The thesis assesses the contribution of technology option of Carbon Capture and Sequestration (CCS) to climate change mitigation. CCS means that CO2 is captured at large industrial facilities and sequestered in goelogical structures. The technology uses the endogenous growth model MIND. Herein the various climate change mitigation options of reducing economic growth, increasing energy efficiency, changing the energy mix and CCS are assessed simultaneously. An important question is whether CCS is a temporary or long-term solution. The results show that in the middle of the 21st century CCS has its peak contribution, which allows prolonged use of relatively cheap fossil energy carriers. However, this leads to delayed introduction of renewable energy carriers. The technology path ways are accombined with different costs of climate change mitigation. The use of CCS delays and reduces the costs of climate change mitigation. However, the delayed introduction of renewable energy carriers leads to reduced technological learning, which induces higher costs in the longer term. All in all the temporary use of CCS reduces the costs of climate change mitigation costs. The result is robust, which is tested with various uncertainty analysis. / Die Arbeit befasst sich mit der Bewertung der technischen Option zum Klimaschutz CO2 an grossen industriellen Anlagen abzufangen und in geologischen Lagerstätten zu speichern. Die Technologiebewertung wird mit Hilfe des endogenen Wachstummodells MIND untersucht. Darin werden die Klimaschutzoptionen geringere wirtschaftliche Entwicklung, Steigerung der Energieeffizienz, Veränderung des Energiemixes und eben CO2 Abscheidung simultan bewertet. Eine wichtige Frage ist ob die Abscheidung von CO2 eine langfristige oder eine Zwischenlösung ist. Es zeigt sich, dass sie um die Mitte des 21ten Jahrhunderts ihren grössten Beitrag zum Klimaschutz leistet und die Nutzung der relativ kostengünstigen fossilen Energieträger verlängert. Das führt zu einer späteren Einführung erneuerbarer Energietechnologieen. Mit diesen unterschiedlichen Technologiepfaden gehen auch verschiedene ökonomische Kostenverläufe des Klimaschutzes einher. Die Verwendung von CO2 Abscheidung verschiebt die Kosten in die Zukunft und drückt ihre Spitze. Da es aber gleichzeitig zu geringerer Technologieentwicklung bei erneuerbaren Energieen führt entstehen wiederum Kosten. Unterm Strich lohnt sich die Einführung der CO2 Abscheidung als temporärer Beitrag zum Klimaschutz. Dieses Ergebnis konnte mit einer Reihe von Unsicherheitsanalysen erhärtet werden.

Forests can be an important element of an overall strategy to limit the atmospheric concentration of carbon dioxide (CO2) that contributes to climate change. As an integral part of the global carbon cycle, forests remove CO2 from the atmosphere as they grow, and accumulate carbon in tree biomass. Using wood products made from sustainably managed forests can reduce net CO2 emission by substituting in place of fossil fuels and energy-intensive materials. In this thesis the mechanisms by which wood product substitution can affect energy and carbon balances are studied. These include: the energy needed to manufacture wood products compared with alternative materials; the avoidance of industrial process carbon emission from e.g. cement manufacture; the use of wood by-products as biofuel to replace fossil fuels; and the physical storage of carbon in forests and wood materials. A methodological framework is first developed by integrating knowledge from the fields of forestry, industry, construction, and energy. A life cycle perspective is employed encompassing the entire product chain from natural resource acquisition to material disposal or reuse. Analytical challenges that are addressed include the functional unit of comparison, the fossil reference system, land use issues of wood vs. non-wood materials, and the diverse phases of the product life cycle. The methodology is then applied to two multi-storey wood-framed buildings in Sweden and Finland, compared with two functionally equivalent buildings with reinforced concrete structural frames. The results show that less primary energy is needed to produce the wood-framed buildings than the concrete-frame buildings. CO2 emission is significantly lower for the wood-frame buildings, due to reductions in both fossil fuel use and cement calcination process emission. The most important single factor affecting the energy and carbon balances is the use of biomass by-products from the wood product chain as biofuel to replace fossil fuels. Over the life cycle of the wood-framed buildings, the energy of biomass residues from forest operations, wood processing, construction and demolition is greater than the energy inputs to produce the materials in the buildings. Realisation of this benefit is facilitated by integrating and optimising the biomass and energy flows within the forestry, industrial, construction, energy, and waste management sectors. Different forest management regimes are studied in an integrated carbon analysis to quantify the carbon flows and stocks associated with tree biomass, soils, and forest products. Intensified forest management that produces greater quantities of biomass leads to net CO2 emission benefits by augmenting the potential to substitute for fossil fuels and non-wood materials. The increased energy use and carbon emission required for the more intensive forest management, as well as the slight reduction in soil carbon accumulation due to greater removal of forest residues, are more than compensated for by the emission reduction due to product substitution. Carbon stock changes in forests and wood materials can be temporarily significant, but over the building life cycle and forest rotation period the stock change becomes insignificant. In the long term, the active and sustainable management of forests, including their use as a source for wood products and biofuels, allows the greatest potential for reducing net CO2 emission. Implementation issues related to the wider use of wood-based materials to reduce energy use and carbon emission are also explored. An analysis of the effects of energy and taxation costs on the economic competitiveness of materials shows that the cost of energy for material processing, as a percentage of the total cost of finished material, is lower for wood products than for other common non-wood building materials. Energy and carbon taxation affects the cost of wood products less than other materials. The economic benefit of using biomass residues to substitute for fossil fuels also increases as tax rates increase. In general, higher taxation of fossil fuels and carbon emission increases the economic competitiveness of wood construction. An analysis of added value in forest product industries shows that greater economic value is added in the production of structural building materials than in other uses of forest biomass. Co-production of multiple wood-based products increases the total value that is added to the biomass produced on an area of forest land. The results show that production of wood-based building material is favoured economically by climate change mitigation policies, and creates high added value within forest product industries. / Skogsresurser kan utgöra en viktig del i en strategi för att begränsa koncentrationen av koldioxid (CO2) i atmosfären och därmed begränsa klimatförändringarna. Skog tar upp CO2 från atmosfären när den växer och kolet lagras i trädens biomassa. Trädprodukter från hållbart brukade skogar kan minska nettoutsläppen av CO2 genom att de kan ersätta fossilt bränsle och energiintensiva material. I denna avhandling studeras faktorer som påverkar energi- och kolbalanser när träprodukter ersätter alternativa produkter. Signifikanta faktorer är den energi som behövs för att framställa träprodukter jämfört med alternativa produkter, utsläpp av CO2 från industriella processer som vid cementproduktion, ersättning av fossilt bränsle med trärester samt lagring av kol i skog och träprodukter. En metodik har utvecklats för att studera dessa faktorer genom att integrera ämneskunskaper från byggkonstruktion, energi, industri och det skogliga området. Den bygger på ett livscykelperspektiv och innefattar hela material- och produktkedjor från naturresurs till avfall eller återanvändning av material eller produkter. De metodikfrågor som varit i fokus är den funktionella enheten för jämförelser, det fossila referenssystemet, utnyttjande av skogmark vid produktion av träprodukter samt produktens olika faser under en livscykel. Metodiken har sedan använts för att jämföra ett svenskt och ett finskt flervåningshus i trä med två funktionellt likvärdiga hus med betongstomme. Resultaten visade att det behövs mindre primärenergi för att tillverka trähuset än betonghuset. Energin som kan utvinnas från biprodukter under en träbyggnads livscykel – från skogsskötsel, förädling, konstruktion och rivning – är större än den energi som krävs för att tillverka byggnadsmaterialet i byggnaden. Nettoutsläppen av CO2 från både fossil primärenergi och cementkalcinering är också väsentligt lägre för trähuset, men användningen av biprodukter från skogsavverkning, träförädlingskedjan och rivningsvirke för att ersätta fossilt bränsle har störst påverkan på kolbalansen. För att fullt ut tillgodogöra sig biprodukters potentiella fördelar krävs att de olika sektorerna för skogsbruk, industri, konstruktion, energi och avfallshantering integreras och optimeras med avseende på energi- och materialflöden. Olika skogsskötselmetoder har analyserats för att kvantifiera de flöden och den lagring av kol som sker i biomassa, mark och träprodukter. Intensifierat skogsbruk gav mindre utsläpp av CO2 per ha skogsmark, eftersom potentialen ökade för att ersätta fossila bränslen och energiintensiva material. Denna substitutionseffekt kompenserade mer än väl för den ökning i energianvändning och de utsläpp av CO2 som den intensivare skogsskötseln medförde, inklusive för den minskning av lagrat kol i marken som uttaget av skogsrester medförde. Lagring av kol i skogar och träprodukter kan vara intressant i ett kort tidsperspektiv, men under en byggnads livscykel och ett skogsbestånds rotationsperiod har den liten betydelse. I längden uppnås den största minskningen av CO2-utsläpp genom en aktiv och hållbar skogsskötsel med uttag av skogsresurser för användning till träprodukter och energi. I denna avhandling studerades också hur användningen av träprodukter påverkas av energi- och miljöskatter. En analys av energi- och skattekostnadernas effekt på konkurrenskraften för trämaterial visade att energikostnaden är lägre för trämaterial än för andra vanliga byggmaterial. Energi- och koldioxidskatter påverkar träprodukter i mindre utsträckning än produkter i andra material. De ekonomiska fördelarna av att använda biomassa som ersättning för fossila bränslen ökar också med höjda skatter. Konkurrensfördelarna för träkonstruktioner ökar därför generellt i takt med högre skatt på fossila bränslen och CO2-utsläpp. En analys av förädlingsvärdet hos skogsprodukter visade på en större värdeökning vid produktion av byggnadsmaterial än för andra biomassebaserade produkter. Samproduktion av flera träprodukter ökade det totala värdet hos biomassan per skogsareal. Resultaten visade att produktion av träbaserade byggnadsmaterial får ekonomiska fördelar av klimatpolitiska åtgärder och att sådan produktion har ett högt förädlingsvärde för industrierna i träbranschen.

This thesis deals with some challenges related to the mitigation of climate change and the overall aim is to present and assess different possibilities for the mitigation of climate change by: • Suggesting some measures with a potential to abate net greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, • Discussing ideas for how decision-makers could tackle some of the encountered obstacles linked to these measures, and • Pointing at some problems with the current Kyoto framework and suggesting modifications of it. The quantification of the net CO2 effect from a specific project, frequently referred to as emissions accounting, is an important tool to evaluate projects and strategies for mitigating climate change. This thesis discusses different emissions accounting methods. It is concluded that no single method ought to be used for generalisation purposes, as many factors may affect the real outcome for different projects. The estimated outcome is extremely dependent on the method chosen and, thus, the suggested approach is to apply a broader perspective than the use of a particular method for strategic decisions. The risk of losing the integrity of the Kyoto Protocol when over-simplified emissions accounting methods are applied for the quantification of emission credits that can be obtained by a country with binding emissions targets for projects executed in a country without binding emission targets is also discussed. Driving forces and obstacles with regard to energy-related co-operations between industries and district heating companies have been studied since they may potentially reduce net GHG emissions. The main conclusion is that favourable techno-economic circumstances are not sufficient for the implementation of a co-operation; other factors like people with the true ambition to co-operate are also necessary. How oxy-fuel combustion for CO2 capture and storage (CCS) purposes may be much more efficiently utilised together with some industrial processes than with power production processes is also discussed. As cost efficiency is relevant for the Kyoto framework, this thesis suggests that CCS performed on CO2 from biomass should be allowed to play on a level playing field with CCS from fossil sources, as the outcome for the atmosphere is independent of the origin of the CO2. / QC 20101015

Landscape scale quantification enables farmers to pool resources and expertise. However, the problem remains of how to quantify these gains. This article considers current greenhouse gas (GHG) quantification methods that can be used in a landscape scale analysis in terms of relevance to areas dominated by smallholders in developing countries. In landscape scale carbon accounting frameworks, measurements are an essential element. Sampling strategies need careful design to account for all pools/fluxes and to ensure judicious use of resources. Models can be used to scale-up measurements and fill data gaps. In recent years a number of accessible models and calculators have been developed which can be used at the landscape scale in developing country areas. Some are based on the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) method and others on dynamic ecosystem models. They have been developed for a range of different purposes and therefore vary in terms of accuracy and usability. Landscape scale assessments of GHGs require a combination of ground sampling, use of data from census, remote sensing (RS) or other sources and modelling. Fitting of all of these aspects together needs to be performed carefully to minimize uncertainties and maximize the use of scarce resources. This is especially true in heterogeneous landscapes dominated by smallholders in developing countries.

Transfer to non-motorized transportation to the greatest extent possible is an important climate change mitigation strategy. Biking is a sustainable mean of transportation and increased biking is desirable on global, national, regional, local, and individual level. This study use Östersund, located in the middle of Sweden, as a case to analyse the conditions and challenges for increased biking and what role the biking infrastructure system, weather-related factors, and policies and programmes may play. A literature study on weather-related factors and policies and programmes was performed. How biking has developed over time was analysed and a distance analysis, the bike path infrastructures length and continuity, and accessibility was analysed in a geographical information system (GIS) environment. Investments on increased biking in Denmark and the Netherlands has been successful when a lot of effort has been put into development of the bike path infrastructure. The same result has been reached in Malmö, Sweden. However, the time aspect should not be underestimated since reaching high number of bikers seem to take many years, even decades. In the case of Östersund, temperature, wind and precipitation cause a decrease in biking. Number of bikers follow seasonal changes in temperature, the latter two have a temporary influence. Biking in Östersund is increasing even though there are fluctuations every other year. An interesting observation is that during the increased trend of biking the bike path infrastructure has been expanded. The bike path infrastructure is inconsistent with sudden ends every 2,03 km which may create a threshold for the increase of biking. Accessibility of the bike path system is high since over half the population has no longer than 100 m to a bike path. Distance may be a constricting factor since over half of randomised journeys are longer than a considerable comfortable biking distance of 5 km. Urban planning that treats biking as any other mean of transportation, development of a biking culture and individual habits is crucial for biking to increase. / <p>20180626</p>

Nowadays, many electrical appliances are used daily. The refrigerator is one of them. Consequently, by affecting the energy used by the refrigerator, a huge amount of energy, greenhouse gases (GHG) emissions and money can be saved. It is what this thesis tries to do by applying a concept: using the cold from outside. Indeed, this report exposes the process to answer the following question: How much energy, GHG emissions and money can be saved by using the cold from outside on the refrigerating appliances? To do so, measurements have been done on a refrigerator placed in a climate chamber. The experiment procedure is inspired by the Swedish standard of energy consumption testing in order to have the most relevant results as possible. The results of the measures were then used to create a mathematical modelling. And finally, by applying the modelling at different climate of the world represented by chosen cities, calculations were made to estimate the energy, GHG emissions and money savings which can be done thanks to this concept.

Cette thèse montre que bien que les gaz à effet de serre (GES) représentent une pollution de stock qui impose un cout virtuel du carbone croissant dans le temps, il peut être socialement désirable d'investir des maintenant dans le déploiement de mesures couteuses de réductions d'émissions de GES. Ce résultat découle uniquement de la prise en compte de l'inertie inhérente à l'accumulation de capital bas carbone, en l'absence de toute autre imperfection de marché. De plus, cette thèse montre que des gouvernements imparfaits (c'est-à-dire qui ne peuvent pas s'engager sur une trajectoire parfaitement crédible de prix du carbone, ou ne peuvent pas compenser parfaitement les perdants de la mise en place de ce prix) peuvent avoir intérêt à utiliser des instruments de politiques sectoriels qui influencent directement les décisions d'investissements. Ces instruments peuvent être plus effectifs et plus acceptables que le prix du carbone / This thesis shows that while greenhouse gases are a stock pollution that imposes a shadow carbon cost that increases over time, it may be socially desirable to invest now in the deployment of expensive emission-reduction measures. This results solely from taking into account inertia inherent to the accumulation of low-carbon capital, in the absence of any other market imperfection. This thesis also covers the choice of policy instruments that imperfect governments can use to ensure the market implement these investments. It suggests that if governments cannot commit credibly to a carbon price path, or cannot fully compensate the losers from the introduction of a carbon price, then sector-scale policy instruments that incentivize investment in clean capital may be more effective and more acceptable than the carbon price

Regulating carbon markets in order to fight the effects of climate change has in recent years become an integral part of many economies around the world. Ensuring that policymakers implement market-based climate change legislation according to international best practice is an essential part to guarantee that a carbon market system operates smoothly within a country’s economy. There are many opportunities that exist in South Africa towards developing a lucrative carbon market; however, the information to implement such a system is hard to come by and complex to analyse. This dissertation will aim to shed some light on this relatively new field of the law as it will provide an overview of international best practice within the carbon market sphere. Furthermore, this dissertation will examine the legal nature of a carbon credit; analyse international instruments regulating carbon markets and discuss existing South African policies and legislation related to climate change and carbon markets. This will lead to the ultimate objective of this dissertation: to propose a possible framework for the regulation of a South African carbon market based upon international best practice. This dissertation revealed the imperative need for South African policymakers to implement legislation to conform to international best practice within carbon markets. In this regard the dissertation also revealed that the infrastructure to regulate such a market already exists within South Africa. Only subtle changes to these infrastructure systems will be required in order for to accommodate a functioning carbon market. The study revealed that the only way to convince entities around the world to emit fewer emissions and to contribute towards the fight against climate change is to attach a monetary value to emissions. Associating a price to carbon is the only way to sanction entities that produce emissions and compensate entities that mitigate emissions. A carbon tax coupled with a carbon offset mechanism, as opposed to a emissions trading scheme, would be the best option with regards to establishing a South African carbon policy. This will ensure a fair playing field, as carbon tax liable entities would be held responsible to pay the same fixed price per ton of carbon that they emit. Coupling the carbon tax with a carbon offset mechanism, trading with carbon credits, will incentivise companies to invest in “greener” technologies and to emit fewer emissions. This dissertation revealed that international best practice in the carbon market sphere, still poses significant difficulties such as price volatility associated with carbon credits; validation and verification inconsistencies within the different carbon standards; and supply and demand fluctuations. These difficulties where highlighted in this dissertation and solutions relating to these difficulties were discussed. The time has come for South Africa to enter the carbon market sphere, whether it be through the introduction of a carbon tax or otherwise. This dissertation illustrates that the infrastructure and stakeholders associated to a South African carbon market needs to be developed. If, when and how the government will actually implement such a carbon market system, remains a question to be answered.

Scientists started to study the relationship between changing weather patterns and the emission of carbon dioxide (CO2) and other harmful gasses. They soon discovered compelling evidence that CO2 concentration and other gases have been increasing and it was causing temperatures to increase in certain areas on the earth, which disturb historic weather patterns. Climate change has become a very popular field of study in the modern science. Europe first introduced measures to reduce carbon emissions but it was the Kyoto in 1997 where global leaders were asked to participate in a joint protocol to reduce greenhouse gases. South Africa responded to climate change challenges in 2008 with the Long term Mitigation Scenarios (LTMS). The Integrated Resource Plan for electricity to 2030 was developed from the LTMS scenarios and after some major amendments it was accepted and promulgated by Government and has recently been included in the National Development Plan to 2030 (NDP). There are concerns about the achievability of some of the objectives listed in the NDP and this study explored the IRP2010 as the proposed strategy to meet energy demand and reduce emissions. The purpose for this study was to answer this question: Is there an optimum climate change mitigation strategy for South Africa and how can the effect thereof be simulated on economic growth? Through primary and secondary research during the study it was possible to define some 32 categories of energy producing assets that are commercially active or nearly market-ready. The characteristics of the various assets and the relevant fuel are defined in mathematical equations. It was found that the three portfolios that matched the 450TWh electricity requirement would perform substantially better than the NDP portfolio in terms of cost and similar on emissions with marginally fewer employment opportunities created. The proposed electricity strategy in this study was 390TWh and 33.5 Million tonnes of oil consumption by 2030. This strategy was substantially more affordable than the 450TWh strategy. Trends in the Supply and Use tables since 1993 were studied and then forecasted to 2030 to determine consumption levels on electricity and liquid fuel into the future. It was found that electricity demand is seriously overestimated and South Africa would end up with large excess capacity in electricity infrastructures if the NDP energy strategy (IRP2010) is implemented. It is concluded that the NDP energy strategy to 2030 is based on an incorrect electricity demand forecast. It would lead to excessive investment in an electricity infrastructure. Government has confirmed that part of the new infrastructure would be nuclear. It is also found that NDP has not clearly supported nuclear as part of the strategy. Nuclear is partly the reason why the capital requirement of the NDP portfolio is so much higher than the other portfolios. It is the conclusion of this study that South Africa do not need to invest in a nuclear build programme as the electricity demand would be adequately covered by adding the new Medupi and Kusile power stations, Ingula pump storage scheme, some wind and solar renewables, electricity from cogeneration, biogas, biomass, small hydro and imported hydro from neighbour countries. To invest in electricity capacity to generate 450TWh annually by 2030 would result in excessive energy cost, GDP growth could be up to 1% lower due to underperforming capital investments in the electricity infrastructure and higher energy cost would lead to a decline in global competitiveness.

Le développement des énergies renouvelables et leur expansion à travers le monde s'inscrit dans une démarche de lutte contre le changement climatique. En Allemagne, le phénomène de l'expansion de l'«énergie verte» connaît un essor fulgurant depuis la décision prise par Angela Merkel en 2011 de sortir progressivement du nucléaire d'ici l'an 2020. La question posée est de savoir si les énergies renouvelables, figurant parmi les indicateurs de développement durable en Allemagne en respectent vraiment les principes fondamentaux? Ce travail relève donc dans un premier temps les défis auxquels font face l'infrastructure et l'économie allemandes. Ensuite, sur le plan micro-économique, une étude de la performance en matière de développement durable a été établie par le biais d'une analyse quantitative grâce à la méthode du Data Envelopment Analysis. La dernière partie s'intéresse aux changements sociaux et environnementaux tels que la participation de la société civile, ou encore la ‘pollution atmosphérique’ engendrée par ce type d’énergies. / The development and expansion of renewable energies throughout the world is part of a global approach undertaken to tackle climate change. In Germany, the expansion of "green energy" is soaring since the decision by Angela Merkel in 2011 to phase out nuclear power by 2020. The question is whether renewable energy, as one of the sustainable developmentindicators in Germany, really respects the fundamental principles of the latter? Hence, this first addresses the challenges faced by the German economy and infrastructure. Then, at the micro level, a sustainability performance study was established through a quantitative analysis using the Data Envelopment Analysis method. The final part deals with social and environmental changes such as the participation of civil society, or the atmospheric pollution caused by renewables.