scholarly journals What shapes public support for climate change mitigation policies? The role of descriptive social norms and elite cues

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-25
Author(s):  
ADRIAN RINSCHEID ◽  
SILVIA PIANTA ◽  
ELKE U. WEBER
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Social Norms ◽  
Climate Policy ◽  
Carbon Capture ◽  
Carbon Capture And Storage ◽  
Experimental Manipulation ◽  
Policy Support ◽  
Descriptive Norms ◽  
Climate Policies ◽  
The Impact

Abstract What are the roles of bottom-up and top-down signals in the formation of climate change policy preferences? Using a large sample of American residents (n = 1520) and combining an experimental manipulation of descriptive social norms with two choice experiments, we investigate the effects of descriptive norms and policy endorsements by key political actors on climate policy support. We study these questions in two areas considered to be central in a number of decarbonization pathways: the phase-out of fossil fuel-powered cars and the deployment of carbon capture and storage. Our study provides two important results. First, social norm interventions may be no silver bullet for increasing citizens’ support for ambitious climate policies. In fact, we not only find that climate policy support is unaffected by norm messages communicating an increased diffusion of pro-environmental behaviors, but also that norm messages communicating the prevalence of non-sustainable behaviors decrease policy support. Second, in the presence of policy endorsements by political parties, citizens’ trust in these parties influences their support for climate policies. This study contributes to research in behavioral climate policy by examining the impact of descriptive norms and elite cues on climate policy support.

scholarly journals Environmental assessment of amending the Amager Bakke incineration plant in Copenhagen with carbon capture and storage

2021 ◽  
pp. 0734242X2110481
Author(s):  
V. Bisinella ◽  
J. Nedenskov ◽  
Christian Riber ◽  
Tore Hulgaard ◽  
Thomas H. Christensen
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Carbon Capture ◽  
Carbon Capture And Storage ◽  
Climate Change Impacts ◽  
Waste Incineration ◽  
Heat Output ◽  
Net Energy ◽  
District Heating System ◽  
The Impact ◽  
And Storage

Amending municipal solid waste incineration with carbon capture and storage (CCS) is a new approach that can reduce the climate change impacts of waste incineration. This study provides a detailed analysis of the consequences of amending the new Amager Bakke incinerator in Copenhagen (capacity: 600,000 tonnes waste per year) with CCS as a post-combustion technology. Emphasis is on the changes in the energy flows and outputs as well as the environmental performance of the plant; the latter is assessed by life cycle assessment. Amending Amager Bakke with CCS of the chosen configuration reduces the electricity output by 50% due to steam use by the capture unit, but introducing post-capture flue gas condensation increases the heat output utilized in the Copenhagen district heating system by 20%. Thus, the overall net energy efficiency is not affected. The CCS amendment reduces the fossil CO2 emissions to 40 kg CO2 per tonne of incinerated waste and stores 530 kg biogenic CO2 per tonne of incinerated waste. Potential developments in the composition of the residual waste incinerated or in the energy systems that Amager Bakke interacts with, do not question the benefits of the CCS amendment. In terms of climate change impacts, considering different waste composition and energy system scenarios, introducing CCS reduces in average the impact of Amager Bakke by 850 kg CO2-equivalents per tonne of incinerated waste. CCS increases the environmental impacts in other categories, but not in the same order of magnitude as the savings introduced within climate change.

scholarly journals Irrigation of biomass plantations may globally increase water stress more than climate change

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Fabian Stenzel ◽  
Peter Greve ◽  
Wolfgang Lucht ◽  
Sylvia Tramberend ◽  
Yoshihide Wada ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Water Stress ◽  
Side Effects ◽  
Carbon Capture ◽  
Carbon Capture And Storage ◽  
Change Scenario ◽  
Land Use Patterns ◽  
Use Patterns ◽  
Severe Water Stress ◽  
The Impact

AbstractBioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS) is considered an important negative emissions (NEs) technology, but might involve substantial irrigation on biomass plantations. Potential water stress resulting from the additional withdrawals warrants evaluation against the avoided climate change impact. Here we quantitatively assess potential side effects of BECCS with respect to water stress by disentangling the associated drivers (irrigated biomass plantations, climate, land use patterns) using comprehensive global model simulations. By considering a widespread use of irrigated biomass plantations, global warming by the end of the 21st century could be limited to 1.5 °C compared to a climate change scenario with 3 °C. However, our results suggest that both the global area and population living under severe water stress in the BECCS scenario would double compared to today and even exceed the impact of climate change. Such side effects of achieving substantial NEs would come as an extra pressure in an already water-stressed world and could only be avoided if sustainable water management were implemented globally.

scholarly journals The Impact of a National Identity Loss Message, and the Moderating Effect of Political Orientation, on Climate Change Policy Support

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anna Klas ◽  
Edward John Roy Clarke ◽  
Kelly Fielding ◽  
Matthew Mackay ◽  
Susanne Lohmann ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
National Identity ◽  
Economic Loss ◽  
Political Orientation ◽  
Policy Support ◽  
Climate Mitigation ◽  
Mitigation Policy ◽  
Climate Policies ◽  
Control Message ◽  
The Impact

As climate change continues to be politically divisive, developing communications that align with right-leaning beliefs may increase bipartisan support for climate policy. In two experimental studies (Study 1, Australia, N = 521; Study 2, United States, N = 807), we tested whether a national identity loss message would elicit greater support for mitigation and adaptation policies when compared to an economic loss or control message, and whether this was conditional on political orientation. In both studies, conservatives were less likely to support both climate policies, but Australian (Study 1) and American (Study 2) identification predicted adaptation support. In the U.S. sample, there was a direct effect of the national identity loss message (compared to economic loss) on both climate policies, and an interaction of political orientation and message type. Conservatives who received an economic loss message were less likely to support climate mitigation policy when compared to conservatives who had received a national identity loss message. However, we found no significant interaction effects when comparing a national identity loss message to the control message. This suggests that if one has to discuss climate change, threatening national identity may be more useful than economic loss information in increasing mitigation policy support.

scholarly journals Irrigation of biomass plantations may globally increase water stress more than climate change

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fabian Stenzel ◽  
Peter Greve ◽  
Wolfgang Lucht ◽  
Sylvia Tramberend ◽  
Yoshihide Wada ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Water Stress ◽  
Side Effects ◽  
Carbon Capture ◽  
Carbon Capture And Storage ◽  
Land Use Patterns ◽  
Use Patterns ◽  
Severe Water Stress ◽  
Change Impact ◽  
The Impact

Abstract Bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS) is considered an important negative emissions (NEs) technology, but might involve substantial irrigation on biomass plantations. Potential water stress resulting from the additional withdrawals for irrigation warrants evaluation against the avoided climate change impact. Here we quantitatively assess potential side effects of BECCS with respect to water stress by disentangling the associated drivers (irrigated bioenergy, climate, land use patterns) using comprehensive global model simulations. By considering a widespread use of irrigated BECCS to limit global warming to 1.5°C, our results suggest that both the global area and population living under severe water stress will double by the end of the 21st century, which could even exceed the impact of climate change avoided by the NEs (3°C warming). Such side-effects of achieving substantial NEs would come as an extra pressure in an already water-stressed world and could only be avoided if sustainable water management would be implemented globally.

Could Climate Change Limit Water Availability for Coal-Fired Electricity Generation with Carbon Capture and Storage? A UK Case Study

2012 ◽  
Vol 23 (2-3) ◽  
pp. 265-282 ◽  
Author(s):  
Meleesa Naughton ◽  
Richard C. Darton ◽  
Fai Fung
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Water Availability ◽  
Electricity Generation ◽  
Carbon Capture ◽  
Carbon Capture And Storage ◽  
Limiting Factor ◽  
Regulatory Constraints ◽  
Historical Factors ◽  
The Impact ◽  
And Storage

Anticipatory adaptation to climate change requires the impact of future changes in water availability to be investigated prior to deployment of low-carbon electricity generation infrastructure. Here we investigate whether climate change may limit water availability for a proposed coal-fired (CF) power station site with Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS). We find that climate change may pose constraints on water availability, and that regulatory constraints on water abstraction licences may affect CF electricity generation with CCS. The regulatory constraints associated with the current misalignment of water and energy policies are explored through interviews with stakeholders. We find that water availability has not been identified as a potential limiting factor for future CF electricity generation with CCS and that current UK energy policy, combined with economic and historical factors, may exacerbate the water demand of CF electricity generation with CCS. These issues need to be addressed prior to deployment of CCS technology.

scholarly journals The Role of Uncertainty in Controlling Climate Change

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yongyang Cai
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Carbon Capture ◽  
Carbon Capture And Storage ◽  
Greenland Ice Sheet ◽  
Equilibrium Temperature ◽  
Inequality Aversion ◽  
Carbon Taxes ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Climate Damages ◽  
Economic Risks

Integrated assessment models (IAMs) of the climate and economy aim to analyze the impact and efficacy of policies that aim to control climate change, such as carbon taxes and subsidies. A major characteristic of IAMs is that their geophysical sector determines the mean surface temperature increase over the preindustrial level, which in turn determines the damage function. Most of the existing IAMs assume that all of the future information is known. However, there are significant uncertainties in the climate and economic system, including parameter uncertainty, model uncertainty, climate tipping risks, and economic risks. For example, climate sensitivity, a well-known parameter that measures how much the equilibrium temperature will change if the atmospheric carbon concentration doubles, can range from below 1 to more than 10 in the literature. Climate damages are also uncertain. Some researchers assume that climate damages are proportional to instantaneous output, while others assume that climate damages have a more persistent impact on economic growth. The spatial distribution of climate damages is also uncertain. Climate tipping risks represent (nearly) irreversible climate events that may lead to significant changes in the climate system, such as the Greenland ice sheet collapse, while the conditions, probability of tipping, duration, and associated damage are also uncertain. Technological progress in carbon capture and storage, adaptation, renewable energy, and energy efficiency are uncertain as well. Future international cooperation and implementation of international agreements in controlling climate change may vary over time, possibly due to economic risks, natural disasters, or social conflict. In the face of these uncertainties, policy makers have to provide a decision that considers important factors such as risk aversion, inequality aversion, and sustainability of the economy and ecosystem. Solving this problem may require richer and more realistic models than standard IAMs and advanced computational methods. The recent literature has shown that these uncertainties can be incorporated into IAMs and may change optimal climate policies significantly.

scholarly journals Experimental study of the supercritical CO 2 diffusion coefficient in porous media under reservoir conditions

2019 ◽  
Vol 6 (6) ◽  
pp. 181902 ◽  
Author(s):  
Junchen Lv ◽  
Yuan Chi ◽  
Changzhong Zhao ◽  
Yi Zhang ◽  
Hailin Mu
Keyword(s):  
Porous Media ◽  
Diffusion Coefficient ◽  
Oil Recovery ◽  
Carbon Capture ◽  
Carbon Capture And Storage ◽  
Elevated Pressure ◽  
Experimental Results ◽  
Saturated Porous Media ◽  
Reservoir Conditions ◽  
The Impact

Reliable measurement of the CO 2 diffusion coefficient in consolidated oil-saturated porous media is critical for the design and performance of CO 2 -enhanced oil recovery (EOR) and carbon capture and storage (CCS) projects. A thorough experimental investigation of the supercritical CO 2 diffusion in n -decane-saturated Berea cores with permeabilities of 50 and 100 mD was conducted in this study at elevated pressure (10–25 MPa) and temperature (333.15–373.15 K), which simulated actual reservoir conditions. The supercritical CO 2 diffusion coefficients in the Berea cores were calculated by a model appropriate for diffusion in porous media based on Fick's Law. The results show that the supercritical CO 2 diffusion coefficient increases as the pressure, temperature and permeability increase. The supercritical CO 2 diffusion coefficient first increases slowly at 10 MPa and then grows significantly with increasing pressure. The impact of the pressure decreases at elevated temperature. The effect of permeability remains steady despite the temperature change during the experiments. The effect of gas state and porous media on the supercritical CO 2 diffusion coefficient was further discussed by comparing the results of this study with previous study. Based on the experimental results, an empirical correlation for supercritical CO 2 diffusion coefficient in n -decane-saturated porous media was developed. The experimental results contribute to the study of supercritical CO 2 diffusion in compact porous media.

scholarly journals A room with a view: a special issue with a special perspective

2021 ◽  
Vol 26 (3) ◽  
pp. 205-210
Author(s):  
Simone Borghesi
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Developing Countries ◽  
Climate Policy ◽  
Present Article ◽  
Emerging Economies ◽  
Emissions Trading ◽  
Developed Countries ◽  
Special Issue ◽  
Climate Policies

AbstractThe present article describes the main insights deriving from the papers collected in this special issue which jointly provide a ‘room with a view’ on some of the most relevant issues in climate policy such as: the role of uncertainty, the distributional implications of climate change, the drivers and applications of decarbonizing innovation, the role of emissions trading and its interactions with companion policies. While looking at different issues and from different angles, all papers share a similar attention to policy aspects and implications, especially in developing countries. This is particularly important to evaluate whether and to what extent the climate policies adopted thus far in developed countries can be replicated in emerging economies.

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