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Abstract: The atmospheric levels of carbon dioxide (CO2) have been due largely to the burning of fossil fuels, deforestation, cultivation of the grasslands, drainage of the land, and land use changes. This has led to increase in greenhouse gases, created concerns about the potential for long-term climate change and interest in developing methods to sequester some of this atmospheric carbon. In agricultural land areas no-tillage (NT) systems have been proposed, to replace moldboard plow and chisel systems as a way to sequester soil organic carbon (SOC). Numerous estimates have been published of soil organic carbon (SOC) sequestration total and rates as a result of a switch to NT systems. Other researchers have proposed the use of cover crops, synthetic fertilizers, organic fertilizer, manure, liming, agricultural systems and management, agroforestry, forages, compost, crop rotations, and reduced row crop use as ways to sequester SOC. For SOC sequestration to occur as a result of a treatment applied to a land unit, all of the SOC sequestered must have come from atmosphere and be transferred into the soil humus through the unit plants, plant residues and other organic solids. The amount of SOC present in the soil humus at the end of the study has to be greater than the pre-treatment SOC levels in the same land unit and there needs to be a net depletion of atmospheric CO2 as a result. The objectives of this paper are to: (1) determine long-term study SOC levels and trends in agricultural lands, (2) application of the SOC sequestration concept to a specific site, (3) identify appropriate experimental designs for plot area use in determining SOC sequestration, (4) develop a procedure, such as pre-treatment measurements of SOC levels in the plots before treatments are applied, to verify SOC sequestration at a site (5) equivalent soil mass sampling method, (6) compare laboratory methods for quantifying SOC content, and (7) account for the loading of C rich amendments. To unequivocally demonstrate SOC sequestration at a specific site has occurred, a temporal increase must be documented relative to pre-treatment SOC level and linked to a net depletion of atmospheric CO2. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The food versus fuel issue has attracted considerable attention with the rapid growth of global biofuel production. The previous literature examining the interconnectedness between biofuel, fossil fuel and agricultural markets employed futures and spot prices. However, food security needs to be discussed with non‐financial market prices, such as wholesale prices, since retail companies and households usually do not purchase products directly from financial markets, which encompass speculative activities, making them more volatile than non‐financial ones. This paper focuses on non‐financial markets in the United States to investigate the price‐interconnection of biodiesel, highway diesel, crude oil, and soybean, initially applying partial wavelet coherence and the Diebold‐Yilmaz connectedness index to price transmission research on biodiesel, highway diesel, crude oil, and soybean. Our main results are as follows: First, significant coherence between biodiesel and soybean, biodiesel and highway diesel, and highway diesel and crude oil is identified in the short and long term. Second, crude oil and biodiesel prices are found to be net transmitters, while soybean and highway diesel prices are net receivers. Finally, the crude oil market is identified as the source of spillovers among the four markets, and strongly influences the highway diesel market. The previous literature examining the interconnectedness between biofuel, fossil fuel and agricultural markets employed futures and spot prices, while food security needs to be discussed with non‐financial market prices since retail companies and households usually do not purchase products directly from financial markets. This paper focuses on non‐financial markets in the United States to investigate the price‐interconnection of biodiesel, highway diesel, crude oil, and soybean, initially applying partial wavelet coherence and the Diebold‐Yilmaz connectedness index to price transmission research on biodiesel, highway diesel, crude oil, and soybean. Our primary result suggests that biodiesel promotion reinforces a relationship between the prices of soybean and biodiesel. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper estimates the financial benefits accruing to fossil fuel producers (i.e., the producer incidence) that arise because of implicit fossil fuel subsidies in the United States. The analysis takes account of coal, natural gas, gasoline, and diesel, along with the implicit subsidies due to externalized environmental damages, public health effects, and transportation-related costs. The direct benefit to fossil fuel producers across all four fuels is estimated at $62 billion per year, a sum calculated due to the higher price that suppliers receive because of inefficient pricing compared to the counterfactual scenario where environmental and public health externalities are internalized. A significant portion of these benefits accrue to relatively few companies, and specific estimates are provided for companies with the largest production. The financial benefit because of unpriced costs borne by society is comparable to 18% of net income from continuing domestic operations for the median natural gas and oil producer in 2017-2018, and it exceeds net income for the majority of coal producers. The results clarify what the domestic fossil fuel industry has at stake financially when it comes to policies that seek to address climate change, adverse health effects from local pollution, and inefficient transportation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the transmission of fossil fuel commodity spot market price changes to procurement costs of U.S. power producers. We measure and compare the speed and magnitude with which spot prices predict procurement costs using restricted access fuel price data. Natural gas spot prices are quickly reflected in procurement costs. Coal spot prices offer very little predictive power to coal procurement costs. Although not causal, the empirical results also show differences across regulatory status. These findings may have implications for the electricity market deregulation literature that creates marginal cost curves as a competitive benchmark. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During various periods, the United States (the US) has adopted diverse policies for achieving self‐sufficiency in supplying its required energy. Technological revolution that has begun from a decade ago pursues the goal of energy independency. Using new technologies for developing its unconventional oil and gas resources, the United States has taken steps in line with the accomplishment of its objective of energy independence. Numerous articles have examined the various technical, economic and political aspects and consequences of the US technological revolution. This paper, in a new and innovative approach based on theoretical framework of neorealism, aims to show the implications of technological revolution in energy sector on the US dependency on fossil energy imports. Efforts will be made to find an answer to this main question as to what effects have the technological revolution occurrence in energy sector had on the US dependency on the fossil energy imports? In response, the study's main hypothesis is that, the US policy to exploit the unconventional oil and gas resources through technological revolution can be elaborated within the framework of the self‐sufficiency strategy for energy production in line with the reduction of the threats stemming from dependency on the oil and gas imports. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The impact of substituting biofuels for fossil fuels on carbon dioxide (CO) emissions has been debated for many years. A reason for the lack of resolution is that the method widely used to address the question, lifecycle analysis (LCA), is subjective. Its results irreducibly depend on untestable assumptions, notably those pertaining to system boundaries but also those for representing market effects. The best one can do is empirically constrain estimates of net CO impact using data that characterize important aspects of the overall system. Our 2016 paper, 'Carbon balance effects of U.S. biofuel production and use,' took such an approach, using field data to estimate the direct CO exchanges for a circumscribed vehicle-fuel system over the 2005-2013 period of expanding US biofuel use. De Kleine and colleagues criticize our work because it does not follow LCA conventions, arguing in particular for the primacy of the assumption that biofuels are inherently carbon neutral. This response refutes their critique; it reminds readers why the lifecycle paradigm fails for a dynamic system involving the terrestrial carbon cycle, stresses the need to bound an analysis of key carbon exchanges, and explains why the circular logic of LCA can be so beguiling. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The health and ecological harms created and spread by firms active in many unhealthy commodity industries (UCIs) have received considerable attention from the public health community. However, less focus has been paid to analysing the distribution of wealth and income – important social and economic determinants of health – by these industries. This study aimed to examine long-term trends in wealth and income distribution by publicly listed corporations active in four UCIs: fossil fuels; tobacco; ultra-processed foods; and alcohol. Quantitative analysis of a range of data was conducted for firms listed on stock exchanges in the United States (US). Wealth and income distribution metrics were analysed at the industry level, including effective corporate tax rates and shareholder value ratios. The equity ownership structures and investor location of 20 of the largest firms were also explored. Since the 1980s, US-listed firms in the examined UCIs have distributed much less of their wealth and income to governments and much more to shareholders and investors mostly based in high-income countries. The study provides evidence that firms active in UCIs create a 'double burden of maldistribution': their externalised social and ecological harms disproportionately affect disadvantaged population groups and governments in low- and middle-income countries; whilst, simultaneously, they are increasingly transferring wealth and income to a group over-represented by a small and privileged elite. The identified distributive injustice warrants increased policy attention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper critically investigates the lack of meaningful policy change towards agrofuels (or biofuels) in the wake of the food vs. fuel and environmental sustainability debates of 2007-2008. The paper sketches the political economy of agrofuels in Brazil, the EU and the United States before analyzing the effects of the food vs. fuel crisis on European agrofuels governance formation from a neo-Gramscian perspective. It is illustrated that, before the food vs. fuel crisis provided critics with a global audience, agrofuels programs had been entrenched in agricultural policies by highly organized, well-funded capital interests. By offering a domestic, rural, agricultural alternative to fossil fuels, agrofuel proponents offered to make a business opportunity out of the fundamental problems of currently hegemonic, mobility, production and consumption systems. It was only with dramatic rise in food commodity prices over the course of 2007 and 2008 and subsequent space it discursively afforded a counter-hegemonic movement, that a truly global critical discussion of agrofuels came to fruition. The author concludes that, despite rhetorical discursive shifts in understandings of the social and ecological sustainability of agrofuels, agrofuel production continues to be supported today as before because the agrofuels project was and remains a predominantly economically motivated endeavor. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the actions and the factors driving those actions to reduce energy consumption and enhance energy efficiency taken by United States cities. While not much empirical evidence is available on why governments pursue practical sustainability actions, we attempt to shed more light on this important topic by empirically identifying factors that contribute to concrete actions toward sustainability policies. We adopt political market theory as a basic theoretical framework with policy-making applied to city energy consumption. Using the 2010 ICMA (local government sustainability policies and program) data, this study expands the focus of analyses to evaluate the effect of the form of government on energy consumption and energy efficiency by using multiple regression analysis. The findings show that at the city level, the mayorcouncil form of government are negatively associated with governments' efforts to reduce energy consumption. However, cities with at-large elections and municipal ownership are more likely to adopt sustainability actions. We also find that a large-scale economy has significant effects on the effort to reduce city energy consumption and improve energy efficiency. This shows that environmental policies are directly connected to locally relevant affairs, including housing, energy use, green transportation, and water. Thus, local level administrators could take an executive role to protect the environment, encourage the development of alternative energy, and reduce the use of fossil fuel and coal energy. These efforts can lead to important environmental ramifications and relevant actions by municipal governments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To limit global warming and mitigate climate change, the global economy needs to decarbonize and reduce emissions to net-zero by mid-century. The asymmetries of the global energy system necessitate the deployment of a suite of decarbonization technologies and an all-of-the-above approach to deliver the steep CO2-emissions reductions necessary. Carbon capture and storage (CCS) technologies that capture CO2 from industrial and power-plant point sources as well as the ambient air and store them underground are largely seen as needed to address both the flow of emissions being released and the stock of CO2 already in the atmosphere. Despite the pressing need to commercialize the technologies, their large-scale deployment has been slow. Initial deployment, however, could lead to near-term cost reduction and technology proliferation, and lowering of the overall system cost of decarbonization. As of November 2019, more than half of global large-scale CCS facilities are in the USA, thanks to a history of sustained government support for the technologies. Recently, the USA has seen a raft of new developments on the policy and project side signaling a reinvigorated push to commercialize the technology. Analysing these recent developments using a policy-priorities framework for CCS commercialization developed by the Global CCS Institute, the paper assesses the USA's position to lead large-scale deployment of CCS technologies to commercialization. It concludes that the USA is in a prime position due to the political economic characteristics of its energy economy, resource wealth and innovation-driven manufacturing sector. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The availability of fossil fuels in the future and the environmental effects such as the carbon footprint of the existing methodologies to produce electricity is an increasing area of concern. In rural areas of under-developed parts of the world, the problem is lack of access to electrification. DC microgrids have become a proven solution to electrification in these areas with demonstrated exceptional quality of power, high reliability, efficiency, and simplified integration between renewable energy sources (principally solar PV) and energy storage. In the United States, a different problem occurs that can be addressed with the same DC microgrid approach that is finding success internationally. In disinvested, underserved communities of with high unemployment and low wages, households contribute a significant portion of their income toward the fixed cost of their electrical utility connection, which by law must be supplied to every household. This paper analyzes a residential DC microgrid in an urban, underserved area that enables the sharing of renewable and stored energy resources between dwellings. The goal of the residential DC microgrid is to drive down to fixed costs of utility-provided electricity to all participants, such that the percentage of utility cost to total household income comes can be made comparable to that of more advantaged communities. A group of renovated dwellings constitute the community which the DC microgrid would serve. The distributed installation of solar panels and battery storage among dwelling locations are optimized based upon varying consumption patterns. Also, consumption patterns during different seasons of the year are considered. Electrical distribution architectures within the dwellings are based upon conventional AC. Each dwelling has a DC interface to the residential microgrid and progressive insertion of DC loads, with associated household DC distribution, is considered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Small modular reactors (SMRs) provide a unique opportunity for future nuclear development with reduced financial risks, allowing the United States to meet growing energy demands through safe, reliable, clean air electricity generation while reducing greenhouse gas emissions and the reliance on unstable fossil fuel prices. A nuclear power plant is comprised of several complex subsystems which utilize materials from other subsystems and their surroundings. The economic utility of resources, or thermoeconomics, is extremely difficult to analyze, particularly when trying to optimize resources and costs among individual subsystems and determine prices for products. Economics and thermodynamics cannot provide this information individually. Thermoeconomics, however, provides a method of coupling the quality of energy available based on exergy and the value of this available energy - "exergetic costs". For an SMR exergy analysis, both the physical and economic environments must be considered. The physical environment incorporates the energy, raw materials, and reference environment, where the reference environment refers to natural resources available without limit and without cost, such as air input to a boiler. The economic environment includes market influences and prices in addition to installation, operation, and maintenance costs required for production to occur. The exergetic cost or the required exergy for production may be determined by analyzing the physical environment alone. However, to optimize the system economics, this environment must be coupled with the economic environment. A balance exists between enhancing systems to improve efficiency and optimizing costs. Prior research into SMR thermodynamics has not detailed methods on improving exergetic costs for an SMR coupled with storage technologies and renewable energy such as wind or solar in a hybrid energy system. This process requires balancing technological efficiencies and economics to demonstrate financially competitive systems. This paper aims to explore the use of exergy analysis methods to estimate and optimize SMR resources and costs for individual subsystems, based on thermodynamic principles - resource utilization and efficiency. The paper will present background information on exergy theory; identify the core subsystems in an SMR plant coupled with storage systems in support of renewable energy and hydrogen production; perform a thermodynamic exergy analysis; determine the cost allocation among these subsystems; and calculate unit exergetic costs, unit exergoeconomic costs, and first and second law efficiencies. Exergetic and exergoeconomic costs ultimately determine how individual subsystems contribute to overall profitability and how efficiencies and consumption may be optimized to improve profitability, making SMRs more competitive with other generation technologies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the interaction between energy consumption and oil shocks in the U.S. from 1974 to 2018 using monthly data. Its contributions rely on the double disaggregation of energy consumption and oil shocks in a time-varying context. Oil shocks are disaggregated into oil supply, oil demand and aggregated demand shocks following the method of Kilian (2009). Energy consumption is disaggregated according to the production source in distinguishing between renewable and non-renewable energy consumption (hydropower, geothermal, wood, waste, coal, natural gas and petroleum). The impulse response function results show that renewable energy consumption responds the most to aggregate demand and oil supply shocks while for non-renewable energy consumption, it is oil demand shocks. The dynamic connectedness results show that oil supply and demand shocks spillover the most to hydropower consumption while aggregate demand shocks spillover the less. However, these relationships change over time and recommend the flexibility of energy policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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The aim of this paper is to relate the shale oil revolution in the United States with WTI oil price behavior. Since the development of the combination of horizontal drilling techniques together with hydraulic fracturing in the 1970s, known as shale oil, oil markets have undergone a significant transformation with the unexpectedly strong rise in the United States production affecting oil prices. The goal of this paper is two-fold: first, we analyze the relationship of total United States crude oil production and WTI crude oil prices by studying its performance in the time-frequency domain applying wavelet tools for its resolution. Using wavelet methodologies, we observe a shift to higher frequencies of the wavelet coherency for the time period 2003–2009 and lower frequencies for the period 2009–2014. The results also indicate that during the period 2003–2009 the U.S. oil production and WTI oil prices time series are in phase; they move together, with total United States oil production leading. During the period 2009–2014 oil production and WTI oil prices time series are out of phase (negatively correlated), suggesting that oil production increases precede a decrease in WTI oil prices. In the second part of the paper and to give greater credibility to the results obtained through the wavelet transform, we analyze the behavior of WTI crude oil before and after the shale oil boom in the United States employing methodologies based on long run dependence. The results indicate that mean reversion takes place only for the data corresponding to the first subsample, ending at 2003. For the second subsample, as well as for the whole sample, lack of mean reversion is detected with orders of integration equal to or higher than 1 in all cases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Environmentalists and environmental scientists have criticized wind energy in various forums for its negative impacts on wildlife, especially birds. This article highlights that nuclear power and fossil-fuelled power systems have a host of environmental and wildlife costs as well, particularly for birds. Therefore, as a low-emission, low-pollution energy source, the wider use of wind energy can save wildlife and birds as it displaces these more harmful sources of electricity. The paper provides two examples: one relates to a calculation of avian fatalities across wind electricity, fossil-fueled, and nuclear power systems in the entire United States. It estimates that wind farms are responsible for roughly 0.27 avian fatalities per gigawatt-hour (GWh) of electricity while nuclear power plants involve 0.6 fatalities per GWh and fossil-fueled power stations are responsible for about 9.4 fatalities per GWh. Within the uncertainties of the data used, the estimate means that wind farm-related avian fatalities equated to approximately 46,000 birds in the United States in 2009, but nuclear power plants killed about 460,000 and fossil-fueled power plants 24 million. A second example summarizes the wildlife benefits from a 580-MW wind farm at Altamont Pass in California, a facility that some have criticized for its impact on wildlife. The paper lastly highlights other social and environmental benefits to wind farms compared to other sources of electricity and energy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Of the 324 petroleum refineries operating in the U.S. in 1982, only 149 were still in the hands of their original owners in 2007. Using duration analysis, this paper explores why refineries change ownership or shut down. Plants are more likely to ‘survive’ with their original owners if they are older or larger, but less likely if the owner is a major integrated firm, or the refinery is a more technologically complex one. This latter result differs from existing research on the issue. This paper also presents a split population model to relax the general assumption of the duration model that all refiners will eventually close down; the empirical results show that the split population model converges on a standard hazard model; the log-logistic version fits best. Finally, a multinomial logit model is estimated to analyze the factors that influence the refinery plant's choices of staying open, closing, or changing ownership. Plant size, age and technology usage have positive impacts on the likelihood that a refinery will stay open, or change ownership (rather than close down). [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Greenhouse gas emission is a mounting problem that threatens the future production of electricity from both coal and natural gas. In 2006, 70% of domestic electricity generation relied upon fossil fuels. Projections by the Energy Information Agency1 show U.S. demand for electricity increasing 30% to 40% by 2030. Today nuclear power is the largest source of non-greenhouse-gas emitting energy generation and will be an important source of energy production in the future. This paper considers potential construction of new plants as well as the long-term prospects of existing nuclear power plants in the United States. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The benefits of biomass as an alternative fossil fuel can be realized mainly through biomass consumption. This paper examines the growth rate and spatial patterns of biomass consumption in the United States (hereafter US) during the period 2000–2012, using the SLOPE index, Moran's I and local Moran's I. Results indicate that US States show either slow growth or slow decline in biomass consumption during the period 2000–2012. The number of States that have slow growth in biomass consumption is slightly larger than the number of States showing slow decline. The pattern of growth rate of biomass consumption revealed by the SLOPE index and the observed pattern of the temporal variation of biomass consumption ensures that the SLOPE index can catch the growth rate of biomass consumption. This pattern does not align with the increased annual investment in biomass, indicating that the investment in biomass does not flow down to the biomass industry effectively. The pattern of growth rate of biomass consumption will provide additional evidence for the debates about the effectiveness of State renewable energy policy, and demonstrates an urgent need for appropriate State renewable energy policies. There is a High-High spatial cluster around the Southeast of the US and a Low-Low spatial cluster in the Middle of the US in 2000, 2004, 2008 and 2012. The regional spatial cluster in biomass consumption has somewhat relationship with the growth rate of biomass consumption, which can help the understanding of the growth rate of biomass consumption. • The SLOPE index is used to investigate the growth rate of biomass consumption. • The pattern of growth rate does not align with the increased annual investment. • There is an urgent need for appropriate State renewable energy policies. • There are regional clusters in biomass consumption in 2000, 2004, 2008 and 2012. • The regional spatial cluster has somewhat relationship with the growth rate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, a hybrid renewable power plant with a storage system is designed. The benefits of sizing and energy management are assessed for a commercial building under eight different climatic conditions in the United States. In the considered system, photovoltaic panels are coupled to a unitized regenerative solid oxide fuel cell. The use of biogas to feed unitized regenerative solid oxide fuel cell is investigated, employing a detailed electrochemical model of electrolyzer and fuel cell modes. A battery pack is included in the plant as a secondary storage system, together with a diesel engine operating in backup mode. Four scenarios where biogas amount is varied together with the initial state of charge of the battery were evaluated. Results demonstrate that the power plant can operate with 100 % renewable procurement if the digester produces from 6000 to 9500 stdm3/y and the battery is completely charged at the beginning of the year. By reducing the biogas availability or starting with a low state of charge, the use of the diesel generator is inevitable. The study confirms that the proposed hybrid renewable power plant is technically feasible and can be considered a reliable and clean energy source in other areas and buildings. • Fully renewable power plant optimization/sizing for commercial buildings. • Influence of U.S. climate zones on power plant operations. • Definition of a control strategy for fossil fuel usage minimization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This special issue addresses hydraulic fracturing for shale gas extraction as an interpretive policy problem. Bringing together empirical cases from the U.S.A., the Netherlands, the U.K., Poland, and Germany, we identify three approaches to the interpretation of hydraulic fracturing in the article: understanding its meaning, contextual explanation of the institutionalization of its meaning, and policy design as intervention to alter its meaning. By exploring differences and similarities across these cases, we identified two central tensions in the meaning of shale gas in all cases: (1) economic opportunity or environmental threat and (2) transition toward a more carbon-free energy future or perpetuation of a fossil fuel system. We found that when actors shift the meaning of hydraulic fracturing to consider it predominantly an issue of threat, this explains the dominance of risk governance as an approach to managing the controversy. Alternately, when the meaning of fracking shifts from consideration as an economic opportunity or a bridge fuel to consideration of it as a barrier to an energy transition, this explains the decision to ban fracking. Therefore, a comparative assessment of the papers demonstrates the ways interpretive dimensions of politics can influence the governance of public policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the use of lawsuits against three industries that were eventually found to be selling products damaging to human heath and the environment: lead paint, asbestos, and fossil fuels. These industries are similar in that some companies tried to hide or distort information showing their products were harmful. Common law claims were eventually filed to hold the corporations accountable and compensate the injured. This paper considers the important role the lawsuits played in helping establish some accountability for the industries while also noting the limitations of the lawsuits. It will be argued that the lawsuits helped create pressure for government regulation of the industries' products but were less successful at securing compensation for the injured. Thus, the common law claims strengthened and supported administrative regulation and the adoption of industry alternatives more than they provided a means of legal redress., (© The Author(s) 2015.)

From the Truman presidency through that of Carter, the United States worked fitfully toward the development of an energy policy. Now, consistent with the "free market - get government off the backs of the people" philosophy of the Reagan Administration, the 1981 National Energy Policy Plan proposes that "individual choices" and "reliance on market decisions" replace regulations and subsidies in the nation's strategy for energy. This paper starts from the assumption that the Spring, 1982 oil "glut" may turn out to be a rather temporary thing. If one therefore wants to pursue a policy strategy that will protect us in the case of sudden short-term supply disruptions and also work toward long-term energy supply diversification, how far will market reliance carry us? What is a range of policies and programs that might usefully supplement the market? What are the externalities for which compensatory actions may still be needed if one would like to employ the market strategy as a basic thrust? The scope of the paper includes contingency planning, synthetic fuel development, renewables (especially solar energy), conservation, equity issues, environmental externalities, and the conceptualization of policies differentiated as "energy," "environmental," or "economic." [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Methane (CH4) is a powerful greenhouse gas with a global warming potential 84 times higher than carbon dioxide (CO2) over 20 years. CH4 is produced from many natural and anthropogenic sources which can be further classified as biogenic or thermogenic in origin. The largest biogenic sources result from anaerobic decay such as wetlands, melting permafrost, or the breakdown of organic matter in the guts of ruminant animals. Thermogenic CH4 is generated during the breakdown of organic matter at high temperatures and pressure within the Earth's crust, a process which also produces more complex trace hydrocarbons such as ethane (C2H6) and propane (C3H8). Emissions of thermogenic CH4 are dominated by the fossil fuel energy sector, and the presence of elevated C2H6 along with CH4 can be used to distinguish oil and gas emissions from biogenic sources. This work outlines the development and deployment of an Unmanned Aerial System (UAS) outfitted with a fast (1 Hz) and sensitive (1–2 ppb s-1) CH4 & C2H6 sensor and ultrasonic anemometer. The UAV platform is a vertical-takeoff, hexarotor vehicle capable of vertical profiling to 120 m altitude and plume sampling across scales up to 1 km. This system has been used for direct quantification of point sources, as well as distributed emitters such as landfills, with source rates as low as 0.04 kg h-1 and up to 1500 kg h-1. Simultaneous measurements of CH4 and C2H6 mixing ratios, vector winds, and positional data allows for source classification (biogenic versus thermogenic), differentiation, and emission rates without the need for modeling or a priori assumptions about winds, vertical mixing, or other environmental conditions. The UAS has been deployed throughout the Southwest United States for system validation and targeted quantification of various sources emitting at or below the detection limits of other aircraft and satellite systems. This system offers a direct, repeatable method of horizontal and vertical profiling of emission plumes at scales that provide complementary information for regional aerial surveys as well as local ground-based monitoring. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Unlabelled: Motivated by the question of whether and how a state-of-the-art regional chemical transport model (CTM) can facilitate characterization of CO2 spatiotemporal variability and verify CO2 fossil-fuel emissions, we for the first time applied the Community Multiscale Air Quality (CMAQ) model to simulate CO2. This paper presents methods, input data, and initial results for CO2 simulation using CMAQ over the contiguous United States in October 2007. Modeling experiments have been performed to understand the roles of fossil-fuel emissions, biosphere-atmosphere exchange, and meteorology in regulating the spatial distribution of CO2 near the surface over the contiguous United States. Three sets of net ecosystem exchange (NEE) fluxes were used as input to assess the impact of uncertainty of NEE on CO2 concentrations simulated by CMAQ. Observational data from six tall tower sites across the country were used to evaluate model performance. In particular, at the Boulder Atmospheric Observatory (BAO), a tall tower site that receives urban emissions from Denver CO, the CMAQ model using hourly varying, high-resolution CO2 fossil-fuel emissions from the Vulcan inventory and Carbon Tracker optimized NEE reproduced the observed diurnal profile of CO2 reasonably well but with a low bias in the early morning. The spatial distribution of CO2 was found to correlate with NO(x), SO2, and CO, because of their similar fossil-fuel emission sources and common transport processes. These initial results from CMAQ demonstrate the potential of using a regional CTM to help interpret CO2 observations and understand CO2 variability in space and time. The ability to simulate a full suite of air pollutants in CMAQ will also facilitate investigations of their use as tracers for CO2 source attribution. This work serves as a proof of concept and the foundation for more comprehensive examinations of CO2 spatiotemporal variability and various uncertainties in the future., Implications: Atmospheric CO2 has long been modeled and studied on continental to global scales to understand the global carbon cycle. This work demonstrates the potential of modeling and studying CO2 variability at fine spatiotemporal scales with CMAQ, which has been applied extensively, to study traditionally regulated air pollutants. The abundant observational records of these air pollutants and successful experience in studying and reducing their emissions may be useful for verifying CO2 emissions. Although there remains much more to further investigate, this work opens up a discussion on whether and how to study CO2 as an air pollutant.

Renewable power generated from ocean wave energy has faced technological and cost barriers that have hindered its penetration into utility-scale electricity markets. As an alternative, the production of chemical fuels--for example, ammonia (NH3), which has high energy density (11.5 MJ/L) and facile storage properties--may open wave energy to new markets including ocean exploration and transportation. Electrochemical synthesis of NH3 from air and water at ambient conditions has been studied and documented in the literature. Based on recent reports, it is possible to achieve an overall conversion efficiency of 10% from wave energy to NH3 by electrochemically reacting air and water. If all the 1170-TWh/year recoverable wave energy in the United States were used to produce renewable NH3 fuel as a replacement for hydrocarbon fuels, more than 250 million tons of CO2 emissions every year would be eliminated without accounting for the small amount of CO2 emission from the conversion of NH3. Several potential at-sea application scenarios have been proposed for renewable NH3 fuel including production and storage for marine shipping and seasonal energy storage for Arctic exploration. Liquefied NH3 has much higher energy density, both gravimetrically and volumetrically, than a variety of batteries; however, the energy efficiency of NH3 is lower than that of commonly used batteries such as Li-ion batteries. The levelized cost of storing NH3 prepared using electricity can be less than $0.2/kWh, and the storage time can exceed 10,000 h, which indicates that NH3 could be a promising energy-storage solution that makes use of abundant wave energy. However, safety and environmental concerns involved in the use of NH3 at sea exist and are identified and discussed in this paper. Also discussed are challenges regarding the electrocatalyst used for NH3 synthesis and howmolecular simulationmay help to screen electrocatalystswith high efficiency and selectivity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Offshore wind is one of the most fascinating industries in the renewable energy sector and it is experiencing a remarkable growth. Offshore wind energy generation offers an opportunity in the race to decrease the dependence on fossil fuels, reduce green house emissions, increase energy security and create employment opportunities. UK has proven success in offshore wind and has been enjoying the economic benefits of offshore wind since over a decade. Offshore wind energy is an emergent renewable energy industry in the United States. The United States is coping up with the challenges and heading up fast to catch up with the industry. India is still in its infancy stage where the policy frameworks are framed by MNRE government and getting ready with the tools to enter into the offshore market. This paper researches the current situation and trend of offshore wind industries in UK and US, from aspects of policy, grid connections, operation and maintenance and cost reduction and analyses the proper direction and pathways of the industry to India. Therefore this paper highlights the scenario as to how these three countries UK, USA and India, respectively, are enabling offshore wind, to make a vital and sizeable contribution to the low carbon economy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the global context of reducing the use of fossil fuels and turning to the usage of electric vehicles. The location and ease of charging stations have the crucial impact on early adopters and volunteers who will eventually become mainstream consumers. In this transition, national planning needs to take into account the final network planning of charging stations and the development and evolution of charging station systems, and seek to develop policies to facilitate the transition of vehicles to electric vehicles, making the best solution for each country. In this paper, we first determine that the standard measurement of full electrified electric vehicles should reach 90%. By fitting and forecasting the data of Tesla electrification rate in recent years, we draw the conclusion that it is difficult to realize a complete electrification at present. Based on this conclusion, we estimate that the number of electric vehicle charging stations required in the United States is about 29.7 million under the constraints of demand and service by using the multi-objective programming model. Moreover, we have suggested to countries the factors to be taken into account in the development of electric vehicles and the timing of banning the use of fuel vehicles. Finally, we use the asymmetric Nash negotiation model to discuss the impact of the number of vehicles, population density, road network density, GDP, geographical environment and other factors. The results show that the urban, suburban, and rural areas have reached 63.52%, 23.41%, and 13.07%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyzes the scientific practices that constitute carbon economies by rendering carbon countable, fungible, and governable. Examining US biofuel governance, I draw on field research and document and policy analyses to consider the roles state, private industry, and civil society actors play in negotiating scientific practice in biofuel governance and to explore the geographically uneven consequences of contrasting science-society configurations. This research illustrates the complex and contradictory roles of nature's quantification and state-supported science in carbon economies. Although nature's quantification as carbon was initially used as a technology of opposition and accountability to limit vested interest power and maintain biofuels' greenhouse gas reduction capacity, it ultimately served industry interests by focusing policy deliberation on technical issues industry deftly navigated and away from policy rationale, value conflict, and biofuels' broader social-ecological consequences. Drawing attention to state-supported environmental risk assessment and place-based approaches to integrating science and agriculture, this research describes multiple, conflicting modes of state scientific practice and emphasizes the importance of considering multiple scientific perspectives in climate change research and intervention. I argue that, rather than focusing on mitigating climate change through universal, carbon-focused science alone, future science-society configurations should include efforts to build institutional capacity for transformation and adaptation to confront uneven and changing social-ecological circumstances using site-specific scientific knowledge. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Small island developing States ( SIDS) have narrow resource bases and are usually extremely reliant on fossil fuel based energy for transport and electricity generation. These island economies are thus particularly vulnerable to the impacts of peak oil and also to climate change, impacts which are likely to not only hamper economic development but also adversely affect the quality of life of local inhabitants. In order to reduce the vulnerability of SIDS to peak oil, an urgent transition to renewable sources of energy is necessary. This paper propounds that the reform of power sector that took place in Caribbean and Pacific SIDS (particularly between 1970 and 2000) should have been viewed as an opportunity to re-orient power producers away from the proclivity to utilise conventional fossil fuel uses. Reasons why reform measures did not result in a substantive transition are put forward. Moreover, recommendations towards facilitating a transition to renewable energy in the power sector through future reforms are proposed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The shipping industry has been an unrecognized source of criteria pollutants: nitrogen oxides (NOx), volatile organic compounds, coarse particulate matter (PM10), fine particulate matter (PM2.5), sulfur dioxide (SO2), and carbon monoxide (CO). Liquefied natural gas (LNG) has traditionally been transported via steam turbine (ST) ships. Recently, LNG shippers have begun using dual-fuel diesel engines (DFDEs) to propel and offload their cargoes. Both the conventional ST boilers and DFDE are capable of burning a range of fuels, from heavy fuel oil to boil-off-gas (BOG) from the LNG load. In this paper a method for estimating the emissions from ST boilers and DFDEs during LNG offloading operations at berth is presented, along with typical emissions from LNG ships during offloading operations under different scenarios ranging from worst-case fuel oil combustion to the use of shore power. The impact on air quality in nonattainment areas where LNG ships call is discussed. Current and future air pollution control regulations for ocean-going vessels (OGVs) such as LNG ships are also discussed. The objective of this study was to estimate and compare emissions of criteria pollutants from conventional ST and DFDE ships using different fuels. The results of this study suggest that newer DFDE ships have lower SO2 and PM2.5/PM10 emissions, conventional ST ships have lower NOx, volatile organic compound, and CO emissions; and DFDE ships utilizing shore power at berth produce no localized emissions because they draw their required power from the local electric grid.

The Pennsylvania greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions inventory presented in this paper provides detailed estimates of emissions and their sources for the six major categories of GHGs. The inventory was compiled using the current U.S. Environment Protection Agency methodology, which applies emissions factors to socioeconomic data, such as fossil energy use, vehicle miles traveled, and industrial production. The paper also contains an assessment of the methodology and suggestions for improving accounting with respect to process, sectoral, and geographic considerations. The study found that Pennsylvania emitted 77.4 million metric tons carbon equivalent of GHGs in 1990 and that this total increased by 3% to 79.8 million metric tons carbon equivalent by 1999. Despite this increase, however, the state's percentage contribution to the United States total declined during the decade. Pennsylvania's carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from fossil fuels represented 92.4% of 1990 totals and declined to 90.5% in 1999. Electricity generation was the largest single source of CO2 emissions, being responsible for 38% of fossil fuel CO2 emissions in 1990 and 40% of the total in 1999. Transportation emissions accounted for the largest increases in emissions between 1990 and 1999, whereas industrial emissions accounted for the largest decrease. The overall trend indicates that Pennsylvania has been able to weaken the relationship between GHG emissions and economic growth.

Abstract: This article summarizes the threats that wind farms pose to birds before surveying the recent literature on avian mortality and summarizing common methodological problems with such studies. Based on operating performance in the United States and Europe, the paper then offers a preliminary calculation of the number of birds killed per kilowatt-hour kWh generated for wind electricity, fossil fuel, and nuclear power systems. The study estimates that wind farms and nuclear power stations are responsible each for between 0.3 and 0.4 fatalities per gigawatt-hour (GWh) of electricity while fossil fueled power stations are responsible for about 5.2 fatalities per GWh. Within the uncertainties of the data used, the estimate means that wind farms killed approximately 20,000 birds in the United States in 2009 but nuclear plants killed about 330,000 and fossil fueled power plants more than 14 million. The paper concludes that further study is needed, but also that fossil fueled power stations appear to pose a much greater threat to birds and avian wildlife than wind farms and nuclear power plants. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Energy consumption is critical to economic growth and quality of life. America's energy system, however, is malfunctioning. The status quo is characterized by a tilted playing field, where energy choices are based on the visible costs that appear on utility bills and at gas pumps. This system masks the "external" costs arising from those energy choices, including shorter lives, higher health care expenses, a changing climate, and weakened national security. As a result, we pay unnecessarily high costs for energy. New "rules of the road" could level the energy playing field. Drawing from our work for The Hamilton Project, this paper offers four principles for reforming U.S. energy policies in order to increase Americans' well-being. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The oil price-inflation pass-through is analyzed using a wavelet coherency analysis. • The oil price-inflation pass-through has decreased during the analyzed period. • The oil price-inflation relationship varies across frequencies. This paper analyzes the oil price-inflation pass-through by studying the relationship between oil prices and U.S. Consumer Price Index (CPI) over the period January 1871–June 2018, at different frequencies, using a wavelet coherency analysis. In this long period of time characterized by significant structural changes, which have changed the role of fossil fuel prices (specially, crude oil) relative to renewable and alternative fuels, our main results suggest that the relationship between oil prices and CPI has changed over the analyzed time period, implying a decrease in the oil price- inflation pass-through over time. Furthermore, this relationship also varies across frequencies, suggesting that the evidence of oil price-inflation pass-through with oil prices leading CPI is weaker in the short-run. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the field of business and politics, research on the role of business actors in individual fossil fuel industries that contribute to climate change has been sparse. At the same time theorising the role of ad hoc coalitions has been limited even though they appear to be an important vehicle for business actors seeking to shape contemporary policy contests. This paper attempts to address these understudied areas by drawing on a rich empirical dataset to examine the role of three ad hoc coalitions in the U.S. energy sector. In doing so, it builds on the existing literature to establish a theoretical basis for identifying the defining elements of ad hoc coalitions and the conditions under which business actors decide to establish them. Further, it sheds light on how business actors use ad hoc coalitions in three key fossil fuel industries—gas, oil, and coal—to shape policy outcomes, and in turn shape the path to a clean energy transition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on the changes in the size of closed basin lakes, the author shows that water availability has undergone large fluctuations in response to conditions experienced during full glacial time and during the period of deglaciation. Based on these observations, the author concludes that as the planet warms in response to the buildup of fossil fuel CO2, the distribution of available water will shift. The resulting changes will be particularly noticeable in the world''s drylands. In this paper, the author attempts to invert the response to cold glacial conditions and to interhemispheric temperature differences, which occurred during the interval of deglaciation, to predict how the hydrologic conditions in the western United States might evolve over the next half-century. The tentative conclusion on both scores is that this region will likely undergo a progressive drying. However, because both the glacial and deglacial hydrologic shifts were certainly influenced by the presence of excess ice, as well as by colder temperatures, the author admits that the validity of this inversion is subject to challenge. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The IEA 2007 World Energy Outlook forecasts that fossil fuels will continue to dominate the energy mix until 2030, including large economies such as the EU, Japan, US and China. A growing concern among many countries is the design o f mechanism s that will finance clean coal technologies and in particular carbon capture and storage projects. To illustrate, it is estimated that the United States will require 170 GW of new coal -fired capacity prior to 2030 with 90% of that being post 2015. Therefore substantial government and private investment into carbon capture and storage (CCS ) projects will be required and m echanisms designed to facilitate that investment. Many organizations are examining this issue including the IEA Clean Coal Centre, IEA Greenhouse Gas R&D Programme, Clean Coal Power Initiative and the Carbon Sequestration Leadership Forum (CSLF). In 2007 and 2008 two expert meetings on financing post-demonstration CCS projects were organised in London and New York by the IEA Greenhouse Gas R&D Programme and the IEA Clean Coal Centre, with the support of the World Coal Institute and sponsorship from Chevr on and Rio Tinto. This paper reports back the results of those meetings in regard to identifying the key drivers for financing post-demonstration CCS projects in Europe and North America. This is of particular interest with the restructuring of the USA Fut ureGen Programme as well as the proposed inclusion of CCS within the European Union Emissions Trading Scheme (EU-ETS) in the future. Different options for financing such projects are explored and compared with a focus on how they could assist in the realisation of commercial CCS projects. In addition, this paper examines the response by the insurance, banking and other financial sectors to the potential investment opportunities CCS projects could provide in dealing with issues such as liability and project investment. Lastly, the paper analyses the knowledge and awareness of CCS technology within the financial community in general. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

AbstractDuring the 20th century, American agriculture underwent dramatic changes. At the beginning, farms were more diverse, dependent on animal traction, on-farm inputs and income and, after initial land grants, nearly independent of government policy. However, external issues, such as government policies, mechanization, fossil fuel costs, increased consolidation and vertical integration of markets and increased societal awareness of the environment and concern with farming practices, have substantially altered the structure of agriculture. These external issues are significant drivers of agriculture and we grouped them into social/political, economic, environmental and technological drivers. Previous papers have examined specific effects of these drivers. Our objective is to examine how these drivers interact and influence today's agricultural systems. We developed four categories: (1) Commodity Crop Production, (2) Supply Chain Livestock Production, (3) Organic Production and (4) Extensive Livestock Production, to describe major current agricultural systems. These categories were developed as major and contrasting systems but do not represent all of American agriculture. Although it is not possible to predict the future, interactions among the various drivers will affect these systems differently. By examining multiple scenarios, we conclude the highly specialized systems (Nos. 1 and 2) are highly vulnerable to future changes, and that developing adaptive capacity is critical for dealing with new uncertainty. Sustainable agricultural systems will need balance among various domains to be able to adapt and survive. We suggest that the concept of dynamic-integrated agricultural systems may be the best way to meet this goal because of its ability to consider multiple goals and flexible producer decision-making. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

New regulations and incentives are encouraging the use of clean, alternative fuel vehicles (AFVs) in urban areas. These vehicles are seen as one option for reducing air pollution from mobile sources. However, because of the limited number of AFVs on the road, little is known about actual lifetime emissions characteristics of in-use AFVs. This study describes the use of a generalized analysis of covariance model to evaluate and compare the emissions from natural gas vehicles with emissions from reformulated gasoline vehicles. The model describes fleet-wide emissions deterioration, while also accounting for individual vehicle variability within the fleet. This ability to measure individual vehicle variability can then be used to provide realistic bounds for the emissions deterioration in individual vehicles and the fleet as a whole. In order to illustrate the use of the model, the carbon monoxide, oxides of nitrogen (NOx), non-methane hydrocarbon (NMHC), and carbon dioxide emissions characteristics of a fleet of dedicated natural gas Dodge Ram vans and a fleet of dedicated reformulated gasoline Dodge Ram vans operating in the U.S. government fleet are explored. The analysis demonstrates the utility of the statistical method and suggests a potential for natural gas Dodge Ram vans to be generally cleaner than their conventional fuel counterparts. However, in the case of NOx and NHMCs, the analysis also suggests that these emissions benefits might be reduced over the vehicle lifetime due to higher emissions deterioration rates for natural gas vehicles. As this paper is aimed at illustrating the analysis of the covariance model, the results reported herein should be considered within the context of a more comprehensive study of these data before general conclusions are possible. Generalization of these findings to other vehicle models and alternative fuel technologies is not justified without further study.