scholarly journals Energy and GHG Emissions Aspects of the COVID Impact in Greece

Energies ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (7) ◽  
pp. 1955
Author(s):  
Dimitri Lalas ◽  
Nikolaos Gakis ◽  
Sebastian Mirasgedis ◽  
Elena Georgopoulou ◽  
Yannis Sarafidis ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Economic Activity ◽  
Energy Use ◽  
Ghg Emissions ◽  
Electricity Consumption ◽  
Road Transport ◽  
Considerable Extent ◽  
Emissions Reduction ◽  
Aegean Islands ◽  
Long Term Impact

The effects of COVID-19 have had devasting effects on both health and economies in 2020. At the same time, the lockdown and the downturn of economic activity resulted in a decrease in energy consumption and an accompanying reduction in greenhouse gas emissions. In this article, a comparison with the temperature adjustment of energy use is presented for the main carriers of electricity, natural gas, and oil products in the residential, tertiary, industry, and transport (road transport, domestic aviation, and navigation) sectors in 2020 against the previous two years in Greece, along with the corresponding emissions. As the comparison covers the entire year, both COVID peaks in the March–April and November–December periods and the corresponding lockdown effects as well as seasonal variations are included. The analysis shows a reduction, adjusted for temperature, of 3528 GWh in electricity and 10,286 GWh in transport, and an increase of 1916 GWh in heating and other final uses for a net 11,898 GWh decrease and a resulting emissions reduction of 3.48 MtCO2eq (1.29 MtCO2eq in electricity, 2.69 MtCO2eq in transport, and an increase of 0.54 MtCO2eq in heating), or 4.1%, from total national emissions in 2019. The effect is, to a considerable extent, the result of drastic tourist activity contraction, which is starkly evident in the electricity consumption in the Aegean islands. The comparison between the two lockdown periods brings out clear differences, with the reduction in the second one being considerably smaller as the population reverted, to a large extent, to pre-COVID behavior, which implies that no permanent gains from the COVID long-term impact toward decarbonization should be expected.

scholarly journals Greenhouse Gas Pollution Based on Energy use and its Mitigation Potential in the City of Surakarta, Indonesia

2020 ◽  
Vol 52 (1) ◽  
pp. 1
Author(s):  
Prabang Setyono ◽  
Widhi Himawan ◽  
Cynthia Permata Sari ◽  
Totok Gunawan ◽  
Sigit Heru Murti
Keyword(s):  
Energy Consumption ◽  
Greenhouse Gas ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Energy Use ◽  
Carbon Sink ◽  
Ghg Emissions ◽  
Electricity Consumption ◽  
Vegetation Density ◽  
Rate Of Increase ◽  
The City

Considered as a trigger of climate change, greenhouse gas (GHG) is a global environmental issue. The City of Surakarta in Indonesia consists mainly of urban areas with high intensities of anthropogenic fossil energy consumption and, potentially, GHG emission. It is topographically a basin area and most likely prompts a Thermal Inversion, creating a risk of accumulation and entrapment of air pollutants or GHGs at low altitudes. Vegetation has been reported to mitigate the rate of increase in emissions because it acts as a natural carbon sink. This study aimed to mitigate the GHG emissions from energy consumption in Surakarta and formulate recommendations for control. It commenced with calculating the emission factors based on the IPCC formula and determining the key categories using the Level Assessment approach. It also involved computing the vegetation density according to the NDVI values of the interpretation of Sentinel 2A imagery. The estimation results showed that in 2018, the emission loads from the energy consumption in Surakarta reached 1,217,385.05 (tons of CO2e). The key categories of these emissions were electricity consumption, transportation on highways, and the domestic sector, with transportation on highways being the top priority. These loads have exceeded the local carrying capacity because they create an imbalance between emission and natural GHG sequestration by vegetations.

scholarly journals Modelling of Emissions and Energy Use from Biofuel Fuelled Vehicles at Urban Scale

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (10) ◽  
pp. 2902 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniela Dias ◽  
António Pais Antunes ◽  
Oxana Tchepel
Keyword(s):  
Road Network ◽  
Energy Use ◽  
Urban Air Pollution ◽  
Road Transport ◽  
Emissions Reduction ◽  
Traffic Emission ◽  
Greenhouse Gases Emissions ◽  
Energy Consumption Model ◽  
Negative Effect ◽  
The City

Biofuels have been considered to be sustainable energy source and one of the major alternatives to petroleum-based road transport fuels due to a reduction of greenhouse gases emissions. However, their effects on urban air pollution are not straightforward. The main objective of this work is to estimate the emissions and energy use from bio-fuelled vehicles by using an integrated and flexible modelling approach at the urban scale in order to contribute to the understanding of introducing biofuels as an alternative transport fuel. For this purpose, the new Traffic Emission and Energy Consumption Model (QTraffic) was applied for complex urban road network when considering two biofuels demand scenarios with different blends of bioethanol and biodiesel in comparison to the reference situation over the city of Coimbra (Portugal). The results of this study indicate that the increase of biofuels blends would have a beneficial effect on particulate matter (PM2.5) emissions reduction for the entire road network (−3.1% [−3.8% to −2.1%] by kg). In contrast, an overall negative effect on nitrogen oxides (NOx) emissions at urban scale is expected, mainly due to the increase in bioethanol uptake. Moreover, the results indicate that, while there is no noticeable variation observed in energy use, fuel consumption is increased by over 2.4% due to the introduction of the selected biofuels blends.

scholarly journals Reducing provincial GHG emissions through reductions in energy use and demand: the case of the restaurant industry in Toronto.

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel D. C. Wren
Keyword(s):  
Energy Use ◽  
Ghg Emissions ◽  
Restaurant Industry ◽  
Emissions Reduction ◽  
Municipal Governments ◽  
Greenhouse Gas Reduction ◽  
Electricity Use ◽  
Ghg Reduction ◽  
Original Survey ◽  
Area Of Influence

In the absence of a national greenhouse gas reduction strategy, the provinces and territories of Canada have adopted legislated or policy-based reduction targets largely related to energy source, the adoption of carbon pricing models and by working with municipal governments. Municipalities have acknowledged their responsibility in emissions reduction by implementing a range of GHG reduction programs but they are limited by their area of influence and by financial constraints. The major focus of this thesis is a study to assess the contribution of the Toronto-based independent restaurant industry to municipal energy use based on an original survey; it was found that the restaurant industry contributes approximately 2.4% of Toronto’s GHG emissions and 0.3% nationally. While GHG emissions related to electricity use has decreased as greater energy efficiency is achieved, similar trends are not seen in GHG emissions related to natural gas use demonstrating the need for further research in this area.

scholarly journals Monetary Health Co-benefits and GHG Emissions Reduction Benefits: Contribution from Private on-the-road Transport

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Je-Liang Liou ◽  
Pei-Ing Wu
Keyword(s):  
Air Pollution ◽  
Electric Vehicles ◽  
Hybrid Electric Vehicles ◽  
Ghg Emissions ◽  
Road Transport ◽  
Pollution Reduction ◽  
Emissions Reduction ◽  
The Road ◽  
Hybrid Electric ◽  
On The Road

This is the first study to provide a systematic monetary benefit matrix, including greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reduction benefits and air pollution reduction health co-benefits, for a change in on-the-road transport to low-carbon types. The benefit transfer method is employed to estimate the social cost of carbon and the health co-benefits via impact pathway analysis in Taiwan. Specifically, the total emissions reduction benefits from changing all internal combustion vehicles to either hybrid electric vehicles, plug-in hybrid electric vehicles, or electric vehicles would generate an average of US$760 million from GHG emissions reduction and US$2,091 million from health co-benefits based on air pollution reduction, for a total benefit of US$2,851 million annually. For a change from combustion scooters to light- or heavy-duty electric scooters, the average GHG emissions reduction benefits would be US$96.02 million, and the health co-benefits from air pollution reduction would be US$1,008.83 million, for total benefits of US$1,104.85 million annually.

scholarly journals Roadmap for Decarbonization of the Building and Construction Industry—A Supply Chain Analysis Including Primary Production of Steel and Cement

Energies ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (16) ◽  
pp. 4136
Author(s):  
Ida Karlsson ◽  
Johan Rootzén ◽  
Alla Toktarova ◽  
Mikael Odenberger ◽  
Filip Johnsson ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Co2 Emissions ◽  
Energy Use ◽  
Construction Materials ◽  
Ghg Emissions ◽  
Transport Infrastructure ◽  
Strategic Choices ◽  
Material Efficiency ◽  
Decision Points ◽  
Energy Flows

Sweden has committed to reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions to net-zero by 2045. Around 20% of Sweden’s annual CO2 emissions arise from manufacturing, transporting, and processing of construction materials for construction and refurbishment of buildings and infrastructure. In this study, material and energy flows for building and transport infrastructure construction is outlined, together with a roadmap detailing how the flows change depending on different technical and strategical choices. By matching short-term and long-term goals with specific technology solutions, these pathways make it possible to identify key decision points and potential synergies, competing goals, and lock-in effects. The results show that it is possible to reduce CO2 emissions associated with construction of buildings and transport infrastructure by 50% to 2030 applying already available measures, and reach close to zero emissions by 2045, while indicating that strategic choices with respect to process technologies and energy carriers may have different implications on energy use and CO2 emissions over time. The results also illustrate the importance of intensifying efforts to identify and manage both soft and hard barriers and the importance of simultaneously acting now by implementing available measures (e.g., material efficiency and material/fuel substitution measures), while actively planning for long-term measures (low-CO2 steel or cement).

scholarly journals Demand-side decarbonization and electrification: EMF 35 JMIP study

2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
pp. 395-410 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shogo Sakamoto ◽  
Yu Nagai ◽  
Masahiro Sugiyama ◽  
Shinichiro Fujimori ◽  
Etsushi Kato ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Energy Use ◽  
Combustion Engine ◽  
Ghg Emissions ◽  
Electricity Consumption ◽  
Demand Side ◽  
Water Heater ◽  
Final Energy ◽  
Heat Pump Water Heater ◽  
Intercomparison Project ◽  
End Use

AbstractJapan’s long-term strategy submitted to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change emphasizes the importance of improving the electrification rates to reducing GHG emissions. Using the five models participating in Energy Modeling Forum 35 Japan Model Intercomparison project (JMIP), we focused on the demand-side decarbonization and analyzed the final energy composition required to achieve 80% reductions in GHGs by 2050 in Japan. The model results show that the electricity share in final energy use (electrification rate) needs to reach 37–66% in 2050 (26% in 2010) to achieve the emissions reduction of 80%. The electrification rate increases mainly due to switching from fossil fuel end-use technologies (i.e. oil water heater, oil stove and combustion-engine vehicles) to electricity end-use technologies (i.e. heat pump water heater and electric vehicles). The electricity consumption in 2050 other than AIM/Hub ranged between 840 and 1260 TWh (AIM/Hub: 1950TWh), which is comparable to the level seen in the last 10 years (950–1035 TWh). The pace at which electrification rate must be increased is a challenge. The model results suggest to increase the electrification pace to 0.46–1.58%/yr from 2030 to 2050. Neither the past electrification pace (0.30%/year from 1990 to 2010) nor the outlook of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (0.15%/year from 2010 to 2030) is enough to reach the suggested electrification rates in 2050. Therefore, more concrete measures to accelerate dissemination of electricity end-use technologies across all sectors need to be established.

scholarly journals Energy Performance Modelling and Consumption Forecasting in Built Environments

2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 569-575
Keyword(s):  
Energy Use ◽  
Ghg Emissions ◽  
Building Energy ◽  
Energy Performance ◽  
Policy Formulation ◽  
Performance Modelling ◽  
Energy Models ◽  
Term Energy ◽  
And Control

For all sector of the economy including the construction sector, energy consumption forecasting is critical for future planning. The building sector accounts for a staggering 30% of the world’s energy use and one-third of associated greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions worldwide. Modeling of building energy performance and consumption forecasting is significant for energy policy formulation, fixing targets and control energy usage to provide a long term energy security. Many energy models are accessible now, but the area is still under development and needs perfection on several counts. To select the most suitable and appropriate model for a specific purpose, it is often hard to evaluate the various models and their characteristics. This article provides a broad analysis of modeling methods, classification, and applications in constructed settings with an improved focus. A critical assessment of various models is also provided based on their composition, input-output relationships, strengths, and weaknesses to define study gaps and provide directions for future studies.

Correlation between electric energy use and CO2 emissions in a university campus in Brazil

2021 ◽  
Vol 0 (0) ◽  
Author(s):  
Antonio Manoel Matta dos Santos Lameirão ◽  
Marcelo Jasmim Meiriño ◽  
Marcio Zamboti Fortes
Keyword(s):  
Qualitative Data ◽  
Energy Use ◽  
Ghg Emissions ◽  
Electric Energy ◽  
Electricity Consumption ◽  
South American ◽  
University Campus ◽  
Interconnected System ◽  
Incentive Programs ◽  
Consumption Data

Abstract The purpose of this article is to examine the correlations between greenhouse gas (GHG) by CO2eq emissions and the use of electricity on the Praia Vermelha campus of the Universidade Federal Fluminense (UFF) located in Brazil. The study favors understanding and management for the sustainability of the campus operations. The research used electricity consumption data from 2017 to 2019 and quantitative and qualitative data collected in 2020, through online research applied at Praia Vermelha campus. An exploratory and descriptive study, providing familiarity with the problem and deepening knowledge about the phenomenon, seeking a correlation between variables and proposing reflections. We observed a reduction in electricity consumption on the campus in the period surveyed from 2017 to 2019, however, there wasn’t proportional and significant reduction CO2eq emissions in the period between 2018 until 2019. During this period occurred fluctuations in the dispatches of the different power generating plants, considering renewables and fossils sources. We also found that most of survey respondents agree with to implementation of incentive programs and the dissemination of information about GHG emissions on campus to promote the engagement of the academic environment in the efficient use of electricity. We found few peer-reviewed studies dealing with GHG emissions generated in South American universities. Through a bibliographic review, we investigated the commitment of the universities to sustainability and the management of efficient use of electric energy, as well as the methodology for calculating indirect GHG emissions, in CO2eq, related to purchase energy from the System National Interconnected System (SIN) of Brazil.

scholarly journals Reducing provincial GHG emissions through reductions in energy use and demand: the case of the restaurant industry in Toronto.

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel D. C. Wren
Keyword(s):  
Energy Use ◽  
Ghg Emissions ◽  
Restaurant Industry ◽  
Emissions Reduction ◽  
Municipal Governments ◽  
Greenhouse Gas Reduction ◽  
Electricity Use ◽  
Ghg Reduction ◽  
Original Survey ◽  
Area Of Influence

In the absence of a national greenhouse gas reduction strategy, the provinces and territories of Canada have adopted legislated or policy-based reduction targets largely related to energy source, the adoption of carbon pricing models and by working with municipal governments. Municipalities have acknowledged their responsibility in emissions reduction by implementing a range of GHG reduction programs but they are limited by their area of influence and by financial constraints. The major focus of this thesis is a study to assess the contribution of the Toronto-based independent restaurant industry to municipal energy use based on an original survey; it was found that the restaurant industry contributes approximately 2.4% of Toronto’s GHG emissions and 0.3% nationally. While GHG emissions related to electricity use has decreased as greater energy efficiency is achieved, similar trends are not seen in GHG emissions related to natural gas use demonstrating the need for further research in this area.

The need for clearer climate target definitions - illustrating ambiguities of net zero CO2-eq targets

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nadine Mengis ◽  
Andreas Oschlies
Keyword(s):  
Greenhouse Gases ◽  
Ghg Emissions ◽  
Emissions Reduction ◽  
Anthropogenic Emissions ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Climate Target ◽  
Climate Targets ◽  
Net Zero ◽  
Natural Carbon

<p>Article 4 of the Paris Agreement calls for a “balance between anthropogenic emissions by sources and removals by sinks of greenhouse gases in the second half of this century”. It is not made explicit if this balance should be achieved for each of the greenhouse gases (GHGs) individually or if some sum of all GHGs is supposed to become net-zero. This confusion translated into several declared climate targets, that range from carbon-neutral, over GHG-neutral to climate-neutral, and sometimes use these terms interchangingly. However, these targets imply different trajectories in terms of single GHG emissions and result in vastly different temperature trajectories.<br>Here, we show the implications of this confusion concerning declared climate target metrics, using the most commonly used metric of CO<sub>2</sub>-equivalent emissions. The same trajectory of net-zero-2050 CO<sub>2</sub>-equivalent emissions, shows vast differences in short term and long-term temperature and carbon cycle responses, depending on the distribution of CO<sub>2</sub>-equivalent emissions across the different GHGs. <br>We emphasize that achieving net zero CO<sub>2</sub> emissions remains a necessary precondition for long-term temperature stabilization. We also show that methane emissions reduction can have large short term benefits, as it would strongly reduce the short term temperature and thereby increase the natural carbon uptake. Going forward we recommend to aim for more transparency in declared climate goals and suggest aiming to achieve net zero anthropogenic emissions for all GHGs individually.</p>

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