Greenhouse gases in the Earth’s atmosphere play an important role in regulating surface temperatures. The UK is signatory to international agreements that legally commit the UK to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions, and there is a scientific and political need to better understand greenhouse gas sources on regional scales. The current methods used to provide greenhouse gas emission inventories rely on ‘bottom-up’ techniques and have large associated errors. However, it is also possible to use observations of atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases and models of atmospheric transport to link the observations with source regions in order to estimate emissions in a ‘top-down’ approach. The key findings presented in this thesis are (a) UK emissions can be retrieved from the Angus tall tower in Scotland using the NAME inversion technique at a finer spatial resolution than has previously been reported using similar ‘top-down’ inverse methods; (b) atmospheric measurements from the Angus tall tower in Scotland have been used for the first time with the NAME inversion technique in order to estimate UK emissions of methane, nitrous oxide and sulfur hexafluoride for the years 2006 to 2009; (c) increasing the number of towers in UK network substantially increases the spatial resolution of greenhouse gas emission estimates. The errors and uncertainties associated with the NAME inversion over the UK domain are discussed and potential future improvements to this approach are presented. Overall, the work presented in this thesis has contributed to our understanding of the spatial and inter-annual variability of UK greenhouse gas emissions.

The water industry is a heavy consumer of electricity to pump water. Electricity generated with fossil fuel sources produce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions that contribute to climate change. Carbon taxation and economic discounting in project planning are promising policies to reduce GHG emissions. The aim of this research is to develop novel single- and multi-objective optimization frameworks that incorporate a new gene-coding scheme and pipe ageing models (pipe roughness growth model, a pipe leakage model, and a pipe break model) to examine the impacts of a carbon tax and low discount rates on energy use, GHG emissions, and design/operation/rehabilitation decisions in water systems. Chapter 3 presents a new algorithm that optimizes the operation of pumps and reservoirs in water transmission systems. The algorithm was applied to the KamalSaleh transmission system near Arak, Iran. The results suggest that a carbon tax combined with a low discount rate produces small reductions in energy use and GHG emissions linked to pumping given the high static head of the KamalSaleh system. Chapter 4 presents a new algorithm that optimizes the design and expansion of water distribution networks. The algorithm was applied to the real-world Fairfield water network in Amherstview, Ontario, Canada. The results suggest that a carbon tax combined with a low discount rate does not significantly decrease energy use and GHG emissions because the Fairfield system had adequate installed hydraulic capacity. Chapters 5 and 6 present a new algorithm that optimizes the optimal rehabilitation type and timing of water mains in water distribution networks. In Chapter 5, the algorithm is applied to the Fairfield network to examine the impact of asset management strategies (quantity and infrastructure adjacency discounts) on system costs. The results suggest that applying discounts decreased capital and operational costs and favored pipe lining over pipe replacement and duplication. In Chapter 6, the water main rehabilitation optimization algorithm is applied to the Fairfield network to examine the impact of a carbon tax and low discount rates on energy use and GHG emissions. The results suggest that adopting a low discount rate and levying a carbon tax had a small impact in reducing energy use and GHG emissions and a significant impact in reducing leakage and pipe breaks in the Fairfield system. Further, a low discount rate and a carbon tax encouraged early investment in water main rehabilitation to reduce continuing leakage, pipe repair, energy, and GHG costs. / Thesis (Ph.D, Civil Engineering) -- Queen's University, 2013-04-21 13:58:08.302

Aquatic ecosystems play a substantial role in global cycling of carbon (C), despite covering only about 4% of the earth surface. They emit large amounts of greenhouse gases (GHG) to the atmosphere, comparable to the amount of C stored annually in terrestrial ecosystems. In addition, C can be buried in lake sediments. Headwater systems are located at the interface of the terrestrial and aquatic environment, and are first in line to process terrestrial C and throughout its journey through the aquatic continuum. The uncertainties in global estimates of aquatic GHG emissions are largely related to these headwater systems, as they are highly variable in time and space, and underrepresented in global assessments. The overall aim of this thesis was therefore to study GHG exchange between sediment, water and air in headwater systems, from both an ecosystem perspective and at the small scale of physical drivers of gas exchange. This thesis demonstrates that carbon dioxide (CO2) emission from headwater systems, especially streams, was the main pathway of C loss from surface waters from a lake catchment. Of the total aquatic CO2-emission of the catchment, 65% originated from stream systems that covered only 0.1% of the total catchment area. The gas transfer velocity (k) was the main driver of stream CO2-emission, but there was a high variability in k on small spatial scales (meters). This variability may have implications for upscaling GHG emissions, especially when using scaled k estimates. Lake sediments only contributed 16% to total lake C emission, but in reality, sediment C emission is probably even lower because experimentally determined sediment C flux returns high estimates that are biased since artificially induced turbulence enhances C flux rates beyond in-situ conditions. When sediment C flux is estimated in-situ, in natural bottom water turbulence conditions, flux rates were lower than those estimated experimentally. Conclusively, this thesis shows that GHG emissions from small aquatic ecosystems are dominant over other aquatic C fluxes and that our current knowledge regarding the physical processes controlling gas exchange from different small aquatic systems is limited, implying an inherent uncertainty of GHG emission estimates from small aquatic ecosystems.

Water and energy are two of the most important resources for societal prosperity and economic development. It is clear that water and energy are intrinsically linked together and depend on one another in modern society. To date, however, efforts on water-energy nexus concentrate on quantifying the energy use in water cycle or the water use in energy production. From management perspective, water and energy are still managed separately. Little work has been done to investigate the impacts of the management options associated with one resource on the other and examine the integrated water and energy management options. Accordingly, the overall goal of this study is to examine the integrated management options for long-term regional water and energy resources management with consideration of their interactions through a system dynamics approach. System dynamics is based on systems thinking, which focuses on the system structure and offers a deeper insight into problems. It can link ecological, human, and social elements of water and energy systems in one modeling platform to investigate their interactions A four-step system dynamics modeling process was used in this study, which includes problem articulation, model formulation, model testing, and scenario design and simulation. Tampa Bay region was chosen as the study area, which is located on the west central coast of Florida and estuary along the Gulf of Mexico. This study considered a 100-year time scale with monthly interval, the first 30 years of which are used for model validation and the rest of which are for simulation. In order to investigate the interrelationship between water and energy systems, two sub-models (i.e., water sub-model and energy sub-model) were developed first. The water sub-model is composed of sectoral water demand (agriculture, industry, municipality, and energy sector), water supply (surface water, groundwater, reclaimed water, and water imports), and water quality and energy consumption associated with water supply. The result shows that surface water level increases by 1.32~1.39% when considering water quality and 1.10~1.30% considering both water quality and energy consumption. There is a slight decrease in groundwater storage (0.02~0.08%) compared with the reference behavior. The result also reveals that water conservation education is the most effective option to reduce the freshwater withdrawals (~17.3%), followed by rebates on indoor water-efficient appliances (~15.4%). Water loss control has a high potential to reduce freshwater withdrawals but it is not effective currently due to limited budget. The implementation of minimum surface water level reduces the surface water withdrawal by 26 MGD (million gallons per day) and requires alternative water supply sources to meet the water demands. The energy sub-model consists of sectoral energy demand (agriculture, industry, municipality, and water sector), energy supply (coal, natural gas, oil, and electricity), and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and water pollution associated with energy supply. The result finds that cost of fuels is the primary concern of determining the energy mix for power generation. The current electricity mix in the study area consists of 35.4% fuels from coal, 44.6% from natural gas, and 20% from oil. When considering the environmental impacts associated with energy supply, this percentage of coal reduces to 10.6%, and GHG emissions and water pollution can be reduced by 22% and 43% accordingly. The result also shows that energy price is most effect of reducing the demand (~16.3%), followed by energy conservation education (~10.6%). Rebates on household appliances are the least effective option (~3.6%) due to consumers' low willingness to pay. Combining the supply decision incorporating environmental impacts and the demand option of energy price increase, the reductions of GHG emissions and water pollution can reach 37% and 55%, respectively. The integrated model is developed by linking the water and energy models through the interactions between water and energy systems identified by the system archetypes. The result shows that water demand is reinforced by energy demand, and vice versa. This growth, however, is limited by water and energy availability. The result also reveals that some decisions to solve the problems of one resource result in the problems of the other resource. The increase of water price is one of these, which decreases the water demand by 24.3% but leads to increase of the energy demand by 1.53% due to the use of reclaimed water. Rebates on indoor water-efficient appliances are effective to reduce both water and energy demands largely due to the household energy use in water heating. In addition, this study demonstrates that integrated management options can improve the uses of water and energy, but decisions without considering each other may lead to more issues. For example, reclaimed water, a supply management option considering the energy, can increase the water balance index by 27.3% and the energy balance index by 0.14%; it can also reduce the water pollution by 11.76% and the GHG emissions by 13.16%. Seawater desalination, a supply management option without integrated consideration, intends to decrease the water shortage but eventually increases the water balance index by 29.7%. It also causes the increases in water pollution and GHG emissions by 89.79% and 14.53%, respectively. Similarly, solar energy presents the advantage in increasing the balance indices and reducing the environmental impacts. This study is an initial attempt to link water and energy systems to explore integrated management options. It is limited by the data availability, assumptions for model simplification, and lack of consideration of climate change. The recommendations for future study include (a) employing a more accurate projection or representation of precipitation, (b) testing the energy model with local data, (c) considering water and energy allocation between different users under shortages, (d) examining the environmental impacts associated with bay water withdrawal for power generation, (e) investigating the water and energy use under climate change, and (f) involving stakeholders early in model development and continuous participation in policy analysis.

Purpose/aim This study is about environmental protection and energy conservation in the China vehicle market. Based on that, we focus on and comparison of combustion vehicles with hybrid vehicles.Design/method/approach Data was collected through questionnaire. The analysis includes a description of the sample and chi-square tests. We analyze two different particular engines (combustion engine vehicles and hybrid electric vehicles) and our single environment. We compare these two engine vehicles, and analyze the trends of the market. We use scientific data and existing theories to analyze the vehicles, including “lifecycle costs” “CO2 emissions”, “Greenhouse gas”, “Consumers perception”, “Full Costing”, “PPC (Production Possibilities Curve)”, “Supply Demand Curve”, and “Green Taxes”.Findings We conclude that hybrid engine vehicles are environmentally friendly and energy conserving, but they have higher lifecycle costs. The analysis also shows that different ages, education levels and regions affect the customers’ preferences for these two kinds of vehicles.Originality/value Our original idea is the problems of hybrid vehicles and how to support and popularize hybrid vehicles depends on the exact national conditions and policies implemented. However, consumers might not be able to accept the “environmental protection and energy conservation” concept immediately, because it’s difficult to change the consumption concept of a generation or culture. Therefore, the government should carry out policies that are suitable for their local region to update the consumption concepts of the consumers and promote the new energy vehicles. Thus, the goal of environmental protection and energy conservation can be reached.

No description available.

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.

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.

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.