scholarly journals Mitigating Climate Change in the Cultural Built Heritage Sector

Climate ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 7 (7) ◽  
pp. 90 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elena Sesana ◽  
Chiara Bertolin ◽  
Alexandre Gagnon ◽  
John Hughes
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Cultural Heritage ◽  
Carbon Footprint ◽  
Climate Change Mitigation ◽  
Ghg Emissions ◽  
Building Envelope ◽  
Historical Buildings ◽  
Built Heritage ◽  
Heritage Buildings ◽  
Change Mitigation

Climate change mitigation targets have put pressure to reduce the carbon footprint of cultural heritage buildings. Commonly adopted measures to decrease the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of historical buildings are targeted at improving their energy efficiency through insulating the building envelope, and upgrading their heating, cooling and lighting systems. However, there are complex issues that arise when mitigating climate change in the cultural built heritage sector. For instance, preserving the authenticity of heritage buildings, maintaining their traditional passive behaviours, and choosing adaptive solutions compatible with the characteristics of heritage materials to avoid an acceleration of decay processes. It is thus important to understand what the enablers, or the barriers, are to reduce the carbon footprint of cultural heritage buildings to meet climate change mitigation targets. This paper investigates how climate change mitigation is considered in the management and preservation of the built heritage through semi-structured interviews with cultural heritage experts from the UK, Italy and Norway. Best-practice approaches for the refurbishment of historical buildings with the aim of decreasing their energy consumption are presented, as perceived by the interviewees, as well as the identification of the enablers and barriers in mitigating climate change in the cultural built heritage sector. The findings emphasise that adapting the cultural built heritage to reduce GHG emissions is challenging, but possible if strong and concerted action involving research and government can be undertaken to overcome the barriers identified in this paper.

scholarly journals Evaluating the Link between Low Carbon Reductions Strategies and Its Performance in the Context of Climate Change: A Carbon Footprint of a Wood-Frame Residential Building in Quebec, Canada

2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (8) ◽  
pp. 2715 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alejandro Padilla-Rivera ◽  
Ben Amor ◽  
Pierre Blanchet
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Carbon Footprint ◽  
Climate Change Mitigation ◽  
Ghg Emissions ◽  
Mitigation Strategies ◽  
Quebec City ◽  
Baseline Scenario ◽  
Low Carbon ◽  
Building Sector ◽  
Change Mitigation

The design and study of low carbon buildings is a major concern in a modern economy due to high carbon emissions produced by buildings and its effects on climate change. Studies have investigated (CFP) Carbon Footprint of buildings, but there remains a need for a strong analysis that measure and quantify the overall degree of GHG emissions reductions and its relationship with the effect on climate change mitigation. This study evaluates the potential of reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from the building sector by evaluating the (CFP) of four hotpots approaches defined in line with commonly carbon reduction strategies, also known as mitigation strategies. CFP framework is applied to compare the (CC) climate change impact of mitigation strategies. A multi-story timber residential construction in Quebec City (Canada) was chosen as a baseline scenario. This building has been designed with the idea of being a reference of sustainable development application in the building sector. In this scenario, the production of materials and construction (assembly, waste management and transportation) were evaluated. A CFP that covers eight actions divided in four low carbon strategies, including: low carbon materials, material minimization, reuse and recycle materials and adoption of local sources and use of biofuels were evaluated. The results of this study shows that the used of prefabricated technique in buildings is an alternative to reduce the CFP of buildings in the context of Quebec. The CC decreases per m2 floor area in baseline scenario is up to 25% than current buildings. If the benefits of low carbon strategies are included, the timber structures can generate 38% lower CC than the original baseline scenario. The investigation recommends that CO2eq emissions reduction in the design and implementation of residential constructions as climate change mitigation is perfectly feasible by following different working strategies. It is concluded that if the four strategies were implemented in current buildings they would have environmental benefits by reducing its CFP. The reuse wood wastes into production of particleboard has the greatest environmental benefit due to temporary carbon storage.

Carbon Reduction in the Post-Kyoto era. Have we progressed? A comparison

2012 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 7-37
Author(s):  
Bruno Zeller ◽  
Michael Longo
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Climate Change Mitigation ◽  
Common Law ◽  
Ghg Emissions ◽  
Global Environment ◽  
Carbon Reduction ◽  
Legal Proceedings ◽  
The World ◽  
Change Mitigation ◽  
The Eu

In a fragmented global environment, the efforts of state and non-state actors are important in assessing the state of play on climate change mitigation actions around the world. This article will consider from a comparative perspective the various legislative models for addressing climate change and the reduction of GHG emissions with particular focus on the EU, USA, Australia and Switzerland. As legal developments are not limited to legislative schemes, this article will examine the voluntary carbon offset market and other trade related solutions to GHG emissions which have emerged in the absence of mandatory limitation systems. Also warranting attention are the actions of private parties in common law jurisdictions to bring legal proceedings against power companies for damage caused by climate change. Together, these developments demonstrate that climate change abatement is not the sole remit of the legislature.

scholarly journals Growing our future: Assessing the outcome of afforestation programs in Ontario, Canada

2021 ◽  
Vol 97 (02) ◽  
pp. 179-190
Author(s):  
Georgina K. Magnus ◽  
Elizabeth Celanowicz ◽  
Mihai Voicu ◽  
Mark Hafer ◽  
Juha M. Metsaranta ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Climate Change Mitigation ◽  
Carbon Sink ◽  
Ghg Emissions ◽  
Mitigation Strategies ◽  
Spatially Explicit ◽  
Auxiliary Data ◽  
Carbon Budget Model ◽  
Change Mitigation

The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) requires its signatories, including Canada, to estimate and report their annual greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and removals. Forests are an important natural resource as they slow the accumulation of atmospheric carbon through the process of carbon sequestration. Due to the role of forests as carbon sinks, governments consider afforestation projects as feasible climate change mitigation strategies. This article outlines a spatially-explicit approach to validating afforestation data in Ontario, Canada. Validation is a user-supervised process that uses satellite imagery, remote sensing tools, and other auxiliary data to confirm the presence of seedlings planted through Forests Ontario’s 50 Million Tree program. Of the 12 466 hectares assessed, 83% is identified as afforested, 6% is not afforested and 10% is not determined. The area classified as successful afforestation is used as input for the Generic Carbon Budget Model (GCBM), to simulate afforestation effects on carbon stocks. Our findings show the afforestation activities will create a small carbon sink by 2060. From this project, it is evident that spatial validation of afforestation data is feasible, although the collection of additional standardized auxiliary data is recommended for future afforestation projects, if carbon benefits are to be reported.

Prospects and Consequences of Repowering Cities

2019 ◽  
pp. 165-180
Author(s):  
Sara Hughes
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Decision Making ◽  
Greenhouse Gas ◽  
Climate Change Mitigation ◽  
Urban Climate ◽  
Ghg Emissions ◽  
Scaling Up ◽  
Building Capacity ◽  
Smart Governance ◽  
Change Mitigation

This concluding chapter highlights the book's major findings and explores the remaining challenges and tradeoffs inherent in today's locally led climate change agenda. While the cities have made demonstrable progress on reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, they are now facing the challenge of scaling up their efforts as new targets for 2030 loom. The chapter then discusses ways the cities can and are using the governing strategies to do this: by building participatory decision-making institutions, building capacity for climate “smart” governance, and expanding and stabilizing the coalition for climate change mitigation. However, the need for a “big tent” approach to climate change mitigation to make the citywide changes necessary for reducing GHG emissions 80 percent increases the complexity of interests and challenges of coordination. The scope of a viable urban climate change coalition may ultimately set the limits of a locally led mitigation agenda.

The Means Behind the Methods

2019 ◽  
pp. 116-147
Author(s):  
Sara Hughes
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
New York ◽  
New York City ◽  
Los Angeles ◽  
York City ◽  
Climate Change Mitigation ◽  
Ghg Emissions ◽  
Coalition Building ◽  
Ballot Initiatives ◽  
Change Mitigation

This chapter assesses how New York City, Los Angeles, and Toronto have used the three governing strategies—institution building, coalition building, and capacity building—to support their efforts to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Each strategy reduces key sources of uncertainty that arise when taking up the new and challenging issue of climate change mitigation. The governing strategies facilitate action on climate change and channel resources to the effort. In this way, the strategies underpin and support governance for climate change mitigation regardless of the particular mode of governing or source of emissions being targeted. These strategies have manifested in different ways: while New York City and Toronto have focused on building stakeholder coalitions invested in and informing city government programs, Los Angeles has focused more on mobilizing voters willing to support ballot initiatives.

scholarly journals Climate change mitigation potential of carbon capture and utilization in the chemical industry

2019 ◽  
Vol 116 (23) ◽  
pp. 11187-11194 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arne Kätelhön ◽  
Raoul Meys ◽  
Sarah Deutz ◽  
Sangwon Suh ◽  
André Bardow
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Carbon Capture ◽  
Climate Change Mitigation ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Ghg Emissions ◽  
Low Carbon ◽  
Oil Consumption ◽  
Chemical Production ◽  
Carbon Capture And Utilization ◽  
Change Mitigation

Chemical production is set to become the single largest driver of global oil consumption by 2030. To reduce oil consumption and resulting greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, carbon dioxide can be captured from stacks or air and utilized as alternative carbon source for chemicals. Here, we show that carbon capture and utilization (CCU) has the technical potential to decouple chemical production from fossil resources, reducing annual GHG emissions by up to 3.5 Gt CO2-eq in 2030. Exploiting this potential, however, requires more than 18.1 PWh of low-carbon electricity, corresponding to 55% of the projected global electricity production in 2030. Most large-scale CCU technologies are found to be less efficient in reducing GHG emissions per unit low-carbon electricity when benchmarked to power-to-X efficiencies reported for other large-scale applications including electro-mobility (e-mobility) and heat pumps. Once and where these other demands are satisfied, CCU in the chemical industry could efficiently contribute to climate change mitigation.

scholarly journals Systematic Literature Review on Behavioral Barriers of Climate Change Mitigation in Households

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (18) ◽  
pp. 7369 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gintare Stankuniene ◽  
Dalia Streimikiene ◽  
Grigorios L. Kyriakopoulos
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Literature Review ◽  
Systematic Literature Review ◽  
Climate Change Mitigation ◽  
Ghg Emissions ◽  
Household Behavior ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Policies And Measures ◽  
Behavioral Barriers ◽  
Change Mitigation

Achieving climate change mitigation goals requires the mobilization of all levels of society. The potential for reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from households has not yet been fully realized. Given the complex climate change situation around the world, the importance of behavioral economic insights is already understood. Changing household behavior in mitigating climate change is seen as an inexpensive and rapid intervention measure. In this paper, we review barriers of changing household behavior and systematize policies and measures that could help to overcome these barriers. A systematic literature review provided in this paper allows to define future research pathways and could be important for policy-makers to develop measures to help households contribute to climate change mitigation.

scholarly journals Climate change mitigation and adaptation in agriculture: the case of the olive

2018 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 633-642 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. Montanaro ◽  
V. Nuzzo ◽  
C. Xiloyannis ◽  
B. Dichio
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Climate Change Mitigation ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Ghg Emissions ◽  
Tree Biomass ◽  
Climatic Impact ◽  
Soil C ◽  
Mitigation And Adaptation ◽  
Change Mitigation

Abstract Agriculture might serve as a mitigation solution through carbon (C) sequestration in soil, in tree biomass and reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Increased C is beneficial for some soil structures and functions, improving the use of water and in turn the crop adaptation. This study reports on the synergy between mitigation and adaptation in agriculture through the paradigm of the olive (Olea europaea). Through data on net ecosystem productivity and soil respiration, the role of olive groves to store C in tree biomass (from 0.36 to 2.78 t CO2 ha−1 yr−1) and into soil (∼8.5 t CO2 ha−1 yr−1) is reviewed. The influence of some management practices on that role is also discussed. The overall climatic impact of olive fruit and oil production has been evaluated also considering GHG emissions by field operations (e.g., pruning, mulching of cover crop, fertilization, harvest, etc.) and by the extraction and bottling of oil. Soil C as interface between climate change mitigation and adaptation has been delineated, linking C-induced improvements in soil properties to increased water storage and reduced run-off and erosion. The outcomes may strengthen the environmental role of agriculture and promote synergistic mitigation and adaptation policies assisting in soil and water resources conservation.

scholarly journals Unintended Consequences of Agricultural Participation in Voluntary Carbon Markets: Their Nature and Avoidance

Complexity ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 2021 ◽  
pp. 1-17
Author(s):  
Minglu Wang ◽  
Bruce McCarl ◽  
Hanlin Wei ◽  
Layla Shiva
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Greenhouse Gas ◽  
Climate Change Mitigation ◽  
Ghg Emissions ◽  
Unintended Consequences ◽  
Carbon Markets ◽  
Unintended Effects ◽  
Rebound Effects ◽  
Voluntary Carbon Markets ◽  
Change Mitigation

Greenhouse gas (GHG) trading markets have been widely discussed for climate change mitigation. However in implementation coverage has not been universal. Agriculture, despite being the source of nearly 25% of net emissions, has not commonly been capped. But it has been mentioned as voluntary source of net emission offsets. Such offsets could arise from action reducing GHG emissions, enhancing sequestration, or producing feedstocks for low emitting bioenergy replacements for fossil based energy. This could be harnessed by setting up voluntary carbon markets that producers could join at their discretion. However, such a scheme could have unintended consequences. We conduct theoretical and empirical analyses of a voluntary “carbon” market examining both intended and unintended effects. We find certain participation rules can stimulate rebound effects from emitters and suppress participation from sequestration and bioenergy producing entities. To overcome this we develop and simulate offset participation limitations that could preclude unintended consequences.

scholarly journals Retrofitting Rural Dwellings in Delta Region to Enhance Climate Change Mitigation in Egypt

2021 ◽  
Vol 25 (1) ◽  
pp. 136-150
Author(s):  
Ahmed Abouaiana
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Energy Consumption ◽  
Carbon Dioxide Emissions ◽  
Climate Change Mitigation ◽  
Assessment Tool ◽  
Energy Performance ◽  
Building Envelope ◽  
Delta Region ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Change Mitigation

Abstract The current rural dwelling pattern in the Delta in Egypt consumes much energy to achieve dwellers’ thermal comfort, increasing greenhouse gas emissions contributing to climate change threatening the region’s coastal parts. Therefore, this study highlights the potential of retrofitting the existing rural house utilizing pervasive construction technologies in diminishing energy consumption and carbon dioxide emissions as a climate change mitigation strategy. The current modern rural house and the construction typologies were characterized. This study selected a typical modern rural dwelling located in Al-Gharbia Governorate in the Delta region. The suggested retrofitting strategies were applied to the external building envelope. The impact on the annual energy consumption of cooling and heating loads was evaluated using an Energy Performance Assessment Tool (Design Builder). An optimal envelope configuration was suggested, then an economic assessment and an investigation to the local acceptance were provided. The results showed that using the commonly used construction techniques as a retrofitting strategy can plummet the energy consumption and CO2 emissions by one-third worthy of mentioning that the locals have shown a lack of interest in the investment in retrofitting their buildings as well as the economic model showed that the investment is not profitable. Further studies can be made by the author considering investigating different building typologies and engaging other stakeholders.

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