Subsurface Sequestration of CO<Subscript>2</Subscript> in the U.S: Is it Money Best Spent?

The continuously decreasing average coal rank (heating value), inadequate investment, and ever stricter air-emission controls have caused the average efficiency of electricity generation from coal in the U.S. to plummet to a mere 32% by the year 2008. The U.S. gas-fired powerplants are 30% more efficient than the coal-fired ones, with average efficiency of 43% in 2008. Replacing each 1,000 MW _e generated by an average coal-fired powerplant with an average gas-fired powerplant would avoid today 7 million tonnes of CO₂ emissions, 1.2 million tonnes of toxic ash, and significant issues with water contamination. The parallel upgrades to the more efficient supercritical steam turbines would decrease current emissions by up to 50% (from the current average plant efficiency of 32% to over 45%). The CO₂ captured in the new combined-cycle powerplants might be used to enhance oil recovery in local fields, where feasible. The CO₂ enhanced oil recovery (EOR) can never become the main sink for the gigantic CO₂ volume generated each year by electric powerplants. Currently, EOR could absorb only 1% of that volume.     

Assessment and determinants of per capita household CO<Subscript>2</Subscript> emissions (PHCEs) based on capital city level in China

Household CO₂ emissions were increasing due to rapid economic growth and different household lifestyle. We assessed per capita household CO₂ emissions (PHCEs) based on different household consuming demands (including clothing, food, residence, transportation and service) by using provincial capital city level survey data in China. The results showed that: (1) there was a declining trend moving from eastward to westward as well as moving from northward to southward in the distribution of PHCEs. (2) PHCEs from residence demand were the largest which accounted for 44% of the total. (3) Correlation analysis and spatial analysis (Spatial Lag Model (SLM) and Spatial Error Model (SEM)) were used to evaluate the complex determinants of PHCEs. Per capita income (PI) and household size (HS) were analyzed as the key influencing factors. We concluded that PHCEs would increase by 0.2951% and decrease by 0.5114% for every 1% increase in PI and HS, respectively. According to the results, policy-makers should consider household consuming demand, income disparity and household size on the variations of PHCEs. The urgency was to improve technology and change household consuming lifestyle to reduce PHCEs.     

Specific Storage Volumes: A Useful Tool for CO2 Storage Capacity Assessment

Subsurface geologic strata have the potential to store billions of tons of anthropogenic CO₂; therefore, geologic carbon sequestration can be an effective mitigation tool used to slow the rate at which levels of atmospheric CO₂ are increasing. Oil and gas reservoirs, coal beds, and saline reservoirs can be used for CO₂ storage; however, it is difficult to assess and compare the relative storage capacities of these different settings. Typically, CO₂ emissions are reported in units of mass, which are not directly applicable to comparing the CO₂ storage capacities of the various storage targets. However, if the emission values are recalculated to volumes per unit mass (specific volume) then the volumes of geologic reservoirs necessary to store CO₂ emissions from large point sources can be estimated. The factors necessary to convert the mass of CO₂ emissions to geologic storage volume (referred to here as Specific Storage Volume or ‘SSV’) can be reported in units of cubic meters, cubic feet, and petroleum barrels. The SSVs can be used to estimate the reservoir volume needed to store CO₂ produced over the lifetime of an individual point source, and to identify CO₂ storage targets of sufficient size to meet the demand from that given point source. These storage volumes also can then be projected onto the land surface to outline a representative “footprint,” which marks the areal extent of storage. This footprint can be compared with the terrestrial carbon sequestration capacity of the same land area. The overall utility of this application is that the total storage capacity of any given parcel of land (from surface to basement) can be determined, and may assist in making land management decisions.     

Quantitative analysis of the impact factors of conventional energy carbon emissions in Kazakhstan based on LMDI decomposition and STIRPAT model

Quantitative analysis of the impact factors in energy-related CO₂ emissions serves as an important guide for reducing carbon emissions and building an environmentally-friendly society. This paper aims to use LMDI method and a modified STIRPAT model to research the conventional energy-related CO₂ emissions in Kazakhstan after the collapse of the Soviet Union. The results show that the trajectory of CO₂ emissions displayed U-shaped curve from 1992 to 2013. Based on the extended Kaya identity and additive LMDI method, we decomposed total CO₂ emissions into four influencing factors. Of those, the economic active effect is the most influential factor driving CO₂ emissions, which produced 110.86 Mt CO₂ emissions, with a contribution rate of 43.92%. The second driving factor is the population effect, which led to 11.87 Mt CO₂ emissions with a contribution rate of 4.7%. On the contrary, the energy intensity effect is the most inhibiting factor, which caused–110.90 Mt CO₂ emissions with a contribution rate of–43.94%, followed by the energy carbon structure effect resulting in–18.76 Mt CO₂ emissions with a contribution rate of–7.43%. In order to provide an in-depth examination of the change response between energy-related CO₂ emissions and each impact factor, we construct a modified STIRPAT model based on ridge regression estimation. The results indicate that for every 1% increase in population size, economic activity, energy intensity and energy carbon structure, there is a subsequent increase in CO₂ emissions of 3.13%, 0.41%, 0.30% and 0.63%, respectively.     

中国钢铁产品国际贸易流与碳排放跨境转移

控制温室气体排放最终要落实到不同国家、不同行业之间的利益分配和责任分担,尤其是通过国际商品贸易转移的碳排放是在国家间分配排放配额时必须考虑的指标。基于中国钢铁产品国际贸易流的分析表明,中国在国际钢铁产品贸易中处于垂直产业内贸易的低端,中国具有比较优势的钢铁产品多为加工程度低、技术含量低、能源消耗强度大的初级产品。由于我国进出口钢铁产品在附加价值和能源消耗强度方面存在明显的差异,随着中国钢铁产品国际贸易规模的扩大,使大量CO₂排放责任向中国净转移。我国学者应以更加积极的姿态参与到国际谈判、国际规则的制订中,从产品生产者和消费者两个层面合理界定中国在全球温室气体减排中的责任,力争在气候变化国际谈判中确保中国的经济贸易利益。     

Net Energy Payback and CO2 Emissions from Three Midwestern Wind Farms: An Update

This paper updates a life-cycle net energy analysis and carbon dioxide emissions analysis of three Midwestern utility-scale wind systems. Both the Energy Payback Ratio (EPR) and CO₂ analysis results provide useful data for policy discussions regarding an efficient and low-carbon energy mix. The EPR is the amount of electrical energy produced for the lifetime of the power plant divided by the total amount of energy required to procure and transport the materials, build, operate, and decommission the power plants. The CO₂ analysis for each power plant was calculated from the life-cycle energy input data. A previous study also analyzed coal and nuclear fission power plants. At the time of that study, two of the three wind systems had less than a full year of generation data to project the life-cycle energy production. This study updates the analysis of three wind systems with an additional four to eight years of operating data. The EPR for the utility-scale wind systems ranges from a low of 11 for a two-turbine system in Wisconsin to 28 for a 143-turbine system in southwestern Minnesota. The EPR is 11 for coal, 25 for fission with gas centrifuge enriched uranium and 7 for gaseous diffusion enriched uranium. The normalized CO₂ emissions, in tonnes of CO₂ per GW_eh, ranges from 14 to 33 for the wind systems, 974 for coal, and 10 and 34 for nuclear fission using gas centrifuge and gaseous diffusion enriched uranium, respectively.     

Growing up and cleaning up: The environmental Kuznets curve redux

Borrowing from the Kuznets curve literature, researchers have coined the term “environmental Kuznets curve” or EKC to characterize the relationship between pollution levels and income: pollution levels will increase with income but some threshold of income will eventually be reached, beyond which pollution levels will decrease. The link between the original Kuznets curve, which posited a similar relationship between income and inequality, and its pollution-concerned offspring lies primarily with the shape of both curves (an upside-down U) and the central role played by income change. Although the EKC literature has burgeoned over the past several years, few concrete conclusions have been drawn, the main themes of the literature have remained constant, and no consensus has been reached regarding the existence of an environmental Kuznets curve. EKC research has used a variety of types of data and a range of geographical units to examine the effects of income levels on pollution. Changes in pollution levels might also be at least partly explained by countries’ position in the demographic transition and their general population structure, however little research has included this important aspect in the analysis. In addition, few analyses confine themselves to an evaluation for one country of the long-term relationship between income and pollution. Using United States CO₂ emissions as well as demographic, employment, trade and energy price data, this paper seeks to highlight the potential impact of population and economic structure in explaining the relationship between income and pollution levels.     

Potential for Coal-to-Liquids Conversion in the United States—Fischer–Tropsch Synthesis

The United States has the world’s largest coal reserves and Montana the highest potential for mega-mine development. Consequently, a large-scale effort to convert coal to liquids (CTL) has been proposed to create a major source of domestic transportation fuels from coal, and some prominent Montanans want to be at the center of that effort. We calculate that the energy efficiency of the best existing Fischer–Tropsch (FT) process applied to average coal in Montana is less than 1/2 of the corresponding efficiency of an average crude oil refining process. The resulting CO₂ emissions are 20 times (2000%) higher for CTL than for conventional petroleum products. One barrel of the FT fuel requires roughly 800 kg of coal and 800 kg of water. The minimum energy cost of subsurface CO₂ sequestration would be at least 40% of the FT fuel energy, essentially halving energy efficiency of the process. We argue therefore that CTL conversion is not the most valuable use for the coal, nor will it ever be, as long as it is economical to use natural gas for electric power generation. This finding results from the low efficiency inherent in FT synthesis, and is independent of the monumental FT plant construction costs, mine construction costs, acute lack of water, and the associated environmental impacts for Montana.

Analysis of Ultimate Fossil Fuel Reserves and Associated CO2 Emissions in IPCC Scenarios

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) commissioned a special report on emissions scenarios in 2000 so as to forecast global carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions for a variety of assumptions. These scenarios have been subjected to a multitude of criticisms, alleging overoptimistic predictions for fossil fuel production rates. Intrigued by this controversy, this paper employs the Hubbert linearization technique to solve for ultimately recoverable resources (URR) of fossil fuels for six significant IPCC scenarios. The predictions are substantially higher than geological URR estimates found in recent literature, ranging from 19 to over 200% higher for oil, 16 to over 500% for coal, and 171 to over 500% for natural gas, depending on the scenario. Subsequently, the atmospheric CO₂ concentrations resulting from full consumption of URR related to IPCC data, as well as literature-based URR, are determined with a simple model. The former concentrations range from 640 to over 1,300 ppm. In comparison, the peak-based URR in the literature yield 463–577 ppm. All of these figures are higher than the 450 ppm ‘threshold’ which some see as critical. Therefore, despite peaking fossil fuels, concern over climate change is still warranted. At the same time, the fossil fuel production inputs to the IPCC’s CO₂ emissions models appear predominantly overoptimistic, which calls into question the accuracy of the climate change assessment outputs. Moving forward, the IPCC is encouraged to re-assess its fossil fuel forecasts, incorporating more reasonable scenarios for peak production of fossil fuels.     

Geologic and Economic Criteria for Siting Clean-Coal Facilities in the Texas Gulf Coast, USA

The Texas Gulf Coast (TGC) contains the greatest number of favorably co-located CO₂ sources and sinks in Texas that favor new potential clean-coal facilities. Areas in the TGC with clean-coal potential were delineated by mapping spatial linkages between coal- and lignite-bearing formations and geologic and infrastructure factors that include proximity to existing fields from mine-mouth power plants for enhanced oil recovery (EOR), length of new pipelines to transport CO₂ from new clean-coal facilities to either EOR fields or to brine formations for deep storage, proximity to centers of electric load, and depth to subsurface coal for enhanced coalbed methane recovery. Other factors include thickness of brine formations for deep storage of CO₂, groundwater and surface-water availability, and proximity to railroads for haulage of western U.S. coal feedstock. Geospatial analysis of maps portraying the distribution of these factors, together with data on volumes of oil recoverable from miscible CO₂ flooding of oil fields, indicates that optimal areas for new clean-coal sites in the TGC are in east and southeast Texas. CO₂ pipeline networks linking these sites to EOR fields are integral components of systems that can typically recover 5–50 million stock tank barrels from miscible CO₂ flooding from each EOR field. Many of these fields with EOR potential (for example, Neches, Long Lake, Conroe, and Livingston) have a great potential for stacked CO₂ storage, in which multiple reservoir zones can undergo EOR development and deeper zones in the field can accommodate excess CO₂ from EOR operations.     

Carbon emissions trends with optimal balanced economic growth of China and the USA and some abatement options for China

It is believed that the global CO2 emissions have to begin dropping in the near fu- ture to limit the temperature increase within 2 degrees by 2100. So it is of great concern to environmentalists and national decision-makers to know how the global or national CO2 emissions would trend. This paper presented an approach to project the future CO2 emissions from the perspective of optimal economic growth, and applied this model to the cases of China and the United States, whose CO2 emissions together contributed to more than 40% of the global emissions. The projection results under the balanced and optimal economic growth path reveal that the CO2 emissions will peak in 2029 for China and 2024 for the USA owing to their empirically implied pace of energy efficiency improvement. Moreover, some abatement options are analyzed for China, which indicate that 1） putting up the energy price will de- crease the emissions at a high cost; 2） enhancing the decline rate of energy intensity can significantly mitigate the emissions with a modest cost; and 3） the energy substitution policy of replacing carbon intensive energies with clean ones has considerable potential to alleviate emissions without compromising the economic development.     

CO<Subscript>2</Subscript> emissions from cement industry in China: A bottom-up estimation from factory to regional and national levels

Much attention is being given to estimating cement-related CO₂ emissions in China. However, scant explicit and systematical exploration is being done on regional and national CO₂ emission volumes. The aim of this work is therefore to provide an improved bottom-up spatial-integration system, relevant to CO₂ emissions at factory level, to allow a more accurate estimation of the CO₂ emissions from cement production. Based on this system, the sampling data of cement production lines were integrated as regional- and national-level information. The integration results showed that each ton of clinker produced 883 kg CO₂, of which the process, fuel, and electricity emissions accounted for 58.70%, 35.97%, and 5.33%, respectively. The volume of CO₂ emissions from clinker and cement production reached 1202 Mt and 1284 Mt, respectively, in 2013. A discrepancy was identified between the clinker emission factors relevant to the two main production processes (i.e., the new suspension preheating and pre-calcining kiln (NSP) and the vertical shaft kiln (VSK)), probably relevant to the energy efficiency of the two technologies. An analysis of the spatial characteristics indicated that the spatial distribution of the clinker emission factors mainly corresponded to that of the NSP process. The discrepancy of spatial pattern largely complied with the economic and population distribution pattern of China. The study could fill the knowledge gaps and provide role players with a useful spatial integration system that should facilitate the accurate estimation of carbon and corresponding regional mitigation strategies in China.     

Assessment of greenhouse gas emissions from agricultural sources in order to plan for needs of low carbon economy at local level in Poland

Agriculture is often not included in the baseline greenhouse gas (GHG) emission inventories created for local low carbon economy plans in Poland and other European countries. We therefore estimate the size of the carbon footprint from agricultural sources and indicate the share of agriculture in the total GHG emissions in selected Polish communes (LAU level 2). We propose a solution whereby local government units can estimate their carbon footprint independently and monitor the impact of actions taken to reduce emissions. The value of the carbon footprint from agriculture in the selected communes varies from .5 to 46.5 thousand Mg CO₂eq/year, with a mean value of 12.6 thousand Mg CO₂eq/year and a standard deviation of 11.4 thousand Mg CO₂eq/year. Per capita, these values range from 10 kg CO₂eq/year to 8.4 Mg CO₂eq/year, with a mean of 1.1 Mg CO₂eq/year and a standard deviation of 1.5 Mg CO₂eq/year. In all communes, the contribution of agriculture to total emissions is at an average of 14% (values range from .2 to 57.4%). The obtained results confirm the appropriateness of including emissions from the agricultural sector and other related sources in low carbon economy plans.     

Issues in Energy Economics Led by Emerging Linkages between the Natural Gas and Power Sectors

Fuel prices in 2006 continued at record levels, with uranium continuing upward unabated and coal, SO₂ emission allowances, and natural gas all softening. This softening did not continue for natural gas, however, whose prices rose, fell and rose again, first following weather influences and, by the second quarter of 2007, continuing at high levels without any support from fundamentals. This article reviews these trends and describes the remarkable increases in fuel expenses for power generation. By the end of 2005, natural gas claimed 55% of annual power sector fuel expenses, even though it was used for only 19% of electric generation. Although natural gas is enormously important to the power sector, the sector also is an important driver of the natural gas market—growing to over 28% of the market even as total use has declined. The article proceeds to discuss globalization, natural gas price risk, and technology developments. Forces of globalization are poised to affect the energy markets in new ways—new in not being only about oil. Of particular interest in the growth of intermodal traffic and its a little-understood impacts on rail traffic patterns and transportation costs, and expected rapidly expanding LNG imports toward the end of the decade. Two aspects of natural gas price risk are discussed: how understanding the use of gas in the power sector helps define price ceilings and floors for natural gas, and how the recent increase in the natural gas production after years of record drilling could alter the supply–demand balance for the better. The article cautions, however, that escalation in natural gas finding and development costs is countering the more positive developments that emerged during 2006. Regarding technology, the exploitation of unconventional natural gas was one highlight. So too was the queuing up of coal-fired power plants for the post-2010 period, a phenomenon that has come under great pressure with many consequences including increased pressures in the natural gas market. The most significant illustration of these forces was the early 2007 suspension of development plans by a large power company, well before the Supreme Court’s ruling on CO₂ as a tailpipe pollutant and President Bush’s call for global goals on CO₂ emissions.

CO2 emissions and their bearing on China＇s economic development： the long view

Greenhouse-gas (GHG) emissions in China have aroused much interest, and not least in recent evidence of their reduction. Our intent is to place that reduction in a larger context, that of the process of industrialization. A lengthy time perspective is combined with a cross-sectional approachChina plus five other countries-and addressed through two general models. The findings are salutary. First, they suggest that a diversified economic structure is consistent with diminished intensity in energy use. Secondly, and the obverse of the first, they imply that a diversified energy structure promotes reductions in CO2 emissions. Finally, one is led inevitably to the conclusion that, together, the findings point to a path for countries to transform their economies while at the same time undertaking to drastically moderate their energy use, switching from a pattern of heavy carbon emissions to one in which lighter carbon emissions prevail. The implications of such findings for environmental management are enormous.     

Urban Form,Air Pollution,and CO2 Emissions in Large U.S. Metropolitan Areas

In this article we explore the relationships between urban form and air pollution among 86 U.S. metropolitan areas. Urban form was quantified using preexisting sprawl indexes and spatial metrics applied to remotely sensed land cover data. Air pollution data included the nonpoint source emission of the ozone (O₃) precursors nitrogen oxides (NOx) and volatile organic compounds (VOCs), the concentration of O₃, the concentration and nonpoint source emission of fine particulate matter (PM2.5), and the emission of carbon dioxide (CO₂) from on-road sources. Metropolitan areas that exhibited higher levels of urban sprawl, or sprawl-like urban morphologies, generally exhibited higher concentrations and emissions of air pollution and CO₂ when controlling for population, land area, and climate.     

Ecological Modernization or Aristocratic Conservation? Exploring the Impact of Affluence on Carbon Emissions at the Local Level

Social scientists have debated how affluence impacts carbon emissions at the national level. We conduct an exploratory study at the subnational level to expose another dimension of the affluence–emissions debate. Based on the notion of aristocratic conservation, we hypothesize that affluence is positively related to carbon emissions from consumption activities but negatively related to emissions from production activities. We test these hypotheses using county-level data in the United States for the year 2002. A spatial regression analysis demonstrates that median household income is positively associated with consumption-based emissions; nevertheless, we find evidence of an environmental inequality Kuznets curve in the relationship between median household income and production-based emissions. This finding suggests that the wealthiest counties are able to displace certain types of emissions, specifically those related to energy and industrial production. We discuss the theoretical and political implications of these results.     

Facility allocation strategies and the sustainability of service delivery: Modelling library patronage patterns and their related CO2-emissions

Service accessibility and urban transportation choices are crucial in cities' endeavours for securing social equality and environmental sustainability. They are particularly relevant when the public service network is to be rationalized. In this paper we provide a practical example of comparing the impacts of current varying service allocation strategies on travel behaviour and the resulting carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions. We take libraries as a local public service to examine the CO₂ emissions resulting from residents' library trips in the capital region of Finland. Our analyses are based on data on library use (library loan database, N = 420,000), accessibility (comparable models of travel-time by car, public transportation and non-motorized transport) and customer transport choices (survey, n = 584). Our results show that (1) 52% of library customers use a library that is accessible from their home with minimum CO₂ emissions (the “climate-optimal” facility provider), (2) the remaining 48% that choose a non-optimal facility provider produce nearly 90% of the total CO₂-emissions related to library customer flows and (3) the service allocation strategies of the different municipalities lead to markedly different CO₂-emission patterns resulting from service usage. To conclude, sustainability measures (in our case the CO₂ burden) provide useful information on the impact of a service network structure which may be used alongside economic rationales.     

居民家庭日常出行碳排放的发生机制与调控策略——以北京市为例

根据2007年北京市居民活动日志调查数据,利用Amos7.0软件建立单效标因素的路径分析模型,试图在"社区-家庭"层面上挖掘"空间利用-出行特征-碳排放"的内在发生机理,藉此寻找城市空间组织低碳化的调控路径。研究发现:影响居民家庭日常出行碳排放的主要因素是出行距离和出行方式。社区空间利用特征对家庭出行的距离总量有显著影响,对小汽车出行比率则没有明显作用效果;私家车的购置对居民家庭出行行为的高碳化具有不可逆的作用特点;在现有设施条件、空间环境和车辆使用政策下,公共交通对私人交通出行没有替代性。研究认为,城市空间组织和调控优化应通过土地混合利用、设施供给等物质空间组织与再组织手段,形成空间行为组织和行为规划策略,引导居民降低交通发生量,优化居民交通发生的时空结构,建构低碳的城市空间结构。     

中国生产控制型产业减排的居民福利和区域影响

基于SAM均衡建模方法,建立面向居民福利研究的中国动态多区域社会公平CGE政策模拟模型,对比分析自然情景、生产控制型减排政策情景和最优增长情景下的区域和居民福利变化。研究发现减排政策存在明显的增长率区域分异,这将破坏在自然增长下存在的区域收敛力,导致中国区域之间的差距再度被拉大。面向减排的投资控制政策短期对于居民收入的不利影响较小,但长期影响不容忽视,需要进行居民收入保护。由于城镇退休居民和农村劳动居民已经具备针对性的养老保障政策和“三农政策”保护收入增长,其总体福利受减排政策的冲击较小,因此缺乏相应政策支持的城镇劳动居民应该是收入保护的优先考虑群体。模拟显示减排政策更有利于代际和城乡人均收入差距的缩小,但考虑到减排带来的绝对收入水平下降,不能过于乐观估计这种差距缩小效应。