Moving cooler: an analysis of transportation strategies for reducing greenhouse gas emissions (summary)

Source: Natural Resources Defense Organisation
"The first-ever comprehensive analysis of transportation efficiency and its relationship to greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction and consumer savings was released by a diverse group of stakeholders committed to addressing climate change. Sponsored by transportation experts, industry, environmental organizations, federal agencies, trade associations and leading foundations, the report provides an objective and scientific analysis of the effectiveness and cost of almost 50 scalable transportation strategies, both alone and combined, to reduce GHG emissions."

State of denial: the impact of the CPRS on state government budgets

source: Australia Institute
"While the Commonwealth will receive a windfall of more than $10 billion per year in revenue from auctioning pollution permits, state and local governments will transfer more than $2 billion a year to the Commonwealth Government. In addition, the states will be liable for tens of billions of dollars-worth of expenditure associated with adapting to climate change because the federal government, which is giving away more than $10 billion in compensation to households and polluters each year, will not be providing state governments with any financial assistance to meet either the direct costs of the CPRS or the need for urgent investment in adaptation infrastructure."

The impact of traffic emissions on atmospheric ozone and OH: results from QUANTIFY

Source: Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, vol.9,no.9 (2009)
"To estimate the impact of emissions by road, aircraft and ship traffic on ozone and OH in the present-day atmosphere six different atmospheric chemistry models have been used. Based on newly developed global emission inventories for road, ship and aircraft emission data sets each model performed sensitivity simulations reducing the emissions of each transport sector by 5%."

Breaking through on technology: perspectives from Australia

Source: Climate Institute
"This paper presents an Australian perspective on the opportunities and barriers to clean technology development, deployment and transfer, both within and between countries. The research is based on interviews with individuals from government, the private sector, academia, industry groups and other stakeholders. The research focussed on five key themes: (i) national priorities for clean technology development and deployment; (ii) barriers to technology development and deployment within Australia; (iii) opportunities and challenges presented by the domestic policy setting; (iv) barriers to technology transfer between countries; and (v) priorities for the post-2012 climate change agreement."

Validation of direct natural gas use to reduce CO2 emissions

Source: American Gas Association
"The American Gas Association (AGA) today called attention to a recent study by the Gas Technology Institute that reports the increased “direct use” of natural gas in homes and businesses will reduce energy consumption, consumer energy costs and national CO2 emissions. Direct use refers to using natural gas in a residential or commercial capacity such as space heating, water heating, cooking and clothes drying. The study, found that when a societal subsidy such as a rebate or a tax credit is put in place to encourage the use of natural gas appliances, significant savings in energy costs, CO2 emissions, energy use, and electricity use can be achieved. "

A dynamic model of annual foliage growth and carbon uptake in trees

Source: Journal of the Royal Society, online March 2009
"The growth of trees and other plants occurs through the interactive combination of photosynthesis and carbon (and other nutrient) assimilation. Photosynthesis enables the production of carbohydrate that can then be used in growing foliage, whereby photosynthesis is enabled. We construct a mathematical model of carbon uptake and storage, which allows the prediction of the growth dynamics of trees. We find that the simplest model allows uncontrolled foliage production through the positive feedback outlined above, but that leaf shading provides an automatic saturation to carbon assimilation, and hence to foliage production. The model explains the necessity for finite leaf area production at outbreak, and it explains why foliage density reaches a constant value during a growing season, while also non-leaf tissue also continues to grow. It also explains why trees will die when their carbon stores are depleted below a certain threshold, because the cost of foliage growth and maintenance exceeds the dynamic supply of carbon by photosynthesis."

Juice from concentrate: reducing emissions with concentrating solar thermal power

Source: World Resources Institute
"This report examines Concentrating Solar Thermal power (CST), a renewable energy resource that presents policy-makers and investors with a significant potential for reducing carbon dioxide emissions from the power sector."

Towards a low carbon future

Source: Royal Society
"This document is the report of a two-day discussion meeting Towards a low carbon future that was held at the Royal Society on 17–18 November 2008. The meeting reviewed the current and potential technological options and considers how they can contribute to an integrated energy strategy for the future. The Royal Society has previously commented on how to meet the UK’s energy needs, while reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The key conclusion arising from the meeting was that there is no single best solution in moving towards a low carbon future: an integrated approach making best use of all available technologies is required."

Current state of development of electricity-generating technologies: a literative review (Lenzen report)

Source: Australian Uranium Association
"A new report spruiking the low-emission nature of nuclear power is not meant to influence current Aust govt policies that oppose a home-grown industry, says the Aust Uranium Assoc (AUA). The report, by Prof Manfred Lenzen of Syd Uni's Centre for Integrated Sustainability Analysis, acknowledged negative public perceptions about nuclear energy but said the technology was a "clean" power source. "Nuclear power is a low-carbon technology, with current emissions of around 65 grams of CO2 per kilowatt-hour (g CO2/kWh)," the report said. Emission levels put nuclear power on par with wind energy."

Cars and climate: what can EPA do to control greenhouse gases from mobile sources

Source: US Congressional Research Service
"This report discusses EPA’s authority under Title II and provides information regarding the mobile sources that might be regulated under this authority. Among these sources, motor vehicles (passenger cars and light trucks, including SUVs) are assumed to be the most likely initial targets for regulation, both because a petition addressing these sources began EPA’s consideration of the endangerment issue, and because these are the most significant GHG emission sources among those covered by Title II."

Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme Bill 2009

Source: Senate Standing Committee on Economics
"The Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme bills have been introduced to the Senate and will be debated from 22 June 2009. The Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme (CPRS) is the cap-and-trade emissions trading scheme designed as Australia's contribution to limiting the global emissions of greenhouse gases so as to contain global warming and climate change. The CPRS is the result of a long process of analysis and consultation by successive federal parliaments and governments. A Senate Committee started examining the issue over two decades ago. The Committee was unanimous in regarding the risk of climate change as deserving a serious response."

Glacier retreat: reviewing the limits of human adaptation to climate change

Source: Environment, vol.51,no.3 May 2009
"This article discusses the environmental impact of glacial melt. The relationship between melting glaciers and changing human ecology in mountainous regions is described. The relationship between glacier retreat and sea level rises is addressed. Risks of flooding in low lying coastal areas and below the basins of glacial lakes are assessed. Adaptations to the melting of glaciers in countries including Norway, Switzerland, and Italy are considered. Changes in the hydrology of countries that depend on glacial meltwater for agriculture and hydropower such as Nepal and Peru are also assessed."

In search of effective and viable policies to reduce greenhouse gases

Source: Environment, vol.51,no.3 May 2009
"This article discusses research into policies to manage greenhouse gases in the U.S. Debates in the U.S. Congress regarding the distribution of economic impacts associated with different mechanisms designed to encourage the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions are considered. Changes in government mandates on fuel efficiency developed by the administration of U.S. President Barack Obama are described. The development of tax proposals that would discourage the use of carbon dioxide is compared with the use of cap-and-trade systems to limit the proliferation of greenhouse gas generating technology."

Climate 2030: a national blueprint for a clean energy economy

source: Union of Concerned Scientists
"Reducing oil dependence. Strengthening energy security. Creating jobs. Tackling global warming. Addressing air pollution. Improving our health. The United States has many reasons to make the transition to a clean energy economy. What we need is a comprehensive set of smart policies to jump-start this transition without delay and
maximize the benefits to our environment and economy. Climate 2030: A National Blueprint for a Clean Energy Economy (“the Blueprint”) answers that need."

Designing climate mitigation policy

source: Resources for the Future
"This US paper provides an exhaustive review of critical issues in the design of climate mitigation policy by pulling together key findings and controversies from diverse literatures on mitigation costs, damage valuation, policy instrument choice, technological innovation, and international climate policy."

Plan B: an agenda for immediate climate action

source: Greenpeace
"This document presents a ‘Plan B’; an alternative to the Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme, outlining measures that could be enacted in the next two years and would set Australia up to meet the vital target of halving our greenhouse pollution over the coming decade. The environment groups behind Plan B are concerned that action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions has been hamstrung by the political debate around the CPRS at the expense of simpler and effective measures that should be enacted as soon as possible."

The natural fix? : the role of ecosystems in climate mitigation

source: UNEP
"Boosting investments in the conservation, rehabilitation and management of the Earth’s forests, peatlands, soils and other key ecosystems could deliver significant cuts in greenhouse gas emissions and avoid even more being released to the atmosphere", a new report by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) says.

The economics of climate change mitigation: how to build the necessary global action in a cost-effective manner

source: OECD
"Key step towards the emergence of a single international carbon price will most likely involve the phasing out of subsidies of fossil fuel consumption and various forms of linking between regional carbon markets, ranging from direct linking of existing emission trading systems to more indirect forms through the use of sectoral crediting mechanisms."

Environmental assessment of passenger transportation should include infrastructure and supply chains

Source: Environment Research Letters, vol.4 (2009)
To appropriately mitigate environmental impacts from transportation, it is necessary for decision makers to consider the life-cycle energy use and emissions. Most current decision-making relies on analysis at the tailpipe, ignoring vehicle production, infrastructure provision, and fuel production required for support. We present results of a comprehensive life-cycle energy, greenhouse gas emissions, and selected criteria air pollutant emissions inventory for automobiles, buses, trains, and airplanes in the US, including vehicles, infrastructure, fuel production, and supply chains."

Compliance and enforcement policy: National Greenhouse and Energy Reporting Act 2007

Source: Dept. of Climate Change
"The purpose of the policy is to inform stakeholders about how the GEDO intents to manage compliance and enforcement with the NGER Act.
Key features of the NGER Act are:
Reporting of greenhouse gas emissions, energy consumption and production by large corporations; Public disclosure of corporate level greenhouse gas emissions and energy information; Consistent and comparable data available for decision making, and in particular, the development of the Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme.
This policy sits within the broader Australian Government law enforcement policy context and should be read in conjunction with other relevant documents."