•Local CO2 emission factors of China’s coal chemical products are published.•The total CO2 emission from China's coal chemical industry was 607 Mt in 2015.•The spatial disparity of CO2 emission from ...China's coal chemical industry is great.•CO2 emission from modern coal chemical industry is predicted to be 417 Mt in 2020.•Carbon capture, utilization, and storage has great potential to reduce its emission.
As the largest producer of coal chemical products in the world, China faces tremendous pressure to reduce its carbon emission. An accurate quantification of the carbon dioxide (CO2) emission of coal chemical industry in China is therefore necessary. However, due to the variety of coal chemical products and limitations of CO2 emission factors, the total CO2 emission of coal chemical industry has yet to be determined. In this study, local CO2 emission factors of coal chemical products in China are published based on first hand data from twenty-three coal chemical enterprises and the total CO2 emission of China's coal chemical industry is extrapolated. The provincial-level spatial distribution of the CO2 emission of coal chemical industry is presented to assist the government in identifying key emission reduction areas. Additionally, scenario analysis of CO2 emission for China’s modern coal chemical industry in 2020 is conducted to determine whether the development of the modern coal chemical industry will have a significant impact on future CO2 emission, as well as the effect of carbon capture, utilization and storage technologies on the reduction in carbon emission. The estimate shows that the total CO2 emission of the coal chemical industry in 2015 was 607 million tonnes (Mt), accounting for approximately 5.71% of China’s total CO2 emission. The figure is higher than the total annual CO2 emission of a country such as Canada (555 Mt) or Brazil (486 Mt). Quantifying the emission of the coal chemical industry is therefore critical to understand the global carbon budget. The spatial distribution shows that Shandong, Inner Mongolia and Shanxi release one-third of the coal chemical industry’s total CO2 emission. Considering the development of the modern coal chemical industry, its CO2 emission is predicted to be as high as 416.52 million tonnes in 2020. However, the CO2 emission could be reduced by 317.98 million tonnes when carbon capture, utilization and storage are applied to process and energy systems simultaneously. This paper quantifies the CO2 emission of the coal chemical industry in China for the first time, identifies key chemical products and the provinces in which they are produced, explores the carbon reduction potential by scenario analysis, and provides specific data to support the assessment of effective CO2 reduction policy.
The use of alternative fuels, particularly bio-based fuels, has been an important strategy to achieve greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reductions compared to petroleum-based fuels. However, ...discrepancies between results obtained by using different attributional life-cycle assessment (LCA) tools have challenged the credibility of the individual assessments, and as result, the progress towards or compliance with GHG mitigation targets. The objective of this study was to identify the main differences and commonalities in methodological structures, calculation procedures, and assumptions for the major commercial biofuel, ethanol, across three public LCA tools, BioGrace (EU), GHGenius (Canada), and GREET (U.S.), and a research-oriented fourth, the Virtual Sugarcane Biorefinery (VSB), a Brazilian platform for sugarcane ethanol assessments.
The calculated emissions across models ranged from 16 to 45 for sugarcane, 43–62 for corn, and 45–68 g CO2eq MJ−1 for wheat ethanol. Harmonizing the three public models with VSB assumptions for sugarcane ethanol produced in Brazil, the range was reduced to 16–17 g CO2eq MJ−1 for sugarcane ethanol. Agricultural production (e.g., N2O emissions from fertilizers; energy and fuel use; straw field-burning; and limestone application) and ethanol shipping were found to be the major causes for variations for differences calculated for sugarcane ethanol. Similarly, harmonizing BioGrace and GHGenius calculations using GREET assumptions for U.S. corn ethanol generated nearly identical results (models varied within a 3% range). The coproduct treatment method was found to be the most influential parameter in the variations calculated for both corn and wheat ethanol. The application of the tools as part of GHG emissions accounting requirements is often defined via regulations and differences and/or conflicting assumptions set-forth in these models lead to most differences observed. Our study provides recommendations for promoting transparency in LCA calculations and assumptions across the tools used in research and development or for regulatory tools regarding biofuels.
•Emissions ranged from 16 to 45 for sugarcane and 43–62 g CO2eq MJ−1 for corn ethanol.•LCA tools produce similar results when harmonized to the maximum possible extent.•Models are sensitive to methodology, which is a risk factor in policy arena.•We recommend strengthened efforts to strive for transparency in LCA.
•Study of deep decarbonization pathways for the Canadian energy sector to 2050.•Use of a TIMES optimization energy model to derive minimum cost solutions.•Key options are electrification, clean ...electricity supply and efficiency gains.•Disruptive technologies are needed to meet ambitious targets at reasonable costs.
The main objective of this paper is to explore deep decarbonization pathways for the Canadian energy sector that would allow Canada to participate in global mitigation efforts to keep global mean surface temperatures from increasing by more than 2°C by 2100. Our approach consists in deriving minimum cost solutions for achieving progressive emission reductions up to 2050 using the North American TIMES Energy Model (NATEM), a detailed multi-regional and integrated optimization energy model. With this model, we analyze a baseline and two 60% reduction scenarios of combustion related emissions by 2050 from 1990 levels, with different assumptions regarding projected demands for energy services and availability of technology options for carbon mitigation. The first reduction scenario includes only well-known technologies while the second one considers additional disruptive technologies, which are known but are not fully developed commercially. Results show that three fundamental transformations need to occur simultaneously in order to achieve ambitious GHG emission reduction targets: electrification of end-use sectors, decarbonization of electricity generating supply, and efficiency improvements. In particular, our results show that electricity represents between 52% and 57% of final energy consumption by 2050, electricity generating supply achieves nearly complete decarbonization by 2025 and final energy consumption decreases by 20% relative to the baseline by 2050.
We provide a framework for empirical analysis of negotiated-price markets. Using mortgage market data and a search and negotiation model, we characterize the welfare impact of search frictions and ...quantify the role of search costs and brand loyalty for market power. Search frictions reduce consumer surplus by $12/month/consumer, 28 percent of which can be associated with discrimination, 22 percent with inefficient matching, and 50 percent with search costs. Banks with large consumer bases have margins 70 percent higher than those with small consumer bases. The main source of this incumbency advantage is brand loyalty; however, price discrimination based on search frictions accounts for almost a third.
The blockchain is a technology which accumulates and compiles data into a chain of multiple blocks. Many blockchain researchers are adopting it in multiple areas. However, there are still lacks ...bibliometric reports exhibiting the exploration of an in-depth research pattern in blockchain. This paper aims to address that gap by analyzing the widespread of blockchain research activities conducted thus far. This study analyzed the Scopus database by using bibliometric analysis in a pool of more than 1000 articles that were published between 2013 and 2018. In particular, this paper discusses various aspects of blockchain research conducted by researchers globally. This study also focuses on the utilization of blockchain and its consensus algorithms. This bibliometric analysis discovered the following: (1) Blockchain able to solve security issues in internet of things (IoT) and would be an increasing trend in the future; (2) Researchers begin to adopt blockchain in healthcare area; (3) The most active country in blockchain publication is United States, followed by China and Germany; (4) Switzerland and Singapore are two small size countries that published few publications, however receives many citations. (5) Research collaborations between countries increased the research publications except for Canada, India, and Brazil. (6) Keyword analysis revealed that researchers are adopting blockchain to solve problems in multiple categories of the data research area (data privacy, digital storage, the security of data, big data, and distributed database). This study also highlighted the utilization and consensus of the algorithm in blockchain research.
IEA EBC Annex 67 Energy Flexible Buildings Jensen, Søren Østergaard; Marszal-Pomianowska, Anna; Lollini, Roberto ...
Energy and buildings,
11/2017, Letnik:
155
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Odprti dostop
The increasing global energy demand, the foreseen reduction of available fossil fuels and the increasing evidence off global warming during the last decades have generated a high interest in ...renewable energy sources. However, renewable energy sources, such as wind and solar power, have an intrinsic variability that can seriously affect the stability of the energy system if they account for a high percentage of the total generation.
The Energy Flexibility of buildings is commonly suggested as part of the solution to alleviate some of the upcoming challenges in the future demand-respond energy systems (electrical, district heating and gas grids). Buildings can supply flexibility services in different ways, e.g. utilization of thermal mass, adjustability of HVAC system use (e.g. heating/cooling/ventilation), charging of electric vehicles, and shifting of plug-loads. However, there is currently no overview or insight into how much Energy Flexibility different building may be able to offer to the future energy systems in the sense of avoiding excess energy production, increase the stability of the energy networks, minimize congestion problems, enhance the efficiency and cost effectiveness of the future energy networks. Therefore, there is a need for increasing knowledge on and demonstration of the Energy Flexibility buildings can provide to energy networks. At the same time, there is a need for identifying critical aspects and possible solutions to manage this Energy Flexibility, while maintaining the comfort of the occupants and minimizing the use of non-renewable energy.
In this context, the IEA (International Energy Agency) EBC (Energy in Buildings and Communities program) Annex 67: “Energy Flexible Buildings” was started in 2015. The article presents the background and the work plan of IEA EBC Annex 67 as well as already obtained results.
Annex 67 is a corporation between participants from 16 countries: Austria, Belgium, Canada, China, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, The Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Switzerland and UK.
•Aggregate Composite Index (ACI) has been developed.•ACI contains meaningful, comprehensive and relevant set of indicators.•DEA like composite indicator has been used to construct ACI.•ACI considers ...energy, economic and environmental indicators.•ACI shows the ranking of energy and environmental measures.
Energy indices provide a clear summary to measure the energy performance of the country which is a prerequisite for policy making. Increasing rate of greenhouse gases (GHGs) emissions are causing dangerous climate changes which seem irreversible. Therefore, it is vital to rank countries with the highest GHGs and carbon emissions in order to develop low carbon economies. This requires a comprehensive statistical analysis. In this study, we develop an aggregated composite index (ACI) of energy security and environmental sustainability for each of the world’s highest GHGs and CO2 emitting countries. Our index is based on a comprehensive set of indicators including carbon emission and energy metrics. Composite indicator has been used to combine all the indicators in a holistic way. Higher values show a better efficiency and vice versa. The analysis reveals that there are considerable differences in performances of top and low ranked countries, Canada and Brazil respectively. We ranked the countries based on their efficiency score from top-down. Analysis also provides a roadmap and guidelines for the future policymakers.
•Effectiveness of six numerical methods is evaluated to determine wind power density.•More appropriate method for computing the daily wind power density is estimated.•Four windy stations located in ...the south part of Alberta, Canada namely is investigated.•The more appropriate parameters estimation method was not identical among all examined stations.
In this study, the effectiveness of six numerical methods is evaluated to determine the shape (k) and scale (c) parameters of Weibull distribution function for the purpose of calculating the wind power density. The selected methods are graphical method (GP), empirical method of Justus (EMJ), empirical method of Lysen (EML), energy pattern factor method (EPF), maximum likelihood method (ML) and modified maximum likelihood method (MML). The purpose of this study is to identify the more appropriate method for computing the wind power density in four stations distributed in Alberta province of Canada namely Edmonton City Center Awos, Grande Prairie A, Lethbridge A and Waterton Park Gate. To provide a complete analysis, the evaluations are performed on both daily and monthly scales. The results indicate that the precision of computed wind power density values change when different parameters estimation methods are used to determine the k and c parameters. Four methods of EMJ, EML, EPF and ML present very favorable efficiency while the GP method shows weak ability for all stations. However, it is found that the more effective method is not similar among stations owing to the difference in the wind characteristics.
The new world of work has created unprecedented challenges for human resource practitioners. This book prompts exciting conversations on the question of: "What is the role of job evaluation". ..._x000D__x000D_With the developing concepts of blended work, work from anywhere and contingent workers, job evaluation systems will need some careful thought. One size and approach may not suit all situations and suggestions are offered on how to deal with these differing situations._x000D__x000D_The next domino after job evaluation is often remuneration, because pay scales are attached to the grades. Equal pay for work of equal value is probably one of the biggest focus points globally and clarity is offered in this book. The vertical pay gap and horizontal pay gap sometimes stem from the remuneration philosophy around pay scale design. This book clarifies how to do job evaluation in a changing world, how to develop pay scales and how to achieve equal pay for work of equal value._x000D_ _x000D_Contents include:_x000D_ _x000D_* What is Job Evaluation?_x000D_* Job Evaluation in the new world of work_x000D_* The Rise of the Contingent Workforce_x000D_* How to carry out the Paterson job evaluation_x000D_* The impact of job evaluation on salary structures_x000D_* Equal pay for work of equal value_x000D_* Measuring income inequality - a holistic approach_x000D_* The psychological impact of the new way of job evaluation.
Ice-jam floods (IJFs) are important hydrological and hydraulic events in the northern hemisphere that are of major concern for citizens, authorities, insurance companies and government agencies. In ...recent years, there have been advances in assessing and quantifying climate change impacts on river ice processes, however, an understanding of climate change and regulation impacts on the timing and magnitude of IJFs remains limited. This study presents a global overview of IJF case studies and discusses IJF risks in North America, one of the most IJF prone regions according to literature. Then an assessment of shifts in the timing and magnitude of IJFs in Canada is presented analyzing flow data from 1107 hydrometric stations across Canada for the period from 1903 to 2015. The analyses show clear signals of climate change and regulation impacts in the timing and magnitude of IJFs, particularly in small basins.
PDF
