPs, while the summer peak load increases by the end of the century. Finally, we simulated the impact of policy uncertainty through sensitivity analysis and confirmed the potential benefits of climate change adaptation and mitigation.

scholarly journals Sources of Greenhouse Gas Emissions in Agriculture, with Particular Emphasis on Emissions from Energy Used

Energies ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (13) ◽  
pp. 3784
Author(s):  
Piotr Gołasa ◽  
Marcin Wysokiński ◽  
Wioletta Bieńkowska-Gołasa ◽  
Piotr Gradziuk ◽  
Magdalena Golonko ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ◽  
Greenhouse Gas ◽  
Energy Use ◽  
Ghg Emissions ◽  
Farm Income ◽  
Minor Importance ◽  
Intergovernmental Panel ◽  
Gas Emissions ◽  
Emission Volume

The relationship between agriculture and climate change is two-sided. Agriculture is the branch of the economy most affected by the ongoing processes. It is also a large emitter of greenhouse gases and there are more and more voices about the need to reduce emissions. The purpose of the study was, based on FADN (Farm Accountancy Data Network) data, to determine the structure of greenhouse gas emissions in farms and to identify types of farms where it is possible to reduce GHG (greenhouse gas) emissions through better energy use. The emission volume was determined on the basis of the IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) methodology modified for the FADN data. The emissions related to the production of energy were found to be of minor importance compared to other emission sources. Only in the horticultural crop type is the emission from the Energy section the dominant stream of GHG emission. The greatest emissions come from livestock production. Therefore, the emphasis on reducing emissions should not be placed on the Energy sector because, except for the type of horticultural farm, there is not much potential for reduction. The introduction of taxes for GHG emissions at the level of 27.31 EUR/t would reduce farm income from 21% for the type of field crops to 40% for the type of herbivorous animals. The exception is low-emission permanent crops, where the decrease in income would be only 3.85%.

scholarly journals THE CONTRIBUTION OF ROMANIA TO CLIMATE CHANGE – THE EFFECTS OF ACCOUNTING THE GHG EMISSIONS FROM LAND USE, LAND-USE CHANGE AND FORESTRY (LULUCF)

2021 ◽  
Vol 24 (1) ◽  
pp. 5-20
Author(s):  
Ramona Ionela Zgavarogea ◽  
Mihaela Iordache ◽  
Andreea Maria Iordache ◽  
Marius Constantinescu ◽  
Felicia Bucura ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Land Use ◽  
Good Practice ◽  
National Level ◽  
Ghg Emissions ◽  
Positive Trend ◽  
Intergovernmental Panel ◽  
Mk Test ◽  
Increasing Trend ◽  
The Eu

This study aimed to analyze Romanian (RO) involvement in the LULUCF sector by considering the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) good practice guidance (GPG). Trends were assessed using the Mann-Kendall (MK) test for trend estimation to determine the total greenhouse gas (GHG) (GHGCO₂-eq.) emissions/ removals. The results emphasized the increasing average annual levels of emissions/removals in both the EU-28 and RO when the subperiods from 1990-2005 and 2005-2017 were analyzed. Kendall’s analysis of GHG removal showed a positive trend in Romanian GHG removals, and no trend was observed for the EU-28. In comparison, the emissions indicated an increasing trend for RO and a decreasing trend for the EU-28. The GHGCO₂-eq. generated by the LULUCF sector decreased to an average annual rate of 0.5% per year in the EU-28. In Romania, these emissions increased by approximately 0.2% per year on average. Between 1990 and 2017, the CO2 total absorption increased to 0.9% per year. The methane absorption also increased by 11.7% per year, and no significant increasing trend was observed for methane. The dynamics of GHGCO₂-eq. emissions/removals in RO and LULUCF sectors showed that settlement had decreased in wetlands, and settlement of other land areas had increased. Assessing GHG gas emissions is essential for allowing each sector to promote specific strategies, policies and action plans. This will improve the national-level monitoring of the LULUCF sector and make this information more accessible to decision makers by raising awareness of the Romanian position within the EU-28

scholarly journals All change for climate change

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tony R Walker
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
New York ◽  
Global Warming ◽  
United Nations ◽  
Circular Economy ◽  
Global Economy ◽  
Ghg Emissions ◽  
Intergovernmental Panel ◽  
Ipcc Report ◽  
Single Use

Governments, corporations and individuals all need to take immediate action to help change the global economy toward a circular economy. A circular economy which uses fewer resources and based on renewable clean technologies to help limit global warming to 1.5 °C. The 2018 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report warned that limiting global warming to 1.5 °C above pre-industrial levels would require current greenhouse-gas (GHG) emissions to be cut in half by 2030. Yet actions by governments, corporations and individuals are lagging behind. Many countries are failing their obligations made under the 2015 Paris climate agreement. Even the International Maritime Organization, a United Nations agency set a 50% reduction target of GHG emissions for global shipping by 2050, but this falls short of the IPCC target by 20 years. The United Nations climate summit in New York this week (September 2019) needs to send a strong wake up call to the entire world for us all to change. Change makers like Greta Thunberg has already done that. Individual actions to change consumer behaviour can play a major role to help reduce GHG emissions. Even reducing use of single-use plastics (a petroleum derivative) and incineration can help reduce GHG emissions. GHG emissions from plastics could reach 15% of the global carbon budget by 2050 if not curbed. In Europe, plastic production and incineration emits an estimated ~400 million tonnes of CO2 per year. Therefore, reducing single-use plastic use could curb GHG emissions.

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