At the United Nations Framework Conference on Climate Change COP15 (2009) Brazil presented ambitious commitments or Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Actions (NAMAs), to reduce greenhouse gases emissions (GHGs) mitigation by 2020. At COP21 (2015), the country presented new commitments and a framework to achieve further mitigation targets by 2030 as so-called Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDCs). Both NAMAs and INDCs focus on the land use change and agricultural sectors, but the INDCs include a commitment of zero illegal deforestation in the Amazon by 2030. This research focuses on the contribution of the livestock sector to reducing GHGs through the adoption of sustainable intensification measures. A detailed linear programming model, called Economic Analysis of Greenhouse Gases for Livestock Emissions (EAGGLE), of beef production was developed to evaluate environmental trade-offs. The modelling encompasses pasture degradation and recovery processes, animal and deforestation emissions, soil organic carbon dynamics and upstream life-cycle inventory. The model was parameterized for the Brazilian Cerrado, Amazon and Atlantic Forest biomes and further developed for farm-scale and regional-scale analysis. Different versions of the EAGGLE model was used to: (i) Evaluate the GHG mitigation potential and economic benefit of optimizing pasture management through the partitioning of initially uniform pasture area; (ii) to define abatement potential and cost-effectiveness of key mitigation measures applicable to the Brazilian Cerrado; (ii) to demonstrate the extent of cost-effective mitigation that can be delivered by the livestock sector as part of INDCs, and to show a result that underpins the national INDC target of zero deforestation; and (iv) to evaluate the consequences of reducing (or increasing) beef production on GHGs in the Cerrado. Counter-intuitively, a sensitivity analysis shows that reducing beef consumption could lead to higher GHG emissions, while increasing production could reduce total GHGs if livestock is decoupled from deforestation.

Master of Science / Department of Biological and Agricultural Engineering / Zifei Liu / This study reviewed state-of-the-art cattle enteric methane (CH4) emissions with three reported measuring units: g/head/d, g/kg DMI (dry matter intake), and %GEI (gross energy intake). Cattle emissions studies included in this meta-analysis were reported from 1995 to 2013. Fifty-five published studies were analyzed with specific objectives: (1) to gain basic information regarding magnitudes and distributions of enteric CH4 emission rates with various units, regions, cattle types and feed situations; (2) to identify and evaluate effects of influence factors or diet mitigation techniques on enteric CH4 emissions; and (3) to evaluate Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) approaches to estimate enteric CH4 emissions. Emissions data (n=165) with the unit of g/head/d had large variances and non-normal distribution, and were not homogeneous across the studies. Emissions data (n=134) with the unit of g/kg DMI were not homogeneous across the studies, while emissions data (n=76) with the unit of %GEI had small variances and normal distribution, and were homogeneous across the studies. Therefore, data with the unit of %GEI may be better for meta-analysis compared to data with the units of g/head/d and g/kg DMI; however, the number of data with the unit of %GEI was small relative to the number of data with the units of g/head/d and g/kg DMI. Enteric CH4 emissions with the unit of g/head/d are significantly influenced by geographic region, cattle classification, sub-classification, humidity, temperature, body weight, and feed intake. Emissions and feed intake had a strong positive linear relationship with R2 of 0.75 (n=148). Emissions with the unit of g/kg DMI are significantly affected by humidity, body weight, and feed intake. The relationship between emissions and feed intake is positive. Emissions with the unit of %GEI are significantly associated with humidity, production stage, and body weight. IPCC Tier 1 and Tier 2 estimated emissions were approximate to most of the measured enteric CH4 emissions; however, the residuals were not normally distributed. Based on results from PRD method and paired t-tests, IPCC Tier 1 overestimated emissions in Asian studies, underestimated emissions in European studies for beef cattle, and underestimated emissions in Oceanian studies for dairy cattle. IPCC Tier 2 underestimated emissions in Asian studies for beef cattle. The underestimated emissions of IPCC Tier 2 in Asian studies might result from no consideration of effects from production stage and body weight.

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This thesis presents a detailed study of life cycle greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions intensity during the uranium mining-milling phase of the nuclear fuel cycle for three paired uranium mine-mill operations in northern Saskatchewan (SK). The study period runs from 2006 – 2013 for two of the three pairs, and from 1995-2010 for the third. The life cycle analysis has been conducted based on the ISO 14040:2006 standard using a Process Chain Analysis methodology. This study differs from previous studies of GHG emissions intensity during the uranium mining-milling phase of the nuclear fuel cycle in two key respects. First, it has a very large system boundary which includes the uranium exploration and mine-mill decommissioning phases. Second, it utilizes a life cycle inventory database to include many processes which would normally fall outside of the system boundary due to their small individual contributions. These differences contribute to a more accurate result. The production-weighted average life cycle GHG emissions intensity is estimated as 45 kg CO2e/kg U3O8 at an average ore grade of 9.12% U3O8 based on relative U3O8 production volumes at Mine-Mill A, B, and C from 2006 to 2010. The 95% confidence interval for the production-weighted average result ranges from 42 to 49 kg CO2e/kg U3O8, indicating that overall uncertainty in the result is low. Life cycle GHG emission intensity for the three uranium mine-mill pairs are 84, 66, and 35 kg CO2e/kg U3O8 at average ore grades of 0.71%, 1.54%, and 11.5% U3O8 respectively. Nearly 90% of life cycle GHG emissions are associated with operation of the uranium mine-mills, primarily from energy consumption during operation (69% of total) transport of materials and personnel (7.0%), and use of reagents (5.6%). Remaining processes each individually account for less than 5% of the total. In calculating emissions from electricity consumption, the base-case emission intensities reported above use a province-wide electricity emission factor because the utility does not differentiate its emissions by region. However, the facilities included in this study are all located in Northern Saskatchewan, which is powered exclusively by hydropower. Application of a regional emission factor reduces the production-weighted average life cycle GHG emission intensity to 26 kg CO2e/kg U3O8 with a 95% confidence interval of 25 to 29 kg CO2e/kg U3O8. This represents a 42% reduction in life cycle GHG emission intensity from the base case. Due to the high uranium ore grades found in SK uranium deposits, life cycle GHG emissions intensity for uranium from SK is among the lowest in the world. Further, the life cycle GHG emission intensity estimate from uranium mining-milling in SK is a small (approximately 10%) contributor to the life cycle GHG emissions intensity from the nuclear fuel cycle for light water reactors overall, amounting to approximately 1.2 g CO2e/kWh electricity (0.6 g CO2e/kWh electricity calculated using the regional hydroelectric power source).

Magister Commercii (Information Management) - MCom(IM) / The problem of global warming has triggered a number of environmental initiatives aimed at mitigating climate change, many of which are driven at governmental level - although private organisations have also taken the initiative. The organisation under study - hereafter referred to as “Company-A” - is one such organisation which has taken strides in incorporating environmental initiatives in its business processes. Company-A is a South African based asset management organisation which has seen rapid growth in its business operations and consequently the number of its employees. This growth has necessitated the need for a new office building. At the commencement of this study the organisation was in the process of planning for a new office building to accommodate its growth. The senior management of Company-A recognised the importance of implementing environmentally friendly practices at the new office building, and sought the services of a sustainability consultancy firm to assist in the planning for the new office building. This study was necessitated by the fact that despite the company’s recognition of the importance and need to implement environmentally friendly processes within its business processes, there was a lack of understanding or appreciation of how ICT could be used in an environmentally friendly and sustainable manner in its new office building. With this problem in mind - the researcher - in consultation with the organisations’ new office building project manager and research supervisor, formulated a research question which was continuously refined until such a point that it was clear. It was envisaged that a research study to answer the research question: How can Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) be used to support environmental sustainability in an organisation? - would provide insight on how the organisation’s top management could deal with the aforementioned problem. The primary purpose of the study was to assist Company-A management in making informed decisions regarding sustainability ICT use, the research can also be used as a foundation in the formulation of the organisation’s “green” ICT strategies and policies. The main research question was divided into smaller sub questions to give structure, clarity and direction in addressing the main research question. These sub questions were in turn used to formulate the research objectives which set the goals and boundaries of this study.

The maintenance or replacement of deteriorated pipes and culverts is a constant and significant concern for municipalities and transportation agencies in the United States (Donaldson and Wallingford, 2010). Trenchless technologies and especially the Cured-in-place pipe (CIPP) method have become increasingly common ways to preserve infrastructures owing to their feasibility, cost-effectiveness, and fewer social impacts (Jung and Sinha, 2007). Therefore, there is a growing need to understand the direct and indirect effects of pipeline rehabilitation activities on the environment. Nearly all past CIPP studies have focused on its mechanical properties, and its environmental impacts are poorly investigated and documented (Allouche et al. 2012). Sewer pipelines and storm-water culverts are administered by municipalities and transportation agencies who bear the responsibility for rehabilitation and renewal of these infrastructures. In consequence, they rarely allow sampling and research projects in the field due to liability issues. This is a main obstacle to conducting comprehensive, precise, and unbiased research on CIPP environmental impacts and to date, the degree of relevant health effects and related environmental impacts have remained unknown. Numerous building indoor air contamination incidents indicate that work is needed to understand the magnitude of styrene emission from CIPP sanitary sewer repairs. The main goal of this study was to better comprehend Volatile Organic Compounds emission at three CIPP sanitary sewer installation sites in one U.S. city. Results showed that CIPP chemical emissions may be a health risk to workers and nearby building inhabitants. Additional testing and investigations regarding chemical emissions from CIPP should be commissioned to fill in the environmental and public health knowledge gaps. The acute and chronic chemical exposure risks of CIPP chemical steam constituents and styrene to sensitive populations should be further examined. Other goals of this study were to estimate the magnitude of solid waste generated as well as the amount of certain criteria air pollutants and greenhouse gases emitted from onsite heavy equipment for both CIPP and open-cut sites in a U.S city. The results indicated that the amount of open-cut related solid waste, criteria air pollutants, and greenhouse gases were greater than those during CIPP activities. Additional work is needed to quantify pollutant emissions from CIPP and open-cut activities and consider emissions from a cradle-to-grave standpoint.

Understanding of natural greenhouse gas (GHG) cycles is crucial for making GHG budgets, which work as basis in climate change and global warming policy programs. Lakes as a source for GHG activity have only recently been included in global GHG budgets, and most studies of lake GHG flux rates are conducted on lakes &lt;10 km2, which only comprise roughly half of the global lake area—making data of large lake flux rates scarce. CO2 and CH4 are the primary contributors of GHGs, and lakes house production processes and receive these gasses via lateral transport. This study utilized a floating chamber method with CO2 sensors to study CH4 and CO2 flux rates from three large Swedish lakes. To do this, chambers were anchored at shallow depth, as well as passively drifted on open water. Sampling was conducted during two periods in the summer 2019, late June–early July and August. For CH4, spatial difference was found between deep and shallow transects within lakes, no temporal difference was found between study periods. Difference between lakes within the deep and shallow chamber groups was found. One possible instance of deep-water ebullition was recorded, and a correlation between CH4 flux rate and water temperature was observed. For CO2, no difference between deep and shallow chambers or measurement periods was found. One instance within the deeper chamber group was found to be different between two of the lakes, despite all three lakes being of different size, depth and trophic state. The study results indicate CO2 water concentrations near saturation with atmosphere during the sampling periods. No correlation between CO2 flux rate and water temperature was observed. Unexpected small-scale variability patterns in CO2 flux was observed while chambers were passively drifting. While some observed patterns for the two gases could be explained by previous findings, some of our observations could not be explained on the basis of previous literature, highlighting the need for further study of GHG flux rates from large lakes. / Förståelsen av naturliga växthuscykler är avgörande för att göra budgetar för växthusgaser, eftersom dessa uppskattningar och budgetar agerar som grund i policyprogram för arbete med klimatförändringar och global uppvärmning. Sjöar har endast nyligen inkluderats i globala växthusgodsbudgetar som en källa för växthusgasutsläpp, och de flesta studier av flödeshastigheter genomförs på sjöar &lt;10 km2, vilka endast utgör ungefär hälften av den globala sjöarealen –vilket leder till att data om växthusgasflöden från stora sjöar saknas. CO2och CH4 är de mest potenta växthusgaserna, och sjöar hyser produktionsprocesser samt tar emot dessa gaser från kringliggande miljöer. Denna studie nyttjade en kammarmetod med CO2-sensorer för att studera CH4och CO2-flödeshastigheter från tre stora svenska sjöar. Detta gjordes dels genom att ankra kammare på grunt djup, och dels genom att låta kammare driva passivt på öppet vatten. Provtagningen genomfördes under två perioder sommaren 2019, slutet av juni-början av juli och augusti. För CH4 hittades rumslig skillnad mellan djupa och grunda transekter i sjöar, men ingen tidsmässig skillnad hittades mellan studieperioder. Skillnader mellan sjöar i de djupa och grunda kammargrupperna hittades. Ett möjligt fall av metanbubblor från djupt vatten registrerades, liksom en korrelation mellan CH4-flödeshastighet och vattentemperatur. För CO2 hittades ingen skillnad mellan djupa och grunda kammare eller mätperioder. En skillnad i den djupa kammargruppen hittades mellan två av sjöarna, trots att alla tre var av olika storlek, djup och trofiklass. Studiens resultat indikerar att koncentrationer av CO2 i vatten var nära mättnad med atmosfären under studieperioderna. Ingen korrelation mellan CO2-flödeshastighet och vattentemperatur observerades. Oväntade småskaliga variabilitetsmönster i CO2-flöde observerades medan kamrar drev passivt. Medan vissa observerade mönster för de två gaserna kan förklaras av tidigare kunskap, kan andra av våra observationer inte förklaras av tidigare litteratur, och detta tydliggör behovet av fortsatt forskning på växthusgasflöden från stora sjöar. / <p>We also thank the METLAKE project funded by the European Research Council (ERC; grant agreement No 725546).</p> / METLAKE (ERC; grant agreement No 725546)

Methane (CH4) and carbon dioxide (CO2) are two greenhouse gases and main drivers of global climate change. Lakes are known to be a source of CH4 and CO2 to the atmosphere. While the importance of these emissions is clear, their magnitudes and regulation are still uncertain due to the scarcity of flux measurement data from lakes. Most previous flux measurements have been carried out on lakes &lt;10 km2 and the extrapolations are not representative of large lakes directly. Recent research has led to a growing recognition of the great importance of lakes as a source of emissions. Still, the relationship between environmental variables, lake properties and seasonal changes and the variability between and within lakes raises several question marks. Larger scale studies of greenhouse gases are needed to determine the spatial and temporal dynamics that exist. In this study, a floating chamber method and manual sampling was used to investigate the spatiotemporal variability and influencing variables of CH4 flux and concentration, as well as dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) and pCO2aq (partial pressure of CO2 in the water). The sampling was conducted during five weeks in September and October 2020 in three large Swedish lakes. Our results generally showed varying CH4 values between the three lakes, indicating that nutrients affect the amount and emission of CH4. A pattern was found where the CH4 was higher near the shore and at a shallower depth. There was a correlation between CH4 concentration and the environmental variables wind speed and air- and water temperatures. Our DIC values were high in two of the lakes and low in one, all lakes’ DIC differed significantly from each other. The pCO2 did not have any difference within the lakes, and there was no difference between the lakes except in one case. Both DIC and pCO2 correlated with air- and water temperature. This study displays the large spatiotemporal variability within and between large lakes and that representative values for large lakes require more measurements under different conditions to distinguish how greenhouse gases emit and flux between lakes and atmosphere. / Metan (CH4) och koldioxid (CO2) är två växthusgaser och stora drivkrafter för globala klimatförändringar. Sjöar är kända för att vara en källa för CH4 och CO2 till atmosfären. Trots att betydelsen av dessa utsläpp är tydlig är deras storlek och reglering fortfarande osäker på grund av brist på flödesmätdata från sjöar. De flesta tidigare flödesmätningarna har utförts på sjöar &lt;10 km2 och det har påvisats att extrapoleringar inte är direkt representativa för stora sjöar. Ny forskning har lett till ett mer allmänt erkännande av sjöars stora betydelse som källa till utsläpp. Trots detta väcker förhållandet mellan miljövariabler, sjöegenskaper, säsongsförändringar och variationen mellan och inom sjöar flera frågetecken. Storskaliga studier om växthusgaser behövs för att bestämma den rumsliga och tidsmässiga dynamiken som finns. I denna studie användes en kammarmetod och manuell provtagning för att undersöka spatiotemporal variabilitet och miljövariabler som kan påverka CH4 flöde och koncentration, samt upplöst oorganiskt kol (DIC) och pCO2aq (partial trycket av CO2 i vattnet). Provtagningen genomfördes under fem veckor i september och oktober 2020 i tre stora svenska sjöar. Våra resultat visade generellt varierande CH4 värden mellan de tre sjöarna, vilket indikerade att näringsämnen påverkar mängd och utsläpp av CH4. Ett mönster noterades där CH4 var högre nära stranden och på ett grundare djup. Det fanns ett samband mellan CH4 koncentration och miljövariablerna vindhastighet och luft- och vattentemperatur. DIC-värdena var höga i två av sjöarna och låga i en, alla sjöarnas DIC skiljde sig signifikant från varandra. pCO2 hade ingen skillnad inom sjöarna, och det fanns ingen skillnad mellan sjöarna utom i ett fall. Både DIC och pCO2 korrelerade med luft- och vattentemperatur. Studien visar den stora spatiotemporala variationen inom och mellan stora sjöar och att representativa värden för stora sjöar kräver fler mätningar under olika förhållanden för att urskilja hur växthusgaser emitterar och flödar mellan sjöar och atmosfär.

Over the past decades, evidence show that the anthropogenetic greenhouse gases (GHG) emissions of carbon dioxide (CO₂) and methane (CH₄) are the main drivers behind global warming and are becoming stronger. Globally, hydropower is among the main sources of renewable energy and the popular notion that hydropower electricity is carbon neutral has been under debate as evidence from measurements in different regions of the globe show significant and highly variable carbon emissions from hydropower reservoirs. But these global estimates are still highly uncertain since they are restricted to a few locations in the south of Europe, North America, and South America, and lack both the temporal and spatial variability in addition to some of the flux pathways (often downstream emission and degassing). This study assesses the CH4 and CO₂ emissions from reservoirs associated to three small hydropower stations in the south of Sweden and aims to understand potential spatial and temporal variability in the temperate region. The study performed flux measurements of CH4 and CO₂, an analysis of CH4 and DIC concentration in the water, and a depth profile of temperature, DO, CH4 and DIC at the hydropower station’s reservoirs. In summation this study finds significant CH4 and DIC concentrations, as well as CH4 and CO₂emissions from the studied reservoirs. The findings of this study underline the notion that hydropower might be a `blind spot` in the Swedish GHG budget report, and if so, the carbon emissions from hydropower electricity need to be re-evaluated.