Search results for "Greenhouse gas"

Carbon Footprint Analysis: Towards a Projects Evaluation Model for Promoting Sustainable Development

2013

Abstract Climate change and global warming are internationally recognized as current issues, driving negative effects on humanity, and being mainly caused by GHG emissions generated both from industrial activities, and from other anthropogenic activities. Restoring the ecological balance requires urgent action to reduce GHG emissions. In this respect, the European Union has set the target to reduce the GHG emissions by 20% until 2020, compared to 1990 level. This paper presents a methodology to develop a model for carbon footprint calculation, for assessing and reducing GHG emissions generated by European funds financed projects.

Review of wind tunnel modelling of flow and pollutant dispersion within and from naturally ventilated livestock buildings

2021

[EN] Ammonia emissions from naturally ventilated livestock buildings (NVLBs) pose a serious environmental problem. However, the mechanisms that control these emissions are still not fully understood. One promising method for understanding these mechanisms is physical modelling in wind tunnels. This paper reviews studies that have used this method to investigate flow or pollutant dispersion within or from NVLBs. The review indicates the importance of wind tunnels for understanding the flow and pollutant dispersion processes within and from NVLBs. However, most studies have investigated the flow, while only few studies have focused on pollutant dispersion. Furthermore, only few studies have s…

Horizon scanning the European bio‐based economy: a novel approach to the identification of barriers and key policy interventions from stakeholders in…

2016

There is international recognition that developing a climate-smart bioeconomy is essential to the continuation of economic development, reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, and adaptation to climatic change; Bio-based products have an important role in making this transition happen. Supporting policy interventions have been put forward at European and national levels to support innovation and development of bio-based products and services. This study asks whether suggested policy interventions reflect the needs of stakeholders and examines how these needs vary between European regions. This consultation was performed through an online survey of 447 experts actively involved in bio-based r…

Unintended Effects of Energy Efficiency Policy: Lessons Learned in the Residential Sector

2021

The European Union has set an ambitious goal to tackle climate change, and energy efficiency in the residential sector is among the measures required to close the gap between targeted and actual greenhouse gas emissions. While different policy tools have been applied, the diffusion rate of these measures remains low. A system dynamics simulation model of the residential sector was developed to assess the advantages and drawbacks of energy efficiency policy in the multi-family building sector based on experience accumulated over the last twelve years in Latvia. The model was validated in expert group model building sessions and with historical trends. Simulating the model, a hypothesis was t…

Ensemble reconstruction constraints on the global carbon cycle sensitivity to climate

2010

The processes controlling the carbon flux and carbon storage of the atmosphere, ocean and terrestrial biosphere are temperature sensitive and are likely to provide a positive feedback leading to amplified anthropogenic warming. Owing to this feedback, at timescales ranging from interannual to the 20-100-kyr cycles of Earth's orbital variations, warming of the climate system causes a net release of CO(2) into the atmosphere; this in turn amplifies warming. But the magnitude of the climate sensitivity of the global carbon cycle (termed gamma), and thus of its positive feedback strength, is under debate, giving rise to large uncertainties in global warming projections. Here we quantify the med…

2020

Northern peatlands have accumulated large stocks of organic carbon (C) and nitrogen (N), but their spatial distribution and vulnerability to climate warming remain uncertain. Here, we used machine-learning techniques with extensive peat core data (n > 7,000) to create observation-based maps of northern peatland C and N stocks, and to assess their response to warming and permafrost thaw. We estimate that northern peatlands cover 3.7 ± 0.5 million km2 and store 415 ± 150 Pg C and 10 ± 7 Pg N. Nearly half of the peatland area and peat C stocks are permafrost affected. Using modeled global warming stabilization scenarios (from 1.5 to 6 °C warming), we project that the current sink of atmospheri…

The study of climate change in Primary Education: an exploration from Social Science textbooks in the Valencian Community

2020

El cambio climático constituye uno de los principales desafíos socio-ambientales del actual siglo XXI. El objetivo de esta investigación es analizar los contenidos sobre el cambio climático que proponen los manuales escolares de Educación Primaria de Ciencias Sociales (3er ciclo) en la Comunidad Valenciana (España) atendiendo a: 1) la explicación del fenómeno (causas y consecuencias); y 2) la descripción de los principales gases de efecto invernadero. Los resultados indican que actualmente estos recursos proyectan una imagen excesivamente catastrófica sobre el cambio climático, especialmente por las consecuencias que se aluden (incremento de los fenómenos extremos atmosféricos) y citando co…

Greenhouse Gas Emission Reduction Due to Improvement of Biodegradable Waste Management System

2014

Abstract To reduce emissions of greenhouse gas (GHG) from landfills, the European Union (EU) Landfill Directive 1999/31/EC requires that there be a progressive decrease in the municipal biodegradable waste disposal. The main problem of waste management (WM) in Latvia is its heavy dependence on the waste disposal at landfills. The poorly developed system for the sorted municipal waste collection and the promotion of landfilling as a major treatment option led to the disposal of 84% of the total collected municipal waste in 2012, with a high biodegradable fraction. In Latvia, the volume of emissions due to activities of the WM branch was 5.23% (632.6 CO2 eq.) of the total GHG emissions produc…

From wood pellets to wood chips, risks of degradation and emissions from the storage of woody biomass – A short review

2016

Abstract The compounds in stored woody biomass degrade as a result of chemical and/or biological processes during storage. These processes produce gaseous emissions. Recent studies concerning gaseous emissions from wood pellet storages are reviewed herein. The applicability of the results from pellet research to wood chips is discussed. Thorough scientific understanding on the storage phenomena of wood chips is extremely important as the threat of climate change and the need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions have led to an increased need to large scale wood chip storage to ensure supply. Typically the gases produced from stored woody biomasses are carbon monoxide (CO), carbon dioxide (CO 2…

Measurement methodology for greenhouse gas emissions from storage of forest chips–A review

2015

Abstract Research on greenhouse gas emission related to solid biofuels has focused mainly on the emissions from end use and the production chain. GHG emissions from the storage of forest chips have not received much attention in recent literature. In order for EU emission reduction targets to be fully understood, emissions from solid biofuel storage needs to be better described. Usually emissions from chip piles have been modelled using studies from organic waste composting but these two materials can differ appreciably; for example the C/N-ratio and moisture content. Herein, previous studies on greenhouse gas emissions from forest chips piles during storage are reviewed. The objective is t…