Abstract

Previous research has explored the impact of telework on homes and offices separately, but it is necessary to examine these domains together, as energy savings in one may be offset by increased consumption in the other. Therefore, the present study aims to fill this gap by quantifying the impact of telework on the energy use of homes and offices simultaneously. Using a medium office building reference model and four home models, the present study simulates telework scenarios from 0 % teleworking to 100 % teleworking in 20 % increments in six different Canadian climate zones in EnergyPlus. The results show homes and offices with technologies that adapt to occupancy levels (adaptable) consume less energy and produce less emissions compared to inadaptable ones. However, energy use associated with homes increases slightly due to longer hours of occupancy. Emissions associated with telework depend on the impact of telework on internal heat gains, climate zones, and sources of energy (emission factors). The results demonstrate that the increase in energy consumption associated with various teleworking scenarios ranges from approximately 0.6 %–6.1 %. Similarly, the increase in emissions varies, ranging from nearly 0.5 % to 7.6 %. The present study is the first comprehensive study that considers the home type and size and other statistical data for different Canadian climate zones. The results have major implications for employers and policymakers aiming to adopt telework as a sustainable practice. The results of this study create the foundation for future comprehensive studies on teleworker behavior, transportation, and the internet use associated with telework.

Introduction

1.1. Teleworking and occupancy
Partial occupancy in offices has become a more common global phenomenon after the COVID-19 pandemic, as many employers started offering flexible schedules with telework options [[1], [2], [3], [4]]. Teleworking has different definitions but it can be generally defined as an umbrella term referring to working outside of a traditional office by using the internet [5]. Telework is often considered a sustainable alternative to traditional work arrangements as it can potentially reduce commute or the need for office space [4]. However, recent studies have shown that the potential sustainable benefits of teleworking significantly rely on teleworkers’ behaviors and decisions for four domains of homes, offices, transportation, and the internet [4,6,7]. Among all the four domains, the relationship between homes and offices has been less studied – especially quantitatively. Thus, the literature is inconclusive about the impact of telework on homes and offices concurrently.

Offices and homes are not typically designed to adapt to partial occupancy, meaning building systems such as HVAC systems are designed for full capacity. For instance, actual occupancy pre-COVID was usually between 50 % and 70 % in office buildings while office buildings are assumed to be operating under near-full occupancy [8,9]. Consequently, studies have shown building systems normally operate at their full capacity without considering occupancy [10,11]. The disproportionate decreases in the energy use of office buildings compared to occupancy during the COVID-19 pandemic are evidence of this phenomenon [[12], [13], [14], [15], [16], [17]]. Meanwhile, home energy use may increase significantly as a result of the use of more comfortable temperature setpoints or even the purchase of new HVAC equipment, like air conditioning. In part-time teleworking scenarios, such equipment may be operated every day, regardless of occupancy [6,18,19]. Therefore, it is important to have buildings that can adapt to partial occupancy [20]. As a result, there is an urgent need to quantify the impact of telework and partial occupancy on two main building types, homes and offices, under different teleworking scenarios.

Results

In this section, energy use and emissions associated with offices, homes, and their integrated net are described in Sections 3.1 Offices, 3.2 Homes, 3.3 Combined emissions of homes and offices. The results presented in the Offices and Homes sections are applicable to their respective domains.

3.1. Offices
3.1.1. Internal gains and inadaptable and adaptable offices
Fig. 12 shows the internal heat gain in W for adaptable and inadaptable offices in six different climate zones. While previous studies pointed to the impact of internal gains [22], the present study quantifies the impact. Fig. 12 shows reduced heat gains from people, equipment, lights, hot water equipment, gas equipment, and other equipment. The reduction in heat gains causes more demand for heating in buildings.

Abstract

     Globally, to ensure food security bio-based fertilizers must replace a percentage of chemical fertilizers. Such replacement must be deemed sustainable from agronomic and greenhouse gas (GHG) emission perspectives. For agronomic performance several controlled protocols are in place but not for testing GHG emissions. Herein, a pre-screening tool is presented to examine GHG emissions from bio-waste as fertilizers. The various treatments examined are as follows: soil with added mineral nitrogen (N, 140 kg N ha−1) fertilizer (MF), the same amount of MF combined with dairy processing sludge (DS), sludge-derived biochar produced at 450 °C (BC450) and 700 °C (BC700) and untreated control (CK). These treatments were combined with Danish (sandy loam) or Irish (clay loam) soils, with carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions and soil inorganic-N contents measured on selected days. During the incubation, biochar mitigated N2O emissions by regulating denitrification. BC450 reduced N2O emissions from Danish soil by 95.5% and BC700 by 97.7% compared to emissions with the sludge application, and for Irish soil, the N2O reductions were 93.6% and 32.3%, respectively. For both soils, biochar reduced CO2 emissions by 50% as compared to the sludge. The lower N2O reduction potential of BC700 for Irish soil could be due to the high soil organic carbon and clay content and pyrolysis temperature. For the same reasons emissions of N2O and CO2 from Irish soil were significantly higher than from Danish soil. The temporal variation in N2O emissions was correlated with soil inorganic-N contents. The CH4 emissions across treatments were not significantly different. This study developed a simple and cost-effective pre-screening method to evaluate the GHG emission potential of new bio-waste before its field application and guide the development of national emission inventories, towards achieving the goals of circular economy and the European Green Deal.

Introduction

     Agricultural sources of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions crucially influence climate change. During the period from 2007 to 2016, GHG emissions from agriculture, forestry and land use contributed about 23% of total net anthropogenic emissions, and emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide (N2O) from agriculture accounted for 13%, 44% and 81% of the anthropogenic emissions, respectively (IPCC et al., 2019). In November 2016 the legally binding international treaty on climate change called the Paris Agreement was adopted by 195 Parties. The key messages of the Paris Agreement include 1) limiting global warming to well below 2 °C, preferably to 1.5 °C, compared to pre-industrial levels; 2) establishing climate resilience and mitigating GHG emissions without threatening food production; and 3) aligning financial flows with pathways for low GHG emissions and climate-resilient development (UNFCCC, 2015). Therefore, the reduction of GHG emissions from agricultural soils with new effective mitigation strategies within the framework of the Paris Agreement becomes vital for the achievement of global warming reduction goals.

Conclusions

     Addition of biochar from pyrolysis of dairy sludge (DS) to soils together with mineral N fertilizer instead of directly adding DS, substantially reduced emissions of N2O to a level near that of untreated soil. Biochar pyrolyzed at 450 °C (BC450) reduced emissions of N2O by 95.5% and CO2 by 59.4% when applied to a Danish sandy loam soil (DA), and from an Irish clay loam soil (IR), emissions were reduced by 93.6% and 57.1%, respectively. Biochar from 700 °C pyrolysis (BC700) suppressed 97.7% and 49.7% of N2O and CO2 emissions from DA soil, and 32.3% and 62.4% from IR soil. Biochar shows no effect on CH4 emissions. Pyrolysis conditions and soil properties significantly affect the suppression of N2O emissions by biochar. This study provides a simple and cost-effective tool to examine the GHG emission potential of bio-waste before applying it in agricultural lands and helps in developing national emission inventories.

Abstract

     While supporting the values and goals of sustainable development at the international level, states might employ very different strategies at the national level. The goal of this Forward and of special issue is twofold. First, it aims to advance our understanding of different strategies, paying special attention to China and Russia at global, national, and sub-national levels. Thus, analysis of their strategies across different levels presents a more rounded picture. The second goal is to identify at least a few of the most pressing challenges of sustainable development across Eurasia (e.g. nuclear supply chain, emissions, environmental conflict management) and to attempt to understand their triggers, outcomes, and potential solutions. This Forward aspires to develop a better dialogue across different sets of literature in area studies, environmental politics, and international relations to improve our understanding of obstacles to sustainable development in Eurasia.

Introduction

     Studies on democratisation and regime transition in Eurasia have flourished over the last two decades.1 The literature has looked into a wide range of causal explanations of the consolidation of a variety of political regimes in Eurasia and in the European Union’s (EU) neighbourhood, such as historical legacies of Communism, the impact of the EU, and (associated with it) the diffusion of democratic values and principles even beyond its enlargement, at national and sub-national levels.2 Membership in international organisations (IOs) has usually been associated with promotion of human rights, democratisation, marketisation, and economic development.3 Only recently have scholars made the next step to ask a question regarding the possibility of the opposite impact of regional IOs led by autocracies on the consolidation of non-democratic regimes across Eurasia.4 Yet, this rich and fast-growing body of literature on the variety of political regimes emerged in Eurasia, their causes, and their consequences, has somehow been detached from studies looking into the problems, challenges, and strategies of sustainable development in Eurasia.5 In economics, however, a few studies have emerged connecting political regimes to outcomes of environmental policies, among other issues (e.g. Fredriksson & Neumayer, 2013; Fredriksson & Wollscheid, 2007; Nazarov & Obydenkova, 2021b). Despite this, there seems to be space for further, more interdisciplinary analysis of specific case studies and actors in Eurasia. While two sets of studies have been developing fast, they seemed to exist in two parallel worlds without much engagement with each other. Yet, both bodies of literature exhibit some similarities and unique insights, and can certainly benefit from establishing a deeper dialogue with each other. This special issue aspires to build on both somewhat separate sets of studies (on political regimes and on sustainable development in Eurasia) and to develop further the dialogue between them.

Conclusion

     This volume contributes to multiple sets of literature and has raised a number of issues that are likely to stay on the research agenda. The collection of articles advances studies on the diffusion of values and practices, on the role of history, and importance of external influences for sustainable development (e.g. historical legacies of nuclear chain and emissions; external impact on environmental movements; environmental rhetoric). These concluding remarks outline some of these findings presented in this volume and place them within broader cross-disciplinary literature.

      First, the special issue contributes to diffusion literature and studies of regionalism. It focuses on the international and national strategies of state actors and on environmental challenges. An important question is whether and how membership of states in different IOs (e.g. global climate clubs or the EU) matters in the fight against climate change (dealing with nuclear chain or emissions). As the study by Tosun and Shyrokykh (2021) argues, membership in climate clubs is associated with learning across states at the global level and allows direct access to the latest information, practices, and innovations. These activities, contacts, and formal and informal meetings within climate clubs (as well as within other IOs) are strongly associated with the diffusion of values and principles. Diffusion takes place at both cross-national and cross sub-national levels (Lankina et al., 2016a). On the other hand, the environmental commitments of China, Russia, and Kazakhstan can be analysed within the literature in terms of formal goals versus real motivations (see also, Libman & Obydenkova, 2018a, 2018b; Poberezhskaya & Bychkova, 2021). While formally proclaiming support for sustainable development, these nondemocracies also seek to augment their international image as global, environmentally friendly actors (Kochtcheeva, 2021; Tosun & Rinscheid, 2021).

Abstract

     A farm scale life cycle assessment (LCA) was conducted to estimate environmental indicators of organic dairy systems in the U.S. and evaluate alternative management practices and methodological decisions. Fourteen farm layouts (including Amish and grass intensive) are evaluated over four U.S. regions. Carbon (C) sequestration from pasture and cropping systems is estimated based on C added to the soil and the crop and grassland management practices. Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions range from 0.76 to 1.08 kg CO2-eq/kg fat and protein corrected milk (FPCM) after C sequestration. Methane (CH4) from enteric fermentation and liquid-slurry manure storage are major sources of GHGs, with the first related to cow feed to milk conversion efficiency. The production and consumption of fossil energy contribute to GHGs depending on the mix of fuels of regional electricity production. NH3 emissions range from 7.7 to 20.0 g/kg FPCM with differences between regions explained by environmental factors, management practices, and dairy diet composition. Eutrophication potential ranges from 3.4 to 6.6 g PO4/kg FPCM from phosphorus and nitrogen losses after manure application from on-farm and imported feeds. Electricity and diesel are the major contributors to fossil energy depletion (2.1 to3.7 MJ/kg FPCM), with the embedded energy from imported feeds also contributing significantly.

Introduction

     Agricultural systems are challenged to balance feeding a growing population while addressing environmental concerns and providing a high quality of life for farmers and rural communities. Agricultural emissions to air and water contribute to climate change, ecosystem deterioration, and human health issues (Poore and Nemecek, 2018). In the U.S., agriculture is responsible for 10% of total greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, with soil management, enteric fermentation, and manure accounting for 55%, 28% and 10%, respectively (U.S. EPA, 2021a). Up to 70% of the excreted nitrogen (N) in manure can be emitted as ammonia (NH3) in livestock operations (Hristov et al., 2002). These losses represent 80–90% of the global anthropogenic NH3 emissions (Xu et al., 2019) that can redeposit and lead to impaired waterways (U.S. EPA, 2004), or further transform to particulate matter or N2O. Nutrient losses from manure have the potential to reach ground and surface water contributing to eutrophication.

Conclusions

     GHG emissions (including C sequestration), NH3 emissions, resource depletion (energy, land, and water use), and EP at organic dairy farms in the U.S. were evaluated. Despite that milk production levels are generally lower than conventional systems, environmental impacts are comparable. Carbon sequestration is largely absent from LCA studies given its complexity but can be important for dairies that rely on pasture and forages. This study presents a procedure that can be implemented in other dairy or agricultural related LCA studies and promote discussion around this topic. Enteric CH4 remains the most prominent source of GHGs from cradle-to-farm gate, but results show that farms can still improve feeding efficiencies. Impacts from energy consumption are directly related to the regional electricity mix, with the implementation of renewables having the greatest impact on Amish farms that use diesel generators. As NH3 emissions continue to be an important concern for animal agriculture, baseline estimations will help establish mitigation targets and strategies. Manure management remains an important source of environmental impacts, especially during storage and after land application. Water use is significantly higher on farms that use irrigation and import feed. Alternative management practices can reduce GHGs and can guide on-farm implementation. Variations in results by different methodological decisions show these choices remain an unresolved topic in LCA worthy of discussion.

1. Introduction

2. Materials and methods

3. Results

4. Discussion

5. Conclusions

Acknowledgments

Appendix A. Supplementary data

References

Abstract

The military sector is an important global player in terms of monetary expenditure and resource use. However, reporting of military greenhouse gas emissions is often embedded into other activities and quantitative estimations are scarce. This paper assesses the life cycle greenhouse gas emissions from the Norwegian defence sector from an organisational perspective. The total annual emissions add up to 0.8 million tonnes of CO2 equivalents, corresponding to approximately 1.1% of the national emissions from Norwegian consumption. The results show that upstream activities are the main contributors to emission (68%), with only 32% allocated to the reporting organisation. From a management perspective, this distinction is important since these emissions may be mitigated through green procurement practices, in contrast to direct emissions that require operational reductions.

Introduction

World military expenditure is estimated to have reached $1739 billion, representing 2.2 percent of the global gross domestic product (GDP), in 2017 (Tian et al., 2018). The military sector and defence industry are therefore major global players, using considerable resources and subsequently affecting the environment. Even though the environmental impact of military activities has been discussed and debated for centuries, few documented studies of the sector’s environmental impact exist and most are connected to biodiversity and land use (Hanson, 2018; Lawrence et al., 2015; Nuttall et al., 2017; Vertegaal, 1989; Zentelis et al., 2017). Indirect correlations between military energy use, especially fossil fuel use, and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions have been discussed previously (Bildirici, 2017; Clark et al., 2010; Nuttall et al., 2017), but quantitative estimations are scarce. According to the Kyoto protocol and, subsequently, the Paris agreement, emissions from military activities are to be included in the national emissions inventory if they are accrued within national borders. Reporting of overseas activities or impacts of warfare is not required. The emissions from military activities are often embedded into other activities, such as energy production, transportation, and industrial activities, or taken out of the reporting (Michaelowa and Koch, 2001). A few studies on sector-specific calculations of greenhouse gas emissions in the UK and Australia have been found, indicating that defence activities contribute to approximately 1% of the annual emissions of greenhouse gases in these countries (Bailey, 2009; Wood and Dey, 2009). Figures from the US are within the same range, varying from 25.4 million tonnes annually from direct fuel consumption (Belcher et al., 2019) to 172 million tonnes including electricity use and upstream emissions (Liska and Perrin, 2010). This is equivalent to 0.5e3.3% of the total US emissions in 2017 (EIA, 2019).

1- Introduction

2- Problem statement

3- Methodology

4- Case studies

5- Conclusions

References

Abstract

Flare is the last safety measure for daily operations in oil, gas & chemical process industries (OGCPI). However, an excessive flaring releases large quantity of emissions of VOCs and NOx, which may suddenly enhance local ozone as a secondary pollution. Normally, the flare destruction and removal efficiency (DRE) of 98% or 99% is regulated as the national standard and presumed for industrial practices in the U.S. Unfortunately, real DRE values could be much lower than the standard due to impact factors including various meteorological and operating conditions such as the cross-wind speed, flare jet velocity and heating value of combustion. Thus, it is critically important to explore the sensitivity of the regional ozone impact due to low DREs of OGCPI flare combustions. In this paper, a systematic methodology has been developed to examine ozone impacts due to the low flare DREs, which have never been systematically studied before. The DRE formulas were derived from computational fluid dynamic (CFD) modeling and Water Environment Research Foundation (WERF) results and then employed to recompile the point source emission inventory. After that, comprehensive air quality model with extensions (CAMx) was employede to simulate and quantify local ozone changes impacted by flare emissions of OGCPI. Case studies indicate that the maximum hourly ozone increments due to the low DRE through CFD and WERF modeling is 0.18 ppb and 1.3 ppb, respectively. This study could enrich fundamental understandings of industrial point source emissions and provide the quantitative and valuable support for the ozone pollution caused by OGCPI flare emissions under low DRE instead of standard values.

Introduction

Industrial flaring is to safely combust off-spec, unusable, or unwanted process streams, which might otherwise be harmful to local environment if directly vented without destructions. The oil, gas and chemical process industries (OGCPI) in the U.S. daily processes millions of cubic feet of hydrocarbon gases (Baukal and Schwartz, 2001; Aalsalem et al., 2018). Thus, a slight decrease in flaring performance will release millions of cubic feet of gaseous emissions into the atmospheric environment. Note that although flaring is a safety measure for plant safety in OGCPI, excessive flaring will generate large amounts of emissions such as NOx (nitrogen oxides), CO2, CO, VOCs (volatile organic compounds) especially for high reactive VOCs (i.e., HRVOCs such as ethylene, propylene, acetylene). For instance, an olefin plant with a capacity of 1.2 billion pounds of ethylene productivity per year can easily flare about 5.0 million pounds of ethylene during one single start-up 50 operation (Xu and Li, 2008).

1- Introduction

2- Literature review

3- Methodology

4- MCDM for boxboard production

5- Sensitivity analysis

6- Conclusion

References

Abstract

Papermaking is a capital-intensive industry that requires a high consumption of plant fibers, energy, and water. Previous sustainability assessments of papermaking industry primarily focused on separate evaluations for multiple criteria without the integration for criteria and could not compare the overall priority of the production alternatives. The life cycle sustainability for the most representative boxboard production is analyzed as a case study in this work. Life cycle water consumption, energy consumption, greenhouse gas emissions, and internal costs are selected as the assessment criteria. The two multi-criteria decision-making methods are applied to integrate the above criteria to obtain the sustainability sequence under different production pathways. When the papermaking enterprises are regarded as decision-makers, the alternative using waste paper as raw material to manufacture boxboard is the most sustainable, following by mixed fiber. The sustainability sequence of the alternatives using wood and straw as raw materials is controversial due to the different calculation models. Changing the proportion of raw materials and the criteria weights might adjust sustainability sequence of the alternatives.

Introduction

Papermaking is a capital-intensive industry with a long industrial chain, it contributes to about 3% of global end uses of energy (Ma et al., 2018), 2% of global industrial carbon emissions (Bajpai, 2016), and 40% of global industrial wastewater (Ashrafi et al., 2015). In China, the rapid development of papermaking industry brings extensive energy demand and high emission generation, the sustainable development of papermaking industry has received widespread attention (Ingwersen et al., 2016; Wang et al., 2016; Corcelli et al., 2018). As the largest paper producer around the world, the papermaking industry in China is surrounded by several challenges: the energy structure dominated by coal leads to significant emissions of greenhouse gases (GHG) (Wang et al., 2016); the technology level varies greatly and too much capital is invested for unit product in some enterprises; low forest cover (Zhu et al., 2017) and policies on restricting deforestation prompt that papermaking industry has to import large quantities of wood and pulp board, resulting in increased cost and material replacement. Therefore, in order to achieve sustainable development of the papermaking industry, it needs to overcome environmental, economic and social obstacles. Since 2007, the production of boxboard has headed the list in China’s papermaking industry for 11 years and it accounted for 21.4% of the total paper production in 2017. Boxboard papermaking industry is still in a rising state with the development of packaging and logistics industries (CPA, 2017). The boxboard papermaking enterprises are widely distributed in every province in China, most of them use recycled waste paper to produce non-deinked pulp to manufacture boxboard, some sorts of high-grade boxboard are manufactured by using natural wood pulp cooked from wood chips or using natural straw pulp, the latter is mostly distributed in the major straw-producing area in north China. Besides, mixing virgin pulp and waste paper pulp as a raw material is also a common solution for the production of boxboard. Variety of production pathways have a different effect on the sustainability criteria for papermaking industry. The industrial process assessment (Wen et al., 2016; Li et al., 2015) and life cycle analysis (Man et al., 2018a; Ewijk et al., 2018) of papermaking industry analyzed environmental and economic criteria from different boundaries.

1- Introduction

2- What did we know about uncertainty?

3- What do we know about uncertainty today and what do we report on in this special issue?

4- Summary

References

Abstract

The assessment of greenhouse gases (GHGs) and air pollutants emitted to and removed from the atmosphere ranks high on international political and scientific agendas. Growing international concern and cooperation regarding the climate change problem have increased the need to consider the uncertainty in inventories of GHG emissions. The approaches to address uncertainty discussed in this special issue reflect attempts to improve national inventories, not only for their own sake but also from a wider, system analytic perspective. They seek to strengthen the usefulness of national emission inventories under a compliance and/or global monitoring and reporting framework. The papers in this special issue demonstrate the benefits of including inventory uncertainty in policy analyses. The issues raised by the authors and featured in their papers, along with the role that uncertainty analysis plays in many of their arguments, highlight the challenges and the importance of dealing with uncertainty. While the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) clearly stresses the value of conducting uncertainty analyses and offers guidance on executing them, the arguments made here in favor of performing these studies go well beyond any suggestions made by the IPCC to date. Improving and conducting uncertainty analyses are needed to develop a clear understanding and informed policy. Uncertainty matters and is key to many issues related to inventorying and reducing emissions. Considering uncertainty helps to avoid situations that can create a false sense of certainty or lead to invalid views of subsystems. Dealing proactively with uncertainty allows for the generation of useful knowledge that the international community should have to hand while strengthening the 2015 Paris Agreement, which had been agreed at the 21st Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). However, considering uncertainty does not come free. Proper treatment of uncertainty is demanding because it forces us to take the step from “simple to complex” and to grasp a holistic system view. Only, thereafter, can we consider potential simplifications. That is, comprehensive treatment of uncertainty does not necessarily offer quick or easy solutions for policymakers. This special issue brings together 13 papers that resulted from the 2015 (4th) International Workshop on Uncertainty in Atmospheric Emissions, in Cracow, Poland. While they deal with many different aspects of the uncertainty in emission estimates, they are guided by the same principal question: “What GHGs shall be verified at what spatio-temporal scale to support conducive legislation at local and national scales, while ensuring effective governance at the global scale?” This question is at the heart of mitigation and adaptation.

Introduction

The pollution haven hypothesis postulates that dirty industries migrate from high-income countries to low and middle-income countries through the trading of goods and foreign direct investment. Foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows remain one of the main sources of external funding for developing countries, yet, the relocation of carbonintensive and energy-intensive industries from jurisdictions with more stringent environmental regulation to weak locales results in pollution haven. The transfer, dissemination, and diffusion of FDI inflows with polluting technologies, goods, and services to developing countries become the most important part of the challenge to achieve the sustainable development goals (SDGs). On the contrary, the environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) hypothesis postulates that the initial growth of a country’s economic development leads to gradual deterioration of environmental quality and improves environmental conditions after reaching a threshold in economic development (Grossman and Krueger, 1991). Thus, both the pollution haven hypothesis and the EKC hypothesis are important policy derivatives for developing countries. Considering the importance of climate change mitigation and its impacts, as accentuated in SDG 13, the effect of FDI inflows, economic development, and energy consumption on greenhouse gas emissions in developing countries needs further attention to be able to alleviate the impacts. Studies on pollution haven hypothesis (Zakarya et al. (2015) Behera and Dash, 2017; Solarin et al. (2017) Sun et al. (2017), support the validity of this hypothesis. Solarin et al. (2017) validated the pollution haven hypothesis for Ghana using the autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) bounds testing approach. Sun et al. (2017) examined the impact of FDI inflows, economic growth, energy use, economic freedom, urbanization, financial development, and trade openness on CO2 emissions using the autoregressive distributed lag model. The study confirmed the validity of the pollution haven hypothesis in China and that the positive effect of FDI inflows stems from the large contribution of manufacturing, mining and electricity shifted from the developed countries. Using the fully modified ordinary least squares (FMOLS) and dynamic ordinary least squares regression, Behera and Dash (2017) found a positive impact of FDI inflows and energy consumption on CO2 emissions in 17 south and southeast Asian countries, thus, confirming the pollution haven hypothesis. Zakarya et al. (2015) found a long-run effect of FDI inflows and energy consumption on CO2 emissions in Brazil, Russia, India, and China, thus, validating the pollution haven hypothesis via panel causality and FMOLS regression. On the contrary, studies like Zhu et al. (2016) and Zhang and Zhou (2016), rejected the pollution haven hypothesis. Zhu et al. (2016) employed panel quantile regression to examine the heterogeneous effect of FDI inflows, economic growth, and energy consumption on CO2 emissions in Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand from 1981 to 2011. The study found insufficient support for the pollution haven hypothesis but rather found the halo effect hypothesis in high emission countries. Zhang and Zhou (2016) argue that FDI inflows of modern technologies contribute to CO2 emissions reduction in China rather than environmental deterioration. Dasgupta et al. (1999, 2001) and Dean et al. (2004) revealed that developing countries depend on sophisticated technology transfer through FDI inflows from developed countries as their primary source of acquiring technology. Hence, clean and upgrading from vintage to modern technologies help in the reduction of emission levels.

1- Introduction

2- Materials and methods

3- Agricultural GHG emissions in the EU

4- GHG tax and market dynamics of carbon leakage

5- Results and discussion

6- Conclusion

References

Abstract

Greenhouse gas emission (GHGE) taxes on food products have recently been proposed as means to help reduce agricultural emissions. Numerous authors have calculated potential GHGE reductions in case such a tax was implemented in certain countries or regions. They did however assume a reduced production of GHGE-intense foods equal to the decline in demand induced by the tax. This omits however possible increases of net-exports that might offset such a demand reduction. Herein, the market dynamic behind this so-called “emission leakage” is explained and its effect quantified for a greenhouse gas tax in the European Union. We use the European Forest and Agricultural Sector Optimization Model for the quantitative analysis and simulate a greenhouse gas tax on all food products, based on their individual emission levels. The partial equilibrium model covers all world regions and hence the tax’s effects on international trade of agricultural commodities can be examined. It was found that 43% of the greenhouse gas reduction indicted by a domestic consumption reduction is lost through emission leakage. This already includes the mitigating effects of a production shift from inefficient to efficient producers that is another consequence of increased exports from the European Union. A greenhouse gas emission tax on food products is hence much less efficient than previously proposed, if it is not introduced globally or trade is not restricted.

Introduction

Agriculture largely contributes to greenhouse gas emission (GHGE) and therefore climate change. In 2010, an estimated 24% of all anthropogenic GHGE were directly linked to agriculture and forestry – most of which emerge during deforestation, enteric fermentation in livestock as well as manure management and application or the energy use during agricultural activities. Further emissions can be attributed indirectly to the agriculture and forestry sector. They involve the production and transport of agricultural inputs such as fertilizers and crop protection products. Considering that deforestation is mostly carried out to increase pastures or cropland, it follows that over a quarter of global GHGE stem from agricultural activities (IPCC, 2014). Moreover, because large shares of the world’s crop production are used as animal feed, livestock is the largest GHG emitter within agriculture. An estimated 18% of all global GHGE are linked to livestock (Steinfeld et al., 2006). Ruminant animals including cattle, sheep, and goats release most GHGE especially from enteric fermentation (methane), but also due to a lower feed conversion efficiency and the large amounts of manure they produce (mostly methane and nitrous oxide). On average, beef, mutton, and goat meats are by far the foods with the highest specific GHGE followed by pork. The GHGE released during meat production are multiple times higher per-calorie than the emissions of vegetal foods. Numerous authors have elaborated on this with similar results, e.g. (Audsley et al., 2009; Cederberg et al., 2013; de Vries and de Boer, 2010; Gonzalez et al., 2011; Lesschen et al., 2011; Meier and Christen, 2013). Given the importance of agricultural GHGE, numerous studies have explored possible emission abatement options.

In common nutrient management in peach orchards in China, a large amount of nitrogen fertilizer is used. However, low nitrogen absorption and utilization rate results in nitrogen loss and greenhouse gas emissions, which is not favorable for cleaner production in peach orchards. In this experiment, nitrogen leaching, ammonia volatilization, greenhouse gas emissions under bag-controlled release fertilizer (BCRF) were evaluated. In addition, the impact of BCRF on soil nutrient status in peach orchards, peach root system growth, nitrogen absorption and utilization rate, fruit quality, and the potential for using BCRF in major peach-producing areas in China to reduce the amount of nitrogen fertilizer application were also investigated. Results showed that BCRF maintained a stable supply of nutrients to soil, decreased nitrogen leaching, ammonia volatilization and greenhouse gas emissions while nitrogen loss was significantly reduced from peach orchard soil. Also, BCRF reduced the combined global warming potential at 20-, 100-, and 500-years. A 5-year study revealed that application of BCRF promoted the formation of a dense root system in peach trees by the development of fine roots and a more concentrated root distribution. This extended the lifespan of the root system and improved fruit quality. 15N tracer experiments showed that BCRF significantly increased the absorption and utilization rate of nitrogen by peach trees. BCRF reduced the amount of nitrogen fertilizers applied by 65e82% compared to common fertilizer application methods without decreasing peach yield, so it has huge potential for reducing the amount of nitrogen fertilizer used as well as fertilizer input costs in peach production. The results showed that BCRF has huge application potential as a new, environmentally friendly, low-cost, and efficient fertilizer for cleaner production in peach orchards.

Introduction

The amount of nitrogen fertilizer consumed in China accounts for 30% of total global consumption. However, the utilization rate of nitrogen fertilizer is only 30e40% (Zhu, 2000). Globally, it is estimated that the amount of nitrogen fertilizer consumed will increase to 13
109 e15
109 t/y in 2050 (Matson et al., 1998). Low fertilizer utilization rate is a common problem when chemical fertilizers were used. Among chemical fertilizers, nitrogen loss is particularly serious. Nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) has decreased during the past two decades, with much of this excess nitrogen fertilizer being lost to the environment (MOA, 2007; National Bureau of Statistics of China, 2013). This not only results in direct economic losses but also environmental pollution in some cases when fertilizer application is improperly applied. This causes surface water eutrophication, nitrate nitrogen levels in groundwater exceeding standards, and increased N2O emissions (Zhu, 2000). Direct application of urea into soil will result in rapid hydrolysis and a large loss of nitrogen due to surface runoff, leaching, and volatilization and low absorption and utilization rate of nitrogen fertilizers, resulting in serious environmental pollution problems (Salvagiotti et al., 2008; Pereira et al., 2017; Wang et al., 2004). In addition, the emission of greenhouse gases, e.g. N2O, is also an important cause of nitrogen loss following fertilizer application (Pereira et al., 2015), which is not favorable for clean production in peach orchards.

1- Introduction

2- Background and hypothesis development

3- Sample and model development

4- Empirical results

5- Concluding remarks

References

Abstract

Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions are perceived to have negative consequences for society at large by contributing to potential climate change and represent a potential cash drain from firms from exposure to future regulatory, abatement, and compliance costs. Beginning in 2010, US companies are required to report their GHG emissions to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). We utilize these data for 2010–2014 to examine whether the possible adverse firm value impact of these GHG emissions is alleviated or exacerbated by the firm’s reputation for corporate social responsibility. Our findings suggest that there is no halo effect, i.e., a firm’s reputation for social responsibility (as reflected in its CSR score) does not protect the firm from the adverse firm value effects of GHG emissions. Rather, our findings suggest a fallen angel effect, i.e., for any given level of GHG emissions, the higher the firm’s CSR score, the greater the adverse impact on firm value. In other words, the decline in firm value due to the adverse impact of GHG emissions is compounded by the hit to the firm’s reputation for corporate social performance. Our paper contributes to the sparse prior US literature on the firm value effects of GHG emissions. Further, by providing scholarly evidence on the existence of a fallen angel effect, our findings suggest that boards and managers of firms that provide voluntary CSR disclosures cannot afford to be complacent about their GHG emissions.

Introduction

Although corporate social responsibility (CSR) appears to deviate from maximizing shareholder wealth (Friedman, 1970), prior research (e.g., Elliott et al., 2014; Gregory et al., 2016) suggests that a reputation for responsible social performance can endow a firm with a competitive advantage that is reflected in a higher firm value. Relatedly, because of their potential adverse impact on the environment (e.g., climate change), corporate greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions may be viewed as an element of negative, if not irresponsible, social performance (Huang and Watson, 2015). In recent research, Griffin et al. (2017) and Matsumura et al. (2014) use data obtained from US firms’ voluntary disclosures of GHG emissions to the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) as well as estimates of GHG emissions for non-disclosers to suggest that investors in US equity markets penalize GHG emitters.1 Separately, beginning in 2010, the US Environmental Protection Agency’s (or EPA’s) Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program (GHGRP) requires US fossil fuel suppliers, direct GHG emitters and industrial gas suppliers, to report their GHG emissions to the EPA. In this study, the research question we address is whether the adverse impact of EPA-mandated GHG emission data on firm value is attenuated or exacerbated by the firm’s reputation for corporate social responsibility. Relative to prior US-based GHG research (e.g., Griffin et al., 2017; Matsumura et al., 2014), our use of the standardized and uniformly reported mandatory EPA GHG emissions data allows us to examine actual (rather than estimated) GHG emissions and firm value effects for larger firms as well as for smaller firms that do not voluntarily report GHG emissions to the CDP. As discussed later in the paper, our findings with respect to the valuation effects of mandatory GHG emission disclosures are consistent with prior findings in the literature with respect to such voluntary disclosures. Hence, rather than focus on the main effect, i.e., the valuation effect of mandatory GHG emission disclosures alone, we focus on the interaction effect between firms’ GHG emissions and their reputation for social responsibility. In effect, the research question we examine is whether a firm’s reputation for social responsibility (as reflected in the firm’s CSR score) has a cushioning (or “halo”) effect that protects the firm against the adverse market effects of GHG emissions. Alternatively, for firms with a reputation for social responsibility, the GHG emissions could have a disillusioning (or “fallen angel”) effect that exacerbates the adverse market effects associated with the EPA-mandated GHG data.