This report examines available information on low and ultra-low sulfur diesel and alternative fuels for heavy vehicles in terms of their emissions of greenhouse gases and air pollutants. Most of this information is from overseas, and has been used to estimate emissions for heavy vehicles using such fuels in Australia. This is done within a life-cycle framework that considers both the pre-combus...

Management practices that reduce greenhouse gas emissions from farms or increase on-farm carbon storage can contribute to climate change mitigation. Farmers, however, are only likely to adopt new management practices if they contribute to farm profitability. We use the Agricultural Production Systems sIMulator (APSIM) to simulate how different cropping practices contribute to greenhouse gas aba...

The net impact of human nitrogen (N) fixation on climate (ignoring short-lived components) mainly depends on the magnitude of the warming effect of (direct and indirect) nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions and the cooling effect of N-induced carbon dioxide (CO2) uptake. N-induced CO2 uptake is caused by anthropogenic N deposition which increases net primary production (NPP) in N-limited ecosystems an...

The demand for fossil fuel in the transport sector is constantly increasing and transportation is ranked amongst the highest greenhouse emitting sectors globally. Today, tackling CO2 emissions from road transport a widely discussed topic and constitutes a milestone towards reaching a sustainable, carbon neutral economy. This challenge is being described in various initiatives adopted in the ...

Natural gas comprises almost one-fourth of all energy used in the U.S. New technologies, sometimes referred to as “unconventional” have enabled the production of more natural gas and have expanded domestic energy reserves. Natural gas is generally recognized as a clean-burning fuel source, producing less greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions per quantity of energy consumed than either coal or oil. How...

This study analyzes the climate change and economic impacts of food waste in the United States. Using lossadjusted national food availability data for 134 food commodities, it calculates the greenhouse gas emissions due to wasted food using life cycle assessment and the economic cost of the waste using retail prices. The analysis shows that avoidable food waste in the US exceeds 55 million metr...

On January 27, 2016, the Government of Canada announced that “direct and upstream greenhouse gas emissions” would factor into the regulatory review process for proposed pipeline projects.1 The new standard aims to address claims that new pipelines will induce greater expansion of Canada’s oil sands, producing more greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Specific details were not provided in the governm...

Methane is one of the most serious greenhouse gases contributing to irreversible climate change. The contribution of methane emissions from leaking pipelines and the expected increased throughput through the pipelines prompted the natural gas industry to set a goal of reducing emissions by 50% by 2010. The integrity of the pipelines is critical to the safety of the gas transportation infrastruc...

Since municipal solid waste (MSW) landfills emit significant amounts of methane, a potent greenhouse gas, there is considerable interest in quantifying surficial methane emissions from landfills. The authors propose a new and easier method by which to estimate methane emissions. The technique uses hundreds of ambient air VOC measurements taken within a landfill, as receptors, and solves the sta...