Yes / In this study using standard measures of inequality such as Gini coefficient, Kakwani Index, coefficient of variation and Theil Index we examine inequality in carbon emissions for the years 2000-09 at the sub-national level covering 17 major states of India. At the outset, in order to estimate sub-national inequality in carbon emissions we also estimated total carbon emissions for each state for the above years using IPCC Reference Approach. Our findings showed that per capita carbon emissions were highest in the low income resource rich states and lower in the high income more developed states. The inequality in carbon emissions as demonstrated by Gini coefficients has increased over the years indicating that it is the poorer states which have to bear the burden.

There is a growing recognition of the role that walking and cycling can make in reducing traffic congestion and air pollution whilst also contributing to improved personal health and wellbeing. While studies suggest that infrastructure is required to promote walking and cycling, there is a lack of evidence at the micro level on how interventions aimed at improving connectivity for walking and cycling influence travel behaviour and whether they promote a modal shift away from short car journeys. The aim of this study was to investigate the extent to which the implementation of a high quality traffic free route, delivered by a recent programme targeted at everyday walking and cycling in the UK - the Sustrans Connect2 Programme - influenced individuals' day-to-day travel decisions, changed the spatial and temporal nature of their journeys and impacted on overall carbon emissions from motorised travel. To achieve this aim an in-depth longitudinal panel study of a community of residents living next to a totemic Connect2 scheme in Penarth, Cardiff, was conducted. A panel of purposively selected participants (N=50) were interviewed and asked to record their travel behaviour using personal GPS devices and travel diaries over two seasonally matching 7-day time periods in 2011 and 2012. This novel GPS based mixed-method approach provided a detailed account of participants' travel behaviour in the local area (n=2664 journeys) and a comprehensive understanding of how, why and for whom the Connect2 intervention was likely to influence travel behaviour and the longevity of effects. The findings revealed that participants used the new Connect2 scheme regularly during the period of the study (36% in 2011; 26% in 2012); however, the new scheme was likely to have a greater impact for recreational journeys rather than for everyday travel. Spatial data provided new insights into the complexities of walking behaviour and factors influencing cycling for everyday travel or recreation, including route choice decisions, destinations where activities were conducted and the role of the new Connect2 infrastructure in supporting this. Further findings support the potential of active travel in replacing short car trips (20%) and its impact on carbon emissions from personal travel (4.9% among the study sample). However, results suggest that the new Connect2 scheme alone was unlikely to promote a significant change in travel behaviour and carbon emissions from (displaced) car journeys. The study contributes to the debate on the effectiveness of interventions targeted at promoting walking and cycling and the importance of wider infrastructural improvements that may be required to encourage their wider uptake. The combination of methods for data collection developed and employed in this study also helps to inform future travel behaviour research.

Global warming is currently a major challenge facing the world. There are widespread ongoing efforts in the form of summits, conferences, etc., to find satisfactory ways of surmounting this challenge. The basic objective of all such efforts can be summarized as conception and formation of protocols to reduce the pace of global carbon levels. Game theory and mechanism design provide a natural modeling tool for capturing the strategic dynamics involved in global warming related problems. This dissertation explores for the first time the use of voting mechanisms in the context of solving the central problems, namely, allocation of emission caps and reduction quotas to strategic emitting agents (countries). The contribution of this dissertation is two-fold. The first contribution is to develop an elegant game theoretic model that accurately captures the strategic interactions among different emitting agents in a global warming setting. This model facilitates a convenient way of exploring a mechanism design approach for solving important allocation problems in the global warming context. The second contribution is to propose and explore a novel approach, based on voting mechanisms, to solve two problems: (1) allocating emission caps and (2) allocating reduction quotas to strategic agents. Our work investigates the use of voting mechanisms that satisfy four desirable properties: (1) non-dictatorship, (2) strategy-proofness, (3) efficiency, and (4) anonymity. In particular, we explore the median selection, maximum order statistic selection, and general Kth order statistic selection voting mechanisms. Our results clearly show that only trivial allocations satisfy all the above properties simultaneously. We next investigate the use of voting mechanisms for the dual problem, namely, allocation of emission reductions to emitting agents. Here, we show that non-trivial allocations are possible, however an important property, individual rationality, might be compromised. The investigations in the thesis bring out certain limitations in applying voting mechanisms that satisfy all the four properties above. Nevertheless, the insights obtained provide valuable guidelines for solving emission allocation related problems in a principled and informed way.

Social, political, and economic trends suggest that the United States may soon join other United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) countries in drafting substantive, national climate change policy. After providing a brief overview of past and present climate action taken both nationally and internationally, this paper explores different economic solutions to address the externalities of fossil fuel emissions. Alternatives include command-and-control regulation, a carbon tax, and a cap-and-trade program. Several factors, including domestic political anti-tax sentiment, suggest that a cap-and-trade framework is the most promising market-based alternative to reduce carbon emissions within the United States’s electricity sector. Case studies focus on the power generation components of four Texas utilities: Austin Energy, CPS Energy of San Antonio, NRG Energy, and Luminant and assess cap-and-trade’s ramifications on electricity prices. Utilities would seek to pass through to customers in the form of higher electricity prices up to 100 percent of expenses incurred from mitigating greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Three primary factors will determine how a given carbon dioxide cap-and-trade allowance price will affect the electricity price charged by utilities: the carbon intensity of the generation fuel mix, whether the wholesale electricity market is regulated or competitive, and whether greenhouse gas allowances are auctioned or grandfathered to covered entities. Consumer elasticity would determine resulting demand for the higher priced energy. Relatively inelastic electricity consumption could cause electricity sector customers to incur financial losses approximately eight times larger than producers by the year 2020 under a mature cap-and-trade framework. Furthermore, evidence suggests market-based GHG reduction tools such as a cap-and-trade schema alone are not sufficient to decarbonize the electricity generation sector. Without complementary regulatory policies that mandate transition to clean energy sources, cap-and-trade will only succeed in redistributing the opportunity cost associated with the carbon externality. / text

As part of the UK’s effort to combat climate change, deep reductions in carbon emissions will be required from existing social housing. This thesis explores the viability of achieving such a goal through a case-study approach, focusing on Peabody, a large housing association operating in London. A model was developed for Peabody’s existing housing stock that quantifies the impacts of technical carbon reduction interventions on stock carbon emissions, Peabody’s expenditure and residents’ fuel bills for the period up to 2030. A participant observation study, conducted from 2006 to 2009, explored the impact of contextual factors influencing the viability of Peabody carrying out the considered technical interventions. The model study found that the Greater London Authority’s target of achieving 60% emission cuts by 2025 could be achieved, but only through extensive stock refurbishment, including a widespread use of solid wall insulation. An external context of substantial reductions in the carbon intensity of the national grid and constrained resident demand for energy is also required. Even where considerable financial support for refurbishment from Government was assumed, the model provided evidence of a funding gap of tens of millions of pounds which would need to be bridged if the required measures were to be carried out. The participant observation study found that the prohibitive cost of carrying out carbon reduction measures is the key barrier currently holding back progress. Other significant issues are related to Government policy, including the inability to raise income from residents to offset refurbishment spending, and the lack of a long term framework to drive action to reduce emissions from existing UK housing. By coupling an analysis of technical interventions with analysis of their financial and political viability, this thesis demonstrates that the achievement of deep emission cuts from Peabody’s existing stock is certainly possible, but requires changes in Government policy and increased efforts from all stakeholders concerned if it is to come to pass.

An investigation into the commercial feasibility of Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) technology as a competitive carbon abatement technology for New Zealand.

Soil CO2 efflux (F-soil) represents a significant source of ecosystem CO2 emissions that is rarely quantified with high-temporal-resolution data in carbon flux studies. F-soil estimates can be obtained by the low-cost gradient method (GM), but the utility of the method is hindered by uncertainties in the application of published models for the diffusion coefficient. Therefore, to address and resolve these uncertainties, we compared F-soil measured by 2 soil CO2 efflux chambers and F-soil estimated by 16 gas transport models using the GM across 1year. We used 14 published empirical gas diffusion models and 2 in situ models: (1) a gas transfer model called Chamber model obtained using a calibration between the chamber and the gradient method and (2) a diffusion model called SF6 model obtained through an interwell conservative tracer experiment. Most of the published models using the GM underestimated cumulative annual F-soil by 55% to 361%, while the Chamber model closely approximated cumulative F-soil (0.6% error). Surprisingly, the SF6 model combined with the GM underestimated F-soil by 32%. Differences between in situ models could stem from the Chamber model implicitly accounting for production of soil CO2, while the conservative tracer model does not. Therefore, we recommend using the GM only after calibration with chamber measurements to generate reliable long-term ecosystem F-soil measurements. Accurate estimates of F-soil will improve our understanding of soil respiration's contribution to ecosystem fluxes.

A number of recent studies have found a strong link between peak global warming due to anthropogenic carbon dioxide and cumulative carbon emissions from the start of the industrial revolution. This thesis builds on this work by using a simple climate model to apply the concept of cumulative emissions to emission floors, by comparing cumulative emissions with other types of emissions target, and by extending the work to apply to noncarbon dioxide (CO₂) greenhouse gases and short-lived climate forcers (SLCFs). Though peak global warming correlates well with cumulative carbon emissions, the link to emissions over shorter periods or in the years 2020 or 2050 is shown to be weaker. It is also shown that the introduction of emissions floors does not reduce the importance of cumulative emissions, but may make some warming targets unachievable. For pathways that give a most likely warming up to about 4°C, cumulative emissions from pre-industrial times to year 2200 correlate strongly with most likely resultant peak warming in the simple model used, regardless of the type of emissions floor used. The maximum rate of CO2- induced warming is not determined by cumulative emissions but is shown to be limited by the peak rate of CO₂ emissions. A simple model of non-CO₂ greenhouse gases is also developed and used to investigate SLCFs. It is shown that emissions of SLCFs today have little impact on peak warming, and that delaying near-term reductions in SLCFs would not have a significant impact on peak warming. Only once CO₂ emissions are falling do SLCF emissions have a significant impact on peak warming. A global climate policy framework is presented as an example of how the work in this thesis could be used in policy. Future work is also discussed, particularly verification of these results in a more complex model.

Thesis (M. Com. (Accountancy))--University of the Witwatersrand, Faculty of Commerce, Law and Management, School of Accountancy, 2014. / At the 2009 Copenhagen climate-change talks South Africa proposed a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 34% in 2020 and 42% in 2025. This report is intended to research and conclude upon whether South Africa can practically implement a carbon emissions tax in order to reduce the amount of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases emitted, as well as on whether the introduction of a carbon emissions tax would be an appropriate way in which to address the climate change problem and South Africa’s contribution thereto. The research undertaken is necessary as South Africa is a relatively large emitter of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases thereby contributing to the global problem of climate change which is caused by these emissions and if South Africa wants to honour its proposed reduction, a measure is needed in order to ensure South Africa reduces its harmful greenhouse gas emissions, of which the levying of a carbon emissions tax is researched as such a measure. The research, a detailed literature that identified potential areas of concern or negative impact on the economy and the identified ‘issues’ were when used in a correspondence survey to test the perception of professionals with a knowledge of the proposed carbon tax. The conclusion reached was that a carbon emissions tax cannot be successfully implemented at this time due to the prevailing economic conditions in South Africa as well as the potential resulting negative effects on the country’s low-income population and on South Africa’s international competitiveness. It is recommended that the possibility of implementing a carbon emissions tax should be re-evaluated at a future stage once the country’s economy is more developed.

A necessidade mundial de mitigação dos gases de efeito estufa (GEE) e a mobilização internacional para atingir os objetivos de redução estabelecidos pela Convenção-Quadro das Nações Unidas para Mudanças Climáticas (CQNUMC) deram abertura para que finalmente as energias renováveis pudessem ser utilizadas e aumentassem sua parcela na matriz energética mundial. No Brasil, a sólida indústria sucroalcooleira atualmente desenvolve projetos de redução de emissões de carbono no âmbito do Mecanismo de Desenvolvimento Limpo (MDL) do Protocolo de Quioto, por meio de 18 projetos baseados na geração de energia elétrica renovável excedente através da cogeração, com exportação para a rede elétrica nacional, deslocando energia marginal termelétrica de origem fóssil, em apenas 20 unidades produtoras paulistas. Neste trabalho foi projetado um cenário ideal de reduções de emissões, que considerou a adesão total de 151 usinas paulistas para a safra de 2006/2007, para cinco cenários patamares tecnológicos de cogeração, com queima de bagaco e também aproveitamento da palha. Foi utilizando os parâmetros tecnológicos elaborados pela Comissão Especial de Bioenergia do Governo do Estado de São Paulo e o fator de linha de base de 0,268 tCO2e/MWh adotado pelos projetos de MDL em operação no Estado de São Paulo. No cenário tecnológico mais conservador as emissões evitadas somariam 1.404.593 tCO2e/ano. Para o cenário ideal as emissões evitadas somam 12.199.443 tCO2e/ano. Para composição do cenário ideal também foram calculadas as emissões referentes à queima da palha da cana-de-açúcar. / The world-wide necessity of Greenhouse Gases (GHG) mitigation and the intergovernmental mobilization to reach the objectives established by the United Nations Framework on Climate Change (UNFCCC) has opened space for the renewable energy increase in the worlds energy matrix. In Brazil, the solid sugarcane industry currently develops business in the scope of the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) under the Kyotos Protocol, by means of 18 biomass-based projects, with renewable energy generation through bagasse cogeneration at 20 São Paulo States sugarcane production units. The projects activitys consists of increasing the efficiency in the bagasse cogeneration facilities, qualifying the units to sell surplus electricity to the national grid, avoiding the dispatch of same amount of energy produced by fossil-fuelled thermal plants to that grid. The reduced emissions are measured in carbon equivalent and can be converted into negotiable credits. The objective of this dissertation was to build a state of art scenario, calculating the potential emissions reduction through CDM projects for the sugarcane sector of São Paulo State, in which we consider the adherence of all the production units of the State to the CDM projects. The technological parameters used to elaborate the scenario were provided by the São Paulo State Government Bioenergy Special Commission and the baseline factor used of 0,268 tCO2e/MWh was that adopted by the CDM projects in operation in the State. The sugarcane database for the calculations was the production ranking provided by UNICA for the 2006/2007 season. In the most conservative scenario 131 units could avoid the emission of 1.404.593 tCO2e/year. For state of art scenario, the units could avoid 12.199.443 tCO2e/year. Also have been calculated the sugarcane straw burning emission for the sugarcane harvested in 2006/2007 season.