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Carbon neutrality strategies have a significant role in climate mitigation efforts. As global concerns regarding climate change continue to increase, achieving carbon neutrality has emerged as a paramount objective for reducing greenhouse gas emissions and limiting the adverse impacts of anthropogenic activities on the environment. This research investigates a wide range of scholarly works to conduct an in-depth analysis and synthesis of the relevant information about carbon neutrality strategies. The review introduces carbon neutrality principles and terminologies, highlighting their importance in climate mitigation. It then proceeds to explore the wide range of strategies employed across different sectors and industries, investigating their effectiveness, scalability, and potential challenges. A multidimensional analysis contrasts the United States Nationally Determined Contributions pathway 2023, China's Nationally Determined contributions 2023, and the EU Directive 2023/2413, assessing their economic, environmental, political, and social impacts. The study evaluates strategies' effectiveness, scalability, and innovation for transitioning to a sustainable, low-carbon future. It fills a gap by analyzing global approaches across the US, China, and the EU, which account for about 50% of the world's total GHG emissions. It evaluates the novel application of diverse strategies, from renewable energy transitions to innovative policy measures, highlighting their potential to mitigate climate change effectively. By providing a multidimensional analysis of these strategies' impacts, the research not only enhances understanding of effective carbon neutrality tactics but also underscores the importance of international cooperation in realizing a sustainable, low-carbon future. • Identifies and analyzes carbon neutrality strategies, emphasizing the need for diverse US, Chinese, and EU approaches. • Evaluate renewable energy, carbon capture, and policy tools for carbon reduction effectiveness, scalability, and innovation. • Highlights the study's novelty in synthesizing current knowledge on carbon neutrality, addressing a significant research gap. • Concludes with strategic ideas for international collaboration and policy development for low-carbon futures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rapid climate change mitigation requires carbon sequestration in addition to greenhouse gas emission reductions. Agriculture may have a high potential for carbon sequestration due to improved practices. However, it is not known how the global warming impacts of crop production could be mitigated especially within an agricultural system. The aim of this study is to evaluate possibilities to neutralize global warming impacts in crop production using biochar produced from side flows and buffer zone biomass. A life cycle assessment methodology is utilized in this research for oat production in the boreal climate zone. Global warming impact reductions are compared for three different side flow utilization options. Traditionally, side flows have been utilized in energy or fodder production, and these options are compared to biochar production at a system level. The potential to use buffer zone biomass for biochar production is also studied. Willow has been selected as a biomass source in buffer zones. Oat production leads to greenhouse gas emissions especially due to the use of fossil and mineral fertilizers in cultivation and heat energy, electricity and fuels in various process phases. The production of one metric ton of oat flakes from cradle to gate generates 700 kg of CO 2 eq emissions. Biochar and energy production from side flows enables a greater reduction in global warming impacts than the feed use of side flows. Buffer zones in willow biomass and biochar production may enable the full neutralization of the global warming potential of oat production within an agricultural system. Further research with actual measurements is required especially on biochar impacts on soil emissions such as N 2 O. This research shows that it could be possible to neutralize global warming impacts from crop production using available technologies and available biomass in agricultural systems. A framework is created for carbon neutral crop production using side flows and buffer zone biomass through biochar. • Global warming potential of oat production is studied using LCA methodology. • Oat flakes production generates emissions of 700 kgCO 2eq t−1. • Side flow use for biochar production leads to the lowest overall GWP impacts. • Buffer zone biomass use for biochar production could mitigate the GWP impacts of oat production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Combatting climate change has risen to the top of the international policy discourse. Effective governance necessitates the generation of concise information on the costs-effectiveness of policy instruments aimed at reducing atmospheric greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The marginal abatement cost curve (MACC) approach is a framework commonly used to summarise information of potential mitigation effort, and can help in identifying the most cost-effective managerial and technological GHG mitigation options. Agriculture offers key opportunities to mitigate GHG emissions and utilise carbon (C) sink potentials. Therefore, a number of countries have developed national agricultural MACCs in the last decade. Whilst these MACCs have undoubtedly been catalysers for the information exchange between science and policy, they have also accentuated a range of constraints and limitations. In response, each of the scientific teams developed solutions in an attempt to address one or more of these limitations. These solutions represent ‘lessons learned’ which are invaluable for the development of future MACCs. To consolidate and harness this knowledge that has heretofore been dispersed across countries, this paper reviews the engineering agricultural MACCs developed in European countries. We collate the state-of-the-art, review the lessons learnt, and provide a more coherent framework for countries or research groups embarking on a trajectory to develop an agricultural MACC that assesses mitigations both within the farm gate and to the wider bioeconomy. We highlight the contemporary methodological developments, specifically on 1) the emergence of stratified MACCs; 2) accounting for soil carbon sequestration 3) accounting for upstream and downstream emissions; 4) the development of comprehensive cost-calculations; 5) accounting for environmental co-effects and 6) uncertainty analyses. We subsequently discuss how the mitigation potential summarised by MACCs can be incentivised in practice and how this mitigation can be captured in national inventories. We conclude that the main purpose of engineering MACCs is not necessarily the accurate prediction of the total abatement potential and associated costs, but rather the provision of a coherent forum for the complex discussions surrounding agricultural GHG mitigation, and to visualise opportunities and low-hanging fruit in a single graphic and manuscript. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS) is a crucial technology for global climate mitigation. To implement large-scale CCUS, decisions about where and how to build a CO 2 transportation network are urgently required. However, previous studies are limited in proposing the economical transportation network for CCUS that considered comprehensive risks from socio-economic, geographical and geological factors. Here, we develop a pipeline layout planning model to investigate the cost-effective and reliable transportation network for CCUS. Results show that to meet the annual CO 2 emission reduction target of 654 million tons for CCUS in the coal-fired power sector under China's carbon neutral goal, pipelines with a total length of 17,589 km need to be constructed. The emission sources can be transported in pipelines with an average radius of 58 km, and with diameters of 8, 12, and 16 inches. Northeast, north, and northwest China are the main areas suitable for pipeline construction. • Northeast, North, and Northwest in China are vital areas for capture, transport, and storage. • Five large-scale pipeline network groups can be constructed in China. • Pipeline construction is greatly affected by a variety of practical factors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS) is a crucial technology for global climate mitigation. To implement large-scale CCUS, decisions about where and how to build a CO 2 transportation network are urgently required. However, previous studies are limited in proposing the economical transportation network for CCUS that considered comprehensive risks from socio-economic, geographical and geological factors. Here, we develop a pipeline layout planning model to investigate the cost-effective and reliable transportation network for CCUS. Results show that to meet the annual CO 2 emission reduction target of 654 million tons for CCUS in the coal-fired power sector under China's carbon neutral goal, pipelines with a total length of 17,589 km need to be constructed. The emission sources can be transported in pipelines with an average radius of 58 km, and with diameters of 8, 12, and 16 inches. Northeast, north, and northwest China are the main areas suitable for pipeline construction. • Northeast, North, and Northwest in China are vital areas for capture, transport, and storage. • Five large-scale pipeline network groups can be constructed in China. • Pipeline construction is greatly affected by a variety of practical factors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

According to the recent IPCC reports, the effects from anthropogenic climate change effects are becoming more serious and actions more urgent. The global mean concentration of CO 2 , the most important Greenhouse Gas (GHG), in the atmosphere is now close to 400 ppm. The most comprehensive research efforts concerning safe levels propose that we should strive to keep the atmospheric concentration of CO 2 below 350 ppm. This is also a more transparent global goal than using effects in the components of the climate system. Most scenarios show that the combustion of fossil fuels will increase in the future, while the development of renewables is still too marginal to stop this growth. The possibility that countries will leave fossil resources underground does not seem realistic. The only options in the short run to halt emissions of CO 2 are the large-scale application of Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) in combination with increased energy efficiency. In the long run, we have to radically transform our societal metabolism towards greater resource efficiency, where renewables can play a more important role. The main barriers for implementation of CCS on a large scale are not technical, but economic and social. As long as the costs for emitting CO 2 are much lower than implementing CCS technology, there will not be a market-driven development of CCS. A major challenge for CCS will be to achieve wide public acceptance, since this will also affect the future political attitude to it. This will require an open communication about safety aspects early in the planning phase, where it can be shown that safety issues can be handled, even in the event of major leaks of CO 2 . To assume a low probability of accidents is not a feasible way forward in the communication process. The future concerning CO 2 emissions will be determined very much by actions of the biggest emitters. The developed countries have already emitted a large amount of CO 2 and must now take a step forward to show that they are willing to invest in CCS technology. At this stage, it is reasonable to expect developed countries to take a leading role in developing the CCS technology on a large-scale. It is highly probable that developing countries like China will follow this path in the near future, since they have a clear ambition to take a lead in climate change mitigation in the long run and to avoid blame for a deteriorating environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Anaerobic digestion (AD) is at the interface of biowaste management, energy generation, food production and land-based carbon dioxide removal. Strategic deployment of AD requires careful scoping of interactions with prospective alternative biowaste management, energy generation technologies and land uses to ensure effective delivery of climate neutrality and circularity. There remains a need to assess the greenhouse gas (GHG) mitigation efficacy of AD in the context of future alternative (counterfactual) processes associated with differential rates of decarbonisation across energy, waste management and land (including agriculture) sectors. To address this gap, prospective life cycle assessment (LCA) is applied to AD deployment scenarios across three decarbonisation contexts, using the UK as an example. Food waste prevention and diversion to animal feed always achieve more GHG mitigation than AD, even with sustainable intensification of food and feed production. Compared with maize- or grass-biomethane transport fuel, solar electricity generation can avoid 16 times more fossil energy and afforestation can mitigate six times more GHG per hectare of land occupied. Transport biomethane is currently the most effective biogas use for GHG mitigation, but large-scale combustion of biogas for electricity or industrial heat generation is the most effective long-term option as transport is electrified and bioenergy carbon capture & storage (BECCS) is deployed. Prioritising waste prevention and diversion to animal feed (including via insect meal) instead of maximising AD deployment could simultaneously: offset an additional 10–15% of national GHG emissions; meet an additional 2–4% of national energy demand; free enough arable land to provide 20–21% of national recommended protein and kcal intake. However, AD is likely to remain the best option to manage substantial volumes of residual food wastes and manures that will remain available even if ambitious projections on waste prevention and diet change are realised. [Display omitted] • Consequential LCA of anaerobic digestion (AD) in future decarbonisation contexts • GHG mitigation efficacy of AD declines as energy & transport systems decarbonise • AD-crop cultivation is a highly inefficient land use for energy generation and GHG mitigation • Carbon capture & storage could maintain effective mitigation from large-scale biogas use • Sustainable niche for waste-AD alongside waste prevention & diversion to animal feed [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]