This Diploma thesis deals with utilization of electric driven cars in Czech Republic. There are two cardinal aspects of this research. Firstly I would like to give an answer if expansion of electric driven cars could help Czech Republic with greenhouse gas emission reduction. This goal will be achieved by quantitative analysis when four different scenarios of electric driven cars expansion will be calculated. Result of this analysis will be affected by several significant aspects. The most important aspect is structure of Czech energy mix which influences environmental friendliness of using electric driven car. Outcome of this analysis will tell us if we should support electric driven cars expansion in Czech Republic. Finally Diploma thesis proves that it is possible to use electric driven vehicles as a tool for greenhouse gas emission reduction in Czech conditions. Second important aspect related with electromobility is the financial competitiveness to combustion engine driven car. In this case the goal of analysis will be set as comparative analysis of lifecycle costs. Social external costs (as greenhouse gas emissions) will be included to the analysis as well. Result of this analysis tells us what type of power drive in passenger car is financially preferable.

No description available.

Deep row incorporation (DRI) is a biosolids recycling method that is especially appropriate for reclaiming disturbed land because of the extremely high application rates used. Nutrient additions in excess of the vegetation requirements, especially in coarse-textured soils, can potentially impair water quality. Increasing C and N additions with biosolids DRI can also generate emissions of greenhouse gases N₂O and CH₄ and decrease the value of C sequestration. Objectives of this research were: (i) compare the effects of DRI biosolids type and rate and annual conventional fertilizer application on N and P leaching losses; (ii) determine the effects of aging on the N, C and P dynamics in the DRI biosolids seams; (iii) compare the effects of biosolids type and conventional N fertilization on N₂O, CH₄ and CO₂ emissions; and (iv) compare the effects of DRI biosolids and conventional N fertilization on hybrid poplar biomass dynamics, C, N and P sequestration. The following eight treatments were established to achieve objectives (i) and (iv): 0 (control), 167, 337, 504 kg N ha⁻¹ yr⁻¹ as conventional fertilizer; 213 and 426 Mg ha⁻¹ anaerobically digested (AD) and 328 and 656 Mg ha⁻¹ lime stabilized (LS) biosolids applied in trenches. The amount of N lost from the DRI biosolids was 261–803 kg N ha⁻¹, while the fertilizer treatments were not different from 0 kg N ha⁻¹ yr⁻¹ control. Orthophosphate and TKP leached in negligible amounts. Deep row biosolids incorporation did not pose P leaching risks but did result in high N leaching below the biosolids seams. Aboveground biomass production in the biosolids treatments was not different from the control treatment and ranged from 2.1±0.3 to 4.0±0.5 kg tree⁻¹. The fertilizer treatments produced significantly less biomass than the control and the biosolids treatments. Hybrid poplars sequestered up to 3.20±0.54 Mg C ha⁻¹, 71±12 kg N ha⁻¹, and 11.0±1.8 kg P ha⁻¹. The planting density capable of the N uptake in order to avoid N leaching was estimated at 3912 to 11363 trees ha⁻¹. Our results suggest increased hybrid poplar planting density and decreased application rates of DRI biosolids may decrease the risk of groundwater contamination with N. Three treatments were compared to address objective (ii): 426 Mg ha⁻¹ AD and 656 Mg ha⁻¹ LS biosolids. Organic C losses were 81 Mg ha⁻¹ and 33 Mg ha⁻¹ for LS and AD biosolids, respectively. Total N lost over the course of two years was 15.2 Mg ha⁻¹ and 10.9 Mg ha⁻¹ for LS and AD biosolids, respectively, which was roughly 50% of the N applied. No significant losses of P were detected. Most of the P was Al- and Fe-bound in the AD biosolids and Ca-bound in the LS biosolids. Our results indicated that recommended rates of DRI biosolids in coarse textured soils should be based on crop N requirements and N mineralization considerations, and P mobility from biosolids of the type used should not pose a water quality risk. Four treatments were compared to address objective (iii): 426 Mg ha⁻¹ AD and 656 Mg ha⁻¹ LS biosolids; 0 (control) and 504 kg N ha⁻¹ y⁻¹ as conventional fertilizer. Contributions from CH₄ and CO₂ emissions to the radiative forcing were very small compared to N₂O. More N₂O was produced in the DRI biosolids treatments than in the conventional fertilizer treatments, and N₂O production was higher in AD than in LS. Expressed as global warming potentials, N₂O emissions from AD (101.5 Mg C ha⁻¹) were 4.6 times higher than from LS and 14.5-16.1 times higher than from the fertilizer treatments. High N₂O emissions from deep row incorporated biosolids reduce the C sequestration benefits of the DRI method. / Ph. D.

The surfaces of rivers are hotspots for biogeochemical exchange and emit significant amounts of greenhouse gases globally. Estimates of river surface area are critical to determining fluvial greenhouse gas evasion yet are currently poorly constrained. The relative abundance of narrow rivers to wide rivers is commonly assumed to be fractal, or scale invariant. This assumption aids in statistical estimates of river surface area but has not been tested across spatial scales. We measured river size in four nested basins within the Mississippi River Basin using a combination of remote sensing and field surveying to determine the statistical size distribution of rivers from continental to headwater scales. We found that the relative abundance of narrow rivers to wide rivers consistently fits a log-normal probability density function, supporting the assumption of fractal river size. Using the fractal size distribution of rivers, we estimated a total river surface area of 17,828 ± 5,126 km2 (0.54 ± 0.16 % of land surface area) in the Mississippi River Basin which is comparable to previous studies. Our multi-scale approach revealed the fractal nature of river size and allowed for a more accurate accounting of river surface area with implications for the role of rivers in biogeochemical cycling. / Master of Science / Greenhouse gases and other gaseous chemicals enter the atmosphere at the surfaces of rivers. Knowing the total surface area of rivers can help us figure out how much greenhouse gas comes from rivers, but there is a wide range of estimates for the total river surface area. Some estimates of total river surface area rely on the assumption that river networks look similar when zoomed in or zoomed out, like the leaves of a fern or the crystals in a snowflake. To test this assumption, we measured the size of rivers in the Mississippi River Basin at large and small scales using satellite and aerial imagery as well as by hand in the field. We found evidence that supports the assumption that river networks look similar at all scales. We also used our measurements to make a statistical estimate of total river surface area in the Mississippi River Basin: 17,828 ± 5,126 km2, or 0.54 ± 0.16 % of the total land surface area, which is a similar percentage to what other researchers have found. This approach gave us a clearer picture of the surface area of rivers of all sizes which is important because small rivers emit greenhouse gases at a faster rate than large rivers.

Sedan industrialismens start har människan påverkat klimatbalansen genom förbränning av fossila bränslen. Rökgasemissionerna förorsakade av internationell sjöfart kan inte tillskrivas någon särskild nations ansvar på grund av dess globala och komplicerade verksamhet. FN:s sjöfartsorgan IMO har således åtagit sig ansvaret att minska sjöfartens miljöpåverkan. Införandet av nya miljömål har resulterat i strängare globala och nationella regler som tvingar sjöfartsnäringen till omfattande anpassningar under kort tid. Som lösning för att uppfylla kommande krav gällande rökgasemissioner har flertalet alternativa bränslen diskuterats. Drift på metanol medför låga rökgasemissioner och anses därav ha potential till att bli ett hållbart bränsle inom sjöfarten. Studiens syfte har varit att undersöka vad rederier, maskintillverkare och klassningssällskap anser om metanol som ett alternativt bränsle. Inledningsvis genomfördes en litteraturstudiedel som sedan låg till grund under utformandet av intervjufrågorna. Resultatet visar att metanol anses ha stor potential i jämförelse med andra alternativa bränsle. Då metanol kan produceras från överskottsenergi och transport kan ske med befintlig infrastruktur betraktas det både miljövänligt och ekonomiskt försvarbart. Likväl medför det kraftigt varierande metanolpriset att rederier hämmas att satsa på utvecklingen som krävs för att realisera metanoldrift av fartyg. / Since the start of industrialization humans have affected the climate balance by burning fossil fuels. Exhaust gas emissions caused by the international shipping cannot be attributed to any particular nation because of its global and complex business. The International Maritime Organisation has therefore undertaken the responsibility to reduce the environmental impact of shipping. The introduction of new environmental goals has resulted in stricter global and national regulations that force the shipping industry to make significant adjustments in a short period of time. As a solution to meet future requirements for exhaust gas emissions several alternative fuels have been discussed. Operating vessels on methanol results in low exhaust gas emissions and is therefore considered to have the potential to become a sustainable fuel for the shipping industry. The aim of this study was to investigate what shipping companies, machine manufacturers and classification societies considers about methanol as an alternative fuel. Initially, a literature study was implemented which formed the basis of the interview questions. The result shows that methanol is considered to have great potential compared with other alternative fuels. Since methanol can be produced from excess energy and transportation can be done with existing infrastructure methanol is considered both environmentally friendly and economically viable. Nevertheless, the highly fluctuating methanol price can causes shipping companies to hesitate in the financing of developments that is necessary for the realization of methanol operation on board vessels.

Both Sweden and the European Union have set numerous goals to reduce the emission of greenhouse gasses. At the same time, regional growth is desired in most, if not all of Sweden’s counties. With economic- and population growth being essential for reaching this desire, there is a potential conflict brewing. Is it feasible to reduce the emission of greenhouse gasses while at the same time actively working on growing the economy and the population?This paper has explored this idea in Sweden largest counties Stockholm, Skåne and Västra Götaland. The development in these counties over the last decade or so show that reduced emissions and regional growth in fact have been compatible. Not only that, the county with the largest population, population growth and largest gross regional product, Stockholm, has also had the largest decrease in greenhouse gas emission over the period. The trend of the emission reductions in these three counties are also compatible with the Swedish and European emission targets. However, the trend does indicate the actual development of greenhouse gas emission over a longer period. The findings indicate that reduced greenhouse gas emission can and have coexisted with regional growth.

Στα πλαίσια της εργασίας θα ασχοληθούμε με την μεθοδολογία υπολογισμού των ρυθμών εκπομπής αέριων ρύπων στα αστικά κέντρα της Ελλάδας. Οι πήγες της ατμοσφαιρικής ρύπανσης διακρίνονται σε σημειακές, επιφανειακές, ανθρωπογενείς και φυσικές. Στο πρώτο στάδιο θα γίνει καταγραφή και κατηγοριοποίηση των διαφόρων πηγών για τις Ελληνικές συνθήκες με βάση την διεθνή βιβλιογραφία. Οι μέθοδοι προσδιορισμού των ρυθμών εκπομπής θα διερευνηθούν. Συνήθως οι υπολογισμοί απαιτούν δυο ειδών παραμέτρους: την ένταση μιας δραστηριότητας (π.χ πόσα χιλιόμετρα διανύονται σε μια περιοχή από τα αυτοκίνητα μιας ορισμένης κατηγορίας σε μια περιοχή), και τον ρυθμό εκπομπής ανά μονάδα της δραστηριότητας (π.χ εκπομπές οξειδίων του αζώτου ανά χιλιόμετρο). Ανάλογα με την πηγή οι μέθοδοι μπορεί να είναι πιο πολύπλοκοι ή να απαιτούν την γνώση μεταβλητών που δεν είναι εύκολο να βρεθούν. Οι διαφορετικές προσεγγίσεις θα συγκριθούν τόσο με βάση την ακρίβεια τους όσο και με την δυνατότητα εφαρμογής τους στην Ελλάδα. Το τελικό αποτέλεσμα της εργασίας θα είναι μια αναλυτική μεθοδολογία υπολογισμού των εκπομπών ρύπων σε μια Ελληνική πόλη και συγκεκριμένα στην πόλη της Πάτρας, όπου θα μελετηθεί η εκπομπή αέριων ρύπων από τα επιβατικά πλοία τα οποία χρησιμοποιούν το λιμάνι της Πάτρας. Η παρούσα εργασία θα στοχεύσει στον προσδιορισμό της συγκέντρωσης αέριων ρύπων (σωματιδίων PM) στο αστικό κέντρο της Πάτρας, λαμβάνοντας ως πηγή ρύπων τα επιβατικά πλοία που παραμένουν στο Λιμάνι της Πάτρας. Η συγκέντρωση των αέριων ρύπων τέλος, θα υπολογισθεί με χρήση της Gaussian Plume Formula [JS Seinfeld and SN Pandis: “Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics: From Air Pollution to Climate Change”, 2nd edition, John Willey & Sons, INC]. / -

No description available.

Mathematical modeling in animal agriculture can be applied at various levels including at the tissue, organ, animal, farm, regional and global levels. The purposes of this research were i) to evaluate models used to estimate volatile fatty acid (VFA) and methane (CH4) production and assess their impact on regional enteric CH4 inventory, and ii) to develop a process-based, whole-farm model to estimate net farm GHG emissions. In the first study, four VFA stoichiometric models were evaluated for their prediction accuracy of rumen VFA and enteric CH4 production. Comparison of measured and model predicted values demonstrated that predictive capacity of the VFA models varied with respect to the type of VFA in rumen fluid which impacted estimated enteric CH4 production. Moving to a larger scale assessment, we examined the enteric CH4 inventory from Manitoba beef cattle (from 1990 to 2008) using two mechanistic rumen models that incorporate VFA stoichiometric models: COWPOLL and MOLLY, and two empirical models: Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Tier 2 and a nonlinear equation (Ellis). The estimated absolute enteric CH4 production varied among models (7 to 63%) indicating that estimates of GHG inventory depend on model selection. This is an important consideration if the values are to be used for management and/or policy-related decisions. Development of models at the individual farm component level (animal, soil, crop) does not accurately reflect net GHG emissions generated from the whole production system. We developed a process-based, whole-farm model (Integrated Components Model, ICM), using the existing farm component models COWPOLL, manure-DNDC and some aspects of IPCC to integrate farm components and their associated GHG emissions. Estimates of total farm GHG emissions and their relative contribution using the ICM were comparable to estimates using two other whole-farm models (Integrated Farm System Model and Holos model). Variation was observed among models both in estimating whole-farm GHG emissions and the relative contribution of the different sources in the production system. Overall, whole-farm models are required to explore management options that will mitigate GHG emissions and promote best management practices. However, for full assessment of the production system, other benefits of the system (e.g., carbon sequestration, ecosystem services), which are not part of current whole-farm models, must be considered.

Pirmą kartą Lietuvoje traktorių variklių darbo ir degalų sąnaudų efektyvumo bei deginių emisijos vertinimui panaudota šiuolaikiškų traktorių variklių valdymo elektroninės sistemos mikroprocesoriuose sukaupta eksploatacinių darbo parametrų duomenų bazė. Traktorių valdymo ir kontrolės mikroprocesoriuose kaupiamos duomenų bazės pagrindu nustatyti daugumoje žemės ūkyje naudojami traktorių variklių darbo režimai. Sudaryta traktorių variklių darbo režimų, degalų naudojimo efektyvumo ir oro taršos variklio išmetamomis dujomis vertinimo metodika, panaudojant mikroprocesoriuose kaupiamų duomenų bazę. Ištirtos traktorių mikroprocesoriuose kaupiamų darbo parametrų pritaikymo traktorių variklio darbo režimų, degalų naudojimo efektyvumo ir oro taršos variklio išmetamomis dujomis vertinimo galimybės. Ištirtas degalų naudojimo efektyvumas ir deginių emisija traktorių eksploatacijos laikotarpiu bei sėjos ir arimo darbuose. Eksploatacijos laikotarpiu bei atliekant lauko darbus nustatytas apskaičiuotos deginių emisijos vertinimo tinkamumas šiuo metu traktorių varikliams taikomiems deginių emisijos kontrolės standartams. Siūloma metodika gali būti panaudota žemės ūkyje dirbančių traktorių deginių emisijos bei degalų sąnaudų vertinimui realiu darbo metu. Taip pat, gauti rezultatai bei taikomi metodai gali būti panaudoti traktorių darbo kokybės rodiklių tokių kaip degalų sąnaudų, deginių emisijos, įdirbimo gylio ir pan., lauko žemėlapių sudarymui. / First time in Lithuania tractors’ engine, fuel efficiency and exhaust gas emission estimated by using data base collected in the modern tractor engine management electronic microprocessors. The majority of agricultural tractors engine operating modes was determined by using data base collected in tractor management and control microprocessors. The evaluation methodology of the tractor engine operating modes, fuel efficiency and exhaust gas emissions was made. Investigated tractor engine operating modes, fuel efficiency and exhaust gas emissions assessment possibilities by using tractor operating parameters stored in their microprocessors. Fuel efficiency and exhaust emissions during tractor operation period, sowing and plowing jobs were investigated. Evaluated adequacy of calculated investigated tractors engine exhaust emission during operation period and field work with applicable exhaust emission control standards. The proposed methodology can be used for evaluation of the agriculture tractor exhaust emissions and fuel consumption during operation in real time. Also, the obtained results and methods can be used for the tractor work quality indicators such as fuel consumption, exhaust emissions, tillage depth, and so etc. field mapping creation.