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The aviation industry is challenged to reduce its climate impact. The introduction of sustainable aviation fuels (SAF) is, among other policy instruments such as the European Emissions Trading Scheme, an option favored by policymakers in Europe to achieve this objective. These fuels feature substantially reduced carbon life-cycle emissions in comparison to fossil fuels. In Europe, a mandatory quota for the use of sustainable fuels will most likely be introduced, starting in the year 2025. The introduction of a blending mandate by governments and the European Commission is associated with a range of challenges. The purpose of this paper is to discuss the economics of climate change mitigation in aviation and the role SAFs can play. The economic issues associated with the introduction of SAFs are analyzed, with a particular focus on the European Commission's proposal for a blending mandate. Several suggestions for improvement are discussed. Furthermore, alternatives to SAFs are presented and evaluated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although cities have risen to prominence as climate actors, emissions' data scarcity has been the primary challenge to evaluating their performance. Here we develop a scalable, replicable machine learning approach for evaluating the mitigation performance for nearly all local administrative areas in Europe from 2001-2018. By combining publicly available, spatially explicit environmental and socio-economic data with self-reported emissions data from European cities, we predict annual carbon dioxide emissions to explore trends in city-scale mitigation performance. We find that European cities participating in transnational climate initiatives have likely decreased emissions since 2001, with slightly more than half likely to have achieved their 2020 emissions reduction target. Cities who report emissions data are more likely to have achieved greater reductions than those who fail to report any data. Despite its limitations, our model provides a replicable, scalable starting point for understanding city-level climate emissions mitigation performance. Since the Paris Agreement recognized in 2015 cities have pledged climate actions that often exceed the scope and ambition of their national governments' policies but there is scant evidence of these actions' outcomes, largely because of the lack of reported emissions data. Here the authors utilize spatially explicit datasets relevant to urban carbon emissions and self-reported emissions data from European cities, and develops a machine-learning approach to predict and explore trends in city-scale mitigation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The residential sector has been targeted as the one with a huge potential for reducing carbon emissions. In order to determine the present carbon footprint and the potential for achieving carbon neutrality, the study examines electricity consumption in average households, whose electricity is supplied by their national power grids. 31 European countries (27 EU and 4 non-EU countries) were included in this analysis. Our results indicate that the annual carbon emissions of these average households range from 0.09 to 6.44 tCO 2 e (1.36 tCO 2 e on average), depending on a country. In addition, the calculated electricity costs per tCO 2 e emission for an average household vary significantly (from 94 to 10,135 EUR/tCO 2 e).Carbon offsetting is a mechanism which enables households to achieve carbon neutrality, i.e. households can compensate for the emissions caused by their electricity consumption by purchasing voluntary carbon offsets. This study also analyses the financial implications of purchasing voluntary carbon offsets. The results indicate that voluntary carbon offsets do not burden household budgets significantly because their share in total electricity costs is small. European households, particularly those in countries where electricity is more expensive, can comfortably achieve carbon neutrality with voluntary carbon offsets. In this way, they can contribute to global sustainable development. [Display omitted] • Average carbon footprint of grid-connected household in Europe is less than 2 tCO2e. • The cost of electricity per CO2 emissions varies from 94 to 10,135 EUR/tCO2. • Voluntary carbon offset costs in electricity costs vary widely across Europe. • Carbon offsetting is a practical solution for achieving a carbon-neutral household. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate change and CO 2 emissions intertwine corporations and society in current political, social, environmental, and economic debates, specifically in Europe. The climate action plan formulated by the European Commission aims to achieve net zero emissions through eco-innovation by 2050. The objective of this study is to investigate the impact of the European eco-innovation index on CO 2 emissions produced by European firms. Using a dataset of 735 firms from 17 European countries listed during 2010–2018, we found a significant negative association between the country-level eco-innovation index and CO 2 emissions directly produced by the European firms. We also found a significant negative association between the eco-innovation index and indirect CO 2 emissions produced by the value chain of these firms. The results provide evidence that via eco-innovation, supportive steps taken by European countries provide a conducive environment for the European firms to adopt eco-innovative strategies that significantly reduce their direct and indirect CO 2 emissions per dollar of their corporate assets and make their value chains eco-friendly. The results also reveal that financial development brings in some environmental monitoring that cultivates a supportive culture for the corporations to promote corporate efforts to reduce CO 2 emissions. • The first study that uses an eco-innovation index, based on 5 dimensions, developed by the European Commission. • We find a negative impact of country-level eco-innovation on the reduction in direct and indirect corporate CO 2 emissions. • Eco-innovation initiatives taken by the European countries are helping European firms in reducing their CO 2 emissions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates and evaluates the European expert's selection and conjoined degree of willingness to decrease the carbon footprint (WDC) of consuming products and services to mitigate climate change. The survey respondents were segregated into four European regions based on their nationality viz. Nordic, Baltic, and Eastern Europe (NBE), Central and South-eastern Europe (CSE), Western and southern Europe (WSE), and North-western Europe (NWE). The WDC are represented by four index categories viz. low willing, moderate willing, willing, and highly willing. The WDC indicators such as housing, food, energy, waste and transport were used to identify the trend and correlation, gender-specific density distribution, and overall regional comparison analysis. The trend and correlation analysis between energy vs. transport, waste vs. food, and a separate state of housing represented the current global carbon emission situation, where four overlapping clusters indicated the respondent's closest or similar selection at their consumption level. The gender-specific density suggests that the male respondent's average WDC for housing and food index ranges from moderate to highly willing. In contrast, the female average WDC for food, waste, energy and transport index ranges from moderate willing to willing and bimodal for other scenarios. Among the regional comparisons, NBE in housing (moderate willing to willing), CSE in food (willing to highly willing), WSE and CSE in energy and all the regions in waste management (willing to highly willing) presented better indices. In transport, Europe as a whole exhibits poor index. In case of WDC index, the regional comparison indicates that the CSE region exhibited better outcomes than the other regions, except for housing. The findings of this study will be beneficial for the common people, researchers, policymakers, and regulators to enrich their future thoughts and contributes to the development and improvement of the existing carbon reduction policies, especially in the transport sector. • Investigates the European expert's willingness to decrease carbon footprint (WDC). • Nordic, Central, & Western experts exhibited top WDC in housing, food, & energy. • In the WDC of waste, experts from all the regions presented better signs. • In the WDC of transport, all the areas showed poor index. • In general, the central part showed better WDC indices than other areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Synthetic natural gas (SNG) by CO 2 electroreduction (ER) is matched to natural gas. • Significant CO 2 savings with SNG are possible under moderate ER performance. • Only high ER energy efficiencies (>60%) can lead to manageable OPEX. • By-product valorization or higher carbon taxes may be needed for profitability. Capture and utilization of industrial CO 2 emissions into low-carbon fuels is a promising alternative to store renewable electricity into chemical vectors while decarbonizing the economy. This work evaluates the viability pathways of producing synthetic natural gas (SNG) by direct CO 2 electroreduction (ER) in Power-To-Synthetic Natural Gas electrolyzers (PtSNG). We perform an ex-ante techno-economic (TEA) and life cycle analysis (LCA) for a 2030 framework in Europe. ER performance is varied in defined scenarios and assessed using a built-in process model of the PtSNG system, revealing uncharted limitations and benchmarks to achieve. Results show that substitution of fossil natural gas with renewable SNG could avoid more than 1 kg CO 2e /kg SNG under moderate ER conditions when using low-carbon electricity (< 60 kg CO 2e /MWh). SNG profitability for 2030 would rely on: i) higher CH 4 current densities (800–1000 mA/cm2), ii) improvements in energy efficiency (higher than 60%), and iii) valorization of the anodic product or additional carbon incentives. Our study proves that if market and technology evolve appropriately in the coming years, the SNG by CO 2 ER may be a mid-term climate change mitigation technology, among others. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Electrification is an attractive option to reduce CO 2 emissions from transport. • Alternative electrification options differ in terms of impact on the energy system. • Indirect electrification might result in a critical burden on the supply sector. • Policies addressing consumer preferences are crucial to trigger mobility shift. There is a wide consensus that a fundamental technology shift within the light duty vehicles (LDVs) sector is necessary to achieve the emissions reductions required for the Paris Agreement's targets, but substantial controversy prevails about the most suitable strategy. While some decision makers favor a transition to battery electric vehicles, others advocate for fuel cell vehicles and e-fuels. These strategies differ markedly in terms of consumer acceptance and implications for the energy system. We explore a range of electrification pathways in Europe until 2050. Direct electrification leads to a strong reduction in direct CO 2 emissions of LDVs, with electric vehicles reaching 90% of sales in 2050. Indirect electrification places substantially higher pressure on the supply sector, with almost double the primary energy demand relative to direct electricity use. In addition, the implementation of complementary policies addressing perceived inconvenience markups for alternative mobility is crucial to initiate the mobility transformation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]