Does the EU ETS cause carbon leakage in European manufacturing?

Carbon leakage is of interest in both academic and policy debates about the effectiveness of unilateral climate policy, especially in Europe, where the EU Emissions Trading System (EU ETS) affects many traded sectors. We review how the literature identifies leakage and the pollution haven effect. We then evaluate whether EU ETS emission costs caused carbon leakage in European manufacturing, using trade flows in embodied carbon and value from the Global Trade Analysis Project (GTAP). We find no evidence that the EU ETS caused carbon leakage.     

Brown backstops versus the green paradox

Anticipated climate policies are ineffective when fossil fuel owners respond by shifting supply intertemporally (the green paradox). This mechanism relies crucially on the exhaustibility of fossil fuels. We analyze the effect of anticipated climate policies on emissions in a simple model with two fossil fuels: one scarce and dirty (e.g. oil), the other abundant and dirtier (e.g. coal). We derive conditions for a ‘green orthodox’: anticipated climate policies may reduce current emissions. The model can also be used to analyze spatial carbon leakage. Calibrations suggest that intertemporal carbon leakage (from 0% to 8%) is a relatively minor concern.     

Moving policy and regulation forward for single-use plastic alternatives

Single-use plastics are often used once or cannot be reused for extended periods. They are widely consumed with the rapid development of social economy. The waste generated by single-use plastics threatens ecosystem health by entering the environment and ultimately restricts sustainable human development. The innovation of sustainable and environmentally friendly single-use plastic alternative materials and the joint participation of governments, enterprises and the public are promising technologies and management approaches that can solve the problem of single-use plastics wastes. The development of single-use plastic alternative products can be promoted fundamentally only by improving relevant legislation and standards, providing differentiated industrial policies, encouraging scientific and technological innovation and expanding public participation.     

Microplastic sources,formation, toxicity and remediation: a review

Microplastic pollution is becoming a major issue for human health due to the recent discovery of microplastics in most ecosystems. Here, we review the sources, formation, occurrence, toxicity and remediation methods of microplastics. We distinguish ocean-based and land-based sources of microplastics. Microplastics have been found in biological samples such as faeces, sputum, saliva, blood and placenta. Cancer, intestinal, pulmonary, cardiovascular, infectious and inflammatory diseases are induced or mediated by microplastics. Microplastic exposure during pregnancy and maternal period is also discussed. Remediation methods include coagulation, membrane bioreactors, sand filtration, adsorption, photocatalytic degradation, electrocoagulation and magnetic separation. Control strategies comprise reducing plastic usage, behavioural change, and using biodegradable plastics. Global plastic production has risen dramatically over the past 70 years to reach 359 million tonnes. China is the world's top producer, contributing 17.5% to global production, while Turkey generates the most plastic waste in the Mediterranean region, at 144 tonnes per day. Microplastics comprise 75% of marine waste, with land-based sources responsible for 80–90% of pollution, while ocean-based sources account for only 10–20%. Microplastics induce toxic effects on humans and animals, such as cytotoxicity, immune response, oxidative stress, barrier attributes, and genotoxicity, even at minimal dosages of 10 μg/mL. Ingestion of microplastics by marine animals results in alterations in gastrointestinal tract physiology, immune system depression, oxidative stress, cytotoxicity, differential gene expression, and growth inhibition. Furthermore, bioaccumulation of microplastics in the tissues of aquatic organisms can have adverse effects on the aquatic ecosystem, with potential transmission of microplastics to humans and birds. Changing individual behaviours and governmental actions, such as implementing bans, taxes, or pricing on plastic carrier bags, has significantly reduced plastic consumption to 8–85% in various countries worldwide. The microplastic minimisation approach follows an upside-down pyramid, starting with prevention, followed by reducing, reusing, recycling, recovering, and ending with disposal as the least preferable option.

     

Individual growth and size-selective mortality of larval turbot (Scophthalmus maximus) reared in enclosures

Larval turbot (Scophthalmus maximus) were reared in a large marine enclosure and in plastic bags in southern Norway. Samples of larvae in the enclosure were taken during the first 12 d of life to estimate individual body growth based on back calculations from daily growth rings on their otoliths. Size selective mortality was documented for these larvae in the predator-free enclosure. Starvation in the laboratory occurred on the seventh day. In the enclosure, a mortality rate of 18.1% d^-1 prevailed. Our data indicates that the survivors beyond the starvation period are larger by 0.18 mm on average. This result is important with regard to the question of whether starvation is an important mechanism for larval mortality in the sea. A possible means of estimating the relative effects of starvation versus predation based on these results and the backcalculation technique is suggested.     

Microclimate effects of wind farms on local crop yields

This paper considers a novel spillover effect of wind farms - microclimate impacts on neighboring crop yields. Using US county-level crop and wind capacity data, I examine the effects of wind energy development on crop yields, controlling for time-invariant county characteristics and state-level annual shocks. I find robust evidence that counties with increased wind power development have also experienced increased corn and other crop yields, such that an additional 100 MW of wind capacity increases county yields by roughly 1%. At recent prices, this implies a more than $5 dollar per megawatt-hour local benefit, corresponding to several hundred million dollars in annual benefits.     

Development of north sea coastal plankton communities in separate plastic bags under identical conditions

In two experiments lasting 4 to 6 weeks, communities of North Sea coastal plankton kept in separate plastic bags (of about 1400 l) and exposed to the same environmental conditions showed very similar patterns of growth and decline. This result means that the method is suitable for the evaluation of toxic effects of environmental pollutants at low concentrations on complex plankton systems. The phytoplankton in the bags produced a succession of blooms, which were probably limited by shortage of nutrients. The dominant zooplankton organisms were various species of copepods which can develop in the bags from egg to adult. Strong indications were found that mineralization of organic matter occurs in the bags. Chemical parameters and phytoplankton biomass were found not to be stratified, indicating that the contents of the bags were well mixed.Work carried out under Contract No. 110-75-1 ENVN of the E.C. Environmental Research Programme.     

Studies on the pathways and effects of cadmium in controlled ecosystem encolosures

Two experiments were performed during 1975 and 1976, in which cadmium was added to seawater and its plankton enclosed in plastic containers moored in Saanich Inlet (Vancouver Island, Canada), as part of the CEPEX project. In both experiments, two enclosures (ca. 68 m³ each) were used; one was spiked with about 1.3 g l^-1 cadmium, while the other served as a control, to assess the fate of the added metal and its effect on marine phytoplankton. In both experiments, the pattern of biological events was found to be very similar for the cadmium-treated bag and for the control. Furthermore, there were no marked differences in the phytoplankton species composition, thus indicating that at this concentration level cadmium did not affect the ecosystem. The rate of removal of cadmium by biological processes was relatively slow. The fraction of metal accumulated (for 2 and 4 weeks, respectively) in the settling material was less than 1% for the cadmium-treated bags. Experiments on the mechanism of cadmium binding indicated that the major part of the particulate metla is loosely bound to the outer cell membranes.     

Assessment on contaminations in sediments of an intake and the inflow canals in Taihu Lake,China

As the second largest freshwater lake in China, Taihu Lake provides water supply to approximately 32 million inhabitants around the lake. However, dramatically increased pollution has threatened the safety of drinking water supply in recent years. In the present study, we investigated the contaminations of nutrients and heavy metals in the sediments of an intake and inflow canals in Gonghu Bay, Taihu Lake. Moreover, we also examined the impact of human activities on spatial distribution characteristics of contaminations. Our results showed that the intake presented relatively lower concentrations of phosphorus and nitrogen compared with inflow canals. However, the concentrations of Cr, Ni, Cu, Zn and Pb in the sediments of the intake exceeded the lowest effect level (LEL) values, indicating a potential risk to drinking water resource. In addition, the concentrations of Ni in the sediments of Tianji Canal and Jinshu Canal exceeded the severe effect level (SEL) value. More importantly, the concentrations of Cu in the sediments of Tianji Canal exceeded three times of the SEL value. Multivariate statistical analysis confirmed that the domestic sewage primarily contributed to the nutrient accumulation, and the leakage of electronic trash dominated the enrichment of metals in the sediments. Taken together, more effort should be made to ensure the security of water resources in Taihu Lake, especially for the treatment of domestic sewage and industrial wastewater.     

Energetics of Euphausia pacifica. II. Complete carbon and nitrogen budgets at 8° and 12° C throughout the life span

Complete carbon and nitrogen budgets at 8° and 12° C over the life span of Euphausia pacifica were constructed from data published in the foregoing publication. The relative magnitudes of physiological functions such as metabolism and growth for the different life history stages were compared. The carbon net growth efficiency (NGE) for E. pacifica increased to a maximum of 60 to 74% at Calyptopis 3 (a larval stage) and then decreased rapidly to a level of 10 to 12% for adults. The cumulative amount of assimilated carbon or nitrogen in reproductive products was equal to that in growth. The cumulative net production efficiency (tissue plus molts plus reproductive products) is 24 to 29%, and is slightly higher for nitrogen than for carbon. For juveniles and adults, the largest proportion (40 to 65%) of assimilated material is used in metabolism, and is about 10% higher at 8° than 12° C. The difference between measured and predicted ingestion (the sum of metabolism, leakage, defecation, growth, molting and reproduction) probably results from poorly understood aspects of zooplankton physiology (e.g. the effect of body weight on leakage). Nitrogen budgets at 8° C for furcilia bulanced the best, with deviations of less than 10%. In general, predicted ingestion was increasingly less than measured ingestion as body weight and temperature increased. Possible omissions or errors in assumptions or methods that may cause the imbalances are discussed.     

Negotiating housing deal on a polluted day: Consequences and possible explanations

The topic of air pollution has drawn considerable attention globally. In this paper, we examine the immediate effect of air pollution on a substantial decision, that is, a housing purchase. By linking housing purchasing behavior with the air quality in Beijing, we document market participants' behaviors unexplained by rational economic theories. Our main result suggests that the transaction prices on a severely polluted day are 0.65% higher than those of the days without pollution, other things being equal. This translates into approximately 3.51 million yuan daily increase based on the average transaction volume and price on a typical day in Beijing. The heterogeneity analysis further suggests that this effect is mostly driven by non-local and low income buyers. After ruling out rational explanations, we demonstrate that our empirical results are consistent with salience theory under weak assumptions.     

Market equilibrium and welfare effects of a fuel tax in China: The impact of consumers' response through driving patterns

We investigate the market equilibrium and welfare effects of a fuel tax in China relative to an alternative policy instrument that rations the number of new automobile sales through auctioned quotas. Unlike those of previous studies, our modeling approach incorporates both household car purchase and utilization decisions, the latter of which have been ignored in previous studies on China's fuel tax. Ignoring this margin of choice will underestimate the fuel tax's ability to mitigate externalities. Using detailed household-level panel data and a fixed effects econometric specification, we estimate the fuel price elasticity of vehicle miles traveled is −0.59 on average. The results of the counterfactual analysis suggest that a 51% increase in tax-inclusive gasoline prices will reduce car sales by 24.9% but increase social welfare to a degree that depends on vehicles' lifetime. We find that compared to auctioned quotas, the fuel tax results in greater car sales but higher social welfare.     

The impact of flooding on property prices: A repeat-sales approach

In this paper we use a repeat-sales model to analyse the price path of properties affected by flooding in England between 1995 and 2014. Our dataset contains information on 4.8 million houses with at least one repeat-sale. This database is merged with high-definition GIS data delineating the spatial extent of all recorded flood incidents in England covering a total area of 2,654 km². Our results show that immediately after a flood event the price of property in a postcode entirely inundated by inland flooding is on average 24.9% lower than non-flooded property, whereas for property in a postcode entirely inundated by coastal flooding the price reduction is 21.1%. Nonetheless, we find that this discount is short-lived and the discount is no longer statistically significant for properties affected by inland flooding after 5 years, which falls to just 4 years for properties affected by coastal flooding. For lower-priced properties however, the post-flood price discount can be observed up to 6–7 years for both inland and coastal flooding. The magnitude of the impact also depends on the characteristics of the properties, the characteristics of the flood and the existence of flood protection assets.     

A decision framework for estimating the cost of marine plastic pollution interventions

Marine plastic pollution has emerged as one of the most pressing environmental challenges of our time. Although there has been a surge in global investment for implementing interventions to mitigate plastic pollution, there has been little attention given to the cost of these interventions. We developed a decision support framework to identify the economic, social, and ecological costs and benefits of plastic pollution interventions for different sectors and stakeholders. We calculated net cost as a function of six cost and benefit categories with the following equation: cost of implementing an intervention (direct, indirect, and nonmonetary costs) minus recovered costs and benefits (monetary and nonmonetary) produced by the interventions. We applied our framework to two quantitative case studies (a solid waste management plan and a trash interceptor) and four comparative case studies, evaluating the costs of beach cleanups and waste-to-energy plants in various contexts, to identify factors that influence the costs of plastic pollution interventions. The socioeconomic context of implementation, the spatial scale of implementation, and the time scale of evaluation all influence costs and the distribution of costs across stakeholders. Our framework provides an approach to estimate and compare the costs of a range of interventions across sociopolitical and economic contexts.     

A synthesis of current knowledge on forests and carbon storage in the United States

Using forests to mitigate climate change has gained much interest in science and policy discussions. We examine the evidence for carbon benefits, environmental and monetary costs, risks and trade-offs for a variety of activities in three general strategies: (1) land use change to increase forest area (afforestation) and avoid deforestation; (2) carbon management in existing forests; and (3) the use of wood as biomass energy, in place of other building materials, or in wood products for carbon storage. We found that many strategies can increase forest sector carbon mitigation above the current 162-256 Tg C/yr, and that many strategies have co-benefits such as biodiversity, water, and economic opportunities. Each strategy also has trade-offs, risks, and uncertainties including possible leakage, permanence, disturbances, and climate change effects. Because approximately 60% of the carbon lost through deforestation and harvesting from 1700 to 1935 has not yet been recovered and because some strategies store carbon in forest products or use biomass energy, the biological potential for forest sector carbon mitigation is large. Several studies suggest that using these strategies could offset as much as 10-20% of current U.S. fossil fuel emissions. To obtain such large offsets in the United States would require a combination of afforesting up to one-third of cropland or pastureland, using the equivalent of about one-half of the gross annual forest growth for biomass energy, or implementing more intensive management to increase forest growth on one-third of forestland. Such large offsets would require substantial trade-offs, such as lower agricultural production and non-carbon ecosystem services from forests. The effectiveness of activities could be diluted by negative leakage effects and increasing disturbance regimes. Because forest carbon loss contributes to increasing climate risk and because climate change may impede regeneration following disturbance, avoiding deforestation and promoting regeneration after disturbance should receive high priority as policy considerations. Policies to encourage programs or projects that influence forest carbon sequestration and offset fossil fuel emissions should also consider major items such as leakage, the cyclical nature of forest growth and regrowth, and the extensive demand for and movement of forest products globally, and other greenhouse gas effects, such as methane and nitrous oxide emissions, and recognize other environmental benefits of forests, such as biodiversity, nutrient management, and watershed protection. Activities that contribute to helping forests adapt to the effects of climate change, and which also complement forest carbon storage strategies, would be prudent.     

Distribution and sources of phthalate esters in the topsoils of Beijing,China

Phthalate esters in the topsoil samples collected from Beijing were determined by derivatization and gas chromatography–mass spectrometry techniques. The results showed that diethyl phthalate (DEP), diisobutyl phthalate ester (DIBP), dibutyl phthalate ester (DBP), dibutyl (2-ethyl hexyl) phthalate (DEHP), and dimethyl phthalate (DMP) were found in the topsoils. The total concentrations of the five phthalate esters varied from 2.30 to 24.71 μg g^?1. According to phthalate esters (PAEs) control standards in soil of the USA, the standard exceeding rates of DMP, DBP, and DEHP were 100 %, 100 %, and 4.84 % in soils of Beijing, respectively. The rate of DBP exceeding soil remediation standard was 12.9 %. Overall, concentrations of PAEs in Beijing were at a high level in China. The concentrations of DBP, DEHP, and DIBP were high, and the total concentrations of all the phthalate esters were higher in the areas with intensive human activities than in the other areas, which may be related to the use of phthalate compounds (such as the use of plastic products). The total and individual concentrations of phthalate compounds were relatively low in the areas that used plastic films compared with other samples due to the diffusion of atmospheric motion, categories, and amounts of plastic products and other factors. The greatest contributor may be the usage amount of plastic products in people’s daily lives.     

河西绿洲灌区玉米秸秆带膜还田腐解特征研究

为探讨河西绿洲灌区玉米秸秆带膜还田时的腐解规律,采用尼龙网袋法,对不同带膜还田模式下玉米秸秆的腐解特征进行研究,旨为当地玉米秸秆还田提供理论依据和技术指导。结果表明：土壤温度是影响当地玉米秸秆腐解的主要因素,经过180 d腐解后,各还田处理秸秆的腐解率均在50%以上,其中翻压处理的腐解率（67.5%～76.0%）高于覆盖处理（50.5%～59.0%）,而且腐解主要发生在还田后的30～120 d。秸秆在还田前期（前60 d）会与作物争夺土壤氮素,但是在还田后期会释放一定氮素,而且翻压和粉碎还田释放的氮素要高于覆盖和整株还田。从秸秆完全腐解的预测时间看,整株半量翻压、整株半量覆盖、粉碎半量翻压、粉碎全量翻压、粉碎半量覆盖和粉碎全量覆盖处理分别需要247、326、212、227、277和299 d才能完全腐解,可见,在河西绿洲灌区实行带膜还田前景广阔,而且翻压优于覆盖,粉碎优于整株,半量优于全量。     

Urban afforestation and infant health: Evidence from MillionTreesNYC

This paper examines the impact of urban afforestation on infant health outcomes by exploiting a quasi-experimental setting where one million new trees were planted in New York City (NYC), but not in counties surrounding NYC over the same time period. Using a near-universal birth record of NYC and surrounding counties over 2004–2015 and employing both the synthetic control method and a difference-in-differences model, we find that an approximately 20% increase in urban forest cover decreased prematurity and low birth weight among mothers in NYC by 2.1 and 0.24 percentage points, respectively, relative to similar mothers outside of NYC. The low birth weight finding is equivalent to getting a mother smoking two cigarettes a day during pregnancy to quit. An internal validity test suggests that changes in the composition of NYC mothers cannot explain the observed effects. Additionally, we find evidence that declines in PM_2.5 concentrations and increases in outdoor walks are potential causal mechanisms. Results suggest that urban afforestation may be able to complement existing policies aimed at improving infant health.     

Effect of enclosure in large plastic bags on diurnal change in oxygen concentration in tropical ocean water

From November 1980 to February 1981 the concentration of oxygen dissolved in the surface mixed layer of the oligotrophic Caribbean Sea off Curaçao was quite constant (420.77±1.98 g at l^-1). However, immediately following enclosure in 4500-1 plastic bags reaching to a depth of 5 m the oxygen concentration began to decrease, down to values below saturation (405 g at l^-1) within 48 h. Autotrophic and heterotrophic nanoplankton cell numbers and algal pigments in bags remained constant or increased slightly during the first 24 h of enclosure. The rate of decrease in oxygen concentration in bags was significantly higher during daylight hours than in the night, which suggests that photo-oxidative processes were involved in the additional daytime loss of oxygen. The dramatic enclosure effect on the oxygen content of the water in the bags can be taken as evidence of the dependence of the oxygen concentration near the tropical ocean's surface on supply from below: in water freely circulating in the euphotic zone deviations from the mean oxygen concentration during a diurnal cycle were 0.47% at most, differential losses near the surface being counteracted through vertical exchange; while in water separated from the rest of the mixed layer in the plastic bags losses due to respiration of the enclosed plankton community plus an even greater loss, assigned to non-biological, photosensitized oxidation processes, were up to 10 g at O₂ l^-1 in 24 h. Although photo-oxidation is confined to the very surface the oxygen flux involved may be important enough to necessitate consideration of a photochemically induced loss factor in oxygen budget calculations, e.g. when primary production is to be estimated from diurnal oxygen curves.