Short-lived Climate Pollutants

Electricity power plants are the primary source of carbon dioxide production. The combustion of fossil fuels in these power plants releases CO2 and other greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. Emissions of CO2 and other greenhouse gases occur throughout the life cycle of electricity generation technologies, including extraction, processing, transportation, and combustion of fossil fuels. Nowadays, the development of smart cities plays a crucial role in reducing CO2 emissions. By integrating technology and sustainable practices into urban infrastructure, smart cities aim to minimize energy consumption and emissions. The research mentioned focuses on creating models that correlate CO2 emissions with the installed capacity of power plants and the energy they produce. Polynomial quadratic regression is applied to establish these correlations, enabling the assessment of both present and future CO2 emission values. The construction of new infrastructure for smart cities aligns with the goal of fostering a low-carbon economy. The study also considers the potential contribution of thermal energy to CO2 reduction efforts. By analysing power generation models, researcher aims to identify strategies to meet emission reduction goals. The construction of new infrastructure for smart cities aligns with the broader goal of fostering a low-carbon economy. This involves implementing policies and technologies aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions and mitigating climate change. Carbon dioxide emissions contribute significantly to global warming, leading to climate change and patterns of extreme weather. The data on CO2 emissions encompasses gases generated from the burning of fossil fuels, highlighting the importance of reducing reliance on these sources of energy.

To limit global temperature increases to 'well below 2 ºC', it is necessary that current national commitments to reduce emissions are increased, and these commitments are implemented. The identification of local development benefits from climate change mitigation is a possible motivating factor to achieve this. However, there is a lack of practical examples of how climate change mitigation and development priorities can be integrated in national planning processes, particularly in low-and middle-income countries. This work considers two questions i) What are the factors that have to be considered when developing a plan integrating GHG reductions with local development goals?; and ii) How do you structure a process to reach a consensus about the plan itself?. It does this by conceptualising the integration of climate mitigation and development benefits as a policy intervention. As a case study, a national planning process that integrated climate change mitigation with improvements to air quality and human health in Nigeria is conceptualised, ex-post, as an intervention theory model. The key factors identified include the importance of tailoring the planning process to the national context of how development priorities are identified and then used in the allocation of national budgets. In particular, assessments undertaken within the planning process, of emission reductions, and development of implementation pathways provided necessary information on how climate mitigation actions contribute to national development priorities. Additionally, the importance of structuring these assessments within a planning processes that also engaged key stakeholders to allow the information produced by the assessments to be informed, and acted upon, by those responsible for mitigation in each key sector is also highlighted. Finally, approaches for the use of intervention theory as a conceptual framework to design a planning process, ex-ante, are discussed, to further optimise the integration of development priorities into climate change planning.

Short-lived climate pollutants (SLCPs) including black carbon (BC), methane (CH4), and tropospheric ozone (O3) are major climate forcers after carbon dioxide (CO2). These SLCPs also have detrimental impacts on human health and agriculture. Studies show that the Hindu Kush Himalayan (HKH) region, which includes Nepal, has been experiencing the impacts of these pollutants in addition to greenhouse gases. In this study, we derive a national-level emission inventory for SLCPs, CO2, and air pollutants for Nepal and project their impacts under reference (REF) and mitigation policy (POL) scenarios. The impacts on human health, agriculture, and climate were then estimated by applying the following: (1) adjoint coefficients from the Goddard Earth Observing System (GEOS)-chemical transport model that quantify the sensitivity of fine particulate matter (PM2.5) and surface O3concentrations in Nepal, and radiative forcing in four latitudinal bands, to emissions in 2 × 2.5° grids, and (2) concent...

Interest for air-conditioning systems (ACs) has exponentially expanded worldwide throughout the most recent couple of decades. Countries with booming economies including Saudi Arabia report high growth of sales of room air conditioners. With the expanded (GDP) and warming climates, interest for room air-conditioning systems is required to additionally increment. Meeting the expanded need for electricity energy will be a challenge. Expanded utilization of energy-efficient air conditioners impactsly affects lowering the electricity demand. In an ordinary AC, the blower runs at a fixed speed and is either ON or OFF. In an inverter AC, the compressor is consistently on; however, power drawn relies upon the demand for cooling. The speed of the compressor is adjusted appropriately. In this paper, the energy consumption of non-inverter and an inverter AC of the same capacity was assessed in an average office room, under comparative operating conditions, to find the differences in the energ...

Environmentally harmful product dumping (“environmental dumping”) of new and used low-efficiency cooling appliances with obsolete ozone-depleting and greenhouse gas refrigerants in African countries impoverishes communities, hinders economic development, threatens ecological systems, and harms public health. The use of lowefficiency cooling appliances increases energy demand, leading to higher power plant emissions and limiting affordable energy access in Copyright © 2021 Kofi A. Agyarko, Stephen O. Andersen, Richard “Tad” Ferris, Hubert Zan, Emmanuel Osae-Quansah, Gabrielle Dreyfus, Mohamed Rida Derder, Leslie Olonyi Bosire, Laura Bloomer, and Xiaopu Sun. * Kofi A. Agyarko, Director, Renewable Energy, Energy Efficiency, & Climate Change (REEECC), Ghana Energy Commission; Stephen O. Andersen, Director of Research, Institute for Governance & Sustainable Development (IGSD); Richard “Tad” Ferris, Senior Counsel, IGSD; Hubert Zan, Energy Efficiency Compliance Officer (REEECC); Emmanuel ...

This study presents the first high-resolution national inventory of anthropogenic emissions for Chile (INEMA). Emissions for vehicular, industrial, energy, mining and residential sectors are estimated for the period 2015-2017 and spatially distributed onto a high-resolution grid (1 x 1 km approximately). The pollutants included are CO2, NOx, SO2, CO, VOCs, NH3, and particulate matter (PM10 and PM2.5) for all sectors. CH4 and Black Carbon are included for transport and residential sources, while Arsenic, Benzene, Mercury, Lead, Toluene, and Polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and Furan (PCDD / F) are estimated for energy, mining and industrial sources. New activity data and emissions factors are compiled to estimate emissions, which are subsequently spatially distributed using census data and Chile´s road network information. The estimated total annual national emissions of PM10 and PM2.5 are 191 and 173 kilotonnes (Kt) , respectively. The residential sector is responsible for over 90% of these emissions. This sector also emits 81% and 87% of total CO and VOC, respectively. Additionally, the energy and industry sectors contribute significantly to NH3, SO2, CO2 emissions while the transport sector dominates NOx and CO2 emissions, and the Mining sector dominates SO2 emissions. In general, emissions of anthropogenic air pollutants and CO2 in northern Chile are dominated by mining activities as well as thermoelectric power plants while in central chile the dominant sources are transport and residential emissions. The latter also mostly dominates emissions in southern Chile which has a much colder climate. Preliminary analysis revealed the dominant role of the emission factors in the final emission uncertainty. Nevertheless, uncertainty in activity also contributes, as suggested by the difference in CO2 emissions between INEMA and EDGAR. A comparison between these two inventories also revealed considerable differences for all pollutants in terms of magnitude and sectoral contribution, especially for the residential sector. EDGAR presents larger emissions for most of the pollutants except for CH4 and PM2.5. The differences between both inventories can partly be explained by the use of different emission factors, in particular for the residential sector where emission factors incorporate information on firewood and local operation conditions. However, as mentioned above, differences in CO2 emissions between both inventories also points to biases in the quantification of the activity.

This paper presents a summary of the work done within the European Union's Seventh Framework Programme project ECLIPSE (Evaluating the Climate and Air Quality Impacts of Short-Lived Pollutants). ECLIPSE had a unique systematic concept for designing a realistic and effective mitigation scenario for short-lived climate pollutants (SLCPs: methane, aerosols and ozone, and their precursor species) and quantifying its climate and air quality impacts, and this paper presents the results in the context of this overarching strategy. The first step in ECLIPSE was to create a new emission inventory based on current legislation (CLE) for the recent past and until 2050. Substantial progress compared to previous work was made by including previously unaccounted types of sources such as flaring of gas associated with oil production, and wick lamps. These emission data were used for present-day reference simulations with four advanced Earth system models (ESMs) and six chemistry transport model...

The atmospheric treatment of extra CO2 input (additional to the natural source-sink mechanisms) is revealed to follow a simple function during the industrial era. This function is interpreted as useful tool for projections at the optimistic boundary. For instance, the atmospheric CO2 concentration may be contained within about 500 ppmv if mankind’s future carbon emissions remained constant at the present level; in tail, the related temperature contribution will become contained. In this context, the prospect from the transition to renewables is explored. In result, realistic estimates point at precluding positive economic growth for the foreseeable future if temperatures are to be given a reasonable chance to become sustainably restrained within sensible limits.

The Program for the protection of air quality, ozone layer, climate change mitigation and adaptation of the Krapina-Zagorje County is prepared in accordance with the Article 12 of the Air Protection Act (OG 130/11, 47/14, 61/17, 118/18). The Program sets targets and measures by priority sectors, deadlines and responsible authorities for measures implementation over a five-year period in the County. For the purpose of defining protection measures, based on available data, estimation of annual emissions of pollutants into air was performed: nitrogen oxides, carbon monoxide, sulphur oxides, particles, volatile organic compounds, ammonia, carbon dioxide, methane and dinitrogen monoxide from the main sectors. Emissions were estimated using the EMEP/EEA methodology and 2006 IPCC Guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories methodology. Road traffic emissions were estimated using DEFRA/DECC methodology. Based on the results on estimated pollutant emissions in the County, appropriate ...

Ambient air pollution from ozone and fine particulate matter is associated with premature mortality. As emissions from one continent influence air quality over others, changes in emissions can also influence human health on other continents. We estimate global air pollution-related premature mortality from exposure to PM2.5 and ozone , and the avoided deaths from 20% anthropogenic emission reductions from six source regions, North America (NAM), Europe (EUR), South Asia (SAS), East Asia (EAS), Russia/Belarus/Ukraine (RBU) and the Middle East (MDE), three emission sectors, Power and Industry (PIN), Ground Transportation (TRN) and Residential (RES) and one global domain (GLO), using an ensemble of global chemical transport model simulations coordinated by the second phase of the Task Force on Hemispheric Transport of Air Pollution (TF-HTAP2), and epidemiologically-derived concentrationresponse functions. We build on results from previous studies of the TF-HTAP by using improved atmospheric models driven by new estimates of 2010 emissions, with more source and receptor regions, new consideration of source sector impacts, and new epidemiological mortality functions. We estimate 290,000 (95% CI: 30,000, 600,000) premature O3-related deaths and 2.8 million (0.5 million, 4.6 million) PM2.5-related premature deaths globally for the baseline year 2010. While 20% emission reductions from one region generally lead to more avoided deaths within the source region than outside, reducing emissions from MDE and RBU can avoid more O3-related deaths outside of these regions than within, and reducing MDE emissions also avoids more PM2.5-related deaths outside of MDE than within. In addition, EUR, MDE and RBU have more avoided O3-related deaths from reducing foreign emissions than from domestic reductions. For six regional emission reductions, the total avoided extraregional mortality is estimated as 10,300 (6,700, 13,400) deaths/year and 42,000 (12,400, 60,100) deaths/year through changes in O3 and PM2.5, respectively. Interregional transport of air pollutants leads to more deaths through changes in PM2.5 than in O3, even though O3 is transported more on interregional scales, since PM2.5 has a stronger influence on mortality. In sectoral emission reductions, TRN emissions account for the greatest fraction (26-53% of global emission reduction) of O3-related premature deaths in most regions, except for EAS (58%) and RBU (38%) where PIN emissions dominate. In contrast, PIN emission reductions have the greatest fraction (38-78% of global emission reduction) of PM2.5-related deaths in most regions, except for SAS (45%) where RES emission dominates. The spread of air pollutant concentration changes across models contributes most to the overall uncertainty in estimated avoided

In the face of the climate change, energy consumption is one of the main issues to be solved. Energy audits are useful tools that may contribute to develop energy efficiency initiatives. The purpose of this paper is to provide insights into how energy audits, with a scope on air conditioning (AC) systems, contribute to develop energy efficiency options for a government building in the city of Hermosillo, Mexico. The methodology is based in the energy audit framework proposed by the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and AirConditioning Engineers (ASHRAE). Results show that, in a typical day of maximum consumption, AC represents 64% of the total electrical consumption, while office equipment accounted for 22%, and lighting 14%. Additionally, AC system has a yearly consumption of 54,419.40 kWh with an emission estimate of 24.92 tons of CO 2-eq/year. Three approaches for energy efficiency proposals were addressed through AC systems: Improvement of the operation and consumption habits, maintenance and reconditioning of facilities, and replacement of AC units. While Mexico has international commitments through environmental treaties related to contribute to climate change mitigation, this study shows that, at least one government building still produces potential impacts that can be deterred by addressing structural and behavioral changes related to AC operation. Finally, this study may be used as reference for energy efficiency practitioners or decision-making authorities in the public administration field for developing better energy policies for government buildings.

The Program for the protection of air quality, ozone layer, climate change mitigation and adaptation of the Krapina-Zagorje County is prepared in accordance with the Article 12 of the Air Protection Act (OG 130/11, 47/14, 61/17, 118/18). The Program sets targets and measures by priority sectors, deadlines and responsible authorities for measures implementation over a five-year period in the County. For the purpose of defining protection measures, based on available data, estimation of annual emissions of pollutants into air was performed: nitrogen oxides, carbon monoxide, sulphur oxides, particles, volatile organic compounds, ammonia, carbon dioxide, methane and dinitrogen monoxide from the main sectors. Emissions were estimated using the EMEP/EEA methodology and 2006 IPCC Guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories methodology. Road traffic emissions were estimated using DEFRA/DECC methodology. Based on the results on estimated pollutant emissions in the County, appropriate ...

• PM 2.5 concentrations over Europe were used to perform a health impact assessment during the 1990-2015 period. • Population weighted PM 2.5 concentrations were predicted to have declined by 0.8 µg m −3 y −1 on average. • The number of premature deaths due to exposure to PM 2.5 was predicted to have declined during the 1990-2015 period. • The variability in the predicted number of premature deaths was higher in the 1990s compared to the 2000s.

Low-and middle-income countries have the largest health burdens associated with air pollution exposure, and are particularly vulnerable to climate change impacts. Substantial opportunities have been identified to simultaneously improve air quality and mitigate climate change due to overlapping sources of greenhouse gas and air pollutant emissions and because a subset of pollutants, short-lived climate pollutants (SLCPs), directly contribute to both impacts. However, planners in low-and middle-income countries often lack practical tools to quantify the air pollution and climate change impacts of different policies and measures. This paper presents a modelling framework implemented in the Low Emissions Analysis Platform-Integrated Benefits Calculator (LEAP-IBC) tool to develop integrated strategies to improve air quality, human health and mitigate climate change. The framework estimates emissions of greenhouse gases, SLCPs and air pollutants for historical years, and future projections for baseline and mitigation scenarios. These emissions are then used to quantify i) population-weighted annual average ambient PM 2.5 concentrations across the target country, ii) household PM 2.5 exposure of different population groups living in households cooking using different fuels/technologies and iii) radiative forcing from all emissions. Health impacts (premature mortality) attributable to ambient and household PM 2.5 exposure and changes in global average temperature change are then estimated. This framework is applied in Bangladesh to evaluate the air quality and climate change benefits from implementation of Bangladesh's Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) and National Action Plan to reduce SLCPs. Results show that the measures included to reduce GHGs in Bangladesh's NDC also have substantial benefits for air quality and human health. Full implementation of Bangladesh's NDC, and National SLCP Plan would reduce carbon dioxide, methane, black carbon and primary PM 2.5 emissions by 25%, 34%, 46% and 45%, respectively in 2030 compared to a baseline scenario. These emission reductions could reduce population-weighted ambient PM 2.5 concentrations in Bangladesh by 18% in 2030, and avoid approximately 12,000 and 100,000 premature deaths attributable to ambient and household PM 2.5 exposures, respectively, in 2030. As countries are simultaneously planning to achieve the climate goals in the Paris Agreement, improve air quality to reduce health impacts and achieve the Sustainable Development Goals, the LEAP-IBC tool provides a practical framework by which planners can develop integrated strategies, achieving multiple air quality and climate benefits.

Objectives 4 1. To introduce Montreal Protocol community to publicly available data on cost of efficiency improvement (note: also covered in TEAP EE Task Force report). 2. Using this data to outline a flexible tool for planning and/or evaluation of energy efficiency projects co-ordinated with refrigerant transition.

To secure a sustainable future, we must change how we live, in ways that improve the vital signs summarized by our graphs. Economic and population growth are among the most important drivers of increases in CO2 emissions from fossil fuel combustion (Pachauri et al. 2014, Bongaarts and O’Neill 2018); therefore, we need bold and drastic transformations regarding economic and population policies. We
suggest six critical and interrelated steps (in no particular order) that governments, businesses, and the rest of humanity can take to lessen the worst effects of climate change. These are important steps but are not the only actions needed or possible (Pachauri et al. 2014, IPCC 2018, 2019). 1.  Energy:  The world must quickly implement massive energy efficiency and conservation practices and must replace fossil fuels with low-carbon renewables (figure 1h) and other cleaner sources of energy if safe for people and the environment (figure S2). We should leave remaining stocks of fossil fuels in the ground (see the timelines in
IPCC 2018) and should carefully pursue effective negative emissions using technology such as carbon extraction from the source and capture from the air and especially by enhancing natural systems (see “Nature” section).  Wealthier countries need to support poorer nations in transitioning away from fossil fuels. We must swiftly eliminate subsidies for fossil fuels (figure 1o) and use effective and fair policies for steadily escalating carbon prices to restrain their use. 2. Short-lived pollutants:
We need to promptly reduce the emissions of short-lived climate pollutants, including methane (figure 2b), black carbon (soot), and hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs). Doing this could slow climate feedback loops and potentially reduce the short-term warming trend by more than 50% over the next few decades while saving millions of lives and increasing crop yields due to reduced air pollution (Shindell et al.
2017). The 2016 Kigali amendment to phase down HFCs is welcomed.  3. Nature:  We must protect and restore Earth’s ecosystems. Phytoplankton, coral reefs, forests, savannas, grasslands, wetlands,
peatlands, soils, mangroves, and sea grasses contribute greatly to sequestration of atmospheric CO2. Marine and terrestrial plants,  animals, and microorganisms play significant roles in carbon and nutrient cycling and storage. We need to quickly curtail habitat and biodiversity loss (figure 1f–1g), protecting the remaining primary and
intact forests, especially those with high carbon stores and other forests
with the capacity to rapidly sequester carbon (proforestation), while increasing reforestation and afforestation  here appropriate at enormous scales. Although available land may be limiting in places, up to a third of emissions reductions needed by 2030 for the Paris agreement (less than 2°C) could be obtained with these natural climate solutions (Griscom et al. 2017).  4. Food:  Eating mostly plant-based foods while reducing the global consumption of animal products (figure 1c–d), especially ruminant livestock (Ripple et al. 2014), can improve human health and significantly lower GHG emissions (including methane in the “Short-lived pollutants” step). Moreover, this will free up croplands for growing much-needed human plant food instead of livestock feed, while releasing some grazing land to support natural climate solutions (see “Nature” section).  Cropping practices such as minimum tillage that increase soil carbon are vitally important. We need to drastically reduce the enormous amount of food waste around the world.  5. Economy:  Excessive extraction of materials and overexploitation of ecosystems, driven by economic growth, must be quickly curtailed to maintain long-term sustainability of the biosphere. We need a carbon-free economy that explicitly addresses human dependence on the biosphere and policies that guide economic decisions accordingly. Our goals need to shift from GDP growth and the pursuit of affluence toward sustaining ecosystems and improving human well-being by prioritizing basic needs and reducing inequality.  6. Population: Still increasing by roughly 80 million people per year, or more than 200,000 per day (figure 1a–b), the world population must be stabilized—and, ideally, gradually reduced—within a framework that ensures social integrity.  There are proven and effective policies
that strengthen human rights while lowering fertility rates and lessening
the impacts of population growth on GHG emissions and biodiversity loss.  These policies make family-planning services available to all people, remove barriers to their access and achieve full gender equity, including primary and secondary education as a global norm for all, especially girls and young women (Bongaarts and O’Neill 2018).  CONCLUSIONS:  Mitigating and adapting to climate change while honoring the diversity of humans entails major transformations in the ways our global society functions and interacts with natural ecosystems. We are encouraged by a recent surge of concern. Governmental
bodies are making climate emergency declarations. Schoolchildren are striking. Ecocide lawsuits are proceeding in the courts. Grassroots citizen movements are demanding change, and many countries, states and provinces, cities, and businesses are responding.  As the Alliance of World Scientists, we stand ready to assist decision-makers in a just transition to a sustainable and equitable future. We urge widespread
use of vital signs, which will better allow policymakers, the private sector, and the public to understand the magnitude of this crisis, track progress, and realign priorities for alleviating climate change. The good news is that such transformative change, with social and economic justice for all, promises far greater human well-being than does business as usual. We believe that the prospects will be greatest if decision-makers and
all of humanity promptly respond to this warning and declaration of a climate emergency and act to sustain life on planet Earth, our only home.

Substantial quantities of air pollution and related health impacts are ultimately attributable to household consumption. However, how consumption pattern affects air pollution impacts remains unclear. Here we show, of the 1.08 (0.74–1.42) million premature deaths due to anthropogenic PM2.5 exposure in China in 2012, 20% are related to household direct emissions through fuel use and 24% are related to household indirect emissions embodied in consumption of goods and services. Income is strongly associated with air pollution-related deaths for urban residents in which health impacts are dominated by indirect emissions. Despite a larger and wealthier urban population, the number of deaths related to rural consumption is higher than that related to urban consumption, largely due to direct emissions from solid fuel combustion in rural China. Our results provide quantitative insight to consumption-based accounting of air pollution and related deaths and may inform more effective and equitable clean air policies in China.

Energy is one of the important components of infrastructure that hasten both economic development and human development of a nation. There is a nexus between economic development and energy consumption and human development and energy consumption. Energy consumption increases when the economy grows at a faster rate. Likewise, the human development also requires increased consumption of energy. Indian economy grows at faster rate even though there are some barricades for its development. At present, India is the ninth largest economy in the world. Its real GDP growth is 8.7 per cent in the last five years. This high order of sustained development leads to enormous demand for energy resources in India. There arises an imbalance between energy demand and supply due to the faster development in India. There is a pressing need to bridge the gap between the demand for and supply of energy sources. At the same time the environment should not be damaged. Environment is highly damaged when a nation rely much on conventional sources of energy to bridge this gap. It is very much essential for a nation to protect the environment and ensure energy security. Energy exploration and exploitation, capacity additions, clean energy alternatives, conservation, and energy sector reforms will be critical for energy security. Energy conservation has also emerged as one of the major issues in recent years. Conservation and efficient utilization of energy resources play a vital role in narrowing the gap between demand for and supply of energy. Improving energy efficiency is one of the most desirable options for bridging the gap in the short term. However, in the long run the only way that is available to increase the energy supply without damaging the existing environment is to increase the use of Renewable Energy Sources to the maximum extent that is feasible for our nation. The subjects of our mother India should also come forward to adopt the renewable energy sources in all walks of their lives. In this paper an attempt is made by the researcher to examine the importance of renewable sources in protecting the environment by mitigating CO2 into the atmosphere.

Coal is the major fossil fuel used in industrial units and power plants for power generation in India. The carbon dioxide emitted as a product of combustion of coal (fossil fuels) is currently responsible for over 60% of the enhanced greenhouse effect. The present communication is an attempt to provide a brief investigation of CO 2 emission from coal based power generation in India. Energy indicators, trends in energy consumption and carbon dioxide emissions have been thoroughly investigated. Methodology for analysis of carbon emissions and possible sinks is also provided.

As it releases its findings at the end of the month, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) will do more than highlight the manmade increase of global temperatures. Its report will also raise the heat on negotiations concerning the role played by several international bodies in the reduction of climate pollutants.

Black carbon (BC) is strongly light-absorbing carbonaceous material emitted as solid particulate matter created through incomplete combustion of carbon-based fuels. BC contains more than 80 percent carbon by mass, a high fraction of which is sp2-bonded carbon, and when emitted forms aggregates of primary spherules between 20 and 50 nm in aerodynamic diameter.