The challenges of reducing greenhouse gas emissions and air pollution through energy sources: evidence from a panel of developed countries

The objective of the study is to investigate the long-run relationship between climatic factors (i.e., greenhouse gas emissions, agricultural methane emissions, and industrial nitrous oxide emission), air pollution (i.e., carbon dioxide emissions), and energy sources (i.e., nuclear energy; oil, gas, and coal energy; and fossil fuel energy) in the panel of 35 developed countries (including EU-15, new EU member states, G-7, and other countries) over a period of 1975–2012. In order to achieve this objective, the present study uses sophisticated panel econometric techniques including panel cointegration, panel fully modified OLS (FMOLS), and dynamic OLS (DOLS). The results show that there is a long-run relationship between the variables. Nuclear energy reduces greenhouse gases and carbon emissions; however, the other emissions, i.e., agricultural methane emissions and industrial nitrous oxide, are still to increase during the study period. Electricity production from oil, gas, and coal sources increases the greenhouse gases and carbon emissions; however, the intensity to increase emissions is far less than the intensity to increase emissions through fossil fuel. Policies that reduce emissions of greenhouse gases can simultaneously alter emissions of conventional pollutants that have deleterious effects on human health and the environment.     

Integrated management of ash from industrial and domestic combustion: a new sustainable approach for reducing greenhouse gas emissions from energy conversion

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - This work supports, for the first time, the integrated management of waste materials arising from industrial processes (fly ash from municipal solid...     

The comparison of fossil carbon fraction and greenhouse gas emissions through an analysis of exhaust gases from urban solid waste incineration facilities

In this study, in order to understand accurate calculation of greenhouse gas emissions of urban solid waste incineration facilities, which are major waste incineration facilities, and problems likely to occur at this time, emissions were calculated by classifying calculation methods into 3 types. For the comparison of calculation methods, the waste characteristics ratio, dry substance content by waste characteristics, carbon content in dry substance, and ¹²C content were analyzed; and in particular, CO₂ concentration in incineration gases and ¹²C content were analyzed together. In this study, 3 types of calculation methods were made through the assay value, and by using each calculation method, emissions of urban solid waste incineration facilities were calculated then compared. As a result of comparison, with Calculation Method A, which used the default value as presented in the IPCC guidelines, greenhouse gas emissions were calculated for the urban solid waste incineration facilities A and B at 244.43 ton CO₂/day and 322.09 ton CO₂/day, respectively. Hence, it showed a lot of difference from Calculation Methods B and C, which used the assay value of this study. It is determined that this was because the default value as presented in IPCC, as the world average value, could not reflect the characteristics of urban solid waste incineration facilities. Calculation Method B indicated 163.31 ton CO₂/day and 230.34 ton CO₂/day respectively for the urban solid waste incineration facilities A and B; also, Calculation Method C indicated 151.79 ton CO₂/day and 218.99 ton CO₂/day, respectively.

Implications: This study intends to compare greenhouse gas emissions calculated using ¹²C content default value provided by the IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) with greenhouse gas emissions calculated using ¹²C content and waste assay value that can reflect the characteristics of the target urban solid waste incineration facilities. Also, the concentration and ¹²C content were calculated by directly collecting incineration gases of the target urban solid waste incineration facilities, and greenhouse gas emissions of the target urban solid waste incineration facilities through this survey were compared with greenhouse gas emissions, which used the previously calculated assay value of solid waste.     

The impact of municipal solid waste management on greenhouse gas emissions in the United States

Technological advancements, environmental regulations, and emphasis on resource conservation and recovery have greatly reduced the environmental impacts of municipal solid waste (MSW) management, including emissions of greenhouse gases (GHGs). This study was conducted using a life-cycle methodology to track changes in GHG emissions during the past 25 years from the management of MSW in the United States. For the baseline year of 1974, MSW management consisted of limited recycling, combustion without energy recovery, and landfilling without gas collection or control. This was compared with data for 1980, 1990, and 1997, accounting for changes in MSW quantity, composition, management practices, and technology. Over time, the United States has moved toward increased recycling, composting, combustion (with energy recovery) and landfilling with gas recovery, control, and utilization. These changes were accounted for with historical data on MSW composition, quantities, management practices, and technological changes. Included in the analysis were the benefits of materials recycling and energy recovery to the extent that these displace virgin raw materials and fossil fuel electricity production, respectively. Carbon sinks associated with MSW management also were addressed. The results indicate that the MSW management actions taken by U.S. communities have significantly reduced potential GHG emissions despite an almost 2-fold increase in waste generation. GHG emissions from MSW management were estimated to be 36 million metric tons carbon equivalents (MMTCE) in 1974 and 8 MMTCE in 1997. If MSW were being managed today as it was in 1974, GHG emissions would be approximately 60 MMTCE.     

Trends and research features on greenhouse gas emissions from rice production: review based on bibliometric analysis

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Greenhouse gas from rice production has become a great concern and the focus of a lot of research in recent years. The main aim of the study was to...     

Preliminary investigation of greenhouse gas emissions from the environmental sector in Taiwan

The United Nations Framework Conventions on Climate Change (UNFCCC) asks their Parties to submit a National Inventory Report (NIR) for greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions on an annual basis. However, when many countries are quickly growing their economy, resulting in substantial GHG emissions, their inventory reporting systems either have not been established or been able to be linked to planning of mitigation measures at national administration levels. The present research was aimed to quantify the GHG emissions from an environmental sector in Taiwan and also to establish a linkage between the developed inventories and development of mitigation plans. The "environmental sector" consists of public service under jurisdiction of the Taiwan Environmental Protection Administration: landfilling, composting, waste transportation, wastewater treatment, night soil treatment, and solid waste incineration. The preliminary results were compared with that of the United States, Germany, Japan, United Kingdom, and Korea, considering the gaps in the scopes of the sectors. The GHG emissions from the Taiwanese environmental sector were mostly estimated by following the default methodology in the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change guideline, except that of night soil treatment and waste transportation that were modified or newly developed. The GHG emissions from the environmental sectors in 2004 were 10,225 kilotons of CO2 equivalent (kt CO2 Eq.). Landfilling (48.86%), solid waste incineration (27%), and wastewater treatment (21.5%) were the major contributors. Methane was the most significant GHG (70.6%), followed by carbon dioxide (27.8%) and nitrous oxide (1.6%). In summary, the GHG emissions estimated for the environmental sector in Taiwan provided reasonable preliminary results that were consistent and comparable with the existing authorized data. On the basis of the inventory results and the comparisons with the other countries, recommendations of mitigation plans were made, including wastewater and solid waste recycling, methane recovery for energy, and waste reduction/sorting.     

Nitrogen nutrition in cotton and control strategies for greenhouse gas emissions: a review

Cotton (Gossypium hirustum L.) is grown globally as a major source of natural fiber. Nitrogen (N) management is cumbersome in cotton production systems; it has more impacts on yield, maturity, and lint quality of a cotton crop than other primary plant nutrient. Application and production of N fertilizers consume large amounts of energy, and excess application can cause environmental concerns, i.e., nitrate in ground water, and the production of nitrous oxide a highly potent greenhouse gas (GHG) to the atmosphere, which is a global concern. Therefore, improving nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) of cotton plant is critical in this context. Slow-release fertilizers (e.g., polymer-coated urea) have the potential to increase cotton yield and reduce environmental pollution due to more efficient use of nutrients. Limited literature is available on the mitigation of GHG emissions for cotton production. Therefore, this review focuses on the role of N fertilization, in cotton growth and GHG emission management strategies, and will assess, justify, and organize the researchable priorities. Nitrate and ammonium nitrogen are essential nutrients for successful crop production. Ammonia (NH₃) is a central intermediate in plant N metabolism. NH₃ is assimilated in cotton by the mediation of glutamine synthetase, glutamine (z-) oxoglutarate amino-transferase enzyme systems in two steps: the first step requires adenosine triphosphate (ATP) to add NH₃ to glutamate to form glutamine (Gln), and the second step transfers the NH₃ from glutamine (Gln) to α-ketoglutarate to form two glutamates. Once NH₃ has been incorporated into glutamate, it can be transferred to other carbon skeletons by various transaminases to form additional amino acids. The glutamate and glutamine formed can rapidly be used for the synthesis of low-molecular-weight organic N compounds (LMWONCs) such as amides, amino acids, ureides, amines, and peptides that are further synthesized into high-molecular-weight organic N compounds (HMWONCs) such as proteins and nucleic acids.     

PCDD/Fs and PCBs in butter samples from new European Union member states and a candidate country: analytical quality control, results and certain PCB-specific aspects

Milk and milk products have shown to be good indicator samples for the contamination of persistent organic pollutants (POPs) along the food chain. To gather information on whether exposure to dioxins and PCBs might cause a problem in countries about to join the European Union in 2004 or later, a study for evaluation of dioxin and levels of PCBs in 16 butter samples from eight countries (Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Slovenia and Slovakia) was performed. Comprehensive quality assurance/quality control (QA/QC) was requested. For this, eight quality control samples were included (in comparison to long-term mean, mean recovery for WHO-PCDD/F-TEQ of 97.9% with a CV of 3.0%, mean recovery for WHO-PCB-TEQ of 100.4% with a CV of 3.3%). Additionally, all butter samples were run as duplicates resulting in a confidence region of 95% statistical certainty of 4.6% for WHO-PCDD/F-TEQ and of 3.5% for WHO-PCB-TEQ. All samples except one from Romania were in the range of 0.21-0.59 pg WHO-PCDD/F-TEQ/g fat (upper bound), all samples except one from Romania and one from Estonia in the range of 0.32-0.82 pg WHO-PCB-TEQ/g fat (upper bound) and all samples except one from Romania and one from Estonia in the range of 0.57-1.23 pg sum WHO-TEQ/g fat (upper bound). The maximum values were found in samples from Romania (0.98 pg WHO-PCDD/F-TEQ/g fat; 1.75 pg WHO-PCB-TEQ/g fat) and Estonia (0.26 pg WHO-PCDD/F-TEQ/g fat; 1.62 pg WHO-PCB-TEQ/g fat). As a conclusion, all samples except one from Romania and one from Estonia were in the range of the actual low background contamination for PCDD/F and dioxin-like PCBs. The samples with elevated concentrations were below the EU action and maximum levels which have been valid since 2002, or will be applied from November 2006. In all samples except in one from Estonia, the contribution of dioxin-like PCBs to sum WHO-TEQ was 47-68% which reflects the usual range in Europe. In one sample from Estonia this contribution was 86% which points to a particular yet unknown PCB source. Thirty eight PCB congeners were determined allowing a detailed discussion of the relative contribution of individual congeners to the total PCB concentration. Correlation between PCB 153 and WHO-PCB-TEQ varied considerably between samples from different countries. Major tetra- or pentachlorinated mono-ortho PCBs without assigned TEFs were PCBs 60, 66, 74, and 110.     

Organic compound emissions from a landfarm used for oil and gas solid waste disposal

Solid or sludgy hydrocarbon waste is a by-product of oil and gas exploration and production. One commonly used method of disposing of this waste is landfarming. Landfarming involves spreading hydrocarbon waste on soils, tilling it into the soil, and allowing it to biodegrade. We used a dynamic flux chamber to measure fluxes of methane, a suite of 54 nonmethane hydrocarbons, and light alcohols from an active and a remediated landfarm in eastern Utah. Fluxes from the remediated landfarm were not different from a polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) sheet or from undisturbed soils in the region. Fluxes of methane, total nonmethane hydrocarbons, and alcohols from the landfarm in active use were 1.41 (0.37, 4.19) (mean and 95% confidence limits), 197.90 (114.72, 370.46), and 4.17 (0.03, 15.89) mg m^?2 hr^?1, respectively. Hydrocarbon fluxes were dominated by alkanes, especially those with six or more carbons. A 2-ha landfarm with fluxes of the magnitude we observed in this study would emit 95.3 (54.3, 179.7) kg day^?1 of total hydrocarbons, including 11.2 (4.3, 33.9) kg day^?1 of BTEX (benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylenes).

Implications: Solid and sludgy hydrocarbon waste from the oil and gas industry is often disposed of by landfarming, in which wastes are tilled into soil and allowed to decompose. We show that a land farm in Utah emitted a variety of organic compounds into the atmosphere, including hazardous air pollutants and compounds that form ozone. We calculate that a 2-ha landfarm facility would emit 95.0 ± 66.0 kg day^?1 of total hydrocarbons, including 11.1 ± 1.5 kg day^?1 of BTEX (benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylenes).     

The impact of greenhouse gas emissions on the performance of water companies: a dynamic assessment

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - The water industry plays an important role in reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and therefore, moving to a low-carbon urban water cycle is of...     

Interrelationships among foreign direct investments,renewable energy,and CO2 emissions for different European country groups: a panel ARDL approach

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - This study estimated unbalanced panel data analysis to investigate the relationship among CO2 emissions, GDP, renewable and non-renewable energy...     

Effectiveness of renewable energy incentives on sustainability: evidence from dynamic panel data analysis for the EU countries and Turkey

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - We aim at analyzing the influence of incentive policies on renewable energy deployment in European Union countries and Turkey over the 2000–2018...     

Greenhouse gas emissions from the waste sector in Argentina in business-as-usual and mitigation scenarios

The objective of this work was the application of 2006 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Guidelines for the estimation of methane and nitrous oxide emissions from the waste sector in Argentina as a preliminary exercise for greenhouse gas (GHG) inventory development and to compare with previous inventories based on 1996 IPCC Guidelines. Emissions projections to 2030 were evaluated under two scenarios—business as usual (BAU), and mitigation—and the calculations were done by using the ad hoc developed IPCC software. According to local activity data, in the business-as-usual scenario, methane emissions from solid waste disposal will increase by 73% by 2030 with respect to the emissions of year 2000. In the mitigation scenario, based on the recorded trend of methane captured in landfills, a decrease of 50% from the BAU scenario should be achieved by 2030. In the BAU scenario, GHG emissions from domestic wastewater will increase 63% from 2000 to 2030. Methane emissions from industrial wastewater, calculated from activity data of dairy, swine, slaughterhouse, citric, sugar, and wine sectors, will increase by 58% from 2000 to 2030 while methane emissions from domestic will increase 74% in the same period. Results show that GHG emissions calculated from 2006 IPCC Guidelines resulted in lower levels than those reported in previous national inventories for solid waste disposal and domestic wastewater categories, while levels were 18% higher for industrial wastewater.

Implications: The implementation of the 2006 IPCC Guidelines for National Greenhouse Inventories is now considering by the UNFCCC for non-Annex I countries in order to enhance the compilation of inventories based on comparable good practice methods. This work constitutes the first GHG emissions estimation from the waste sector of Argentina applying the 2006 IPCC Guidelines and the ad doc developed software. It will contribute to identifying the main differences between the models applied in the estimation of methane emissions on the key categories of waste emission sources and to comparing results with previous inventories based on 1996 IPCC Guidelines.     

Review of Singapore's air quality and greenhouse gas emissions: current situation and opportunities

Singapore has many environmental accomplishments to its credit. Accessible data on air quality indicates that all criteria pollutants satisfy both U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and World Health Organization (WHO) air quality standards and guidelines, respectively. The exception is PM2.5 (particles with an aerodynamic diameter < or = 2.5 microm), which is not currently considered a criteria pollutant in Singapore but may potentially be the major local air pollution problem and cause for health concern. Levels of other airborne pollutants as well as their physical and chemical processes associated with local formation, transformation, dispersion, and deposition are not known. According to available emission inventories, Singapore contribution to the total atmospheric pollution and carbon budget at the regional and global scales is small. Emissions per unit gross domestic product (GDP) are low compared with other countries, although Singapore's per-capita GDP and per-capita emissions are among the highest in the world. Some information is available on health effects, but the impacts on the ecosystem and the complex interactions of air pollution and climate change at a regional level are also unknown. This article reviews existing available information on atmospheric pollution and greenhouse gas emissions and proposes a multipollutant approach to greenhouse gas mitigation and local air quality. Singapore, by reducing its per-capita emissions, increasing the availability of information (e.g., through regularly publishing hourly and/or daily PM2.5 concentrations) and developing a research agenda in this area, would likely be seen to be a model of a high-density, livable, and sustainable city in Southeast Asia and other tropical regions worldwide.     

Review of Singapore's air quality and greenhouse gas emissions: Current situation and opportunities

Singapore has many environmental accomplishments to its credit. Accessible data on air quality indicates that all criteria pollutants satisfy both U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and World Health Organization (WHO) air quality standards and guidelines, respectively. The exception is PM_2.5 (particles with an aerodynamic diameter ≤2.5 μm), which is not currently considered a criteria pollutant in Singapore but may potentially be the major local air pollution problem and cause for health concern. Levels of other airborne pollutants as well as their physical and chemical processes associated with local formation, transformation, dispersion, and deposition are not known. According to available emission inventories, Singapore's contribution to the total atmospheric pollution and carbon budget at the regional and global scales is small. Emissions per unit gross domestic product (GDP) are low compared with other countries, although Singapore's per-capita GDP and per-capita emissions are among the highest in the world. Some information is available on health effects, but the impacts on the ecosystem and the complex interactions of air pollution and climate change at a regional level are also unknown. This article reviews existing available information on atmospheric pollution and greenhouse gas emissions and proposes a multipollutant approach to greenhouse gas mitigation and local air quality. Singapore, by reducing its per-capita emissions, increasing the availability of information (e.g., through regularly publishing hourly and/or daily PM_2.5 concentrations) and developing a research agenda in this area, would likely be seen to be a model of a high-density, livable, and sustainable city in Southeast Asia and other tropical regions worldwide.

Implications Singapore is widely recognized for its environmental achievements and often cited as a model of a high-density, livable, and sustainable city. This article reviews available information with the aim to provide a reference for future scientific research of strategic relevance for Singapore's air quality and greenhouse gas mitigation management under a multipollutant framework. However, the limited publicly accessible data and little scientific information prevent a comprehensive assessment of the local air quality and greenhouse gas emissions. Singapore's dynamic economy and strong profile in advanced science and technological innovation have the potential to enhance the research agenda in this area, which is not yet well developed in tropical cities.     

Description and application of the EAP computer program for calculating life-cycle energy use and greenhouse gas emissions of household consumption items

Focusing on reduction in energy use and greenhouse gas emissions, a life-cycle-based analysis tool has been developed. The energy analysis program (EAP) is a computer program for determining energy use and greenhouse gas emissions related to household consumption items, using a hybrid calculation method. EAP consists of a number of fill-in screens corresponding to steps in the hybrid method, which in their turn correspond to different stages in life-cycles of consumer goods. The database incorporated in EAP comprises data about energy use and emissions of the main greenhouse gases (CO₂, CH₄and N₂O) concerning materials, economic sectors, means of transport, etc. The use of the program in several projects showed the applicability and usefulness of EAP in research and policy. In this article, EAP is applied to food: French beans as a metaphor for fruit and vegetables.     

Environmental aspect of energy transition and urbanization in the OPEC member states

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - More than any other nations, the crude oil–exporting countries and especially the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) are...     

Modelling the interaction between tourism,energy consumption,pollutant emissions and urbanization: renewed evidence from panel VAR

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - In less than two decades, the global tourism industry has overtaken the construction industry as one of the biggest polluters, accounting for up to 8%...     

Estimating and comparing greenhouse gas emissions with their uncertainties using different methods: A case study for an energy supply utility

Energy supply utilities release significant amounts of greenhouse gases (GHGs) into the atmosphere. It is essential to accurately estimate GHG emissions with their uncertainties, for reducing GHG emissions and mitigating climate change. GHG emissions can be calculated by an activity-based method (i.e., fuel consumption) and continuous emission measurement (CEM). In this study, GHG emissions such as CO₂, CH₄, and N₂O are estimated for a heat generation utility, which uses bituminous coal as fuel, by applying both the activity-based method and CEM. CO₂ emissions by the activity-based method are 12–19% less than that by the CEM, while N₂O and CH₄ emissions by the activity-based method are two orders of magnitude and 60% less than those by the CEM, respectively. Comparing GHG emissions (as CO₂ equivalent) from both methods, total GHG emissions by the activity-based methods are 12–27% lower than that by the CEM, as CO₂ and N₂O emissions are lower than those by the CEM. Results from uncertainty estimation show that uncertainties in the GHG emissions by the activity-based methods range from 3.4% to about 20%, from 67% to 900%, and from about 70% to about 200% for CO₂, N₂O, and CH₄, respectively, while uncertainties in the GHG emissions by the CEM range from 4% to 4.5%. For the activity-based methods, an uncertainty in the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) default net calorific value (NCV) is the major uncertainty contributor to CO₂ emissions, while an uncertainty in the IPCC default emission factor is the major uncertainty contributor to CH₄ and N₂O emissions. For the CEM, an uncertainty in volumetric flow measurement, especially for the distribution of the volumetric flow rate in a stack, is the major uncertainty contributor to all GHG emissions, while uncertainties in concentration measurements contribute a little to uncertainties in the GHG emissions.

Implications:Energy supply utilities contribute a significant portion of the global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. It is important to accurately estimate GHG emissions with their uncertainties for reducing GHG emissions and mitigating climate change. GHG emissions can be estimated by an activity-based method and by continuous emission measurement (CEM), yet little study has been done to calculate GHG emissions with uncertainty analysis. This study estimates GHG emissions and their uncertainties, and also identifies major uncertainty contributors for each method.     

The impact trilemma of energy prices,taxation, and population on industrial and residential greenhouse gas emissions in Europe

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - As a major source of pollution and the cause of climate change, greenhouse gas emissions are attracting the attention of scholars, policymakers, and...