CO2 emissions change from the sales authorization of diesel passenger cars: Korean case study

The climatic change is a matter of grave concern to the whole world. As a countermeasure against the climatic change convention, the Korean government has authorized the sale of diesel passenger cars since 2005. In this paper, we analyze the effects of the sales authorization of diesel passenger cars in its role as a countermeasure. Their share, carbon emissions, and pollutant emissions of each type of passenger car are analyzed using system dynamics. The result is that the carbon emissions are decreased by 5.4% but the pollutant emissions are increased by 5%. If the pollutant emissions are controlled, the sales authorization of diesel passenger cars would be a good countermeasure against the climatic change convention.     

CO2 and pollutant emissions from passenger cars in China

In this paper, CO₂ and pollutant emissions of PCs in China from 2000 to 2005 were calculated based on a literature review and measured data. The future trends of PC emissions were also projected under three scenarios to explore the reduction potential of possible policy measures. Estimated baseline emissions of CO, HC, NO_x, PM₁₀ and CO₂ were respectively 3.16×10⁶, 5.14×10⁵, 3.56×10⁵, 0.83×10⁴ and 9.14×10⁷ tons for China’s PCs in 2005 with an uneven distribution among provinces. Under a no improvement (NI) scenario, PC emissions of CO, HC, NO_x, PM₁₀ and CO₂ in 2020 are respectively estimated to be 4.5, 2.5, 2.5, 7.9 and 8.0 times that of 2005. However, emissions other than CO₂ from PCs are estimated to decrease nearly 70% by 2020 compared to NI scenario mainly due to technological improvement linked to the vehicle emissions standards under a recent policy (RP) scenario. Fuel economy (FE) enhancement and the penetration of advanced propulsion/fuel systems could be co-benefit measures to control CO₂ and pollutant emissions for the mid and long terms. Significant variations were found in PC emission inventories between different studies primarily due to uncertainties in activity levels and/or emission factors (EF).     

Influence of European passenger cars weight to exhaust CO2 emissions

The increase of atmospheric CO₂ concentration influences climate changes. The road transport sector is one of the main anthropogenic sources of CO₂ emissions in the European Union (EU). One of the main parameters influencing CO₂ emissions from passenger cars (PCs) is their weight, which increases during last years. For the same driving distance, heavier vehicles need more work than lighter ones, because they have to move an extra weight, and thus more fuel is consumed and thus increased CO₂ emissions. The weight control of new PCs could be an efficient way to control their CO₂ emissions. After an analysis of the EU new PCs market, their segment distribution and their weight, some estimations for 2020 are presented. Based on this analysis, 13 base scenarios using several ways for the control of the weight of future European new PCs are used to estimate their CO₂ emissions and the benefit of each scenario. The results show that a significant benefit on CO₂ emissions could be achieved if the weight of each PC does not exceed an upper limit, especially if this limit is quite low. The benefit obtained by limitations of weight is higher than the benefit obtained from the expected decreased future fuel consumption. Similar results are obtained when the weight of new PCs does not exceed an upper limit within each segment, or when the weight of each new PC decreases.     

Challenges for CO2 mitigation in the Lebanese electric-power sector

Similar to other developing countries the electricity sector in Lebanon is monopolized by a vertically integrated public utility, Electricite Du Liban (EDL). EDL's supply is characterized by frequent and lengthy power cuts that have given rise to an alternative, informal, and unregulated backup sector, which serves to satisfy electricity demand during the extended blackout periods. This paper examines the evolvement of the backup sector and its related CO₂ emissions via the use of scenario analysis. The economic and energy policy implications of each scenario are discussed and a number of policy options are presented to ensure that the growth in CO₂ emissions is contained. Results clearly indicate that the backup sector plays a critical role in the success of any greenhouse gas mitigation commitment undertaken by Lebanon. A clear strategy on dealing with this sector needs to be devised simultaneously if not prior to any climate change policy at the national level.     

Decomposition analysis of CO2 emissions from passenger cars: The cases of Greece and Denmark

The paper presents a decomposition analysis of the changes in carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions from passenger cars in Denmark and Greece, for the period 1990–2005. A time series analysis has been applied based on the logarithmic mean Divisia index I (LMDI I) methodology, which belongs to the wider family of index decomposition approaches. The particularity in road transport that justifies a profound analysis is its remarkably rapid growth during the last decades, followed by a respective increase in emissions. Denmark and Greece have been selected based on the challenging differences of specific socio-economic characteristics of these two small EU countries, as well as on the availability of detailed data used in the frame of the analysis. In both countries, passenger cars are responsible for half of the emissions from road transport as well as for their upward trend, which provokes the implementation of a decomposition analysis focusing exactly on this segment of road transport. The factors examined in the present decomposition analysis are related to vehicles ownership, fuel mix, annual mileage, engine capacity and technology of cars. The comparison of the results discloses the differences in the transportation profiles of the two countries and reveals how they affect the trend of CO₂ emissions.     

Energy demand and interfuel substitution in the transportation sector

The analysis in this paper is directed at examining the effect of energy prices on the quantity of energy demanded in the transportation sector in the United States. For motor gasoline, the suggestion is that vehicle miles travelled as well as the stock of automobiles respond to changing motor gasoline prices. For other fuels consumed in this sector, the quantity of energy consumed does respond to energy prices as well as the level of economic activity. The magnitude of the response is typically small.     

Energy use, cost and CO2 emissions of electric cars

We examine efficiency, costs and greenhouse gas emissions of current and future electric cars (EV), including the impact from charging EV on electricity demand and infrastructure for generation and distribution.Uncoordinated charging would increase national peak load by 7% at 30% penetration rate of EV and household peak load by 54%, which may exceed the capacity of existing electricity distribution infrastructure. At 30% penetration of EV, off-peak charging would result in a 20% higher, more stable base load and no additional peak load at the national level and up to 7% higher peak load at the household level. Therefore, if off-peak charging is successfully introduced, electric driving need not require additional generation capacity, even in case of 100% switch to electric vehicles.GHG emissions from electric driving depend most on the fuel type (coal or natural gas) used in the generation of electricity for charging, and range between 0 g km⁻¹ (using renewables) and 155 g km⁻¹ (using electricity from an old coal-based plant). Based on the generation capacity projected for the Netherlands in 2015, electricity for EV charging would largely be generated using natural gas, emitting 35-77 g CO_2 eq km⁻¹.We find that total cost of ownership (TCO) of current EV are uncompetitive with regular cars and series hybrid cars by more than 800 € year⁻¹. TCO of future wheel motor PHEV may become competitive when batteries cost 400 € kWh⁻¹, even without tax incentives, as long as one battery pack can last for the lifespan of the vehicle. However, TCO of future battery powered cars is at least 25% higher than of series hybrid or regular cars. This cost gap remains unless cost of batteries drops to 150 € kWh⁻¹ in the future. Variations in driving cost from charging patterns have negligible influence on TCO.GHG abatement costs using plug-in hybrid cars are currently 400-1400 € tonne⁻¹ CO_2 eq and may come down to −100 to 300 € tonne⁻¹. Abatement cost using battery powered cars are currently above 1900 € tonne⁻¹ and are not projected to drop below 300-800 € tonne⁻¹.     

Post-Kyoto CO2 emission reduction: The soft landing scenario analysed with POLES and other world models

Long-term outlooks are key tools for policy design in the energy sector. These outlooks should also include scenarios considering active policies that address the challenge of climate change. Consequently such a CO₂ emission reduction scenario was analysed as a case study within the ACROPOLIS project.     

Energy demand and CO2 emissions reduction options in Nigeria

This paper presents policy options for reducing CO₂ emissions in Nigeria. The policies were formulated based on a thorough analysis of Nigeria's current energy consumption patterns and the projected evolution of key parameters that drive Nigeria's energy demand — primarily the rate of industrialization, the demand for transportation services, and the expansion of Nigeria's population. The study shows that the most promising options for reducing CO₂ emissions in Nigeria are improving energy efficiency and increasing the use of natural gas and renewable energy sources.     

Revisiting CO2 mitigation potential and costs in China’s electricity sector

To improve the reliability of sectoral mitigation potential and cost analysis, this paper made an in-depth exploration into China’s electricity sector’s thermal efficiency and inner structure. It is found that unlike what many literatures portray, China is actually among the world’s leaders in coal-fired power plants’ generating efficiencies; besides, although there are still numerous small and inefficient generating units in the current generation fleet, many of them are in fact playing important roles in supporting local economic development, meeting peak load needs, balancing heat and electricity supply and providing job opportunities to the local economy, therefore their existence does not necessarily mean low-cost mitigation potential. Given the efficiency and structural characteristics of China’s electricity sector, it is pointed out that some other mitigation options, such as demand side management, IGCC and renewable energy as well as the break-through of CCS technology may play an even more important role in emission reduction. Considering the significant lock-in effects in electricity sector, it is warned that China, if continues putting majority investment in large and advanced coal-fired generating units, will face another round of chasing-after for the new and advanced renewable generation technologies. Therefore China should put more efforts in renewable generation technologies now.     

Energy and CO2 emissions in Korea: Long-term scenarios and related policies

Korea will require increasingly higher energy inputs in coming years to further its economic development process. While due to the inconvenience of coal use and its negative impacts on the environment, Korea's reliance on its most carbon-intensive energy source will drop over the next few decades, the overall growth of energy demand (and particularly the rising consumption of oil) will translate into substantially higher emissions of energy-related CO₂. This paper presents the results of two long-term scenarios for Korea for the year 2025 in order to investigate the possibilities of constraining the future growth of energy and emissions. The results indicate that by improving energy efficiency through technological progress, fuel switching and related policies, Korea can begin to make the necessary transition to a less carbon-intensive future.     

CO2 emission from China's energy sector and strategy for its control

This paper identifies the main features of CO₂ emission from fossil energy combustion in China. Then it estimates China's future energy requirements and projects its CO₂ emission from 2010 to 2020 based on the scenario analysis approach. China's rate of carbon productivity growth is estimated to be 5.4% in the period 2005–2020, while the CO₂ intensity of GDP will reduce by about 50% but CO₂ emission in 2020 will still be about 40% higher than prevailing in 2005 because of rapid growth of GDP. This estimation is based on the assumption that China will implement a sustainable development strategy in consideration of climate change issues. The main objectives of the strategy are to implement an “energy conservation first” strategy, to develop renewable energy and advanced nuclear technology actively, to readjust the country's economic structure, and to formulate and legislate laws and regulations, and to build institutions for energy conservation and development of renewable energy. It concludes that international measures to mitigate CO₂ emission will limit world fossil fuel consumption. China is not placed to replicate the modernization model adopted by developed countries and has to coordinate economic development and carbon dioxide emission control while still in the process of industrialization and modernization. China has to evolve a low carbon industrialization model. This is the key to the success of sustainable development initiatives in China.     

The cost of pipelining climate change mitigation: An overview of the economics of CH4, CO2 and H2 transportation

Gases like CH₄, CO₂ and H₂ may play a key role in establishing a sustainable energy system: CH₄ is the least carbon-intensive fossil energy resource; CO₂ capture and storage can significantly reduce the climate footprint of especially fossil-based electricity generation; and the use of H₂ as energy carrier could enable carbon-free automotive transportation. Yet the construction of large pipeline infrastructures usually constitutes a major and time-consuming undertaking, because of safety and environmental issues, legal and (geo)political siting arguments, technically un-trivial installation processes, and/or high investment cost requirements. In this article we focus on the latter and present an overview of both the total costs and cost components of the distribution of these three gases via pipelines. Possible intricacies and external factors that strongly influence these costs, like the choice of location and terrain, are also included in our analysis. Our distribution cost breakdown estimates are based on transportation data for CH₄, which we adjust for CO₂ and H₂ in order to account for the specific additional characteristics of these two gases. The overall trend is that pipeline construction is no longer subject to significant cost reductions. For the purpose of designing energy and climate policy we therefore know in principle with reasonable certainty what the minimum distribution cost components of future energy systems are that rely on pipelining these gases. We describe the reasons why we observe limited learning-by-doing and explain why negligible construction cost reductions for future CH₄, CO₂ and H₂ pipeline projects can be expected. Cost data of individual pipeline projects may strongly deviate from the global average because of national or regional effects related to the type of terrain, but also to varying costs of labor and fluctuating market prices of components like steel.     

Energy and exergy analysis of Solid Oxide Electrolyser Cell (SOEC) working as a CO2 mitigation device

A simple thermodynamic model of SOEC system was presented in this paper. We performed energy and exergy analysis on the SOEC system to determine its optimal operating conditions. Parametric studies have been carried out to determine the effects of key operating parameters on the SOEC system. For given operating conditions and set assumptions, it was found that the optimal voltage applied to the SOEC system is 1.37 V. At this optimal value, the SOEC system is capable of achieving 50% and 60%, respectively, in terms of energy and exergy efficiency. It also achieved 67% reduction in CO₂ with maximum feedstock conversion of 63.5%. The corresponding energy and exergy required to convert one kg of CO₂ is 16.4 kJ and 7.2 kJ, respectively.     

H2 processes with CO2 mitigation: Thermo-economic modeling and process integration

Within the challenge of greenhouse gas reduction, hydrogen is regarded as a promising decarbonized energy vector. The hydrogen production by natural gas reforming and lignocellulosic biomass gasification are systematically analyzed by developing thermo-economic models. Taking into account thermodynamic, economic and environmental factors, process options with CO₂ mitigation are compared and optimized by combining flowsheeting with process integration, economic analysis and life cycle assessment in a multi-objective optimization framework. The systems performance is improved by introducing process integration maximizing the heat recovery and valorizing the waste heat. Energy efficiencies up to 80% and production costs of 12.5–42 $/GJH₂${\text{GJ}}_{{\text{H}}_2}$ are computed for natural gas H₂ processes compared to 60% and 29–61 $/GJH₂${\text{GJ}}_{{\text{H}}_2}$ for biomass processes. Compared to processes without CO₂ mitigation, the CO₂ avoidance costs are in the range of 14–306 $/tCO_2,avoided${\text{t}}_{{\text{CO}}_2,\text{avoided}}$. The study shows that the thermo-chemical H₂ production has to be analyzed as a polygeneration unit producing hydrogen, captured CO₂, heat and electricity.     

Vehicle technology under CO2 constraint: a general equilibrium analysis

A study is presented of the rates of penetration of different transport technologies under policy constraints on CO₂ emissions. The response of this sector is analyzed within an overall national level of restriction, with a focus on automobiles, light trucks, and heavy freight trucks. Using the US as an example, a linked set of three models is used to carry out the analysis: a multi-sector computable general equilibrium model of the economy, a MARKAL-type model of vehicle and fuel supply technology, and a model simulating the split of personal and freight transport among modes. Results highlight the importance of incremental improvements in conventional internal combustion engine technology, and, in the absence of policies to overcome observed consumer discount rates, the very long time horizons before radical alternatives like the internal combustion engine hybrid drive train vehicle are likely to take substantial market share.     

Greenhouse gas mitigation policies and the transportation sector: The role of feedback effects on policy effectiveness

The US transportation sector is a major contributor to global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. As such, policymakers and stakeholder groups have proposed a number of policy instruments aimed at reducing these emissions. In order to fully evaluate the effectiveness of these policies, policymakers must consider both the direct responses associated with policy actions, and the indirect responses that occur through complex relationships within socioeconomic systems. In cases where multiple policy instruments are employed, these indirect effects create policy interactions that are either complementary or competing; policymakers need to understand these interactions in order to leverage policy synergies and manage policy conflicts. Analysis of these indirect effects is particularly difficult in the transportation sector, where system boundaries are uncertain and feedback among systems components can be complicated. This paper begins to address this problem by applying systems dynamics tools (in particular causal loop diagrams) to help identify and understand the role of feedback effects on transportation-related GHG reduction policies. Policymakers can use this framework to qualitatively explore the impacts of various policy instruments, as well as identify important relationships that can be later included in quantitative modeling approaches.     

Critique of the regulatory limitations of exhaust CO2 emissions from passenger cars in European union

Transport is the second emitter of CO₂ in the European Union, after the energy production sector, with constantly increased trend. European Union proposed the regulation 443/2009 to control the CO₂ emissions from new passenger cars. According to that regulation, the average, for each car manufacturer, CO₂ emissions of the new passenger cars registered in 2020 in European Union should not exceed the value of 95 g CO₂/km on the New European Driving Cycle. In the present work the regulation 443/2009 is analyzed and a critique is addressed to four points. The first point concerns the average upper limit of CO₂ emissions of each car manufacturer. The second point concerns the possible derogation for the low volume manufacturers and the third to the penalties for the extra CO₂ emissions. The fourth point concerns the value of the proposed average upper limit of CO₂ emissions and the possibility to be changed in the future. A change to the above points is proposed. The maximum decrease of CO₂ emissions and the principle of equality of citizens are the two principles of our propositions for the CO₂ regulations.     

Energy and exergy prices of various energy sources along with their CO2 equivalents

Various types of energy sources are used in the residential and industrial sectors. Choosing the type of sources is important. When an energy source is selected, its CO₂ equivalent and energy and exergy prices must be known for a sustainable future and for establishing energy policies. These prices are based on their energy values. Exergy analysis has been recently applied to a wide range of energy-related systems. Thus, obtaining the exergy values has become more meaningful for long-term planning. In this study, energy and exergy prices of various energy sources along with CO₂ equivalents are calculated and compared for residential and industrial applications in Turkey. Energy sources considered include coal, diesel oil, electricity, fuel oil, liquid petroleum gas (LPG), natural gas, heat pumps and geothermal, and their prices were obtained over a period of 18 months, from January 2008 to June 2009. For the residential and industrial sectors, minimum energy and exergy prices were found for ground source heat pumps, while maximum energy and exergy prices belong to LPG for both sectors.     

The impact of CHP generation on CO2 emissions

The combined generation of heat and power (cogeneration) is praised by many as a technique for reducing the emissions of CO₂ in industrialized nations. This is generally true but not always. In this article we discuss the impact of some major variables on the CO₂ emission reduction capacity of cogeneration. Two sets of variables are predominant: the characteristics of the CHP process and the composition of the electricity generation sector. We highlight the interaction between the two sets of variables with the help of diagrams.