doi,issn,isbn,subjabbr,authors,pubyear,pubname,authkeywords,abstract,title,documenttype,articletype,counter,miti measures,split measures,methods,agg impacts,split impacts,
10.1021/acsestengg.1c00385,,,"['CENG', 'CENG', 'CENG', 'ENVI']","Hu, Yicheng;Aguirre-Villegas, Horacio;Larson, Rebecca A.;Zavala, Victor M.",2022,ACS ES and T Engineering,conflict resolution | life cycle assessment | livestock manure management | supply chain optimization | techno-economic analysis,"Dairy farming is a multibillion USD industry that provides essential food products. At the same time, the millions of animals that this industry oversees generate a massive environmental footprint (affecting air, land, and water quality). Specifically, livestock manure is a carbon- and nutrient-rich waste stream that is routinely used as fertilizer. This practice enables nutrient recycling but also leads to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and to nutrient pollution of soils and waterbodies. Mitigating these environmental impacts requires investment in manure processing technologies and identifying and prioritizing investment strategies requires understanding inherent conflicts (trade-offs) and synergies that exist between economic and environmental impacts. In this work, we present a conflict analysis and resolution framework that integrates techno-economic analysis (TEA), life cycle assessment (LCA), and supply chain (SC) optimization. We use this framework to investigate deployment scenarios of manure processing pathways in the Upper Yahara watershed region of Wisconsin. We evaluate LCA (GHG emissions, ammonia emissions, fossil energy use, and nutrient pollution) and TEA metrics (cost and revenue) for different pathways that include manure collection, storage, application, and processing steps. The LCA and TEA metrics are embedded within a SC optimization model that makes decisions on technology selection and geographical placement and on product transport in the study area. A conflict resolution procedure is used to explore trade-offs associated with these decisions and to identify optimal compromise solutions that best balance trade-offs. Our results reveal that there are nonobvious conflicts and synergies between the explored metrics that can be exploited to mitigate multiple impacts simultaneously. We also find that the deployment of a diverse set of technologies is needed to fully resolve conflicts. The impact of emerging technologies (ultrafiltration and reverse osmosis) and government incentives is also discussed.",Managing Conflicting Economic and Environmental Metrics in Livestock Manure Management,journal article,empirical,,Agricultural management,Agricultural management,LCA,acidification,acidification,
10.1016/j.agee.2021.107571,1678809,,"['ENVI', 'AGRI', 'AGRI']","Cowan, Nicholas;Bhatia, Arti;Drewer, Julia;Jain, Niveta;Singh, Renu;Tomer, Ritu;Kumar, Vinod;Kumar, Om;Prasanna, Radha;Ramakrishnan, Bala;Kumar, Dinesh;Bandyopadhyay, Sanjoy K.;Sutton, Mark;Pathak, Himanshu",2021,"Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment",Greenhouse gases | India | Integrated fertiliser | Leaf colour chart | Urea,"Intermittent flooding (IF) of rice has been encouraged as an approach to reduce water use and methane emissions compared with continuous flooding (CF), but may involve trade-offs. This study compared the contrasting effect of IF and CF flooding regimes on emissions of methane (CH4), nitrous oxide (N2O) and ammonia (NH3), nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) and yield. A split plot design was used which assessed the effects of four different fertiliser types. The results suggest that converting from CF to IF irrigation does lower CH4 emissions (by approximately 18%); however, this comes at a cost. IF irrigation resulted in a significant decrease in grain yield, regardless of fertiliser type (6.1% in this study) and also a significant decrease in NUE (a drop of 22.5% when compared to CF). IF irrigation also resulted in a small, but statistically significant (t-test p < 0.01) increase in N2O emissions. Difference in NH3 emission between the flooding regimes was not statistically significant. Our study concludes that conversion from CF to IF irrigation methods may well reduce overall global warming potential of greenhouse gas emissions from rice production; however, yield penalties and nitrogen pollution are likely to increase as a result. Leaf colour chart based application of Neem coated urea may lower the yield scaled GHG emissions under CF irrigation and NH3 loss in IF irrigation.","Experimental comparison of continuous and intermittent flooding of rice in relation to methane, nitrous oxide and ammonia emissions and the implications for nitrogen use efficiency and yield",journal article,empirical,,Agricultural management,Agricultural management,Field research,eutrophication and biogeochemical flows,,
10.1007/s13280-012-0253-x,447447,,"['ENVI', 'SOCI', 'ENVI']","Hein, Lars;Leemans, Rik",2012,Ambio,Biofuels | Climate change | Phosphorus | Trade-off,"The large majority of biofuels to date is ''firstgeneration'' biofuel made from agricultural commodities. All first-generation biofuel production systems require phosphorus (P) fertilization. P is an essential plant nutrient, yet global reserves are finite. We argue that committing scarce P to biofuel production involves a trade-off between climate change mitigation and future food production. We examine biofuel production from seven types of feedstock, and find that biofuels at present consume around 2% of the global inorganic P fertilizer production. For all examined biofuels, with the possible exception of sugarcane, the contribution to P depletion exceeds the contribution to mitigating climate change. The relative benefits of biofuels can be increased through enhanced recycling of P, but high increases in P efficiency are required to balance climate change mitigation and P depletion impacts. We conclude that, with the current production systems, the production of first-generation biofuels compromises food production in the future. © Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences 2012.",The impact of first-generation biofuels on the depletion of the global phosphorus reserve,journal article,empirical,,Bioenergy,Bioenergy,Earth system modelling,eutrophication and biogeochemical flows,eutrophication and biogeochemical flows,
10.1111/gcbb.12646,17571693,,"['AGRI', 'ENER', 'AGRI', 'ENVI']","Yesufu, Jalil;McCalmont, Jon P.;Clifton-Brown, John C.;Williams, Prysor;Hyland, John;Gibbons, James;Styles, David",2020,GCB Bioenergy,attributional LCA | biomass | digestibility | displacement | farm models | greenhouse gas | land use change | residue,"Straw is an important livestock bedding material facing increasing demand for alternative uses in Europe and is often transported long distances from arable to livestock regions. Alternative bedding materials cultivated directly on livestock farms could potentially avoid this transport and competition for use. For the first time, we applied consequential life cycle assessment (LCA) to account for the direct and indirect implications of miscanthus bedding production on livestock farms, considering displacement of fodder or livestock, and substitution of fossil fuels with straw in electricity generation. We modelled the effect of substituting straw with ‘home-grown’ miscanthus bedding across seven beef and sheep farms. The consequences of displacing grass forage (or animal) production with home-grown miscanthus bedding cultivation were evaluated via three farmer decision scenarios: buy extra concentrate feed (D1), utilize remaining pasture areas more efficiently (D2) and buy grass silage (D3). Electricity generated from displaced straw (bedding) substituted either natural gas or coal electricity. Sensitivity analyses were undertaken using 34 scenario permutations to represent combinations of feed and electricity substitution, miscanthus fertilization rates and yields, and the quality of displaced pasture. Consequential LCA indicates that miscanthus bedding production could be environmentally beneficial, under scenarios involving D2 and D3. However, greenhouse gas emissions and wider environmental burdens may be increased under D1 scenarios, owing to the environmental cost of additional concentrate feed production, and possible indirect land use change, outweighing the benefits from: (a) fossil electricity substitution with straw bioelectricity; (b) reduced animal emissions via improved digestibility of concentrate feed; (c) avoided straw transport. The ratio of the yield of miscanthus to replaced grass was found to be a critical determinant of D1 environmental outcomes. We conclude that if grass forage production can be better managed, the use of miscanthus as a bedding material on livestock farms provides environmental benefits via diversion of straw to bioenergy use.","Consequential life cycle assessment of miscanthus livestock bedding, diverting straw to bioelectricity generation",journal article,empirical,,Agricultural management,Agricultural management,LCA,"land use, eutrophication and biogeochemical flows, acidification",,
10.1016/j.jclepro.2023.136432,9596526,,"['ENER', 'ENGI', 'ENVI', 'BUSI', 'ENGI']","Suarez, Antonio;Ford, Ericka;Venditti, Richard;Kelley, Stephen;Saloni, Daniel;Gonzalez, Ronalds",2023,Journal of Cleaner Production,Attributional LCA | Bio-polyethylene | Consequential LCA | Environmental impact | Life cycle assessment,"The need to decarbonize and reduce the impact of human activities is opening the window for new bioproducts. The industry of bioplastics has grown exponentially in the past years, and its production is expected to triple by 2026. Different bioplastics are currently produced, but bio-polyethylene constitute an interesting opportunity since its fossil counterpart is one of the most used materials worldwide, and its precursor, ethylene, is one of the highest contributors to GHG emissions in the chemical industry. The true environmental impact of this bio-based plastic remains under controversial discussions due to a wide distribution of environmental indicators values found in the literature for this material. We aim to thoroughly evaluate the environmental impact of bio-polyethylene made from sugarcane across the different production stages through a life cycle analysis. Our goal is also to assess unintended consequences (consequential effects) of producing it. It was determined that land-use change represents the main aspect affecting the environmental sustainability of bio-polyethylene. From an attributional point of view, this bioplastic could present lower carbon footprints than fossil polyethylene if no deforestation occurs. From a consequential standpoint, indirect deforestation as a response to producing more bioplastic could negatively impact the environmental profile of this material. Policies restricting deforestation are required to ensure that bio-polyethylene can constitute an alternative to reduce the carbon footprint of products in both scenarios. We expect this work to provide a robust evaluation to understand the environmental impact of bio-polyethylene, which will help the industry understand the place of this bio-based plastic and increase the offering of more sustainable products.",Is sugarcane-based polyethylene a good alternative to fight climate change?,journal article,empirical,,Biomaterials,Biomaterials,LCA,land use,,
10.1016/j.apenergy.2023.120769,3062619,,"['ENGI', 'ENGI', 'ENER', 'ENVI']","Wu, Yazhen;Deppermann, Andre;Havlík, Petr;Frank, Stefan;Ren, Ming;Zhao, Hao;Ma, Lin;Fang, Chen;Chen, Qi;Dai, Hancheng",2023,Applied Energy,1.5℃ | Bioenergy | GLOBIOM | International trade | Land-use change,"Most ambitious climate change mitigation pathways indicate multifold bioenergy expansion to support the energy transition, which may trigger increased biomass imports from major bioenergy-consuming regions. However, the potential global land-use change and sustainability trade-offs alongside the bioenergy trade remain poorly understood. Here, we apply the Global Biosphere Management Model (GLOBIOM) to investigate and compare the effects of different increasing bioenergy import strategies in line with the 1.5℃-compatible bioenergy demand in China, which is projected to represent 30% of global bioenergy consumption by the middle of the century. The results show that sourcing additional bioenergy from different world regions could pose heterogeneous impacts on the local and global land systems, with implications on food security, greenhouse gas emissions, and water and fertilizer demand. In the worst cases under strict trade settings, relying on biomass import may induce up to 25% of unmanaged forests converted to managed ones in the supplying regions, while in an open trade environment, increasing bioenergy imports would drastically change the trade flows of staple agricultural or forestry products, which would further bring secondary land-use changes in other world regions. Nevertheless, an economically optimized biomass import portfolio for China has the potential to reduce global overall sustainability trade-offs with food security and emission abatement. However, these benefits vary with indicator and time and are conditional on stricter land-use regulations. Our findings thus shed new light on the design of bioenergy trade strategies and the associated land-use regulations in individual countries in the era of deep decarbonization.",Global land-use and sustainability implications of enhanced bioenergy import of China,journal article,empirical,,Bioenergy,Bioenergy,Land use modelling,"land use, water use, eutrophication and biogeochemical flows",,
10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.146588,489697,,"['ENVI', 'ENVI', 'ENVI', 'ENVI']","Safaripour, Maryam;Hossain, Khwaja G.;Ulven, Chad A.;Pourhashem, Ghasideh",2021,Science of the Total Environment,Biocomposite | LCA | Polypropylene | Sustainable products | Wheat bran fiber | Wheat grain,"Bio-based materials are increasingly proposed as sustainable alternatives to fossil-based products. Before commercialization, however, the environmental performance of bio-based materials must be evaluated to ensure the sustainability goals are met. Biocomposites derived from natural fibers hold promises for achieving the desired sustainability while offering competitive performance. Here, we assess the sustainability tradeoffs of using wheat bran, a by-product of milling wheat grain, for biocomposite production. We design two systems to evaluate such decision from the perspectives of flour and biocomposite producers. Each system is compared to a business-as-usual scenario: 1) flour system uses bran at the end of grain milling for either fiber production or disposes of it as waste, and 2) biocomposite system compares producing a biocomposite with 30% bran fiber/70% polypropylene with a 100% polypropylene. Our comparative life cycle assessment shows that in flour system, using wheat bran for biocomposite production rather than wasting it, lowers the overall environmental impacts including global warming and fossil fuel depletion mainly due to bran fiber replacing polypropylene, and avoiding carbon dioxide emissions from bran degradation. In system 2, mixing bran fiber in biocomposite lowers greenhouse gas emissions (1470kgCO2eq/t) and fossil fuel depletion (2130 MJ surplus/t) compared to the fully petroleum-based material. We discuss several upstream (e.g. reducing the chemicals during wheat cultivation) and downstream (e.g. sodium hydroxide consumption during fiber extraction) options that can help improve the overall environmental performance of the studied systems. Our study provides decision-making information for a variety of stakeholders including wheat producers, millers as well as composite industries.",Environmental impact tradeoff considerations for wheat bran-based biocomposite,journal article,empirical,,Biomaterials,Biomaterials,LCA,"eutrophication and biogeochemical flows, acidification, air pollution",,
10.1016/j.agee.2019.106780,1678809,,"['ENVI', 'AGRI', 'AGRI']","Helms, Jackson A.;Ijelu, Selassie E.;Wills, Bill D.;Landis, Douglas A.;Haddad, Nick M.",2020,"Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment",Cellulosic ethanol | Formicidae | Greenhouse gas mitigation | Pest suppression | Seed dispersal | Social parasites,"Most strategies for limiting global climate change invoke the use of bioenergy, but biofuel crops vary in climate mitigation potential and in the provision of other ecosystem services. The predominant biofuel in North America is ethanol produced from corn Zea mays. Corn is grown on ∼360,000 km2 of land in the U.S. and ∼40 % of the yield is used for ethanol production. Despite its prevalence, corn ethanol is a poor climate change mitigator and the spread of intensive corn agriculture also leads to the loss of biodiversity and an unknown complement of associated ecosystem services. To test for effects of land use intensity on the provision of ecosystem services from biofuel crops, we compared insect communities inhabiting long-term experiments in which land use intensity varied from annual corn production to less intensive native perennial biofuel crops (switchgrass and restored prairie) and unmanaged native forests. Within the experiments we focused on ants (Formicidae: Hymenoptera), including their diversity, abundance, functional traits, and predation of biofuel crop pests. Native perennial biofuel crops supported up to 185 % more ant species than corn fields and provided up to 55 % more natural pest suppression. They also contained higher functional richness by supporting social parasites and seed dispersing ants that were absent in corn. Biofuel crops did not differ in ant activity or the prevalence of introduced ants. Our results highlight tradeoffs in bioenergy production and suggest ways to maximize benefits for wildlife and people. Converting some corn fields to prairie or other native vegetation could restore landscapes while mitigating climate change and meeting energy needs.",Ant biodiversity and ecosystem services in bioenergy landscapes,journal article,empirical,,Bioenergy,Bioenergy,Field research,"biodiversity and ecosystem functioning, land use",,
10.1016/j.apenergy.2013.12.022,0306-2619,,,"Arent, Doug; Pless, Jacquelyn; Mai, Trieu; Wiser, Ryan; Hand, Maureen; Baldwin, Sam; Heath, Garvin; Macknick, Jordan; Bazilian, Morgan; Schlosser, Adam; Denholm, Paul",2014,Applied Energy,"Supply chains, Renewable energy, Greenhouse gas emissions, Land use, Critical materials, Water use","Recent work found that renewable energy could supply 80% of electricity demand in the contiguous United States in 2050 at the hourly level. This paper explores some of the implications of achieving such high levels of renewable electricity for supply chains and the environment in scenarios with renewable supply up to such levels. Expanding the renewable electricity supply at this scale by 2050 implies annual capacity additions of roughly 20gigawatts per year (GW/year) over the next decade, rising to roughly 40GW/year from 2040 to 2050. Given total 2012 renewable electricity capacity additions of slightly more than 16 GW, this suggests moderate growth of the related supply chains, averaging overall roughly 4% annual growth to 2040. Transitioning to high renewable electricity supply would lead to significant reductions in greenhouse gas emissions and water use, with only modest land-use implications. While renewable energy expansion implies moderate growth of the renewable electricity supply chains, no insurmountable long-term constraints to renewable electricity technology manufacturing capacity or materials supply areidentified.","Implications of high renewable electricity penetration in the U.S. for water use, greenhouse gas emissions, land-use, and materials supply",journal article,empirical,,Low carbon electricity,Low carbon electricity,Energy system modelling,"mineral and metal depletion, land use","mineral and metal depletion, land use",
10.1016/j.apenergy.2017.05.151,0306-2619,,,"Tokimatsu, Koji; Wachtmeister, Henrik; McLellan, Benjamin; Davidsson, Simon; Murakami, Shinsuke; Höök, Mikael; Yasuoka, Rieko; Nishio, Masahiro",2017,Applied Energy,"2°C target, Energy modeling, Energy-mineral nexus, Metal requirement, Zero emissions scenario","Stringent GHG emission cuts are required for meeting the so-called Paris Agreement. Due to higher metal intensities of renewable energy, such a transition must also include required amounts of metal. This study estimates the metal requirement for various power generation technology mix scenarios by using a cost-minimizing energy model on the global energy-mineral nexus. Two energy and climate scenarios were developed to represent primarily economic efficiency and environmental performance, respectively, under climate policies with net zero emissions satisfying the 2°C target, and without any constraints (i.e. Business As Usual). Based on the future additions of various power generation technologies, metal requirements and cumulative production were estimated in zero-order and conservative scenarios, to compare with production levels in 2015 and reserves. The results suggest that there may be cause for concern about metal requirement and/or availability in PV, nuclear, and (Plug-in Hybrid) Electric Vehicles in 2100. For PV in the Gas & Ren scenario, most of the metal usage exceeded their production levels and the reserves. It is concluded that mineral availability and production rates should be given greater attention for planning and modeling of sustainable energy systems.",Energy modeling approach to the global energy-mineral nexus: A first look at metal requirements and the 2°C target,journal article,empirical,,Low carbon electricity,Low carbon electricity,Energy system modelling,"mineral and metal depletion, unspecified environmental effects of mining","mineral and metal depletion, unspecified environmental effects of mining",
10.1016/j.apenergy.2012.09.037,3062619,,"['ENGI', 'ENGI', 'ENER', 'ENVI']","Leal, Manoel Regis L.V.;Horta Nogueira, Luiz A.;Cortez, Luis A.B.",2013,Applied Energy,Biofuels | Corn | Ethanol | GHG emissions | Land demand | Sugarcane,"Several key indicators of the sustainability of biofuels are related to the land used to produce the feedstock. Most of the agronomic costs and energy use (fertilizers, herbicides, soil preparation, and harvesting) are more related to the cropped area than to the feedstock quantity produced; this is also the case of soil greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions (CO2 and N2O) and land use change (LUC) impacts, both direct (dLUC) and indirect (iLUC), socio-economic impacts (land tenure, land prices and traditional crop displacement), impacts on biodiversity and on the environment (soil, water and air). Today, biofuels use only a little more than 2% of the world arable land but if their use to displace fossil fuels increases, as indicated by some low carbon scenarios, the land demand for the production of feedstocks could become a constraint to the expansion. It is quite apparent that the biofuel yields, present and future, should be one of the main characteristics to be evaluated in the initial screening process. This work uses the cases of corn and sugarcane ethanol to draw some comparisons on the use of these biofuels to meet the targets of some of the International Energy Agency (IEA) biofuel use scenarios in terms of land demand and also will use some of the most important study results concerning the GHG emission reduction potential, including LUC and iLUC impacts, when meeting the Renewable Energy Directive (RED) of the European Union (EU) and the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS2) of the USA. Some technology improvements will be considered including the integration of first and second generation technologies in the same site processing corn or sugarcane for ethanol. The results of the simulations indicated that the land demands for the 2030 projected ethanol production in the two alternatives seems not to give reasons for concern on a global scale, but are large enough to produce significant local impacts. The GHG abatement potential is strongly dependent on the biofuel alternative considered. © 2012 Elsevier Ltd.",Land demand for ethanol production,journal article,empirical,,Bioenergy,Bioenergy,Synthesis of previous literature with analysis,land use,land use,
10.1016/j.apenergy.2019.01.117,3062619,,"['ENGI', 'ENGI', 'ENER', 'ENVI']","Nguyen, Trung H.;Granger, Julien;Pandya, Deval;Paustian, Keith",2019,Applied Energy,Biofuel supply chain | Ecosystem modeling | Ecosystem services | Feedstock landscape design | Life cycle assessment | Multi-objective optimization,"Biofuels have been proposed as a potential solution for climate change mitigation. However, there exist several barriers, such as “food vs fuel” issues and technological constraints, restricting the sustainable commercialization of both first- and second-generation biofuels. Combining arable crops and their residues for hybrid first- and second-generation biofuel production provides opportunities to overcome these barriers. This study presents a high-resolution quantitative tool to support decision-making in feedstock production and sourcing for hybrid biofuel supply chains. We demonstrate this work with a case study on optimizing feedstock landscape design for a hybrid corn grain- and stover-based ethanol production system at Front Range Energy biorefinery, Windsor, Colorado, USA using a coupled simulation modeling and life-cycle assessment approach. The case study considered three competing design objectives including the minimization of feedstock-delivered costs, farm-to-refinery greenhouse gas emissions (GHG), and nitrogen (N) leaching, subject to constraints in land use and biofuel feedstock demand. Social costs of carbon (SC-CO2) and nitrogen leaching (SC-NL) were used as weighting factors for GHG and N leaching in the objective function. Our results showed that marginal decreases of feedstock-delivered costs (below $0.31 L−1), N leaching (below 0.44 g N L−1), and GHG emissions (below 125 g CO2e L−1) resulted in extreme trade-offs among the design objectives. Changes in feedstock landscape design were most sensitive to the variations of the SC-CO2 between $400 and $800 per Mg CO2e, SC-NL between $0 and $50 per kg N leaching, and their ratio between 0 and 350, respectively.",High-resolution multi-objective optimization of feedstock landscape design for hybrid first and second generation biorefineries,journal article,empirical,,Bioenergy,Bioenergy,LCA,eutrophication and biogeochemical flows,eutrophication and biogeochemical flows,
10.1016/j.apenergy.2013.05.082,3062619,,"['ENGI', 'ENGI', 'ENER', 'ENVI']","Soratana, Kullapa;Khanna, Vikas;Landis, Amy E.",2013,Applied Energy,Biodiesel | Life cycle assessment | Microalgae | Renewable Fuel Standard,"The Renewable Fuel Standard 2 (RFS2) program under the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 set a life-cycle emission reduction threshold to only greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions; this type of single-dimensional threshold could lead to the unintended trading of one environmental problem for another. Many of the environmental impacts resulting over the life cycle of oil-crop biodiesel fuels manifest in the agricultural phase of production in the form of water quality degradation. This study investigated the extent to which different biofuels meet the RFS GHG requirement, and presents alternative strategies for minimizing unintended consequences. In addition to life-cycle global warming potential (GWP), the eutrophication potential (EP) and photochemical smog formation potential (PSP) from microalgal diesel were compared to the impacts resulting from petroleum-based diesel, soybean diesel and canola diesel. The results showed tradeoffs between GWP and eutrophication potential when microalgal diesel was compared to soybean diesel. Future RFS criteria should include EP and PSP metrics, however establishing thresholds like the GHG management approach may not be appropriate for these other impacts. Two possible strategies to setting life-cycle eutrophication standards are to establish a threshold based on first generation biofuels, as opposed to petro-fuels or to set maximum levels of EP loads for major watersheds or coastal areas. To decrease PSP, together with existing standards for tailpipe emissions, future RFSs should include the well-to-pump emissions from biofuels and petroleum fuels accounting for temporal and spatial variations. © 2013 Elsevier Ltd.",Re-envisioning the renewable fuel standard to minimize unintended consequences: A comparison of microalgal diesel with other biodiesels,journal article,empirical,,Bioenergy,Bioenergy,LCA,"air pollution, eutrophication and biogeochemical flows",,
10.3390/atmos12030324,,,['ENVI'],"Monjardino, Joana;Dias, Luís;Fortes, Patrícia;Tente, Hugo;Ferreira, Francisco;Seixas, Júlia",2021,Atmosphere,Air pollutants | Atmospheric emissions | Carbon neutrality | Climate change mitigation | Co-benefits | Decarbonization | Scenarios | Trade-offs,"Air pollution and climate change are closely interlinked, once both share common emission sources, which mainly arise from fuel combustion and industrial processes. Climate mitigation actions bring co-benefits on air quality and human health. However, specific solutions can provide negative trade-offs for one side. The Portuguese Carbon Neutrality Roadmap was developed to assess conceivable cost-effective pathways to achieve zero net carbon emissions by 2050. Assessing its impacts, on air pollutant emissions, is the main focus of the present work. The bottom-up linear optimization energy system the integrated MARKAL-EFOM system (TIMES) model was selected as a modeling tool for the decarbonization scenarios assessment. The estimation of air pollutant emissions was performed exogenously to the TIMES model. Results show that reaching net zero greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions is possible, and technologically feasible, in Portugal, by 2050. The crucial and most cost-effective vector for decarbonizing the national economy is the end-use energy consumption electrification, renewable based, across all end-use sectors. Decarbonization efforts were found to have strong co-benefits for reducing air pollutant emissions in Portugal. Transport and power generation are the sectors with the greatest potential to reduce GHG emissions, providing likewise the most significant reductions of air pollutant emissions. Despite the overall positive effects, there are antagonistic effects, such as the use of biomass, mainly in industry and residential sectors, which translates into increases in particulate matter emissions. This is relevant for medium term projections, since results show that, by 2030, PM2.5 emissions are unlikely to meet the emission reduction commitments set at the European level, if no additional control measures are considered.",Carbon neutrality pathways effects on air pollutant emissions: The Portuguese case,journal article,empirical,,Bioenergy,Bioenergy,Energy system modelling,air pollution,air pollution,
10.1016/j.atmosenv.2007.09.051,13522310,,"['ENVI', 'EART']","Szarka, Nora;Kakucs, Orsolya;Wolfbauer, Jürgen;Bezama, Alberto",2008,Atmospheric Environment,Atmospheric emissions | Energetic biomass | Regional modeling | System dynamics,"To simulate the quantitative effects of regional biomass alternatives for energetic purpose (BfE) on air pollutant emissions, a system dynamics model was developed and applied for the EuRegion Austrian-Hungarian cross-border area. The dynamic simulation program Vensim® was used to build an overall regional model with economic, social and environmental sectors. Within this model, the here-introduced regional air pollution sub-model (RegAir) includes the important human-made emissions of 10 pollutants resulting from all relevant source sectors within the region investigated. Emissions from activities related to biomass production, transport, conversion and final energy consumption were built in detail. After building and calibrating the RegAir model, seven quantitative test scenarios were defined and implemented into the model. Through the scenarios simulation, effects on air emissions were followed and compared over time. The results of these simulations show a significant reduction of CO2 emissions, especially in cases where fossil fuel displacement in heating devices is achieved on the largest scale. On the contrary, traditional air pollutants increase by most BfE options. The results of the RegAir model simulations of BfE alternatives over two decades provide useful quantifications of various air emissions and identify the less pollutant BfE alternatives in the dynamic context of the relevant air pollution sources of the region. After minor structural modifications and appropriate calibration, RegAir can be applied to other regions as well. However, it is stated that, to finally decide on the overall most-appropriate options at a regional level, other environmental as well as economic and social effects must be taken into consideration, being the latter the goal of the mentioned overall regional model which serves as a model frame to the RegAir tool. © 2007 Elsevier Ltd. .",Atmospheric emissions modeling of energetic biomass alternatives using system dynamics approach,journal article,empirical,,Bioenergy,Bioenergy,IAM,"air pollution, eutrophication and biogeochemical flows",,
10.1007/s12155-015-9692-0,19391234,,"['ENER', 'AGRI', 'ENER']","Fernando, Ana Luisa;Boléo, Sara;Barbosa, Bruno;Costa, Jorge;Duarte, Maria Paula;Monti, Andrea",2015,Bioenergy Research,Bioenergy | Environmental impacts | Marginal land | Mediterranean region | Perennial grasses | Sustainability,"An increasing global awareness that the supply and security of petroleum-based materials is diminishing, coupled with environmental concerns related to climate change, water availability, and soil degradation, has increased demand for more renewable, diversified, and sustainable agricultural production systems. The objective of this work was to determine if a biogenic approach, focused on producing perennial grasses on marginal Mediterranean land as feedstock for bioenergy or bio-based products, could reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions without depleting soil nutrients, water supplies, or negatively impacting biological and landscape diversity. This study, funded by European Union (EU), was conducted under project optimization of perennial grasses for biomass production (OPTIMA) using environmental impact assessment (EIA) protocols to quantify local environmental impacts of producing perennial grasses, in the Mediterranean region. Different end uses were investigated and biogenic products were compared with conventional ones. The EIA assessment indicated that the biogenic system had low erodibility potential, reduced disturbance of soil properties, and minimal hydrological impacts. Less tillage and high biomass production supported biological and landscape diversity, but site-specific factors should be used to appropriately match the specific crop and location. We conclude that producing perennial grasses on marginal Mediterranean land is feasible and if appropriately managed will have relatively few environmental side effects.",Perennial Grass Production Opportunities on Marginal Mediterranean Land,journal article,empirical,,Bioenergy,Bioenergy,Unclear methods,"water use, biodiversity and ecosystem functioning",,
10.1080/17597269.2017.1345363,17597269,,"['ENER', 'ENVI']","Martin, Michael;Larsson, Mathias;Oliveira, Felipe;Rydberg, Tomas",2020,Biofuels,Biofuel | consumption | ethanol | hybrid | LCA,"Sweden, a European leader in the consumption of biofuels, has surpassed targets set by the EU and is one of a few countries that has increased consumption of biofuels in recent years. Nonetheless, a large share of biofuels, and raw materials used to produce the fuels, are imported from regions outside Sweden. This paper reviews the environmental implications of consumption of biofuels in Sweden 2000–2014 to identify and provide a comprehensive assessment of the environmental impacts that imports of fuels have both in Sweden and abroad using life cycle assessment (LCA). The results suggest that while greenhouse gas emissions may have been reduced in Sweden by the use of biofuels, the origin of the emissions has shifted from Sweden to Europe and other countries abroad, due in part to an increased use of biofuels and raw materials from abroad. This has important implications for local impacts, as this may increase acidification and eutrophication potential and ecotoxicity created abroad. Thus, although policy has been designed to promote sustainable transportation fuels, in addition to the generation goals set by the Swedish Parliament, the implications on regions exporting fuels and raw materials for Swedish consumption should be reviewed and followed in further detail in order to avoid problem shifting.",Reviewing the environmental implications of increased consumption and trade of biofuels for transportation in Sweden,journal article,empirical,,Bioenergy,Bioenergy,LCA,"acidification, eutrophication and biogeochemical flows, ecotoxicity","acidification, eutrophication and biogeochemical flows, ecotoxicity",
10.1002/bbb.1488,1932104X,,"['CENG', 'ENER']","Cox, Kelly;Renouf, Marguerite;Dargan, Aidan;Turner, Christopher;Klein-Marcuschamer, Daniel",2014,"Biofuels, Bioproducts and Biorefining",Alternative fuel | Energy | Environmental impact | Greenhouse gas | Jet fuel | LCA,"The environmental benefits and trade-offs of automotive biofuels are well known, but less is known about aviation biofuels. We modeled the environmental impacts of three pathways for aviation biofuel in Australia (from microalgae, pongamia, and sugarcane molasses) using attributional life cycle assessments (LCAs), applying both economic allocation and system expansion. Based on economic allocation, sugarcane molasses has the better fossil energy ratio FER (1.7 MJ out/MJ in) and GHG abatement (73% less than aviation kerosene) of the three, but with trade-offs of higher water use and eutrophication potential. Microalgae and pongamia have lower FER and GHG abatement (1.0 and 1.1; 53% and 43%), but mostly avoid eutrophication and reduce water use trade-offs. All have similar and relatively low land use intensities. If produced on land where existing carbon stocks are not compromised, the sugarcane and microalgae pathways would currently meet a 50% GHG abatement requirement. Based on system expansion, microalgae and pongamia had lower impacts than sugarcane for all categories except energy input, highlighting the positive aspects of these next-generation feedstocks. The low fossil energy conservation potential of these pathways was found to be a drawback, and significant energy efficiencies will be needed before they can affect fossil energy conservation. Energy recovery from processing residues (base case) was preferable over use as animal feed (variant case), and crucial for favorable energy and GHG conservation. However this finding is at odds with the economic preferences identified in a companion technoeconomic study. © 2014 Society of Chemical Industry and John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.","Environmental life cycle assessment (LCA) of aviation biofuel from microalgae, Pongamia pinnata, and sugarcane molasses",journal article,empirical,,Bioenergy,Bioenergy,LCA,"water use, eutrophication and biogeochemical flows","water use, eutrophication and biogeochemical flows",
10.1016/j.resconrec.2020.105345,9213449,,"['ENVI', 'ECON']","Escobar, Neus;Britz, Wolfgang",2021,"Resources, Conservation and Recycling",Bioeconomy | Computable general equilibrium | Greenhouse gas | Land use leakage | Spillover | Uncertainty,"Expanding the production of fuels and fibres based on traditional food crops can put additional pressures on ecosystems and natural resources, with potential spillover effects through induced land use change (iLUC). Computable General Equilibrium (CGE) modelling provides a systematic framework for ex-ante sustainability analysis, capturing the complex interactions between land uses, agri-food markets, and international trade. This study applies an integrated CGE framework that considers loss of natural vegetation to derive quantitative indicators on the sustainability of manufacturing bioplastics from arable crops in five major producing regions (Brazil, China, the European Union, United States and Thailand). The approach consists of increasing bioplastics production at the cost of conventional plastics in each of these regions separately by means of a production subsidy, simulating bioplastic production targets. In order to assess the uncertainty in sustainability metrics, different levels of market penetration are considered, as well as variability in key model parameters. Increasing bioplastics production in Thailand is in general associated with more favourable metrics, although this is related to the relatively small size of the sector, which triggers minor market-mediated effects. When iLUC is included, increased bioplastics production in China is, on average, associated with the largest land footprint (16.93 ha t–1); whereas the highest CO2 emission intensity is estimated for bioplastics produced in the European Union (10.41 t CO2-eq. t–1). Emissions from iLUC outweigh potential greenhouse gas (GHG) savings from fossil fuel substitution, except for Thailand, where increasing bioplastics production from sugarcane and cassava saves on average 2.0 kg CO2-eq. t–1. This translates into decades of carbon payback time and high abatement costs even for Thailand, while trade-offs arise among the metrics proposed. Other impacts besides deforestation and GHG emissions should ideally be considered to examine further interactions within the Water-Food-Energy nexus, though this may require combining global with regionalized approaches, with the associated challenges.","Metrics on the sustainability of region-specific bioplastics production, considering global land use change effects",journal article,empirical,,Biomaterials,Biomaterials,Economic modelling,land use,land use,
10.1016/j.biombioe.2007.10.017,9619534,,"['AGRI', 'ENER', 'AGRI', 'ENVI']","Gabrielle, Benoît;Gagnaire, Nathalie",2008,Biomass and Bioenergy,C-N dynamics | Cereal straw | Combined heat and power generation | Life-cycle assessment | Modelling,"Cereal straw, a by-product in the production of agricultural crops, is considered as a potentially large source of energy supply with an estimated value of 47×1018 J worldwide. However, there is some debate regarding the actual amounts of straw which could be removed from arable soils without jeopardizing their quality, as well as the potential trade-offs in the overall straw-to-energy chain compared to the use of fossil energy sources. Here, we used a deterministic model of C and N dynamics in soil-crop systems to simulate the effect of straw removal under various sets of soil, climate and crop management conditions in northeastern France. Model results in terms of nitrate leaching, soil C variations, nitrous oxide and ammonia emissions were subsequently inputted into the life-cycle assessment (LCA) of a particular bio-energy chain in which straw was used to generate heat and power in a plant producing bio-ethanol from wheat grains. Straw removal had little influence on simulated environmental emissions in the field, and straw incorporation in soil resulted in a sequestration of only 5-10% of its C in the long term (30 years). The LCA concluded to significant benefits of straw use for energy in terms of global warming and use of non-renewable energy. Only the eutrophication and atmospheric acidification impact categories were slightly unfavourable to straw use in some cases, with a difference of 8% at most relative to straw incorporation. These results based on a novel methodology thereby confirm the environmental benefits of substituting fossil energy with straw. © 2007 Elsevier Ltd. .",Life-cycle assessment of straw use in bio-ethanol production: A case study based on biophysical modelling,journal article,empirical,,Bioenergy,Bioenergy,LCA,"acidification, eutrophication and biogeochemical flows","acidification, eutrophication and biogeochemical flows",
10.1016/j.biombioe.2008.02.012,9619534,,"['AGRI', 'ENER', 'AGRI', 'ENVI']","Renouf, M. A.;Wegener, M. K.;Nielsen, L. K.",2008,Biomass and Bioenergy,Acidification | Beta vulgaris | Bio-products | Energy | Eutrophication | Greenhouse gases | Life cycle assessment | Nitrous oxide | Saccharum officinarum | Zea mays,"Sugarcane is a highly suitable substrate for the production of bio-products. As well as producing high yields of sugar, much of the plant's fibre is also recovered and used as a source of renewable energy. A life cycle assessment (LCA) of sugarcane production and processing in Australia was performed to develop an environmental profile of sugarcane as a source of bio-products. The application examined was fermentation products from sugar. The sugarcane results were compared with results for other sugar producing crops-US corn and UK sugar beet-to gauge its relative environmental performance. The results show sugarcane to have an advantage in respect of energy input, greenhouse gas emissions and possibly acidification potential due to its high saccharide yield and the displacement of fossil fuels with surplus renewable energy from cane fibre (bagasse). However Australian sugarcane can exhibit high nitrous oxide emissions, which would reduce greenhouse gas advantages in some regions. For eutrophication, sugar beet provides advantages due to the avoided production of other agricultural crops displaced by the use of beet pulp as an animal feed. The three factors found to have the most influence on the environmental impacts of these agro-industrial systems were the commodities displaced by by-products, agricultural yields, and nitrogen use efficiency. © 2008 Elsevier Ltd. .",An environmental life cycle assessment comparing Australian sugarcane with US corn and UK sugar beet as producers of sugars for fermentation,journal article,empirical,only,Bioenergy,Bioenergy,,,,
10.1016/j.biortech.2009.10.037,9608524,,"['CENG', 'ENVI', 'ENER', 'ENVI']","Stone, K. C.;Hunt, P. G.;Cantrell, K. B.;Ro, K. S.",2010,Bioresource Technology,Bioenergy | Climate change | Water | Water availability | Water scarcity,"Biofuels are a major topic of global interest and technology development. Whereas bioenergy crop production is highly dependent on water, bioenergy development requires effective allocation and management of water. The objectives of this investigation were to assess the bioenergy production relative to the impacts on water resource related factors: (1) climate and weather impact on water supplies for biomass production; (2) water use for major bioenergy crop production; and (3) potential alternatives to improve water supplies for bioenergy. Shifts to alternative bioenergy crops with greater water demand may produce unintended consequences for both water resources and energy feedstocks. Sugarcane and corn require 458 and 2036 m3 water/m3 ethanol produced, respectively. The water requirements for corn grain production to meet the US-DOE Billion-Ton Vision may increase approximately 6-fold from 8.6 to 50.1 km3. Furthermore, climate change is impacting water resources throughout the world. In the western US, runoff from snowmelt is occurring earlier altering the timing of water availability. Weather extremes, both drought and flooding, have occurred more frequently over the last 30 years than the previous 100 years. All of these weather events impact bioenergy crop production. These events may be partially mitigated by alternative water management systems that offer potential for more effective water use and conservation. A few potential alternatives include controlled drainage and new next-generation livestock waste treatment systems. Controlled drainage can increase water available to plants and simultaneously improve water quality. New livestock waste treatments systems offer the potential to utilize treated wastewater to produce bioenergy crops. New technologies for cellulosic biomass conversion via thermochemical conversion offer the potential for using more diverse feedstocks with dramatically reduced water requirements. The development of bioenergy feedstocks in the US and throughout the world should carefully consider water resource limitations and their critical connections to ecosystem integrity and sustainability of human food. © 2009 Published by Elsevier Ltd.",The potential impacts of biomass feedstock production on water resource availability,journal article,empirical,,Bioenergy,Bioenergy,Synthesis of previous literature with analysis,water use,water use,
10.5194/bg-7-4017-2010,17264170,,"['AGRI', 'EART']","Oschlies, A.;Koeve, W.;Rickels, W.;Rehdanz, K.",2010,Biogeosciences,0,"Recent suggestions to slow down the increase in atmospheric carbon dioxide have included ocean fertilization by addition of the micronutrient iron to Southern Ocean surface waters, where a number of natural and artificial iron fertilization experiments have shown that low ambient iron concentrations limit phytoplankton growth. Using a coupled carbon-climate model with the marine biology's response to iron addition calibrated against data from natural iron fertilization experiments, we examine biogeochemical side effects of a hypothetical large-scale Southern Ocean Iron Fertilization (OIF) that need to be considered when attempting to account for possible OIF-induced carbon offsets. In agreement with earlier studies our model simulates an OIF-induced increase in local air-sea CO2 fluxes by about 73 GtC over a 100-year period, which amounts to about 48% of the OIF-induced increase in organic carbon export out of the fertilized area. Offsetting CO2 return fluxes outside the region and after stopping the fertilization at 1, 7, 10, 50, and 100 years are quantified for a typical accounting period of 100 years. For continuous Southern Ocean iron fertilization, the CO2 return flux outside the fertilized area cancels about 20% of the fertilization-induced CO2 air-sea flux within the fertilized area on a 100-yr timescale. This ""leakage"" effect has a radiative impact more than twice as large as the simulated enhancement of marine N2O emissions. Other side effects not yet discussed in terms of accounting schemes include a decrease in Southern Ocean oxygen levels and a simultaneous shrinking of tropical suboxic areas, and accelerated ocean acidification in the entire water column in the Southern Ocean at the expense of reduced globally-averaged surface-water acidification. A prudent approach to account for the OIF-induced carbon sequestration would account for global air-sea CO2 fluxes rather than for local fluxes into the fertilized area only. However, according to our model, this would underestimate the potential for offsetting CO2 emissions by about 20% on a 100 year accounting timescale. We suggest that a fair accounting scheme applicable to both terrestrial and marine carbon sequestration has to be based on emission offsets rather than on changes in individual carbon pools. © Author(s) 2010.",Side effects and accounting aspects of hypothetical large-scale Southern Ocean iron fertilization,journal article,empirical,,CDR,Ocean fertilisation,Earth system modelling,marine environment,marine environment,
10.5194/bg-14-4829-2017,17264170,,"['AGRI', 'EART']","Krause, Andreas;Pughl, Thomas A.M.;Bayer, Anita D.;Doelman, Jonathan C.;Humpenöder, Florian;Anthoni, Peter;Olin, Stefan;Bodirsky, Benjamin L.;Popp, Alexander;Stehfest, Elke;Arneth, Almut",2017,Biogeosciences,0,"Land management for carbon storage is discussed as being indispensable for climate change mitigation because of its large potential to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, and to avoid further emissions from deforestation. However, the acceptance and feasibility of land-based mitigation projects depends on potential side effects on other important ecosystem functions and their services. Here, we use projections of future land use and land cover for different land-based mitigation options from two land-use models (IMAGE and MAgPIE) and evaluate their effects with a global dynamic vegetation model (LPJ-GUESS). In the landuse models, carbon removal was achieved either via growth of bioenergy crops combined with carbon capture and storage, via avoided deforestation and afforestation, or via a combination of both. We compare these scenarios to a reference scenario without land-based mitigation and analyse the LPJ-GUESS simulations with the aim of assessing synergies and trade-offs across a range of ecosystem service indicators: Carbon storage, surface albedo, evapotranspiration, water runoff, crop production, nitrogen loss, and emissions of biogenic volatile organic compounds. In our mitigation simulations cumulative carbon storage by year 2099 ranged between 55 and 89 GtC. Other ecosystem service indicators were influenced heterogeneously both positively and negatively, with large variability across regions and land-use scenarios. Avoided deforestation and afforestation led to an increase in evapotranspiration and enhanced emissions of biogenic volatile organic compounds, and to a decrease in albedo, runoff, and nitrogen loss. Crop production could also decrease in the afforestation scenarios as a result of reduced crop area, especially for MAgPIE land-use patterns, if assumed increases in crop yields cannot be realized. Bioenergy-based climate change mitigation was projected to affect less area globally than in the forest expansion scenarios, and resulted in less pronounced changes in most ecosystem service indicators than forest-based mitigation, but included a possible decrease in nitrogen loss, crop production, and biogenic volatile organic compounds emissions.",Global consequences of afforestation and bioenergy cultivation on ecosystem service indicators,journal article,empirical,,CDR,BECCS; ARR,"Land use modelling, Vegetation modelling","land use, biodiversity and ecosystem functioning, eutrophication and biogeochemical flows","land use, biodiversity and ecosystem functioning, eutrophication and biogeochemical flows; land use, biodiversity and ecosystem functioning, eutrophication and biogeochemical flows",
10.1016/j.biombioe.2020.105789,9619534,,"['AGRI', 'ENER', 'AGRI', 'ENVI']","Anejionu, Obinna C.D.;Di Lucia, Lorenzo;Woods, Jeremy",2020,Biomass and Bioenergy,Biofuel | Biorefineries | Geospatial modelling | Integrated assessment | Landscape design,"Biofuels have become in many countries an alternative energy source for transportation. This has led to the construction of large-scale biofuel refineries. However, this process is raising concern among local stakeholders where the refineries are being sited. Here, we used geospatial techniques to implement a landscape design approach to address societal questions and local concerns regarding the impacts of introducing large-scale production of advanced biofuel (2G). Spatially-explicit landscape design was used to integrate various components in the biofuel supply chain and understand environmental and socioeconomic effects at various levels. Different techniques and modelling approaches were brought together with active participation of local stakeholders to provide answers to varying questions of community relevance. The application of the approach to the analysis of the case of cellulosic ethanol production from dedicated crops in Sardinia (Italy) shows that the introduction of a large-scale biofuel refinery could lead to positive outcomes at local level in terms of habitat quality, employment, energy production and reduction of GHG emissions. However, negative effects are expected regarding water availability and the production of food and animal feed in the landscape. This form of integrated knowledge about benefits and trade-offs can be used by project developers and policymakers to steer the deployment of biofuel projects to advance high level policy goals while respecting local priorities and concerns.",Geospatial modelling of environmental and socioeconomic impacts of large-scale production of advanced biofuel,journal article,empirical,,Bioenergy,Bioenergy,IAM,water use,water use,
10.1016/j.ecolind.2015.11.032,1470160X,,"['DECI', 'AGRI', 'ENVI']","Forsius, Martin;Akujärvi, Anu;Mattsson, Tuija;Holmberg, Maria;Punttila, Pekka;Posch, Maximilian;Liski, Jari;Repo, Anna;Virkkala, Raimo;Vihervaara, Petteri",2016,Ecological Indicators,Biodiversity | Bioenergy | Carbon | Ecosystem impacts | Indicators | Modelling | Nitrogen | Sustainability,"Increasing the use of forest biomass for energy production is an important mitigation strategy against climate change. Sustainable use of natural resources requires that these policies are evaluated, planned and implemented, taking into account the boundary conditions of the ecological systems affected. This paper describes the development and application of a quantitative modelling framework for evaluating integrated impacts of forest biomass removal scenarios on four key environmental sustainability/ecosystem service indicators: (i) carbon sequestration and balance, (ii) soil nutrient balances (base cations and nitrogen), (iii) nutrient leaching to surface waters (nitrogen and phosphorus), and (iv) dead wood biomass (used as proxy indicator for impacts on species diversity). The system is based on the use of spatial data sets, mass balance calculations, loading coefficients and dynamic modelling. The approach is demonstrated using data from an intensively studied region (Hämeenlinna municipality) encompassing the Lammi LTER (Long-Term Ecosystem Research) site in southern Finland. Forest biomass removal scenarios were derived from a management-oriented large-scale forestry model (MELA) based on sample plot and stand-level data from national forest inventories. These scenarios have been developed to guide future Finnish forest management with respect to bioenergy use. Using harvest residues for district heat production reduced fossil carbon emissions but also the carbon sink of forests in the case study area. Calculations of the net removal of base cations of the different scenarios ranged between -36 to -43 meq m-2 a-1, indicating that the supply of base cations (soil weathering + deposition) would be enough to sustain also energy-wood harvesting. Greatly increased nutrient removal values and increasing nitrogen limitation problems were however predicted. Clear-cuttings and site preparation were predicted to increase the load of total nitrogen (4.0%) and total phosphorus (4.5%) to surface waters, compared with background leaching. The amount of dead wood has been identified as a key factor for forest species diversity in Finland. A scenario maximising harvest residues used for bioenergy production, would decrease stem dead wood biomass by about 40%, compared with a business-as-usual scenario. Clear trade-off situations could be observed in the case study area between maximising the use of energy-wood and minimising impacts on species diversity, soil carbon and nutrient stores, and nutrient leaching. The developed model system allows seeking for optimised solutions with respect to different management options and sustainability considerations.","Modelling impacts of forest bioenergy use on ecosystem sustainability: Lammi LTER region, southern Finland",journal article,empirical,,Bioenergy,Bioenergy,Forestry modelling,"biodiversity and ecosystem functioning, land use, eutrophication and biogeochemical flows","biodiversity and ecosystem functioning, land use, eutrophication and biogeochemical flows",
10.1007/s10021-015-9928-z,14329840,,"['AGRI', 'ENVI', 'ENVI']","Caputo, Jesse;Beier, Colin M.;Groffman, Peter M.;Burns, Douglas A.;Beall, Frederick D.;Hazlett, Paul W.;Yorks, Thad E.",2016,Ecosystems,climate regulation | ecosystem services | forest biomass | forest recovery | tradeoff analysis | water regulation,"Demand for woody biomass fuels is increasing amidst concerns about global energy security and climate change, but there may be negative implications of increased harvesting for forest ecosystem functions and their benefits to society (ecosystem services). Using new methods for assessing ecosystem services based on long-term experimental research, post-harvest changes in ten potential benefits were assessed for ten first-order northern hardwood forest watersheds at three long-term experimental research sites in northeastern North America. As expected, we observed near-term tradeoffs between biomass provision and greenhouse gas regulation, as well as tradeoffs between intensive harvest and the capacity of the forest to remediate nutrient pollution. In both cases, service provision began to recover along with the regeneration of forest vegetation; in the case of pollution remediation, the service recovered to pre-harvest levels within 10 years. By contrast to these two services, biomass harvesting had relatively nominal and transient impacts on other ecosystem services. Our results are sensitive to empirical definitions of societal demand, including methods for scaling societal demand to ecosystem units, which are often poorly resolved. Reducing uncertainty around these parameters can improve confidence in our results and increase their relevance for decision-making. Our synthesis of long-term experimental studies provides insights on the social-ecological resilience of managed forest ecosystems to multiple drivers of change.",Effects of Harvesting Forest Biomass on Water and Climate Regulation Services: A Synthesis of Long-Term Ecosystem Experiments in Eastern North America,journal article,empirical,,Bioenergy,Bioenergy,Field research,eutrophication and biogeochemical flows,Ecosystem functioning,
10.1016/j.enpol.2010.03.074,3014215,,"['ENER', 'ENVI']","Harto, Christopher;Meyers, Robert;Williams, Eric",2010,Energy Policy,Biofuels | Transportation | Water,"In society's quest to mitigate climate change it is important to consider potential trade-offs in climate solutions impacting other environmental issues. This analysis explores the life cycle water consumption of alternative low-carbon energy sources for transportation. Energy sources analyzed include both biofuels used in internal combustion engines and low-carbon electricity generation methods used in conjunction with electric vehicles. Biofuels considered are corn-based ethanol, soybean biodiesel, cellulosic ethanol from switchgrass, and microbial biodiesel. Electricity sources analyzed are coal with carbon sequestration, photovoltaic cells, and solar concentrators. The assessment method used is hybrid life cycle assessment (LCA), which combines materials-based process method and the economic input- output (EIO) method. To compare these technologies on an even footing the life cycle water use to propel a passenger vehicle one mile is estimated. All technologies evaluated showed an increase in water consumption compared to unleaded gasoline when water use from vehicle manufacturing was included. Scale-up calculations showed that mass adoption of electric vehicles and some configurations of algae and switchgrass systems could potentially contribute to the decarbonization of transportation with tolerable increases in overall water consumption. Irrigated crop based biofuels however were found to have significant potential impact on water resources when scaled up to macroscopic production levels. © 2010 Elsevier Ltd.",Life cycle water use of low-carbon transport fuels,journal article,empirical,,Bioenergy,Bioenergy,LCA,water use,water use,
10.1016/j.biombioe.2020.105769,9619534,,"['AGRI', 'ENER', 'AGRI', 'ENVI']","Thrän, Daniela;Bauschmann, Martin;Dahmen, Nicolaus;Erlach, Berit;Heinbach, Katharina;Hirschl, Bernd;Hildebrand, Jan;Rau, Irina;Majer, Stefan;Oehmichen, Katja;Schweizer-Ries, Petra;Hennig, Christiane",2020,Biomass and Bioenergy,Bioenergy | Bioenergy carbon capture and storage | Climate policy | Germany | Integrated assessment | Renewable energy systems,"To fulfil the ambitious greenhouse gas reduction targets in Germany requires a fundamental transformation of the energy system. Accordingly, today's bioenergy value chains are faced with substantial transformations to find their role in 2050's low carbon emission energy and supply systems. In this regard, not only economic, environmental, and social aspects need to be taken into consideration. The technology maturity, flexible energy generation and supply and the ability to combine the technologies with CO2 capture are relevant aspects for future bioenergy systems. To evaluate appropriate options for a future energy system an assessment framework with 29 criteria was developed in form of an assessment matrix, and applied for several bioenergy technology pathways. The results show much larger challenges for the implementation and transformation of lignocelluse-based pathways than of biogas-based ones. Trade-offs of the assessment criteria are shown in a heat map. Results might support policy decision makers to develop and implement a long term bioenergy strategy and thus a successful transformation towards a sustainable energy system 2050.",Bioenergy beyond the German “Energiewende”–Assessment framework for integrated bioenergy strategies,journal article,empirical,,CDR,BECCS,IAM,"land use, biodiversity and ecosystem functioning, eutrophication and biogeochemical flows, acidification","land use, biodiversity and ecosystem functioning, eutrophication and biogeochemical flows, acidification",
10.1016/j.clpl.2023.100037,2666-7916,,,"Grubert, Emily",2023,Cleaner Production Letters,"Environmental assessment, Macro-energy systems, Water for energy","Hydrogen is an energy carrier with potential applications in decarbonizing difficult-to-electrify energy and industrial systems. The environmental profile of hydrogen varies substantially with its inputs. Water consumption is a particular issue of interest as decisions are made about capital and other investments that will affect the scale and scope of hydrogen use. This study focuses on electrolytic hydrogen due to its path to greenhouse gas neutrality and irreducible water demand (though other pathways might be more water intensive). Specifically, it evaluates life cycle consumptive freshwater intensity of electrolytic hydrogen in the United States at volumes associated with 12 scenarios for a deeply decarbonized 2050 US energy system from two modeling efforts for which both electricity fuel mix and electrolytic hydrogen production were projected (America's Zero Carbon Action Plan and Net Zero America), in addition to volumes for a stylized energy storage project (500 MW hydrogen-fired turbine). Freshwater requirements for hydrogen could be large. Under a central estimate for 2050 US electrolytic hydrogen production, electrolytic freshwater demand for process and feedstock inputs alone (i.e., excluding water for electricity) would be about 7.5% of total 2014 US freshwater consumption for energy (1 billion cubic meters/year, 109 m3/y; [0.2%, 15%] across scenarios, for 2050 electrolytic hydrogen production of [0.3, 18] exajoules, EJ). Including water associated with production of input electricity doubles this central estimate to 15% (2 × 109 m3/y; [1%, 23%] across scenarios). Turbines using electrolytic hydrogen are estimated to be about as freshwater intensive as a coal or nuclear plant, assuming decarbonized, low-water electricity inputs. Although a decarbonized energy system is projected to require less water for resource capture and electricity conversion than the current, fossil-dominated energy system, additional conversion processes supporting decarbonization, like electrolysis, could offset water savings.",Water consumption from electrolytic hydrogen in a carbon-neutral US energy system,journal article,empirical,,Hydrogen carriers,Hydrogen carriers,"Energy system modelling, Hydrological modelling",water use,,
10.1007/s10584-022-03336-9,1650009,,"['ENVI', 'EART']","Rose, Steven K.;Popp, Alexander;Fujimori, Shinichiro;Havlik, Petr;Weyant, John;Wise, Marshall;van Vuuren, Detlef;Brunelle, Thierry;Cui, Ryna Yiyun;Daioglou, Vassilis;Frank, Stefan;Hasegawa, Tomoko;Humpenöder, Florian;Kato, Etsushi;Sands, Ronald D.;Sano, Fuminori;Tsutsui, Junichi;Doelman, Jonathan;Muratori, Matteo;Prudhomme, Rémi;Wada, Kenichi;Yamamoto, Hiromi",2022,Climatic Change,Bioenergy | Biomass | Climate change | Decarbonization | Emission scenarios,"Bioenergy is projected to have a prominent, valuable, and maybe essential, role in climate management. However, there is significant variation in projected bioenergy deployment results, as well as concerns about the potential environmental and social implications of supplying biomass. Bioenergy deployment projections are market equilibrium solutions from integrated modeling, yet little is known about the underlying modeling of the supply of biomass as a feedstock for energy use in these modeling frameworks. We undertake a novel diagnostic analysis with ten global models to elucidate, compare, and assess how biomass is supplied within the models used to inform long-run climate management. With experiments that isolate and reveal biomass supply modeling behavior and characteristics (costs, emissions, land use, market effects), we learn about biomass supply tendencies and differences. The insights provide a new level of modeling transparency and understanding of estimated global biomass supplies that informs evaluation of the potential for bioenergy in managing the climate and interpretation of integrated modeling. For each model, we characterize the potential distributions of global biomass supply across regions and feedstock types for increasing levels of quantity supplied, as well as some of the potential societal externalities of supplying biomass. We also evaluate the biomass supply implications of managing these externalities. Finally, we interpret biomass market results from integrated modeling in terms of our new understanding of biomass supply. Overall, we find little consensus between models on where biomass could be cost-effectively produced and the implications. We also reveal model specific biomass supply narratives, with results providing new insights into integrated modeling bioenergy outcomes and differences. The analysis finds that many integrated models are considering and managing emissions and land use externalities of supplying biomass and estimating that environmental and societal trade-offs in the form of land emissions, land conversion, and higher agricultural prices are cost-effective, and to some degree a reality of using biomass, to address climate change.",Global biomass supply modeling for long-run management of the climate system,journal article,empirical,,Bioenergy,Bioenergy,IAM,land use,land use,
10.1007/s10584-013-0897-y,1650009,,"['ENVI', 'EART']","Calvin, Katherine;Wise, Marshall;Kyle, Page;Patel, Pralit;Clarke, Leon;Edmonds, Jae",2014,Climatic Change,0,"Many papers have shown that bioenergy and land-use are potentially important elements in a strategy to limit anthropogenic climate change. But, significant expansion of bioenergy production can have a large terrestrial footprint. In this paper, we test the implications for land use, the global energy system, emissions and mitigation costs of meeting a specific climate target, using a single fossil fuel and industrial sector policy instrument, but with five alternative bioenergy and land-use policy architectures. These scenarios are illustrative in nature, and designed to explore trade-offs. We find that the policies we examined have differing effects on the different segments of the economy. Comprehensive land policies can reduce land-use change emissions, increasing allowable emissions in the energy system, but have implications for the cost of food. Bioenergy penalties and constraints, on the other hand, have little effect on food prices, but result in less bioenergy and thus can increase mitigation costs and energy prices. © 2013 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht.",Trade-offs of different land and bioenergy policies on the path to achieving climate targets,journal article,empirical,,Bioenergy,Bioenergy,IAM,land use,land use,
10.1088/1748-9326/abd7af,17489318,,"['ENER', 'ENVI', 'MEDI']","Chen, Luoye;Debnath, Deepayan;Zhong, Jia;Ferin, Kelsie;VanLoocke, Andy;Khanna, Madhu",2021,Environmental Research Letters,Cost-benefit analysis | Indirect land use change | Social cost of carbon | Social cost of nitrogen,"Mandates, like the renewable fuel standard (RFS), for biofuels from corn and cellulosic feedstocks, impact the environment in multiple ways by affecting land use, nitrogen (N)-leakage, and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. We analyze the differing trade-offs these different types of biofuels offer among these multi-dimensional environmental effects and convert them to a monetized value of environmental damages (or benefits) that can be compared with the economic costs of extending these mandates over the 2016-2030 period. The discounted values of cumulative net benefits (or costs) are then compared to those with a counterfactual level of biofuels that would have been produced in the absence of the RFS over this period. We find that maintaining the corn ethanol mandate at 56 billion l till 2030 will lead to a discounted cumulative value of an economic cost of $199 billion over the 2016-2030 period compared to the counterfactual scenario; this includes $109 billion of economic costs and $85 billion of net monetized environmental damages. The additional implementation of a cellulosic biofuel mandate for 60 billion l by 2030 will increase this economic cost by $69 billion which will be partly offset by the net discounted monetized value of environmental benefits of $20 billion, resulting in a net cost of $49 billion over the 2016-2030 period. We explore the sensitivity of these net (economic and environmental) costs to alternative values of the social costs of carbon and nitrogen and other technological and market parameters. We find that, unlike corn ethanol, cellulosic biofuels can result in positive net benefits if the monetary benefits of GHG mitigation are valued high and those of N-damages are not very high.",The economic and environmental costs and benefits of the renewable fuel standard,journal article,empirical,,Bioenergy,Bioenergy,Monetary valuation,"land use, eutrophication and biogeochemical flows","land use, eutrophication and biogeochemical flows",
10.1021/es203641p,0013-936X,,,"Yang, Yi; Bae, Junghan; Kim, Junbeum; Suh, Sangwon",2012,Environmental Science & Technology,,"Previous studies on the life-cycle environmental impacts of corn ethanol and gasoline focused almost exclusively on energy balance and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and largely overlooked the influence of regional differences in agricultural practices. This study compares the environmental impact of gasoline and E85 taking into consideration 12 different environmental impacts and regional differences among 19 corn-growing states. Results show that E85 does not outperform gasoline when a wide spectrum of impacts is considered. If the impacts are aggregated using weights developed by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), overall, E85 generates approximately 6% to 108% (23% on average) greater impact compared with gasoline, depending on where corn is produced, primarily because corn production induces significant eutrophication impacts and requires intensive irrigation. If GHG emissions from the indirect land use changes are considered, the differences increase to between 16% and 118% (33% on average). Our study indicates that replacing gasoline with corn ethanol may only result in shifting the net environmental impacts primarily toward increased eutrophication and greater water scarcity. These results suggest that the environmental criteria used in the Energy Independence and Security Act (EISA) be re-evaluated to include additional categories of environmental impact beyond GHG emissions.",Replacing Gasoline with Corn Ethanol Results in Significant Environmental Problem-Shifting,journal article,empirical,,Bioenergy,Bioenergy,LCA,"eutrophication and biogeochemical flows, water use","eutrophication and biogeochemical flows, water use",
10.1021/es404130v,0013936X,,"['CHEM', 'ENVI']","Jordaan, Sarah M.;Diaz Anadon, Laura;Mielke, Erik;Schrag, Daniel P.",2013,Environmental Science & Technology,0,"The Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) is among the cornerstone policies created to increase U.S. energy independence by using biofuels. Although greenhouse gas emissions have played a role in shaping the RFS, water implications are less understood. We demonstrate a spatial, life cycle approach to estimate water consumption of transportation fuel scenarios, including a comparison to current water withdrawals and drought incidence by state. The water consumption and land footprint of six scenarios are compared to the RFS, including shale oil, coal-to-liquids, shale gas-to-liquids, corn ethanol, and cellulosic ethanol from switchgrass. The corn scenario is the most water and land intense option and is weighted toward drought-prone states. Fossil options and cellulosic ethanol require significantly less water and are weighted toward less drought-prone states. Coal-to-liquids is an exception, where water consumption is partially weighted toward drought-prone states. Results suggest that there may be considerable water and land impacts associated with meeting energy security goals through using only biofuels. Ultimately, water and land requirements may constrain energy security goals without careful planning, indicating that there is a need to better balance trade-offs. Our approach provides policymakers with a method to integrate federal policies with regional planning over various temporal and spatial scales. © 2013 American Chemical Society.",Regional water implications of reducing oil imports with liquid transportation fuel alternatives in the United States,journal article,empirical,,Bioenergy,Bioenergy,LCA,"water use, land use","water use, land use",
10.1021/es902405a,0013936X,,"['CHEM', 'ENVI']","Miller, Shelie A.",2010,Environmental Science & Technology,0,"The environmental impacts of bioenergy products have received a great deal of attention. Life cycle analysis (LCA) is a widely accepted method to quantify the environmental impacts of products. Conducting comprehensive LCAs for every possible bioenergy alternative is difficult because of the sheer magnitude of potential biomass sources and energy end products. The scopes of LCAs are often simplified to compare multiple products on the basis of greenhouse gas emissions and net energy balances, and may neglect equally important considerations such as nitrogen and land use. This study determines the most desirable energy crops on the basis of nitrogen and land use. The theoretical minimum nitrogen and land use requirements of fourteen bioenergy feedstocks are evaluated. These results can help prioritize certain feedstock crops for more in-depth life cycle analyses and can be used to inform policies on dedicated energy crops. The results of the study indicate that sugar cane has the best nitrogen and land use profile of the analyzed feedstocks. Sugar cane is the largest contributor to bioenergy production worldwide and is an effective policy choice from a nutrient and land use perspective. Conversely, soybeans and rapeseed are the least effective biomass sources with respect to land use and nitrogen requirements, yet these crops are also used to meet biofuel production targets worldwide. These results indicate current energy policies either do not consider or undervalue nitrogen and land use impacts, which could lead to unsustainable recommendations. Interestingly, when both nitrogen and land intensity are taken into account, reasonably small differences are seen between the remainder of the analyzed feedstocks, indicating an inherent trade-off between energy yield and nitrogen impacts. © 2010 American Chemical Society.",Minimizing land use and nitrogen intensity of bioenergy,journal article,empirical,,Bioenergy,Bioenergy,LCA,"land use, eutrophication and biogeochemical flows","land use, eutrophication and biogeochemical flows",
10.1021/es502552f,0013936X,,"['CHEM', 'ENVI']","Da Silva, Cinthia R.U.;Franco, Henrique Coutinho Junqueira;Junqueira, Tassia Lopes;Van Oers, Lauran;Van Der Voet, Ester;Seabra, Joaquim E.A.",2014,Environmental Science & Technology,0,"This work assessed the environmental impacts of the production and use of 1 MJ of hydrous ethanol (E100) in Brazil in prospective scenarios (2020-2030), considering the deployment of technologies currently under development and better agricultural practices. The life cycle assessment technique was employed using the CML method for the life cycle impact assessment and the Monte Carlo method for the uncertainty analysis. Abiotic depletion, global warming, human toxicity, ecotoxicity, photochemical oxidation, acidification, and eutrophication were the environmental impacts categories analyzed. Results indicate that the proposed improvements (especially no-til farming-scenarios s2 and s4) would lead to environmental benefits in prospective scenarios compared to the current ethanol production (scenario s0). Combined first and second generation ethanol production (scenarios s3 and s4) would require less agricultural land but would not perform better than the projected first generation ethanol, although the uncertainties are relatively high. The best use of 1 ha of sugar cane was also assessed, considering the displacement of the conventional products by ethanol and electricity. No-til practices combined with the production of first generation ethanol and electricity (scenario s2) would lead to the largest mitigation effects for global warming and abiotic depletion. For the remaining categories, emissions would not be mitigated with the utilization of the sugar cane products. However, this conclusion is sensitive to the displaced electricity sources.",Long-term prospects for the environmental profile of advanced sugar cane ethanol,journal article,empirical,,Bioenergy,Bioenergy,LCA,air pollution,,
10.3389/fclim.2022.814052,,,"['ENVI', 'ENVI', 'ENVI', 'EART', 'ENVI']","Brandão, Miguel",2022,Frontiers in Climate,carbon footprint | climate change mitigation | corn ethanol | indirect land use change (iLUC) | life cycle assessment,"Concerns over climate change have led to the promotion of biofuels for transport, particularly biodiesel from oilseed crops and ethanol from sugar and starch crops. However, additional concerns arose on whether the climate change mitigation potential of biofuels is negated by the associated direct land requirements (dLUC) for growing biofuel feedstocks, or by the indirect land requirements (iLUC) that compensate for the diversion of food/feed crops into biofuels, both cases leading to greenhouse gas emissions. We investigated data over the last 20-year period to estimate the magnitude of the effects ethanol production in the USA has had on land use domestically and abroad. The data analyzed suggests that, over the period, the use of corn for ethanol increased by 118 Mt per year, most of it coming from displacement of other uses of corn, mainly feed, which were compensated by increased feed production elsewhere. Results suggest a relatively low dLUC but a significant iLUC effect, mainly due to the compensation for the foregone feed production as a result of diverting corn into ethanol production. The resulting 18.0 Mt CO2-eq. associated with meeting the renewable-energy target of 15 billion gallons of corn ethanol more than negates the climate benefits from avoided use of gasoline, indicating that promoting corn ethanol for global climate change mitigation may be counter-productive as, despite decreasing domestic emissions, global emissions increase. We suggest that the policy be revised accordingly.",Indirect Effects Negate Global Climate Change Mitigation Potential of Substituting Gasoline With Corn Ethanol as a Transportation Fuel in the USA,journal article,empirical,,Bioenergy,Bioenergy,LCA,"land use, acidification, eutrophication and biogeochemical flows","land use, acidification, eutrophication and biogeochemical flows",
10.1007/s10584-018-2193-3,1650009,,"['ENVI', 'EART']","Portugal-Pereira, Joana;Koberle, Alexandre;Lucena, André F.P.;Rochedo, Pedro R.R.;Império, Mariana;Carsalade, Ana Monteiro;Schaeffer, Roberto;Rafaj, Peter",2018,Climatic Change,Energy use in the power sector | Environmental co-benefits | MESSAGE-Brazil,"This study examines the interactions between local air pollutants and greenhouse gas emissions to assess potential synergies and trade-offs between local environmental pollution and climate policies, using the power generation sector in Brazil under different carbon scenarios up to 2050 as a case study. To this end, an integrated approach was developed, combining energy scenarios under different carbon mitigation targets and a local air pollution assessment model, tailored to the context of the Brazilian power sector. Results reveal that there are deep interactions between climate change mitigation and local air pollution abatement strategies. Increasing the diffusion of low-carbon technologies results in both mitigation of climate change and lower terrestrial acidification potential impacts, due to the rapid phase-out of fossil fuel power technologies. However, local air pollution indicators for particulate matter formation and human toxicity may rise in response to greenhouse gas emission mitigation constraints, indicating the existence of potential trade-offs. Some of these trade-offs can be offset by introducing available end-of-pipe pollution control measures reinforced by dedicated air quality policies.",Interactions between global climate change strategies and local air pollution: lessons learnt from the expansion of the power sector in Brazil,journal article,empirical,,Low carbon electricity,Low carbon electricity,"Energy system modelling, LCA","air pollution, human toxicity","air pollution, human toxicity",
10.1016/j.jclepro.2012.08.036,9596526,,"['ENER', 'ENVI', 'BUSI', 'ENGI']","Renouf, Marguerite A.;Pagan, Robert J.;Wegener, Malcolm K.",2013,Journal of Cleaner Production,Bioenergy | Biofuel | Bioproduct | Diversification | Life cycle assessment | Sugarcane,"This paper assesses the environmental impacts of producing bio-energy, bio-fuels and bio-materials from Australian sugarcane (Saccharum officinarum), and nominates the bio-production pathways offering the best environmental gains. A system-based, consequential approach was taken, which is different to past approaches that have commonly judged bio-production by comparing individual bio-products with their fossil-fuel counterparts. Possible diversified scenarios were developed, and the changes in environmental impacts from the system as a whole (per 100 t sugarcane processed) were assessed using life cycle assessment (LCA). Scenarios based on utilisation of co-products from existing sugarcane production (ethanol from molasses, and electricity and ethanol from surplus bagasse) were found to give modest reductions in non-renewable energy (NRE) use and global warming potential (GWP), and involve no or few trade-offs. Of these, ethanol and electricity from bagasse offer the best benefits. Scenarios necessitating expanded cane growing for dedicated production of ethanol and polylactide (PLA) plastics from cane juice were found to result in more substantial NRE and GWP savings, but involve the trade-offs associated with expanded agricultural production (land use, water use and potential water quality impacts). Of these, PLA production offers the better outcomes, amongst the scenarios. However, eco-efficient cane growing was found to be an equally important improvement strategy and should be implemented to enhance the benefits and mitigate some of the trade-off from bio-production. © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. .",Bio-production from Australian sugarcane: An environmental investigation of product diversification in an agro-industry,journal article,empirical,,Bioenergy; Biomaterials,Bioenergy; Biomaterials,LCA,"land use, water use, eutrophication and biogeochemical flows; eutrophication and biogeochemical flows","land use, water use, eutrophication and biogeochemical flows",
10.5194/esd-6-745-2015,21904979,,['EART'],"Olin, S.;Lindeskog, M.;Pugh, T. A.M.;Schurgers, G.;Wärlind, D.;Mishurov, M.;Zaehle, S.;Stocker, B. D.;Smith, B.;Arneth, A.",2015,Earth System Dynamics,0,"Croplands are vital ecosystems for human well-being and provide important ecosystem services such as crop yields, retention of nitrogen and carbon storage. On large (regional to global)-scale levels, assessment of how these different services will vary in space and time, especially in response to cropland management, are scarce. We explore cropland management alternatives and the effect these can have on future C and N pools and fluxes using the land-use-enabled dynamic vegetation model LPJ-GUESS (Lund-Potsdam-Jena General Ecosystem Simulator). Simulated crop production, cropland carbon storage, carbon sequestration and nitrogen leaching from croplands are evaluated and discussed. Compared to the version of LPJ-GUESS that does not include land-use dynamics, estimates of soil carbon stocks and nitrogen leaching from terrestrial to aquatic ecosystems were improved. Our model experiments allow us to investigate trade-offs between these ecosystem services that can be provided from agricultural fields. These trade-offs are evaluated for current land use and climate and further explored for future conditions within the two future climate change scenarios, RCP (Representative Concentration Pathway) 2.6 and 8.5. Our results show that the potential for carbon sequestration due to typical cropland management practices such as no-till management and cover crops proposed in previous studies is not realised, globally or over larger climatic regions. Our results highlight important considerations to be made when modelling C-N interactions in agricultural ecosystems under future environmental change and the effects these have on terrestrial biogeochemical cycles.",Soil carbon management in large-scale Earth system modelling: Implications for crop yields and nitrogen leaching,journal article,empirical,,CDR,SCS,"Vegetation modelling, Land use modelling",eutrophication and biogeochemical flows,eutrophication and biogeochemical flows,
10.1002/2016EF000469,,,"['ENVI', 'EART']","Boysen, Lena R.;Lucht, Wolfgang;Gerten, Dieter;Heck, Vera;Lenton, Timothy M.;Schellnhuber, Hans Joachim",2017,Earth's Future,climate change | climate-engineering | Terrestrial carbon dioxide removal,"Massive near-term greenhouse gas emissions reduction is a precondition for staying “well below 2°C” global warming as envisaged by the Paris Agreement. Furthermore, extensive terrestrial carbon dioxide removal (tCDR) through managed biomass growth and subsequent carbon capture and storage is required to avoid temperature “overshoot” in most pertinent scenarios. Here, we address two major issues: First, we calculate the extent of tCDR required to “repair” delayed or insufficient emissions reduction policies unable to prevent global mean temperature rise of 2.5°C or even 4.5°C above pre-industrial level. Our results show that those tCDR measures are unable to counteract “business-as-usual” emissions without eliminating virtually all natural ecosystems. Even if considerable (Representative Concentration Pathway 4.5 [RCP4.5]) emissions reductions are assumed, tCDR with 50% storage efficiency requires >1.1 Gha of the most productive agricultural areas or the elimination of >50% of natural forests. In addition, >100 MtN/yr fertilizers would be needed to remove the roughly 320 GtC foreseen in these scenarios. Such interventions would severely compromise food production and/or biosphere functioning. Second, we reanalyze the requirements for achieving the 160–190 GtC tCDR that would complement strong mitigation action (RCP2.6) in order to avoid 2°C overshoot anytime. We find that a combination of high irrigation water input and/or more efficient conversion to stored carbon is necessary. In the face of severe trade-offs with society and the biosphere, we conclude that large-scale tCDR is not a viable alternative to aggressive emissions reduction. However, we argue that tCDR might serve as a valuable “supporting actor” for strong mitigation if sustainable schemes are established immediately.",The limits to global-warming mitigation by terrestrial carbon removal,journal article,empirical,,CDR,BECCS,Vegetation modelling,"biodiversity and ecosystem functioning, land use, water use","biodiversity and ecosystem functioning, land use, water use",
10.1111/gcbb.12467,17571693,,"['AGRI', 'ENER', 'AGRI', 'ENVI']","Snäll, Tord;Johansson, Victor;Jönsson, Mari;Ortiz, Carina;Hammar, Torun;Caruso, Alexandro;Svensson, Måns;Stendahl, Johan",2017,GCB Bioenergy,deadwood | epixylic lichens | harvest residues | life cycle assessment | metapopulation dynamics | net global temperature change,"To replace fossil fuel and thereby mitigate climate change, harvesting of wood such as stumps for bioenergy will likely increase. Coarse deadwood is an important resource for biodiversity and stumps comprise the main part of the coarse deadwood in managed forests. We provide the first integrated analysis of the long-term climate and biodiversity impacts of a whole landscape. We simultaneously project climate and biodiversity impacts of harvesting stumps to substitute for fossil coal, assuming scenarios with different proportions of the landscape with stump harvest (10, 50, 80%) the coming 50 years. A life cycle approach was used to calculate future global temperature changes and future metapopulation changes in six epixylic lichens. Metapopulation dynamics were projected using colonization and extinction models based on times series data. Harvesting stumps from ≥50% of the clear-cut forest land benefits climate with a net global temperature reduction >0.5·10−9K ha−1 after 50 years if assuming substitution of fossil coal. For all scenarios, using stump bioenergy leads to immediate (within 1 year) reductions in temperature of 50% compared to using fossil coal, increasing to 70% reduction after 50 years. However, large-scale stump harvest inflicted substantial metapopulation declines for five of six lichens. High stump harvest levels (≥50%) put common lichens at risk of becoming red-listed following the IUCN criteria. The net temperature reduction (cooling effect) from substituting fossil coal with stumps harvested for bioenergy increased over time, while lichen metapopulations stabilized at lower equilibria after two to three decades. This indicates that trade-offs between climate and metapopulations of commons species are transient, where climate benefits become more prevalent in the long term. As both objectives are important for meeting (inter-)national climate and biodiversity targets, integrated analyses such as this should be encouraged and urged to guide policymaking about large-scale implementation of stump harvest.",Transient trade-off between climate benefit and biodiversity loss of harvesting stumps for bioenergy,journal article,empirical,,Bioenergy,Bioenergy,LCA,biodiversity and ecosystem functioning,biodiversity and ecosystem functioning,
10.1111/gcbb.12471,17571693,,"['AGRI', 'ENER', 'AGRI', 'ENVI']","Fertitta-Roberts, Cara;Spatari, Sabrina;Grantz, David A.;Jenerette, G. Darrel",2017,GCB Bioenergy,air and water pollutant loads | biofuel sustainability | cellulosic ethanol | energy yield | environmental impacts | feedstock management | GHG intensity | life cycle assessment (LCA) | nitrogen use efficiency,"Greenhouse gas (GHG) intensity is frequently used to assess the mitigation potential of biofuels; however, failure to quantify other environmental impacts may result in unintended consequences, effectively shifting the environmental burden of fuel production rather than reducing it. We modeled production of E85, a gasoline/ethanol blend, from forage sorghum (Sorghum bicolor cv. photoperiod LS) grown, processed, and consumed in California's Imperial Valley in order to evaluate the influence of nitrogen (N) management on well-to-wheel (WTW) environmental impacts from cellulosic ethanol. We simulated 25 N management scenarios varying application rate, application method, and N source. Life cycle environmental impacts were characterized using the EPA's criteria for emissions affecting the environment and human health. Our results suggest efficient use of N is an important pathway for minimizing WTW emissions on an energy yield basis. Simulations in which N was injected had the highest nitrogen use efficiency. Even at rates as high as 450 kg N ha−1, injected N simulations generated a yield response sufficient to outweigh accompanying increases in most N-induced emissions on an energy yield basis. Thus, within the biofuel life cycle, trade-offs across productivity, GHG intensity, and pollutant loads may be possible to avoid at regional to global scales. However, trade-offs were seemingly unavoidable when impacts from E85 were compared to those of conventional gasoline. The GHG intensity of sorghum-derived E85 ranged from 29 to 44 g CO2 eq MJ−1, roughly 1/3 to 1/2 that of gasoline. Conversely, emissions contributing to local air and water pollution tended to be substantially higher in the E85 life cycle. These adverse impacts were strongly influenced by N management and could be partially mitigated by efficient application of N fertilizers. Together, our results emphasize the importance of minimizing on-farm emissions in maximizing both the environmental benefits and profitability of biofuels.","Trade-offs across productivity, GHG intensity, and pollutant loads from second-generation sorghum bioenergy",journal article,empirical,,Bioenergy,Bioenergy,LCA,"air pollution, water use","air pollution, water use",
10.1111/gcb.16364,13541013,,"['ENVI', 'ENVI', 'ENVI', 'ENVI']","Mazziotta, Adriano;Lundström, Johanna;Forsell, Nicklas;Moor, Helen;Eggers, Jeannette;Subramanian, Narayanan;Aquilué, Núria;Morán-Ordóñez, Alejandra;Brotons, Lluís;Snäll, Tord",2022,Global Change Biology,bioeconomy | bioenergy | boreal forest | climate change | ecosystem services | EU biodiversity strategy | EU forest strategy | GLOBIOM | natural climate solutions,"To reach the Paris Agreement, societies need to increase the global terrestrial carbon sink. There are many climate change mitigation solutions (CCMS) for forests, including increasing bioenergy, bioeconomy, and protection. Bioenergy and bioeconomy solutions use climate-smart, intensive management to generate high quantities of bioenergy and bioproducts. Protection of (semi-)natural forests is a major component of “natural climate solution” (NCS) since forests store carbon in standing biomass and soil. Furthermore, protected forests provide more habitat for biodiversity and non-wood ecosystem services (ES). We investigated the impacts of different CCMS and climate scenarios, jointly or in isolation, on future wood ES, non-wood ES, and regulating ES for a major wood provider for the international market. Specifically, we projected future ES given by three CCMS scenarios for Sweden 2020–2100. In the long term, fulfilling the increasing wood demand through bioenergy and bioeconomy solutions will decrease ES multifunctionality, but the increased stand age and wood stocks induced by rising greenhouse gas (GHG) concentrations will partially offset these negative effects. Adopting bioenergy and bioeconomy solutions will have a greater negative impact on ES supply than adopting NCS. Bioenergy or bioeconomy solutions, as well as increasing GHG emissions, will reduce synergies and increase trade-offs in ES. NCS, by contrast, increases the supply of multiple ES in synergy, even transforming current ES trade-offs into future synergies. Moreover, NCS can be considered an adaptation measure to offset negative climate change effects on the future supplies of non-wood ES. In boreal countries around the world, forestry strategies that integrate NCS more deeply are crucial to ensure a synergistic supply of multiple ES.",More future synergies and less trade-offs between forest ecosystem services with natural climate solutions instead of bioeconomy solutions,journal article,empirical,,Bioenergy,Bioenergy,Forestry modelling,biodiversity and ecosystem functioning,biodiversity and ecosystem functioning,
10.1007/s11367-021-01914-0,,,,"Liu, Haoyu;Zhang, Chen;Tian, Hailin;Li, Lanyu;Wang, Xiaonan;Qiu, Tong",2021,International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment,Bio-jet fuel | Castor | Hydrogen | Jatropha | Life cycle analysis | Scenario analysis | Techno-economic analysis,"Purpose: Bio-jet fuel derived from energy crops has been promoted by governments around the world through policies such as the Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation. The environmental impact and techno-economic analysis of bio-jet fuel are particularly pertinent to China because China is under huge pressure to reduce emissions, endeavouring to meet bio-economic goals. Methods: An LCA study was conducted on the production of bio-jet fuel from jatropha and castor by estimating the well-to-wake emissions and its economic impact. The functional unit was 1 MJ of bio-jet fuel, and field survey data was used in inventory analysis. A scenario analysis was performed to measure diverse conditions, including the planting conditions, planting regions, allocation methods, and hydrogen sources. A techno-economic analysis that combined the production costs and co-product credits was performed to calculate the minimum bio-jet fuel selling price (MJSP) based on a plant capacity of 2400 metric tonnes of feedstock per day. Results and discussion: Compared to the environmental impacts to the fossil jet fuel, the use of biofuel would reduce the majority environmental impacts by 36–85%, when a 1:1 displacement of fossil jet fuel is considered, though the human toxicity potential impact was 100% higher. The scenario analysis indicated that (i) planting castor in harsh and unevenly distributed conditions and jatropha in stable or fertile conditions can leverage their respective advantage; (ii) the global warming potential (GWP) from castor planting in the region of north-east China ranges from 34 to 48 g CO2 eq/MJ; (iii) the GWP produced through the steam methane reforming process can be reduced by 16–17%, using advances in technological processes. The MJSP for fuel produced from jatropha and castor under the basic scenario is estimated to be 5.68 and 4.66 CNY/kg, respectively, which falls within the current market price range of 4.5–7.5 CNY/kg. Conclusions: Bio-jet fuel from jatropha and castor oilseeds offers potential environmental benefits if they can reduce fossil jet fuel on an energy-equivalent basis. However, these benefits are likely to be reduced by the rebound effect of the fuel market. Future research is needed to better understand the magnitude of the rebound effect in China and what policy interventions can be implemented to alleviate it. Scenario analysis demonstrated the feasibility and potential of bio-jet fuel development from multiple perspectives and technological progress are conducive to the realization of environmental protection policies.",Environmental and techno-economic analyses of bio-jet fuel produced from jatropha and castor oilseeds in China,journal article,empirical,,Bioenergy,Bioenergy,LCA,human toxicity,human toxicity,
10.1016/j.jclepro.2016.07.195,9596526,,"['ENER', 'ENVI', 'BUSI', 'ENGI']","Seghetta, Michele;Hou, Xiaoru;Bastianoni, Simone;Bjerre, Anne Belinda;Thomsen, Marianne",2016,Journal of Cleaner Production,Biomaterials | Bioethanol | Life cycle assessment | Macroalgal biorefinery | Protein | Seaweed,"Seaweed is a key biomass for the development of a Biomaterials because it contains valuable components such as proteins, sugars, nitrogen and phosphorus. This paper analyses innovative offshore seaweed cultivation for the production of biorefinery feedstock. The biomass is converted into three products: bioethanol, liquid fertilizer and protein-rich ingredient for fish feed. We performed comparative life cycle assessment of a base case and six alternative production scenarios in order to maximize the benefits and minimize the trade-offs in environmental performance of future macroalgal biorefineries (MABs). The results show that the base case provides a net reduction in climate change factors, i.e. −0.1·102 kg CO2 eq. per ha of sea cultivated despite a cumulative net energy demand of 3.9·104 MJ/ha, 13% of which originates from fossil sources. Regarding the environmental performance of the system, we obtained a reduction in marine eutrophication of −16.3 kg N eq./ha, thanks to bioextraction of nitrogen. For the base case the net impact on human toxicity (carcinogenic effects) was 2.1·10−4 comparative toxic units per ha of cultivation. The increase in human toxicity is seven times greater than the system can deal with, however reduction of materials for the cultivation lines, i.e. iron ballast, reduces human toxicity to 0.2·10−5 comparative toxic units. Externalities from the use of biofertilizer affect the non-carcinogenic effects of the system, resulting in 20.3·10−4 comparative toxic units per ha. Hotspots in the value chain show that biomass productivity is the main constraint against being competitive with other energy and protein producing technologies. Minor changes in plant design, i.e. use of stones instead of iron as ballast to weight the seeded lines, dramatically reduces human toxicity (cancer). Including engineered ecosystem services in the LCA significantly improves the results. As such, an increase in soil carbon stock represents 15% of the climate change mitigation provided by the MAB system. The study shows that MABs can contribute to a regenerative circular economy through environmental restoration and climate mitigation.","Life cycle assessment of macroalgal biorefinery for the production of ethanol, proteins and fertilizers – A step towards a regenerative bioeconomy",journal article,empirical,,Bioenergy; Biomaterials,Bioenergy; Biomaterials,LCA,human toxicity; human toxicity,human toxicity,
10.1016/j.jclepro.2014.05.011,9596526,,"['ENER', 'ENVI', 'BUSI', 'ENGI']","Gilpin, Geoffrey;Hanssen, Ole Jørgen;Czerwinski, Jan",2014,Journal of Cleaner Production,Advanced exhaust aftertreatment | Biodiesel | EU policy | Trade-off,"EU directives promoting the measures of biofuels and advanced exhaust aftertreatment systems aim to mitigate global warming and air pollution, respectively; however, in addition to these claimed benefits, what trade-off effects arise from combining these measures? Based on new-vehicle emissions data for EU road-freight transport combining RME biodiesel, selective catalytic reduction (SCR), and diesel particulate filter (DPF), we determine well-to-wheel (WTW), tank-to-wheel (TTW), and well-to-tank (WTT) greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions as well as the regulated emissions of NOx, PM, CO, and NMHC. In comparing results, we draw three conclusions: First, vehicles fuelled by RME biodiesel have reduced WTW GHG emissions and NMHC emissions, but have slight increases in WTW emissions of NOx, PM, and CO. Second, vehicles fitted with SCR and DPF have reduced WTW emissions of NOx, PM, CO, and NMHC, but have slight increases in WTW GHG emissions. Third, we conclude that although the measures are independently successful at achieving their specific goals, their combination decreases some of these benefits. Only through improved testing, assessment methods, and transparency can we fully understand the interrelation of mitigation measures, and apply this understanding to policy aimed at reducing the overall environmental and social impacts of transport. © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. .",Biodiesel's and advanced exhaust aftertreatment's combined effect on global warming and air pollution in EU road-freight transport,journal article,empirical,,Bioenergy,Bioenergy,LCA,air pollution,air pollution,
10.1016/j.jclepro.2015.06.048,9596526,,"['ENER', 'ENVI', 'BUSI', 'ENGI']","Sundseth, Kyrre;Lopez-Aparicio, Susana;Sundvor, Ingrid",2015,Journal of Cleaner Production,Acetaldehyde | Air pollution | Bioethanol | Climate mitigation | Economic valuation | Vehicle transport,"This paper describes the impact pathway approach for estimating an economic value of pollution effects of acetaldehyde (CH3CHO) associated with bioethanol vehicle transport in Oslo as a climate policy. The approach rests on results obtained in an innovative measurement campaign and by means of air pollution dispersion-models, followed by an impact assessment and economic valuation of the potential externalities. This makes a state-of-the-art methodological technique to reach greater knowledge on the economic costs of urban air quality impacts resulting as a side effect of climate change policy. The social economic costs estimated in this paper are then compared to likely social economic benefits (i.e. avoided social economic damage cost) of reduced nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and carbon dioxide-(CO2) emissions. The carcinogenic risk from long-term inhalation exposure to acetaldehyde emissions, leads in this paper to a moderate cost estimate associated with the combustion of bioethanol in vehicles in Oslo. Productivity and welfare loss is the dominant cost component, whereas the direct medical costs constitutes only a small part of the total social economic costs. The costs however, expect to be significantly lower than the combined economic benefits from reduced emissions of target compounds, such as carbon dioxide and nitrogen dioxide.",Bioethanol vehicle transport in Oslo as climate policy: what are the social economic costs resulting from acetaldehyde pollution effects?,journal article,empirical,,Bioenergy,Bioenergy,"Atmospheric modelling, Monetary valuation",human toxicity,human toxicity,
10.1890/12-0711.1,10510761,,['ENVI'],"Anderson-Teixeira, Kristina J.;Duval, Benjamin D.;Long, Stephen P.;Delucia, Evan H.",2012,Ecological Applications,"Bioenergy feedstocks | Biofuels | Biomass yield | Climate mitigation | Ecosystem services | Greenhouse gas value, GHGV | Land sharing vs | Land sparing | Land use | Sustainability | Trade-offs","Widespread land use changes, and ensuing effects on ecosystem services, are expected from expanding bioenergy production. Although most U.S. production of ethanol is from corn, it is envisaged that future ethanol production will also draw from cellulosic sources such as perennial grasses. In selecting optimal bioenergy crops, there is debate as to whether it is preferable from an environmental standpoint to cultivate bioenergy crops with high ecosystem services (a ""land-sharing"" strategy) or to grow crops with lower ecosystem services but higher yield, thereby requiring less land to meet bioenergy demand (a ""land-sparing"" strategy). Here, we develop a simple model to address this question. Assuming that bioenergy crops are competing with uncultivated land, our model calculates land requirements to meet a given bioenergy demand intensity based upon the yields of bioenergy crops. The model combines fractional land cover of each ecosystem type with its associated ecosystem services to determine whether land-sharing or land-sparing strategies maximize ecosystem services at the landscape level. We apply this model to a case in which climate protection through GHG regulation-an ecosystem's greenhouse gas value (GHGV)-is the ecosystem service of interest. Our results show that the relative advantages of land sparing and land sharing depend upon the type of ecosystem displaced by the bioenergy crop; as the GHGV of the unfarmed land increases, the preferable strategy shifts from land sharing to land sparing. Although it may be preferable to replace ecologically degraded land with high-GHGV, lower yielding bioenergy crops, average landscape GHGV will most often be maximized through highyielding bioenergy crops that leave more land for uncultivated, high-GHGV ecosystems. Although our case study focuses on GHGV, the same principles will be applicable to any ecosystem service whose value does not depend upon the spatial configuration of the landscape. Whenever bioenergy crops have substantially lower ecosystem services than the ecosystems with which they are competing for land, the most effective strategy for meeting bioenergy demand while maximizing ecosystem services on a landscape level is one of land sparing: focusing simultaneously on maximizing the yield of bioenergy crops while preserving or restoring natural ecosystems. © 2012 by the Ecological Society of America.","Biofuels on the landscape: Is ""land sharing"" preferable to ""land sparing""?",journal article,empirical,,Bioenergy,Bioenergy,Land use modelling,"land use, biodiversity and ecosystem functioning","land use, biodiversity and ecosystem functioning",
10.1016/j.jenvman.2016.04.019,3014797,,"['ENVI', 'ENVI', 'ENVI']","Wolf, Christian;Klein, Daniel;Richter, Klaus;Weber-Blaschke, Gabriele",2016,Journal of Environmental Management,Energy | Environmental impact | Greenhouse gas | Heat | LCA | Wood,"Solid Biofuels, i.e. wood, play an important role in present and future national and global climate change mitigation policies. Wood energy, while displaying favorable properties for the mitigation of climate change also exhibits several drawbacks, such as potentially high emission of particulate matter. To assess the environmental effects of shifts in the heating mix, emission factors of the comprising energy carriers and the Bavarian heating mix were determined. Through the application of regionalized substitution percentiles the environmental effects caused by shifts in the amount of final energy provided by solid biofuels could be identified. For this purpose, four scenarios, based on political and scientific specifications were assessed. In 2011 a total amount of 663.715 TJ of final energy was used for the provision of heat in Bavaria, with solid biofuels exhibiting the third largest share of 12.6% (83% of renewable heat). Environmental effects were evaluated through life cycle assessments assessing the impact categories of Global Warming (GW), Particulate Matter emissions (PM), Freshwater Eutrophication (ET) and Acidification (AC). Additionally, the non-renewable primary energy consumption (PE) was analyzed. The heating mix in Bavaria (Baseline) causes emissions of 49.6 Mt CO2-eq. * yr-1(GW), 14.555 t of PM2.5-eq. * yr-1 (PM), 873.4 t P-eq. * yr-1 (ET), and 82.299 kmol H+ eq. * yr-1 (AC), for which 721,745 TJ of primary energy were expended. Current policies entail a GHG reduction potential of approximately 1 Mt CO2-eq. * yr-1 while increasing the amount of energy wood by 15%. The maximum, hypothetical share of solid biofuels of the heating mix cannot surpass 25%, while the climate change mitigation performance of the current use of solid biofuels is approximately 6.4 Mt CO2-eq. * yr-1. GHG-emissions would be 13% higher and PM emissions 77% lower without this energetic use of wood. Furthermore, our calculations allow for new specified displacement factors through energy substitution, based on the current wood energy mix for regionalized conditions.",Environmental effects of shifts in a regional heating mix through variations in the utilization of solid biofuels,journal article,empirical,,Bioenergy,Bioenergy,LCA,"air pollution, eutrophication and biogeochemical flows","air pollution, eutrophication and biogeochemical flows",
10.1111/j.1530-9290.2009.00149.x,10881980,,"['ENVI', 'SOCI']","Bright, Ryan M.;Strømman, Anders Hammer",2009,Journal of Industrial Ecology,Biochemical | Biofuels | Cellulosic ethanol | Industrial ecology | Thermochemical | Wood,"The boreal forests of Scandinavia offer a considerable resource base, and use of the resource for the production of less carbon-intensive alternative transport fuel is one strategy being considered in Norway. Here, we quantify the resource potential and investigate the environmental implications of woodbased transportation relative to a fossil reference system for a specific region in Norway. We apply a well-to-wheel life cycle assessment to evaluate four E85 production system designs based on two distinct wood-to-ethanol conversion technologies. We form best and worst case scenarios to assess the sensitivity of impact results through the adjustment of key parameters, such as biomass-to-ethanol conversion efficiency and upstream biomass transport distance. Depending on the system design, global warming emission reductions of 46% to 68% per-MJ-gasoline avoided can be realized in the region, along with reductions in most of the other environmental impact categories considered. We find that the region's surplus forest-bioenergy resources are vast; use for the production of bioethanol today would have resulted in the displacement of 55% to 68% of the region's gasoline-based global warming emission-or 6% to 8% of Norway's total global warming emissions associated with road transportation. © 2009 by Yale University.",Life cycle assessment of second generation bioethanols produced from scandinavian Boreal forest resources a regional analysis for middle Norway,journal article,empirical,,Bioenergy,Bioenergy,LCA,"acidification, eutrophication and biogeochemical flows",,
10.1111/jiec.13083,10881980,,"['ENVI', 'SOCI']","Wietschel, Lars;Messmann, Lukas;Thorenz, Andrea;Tuma, Axel",2021,Journal of Industrial Ecology,bioeconomy | environmental benefits | industrial ecology | multi-objective optimization | network planning | second-generation bioethanol,"The use of agricultural residues for the generation of bioethanol has the potential to substitute fuels such as petrol or first-generation bioethanol and thereby generate environmental benefits. Scientific research in this field typically confines the environmental dimension to global warming, disregarding other environmental impact and damage categories. By multi-criteria mixed-integer linear programming, this work examines environmental benefits and economic viability of optimal second-generation bioethanol production network configurations to substitute petrol and/or first-generation bioethanol in the EU. The results comprise environmentally optimal decisions for 18 impact and 3 damage categories, as well as economically optimal solutions for different excise and carbon tax scenarios. The impact categories global warming potential, particulate matter, and land use are affected the most. Optimal network decisions for different environmental objectives can be clustered into three groups of mutual congruencies, but opportunity costs between the different groups can be very high, indicating conflicting decisions. The decision to substitute petrol or first-generation ethanol has the greatest influence. The results of the multi-dimensional analysis suggest that the damage categories human health and ecosystem quality are suitable to unveil tradeoffs between conflicting environmental impacts, for example, global warming and land use. Taking human health and ecosystem quality as environmental decision criteria, second-generation bioethanol should be used to concurrently substitute first-generation bioethanol and petrol (100% and 18% of today's demand in the EU, respectively). However, economic optimization shows that with current taxation, bioethanol is hardly competitive with petrol, and that excise tax abatement or carbon taxes are needed to achieve these volumes. This article met the requirements for a gold-gold JIE data openness badge described at http://jie.click/badges.",Environmental benefits of large-scale second-generation bioethanol production in the EU: An integrated supply chain network optimization and life cycle assessment approach,journal article,empirical,,Bioenergy,Bioenergy,LCA,"acidification, air pollution, human toxicity, land use, water use","acidification, air pollution, human toxicity, land use, water use",
10.1016/j.ecolecon.2010.05.013,9218009,,"['ENVI', 'ECON']","Chisholm, Ryan A.",2010,Ecological Economics,Afforestation | Carbon sequestration | Fynbos | Pinus radiata | Trade-offs between ecosystem services | Water resources,"Carbon sequestration by afforestation can help mitigate global climate change but may have adverse environmental and economic impacts in some regions. For example, economic incentives for carbon sequestration may encourage the expansion of Pinus radiata timber plantations in the Fynbos biome of South Africa, with negative consequences for water supply and biodiversity. I built a dynamic ecological-economic model to investigate whether afforestation of a Fynbos catchment with Pinus radiata is economically viable when the potential benefits of carbon sequestration and timber production are balanced against the losses to water supply. I found that afforestation appears viable to the forestry industry under current water tariffs and current carbon accounting legislation, but would appear unviable if the forestry industry were to pay the true cost of water used by the plantations. I also found that under various plausible future economic scenarios, afforestation can be associated with either large future economic gains or losses, suggesting a need for future analyses based on branches of decision theory that deal with severe uncertainty. I conclude with a general recommendation that climate legislation should be explicit about the conditions under which afforestation for carbon sequestration of native vegetation is a legitimate climate mitigation strategy. © 2010 Elsevier B.V.",Trade-offs between ecosystem services: Water and carbon in a biodiversity hotspot,journal article,empirical,,CDR,ARR,"Economic modelling, Forestry modelling",water use,water use,
10.1016/j.ecolecon.2022.107363,9218009,,"['ENVI', 'ECON']","Cano-Rodríguez, Sara;Rubio-Varas, Mar;Sesma-Martín, Diego",2022,Ecological Economics,Carbon emissions | Decarbonization | Environmental impacts | Spain | Thermoelectricity sector | Water consumption,"The energy sector is the main contributor to greenhouse gas emissions and one of the thirstiest sectors worldwide. Within the energy sector, thermoelectricity directly impacts on both emissions and water. This study assesses the evolution of the direct CO2 emissions and operational water consumption of the Spanish thermoelectricity generation from 1969 to 2019. Both carbon emissions and water consumption correlate over time, led by the trends in total thermal generation, although over the past half century, water requirements swelled far more than carbon emissions. This results in a long-term trade-off between carbon emissions and consumptive water use in relative terms: while the CO2 per thermal MWh generated halved since 1969 in Spain, the operational water consumption per MWh of thermoelectricity generated more than doubled due to switching from coal burning to nuclear and combined cycle technologies. We find no real trade-off in absolute levels. Although moving towards smaller environmental impacts since the mid-2000s, thermoelectricity remains one of the largest carbon emitters while becoming one of thirstiest energy technologies in Spain.","At the crossroad between green and thirsty: Carbon emissions and water consumption of Spanish thermoelectricity generation, 1969–2019",journal article,empirical,,Low carbon electricity,Low carbon electricity,Energy system modelling,water use,water use,
10.1038/s41893-018-0181-2,,,"['ENVI', 'AGRI', 'SOCI', 'ENVI', 'ENER', 'SOCI', 'ENVI', 'ENVI']","Cavalett, Otavio;Cherubini, Francesco",2018,Nature Sustainability,0,"With limited decarbonization options in the aviation sector, renewable jet fuels produced from biomass resources represent a promising opportunity. However, potential implications of their deployment on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) remain largely unexplored. We introduce an approach for SDG analysis based on life-cycle impact assessment methods. We show that climate action benefits of renewable jet fuels produced from forest residues available in Norway are larger in the medium/longer term than the shorter term, but they increase pressure on other SDGs—mainly SDGs 2, 3, 6, 11, 12 and 14—especially for alcohol-to-jet fuel technology. Most of these adverse side-effects are alleviated with technological and supply-chain improvements. Environmental sustainability analysis can identify both synergies (mitigation options that co-deliver across SDGs) and trade-offs between climate change mitigation and the SDGs, thereby supporting their early management and mitigation.",Contribution of jet fuel from forest residues to multiple Sustainable Development Goals,journal article,empirical,,Bioenergy,Bioenergy,LCA,"acidification, air pollution, eutrophication and biogeochemical flows, ecotoxicity, human toxicity, water use","acidification, air pollution, eutrophication and biogeochemical flows, ecotoxicity, human toxicity, water use",
10.1088/1748-9326/ab59c4,17489318,,"['ENER', 'ENVI', 'MEDI']","Liu, Jing Yu;Fujimori, Shinichiro;Takahashi, Kiyoshi;Hasegawa, Tomoko;Wu, Wenchao;Takakura, Jun’ya;Masui, Toshihiko",2019,Environmental Research Letters,2°C goal | China | climate policy | Integrated Assessment Model (IAM) | sustainability | sustainable development goals (SDGs) | trade-offs and co-benefits,"The Paris Agreement set long-term global climate goals to pursue stabilization of the global mean temperature increase at below 2 oC (the so-called 2 oC goal). Individual countries submitted their own short-term targets, mostly for the year 2030. Meanwhile, the UN’s sustainable development goals (SDGs) were designed to help set multiple societal goals with respect to socioeconomic development, the environment, and other issues. Climate policies can lead to intended or unintended consequences in various sectors, but these types of side effects rarely have been studied in China, where climate policies will play an important role in global greenhouse gas emissions and sustainable development is a major goal. This study identified the extent to which climate policies in line with the 2 �C goal could have multi-sectoral consequences in China. Carbon constraints in China in the 2Deg scenario are set to align with the global 2 �C target based on the emissions per capita convergence principle. Carbon policies for NDC pledges as well as policies in China regarding renewables, air pollution control, and land management were also simulated. The results show that energy security and air quality have co-benefits related to climate policies, whereas food security and land resources experienced negative side effects (trade-offs). Near-term climate actions were shown to help reduce these trade-offs in the mid-term. A policy package that included food and land subsidies also helped achieve climate targets while avoiding the adverse side effects caused by the mitigation policies. The findings should help policymakers in China develop win-win policies that do not negatively affect some sectors, which could potentially enhance their ability to take climate actions to realize the global 2 �C goal within the context of sustainable development.",Identifying trade-offs and co-benefits of climate policies in China to align policies with SDGs and achieve the 2 oC goal,journal article,empirical,,Carbon pricing,Carbon pricing,IAM,land use,land use,
10.1016/j.apenergy.2019.113483,3062619,,"['ENGI', 'ENER', 'ENGI', 'ENVI']","Yang, Bo;Wei, Yi Ming;Hou, Yunbing;Li, Hui;Wang, Pengtao",2019,Applied Energy,Biomass | CCS | Co-firing | Environmental impact | LCA,"As a carbon-neutral renewable energy source, biomass co-firing with coal contributes to reducing the carbon intensity of pulverized coal power plants with CO2 capture and storage; thus, this process significantly reduces the greenhouse gas emissions of the power industry. However, various types of environmental impacts caused by co-firing have hindered the large-scale deployment of this technology. In this study, ten life cycle assessment models were developed based on the Integrated Environmental Control Model and GaBi software to quantify the performance parameters of different power plants and the influence of the co-firing ratio on various environmental impact categories. The system boundaries included raw material acquisition, raw material transport, energy conversion of power plants, CCS and brine treatment. The results indicated that a pulverized biomass/coal co-firing power plant with CCS can achieve near-zero emissions at a co-firing ratio of 25% and negative emissions of 877 kg CO2-e/MWh from a life-cycle perspective when coal is totally replaced. Co-firing biomass and coal in power plants has a passive impact on seven environmental categories, such as the eutrophication potential and toxicity potential, rather than on the global warming potential, abiotic resource depletion potential and acidification potential. The major causes of environmental burden shifting are energy penalties and indirect emissions from high-energy-consumption processes, especially emissions of N2O, NH3 and ethylene oxide released during biomass extraction and solvent preparation. The conclusions and recommendations presented in this paper may have implications for deep decarbonization in other industrial sectors.",Life cycle environmental impact assessment of fuel mix-based biomass co-firing plants with CO2 capture and storage,journal article,empirical,,CDR,BECCS,LCA,"eutrophication and biogeochemical flows, human toxicity, ecotoxicity","eutrophication and biogeochemical flows, human toxicity, ecotoxicity",
10.3390/en14051301,,,"['ENER', 'ENER', 'ENER', 'ENER', 'MATH', 'ENGI']","Junne, Tobias;Cao, Karl Kiên;Miskiw, Kim Kira;Hottenroth, Heidi;Naegler, Tobias",2021,Energies,Energy system modeling | Life cycle assessment | Multi-objective optimization,"We integrate life cycle indicators for various technologies of an energy system model with high spatiotemporal detail and a focus on Europe and North Africa. Using multi-objective optimization, we calculate a pareto front that allows us to assess the trade-offs between system costs and life cycle greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of future power systems. Furthermore, we perform environmental ex-post assessments of selected solutions using a broad set of life cycle impact categories. In a system with the least life cycle GHG emissions, the costs would increase by ~63%, thereby reducing life cycle GHG emissions by ~82% compared to the cost-optimal solution. Power systems mitigating a substantial part of life cycle GHG emissions with small increases in system costs show a trend towards a deployment of wind onshore, electricity grid and a decline in photovoltaic plants and Li-ion storage. Further reductions are achieved by the deployment of concentrated solar power, wind offshore and nuclear power but lead to considerably higher costs compared to the cost-optimal solution. Power systems that mitigate life cycle GHG emissions also perform better for most impact categories but have higher ionizing radiation, water use and increased fossil fuel demand driven by nuclear power. This study shows that it is crucial to consider upstream GHG emissions in future assessments, as they represent an inheritable part of total emissions in ambitious energy scenarios that, so far, mainly aim to reduce direct CO2 emissions.",Considering life cycle greenhouse gas emissions in power system expansion planning for europe and north africa using multi-objective optimization,journal article,empirical,,Low carbon electricity,Low carbon electricity,"LCA, Energy system modelling","human toxicity, water use, land use","human toxicity, water use, land use",
10.1016/j.renene.2022.03.150,9601481,,['ENER'],"Welfle, Andrew;Röder, Mirjam",2022,Renewable Energy,Bioenergy | Biomass | Mapping | Modelling | SDGs | Sustainability,"Demand for biomass resources will continue to grow as bioenergy is increasingly targeted within energy strategies. Sustainability is a primary issue for large scale bioenergy, with potential to generate both risks and benefits for people, development, natural systems and for climate change – this balance of risks and benefits determining overall sustainability performance. A new sustainability mapping framework is introduced that provides a flexible tool (BSIM) to map the performances of biomass resources, supply chains, technologies and/or whole value chains against 126 indicators of sustainability. Sustainability maps are developed and assessments undertaken for case studies in the UK and Colombia. This research finds sustainability of bioenergy covers far more issues than those targeted within legislation – where land, carbon and biodiversity are prioritised. Mapping sustainability is a valuable tool to identify the leading risks and benefits to enable targeted actions to mitigate risks and to maximise and promote benefits. Mapping sustainability at different resolutions and analysing the trade-offs enables greater rationalisation of potential risks through also identifying the potential broader benefits gained. Bioenergy is intrinsically linked to the SDGs more so than other renewable technologies and should be used as a mechanism to drive sustainable development.","Mapping the sustainability of bioenergy to maximise benefits, mitigate risks and drive progress toward the Sustainable Development Goals",journal article,empirical,,Bioenergy,Bioenergy,Unclear methods,"land use, biodiversity and ecosystem functioning, water use","land use, ecosystem damage, water use, ",
10.1016/j.renene.2017.06.073,9601481,,['ENER'],"Somorin, Tosin Onabanjo;Di Lorenzo, Giuseppina;Kolios, Athanasios J.",2017,Renewable Energy,Diesel engines | Environmental impact assessment | Gas turbines | Independent power generation | Jatropha curcas,"Insufficient available energy has limited the economic growth of Nigeria. The country suffers from frequent power outages, and inconvenient black–outs while residents and industries are forced to depend on self-generated electricity. Life-cycle assessment methodology was used to assess the environmental burdens associated with self-generated electricity (SGE) and proposed embedded power generation in Nigeria. The study shows that SGE from 5 kVA diesel generators contributes to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of 1625 kg CO2 eq./MWh, along with other environmental burdens. Based on a point estimate of diesel electric generators in Nigeria, SGE can contribute 389 million tonnes CO2 eq. to climate change every year. This can reposition Nigeria as one of the top 20 emitters of CO2 globally. A mandatory diesel fuel displacement with Jatropha biodiesel can reduce annual GHG emissions from SGE by 76% provided combined cycle power plants are adopted for embedded power generation. The magnitude of these benefits would depend on material inputs, seed yield as well as the environmental status of the reference fuel. Minimal use of fertilizers, chemicals and resources and fossil fuel substitution with renewable options can minimize adverse environmental burdens.",Life-cycle assessment of self-generated electricity in Nigeria and Jatropha biodiesel as an alternative power fuel,journal article,empirical,,Bioenergy,Bioenergy,LCA,"eutrophication and biogeochemical flows, mineral and metal depletion,  air pollution, ecotoxicity, acidification",,
10.3390/en14061560,,,"['ENER', 'ENER', 'ENER', 'ENER', 'MATH', 'ENGI']","Xu, Lei;Wang, Zongfei;Yilmaz, Hasan Ümitcan;Poganietz, Witold Roger;Ren, Hongtao;Guo, Ying",2021,Energies,Climate change | Electricity system model | LCA | Metal depletion | Multi-criteria analysis | System expenditures,"The transformation of the European electricity system could generate unintended environment-related trade-offs, e.g., between greenhouse gas emissions and metal depletion. The question thus emerges, how to shape policy packages considering climate change, but without neglecting other environmental and resource-related impacts. In this context, this study analyzes the impacts of different settings of potential policy targets using a multi-criteria analysis in the frame of a coupled energy system and life cycle assessment model. The focus is on the interrelationship between climate change and metal depletion in the future European decarbonized electricity system in 2050, also taking into account total system expenditures of transforming the energy system. The study shows, firstly, that highly ambitious climate policy targets will not allow for any specific resource policy targets. Secondly, smoothing the trade-off is only possible to the extent of one of the policy targets, whereas, thirdly, the potential of recycling as a techno-economic option is limited.",Considering the impacts of metal depletion on the european electricity system,journal article,empirical,,Low carbon electricity,Low carbon electricity,"LCA, Energy system modelling","mineral and metal depletion, unspecified environmental effects of mining","mineral and metal depletion, unspecified environmental effects of mining",
10.1016/j.apenergy.2020.115884,3062619,,"['ENGI', 'ENGI', 'ENER', 'ENVI']","Bello, Sara;Galán-Martín, Ángel;Feijoo, Gumersindo;Moreira, Maria Teresa;Guillén-Gosálbez, Gonzalo",2020,Applied Energy,Bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS) | Carbon-negative biofuel | Cradle-to-wheel | Life cycle assessment | Lignocellulosic bioethanol | Negative emission technologies,"Bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS) is gaining broad interest as an effective strategy to go beyond carbon neutrality. So far, most of the work on BECCS focused on power systems, while its application to the transport sector has received much less attention. To contribute to filling this gap, this work investigates the potential of BECCS as a carbon-negative strategy in the transport sector by applying process modelling and life cycle assessment (LCA) to bioethanol production from lignocellulosic waste. The process was analyzed following a cradle-to-wheel approach, i.e., from biomass growth to the combustion of biofuel in the cars, assuming that the CO2 emitted in the fermentation and cogeneration units is captured, compressed and transported to be stored permanently in geological sites. Several scenarios differing in the bioethanol-gasoline blends (10–85% bioethanol) were considered for a functional unit of 1 km of distance travelled, comparing with fossil-based gasoline. Our results show that blends above 85% (ethanol/gasoline) could have the potential to deliver a net-negative emissions balance of −2.74 kg CO2 eq per 100 km travelled and up to −5.05 kg CO2 eq per 100 km using a low carbon electricity source. The final amount of net CO2 removal is highly dependent on the carbon intensity of the electricity and the heating utilities. Biofuels blends could, however, lead to burden-shifting in eutrophication, ozone depletion and formation, toxicity, land use, and water consumption. This work highlights the potential of BECCS in the transport sector, and the need to analyze impacts beyond climate change in future studies to avoid shifting burdens to other categories.",BECCS based on bioethanol from wood residues: Potential towards a carbon-negative transport and side-effects,journal article,empirical,,CDR,BECCS,LCA,"eutrophication and biogeochemical flows, air pollution, human toxicity, ecotoxicity, land use, water use","eutrophication and biogeochemical flows, air pollution, human toxicity, ecotoxicity, land use, water use",
10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.136696,489697,,"['ENVI', 'ENVI', 'ENVI', 'ENVI']","Capaz, Rafael S.;de Medeiros, Elisa M.;Falco, Daniela G.;Seabra, Joaquim E.A.;Osseweijer, Patricia;Posada, John A.",2020,Science of the Total Environment,Aviation biofuels | Environmental trade-offs | Life cycle assessment | Residual feedstocks | Soybean | Sugarcane,"The use of renewable jet fuels (RJFs) is an option for meeting the greenhouse gases (GHG) reduction targets of the aviation sector. Therefore, most of the studies have focused on climate change indicators, but other environmental impacts have been disregarded. In this paper, an attributional life cycle assessment is performed for ten RJF pathways in Brazil, considering the environmental trade-offs between climate change and seven other categories, i.e., fossil depletion, terrestrial acidification, eutrophication, human and environmental toxicity, and air quality-related categories, such as particulate matter and photochemical oxidant formation. The scope includes sugarcane and soybean for first-generation (1G) pathways and residual materials (wood and sugarcane residues, beef tallow, and used cooking oil-UCO) for second-generation (2G) pathways. Three certified technologies to produce RJF are considered: hydroprocessed esters and fatty acids (HEFA), alcohol-to-jet (ATJ), and Fischer-Tropsch (FT). Assuming the residual feedstocks as wastes or by-products, the 2G pathways are evaluated by two different approaches, in which the biomass sourcing processes are either accounted for or not. Results show that 1G pathways lead to significant GHG reductions compared to fossil kerosene from 55% (soybean/HEFA) to 65% (sugarcane/ATJ). However, the sugarcane-based pathway generated three-fold higher values than fossil kerosene for terrestrial acidification and air quality impacts, and seven-fold for eutrophication. In turn, soybean/HEFA caused five-fold higher levels of human toxicity. For 2G pathways, when the residual feedstock is assumed to be waste, the potential GHG emission reduction is over 74% with no relevant trade-offs. On the other hand, if the residual feedstocks are assumed as valuable by-products, tallow/HEFA becomes the worst option and pathways from sugarcane residues, even providing a GHG reduction of 67% to 94%, are related to higher impacts than soybean/HEFA for terrestrial acidification and air quality. FT pathways represent the lowest impacts for all categories within both approaches, followed by UCO/HEFA.",Environmental trade-offs of renewable jet fuels in Brazil: Beyond the carbon footprint,journal article,empirical,,Bioenergy,Bioenergy,LCA,"acidification, air pollution, human toxicity, eutrophication and biogeochemical flows",,
10.1016/j.spc.2020.03.006,,,"['ENVI', 'ENVI', 'ENER', 'ENGI']","Jaroenkietkajorn, Ukrit;Gheewala, Shabbir H.",2020,Sustainable Production and Consumption,Oil palm plantation | Quantitative nexus results | Water-Food-Energy nexus,"Biofuels for use in on-road transportation have been promoted in Thailand over the past decade to reduce dependence on imported fossil resources as well as possibly reducing greenhouse gas emissions. This has led to an increase in production of biodiesel which is produced from palm oil. However, as palm oil is also used for food, it is important to take this into consideration as well. Also, oil palm cultivation is rather water-intensive. Hence, it is necessary to analyze the interlinkage between water, food, and energy to have a holistic understanding and prevent trade-offs when addressing one issue in isolation. The water-energy-food nexus for oil palm cultivation in Thailand has been conducted following two widely used methods, the Water-Food-Energy Nexus (WFEN) and Water-Energy-Food (WEF) nexus assessment method. The results are demonstrated as a single score, which is easier for suggesting a suitable area for oil palm plantation. The assessment indicates the southern region of Thailand is the most suitable for oil palm plantation. The recommendation is consistent with the suggestion of the government, based on land and climate suitability. However, this study considers more comprehensive aspects including various other environmental aspects. Oil palm cultivation mainly relates to the amount of freshwater consumption, leading to the increment of fuel consumption for pumping water. On the other hand, the effectiveness of fresh fruit bunch yield (for food and energy production) should be developed in the future. Besides, the results recommend the central region for the expansion of oil palm cultivation in the future because of the availability of a good irrigation infrastructure.",Interlinkage between water-energy-food for oil palm cultivation in Thailand,journal article,empirical,,Bioenergy,Bioenergy,Unclear methods,water use,,
10.1016/j.spc.2020.03.004,,,"['ENVI', 'ENVI', 'ENER', 'ENGI']","Lecksiwilai, Naruetep;Gheewala, Shabbir H.",2020,Sustainable Production and Consumption,"Biofuel | Life Cycle Assessment | Policy-weighting, Normalization, Thai Eco Scarcity method","Biofuels have often been considered to have an advantage towards global warming but have caused controversy over competition for the limited availability of natural resources and the adverse impacts on other environmental aspects. This study evaluates the environmental benefits and impacts of biofuels in Thailand by using life cycle assessment with the Thai Eco Scarcity method derived from existing policies in Thailand. The assessment results showed that E85 (85% ethanol from cassava blended with 15% gasoline) and palm biodiesel had 95% and 43% higher impacts than their fossil fuel counterparts. The evaluation of biodiesel and ethanol revealed many trade-offs between environmental impacts; for example between fossil energy resources and other natural resources i.e. freshwater and land, and also between global (greenhouse gas emissions) and local impacts (pesticides). The importance of using the life cycle thinking concept which avoids problem shifting between impacts and between life cycle stages was also revealed. This is a crucial message in policy-making which has largely equated environmental impacts with greenhouse gas emissions leading to unintended consequences on other impacts. As anticipated, both biofuels perform much better than their fossil counterparts when considering greenhouse gas emissions and fossil energy resources. However, including other impact categories, particularly land and freshwater resources, pesticides use and mineral resources completely reverses the comparison, with the fossil counterparts ending up with better environmental profiles. Using a policy-based life cycle impact assessment method reveals comparative results and trade-offs on a single scale which can be easily understood by the policy-makers.",Life cycle assessment of biofuels in Thailand: Implications of environmental trade-offs for policy decisions,journal article,empirical,,Bioenergy,Bioenergy,LCA,"land use, water use, air pollution","land use, water use, air pollution",
10.1007/s10640-017-0117-8,9246460,,"['ECON', 'ENVI']","Bonilla, Jorge;Coria, Jessica;Sterner, Thomas",2018,Environmental and Resource Economics,Climate change | Directional distance function | Environmental policies | Local pollution | Policy interactions | Shadow pricing,"In this paper, we explore the synergies and tradeoffs between abatement of global and local pollution. We build a unique dataset of Swedish combined heat and power plants with detailed boiler-level data 2001–2009 on not only production and inputs but also on emissions of CO 2 and NO x. Both pollutants are regulated by strict policies in Sweden. CO 2 is subject to the European Union Emission Trading Scheme and Swedish carbon taxes; NO x—as a precursor of acid rain and eutrophication—is regulated by a heavy fee. Using a quadratic directional output distance function, we characterize changes in technical efficiency as well as patterns of substitutability in response to the policies mentioned. The fact that generating units face a trade-off between the pollutants indicates the need for policy coordination.",Technical Synergies and Trade-Offs Between Abatement of Global and Local Air Pollution,journal article,empirical,,Carbon pricing,Carbon pricing,Economic modelling,air pollution,air pollution,
10.1038/s41467-020-18342-7,2041-1723,,,"Engström, Gustav; Gars, Johan; Krishnamurthy, Chandra; Spiro, Daniel; Calel, Raphael; Lindahl, Therese; Narayanan, Badri",2020,Nature Communications,"Environmental economics, Climate-change mitigation, Climate-change policy","Human activities are threatening to push the Earth system beyond its planetary boundaries, risking catastrophic and irreversible global environmental change. Action is urgently needed, yet well-intentioned policies designed to reduce pressure on a single boundary can lead, through economic linkages, to aggravation of other pressures. In particular, the potential policy spillovers from an increase in the global carbon price onto other critical Earth system processes has received little attention to date. To this end, we explore the global environmental effects of pricing carbon, beyond its effect on carbon emissions. We find that the case for carbon pricing globally becomes even stronger in a multi-boundary world, since it can ameliorate many other planetary pressures. It does however exacerbate certain planetary pressures, largely by stimulating additional biofuel production. When carbon pricing is allied with a biofuel policy, however, it can alleviate all planetary pressures.",Carbon pricing and planetary boundaries,journal article,empirical,,Carbon pricing,Carbon pricing,IAM,"land use, water use","land use, water use",
10.1016/j.enpol.2012.10.075,3014215,,"['ENER', 'ENVI']","Åström, Stefan;Tohka, Antti;Bak, Jesper;Lindblad, Maria;Arnell, Jenny",2013,Energy Policy,Air pollution | Climate change | Energy policy,"This article presents results from a meta-study of Nordic low carbon dioxide (CO2) emission scenarios. The focus of the study was to explore possible environmental impacts if selected Nordic low CO2 emission scenarios were achieved by 2020. The impacts of concern were climate change, acidification, eutrophication and human health. Results from this study indicate that large scale reduction of CO2 emissions by 2020 in a Nordic energy system requires large scale penetration of technical measures and structural changes. The environmental improvements achieved would most often facilitate achievement of air pollution targets as well as post-Kyoto targets for greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. All scenarios do, however, not imply co-benefits between air pollution and CO2 emission reductions and the net impact on climate change could be smaller than anticipated. A conclusion is that co-benefits and risks for trade-offs between air quality and climate change should be emphasised in the development of low-CO2 energy and emission strategies. © 2012 Elsevier Ltd.",Potential impact on air pollution from ambitious national CO2 emission abatement strategies in the Nordic countries - environmental links between the UNFCCC and the UNECE - CLRTAP,journal article,empirical,,Bioenergy,Bioenergy,IAM,air pollution,air pollution,
10.1038/s41467-019-13241-y,2041-1723,,,"Ohashi, Haruka; Hasegawa, Tomoko; Hirata, Akiko; Fujimori, Shinichiro; Takahashi, Kiyoshi; Tsuyama, Ikutaro; Nakao, Katsuhiro; Kominami, Yuji; Tanaka, Nobuyuki; Hijioka, Yasuaki; Matsui, Tetsuya",2019,Nature Communications,"Climate-change impacts, Socioeconomic scenarios, Ecological modelling, Macroecology","Limiting the magnitude of climate change via stringent greenhouse gas (GHG) mitigation is necessary to prevent further biodiversity loss. However, some strategies to mitigate GHG emission involve greater land-based mitigation efforts, which may cause biodiversity loss from land-use changes. Here we estimate how climate and land-based mitigation efforts interact with global biodiversity by using an integrated assessment model framework to project potential habitat for five major taxonomic groups. We find that stringent GHG mitigation can generally bring a net benefit to global biodiversity even if land-based mitigation is adopted. This trend is strengthened in the latter half of this century. In contrast, some regions projected to experience much growth in land-based mitigation efforts (i.e., Europe and Oceania) are expected to suffer biodiversity loss. Our results support the enactment of stringent GHG mitigation policies in terms of biodiversity. To conserve local biodiversity, however, these policies must be carefully designed in conjunction with land-use regulations and societal transformation in order to minimize the conversion of natural habitats.",Biodiversity can benefit from climate stabilization despite adverse side effects of land-based mitigation,journal article,empirical,only,Carbon pricing,Carbon pricing,Global IAM,"biodiversity and ecosystem functioning, land use","biodiversity and ecosystem functioning, land use",
10.1002/wcc.486,17577780,,"['ENVI', 'SOCI', 'EART']","Essl, Franz;Erb, Karl Heinz;Glatzel, Stephan;Pauchard, Aníbal",2018,Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Climate Change,0,"Fundamental economic and societal transformations are necessary to avoid dangerous climate change. One broad policy approach that addresses the close relationship between conservation and climate change mitigation is based on correcting a market failure, that is, to establish a price signal for carbon, or more generally, greenhouse gas emissions. While many synergies between climate policy instruments and biodiversity conservation do exist, current policies often fall short of harvesting this potential. Here, we present six key challenges: (1) establishing a strong price signal for greenhouse gas emissions from all emission sources (including land-use and the terrestrial biosphere) that takes into account long-term societal and ecological costs; (2) expand carbon market instruments to cover the full range of greenhouse gases; (3) develop an ambitious, yet accountable architecture for rising emission prices; (4) develop guidelines and ensure enforcement to avoid greenhouse gas leakage; (5) improve greenhouse gas emission measurements from land-use and the biosphere; and (6) integrate emission reduction as a priority into relevant policies. Substantial synergies, but also trade-offs between climate policy and conservation exist, and we identify key risks and challenges. We call for (1) evidence-based evaluations of policy options; (2) avoiding too narrow framings of contested issues such as forest plantations, biofuels, or land-use decisions that exclude (or downplay) indirect effects (e.g., indirect land-use changes or creating carbon debts); and (3) strengthening integrated analyzes beyond sector policy goals. We conclude that avoiding bio-perverse impacts of climate policies on biodiversity will be crucial for the success of global climate change mitigation. WIREs Clim Change 2018, 9:e486. doi: 10.1002/wcc.486. This article is categorized under: Climate, Ecology, and Conservation > Conservation Strategies.","Climate change, carbon market instruments, and biodiversity: focusing on synergies and avoiding pitfalls",journal article,empirical,,Carbon pricing,Carbon pricing,Synthesis of previous literature with analysis,biodiversity and ecosystem functioning,biodiversity and ecosystem functioning,
10.1088/1748-9326/8/1/014009,,,"['ENER', 'ENVI', 'MEDI']","Köhler, Peter;Abrams, Jesse F.;Völker, Christoph;Hauck, Judith;Wolf-Gladrow, Dieter A.",2013,Environmental Research Letters,carbon cycle | enhanced weathering | geoengineering | marine biology | ocean alkalinization | ocean fertilization | olivine,"Ongoing global warming induced by anthropogenic emissions has opened the debate as to whether geoengineering is a 'quick fix' option. Here we analyse the intended and unintended effects of one specific geoengineering approach, which is enhanced weathering via the open ocean dissolution of the silicate-containing mineral olivine. This approach would not only reduce atmospheric CO2 and oppose surface ocean acidification, but would also impact on marine biology. If dissolved in the surface ocean, olivine sequesters 0.28 g carbon per g of olivine dissolved, similar to land-based enhanced weathering. Silicic acid input, a byproduct of the olivine dissolution, alters marine biology because silicate is in certain areas the limiting nutrient for diatoms. As a consequence, our model predicts a shift in phytoplankton species composition towards diatoms, altering the biological carbon pumps. Enhanced olivine dissolution, both on land and in the ocean, therefore needs to be considered as ocean fertilization. From dissolution kinetics we calculate that only olivine particles with a grain size of the order of 1 μm sink slowly enough to enable a nearly complete dissolution. The energy consumption for grinding to this small size might reduce the carbon sequestration efficiency by ∼30%. © 2013 IOP Publishing Ltd.","Geoengineering impact of open ocean dissolution of olivine on atmospheric CO2, surface ocean pH and marine biology",journal article,empirical,,CDR,Oceanic alkalinity enhancement,Earth system modelling,marine environment,marine environment,
10.1088/1748-9326/9/3/035004,,,"['ENER', 'ENVI', 'MEDI']","Kicklighter, D. W.;Cai, Y.;Zhuang, Q.;Parfenova, E. I.;Paltsev, S.;Sokolov, A. P.;Melillo, J. M.;Reilly, J. M.;Tchebakova, N. M.;Lu, X.",2014,Environmental Research Letters,biofuels | carbon sequestration | climate policy | climatechange effects | economic feedbacks | landcover change | landuse change,"Climate change will alter ecosystem metabolism and may lead to a redistribution of vegetation and changes in fire regimes in Northern Eurasia over the 21st century. Land management decisions will interact with these climate-driven changes to reshape the region's landscape. Here we present an assessment of the potential consequences of climate change on land use and associated land carbon sink activity for Northern Eurasia in the context of climate-induced vegetation shifts. Under a 'business-as-usual' scenario, climate-induced vegetation shifts allow expansion of areas devoted to food crop production (15%) and pastures (39%) over the 21st century. Under a climate stabilization scenario, climate-induced vegetation shifts permit expansion of areas devoted to cellulosic biofuel production (25%) and pastures (21%), but reduce the expansion of areas devoted to food crop production by 10%. In both climate scenarios, vegetation shifts further reduce the areas devoted to timber production by 6-8% over this same time period. Fire associated with climate-induced vegetation shifts causes the region to become more of a carbon source than if no vegetation shifts occur. Consideration of the interactions between climate-induced vegetation shifts and human activities through a modeling framework has provided clues to how humans may be able to adapt to a changing world and identified the trade-offs, including unintended consequences, associated with proposed climate/energy policies. © 2014 IOP Publishing Ltd.",Potential influence of climate-induced vegetation shifts on future land use and associated land carbon fluxes in Northern Eurasia,journal article,empirical,,Carbon pricing,Carbon pricing,"Economic modelling, Ecological modelling",land use,land use,
10.1088/1748-9326/ab9966,17489318,,"['ENER', 'ENVI', 'MEDI']","Fujimori, Shinichiro;Hasegawa, Tomoko;Takahashi, Kiyoshi;Dai, Hancheng;Liu, Jing Yu;Ohashi, Haruka;Xie, Yang;Zhang, Yanxu;Matsui, Tetsuya;Hijioka, Yasuaki",2020,Environmental Research Letters,extreme precipitation | precipitation climatology | precipitation sensors | spaceborne radar | weather radar,"Synergies and trade-offs exist between climate mitigation actions and target indicators of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Some studies have assessed such relationships, but the degree of such interaction remains poorly understood. Here, we show the SDG implications associated with CO2 emissions reductions. We developed 'marginal SDG-emissions-reduction values (MSVs)', which represent the marginal impacts on SDG indicators caused by a unit CO2 emissions reduction. This metric is applicable to national assessments and was applied to Asia. We found clear relationships between CO2 emissions reduction rates and many SDG targets. For instance, 1% reduction of CO2 can avoid 0.57% of air pollution-related premature deaths (SDG3), whereas the mean species richness (SDG15) is decreased by 0.026% with the same reduction (not including climate change impacts). Our findings are useful for assessing the SDG implications associated with CO2 emissions reduction targets, which will help inform national climate policies.",Measuring the sustainable development implications of climate change mitigation,journal article,empirical,,Carbon pricing,Carbon pricing,IAM,biodiversity and ecosystem functioning,biodiversity and ecosystem functioning,
10.1088/1748-9326/11/9/095010,17489318,,"['ENER', 'ENVI', 'MEDI']","Boysen, L. R.;Lucht, W.;Gerten, D.;Heck, V.",2016,Environmental Research Letters,bioenergy | carbon sequestration | climate change | climate engineering | vegetation modeling,"Large-scale biomass plantations (BPs) are often considered a feasible and safe climate engineering proposal for extracting carbon from the atmosphere and, thereby, reducing global mean temperatures. However, the capacity of such terrestrial carbon dioxide removal (tCDR) strategies and their larger Earth system impacts remain to be comprehensively studied - even more so under higher carbon emissions and progressing climate change. Here, we use a spatially explicit process-based biosphere model to systematically quantify the potentials and trade-offs of a range of BP scenarios dedicated to tCDR, representing different assumptions about which areas are convertible. Based on a moderate CO2 concentration pathway resulting in a global mean warming of 2.5 °C above preindustrial level by the end of this century - similar to the Representative Concentration Pathway (RCP) 4.5 - we assume tCDR to be implemented when a warming of 1.5 °C is reached in year 2038. Our results show that BPs can slow down the progression of increasing cumulative carbon in the atmosphere only sufficiently if emissions are reduced simultaneously like in the underlying RCP4.5 trajectory. The potential of tCDR to balance additional, unabated emissions leading towards a business-as-usual pathway alike RCP8.5 is therefore very limited. Furthermore, in the required large-scale applications, these plantations would induce significant trade-offs with food production and biodiversity and exert impacts on forest extent, biogeochemical cycles and biogeophysical properties.",Impacts devalue the potential of large-scale terrestrial CO2 removal through biomass plantations,journal article,empirical,,CDR,BECCS,Vegetation modelling,"land use, water use, eutrophication and biogeochemical flows, biodiversity and ecosystem functioning","land use, water use, eutrophication and biogeochemical flows, biodiversity and ecosystem functioning",
10.1016/j.eiar.2022.106942,1959255,,"['SOCI', 'ENVI', 'ENVI']","Iordan, Cristina Maria;Giroux, Baptiste;Næss, Jan Sandstad;Hu, Xiangping;Cavalett, Otávio;Cherubini, Francesco",2023,Environmental Impact Assessment Review,Abandoned cropland | Bioenergy | LCA | Negative emissions | Perennial grasses | SOC,"Cultivating perennial grasses on abandoned cropland for bioenergy production is a promising option to meet future renewable energy demands at lower risks for food security and environmental degradation. Studies on the potential environmental impacts of perennial grasses mostly focus on specific locations, while effects and potentials of a large-scale deployment on abandoned cropland are still unexplored. This work performs a spatially explicit life cycle assessment of agricultural production of three perennial grasses (miscanthus, switchgrass, and reed canary grass) on abandoned cropland in Europe under rainfed and irrigated conditions. We estimate the primary bioenergy potentials and potential environmental impacts on climate change (including soil organic carbon changes), freshwater and marine eutrophication, terrestrial acidification, fossil resource scarcity and water scarcity footprint. Under rainfed conditions, switchgrass has the largest supply potential (174 MtDM yr−1) while miscanthus has the lowest average climate impact (169 kg CO2 tDM−1). Irrigation increases biomass yields by 97% for miscanthus, 62% for switchgrass and 29% for reed canary grass, but climate change impacts per tDM increase by 24%, 32% and 44%. Water scarcity footprints also increase, ranging from 4.7 to 9 world m3eq. kgDM−1. When soil organic carbon changes are considered, the net climate effects turn to negative for all perennial grasses under rainfed conditions (and for miscanthus with irrigation as well), showing a potential for land-based negative emissions by storing carbon in soils while delivering renewable energy. Bioenergy potentials range between 1 and 7 EJyr−1 (corresponding to 1–10% of today's EU primary energy demand) and the scale of negative emissions can be up to −24 Mt. CO2-eq. yr−1 (equal to 5.6% of EU's agricultural sector emissions). The consideration of site-specific conditions for water supply and crop affinity can identify the best local agricultural practices for energy yields and negative emissions at reduced environmental trade-offs.","Energy potentials, negative emissions, and spatially explicit environmental impacts of perennial grasses on abandoned cropland in Europe",journal article,empirical,,Bioenergy; CDR,Bioenergy; ARR,"LCA, Land use modelling","acidification, eutrophication and biogeochemical flows, water use; acidification, eutrophication and biogeochemical flows, water use","acidification, eutrophication and biogeochemical flows, water use; acidification, eutrophication and biogeochemical flows, water use",
10.1088/1748-9326/ac8e89,17489318,,"['ENER', 'ENVI', 'MEDI']","Dimitrova, Asya;Marois, Guillaume;Kiesewetter, Gregor;Rafaj, Peter;Pachauri, Shonali;KC, Samir;Olmos, Sergio;Rasella, Davide;Tonne, Cathryn",2022,Environmental Research Letters,air pollution | climate change mitigation | co-benefits | India | projection | stunting,"Many children in India face the double burden of high exposure to ambient (AAP) and household air pollution, both of which can affect their linear growth. Although climate change mitigation is expected to decrease AAP, climate policies could increase the cost of clean cooking fuels. Here, we develop a static microsimulation model to project the air pollution-related burden of child stunting in India up to 2050 under four scenarios combining climate change mitigation (2 °C target) with national policies for AAP control and subsidised access to clean cooking. We link data from a nationally representative household survey, satellite-based estimates of fine particulate matter (PM2.5), a multi-dimensional demographic projection and PM2.5 and clean cooking access projections from an integrated assessment model. We find that the positive effects on child linear growth from reductions in AAP under the 2 °C Paris Agreement target could be fully offset by the negative effects of climate change mitigation through reduced clean cooking access. Targeted AAP control or subsidised access to clean cooking could shift this trade-off to result in net benefits of 2.8 (95% uncertainty interval [UI]: 1.4, 4.2) or 6.5 (UI: 6.3, 6.9) million cumulative prevented cases of child stunting between 2020-50 compared to business-as-usual. Implementation of integrated climate, air quality, and energy access interventions has a synergistic impact, reducing cumulative number of stunted children by 12.1 (UI: 10.7, 13.7) million compared to business-as-usual, with the largest health benefits experienced by the most disadvantaged children and geographic regions. Findings underscore the importance of complementing climate change mitigation efforts with targeted air quality and energy access policies to concurrently deliver on carbon mitigation, health and air pollution and energy poverty reduction goals in India.","Projecting the impact of air pollution on child stunting in India—synergies and trade-offs between climate change mitigation, ambient air quality control, and clean cooking access",journal article,empirical,,Carbon pricing,Carbon pricing,Economic modelling,air pollution,air pollution,
10.5194/hess-18-2859-2014,1027-5606,,,"Hejazi, M. I.; Edmonds, J.; Clarke, L.; Kyle, P.; Davies, E.; Chaturvedi, V.; Wise, M.; Patel, P.; Eom, J.; Calvin, K.",2014,Hydrology and Earth System Sciences,,"Water scarcity conditions over the 21st century both globally and regionally are assessed in the context of climate change and climate mitigation policies, by estimating both water availability and water demand within the Global Change Assessment Model (GCAM), a leading community-integrated assessment model of energy, agriculture, climate, and water. To quantify changes in future water availability, a new gridded water-balance global hydrologic model – namely, the Global Water Availability Model (GWAM) – is developed and evaluated. Global water demands for six major demand sectors (irrigation, livestock, domestic, electricity generation, primary energy production, and manufacturing) are modeled in GCAM at the regional scale (14 geopolitical regions, 151 sub-regions) and then spatially downscaled to 0.5° × 0.5° resolution to match the scale of GWAM. Using a baseline scenario (i.e., no climate change mitigation policy) with radiative forcing reaching 8.8 W m<sup>−2</sup> (equivalent to the SRES A1Fi emission scenario) and three climate policy scenarios with increasing mitigation stringency of 7.7, 5.5, and 4.2 W m<sup>−2</sup> (equivalent to the SRES A2, B2, and B1 emission scenarios, respectively), we investigate the effects of emission mitigation policies on water scarcity. Two carbon tax regimes (a universal carbon tax (UCT) which includes land use change emissions, and a fossil fuel and industrial emissions carbon tax (FFICT) which excludes land use change emissions) are analyzed. The baseline scenario results in more than half of the world population living under extreme water scarcity by the end of the 21st century. Additionally, in years 2050 and 2095, 36% (28%) and 44% (39%) of the global population, respectively, is projected to live in grid cells (in basins) that will experience greater water demands than the amount of available water in a year (i.e., the water scarcity index (WSI) > 1.0). When comparing the climate policy scenarios to the baseline scenario while maintaining the same baseline socioeconomic assumptions, water scarcity declines under a UCT mitigation policy but increases with a FFICT mitigation scenario by the year 2095, particularly with more stringent climate mitigation targets. Under the FFICT scenario, water scarcity is projected to increase, driven by higher water demands for bio-energy crops.</p>",Integrated assessment of global water scarcity over the 21st century under multiple climate change mitigation policies,journal article,empirical,,Carbon pricing,Carbon pricing,"IAM, Hydrological modelling",water use,water use,
10.1088/1748-9326/acc9d4,1748-9326,,,"Fakhraee, Mojtaba; Li, Zijian; Planavsky, Noah J.; Reinhard, Christopher T.",2023,Environmental Research Letters,,"Minimizing anthropogenic climate disruption in the coming century will likely require carbon dioxide removal (CDR) from Earth’s atmosphere in addition to deep and rapid cuts to greenhouse gas emissions. Ocean alkalinity enhancement—the modification of surface ocean chemistry to drive marine uptake of atmospheric CO2—is seen as a potentially significant component of ocean-based CDR portfolios. However, there has been limited mechanistic exploration of the large-scale CDR potential of mineral-based ocean alkalinity enhancement, potential bottlenecks in alkalinity release, and the biophysical impacts of alkaline mineral feedstocks on marine ecology and the marine biological carbon pump. Here we a series of biogeochemical models to evaluate the gross CDR potential and environmental impacts of ocean alkalinity enhancement using solid mineral feedstocks. We find that natural alkalinity sources—basalt and olivine—lead to very low CDR efficiency while strongly perturbing marine food quality and fecal pellet production by marine zooplankton. Artificial alkalinity sources—the synthetic metal oxides MgO and CaO—are potentially capable of significant CDR with reduced environmental impact, but their deployment at scale faces major challenges associated with substrate limitation and process CO2 emissions during feedstock production. Taken together, our results highlight distinct challenges for ocean alkalinity enhancement as a CDR strategy and indicate that mineral-based ocean alkalinity enhancement should be pursued with caution.",A biogeochemical model of mineral-based ocean alkalinity enhancement: impacts on the biological pump and ocean carbon uptake,journal article,empirical,,CDR,Oceanic alkalinity enhancement,Earth system modelling,marine environment,marine environment,
10.1086/703887,23335955,,"['ECON', 'ENVI', 'ENVI']","Linn, Joshua",2019,Journal of the Association of Environmental and Resource Economists,Carbon dioxide | Fuel taxes | Greenhouse gases | Local air quality | Nitrogen oxides | Particulate matter | Passenger cars | Vehicle taxes,"Many European countries have adopted carbon dioxide–based (CO2-based) vehicle taxes to help reduce transportation sector emissions. The literature has shown that these policies reduce CO2 emissions but has not considered whether they affect emissions that harm local air quality. This paper analyzes whether CO2-based taxes have an unintended consequence of raising emissions of nitrogen oxides (NOx) and particulates, which harm local air quality. Using highly detailed data on European new vehicle registrations from 2002 through 2010, I estimate the effects of fuel costs and vehicle taxes on consumer vehicle choices. The CO2-based vehicle taxes reduce CO2 emissions but increase NOx and particulates emissions. The environmental harms from the NOx and particulates emissions roughly offset the benefits of the lower CO2 emissions. Because of the estimated substitution patterns, fuel-based CO2 taxes introduce milder trade-offs than do vehicle taxes.",Interactions between climate and local air pollution policies: The case of european passenger cars,journal article,empirical,,Carbon pricing,Carbon pricing,Economic modelling,air pollution,air pollution,
10.1038/nenergy.2015.10,,,"['MATE', 'ENER', 'ENER', 'ENER']","Cameron, Colin;Pachauri, Shonali;Rao, Narasimha D.;McCollum, David;Rogelj, Joeri;Riahi, Keywan",2016,Nature Energy,0,"Household air pollution from traditional cook stoves presents a greater health hazard than any other environmental factor. Despite government efforts to support clean-burning cooking fuels, over 700 million people in South Asia could still rely on traditional stoves in 2030. This number could rise if climate change mitigation efforts increase energy costs. Here we quantify the costs of support policies to make clean cooking affordable to all South Asians under four increasingly stringent climate policy scenarios. Our most stringent mitigation scenario increases clean fuel costs 38% in 2030 relative to the baseline, keeping 21% more South Asians on traditional stoves or increasing the minimum support policy cost to achieve universal clean cooking by up to 44%. The extent of this increase depends on how policymakers allocate subsidies between clean fuels and stoves. These additional costs are within the range of financial transfers to South Asia estimated in efforts-sharing scenarios of international climate agreements.",Policy trade-offs between climate mitigation and clean cook-stove access in South Asia,journal article,empirical,,Carbon pricing,Carbon pricing,Economic modelling,air pollution,air pollution,
10.1016/j.atmosenv.2010.01.022,13522310,,"['ENVI', 'EART']","Koornneef, Joris;Ramirez, Andrea;van Harmelen, Toon;van Horssen, Arjan;Turkenburg, Wim;Faaij, Andre",2010,Atmospheric Environment,Air pollutants | Air quality | CO  capture and storage 2 | National Emission Ceiling Directive,"This study quantifies the trade-offs and synergies between climate and air quality policy objectives for the European power and heat (P&H) sector. An overview is presented of the expected performance data of CO2 capture systems implemented at P&H plants, and the expected emission of key air pollutants, being: SO2, NOX, NH3, volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and particulate matter (PM). The CO2 capture systems investigated include: post-combustion, oxyfuel combustion and pre-combustion capture. For all capture systems it was found that SO2, NOx and PM emissions are expected to be reduced or remain equal per unit of primary energy input compared to power plants without CO2 capture. Increase in primary energy input as a result of the energy penalty for CO2 capture may for some technologies and substances result in a net increase of emissions per kWh output. The emission of ammonia may increase by a factor of up to 45 per unit of primary energy input for post-combustion technologies. No data are available about the emission of VOCs from CO2 capture technologies. A simple model was developed and applied to analyse the impact of CO2 capture in the European P&H sector on the emission level of key air pollutants in 2030. Four scenarios were developed: one without CO2 capture and three with one dominantly implemented CO2 capture system, varying between: post-combustion, oxyfuel combustion and pre-combustion. The results showed a reduction in GHG emissions for the scenarios with CO2 capture compared to the baseline scenario between 12% and 20% in the EU 27 region in 2030. NOx emissions were 15% higher in the P&H sector in a scenario with predominantly post-combustion and lower when oxyfuel combustion (-16%) or pre-combustion (-20%) were implemented on a large scale. Large scale implementation of the post-combustion technology in 2030 may also result in significantly higher, i.e. increase by a factor of 28, NH3 emissions compared to scenarios with other CO2 capture options or without capture. SO2 emissions were very low for all scenarios that include large scale implementation of CO2 capture in 2030, i.e. a reduction varying between 27% and 41%. Particulate Matter emissions were found to be lower in the scenarios with CO2 capture. The scenario with implementation of the oxyfuel technology showed the lowest PM emissions followed by the scenario with a significant share allocated to pre-combustion, respectively -59% and -31%. The scenario with post-combustion capture resulted in PM emissions varying between 35% reduction and 26% increase. © 2010 Elsevier Ltd. .","The impact of CO2 capture in the power and heat sector on the emission of SO2, NOx, particulate matter, volatile organic compounds and NH3 in the European Union",journal article,empirical,,CCS & CCU,CCS & CCU,IAM,"eutrophication and biogeochemical flows, acidification, air pollution",,
10.5194/esd-10-711-2019,21904979,,['EART'],"Reith, Fabian;Koeve, Wolfgang;Keller, David P.;Getzlaff, Julia;Oschlies, Andreas",2019,Earth System Dynamics,0,"We investigate the climate mitigation potential and collateral effects of direct injections of captured CO2 into the deep ocean as a possible means to close the gap between an intermediate CO2 emissions scenario and a specific temperature target, such as the 1.5 °C target aimed for by the Paris Agreement. For that purpose, a suite of approaches for controlling the amount of direct CO2 injections at 3000m water depth are implemented in an Earth system model of intermediate complexity. Following the representative concentration pathway RCP4.5, which is a medium mitigation CO2 emissions scenario, cumulative CO2 injections required to meet the 1.5 °C climate goal are found to be 390 Gt C by the year 2100 and 1562 Gt C at the end of simulations, by the year 3020. The latter includes a cumulative leakage of 602 GtC that needs to be reinjected in order to sustain the targeted global mean temperature. CaCO3 sediment and weathering feedbacks reduce the required CO2 injections that comply with the 1.5 °C target by about 13% in 2100 and by about 11% at the end of the simulation. With respect to the injection-related impacts we find that average pH values in the surface ocean are increased by about 0.13 to 0.18 units, when compared to the control run. In the model, this results in significant increases in potential coral reef habitats, i.e., the volume of the global upper ocean (0 to 130m depth) with omega aragonite >3.4 and ocean temperatures between 21 and 28 °C, compared to the control run. The potential benefits in the upper ocean come at the expense of strongly acidified water masses at depth, with maximum pH reductions of about -2.37 units, relative to preindustrial levels, in the vicinity of the injection sites. Overall, this study demonstrates that massive amounts of CO2 would need to be injected into the deep ocean in order to reach and maintain the 1.5 °C climate target in a medium mitigation scenario on a millennium timescale, and that there is a trade-off between injection-related reductions in atmospheric CO2 levels accompanied by reduced upper-ocean acidification and adverse effects on deep-ocean chemistry, particularly near the injection sites.",Meeting climate targets by direct CO2 injections: What price would the ocean have to pay?,journal article,empirical,,CCS & CCU,CCS & CCU,Earth system modelling,marine environment,marine environment,
10.1021/acs.est.1c03263,0013936X,,"['CHEM', 'ENVI']","Terlouw, Tom;Treyer, Karin;Bauer, Christian;Mazzotti, Marco",2021,Environmental Science & Technology,carbon dioxide removal (CDR) | direct air carbon capture and storage (DACCS) | life cycle assessment (LCA) | negative emission technologies (NETs),"Direct air carbon capture and storage (DACCS) is an emerging carbon dioxide removal technology, which has the potential to remove large amounts of CO2 from the atmosphere. We present a comprehensive life cycle assessment of different DACCS systems with low-carbon electricity and heat sources required for the CO2 capture process, both stand-alone and grid-connected system configurations. The results demonstrate negative greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions for all eight selected locations and five system layouts, with the highest GHG removal potential in countries with low-carbon electricity supply and waste heat usage (up to 97%). Autonomous system layouts prove to be a promising alternative, with a GHG removal efficiency of 79-91%, at locations with high solar irradiation to avoid the consumption of fossil fuel-based grid electricity and heat. The analysis of environmental burdens other than GHG emissions shows some trade-offs associated with CO2 removal, especially land transformation for system layouts with photovoltaics (PV) electricity supply. The sensitivity analysis reveals the importance of selecting appropriate locations for grid-coupled system layouts since the deployment of DACCS at geographic locations with CO2-intensive grid electricity mixes leads to net GHG emissions instead of GHG removal today.",Life Cycle Assessment of Direct Air Carbon Capture and Storage with Low-Carbon Energy Sources,journal article,empirical,,CDR,DACCS,LCA,"land use, acidification, eutrophication and biogeochemical flows","land use, acidification, eutrophication and biogeochemical flows",
10.1016/j.enpol.2007.01.027,3014215,,"['ENER', 'ENVI']","Tzimas, Evangelos;Mercier, Arnaud;Cormos, Calin Cristian;Peteves, Stathis D.",2007,Energy Policy,Acid gas emissions | Capture ready plant | Carbon capture,"This paper investigates the impact of capture of carbon dioxide (CO2) from fossil fuel power plants on the emissions of nitrogen oxides (NOX) and sulphur oxides (SOX), which are acid gas pollutants. This was done by estimating the emissions of these chemical compounds from natural gas combined cycle and pulverized coal plants, equipped with post-combustion carbon capture technology for the removal of CO2 from their flue gases, and comparing them with the emissions of similar plants without CO2 capture. The capture of CO2 is not likely to increase the emissions of acid gas pollutants from individual power plants; on the contrary, some NOX and SOX will also be removed during the capture of CO2. The large-scale implementation of carbon capture is however likely to increase the emission levels of NOX from the power sector due to the reduced efficiency of power plants equipped with capture technologies. Furthermore, SOX emissions from coal plants should be decreased to avoid significant losses of the chemicals that are used to capture CO2. The increase in the quantity of NOX emissions will be however low, estimated at 5% for the natural gas power plant park and 24% for the coal plants, while the emissions of SOX from coal fired plants will be reduced by as much as 99% when at least 80% of the CO2 generated will be captured. © 2007 Elsevier Ltd. .",Trade-off in emissions of acid gas pollutants and of carbon dioxide in fossil fuel power plants with carbon capture,journal article,empirical,,CCS & CCU,CCS & CCU,Energy system modelling,air pollution,air pollution,
10.1016/j.envint.2014.03.008,1604120,,['ENVI'],"Rodríguez-Romero, Araceli;Basallote, M. Dolores;De Orte, Manoela R.;DelValls, T. Ángel;Riba, Inmaculada;Blasco, Julián",2014,Environment International,Hediste diversicolor | Metal mobility bioaccumulation | Mortality | Sediment toxicity,"To assess the potential effects on metal mobilization due to leakages of CO2 during its injection and storage in marine systems, an experimental set-up was devised and operated, using the polychaete Hediste diversicolor as the model organism. The objective was to study the effects of such leakage in the expected scenarios of pH values between 8.0 and 6.0. Polychaetes were exposed for 10days to seawater with sediment samples collected in two different coastal areas, one with relatively uncontaminated sediment as reference (RSP) and the other with known contaminated sediment (ML), under pre-determined pH conditions. Survival and metal accumulation (Al, Fe, Mn, Cu, Zn, As and Hg) in the whole body of H. diversicolor were employed as endpoints. Mortality was significant at the lowest pH level in the sediment with highest metal concentrations. In general, metal concentrations in tissues of individuals exposed to the contaminated sediment were influenced by pH. These results indicate that ocean acidification due to CO2 leakages would provoke increased metal mobilization, causing adverse side effects in sediment toxicity. © 2014 Elsevier Ltd.",Simulation of CO2 leakages during injection and storage in sub-seabed geological formations: Metal mobilization and biota effects,journal article,empirical,,CCS & CCU,CCS & CCU,Laboratory experiment,ecotoxicity,ecotoxicity,
10.1021/acssuschemeng.2c06724,,,"['CHEM', 'ENVI', 'CENG', 'ENER']","Ioannou, Iasonas;Javaloyes-Antón, Juan;Caballero, José A.;Guillén-Gosálbez, Gonzalo",2023,ACS Sustainable Chemistry and Engineering,Allam cycle | carbon capture and utilization (CCU) | CO  hydrogenation 2 | methanol economy | refinery | residual gas utilization (RGU),"The consequences of global warming call for a shift to circular manufacturing practices. In this context, carbon capture and utilization (CCU) has become a promising alternative toward a low-emitting chemical sector. This study addresses for the first time the design of an integrated CO2 refinery and compares it against the business-as-usual (BAU) counterpart. The refinery, which utilizes atmospheric CO2, comprises three synthesis steps and coproduces liquefied petroleum gas, olefins, aromatics, and methanol using technologies that were so far studied decoupled from each other, hence omitting their potential synergies. Our integrated assessment also considers two residual gas utilization (RGU) designs to enhance the refinery’s efficiency. Our analysis shows that a centralized cluster with an Allam cycle for RGU can drastically reduce the global warming impact relative to the BAU (by ≈135%) while simultaneously improving impacts on human health, ecosystems, and resources, thereby avoiding burden-shifting toward human health previously observed in some CCU routes. These benefits emerge from (i) recycling CO2 from the cycle, amounting to 11.2% of the total feedstock, thus requiring less capture capacity, and (ii) reducing the electricity use while increasing heating as a trade-off. The performance of the integrated refinery depends on the national grid, while its high cost relative to the BAU is due to the use of expensive electrolytic H2 and atmospheric CO2 feedstock. Overall, our work highlights the importance of integrating CCU technologies within chemical clusters to improve their economic and environmental performance further.",Economic and Environmental Performance of an Integrated CO2 Refinery,journal article,empirical,,CCS & CCU,CCS & CCU,LCA,"air pollution, human toxicity",,
10.1016/j.envres.2015.11.006,139351,,"['BIOC', 'ENVI']","Rodríguez-Romero, Araceli;Jiménez-Tenorio, Natalia;Riba, Inmaculada;Blasco, Julián",2016,Environmental Research,Acidification | Carcinus maenas | CO  leakage 2 | Metal accumulation | Sediment toxicity,"The capture and storage of CO2 in sub-seabed geological formations has been proposed as one of the potential options to decrease atmospheric CO2 concentrations in order to mitigate the abrupt and irreversible consequences of climate change. However, it is possible that CO2 leakages could occur during the injection and sequestration procedure, with significant repercussions for the marine environment. We investigate the effects of acidification derived from possible CO2 leakage events on the European green crab, Carcinus maenas. To this end, a lab-scale experiment involving direct release of CO2 was conducted at pH values between 7.7 and 6.15. Female crabs were exposed for 10 days to sediment collected from two different coastal areas, one with relatively uncontaminated sediment (RSP) and the other with known contaminated sediment (MZ and ML), under the pre-established seawater pH conditions. Survival rate, histopathological damage and metal (Fe, Mn, Cu, Zn, Cr, Cd and Pb) and As accumulation in gills and hepatopancreas tissue were employed as endpoints. In addition, the obtained results were compared with the results of the physico-chemical characterization of the sediments, which included the determination of the metals Fe, Mn, Cu, Zn, Cr, Pb and Cd, the metalloid As, certain polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), as well as nonchemical sediment properties (grain size, organic carbon and total organic matter). Significant associations were observed between pH and the histological damage. Concentrations of Fe, Mn, Cr, Pb, Cd and PAHs in sediment, presented significant negative correlations with the damage to gills and hepatopancreas, and positive correlations with metal accumulation in both tissues. The results obtained in this study reveal the importance of sediment properties in the biological effects caused by possible CO2 leakage. However, a clear pattern was not observed between metal accumulation in tissues and pH reduction. Animals' avoidance behavior and degree of tolerance to acidification are confounding factors for assessing metal bioaccumulation. Further research is required to find a suitable assay that would allow us to predict the risk to environmental health of possible negative side effects of metal mobility derived from CO2 leakage during its injection and storage in sub-seabed formations.","Laboratory simulation system, using Carcinus maenas as the model organism, for assessing the impact of CO2 leakage from sub-seabed injection and storage",journal article,empirical,,CCS & CCU,CCS & CCU,Laboratory experiment,marine environment,marine environment,
10.1080/17583004.2015.1039251,17583004,,['ENVI'],"Piewkhaow, Lakkana;Chan, Christine W.;Manuilova, Anastassia;Wilson, Malcolm;Tontiwachwuthikul, Paitoon",2014,Carbon Management,IGCC | Life cycle assessment (LCA) | Post-combustion CO  capture 2 | Pre-combustion CO  capture 2 | Saskatchewan lignite coal,"The methodology of life cycle assessment was applied for evaluating the environmental performance of a Saskatchewan lignite integrated gasification combined cycle (IGCC)-based electricity generation plant with and without the pre-combustion CO2 capture process. A comparison between the IGCC systems (with and without CO2 capture) and the competing lignite pulverized coal electricity generating station was conducted to reveal which technology offers more positive environmental effects. The results showed significant reduction of GHG emissions where both post- and pre-combustion CO2 capture processes are applied. With the application of the CO2 removal technology, GHG emissions were reduced by 27-86%. The performances of the IGCC systems were superior to those of the pulverized coal systems. However, in terms of other environmental impacts, multiple environmental trade-offs are involved depending on the capture technology. For the postcombustion CO2 capture process system, it was observed that the environmental impact was shifted from the air compartment to the soil and water compartments. The IGCC systems showed the same tendency of shifting from air pollution to soil and water pollution, but the amount of pollution is less significant. This is likely because the IGCC system operates at higher efficiencies; hence, it requires less fuel and produces fewer emissions.",Life cycle assessment of a hypothetical Canadian pre-combustion carbon dioxide capture process system,journal article,empirical,,CCS & CCU,CCS & CCU,LCA,"eutrophication and biogeochemical flows, ecotoxicity","eutrophication and biogeochemical flows, ecotoxicity",
10.1088/1748-9326/ac5766,17489318,,"['ENER', 'ENVI', 'MEDI']","Doelman, Jonathan C.;Beier, Felicitas D.;Stehfest, Elke;Bodirsky, Benjamin L.;Beusen, Arthur H.W.;Humpenöder, Florian;Mishra, Abhijeet;Popp, Alexander;Van Vuuren, Detlef P.;De Vos, Lotte;Weindl, Isabelle;Van Zeist, Willem Jan;Kram, Tom",2022,Environmental Research Letters,biodiversity | climate change mitigation | food security | integrated assessment | nexus | nitrogen budget | water use,"The human-earth system is confronted with the challenge of providing a range of resources for a growing and more prosperous world population while simultaneously reducing environmental degradation. The sustainable development goals and the planetary boundaries define targets to manage this challenge. Many of these are linked to the land system, such as biodiversity, water, food, nutrients and climate, and are strongly interconnected. A key question is how measures can be designed in the context of multi-dimensional sustainability targets to exploit synergies. To address this, a nexus approach is adopted that acknowledges the interconnectedness between the important sub-systems water, land, food, and climate. This study quantifies synergies and trade-offs from ambitious interventions in different components of this water-land-fod-climate nexus at the global scale. For this purpose, a set of six harmonized scenarios is simulated with the model of agricultural production and its impact on the environment and Integrated model to assess the global environment models. The multi-model approach improves robustness of the results while shedding light on variations coming from different modelling approaches. Our results show that measures in the food component towards healthy diets with low meat consumption have synergies with all other nexus dimensions: Increased natural land improving terrestrial biodiversity (+4% to +8%), lower greenhouse gas emissions from land (-45% to -58%), reduced irrigation water withdrawals to protect or restore hydrological environmental flows (-3% to -24%), and reductions in nitrogen surpluses (-23% to -35%). Climate mitigation measures in line with the Paris Agreement have trade-offs with the water and food components of the nexus, as they adversely affect irrigation water withdrawals (+5% to +30% in 2050 compared to reference scenario) and food prices (+1% to +20%). The analysis of a scenario combining all measures reveals how certain measures are in conflict while others reinforce each other. This study provides an example of a nexus approach to scenario analysis providing input to the next generation of pathways aiming to achieve multiple dimensions of sustainable development.",Quantifying synergies and trade-offs in the global water-land-food-climate nexus using a multi-model scenario approach,journal article,empirical,,Bioenergy,Bioenergy,"Land use modelling, IAM",water use,water use,
10.1088/1748-9326/6/3/034017,,,"['ENER', 'ENVI', 'MEDI']","Popp, Alexander;Dietrich, Jan Philipp;Lotze-Campen, Hermann;Klein, David;Bauer, Nico;Krause, Michael;Beringer, Tim;Gerten, Dieter;Edenhofer, Ottmar",2011,Environmental Research Letters,biodiversity | bioenergy | climate change mitigation | food security | forest conservation | water security,"Biomass from cellulosic bioenergy crops is expected to play a substantial role in future energy systems, especially if climate policy aims at stabilizing greenhouse gas concentration at low levels. However, the potential of bioenergy for climate change mitigation remains unclear due to large uncertainties about future agricultural yield improvements and land availability for biomass plantations. This letter, by applying a modelling framework with detailed economic representation of the land and energy sector, explores the cost-effective contribution of bioenergy to a low-carbon transition, paying special attention to implications for the land system. In this modelling framework, bioenergy competes directly with other energy technology options on the basis of costs, including implicit costs due to biophysical constraints on land and water availability. As a result, we find that bioenergy from specialized grassy and woody bioenergy crops, such as Miscanthus or poplar, can contribute approximately 100 EJ in 2055 and up to 300 EJ of primary energy in 2095. Protecting natural forests decreases biomass availability for energy production in the medium, but not in the long run. Reducing the land available for agricultural use can partially be compensated for by means of higher rates of technological change in agriculture. In addition, our trade-off analysis indicates that forest protection combined with large-scale cultivation of dedicated bioenergy is likely to affect bioenergy potentials, but also to increase global food prices and increase water scarcity. Therefore, integrated policies for energy, land use and water management are needed. © 2011 IOP Publishing Ltd.",The economic potential of bioenergy for climate change mitigation with special attention given to implications for the land system,journal article,empirical,,Bioenergy,Bioenergy,"Vegetation modelling, Land use modelling, IAM","land use, water use, eutrophication and biogeochemical flows","land use, water use, eutrophication and biogeochemical flows",
10.1088/1748-9326/aa9e3b,17489318,,"['ENER', 'ENVI', 'MEDI']","Humpenöder, Florian;Popp, Alexander;Bodirsky, Benjamin Leon;Weindl, Isabelle;Biewald, Anne;Lotze-Campen, Hermann;Dietrich, Jan Philipp;Klein, David;Kreidenweis, Ulrich;Müller, Christoph;Rolinski, Susanne;Stevanovic, Miodrag",2018,Environmental Research Letters,environmental protection | global land-use modeling | land-sparing measure | land-use change | large-scale bioenergy | sustainable development goal (SDG) | trade-off,"Large-scale 2nd generation bioenergy deployment is a key element of 1.5 °C and 2 °C transformation pathways. However, large-scale bioenergy production might have negative sustainability implications and thus may conflict with the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) agenda. Here, we carry out a multi-criteria sustainability assessment of large-scale bioenergy crop production throughout the 21st century (300 EJ in 2100) using a global land-use model. Our analysis indicates that large-scale bioenergy production without complementary measures results in negative effects on the following sustainability indicators: deforestation, CO2 emissions from land-use change, nitrogen losses, unsustainable water withdrawals and food prices. One of our main findings is that single-sector environmental protection measures next to large-scale bioenergy production are prone to involve trade-offs among these sustainability indicators - at least in the absence of more efficient land or water resource use. For instance, if bioenergy production is accompanied by forest protection, deforestation and associated emissions (SDGs 13 and 15) decline substantially whereas food prices (SDG 2) increase. However, our study also shows that this trade-off strongly depends on the development of future food demand. In contrast to environmental protection measures, we find that agricultural intensification lowers some side-effects of bioenergy production substantially (SDGs 13 and 15) without generating new trade-offs - at least among the sustainability indicators considered here. Moreover, our results indicate that a combination of forest and water protection schemes, improved fertilization efficiency, and agricultural intensification would reduce the side-effects of bioenergy production most comprehensively. However, although our study includes more sustainability indicators than previous studies on bioenergy side-effects, our study represents only a small subset of all indicators relevant for the SDG agenda. Based on this, we argue that the development of policies for regulating externalities of large-scale bioenergy production should rely on broad sustainability assessments to discover potential trade-offs with the SDG agenda before implementation.",Large-scale bioenergy production: How to resolve sustainability trade-offs?,journal article,empirical,,Bioenergy,Bioenergy,Land use modelling,"land use, eutrophication and biogeochemical flows, water use","land use, eutrophication and biogeochemical flows, water use",
10.3390/en14020262,,,"['ENER', 'ENER', 'ENER', 'ENER', 'MATH', 'ENGI']","Hiremath, Mitavachan;Viebahn, Peter;Samadi, Sascha",2021,Energies,Carbon capture and storage (CCS) | Climate mitigation | Coal transition | Energy-water nexus | India’s energy transition | Integrated assessment | Levelized costs | Meta-analysis | Renewable energy | Solar energy,"Roadmaps for India’s energy future foresee that coal power will continue to play a considerable role until the middle of the 21st century. Among other options, carbon capture and storage (CCS) is being considered as a potential technology for decarbonising the power sector. Conse-quently, it is important to quantify the relative benefits and trade-offs of coal-CCS in comparison to its competing renewable power sources from multiple sustainability perspectives. In this paper, we assess coal-CCS pathways in India up to 2050 and compare coal-CCS with conventional coal, solar PV and wind power sources through an integrated assessment approach coupled with a nexus perspective (energy-cost-climate-water nexus). Our levelized costs assessment reveals that coal-CCS is expensive and significant cost reductions would be needed for CCS to compete in the Indian power market. In addition, although carbon pricing could make coal-CCS competitive in relation to conventional coal power plants, it cannot influence the lack of competitiveness of coal-CCS with respect to renewables. From a climate perspective, CCS can significantly reduce the life cycle GHG emissions of conventional coal power plants, but renewables are better positioned than coal-CCS if the goal is ambitious climate change mitigation. Our water footprint assessment reveals that coal-CCS consumes an enormous volume of water resources in comparison to conventional coal and, in particular, to renewables. To conclude, our findings highlight that coal-CCS not only suffers from typical new technology development related challenges—such as a lack of technical potential assessments and necessary support infrastructure, and high costs—but also from severe resource constraints (especially water) in an era of global warming and the competition from outperforming renewable power sources. Our study, therefore, adds a considerable level of techno-economic and environmental nexus specificity to the current debate about coal-based large-scale CCS and the low carbon energy transition in emerging and developing economies in the Global South.",An integrated comparative assessment of coal-based carbon capture and storage (Ccs) vis-à-vis renewable energies in india’s low carbon electricity transition scenarios,journal article,empirical,,CCS & CCU,CCS & CCU,Synthesis of previous literature with analysis,water use,water use,
10.3390/en15186809,,,"['ENER', 'ENGI', 'ENER', 'ENGI', 'ENER', 'ENER', 'MATH', 'ENGI']","Facchino, Marco;Popielak, Paulina;Panowski, Marcin;Wawrzyńczak, Dariusz;Majchrzak-Kucęba, Izabela;De Falco, Marcello",2022,Energies,CCS | CCU | dimethyl ether | life cycle assessment,"Carbon Capture Utilization and Storage (CCUS) is a set of technologies aimed at capturing carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from point-source emitters to either store permanently or use as a feedstock to produce chemicals and fuels. In this paper, the potential benefits of CCUS integration into the energy supply sector are evaluated from a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) perspective by comparing two different routes for the CO2 captured from a natural gas combined cycle (NGCC). Both the complete storage of the captured CO2 and its partial utilization to produce dimethyl ether are investigated. Moreover, the assessment is performed considering the region-specific features of two of the largest CO2 emitters in Europe, namely Italy and Poland. Results shows that the complete storage of the captured CO2 reduces Global Warming Potential (GWP) by ~89% in Italy and ~97%, in Poland. On the other hand, the partial utilization of CO2 to produce dimethyl ether leads to a decrease of ~58% in Italy and ~68% in Poland with respect to a comparable reference entailing conventional dimethyl ether production. A series of environmental trade-offs was determined, with all the investigated categories apart from GWP showing an increase, mainly connected with the higher energy requirements of CCUS processes. These outcomes highlight the need for a holistic-oriented approach in the design of novel implemented configurations to avoid burden shifts throughout the value chain.",The Environmental Impacts of Carbon Capture Utilization and Storage on the Electricity Sector: A Life Cycle Assessment Comparison between Italy and Poland,journal article,empirical,,CCS & CCU,CCS & CCU,LCA,"mineral and metal depletion, eutrophication and biogeochemical flows, acidification, human toxicity","mineral and metal depletion, eutrophication and biogeochemical flows, acidification, human toxicity",
10.3390/en16073279,,,"['ENER', 'ENGI', 'ENER', 'ENGI', 'ENER', 'ENER', 'MATH', 'ENGI']","Wetzel, Maria;Otto, Christopher;Chen, Min;Masum, Shakil;Thomas, Hywel;Urych, Tomasz;Bezak, Bartłomiej;Kempka, Thomas",2023,Energies,CO  storage 2 | coal swelling | environmental risk assessment | fault reactivation | horizontal well | hydromechanical simulation | regional stress regime,"Deep un-mineable coal deposits are viable reservoirs for permanent and safe storage of carbon dioxide (CO2) due to their ability to adsorb large amounts of CO2 in the microporous coal structure. A reduced amount of CO2 released into the atmosphere contributes in turn to the mitigation of climate change. However, there are a number of geomechanical risks associated with the commercial-scale storage of CO2, such as potential fault or fracture reactivation, microseismic events, cap rock integrity or ground surface uplift. The present study assesses potential site-specific hydromechanical impacts for a coal deposit of the Upper Silesian Coal Basin by means of numerical simulations. For that purpose, a near-field model is developed to simulate the injection and migration of CO2, as well as the coal-CO2 interactions in the vicinity of horizontal wells along with the corresponding changes in permeability and stresses. The resulting effective stress changes are then integrated as boundary condition into a far-field numerical model to study the geomechanical response at site-scale. An extensive scenario analysis is carried out, consisting of 52 simulation runs, whereby the impacts of injection pressures, well arrangement within two target coal seams as well as the effect of different geological uncertainties (e.g., regional stress regime and rock properties) is examined for operational and post-operational scenarios. The injection-induced vertical displacements amount in maximum to 3.59 cm and 1.07 cm directly above the coal seam and at the ground surface, respectively. The results further demonstrate that neither fault slip nor dilation, as a potential consequence of slip, are to be expected during the investigated scenarios. Nevertheless, even if fault integrity is not compromised, dilation tendencies indicate that faults may be hydraulically conductive and could represent local pathways for upward fluid migration. Therefore, the site-specific stress regime has to be determined as accurately as possible by in-situ stress measurements, and also fault properties need to be accounted for an extensive risk assessment. The present study obtained a quantitative understanding of the geomechanical processes taking place at the operational and post-operational states, supporting the assessment and mitigation of environmental risks associated with CO (Formula presented.) storage in coal seams.",Hydromechanical Impacts of CO2 Storage in Coal Seams of the Upper Silesian Coal Basin (Poland),journal article,empirical,,CCS & CCU,CCS & CCU,Geomechanical modelling,land use,,
10.1016/j.energy.2012.07.014,3605442,,"['ENGI', 'ENGI', 'ENVI', 'ENGI', 'ENGI', 'ENGI']","Singh, Bhawna;Strømman, Anders H.;Hertwich, Edgar G.",2012,Energy,Climate change mitigation | Energy scenario | Life Cycle Assessment,"This study uses a hybrid Life Cycle Assessment approach to evaluate the environmental impacts of large-scale deployment of Carbon dioxide Capture and Storage (CCS) in coal and natural gas based electricity generation, based on IEA scenarios. For the Baseline scenario, all impact categories would increase 2-3-fold in 2050 from 2005 levels. Green House Gas (GHG) emissions are found to decrease by ∼40% in ACTmap scenario and by ∼75% in more CCS-intensive BLUEmap scenario. These climate mitigation scenarios also show significantly reduced impacts of acidification, particulate matter formation and human toxicity, suggesting the existence of co-benefits. For eutrophication, all scenarios indicate substantial increases, but the increases are largest in the Baseline scenario. For photochemical oxidant formation, only the mitigation scenarios manage to stabilize this impact from fossil fuel based power production. This study does not assess the impact of alternative power generation or energy efficiency technology that replaces part of the fossil fuel power in the mitigation scenarios. © 2012 Elsevier Ltd.",Scenarios for the environmental impact of fossil fuel power: Co-benefits and trade-offs of carbon capture and storage,journal article,empirical,,CCS & CCU,CCS & CCU,LCA,eutrophication and biogeochemical flows,eutrophication and biogeochemical flows,
10.1039/d2ee01153k,17545692,,"['ENVI', 'ENER', 'ENER', 'ENVI']","Ioannou, Iasonas;Galán-Martín, Ángel;Pérez-Ramírez, Javier;Guillén-Gosálbez, Gonzalo",2022,Energy and Environmental Science,0,"Carbon capture and utilisation (CCU) provides an appealing framework to turn carbon emissions into valuable fuels and chemicals. However, given the vast energy required to activate the CO2 molecule, CCU may have implications on sustainable development that are still poorly understood due to the narrow scope of current carbon footprint-oriented assessments lacking absolute sustainability thresholds. To bridge this gap, we developed a power-chemicals nexus model to look into the future and understand how we could produce 22 net-zero bulk chemicals of crucial importance in a sustainable manner by integrating fossil, CCU routes and power technologies, often assessed separately. We evaluated the environmental performance of these technologies in terms of their contribution to 5 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), using 16 life cycle assessment metrics and 9 planetary boundaries (PB) to quantify and interpret the impact values. We found that fossil chemicals could hamper the attainment of SDG 3 on good health and well-being and SDG 13 on climate change. CCU could help meet SDG 13 but would damage other SDGs due to burden-shifting to human health, water scarcity, and minerals and metals depletion impacts. The collateral damage could be mitigated by judiciously combining fossil and CCU routes with carbon-negative power sources guided by optimisation models incorporating SDGs-based performance criteria explicitly. Our work highlights the importance of embracing the SDGs in technology development to sensibly support the low-carbon energy and chemicals transition.",Trade-offs between Sustainable Development Goals in carbon capture and utilisation,journal article,empirical,,CCS & CCU,CCS & CCU,LCA,"water use, human toxicity, air pollution, mineral and metal depletion","water use, human toxicity, air pollution, mineral and metal depletion",
10.1016/j.ijggc.2008.08.002,17505836,,"['ENVI', 'ENER', 'ENVI', 'ENGI']","Birkholzer, Jens T.;Zhou, Quanlin;Tsang, Chin Fu",2009,International Journal of Greenhouse Gas Control,Geological sequestration | Multilayered system | Numerical simulation | Pressure buildup | Saline aquifer,"Large volumes of CO2 captured from carbon emitters (such as coal-fired power plants) may be stored in deep saline aquifers as a means of mitigating climate change. Storing these additional fluids may cause pressure changes and displacement of native brines, affecting subsurface volumes that can be significantly larger than the CO2 plume itself. This study aimed at determining the three-dimensional region of influence during/after injection of CO2 and evaluating the possible implications for shallow groundwater resources, with particular focus on the effects of interlayer communication through low-permeability seals. To address these issues quantitatively, we conducted numerical simulations that provide a basic understanding of the large-scale flow and pressure conditions in response to industrial-scale CO2 injection into a laterally open saline aquifer. The model domain included an idealized multilayered groundwater system, with a sequence of aquifers and aquitards (sealing units) extending from the deep saline storage formation to the uppermost freshwater aquifer. Both the local CO2-brine flow around the single injection site and the single-phase water flow (with salinity changes) in the region away from the CO2 plume were simulated. Our simulation results indicate considerable pressure buildup in the storage formation more than 100 km away from the injection zone, whereas the lateral distance migration of brine is rather small. In the vertical direction, the pressure perturbation from CO2 storage may reach shallow groundwater resources only if the deep storage formation communicates with the shallow aquifers through sealing units of relatively high permeabilities (higher than 10-18 m2). Vertical brine migration through a sequence of layers into shallow groundwater bodies is extremely unlikely. Overall, large-scale pressure changes appear to be of more concern to groundwater resources than changes in water quality caused by the migration of displaced saline water.",Large-scale impact of CO2 storage in deep saline aquifers: A sensitivity study on pressure response in stratified systems,journal article,empirical,,CCS & CCU,CCS & CCU,Hydrological modelling,water use,water use,
10.1016/j.ijggc.2008.03.004,17505836,,"['ENVI', 'ENER', 'ENVI', 'ENGI']","Nicot, Jean Philippe",2008,International Journal of Greenhouse Gas Control,Carbon dioxide | Pressure pulse | Regional assessment | Water displacement,"Large-scale injections of CO2 into subsurface saline aquifers have been proposed to remediate climate change related to buildup of green house gases in the atmosphere. The pressure buildup caused by such injections may impact a volume of the basin significantly larger than the CO2 plume itself. In areas with hydrological settings similar to the Gulf Coast Basin, the perturbation of the flow-field in deep parts of the basin could result in brines or brackish water being pushed up-dip into unconfined sections of the same formations or into the capture zone of fresh-water wells. The premise of the current study is that the details of multiple-phase flow processes necessary to model the near field evolution of the CO2 plume are not necessary to describe the impact of the pressure anomaly on up-dip aquifers. This paper quantitatively explores conditions under which shallow groundwater would be impacted by up-dip displacement of brines, utilizing an existing carefully calibrated flow model. Modeling an injection of water, arguably equivalent to 50 million tons of CO2/year for 50 years resulted in an average water-table rise of ∼1 m, with minor increase in stream baseflow and larger increase in ground water evapotranspiration, but no significant change in salinity. © 2008 Elsevier Ltd. .",Evaluation of large-scale CO2 storage on fresh-water sections of aquifers: An example from the Texas Gulf Coast Basin,journal article,empirical,,CCS & CCU,CCS & CCU,Hydrological modelling,water use,water use,
10.1016/j.ijggc.2013.09.009,17505836,,"['ENVI', 'ENER', 'ENVI', 'ENGI']","Michael, Karsten;Bunch, Mark;Varma, Sunil",2013,International Journal of Greenhouse Gas Control,Area of impact | Basin-scale flow simulations | Gippsland Basin | Pressure management | Saline aquifer storage,"Geological carbon dioxide storage (GCS) has been identified as an important strategy for reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Due to their potentially large CO2 storage capacity, deep saline aquifers have been investigated globally with respect to storage suitability, injectivity and potential impact on the environment and other basin resources. The relatively large area of pressure impacts associated with large-scale GCS has been identified previously as an important issue. One aspect of GCS in saline aquifers that has previously not been considered widely in the assessment of injection impacts and storage capacity is the history of regional production-induced underpressuring in many petroleum-producing sedimentary basins. The Latrobe aquifer in the Gippsland Basin in southeastern Australia is a potential candidate for large-scale GCS. The Latrobe Group forms a major freshwater aquifer in the onshore Gippsland Basin and contains hydrocarbon reservoirs in the offshore parts of the basin up to 6000m below the seafloor. The emphasis of the current modelling was to examine the cumulative impacts of CO2 injection and petroleum production on the regional flow and displacement of formation water. With respect to the Gippsland Basin specifically, the simulations suggest that GCS has the potential to partially reverse the recent trend of water level declines in the onshore area of the Latrobe aquifer, thereby reducing impacts on water resources and the risks of land subsidence. Also, CO2 injection may provide pressure support for the significantly underpressured petroleum-producing regions in the offshore portion of the Latrobe aquifer. The Latrobe aquifer has adequate storage capacity and injectivity for storing a total of at least 2000MtCO2, which would be sufficient for storing Victoria's annual CO2 emissions from large stationary sources for the next 20 years and, most likely, beyond. The radius of increased pressures in response to injecting the required volume of CO2 in the centre of the basin would be on the order of 20km, if the production-induced pressure decline in the Latrobe aquifer is taken into account. In comparison, injecting the same amount of CO2 in an unstressed aquifer would result in pressure impacts at a distance of up to 80km from the storage site; hence a significantly larger area would need to be monitored.Generally, the CO2 injectivity for a pressure-depleted aquifer is likely to be higher than that for a hydrostatically-pressured aquifer, and the difference should be related to the volumes of previous petroleum and associated water production. CO2 injection and petroleum production operating independently can result in significant over- or underpressuring in a basin, potentially causing land uplift/subsidence or contamination of groundwater. The simulation results in this study suggest that, given the right injection concept, unwanted pressure changes and associated impacts could be significantly reduced when CO2 injection and petroleum production operated conjunctively. © 2013.",Simulation of the cumulative impacts of CO2 geological storage and petroleum production on aquifer pressures in the offshore gippsland basin,journal article,empirical,,CCS & CCU,CCS & CCU,Hydrological modelling,"land use, water use","land use, water use",
10.1016/j.ijggc.2013.03.003,17505836,,"['ENVI', 'ENER', 'ENVI', 'ENGI']","Volkart, Kathrin;Bauer, Christian;Boulet, Céline",2013,International Journal of Greenhouse Gas Control,Carbon capture and storage | Cement production | Environmental impacts | Greenhouse gas | Life cycle assessment | Power generation,"To prevent serious negative effects of climate change, greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reductions are required on global level and at large scale. One option is Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) which aims to capture carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from power generation and industry and store it permanently in geologic structures. For a comprehensive comparative assessment of the environmental performance of CCS technologies life cycle assessment (LCA) is required. This study provides a systematic comparison of LCA-based environmental performances of fossil and wood power plants as well as cement production in Europe for 2025 and 2050 with and without CCS. The implementation of CCS leads to life cycle GHG emission reductions of 68-92% for fossil power generation and 39-78% for cement production whilst to negative ones for wood power generation. There are trade-offs with respect to environmental and human health impacts due to direct (e.g. air emissions) and indirect (e.g. coal mining) impacts of the increase in fuel use and additional processes and materials necessary for CCS. Cement plants are suitable point sources for the implementation of CCS. Here the energy supply for the CO2 capture and compression is decisive for the environmental impacts, what indicates benefits of system integration. © 2013 Elsevier Ltd.",Life cycle assessment of carbon capture and storage in power generation and industry in Europe,journal article,empirical,,CCS & CCU,CCS & CCU,LCA,"human toxicity, acidification, land use","human toxicity, acidification, land use",
10.1016/j.ijggc.2011.03.012,17505836,,"['ENVI', 'ENER', 'ENVI', 'ENGI']","Singh, Bhawna;Strømman, Anders H.;Hertwich, Edgar G.",2011,International Journal of Greenhouse Gas Control,Carbon capture and storage | Life cycle assessment | Oxyfuel | Post-combustion | Pre-combustion,"Hybrid life cycle assessment is used to assess and compare the life cycle environmental impacts of electricity generation from coal and natural gas with various carbon capture and storage (CCS) technologies consisting of post-combustion, pre-combustion or oxyfuel capture; pipeline CO2 transport and geological storage. The systems with a capture efficiency of 85-96% decrease net greenhouse gas emission by 64-78% depending on the technology used. Calculation of other life cycle impacts shows significant trade-offs with fresh-water eutrophication and toxicity potentials. Human toxicity impact increases by 40-75%, terrestrial ecotoxicity by 60-120%, and freshwater eutrophication by 60-200% for the different technologies. There is a two- to four-fold increase in freshwater ecotoxicity potential in the post-combustion approach. The increase in toxicity for pre-combustion systems is 40-80% for the coal and 50-90% for the gas power plant. The increase in impacts for the oxyfuel approach mainly depends on energy demand for the air separation unit, giving an increase in various toxicity potentials of 35-70% for coal and 60-105% for natural gas system. Most of the increase in impacts with CCS systems is due to the energy penalty and the infrastructure development chain. © 2011 Elsevier Ltd.",Comparative life cycle environmental assessment of CCS technologies,journal article,empirical,,CCS & CCU,CCS & CCU,LCA,"eutrophication and biogeochemical flows, human toxicity, ecotoxicity","eutrophication and biogeochemical flows, human toxicity, ecotoxicity",
10.1016/j.ijggc.2019.102857,17505836,,"['ENVI', 'ENER', 'ENVI', 'ENGI']","Thorne, Rebecca J.;Sundseth, Kyrre;Bouman, Evert;Czarnowska, Lucyna;Mathisen, Anette;Skagestad, Ragnhild;Stanek, Wojciech;Pacyna, Jozef M.;Pacyna, Elisabeth G.",2020,International Journal of Greenhouse Gas Control,Carbon capture and storage (CCS) | Carbon capture use and storage (CCUS) | Enhanced oil recovery (EOR) | Lifecycle assessment (LCA). | oxyfuel power plant,"Captured CO2 from large industrial emitters may be used for enhanced oil recovery (EOR), but as of yet there are no European large-scale EOR systems. Recent implementation decisions for a Norwegian carbon capture and storage demonstration will result in the establishment of a central CO2 hub on the west-coast of Norway and storage on the Norwegian Continental Shelf. This development may continue towards a large-scale operation involving European CO2 and CO2 EOR operation. To this end, a conceptual EOR system was developed here based on an oxyfuel power plant located in Poland that acted as a source for CO2, coupled to a promising oil field located on the Norwegian Continental Shelf. Lifecycle assessment was subsequently used to estimate environmental emissions indicators. When averaged over the operational lifetime, results show greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of 0.4 kg CO2-eq per kg oil (and n kWh associated electricity) produced, of which 64 % derived from the oxyfuel power plant. This represents a 71 % emission reduction when compared to the same amount of oil and electricity production using conventional technology. Other environmental impact indicators were increased, showing that this type of CO2 EOR system may help reach GHG reduction targets, but care should be taken to avoid problem shifting.",Technical and environmental viability of a European CO2 EOR system,journal article,empirical,,CCS & CCU,CCS & CCU,LCA,"air pollution, acidification, human toxicity","air pollution, acidification, human toxicity",
10.1016/j.ijggc.2010.03.006,17505836,,"['ENVI', 'ENER', 'ENVI', 'ENGI']","Singh, Bhawna;Strømman, Anders H.;Hertwich, Edgar",2011,International Journal of Greenhouse Gas Control,Carbon dioxide capture and storage | Life cycle assessment | Natural gas combined cycle | Structural path analysis,"Hybrid life cycle assessment has been used to assess the environmental impacts of natural gas combined cycle (NGCC) electricity generation with carbon dioxide capture and storage (CCS). The CCS chain modeled in this study consists of carbon dioxide (CO2) capture from flue gas using monoethanolamine (MEA), pipeline transport and storage in a saline aquifer. Results show that the sequestration of 90% CO2 from the flue gas results in avoiding 70% of CO2 emissions to the atmosphere per kWh and reduces global warming potential (GWP) by 64%. Calculation of other environmental impacts shows the trade-offs: an increase of 43% in acidification, 35% in eutrophication, and 120-170% in various toxicity impacts. Given the assumptions employed in this analysis, emissions of MEA and formaldehyde during capture process and generation of reclaimer wastes contributes to various toxicity potentials and cause many-fold increase in the on-site direct freshwater ecotoxicity and terrestrial ecotoxicity impacts. NOx from fuel combustion is still the dominant contributor to most direct impacts, other than toxicity potentials and GWP. It is found that the direct emission of MEA contribute little to human toxicity (HT<1%), however it makes 16% of terrestrial ecotoxicity impact. Hazardous reclaimer waste causes significant freshwater and marine ecotoxicity impacts. Most increases in impact are due to increased fuel requirements or increased investments and operating inputs. The reductions in GWP range from 58% to 68% for the worst-case to best-case CCS system. Acidification, eutrophication and toxicity potentials show an even large range of variation in the sensitivity analysis. Decreases in energy use and solvent degradation will significantly reduce the impact in all categories. © 2010 Elsevier Ltd.","Life cycle assessment of natural gas combined cycle power plant with post-combustion carbon capture, transport and storage",journal article,empirical,,CCS & CCU,CCS & CCU,LCA,"acidification, eutrophication and biogeochemical flows, ecotoxicity","acidification, eutrophication and biogeochemical flows, ecotoxicity",
10.1007/s11367-015-0903-x,,,,"Girardi, Pierpaolo;Gargiulo, Alessia;Brambilla, Paola Cristina",2015,International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment,EV | ICEV | Italian power system | LCA,"Purpose: The purpose of the study is to compare the performances of two passenger cars: an electric vehicle (EV) and an internal combustion engine vehicle (ICEV) paying particular attention to the production of electricity that will charge the EV. Even if many similar comparative life cycle assessments (LCAs) exist (Nordelöf et al. J Life Cycle Assess 19(11):1866–18990, 2014), only few have focused their attention on evaluating which is the kind of electricity that will recharge EV batteries (Hawkins et al. Int J Life Cycle Assess 17(8):997–1014, 2012). Methods: Despite its relevance, many EV LCA studies have used a ready-to-use dataset to evaluate the power mix that supplies electricity to EV. The present paper tries to better define the power mix that recharges EV batteries in Italy according to the national power system and the national electric market rules. A 2013 and a 2030 scenario have been developed in order to understand effects in short and middle term. Life cycle inventory of electricity for EV has been estimated modifying available datasets according to official Italian data on power plants’ efficiency and emission rates. Finally, also for the ICEV use phase, existing dataset have been modified for fuel consumption and regulated emission according to the National Inventory Report results (ISPRA 2014) Results and discussion: In both 2013 and 2030 scenarios, the power mix that in Italy supplies energy to EV is dominated by fossil fuel power plants. Nevertheless, due to the fact that more than the 60 % of this energy is produced in efficient combined cycle gas turbine power plants, EV performs better than ICEV in almost all the impact categories considered except for human toxicity and eutrophication, the only two impact categories in which the EV car, mainly due to battery manufactory, presents more relevant potential impacts. ICEV impacts are always dominated by well to wheel phases (use phase and fuel production). EV car and battery manufacturing have higher impacts for all categories than ICEV car manufacturing. Conclusions: The study demonstrates that electricity supplied in Italy to EV today is, and will probably be in 2030, mainly produced by fossil fuel power plants. Nevertheless, the EV proves to be able to reduce, with respect to ICEV, those impacts it is supposed to reduce: air acidification, photochemical oxidant formation, and also greenhouse gases. Trade-offs are, as foreseeable, eutrophication and human toxicity due to EV car and battery manufacturing.",A comparative LCA of an electric vehicle and an internal combustion engine vehicle using the appropriate power mix: the Italian case study,journal article,empirical,,CCS & CCU,,LCA,"acidification, eutrophication and biogeochemical flows, air pollution",,
10.1016/j.envsci.2016.07.005,14629011,,"['SOCI', 'ENVI']","Connor, Jeffery D.;Bryan, Brett A.;Nolan, Martin",2016,Environmental Science and Policy,Carbon sequestration | Forest water interception | Integrated assessment | Land use economics | Reforestation | Water trade,"Carbon sequestration from reforestation can play a large role in mitigating global climate change. However, resulting interception of rainfall runoff may impose high irrigation, water supply and/or environmental flow costs. This article presents an assessment of water trade policy to manage fresh water supply, carbon sequestration trade-offs for the Murray-Darling Basin. A linked Australian high spatial resolution land use and global integrated assessment framework evaluated plausible and internally-consistent global scenarios to 2050 involving significant carbon planting incentive. Substantial flow loss from increased interception was estimated absent policy to balance carbon water trade-offs. Absent policy to address the trade-off, irrigation opportunity costs was estimated to substantially exceed carbon sequestration economic value in futures with significant carbon sequestration incentive. The value of integrating interception from new carbon plantings into the existing water trade system was estimated at $3.3 billion and $2.0 billion (2050 annual value) for our strong and moderately strong global climate action outlooks with our reference case assumptions. The conclusion that trade provision in policy to cap interception impacts can produce significant benefits in scenarios with significant carbon sequestration incentive remained robust over a very broad set of sensitivities tested with benefit estimated at over $1 billion annually at 2050 even for very conservative assumptions.",Cap and trade policy for managing water competition from potential future carbon plantations,journal article,empirical,,CDR,ARR,IAM,water use,water use,
10.1111/gcbb.12781,17571693,,"['AGRI', 'ENER', 'AGRI', 'ENVI']","Lask, Jan;Rukavina, Slavica;Zorić, Ivana;Kam, Jason;Kiesel, Andreas;Lewandowski, Iris;Wagner, Moritz",2021,GCB Bioenergy,BECCS | bioenergy | carbon capture and storage | environmental impacts | ethanol | LCA | miscanthus,"The combination of bioethanol production and carbon capture and storage technologies (BECCS) is considered an indispensable method for the achievement of the targets set by the Paris agreement. In Croatia, a first-of-its-kind biorefinery project is currently underway that aims to integrate a second-generation ethanol plant into an existing fossil refinery. The goal is to replace the fossil fuel production by second-generation ethanol production using miscanthus. In the ethanol fermentation, CO2 is emitted in highly concentrated form and this can be directly compressed, injected and stored in exploited oil reservoirs. This study presents an assessment of the greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction potential of miscanthus ethanol produced in combination with CCS technology, based on data from the planning process of this biorefinery project. The GHG reduction potential is evaluated as part of a full environmental life cycle assessment. This is of particular relevance as a lignocellulosic ethanol industry is currently emerging in the European Union (EU) and LCAs of BECCS systems have, so far, often omitted environmental impacts other than GHG emissions. Overall, the ethanol to be produced in this planned biorefinery project would clearly achieve the EU's global warming potential (GWP) reduction target for biofuels. Depending on the accounting approach applied for the biological carbon storage, reduction potentials between 104% and 138% relative to the fossil comparator are likely. In addition, ethanol can reduce risks to resource availability. As such, the results generated from data based on the intended biorefinery project support the two major rationales for biofuel use. However, these reductions could come at the expense of human health and ecosystem quality impacts associated with the combustion of lignin and biogas. In order to prevent potential environmental trade-offs, it will be imperative to monitor and manage these emissions from residue combustion, as they represent significant drivers of the overall environmental impacts.",Lignocellulosic ethanol production combined with CCS—A study of GHG reductions and potential environmental trade-offs,journal article,empirical,,CDR,BECCS,LCA,"air pollution, human toxicity, acidification, land use","air pollution, human toxicity, acidification, land use",
10.1016/j.jcou.2021.101451,22129820,,"['CENG', 'ENVI', 'CENG']","Mahabir, Johnathan;Bhagaloo, Keeara;Koylass, Natalia;Boodoo, Meethun Nathaniel;Ali, Rehannah;Guo, Miao;Ward, Keeran",2021,Journal of CO2 Utilization,CCUS | Circular economy | LCA | Mega-methanol (MM) | Sustainability | Techno-economics,"The negative effects of climate change coupled with declining fossil fuel reserves have sparked interest in cleaner alternative fuel sources. Methanol has surfaced as an acceptable solution due to its practicality and high hydrogen content. With its increased popularity, global demand supports the advent of the mega-methanol (MM) industry. Considering current MM technologies, auto-thermal reforming presents a viable low cost, low carbon option over traditional steam methane reforming. However, greater climate mitigation can be achieved utilizing carbon capture storage (CCS) and utilization (CCU) platforms. Through the hydrogenation of captured CO2 with clean hydrogen, directly within conventional MM production, greater methanol productivity and lower GHG emissions can be realized. Thus, in this study, we examine the use of CCU in achieving sustainable operations within the MM process through techno-economic and environmental assessments- informing on process development for future MM projects. Although our results illustrate lower GHG emissions associated with CCUS, CCS arises as the more sustainable option while CCU pathways lead to significant burden-shifting linked to increased electricity consumption. Thus, only with greater commitments to decarbonize the US electricity grid and increase research and development can CCU support a sustainable resource-circular strategy, with methane pyrolysis emerging as the most viable technological platform.",What is required for resource-circular CO2utilization within Mega-Methanol (MM) production?,journal article,empirical,,CCS & CCU,CCS & CCU,LCA,"ecotoxicity, human toxicity, mineral and metal depletion","ecotoxicity, human toxicity, mineral and metal depletion",
10.3389/fclim.2022.869456,2624-9553,,,"Vienne, Arthur; Poblador, Silvia; Portillo-Estrada, Miguel; Hartmann, Jens; Ijiehon, Samuel; Wade, Peter; Vicca, Sara",2022,Frontiers in Climate,,"Enhanced weathering (EW) of silicate rocks can remove CO2 from the atmosphere, while potentially delivering co-benefits for agriculture (e.g., reduced nitrogen losses, increased yields). However, quantification of inorganic carbon sequestration through EW and potential risks in terms of heavy metal contamination have rarely been assessed. Here, we investigate EW in a mesocosm experiment with Solanum tuberosum growing on alkaline soil. Amendment with 50 t basalt/ha significantly increased alkalinity in soil pore water and in the leachate losses, indicating significant basalt weathering. We did not find a significant change in TIC, which was likely because the duration of the experiment (99 days) was too short for carbonate precipitation to become detectable. A 1D reactive transport model (PHREEQC) predicted 0.77 t CO2/ha sequestered over the 99 days of the experiment and 1.83 and 4.48 t CO2/ha after 1 and 5 years, respectively. Comparison of experimental and modeled cation pore water Mg concentrations at the onset of this experiment showed a factor three underestimation of Mg concentrations by the model and hence indicates an underestimation of modeled CO2 sequestration. Moreover, pore water Ca concentrations were underestimated, indicating that the calcite precipitation rate was overestimated by this model. Importantly, basalt amendment did not negatively affect potato growth and yield (which even tended to increase), despite increased Al availability in this alkaline soil. Soil and pore water Ni increased upon basalt addition, but Ni levels remained below regulatory environmental quality standards and Ni concentrations in leachates and plant tissues did not increase. Last, basalt amendment significantly decreased nitrogen leaching, indicating the potential for EW to provide benefits for agriculture and for the environment.","Enhanced Weathering Using Basalt Rock Powder: Carbon Sequestration, Co-benefits and Risks in a Mesocosm Study With Solanum tuberosum",journal article,empirical,,CDR,Enhanced weathering,"Earth system modelling, laboratory experiment",ecotoxicity,ecotoxicity,
10.1111/gcbb.12695,17571693,,"['AGRI', 'ENER', 'AGRI', 'ENVI']","Donnison, Caspar;Holland, Robert A.;Hastings, Astley;Armstrong, Lindsay Marie;Eigenbrod, Felix;Taylor, Gail",2020,GCB Bioenergy,BECCS | bioenergy crops | carbon capture and storage | climate change | ecosystem service | land-use change | negative emissions | trade-offs,"Bioenergy with Carbon Capture and Storage (BECCS) features heavily in the energy scenarios designed to meet the Paris Agreement targets, but the models used to generate these scenarios do not address environmental and social implications of BECCS at the regional scale. We integrate ecosystem service values into a land-use optimization tool to determine the favourability of six potential UK locations for a 500 MW BECCS power plant operating on local biomass resources. Annually, each BECCS plant requires 2.33 Mt of biomass and generates 2.99 Mt CO2 of negative emissions and 3.72 TWh of electricity. We make three important discoveries: (a) the impacts of BECCS on ecosystem services are spatially discrete, with the most favourable locations for UK BECCS identified at Drax and Easington, where net annual welfare values (from the basket of ecosystems services quantified) of £39 and £25 million were generated, respectively, with notably lower annual welfare values at Barrow (−£6 million) and Thames (£2 million); (b) larger BECCS deployment beyond 500 MW reduces net social welfare values, with a 1 GW BECCS plant at Drax generating a net annual welfare value of £19 million (a 50% decline compared with the 500 MW deployment), and a welfare loss at all other sites; (c) BECCS can be deployed to generate net welfare gains, but trade-offs and co-benefits between ecosystem services are highly site and context specific, and these landscape-scale, site-specific impacts should be central to future BECCS policy developments. For the United Kingdom, meeting the Paris Agreement targets through reliance on BECCS requires over 1 GW at each of the six locations considered here and is likely, therefore, to result in a significant welfare loss. This implies that an increased number of smaller BECCS deployments will be needed to ensure a win–win for energy, negative emissions and ecosystem services.","Bioenergy with Carbon Capture and Storage (BECCS): Finding the win–wins for energy, negative emissions and ecosystem services—size matters",journal article,empirical,,CDR,BECCS,"Land use modelling, Energy system modelling",water use,water use,
10.1111/gcbb.12911,17571693,,"['AGRI', 'ENER', 'AGRI', 'ENVI']","Hanssen, Steef V.;Steinmann, Zoran J.N.;Daioglou, Vassilis;Čengić, Mirza;Van Vuuren, Detlef P.;Huijbregts, Mark A.J.",2022,GCB Bioenergy,BECCS | biodiversity | biomass | climate change | land-use change | species loss | trade-offs,"Bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS) based on purpose-grown lignocellulosic crops can provide negative CO2 emissions to mitigate climate change, but its land requirements present a threat to biodiversity. Here, we analyse the implications of crop-based BECCS for global terrestrial vertebrate species richness, considering both the land-use change (LUC) required for BECCS and the climate change prevented by BECCS. LUC impacts are determined using global-equivalent, species–area relationship-based loss factors. We find that sequestering 0.5–5 Gtonne of CO2 per year with lignocellulosic crop-based BECCS would require hundreds of Mha of land, and commit tens of terrestrial vertebrate species to extinction. Species loss per unit of negative emissions decreases with: (i) longer lifetimes of BECCS systems, (ii) less overall deployment of crop-based BECCS and (iii) optimal land allocation, that is prioritizing locations with the lowest species loss per negative emission potential, rather than minimizing overall land use or prioritizing locations with the lowest biodiversity. The consequences of prevented climate change for biodiversity are based on existing climate response relationships. Our tentative comparison shows that for crop-based BECCS considered over 30 years, LUC impacts on vertebrate species richness may outweigh the positive effects of prevented climate change. Conversely, for BECCS considered over 80 years, the positive effects of climate change mitigation on biodiversity may outweigh the negative effects of LUC. However, both effects and their interaction are highly uncertain and require further understanding, along with the analysis of additional species groups and biodiversity metrics. We conclude that factoring in biodiversity means lignocellulosic crop-based BECCS should be used early to achieve the required mitigation over longer time periods, on optimal biomass cultivation locations, and most importantly, as little as possible where conversion of natural land is involved, looking instead to sustainably grown or residual biomass-based feedstocks and alternative strategies for carbon dioxide removal.",Global implications of crop-based bioenergy with carbon capture and storage for terrestrial vertebrate biodiversity,journal article,empirical,,CDR,BECCS,"Vegetation modelling, IAM",biodiversity and ecosystem functioning,biodiversity and ecosystem functioning,
10.1088/1748-9326/ac7600,17489318,,"['ENER', 'ENVI', 'MEDI']","Taherzadeh, Oliver;Kanemoto, Keiichiro",2022,Environmental Research Letters,EAT-Lancet diet | GHG footprint | land footprint | planetary health diet | sustainable dietary transition | US dietary environmental footprint | water footprint,"If widely adopted, the 'planetary health diet' (PHD), proposed by the EAT-Lancet Commission, would help to meet ambitious sustainability goals currently jeopardised by excessive and resource intensive food demand. To date, convergence of nations to the PHD has been assessed using average food consumption patterns, overlooking the influence of different consumers within this context. Using self-reported dietary intake data from a snapshot survey of the US we reveal the differentiated responsibilities of US citizens within the country's adoption of the PHD otherwise hidden by use of country averaged dietary intake data. We show how such a granular analysis of food consumption patterns is critical to identify levers in the sustainable food transition of nations. By combining 7418 individual food intake reports from a representative cross section of the United States (US) with commodity-level impact data we estimate the overshoot of US dietary patterns in relation to the PHD and their impacts across the climate, water and land system. The net environmental impacts of PHD adoption across the US population are quantified based on realistic dietary shifts. We estimate that US overshoot of the PHD is responsible for 70% of the US dietary greenhouse gas (GHG) footprint. However, over 60% of this burden could be eliminated by just 10% of the US population following the PHD. Although we estimate PHD adoption will more than half the US dietary GHG footprint and land footprint, we find it may have unintended consequences on water demand due to increased tree nut consumption. Across almost all food categories, we show that the food choices of the top tier of consumers in the US create, and must bridge the PHD gap. As such, actions by these consumers will be of major consequences to the speed and direction of the country's sustainable dietary transition. To avoid environmental trade-offs, dietary policies must be scrutinised across multiple sustainability criteria.",Differentiated responsibilities of US citizens in the country's sustainable dietary transition,journal article,empirical,,Diet change,Diet change,Questionnaire survey,water use,water use,
10.1111/jiec.12583,10881980,,"['ENVI', 'SOCI']","Hoppe, Wieland;Thonemann, Nils;Bringezu, Stefan",2018,Journal of Industrial Ecology,carbon capture and utilization (CCU) | CO  capture and use 2 | global warming potential | life cycle assessment (LCA) | power-to-X | resource efficiency,"Previous studies showed that using carbon dioxide (CO2) as a raw material for chemical syntheses may provide an opportunity for achieving greenhouse gas (GHG) savings and a low-carbon economy. Nevertheless, it is not clear whether carbon capture and utilization benefits the environment in terms of resource efficiency. We analyzed the production of methane, methanol, and synthesis gas as basic chemicals and derived polyoxymethylene, polyethylene, and polypropylene as polymers by calculating the output-oriented indicator global warming impact (GWI) and the resource-based indicators raw material input (RMI) and total material requirement (TMR) on a cradle-to-gate basis. As carbon source, we analyzed the capturing of CO2 from air, raw biogas, cement plants, lignite-fired power, and municipal waste incineration plants. Wind power serves as an energy source for hydrogen production. Our data were derived from both industrial processes and process simulations. The results demonstrate that the analyzed CO2-based process chains reduce the amount of GHG emissions in comparison to the conventional ones. At the same time, the CO2-based process chains require an increased amount of (abiotic) resources. This trade-off between decreased GHG emissions and increased resource use is assessed. The decision about whether or not to recycle CO2 into hydrocarbons depends largely on the source and amount of energy used to produce hydrogen.",Life Cycle Assessment of Carbon Dioxide–Based Production of Methane and Methanol and Derived Polymers,journal article,empirical,,CCS & CCU,CCS & CCU,LCA,mineral and metal depletion,mineral and metal depletion,
10.1017/S0376892916000448,3768929,,"['ENVI', 'ENVI', 'ENVI', 'ENVI', 'ENVI']","Rana, Eak;Thwaites, Rik;Luck, Gary",2017,Environmental Conservation,carbon | forest products | plant diversity | REDD+ | synergies | trade-offs,"Reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation, the sustainable management of forests and the conservation and enhancement of forest carbon stocks in developing countries ('REDD+') aims to improve local livelihoods and conserve plant diversity while limiting carbon emissions. Yet trade-offs and synergies that exist between supporting livelihoods, protecting plant diversity and maintaining forest ecosystem services are poorly documented. We used forest inventory data and community-group records to assess trade-offs and synergies between carbon, plant diversity and forest products in 19 community forests managed under REDD+ in Nepal. Trade-offs were prevalent for carbon, whereby community forests with relatively high carbon values had relatively low values for plant diversity or forest products provision, and vice versa. Synergies occurred between plant diversity and forest products provision (fuelwood and fodder), suggesting that forests with relatively high plant diversity values were also important for providing critical forest products to local communities. This study shows that conserving forests for carbon should not impinge greatly on the flow of forest resources to at least some local communities; however, promoting carbon storage will not necessarily protect plant diversity. These findings should help guide future REDD+ policy for community forests.","Trade-offs and synergies between carbon, forest diversity and forest products in Nepal community forests",journal article,empirical,,CDR,ARR,Field research,biodiversity and ecosystem functioning,biodiversity and ecosystem functioning,
10.1007/s12665-019-8646-9,18666280,,"['ENVI', 'ENVI', 'ENVI', 'AGRI', 'ENVI', 'EART', 'EART']","Liu, Yu;Li, Ya",2019,Environmental Earth Sciences,Semiarid environment | Soil carbon sequestration | Soil moisture | Trade-off and synergy,"Revegetation is an effective measure for preventing land degradation and for mitigating climate change by reducing carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. However, vegetation cover is also generally considered to be a cause of a dried soil layer in drylands. The trade-off between soil water storage and soil carbon sequestration along a precipitation gradient in dryland ecosystems is well known, but the contributions of revegetation measures on the variations in the trade-off between carbon sequestration and soil water resource maintenance in soil profiles are often ignored. In this study, the trade-off and synergy between soil moisture content (SMC) maintenance and soil organic carbon (SOC) improvement in soil profiles on a semiarid hillslope are investigated in the context of revegetation choices. Three revegetation choices were selected for the comparative analysis: (a) afforestation using single tree species (Robinia pseudoacacia); (b) mixed tree species (R. pseudoacacia and Hippophae rhamnoides Linn); and (c) a mosaic of single tree bands (R. pseudoacacia, Armeniaca vulgaris, and H. rhamnoides Linn). Our results reveal a shift of synergy to trade-off at a depth of around 10–30 cm and a weakened trade-off between the middle (30–40 cm) and deep soil layers. For afforestation using a single tree species, there is a trade-off between SOC improvement and SMC promotion, as indicated by a negative correlation between the relative benefit of SOC and the relative benefit of SMC. For revegetation using mixed tree species and a mosaic of tree bands, positive correlations appeared. We draw two conclusions from these results: first, a shift in the trade-off and synergy between SMC maintenance and SOC improvement exists in soil profiles after revegetation on this semiarid hillslope; second, revegetation choices matter when reconciling the trade-off between SMC maintenance and SOC improvement. Revegetation with a single tree species (R. pseudoacacia) is not a good choice. When discussing the trade-off between carbon sequestration and soil water resource conservation in water-limited regions, more attention should be paid to site-level mechanisms and revegetation choices.",Synergy and trade-off between carbon sequestration and soil water balance: impact of revegetation choices,journal article,empirical,,CDR,ARR,Field research,water use,water use,
10.3390/su13095142,,,"['SOCI', 'ENER', 'ENVI', 'ENER', 'ENVI']","Phungrassami, Harnpon;Usubharatana, Phairat",2021,Sustainability,Coal-fired powerplant | Environmental problem shifting | LCA | Pollution control unit,"Coal-fired power generation leads to serious environmental pollution, such as air and water pollution; thus, pollution control or treatment is necessary. However, end-of-pipe treatments are still indispensable approaches to reducing environmental stress, and focusing on each in turn leads to pollutant-by-pollutant features. The present study applies the LCA method to reveal the total direct and indirect environmental impacts from increasing significant pollution control units for a coal-fired power plant. From the results, it was found that increasing the performance of CCS and FGD units may result in higher overall environmental impacts due to their energy costs. Greater energy requirements result in greater global warming potential, human toxicity, and terrestrial acidification effects. LNB & OFA, SCR, and ESP units did not cause any other significant environmental impacts, while activated carbon used in the ACI unit is an additional source of indirect terrestrial acidification. Water depletion effects must be considered when increasing the use of CCS units. Policy makers can use the data from the present study to establish sustainable directions to resolve environmental problems at the macro-economic scale.",Environmental problem shifting analysis of pollution control units in a coal-fired powerplant based on multiple regression and lca methodology,journal article,empirical,,CCS & CCU,CCS & CCU,LCA,"acidification, human toxicity, water use","acidification, human toxicity, water use",
10.1038/s41467-022-31146-1,2041-1723,,,"Qiu, Yang; Lamers, Patrick; Daioglou, Vassilis; McQueen, Noah; de Boer, Harmen-Sytze; Harmsen, Mathijs; Wilcox, Jennifer; Bardow, André; Suh, Sangwon",2022,Nature Communications,"Climate-change mitigation, Environmental impact","Direct air capture (DAC) is critical for achieving stringent climate targets, yet the environmental implications of its large-scale deployment have not been evaluated in this context. Performing a prospective life cycle assessment for two promising technologies in a series of climate change mitigation scenarios, we find that electricity sector decarbonization and DAC technology improvements are both indispensable to avoid environmental problem-shifting. Decarbonizing the electricity sector improves the sequestration efficiency, but also increases the terrestrial ecotoxicity and metal depletion levels per tonne of CO2 sequestered via DAC. These increases can be reduced by improvements in DAC material and energy use efficiencies. DAC exhibits regional environmental impact variations, highlighting the importance of smart siting related to energy system planning and integration. DAC deployment aids the achievement of long-term climate targets, its environmental and climate performance however depend on sectoral mitigation actions, and thus should not suggest a relaxation of sectoral decarbonization targets.",Environmental trade-offs of direct air capture technologies in climate change mitigation toward 2100,journal article,empirical,,CDR,DACCS,LCA,"ecotoxicity, mineral and metal depletion","ecotoxicity, mineral and metal depletion",
10.1029/2011GL048423,948276,,"['EART', 'EART']","Ridgwell, Andy;Rodengen, Thomas J.;Kohfeld, Karen E.",2011,Geophysical Research Letters,0,"The capture and injection of carbon dioxide (CO2) into the deep ocean could provide a relatively long-term mitigation of climate change, but would come at the expense of enhancing acidification at the seafloor. We employ an Earth system model to survey the regional differences in the effectiveness and side effects of CO2 injection. Sequestration efficiency, as calculated relative to the natural invasion from the atmosphere that would occur in the absence of mitigation, is highest for injection in the deep NW Pacific, but can be negative for shallow sites. For higher climate sensitivities and greater total emissions, sequestration efficiency is enhanced, decreasing the relative cost and increasing its potential value as a form of mitigation. However, CO2 injection increases the total area of seafloor bathed in under-saturated waters, with Atlantic sites inducing particularly large increases in seafloor undersaturation as well as having less favorable sequestration efficiency. Copyright 2011 by the American Geophysical Union.",Geographical variations in the effectiveness and side effects of deep ocean carbon sequestration,journal article,empirical,,CCS & CCU,CCS & CCU,Earth system modelling,acidification,acidification,
10.1021/es504255r,0013936X,,"['CHEM', 'ENVI']","Nansai, Keisuke;Nakajima, Kenichi;Kagawa, Shigemi;Kondo, Yasushi;Shigetomi, Yosuke;Suh, Sangwon",2015,Environmental Science & Technology,0,"Meeting the 2-degree global warming target requires wide adoption of low-carbon energy technologies. Many such technologies rely on the use of precious metals, however, increasing the dependence of national economies on these resources. Among such metals, those with supply security concerns are referred to as critical metals. Using the Policy Potential Index developed by the Fraser Institute, this study developed a new footprint indicator, the mining risk footprint (MRF), to quantify the mining risk directly and indirectly affecting a national economy through its consumption of critical metals. We formulated the MRF as a product of the material footprint (MF) of the consuming country and the mining risks of the countries where the materials are mined. A case study was conducted for the 2005 Japanese economy to determine the MF and MRF for three critical metals essential for emerging energy technologies: neodymium, cobalt and platinum. The results indicate that in 2005 the MFs generated by Japanese domestic final demand, that is, the consumption-based metal output of Japan, were 1.0 × 103 t for neodymium, 9.4 × 103 t for cobalt, and 2.1 × 10 t for platinum. Export demand contributes most to the MF, accounting for 3.0 × 103 t, 1.3 × 105 t, and 3.1 × 10 t, respectively. The MRFs of Japanese total final demand (domestic plus export) were calculated to be 1.7 × 10 points for neodymium, 4.5 × 10-2 points for cobalt, and 5.6 points for platinum, implying that the Japanese economy is incurring a high mining risk through its use of neodymium. This country's MRFs are all dominated by export demand. The paper concludes by discussing the policy implications and future research directions for measuring the MFs and MRFs of critical metals. For countries poorly endowed with mineral resources, adopting low-carbon energy technologies may imply a shifting of risk from carbon resources to other natural resources, in particular critical metals, and a trade-off between increased mining risk and deployment of such technologies. Our analysis constitutes a first step toward quantifying and managing the risks associated with natural resource mining.","Global mining risk footprint of critical metals necessary for low-carbon technologies: The case of neodymium, cobalt, and platinum in Japan",journal article,empirical,,Low carbon electricity,Low carbon electricity,Input-output analysis,"mineral and metal depletion, unspecified environmental effects of mining","mineral and metal depletion, unspecified environmental effects of mining",
10.1038/s41467-022-30136-7,2041-1723,,,"Cobo, Selene; Galán-Martín, Ángel; Tulus, Victor; Huijbregts, Mark A. J.; Guillén-Gosálbez, Gonzalo",2022,Nature Communications,"Environmental impact, Risk factors","Meeting the 1.5 °C target may require removing up to 1,000 Gtonne CO2 by 2100 with Negative Emissions Technologies (NETs). We evaluate the impacts of Direct Air Capture and Bioenergy with Carbon Capture and Storage (DACCS and BECCS), finding that removing 5.9 Gtonne/year CO2 can prevent <9·102 disability-adjusted life years per million people annually, relative to a baseline without NETs. Avoiding this health burden—similar to that of Parkinson’s—can save substantial externalities (≤148 US$/tonne CO2), comparable to the NETs levelized costs. The health co-benefits of BECCS, dependent on the biomass source, can exceed those of DACCS. Although both NETs can help to operate within the climate change and ocean acidification planetary boundaries, they may lead to trade-offs between Earth-system processes. Only DACCS can avert damage to the biosphere integrity without challenging other biophysical limits (impacts ≤2% of the safe operating space). The quantified NETs co-benefits can incentivize their adoption.",Human and planetary health implications of negative emissions technologies,journal article,empirical,,CDR,BECCS; DACCS,LCA,"air pollution, water use, eutrophication and biogeochemical flows, biodiversity and ecosystem functioning","air pollution, water use; air pollution, water use, eutrophication and biogeochemical flows, biodiversity and ecosystem functioning",
10.1016/j.forpol.2022.102692,13899341,,"['AGRI', 'SOCI', 'ECON', 'ENVI']","Kangas, Johanna;Ollikainen, Markku",2022,Forest Policy and Economics,Biodiversity conservation | Climate change mitigation | Combined indexes | Multiple ecosystem services | Payments for ecosystem services,"Forests can play a significant role both in halting biodiversity loss and in mitigating climate change. A variety of payments for ecosystem services (PES) schemes exists to promote biodiversity conservation in forests. These schemes could be used to strengthen the role of forests as carbon sinks as well. This paper analyzes the implications of supplementing a PES scheme that targets boreal forest biodiversity with a carbon index. We use a site selection framework to examine how the proposed scheme impacts the promotion of both targets. We compare a case where the selection is done solely based on biodiversity values to a case where the selection is done based on both biodiversity and carbon benefits. The carbon index is formulated as current carbon storage or as future carbon sink. Correspondingly, biodiversity is maximized based on either current ecological values or potential ones. We compare equal or differing weights for biodiversity and carbon indexes, and examine trade-offs between biodiversity and CO2 in current and future values. Combined index values increase with the carbon index, but there is a trade-off between biodiversity and CO2 values if the conservation budget is not increased when the carbon index is introduced. There is a temporal trade-off in biodiversity and carbon values between selecting sites based on current or future values. Younger stands are preferred at the expense of old-growth stands with the carbon index. Weights can be used to balance the trade-off between biodiversity and carbon benefits. Overall, risks to losing significant ecological value from the conservation network are negligible, but the limited number of sites decreases the generalizability of the results.",A PES scheme promoting forest biodiversity and carbon sequestration,journal article,empirical,,CDR,ARR,Ecological modelling,biodiversity and ecosystem functioning,biodiversity and ecosystem functioning,
10.1038/s41560-021-00922-6,,,"['MATE', 'ENER', 'ENER', 'ENER']","Madhu, Kavya;Pauliuk, Stefan;Dhathri, Sumukha;Creutzig, Felix",2021,Nature Energy,0,"Direct air capture (DAC) technologies remove carbon dioxide (CO2) from ambient air through chemical sorbents. Their scale-up is a backstop in many climate policy scenarios, but their environmental implications are debated. Here we present a comparative life-cycle assessment of the current demonstration plants of two main DAC technologies coupled with carbon storage: temperature swing adsorption (TSA) and high-temperature aqueous solution (HT-Aq) DAC. Our results show that TSA DAC outperforms HT-Aq DAC by a factor of 1.3–10 in all environmental impact categories studied. With a low-carbon energy supply, HT-Aq and TSA DAC have a net carbon removal of up to 73% and 86% per ton of CO2 captured and stored. For the same climate change mitigation effect, TSA DAC needs about as much renewable energy and land occupation as a switch from gasoline to electric vehicles, but with approximately five times higher material consumption. Input requirements for chemical absorbents do not limit DAC scale-up.",Understanding environmental trade-offs and resource demand of direct air capture technologies through comparative life-cycle assessment,journal article,empirical,,CDR,DACCS,LCA,"land use, air pollution, water use, mineral and metal depletion","land use, air pollution, water use, mineral and metal depletion",
10.1016/j.envsci.2012.11.003,14629011,,"['SOCI', 'ENVI']","Eory, Vera;Topp, Cairistiona F.E.;Moran, Dominic",2013,Environmental Science and Policy,Co-effects | Cost-effectiveness | Greenhouse gases | Marginal abatement costs curves | Nitrogen | Phosphorus,"This paper develops multiple-pollutant marginal abatement cost curve analysis to identify an optimal set of greenhouse gas (GHG) mitigation measures considering the trade-offs and synergies with other environmental pollutants. The analysis is applied to UK agriculture, a sector expected to make a contribution to the national GHG mitigation effort. Previous analyses using marginal abatement cost curves (MACCs) have determined the sector's GHG abatement potential based on the cost-effectiveness of a variety of technically feasible mitigation measures. Most of these measures have external effects on other pollution loads arising from agricultural activities. Here the monetary values of four of the most important impacts to water and air (specifically ammonia, nitrate, phosphorous and sediment) are included in the cost-effectiveness analysis. The resulting multiple-pollutant marginal abatement cost curve (MP MACC) informs the design of sustainable climate change policies by showing how the MP MACC for the UK agriculture can differ from the GHG MACC. The analysis also highlights research gaps, and suggests a need to understand the wider environmental effects of GHG mitigation options and to reduce the uncertainty in pollutant damage cost estimates. © 2012 Elsevier Ltd.",Multiple-pollutant cost-effectiveness of greenhouse gas mitigation measures in the UK agriculture,journal article,empirical,,Agricultural management,Agricultural management,Economic modelling,"eutrophication and biogeochemical flows, biodiversity and ecosystem functioning, air pollution, water use","eutrophication and biogeochemical flows, biodiversity and ecosystem functioning, air pollution, water use",
10.1038/s41560-020-00771-9,,,"['MATE', 'ENER', 'ENER', 'ENER']","Deutz, Sarah;Bardow, André",2021,Nature Energy,0,"Current climate targets require negative carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. Direct air capture is a promising negative emission technology, but energy and material demands lead to trade-offs with indirect emissions and other environmental impacts. Here, we show by life-cycle assessment that the commercial direct air capture plants in Hinwil and Hellisheiði operated by Climeworks can already achieve negative emissions today, with carbon capture efficiencies of 85.4% and 93.1%. The climate benefits of direct air capture, however, depend strongly on the energy source. When using low-carbon energy, as in Hellisheiði, adsorbent choice and plant construction become more important, inducing up to 45 and 15 gCO2e per kilogram CO2 captured, respectively. Large-scale deployment of direct air capture for 1% of the global annual CO2 emissions would not be limited by material and energy availability. However, the current small-scale production of amines for the adsorbent would need to be scaled up by more than an order of magnitude. Other environmental impacts would increase by less than 0.057% when using wind power and by up to 0.30% for the global electricity mix forecasted for 2050. Energy source and efficiency are essential for direct air capture to enable both negative emissions and low-carbon fuels.",Life-cycle assessment of an industrial direct air capture process based on temperature–vacuum swing adsorption,journal article,empirical,,CDR,DACCS,LCA,"human toxicity, mineral and metal depletion","human toxicity, mineral and metal depletion",
10.1016/j.resconrec.2021.106030,9213449,,"['ENVI', 'ECON']","Tisserant, Alexandre;Morales, Marjorie;Cavalett, Otavio;O'Toole, Adam;Weldon, Simon;Rasse, Daniel P.;Cherubini, Francesco",2022,"Resources, Conservation and Recycling",Biochar | Carbon dioxide removal | Climate mitigation | Forest residues | Life-cycle assessment | Negative emission technologies,"Limiting temperature rise below 2 °C requires large deployment of Negative Emission Technologies (NET) to capture and store atmospheric CO2. Compared to other types of NETs, biochar has emerged as a mature option to store carbon in soils while providing several co-benefits and limited trade-offs. Existing life-cycle assessment studies of biochar systems mostly focus on climate impacts from greenhouse gasses (GHGs), while other forcing agents, effects on soil emissions, other impact categories, and the implications of a large-scale national deployment are rarely jointly considered. Here, we consider all these aspects and quantify the environmental impacts of application to agricultural soils of biochar from forest residues available in Norway considering different scenarios (including mixing of biochar with synthetic fertilizers and bio-oil sequestration for long-term storage). All the biochar scenarios deliver negative emissions under a life-cycle perspective, ranging from -1.72 ± 0.45 tonnes CO2-eq. ha−1 yr−1 to -7.18 ± 0.67 tonnes CO2-eq. ha−1 yr−1 (when bio-oil is sequestered). Estimated negative emissions are robust to multiple climate metrics and a large range of uncertainties tested with a Monte-Carlo analysis. Co-benefits exist with crop yields, stratospheric ozone depletion and marine eutrophication, but potential trade-offs occur with tropospheric ozone formation, fine particulate formation, terrestrial acidification and ecotoxicity. At a national level, biochar has the potential to offset between 13% and 40% of the GHG emissions from the Norwegian agricultural sector. Overall, our study shows the importance of integrating emissions from the supply chain with those from agricultural soils to estimate mitigation potentials of biochar in specific regional contexts.",Life-cycle assessment to unravel co-benefits and trade-offs of large-scale biochar deployment in Norwegian agriculture,journal article,empirical,,CDR,Biochar,LCA,"air pollution, acidification, ecotoxicity","air pollution, acidification, ecotoxicity",
10.1111/gcb.13020,13541013,,"['ENVI', 'ENVI', 'ENVI', 'ENVI']","Bryan, Brett A.;Crossman, Neville D.;Nolan, Martin;Li, Jing;Navarro, Javier;Connor, Jeffery D.",2015,Global Change Biology,Carbon sequestration | Climate change | Ecosystem services | Food security | Land use change | Scenarios | Trade-offs | Water resources,"Competition for land is increasing, and policy needs to ensure the efficient supply of multiple ecosystem services from land systems. We modelled the spatially explicit potential future supply of ecosystem services in Australia's intensive agricultural land in response to carbon markets under four global outlooks from 2013 to 2050. We assessed the productive efficiency of greenhouse gas emissions abatement, agricultural production, water resources, and biodiversity services and compared these to production possibility frontiers (PPFs). While interacting commodity markets and carbon markets produced efficient outcomes for agricultural production and emissions abatement, more efficient outcomes were possible for water resources and biodiversity services due to weak price signals. However, when only two objectives were considered as per typical efficiency assessments, efficiency improvements involved significant unintended trade-offs for the other objectives and incurred substantial opportunity costs. Considering multiple objectives simultaneously enabled the identification of land use arrangements that were efficient over multiple ecosystem services. Efficient land use arrangements could be selected that meet society's preferences for ecosystem service provision from land by adjusting the metric used to combine multiple services. To effectively manage competition for land via land use efficiency, market incentives are needed that effectively price multiple ecosystem services.","Land use efficiency: Anticipating future demand for land-sector greenhouse gas emissions abatement and managing trade-offs with agriculture, water, and biodiversity",journal article,empirical,,CDR,ARR,Land use modelling,"water use, biodiversity and ecosystem functioning","water use, biodiversity and ecosystem functioning",
10.1111/gcb.14875,13541013,,"['ENVI', 'ENVI', 'ENVI', 'ENVI']","Schwärzel, Kai;Zhang, Lulu;Montanarella, Luca;Wang, Yanhui;Sun, Ge",2020,Global Change Biology,afforestation | climate change | green and blue flows | soil and water conservation | soil erosion control | United Nations Sustainable Development Goals | water cycle in drylands | water scarcity management,"The world's largest afforestation programs implemented by China made a great contribution to the global “greening up.” These programs have received worldwide attention due to its contribution toward achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. However, emerging studies have suggested that these campaigns, when not properly implemented, resulted in unintended ecological and water security concerns at the regional scale. While mounting evidence shows that afforestation causes substantial reduction in water yield at the watershed scale, process-based studies on how forest plantations alter the partitioning of rainwater and affect water balance components in natural vegetation are still lacking at the plot scale. This lack of science-based data prevents a comprehensive understanding of forest-related ecosystem services such as soil conservation and water supply under climate change. The present study represents the first “Paired Plot” study of the water balance of afforestation on the Loess Plateau. We investigate the effects of forest structure and environmental factors on the full water cycle in a typical multilayer plantation forest composed of black locust, one of the most popular tree species for plantations worldwide. We measure the ecohydrological components of a black locust versus natural grassland on adjacent sites. The startling finding of this study is that, contrary to the general belief, the understory—instead of the overstory—was the main water consumer in this plantation. Moreover, there is a strict physiological regulation of forest transpiration. In contrast to grassland, annual seepage under the forest was minor in years with an average rainfall. We conclude that global long-term greening efforts in drylands require careful ecohydrologic evaluation so that green and blue water trade-offs are properly addressed. This is especially important for reforestation-based watershed land management, that aims at carbon sequestration in mitigating climate change while maintaining regional water security, to be effective on a large scale.",How afforestation affects the water cycle in drylands: A process-based comparative analysis,journal article,empirical,,CDR,ARR,Field research,water use,water use,
10.1111/gcb.14559,13541013,,"['ENVI', 'ENVI', 'ENVI', 'ENVI']","Baldocchi, Dennis;Penuelas, Josep",2019,Global Change Biology,biophysical ecology | carbon sequestration | climate mitigation | ecosystem ecology | unintended consequences,"Reforesting and managing ecosystems have been proposed as ways to mitigate global warming and offset anthropogenic carbon emissions. The intent of our opinion piece is to provide a perspective on how well plants and ecosystems sequester carbon. The ability of individual plants and ecosystems to mine carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, as defined by rates and cumulative amounts, is limited by laws of physics and ecological principles. Consequently, the rates and amount of net carbon uptake are slow and low compared to the rates and amounts of carbon dioxide we release by fossil fuels combustion. Managing ecosystems to sequester carbon can also cause unintended consequences to arise. In this paper, we articulate a series of key take-home points. First, the potential amount of carbon an ecosystem can assimilate on an annual basis scales with absorbed sunlight, which varies with latitude, leaf area index and available water. Second, efforts to improve photosynthesis will come with the cost of more respiration. Third, the rates and amount of net carbon uptake are relatively slow and low, compared to the rates and amounts and rates of carbon dioxide we release by fossil fuels combustion. Fourth, huge amounts of land area for ecosystems will be needed to be an effective carbon sink to mitigate anthropogenic carbon emissions. Fifth, the effectiveness of using this land as a carbon sink will depend on its ability to remain as a permanent carbon sink. Sixth, converting land to forests or wetlands may have unintended costs that warm the local climate, such as changing albedo, increasing surface roughness or releasing other greenhouse gases. We based our analysis on 1,163 site-years of direct eddy covariance measurements of gross and net carbon fluxes from 155 sites across the globe.",The physics and ecology of mining carbon dioxide from the atmosphere by ecosystems,journal article,empirical,,CDR,ARR,Field research,land use,land use,
10.1111/gcb.14535,13541013,,"['ENVI', 'ENVI', 'ENVI', 'ENVI']","Gravuer, Kelly;Gennet, Sasha;Throop, Heather L.",2019,Global Change Biology,arid | biodiversity | biosolids | climate change | compost | ecosystem services | grassland | runoff | savanna | soil carbon,"Interest in land application of organic amendments—such as biosolids, composts, and manures—is growing due to their potential to increase soil carbon and help mitigate climate change, as well as to support soil health and regenerative agriculture. While organic amendments are predominantly applied to croplands, their application is increasingly proposed on relatively arid rangelands that do not typically receive fertilizers or other inputs, creating unique concerns for outcomes such as native plant diversity and water quality. To maximize environmental benefits and minimize potential harms, we must understand how soil, water, and plant communities respond to particular amendments and site conditions. We conducted a global meta-analysis of 92 studies in which organic amendments had been added to arid, semiarid, or Mediterranean rangelands. We found that organic amendments, on average, provide some environmental benefits (increased soil carbon, soil water holding capacity, aboveground net primary productivity, and plant tissue nitrogen; decreased runoff quantity), as well as some environmental harms (increased concentrations of soil lead, runoff nitrate, and runoff phosphorus; increased soil CO 2 emissions). Published data were inadequate to fully assess impacts to native plant communities. In our models, adding higher amounts of amendment benefitted four outcomes and harmed two outcomes, whereas adding amendments with higher nitrogen concentrations benefitted two outcomes and harmed four outcomes. This suggests that trade-offs among outcomes are inevitable; however, applying low-N amendments was consistent with both maximizing benefits and minimizing harms. Short study time frames (median 1–2 years), limited geographic scope, and, for some outcomes, few published studies limit longer-term inferences from these models. Nevertheless, they provide a starting point to develop site-specific amendment application strategies aimed toward realizing the potential of this practice to contribute to climate change mitigation while minimizing negative impacts on other environmental goals.",Organic amendment additions to rangelands: A meta-analysis of multiple ecosystem outcomes,journal article,empirical,,CDR,SCS,Synthesis of previous literature with analysis,"ecotoxicity, eutrophication and biogeochemical flows","ecotoxicity, eutrophication and biogeochemical flows",
10.3389/fenrg.2021.790421,,,"['ENER', 'ENER', 'ENER', 'ECON']","Taheripour, Farzad;Sajedinia, Ehsanreza;Karami, Omid",2022,Frontiers in Energy Research,emissions savings | land use change | multiple cropping | oilseed cover crops | sustainable aviation fuels,"Induced Land Use Changes (ILUCs) can decrease the environmental benefits of Sustainable Aviation Fuels (SAFs) if produced from traditional food crops. The development of oilseed cover crops can eliminate the side effect of ILUCs for biofuel production because they come in rotation with the major crops with some savings in demand for new cropland. This study implemented Life Cycle Analysis (LCA) and GTAP-BIO to estimate ILUC emissions values, the potentially available area, and total possible emissions savings of producing SAFs from carinata, camelina, and pennycress in the United States. The results suggest that: 1) the meals produced in conjunction with increases in Sustainable Aviation Fuel production from carinata, camelina, and pennycress could reduce land use emissions by 12.9, 15.3, and 18.3 gCO2e/MJ, respectively; 2) the total area of available land for producing these feedstocks could be about 29.3 million ha in 2035; and 3) using this area of land for SAF production, depends on the mix of oilseed cover crops that can be produced in practice, could generate up to 92 million metric tons of savings in GHG emissions per year. The projected emissions savings is about 11% of the current global GHG emissions generated by the aviation industry. Providing incentives to encourage farmers to produce these cover crops and facilitating investment in producing SAF from these cover crops are the most important factors that could help the aviation industry to enhance emissions savings.",Oilseed Cover Crops for Sustainable Aviation Fuels Production and Reduction in Greenhouse Gas Emissions Through Land Use Savings,journal article,empirical,,Bioenergy,Bioenergy,"LCA, Input-output analysis",land use,,
10.1038/s41893-020-0532-7,,,"['ENVI', 'AGRI', 'SOCI', 'ENVI', 'ENER', 'SOCI', 'ENVI', 'ENVI']","Rosa, Lorenzo;Reimer, Jeffrey A.;Went, Marjorie S.;D’Odorico, Paolo",2020,Nature Sustainability,0,"Carbon capture and storage (CCS) is a strategy to mitigate climate change by limiting CO2 emissions from point sources such as coal-fired power plants (CFPPs). Although decision-makers are seeking to implement policies regarding CCS, the consequences of this technology on water scarcity have not been fully assessed. Here we simulate the impacts on water resources that would result from retrofitting global CFPPs with four different CCS technologies. We find that 43% of the global CFPP capacity experiences water scarcity for at least one month per year and 32% experiences scarcity for five or more months per year. Although retrofitting CFPPs with CCS would not greatly exacerbate water scarcity, we show that certain geographies lack sufficient water resources to meet the additional water demands of CCS technologies. For CFPPs located in these water-scarce areas, the trade-offs between the climate change mitigation benefits and the increased pressure on water resources of CCS should be weighed. We conclude that CCS should be preferentially deployed at those facilities least impacted by water scarcity.",Hydrological limits to carbon capture and storage,journal article,empirical,,CCS & CCU,CCS & CCU,Energy system modelling,water use,water use,
10.1111/gcb.13259,,,"['ENVI', 'ENVI', 'ENVI', 'ENVI']","Pellegrini, Adam F.A.;Socolar, Jacob B.;Elsen, Paul R.;Giam, Xingli",2016,Global Change Biology,biodiversity | carbon sequestration | carbon-biodiversity cobenefits | cerrado | forest | savanna | woody encroachment,"Incentivizing carbon storage can be a win-win pathway to conserving biodiversity and mitigating climate change. In savannas, however, the situation is more complex. Promoting carbon storage through woody encroachment may reduce plant diversity of savanna endemics, even as the diversity of encroaching forest species increases. This trade-off has important implications for the management of biodiversity and carbon in savanna habitats, but has rarely been evaluated empirically. We quantified the nature of carbon-diversity relationships in the Brazilian Cerrado by analyzing how woody plant species richness changed with carbon storage in 206 sites across the 2.2 million km(2) region at two spatial scales. We show that total woody plant species diversity increases with carbon storage, as expected, but that the richness of endemic savanna woody plant species declines with carbon storage both at the local scale, as woody biomass accumulates within plots, and at the landscape scale, as forest replaces savanna. The sharpest trade-offs between carbon storage and savanna diversity occurred at the early stages of carbon accumulation at the local scale but the final stages of forest encroachment at the landscape scale. Furthermore, the loss of savanna species quickens in the final stages of forest encroachment, and beyond a point, savanna species losses outpace forest species gains with increasing carbon accumulation. Our results suggest that although woody encroachment in savanna ecosystems may provide substantial carbon benefits, it comes at the rapidly accruing cost of woody plant species adapted to the open savanna environment. Moreover, the dependence of carbon-diversity trade-offs on the amount of savanna area remaining requires land managers to carefully consider local conditions. Widespread woody encroachment in both Australian and African savannas and grasslands may present similar threats to biodiversity.",Trade-offs between savanna woody plant diversity and carbon storage in the Brazilian Cerrado,journal article,empirical,,CDR,ARR,Field research,biodiversity and ecosystem functioning,biodiversity and ecosystem functioning,
10.1111/gcb.13178,1365-2486,,,"Smith, Pete",2016,Global Change Biology,"biochar, negative emission technology, carbon, sequestration, soil","Despite 20 years of effort to curb emissions, greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions grew faster during the 2000s than in the 1990s, which presents a major challenge for meeting the international goal of limiting warming to <2 °C relative to the preindustrial era. Most recent scenarios from integrated assessment models require large-scale deployment of negative emissions technologies (NETs) to reach the 2 °C target. A recent analysis of NETs, including direct air capture, enhanced weathering, bioenergy with carbon capture and storage and afforestation/deforestation, showed that all NETs have significant limits to implementation, including economic cost, energy requirements, land use, and water use. In this paper, I assess the potential for negative emissions from soil carbon sequestration and biochar addition to land, and also the potential global impacts on land use, water, nutrients, albedo, energy and cost. Results indicate that soil carbon sequestration and biochar have useful negative emission potential (each 0.7 GtCeq. yr−1) and that they potentially have lower impact on land, water use, nutrients, albedo, energy requirement and cost, so have fewer disadvantages than many NETs. Limitations of soil carbon sequestration as a NET centre around issues of sink saturation and reversibility. Biochar could be implemented in combination with bioenergy with carbon capture and storage. Current integrated assessment models do not represent soil carbon sequestration or biochar. Given the negative emission potential of SCS and biochar and their potential advantages compared to other NETs, efforts should be made to include these options within IAMs, so that their potential can be explored further in comparison with other NETs for climate stabilization.",Soil carbon sequestration and biochar as negative emission technologies,journal article,empirical,only,CDR,SCS,,No EPS,No EPS,
10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2022.102624,9593780,,"['ENVI', 'SOCI', 'ENVI', 'ENVI']","Moreno, Jorge;Van de Ven, Dirk Jan;Sampedro, Jon;Gambhir, Ajay;Woods, Jem;Gonzalez-Eguino, Mikel",2023,Global Environmental Change,IAM | Interaction | Paris Agreement | SDG | Synergies | Trade-offs,"The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the Paris Agreement are the two transformative agendas, which set the benchmarks for nations to address urgent social, economic and environmental challenges. Aside from setting long-term goals, the pathways followed by nations will involve a series of synergies and trade-offs both between and within these agendas. Since it will not be possible to optimise across the 17 SDGs while simultaneously transitioning to low-carbon societies, it will be necessary to implement policies to address the most critical aspects of the agendas and understand the implications for the other dimensions. Here, we rely on a modelling exercise to analyse the long-term implications of a variety of Paris-compliant mitigation strategies suggested in the recent scientific literature on multiple dimensions of the SDG Agenda. The strategies included rely on technological solutions such as renewable energy deployment or carbon capture and storage, nature-based solutions such as afforestation and behavioural changes in the demand side. Results for a selection of energy-environment SDGs suggest that some mitigation pathways could have negative implications on food and water prices, forest cover and increase pressure on water resources depending on the strategy followed, while renewable energy shares, household energy costs, ambient air pollution and yield impacts could be improved simultaneously while reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Overall, results indicate that promoting changes in the demand side could be beneficial to limit potential trade-offs.",Assessing synergies and trade-offs of diverging Paris-compliant mitigation strategies with long-term SDG objectives,journal article,empirical,,CDR,BECCS; ARR,IAM,"air pollution, land use, water use","air pollution, land use, water use; water use",
10.1111/gcb.13745,13541013,,"['ENVI', 'ENVI', 'ENVI', 'ENVI']","Boysen, Lena R.;Lucht, Wolfgang;Gerten, Dieter",2017,Global Change Biology,bioenergy | climate change | ecosystem change | food production | mitigation,"Large-scale biomass plantations (BPs) are a common factor in climate mitigation scenarios as they promise double benefits: extracting carbon from the atmosphere and providing a renewable energy source. However, their terrestrial carbon dioxide removal (tCDR) potentials depend on important factors such as land availability, efficiency of capturing biomass-derived carbon and the timing of operation. Land availability is restricted by the demands of future food production depending on yield increases and population growth, by requirements for nature conservation and, with respect to climate mitigation, avoiding unfavourable albedo changes. We integrate these factors in one spatially explicit biogeochemical simulation framework to explore the tCDR opportunity space on land available after these constraints are taken into account, starting either in 2020 or 2050, and lasting until 2100. We find that assumed future needs for nature protection and food production strongly limit tCDR potentials. BPs on abandoned crop and pasture areas (~1,300 Mha in scenarios of either 8.0 billion people and yield gap reductions of 25% until 2020 or 9.5 billion people and yield gap reductions of 50% until 2050) could, theoretically, sequester ~100 GtC in land carbon stocks and biomass harvest by 2100. However, this potential would be ~80% lower if only cropland was available or ~50% lower if albedo decreases were considered as a factor restricting land availability. Converting instead natural forest, shrubland or grassland into BPs could result in much larger tCDR potentials ̶ but at high environmental costs (e.g. biodiversity loss). The most promising avenue for effective tCDR seems to be improvement of efficient carbon utilization pathways, changes in dietary trends or the restoration of marginal lands for the implementation of tCDR.","Trade-offs for food production, nature conservation and climate limit the terrestrial carbon dioxide removal potential",journal article,empirical,,CDR,BECCS,Earth system modelling,biodiversity and ecosystem functioning,biodiversity and ecosystem functioning,
10.1111/gcbb.12226,17571693,,"['AGRI', 'ENER', 'AGRI', 'ENVI']","Bonsch, Markus;Humpenöder, Florian;Popp, Alexander;Bodirsky, Benjamin;Dietrich, Jan Philipp;Rolinski, Susanne;Biewald, Anne;Lotze-Campen, Hermann;Weindl, Isabelle;Gerten, Dieter;Stevanovic, Miodrag",2016,GCB Bioenergy,Bioenergy | Land | Land-use model | Projection | Sustainability | Water | Water-land nexus,"Bioenergy is expected to play an important role in the future energy mix as it can substitute fossil fuels and contribute to climate change mitigation. However, large-scale bioenergy cultivation may put substantial pressure on land and water resources. While irrigated bioenergy production can reduce the pressure on land due to higher yields, associated irrigation water requirements may lead to degradation of freshwater ecosystems and to conflicts with other potential users. In this article, we investigate the trade-offs between land and water requirements of large-scale bioenergy production. To this end, we adopt an exogenous demand trajectory for bioenergy from dedicated energy crops, targeted at limiting greenhouse gas emissions in the energy sector to 1100 Gt carbon dioxide equivalent until 2095. We then use the spatially explicit global land- and water-use allocation model MAgPIE to project the implications of this bioenergy target for global land and water resources. We find that producing 300 EJ yr-1 of bioenergy in 2095 from dedicated bioenergy crops is likely to double agricultural water withdrawals if no explicit water protection policies are implemented. Since current human water withdrawals are dominated by agriculture and already lead to ecosystem degradation and biodiversity loss, such a doubling will pose a severe threat to freshwater ecosystems. If irrigated bioenergy production is prohibited to prevent negative impacts of bioenergy cultivation on water resources, bioenergy land requirements for meeting a 300 EJ yr-1 bioenergy target increase substantially (+ 41%) - mainly at the expense of pasture areas and tropical forests. Thus, avoiding negative environmental impacts of large-scale bioenergy production will require policies that balance associated water and land requirements.",Trade-offs between land and water requirements for large-scale bioenergy production,journal article,empirical,,Bioenergy,Bioenergy,Land use modelling,"land use, water use","land use, water use",
10.1111/gcbb.12614,17571693,,"['AGRI', 'ENER', 'AGRI', 'ENVI']","Wu, Wenchao;Hasegawa, Tomoko;Ohashi, Haruka;Hanasaki, Naota;Liu, Jingyu;Matsui, Tetsuya;Fujimori, Shinichiro;Masui, Toshihiko;Takahashi, Kiyoshi",2019,GCB Bioenergy,biodiversity protection | bioenergy potential | demand- and supply-side policy | integrated assessment | societal transformation | soil protection,"Bioenergy plays an important role in low greenhouse gas stabilization scenarios. Among various possible sources of bioenergy, dedicated bio-crops could contribute to most of the potential. However, large scale bio-crop deployment raises sustainability concerns. Policies to alleviate the pressure of bio-crops on the terrestrial environment can affect bioenergy potential and production costs. Here, we estimated the maximum bioenergy potential under environmental protection policies (biodiversity and soil protection) and societal transformation measures from demand and supply side (demand-side policy includes sustainable diet; supply-side policy includes advanced technology and trade openness for food) by using an integrated assessment modelling framework, which consists of a general equilibrium model (Asian-Pacific Integrated Model/Computable General Equilibrium) and a spatial land use allocation model (Asian-Pacific Integrated Model/Platform for Land-Use and Environmental Model). We found that the global advanced bioenergy potential under no policy was 245 EJ/year and that 192 EJ/year could be produced under US$5/GJ. These figures were 149 EJ/year and 110 EJ/year, respectively, under a full environmental policy. Biodiversity protection has a greater impact than soil protection due to its larger coverage and stronger implementation. Societal transformation measures effectively increase them to 186 EJ/year and 143 EJ/year, respectively, even under full environmental policies. These results imply that the large-scale bioenergy deployment possibly needed for the climate target to limit the global mean temperature increase well below 2°C compared to the preindustrial level might face a trade-off with environmental protection targets and that possible mitigation pathways in harmony with other environmental issues need to be explored.",Global advanced bioenergy potential under environmental protection policies and societal transformation measures,journal article,empirical,,Bioenergy,Bioenergy,IAM,"biodiversity and ecosystem functioning, land use","biodiversity and ecosystem functioning, land use",
10.1111/j.1757-1707.2011.01130.x,17571693,,"['AGRI', 'ENER', 'AGRI', 'ENVI']","Stoms, David M.;Davis, Frank W.;Jenner, Mark W.;Nogeire, Theresa M.;Kaffka, Stephen R.",2012,GCB Bioenergy,Agroecosystems | Biofuels | Biomass feedstock | California wildlife habitat relationships system | Geographic information systems | Habitat suitability | Marxan | Renewable energy | Trade-offs | Water demand,"Biofuels from agricultural sources are an important part of California's strategy to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and dependence on foreign oil. Land conversion for agricultural and urban uses has already imperiled many animal species in the state. This study investigated the potential impacts on wildlife of shifts in agricultural activity to increase biomass production for transportation fuels. We applied knowledge of the suitability of California's agricultural landscapes for wildlife species to evaluate wildlife effects associated with plausible scenarios of expanded production of three potential biofuel crops (sugar beets, bermudagrass, and canola). We also generated alternative, spatially explicit scenarios that minimized loss of habitat for the same level of biofuel production. We explored trade-offs to compare the marginal changes per unit of energy for transportation costs, wildlife, land and water-use, and total energy produced, and found that all five factors were influenced by crop choice. Sugar beet scenarios require the least land area: 3.5 times less land per liter of gasoline equivalent than bermudagrass and five times less than canola. Canola scenarios had the largest impacts on wildlife but the greatest reduction in water use. Bermudagrass scenarios resulted in a slight overall improvement for wildlife over the current situation. Relatively minor redistribution of lands converted to biofuel crops could produce the same energy yield with much less impact on wildlife and very small increases in transportation costs. This framework provides a means to systematically evaluate potential wildlife impacts of alternative production scenarios and could be a useful complement to other frameworks that assess impacts on ecosystem services and greenhouse gas emissions. © 2011 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.",Modeling wildlife and other trade-offs with biofuel crop production,journal article,empirical,,Bioenergy,Bioenergy,Land use modelling,"biodiversity and ecosystem functioning, land use",,
10.1111/gcb.14503,13541013,,"['ENVI', 'ENVI', 'ENVI', 'ENVI']","Sabatini, Francesco Maria;de Andrade, Rafael Barreto;Paillet, Yoan;Ódor, Péter;Bouget, Christophe;Campagnaro, Thomas;Gosselin, Frédéric;Janssen, Philippe;Mattioli, Walter;Nascimbene, Juri;Sitzia, Tommaso;Kuemmerle, Tobias;Burrascano, Sabina",2019,Global Change Biology,biodiversity conservation | carbon storage | climate change mitigation | community thresholds | multi-objective forest planning | multi-taxonomic diversity | trade-off species | win-win species,"Policies to mitigate climate change and biodiversity loss often assume that protecting carbon-rich forests provides co-benefits in terms of biodiversity, due to the spatial congruence of carbon stocks and biodiversity at biogeographic scales. However, it remains unclear whether this holds at the scales relevant for management, and particularly large knowledge gaps exist for temperate forests and for taxa other than trees. We built a comprehensive dataset of Central European temperate forest structure and multi-taxonomic diversity (beetles, birds, bryophytes, fungi, lichens, and plants) across 352 plots. We used Boosted Regression Trees (BRTs) to assess the relationship between above-ground live carbon stocks and (a) taxon-specific richness, (b) a unified multidiversity index. We used Threshold Indicator Taxa ANalysis to explore individual species’ responses to changing above-ground carbon stocks and to detect change-points in species composition along the carbon-stock gradient. Our results reveal an overall weak and highly variable relationship between richness and carbon stock at the stand scale, both for individual taxonomic groups and for multidiversity. Similarly, the proportion of win-win and trade-off species (i.e., species favored or disadvantaged by increasing carbon stock, respectively) varied substantially across taxa. Win-win species gradually replaced trade-off species with increasing carbon, without clear thresholds along the above-ground carbon gradient, suggesting that community-level surrogates (e.g., richness) might fail to detect critical changes in biodiversity. Collectively, our analyses highlight that leveraging co-benefits between carbon and biodiversity in temperate forest may require stand-scale management that prioritizes either biodiversity or carbon in order to maximize co-benefits at broader scales. Importantly, this contrasts with tropical forests, where climate and biodiversity objectives can be integrated at the stand scale, thus highlighting the need for context-specificity when managing for multiple objectives. Accounting for critical change-points of target taxa can help to deal with this specificity, by defining a safe operating space to manipulate carbon while avoiding biodiversity losses.",Trade-offs between carbon stocks and biodiversity in European temperate forests,journal article,empirical,,CDR,ARR,Ecological modelling,biodiversity and ecosystem functioning,biodiversity and ecosystem functioning,
10.1017/sus.2018.6,,,"['ENVI', 'ENVI']","Dooley, Kate;Christoff, Peter;Nicholas, Kimberly A.",2018,Global Sustainability,food security | land use | modelling and simulation | policies | politics and governance,"Non-Technical summary Under the Paris Agreement, nations have committed to preventing dangerous global warming. Scenarios for achieving net-zero emissions in the second half of this century depend on land (forests and bioenergy) to remove carbon from the atmosphere. Modelled levels of land-based mitigation could reduce the availability of productive agricultural land, and encroach on natural land, with potentially significant social and environmental consequences. However, these issues are poorly recognized in the policy-uptake of modelled outputs. Understanding how science and policy interact to produce expectations about mitigation pathways allows us to consider the trade-offs inherent in relying on land for mitigation. Technical summary Science enables better understanding of climate change causes and impacts but may also define the 'climate problem' in technical terms, with technical solutions, as seen in the recent inclusion of negative emissions technologies (NETs) in Integrated Assessment Models (IAMs) to meet the Paris Agreement's temperature goals. This paper examines the sustainability of land-based carbon removal, using a co-production lens to explain the legitimization of NETs as key mitigation options. We evaluate the scale of NETs in the most recent generation of <2 °C scenarios, finding that projected levels of land-based mitigation imply strong trade-offs with other societal goals. Future demand for bioenergy from dedicated cropland drives large-scale land-use change across all models. Upper ranges of modelled outputs would require up to a doubling of global cropland, with potential losses of up to a quarter of both current pasture and natural lands by 2100. We find that the perception of model-based knowledge as 'objective science' lends authority to outcomes that might otherwise be more critically debated and contested. Closer engagement between modellers and policy experts for mitigation scenario development would allow for more negotiated forms of knowledge production that might better clarify and represent the multiple objectives and interests at stake in the utilization of limited land resources.",Co-producing climate policy and negative emissions: Trade-offs for sustainable land-use,journal article,empirical,,CDR,BECCS; ARR,IAM,"land use, biodiversity and ecosystem functioning","land use, biodiversity and ecosystem functioning; land use, biodiversity and ecosystem functioning",
10.1111/gcbb.12299,17571693,,"['AGRI', 'ENER', 'AGRI', 'ENVI']","Santangeli, Andrea;Toivonen, Tuuli;Pouzols, Federico Montesino;Pogson, Mark;Hastings, Astley;Smith, Pete;Moilanen, Atte",2016,GCB Bioenergy,bioenergy | conservation planning | environmental impact avoidance | offsetting | spatial conservation prioritization | species richness | trade-off,"Reliance on fossil fuels is causing unprecedented climate change and is accelerating environmental degradation and global biodiversity loss. Together, climate change and biodiversity loss, if not averted urgently, may inflict severe damage on ecosystem processes, functions and services that support the welfare of modern societies. Increasing renewable energy deployment and expanding the current protected area network represent key solutions to these challenges, but conflicts may arise over the use of limited land for energy production as opposed to biodiversity conservation. Here, we compare recently identified core areas for the expansion of the global protected area network with the renewable energy potential available from land-based solar photovoltaic, wind energy and bioenergy (in the form of Miscanthus × giganteus). We show that these energy sources have very different biodiversity impacts and net energy contributions. The extent of risks and opportunities deriving from renewable energy development is highly dependent on the type of renewable source harvested, the restrictions imposed on energy harvest and the region considered, with Central America appearing at particularly high potential risk from renewable energy expansion. Without restrictions on power generation due to factors such as production and transport costs, we show that bioenergy production is a major potential threat to biodiversity, while the potential impact of wind and solar appears smaller than that of bioenergy. However, these differences become reduced when energy potential is restricted by external factors including local energy demand. Overall, we found that areas of opportunity for developing solar and wind energy with little harm to biodiversity could exist in several regions of the world, with the magnitude of potential impact being particularly dependent on restrictions imposed by local energy demand. The evidence provided here helps guide sustainable development of renewable energy and contributes to the targeting of global efforts in climate mitigation and biodiversity conservation.",Global change synergies and trade-offs between renewable energy and biodiversity,journal article,empirical,,SHW; Bioenergy,solar; wind; Bioenergy,Spatial overlap analysis,biodiversity and ecosystem functioning; biodiversity and ecosystem functioning,biodiversity and ecosystem functioning; biodiversity and ecosystem functioning; biodiversity and ecosystem functioning ,
10.1111/gcbb.12337,17571693,,"['AGRI', 'ENER', 'AGRI', 'ENVI']","Santangeli, Andrea;Di Minin, Enrico;Toivonen, Tuuli;Pogson, Mark;Hastings, Astley;Smith, Pete;Moilanen, Atte",2016,GCB Bioenergy,air pollution mortality | bioenergy | control of corruption | governance | international investment | offsetting | spatial conservation prioritization | trade-off,"Increased deployment of renewable energy can contribute towards mitigating climate change and improving air quality, wealth and development. However, renewable energy technologies are not free of environmental impacts; thus, it is important to identify opportunities and potential threats from the expansion of renewable energy deployment. Currently, there is no cross-national comprehensive analysis linking renewable energy potential simultaneously to socio-economic and political factors and biodiversity priority locations. Here, we quantify the relationship between the fraction of land-based renewable energy (including solar photovoltaic, wind and bioenergy) potential available outside the top biodiversity areas (i.e. outside the highest ranked 30% priority areas for biodiversity conservation) within each country, with selected socio-economic and geopolitical factors as well as biodiversity assets. We do so for two scenarios that identify priority areas for biodiversity conservation alternatively in a globally coordinated manner vs. separately for individual countries. We show that very different opportunities and challenges emerge if the priority areas for biodiversity protection are identified globally or designated nationally. In the former scenario, potential for solar, wind and bioenergy outside the top biodiversity areas is highest in developing countries, in sparsely populated countries and in countries of low biodiversity potential but with high air pollution mortality. Conversely, when priority areas for biodiversity protection are designated nationally, renewable energy potential outside the top biodiversity areas is highest in countries with good governance but also in countries with high biodiversity potential and population density. Overall, these results identify both clear opportunities but also risks that should be considered carefully when making decisions about renewable energy policies.",Synergies and trade-offs between renewable energy expansion and biodiversity conservation – a cross-national multifactor analysis,journal article,empirical,,SHW; Bioenergy,solar; wind; Bioenergy,"Land use modelling, Spatial overlap analysis",biodiversity and ecosystem functioning; biodiversity and ecosystem functioning,biodiversity and ecosystem functioning; biodiversity and ecosystem functioning; biodiversity and ecosystem functioning ,
10.1016/j.jenvman.2011.09.019,3014797,,"['ENVI', 'ENVI', 'ENVI']","Dymond, John R.;Ausseil, Anne Gaelle E.;Ekanayake, Jagath C.;Kirschbaum, Miko U.F.",2012,Journal of Environmental Management,Afforestation | Carbon sequestration | Co-benefits | Ecosystem services | Soil erosion | Water yield,"The tradeoffs between the regulation of soil erosion, provision of fresh water, and climate regulation associated with new Pinus radiata forests in New Zealand are explored using national models. These three ecosystem services for which there is strong demand are monetised as commodities (avoided soil erosion is NZ $1 per tonne; water is NZ $1 per cubic metre; and sequestered carbon is assumed to be NZ $73 per tonne). This permits their summation on a spatial basis to produce a national map of the net benefit of these ecosystem services. Net benefit is spatially variable depending primarily on the relative mix of forest growth rates and demand for irrigation water. New P. radiata forests (once mature) generally reduce mass-movement erosion by an order of magnitude. This provides significant benefits for erosion control where there are high natural rates of erosion. Benefits are especially large in catchments where high sedimentation is increasing flood risk and degrading aquatic ecosystems. The generally high growth rates of P. radiata in New Zealand (8.5 tonnesCha-1yr-1 on average for existing forest) add significant environmental benefits of carbon sinks to climate regulation. However, the reduction of water yield associated with new forests (between 30% and 50%) can neutralise these benefits in catchments where there is demand for irrigation water, such as the eastern foothills of the Southern Alps and the tussock grasslands in the South Island. © 2011 Elsevier Ltd.","Tradeoffs between soil, water, and carbon - A national scale analysis from New Zealand",journal article,empirical,,CDR,ARR,"Earth system modelling, Monetary valuation",water use,water use,
10.1038/nclimate3092,1758-6798,,,"Feng, Xiaoming; Fu, Bojie; Piao, Shilong; Wang, Shuai; Ciais, Philippe; Zeng, Zhenzhong; Lü, Yihe; Zeng, Yuan; Li, Yue; Jiang, Xiaohui; Wu, Bingfang",2016,Nature Climate Change,"Climate-change mitigation, Ecosystem services","China’s ‘Grain for Green’ revegetation programme has potential to help mitigate climate change. However, the increased water demand in the Loess Plateau is approaching a level that will impact on water availability to meet human demand.",Revegetation in China’s Loess Plateau is approaching sustainable water resource limits,journal article,empirical,,CDR,ARR,Earth system modelling,water use ,water use ,
10.1038/s41559-018-0743-8,,,"['AGRI', 'ENVI']","Strassburg, Bernardo B.N.;Beyer, Hawthorne L.;Crouzeilles, Renato;Iribarrem, Alvaro;Barros, Felipe;de Siqueira, Marinez Ferreira;Sánchez-Tapia, Andrea;Balmford, Andrew;Sansevero, Jerônimo Boelsums Barreto;Brancalion, Pedro Henrique Santin;Broadbent, Eben North;Chazdon, Robin L.;Filho, Ary Oliveira;Gardner, Toby A.;Gordon, Ascelin;Latawiec, Agnieszka;Loyola, Rafael;Metzger, Jean Paul;Mills, Morena;Possingham, Hugh P.;Rodrigues, Ricardo Ribeiro;Scaramuzza, Carlos Alberto de Mattos;Scarano, Fabio Rubio;Tambosi, Leandro;Uriarte, Maria",2019,Nature Ecology and Evolution,0,"International commitments for ecosystem restoration add up to one-quarter of the world’s arable land. Fulfilling them would ease global challenges such as climate change and biodiversity decline but could displace food production and impose financial costs on farmers. Here, we present a restoration prioritization approach capable of revealing these synergies and trade-offs, incorporating ecological and economic efficiencies of scale and modelling specific policy options. Using an actual large-scale restoration target of the Atlantic Forest hotspot, we show that our approach can deliver an eightfold increase in cost-effectiveness for biodiversity conservation compared with a baseline of non-systematic restoration. A compromise solution avoids 26% of the biome’s current extinction debt of 2,864 plant and animal species (an increase of 257% compared with the baseline). Moreover, this solution sequesters 1 billion tonnes of CO2-equivalent (a 105% increase) while reducing costs by US$28 billion (a 57% decrease). Seizing similar opportunities elsewhere would offer substantial contributions to some of the greatest challenges for humankind.",Strategic approaches to restoring ecosystems can triple conservation gains and halve costs,journal article,empirical,only,CDR,ARR,"Economic modelling, Ecological modelling",,biodiversity and ecosystem functioning,
10.1038/s41558-017-0064-y,1758678X,,"['ENVI', 'SOCI']","Heck, Vera;Gerten, Dieter;Lucht, Wolfgang;Popp, Alexander",2018,Nature Climate Change,0,"Under the Paris Agreement, 195 nations have committed to holding the increase in the global average temperature to well below 2 °C above pre-industrial levels and to strive to limit the increase to 1.5 °C (ref. 1 ). It is noted that this requires ""a balance between anthropogenic emissions by sources and removals by sinks of greenhouse gases in the second half of the century"" 1 . This either calls for zero greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions or a balance between positive and negative emissions (NE) 2,3 . Roadmaps and socio-economic scenarios compatible with a 2 °C or 1.5 °C goal depend upon NE via bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS) to balance remaining GHG emissions 4-7 . However, large-scale deployment of BECCS would imply significant impacts on many Earth system components besides atmospheric CO2 concentrations 8,9 . Here we explore the feasibility of NE via BECCS from dedicated plantations and potential trade-offs with planetary boundaries (PBs) 10,11 for multiple socio-economic pathways. We show that while large-scale BECCS is intended to lower the pressure on the PB for climate change, it would most likely steer the Earth system closer to the PB for freshwater use and lead to further transgression of the PBs for land-system change, biosphere integrity and biogeochemical flows.",Biomass-based negative emissions difficult to reconcile with planetary boundaries,journal article,empirical,,CDR,BECCS,Vegetation modelling,"land use, water use, eutrophication and biogeochemical flows, biodiversity and ecosystem functioning","land use, water use, eutrophication and biogeochemical flows, biodiversity and ecosystem functioning",
10.1038/s41558-020-0876-z,1758678X,,"['ENVI', 'SOCI']","Fuhrman, Jay;McJeon, Haewon;Patel, Pralit;Doney, Scott C.;Shobe, William M.;Clarens, Andres F.",2020,Nature Climate Change,0,"Scenarios for meeting ambitious climate targets rely on large-scale deployment of negative emissions technologies (NETs), including direct air capture (DAC). However, the tradeoffs between food, water and energy created by deploying different NETs are unclear. Here we show that DAC could provide up to 3 GtCO2 yr−1 of negative emissions by 2035—equivalent to 7% of 2019 global CO2 emissions—based on current-day assumptions regarding price and performance. DAC in particular could exacerbate demand for energy and water, yet it would avoid the most severe market-mediated effects of land-use competition from bioenergy with carbon capture and storage and afforestation. This could result in staple food crop prices rising by approximately fivefold relative to 2010 levels in many parts of the Global South, raising equity concerns about the deployment of NETs. These results highlight that delays in aggressive global mitigation action greatly increase the requirement for DAC to meet climate targets, and correspondingly, energy and water impacts.",Food–energy–water implications of negative emissions technologies in a +1.5 °C future,journal article,empirical,,CDR,DACCS,IAM,"land use, water use","land use, water use",
10.1039/d2gc03047k,,,,"Huo, Jing;Wang, Zhanyun;Oberschelp, Christopher;Guillén-Gosálbez, Gonzalo;Hellweg, Stefanie",2022,Green Chemistry,0,"Carbon capture, utilization and storage (CCUS) have been projected by the power and industrial sectors to play a vital role towards net-zero greenhouse gas emissions. In this study, we aim to explore the feasibility of a global chemical industry that fully relies on CO2 as its carbon source in 2050. We project the global annual CO2 demand as chemical feedstock to be 2.2-3.1 gigatonnes (Gt), well within the possible range of supply (5.2-13.9 Gt) from the power, cement, steel, and kraft pulp sectors. Hence, feedstock availability is not a constraint factor for the transition towards a fully CO2-based chemical industry on the global basis, with the exception of few regions that could face local supply shortages, such as the Middle East. We further conduct life cycle assessment to examine the environmental benefits on climate change and the trade-offs of particulate matter-related health impacts induced by carbon capture. We conclude that CO2 captured from solid biomass-fired power plants and kraft pulp mills in Europe would have the least environmental and health impacts, and that India and China should prioritize low-impact regional electricity supply before a large-scale deployment of CCUS. Finally, two bottom-up case studies of China and the Middle East illustrate how the total regional environmental and health impacts from carbon capture can be minimized by optimizing its supply sources and transport, requiring cross-sectoral cooperation and early planning of infrastructure. Overall, capture and utilization of unabatable industrial waste CO2 as chemical feedstock can be a feasible way for the net-zero transition of the industry, while concerted efforts are yet needed to build up the carbon-capture-and-utilization value chain around the world.",Net-zero transition of the global chemical industry with CO2-feedstock by 2050: feasible yet challenging,journal article,empirical,,CCS & CCU,CCS & CCU,LCA,air pollution,air pollution,
10.1038/nclimate2882,1758-6798,,,"Taylor, Lyla L.; Quirk, Joe; Thorley, Rachel M. S.; Kharecha, Pushker A.; Hansen, James; Ridgwell, Andy; Lomas, Mark R.; Banwart, Steve A.; Beerling, David J.",2016,Nature Climate Change,"Climate sciences, Climate-change mitigation, Biogeochemistry","The chemical breakdown of rocks can be enhanced by spreading silicate granules over land. Research suggests that this measure, which increases the rate at which CO2 is locked up in ocean carbonates, could lower atmospheric CO2 by 30–300 ppm by 2100.",Enhanced weathering strategies for stabilizing climate and averting ocean acidification,journal article,empirical,,CDR,Enhanced weathering,Earth system modelling,"land use, air pollution","land use, air pollution",
10.1038/s41467-021-21640-3,2041-1723,,,"Stenzel, Fabian; Greve, Peter; Lucht, Wolfgang; Tramberend, Sylvia; Wada, Yoshihide; Gerten, Dieter",2021,Nature Communications,"Climate-change mitigation, Climate and Earth system modelling, Hydrology, Environmental health","Bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS) is considered an important negative emissions (NEs) technology, but might involve substantial irrigation on biomass plantations. Potential water stress resulting from the additional withdrawals warrants evaluation against the avoided climate change impact. Here we quantitatively assess potential side effects of BECCS with respect to water stress by disentangling the associated drivers (irrigated biomass plantations, climate, land use patterns) using comprehensive global model simulations. By considering a widespread use of irrigated biomass plantations, global warming by the end of the 21st century could be limited to 1.5 °C compared to a climate change scenario with 3 °C. However, our results suggest that both the global area and population living under severe water stress in the BECCS scenario would double compared to today and even exceed the impact of climate change. Such side effects of achieving substantial NEs would come as an extra pressure in an already water-stressed world and could only be avoided if sustainable water management were implemented globally.",Irrigation of biomass plantations may globally increase water stress more than climate change,journal article,empirical,,CDR,BECCS,Vegetation modelling,water use,water use,
10.1038/s41467-019-10842-5,2041-1723,,,"Realmonte, Giulia; Drouet, Laurent; Gambhir, Ajay; Glynn, James; Hawkes, Adam; Köberle, Alexandre C.; Tavoni, Massimo",2019,Nature Communications,"Climate-change mitigation, Energy and society","The feasibility of large-scale biological CO2 removal to achieve stringent climate targets remains unclear. Direct Air Carbon Capture and Storage (DACCS) offers an alternative negative emissions technology (NET) option. Here we conduct the first inter-model comparison on the role of DACCS in 1.5 and 2 °C scenarios, under a variety of techno-economic assumptions. Deploying DACCS significantly reduces mitigation costs, and it complements rather than substitutes other NETs. The key factor limiting DACCS deployment is the rate at which it can be scaled up. Our scenarios’ average DACCS scale-up rates of 1.5 GtCO2/yr would require considerable sorbent production and up to 300 EJ/yr of energy input by 2100. The risk of assuming that DACCS can be deployed at scale, and finding it to be subsequently unavailable, leads to a global temperature overshoot of up to 0.8 °C. DACCS should therefore be developed and deployed alongside, rather than instead of, other mitigation options.",An inter-model assessment of the role of direct air capture in deep mitigation pathways,journal article,empirical,,CDR,DACCS,IAM,land use,land use,
10.1016/j.still.2012.01.009,1671987,,"['AGRI', 'AGRI', 'EART']","Álvaro-Fuentes, Jorge;Morell, Francisco Joaquín;Plaza-Bonilla, Daniel;Arrúe, José Luis;Cantero-Martínez, Carlos",2012,Soil and Tillage Research,Nitrogen fertilization | Semiarid agroecosystems | Soil organic carbon modelling | Tillage,"Agricultural management plays an important role in global warming mitigation due to its effects on soil organic carbon (SOC) dynamics. In Mediterranean agroecosystems, the interactive effects of tillage and N fertilization on SOC storage have scarcely been studied. Hence, we here present a modelling study in which the effects of both tillage and N fertilization on SOC dynamics are investigated. We used SOC and C input data from a long-term (13 years) field study located in northeast Spain, firstly to validate both the Century model and the Rothamsted Carbon (RothC) model and secondly to predict future SOC dynamics until the year 2030. Tillage and N fertilization affected SOC stocks in the 0-30cm soil layer. However, the interaction of the two factors was not significant. Averaged over the three N fertilization rates, the observed mean SOC stocks in conventional tillage (CT) and no-tillage (NT) were 29.8 and 36.8MgCha -1, respectively. In addition, the observed SOC stocks, averaged for both tillage systems, increased with increasing N rates, with 30.6, 33.5 and 35.8MgCha -1 for the 0, 60 and 120kgNha -1 rates, respectively. In general, both the Century model and the RothC model performed well in predicting SOC dynamics. Model predictions showed that in Mediterranean dryland agroecosystems SOC dynamics in the next 20 years would be variable according to the tillage and N fertilization applied. According to these predictions, scenarios with NT and high fertilization rates (e.g., 60-120kgNha -1) could lead to significant SOC sequestration and associated CO 2 emission offsetting. However, these scenarios with high SOC sequestration rates also showed high mineral N accumulation in the soil profile with its associated environmental side effects. © 2012 Elsevier B.V..",Modelling tillage and nitrogen fertilization effects on soil organic carbon dynamics,journal article,empirical,,CDR,SCS,Soil dynamics modelling,eutrophication and biogeochemical flows,eutrophication and biogeochemical flows,
10.1111/gcbb.13015,17571693,,"['AGRI', 'ENER', 'AGRI', 'ENVI']","Englund, Oskar;Mola-Yudego, Blas;Börjesson, Pål;Cederberg, Christel;Dimitriou, Ioannis;Scarlat, Nicolae;Berndes, Göran",2023,GCB Bioenergy,agriculture | climate mitigation | environmental benefits | environmental impacts | Europe | grass | land use | perennial crops | soil carbon | spatial modelling,"The agriculture sector can contribute to climate change mitigation by reducing its own greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, sequestering carbon in vegetation and soils, and providing biomass to substitute for fossil fuels and other GHG-intensive products. The sector also needs to address water, soil, and biodiversity impacts caused by historic and current practices. Emerging EU policies create incentives for cultivation of perennial plants that provide biomass along with environmental benefits. One such option, common in northern Europe, is to include grass in rotations with annual crops to provide biomass while remediating soil organic carbon (SOC) losses and other environmental impacts. Here, we apply a spatially explicit model on >81,000 sub-watersheds in EU27 + UK (Europe) to explore the effects of widespread deployment of such systems. Based on current accumulated SOC losses in individual sub-watersheds, the model identifies and quantifies suitable areas for increased grass cultivation and corresponding biomass- and protein supply, SOC sequestration, and reductions in nitrogen emissions to water as well as wind and water erosion. The model also provides information about possible flood mitigation. The results indicate a substantial climate mitigation potential, with combined annual GHG savings from soil-carbon sequestration and displacement of natural gas with biogas from grass-based biorefineries, equivalent to 13%–48% of current GHG emissions from agriculture in Europe. The environmental co-benefits are also notable, in some cases exceeding the estimated mitigation needs. Yield increases for annual crops in modified rotations mitigate the displacement effect of increasing grass cultivation. If the grass is used as feedstock in lieu of annual crops, the displacement effect can even be negative, that is, a reduced need for annual crop production elsewhere. Incentivizing widespread deployment will require supportive policy measures as well as new uses of grass biomass, for example, as feedstock for green biorefineries producing protein concentrate, biofuels, and other bio-based products.",Large-scale deployment of grass in crop rotations as a multifunctional climate mitigation strategy,journal article,empirical,only,CDR; Agricultural management,CDR; Agricultural management,,,,
10.1098/rsta.2016.0456,,,,"Smith, Pete; Price, Jeff; Molotoks, Amy; Warren, Rachel; Malhi, Yadvinder",2018,"Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences","biodiversity, climate change targets, greenhouse gas removal, land","We applied a recently developed tool to examine the reduction in climate risk to biodiversity in moving from a 2°C to a 1.5°C target. We then reviewed the recent literature examining the impact of (a) land-based mitigation options and (b) land-based greenhouse gas removal options on biodiversity. We show that holding warming to 1.5°C versus 2°C can significantly reduce the number of species facing a potential loss of 50% of their climatic range. Further, there would be an increase of 5.5–14% of the globe that could potentially act as climatic refugia for plants and animals, an area equivalent to the current global protected area network. Efforts to meet the 1.5°C target through mitigation could largely be consistent with biodiversity protection/enhancement. For impacts of land-based greenhouse gas removal technologies on biodiversity, some (e.g. soil carbon sequestration) could be neutral or positive, others (e.g. bioenergy with carbon capture and storage) are likely to lead to conflicts, while still others (e.g. afforestation/reforestation) are context-specific, when applied at scales necessary for meaningful greenhouse gas removal. Additional effort to meet the 1.5°C target presents some risks, particularly if inappropriately managed, but it also presents opportunities.  This article is part of the theme issue ‘The Paris Agreement: understanding the physical and social challenges for a warming world of 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels'.",Impacts on terrestrial biodiversity of moving from a 2°C to a 1.5°C target,journal article,empirical,,CDR,BECCS; ARR,IAM,"land use, biodiversity and ecosystem functioning","land use, biodiversity and ecosystem functioning; land use, biodiversity and ecosystem functioning",
10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2020.102066,9593780,,"['ENVI', 'SOCI', 'ENVI', 'ENVI']","Laroche, Perrine C.S.J.;Schulp, Catharina J.E.;Kastner, Thomas;Verburg, Peter H.",2020,Global Environmental Change,Dietary change | EAT diet | Ecosystem services | Land use change | Telecoupling | Trade | Trade-offs,"Low-meat and no-meat diets are increasingly acknowledged as sustainable alternatives to current Western food consumption patterns. Concerns for the environment, individual health or animal welfare are raising consumers’ willingness to adopt such diets. Dietary shifts in Western countries may modify the way human-environment systems interact over distances, primarily as a result of existing trade flows in food products. Global studies have focused on the amount of water, land, and CO2 emissions embodied in plant-based versus animal-based proteins, but the potential of alternative diets to shift the location of environmental impacts has not yet been investigated. We build on footprint and trade-based analyses to compare the magnitude and spatial allocation of the impacts of six diets of consumers in the United States of America (USA). We used data on declared diets as well as a stylized average diet and a recent dietary guideline integrating health and environmental targets. We demonstrate that low-meat and no-meat diets have a lower demand for land and utilize more crops with natural nitrogen fixation potential, yet also rely more widely on pollinator abundance and diversity, and can increase impacts on freshwater ecosystems in some countries. We recommend that governments carefully consider the local impacts of the alternative diets they promote, and minimize trade-offs between the global and local consequences of dietary shifts through regulation or incentives.",Telecoupled environmental impacts of current and alternative Western diets,journal article,empirical,,Diet change,Diet change,Footprint approaches,water use,water use,
10.1126/science.1119282,,,,"Jackson, Robert B.; Jobbágy, Esteban G.; Avissar, Roni; Roy, Somnath Baidya; Barrett, Damian J.; Cook, Charles W.; Farley, Kathleen A.; le Maitre, David C.; McCarl, Bruce A.; Murray, Brian C.",2005,Science,,"Carbon sequestration strategies highlight tree plantations without considering their full environmental consequences. We combined field research, synthesis of more than 600 observations, and climate and economic modeling to document substantial losses in stream flow, and increased soil salinization and acidification, with afforestation. Plantations decreased stream flow by 227 millimeters per year globally (52%), with 13% of streams drying completely for at least 1 year. Regional modeling of U.S. plantation scenarios suggests that climate feedbacks are unlikely to offset such water losses and could exacerbate them. Plantations can help control groundwater recharge and upwelling but reduce stream flow and salinize and acidify some soils.",Trading Water for Carbon with Biological Carbon Sequestration,journal article,empirical,,CDR,ARR,IAM,"water use, acidification, land use","water use, acidification, land use",
10.1016/j.spc.2021.07.009,,,"['ENVI', 'ENVI', 'ENER', 'ENGI']","Ridoutt, Bradley G.;Baird, Danielle;Hendrie, Gilly A.",2021,Sustainable Production and Consumption,"Climate change, Water footprint, Cropland scarcity | Dietary guidelines | Healthy sustainable diet | Life cycle perspective","Dietary change is often presented as a key factor in the transition toward healthy sustainable diets. However, the evidence base is limited as most studies are based on a single environmental aspect, such as climate impact, contrived dietary scenarios that don't reflect the full array of foods typically eaten, or dietary patterns that are not nutritionally adequate. In this study, a weighted environmental impact (EI) score was developed using a planetary boundary-based distance-to-target approach. The included environmental aspects were climate footprint, water-scarcity footprint, and cropland-scarcity footprint. To enable sensitivity analysis, three alternative weighting models were also developed. The EI scores were calculated for a large number of processed and unprocessed foods in the Australian food system and used to assess 9,341 individual Australian adult daily diets obtained from the Australian Health Survey. A diet quality score, assessing the level of compliance with the food based Australian Dietary Guidelines, was also applied. For the current average diet, energy-dense and nutrient-poor discretionary foods made the largest contribution to the total EI score. Moderating the intake of these foods should be a priority in strategies seeking to promote healthy sustainable diets. Using quadrant analysis, a dietary pattern with a lower EI score was identified that achieved the Australian Dietary Guidelines, however the reduction in EI score was modest, at around 15%, and insufficient to achieve planetary boundary targets. Notably, gains in climate impact reduction were achieved at the expense of increases in water-scarcity footprint, highlighting the trade-offs between different objectives. To achieve healthy diets within planetary boundaries in Australia, the greater share of impact reduction may need to occur in the food production system.",Diets within planetary boundaries: What is the potential of dietary change alone?,journal article,empirical,,Diet change,Diet change,Footprint approaches,water use,water use,
10.1016/j.apenergy.2016.07.040,3062619,,"['ENGI', 'ENER', 'ENGI', 'ENVI']","Crossin, Enda;Doherty, Peter J.B.",2016,Applied Energy,Burden shifting | Electric vehicles | Life cycle analysis | Life cycle assessment | Marginal electricity supply | Uncertainty,"This study combines electricity supply mix profiles and observed charging behaviour to compare the environmental performance of a petrol-hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV) with a class-equivalent internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicle over the full life cycle. Environmental performance is compared using a suite of indicators across the life cycle, accounting for both marginal and average electricity supply mixes for Australia's National Energy Market (NEM) grid. The use of average emission factors for the NEM grid can serve as a good proxy for accounting charging behaviour, provided that there is a strong correlation between the time of charging and total electricity demand. Compared with an equivalent ICE, PHEVs charged from Australia's NEM can reduce greenhouse gas emissions over the life cycle. Potential burden shifts towards acidification, eutrophication and human toxicity impacts may occur, but these impacts are uncertain due to modelling limitations. This study has the potential to inform both short and long term forecasts of the environmental impacts associated with EV deployment in Australia and provides a better understanding the temporal variations in emissions associated with electricity use in the short term.",The effect of charging time on the comparative environmental performance of different vehicle types,journal article,empirical,,Electric vehicles,Electric vehicles,LCA,"acidification, eutrophication and biogeochemical flows, human toxicity",,
10.3390/en7031467,,,"['ENER', 'ENER', 'ENER', 'ENER', 'MATH', 'ENGI']","Messagie, Maarten;Boureima, Faycal Siddikou;Coosemans, Thierry;Macharis, Cathy;Mierlo, Joeri Van",2014,Energies,Electric vehicles | Environmental impact | Green cars | Life cycle assessment | Sustainable mobility | Uncertainty,"How to compare the environmental performance of different vehicle technologies? Vehicles with lower tailpipe emissions are perceived as cleaner. However, does it make sense to look only to tailpipe emissions? Limiting the comparison only to these emissions denies the fact that there are emissions involved during the production of a fuel and this approach gives too much advantage to zero-tailpipe vehicles like battery electric vehicles (BEV) and fuel cell electric vehicle (FCEV). Would it be enough to combine fuel production and tailpipe emissions? Especially when comparing the environmental performance of alternative vehicle technologies, the emissions during production of the specific components and their appropriate end-of-life treatment processes should also be taken into account. Therefore, the complete life cycle of the vehicle should be included in order to avoid problem shifting from one life stage to another. In this article, a full life cycle assessment (LCA) of petrol, diesel, fuel cell electric (FCEV), compressed natural gas (CNG), liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), hybrid electric, battery electric (BEV), bio-diesel and bio-ethanol vehicles has been performed. The aim of the manuscript is to investigate the impact of the different vehicle technologies on the environment and to develop a range-based modeling system that enables a more robust interpretation of the LCA results for a group of vehicles. Results are shown for climate change, respiratory effects, acidification and mineral extraction damage of the different vehicle technologies. A broad range of results is obtained due to the variability within the car market. It is concluded that it is essential to take into account the influence of all the vehicle parameters on the LCA results. © 2014 by the authors.",A range-based vehicle life cycle assessment incorporating variability in the environmental assessment of different vehicle technologies and fuels,journal article,empirical,only,Electric vehicles,Electric vehicles,,,,
10.1007/s12665-023-10806-5,18666280,,"['ENVI', 'ENVI', 'ENVI', 'AGRI', 'ENVI', 'EART', 'EART']","Prates, Luisa;Karthe, Daniel;Zhang, Lulu;Wang, Lili;O’Connor, Jack;Lee, Halim;Dornack, Christina",2023,Environmental Earth Sciences,Circular economy | e-mobility | Electric vehicles | Lithium ion batteries | Used vehicles trade | Waste management,"The transition from fossil-fuel-based internal combustion vehicles to electric vehicles plays a key role to decarbonize road transport and mitigate climate change. Even though this transition is still in its infancy, it is important to consider not only its environmental benefits but also its potential side effects. The current electric vehicle fleet is expected to increase from 2.4 million in 2020 to 81 million in 2050 (Slowik et al., How technology, recycling, and policy can mitigate supply risks to the long-term transition to zero-emission vehicles. International Council on Clean Transportation. https://theicct.org/publication/how-technology-recycling-andpolicy-can-mitigate-supply-risks-to-the-long-term-transition-to-zero-emission-vehicles. Accessed 14 Feb 2022, 2020), when more than half of all new cars sold are predicted to be battery-electric vehicles (BEVs). End-of-life (EOL) BEVs and their components (particularly the batteries) are far more challenging to manage than their fossil-fueled predecessors as they contain large amounts of chemical substances that constitute potential hazards to the environment and human health and safety. The paper discusses relevant topics for understanding future risks of transition to electric mobility in the Global South countries, which include the internationally used vehicle fluxes; waste management challenges for EoL BEV and its lithium-ion batteries (LIB); environmental and human health impacts of EoL LIBs disposal and policies and regulations for the e-vehicle life cycle. Recommendations to support the development of science-based policies to close regulation gaps of the used electric vehicle international trade flow, avoid pollution-shifting and guarantee a sustainable transition to e-mobility in the Global South countries are given. As a conclusion, an integrated approach from international and national stakeholders is fundamental to guarantee strong policies and regulations as well as to support the development of a sound management of EoL EV and LIBs in the Global South countries and help pave the way to a global circular economy.",Sustainability for all? The challenges of predicting and managing the potential risks of end-of-life electric vehicles and their batteries in the Global South,journal article,empirical,,Electric vehicles,Electric vehicles,Synthesis of previous literature with analysis,"human toxicity, ecotoxicity",,
10.1021/es903729a,0013-936X,,,"Notter, Dominic A.; Gauch, Marcel; Widmer, Rolf; Wäger, Patrick; Stamp, Anna; Zah, Rainer; Althaus, Hans-Jörg",2010,Environmental Science & Technology,,"Battery-powered electric cars (BEVs) play a key role in future mobility scenarios. However, little is known about the environmental impacts of the production, use and disposal of the lithium ion (Li-ion) battery. This makes it difficult to compare the environmental impacts of BEVs with those of internal combustion engine cars (ICEVs). Consequently, a detailed lifecycle inventory of a Li-ion battery and a rough LCA of BEV based mobility were compiled. The study shows that the environmental burdens of mobility are dominated by the operation phase regardless of whether a gasoline-fueled ICEV or a European electricity fueled BEV is used. The share of the total environmental impact of E-mobility caused by the battery (measured in Ecoindicator 99 points) is 15%. The impact caused by the extraction of lithium for the components of the Li-ion battery is less than 2.3% (Ecoindicator 99 points). The major contributor to the environmental burden caused by the battery is the supply of copper and aluminum for the production of the anode and the cathode, plus the required cables or the battery management system. This study provides a sound basis for more detailed environmental assessments of battery based E-mobility.",Contribution of Li-Ion Batteries to the Environmental Impact of Electric Vehicles,journal article,empirical,,Electric vehicles,Electric vehicles,LCA,"mineral and metal depletion, unspecified environmental effects of mining, acidification, human toxicity","mineral and metal depletion, unspecified environmental effects of mining, acidification, human toxicity",
10.1007/s11367-012-0421-z,,,,"Modahl, Ingunn Saur;Askham, Cecilia;Lyng, Kari Anne;Brekke, Andreas",2012,International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment,Carbon capture and storage (CCS) | Environmental impacts | Human health | Life cycle assessment (LCA) | Toxicity | Trade-offs | Weighting,"Purpose Carbon capture and storage (CCS) is increasingly acknowledged as a potent global warming abatement option. It is demonstrated that whilst the global warming potential (GWP) decreases, the other environmental impact category potentials often increase in a life cycle perspective. Despite this, only a few studies clearly address this trade-off or use weighting to compare the positive and negative effects of CCS. The present life cycle assessment (LCA) study focuses, therefore, on presenting several environmental indicators and on weighting the inventory results in order to ascertain which of the analysed systems is to be preferred. Method The case studied is a projected gas power plant at Tjeldbergodden (Norway), where it is proposed to include post-combustion CCS. Four main scenarios have been analysed, one without and three with CCS. The principal variation between the CCS scenarios is that the steam required for amine regeneration is produced in three different ways: In a separate gas fuelled steam boiler; in a separate biomass fuelled steam boiler; and delivered from the low-pressure steam turbine in the power plant. Design information and technical specifications have been available. The study has used LCA methodology based on the ISO standard 14044, SimaPro 7.3.2.4 software and the Ecoinvent 2.0 database. The functional unit is 1 TWh electricity delivered to the grid. The following environmental impact categories have been included: GWP, acidification potential, eutrophication potential, photochemical ozone creation potential (POCP) and cumulative energy demand (CED). Three weighting methods have been used to ascertain the robustness of the weighting results: ReCiPe, EPS 2000 and IMPACT 2002+. Results and discussion The characterisation results show that the CCS scenarios have reduced impacts only in the case of GWP. The weighting demonstrates that in the ReCiPe model, climate change is strongly in focus, whilst in EPS 2000, human health and depletion of reserves are dominant. Climate change is also an important factor in IMPACT 2002+, together with effects on human health (respiratory inorganics). The process integration scenario has, however, the best result for all three weighting models. This contrasts with the results from the impact analysis where four of the five analysed impact categories rated the CCS-3 scenario as worse than the reference scenario. One possible option for improving the biofuel boiler scenario is to capture the CO2 from the combustion of biomass in the external steam boiler. This would not, in all probability, affect the acidification, eutrophication, POCP and CED to any significant degree, but the GWP, and hence the ReCiPe and the IMPACT 2002+, weighting results could be expected to improve. Conclusions The weighting exercise has identified toxicity as a concern with regard to the biofuel boiler scenarios (CCS-2) and human health issues as having importance for the CCS-3 scenario. It would seem that process integration is a better CCS option than that of CCS providing steam from a separate steam boiler (without CCS), even where this boiler is biomass-fuelled. Any future analysis should focus both on the process integration scenario and the biofuel boiler scenario with CCS of biological CO2. © Springer-Verlag 2012.","Weighting of environmental trade-offs in CCS-an LCA case study of electricity from a fossil gas power plant with post-combustion CO2 capture, transport and storage",journal article,empirical,,Electric vehicles,,LCA,"human toxicity, eutrophication and biogeochemical flows",,
10.1016/j.jclepro.2016.10.139,9596526,,"['ENER', 'ENVI', 'BUSI', 'ENGI']","Lee, Dong Yeon;Thomas, Valerie M.",2017,Journal of Cleaner Production,Electric vehicles | Life cycle trade-offs | Marginal electric grid | Parametric analysis | Robustness | Water-energy nexus,"Using a parametric modeling approach, we evaluate economic and environmental life cycle trade-offs of medium-duty electric trucks in comparison with nine non-electric technologies (e.g., conventional diesel, biodiesel, compressed natural gas, etc.) for U.S. model year 2015. Life cycle results for electric trucks vary strongly with weighted positive kinetic energy, whereas those for non-electric trucks vary the most with average trip speed. Our parametric life cycle assessment models explain 91%–98% of the variability in life cycle inventory and impact assessment results, revealing “how” and “why” the trade-offs of truck electrification change with different input conditions. In terms of cost, whether total cost of ownership or also including health and climate impact costs, model year 2015 battery electric trucks in severe applications such as urban driving provide positive and robust net benefits in many areas of the U.S. However, for typical operations, petroleum diesel with idle reduction or hybrid-electric technology provide the largest overall life cycle cost benefit. Battery electric, idle reduction, and hybrid trucks emit lower life cycle greenhouse gas emissions across the board in comparison with the other technologies. Despite lower carbon-intensity, electric trucks tend to be water-intensive because of cooling water consumption for thermo-electric power plants. Hybrid trucks create higher NOx emissions and thus larger associated environmental impacts. Idle reduction is beneficial to urban-type applications. Compressed natural gas trucks are the least water-intensive but may not reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Using marginal rather than average factors for electric grid emissions calculations doesn't change the overall life cycle comparisons. Improving driving behavior has universally positive effects for which the exact magnitude and sensitivity depend on environmental impact indicators and technologies.",Parametric modeling approach for economic and environmental life cycle assessment of medium-duty truck electrification,journal article,empirical,,Electric vehicles,Electric vehicles,LCA,water use,,
10.1016/j.jclepro.2018.11.153,9596526,,"['ENER', 'ENVI', 'BUSI', 'ENGI']","Upadhyayula, Venkata K.K.;Parvatker, Abhijeet G.;Baroth, Anju;Shanmugam, Kavitha",2019,Journal of Cleaner Production,2030 passenger vehicle fleet | Compact and sub compact BEV | LCA and environmental performance | Lightweighted ICEs | Reduction of crude oil imports | Urban air quality improvement,"The Indian automotive industry is faced with an unenviable challenge of achieving a sustainable growth in one of the largest markets. Adapting to increasingly strict environmental norms by the government committed to reducing the national greenhouse gas emissions, growing concerns amongst the citizens over the deteriorating air quality in the cities are the major environmental sustainability challenges for the auto industry in next decade. In this study, we analyze the potential benefits of vehicle lightweighting and introduction of electric vehicles through a cradle-to-grave life cycle assessment (LCA) of a standard sedan passenger vehicle. Based on the LCA results, five different scenarios are envisioned with different composition of the passenger vehicle fleet in 2030. These scenarios are used to analyze three key enviro-economical goals for India; (1) dependency on crude oil imports, (2) GHG emission reduction targets and (3) improvement in urban air quality. The results indicate that global warming potential (GWP) and fossil depletion impacts of ICEs can be reduced by 17%, while metal depletion reduces by 34% per vehicle with lightweighting. However, increase in freshwater ecotoxicity impact by 57% is one of the trade-offs. The GWP of a compact BEV powered with current (2014) and 2030 electricity grid mixes is 36% and 16% higher than petrol car. The GWP of a sub-compact BEV powered with current grid mix is 9% higher with current grid mix but 14% lower than petrol cars when powered with 2030 electricity grid mix. Crude oil consumption and GHG emissions are reduced by 20% with lightweight ICE fleet. Whereas, up to 45% reduction in crude oil consumption and 65% improvement in urban air quality can be achieved with BEV penetration scenarios.",Lightweighting and electrification strategies for improving environmental performance of passenger cars in India by 2030: A critical perspective based on life cycle assessment,journal article,empirical,,Electric vehicles,Electric vehicles,LCA,ecotoxicity,,
10.1111/jiec.13258,10881980,,"['ENVI', 'SOCI']","van der Meide, Marc;Harpprecht, Carina;Northey, Stephen;Yang, Yongxiang;Steubing, Bernhard",2022,Journal of Industrial Ecology,cobalt | energy transition | future background scenario | industrial ecology | mining | prospective life cycle assessment,"Cobalt is considered a key metal in the energy transition, and demand is expected to increase substantially by 2050. This demand is for an important part because of cobalt use in (electric vehicle) batteries. This study investigated the environmental impacts of the production of cobalt and how these could change in the future. We modeled possible future developments in the cobalt supply chain using four variables: (v1) ore grade, (v2) primary market shares, (v3) secondary market shares, and (v4) energy transition. These variables are driven by two metal-demand scenarios, which we derived from scenarios from the shared socioeconomic pathways, a “business as usual” (BAU) and a “sustainable development” (SD) scenario. We estimated future environmental impacts of cobalt supply by 2050 under these two scenarios using prospective life cycle assessment. We found that the environmental impacts of cobalt production could likely increase and are strongly dependent on the recycling market share and the overall energy transition. The results showed that under the BAU scenario, climate change impacts per unit of cobalt production could increase by 9% by 2050 compared to 2010, while they decreased by 28% under the SD scenario. This comes at a trade-off to other impacts like human toxicity, which could strongly increase in the SD scenario (112% increase) compared to the BAU scenario (71% increase). Furthermore, we found that the energy transition could offset most of the increase of climate change impacts induced by a near doubling in cobalt demand in 2050 between the two scenarios.",Effects of the energy transition on environmental impacts of cobalt supply: A prospective life cycle assessment study on future supply of cobalt,journal article,empirical,,Electric vehicles,Electric vehicles,LCA,"mineral and metal depletion, human toxicity, air pollution","mineral and metal depletion, human toxicity, air pollution",
10.1111/j.1530-9290.2012.00532.x,10881980,,"['ENVI', 'SOCI']","Hawkins, Troy R.;Singh, Bhawna;Majeau-Bettez, Guillaume;Strømman, Anders Hammer",2013,Journal of Industrial Ecology,Batteries | Electricity mix | Global warming | Industrial ecology | Life cycle inventory (LCI) | Transportation,"Electric vehicles (EVs) coupled with low-carbon electricity sources offer the potential for reducing greenhouse gas emissions and exposure to tailpipe emissions from personal transportation. In considering these benefits, it is important to address concerns of problem-shifting. In addition, while many studies have focused on the use phase in comparing transportation options, vehicle production is also significant when comparing conventional and EVs. We develop and provide a transparent life cycle inventory of conventional and electric vehicles and apply our inventory to assess conventional and EVs over a range of impact categories. We find that EVs powered by the present European electricity mix offer a 10% to 24% decrease in global warming potential (GWP) relative to conventional diesel or gasoline vehicles assuming lifetimes of 150,000 km. However, EVs exhibit the potential for significant increases in human toxicity, freshwater eco-toxicity, freshwater eutrophication, and metal depletion impacts, largely emanating from the vehicle supply chain. Results are sensitive to assumptions regarding electricity source, use phase energy consumption, vehicle lifetime, and battery replacement schedules. Because production impacts are more significant for EVs than conventional vehicles, assuming a vehicle lifetime of 200,000 km exaggerates the GWP benefits of EVs to 27% to 29% relative to gasoline vehicles or 17% to 20% relative to diesel. An assumption of 100,000 km decreases the benefit of EVs to 9% to 14% with respect to gasoline vehicles and results in impacts indistinguishable from those of a diesel vehicle. Improving the environmental profile of EVs requires engagement around reducing vehicle production supply chain impacts and promoting clean electricity sources in decision making regarding electricity infrastructure. © 2012 by Yale University.",Comparative Environmental Life Cycle Assessment of Conventional and Electric Vehicles,journal article,empirical,,Electric vehicles,Electric vehicles,LCA,"human toxicity, ecotoxicity, eutrophication and biogeochemical flows, mineral and metal depletion","human toxicity, ecotoxicity, eutrophication and biogeochemical flows, mineral and metal depletion",
10.1111/jiec.12406,10881980,,"['ENVI', 'SOCI']","Kerdlap, Piya;Gheewala, Shabbir H.",2016,Journal of Industrial Ecology,clean transportation | electric motorcycles | industrial ecology | stock-turnover modeling | total cost of ownership | transportation policy,"Battery electric motorcycles offer the potential to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and fossil fuel consumption in road transportation, but result in problem shifting when considering potential environmental impacts during vehicle production and disposal. This study evaluates the life cycle environmental impacts of implementing lithium-ion and lead-acid battery electric motorcycles in Thailand's motorcycle fleet to meet the government's motorcycle energy reduction target of 2,791 kilotonnes oil equivalent, compared to conventional motorcycles. A stock-turnover model is used to determine the market growth of electric motorcycles on the fleet from 2015 to 2030 to meet the energy reduction target. The total costs of ownership of each motorcycle are analyzed on a single vehicle basis to compare the cost benefits. The results of the study reveal that the environmental performance of an electric motorcycle fleet is sensitive to variations in use-phase energy consumption, the electricity mix consumed, and battery disposal scenarios. Realization of Thailand's Power Development Plan can reduce total impacts of the electric motorcycle fleet to global warming by 6% to 10%. It is crucial that batteries from electric motorcycles are recycled to avoid 98% of impacts to toxicity. Lead-acid battery electric motorcycles are a more affordable option for consumers in Thailand compared to conventional motorcycles and lithium-ion battery electric motorcycles. Recommendations are made to improve the environmental performance of electric motorcycle implementation strategies in Thailand.",Electric Motorcycles in Thailand: A Life Cycle Perspective,journal article,empirical,,Electric vehicles,Electric vehicles,LCA,"human toxicity, ecotoxicity","human toxicity, ecotoxicity",
10.1016/j.rser.2022.112475,13640321,,['ENER'],"Sacchi, R.;Bauer, C.;Cox, B.;Mutel, C.",2022,Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews,Battery electric | Error propagation | Life cycle assessment (LCA) | Mobility | Open-source | Projection | Synthetic fuels,"Reducing the climate impacts of passenger cars has a high priority on the political agenda, especially in the EU. However, there is disagreement on how this can best be achieved – with battery or fuel cell electric vehicles, or rather with combustion engine vehicles using electricity-based synthetic liquid fuels. To answer this question and to quantify potential environmental co-benefits and trade-offs, this paper introduces carculator, a Python library to conduct environmental life cycle assessments of current and future passenger vehicles. Because carculator is open-source and equipped with an easy-to-use online graphical user interface, it produces context-specific results, deemed more relevant than results otherwise published in more static formats. carculator supports for several powertrains, vehicle size categories and fuel types, for any year between 2000 and 2050, as well as error propagation from input parameters. We demonstrate carculator with an analysis of the expected evolution of life cycle greenhouse gas emissions of hybrid vehicles powered by fossil or synthetic gasoline and battery electric vehicles between 2020 and 2050, for all European countries and Brazil, China, India, Japan and the United States. Results show that current battery electric vehicles perform better than gasoline-powered vehicles in 26 out of the 35 countries considered. In the future, electricity-based synthetic fuels show the potential to reduce climate impacts due to the expected massive decarbonization of electricity supply. However, due to their comparatively inefficient supply and use, limited renewable resources represent a challenge and should better be used for other purposes.","When, where and how can the electrification of passenger cars reduce greenhouse gas emissions?",journal article,empirical,,Electric vehicles,Electric vehicles,LCA,"water use, mineral and metal depletion, unspecified environmental effects of mining","water use, mineral and metal depletion, unspecified environmental effects of mining",
10.1029/2022EF003063,,,"['ENVI', 'EART']","Yarlagadda, Brinda;Wild, Thomas;Zhao, Xin;Clarke, Leon;Cui, Ryna;Khan, Zarrar;Birnbaum, Abigail;Lamontagne, Jonathan",2023,Earth's Future,agricultural trade | climate mitigation | integrated assessment modeling | Latin America and the Caribbean | multi-sector | trade-offs,"The Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) region plays key roles in both meeting global agricultural demands and maintaining carbon sinks due to its abundant land and water resources. In this study we use the Global Change Analysis Model to evaluate the opportunities and challenges posed by two global-scale drivers: agricultural market integration (i.e., reduction of trade barriers) and land-based climate mitigation policy. We evaluate their potential individual and combined impacts on agricultural production and trade revenues across LAC's economies through mid-century, as well as the resulting impacts on agricultural consumers and integrated land-water-climate systems across LAC's diverse sub-regions. Increased global market integration results in increased agricultural production and trade revenues for many LAC economies, driven by their evolving comparative advantages. Climate mitigation measures on CO2 and non-CO2 greenhouse gases increase revenues due to increased agricultural prices from land competition and emissions abatement. The combined outcomes from both drivers are complex and sometimes non-linear, highlighting the importance of understanding the interactions between multiple drivers. Our results show that increased agricultural production and trade opportunities, from either of the two drivers, pose significant trade-offs that require careful multi-sectoral planning, such as emissions reduction challenges, potential loss of livestock production when pursuing land-based climate mitigation strategies, increased consumer expenditures, and changes in land-use or water withdrawals, resulting in deforestation or water scarcity pressures. There is considerable heterogeneity in economic and environmental outcomes across LAC sub-regions and agricultural commodities, illustrating the value of considering outcomes at finer scales.",Trade and Climate Mitigation Interactions Create Agro-Economic Opportunities With Social and Environmental Trade-Offs in Latin America and the Caribbean,journal article,empirical,,General mitigation,General mitigation,IAM,"land use, water use",,
10.3390/su11236657,,,"['SOCI', 'ENER', 'ENVI', 'ENER', 'ENVI']","Kim, Solhee;Pelton, Rylie E.O.;Smith, Timothy M.;Lee, Jimin;Jeon, Jeongbae;Suh, Kyo",2019,Sustainability,Battery electric vehicle | Environmental impact | Life cycle assessment (LCA) | Megacity | Power mix | Power roadmap,"The environmental impact of battery electric vehicles (BEVs) largely depends on the environmental profile of the national electric power grid that enables their operation. The purpose of this study is to analyze the environmental performance of BEV usage in Korea considering the changes and trajectory of the national power roadmap. We examined the environmental performance using a weighted environmental index, considering eight impact categories. The results showed that the weighted environmental impact of Korea's national power grid supply would increase overall by 66% from 2015 to 2029 using the plan laid out by the 7th Power Roadmap, and by only 33% from 2017 to 2031 using the 8th Power Roadmap plan. This change reflects the substantial amount of renewables in the more recent power mix plan. In 2016, BEV usage in Korea resulted in emissions reductions of about 37% compared with diesel passenger vehicles, and 41% compared with gasoline vehicles per kilometer driven (100 g CO2e/km versus 158 g and 170 g CO2e/km, respectively) related to transportation sector. By 2030, BEV usage in Korea is expected to achieve a greater emissions reduction of about 53% compared with diesel vehicles and 56% compared with gasoline vehicles. However, trade-offs are also expected because of increased particulate matter (PM) pollution, which we anticipate to increase by 84% compared with 2016 conditions. Despite these projected increases in PM emissions, increased BEV usage in Korea is expected to result in important global and local benefits through reductions of climate-changing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.",Environmental implications of the national power roadmap with policy directives for battery electric vehicles (BEVs),journal article,empirical,,Electric vehicles,Electric vehicles,LCA,air pollution,air pollution,
10.1016/j.trd.2013.09.002,13619209,,"['ENGI', 'SOCI', 'ENVI']","Singh, Bhawna;Strømman, Anders H.",2013,Transportation Research Part D: Transport and Environment,Climate change mitigation | Electric vehicles | Life cycle assessment | Road transport,"The study develops scenarios regarding the introduction of electric vehicles to the passenger vehicle fleet of Norway to reach the 2020 Norwegian greenhouse gas reduction target and a more extreme target to limit global temperature increase to two degrees. A process-based life cycle assessment approach is integrated with a temporally variable inventory model to evaluate the environmental impacts of these scenarios. We find that greenhouse gases in the reference scenario increase by 10% in 2020 in comparison to 2012; while for the more intensive improvements in conventional vehicles, this increase is reduced to 2%. For electric vehicles deployment scenarios, although the fleet share will reduce the tailpipe greenhouse gas emissions by 8-26%, with the upper end representing the two-degree reduction target, emissions reductions over the entire life cycle are only 3-15%. Electric vehicles also reduce emissions of NOx, SO2 and particulates reducing acidification, smog formation and particulate formation impacts, however, with addition of large numbers of electric vehicles significant trade-offs in toxicity impacts are found. © 2013 Elsevier Ltd.",Environmental assessment of electrification of road transport in Norway: Scenarios and impacts,journal article,empirical,,Electric vehicles,Electric vehicles,LCA,"human toxicity, ecotoxicity","human toxicity, ecotoxicity",
10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.161724,489697,,"['ENVI', 'ENVI', 'ENVI', 'ENVI']","Ma, Teng;Wang, Taihua;Yang, Dawen;Yang, Shuyu",2023,Science of the Total Environment,Evapotranspiration | Gross primary production | Vegetation restoration | Water use efficiency | Water yield,"The mountainous region of the Haihe River basin (MHRB) plays an important role in the water resource supply of its nearby mega-cities, including Beijing and Tianjin, and large areas of cropland. With the implementation of afforestation projects in recent decades, vegetation and carbon (C) uptake have greatly increased in the MHRB. In addition, the annual runoff has significantly declined, threatening regional water security. The trade-off relationship between water yield and C uptake in the MHRB remains unknown. This study employed a biogeochemical model (Biome-BGC) to simulate the natural vegetation dynamics and gross primary productivity (GPP) during 1982–2019 driven by climate forcing. A distributed hydrological model (geomorphology-based hydrological model, GBHM) was adopted to assess the impact of vegetation restoration on the hydrological processes. The results indicated that the leaf area index in the MHRB increased significantly (P < 0.01) during 1982–2019, which led to evapotranspiration increase and runoff (R) reduction. Under the influence of vegetation restoration, both the GPP and the water use efficiency (WUE) increased significantly in the MHRB during 2000–2019, however, the improvement of WUE decreased with the aridity index increasing. Our results showed that vegetation restoration can improve C sequestration efficiency in the MHRB and that the trade-off between water yield and C sequestration should be considered in planning ecological projects to achieve C neutrality.","Impacts of vegetation restoration on water resources and carbon sequestration in the mountainous area of Haihe River basin, China",journal article,empirical,,CDR,ARR,"Earth system modelling, Hydrological modelling",water use,water use,
10.5751/ES-03268-150210,,,['ENVI'],"Eichhorn, Marcus;Drechsler, Martin",2010,Ecology and Society,Bird protection | Efficiency frontier | Land use optimization | Spatial allocation | Trade-off | Wind power,"The expansion of renewable energy production is seen as an appropriate way to mitigate climate change. Renewable energies are not free of negative external effects on humans and the natural environment. We analyzed the conflict between wind power production and bird protection through the example of one of the most sensitive species, the red kite (Milvus milvus) in West Saxony, Germany. We investigated a large number of potential land use scenarios, defined by whether or not each potential site contained a wind turbine (WT). Based on meteorological and ornithological data, we evaluated the land use scenarios for their annual energy supply and impact on the red kite. We identified the efficient land use scenarios that maximized energy supply for a given ecological impact. Within the scope of our analysis, the current allocation of WTs in the study region was considered inefficient. The set of efficient scenarios allowed us to draw conclusions on the trade-offs involved. We developed an indicator that measures the severity of the conflict between wind power production and bird protection. Increasing the minimum distance of WTs to settlements beyond the legal requirements in order to minimize the impact on humans further intensifies the conflict. Our results can support planning authorities in their development of long-term regional plans by identifying areas that are most suitable for wind power production from an integrated point of view. © 2010 by the author(s).",Spatial trade-offs between wind power production and bird collision avoidance in agricultural landscapes,journal article,empirical,,SHW,wind,Land use modelling,biodiversity and ecosystem functioning,biodiversity and ecosystem functioning,
10.5751/ES-04037-160225,1708-3087,,,"Pittock, Jamie",2011,Ecology and Society,,". Even in the absence of climate change, freshwater ecosystems and the resources they provide for people are under great pressure because of increasing demand for water and declines in water quality. The imminent onset of climate change will exacerbate these impacts, placing even greater pressure on already stressed resources and regions. A plethora of national climate change policies have been adopted that emphasize structural adjustment in the energy sector and increasing carbon sinks. To date, most public debate on water has focused on the direct impacts of climate change on hydrology. However, there is growing evidence that climate change policies themselves may have substantial additional and negative impacts on freshwater resources and ecosystems and may thus result in maladaptation. To avoid such maladaptation, integrated, coordinated policy making is required. In this paper, national climate change policies from Australia, Brazil, China, the European Union (EU), India, Mexico, South Africa, Tanzania, and the United Kingdom are compared to: (i) identify where negative trade-offs exist between climate change policies and freshwater resources, (ii) analyze where institutions and structures exist to optimize integration among climate, water, and biodiversity policies, and (iii) provide a much needed overview from a broad selection of countries with a view to identifying further opportunities for theoretical exploration and testing. The synergies and conflicts among climate, energy, water, and environmental policies create additional challenges for governments to develop integrated policies to deliver multiple benefits. Success factors for better policy development identified in this assessment and synthesis include engagement of senior political leaders, cyclical policy development, multi-agency and stakeholder processes, and stronger accountability and enforcement measures.",National Climate Change Policies and Sustainable Water Management: Conflicts and Synergies,journal article,empirical,,General mitigation,General mitigation,Legal analysis,"water use, biodiversity and ecosystem functioning","water use, biodiversity and ecosystem functioning",
10.1016/j.jclepro.2018.12.264,9596526,,"['ENER', 'ENVI', 'BUSI', 'ENGI']","Munoz Castillo, Raul;Feng, Kuishuang;Sun, Laixiang;Guilhoto, Joaquim;Pfister, Stephan;Miralles-Wilhelm, Fernando;Hubacek, Klaus",2019,Journal of Cleaner Production,Biofuel | Brazil | Land-water nexus | Multi-regional input-output analysis,"Biofuels play a critical role in the Paris Agreement to help achieve climate change mitigation targets. However, a significant increase in production of biofuels might potentially be realized at the expense of overusing natural resources, particularly land and water. Understanding the tradeoffs between the impacts on land and water arises as a critical issue in the development of biofuels. This energy-water-land nexus might be particularly important for Brazil, which currently is the world's second largest producer and the largest exporter of biofuels. Furthermore, Brazil itself has set up its own Intended Nationally Determined Contribution agenda with a significant growth of biofuel production (18%) by 2030. Most studies on environmental impacts of biofuel production have either focused on land use or water use, but very few studies assessed both. Using an environmentally extended multiregional input-output (MRIO) approach, this study analyzes the current water-land nexus of bioenergy production in Brazil by quantifying the distribution of tradeoffs and synergies between land and water use for bioethanol production and its environmental consequences across Brazilian states. Our results show a clear tradeoff of water and land impacts and significant differences between irrigated and rainfed ethanol production. When including water and land scarcity in the analysis, the results are significantly different, uncovering very different tradeoffs and synergies between bioethanol producer and consumer states that could inform the expansion of bioenergy in Brazil. Compared to other crops, sugarcane has a higher comparative advantage relative to land than to water.",The land-water nexus of biofuel production in Brazil: Analysis of synergies and trade-offs using a multiregional input-output model,journal article,empirical,,Bioenergy,Bioenergy,Input-output analysis,"land use, water use","land use, water use",
10.1016/j.jclepro.2018.06.125,9596526,,"['ENER', 'ENVI', 'BUSI', 'ENGI']","Rohmer, S. U.K.;Gerdessen, J. C.;Claassen, G. D.H.;Bloemhof, J. M.;van ’t Veer, P.",2018,Journal of Cleaner Production,Dietary alternatives | Environmentally sustainable consumption | Nutrient comparison | Sustainable food system,"The current food system, with its consumption and production activities, threatens our environment and depletes the resources of future generations. Changing the food system, by consuming foods with lower environmental footprint and choosing more environmental friendly production and distribution alternatives, holds potential to reduce the environmental impact. The aim of this research is to propose healthy and sustainable alternatives to the current consumption of cow's meat and dairy products in the Netherlands, under consideration of the underlying production system. Thus, the study applies linear programming techniques to construct consumption alternatives, taking into account the underlying production and sourcing of products. In this context, different environmental objectives are investigated and compared, namely climate change, land use, water use and fossil fuel depletion. Comparisons are made between the different alternatives with respect to their effect on the overall dietary intake. Four consumption alternatives are proposed, varying with respect to their environmental footprint, food composition and underlying food system. The results show that shifting towards a more plant-based consumption holds both an improvement potential in terms of the environmental impact as well as benefits from a health perspective. Moreover, trade-offs exist between the different environmental indicators, and the choice of environmental objective impacts the solution with respect to the consumption and production of foods. The research demonstrates the importance of taking production relationships into account and shows, that it is possible to propose healthy and environmental friendly alternatives for the future.",A nutritional comparison and production perspective: Reducing the environmental footprint of the future,journal article,empirical,,Diet change,Diet change,Economic analysis,water use,water use,
10.1016/j.jclepro.2021.127698,9596526,,"['ENER', 'ENVI', 'BUSI', 'ENGI']","Watari, Takuma;Nansai, Keisuke;Nakajima, Kenichi;Giurco, Damien",2021,Journal of Cleaner Production,Carbon neutral | Climate change | Mining | Net zero | Responsible sourcing,"The global transition to fundamentally decarbonized electricity and transport systems will alter the existing resource flows of both fossil fuels and metals; however, such a transition may have unintended consequences. Here we show that the decarbonization of both the electricity and transport sectors will curtail fossil fuel production while paradoxically increasing resource extraction associated with metal production by more than a factor of 7 by 2050 relative to 2015 levels. Importantly, approximately 32–40% of this increase in resource extraction is expected to occur in countries with weak, poor, and failing resource governance, indicating that the impending mining boom may result in severe environmental degradation and unequal economic benefits in local communities. A suite of circular economy strategies, including lifetime extension, servitization, and recycling, can mitigate such risks, but they may not fully offset the growth in resource extraction. Our findings underscore the importance of institutional instruments that enhance the resource governance of entire low-carbon technology supply chains, along with circular economy practices. In the absence of such actions, the decarbonization of electricity and transport sectors may pose an ethical conundrum in which global carbon emissions are reduced at the expense of an increase in socio-environmental risks at local mining sites.",Sustainable energy transitions require enhanced resource governance,journal article,empirical,,Low carbon electricity,Low carbon electricity,"Energy system modelling, MFA","mineral and metal depletion, unspecified environmental effects of mining","mineral and metal depletion, unspecified environmental effects of mining",
10.1016/j.jclepro.2022.132014,9596526,,"['ENER', 'ENVI', 'BUSI', 'ENGI']","Kalt, Gerald;Thunshirn, Philipp;Krausmann, Fridolin;Haberl, Helmut",2022,Journal of Cleaner Production,Electricity | Energy transition | Material flow analysis | Material stocks | Metals | Power sector,"Transforming and expanding the electricity sector are key for climate change mitigation and alleviation of energy poverty. Future energy systems based on renewable energy sources may reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions but could require more materials during construction. We assess this trade-off by quantifying the requirements of the main bulk materials used in electricity infrastructures for 281 global electricity sector pathways until 2050. We identify main determinants for material requirements and gauge the relevance of socio-economic framework conditions and climate change mitigation regimes. Five selected, highly diverse scenarios are analysed in detail by quantifying their respective annual material stocks and flows, and cumulative GHG emissions to 2050. We find robust evidence that scenarios in line with the 1.5 °C target are associated with significantly higher material requirements than scenarios exceeding a global temperature rise of 2 °C. Material stocks in 2050 differ by up to 30% for copper, 100% for concrete, 150% for iron/steel and 260% for aluminium (3rd quartiles of Monte Carlo simulations), even when the particularly material-intensive “Below 1.5 °C″ scenarios are excluded. Although power plants account for the largest part of the material requirements, grid expansion and reinforcement, necessary to accommodate large shares of volatile power generation and provide universal access to electricity, also cause substantial material demand. In the absence of future GHG mitigation in the processing industries, GHG emissions related to bulk materials (primarily iron/steel and aluminium) could amount to one tenth of the remaining carbon budget for a 50% chance of limiting global warming to 1.5 °C. However, if preference is given to material-efficient technologies, low-carbon processes are applied in the industries and increased material recycling is achieved, GHG emissions related to bulk materials in decarbonisation pathways will not significantly exceed those in largely fossil fuel-based scenarios.",Material requirements of global electricity sector pathways to 2050 and associated greenhouse gas emissions,journal article,empirical,,Low carbon electricity,Low carbon electricity,MFA,"mineral and metal depletion, unspecified environmental effects of mining","mineral and metal depletion, unspecified environmental effects of mining",
10.1175/JCLI-D-16-0610.1,8948755,,['EART'],"Wang, M.;Wagner, M.;Miguez-Macho, G.;Kamarianakis, Y.;Mahalov, A.;Moustaoui, M.;Miller, J.;VanLoocke, A.;Bagley, J. E.;Bernacchi, C. J.;Georgescu, Matei",2017,Journal of Climate,Atmosphere-land interaction | Hydrology | Numerical analysis/modeling | Renewable energy | Vegetation-atmosphere interactions,"Large-scale cultivation of perennial bioenergy crops (e.g., miscanthus and switchgrass) offers unique opportunities to mitigate climate change through avoided fossil fuel use and associated greenhouse gas reduction. Although conversion of existing agriculturally intensive lands (e.g., maize and soy) to perennial bioenergy cropping systems has been shown to reduce near-surface temperatures, unintended consequences on natural water resources via depletion of soil moisture may offset these benefits. The hydroclimatic impacts associated with perennial bioenergy crop expansion over the contiguous United States are quantified using the Weather Research and Forecasting Model dynamically coupled to a land surface model (LSM). A suite of continuous (2000-09) medium-range resolution (20-km grid spacing) ensemble-based simulations is conducted using seasonally evolving biophysical representation of perennial bioenergy cropping systems within the LSM based on observational data. Deployment is carried out only over suitable abandoned and degraded farmlands to avoid competition with existing food cropping systems. Results show that near-surface cooling (locally, up to 5°C) is greatest during the growing season over portions of the central United States. For some regions, principal impacts are restricted to a reduction in near-surface temperature (e.g., eastern portions of the United States), whereas for other regions deployment leads to soil moisture reduction in excess of 0.15-0.2 m3 m-3 during the simulated 10-yr period (e.g., western Great Plains). This reduction (~25%-30% of available soil moisture) manifests as a progressively decreasing trend over time. The large-scale focus of this research demonstrates the long-term hydroclimatic sustainability of large-scale deployment of perennial bioenergy crops across the continental United States, revealing potential hot spots of suitable deployment and regions to avoid.",On the long-term hydroclimatic sustainability of perennial bioenergy crop expansion over the United States,journal article,empirical,,Bioenergy,Bioenergy,Earth system modelling,water use,water use,
10.1088/1748-9326/11/10/104010,17489318,,"['ENER', 'ENVI', 'MEDI']","Jakob, Michael;Steckel, Jan Christoph",2016,Environmental Research Letters,climate scenarios | multiple objectives | sustainable development,"Evaluating the trade-offs between the risks related to climate change, climate change mitigation as well as co-benefits requires an integrated scenarios approach to sustainable development. We outline a conceptual multi-objective framework to assess climate policies that takes into account climate impacts, mitigation costs, water and food availability, technological risks of nuclear energy and carbon capture and sequestration as well as co-benefits of reducing local air pollution and increasing energy security. This framework is then employed as an example to different climate change mitigation scenarios generated with integrated assessment models. Even though some scenarios encompass considerable challenges for sustainability, no scenario performs better or worse than others in all dimensions, pointing to trade-offs between different dimensions of sustainable development. For this reason, we argue that these trade-offs need to be evaluated in a process of public deliberation that includes all relevant social actors.",Implications of climate change mitigation for sustainable development,journal article,empirical,,General mitigation,General mitigation,IAM,water use,water use,
10.1016/j.energy.2021.121518,3605442,,"['ENGI', 'ENGI', 'MATH', 'ENER', 'ENER', 'ENER', 'ENVI', 'ENER', 'ENGI', 'ENGI', 'ENVI', 'ENGI']","Zhong, Ruida;Zhao, Tongtiegang;Chen, Xiaohong",2021,Energy,Climate change | Ecological influence | Hydropower | Hydropower-ecology tradeoff | Mekong river | Pareto optimal front,"Hydropower plant operation alters natural streamflow regimes, which leads to tradeoff between hydropower benefits and the needs of downstream river ecosystems. This study proposes a novel approach for evaluating how hydropower-ecology tradeoff will evolve under future climate change based on Pareto optimal fronts, and demonstrated its efficacy using a case study of the cascade hydropower plants and downstream river ecosystems of the upper Mekong basin (UMB), a representative transboundary river basin. Future climate projections from multiple global climate models (GCMs) are used. Results show that, although GCMs project a future overall increase in streamflow, the hydropower-ecology conflict will likely be exacerbated by increased streamflow variability. Nearly one third of the GCMs indicate the alleviated conflict between hydropower and ecosystems, one third show little apparent change, and the final third show aggravated conflicts. According to the pessimistic GCMs, maintaining ecological impact at historical levels in the future could result in a hydropower deficit for which thermal power would need to compensate, generating additional 1.33 MMT CO2e in greenhouse gas emissions per year. These results reveal the potential challenges facing hydropower and ecological development in the UMB in the future, and emphasize the importance of developing adaptive mitigation techniques under climate change.",Evaluating the tradeoff between hydropower benefit and ecological interest under climate change: How will the water-energy-ecosystem nexus evolve in the upper Mekong basin?,journal article,empirical,,SHW,hydro,"Hydrological modelling, Energy system modelling",biodiversity and ecosystem functioning,biodiversity and ecosystem functioning,
10.1016/j.jenvman.2020.110719,3014797,,"['ENVI', 'ENVI', 'ENVI']","Liu, Li;Yin, Zihua;Wang, Peng;Gan, Yiwei;Liao, Xiawei",2020,Journal of Environmental Management,Carbon emission | Electricity transmission | Quasi-input-output model | Structural decomposition analysis | Water consumption,"Electricity transmissions have been utilized in China to balance its spatially mismatched development needs and natural resources endowments. However, it has led to spatial shifts of negative environmental impacts induced by electricity generations, including water consumption and carbon emissions. This study calculates that, from 2010 to 2016, carbon emissions and water consumption to produce the transmitted electricity have grown from 507 Mt and 2.7 km3 respectively to 642 Mt and 6.5 km3. Applying a structural decomposition model coupled with a Quasi-Input-Output model to quantify the driving factors of such increases, we find that GDP increase has played the dominant role in driving the increase of both factors. Our results also highlight the potential conflicts between carbon reduction and water conservation in developing future electricity transmission infrastructure systems. Changing the electric power sector's energy portfolio and the transmission structure by increasingly utilizing hydropower productions have both contributed to national total carbon emissions reductions, but at the expenses of increased national water consumption. As a result, on a national level, in 2016, due to the inter-provincial differences in energy portfolios and technologies, electricity transmissions have led to 155.27 Mt of net carbon reduction and 3.4 km³ of additional net water consumption compared to the counterfactual scenario where no electricity transmission were facilitated. The future expansion of electricity transmission network needs to consider such trade-offs, particularly within the contexts of global climate change mitigation and emergent challenges posed by water stresses.",Water-carbon trade-off for inter-provincial electricity transmissions in China,journal article,empirical,,Low carbon electricity,Low carbon electricity,Input-output analysis,water use,Water,
10.1021/acssuschemeng.9b02169,,,"['CHEM', 'ENVI', 'CENG', 'ENER']","Xue, Mianqiang;Wang, Qun;Lin, Bin Le;Tsunemi, Kiyotaka",2019,ACS Sustainable Chemistry and Engineering,Ammonia | Energy carrier | Greenhouse gas emissions | Reactive nitrogen emissions | Sustainable energy system,"Ammonia has been proposed as a promising energy carrier and is expected to play a resilient and sustainable role in future energy scenarios. Energy systems critically impact biogeological carbon and nitrogen cycles. Thus, carbon and nitrogen footprints are two important indicators of sustainability for energy systems. In the present study, we explored the optimal supply pathway and identified impact hotspots by investigating the carbon footprint associated with greenhouse gas emissions and the nitrogen footprint associated with reactive nitrogen emissions from the ammonia energy system. Four scenarios (Japan to Japan, JP-JP; Australia to Japan, AU-JP; Chile to Japan, CL-JP; Saudi Arabia to Japan, SA-JP) were modeled based on international relations and energy distribution between these countries. Compared with the Japan electricity mix, it is a win-win situation under scenario JP-JP from the perspective of carbon and nitrogen footprints, while trade-offs were identified under the scenarios AU-JP and CL-JP. SA-JP performed worse in both carbon and nitrogen footprints. Improvement of key processes is critical to mitigate greenhouse gas and reactive nitrogen emissions. When the efficiency of partial oxidation increased by 25% in SA-JP, the carbon and nitrogen footprint decreased by 17% and 8%, respectively. This evaluation relayed information on the sustainable use of ammonia as an energy carrier by examining the relative impacts on both carbon and nitrogen footprints.",Assessment of Ammonia as an Energy Carrier from the Perspective of Carbon and Nitrogen Footprints,journal article,empirical,,Hydrogen carriers,Hydrogen carriers,Footprint approaches,eutrophication and biogeochemical flows,eutrophication and biogeochemical flows,
10.1186/s13705-019-0233-0,,,"['ENER', 'SOCI', 'ENER']","Gauglitz, Philip;Schicketanz, Sven;Pape, Carsten",2019,"Energy, Sustainability and Society",Drivers | Energy consumption covered by wind energy | Nature conservation | Rating conflict risk | Scenario-building | Spatial distribution | Spatial planning | Wind energy,"Background: Germany has set ambitious goals for the reduction of greenhouse gases. The decarbonisation of the energy system has been in focus. An important means to achieve this is the increased utilisation of wind energy. The growth of wind power entails changes not only in the electrical system but also in the landscape and environment. Prospectively, scenarios will have to consider a wide range of aspects, not only economics and technology but also nature conservation and social affairs. The authors are participating in the research study ""Szenarien für den Ausbau der erneuerbaren Energien aus Naturschutzsicht"", funded by the Federal Agency for Nature Conservation, which examines the possibilities of integrating nature conservation into the development of scenarios. Methods: For aspects of nature conservation to be taken into account in scenario development, a multi-stage methodology has been developed to assess the conflict risk of wind energy and nature conservation throughout Germany. To ensure comparability of the scenarios, all of them are based on the same general framework consisting of fixed excluded areas, the same method of detail allocation and the same overall expected energy output. The ""nature conservation"" driver is integrated in the form of a nationwide comparative assessment of risk levels. The mapping of spatially differentiated risk levels for wind energy has been achieved in a GIS-based and discursive process. Results: The results show that nature conservation can be addressed properly in scenario-building. Here, the method of multi-criterion scenario-building itself, with its focus on including nature conservation as one of several drivers determining the spatial distribution of wind turbines, is a major result. The authors have developed specific scenarios that mainly address questions of landscape and nature conservation. Out of the four generic scenarios presented for the year 2035, two have nature conservation as their main driver, whereas the other two consider energy-economic drivers only. Examining these scenarios provides insight into the influence of each driver. For example, adding nature conservation as the main driver (highest priority) reduces the specific conflict risk by 26.1%, while at the same time only a relatively small increase in wind turbines is required (+12.5% in numbers, +2.3% in installed power capacity). Conclusion: The methods developed here provide a driver for allocating wind power plants to reduce conflicts in high-risk areas. Furthermore, using the same spatial distribution of risk levels makes it possible to subsequently rate the scenarios from a conservation perspective. The method developed here provides the means to analyse trade-offs between relevant drivers. The ""nature conservation"" scenarios show a relatively small additional demand for wind turbines but a greater amount of avoided conflict risk.",Nature conservation as a driver in wind energy scenarios,journal article,empirical,,SHW,wind,Spatial overlap analysis,"water use, biodiversity and ecosystem functioning, land use, air pollution","water use, biodiversity and ecosystem functioning, land use, air pollution",
10.1088/1748-9326/aca815,17489318,,"['ENER', 'ENVI', 'MEDI']","Rosa, Lorenzo;Gabrielli, Paolo",2023,Environmental Research Letters,agriculture | ammonia | climate solutions | energy-food nexus | food security | net-zero emissions | nitrogen fertilizers,"By synthetically producing nitrogen fertilizers from ammonia (NH3), the Haber-Bosch process has been feeding humanity for more than one hundred years. However, current NH3 production relies on fossil fuels, and is energy and carbon intensive. This commits humanity to emissions levels not compatible with climate goals and commits agricultural production to fossil fuels dependency. Here, we quantify food and energy implications of transitioning nitrogen fertilizers to net-zero CO2 emissions. We find that 1.07 billion people are fed from food produced from imported nitrogen fertilizers. An additional 710 million people are fed from imported natural gas feedstocks used for fertilizers production, meaning that 1.78 billion people per year are fed from imports of either fertilizers or natural gas. These findings highlight the reliance of global food production on trading and fossil fuels, hence its vulnerability to supply and energy shocks. However, alternative routes to achieve net-zero emissions in NH3 production exist, which are based on carbon capture and storage, electrification, and biomass. These routes comply with climate targets while mitigating the risks associated with food security. Yet, they require more land, energy, and water than business-as-usual production, exacerbating land and water scarcity and the use of limited natural resources. Transitioning fertilizers to net-zero emissions can contribute to climate and food security goals, although water, land, and energy trade-offs should be considered.",Energy and food security implications of transitioning synthetic nitrogen fertilizers to net-zero emissions,journal article,empirical,,Hydrogen carriers,Hydrogen carriers,Unclear methods,"land use, water use",,
10.1021/acs.est.2c03016,0013936X,,"['CHEM', 'ENVI']","Kanchiralla, Fayas Malik;Brynolf, Selma;Malmgren, Elin;Hansson, Julia;Grahn, Maria",2022,Environmental Science & Technology,ammonia | battery | E-fuels | hydrogen | LCA | LCC | methanol,"Future ships need to operate with low or possibly zero greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions while ensuring low influence on other environmental impacts and that the operation is economically feasible. This study conducts a life-cycle evaluation of potential decarbonization solutions involving selected energy carriers (electrolytic hydrogen, electro-ammonia, electro-methanol, and electricity) in different propulsion system setups (engines, fuel cells, and carbon capture technologies) in terms of environmental impact and costs. The results of the study show that the assessed decarbonization options are promising measures to reduce maritime GHG emissions with low-carbon-intensive electricity. The same order of GHG reduction is shown to be possible independent of the propulsion system and energy carrier used onboard. However, the carbon abatement cost ranges from 300 to 550 €/tCO2eq, and there is a trade-off with environmental impacts such as human toxicity (cancer and non-cancer effects) and freshwater ecotoxicity mainly linked with the wind infrastructure used for electricity production. Electro-ammonia in fuel cells is indicated to be effective in terms of the carbon abatement cost followed by the so-called HyMethShip concept. The higher abatement cost of all options compared to current options indicates that major incentives and policy measures are required to promote the introduction of alternative fuel and propulsion systems.",Life-Cycle Assessment and Costing of Fuels and Propulsion Systems in Future Fossil-Free Shipping,journal article,empirical,,Hydrogen carriers,Hydrogen carriers,LCA,"human toxicity, ecotoxicity","human toxicity, ecotoxicity",
10.1016/j.jclepro.2018.07.166,9596526,,"['ENER', 'ENVI', 'BUSI', 'ENGI']","Mehmeti, Andi;Angelis-Dimakis, Athanasios;Muñoz, Carlos Boigues;Graziadio, Marco;McPhail, Stephen J.",2018,Journal of Cleaner Production,Eco-thermodynamics | Electrolysis | Hydrogen | LCA | Power-to-gas | Resource footprint,"In this study, Solar Energy Demand (SED), Cumulative Exergy Extraction from the Natural Environment (CEENE), and LCA-ReCiPe 2016 (using both midpoint and endpoint modeling) life cycle impact assessment methods has been used to assess the performance of hydrogen (H2) production with renewable and non-renewable electricity sources via high-temperature Solid Oxide Electrolysis Cells. The analysis identified most relevant impact categories, life cycle stages, and processes, both from a thermodynamic and an environmental viewpoint. Electrolysis with non-renewable energy is characterized by the greatest environmental burdens, however, renewable energy systems also have considerable environmental impacts, some of which are significant. While no perfect electricity source exists, a growing portion of the renewable-based electricity production in the grid mix is an attractive option to lower environmental impacts of H2 production. Irrespective of the evaluation method, the contribution analysis from different life-cycle stages shows and confirm that the major contributor to the environmental burdens is the electricity supply. The manufacturing stage has high relevance for mineral and metal resources and toxicity-related impacts. Calculations of grid-based electrolysis life cycle environmental impacts in some European countries showed that significant variations. For example, global warming potential per kgH2 produced vary between 3.31 and 48.24 kgCO2. Trade-off analysis between the midpoint and endpoint indicators revealed that water consumption, global warming, and particulate matter formation, play a major role in the ranking of electricity supply options. The findings suggest that all potential impacts both at the midpoint and endpoint level should be considered to ensure robust results of the LCA evaluation, a fair comparison between pathways towards more transparent and evidence-based decisions. Towards that end, a further country site-specific assessment with optimization strategies and integration of traditional LCA with resource accounting (thermodynamic metrics) will need to be developed to explore additional valuable insights towards sustainable electrolytic H2 production systems.",Eco-thermodynamics of hydrogen production by high-temperature electrolysis using solid oxide cells,journal article,empirical,,Hydrogen carriers,Hydrogen carriers,LCA,"human toxicity, ecotoxicity, eutrophication and biogeochemical flows, mineral and metal depletion","human toxicity, ecotoxicity, eutrophication and biogeochemical flows, mineral and metal depletion",
10.1039/d1se00790d,,,"['ENER', 'ENER', 'ENER']","Valente, Antonio;Tulus, Victor;Galán-Martín, Ángel;Huijbregts, Mark A.J.;Guillén-Gosálbez, Gonzalo",2021,Sustainable Energy and Fuels,0,"Green hydrogen,i.e., produced from renewable resources, is attracting attention as an alternative fuel for the future of heavy road transport and long-distance driving. However, the benefits linked to zero pollution at the usage stage can be overturned when considering the upstream processes linked to the raw materials and energy requirements. To better understand the global environmental implications of fuelling heavy transport with hydrogen, we quantified the environmental impacts over the full life cycle of hydrogen use in the context of the Planetary Boundaries (PBs). The scenarios assessed cover hydrogen from biomass gasification (with and without carbon capture and storage [CCS]) and electrolysis powered by wind, solar, bioenergy with CCS, nuclear, and grid electricity. Our results show that the current diesel-based-heavy transport sector is unsustainable due to the transgression of the climate change-related PBs (exceeding standalone by two times the global climate-change budget). Hydrogen-fuelled heavy transport would reduce the global pressure on the climate change-related PBs helping the transport sector to stay within the safe operating space (i.e., below one-third of the global ecological budget in all the scenarios analysed). However, the best scenarios in terms of climate change, which are biomass-based, would shift burdens to the biosphere integrity and nitrogen flow PBs. In contrast, burden shifting in the electrolytic scenarios would be negligible, with hydrogen from wind electricity emerging as an appealing technology despite attaining higher carbon emissions than the biomass routes.",The role of hydrogen in heavy transport to operate within planetary boundaries,journal article,empirical,,Hydrogen carriers,Hydrogen carriers,LCA,"biodiversity and ecosystem functioning, eutrophication and biogeochemical flows","biodiversity and ecosystem functioning, eutrophication and biogeochemical flows",
10.1088/1748-9326/aac3ec,1748-9326,,,"Bertram, Christoph; Luderer, Gunnar; Popp, Alexander; Minx, Jan Christoph; Lamb, William F.; Stevanović, Miodrag; Humpenöder, Florian; Giannousakis, Anastasis; Kriegler, Elmar",2018,Environmental Research Letters,,"Meeting the 1.5 °C goal will require a rapid scale-up of zero-carbon energy supply, fuel switching to electricity, efficiency and demand-reduction in all sectors, and the replenishment of natural carbon sinks. These transformations will have immediate impacts on various of the sustainable development goals. As goals such as affordable and clean energy and zero hunger are more immediate to great parts of global population, these impacts are central for societal acceptability of climate policies. Yet, little is known about how the achievement of other social and environmental sustainability objectives can be directly managed through emission reduction policies. In addition, the integrated assessment literature has so far emphasized a single, global (cost-minimizing) carbon price as the optimal mechanism to achieve emissions reductions. In this paper we introduce a broader suite of policies—including direct sector-level regulation, early mitigation action, and lifestyle changes—into the integrated energy-economy-land-use modeling system REMIND-MAgPIE. We examine their impact on non-climate sustainability issues when mean warming is to be kept well below 2 °C or 1.5 °C. We find that a combination of these policies can alleviate air pollution, water extraction, uranium extraction, food and energy price hikes, and dependence on negative emissions technologies, thus resulting in substantially reduced sustainability risks associated with mitigating climate change. Importantly, we find that these targeted policies can more than compensate for most sustainability risks of increasing climate ambition from 2 °C to 1.5 °C.",Targeted policies can compensate most of the increased sustainability risks in 1.5 °C mitigation scenarios,journal article,empirical,,General mitigation,General mitigation,"IAM, Land use modelling",land use,land use,
10.1021/acs.est.8b05763,0013936X,,"['CHEM', 'ENVI']","Su, Qiong;Dai, Hancheng;Chen, Huan;Lin, Yun;Xie, Yang;Karthikeyan, Raghupathy",2019,Environmental Science & Technology,0,"Carbon mitigation strategies have been developed without sufficient consideration of their impacts on the water system. Here, our study evaluates whether carbon mitigation strategies would decrease or increase local industrial water use and water-related pollutants discharge by using a computable general equilibrium (CGE) model coupled with a water withdrawals and pollutants discharge module in Shenzhen, the fourth largest city in China. To fulfill China's Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC) targets, Shenzhen's GDP and welfare losses are projected to be 1.6% and 5.6% in 2030, respectively. The carbon abatement cost will increase from 56 USD/t CO 2 in 2020 to 274 USD/t CO 2 in 2030. The results reveal that carbon mitigation accelerates local industrial structure upgrading by restricting carbon-, energy-, and water-intensive industries, e.g., natural gas mining, nonmetal, agriculture, food production, and textile sectors. Accordingly, carbon mitigation improves energy use efficiency and decreases 55% of primary energy use in 2030. Meanwhile, it reduces 4% of total industrial water use and 2.2-2.4% of two major pollutants discharge, i.e., COD Cr and NH 3 -N. Carbon mitigation can also decrease petroleum (2.2%) and V-ArOH (0.8%) discharge but has negative impacts on most heavy metal(loid)s pollutants discharge (increased by -0.01% to 4.6%). These negative impacts are evaluated to be negligible on the environment. This study highlights the importance of considering the energy-water nexus for better-coordinated energy and water resources management at local and national levels.",General Equilibrium Analysis of the Cobenefits and Trade-Offs of Carbon Mitigation on Local Industrial Water Use and Pollutants Discharge in China,journal article,empirical,,General mitigation,General mitigation,"Economic modelling, IAM",water use,,
10.1038/nclimate1789,1758-6798,,,"Howells, Mark; Hermann, Sebastian; Welsch, Manuel; Bazilian, Morgan; Segerström, Rebecka; Alfstad, Thomas; Gielen, Dolf; Rogner, Holger; Fischer, Guenther; van Velthuizen, Harrij; Wiberg, David; Young, Charles; Roehrl, R. Alexander; Mueller, Alexander; Steduto, Pasquale; Ramma, Indoomatee",2013,Nature Climate Change,"Climate-change mitigation, Climate-change policy, Climate-change adaptation","Land, energy and water are our most precious resources, but the manner and extent to which they are exploited contributes to climate change. Meanwhile, the systems that provide these resources are themselves highly vulnerable to changes in climate. Efficient resource management is therefore of great importance, both for mitigation and for adaptation purposes. We postulate that the lack of integration in resource assessments and policy-making leads to inconsistent strategies and inefficient use of resources. We present CLEWs (climate, land-use, energy and water strategies), a new paradigm for resource assessments that we believe can help to remedy some of these shortcomings.","Integrated analysis of climate change, land-use, energy and water strategies",journal article,empirical,,Bioenergy,Bioenergy,Earth system modelling,water use,water use,
10.1007/s10640-023-00764-8,9246460,,"['ECON', 'ENVI']","Grimsrud, Kristine;Hagem, Cathrine;Haaskjold, Kristina;Lindhjem, Henrik;Nowell, Megan",2023,Environmental and Resource Economics,Disamenity costs | Energy system model | Environmental costs | Spatial analysis | Wind power,"Energy generated by land-based wind power is expected to play a crucial role in the decarbonisation of the economy. However, with the looming biodiversity and nature crises, spatial allocation of wind power can no longer be considered solely a trade-off against local disamenity costs. Emphasis should also be put on wider environmental impacts, especially if these challenge the sustainability of the renewable energy transition. We suggest a modelling system for selecting among a pool of potential wind power plants (WPPs) by combining an energy system model with a GIS analysis of WPP sites and surrounding viewscapes. The modelling approach integrates monetised local disamenity and carbon sequestration costs and places constraints on areas of importance for wilderness and biodiversity (W&B). Simulating scenarios for the Norwegian energy system towards 2050, we find that the southern part of Norway is the most favourable region for wind power siting when only the energy system surplus is considered. However, when local disamenity costs (and to a lesser extent carbon costs) and W&B constraints are added successively to the scenarios, it becomes increasingly beneficial to site WPPs in the northern part of Norway. We find that the W&B constraints have the largest impact on the spatial distribution of WPPs, while the monetised costs of satisfying these constraints are relatively small. Overall, our results show that there is a trade-off between local disamenities and loss of W&B. Siting wind power plants outside the visual proximity of households has a negative impact on W&B.",Spatial Trade-Offs in National Land-Based Wind Power Production in Times of Biodiversity and Climate Crises,journal article,empirical,,SHW,wind,Energy system model,"biodiversity and ecosystem functioning, land use","biodiversity and ecosystem functioning, land use",
10.1016/j.envpol.2016.06.048,0269-7491,,,"Motta, C. M.; Cerciello, R.; De Bonis, S.; Mazzella, V.; Cirino, P.; Panzuto, R.; Ciaravolo, M.; Simoniello, P.; Toscanesi, M.; Trifuoggi, M.; Avallone, B.",2016,Environmental Pollution,"Germination index, Heavy metals cytotoxicity, Naupliar eyes development","Low tech photovoltaic panels (PVPs) installed in the early ’80s are now coming to the end of their life cycle and this raises the problem of their proper disposal. As panels contain potentially toxic elements, unconventional, complex and costly procedures are required to avoid environmental health risks and in countries where environmental awareness and economic resources are limited this may be especially problematic. This work was designed to investigate potential risks from improper disposal of these panels. To accomplish this aim an exhausted panel was broken into pieces and these were placed in water for 30 days. The resulting leached solution was analyzed to determine chemical release or used in toto, to determine its potential toxicity in established tests. The end points were seed germination (on Cucumis sativus and Lens culinaris) and effects on early development in three larval models: two crustaceans, Daphnia magna and Artemia salina, and the sea urchin Paracentrotus lividus. Our results show that the panels release small amounts of electrolytes (Na, Ca and Mg) into solution, along with antimony and manganese, with a concentration under the accepted maximum contaminant level, and nickel at a potentially toxic concentration. Developmental defects are seen in the plant and animal test organisms after experimental exposure to the whole solution leached from the broken panel. The toxic effects revealed in in vitro tests are sufficient to attract attention considering that they are exerted on both plants and aquatic animals and that the number of old PVPs in disposal sites will be very high.",Potential toxicity of improperly discarded exhausted photovoltaic cells,journal article,empirical,,SHW,solar,Laboratory experiment,ecotoxicity,ecotoxicity,
10.1016/j.ecolind.2014.11.029,1470160X,,"['DECI', 'AGRI', 'ENVI']","Hadian, Saeed;Madani, Kaveh",2015,Ecological Indicators,Footprint | Indicator | Multi-criteria assessment | Renewable energy | Sustainability | System of systems,"Renewable energies are emerging across the globe in an attempt to slow down global warming and to improve national energy security in face of the depleting fossil fuel reserves. However, the general policy of mandating the replacement of fossil fuels with the so-called ""green"" energies may not be as effective and environmental-friendly as previously thought, due to the secondary impacts of renewable energies on different natural resources. Thus, an integrated systems analysis framework is essential to selecting optimal energy sources that address global warming and energy security issues with minimal unintended consequences and undesired secondary impacts on valuable natural resources. This paper proposes a system of systems (SoS) framework to determine the relative aggregate footprint (RAF) of energy supply alternatives with respect to different sustainability criteria and uncertain performance values. Based on the proposed method, the RAF scores of a range of renewable and nonrenewable energy alternatives are determined using their previously reported performance values under four sustainability criteria, namely carbon footprint, water footprint, land footprint, and cost of energy production. These criteria represent environmental efficiency, water use efficiency, land use efficiency, and economic efficiency, respectively. The study results suggest that geothermal energy and biomass energy from miscanthus are the most and least resource-use efficient energy alternatives based on the performance data available in the literature. In addition, despite their lower carbon footprints, some renewable energy sources are less promising than non-renewable energy sources from a SoS perspective that considers the trade-offs between the greenhouse gas emissions of energies and their effects on water, ecosystem, and economic resources. Robustness analysis suggests that with respect to the existing performance values and uncertainties in the literature, solar thermal and hydropower have the most and least level of RAF robustness, respectively. Sensitivity analysis indicates that geothermal energy and ethanol from sugarcane, have the lowest and highest RAF sensitivity to resource availability, respectively.",A system of systems approach to energy sustainability assessment: Are all renewables really green?,journal article,empirical,,Low carbon electricity,Low carbon electricity,Footprint approaches,"water use, land use","water use, land use",
10.1016/j.envres.2017.05.016,139351,,"['BIOC', 'ENVI']","Lin, Zihan;Qi, Jiaguo",2017,Environmental Research,Hydro-dams | Lake phenology | Lower Mekong River Basin (LMRB) | Nature-based solutions | Remote sensing,"Recent proliferation of hydro-dams was one of the nature-based solutions to meet the increasing demand for energy and food in the Lower Mekong River Basin (LMRB). While construction of these hydro-dams generated some hydropower and facilitated expansion of irrigated lands, it also significantly altered the basin-wide hydrology and subsequently impacted wetland ecosystems. Unintended adverse consequences of ecosystem services from lakes and wetlands offset the intended gains in hydroelectricity and irrigated agriculture. The trade-offs between gains in energy and food production and losses in aquatic ecosystem services were perceived to be significant but knowledge of the magnitude, spatial extent, and type of ecosystem services change is lacking and, therefore, the question whether the hydro-dam is an optimized solution or a potential ecological problem remains unanswered. In this study, as the first step to answer this question and using the Tonlé Sap Lake as an example, we quantified one of the impacts of hydro-dams on lake ecosystem's phenology in terms of open water area, a critical ecological characteristic that affects lake systems’ fish production, biodiversity, and livelihoods of the local communities. We used the MODIS-NDVI time series, forecast function and the Mann-Kendall trend test method to first quantify the open water area, analyzed its changes over time, and then performed correlation analysis with climate variables to disentangle dam impacts. The results showed reduced hydro-periods, diminishing lake seasonality and a declining trend in Tonlé Sap Lake open water area over the past 15 years. These changes were insignificantly related to climatic influence during the same period. It is concluded that basin-wide hydro-dam construction and associated agricultural irrigation were deemed to be the primary cause of these ecological changes. Further analyses of changes in the lake's ecosystem services, including provision and cultural services, need to be carried out in order to have a holistic understanding of the trade-offs brought by the hydro-dam proliferation as a solution to the emerging energy and food demand in the LMRB.",Hydro-dam – A nature-based solution or an ecological problem: The fate of the Tonlé Sap Lake,journal article,empirical,,SHW,hydro,Earth system modelling,biodiversity and ecosystem functioning,biodiversity and ecosystem functioning,
10.3390/en13092207,,,"['ENER', 'ENER', 'ENER', 'MATH', 'ENGI']","Raugei, Marco;Kamran, Mashael;Hutchinson, Allan",2020,Energies,Decarbonization | Electricity | Energy scenario | Energy transition | EROI | Grid mix | LCA | Net energy | Storage,"National Grid, the UK's largest utility company, has produced a number of energy transition scenarios, among which ""2 degrees"" is the most aggressive in terms of decarbonization. This paper presents the results of a combined prospective net energy and environmental life cycle assessment of the UK electricity grid, based on such a scenario. The main findings are that the strategy is effective at drastically reducing greenhouse gas emissions (albeit to a reduced degree with respect to the projected share of ""zero carbon"" generation taken at face value), but it entails a trade-off in terms of depletion of metal resources. The grid's potential toxicity impacts are also expected to remain substantially undiminished with respect to the present. Overall, the analysis indicates that the ""2 degrees"" scenario is environmentally sound and that it even leads to a modest increase in the net energy delivered to society by the grid (after accounting for the energy investments required to deploy all technologies).",A prospective net energy and environmental life-cycle assessment of the UK electricity grid,journal article,empirical,,Low carbon electricity,Low carbon electricity,LCA,"human toxicity, mineral and metal depletion","human toxicity, mineral and metal depletion",
10.1088/1748-9326/aa5f3f,17489318,,"['ENER', 'ENVI', 'MEDI']","Zeng, Ruijie;Cai, Ximing;Ringler, Claudia;Zhu, Tingju",2017,Environmental Research Letters,food-energy-water nexus | global hydroelectric datasets | hydropower | irrigation | reservoir operation,"Numerous reservoirs around the world provide multiple flow regulation functions; key among these are hydroelectricity production and water releases for irrigation. These functions contribute to energy and food security at national, regional and global levels. While reservoir operations for hydroelectricity production might support irrigation, there are also well-known cases where hydroelectricity production reduces water availability for irrigated food production. This study assesses these relationships at the global level using machine-learning techniques and multi-source datasets. We find that 54% of global installed hydropower capacity (around 507 thousand Megawatt) competes with irrigation. Regions where such competition exists include the Central United States, northern Europe, India, Central Asia and Oceania. On the other hand, 8% of global installed hydropower capacity (around 79 thousand Megawatt) complements irrigation, particularly in the Yellow and Yangtze River Basins of China, the East and West Coasts of the United States and most river basins of Southeast Asia, Canada and Russia. No significant relationship is found for the rest of the world. We further analyze the impact of climate variables on the relationships between hydropower and irrigation. Reservoir flood control functions that operate under increased precipitation levels appear to constrain hydroelectricity production in various river basins of the United States, South China and most basins in Europe and Oceania. On the other hand, increased reservoir evaporative losses and higher irrigation requirements due to higher potential evaporation levels may lead to increased tradeoffs between irrigation and hydropower due to reduced water availability in regions with warmer climates, such as India, South China, and the Southern United States. With most reservoirs today being built for multiple purposes, it is important for policymakers to understand and plan for growing tradeoffs between key functions. This will be particularly important as climate mitigation calls for an increase in renewable energy while agro-hydrological impacts of climate change, population and economic growth and associated dietary change increase the need for irrigated food production in many regions round the world.",Hydropower versus irrigation - An analysis of global patterns,journal article,empirical,,SHW,hydro,Economic modelling,water use,water use,
10.1016/j.enpol.2022.112951,3014215,,"['ENER', 'ENVI']","Tran, Thuc Han;Egermann, Markus",2022,Energy Policy,Decarbonisation | Ecological footprint | Energy strategies | Geographical contexts | Land use | Transition,"Conceptual and empirical work on socio-technical transitions, such as energy transition strategies, often disregard the limited planetary capacity of available land. This paper explores the trade-offs between energy transition pathways and land use in different geographical contexts. We draw on empirical data from three contrasting case-study countries: Vietnam, New Zealand and Finland. An enhanced calculation model based on the Ecological Footprint method is used to assess land consumption for different transition pathways towards a low-carbon society. More specifically, the spatial impacts of the energy sector and its carbon dioxide emissions are assessed for different timeframes, namely the past, the present and future scenarios (by 2030 and the 2040s) based on the national energy strategies of these countries. The results show a lack of consideration in these strategies of the land area required to ensure an adequate implementation for each national territory. Hence, we argue for an acknowledgement of spatial factors, namely land availability and the geographical context, in theories and policy strategies on socio-technical transitions.","Land-use implications of energy transition pathways towards decarbonisation – Comparing the footprints of Vietnam, New Zealand and Finland",journal article,empirical,,Low carbon electricity,Low carbon electricity,Footprint approaches,land use,land use,
10.1088/1748-9326/11/1/014012,1748-9326,,,"Berrill, Peter; Arvesen, Anders; Scholz, Yvonne; Gils, Hans Christian; Hertwich, Edgar G.",2016,Environmental Research Letters,,"The prospect of irreversible environmental alterations and an increasingly volatile climate pressurises societies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, thereby mitigating climate change impacts. As global electricity demand continues to grow, particularly if considering a future with increased electrification of heat and transport sectors, the imperative to decarbonise our electricity supply becomes more urgent. This letter implements outputs of a detailed power system optimisation model into a prospective life cycle analysis framework in order to present a life cycle analysis of 44 electricity scenarios for Europe in 2050, including analyses of systems based largely on low-carbon fossil energy options (natural gas, and coal with carbon capture and storage (CCS)) as well as systems with high shares of variable renewable energy (VRE) (wind and solar). VRE curtailments and impacts caused by extra energy storage and transmission capabilities necessary in systems based on VRE are taken into account. The results show that systems based largely on VRE perform much better regarding climate change and other impact categories than the investigated systems based on fossil fuels. The climate change impacts from Europe for the year 2050 in a scenario using primarily natural gas are 1400 Tg CO2-eq while in a scenario using mostly coal with CCS the impacts are 480 Tg CO2-eq. Systems based on renewables with an even mix of wind and solar capacity generate impacts of 120–140 Tg CO2-eq. Impacts arising as a result of wind and solar variability do not significantly compromise the climate benefits of utilising these energy resources. VRE systems require more infrastructure leading to much larger mineral resource depletion impacts than fossil fuel systems, and greater land occupation impacts than systems based on natural gas. Emissions and resource requirements from wind power are smaller than from solar power.",Environmental impacts of high penetration renewable energy scenarios for Europe,journal article,empirical,,Low carbon electricity,Low carbon electricity,LCA,"mineral and metal depletion, land use","mineral and metal depletion, land use",
10.1088/1748-9326/abaa0c,17489318,,"['ENER', 'ENVI', 'MEDI']","Gibon, Thomas;Popescu, Ioana Ştefania;Hitaj, Claudia;Petucco, Claudio;Benetto, Enrico",2020,Environmental Research Letters,Green bonds | Greenhouse gas emissions | Sustainable development goals | Sustainable finance,"Green bonds have emerged as a key instrument to fund projects contributing to climate change mitigation or environmental protection. However, a consistent, robust and comparable standard for the estimation of the environmental impacts of green bonds is lacking, hampering growth in sustainable finance. As encouraged by second-party opinion reports, the use of life cycle assessment (LCA) allows for the complete environmental evaluation of projects over their life cycle. Here we estimate the LCA-based impacts along several environmental metrics of a set of green bonds for renewable power plants issued by the European Investment Bank from 2015-2018. Life cycle avoided greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions varied by a factor of 12 from 29 to 359 t CO2 eq./M€ invested-information that is not available to investors at the outset, indicating that funds are unlikely to be allocated efficiently. Furthermore, linking environmental impact indicators to the Sustainable Development Goals unveils significant trade-offs. Bonds may perform well on water use and emissions, while having a negative impact on waste and land use. Conducting LCA of green bonds comes at a cost of additional methodological challenges and increased data needs compared with current reporting practices. However, the ready infrastructure of LCA databases and methodologies can provide the necessary tools to meet future reporting requirements as the EU taxonomy framework and standardization of impact reporting evolve.",Shades of green: Life cycle assessment of renewable energy projects financed through green bonds,journal article,empirical,,Low carbon electricity,Low carbon electricity,LCA,land use,land use,
10.1088/1748-9326/aa6047,17489318,,"['ENER', 'ENVI', 'MEDI']","Gibon, Thomas;Hertwich, Edgar G.;Arvesen, Anders;Singh, Bhawna;Verones, Francesca",2017,Environmental Research Letters,Biomass energy | Climate change mitigation | Consequential life cycle assessment | Ecosystem impact | Energy scenario | Integrated hybrid life cycle assessment | LCA,"Stabilizing global temperature will require a shift to renewable or nuclear power from fossil power and the large-scale deployment of CO2 capture and storage (CCS) for remaining fossil fuel use. Non-climate co-benefits of low-carbon energy technologies, especially reduced mortalities from air pollution and decreased ecosystem damage, have been important arguments for policies to reduce CO2 emissions. Taking into account a wide range of environmental mechanisms and the complex interactions of the supply chains of different technologies, we conducted the first life cycle assessment of potential human health and ecological impacts of a global low-carbon electricity scenario. Our assessment indicates strong human health benefits of low-carbon electricity. For ecosystem quality, there is a significant trade-off between reduced pollution and climate impacts and potentially significant ecological impacts from land use associated with increased biopower utilization. Other renewables, nuclear power and CCS show clear ecological benefits, so that the climate mitigation scenario with a relatively low share of biopower has lower ecosystem impacts than the baseline scenario. Energy policy can maximize co-benefits by supporting other renewable and nuclear power and developing biomass supply from sources with low biodiversity impact.","Health benefits, ecological threats of low-carbon electricity",journal article,empirical,,Low carbon electricity,Low carbon electricity,LCA,"biodiversity and ecosystem functioning, ecotoxicity, land use","biodiversity and ecosystem functioning, ecotoxicity, land use",
10.1021/acs.est.9b03765,0013936X,,"['CHEM', 'ENVI']","Cao, Zhi;O'Sullivan, Christopher;Tan, Juan;Kalvig, Per;Ciacci, Luca;Chen, Weiqiang;Kim, Junbeum;Liu, Gang",2019,Environmental Science & Technology,0,"Wind energy is key to addressing the global climate challenge, but its development is subject to potential constraints of finite primary materials. Prior studies on material demand forecasting of wind power development are often limited to a few materials and with low technological resolution, thus hindering a comprehensive understanding of the impact of microengineering parameters on the resource implications of wind energy. In this study, we developed a component-by-component and stock-driven prospective material flow analysis model and used bottom-up data on engineering parameters and wind power capacities to characterize the materials demand and secondary supply potentials of wind energy development in Denmark, a pioneering and leading country in wind power. We also explicitly addressed the uncertainties in the prospective modeling by the means of statistical estimation and sensitivity analysis methods. Our results reveal increasing challenges of materials provision and end-of-life (EoL) management in Denmark's ambitious transition toward 100% renewable energy in the next decades. Harnessing potential secondary resource supply from EoL and extending lifetime could curtail the primary material demand, but they could not fully alleviate the material supply risk. Such a model framework that considers bottom-up engineering parameters with increased precision could be applied to other emerging technologies and help reveal synergies and trade-offs of relevant resource, energy, and climate strategies in the future renewable energy and climate transition.",Resourcing the Fairytale Country with Wind Power: A Dynamic Material Flow Analysis,journal article,empirical,,SHW,wind,MFA,mineral and metal depletion,mineral and metal depletion,
10.1002/er.2962,0363907X,,"['ENER', 'ENER', 'ENER', 'ENER']","Stamford, Laurence;Azapagic, Adisa",2012,International Journal of Energy Research,Coal electricity | Gas electricity | Nuclear electricity | Photovoltaics (PV) | Sustainability assessment | Wind electricity,"The UK electricity mix will change significantly in the future. This provides an opportunity to consider the full life cycle sustainability of the options currently considered as most suitable for the UK: gas, nuclear, offshore wind and photovoltaics (PV). In an attempt to identify the most sustainable options and inform policy, this paper applies a sustainability assessment framework developed previously by the authors to compare these electricity options. To put discussion in context, coal is also considered as a significant contributor to the current electricity supply. Each option is assessed and compared in terms of its economic, environmental and social implications, using a range of sustainability indicators. The results show that no one technology is superior and that certain trade-offs must be made. For example, nuclear and offshore wind power have the lowest life cycle environmental impacts, except for freshwater ecotoxicity for which gas is the best option; coal and gas are the cheapest options (£74 and 66/MWh, respectively, at 10% discount), but both have high global warming potential (1072 and 379g CO 2 eq./kWh); PV has relatively low global warming potential (88g CO 2 eq./kWh) but high cost (£302/MWh), as well as high ozone layer and resource depletion. Nuclear, wind and PV increase some aspects of energy security: in the case of nuclear, this is due to inherent fuel storage capabilities (energy density 290 million times that of natural gas), whereas wind and PV decrease fossil fuel import requirements by up to 0.2toe/MWh. However, all three options require additional installed capacity for grid management. Nuclear also poses complex risk and intergenerational questions such as the creation of 10.16m 3/TWh of nuclear waste for long-term geological storage. © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.",Life cycle sustainability assessment of electricity options for the UK,journal article,empirical,,Low carbon electricity,Low carbon electricity,LCA,"human toxicity, ecotoxicity",,
10.1016/j.jclepro.2014.05.061,9596526,,"['ENER', 'ENVI', 'BUSI', 'ENGI']","Santoyo-Castelazo, Edgar;Azapagic, Adisa",2014,Journal of Cleaner Production,Energy | Life cycle assessment | Mexico | Multi-criteria decision analysis | Scenario analysis | Sustainability assessment,"Sustainable development of energy systems requires consideration of all three sustainability dimensions: environmental, economic and social. Current work presents a new decision-support framework for facilitating this. Taking a life cycle approach, the framework integrates the three sustainability dimensions to enable assessments at both technology and systems levels. The framework comprises scenario analysis, life cycle assessment, life cycle costing, social sustainability assessment and multi-criteria decision analysis, which are used to assess and identify the most sustainable energy options. The application of the framework is illustrated on the example of future electricity supply in Mexico. Eleven scenarios up to 2050 have been developed considering different technologies, electricity mixes and climate change targets. The results show that, based on the 17 sustainability criteria used in this work, the business-as-usual scenario, mostly based on fossil fuels, is unsustainable regardless of the preferences for different sustainability criteria. This is mainly due to the high costs and environmental impacts associated with fossil fuels. Overall, the most sustainable scenarios are those with higher penetration of renewables (wind, solar, hydro, geothermal and biomass) and nuclear power. These electricity pathways would enable meeting the national greenhouse gas emission targets by 2050 in a more sustainable way than envisaged by the current policy. However, some trade-offs among the sustainability criteria are needed, particularly with respect to the social impacts. These trade-offs can be explored easily within the decision-support framework to reveal how different stakeholder preferences affect the outcomes of sustainability assessment, thus contributing to more informed decision and policy making. © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. .","Sustainability assessment of energy systems: Integrating environmental, economic and social aspects",journal article,empirical,only,Low carbon electricity,Low carbon electricity,,none,,
10.3389/fenvs.2019.00151,,,['ENVI'],"Kiesecker, Joseph;Baruch-Mordo, Sharon;Kennedy, Christina M.;Oakleaf, James R.;Baccini, Alessandro;Griscom, Bronson W.",2019,Frontiers in Environmental Science,energy development impacts | energy sprawl | nationally determined contributions | Paris Climate Agreement | renewable energy | sustainable development,"Meeting climate mitigation and sustainable development goals requires rapid increases in both renewable energy development and carbon storage in ecosystems. If sited with the sole goal of maximizing production, renewable energy may negatively impact biodiversity and carbon storage. Here, we evaluated the potential unintended environmental consequences of this type of business-as-usual development scenario. We spatially allocated land-based, utility-scaled wind and solar energy needed to achieve emission reduction goals from nationally determined contributions under the Paris Climate Agreement. Siting was conducted at 1-km resolution and followed a scenario where on-shore wind, concentrated solar power, and photovoltaic solar renewable energy developments were located where wind and solar resources were highest. Once sited, we evaluated the potential losses of natural lands, Key Biodiversity Areas (KBAs), threatened and endangered species, and carbon emissions. Over 11 million ha of natural lands can be lost, releasing almost 415 million tons of carbon storage, which equals 8.6% of overall Paris Agreement emission reduction goals. Globally we found that over 3.1 million ha of KBAs and ranges of 1,574 threatened and endanger species could be impacted, with the highest number of impacted species in the tropical countries of Indonesia (282), Malaysia (273), and Thailand (253). Avoiding land-based emissions through improved renewable energy siting can reduce these losses, potentially saving $47.5–$155.9 billion USD based on social carbon costs. Consideration of these impacts will help reduce investor risk to facilitate a timely transition to a low-carbon economy.",Hitting the Target but Missing the Mark: Unintended Environmental Consequences of the Paris Climate Agreement,journal article,empirical,,SHW,solar; wind,Spatial overlap analysis,"biodiversity and ecosystem functioning, land use","biodiversity and ecosystem functioning, land use; biodiversity and ecosystem functioning, land use",
10.1038/s41467-020-18402-y,2041-1723,,,"Greim, Peter; Solomon, A. A.; Breyer, Christian",2020,Nature Communications,"Energy and society, Renewable energy, Energy modelling, Batteries","The forthcoming global energy transition requires a shift to new and renewable technologies, which increase the demand for related materials. This study investigates the long-term availability of lithium (Li) in the event of significant demand growth of rechargeable lithium-ion batteries for supplying the power and transport sectors with very-high shares of renewable energy. A comprehensive assessment that uses 18 scenarios, created by combining 8 demand related variations with 4 supply conditions, were performed. Here this study shows that Li is critical to achieve a sustainable energy transition. The achievement of a balanced Li supply and demand throughout this century depends on the presence of well-established recycling systems, achievement of vehicle-to-grid integration, and realisation of transportation services with lower Li intensity. As a result, it is very important to achieve a concerted global effort to enforce a mix of policy goals identified in this study.",Assessment of lithium criticality in the global energy transition and addressing policy gaps in transportation,journal article,empirical,,Low carbon electricity,Low carbon electricity,Energy system modelling,"mineral and metal depletion, unspecified environmental effects of mining","mineral and metal depletion, unspecified environmental effects of mining",
10.1016/j.jclepro.2019.04.276,9596526,,"['ENER', 'ENVI', 'BUSI', 'ENGI']","Algunaibet, Ibrahim M.;Guillén-Gosálbez, Gonzalo",2019,Journal of Cleaner Production,Climate change | Elasticity | Energy systems modeling | IPAT | Life cycle assessment | STIRPAT,"Energy systems are currently designed focusing only on minimizing their cost or, at most, including limits on greenhouse gas emissions. Unfortunately, electricity technologies performing well in global warming potential might not necessarily behave equally well across other sustainability criteria. Hence, policies focused solely on mitigating greenhouse gas emissions could potentially resolve one problem (i.e., climate change)by creating another, thereby leading to burden-shifting. Here, the occurrence and severity of burden-shifting in energy systems design are both investigated through the application of a novel approach integrating multi-objective optimization, life cycle assessment and multivariate regression based on elasticities. Environmental impacts are classified into three categories: no burden-shifting, total burden-shifting and partial burden-shifting, providing for the latter two a measure of their severity. Due to inherent trade-offs in the life cycle performance of technologies, discussed in detail in this work, the Paris Agreement 2 °C targets would lead to burden-shifting in the United States (total or partial)in up to eight environmental impacts. On the other hand, stringent carbon emissions reductions in line with the 1.5 °C targets can lead to burden-shifting in three environmental impacts. Indeed, in both cases undesirable increases in some damage categories of up to 1.64% for every percentage increase in cost can take place as a result of more stringent limits on greenhouse gas emissions compared to the least cost solution. Overall, this work aims to foster fruitful discussions on how to generate energy within the Earth's ecological capacity by expanding the analysis beyond climate change.",Life cycle burden-shifting in energy systems designed to minimize greenhouse gas emissions: Novel analytical method and application to the United States,journal article,empirical,,Low carbon electricity,Low carbon electricity,LCA,land use,land use,
10.1038/s41467-019-13067-8,2041-1723,,,"Luderer, Gunnar; Pehl, Michaja; Arvesen, Anders; Gibon, Thomas; Bodirsky, Benjamin L.; de Boer, Harmen Sytze; Fricko, Oliver; Hejazi, Mohamad; Humpenöder, Florian; Iyer, Gokul; Mima, Silvana; Mouratiadou, Ioanna; Pietzcker, Robert C.; Popp, Alexander; van den Berg, Maarten; van Vuuren, Detlef; Hertwich, Edgar G.",2019,Nature Communications,"Climate-change mitigation, Environmental impact, Energy modelling","A rapid and deep decarbonization of power supply worldwide is required to limit global warming to well below 2 °C. Beyond greenhouse gas emissions, the power sector is also responsible for numerous other environmental impacts. Here we combine scenarios from integrated assessment models with a forward-looking life-cycle assessment to explore how alternative technology choices in power sector decarbonization pathways compare in terms of non-climate environmental impacts at the system level. While all decarbonization pathways yield major environmental co-benefits, we find that the scale of co-benefits as well as profiles of adverse side-effects depend strongly on technology choice. Mitigation scenarios focusing on wind and solar power are more effective in reducing human health impacts compared to those with low renewable energy, while inducing a more pronounced shift away from fossil and toward mineral resource depletion. Conversely, non-climate ecosystem damages are highly uncertain but tend to increase, chiefly due to land requirements for bioenergy.",Environmental co-benefits and adverse side-effects of alternative power sector decarbonization strategies,journal article,empirical,,Low carbon electricity,Low carbon electricity,"IAM, LCA","land use, human toxicity, mineral and metal depletion","land use, human toxicity, mineral and metal depletion",
10.1038/s41467-020-18661-9,2041-1723,,,"Lèbre, Éléonore; Stringer, Martin; Svobodova, Kamila; Owen, John R.; Kemp, Deanna; Côte, Claire; Arratia-Solar, Andrea; Valenta, Rick K.",2020,Nature Communications,"Climate-change mitigation, Sustainability, Industry","Environmental, social and governance pressures should feature in future scenario planning about the transition to a low carbon future. As low-carbon energy technologies advance, markets are driving demand for energy transition metals. Increased extraction rates will augment the stress placed on people and the environment in extractive locations. To quantify this stress, we develop a set of global composite environmental, social and governance indicators, and examine mining projects across 20 metal commodities to identify the co-occurrence of environmental, social and governance risk factors. Our findings show that 84% of platinum resources and 70% of cobalt resources are located in high-risk contexts. Reflecting heightened demand, major metals like iron and copper are set to disturb more land. Jurisdictions extracting energy transition metals in low-risk contexts are positioned to develop and maintain safeguards against mining-related social and environmental risk factors.",The social and environmental complexities of extracting energy transition metals,journal article,empirical,,Low carbon electricity,Low carbon electricity,Spatial overlap analysis,"mineral and metal depletion, unspecified environmental effects of mining","mineral and metal depletion, unspecified environmental effects of mining",
10.1038/s41467-020-17928-5,2041-1723,,,"Sonter, Laura J.; Dade, Marie C.; Watson, James E. M.; Valenta, Rick K.",2020,Nature Communications,"Environmental sciences, Environmental impact","Renewable energy production is necessary to halt climate change and reverse associated biodiversity losses. However, generating the required technologies and infrastructure will drive an increase in the production of many metals, creating new mining threats for biodiversity. Here, we map mining areas and assess their spatial coincidence with biodiversity conservation sites and priorities. Mining potentially influences 50 million km2 of Earth’s land surface, with 8% coinciding with Protected Areas, 7% with Key Biodiversity Areas, and 16% with Remaining Wilderness. Most mining areas (82%) target materials needed for renewable energy production, and areas that overlap with Protected Areas and Remaining Wilderness contain a greater density of mines (our indicator of threat severity) compared to the overlapping mining areas that target other materials. Mining threats to biodiversity will increase as more mines target materials for renewable energy production and, without strategic planning, these new threats to biodiversity may surpass those averted by climate change mitigation.",Renewable energy production will exacerbate mining threats to biodiversity,journal article,empirical,,Low carbon electricity,Low carbon electricity,Spatial overlap analysis,"biodiversity and ecosystem functioning, unspecified environmental effects of mining","biodiversity and ecosystem functioning, unspecified environmental effects of mining",
10.3389/fenrg.2021.621502,,,"['ENER', 'ENER', 'ENER', 'ECON']","Baumgärtner, Nils;Deutz, Sarah;Reinert, Christiane;Nolzen, Niklas;Kuepper, Lucas Elias;Hennen, Maike;Hollermann, Dinah Elena;Bardow, André",2021,Frontiers in Energy Research,burden shifting | design and operation optimization | energy transition | integrated assessment modeling | life-cycle assessment | linear programming,"National energy models provide decarbonization strategies. Most national energy models focus on costs and greenhouse gas emissions only. However, this focus carries the risk that burdens shift to other environmental impacts. Energy models have therefore been extended by life-cycle assessment (LCA). Furthermore, deep decarbonization is only possible by targeting all high-emission sectors. Thus, we present a holistic national energy model that includes high-emission sectors and LCA. The model provides detailed environmental impacts for electricity, heat, and transport processes in Germany for meeting the climate targets up to 2050. Our results show that renewable energies and storage are key technologies for decarbonized energy systems. Furthermore, sector coupling is crucial and doubles electricity demand. Our LCA shows that environmental impacts shift from operation to infrastructure highlighting the importance of an impact assessment over the full life cycle. Decarbonization leads to many environmental cobenefits; however, it also increases freshwater ecotoxicity and depletion of metal and mineral resources. Thus, holistic planning of decarbonization strategies should also consider other environmental impacts.","Life-Cycle Assessment of Sector-Coupled National Energy Systems: Environmental Impacts of Electricity, Heat, and Transportation in Germany Till 2050",journal article,empirical,,General mitigation,General mitigation,"LCA, IAM","ecotoxicity, mineral and metal depletion","ecotoxicity, mineral and metal depletion",
10.1038/s41893-020-00680-5,,,"['ENVI', 'AGRI', 'SOCI', 'ENVI', 'ENER', 'SOCI', 'ENVI', 'ENVI']","Næss, Jan Sandstad;Cavalett, Otavio;Cherubini, Francesco",2021,Nature Sustainability,0,"Bioenergy is a key option in climate change mitigation scenarios. Growing perennial grasses on recently abandoned cropland is a near-term strategy for gradual bioenergy deployment with reduced risks for food security and the environment. However, the extent of global abandoned cropland, bioenergy potentials and management requirements are unclear. Here we integrate satellite-derived land cover maps with a yield model to investigate the land–energy–water nexus of global bioenergy potentials. We identified 83 million hectares of abandoned cropland between 1992 and 2015, corresponding to 5% of today’s cropland area. Bioenergy potentials are 6–39 exajoules per year (11–68% of today’s bioenergy demand), depending on multiple local and management factors. About 20 exajoules per year can be achieved by increasing today’s global cropland area and water use by 3% and 8%, respectively, and without production inside biodiversity hotspots or irrigation in water-scarce areas. The consideration of context-specific practices and multiple environmental dimensions can mitigate trade-offs of bioenergy deployment.",The land–energy–water nexus of global bioenergy potentials from abandoned cropland,journal article,empirical,,Bioenergy,Bioenergy,"Land use modelling, Vegetation modelling","biodiversity and ecosystem functioning, water use","biodiversity and ecosystem functioning, water use",
10.1073/pnas.1312753111,,,,"Hertwich, Edgar G.; Gibon, Thomas; Bouman, Evert A.; Arvesen, Anders; Suh, Sangwon; Heath, Garvin A.; Bergesen, Joseph D.; Ramirez, Andrea; Vega, Mabel I.; Shi, Lei",2015,Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences,,"Decarbonization of electricity generation can support climate-change mitigation and presents an opportunity to address pollution resulting from fossil-fuel combustion. Generally, renewable technologies require higher initial investments in infrastructure than fossil-based power systems. To assess the tradeoffs of increased up-front emissions and reduced operational emissions, we present, to our knowledge, the first global, integrated life-cycle assessment (LCA) of long-term, wide-scale implementation of electricity generation from renewable sources (i.e., photovoltaic and solar thermal, wind, and hydropower) and of carbon dioxide capture and storage for fossil power generation. We compare emissions causing particulate matter exposure, freshwater ecotoxicity, freshwater eutrophication, and climate change for the climate-change-mitigation (BLUE Map) and business-as-usual (Baseline) scenarios of the International Energy Agency up to 2050. We use a vintage stock model to conduct an LCA of newly installed capacity year-by-year for each region, thus accounting for changes in the energy mix used to manufacture future power plants. Under the Baseline scenario, emissions of air and water pollutants more than double whereas the low-carbon technologies introduced in the BLUE Map scenario allow a doubling of electricity supply while stabilizing or even reducing pollution. Material requirements per unit generation for low-carbon technologies can be higher than for conventional fossil generation: 11–40 times more copper for photovoltaic systems and 6–14 times more iron for wind power plants. However, only two years of current global copper and one year of iron production will suffice to build a low-carbon energy system capable of supplying the world's electricity needs in 2050.",Integrated life-cycle assessment of electricity-supply scenarios confirms global environmental benefit of low-carbon technologies,journal article,empirical,only,Low carbon electricity,Low carbon electricity,LCA,"air pollution, ecotoxicity, eutrophication and biogeochemical flows, land use, mineral and metal depletion","air pollution, ecotoxicity, eutrophication and biogeochemical flows, land use, mineral and metal depletion",
10.1016/j.rser.2017.03.078,13640321,,['ENER'],"Gibon, Thomas;Arvesen, Anders;Hertwich, Edgar G.",2017,Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews,Bioenergy with CCS (BECCS) | Climate change mitigation scenario | Coal power | Concentrating solar power | Geothermal energy | Hybrid life-cycle assessment | Natural gas combined cycle | Nuclear energy | Photovoltaics | Wind power,"The targeted transition towards an electricity system with low or even negative greenhouse gas emissions affords a chance to address other environmental concerns as well, but may potentially have to adjust to the limited availability of assorted non-fossil resources. Life cycle assessment (LCA) is widely recognized as a method appropriate to assess and compare product systems taking into account a wide range of environmental impacts. Yet, LCA could not inform the latest assessment of co-benefits and trade-offs of climate change mitigation by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change due to the lack of comparative assessments of different electricity generation technologies addressing a wide range of environmental impacts and using a consistent set of methods. This paper contributes to filling this gap. A consistent set of life cycle inventories of a wide range of electricity generation technologies is assessed using the Recipe midpoint methods. The life-cycle inventory modeling addresses the production and deployment of the technologies in nine different regions. The analysis shows that even though low-carbon power requires a larger amount of metals than conventional fossil power, renewable and nuclear power leads to a reduction of a wide range of environmental impacts, while CO2 capture and storage leads to increased non-GHG impacts. Biomass has relatively modest co-benefits, if at all. The manufacturing of low-carbon technologies is important compared to their operation, indicating that it is important to choose the most desirable technologies from the outset.",Life cycle assessment demonstrates environmental co-benefits and trade-offs of low-carbon electricity supply options,journal article,empirical,,Low carbon electricity,Low carbon electricity,LCA,"air pollution, mineral and metal depletion, land use, ecotoxicity, human toxicity",,
10.1016/j.resconrec.2018.12.010,9213449,,"['ENVI', 'ECON']","Ristic, Bora;Mahlooji, Maral;Gaudard, Ludovic;Madani, Kaveh",2019,"Resources, Conservation and Recycling",Energy sustainability | European Union | Footprint | Nexus | Relative aggregate footprint | System of systems,"Decarbonizing electricity risks unintended consequences for other environmental resources. The European Union's (EU) Member States (MSs) embarked on a decarbonization and renewables deployment program aware of this risk. However, uncertainty remains around which technologies are best suited to the nexus of resources affected. In this study, we illustrate the benefits of using the Relative Aggregate Footprint (RAF) concept to evaluate energy technology alternatives. The RAF is an indicator based on a System of Systems approach that assesses technologies along multiple performance criteria, takes account of performance uncertainty, adjusts criteria importance according to local resource availabilities, and makes the evaluation robust to differing notions of optimality to determine the desirability of technologies. We evaluated 11 electricity generation technologies by cost, carbon, water and land footprint. Assuming equal weightings of the four criteria, we found nuclear, geothermal, and onshore wind to generally have the lowest RAF. We then calculated the MS-specific RAF's by weighing each criterion based on the local availability of the respective resource: 1) gross domestic product per capita, 2) carbon emissions per capita, 3) freshwater withdrawals as a share of renewable freshwater, and 4) land availability per capita. By analyzing variances between MSs’ RAFs we highlighted how differences in resource availability generate trade-offs for EU electricity decarbonization policies.",The relative aggregate footprint of electricity generation technologies in the European Union (EU): A system of systems approach,journal article,empirical,,Low carbon electricity,Low carbon electricity,Footprint approaches,"land use, water use","land use, water use",
10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2016.03.002,9593780,,"['ENVI', 'SOCI', 'ENVI', 'ENVI']","Bryan, Brett A.;Nolan, Martin;McKellar, Lisa;Connor, Jeffery D.;Newth, David;Harwood, Tom;King, Darran;Navarro, Javier;Cai, Yiyong;Gao, Lei;Grundy, Mike;Graham, Paul;Ernst, Andreas;Dunstall, Simon;Stock, Florian;Brinsmead, Thomas;Harman, Ian;Grigg, Nicola J.;Battaglia, Michael;Keating, Brian;Wonhas, Alex;Hatfield-Dodds, Steve",2016,Global Environmental Change,Climate change | Decision-making | Economics | Ecosystem services | Emissions abatement | Future | GIS | Global | Governance | Land-use change | Model | Policy | Scenarios | Spatial | Strategic | Sustainability | Temporal,"Understanding potential future influence of environmental, economic, and social drivers on land-use and sustainability is critical for guiding strategic decisions that can help nations adapt to change, anticipate opportunities, and cope with surprises. Using the Land-Use Trade-Offs (LUTO) model, we undertook a comprehensive, detailed, integrated, and quantitative scenario analysis of land-use and sustainability for Australia's agricultural land from 2013-2050, under interacting global change and domestic policies, and considering key uncertainties. We assessed land use competition between multiple land-uses and assessed the sustainability of economic returns and ecosystem services at high spatial (1.1 km grid cells) and temporal (annual) resolution. We found substantial potential for land-use transition from agriculture to carbon plantings, environmental plantings, and biofuels cropping under certain scenarios, with impacts on the sustainability of economic returns and ecosystem services including food/fibre production, emissions abatement, water resource use, biodiversity services, and energy production. However, the type, magnitude, timing, and location of land-use responses and their impacts were highly dependent on scenario parameter assumptions including global outlook and emissions abatement effort, domestic land-use policy settings, land-use change adoption behaviour, productivity growth, and capacity constraints. With strong global abatement incentives complemented by biodiversity-focussed domestic land-use policy, land-use responses can substantially increase and diversify economic returns to land and produce a much wider range of ecosystem services such as emissions abatement, biodiversity, and energy, without major impacts on agricultural production. However, better governance is needed for managing potentially significant water resource impacts. The results have wide-ranging implications for land-use and sustainability policy and governance at global and domestic scales and can inform strategic thinking and decision-making about land-use and sustainability in Australia. A comprehensive and freely available 26 GB data pack (http://doi.org/10.4225/08/5604A2E8A00CC) provides a unique resource for further research. As similarly nuanced transformational change is also possible elsewhere, our template for comprehensive, integrated, quantitative, and high resolution scenario analysis can support other nations in strategic thinking and decision-making to prepare for an uncertain future.",Land-use and sustainability under intersecting global change and domestic policy scenarios: Trajectories for Australia to 2050,journal article,empirical,,General mitigation,General mitigation,Land use modelling,water use,water use,
10.1016/j.scitotenv.2018.05.223,0048-9697,,,"Flexer, Victoria; Baspineiro, Celso Fernando; Galli, Claudia Inés",2018,Science of The Total Environment,"Lithium, Batteries, Aquifer, Brine deposits, Magnesium, Sustainable mining","The electrification of our world is driving a strong increase in demand for lithium. Energy storage is paramount in electric and hybrid vehicles, in green but intermittent energy sources, and in smart grids in general. Lithium is a vital raw material for the build-up of both currently available lithium-ion batteries, and prospective next generation batteries such as lithium-air and lithium sulphur. The continued availability of lithium can only rely on a strong increase of mining and ore processing. It would be an inconsistency if the increased production of lithium for a more sustainable society would be associated with non-sustainable mining practices. Currently 2/3 of the world production of lithium is extracted from brines, a practice that evaporates on average half a million litres of brine per ton of lithium carbonate. Furthermore, the extraction is chemical intensive, extremely slow, and delivers large volumes of waste. This technology is heavily dependent on the geological structure of the deposits, brine chemical composition and both climate and weather conditions. Therefore, it is difficult to adapt from one successful exploitation to new deposits. A few years of simulations and piloting are needed before large scale production is achieved. Consequently, this technology is struggling with the current surge in demand. At time of writing, only 5 industrial scale facilities are in operation worldwide, highlighting the shortcomings in this technology. Both mining companies and academics are intensively searching for new technologies for lithium recovery from brines. However, focus on the chemistry of brine processing has left unattended the analysis of the sustainability of the overall process. Here we review both the current available technology and new proposed methodologies. We make a special focus on an overall sustainability analysis, with particular emphasis to the geological characteristics of deposits and water usage in relation to mining processes.",Lithium recovery from brines: A vital raw material for green energies with a potential environmental impact in its mining and processing,journal article,empirical,,Low carbon electricity,Low carbon electricity,LCA,"water use, biodiversity and ecosystem functioning","water use, biodiversity and ecosystem functioning",
10.1016/j.spc.2015.04.001,,,"['ENVI', 'ENVI', 'ENER', 'ENGI']","Kouloumpis, Victor;Stamford, Laurence;Azapagic, Adisa",2015,Sustainable Production and Consumption,Climate change | Decarbonisation | Electricity | Environmental impacts | Life cycle assessment | Scenario analysis,"As nations face the need to decarbonise their energy supply, there is a risk that attention will be focused solely on carbon and climate change, potentially at the expense of other environmental impacts. To explore the trade-offs between climate change mitigation and other environmental impacts, this work focuses on electricity and considers a number of scenarios up to 2070 in a UK context with different carbon reduction targets and electricity demand to estimate the related life cycle environmental impacts. In total, 16 scenarios are discussed, incorporating fossil-fuel technologies with and without carbon capture and storage, nuclear power and a range of renewable options. A freely available model-Electricity Technologies Life Cycle Assessment (ETLCA)-developed by the authors has been used for these purposes. The results suggest that decarbonisation of electricity supply to meet carbon targets would lead to a reduction in the majority of the life cycle impacts by 2070. The exceptions to this are depletion of elements which would increase by 4-145 times and health impacts from radiation which would increase two- to four-fold if nuclear power were used. Ozone layer depletion would also go up in the short-term by between 2.5-3.7 times. If energy demand continued to grow, three other impacts would also increase while trying to meet the carbon targets: human toxicity (two times), photochemical smog (12%) and terrestrial eco-toxicity (2.3 times). These findings demonstrate the importance of considering a broader range of environmental impacts alongside climate change to avoid decarbonising the economy at the expense of other environmental impacts.",Decarbonising electricity supply: Is climate change mitigation going to be carried out at the expense of other environmental impacts?,journal article,empirical,,Low carbon electricity,Low carbon electricity,LCA,"mineral and metal depletion, human toxicity, ecotoxicity","mineral and metal depletion, human toxicity, ecotoxicity",
10.1007/s10113-020-01618-5,14363798,,['ENVI'],"van der Voorn, Tom;Svenfelt, Åsa;Björnberg, Karin Edvardsson;Fauré, Eléonore;Milestad, Rebecka",2020,Regional Environmental Change,Backcasting scenarios | Climate change mitigation | Goal conflicts | Synergies,"In climate change mitigation, backcasting scenarios are often used for exploring options for achieving a single environmental goal, albeit at the expense of other goals. This paper assesses potential conflicts and synergies between multiple environmental policy goals based on four future scenarios on Swedish rural land use, assuming zero GHG emissions in 2060. The assessment shows that goal conflicts are apparent, and policy makers need to make trade-offs between goals. The choice of strategy for dealing with these trade-offs yields conflicts or synergies. The assessment shows that a transition to zero GHG emissions provides opportunities for Sweden to shift to carbon free land-use planning. Overall, there are alternative ways with different underlying assumptions to achieve zero GHG emissions, which will feed discussions on new opportunities to overcome multi-scale and multi-sectoral goal conflicts. Multi-target backcasting scenarios are considered more suited to account for the multi-dimensional aspects of goal conflicts. This requires a comprehensive multi-target backcasting approach, which combines the strengths of multicriteria analysis, nexus approaches and backcasting, for supporting a transition to zero GHG emissions.",Envisioning carbon-free land use futures for Sweden: a scenario study on conflicts and synergies between environmental policy goals,journal article,empirical,,General mitigation,General mitigation,Synthesis of previous literature with analysis,land use,Multiple,
10.1111/gcb.15067,1365-2486,,,"Rehbein, Jose A.; Watson, James E. M.; Lane, Joe L.; Sonter, Laura J.; Venter, Oscar; Atkinson, Scott C.; Allan, James R.",2020,Global Change Biology,"sustainability, climate change, renewable energy, climate emergency, conservation planning, energy planning, sustainable development","Transitioning from fossil fuels to renewable energy is fundamental for halting anthropogenic climate change. However, renewable energy facilities can be land-use intensive and impact conservation areas, and little attention has been given to whether the aggregated effect of energy transitions poses a substantial threat to global biodiversity. Here, we assess the extent of current and likely future renewable energy infrastructure associated with onshore wind, hydropower and solar photovoltaic generation, within three important conservation areas: protected areas (PAs), Key Biodiversity Areas (KBAs) and Earth's remaining wilderness. We identified 2,206 fully operational renewable energy facilities within the boundaries of these conservation areas, with another 922 facilities under development. Combined, these facilities span and are degrading 886 PAs, 749 KBAs and 40 distinct wilderness areas. Two trends are particularly concerning. First, while the majority of historical overlap occurs in Western Europe, the renewable electricity facilities under development increasingly overlap with conservation areas in Southeast Asia, a globally important region for biodiversity. Second, this next wave of renewable energy infrastructure represents a 30% increase in the number of PAs and KBAs impacted and could increase the number of compromised wilderness areas by 60%. If the world continues to rapidly transition towards renewable energy these areas will face increasing pressure to allow infrastructure expansion. Coordinated planning of renewable energy expansion and biodiversity conservation is essential to avoid conflicts that compromise their respective objectives.",Renewable energy development threatens many globally important biodiversity areas,journal article,empirical,,SHW,solar; wind; hydro,Spatial overlap analysis,biodiversity and ecosystem functioning,biodiversity and ecosystem functioning; biodiversity and ecosystem functioning; biodiversity and ecosystem functioning ,
10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2011.07.001,9593780,,"['ENVI', 'SOCI', 'ENVI', 'ENVI']","Jackson, Andrew L.R.",2011,Global Environmental Change,Biodiversity | Climate change | Environmental conflicts | Environmental law | Renewable energy | Sabor dam | Severn barrage,"The European Union's (EU) network of nature conservation areas - Natura 2000 - covers almost 18% of EU territory, and is subject to strict legal protection, which is enforced by the European Commission, a supranational authority. Given the Natura 2000 network's size, conflicts between Natura 2000 and renewable energy projects are inevitable, particularly as countries push to meet their 2020 energy and emissions reduction targets by pursuing more - and larger - renewable energy projects. Focusing on two cases in the renewable energy sector - a hydroelectric dam in Portugal's Sabor valley, and a large tidal barrage in the UK's Severn estuary - this article shows that the EU's strict biodiversity protection regime could necessitate the rejection of many large renewable energy projects. That is, it may not be possible as a matter of EU law for national authorities to grant permission for such projects. The potential for such difficulties will be shown to be highly visible to policymakers, and could, this article argues, trigger negative impacts in terms of the rule of law, and negative feedbacks on nature conservation policies in the EU and, by way of precedent, globally. The legal issues presented here should not, this article argues, be regarded as insurmountable problems, nor as a trigger for reforms aimed at weakening biodiversity protections. Rather, these issues are better regarded as an opportunity for an open, informed, global debate regarding the relationship between biodiversity and climate change policies, and the hierarchy, if any, between them. © 2011 Elsevier Ltd.",Renewable energy vs. biodiversity: Policy conflicts and the future of nature conservation,journal article,empirical,,SHW,hydro,Legal analysis,biodiversity and ecosystem functioning,biodiversity and ecosystem functioning,
10.1016/j.jenvman.2022.114582,3014797,,"['ENVI', 'ENVI', 'ENVI']","Yin, Dongqin;Li, Xiang;Wang, Fang;Liu, Yang;Croke, Barry F.W.;Jakeman, Anthony J.",2022,Journal of Environmental Management,Environmental flows | Hydropower | Inter-basin water diversion | Multi-objective programming | Reservoir operation,"Small hydropower (SHP) possesses significant economic, technical, and environmental advantages, and accounts for a large proportion of hydropower development in China. However, the concentrated, cascaded, and diversion-type development of SHP has resulted in long-distance dewatering of river sections, and inter-basin water transfers have led to severe exploitation of water resources and damage to river ecosystems. In this paper, the Datong River Basin, a secondary sub-basin of the Yellow River Basin in China, was selected as the illustrative case, which includes 22 hydropower projects (HPPs) and three inter-basin water diversion projects (WDPs). A nexus system model was established that used weighted multi-objective programming to consider three main objectives: the water resources utilization (local water withdrawal and inter-basin water transfer), energy production (by cascaded HPPs), and riverine environmental conservation. The Tennant method was used to estimate the environmental flows (e-flows) at the cross-sections immediately downstream of the dam/sluice gate and immediately downstream of the hydropower plant of diversion-type HPPs. The decreased percentage of regulated flow in comparison with runoff and the guaranteed rate of e-flow at the control cross-section were introduced to assess the degree of environmental impact to the river. Using a historical series of runoff data during 1956–2016 as the model input (i.e., implicit stochastic method), the Multi-start solver of nonlinear programming of LINGO software was used to conduct optimizations and analyses for multiple scenarios (with/without e-flow, with consideration of various levels of e-flow, and with/without water resources utilization). The sectoral linkages relating to the water-energy-ecosystem (WEE) nexus were quantitatively identified. The possible influences of different boundary conditions (i.e., initial/final reservoir storage, inter-basin water diversion capacity, and climate change) on the WEE nexus were further explored. The present study aims to provide an exemplar for the optimal operation and scientific management of a complicated water resources system in a regulated river with cascaded SHP and inter-basin WDPs.","Water-energy-ecosystem nexus modeling using multi-objective, non-linear programming in a regulated river: Exploring tradeoffs among environmental flows, cascaded small hydropower, and inter-basin water diversion projects",journal article,empirical,,SHW,hydro,"Ecological modelling, Hydrological modelling, Energy system modelling","water use, biodiversity and ecosystem functioning","water use, biodiversity and ecosystem functioning",
10.1016/j.apenergy.2016.07.058,0306-2619,,,"Bonou, Alexandra; Laurent, Alexis; Olsen, Stig I.",2016,Applied Energy,"Sustainability, Wind energy, Energy payback time, Wind power plant, Wind turbine","This study aims to assess the environmental impacts related to the provision of 1kWh to the grid from wind power in Europe and to suggest how life cycle assessment can inform technology development and system planning. Four representative power plants onshore (with 2.3 and 3.2MW turbines) and offshore (4.0 and 6.0MW turbines) with 2015 state-of-the-art technology data provided by Siemens Wind Power were assessed. The energy payback time was found to be less than 1year for all technologies. The emissions of greenhouse gases amounted to less than 7g CO2-eq/kWh for onshore and 11g CO2-eq/kWh for offshore. Climate change impacts were found to be a good indicator for overall hotspot identification however attention should also be drawn to human toxicity and impacts from respiratory inorganics. The overall higher impact of offshore plants, compared to onshore ones, is mainly due to larger high-impact material requirements for capital infrastructure. In both markets the bigger turbines with more advanced direct drive generator technology is shown to perform better than the smaller geared ones. Capital infrastructure is the most impactful life cycle stage across impacts. It accounts for more than 79% and 70% of climate change impacts onshore and offshore respectively. The end-of-life treatment could lead to significant savings due to recycling, ca. 20–30% for climate change. In the manufacturing stage the impacts due to operations at the case company do not exceed 1% of the total life cycle impacts. This finding highlights the shared responsibility across multiple stakeholders and calls for collaborative efforts for comprehensive environmental management across organizations in the value chain. Real life examples are given in order to showcase how LCA results can inform decisions, e.g. for concept and product development and supply chain management. On a systems level the results can be used by energy planners when comparing with alternative energy sources.",Life cycle assessment of onshore and offshore wind energy-from theory to application,journal article,empirical,,SHW,wind,LCA,human toxicity,human toxicity,
10.1016/j.enconman.2015.03.048,1968904,,"['ENER', 'ENER', 'ENER', 'ENER']","Safaei, Amir;Freire, Fausto;Henggeler Antunes, Carlos",2015,Energy Conversion and Management,Buildings | Cogeneration | Distributed Generation (DG) | Lifecycle assessment (LCA) | Multi objective linear programming (MOLP) | Pareto frontiers | Solar,"Distributed generation, namely cogeneration and solar technologies, is expected to play an important role in the future energy supply mix in buildings. This calls for a methodological framework to assess the economic and environmental performance of the building sector when such technologies are employed. A life-cycle model has been developed, combining distributed generation and conventional sources to calculate the cost and environmental impacts of meeting the building energy demand over a defined planning period. Three type of cogeneration technologies, solar photovoltaic and thermal, as well as conventional boilers along with the Portuguese electricity generation mix comprise the energy systems modeled. Pareto optimal frontiers are derived, showing the trade-offs between different types of impacts (non-renewable cumulative energy demand, greenhouse gas emissions, acidification, eutrophication) and cost to meet the energy demand of a commercial building. Our analysis shows that according to the objective to employ distributed generation (reducing cost or environmental impacts), a specific design and operational strategy for the energy systems shall be adopted. The strategies to minimize each type of impact and the associated cost trade-offs by exploring the solutions located on the Pareto optimal frontiers are discussed.",A life cycle multi-objective economic and environmental assessment of distributed generation in buildings,journal article,empirical,only,SHW,SHW,,,,
10.1073/pnas.2101084119,,,,"Lark, Tyler J.; Hendricks, Nathan P.; Smith, Aaron; Pates, Nicholas; Spawn-Lee, Seth A.; Bougie, Matthew; Booth, Eric G.; Kucharik, Christopher J.; Gibbs, Holly K.",2022,Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences,,"The Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) specifies the use of biofuels in the United States and thereby guides nearly half of all global biofuel production, yet outcomes of this keystone climate and environmental regulation remain unclear. Here we combine econometric analyses, land use observations, and biophysical models to estimate the realized effects of the RFS in aggregate and down to the scale of individual agricultural fields across the United States. We find that the RFS increased corn prices by 30% and the prices of other crops by 20%, which, in turn, expanded US corn cultivation by 2.8 Mha (8.7%) and total cropland by 2.1 Mha (2.4%) in the years following policy enactment (2008 to 2016). These changes increased annual nationwide fertilizer use by 3 to 8%, increased water quality degradants by 3 to 5%, and caused enough domestic land use change emissions such that the carbon intensity of corn ethanol produced under the RFS is no less than gasoline and likely at least 24% higher. These tradeoffs must be weighed alongside the benefits of biofuels as decision-makers consider the future of renewable energy policies and the potential for fuels like corn ethanol to meet climate mitigation goals.",Environmental outcomes of the US Renewable Fuel Standard,journal article,empirical,,Bioenergy,Bioenergy,IAM,"land use, eutrophication and biogeochemical flows","N, P, water quality, soil erosion",
10.1007/s10640-022-00710-0,9246460,,"['ECON', 'ENVI']","Shimada, Hideki;Asano, Kenji;Nagai, Yu;Ozawa, Akito",2022,Environmental and Resource Economics,Causal impacts | Observational data | Quantitative analysis | Renewable energy | Synthetic control method,"Global efforts to decarbonize the energy sector are necessary to curb global warming, and many countries plan to achieve this through the rapid deployment of offshore wind power. However, the deployment will likely decelerate if local fishers plying their trade near maritime areas likely to host offshore wind farms oppose the deployments due to anticipated fishery disruptions. To date, there is no body of knowledge on the causal impact of offshore wind farm installation on local fisheries. Using fishery production panel data at the municipality level in Japan, this study applies a synthetic control method to measure causal impacts. The results suggest that offshore wind farms currently installed in Japan are unlikely to disrupt local fisheries. We find no statistically significant effects either on aggregated fishery production or on production categorized by fishery type. Moreover, we find no spatial spillover effects. Although the generalization of our findings requires caution because they are based on small-scale wind farms, our results imply that such moderate-size wind projects may not harm local fisheries.",Assessing the Impact of Offshore Wind Power Deployment on Fishery: A Synthetic Control Approach,journal article,empirical,only,SHW,SHW,,Fish,Fish,
10.1073/pnas.1807745115,,,,"Hof, Christian; Voskamp, Alke; Biber, Matthias F.; Böhning-Gaese, Katrin; Engelhardt, Eva Katharina; Niamir, Aidin; Willis, Stephen G.; Hickler, Thomas",2018,Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences,,"Climate and land-use change interactively affect biodiversity. Large-scale expansions of bioenergy have been suggested as an important component for climate change mitigation. Here we use harmonized climate and land-use projections to investigate their potential combined impacts on global vertebrate diversity under a low- and a high-level emission scenario. We combine climate-based species distribution models for the world’s amphibians, birds, and mammals with land-use change simulations and identify areas threatened by both climate and land-use change in the future. The combined projected effects of climate and land-use change on vertebrate diversity are similar under the two scenarios, with land-use change effects being stronger under the low- and climate change effects under the high-emission scenario. Under the low-emission scenario, increases in bioenergy cropland may cause severe impacts in biodiversity that are not compensated by lower climate change impacts. Under this low-emission scenario, larger proportions of species distributions and a higher number of small-range species may become impacted by the combination of land-use and climate change than under the high-emission scenario, largely a result of bioenergy cropland expansion. Our findings highlight the need to carefully consider both climate and land-use change when projecting biodiversity impacts. We show that biodiversity is likely to suffer severely if bioenergy cropland expansion remains a major component of climate change mitigation strategies. Our study calls for an immediate and significant reduction in energy consumption for the benefit of both biodiversity and to achieve the goals of the Paris Agreement.",Bioenergy cropland expansion may offset positive effects of climate change mitigation for global vertebrate diversity,journal article,empirical,,Bioenergy,Bioenergy,"Ecological modelling, Land use modelling","land use, biodiversity and ecosystem functioning","land use, biodiversity and ecosystem functioning",
10.1016/j.envres.2023.115242,139351,,"['BIOC', 'ENVI']","Ma, Xin;Li, Yi;Niu, Lihua;Shang, Jiahui;Yang, Nan",2023,Environmental Research,Dam construction | Flow velocity | Nitrogen cycle | Nutrient accumulation | River fragmentation,"Low-head dams are one of the most common hydraulic facilities, yet they often fragment rivers, leading to profound changes in aquatic biodiversity and river eutrophication levels. Systematic assessments of river ecosystem structure and functions, and their contribution to eutrophication, are however lacking, especially for urban rivers where low-head dams prevail. In this study, we address this gap with a field survey on microbial community structure and ecosystem function, in combination with hydrological, environmental and ecological factors. Our findings revealed that microbial communities showed significant differences among the cascade impoundments, which may be due to the environment heterogeneity resulting from the cascade low-head dams. The alternating lentic–lotic flow environment created by the low-head dams caused nutrient accumulation in the cascade impoundments, enhancing environmental sorting and interspecific competition relationships, and thus possibly contributing to the reduction in sediment denitrification function. Decreased denitrification led to excessive accumulation of nutrients, which may have aggravated river eutrophication. In addition, structural equation model analysis showed that flow velocity may be the key controlling factor for river eutrophication. Therefore, in the construction of river flood control and water storage systems, the location, type and water storage capacity of low-head dams should be fully considered to optimize the hydrodynamic conditions of rivers. To summarize, our findings revealed the cumulative effects of cascade low-head dams in an urban river, and provided new insights into the trade-off between construction and decommissioning of low-head dams in urban river systems.",Microbial community structure and denitrification responses to cascade low-head dams and their contribution to eutrophication in urban rivers,journal article,empirical,,SHW,hydro,Field research,"biodiversity and ecosystem functioning, eutrophication and biogeochemical flows","biodiversity and ecosystem functioning, eutrophication and biogeochemical flows",
10.1073/pnas.1421675112,,,,"Hejazi, Mohamad I.; Voisin, Nathalie; Liu, Lu; Bramer, Lisa M.; Fortin, Daniel C.; Hathaway, John E.; Huang, Maoyi; Kyle, Page; Leung, L. Ruby; Li, Hong-Yi; Liu, Ying; Patel, Pralit L.; Pulsipher, Trenton C.; Rice, Jennie S.; Tesfa, Teklu K.; Vernon, Chris R.; Zhou, Yuyu",2015,Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences,,"There is evidence that warming leads to greater evapotranspiration and surface drying, thus contributing to increasing intensity and duration of drought and implying that mitigation would reduce water stresses. However, understanding the overall impact of climate change mitigation on water resources requires accounting for the second part of the equation, i.e., the impact of mitigation-induced changes in water demands from human activities. By using integrated, high-resolution models of human and natural system processes to understand potential synergies and/or constraints within the climate–energy–water nexus, we show that in the United States, over the course of the 21st century and under one set of consistent socioeconomics, the reductions in water stress from slower rates of climate change resulting from emission mitigation are overwhelmed by the increased water stress from the emissions mitigation itself. The finding that the human dimension outpaces the benefits from mitigating climate change is contradictory to the general perception that climate change mitigation improves water conditions. This research shows the potential for unintended and negative consequences of climate change mitigation.",21st century United States emissions mitigation could increase water stress more than the climate change it is mitigating,journal article,empirical,,General mitigation,General mitigation,"IAM, Earth system modelling",water use,,
10.1016/j.rser.2021.111469,13640321,,['ENER'],"Heinrichs, H. U.;Mourao, Z.;Venghaus, S.;Konadu, D.;Gillessen, B.;Vögele, S.;Linssen, J.;Allwood, J.;Kuckshinrichs, W.;Robinius, M.;Stolten, D.",2021,Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews,Energy system | Germany | Land demand | Nexus | Water demand,"While it is generally accepted that our fossil fuel-dominated energy systems must undergo a sustainable transition, researchers have often neglected the potential impacts of this on water and land systems. However, if unintended environmental impacts from this process are to be avoided, understanding its implications for land use and water demand is of crucial importance. Moreover, developed countries may induce environmental stress beyond their own borders, for instance through extensive imports of bioenergy. In this paper, Germany serves as an example of a developed country with ambitious energy transformation targets. Results show that in particular, the politically-driven aspiration for more organic farming in Germany results in a higher import quota of biomass, especially biofuels. These imports translate into land demand, which will exceed the area available in Germany for bioenergy by a factor of 3–6.5 by 2050. As this will likely bring about land stress in the respective exporting countries, this effect of the German energy transformation ought to be limited as much as possible. In contrast, domestic water demand for the German energy system is expected to decrease by over 80% through 2050 due to declining numbers of fossil-fuelled power plants. However, possible future irrigation needs for bioenergy may reduce or even counterbalance this decreasing effect. In addition, energy policy targets specific to the transport sector show a high sensitivity to biomass imports. In particular, the sector-specific target for greenhouse gas reductions will seemingly promote biomass imports, leading to the above-described challenges in the pursuit of sustainability.",Analysing the water and land system impacts of Germany's future energy system,journal article,empirical,,Bioenergy,Bioenergy,Energy system modelling,"land use, water use","land use, water use",
10.3389/fenvs.2022.787711,,,['ENVI'],"Willis, Ann D.;Rheinheimer, David E.;Yarnell, Sarah M.;Facincani Dourado, Gustavo;Rallings, Anna M.;Viers, Joshua H.",2022,Frontiers in Environmental Science,environmental flows | environmental water | functional flows | hydropower | multiobjective reservoir | san joaquin river | water management,"Environmental flow management in watersheds with multi-objective reservoirs is often presented as an additional constraint to an already strained and over-allocated stream system. Nevertheless, environmental flow legislation and regulatory policies are increasingly being developed and implemented globally. In California, USA, recent legislative and regulatory policies place environmental flows at the forefront of the state’s water management objectives; however, the increased reliance on hydropower to support climate change mitigation goals may complicate efforts on both issues. This study modelled alternative environmental flow strategies in the major tributaries to the San Joaquin River in California. Strategies included detailed water management rules for hydropower production, flood control, and water deliveries, and three methodological approaches to environmental flow releases: minimum instream flows (“baseline”) year-round, 40% of full natural flow (FNF) during the spring runoff season and minimum releases the remainder of the year, and functional flows year-round. Results show that environmental flow strategies affect downstream flow releases in each of the San Joaquin’s four sub-basins differently depending on infrastructure capacity, water management objectives, and hydrologic year types. While hydropower production was comparable or declined in the Stanislaus, Tuolumne, and Merced basins, functional flow and 40% FNF strategies increased hydropower production in the Upper San Joaquin basin by 11%. Uncontrolled spill of high flow events decreased when high flow releases were based on hydrologic cues rather than exclusively on flood storage capacity. Water deliveries were reduced in all years regardless of environmental flow strategy. The 40% FNF and functional flow strategies both increased water released to the river relative to baseline, but in different ways. The functional flow strategy allocated water in a holistic approach that enhanced ecological functions in all years, but particularly in moderate and wet years. In contrast, the 40% FNF strategy provided increased flows relative to baseline and some ecological benefit in dry years, but less ecological benefit in other years. This study shows that alternative environmental flow strategies will have different and important trade-offs for integrated water management, and may mutually benefit seemingly conflicting objectives.","Shifting Trade-offs: Finding the Sustainable Nexus of Hydropower and Environmental Flows in the San Joaquin River Watershed, California",journal article,empirical,,SHW,hydro,Hydrological modelling,"water use, biodiversity and ecosystem functioning","water use, biodiversity and ecosystem functioning",
10.1088/1748-9326/ab8846,17489318,,"['ENER', 'ENVI', 'MEDI']","Agha, Mickey;Lovich, Jeffrey E.;Ennen, Joshua R.;Todd, Brian D.",2020,Environmental Research Letters,desert southwest | renewable energy development | wildlife impacts,"Despite the trade-offs between renewable energy development, land use, humans, and wildlife, wind and solar development continues to transform the western US into a green energy landscape. While renewable energy reduces carbon emissions and reliance on fossil fuels, many studies have emerged on the associated ecological and social impacts of this technology. Here, we review the current state of knowledge on the nexus between wildlife conservation and energy development in the western US since 2010. We revisit pertinent ecological concepts presented in earlier reviews to assess how far the field has progressed in mitigating negative effects. Specifically, we examine: (i) recent trends in the literature on how wind and solar energy development impact wildlife in the US, (ii) how siting and design of development may maximize energy benefits while minimizing negative effects on wildlife, (iii) the availability and benefits of before-after control-impact studies, and ultimately (iv) how impacts of renewable energy development on wildlife may be mitigated. We also provide case studies on the desert tortoise and greater sage-grouse, two conservation-reliant umbrella species in the western US, to highlight efforts to mitigate the effects of solar and wind energy development, respectively. We recognize that many other species are affected by renewable energy development, but desert tortoises and sage-grouse are representative of the conflicts that need to be addressed. Our review concludes that mitigation can be improved via use of spatial decision support tools, applying novel wildlife deterrence and detection systems developed for existing installed facilities, and incorporating impact studies that provide managers with conservation metrics for evaluating different future development land-use scenarios.","Wind, sun, and wildlife: Do wind and solar energy development 'short-circuit' conservation in the western United States?",journal article,empirical,,SHW,solar; wind,Synthesis of previous literature with analysis,biodiversity and ecosystem functioning,biodiversity and ecosystem functioning; biodiversity and ecosystem functioning,
10.1038/s41893-022-01033-0,,,"['ENVI', 'AGRI', 'SOCI', 'ENVI', 'ENER', 'SOCI', 'ENVI', 'ENVI']","Gonzalez, Jose M.;Tomlinson, James E.;Martínez Ceseña, Eduardo A.;Basheer, Mohammed;Obuobie, Emmanuel;Padi, Philip T.;Addo, Salifu;Baisie, Rasheed;Etichia, Mikiyas;Hurford, Anthony;Bottacin-Busolin, Andrea;Matthews, John;Dalton, James;Smith, D. Mark;Sheffield, Justin;Panteli, Mathaios;Harou, Julien J.",2023,Nature Sustainability,0,"Renewable energy system development and improved operation can mitigate climate change. In many regions, hydropower is called to counterbalance the temporal variability of intermittent renewables like solar and wind. However, using hydropower to integrate these renewables can affect aquatic ecosystems and increase cross-sectoral water conflicts. We develop and apply an artificial intelligence-assisted multisector design framework in Ghana, which shows how hydropower’s flexibility alone could enable expanding intermittent renewables by 38% but would increase sub-daily Volta River flow variability by up to 22 times compared to historical baseload hydropower operations. This would damage river ecosystems and reduce agricultural sector revenues by US$169 million per year. A diversified investment strategy identified using the proposed framework, including intermittent renewables, bioenergy, transmission lines and strategic hydropower re-operation could reduce sub-daily flow variability and enhance agricultural performance while meeting future national energy service goals and reducing CO2 emissions. The tool supports national climate planning instruments such as nationally determined contributions (NDCs) by steering towards diversified and efficient power systems and highlighting their sectoral and emission trade-offs and synergies.",Designing diversified renewable energy systems to balance multisector performance,journal article,empirical,,SHW,hydro,"Energy system modelling, Hydrological modelling",biodiversity and ecosystem functioning,biodiversity and ecosystem functioning,
10.1007/s11625-022-01242-8,18624065,,"['ENVI', 'SOCI', 'SOCI', 'ENVI', 'SOCI', 'ENVI', 'ENVI']","Smith, Alison C.;Harrison, Paula A.;Leach, Nicholas J.;Godfray, H. Charles J.;Hall, Jim W.;Jones, Sarah M.;Gall, Sarah S.;Obersteiner, Michael",2023,Sustainability Science,Agriculture | Biodiversity conservation | Climate change mitigation | Food | Land use | Policy,"Agricultural and environmental policies are being fundamentally reviewed and redesigned in the UK following its exit from the European Union. The UK government and the Devolved Administrations recognise that current land use is not sustainable and that there is now an unprecedented opportunity to define a better land strategy that responds fully to the interconnected challenges of climate change, biodiversity loss and sustainable development. This paper presents evidence from three pathways (current trends, sustainable medium ambition, and sustainable high ambition) to mid-century that were co-created with UK policymakers. The pathways were applied to a national integrated food and land-use model (the FABLE calculator) to explore potential synergies and trade-offs between achieving multiple sustainability targets under limited land availability and constraints to balance food supply and demand at national and global levels. Results show that under the Current Trends pathway all unprotected open natural land would be converted to urban, agriculture and afforested land, with the consequence that from 2030 onwards tree planting targets could not be met. In contrast, the two sustainable pathways illustrate how dietary change, agricultural productivity improvements and waste reduction can free up land for nature recovery and carbon sequestration. This enables a transition to a sustainable food and land-use system that provides a net carbon sink with up to 44% of land able to support biodiversity conservation. We highlight key trade-offs and synergies, which are important to consider for designing and implementing emerging national policies. These include the strong dependence of climate, food and biodiversity targets on dietary shifts, sustainable improvements in agricultural productivity, improved land-use design for protecting and restoring nature, and rapid reductions in food loss and waste.",Sustainable pathways towards climate and biodiversity goals in the UK: the importance of managing land-use synergies and trade-offs,journal article,empirical,,General mitigation,General mitigation,Land use modelling,"land use, biodiversity and ecosystem functioning","land use, biodiversity and ecosystem functioning",
10.1016/j.resconrec.2021.105628,9213449,,"['ENVI', 'ECON']","Chen, Li Heng;Li, Pei Chiun;Lin, Yupo;Chen, I. Chun;Ma, Hwong wen;Yu, Chang Ping",2021,"Resources, Conservation and Recycling",Mitigation achievement point | Nexus repercussion analysis | Strategy development | Trade-off | Water-energy interdependency network,"Bioenergy plays a pivotal role in replacing fossil fuels, limiting carbon emissions, and supporting the transformation of low-carbon societies. However, bioenergy crop production requires irrigation and the presence of specific soil and weather conditions, resulting in certain environmental impacts due to uneven resource allocation and depletion. Nexus repercussions occur when activities in an individual sector are mismanaged and impact other nexus sectors. This study applies a quantitative nexus approach to quantify, clarify, manage, and mitigate the repercussions and interlinkages between the water, energy, and land sectors. An assessment process is established to locate cultivable idle land, evaluate water availability, and estimate additional energy consumption. Districts are categorized into three groups based on their bioethanol capacity and water availability and are assigned development priorities. Undesirably, many districts that possess the most extensive suitable idle land are projected to face water challenges, so nexus repercussion analysis is applied to develop mitigation strategies, restrain intersystem impact dissemination effects, and sufficiently utilize their capacities. The range of expected mitigation achievement points for these districts varies from 8 million m3 to 66 million m3. Some districts can reach positive water availability and achieve a mitigation ratio higher than 50%. Districts are able to eliminate nexus repercussions from energy consumption and effectively reduce the pressures of water shortages. This study can help policymakers comprehend the limitations of regional water-energy interdependency networks (WEINs) and help them govern nexus repercussions at a manageable level, avoid runaway dissemination occurrences, and strengthen the resilience of WEINs.",Establishing a quantification process for nexus repercussions to mitigate environmental impacts in a water-energy interdependency network,journal article,empirical,,Bioenergy,Bioenergy,"LCA, Synthesis of previous literature with analysis",water use,water use,
10.1016/j.resconrec.2021.105510,9213449,,"['ENVI', 'ECON']","Zhong, Honglin;Feng, Kuishuang;Sun, Laixiang;Tian, Zhan;Fischer, Gunther;Cheng, Li;Munoz Castillo, Raul",2021,"Resources, Conservation and Recycling",Food-energy-water nexus | Global Agro-Ecological Model | Multi-regional input-output analysis | Sugar crops | Tradeoffs analysis,"Replacing traditional fossil fuel with bioethanol has been adopted in many countries to reduce carbon emissions and achieve climate mitigation targets. However, the soaring global demand for food and bioethanol in the future may impose heavy environmental pressure on major sugar crops producing regions of Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) through significant changes in land and water uses. Irrigation expansion in the rainfed dominant cropping areas would partially slow down the land use expansion by boosting yields, but require large-scale investments. This study assesses the future land and water demand triggered by sugar crops expansion from the food-energy-water/land nexus perspective through coupling the Global Agro-Ecological Zones model (GAEZ) with Multi-Regional Input-Output (MRIO) analysis. We further analyse the tradeoffs between water and land use under future scenarios of climate change and socio-economic development regarding to the expected goals of biofuel policies and irrigation expansion strategies in LAC countries due to sufficient local water resources. The results show that the projected water and land demand of sugar crops in LAC would increase by 198% and 205% from 2014 to 2040. Increasing the low- or non- irrigated area up to 50% would mitigate the yield loss and reduce the land demand by 10%, with limited impact on the local water resources in most LAC countries. Major bioethanol producers with limited water demand compared with available water resources, such as Brazil and Argentina, could further promote irrigation to avoid significant landuse change and benefit other countries’ land ecosystems via inter-regional bioethanol trade. While in potential higher water stress countries, including Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala and Mexico, under bioenergy orientated policy in 2040, reducing biofuel policy targets or importing bioethanol from resource rich countries would be a better option. These results could provide guidelines to balance sugar crops production and sustainable water and land use strategies across LAC.",Water-land tradeoffs to meet future demands for sugar crops in Latin America and the Caribbean: A bio-physical and socio-economic nexus perspective,journal article,empirical,,Bioenergy,Bioenergy,Input-output analysis,"land use, water use","land use, water use",
10.1016/j.resconrec.2020.105256,0921-3449,,,"Kosai, Shoki; Matsui, Kenyu; Matsubae, Kazuyo; Yamasue, Eiji; Nagasaka, Tetsuya",2021,"Resources, Conservation and Recycling","Land use, Automotive industry, Inventory data, Mineral resource, Technological shift","Automobile companies have attempted to achieve a transition of vehicle types from internal combustion engine vehicles (ICEVs) to new-generation vehicles (NGVs). Many studies have addressed the resource-related issues of vehicles. Despite the significant attention to the potential impacts of resource use in the LCIA narrative, the volume of natural resource exploitation has yet to be fully investigated. In this study, the concept of total material requirement (TMR), which is an indicator for assessing the scale of land disturbance caused by mining activities, was employed to evaluate the natural resource use for gasoline vehicles (GVs), electric vehicles (EVs), hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs), and fuel cell vehicles (FCVs). Using this approach, the lifecycle TMR of automobiles at the production, operation and maintenance stages was assessed. It was found that NGV production uses more than twice the resources required for GV production. In particular, the production of the traction Li-ion battery accounts for approximately half of the total resource exploitation in the case of EV production due to the use of Cu, and nearly 40% of resource exploitation in the case of FCV production is attributed to the production of fuel cells due to the use of Pt. The inverse trend between lifecycle TMR and CO2, which was observed for each type of vehicle, implies that recent transportation policies, with their focus on environmental implications of emissions, have overlooked the hidden factors associated with resource exploitation.","Natural resource use of gasoline, hybrid, electric and fuel cell vehicles considering land disturbances",journal article,empirical,,Electric vehicles,Electric vehicles,MFA,"mineral and metal depletion, land use, unspecified environmental effects of mining","mineral and metal depletion, land use, unspecified environmental effects of mining",
10.1017/sus.2022.14,,,"['ENVI', 'ENVI']","Green, Rebecca E.;Gill, Elizabeth;Hein, Cris;Couturier, Lydie;Mascarenhas, Miguel;May, Roel;Newell, David;Rumes, Bob",2022,Global Sustainability,Environmental | turbines | wildlife | wind energy,"Non-technical summary A substantial increase in wind energy deployment worldwide is required to help achieve international targets for decreasing global carbon emissions and limiting the impacts of climate change. In response to global concerns regarding the environmental effects of wind energy, the International Energy Agency Wind Technical Collaborative Program initiated Task 34-Working Together to Resolve Environmental Effects of Wind Energy or WREN. As part of WREN, this study performed an international assessment with the global wind energy and environmental community to determine priority environmental issues over the next 5?10 years and help support collaborative interactions among researchers, developers, regulators, and stakeholders. Technical summary A systematic assessment was performed using feedback from the international community to identify priority environmental issues for land-based and offshore wind energy development. Given the global nature of wind energy development, feedback was of interest from all countries where such development is underway or planned to help meet United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change targets. The assessment prioritized environmental issues over the next 5-10 years associated with wind energy development and received a total of 294 responses from 28 countries. For land-based wind, the highest-ranked issues included turbine collision risk for volant species (birds and bats), cumulative effects on species and ecosystems, and indirect effects such as avoidance and displacement. For offshore wind, the highest-ranked issues included cumulative effects, turbine collision risk, underwater noise (e.g. marine mammals and fish), and displacement. Emerging considerations for these priorities include potential application to future technologies (e.g. larger turbines and floating turbines), new stressors and species in frontier regions, and cumulative effects for multiple projects at a regional scale. For both land-based and offshore wind, effectiveness of minimization measures (e.g. detection and deterrence technologies) and costs for monitoring, minimization, and mitigation were identified as overarching challenges. Social media summary Turbine collisions and cumulative effects among the international environmental priorities for wind energy development.",International assessment of priority environmental issues for land-based and offshore wind energy development,journal article,empirical,,SHW,wind,Expert survey,"biodiversity and ecosystem functioning, marine environment","biodiversity and ecosystem functioning, marine environment",
10.1016/j.resconrec.2019.05.015,0921-3449,,,"Watari, Takuma; McLellan, Benjamin C.; Giurco, Damien; Dominish, Elsa; Yamasue, Eiji; Nansai, Keisuke",2019,"Resources, Conservation and Recycling","Energy-mineral nexus, Critical material, Energy scenario, Life Cycle Assessment (LCA), Material Flow Analysis (MFA), Total Material Requirement (TMR)","Global energy transitions could fundamentally change flows of both minerals and energy resources over time. It is, therefore, increasingly important to holistically and dynamically capture the impacts of large-scale energy transitions on resource flows including hidden flows such as mine waste, as well as direct flows. Here we demonstrate a systematic model that can quantify resource flows of both minerals and energy resources under the energy transition by using stock-flow dynamics and the concept of Total Material Requirement (TMR). The proposed model was applied to the International Energy Agency’s scenarios up to 2050, targeting 15 electricity generation and 5 transport technologies. Results indicate that the global energy transition could increase TMR flows associated with mineral production by around 200–900% in the electricity sector and 350–700% in the transport sector respectively from 2015 to 2050, depending on the scenarios. Such a drastic increase in TMR flows is largely associated with an increased demand for copper, silver, nickel, lithium and cobalt, as well as steel. Our results highlight that the decarbonization of the electricity sector can reduce energy resource flows and support the hypothesis that the expansion of low-carbon technologies could reduce total resource flows expressed as TMR. In the transport sector, on the other hand, the dissemination of Electric Vehicles could cause a sharp increase in TMR flows associated with mineral production, which could offset a decrease in energy resource flows. Findings in this study emphasize that a sustainable transition would be unachievable without designing resource cycles with a nexus approach.",Total material requirement for the global energy transition to 2050: A focus on transport and electricity,journal article,empirical,,Low carbon electricity,Low carbon electricity,"LCA, MFA","mineral and metal depletion, unspecified environmental effects of mining","mineral and metal depletion, unspecified environmental effects of mining",
10.1016/j.energy.2019.03.166,3605442,,"['ENGI', 'ENGI', 'MATH', 'ENER', 'ENER', 'ENER', 'ENVI', 'ENER', 'ENGI', 'ENGI', 'ENVI', 'ENGI']","Kabayo, Jeremiah;Marques, Pedro;Garcia, Rita;Freire, Fausto",2019,Energy,Electricity | Environmental impacts | Life-cycle assessment | Socioeconomic impacts | Sustainability,"This article presents a life-cycle sustainability assessment of electricity generation systems in Portugal, namely coal, natural gas, hydro (large and small), wind, and photovoltaic systems, and evaluates their environmental and socioeconomic impacts. The environmental life-cycle assessment methodology was used to quantify impacts in metal depletion, fossil fuel depletion, global warming, ozone depletion, terrestrial acidification, freshwater eutrophication, aquatic acidification, water scarcity footprint, and toxicity (towards freshwater ecosystems and humans). Socioeconomic impacts were estimated for employment provision, dependence on fossil fuels, capacity factor, and levelised cost of electricity. The results show that electricity based on coal has the highest environmental impacts in all categories except: metal depletion (wind had the highest impacts), ozone depletion (natural gas), water scarcity footprint (large hydro), and freshwater ecotoxicity and human toxicity, non-cancer (photovoltaic). For socioeconomic categories, there was a greater variability. Photovoltaic generated the most employment and wind-based generation was estimated to have the lowest levelised cost, while coal generated the second-highest total employment and the third-lowest levelised cost. Overall, the life-cycle sustainability assessment shows small hydro as the most environmentally and socioeconomically sustainable system. By exposing the trade-offs amongst technologies and sustainability dimensions, this work provides an informed basis for future energy policy in Portugal.",Life-cycle sustainability assessment of key electricity generation systems in Portugal,journal article,empirical,,SHW,solar; wind,LCA,"mineral and metal depletion, water use, ecotoxicity, human toxicity","mineral and metal depletion, human toxicity, water use, ecotoxicity; mineral and metal depletion",
10.1016/j.rser.2017.03.137,1364-0321,,,"Capellán-Pérez, Iñigo; de Castro, Carlos; Arto, Iñaki",2017,Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews,"Energy security, Energy footprint, Land-use, Solar potential, Transition to renewable energies","The transition to renewable energies will intensify the global competition for land. Nevertheless, most analyses to date have concluded that land will not pose significant constraints on this transition. Here, we estimate the land-use requirements to supply all currently consumed electricity and final energy with domestic solar energy for 40 countries considering two key issues that are usually not taken into account: (1) the need to cope with the variability of the solar resource, and (2) the real land occupation of solar technologies. We focus on solar since it has the highest power density and biophysical potential among renewables. The exercise performed shows that for many advanced capitalist economies the land requirements to cover their current electricity consumption would be substantial, the situation being especially challenging for those located in northern latitudes with high population densities and high electricity consumption per capita. Assessing the implications in terms of land availability (i.e., land not already used for human activities), the list of vulnerable countries enlarges substantially (the EU-27 requiring around 50% of its available land), few advanced capitalist economies requiring low shares of the estimated available land. Replication of the exercise to explore the land-use requirements associated with a transition to a 100% solar powered economy indicates this transition may be physically unfeasible for countries such as Japan and most of the EU-27 member states. Their vulnerability is aggravated when accounting for the electricity and final energy footprint, i.e., the net embodied energy in international trade. If current dynamics continue, emerging countries such as India might reach a similar situation in the future. Overall, our results indicate that the transition to renewable energies maintaining the current levels of energy consumption has the potential to create new vulnerabilities and/or reinforce existing ones in terms of energy and food security and biodiversity conservation.",Assessing vulnerabilities and limits in the transition to renewable energies: Land requirements under 100% solar energy scenarios,journal article,empirical,,SHW,solar,IAM,"land use, biodiversity and ecosystem functioning","land use, biodiversity and ecosystem functioning",
10.1016/j.marenvres.2020.104989,1411136,,"['EART', 'AGRI', 'ENVI']","Heinänen, Stefan;Žydelis, Ramūnas;Kleinschmidt, Birgit;Dorsch, Monika;Burger, Claudia;Morkūnas, Julius;Quillfeldt, Petra;Nehls, Georg",2020,Marine Environmental Research,Anthropogenic disturbance | Displacement range | Distribution modelling | Estuarine front | Offshore wind farm | Red-throated loon,"Expansion of offshore wind energy is vital for the reduction of CO2 emissions. However, offshore wind farms may negatively impact the environment without proper planning. Here we assess the robustness of the conclusions of earlier studies that the strictly protected red-throated diver, Gavia stellata, is strongly displaced from wind farms in the German Bight (North Sea). We modelled the distribution of divers based on two independent data sets, digital aerial surveys and satellite telemetry, in relation to the dynamic offshore environment and anthropogenic pressures. Both data types found that divers were strongly displaced from wind farms in suitable habitat. The displacement effect gradually decreased with distance from the wind farms (being very strong up to 5 km away), but a significant effect could be detected up to 10–15 km away. The telemetry data further indicated that the displacement distance decreased with decreasing visibility. The displacement distance was also shorter during the day than during the night, potentially as a response to aviation and navigation lights of the wind farms. These findings should be taken into consideration in marine spatial planning to avoid cumulative impacts on red-throated diver populations.",Satellite telemetry and digital aerial surveys show strong displacement of red-throated divers (Gavia stellata) from offshore wind farms,journal article,empirical,,SHW,wind,Field research,biodiversity and ecosystem functioning,biodiversity and ecosystem functioning,
10.1038/s41559-018-0707-z,,,"['AGRI', 'ENVI']","Thaker, Maria;Zambre, Amod;Bhosale, Harshal",2018,Nature Ecology and Evolution,0,"Wind farms are a cleaner alternative to fossil fuels for mitigating the effects of climate change, but they also have complex ecological consequences. In the biodiversity hotspot of the Western Ghats in India, we find that wind farms reduce the abundance and activity of predatory birds (for example, Buteo, Butastur and Elanus species), which consequently increases the density of lizards, Sarada superba. The cascading effects of wind turbines on lizards include changes in behaviour, physiology and morphology that reflect a combination of predator release and density-dependent competition. By adding an effective trophic level to the top of food webs, we find that wind farms have emerging impacts that are greatly underestimated. There is thus a strong need for an ecosystem-wide view when aligning green-energy goals with environment protection.",Wind farms have cascading impacts on ecosystems across trophic levels,journal article,empirical,,SHW,wind,Field research,biodiversity and ecosystem functioning,biodiversity and ecosystem functioning,
10.1038/ngeo1993,1752-0908,,,"Vidal, Olivier; Goffé, Bruno; Arndt, Nicholas",2013,Nature Geoscience,"Industry, Geochemistry, Mineralogy","Renewable energy requires infrastructures built with metals whose extraction requires more and more energy. More mining is unavoidable, but increased recycling, substitution and careful design of new high-tech devices will help meet the growing demand.",Metals for a low-carbon society,journal article,empirical,,SHW,solar; wind,Synthesis of previous literature with analysis,"mineral and metal depletion, unspecified environmental effects of mining","mineral and metal depletion, unspecified environmental effects of mining; mineral and metal depletion, unspecified environmental effects of mining",
10.1016/j.jclepro.2021.127198,9596526,,"['ENER', 'ENVI', 'BUSI', 'ENGI']","Kouloumpis, Victor;Yan, Xiaoyu",2021,Journal of Cleaner Production,Circular economy | Life cycle assessment | Remote islands | Renewable energy | Sustainable energy | Waste,"The transition towards a sustainable energy mix is required to achieve Sustainable Development Goal 7 for affordable and clean energy. Remote islands not connected to grid which depend on diesel generators may appear ideal because they can benefit from a variety of renewable energy sources. However, renewable energy deployment requires a lifetime perspective to not inherit waste and other problems to future generations. The aim of this paper is to present a life cycle sustainability framework developed and applied for the case of the island of Ushant off North West France. Seven renewable energy generation scenarios were examined and assessed using technoeconomic, social and environmental indicators utilising life cycle costing and life cycle assessment modelling. The results show that only three out of the seven examined renewable energy scenarios manage to cover the 6807 MWh per annum demand. These scenarios can improve all the indicators against the business-as-usual diesel generation scenario except the ones related to toxicity and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by more than 92%. The easy-to-use framework allows the users to adjust their scenarios and receive useful insight about the nature of the trade-offs between the various indicators. It can also be adapted and updated to include more technologies and support the investigation of more sustainable energy scenarios of other remote island cases in the future.",Sustainable energy planning for remote islands and the waste legacy from renewable energy infrastructure deployment,journal article,empirical,,SHW,solar; wind,LCA,"ecotoxicity, human toxicity","ecotoxicity, human toxicity; ecotoxicity, human toxicity",
10.1073/pnas.2104764119,"0027-8424, 1091-6490",,,"Dunnett, Sebastian; Holland, Robert A.; Taylor, Gail; Eigenbrod, Felix",2022,Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences,"biodiversity, conservation, energy, renewable","Protected areas and renewable energy generation are critical tools to combat biodiversity loss and climate change, respectively. Over the coming decades, expansion of the protected area network to meet conservation objectives will be occurring alongside rapid deployment of renewable energy infrastructure to meet climate targets, driving potential conflict for a finite land resource. Renewable energy infrastructure can have negative effects on wildlife, and co-occurrence may mean emissions targets are met at the expense of conservation objectives. Here, we assess current and projected overlaps of wind and solar photovoltaic installations and important conservation areas across nine global regions using spatially explicit wind and solar data and methods for predicting future renewable expansion. We show similar levels of co-occurrence as previous studies but demonstrate that once area is accounted for, previous concerns about overlaps in the Northern Hemisphere may be largely unfounded, although they are high in some biodiverse countries (e.g., Brazil). Future projections of overlap between the two land uses presented here are generally dependent on priority threshold and region and suggest the risk of future conflict can be low. We use the best available data on protected area degradation to corroborate this level of risk. Together, our findings indicate that while conflicts between renewables and protected areas inevitably do occur, renewables represent an important option for decarbonization of the energy sector that would not significantly affect area-based conservation targets if deployed with appropriate policy and regulatory controls.",Predicted wind and solar energy expansion has minimal overlap with multiple conservation priorities across global regions,journal article,empirical,,SHW,solar; wind,"Spatial overlap analysis, Land use modelling","biodiversity and ecosystem functioning, land use","biodiversity and ecosystem functioning, land use; biodiversity and ecosystem functioning, land use",
10.1016/j.resconrec.2022.106349,9213449,,"['ENVI', 'ECON']","Chen, Yushu;Cai, Guotian;Bai, Ruxue;Ke, Shangjun;Wang, Wenxiu;Chen, Xiaoyu;Li, Pei;Zhang, Yuntao;Gao, Liping;Nie, Shuai;Liu, Gang",2022,"Resources, Conservation and Recycling",Critical materials | Dynamic material flow analysis | Material-energy-emission nexus | Offshore wind power | Spatial analysis,"The temporal dynamics (e.g., pace and scale) and spatial heterogeneity (e.g., turbine location and wind speed) of offshore wind power systems (WPS) are critical to maximize the carbon gains from wind energy development and avoid trade-offs among climate, resources, and waste targets. However, such a spatiotemporally refined understanding of WPS development and the associated material cycle, energy use, and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions is largely missing from the current research. In this study, we deployed a spatialized, technology-specific, stock-driven material flow analysis model to reveal the spatiotemporally explicit pathway of China's offshore WPS development and the associated material-energy-emission nexus up to the year 2060. Our results indicate a cumulative raw material requirement of 96–140 Mt, waste generation of 6.5–48 Mt, net energy payback of 2.9–12 PWh, and net reduction in GHG emissions of 2.9 – 9.7 Gt when substituting coal power until 2060 under different scenario combinations. Specifically, China's future offshore WPS development will need to address the increasing demand for critical materials (e.g., 3.8–5.2 Mt of copper and 55–140 kt of permanent magnets cumulatively until 2060) and challenges for end-of-life management (e.g., 0.3–2 Mt spent blades generated cumulatively until 2060). The spatiotemporally refined results that consider, among other key parameters, water depth and capacity factor at a 1 × 1 km resolution, revealed low values in the northern provinces (e.g., Hebei and Tianjin) and high values in the southern provinces (e.g., Guangdong and Fujian) for material flows, energy payback, and net GHG emission reduction. This combination of spatial and dynamic material flow analyses can also be applied to WPSs in other countries and regions.",Spatiotemporally explicit pathway and material-energy-emission nexus of offshore wind energy development in China up to the year 2060,journal article,empirical,,SHW,wind,MFA,mineral and metal depletion,mineral and metal depletion,
10.1016/j.rser.2011.04.023,1364-0321,,,"Turney, Damon; Fthenakis, Vasilis",2011,Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews,"Greenhouse gases, Land use, Environmental, Ecological, Impact, Solar","Large-scale solar power plants are being developed at a rapid rate, and are setting up to use thousands or millions of acres of land globally. The environmental issues related to the installation and operation phases of such facilities have not, so far, been addressed comprehensively in the literature. Here we identify and appraise 32 impacts from these phases, under the themes of land use intensity, human health and well-being, plant and animal life, geohydrological resources, and climate change. Our appraisals assume that electricity generated by new solar power facilities will displace electricity from traditional U.S. generation technologies. Altogether we find 22 of the considered 32 impacts to be beneficial. Of the remaining 10 impacts, 4 are neutral, and 6 require further research before they can be appraised. None of the impacts are negative relative to traditional power generation. We rank the impacts in terms of priority, and find all the high-priority impacts to be beneficial. In quantitative terms, large-scale solar power plants occupy the same or less land per kWh than coal power plant life cycles. Removal of forests to make space for solar power causes CO2 emissions as high as 36g CO2 kWh−1, which is a significant contribution to the life cycle CO2 emissions of solar power, but is still low compared to CO2 emissions from coal-based electricity that are about 1100g CO2 kWh−1.",Environmental impacts from the installation and operation of large-scale solar power plants,journal article,empirical,only,SHW,SHW,LCA,,,
10.1016/j.jclepro.2018.03.063,0959-6526,,,"Celik, Ilke; Song, Zhaoning; Phillips, Adam B.; Heben, Michael J.; Apul, Defne",2018,Journal of Cleaner Production,"Emerging photovoltaic, Long term leaching, Metal release, Use phase toxicity","The potential release of toxic metals from damaged emerging photovoltaic (PV) cells has raised concerns about the safe use of these new types of PVs. In this study, this concern was addressed by analysing the life cycle toxicity of metals (cadmium, copper, lead, nickel, tin and zinc) that are commonly used in emerging PVs. In estimating the potential metal release, a new model that incorporates field conditions (crack size, time, and glass thickness) and physiochemical properties (diffusion coefficient and solubility product) was introduced. The results show that the use phase toxicity of copper and lead can be higher than the extraction phase toxicity. Thus, precautionary loss limits to manage toxic impacts from the use phase were proposed. Also, the toxicity from different layers of perovskite, copper zinc tin sulphide (CZTS), and quantum dot (QD) type of solar cells was compared. It was found that cadmium sulphide (compared to zinc oxide and tin oxide) and lead (II) sulphide (compared to lead (II) iodine and CZTS) were less toxic alternatives for the electron selective layer and light absorber, respectively. Finally, in comparing the toxic metal releases of the PVs to today's coal power plants, it was seen that the metal emissions from PVs are expected to be several times less than the emissions from coal.",Life cycle analysis of metals in emerging photovoltaic (PV) technologies: A modeling approach to estimate use phase leaching,journal article,empirical,,SHW,solar,LCA,"human toxicity, ecotoxicity","human toxicity, ecotoxicity",
10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.144471,489697,,"['ENVI', 'ENVI', 'ENVI', 'ENVI']","Kati, Vassiliki;Kassara, Christina;Vrontisi, Zoi;Moustakas, Aristides",2021,Science of the Total Environment,Biodiversity | Fragmentation | Natura 2000 | Spatial planning | Sustainability | Windfarms,"Wind energy is the leading renewable technology towards achieving climate goals, yet biodiversity trade-offs via land take are emerging. Thus, we are facing the paradox of impacting on biodiversity to combat climate change. We suggest a novel method of spatial planning that enhances windfarm sustainability: investments are prioritized in the most fragmented zones that lie outside the Natura 2000 network of protected areas. We showcase it in Greece, a biodiversity hotspot with a strong climate policy and land conflict between conservation and wind energy schemes. The analysis indicates that the suggested investment zone supports wind harnessing 1.5 times higher than the 2030 national goal, having only marginally lower (4%) wind speed. It performs well for the conservation of the annexed habitats and species of the two Nature Directives and it greatly overlaps with the Important Bird Areas (93%) and the roadless areas (80%) of Greece. It also greatly overlaps (82%–91%) with the exclusion zones suggested according to three sensitivity maps for bird conservation. Since land use change triggers biodiversity decline, we underline the necessity of such approaches for meeting both climate and biodiversity goals and call for a greater environmental policy convergence towards biodiversity conservation and no net land take.",The biodiversity-wind energy-land use nexus in a global biodiversity hotspot,journal article,empirical,,SHW,wind,LCA,biodiversity and ecosystem functioning,biodiversity and ecosystem functioning,
10.1038/s41598-023-31601-z,2045-2322,,,"Garthe, Stefan; Schwemmer, Henriette; Peschko, Verena; Markones, Nele; Müller, Sabine; Schwemmer, Philipp; Mercker, Moritz",2023,Scientific Reports,"Zoology, Ecology, Environmental sciences, Environmental impact, Biodiversity, Conservation biology, Animal behaviour","The North Sea is a key area worldwide for the installation of offshore wind farms (OWFs). We analysed data from multiple sources to quantify the effects of OWFs on seabirds from the family Gaviidae (loons) in the German North Sea. The distribution and abundance of loons changed substantially from the period before to the period after OWF construction. Densities of loons were significantly reduced at distances of up to 9–12 km from the OWF footprints. Abundance declined by 94% within the OWF + 1 km zone and by 52% within the OWF + 10 km zone. The observed redistribution was a large-scale effect, with birds aggregating within the study area at large distances from the OWFs. Although renewable energies will be needed to provide a large share of our energy demands in the future, it is necessary to minimize the costs in terms of less-adaptable species, to avoid amplifying the biodiversity crisis.",Large-scale effects of offshore wind farms on seabirds of high conservation concern,journal article,empirical,,SHW,wind,Ecological modelling,biodiversity and ecosystem functioning,biodiversity and ecosystem functioning,
10.1038/s41598-021-82042-5,2045-2322,,,"van de Ven, Dirk-Jan; Capellan-Peréz, Iñigo; Arto, Iñaki; Cazcarro, Ignacio; de Castro, Carlos; Patel, Pralit; Gonzalez-Eguino, Mikel",2021,Scientific Reports,"Climate-change mitigation, Environmental impact, Climate-change policy","Although the transition to renewable energies will intensify the global competition for land, the potential impacts driven by solar energy remain unexplored. In this work, the potential solar land requirements and related land use change emissions are computed for the EU, India, Japan and South Korea. A novel method is developed within an integrated assessment model which links socioeconomic, energy, land and climate systems. At 25–80% penetration in the electricity mix of those regions by 2050, we find that solar energy may occupy 0.5–5% of total land. The resulting land cover changes, including indirect effects, will likely cause a net release of carbon ranging from 0 to 50 gCO2/kWh, depending on the region, scale of expansion, solar technology efficiency and land management practices in solar parks. Hence, a coordinated planning and regulation of new solar energy infrastructures should be enforced to avoid a significant increase in their life cycle emissions through terrestrial carbon losses.",The potential land requirements and related land use change emissions of solar energy,journal article,empirical,,SHW,solar,IAM,land use,land use,
10.3390/su8090875,2071-1050,,,"Hirsch, Philipp Emanuel; Schillinger, Moritz; Appoloni, Katharina; Burkhardt-Holm, Patricia; Weigt, Hannes",2016,Sustainability,"sustainable development goals, energy transition, ecosystem function, littoral zone, primary production, volatile renewable energies, water level fluctuations","Hydropower reservoirs play an increasingly important role for the global electricity supply. Reservoirs are anthropogenically-dominated ecosystems because hydropower operations induce artificial water level fluctuations (WLF) that exceed natural fluctuations in frequency and amplitude. These WLF have detrimental ecological effects, which can be quantified as losses to ecosystem primary production due to lake bottoms that fall dry. To allow for a sustainable development of hydropower, these “ecological costs” of WLF need to be weighed against the “economic benefits” of hydropower that can balance and store intermittent renewable energy. We designed an economic hydropower operation model to derive WLF in large and small reservoirs for three different future energy market scenarios and quantified the according losses in ecosystem primary production in semi-natural outdoor experiments. Our results show that variations in market conditions affect WLF differently in small and large hydropower reservoirs and that increasing price volatility magnified WLF and reduced primary production. Our model allows an assessment of the trade-off between the objectives of preserving environmental resources and economic development, which lies at the core of emerging sustainability issues.",Integrating Economic and Ecological Benchmarking for a Sustainable Development of Hydropower,journal article,empirical,,SHW,hydro,Energy system modelling,biodiversity and ecosystem functioning,biodiversity and ecosystem functioning,
10.1016/j.scs.2019.101467,22106707,,"['SOCI', 'ENGI', 'ENER', 'SOCI']","Albertí, Jaume;Raigosa, Juliana;Raugei, Marco;Assiego, Rafael;Ribas-Tur, Joan;Garrido-Soriano, Núria;Zhang, Linghui;Song, Guobao;Hernández, Patxi;Fullana-i-Palmer, Pere",2019,Sustainable Cities and Society,Building | Circular economy | National emissions | Nationally determined contributions | Renewable energies,"Solar thermal energy is considered a ‘clean’ form of energy; however, environmental impacts occur during its life-cycle. The present work compares the environmental performance of two scenarios: a solar thermal system for providing domestic hot water (DHW) used in conjunction with a traditional natural gas heating system, and the natural gas heating system on its own. Weak points are found and different eco-design scenarios are evaluated in order to achieve a more circular economy. In addition, the authors explore what would be the national Greenhouse Gas emission reduction potential of a wider use of domestic solar hot water systems (DSHW) in China's and Spain's built environment. In this case, five displacement methods are suggested to show how the emissions reduction vary. Through a review of the state of the art and a Life Cycle Assessment of a solar system the two scenarios are assessed. Some impact categories, such as global warming, suggest a markedly better performance of the solar system (-65%). However, weak points in the solar solution have been identified as there is an increase of impacts in cases such as acidification (+6%) and eutrophication (+61%), mostly due to the metals used. The components with higher environmental impact are the collector, the tank, and the copper tubes. The reduction of national emissions by promoting DSHW depends on the actual displaced technology/ies. The consequences on national emissions reduction depending on these choices are assessed. The potential reduction of emissions, if 30% of the DHW were covered with solar sources, would be between 0.38% and 0.50% in the case of Spain and between 0.12% and 0.63% in China.","Life Cycle Assessment of a solar thermal system in Spain, eco-design alternatives and derived climate change scenarios at Spanish and Chinese National levels",journal article,empirical,,SHW,solar,LCA,"acidification, eutrophication and biogeochemical flows","acidification, eutrophication and biogeochemical flows",
10.1016/j.techfore.2015.03.005,0040-1625,,,"van Vuuren, Detlef P.; Kok, Marcel; Lucas, Paul L.; Prins, Anne Gerdien; Alkemade, Rob; van den Berg, Maurits; Bouwman, Lex; van der Esch, Stefan; Jeuken, Michel; Kram, Tom; Stehfest, Elke",2015,Technological Forecasting and Social Change,"Sustainable development, Global change, Integrated assessment, Modelling","In 2012, governments worldwide renewed their commitments to a more sustainable development that would eradicate poverty, halt climate change and conserve ecosystems, and initiated a process to create a long-term vision by formulating Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Although progress in achieving a more sustainable development has been made in some areas, overall, actions have not been able to bend the trend in critical areas (including those related to the so-called food-water-energy nexus). Here, we analyze how different combinations of technological measures and behavioral changes could contribute to achieving a set of sustainability objectives, taking into account the interlinkages between them. The objectives include eradicating hunger, providing universal access to modern energy, preventing dangerous climate change, conserving biodiversity and controlling air pollution. The analysis identifies different pathways that achieve these objectives simultaneously, but they all require substantial transformations in the energy and food systems, that go far beyond historic progress and currently formulated policies. The analysis also shows synergies and trade-offs between achieving the different objectives, concluding that achieving them requires a comprehensive approach. The scenario analysis does not point at a fundamental trade-off between the objectives related to poverty eradication and those related to environmental sustainability. The different pathways of achieving the set of long-term objectives and their implications for short-term action can contribute to building a comprehensive strategy to meet the SDGs by proposing near-term actions.",Pathways to achieve a set of ambitious global sustainability objectives by 2050: Explorations using the IMAGE integrated assessment model,journal article,empirical,,General mitigation,General mitigation,IAM,"land use, biodiversity and ecosystem functioning, eutrophication and biogeochemical flows","land use, biodiversity and ecosystem functioning, eutrophication and biogeochemical flows",
10.1021/acssuschemeng.2c05390,,,"['CHEM', 'ENVI', 'CENG', 'ENER']","Bachmann, Marvin;Völker, Simon;Kleinekorte, Johanna;Bardow, André",2023,ACS Sustainable Chemistry and Engineering,basic oxygen furnace gas | biomass | CCU | CO 2 | coke oven gas | life-cycle assessment | syngas,"Syngas is an essential platform chemical for producing chemicals and fuels, whose market volume is expected to grow strongly. Today, syngas is mainly produced from fossil resources and thus emits large amounts of greenhouse gases (GHGs). The GHG emissions of syngas can be reduced by alternative feedstocks such as biomass, CO2, and steel mill off-gases (mill gas). However, since previous studies on alternative feedstocks differ in assumptions and methodological choices, their results are not comparable. Therefore, it remains unknown which feedstock is preferable from an environmental perspective. Herein, we present a consistent environmental assessment of alternative syngas pathways. We show that bio-based and mill gas-based syngas reduce GHG emissions the most, although the results strongly depend on the conventional feedstock use: if the feedstock is limited and already used elsewhere, its GHG mitigation potential decreases. Furthermore, producing syngas from mill gas or bio-waste leads to moderate environmental trade-offs, while other bio-feedstocks and CO2 can significantly increase other environmental impacts than GHG. Our results demonstrate that a consistent assessment of alternative pathways is required to make informed decisions on syngas decarbonization and highlight the importance of considering the conventional use of limited feedstocks in life-cycle assessments.","Syngas from What? Comparative Life-Cycle Assessment for Syngas Production from Biomass, CO2, and Steel Mill Off-Gases",journal article,empirical,,Hydrogen carriers; CCS & CCU,Hydrogen carriers; CCS & CCU,LCA,"eutrophication and biogeochemical flows, land use, mineral and metal depletion; eutrophication and biogeochemical flows, land use, mineral and metal depletion",,
10.2495/EQ-V3-N2-144-156,20563272,,"['ENVI', 'ENER', 'ENER', 'SOCI']","González, Patricia;Riveros, Sofía;Concha, Scarlett;Casas, Yannay",2018,International Journal of Energy Production and Management,Biogas | Electricity generation | Gasification | Incineration | Life cycle assessment | Municipal solid waste | Waste-to-energy,"In Chile, during the last 40 years the municipal solid waste (MSW) generation rate has shown a 4-fold increase due to population growth, fast urbanization and improved material standards. As in most developing countries, this trend is expected to continue as economic policies foster greater industrial investment and increases in domestic consumption. Currently, MSW are landfilled near ever expanding urban areas, leading to growing public concerns, and prompting new control legislation. Up-to-date MSW management practises are being promoted in order to maximise waste valorisation, including recycling, and waste-to-energy, within a circular economy strategy. However, new resource consumption, waste streams, air emissions and effluents may arise when changing from a linear to a circular economy model. Therefore, environmental performance of alternative scenarios must take into consideration the complete life cycle to avoid problem shifting. Within this context, this paper presents a case study of three alternative waste-to energy scenarios, as part of a circular economy strategy, involving combustion, gasification, and landfill biogas, at the Bio Bio Region in Southern Chile. This is an industrial region housing over 2 million inhabitants and generating more than one million tonnes of MSW per year. The study assesses waste-to energy alternatives considering an integrated waste management life cycle approach. Boundaries include waste collection, transport, pre-treatment processes, by-products generation, and heat/power production. MSW transport, recycling rates, chemical compositions, and calorific values, were obtained from primary sources, whereas energy conversion efficiencies and other data gaps were estimated from the Ecoinvent database. Results provide a complete view of the environmental performance of each alternative scenario, including potential climate change effects and other environmental impacts, and also the positive contributions of material and energy recovery. This work illustrates the value of life cycle assessment in the context of decision making concerning circular economy scenarios.",Waste-to-energy options within a circular economy strategy in a developing country: The case of the Bio Bio Region in Chile,journal article,empirical,only,Waste-to-energy,Waste-to-energy,,,,
10.1016/j.scitotenv.2019.03.050,489697,,"['ENVI', 'ENVI', 'ENVI', 'ENVI']","Maqhuzu, Andile B.;Yoshikawa, Kunio;Takahashi, Fumitake",2019,Science of the Total Environment,Atmospheric pollutant emission | Hydrothermal carbonization | Municipal solid wastes | Waste to energy | Zimbabwe,"The vast increase of municipal solid waste (MSW) generated in Zimbabwe coupled with a severe energy crisis have made waste-to-energy technology more attractive and necessary. Coal-alternative solid fuel production from MSW though hydrothermal carbonization can play a critical role to improve both waste management and energy supply. Moreover, MSW conversion to a carbon neutral solid fuel that can be burnt in existing coal-fired power stations might reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions despite GHG releases from waste collection, waste conversion to fuel, and fuel transportation processes. The purpose of this paper is to investigate present MSW generation in Zimbabwe, its characteristics as a fuel source, and the impact of coal-alternative solid fuel production from MSW using hydrothermal carbonization technology on GHG and other air pollutant emissions. Four different scenarios based on the balance between fuel supply and demand were tested in this paper. The results suggest 0.54 ± 0.14 kg/capita/day of MSW generation in Zimbabwe and about 1051.7 ± 270.7 Gg of annual MSW generation from the current urban population. 289.3 Gg of coal-alternative solid fuel production was expected from domestic MSW collectable in urban areas. The model predicted that co-burning of alternative fuel in coal-fired power plants could reduce the methane potential of household waste from 62,200 to 15,800 Mg CH 4 per year. Under the best possible scenario, it could reduce SO x emissions by 4.2%, CH 4 emissions by 4.5%, CO 2 emissions by 3.1%, and Global Warming Potential by 2.2%. On the other hand, NO x emissions would increase by 18%. If without additional installation of air pollutant control devices in power plants, waste-to-energy generates a trade-off between global warming and acid rain. In addition, geological locations generate a large demand/supply gap of alternative fuel and regulate maximum available consumption of alternative fuel.",The effect of coal alternative fuel from municipal solid wastes employing hydrothermal carbonization on atmospheric pollutant emissions in Zimbabwe,journal article,empirical,,Waste-to-energy,Waste-to-energy,Unclear methods,air pollution,air pollution,
10.1016/j.biocon.2011.10.012,,,,"Dahl, Espen Lie;Bevanger, Kjetil;Nygård, Torgeir;Røskaft, Eivin;Stokke, Bård G.",2012,Biological Conservation,BACI | Breeding success | Displacement | Smøla | White-tailed eagle | Wind energy,"Climate change scenarios and efforts to reduce CO 2 emissions have increased the focus on wind power and other renewable energy sources. Despite producing ""clean"" electricity, windfarms do have impacts on the environment. We studied the impact from a coastal windfarm on the breeding success of white-tailed eagles (Haliaeetus albicilla) at Smøla, western Norway by means of a BACI (before-after-control-impact) approach. The objective was to compare pre- and post-construction breeding success. A 10year dataset from 47 eagle territories were analyzed using a generalized linear mixed model. Successful breeding was used as a response variable, while distance to turbines, distance to roads and before/after turbine construction were used as predictors. There was a significant effect of the interaction between time period and distance to turbines, showing that territories within 500m from the turbines in the post-construction period experienced significantly lower breeding success than the same territories before construction. We found that this effect was most likely due to territories being vacated. The results emphasize the importance of using a BACI approach when assessing possible effects from wind-power production on breeding birds, especially for species breeding at low densities. It also emphasizes the importance of conducting thorough pre-construction studies on vulnerable bird species. © 2011 Elsevier Ltd.","Reduced breeding success in white-tailed eagles at Smøla windfarm, western Norway, is caused by mortality and displacement",journal article,empirical,,SHW,wind,Field research,biodiversity and ecosystem functioning,biodiversity and ecosystem functioning,
10.1073/pnas.1908683116,,,,"Palomo, Ignacio; Dujardin, Yann; Midler, Estelle; Robin, Manon; Sanz, María J.; Pascual, Unai",2019,Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences,,"The program on Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+) is one of the major attempts to tackle climate change mitigation in developing countries. REDD+ seeks to provide result-based incentives to promote emission reductions and increase carbon sinks in forest land while promoting other cobenefits, such as the conservation of biodiversity. We model different scenarios of international REDD+ funds distribution toward potential recipient countries using 2 carbon emission reduction targets (20% and 50% compared to the baseline scenario, i.e., deforestation and forest degradation without REDD+) by 2030. The model combines the prioritization of environmental outcomes in terms of carbon sequestration and biodiversity conservation and social equity, accounting for the equitable distribution of international REDD+ funds. Results highlight the synergy between carbon sequestration and biodiversity conservation under alternative fund allocation criteria, especially for scenarios of low carbon emission reduction. Trade-offs increase when distributional equity is considered as an additional criterion, especially under higher equity requirements. The analysis helps to better understand the inherent trade-offs between enhancing distributional equity and meeting environmental targets under alternative REDD+ fund allocation options.","Modeling trade-offs across carbon sequestration, biodiversity conservation, and equity in the distribution of global REDD+ funds",journal article,empirical,only,Reduce deforestation (REDD),Reduce deforestation (REDD),Economic modelling,,,
10.3390/land9100397,,,,"Vera, Ivan;Wicke, Birka;van der Hilst, Floor",2020,Land,Biofuels | Environmental impacts | Land‐use change | Spatially explicit | Sugarcane | Trade‐offs,"In the past decades, sugarcane production in Brazil has expanded rapidly to meet increasing ethanol demand. The large majority of this expansion occurred in Sao Paulo state. We used an integrated approach considering location‐specific biophysical characteristics to determine the environmental impacts of sugarcane expansion and their spatial variation in Sao Paulo state (2004–2015). The included environmental impacts are greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, biodiversity, soil erosion, and water quantity. All impacts were integrated into a single environmental performance index to determine trade‐offs between impacts. Our results show a strong spatial variation in environmental impacts and trade‐offs between them. The magnitude and direction of these impacts are mostly driven by the type of land use change and by the heterogeneity of the biophysical conditions. Areas where expansion of sugar cane has resulted in mostly negative environmental impacts are located in the center and east of the state (related to the change of shrublands, eucalyptus, and forest), while areas where sugar cane expansion has resulted in positive impacts are located in the center‐west and north (related to the change of annual crops). Identifying areas with mainly positive and negative impacts enables the development of strategies to mitigate negative effects and enhance positive ones for future sugarcane expansion.",Spatial variation in environmental impacts of sugarcane expansion in Brazil,journal article,empirical,,Bioenergy,Bioenergy,"Spatial overlap analysis, Land use modelling",water use,water use,
no doi,,,,"Hamilton, Kirk; Akbar, Sameer",2010,n/a,"Fisheries, Forestry, Economics, Coal, Electricity, Ecology, Air Pollutants, Gasoline, Carbon Dioxide, Fossil Fuels, Biomass, Debt, Energy Efficiency, Energy Policy, Renewable Energy, Carbon Emission, Carbon Price, Ecosystem, Accidents, Acidification, Adverse Environmental Impacts, Afforestation, Agricultural Chemicals, Agricultural Systems, Air, Air Pollution, Air Pollution Control, Air Quality, Air Quality Improvements, Alternative Energy, Annual Emission, Aquifers, Arable Land, Biodiversity Conservation, Biodiversity Protection, Biogas, Biological Carbon Sequestration, Biomass Energy, Black Carbon, Black Carbon Emissions, Bus, Buses, Cadmium, Carbon Accumulation, Carbon Capture, Carbon Credits, Carbon Cycling, Carbon Finance, Carbon Flux, Carbon Fuels, Carbon Funding, Carbon Loss, Carbon Market, Carbon Markets, Carbon Offset, Carbon Sequestration, Carbon Sinks, Carbon Sources, Carbon Tax, Clean Electricity, Cleaner Fuels, Climate, Climate Change, Climate Change Mitigation, Co, Co2, Combustion, Common Property, Common Property Resources, Congestion, Cost Savings, Crop Lands, Cropping Systems, Crude Oil, Deforestation, Degraded Areas, Developed Countries, Diesel, Diesel Engines, Diesel Vehicles, Disease Vectors, Drought, Economic Analysis, Electricity Generation, Emission, Emission Reduction, Emission Reduction Policies, Emission Reduction Targets, Emission Reductions, Emission Trading, Emissions, Emissions from Agriculture, Emissions from Land Use, Emissions from Transport, Emissions Reduction, Emissions Reductions, Energy Sources, Environmental, Environmental Benefits, Environmental Conservation, Environmental Costs, Environmental Management, Environmental Media, Environmental Policies, Environmental Quality, Erosion Control, Ethanol, External Costs, Farms, Fertilizers, Financial Incentives, Fire Management, Fish, Floods, Forest, Forest Area, Forest Biomass, Forest Carbon, Forest Clearance, Forest Degradation, Forest Management, Forest Plantations, Forest Sector, Forestry Sector, Forests, Freight, Freight Transport, Fuel Efficient Vehicles, Fuel Subsidies, Fuel Switching, Gas Emission, Gas Flaring, Gases, Ghg, Ghgs, Global Climate Change, Global Environment Facility, Greenhouse, Greenhouse Gas, Greenhouse Gas Emissions, Greenhouse Gases, Greenhouse-Gas, Greenhouse-Gas Emissions, Heavy Metals, Highway, Highways, Household Fuel, Impacts on Biodiversity, Ipcc, Land Degradation, Land Use Change, Landfill, Landfill Gas, Leaching, Livable Cities, Local Air Pollutants, Local Air Pollution, Local Air Pollution Emissions, Loss of Soil Carbon, Low-Carbon, Mangrove Forest, Mass Transit, Methane, Methane Combustion, Methane Emissions, Methane Gas, Methane Generation, Mines, N2o, Natural Capital, Natural Gas, Natural Resources, Negative Impacts, Nitrate, Nitrates, Nitrogen, Nitrogen Deposition, Nitrous Oxide, Nitrous Oxide Emissions, Noise, Nox, Nuclear Energy, Nutrients, Oil Prices, Organic Matter, Ozone, Ozone Layer, Particles, Particulate, Particulate Matter, Particulates, Pastures, Pm10, Policy Makers, Pollution Control, Pollution Reduction, Power Plants, Pp, Present Value, Private Vehicles, Rainwater, Renewable Energy Sources, Resource Conservation, Resource Management, Risk Management, Road, Roads, Sanitation, So2, Social Costs, Soil Carbon, Soil Degradation, Soil Productivity, Solar Power, Sox, Sustainable Development, Sustainable Forestry, Sustainable Management, Sustainable Use, Tax Reduction, Terrestrial Carbon, Timber, Traffic, Transport Operations, Transport Policies, Transport Sector, Transport System, Transportation, Tree Species, True, Urban Air Pollution, Urban Transport, Vehicle, Vehicle Fuel, Vehicle Fuel Efficiency, Waste Management, Water Pollution, Water Quality, Water Treatment, Wetlands, Wind, Wind Energy","This internal background paper has been prepared to help inform the 2010 environment strategy with respect to a proposed way forward on use of country systems. The World Bank Group environment strategy is built on three pillars: leveraging natural resources for growth and poverty reduction; managing the environmental risks to growth and development; and transforming growth paths. As part of its exploration of these three pillars, the strategy considers the question of environmental co-benefits of climate change actions. In particular, it poses the question of potential trade-offs between actions to address climate change and other local and regional environmental priorities, and considers how to maximize co-benefits arising from climate action. The primary objective of this background paper is to assess the potential for climate change mitigation and adaptation actions to provide environmental co-benefits, particularly in the quality of environmental media, flow of ecosystem services, and maintenance of biodiversity. To accomplish this, the paper is organized in five sections: section one gives provision of an organizing framework to identify and classify potential co-benefits; section two gives summary of the external literature on co-benefits; section three gives review of examples from the World Bank portfolio; section four presents initial thoughts on creation of enabling conditions for co-benefit provision; and section five gives review of implications for the environment strategy.",Assessing the Environmental Co-Benefits of Climate Change Actions,Report,review,,,,,,,
no doi,,,,"Church, Clare; Crawford, Alec",2018,n/a,,,Green Conflict Minerals: The fuels of conflict in the transition to a low-carbon economy,Report,review,,,,,,,
no doi,,,,IEA,2021,n/a,,The Role of Critical Minerals in Clean Energy Transitions - Analysis and key findings. A report by the International Energy Agency.,The Role of Critical Minerals in Clean Energy Transitions,Report,review,,,,,,,
no doi,,,,"Balvanera, Patricia; Pfaff, Alexander; Viña, Andrés; Garcia Frapolli, Eduardo; Hussain, Syed Ainul; Merino, Leticia; Minang, Peter Akong; Nagabhatla, Nidhi; Sidorovich, Anna; Lambin, Eric F.; Mistry, J",2019,n/a,"Chapter, Global Assessment, IPBES",This document contains Chapter 2.1 of  the IPBES Global Assessment on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services.,Chapter 2.1 Status and Trends –Drivers of Change,Report,review,,,,,,,
10.1111/gcb.15816,13541013,,"['ENVI', 'ENVI', 'ENVI', 'ENVI']","Harrison, Matthew Tom;Cullen, Brendan Richard;Mayberry, Dianne Elizabeth;Cowie, Annette Louise;Bilotto, Franco;Badgery, Warwick Brabazon;Liu, Ke;Davison, Thomas;Christie, Karen Michelle;Muleke, Albert;Eckard, Richard John",2021,Global Change Biology,adaptation | carbon dioxide removal (CDR) | carbon neutral | climate change | emissions intensity | maladaptation | multidisciplinary | policy | socio-economic | sustainable development goals,"Livestock have long been integral to food production systems, often not by choice but by need. While our knowledge of livestock greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions mitigation has evolved, the prevailing focus has been—somewhat myopically—on technology applications associated with mitigation. Here, we (1) examine the global distribution of livestock GHG emissions, (2) explore social, economic and environmental co-benefits and trade-offs associated with mitigation interventions and (3) critique approaches for quantifying GHG emissions. This review uncovered many insights. First, while GHG emissions from ruminant livestock are greatest in low- and middle-income countries (LMIC; globally, 66% of emissions are produced by Latin America and the Caribbean, East and southeast Asia and south Asia), the majority of mitigation strategies are designed for developed countries. This serious concern is heightened by the fact that 80% of growth in global meat production over the next decade will occur in LMIC. Second, few studies concurrently assess social, economic and environmental aspects of mitigation. Of the 54 interventions reviewed, only 16 had triple-bottom line benefit with medium–high mitigation potential. Third, while efforts designed to stimulate the adoption of strategies allowing both emissions reduction (ER) and carbon sequestration (CS) would achieve the greatest net emissions mitigation, CS measures have greater potential mitigation and co-benefits. The scientific community must shift attention away from the prevailing myopic lens on carbon, towards more holistic, systems-based, multi-metric approaches that carefully consider the raison d'être for livestock systems. Consequential life cycle assessments and systems-aligned ‘socio-economic planetary boundaries’ offer useful starting points that may uncover leverage points and cross-scale emergent properties. The derivation of harmonized, globally reconciled sustainability metrics requires iterative dialogue between stakeholders at all levels. Greater emphasis on the simultaneous characterization of multiple sustainability dimensions would help avoid situations where progress made in one area causes maladaptive outcomes in other areas.","Carbon myopia: The urgent need for integrated social, economic and environmental action in the livestock sector",journal article,review,,AFOLU mitigation,AFOLU mitigation,,,,
10.1111/gcb.12591,13541013,,"['ENVI', 'ENVI', 'ENVI', 'ENVI']","Bustamante, Mercedes;Robledo-Abad, Carmenza;Harper, Richard;Mbow, Cheikh;Ravindranat, Nijavalli H.;Sperling, Frank;Haberl, Helmut;Pinto, Alexandre de Siqueira;Smith, Pete",2014,Global Change Biology,AFOLU | Agriculture | Climate | Ecosystem service | Food security | Forestry | GHG | Mitigation,"The agriculture, forestry and other land use (AFOLU) sector is responsible for approximately 25% of anthropogenic GHG emissions mainly from deforestation and agricultural emissions from livestock, soil and nutrient management. Mitigation from the sector is thus extremely important in meeting emission reduction targets. The sector offers a variety of cost-competitive mitigation options with most analyses indicating a decline in emissions largely due to decreasing deforestation rates. Sustainability criteria are needed to guide development and implementation of AFOLU mitigation measures with particular focus on multifunctional systems that allow the delivery of multiple services from land. It is striking that almost all of the positive and negative impacts, opportunities and barriers are context specific, precluding generic statements about which AFOLU mitigation measures have the greatest promise at a global scale. This finding underlines the importance of considering each mitigation strategy on a case-by-case basis, systemic effects when implementing mitigation options on the national scale, and suggests that policies need to be flexible enough to allow such assessments. National and international agricultural and forest (climate) policies have the potential to alter the opportunity costs of specific land uses in ways that increase opportunities or barriers for attaining climate change mitigation goals. Policies governing practices in agriculture and in forest conservation and management need to account for both effective mitigation and adaptation and can help to orient practices in agriculture and in forestry towards global sharing of innovative technologies for the efficient use of land resources. Different policy instruments, especially economic incentives and regulatory approaches, are currently being applied however, for its successful implementation it is critical to understand how land-use decisions are made and how new social, political and economic forces in the future will influence this process.","Co-benefits, trade-offs, barriers and policies for greenhouse gas mitigation in the agriculture, forestry and other land use (AFOLU) sector",journal article,review,,AFOLU mitigation,AFOLU mitigation,,,,
10.1080/1943815X.2012.698989,1943815X,,"['ENER', 'ENVI', 'MEDI']","Verspecht, Ann;Vandermeulen, Valerie;Ter Avest, Erik;van Huylenbroeck, Guido",2012,Journal of Integrative Environmental Sciences,agricultural practices | greenhouse gas mitigation | trade-offs,"Anthropogenic release of greenhouse gasses (GHG) has increased in the last 50 years, contributing to global climate change. Because agriculture is one of the major contributors to the production of non-CO2 GHG, the opportunities for mitigating GHG emissions from agriculture are often considered by policy makers. However, the implementation of agricultural GHG mitigation policies can have unintended consequences or trade-offs (both negative and positive). A major problem, for policy makers, is that although most of these trade-offs have been described in the past, no overview of them exists; and in many cases, there is no consensus with regard to the impact of the mitigation measures on aspects such as cost effectiveness, social acceptance, environmental impact, etc. The current article gives an overview of the different kinds of trade-off that might occur and their relationships to GHG mitigation and agricultural production. The authors offer policy makers a framework which can be applied to any GHG mitigation measure to determine which trade-offs are the most important and which ones should be taken into consideration. This will help policy makers to create an optimal agricultural GHG mitigation measure. © 2012 Copyright Taylor and Francis Group, LLC.",Review of trade-offs and co-benefits from greenhouse gas mitigation measures in agricultural production,journal article,review,,AFOLU mitigation,AFOLU mitigation,,,,
10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.148099,489697,,"['ENVI', 'ENVI', 'ENVI', 'ENVI']","Adhikari, Kamal P.;Chibuike, Grace;Saggar, Surinder;Simon, Priscila L.;Luo, Jiafa;de Klein, Cecile A.M.",2021,Science of the Total Environment,Greenhouse gas mitigation | Livestock excreta | Nitrogen loss | Nutrient cycling | Pasture nitrogen uptake,"Livestock urine patches are the main source of nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions in pastoral system, and nitrification inhibitors (NIs) have been widely investigated as a N2O mitigation strategy. This study reviews the current understanding of the effect of NIs use on N2O emissions from urine patches, including the factors that affect their efficacy, as well as the unintended consequences of NIs use. It brings together the fundamental aspects of targeted management of urine patches for reducing N2O emissions involving inhibitors. The available literature of 196 datasets indicates that dicyandiamide (DCD), 3,4-dimethylpyrazole phosphate (DMPP), and 2-chloro-6-(trichloromethyl) pyridine (nitrapyrin) reduced N2O emissions from urine patches by 44 ± 2%, 28 ± 38% and 28 ± 5%, (average ± s.e.), respectively. DCD also increased pasture dry matter and nitrogen (N) uptake by 13 ± 2% and 15 ± 3%, (average ± s.e.), respectively. The effect of DMPP and nitrapyrin on pasture dry matter and N uptake, assessed in only one study, was not significant. It also suggests that harmonizing the timing of inhibitor use with urine-N transformation increase the efficacy of NIs. No negative impacts on non-targeted soil and aquatic organisms have been reported with the recommended rate of DCD applied to urine and recommended applications of DMPP and nitrapyrin for treated mineral fertilisers and manures. However, there was evidence of the presence of small amounts of DCD residues in milk products as a result of its use on livestock grazed pasture. DMPP and nitrapyrin can also enter the food chain via grazing livestock. The study concludes that for the use of NIs in livestock grazed systems, research is needed to establish acceptable maximum residue level (MRL) of NIs in soil, plant, and animal products, and develop technologies that optimise physical mixing between NIs and urine patches.",Management and implications of using nitrification inhibitors to reduce nitrous oxide emissions from urine patches on grazed pasture soils – A review,journal article,review,,AFOLU mitigation,AFOLU mitigation,,,,
10.1016/j.agee.2021.107551,1678809,,"['ENVI', 'AGRI', 'AGRI']","Young, Madaline D.;Ros, Gerard H.;de Vries, Wim",2021,"Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment",Agronomic indicators | Crop yield | Emissions | Management practices | Meta-analysis | Nutrient surplus | Nutrient use efficiency | Review | Soil organic carbon,"Sustainable agricultural management implies optimization of resources for crop production while minimizing adverse impacts on the environment. This requires a better understanding of the synergies and trade-offs of agronomic management while accounting for the controlling effects of site-specific factors (covariates). We systematically evaluated 113 meta-analytical studies assessing impacts of crop management measures (rotation, cover cropping, residue retention), soil and water measures (irrigation, tillage), soil amendments (enhanced efficiency, biochar), fertilizer use (organic, mineral, combined organic-mineral) and “4R'” fertilizer strategies (right source, rate, timing, placement) on sustainability indicators. These indicators include crop yield, crop N and P (content, uptake, and use efficiency), soil quality indicators (soil organic C, N and P contents, compaction), soil emissions of ammonia (NH3) and greenhouse gases (CO2, N2O), and nutrient losses to water (N and P surplus or leaching). Nutrient management, including 4R practices as well as enhanced efficiency amendments, had the largest impact, increasing crop yields and N uptake while reducing N2O and NH3 emissions as well as N surplus, whereas effects on CO2 emissions were variable. Although all measures positively impacted soil C, the largest effect was due to biochar, followed by organic fertilizer input. Biochar positively impacted crop yield, diminished N2O and NH3 emissions as well as N surplus, and increased CO2 emissions. Within crop management, only cover cropping had a significant positive effect on crop yield, while both cover crops and rotation slightly enhanced N uptake and the sequestration of C and N in soil, thus reducing N2O emissions and N surplus. Minimal tillage practices generally increased SOC, while results for crop yield, N surplus and N2O emissions were variable. Site-specific factors had substantial impacts on the evaluated impacts of measures, most importantly climate, crop type, soil texture, soil pH, soil organic C, N dose, and experimental duration. Considering the variation among meta-analytical protocols followed, we recommend that field studies and meta-analytical work adhere to harmonized guidelines with respect to the reporting of site-level data, experimental design, and the statistical procedures used. This will ensure data comparability between studies, improve the quality of meta-analysis results, and give better insights into currently uncertain or unknown impacts of agronomic measures.","Impacts of agronomic measures on crop, soil, and environmental indicators: A review and synthesis of meta-analysis",journal article,review,,Agricultural management,Agricultural management,,,,
10.3390/ijerph18157729,1660-4601,,,"Ferreira-Filipe, Diogo A.; Paço, Ana; Duarte, Armando C.; Rocha-Santos, Teresa; Patrício Silva, Ana L.",2021,International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health,"sustainability, biodegradation, bioplastics, circular economy, plastic pollution","Environmental sustainability is driving an intense search for “green materials”. Biobased plastics have emerged as a promising alternative. Their building blocks can now be obtained from diverse biomass, by-products, and organic residues due to the advances in biorefineries and bioprocessing technologies, decreasing the demand for fossil fuel resources and carbon footprint. Novel biobased polymers with high added value and improved properties and functionalities have been developed to apply diverse economic sectors. However, the real opportunities and risks of such novel biobased plastic solutions have raised scientific and public awareness. This paper provides a critical review on the recent advances in biobased polymers chemistry and emerging (bio)technologies that underpin their production and discusses the potential for biodegradation, recycling, environmental safety, and toxicity of these biobased solutions.",Are Biobased Plastics Green Alternatives?—A Critical Review,journal article,review,,Biobased economy,Biobased economy,,,,
10.1038/s41578-021-00407-8,2058-8437,,,"Rosenboom, Jan-Georg; Langer, Robert; Traverso, Giovanni",2022,Nature Reviews Materials,"Sustainability, Polymer chemistry, Polymers","Bioplastics — typically plastics manufactured from bio-based polymers — stand to contribute to more sustainable commercial plastic life cycles as part of a circular economy, in which virgin polymers are made from renewable or recycled raw materials. Carbon-neutral energy is used for production and products are reused or recycled at their end of life (EOL). In this Review, we assess the advantages and challenges of bioplastics in transitioning towards a circular economy. Compared with fossil-based plastics, bio-based plastics can have a lower carbon footprint and exhibit advantageous materials properties; moreover, they can be compatible with existing recycling streams and some offer biodegradation as an EOL scenario if performed in controlled or predictable environments. However, these benefits can have trade-offs, including negative agricultural impacts, competition with food production, unclear EOL management and higher costs. Emerging chemical and biological methods can enable the ‘upcycling’ of increasing volumes of heterogeneous plastic and bioplastic waste into higher-quality materials. To guide converters and consumers in their purchasing choices, existing (bio)plastic identification standards and life cycle assessment guidelines need revision and homogenization. Furthermore, clear regulation and financial incentives remain essential to scale from niche polymers to large-scale bioplastic market applications with truly sustainable impact.",Bioplastics for a circular economy,journal article,review,,Biobased economy,Biobased economy,,,,
10.1016/j.rser.2020.110213,13640321,,['ENER'],"Escobar, Neus;Laibach, Natalie",2021,Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews,Bioeconomy | Biomass | Circular economy | Key enabling technologies | Life cycle assessment | Techno-economic analysis,"Industries across the world are making a transition from fossil resources to renewable biological feedstock for the production of chemicals, fuels, and materials, as a strategy to promote sustainable development and economic growth. However, limited biomass availability can halt the expansion of bio-based sectors, unless alternative raw materials are employed and cascading uses are implemented on a large scale. Key Enabling Technologies (KETs) can contribute to feedstock diversification and improved biomass conversion efficiencies along supply chains, although concerns arise about their actual viability and competitiveness. A systematic review of Life Cycle Assessments (LCAs) and related process-based approaches is carried out to evaluate the sustainability of advanced bio-based technologies, defined as those that use either non-food feedstock or circularity principles –or both– for delivering diverse products. A classification scheme is proposed to categorise KETs based on the feedstock employed (plant residues and perennials, designer crops, algae, or biological waste) or the underlying technological configuration (enzyme/microbial assisted processing or biorefineries). Results show that producing biofuels and biochemicals from perennial plants, lignocellulosic residues and algae has advantages in terms of greenhouse gas emissions relative to their fossil counterparts, while trade-offs occur with other environmental impacts and sustainability dimensions. Cradle-to-cradle systems can deliver additional sustainability gains, but their implementation poses technical and socio-political challenges. Further harmonisation of LCA methodologies is desirable to compare KETs in different sectoral, geographical and policy contexts. In spite of the diversity of outcomes and approaches, this review provides an overview of advanced bio-based technologies, while shedding light on the often overestimated sustainability benefits of the bioeconomy.",Sustainability check for bio-based technologies: A review of process-based and life cycle approaches,journal article,review,,Biobased economy,Biobased economy,,,,
10.3390/su9060887,,,"['SOCI', 'ENER', 'ENVI', 'ENER', 'ENVI']","Bennich, Therese;Belyazid, Salim",2017,Sustainability (Switzerland),Bio-based economy | Bio-economy | Social-ecological systems | Societal transitions | Sustainability paradigms,"The bio-based economy has been increasingly recognized in the sustainability debate over the last two decades, presented as a solution to a number of ecological and social challenges. Its premises include climate change mitigation, cleaner production processes, economic growth, and new employment opportunities. Yet, a transition to a bio-based economy is hampered by risk factors and uncertainties. In this paper, we explore the concept of a bio-based economy, focusing on opportunities of achieving sustainability, as well as challenges of a transition. Departing from an understanding of sustainability provided by the weak and strong sustainability paradigms, we first outline the definition and development of the bio-based economy from a theoretical perspective. Second, we use Sweden as an example of how a transition towards a bio-based economy has been evolving in practice. The review indicates that the proposed direction and strategies of the bio-based economy are promising, but sometimes contradictory, resulting in different views on the actions needed for its premises to be realized. Additionally, current developments adhere largely to the principles of the weak sustainability paradigm. In order for the bio-based economy to develop in accordance with the notion of strong sustainability, important steps to facilitate a transition would include acknowledging and addressing the trade-offs caused by biophysical and social limits to growth.",The route to sustainability-prospects and challenges of the bio-based economy,journal article,review,,Biobased economy,Biobased economy,,,,
10.1051/agro/2009039,17740746,,"['ENVI', 'AGRI']","Bessou, Cécile;Ferchaud, Fabien;Gabrielle, Benoît;Mary, Bruno",2011,Agronomy for Sustainable Development,Agricultural practices | Bioenergy potential | Biofuels | Carbon dioxide | Climate change | Energy crops | Greenhouse gases | Land-use change | LCA | Nitrous oxide | Perennials | Political and economic frameworks,"Biofuels are fuels produced from biomass, mostly in liquid form, within a time frame sufficiently short to consider that their feedstock (biomass) can be renewed, contrarily to fossil fuels. This paper reviews the current and future biofuel technologies, and their development impacts (including on the climate) within given policy and economic frameworks. Current technologies make it possible to provide first generation biodiesel, ethanol or biogas to the transport sector to be blended with fossil fuels. Still under-development 2nd generation biofuels from lignocellulose should be available on the market by 2020. Research is active on the improvement of their conversion efficiency. A ten-fold increase compared with current cost-effective capacities would make them highly competitive. Within bioenergy policies, emphasis has been put on biofuels for transportation as this sector is fast-growing and represents a major source of anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions. Compared with fossil fuels, biofuel combustion can emit less greenhouse gases throughout their life cycle, considering that part of the emitted CO 2 returns to the atmosphere where it was fixed from by photosynthesis in the first place. Life cycle assessment (LCA) is commonly used to assess the potential environmental impacts of biofuel chains, notably the impact on global warming. This tool, whose holistic nature is fundamental to avoid pollution trade-offs, is a standardised methodology that should make comparisons between biofuel and fossil fuel chains objective and thorough. However, it is a complex and time-consuming process, which requires lots of data, and whose methodology is still lacking harmonisation. Hence the life-cycle performances of biofuel chains vary widely in the literature. Furthermore, LCA is a site- and timeindependent tool that cannot take into account the spatial and temporal dimensions of emissions, and can hardly serve as a decision-making tool either at local or regional levels. Focusing on greenhouse gases, emission factors used in LCAs give a rough estimate of the potential average emissions on a national level. However, they do not take into account the types of crop, soil or management practices, for instance. Modelling the impact of local factors on the determinism of greenhouse gas emissions can provide better estimates for LCA on the local level, which would be the relevant scale and degree of reliability for decision-making purposes. Nevertheless, a deeper understanding of the processes involved, most notably N 2O emissions, is still needed to definitely improve the accuracy of LCA. Perennial crops are a promising option for biofuels, due to their rapid and efficient use of nitrogen, and their limited farming operations. However, the main overall limiting factor to biofuel development will ultimately be land availability. Given the available land areas, population growth rate and consumption behaviours, it would be possible to reach by 2030 a global 10% biofuel share in the transport sector, contributing to lower global greenhouse gas emissions by up to 1 GtCO 2 eq · year -1 (IEA, 2006), provided that harmonised policies ensure that sustainability criteria for the production systems are respected worldwide. Furthermore, policies should also be more integrative across sectors, so that changes in energy efficiency, the automotive sector and global consumption patterns converge towards drastic reduction of the pressure on resources. Indeed, neither biofuels nor other energy source or carriers are likely to mitigate the impacts of anthropogenic pressure on resources in a range that would compensate for this pressure growth. Hence, the first step is to reduce this pressure by starting from the variable that drives it up, i.e. anthropic consumptions. © INRA, EDP Sciences, 2010.","Biofuels, greenhouse gases and climate change. A review",journal article,review,,Bioenergy,Bioenergy,,,,
10.1002/bbb.295,1932104X,,"['CENG', 'ENER']","Gheewala, Shabbir H.;Berndes, Göran;Jewitt, Graham",2011,"Biofuels, Bioproducts and Biorefining",Assessment | Bioenergy | Impacts | Water,"Promotion of energy from biomass for reducing greenhouse gas emissions has led to increased usage of freshwater, especially during the cultivation of biomass. This has raised concerns about the increase in water stress, particularly in countries that are already facing water shortages. Attempts are being made to characterize the effect of water demand induced inter alia by increased bioenergy usage. Also, alternatives are being developed to mitigate such impacts by improved management so that bioenergy can be beneficially utilized. Future studies on bioenergy will need to take into consideration the water aspect so that the trade-offs between climate change mitigation and water stress are addressed. © 2011 Society of Chemical Industry and John Wiley & Sons, Ltd Copyright © 2011 Society of Chemical Industry and John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.",The bioenergy and water nexus,journal article,review,,Bioenergy,Bioenergy,,,,
10.1890/09-0501.1,10510761,,['ENVI'],"Dale, Virginia H.;Kline, Keith L.;Wright, Lynn L.;Perlack, Robert D.;Downing, Mark;Graham, Robin L.",2011,Ecological Applications,Bioenergy feedstocks | Biomass production | Carbon sequestration | Hypoxia | Indicators | Land use | Landscape design | Scale | Sustainability | Trade-offs,"Landscape implications of bioenergy feedstock choices are significant and depend on land-use practices and their environmental impacts. Although land-use changes and carbon emissions associated with bioenergy feedstock production are dynamic and complicated, lignocellulosic feedstocks may offer opportunities that enhance sustainability when compared to other transportation fuel alternatives. For bioenergy sustainability, major drivers and concerns revolve around energy security, food production, land productivity, soil carbon and erosion, greenhouse gas emissions, biodiversity, air quality, and water quantity and quality. The many implications of bioenergy feedstock choices require several indicators at multiple scales to provide a more complete accounting of effects. Ultimately, the long-term sustainability of bioenergy feedstock resources (as well as food supplies) throughout the world depends on land-use practices and landscape dynamics. Land-management decisions often invoke trade-offs among potential environmental effects and social and economic factors as well as future opportunities for resource use. The hypothesis being addressed in this paper is that sustainability of bioenergy feedstock production can be achieved via appropriately designed crop residue and perennial lignocellulosic systems. We find that decision makers need scientific advancements and adequate data that both provide quantitative and qualitative measures of the effects of bioenergy feedstock choices at different spatial and temporal scales and allow fair comparisons among available options for renewable liquid fuels. © 2011 by the Ecological Society of America.","Interactions among bioenergy feedstock choices, landscape dynamics, and land use",journal article,review,,Bioenergy,Bioenergy,,,,
10.1016/j.envdev.2015.05.003,22114645,,"['SOCI', 'ENVI']","Verdade, Luciano M.;Piña, Carlos I.;Rosalino, Luís Miguel",2015,Environmental Development,Agricultural landscapes | Agriculture intensification | Agriculture zoning | Bioenergy | Land use change (LUC) | Wildlife-friendly agricultural techniques,"The use of biofuels can result on a decrease of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions when compared to fossil fuels. However, the expansion of biofuels crops has been either based on direct or indirect displacement of natural ecosystems or on the use of degraded or marginal lands. The former results in direct habitat loss, whereas the later results in usual agricultural impacts (e.g., soil and biotic contamination and water eutrophication). However, in some circumstances biofuels crops can result on an increase in biodiversity compared to other agricultural crops. Agricultural zoning can mitigate the impacts of land use change (LUC), either direct (dLUC) or indirect (iLUC), whereas the use of wildlife-friendly techniques can mitigate the impacts of agriculture intensification. However, in both cases long-term biodiversity monitoring programs should be established in order to help the decision making process concerning the conflict between the expansion of biofuels crops and the conservation of biodiversity.",Biofuels and biodiversity: Challenges and opportunities,journal article,review,,Bioenergy,Bioenergy,,,,
10.1021/es2023253,0013-936X,,,"Ridley, Caroline E.; Clark, Christopher M.; LeDuc, Stephen D.; Bierwagen, Britta G.; Lin, Brenda B.; Mehl, Adrea; Tobias, David A.",2012,Environmental Science & Technology,,"Despite rapid growth in biofuel production worldwide, it is uncertain whether decision-makers possess sufficient information to fully evaluate the impacts of the industry and avoid unintended consequences. Doing so requires rigorous peer-reviewed data and analyses across the entire range of direct and indirect effects. To assess the coverage of scientific research, we analyzed over 1600 peer-reviewed articles published between 2000 and 2009 that addressed 23 biofuels-related topics within four thematic areas: environment and human well-being, economics, technology, and geography. Greenhouse gases, fuel production, and feedstock production were well-represented in the literature, while trade, biodiversity, and human health were not. Gaps were especially striking across topics in the Southern Hemisphere, where the greatest potential socio-economic benefits, as well as environmental damages, may co-occur. There was strong asymmetry in the connectedness of research topics; greenhouse gases articles were twice as often connected to other topics as biodiversity articles. This could undermine the ability of scientific and economic analyses to adequately evaluate impacts and avoid significant unintended consequences. At the least, our review suggests caution in this developing industry and the need to pursue more interdisciplinary research to assess complex trade-offs and feedbacks inherent to an industry with wide-reaching potential impacts.",Biofuels: Network Analysis of the Literature Reveals Key Environmental and Economic Unknowns,journal article,review,,Bioenergy,Bioenergy,,,,
10.1111/gcbb.12338,1757-1707,,,"Robledo-Abad, Carmenza; Althaus, Hans-Jörg; Berndes, Göran; Bolwig, Simon; Corbera, Esteve; Creutzig, Felix; Garcia-Ulloa, John; Geddes, Anna; Gregg, Jay S.; Haberl, Helmut; Hanger, Susanne; Harper, Richard J.; Hunsberger, Carol; Larsen, Rasmus K.; Lauk, Christian; Leitner, Stefan; Lilliestam, Johan; Lotze-Campen, Hermann; Muys, Bart; Nordborg, Maria; Ölund, Maria; Orlowsky, Boris; Popp, Alexander; Portugal-Pereira, Joana; Reinhard, Jürgen; Scheiffle, Lena; Smith, Pete",2017,GCB Bioenergy,"sustainable development, bioenergy, food security, agriculture, mitigation, forestry","The possibility of using bioenergy as a climate change mitigation measure has sparked a discussion of whether and how bioenergy production contributes to sustainable development. We undertook a systematic review of the scientific literature to illuminate this relationship and found a limited scientific basis for policymaking. Our results indicate that knowledge on the sustainable development impacts of bioenergy production is concentrated in a few well-studied countries, focuses on environmental and economic impacts, and mostly relates to dedicated agricultural biomass plantations. The scope and methodological approaches in studies differ widely and only a small share of the studies sufficiently reports on context and/or baseline conditions, which makes it difficult to get a general understanding of the attribution of impacts. Nevertheless, we identified regional patterns of positive or negative impacts for all categories – environmental, economic, institutional, social and technological. In general, economic and technological impacts were more frequently reported as positive, while social and environmental impacts were more frequently reported as negative (with the exception of impacts on direct substitution of GHG emission from fossil fuel). More focused and transparent research is needed to validate these patterns and develop a strong science underpinning for establishing policies and governance agreements that prevent/mitigate negative and promote positive impacts from bioenergy production.",Bioenergy production and sustainable development: science base for policymaking remains limited,journal article,review,,Bioenergy,Bioenergy,,,,
10.1098/rspa.2020.0351,,,,"Jeswani, Harish K.; Chilvers, Andrew; Azapagic, Adisa",2020,"Proceedings of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences","sustainability, carbon footprint, environmental impacts, biofuels, life cycle assessment, transport","Biofuels are being promoted as a low-carbon alternative to fossil fuels as they could help to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and the related climate change impact from transport. However, there are also concerns that their wider deployment could lead to unintended environmental consequences. Numerous life cycle assessment (LCA) studies have considered the climate change and other environmental impacts of biofuels. However, their findings are often conflicting, with a wide variation in the estimates. Thus, the aim of this paper is to review and analyse the latest available evidence to provide a greater clarity and understanding of the environmental impacts of different liquid biofuels. It is evident from the review that the outcomes of LCA studies are highly situational and dependent on many factors, including the type of feedstock, production routes, data variations and methodological choices. Despite this, the existing evidence suggests that, if no land-use change (LUC) is involved, first-generation biofuels can—on average—have lower GHG emissions than fossil fuels, but the reductions for most feedstocks are insufficient to meet the GHG savings required by the EU Renewable Energy Directive (RED). However, second-generation biofuels have, in general, a greater potential to reduce the emissions, provided there is no LUC. Third-generation biofuels do not represent a feasible option at present state of development as their GHG emissions are higher than those from fossil fuels. As also discussed in the paper, several studies show that reductions in GHG emissions from biofuels are achieved at the expense of other impacts, such as acidification, eutrophication, water footprint and biodiversity loss. The paper also investigates the key methodological aspects and sources of uncertainty in the LCA of biofuels and provides recommendations to address these issues.",Environmental sustainability of biofuels: a review,journal article,review,,Bioenergy,Bioenergy,,,,
10.1007/s10113-013-0504-9,14363798,,['ENVI'],"Meller, Laura;van Vuuren, Detlef P.;Cabeza, Mar",2015,Regional Environmental Change,Adaptation | Biodiversity | Bioenergy | Conservation | Impact assessment | Mitigation,"The role of bioenergy in climate change mitigation is a topic of heated debate, as the demand for land may result in social and ecological conflicts. Biodiversity impacts are a key controversy, given that biodiversity conservation is a globally agreed goal under pressure due to both climate change and land use. Impact assessment of bioenergy in various socio-economic and policy scenarios is a crucial basis for planning sound climate mitigation policy. Empirical studies have identified positive and negative local impacts of different bioenergy types on biodiversity, but ignored indirect impacts caused by displacement of other human activities. Integrated assessment models (IAMs) provide land-use scenarios based on socio-economic and policy storylines. Global scenarios capture both direct and indirect land-use change, and are therefore an appealing tool for assessing the impacts of bioenergy on biodiversity. However, IAMs have been originally designed to address questions of a different nature. Here, we illustrate the properties of IAMs from the biodiversity conservation perspective and discuss the set of questions they could answer. We find IAMs are a useful starting point for more detailed regional planning and assessment. However, they have important limitations that should not be overlooked. Global scenarios may not capture all impacts, such as changes in forest habitat quality or small-scale landscape structure, identified as key factors in empirical studies. We recommend increasing spatial accuracy of IAMs through region-specific, complementary modelling, including climate change into predictive assessments, and considering future biodiversity conservation needs in assessments of impacts and sustainable potentials of bioenergy.",Quantifying biodiversity impacts of climate change and bioenergy: the role of integrated global scenarios,journal article,review,,Bioenergy,Bioenergy,,,,
10.1016/j.rser.2022.112409,13640321,,['ENER'],"Vera, Ivan;Wicke, Birka;Lamers, Patrick;Cowie, Annette;Repo, Anna;Heukels, Bas;Zumpf, Colleen;Styles, David;Parish, Esther;Cherubini, Francesco;Berndes, Göran;Jager, Henriette;Schiesari, Luis;Junginger, Martin;Brandão, Miguel;Bentsen, Niclas Scott;Daioglou, Vassilis;Harris, Zoe;van der Hilst, Floor",2022,Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews,Biomass | Co-benefits | Energy crops | Environmental impacts | Land use change | Socio-economic impacts | Sustainable development goals,"Bioenergy aims to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and contribute to meeting global climate change mitigation targets. Nevertheless, several sustainability concerns are associated with bioenergy, especially related to the impacts of using land for dedicated energy crop production. Cultivating energy crops can result in synergies or trade-offs between GHG emission reductions and other sustainability effects depending on context-specific conditions. Using the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) framework, the main synergies and trade-offs associated with land use for dedicated energy crop production were identified. Furthermore, the context-specific conditions (i.e., biomass feedstock, previous land use, climate, soil type and agricultural management) which affect those synergies and trade-offs were also identified. The most recent literature was reviewed and a pairwise comparison between GHG emission reduction (SDG 13) and other SDGs was carried out. A total of 427 observations were classified as either synergy (170), trade-off (176), or no effect (81). Most synergies with environmentally-related SDGs, such as water quality and biodiversity conservation, were observed when perennial crops were produced on arable land, pasture or marginal land in the ‘cool temperate moist’ climate zone and ‘high activity clay’ soils. Most trade-offs were related to food security and water availability. Previous land use and feedstock type are more impactful in determining synergies and trade-offs than climatic zone and soil type. This study highlights the importance of considering context-specific conditions in evaluating synergies and trade-offs and their relevance for developing appropriate policies and practices to meet worldwide demand for bioenergy in a sustainable manner.",Land use for bioenergy: Synergies and trade-offs between sustainable development goals,journal article,review,,Bioenergy,Bioenergy,,,,
10.1016/j.rser.2016.11.074,13640321,,['ENER'],"Acheampong, Michael;Ertem, Funda Cansu;Kappler, Benjamin;Neubauer, Peter",2017,Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews,Biofuels | Sustainable development goals | Synthetic biology | System biology,"Driven by the desire to mitigate climate change and reduce overdependence on fossil fuels, biofuels have been actively pursued in recent years because they are believed to be inherently environmentally friendly. In the past few years, however, critics have objected to the basis for which it should be adopted due to potential negative trade-offs. Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) number seven seeks to substantially increase contribution of renewable energy to global energy supply, as well as double the rate of improvement in efficiency of energy. Biofuels are likely to play a key role in the pursuit of these goals being one of the most advanced alternative energy sources. This review assesses the potential of biofuels to contribute to the set SDGs by presenting an appraisal of their development over the years. It sheds light on some main arguments surrounding biofuels from the perspective of proponents and critics alike. Even though biofuels have a great potential in aiding climate change mitigation, its large scale adoption is regarded as problematic in its current state. This is because of its potential negative trade-offs in terms of land use change and emissions, especially for first and second generation biofuels. However, a combination of plant biology, carbon capture techniques and novel bioconversion processes provided by third and fourth generation biofuel technologies have set open an era of fuels that will be abundant, energy efficient and clean to support the seventh SDG.",In pursuit of Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) number 7: Will biofuels be reliable?,journal article,review,,Bioenergy,Bioenergy,,,,
10.1016/j.rser.2015.02.006,13640321,,['ENER'],"Gasparatos, A.;Von Maltitz, G. P.;Johnson, F. X.;Lee, L.;Mathai, M.;Puppim De Oliveira, J. A.;Willis, K. J.",2015,Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews,Biofuel policies | Biofuels | Jatropha | Sub-Sahara Africa | Sugarcane | Sustainability impacts,"There has been a growing interest in jatropha- and sugarcane-based biofuels across Sub-Sahara Africa. Biofuel expansion in the region reflects policy concerns related to energy security, poverty alleviation and economic development. However, biofuels have also been linked to numerous environmental and socioeconomic impacts such as GHG emissions, water availability/pollution, deforestation, biodiversity loss, poverty alleviation, energy security, loss of access to land and food security to name just a few. Yet there is (a) an insufficient understanding of these impacts (and their synergies) in Sub-Sahara Africa, and (b) a lack of policies that could regulate the biofuel sector and ensure its viability while at the same time preventing its negative impact. The aim of this literature review is to synthesize the current knowledge about biofuel impacts in Africa and to identify priority policy areas that should be targeted for enhancing biofuel sustainability in the continent. The findings of this review indicate that biofuel impacts can be positive or negative depending on several factors such as the feedstock, the environmental/socio-economic context of biofuel production, and the policy instruments in place during biofuel production, use and trade. In most cases there are significant trade-offs but at least part of the negative impacts can be mitigated through careful planning. The incomplete and piecemeal understanding of these trade-offs combined with agronomic, institutional and market failures are currently the most important barriers for the viability and sustainability of biofuel investments in the continent.","Biofuels in sub-Sahara Africa: Drivers, impacts and priority policy areas",journal article,review,,Bioenergy,Bioenergy,,,,
10.1016/j.rser.2014.07.060,13640321,,['ENER'],"Lähtinen, Katja;Myllyviita, Tanja;Leskinen, Pekka;Pitkänen, Sari K.",2014,Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews,Bioenergy | Forests | Measurement | Regional | Sustainable development | System,"Bioenergy production is considered the single most significant contributor to the climate change mitigation within the forest sector. In addition, the production of forest-based bioenergy may also positively affect social welfare, local development and forest economy. In environmental markets the role of forests and the challenge of combining international, national and local needs related to their sustainable use for bioenergy and social livelihood is increasing. These global ecological and socio-economic changes pose new challenges for ecologically, economically, socially and culturally sustainable utilization of forest resources. The purpose of this literature review is to map the existing indicator sets introduced in scientific literature suitable for evaluating the sustainability of forest-based bioenergy production systems from a local perspective. In addition, also the challenges in assessing ecological, economic, social and cultural sustainability by using different types of indicators are discussed. According to the results of this study, there are plenty of indicators suitable for assessing either the ecological, economic, social and cultural sustainability of forest-based bioenergy production at a local level. In contrast, information on appropriate procedures for taking into account local development goals abreast with the objectives of sustainable development at general global level are lacking. Additionally, in order to analyze trade-offs in different sustainability dimensions caused by optional decisions regarding forest-based energy production, methodological development would be required. The comprehensive indicators lists presented in this study can employed as background information to define the measures that are especially relevant in enhancing the local sustainability goals from the perspective of different stakeholders in specific localities.",A systematic literature review on indicators to assess local sustainability of forest energy production,journal article,review,,Bioenergy,Bioenergy,,,,
10.1016/j.rser.2007.07.008,1364-0321,,,"Rowe, Rebecca L.; Street, Nathaniel R.; Taylor, Gail",2009,Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews,"Biofuel, Biodiversity, Bioenergy crops, Greenhouse gas mitigation, Hydrology, Soil carbon","There is momentum, globally, to increase the use of plant biomass for the production of heat, power and liquid transport fuels. This review assesses the evidence base for potential impacts of large-scale bioenergy crop deployment principally within the UK context, but with wider implications for Europe, the USA and elsewhere. We focus on second generation, dedicated lignocellulosic crops, but where appropriate draw comparison with current first-generation oil and starch crops, often primarily grown for food. For lignocellulosic crops, positive effects on soil properties, biodiversity, energy balance, greenhouse gas (GHG) mitigation, carbon footprint and visual impact are likely, when growth is compared to arable crops. Compared to replacement of set-aside and permanent unimproved grassland, benefits are less apparent. For hydrology, strict guidelines on catchment management must be enforced to ensure detrimental effects do not occur to hydrological resources. The threat of climate change suggests that action will be required to ensure new genotypes are available with high water use efficiency and that catchment-scale management is in place to secure these resources in future. In general, for environmental impacts, less is known about the consequences of large-scale deployment of the C4 grass Miscanthus, compared to short rotation coppice (SRC) willow and poplar, including effects on biodiversity and hydrology and this requires further research. Detailed consideration of GHG mitigation and energy balance for both crop growth and utilization suggest that perennial crops are favoured over annual crops, where energy balances may be poor. Similarly, crops for heat and power generation, especially combined heat and power (CHP), are favoured over the production of liquid biofuels. However, it is recognized that in contrast to heat and power, few alternatives exist for liquid transportation fuels at present and research to improve the efficiency and energy balance of liquid transport fuel production from lignocellulosic sources is a high current priority. Although SRC, and to a lesser extent energy grasses such as Miscanthus, may offer significant benefits for the environment, this potential will only be realized if landscape-scale issues are effectively managed and the whole chain of crop growth and utilization is placed within a regulatory framework where sustainability is a central driver. Land resource in the UK and throughout Europe will limit the contribution that crops can make to biofuel and other renewable targets, providing a strong driver to consider sustainability in a global context.",Identifying potential environmental impacts of large-scale deployment of dedicated bioenergy crops in the UK,journal article,review,,Bioenergy,Bioenergy,,,,
10.4155/bfs.13.28,17597269,,"['ENER', 'ENVI']","Pate, Ronald C.",2013,Biofuels,0,"Microalgae continue to be of great interest as a promising class of biofuel feedstock, with the potential for contributing to liquid transportation fuel supplipes while reducing GHG emissions and dependence on imported petroleum through the displacement of petroleum-based fuel and chemical product usage. However, to significantly contribute to fuel supplies will require that algal biofuels be capable of scaling up to large aggregated quantities of biomass and fuel feedstock production that necessarily impose huge demands for land, water, energy, supplemental CO2 and other key nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorus. The resulting resource requirements will also impose constraints on the level of production scale-up that can be sustainably supported. This paper provides a high-level review of the current status and future prospects for these key resource demand and constraint challenges for the scale-up of autotrophic microalgal biofuel production. Emphasis is placed on the USA, although the issues are generally relevant globally. © 2013 Future Science Ltd.",Resource requirements for the large-scale production of algal biofuels,journal article,review,,Biofuel,biofuel,,,,
10.1016/j.renene.2016.11.043,9601481,,['ENER'],"Czyrnek-Delêtre, Magdalena M.;Smyth, Beatrice M.;Murphy, Jerry D.",2017,Renewable Energy,Biofuels | Impact categories | Life cycle assessment | Sustainability guidelines | System boundaries,"Life cycle assessment (LCA) is one of the most suitable tool for a uniform assessment methodology of biofuels’ sustainability. However, there are no binding guidelines for LCA of biofuel systems. Published LCAs use a range of methodologies, different system boundaries, impact categories and functional units, various allocation approaches, and assumptions regarding by- and co-products, as well as different reference systems to which the biofuel system is compared. The European Renewable Energy Directive and the US Renewable Fuel Standard focus on greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. However, previous LCAs of biofuel systems have shown that a reduction of GHG emissions does not lead automatically to a decrease in other environmental impacts, and might in fact be associated with an increase in impacts such as acidification, eutrophication, and land use change. In order to enable effective comparison of biofuel systems, the authors propose a framework for biofuel LCA. System boundaries should be expanded to include the life cycle of by- and co-products. Results should be reported using more than one functional unit. Burden shifting can be avoided by considering an array of impact categories including global warming potential and energy balance, along with eutrophication and acidification potential, and a land use indicator.",Beyond carbon and energy: The challenge in setting guidelines for life cycle assessment of biofuel systems,journal article,review,,Biofuel,biofuel,,,,
10.1016/j.agee.2011.04.020,1678809,,"['ENVI', 'AGRI', 'AGRI']","Gasparatos, Alexandros;Stromberg, Per;Takeuchi, Kazuhiko",2011,"Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment",Biodiversity | Biofuels | Ecosystem services | Human wellbeing | Millennium Ecosystem Assessment,"First generation biofuels provide a number of ecosystem services (e.g., fuel, climate regulation) but they also compromise other ecosystem services (e.g., food, freshwater services) which are of paramount value to human wellbeing. However, this knowledge is fragmented and little is known about how the ecosystem services provided and/or compromised by biofuels link to human wellbeing. In fact, whether biofuels production and use can have a negative or positive impact on the environment and society depends on several interconnected factors. This paper provides a critical review of the drivers, impacts and tradeoffs of biofuel production and use. In particular, it rationalizes the evidence coming from diverse academic disciplines and puts it into perspective by employing the ecosystem services framework popularized by the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (MA). An outcome of this systematic review is a simplified conceptual framework that illustrates the main trade-offs of biofuel production and use by employing a consistent language grounded on the concepts of ecosystem services. Given the almost complete lack of literature explicitly linking biofuels and ecosystem services, our review concludes by identifying priority research areas on the interface of biofuels, ecosystem services and human wellbeing. © 2011 Elsevier B.V.","Biofuels, ecosystem services and human wellbeing: Putting biofuels in the ecosystem services narrative",journal article,review,,Biofuel,biofuel,,,,
10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.159155,489697,,"['ENVI', 'ENVI', 'ENVI', 'ENVI']","Vuppaladadiyam, Arun Krishna;Vuppaladadiyam, Sai Sree Varsha;Sahoo, Abhisek;Murugavelh, S.;Anthony, Edward;Bhashkar, Thallada;Zheng, Ying;Zhao, Ming;Duan, Huabo;Zhao, Yan;Antunes, Elsa;Sarmah, Ajit K.;Leu, Shao Yuan",2023,Science of the Total Environment,Bio-oil | Biochar | Biomass conversion | Life cycle assessment | Pyrolysis | Pyrolysis reactors | Techno-economic analysis,"Over the years, the transformation of biomass into a plethora of renewable value-added products has been identified as a promising strategy to fulfil high energy demands, lower greenhouse gas emissions, and exploit under-utilized resources. Techno-economic analysis (TEA) and life-cycle assessment (LCA) are essential to scale up this process while lowering the conversion cost. In this study, trade-offs are made between economic, environmental, and technical indicators produced from these methodologies to better evaluate the commercialization potential of biomass pyrolysis. This research emphasizes the necessity of combining LCA and TEA variables to assess the performance of the early-stage technology and associated constraints. The important findings based on the LCA analysis imply that most of the studies reported in literature focussed on the global warming potentials (GWP) under environmental category by considering greenhouse gases (GHGs) as evaluation parameter, neglecting many other important environmental indices. In addition, the upstream and downstream processes play an important role in understanding the life cycle impacts of a biomass based biorefinery. Under upstream conditions, the use of a specific type of feedstock may influence the LCA conclusions and technical priority. Under downstream conditions, the product utilization as fuels in different energy backgrounds is crucial to the overall impact potentials of the pyrolysis systems. In view of the TEA analysis, investigations towards maximizing the yield of valuable co-products would play an important role in the commercialization of pyrolysis process. However, comprehensive research to compare the conventional, advanced, and emerging approaches of biomass pyrolysis from the economic perspective is currently not available in the literature.","Bio-oil and biochar from the pyrolytic conversion of biomass: A current and future perspective on the trade-off between economic, environmental, and technical indicators",journal article,review,,"biofuel, biochar","biofuel, biochar",,,,
10.1021/acs.est.7b03465,0013936X,,"['CHEM', 'ENVI']","Rabie, Mohamed;Franck, Christian M.",2018,Environmental Science & Technology,0,"Gases for electrical insulation are essential for the operation of electric power equipment. This Review gives a brief history of gaseous insulation that involved the emergence of the most potent industrial greenhouse gas known today, namely sulfur hexafluoride. SF6 paved the way to space-saving equipment for the transmission and distribution of electrical energy. Its ever-rising usage in the electrical grid also played a decisive role in the continuous increase of atmospheric SF6 abundance over the last decades. This Review broadly covers the environmental concerns related to SF6 emissions and assesses the latest generation of eco-friendly replacement gases. They offer great potential for reducing greenhouse gas emissions from electrical equipment but at the same time involve technical trade-offs. The rumors of one or the other being superior seem premature, in particular because of the lack of dielectric, environmental, and chemical information for these relatively novel compounds and their dissociation products during operation.",Assessment of Eco-friendly Gases for Electrical Insulation to Replace the Most Potent Industrial Greenhouse Gas SF6,journal article,review,,Building insulation,Building insulation,,,,
10.1021/acs.energyfuels.2c03216,8870624,,"['CENG', 'ENER', 'ENER']","Mansi, Moataz;Almobarak, Mohamed;Lagat, Christopher;Xie, Quan",2023,Energy and Fuels,0,"Development of shale gas reservoirs is the fastest growing area on a large scale globally due to their potential reserves. CO2 has a great affinity to be adsorbed on shale organic surface over CH4. Therefore, CO2 injection into shale reservoirs initiates a potential for enhanced gas recovery and CO2 geological sequestration. The efficiency of CO2 enhanced gas recovery (CO2-EGR) is mainly dominated by several shale properties and engineering design parameters. However, due to the heterogeneity of shale reservoirs and the complexity of modeling the CO2-CH4 displacement process, there are still uncertainties in determining the main factors that control CO2 sequestration and enhanced CH4 recovery in shale reservoirs. Therefore, in view of the previous sensitivity analysis studies, no quantitative framework, accurate CO2-EGR modeling, or design process has been identified. Thus, this work aimed to provide a practical screening tool to manage and predict the efficiency of enhanced gas recovery and CO2 sequestration in shale reservoirs. To meet our objectives, we performed correlation analysis to identify the strength of the relationship between the examined shale properties and engineering design parameters and the efficiency of CO2-EGR. Data for this study was gathered across publications on a wide subset of numerical modeling studies and experimental investigations. The sensitivity of data was further improved by a hybrid approach adopted for handling the missing values to avoid bias in our data set. Our results indicate that CO2 flooding might be the best applicable option for CO2 injection in shale reservoirs, whereas the huff-and-puff scenario does not seem to be a viable option. The efficiency of CO2-EGR increases as the pressure difference between injection pressure and reservoir pressure increases. The results show that shallow shale reservoirs with high fracture permeability, total organic content, and CO2-CH4 preferential adsorption capacity are favorable targets for CO2-EGR. Moreover, our results indicate that a successful hydraulic-fracture network with effective values of fracture permeability and conductivity is essential for a higher CO2-EGR efficiency. Well spacing and fracture half-length are crucial engineering features in CO2-EGR process design that must be carefully optimized due to their negative effect on CH4 production and positive effect on CO2 storage. Our statistical analysis lays a foundation for efficient CO2-EGR design and implementation and presents an important contribution to the field of reaching the target of net-zero CO2 emissions for energy transitions.",Statistical Analysis of Controlling Factors on Enhanced Gas Recovery by CO2 Injection in Shale Gas Reservoirs,journal article,review,,CCS + CCU,CCS + CCU,,,,
10.1007/s10584-011-0027-7,1650009,,"['ENVI', 'EART']","Vaughan, Naomi E.;Lenton, Timothy M.",2011,Climatic Change,0,"Climate geoengineering proposals seek to rectify the current radiative imbalance via either (1) reducing incoming solar radiation (solar radiation management) or (2) removing CO2 from the atmosphere and transferring it to long-lived reservoirs (carbon dioxide removal). For each option, we discuss its effectiveness and potential side effects, also considering lifetime of effect, development and deployment timescale, reversibility, and failure risks. We present a detailed review that builds on earlier work by including the most recent literature, and is more extensive than previous comparative frameworks. Solar radiation management propsals are most effective but short-lived, whilst carbon dioxide removal measures gain effectiveness the longer they are pursued. Solar radiation management could restore the global radiative balance, but must be maintained to avoid abrupt warming, meanwhile ocean acidification and residual regional climate changes would still occur. Carbon dioxide removal involves less risk, and offers a way to return to a pre-industrial CO2 level and climate on a millennial timescale, but is potentially limited by the CO2 storage capacity of geological reservoirs. Geoengineering could complement mitigation, but it is not an alternative to it. We expand on the possible combinations of mitigation, carbon dioxide removal and solar radiation management that might be used to avoid dangerous climate change. © 2011 Springer Science+Business Media B.V.",A review of climate geoengineering proposals,journal article,review,,CCS + CCU,CCS + CCU,,,,
10.1007/s10584-005-0425-9,1650009,,"['ENVI', 'EART']","Damen, Kay;Faaij, André;Turkenburg, Wim",2006,Climatic Change,0,"CO2 capture and storage (CCS) in geological reservoirs may be part of a strategy to reduce global anthropogenic CO2 emissions. Insight in the risks associated with underground CO2 storage is needed to ensure that it can be applied as safe and effective greenhouse mitigation option. This paper aims to give an overview of the current (gaps in) knowledge of risks associated with underground CO2 storage and research areas that need to be addressed to increase our understanding in those risks. Risks caused by a failure in surface installations are understood and can be minimised by risk abatement technologies and safety measures. The risks caused by underground CO2 storage (CO2 and CH4 leakage, seismicity, ground movement and brine displacement) are less well understood. Main R&D objective is to determine the processes controlling leakage through/along wells, faults and fractures to assess leakage rates and to assess the effects on (marine) ecosystems. Although R&D activities currently being undertaken are working on these issues, it is expected that further demonstration projects and experimental work is needed to provide data for more thorough risk assessment. © Springer 2006.","Health, safety and environmental risks of underground CO2 storage - Overview of mechanisms and current knowledge",journal article,review,,CCS + CCU,CCS + CCU,,,,
10.3390/en16062865,,,"['ENER', 'ENGI', 'ENER', 'ENGI', 'ENER', 'ENER', 'MATH', 'ENGI']","Liu, Enbin;Lu, Xudong;Wang, Daocheng",2023,Energies,capture | CCUS | storage | transport | utilization,"The problem of global warming and climate change has attracted global attention, and reducing the concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere is an important step towards solving the problem. This paper mainly introduces the current development status, research hotspots, challenges and some emerging technologies of carbon capture, utilization and storage (CCUS). Among CO2 capture technologies, solvent absorption technology is currently the most mature and widely used technology, among which ionic liquid technology has great application prospects because its molecular structure can be designed and different functional groups can be connected. The surface functionalization of metal–organic frameworks in the adsorption method endows them with excellent CO2 adsorption capacity. In CO2 transportation, temperature and pressure must be considered in pipeline transportation, because they will affect the phase state of CO2 transportation. The impact of impurities on CO2 pipeline transportation is a challenge that affects pipeline design and transportation safety. In CO2 utilization, the key to enhanced oil recovery, gas recovery and displacement of coalbed methane is to increase the recovery rate and increase the storage capacity at the same time. Only by strengthening the research on the adsorption behavior between CO2 and CH4 and revealing the relevant mechanism can innovative technologies be developed. The chemical utilization of CO2 has formed many routes, but they all lack certain advantages. Most scholars are working on catalysts for CO2 conversion, especially copper-based catalysts that can convert CO2 into methanol. The conversion rate of CO2 can be effectively increased through doping or process improvement. The coupling of electrocatalytic technology and renewable energy is an important development direction in the future. In CO2 storage, geological storage is currently the most important method, especially in saline aquifers. There are currently critical issues concerning reservoir integrity and leakage potential that should be further investigated. CO2 leakage will cause serious environmental problems, and the common monitoring methods are reviewed and discussed in this paper. Finally, the research status, hotspots and cooperation networks of CCUS are summarized by using CiteSpace software in order to help the development of CCUS technology. In addition, through the review and analysis, it is found that CCUS is faced with challenges such as low capture efficiency, difficulties in transformation and utilization, high operating costs, lack of strong support policies, and lack of international cooperation, which restrict the further development of CCUS.","A Systematic Review of Carbon Capture, Utilization and Storage: Status, Progress and Challenges",journal article,review,,CCS + CCU,CCS + CCU,,,,
10.1007/s00267-010-9434-1,0364152X,,"['ENVI', 'ENVI', 'ENVI']","Newmark, Robin L.;Friedmann, Samuel J.;Carroll, Susan A.",2010,Environmental Management,Carbon capture and sequestration | Groundwater resources,"Carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) has been proposed as a means to dramatically reduce greenhouse gas emissions with the continued use of fossil fuels. For geologic sequestration, the carbon dioxide is captured from large point sources (e.g., power plants or other industrial sources), transported to the injection site and injected into deep geological formations for storage. This will produce new water challenges, such as the amount of water used in energy resource development and utilization and the ""capture penalty"" for water use. At depth, brine displacement within formations, storage reservoir pressure increases resulting from injection, and leakage are potential concerns. Potential impacts range from increasing water demand for capture to contamination of groundwater through leakage or brine displacement. Understanding these potential impacts and the conditions under which they arise informs the design and implementation of appropriate monitoring and controls, important both for assurance of environmental safety and for accounting purposes. Potential benefits also exist, such as co-production and treatment of water to both offset reservoir pressure increase and to provide local water for beneficial use. © 2010 The Author(s).",Water challenges for geologic carbon capture and sequestration,journal article,review,,CCS + CCU,CCS + CCU,,,,
10.1016/j.envres.2021.112219,139351,,"['BIOC', 'ENVI']","Wang, Yan;Pan, Zhen;Zhang, Wenxiang;Borhani, Tohid N.;Li, Rui;Zhang, Zhien",2022,Environmental Research,Carbon capture and storage | Environmental impacts | Interdisciplinary assessment | Large-scale deployment | Life cycle assessment,"Carbon capture and storage (CCS) is the key technology to reduce CO2 emissions from the conventional power systems. CCS has the flexibility, compatibility, and great potential to reduce emissions when combined with the current energy infrastructure. Through quantifying the environmental benefits of the combustion-based electricity generation system with CCS by life cycle assessment (LCA), decision-makers can grasp the contribution of upstream and downstream processes to various environmental impacts, a better trade-off between climate change and non-climate impact categories. This work reviews the LCA research on the combustion-based electricity generation system integrated with CCS in the past 10 years. These studies show that CCS can reduce the direct CO2 emissions from power plants by nearly 90%. While CCS effectively mitigates climate change, it also increases other environmental impacts to varying degrees and results in energy penalty of 15–44%. The actual greenhouse gas of the power plant is reduced by 40–80%. We further analyze a series of key issues involved in the LCA of the combustion-based electricity generation system integrated with CCS, including the functional unit, basic assumptions, system boundaries and assessment methods. Time span and the leakage need to be considered by researchers in LCA. The perspective of research needs to shift from the specific application of a single CCS to the impact assessment of large-scale deployment, and a single environment or economic discipline to interdisciplinary assessment. It is more cost-effective to realize the coordinated emission reduction between the power plant and the upstream and downstream supply chain.",Life cycle assessment of combustion-based electricity generation technologies integrated with carbon capture and storage: A review,journal article,review,,CCS + CCU,CCS + CCU,,,,
10.1016/j.fuel.2022.125633,162361,,"['CENG', 'ENER', 'ENER', 'CHEM']","Kumar, Narendra;Augusto Sampaio, Marcio;Ojha, Keka;Hoteit, Hussein;Mandal, Ajay",2022,Fuel,CO  miscible flooding 2 | Enhanced oil recovery | MMP calculation techniques | Wettability alteration,"Capturing carbon dioxide (CO2) at its combustion point and thereby storing it in geological sites or its usage for enhancing oil recovery (EOR) through miscible gas flooding technology aims to mitigate atmospheric/anthropogenic CO2 emissions. Injection of CO2 possesses an immense potential for production improvement in matured oil reservoirs. Oil recovery is increased by viscous fluid drive, oil phase swelling and oil viscosity reduction. Miscible CO2 floods diminish interfacial tension (IFT ∼ 0) between gas and oil, and alters the wettability. This review discusses the various technical aspects of oil production enhancement via miscible CO2 application with identification of the significant research gaps. The mechanisms of first contact and multiple contact miscibility, techniques of minimum miscibility pressure (MMP) determination (experimental, theoretical and numerical), the influence of CO2 concentration on rock mineralogy and surface roughness with various associated reservoir parametric (pressure, temperature, salinity, etc.), and the mechanisms of oil displacement from laboratory experiments to field applications are discussed elaborately. The review also deals with the new approaches of CO2 flooding viz. carbonated water injection, near miscible CO2 flooding, water alternating gas (WAG) injection, CO2 huff ‘n’ puff, and CO2 thickening. Finally, CO2-EOR in carbon capture, utilization and storage (CCUS), the environmental aspects, challenges and future outlooks of CO2 miscible flooding are discussed. Therefore, a repository of CO2 miscible EOR is established in this review assisting an enrichment in our current understanding of this topic.","Fundamental aspects, mechanisms and emerging possibilities of CO2 miscible flooding in enhanced oil recovery: A review",journal article,review,,CCS + CCU,CCS + CCU,,,,
10.1146/annurev-environ-101718-033129,,,,"Smith, Pete; Adams, Justin; Beerling, David J.; Beringer, Tim; Calvin, Katherine V.; Fuss, Sabine; Griscom, Bronson; Hagemann, Nikolas; Kammann, Claudia; Kraxner, Florian",2019,Annual Review of Environment and Resources,,"Land-management options for greenhouse gas removal (GGR) include afforestation or reforestation (AR), wetland restoration, soil carbon sequestration (SCS), biochar, terrestrial enhanced weathering (TEW), and bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS). We assess the opportunities and risks associated with these options through the lens of their potential impacts on ecosystem services (Nature's Contributions to People; NCPs) and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). We find that all land-based GGR options contribute positively to at least some NCPs and SDGs. Wetland restoration and SCS almost exclusively deliver positive impacts. A few GGR options, such as afforestation, BECCS, and biochar potentially impact negatively some NCPs and SDGs, particularly when implemented at scale, largely through competition for land. For those that present risks or are least understood, more research is required, and demonstration projects need to proceed with caution. For options that present low risks and provide cobenefits, implementation can proceed more rapidly following no-regrets principles.",Land-management options for greenhouse gas removal and their impacts on ecosystem services and the sustainable development goals,journal article,review,,CDR,CDR,,,,
10.1080/14693062.2020.1843388,14693062,,"['ENVI', 'ENVI', 'EART', 'ENVI']","Honegger, Matthias;Michaelowa, Axel;Roy, Joyashree",2021,Climate Policy,Carbon dioxide removal | co-benefits | mitigation | negative emissions | sustainable development goals | technology assessment,"As the international community’s best expression of a collective vision of a desirable future, the 2015 UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) present a framework against which to assess the broader impact of emerging technologies. Implications of technologies and practices for removing CO2 from the atmosphere (CDR) are not fully understood and have not yet been mapped against the full range of SDGs. CDR is widely seen as necessary to achieve the Paris Agreement’s global goal of limiting warming to 1.5-2°C, yet local geographical, socio-economic, and political interdependencies are often overlooked. This review synthesizes the best available understandings of potential implications of CDR options aiming to complement emissions reductions. It seeks to identify effects on and interactions between specific social, environmental, and policy environments, in which various CDR options could be pursued. Climate change mitigation and co-benefits from CDR could significantly benefit SDGs, yet poorly designed CDR policies could also challenge SDGs. Specific CDR options could generate conflicts over land, water, biomass, or electric power resources, and exclude communities from policy benefits with negative cascading effects for a range of SDGs. In the literature, implications of CDR activities on sustainable development are derived from current pilot activities, inferred from similar practices already operational or model outputs regarding land, energy, or material requirements. Important gaps remain. We identify questions for further disciplinary and inter- or transdisciplinary work strengthening understanding of how CDR could either support or threaten the achievement of the SDGs. Key policy insights CO2 removal (CDR) appears essential for limiting warming to well below 2°C; such stabilization of global climate is a precondition for at least partially achieving the SDGs. CDR options can generate positive and negative local/regional impacts on various SDGs via physical, social, economic, and political channels. None of these options are universally ‘good’ or ‘bad’. The scale of implementation of CDR and related impacts are highly dependent on policy design and national planning processes. More research is needed to clarify how policy design can allow CDR options to generate synergies between, and prevent harm across, multiple SDGs.",Potential implications of carbon dioxide removal for the sustainable development goals,journal article,review,,CDR,CDR,,,,
10.1039/d0ee03757e,17545692,,"['ENVI', 'ENER', 'ENER', 'ENVI']","Terlouw, Tom;Bauer, Christian;Rosa, Lorenzo;Mazzotti, Marco",2021,Energy and Environmental Science,0,"A large number of prospective climate scenarios rely on Carbon Dioxide Removal (CDR) technologies to limit global warming below 2 °C. To date, however, a comprehensive understanding of the overall life-cycle environmental impacts of CDR technologies is missing. We present a critical review on conducted Life Cycle Assessments (LCAs) of a comprehensive set of CDR technologies: afforestation and reforestation, biochar, soil carbon sequestration, enhanced weathering, ocean fertilisation, bioenergy with carbon capture and storage, and direct air carbon capture and storage. One of the key observations is that emissions avoided due to substitution of certain processes (due to system expansion in LCA) can be easily misinterpreted as negative emissions, i.e. as carbon removal from the atmosphere. Based on the observed inconsistencies and shortcomings, we recommend to interpret available CDR LCA results with caution. To improve the understanding of environmental implications of CDR deployment, we recommend (1) to conduct LCAs with multiple environmental impact categories, (2) to consider the temporal aspect of emissions in biomass-related CDR technologies, (3) to focus on so far overlooked CDR technologies, (4) to be as transparent as possible regarding methodological choices, (5) to capture environmental side-effects, and (6) to distinguish between 'avoided emissions' and 'negative emissions'-only negative emissions correspond to permanent removal from the atmosphere. We conclude that more comprehensive and rigorous LCAs are needed to help inform the design of CDR technology portfolios and to aid in anticipatory governance. This journal is",Life cycle assessment of carbon dioxide removal technologies: A critical review,journal article,review,,CDR,CDR,,,,
10.1016/j.enpol.2009.10.065,3014215,,"['ENER', 'ENVI']","Bertram, Christine",2010,Energy Policy,CDM | Kyoto protocol | Ocean iron fertilization,"Ocean iron fertilization is currently discussed as a potential measure to mitigate climate change by enhancing oceanic CO2 uptake. Its mitigation potential is not yet well explored, and carbon offsets generated through iron fertilization activities could currently not be traded on regulated carbon markets. Still, commercial interests in ocean iron fertilization already exist, which underlines the need to investigate a possible regulatory framework for it. To this end, I first discuss important basic aspects of ocean iron fertilization, namely its scientific background, quantitative potential, side effects, and costs. In a second step, I review regulatory aspects connected to ocean iron fertilization, like its legal status and open access issues. Moreover, I analyze how the regulations for afforestation and reforestation activities within the framework of the Kyoto Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) could be applied to ocean iron fertilization. Main findings are that the quantitative potential of ocean iron fertilization is limited, that costs are higher than initially hoped, and that potential adverse side effects are severe. Moreover, the legal status of ocean iron fertilization is currently not well defined, open access might cause inefficiencies, and the CDM regulations could not be easily applied to ocean iron fertilization. © 2009 Elsevier Ltd. .",Ocean iron fertilization in the context of the Kyoto protocol and the post-Kyoto process,journal article,review,,CDR,Ocean fertilisation,,,,
10.1016/j.envint.2015.10.018,1604120,,['ENVI'],"Kuppusamy, Saranya;Thavamani, Palanisami;Megharaj, Mallavarapu;Venkateswarlu, Kadiyala;Naidu, Ravi",2016,Environment International,Agronomic benefits | Biochar | Environmental impacts | Pollutants | Pyrolysis | Soil amendment,"Biochar' represents an emerging technology that is increasingly being recognized for its potential role in carbon sequestration, reducing greenhouse gas emissions, waste management, renewable energy, soil improvement, crop productivity enhancement and environmental remediation. Published reviews have so far focused mainly on the above listed agronomic and environmental benefits of applying biochar, yet paid little or no attention to its harmful effects on the ecological system. This review highlights a balanced overview of the advantages and disadvantages of the pyrolysis process of biochar production, end-product quality and the benefits versus drawbacks of biochar on: (a) soil geochemistry and albedo, (b) microflora and fauna, (c) agrochemicals, (d) greenhouse gas efflux, (e) nutrients, (f) crop yield, and (g) contaminants (organic and inorganic). Future research should focus more on the unintended long-term consequences of biochar on biological organisms and their processes in the soil.",Agronomic and remedial benefits and risks of applying biochar to soil: Current knowledge and future research directions,journal article,review,,CDR,CDR,,,,
10.1088/1748-9326/acacb3,17489318,,"['ENER', 'ENVI', 'MEDI']","Cobo, Selene;Negri, Valentina;Valente, Antonio;Reiner, David M.;Hamelin, Lorie;Dowell, Niall Mac;Guillén-Gosálbez, Gonzalo",2023,Environmental Research Letters,carbon dioxide removal | greenhouse gas removal | negative emissions technologies | scale-up | sustainability,"Most climate change mitigation scenarios restricting global warming to 1.5 °C rely heavily on negative emissions technologies and practices (NETPs). Here we updated previous literature reviews and conducted an analysis to identify the most appealing NETPs. We evaluated 36 NETPs configurations considering their technical maturity, economic feasibility, greenhouse gas removal potential, resource use, and environmental impacts. We found multiple trade-offs among these indicators, which suggests that a regionalised portfolio of NETPs exploiting their complementary strengths is the way forward. Although no single NETP is superior to the others in terms of all the indicators simultaneously, we identified 16 Pareto-efficient NETPs. Among them, six are deemed particularly promising: forestation, soil carbon sequestration (SCS), enhanced weathering with olivine and three modalities of direct air carbon capture and storage (DACCS). While the co-benefits, lower costs and higher maturity levels of forestation and SCS can propel their rapid deployment, these NETPs require continuous monitoring to reduce unintended side-effects—most notably the release of the stored carbon. Enhanced weathering also shows an overall good performance and substantial co-benefits, but its risks—especially those concerning human health—should be further investigated prior to deployment. DACCS presents significantly fewer side-effects, mainly its substantial energy demand; early investments in this NETP could reduce costs and accelerate its scale-up. Our insights can help guide future research and plan for the sustainable scale-up of NETPs, which we must set into motion within this decade.",Sustainable scale-up of negative emissions technologies and practices: where to focus,journal article,review,,CDR,CDR,,,,
10.1088/1748-9326/aabf9f,17489318,,"['ENER', 'ENVI', 'MEDI']","Fuss, Sabine;Lamb, William F.;Callaghan, Max W.;Hilaire, Jérôme;Creutzig, Felix;Amann, Thorben;Beringer, Tim;De Oliveira Garcia, Wagner;Hartmann, Jens;Khanna, Tarun;Luderer, Gunnar;Nemet, Gregory F.;Rogelj, Joeri;Smith, Pete;Vicente, Joséluis Vicente;Wilcox, Jennifer;Del Mar Zamora Dominguez, Maria;Minx, Jan C.",2018,Environmental Research Letters,carbon dioxide removal | climate change mitigation | negative emission technologies | scenarios,"The most recent IPCC assessment has shown an important role for negative emissions technologies (NETs) in limiting global warming to 2 °C cost-effectively. However, a bottom-up, systematic, reproducible, and transparent literature assessment of the different options to remove CO2 from the atmosphere is currently missing. In part 1 of this three-part review on NETs, we assemble a comprehensive set of the relevant literature so far published, focusing on seven technologies: bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS), afforestation and reforestation, direct air carbon capture and storage (DACCS), enhanced weathering, ocean fertilisation, biochar, and soil carbon sequestration. In this part, part 2 of the review, we present estimates of costs, potentials, and side-effects for these technologies, and qualify them with the authors' assessment. Part 3 reviews the innovation and scaling challenges that must be addressed to realise NETs deployment as a viable climate mitigation strategy. Based on a systematic review of the literature, our best estimates for sustainable global NET potentials in 2050 are 0.5-3.6 GtCO2 yr-1 for afforestation and reforestation, 0.5-5 GtCO2 yr-1 for BECCS, 0.5-2 GtCO2 yr-1 for biochar, 2-4 GtCO2 yr-1 for enhanced weathering, 0.5-5 GtCO2 yr-1 for DACCS, and up to 5 GtCO2 yr-1 for soil carbon sequestration. Costs vary widely across the technologies, as do their permanency and cumulative potentials beyond 2050. It is unlikely that a single NET will be able to sustainably meet the rates of carbon uptake described in integrated assessment pathways consistent with 1.5 °C of global warming.","Negative emissions - Part 2: Costs, potentials and side effects",journal article,review,,CDR,CDR,,,,
10.1111/gcb.16059,13541013,,"['ENVI', 'ENVI', 'ENVI', 'ENVI']","Liu, Hongyan;Xu, Chongyang;Allen, Craig D.;Hartmann, Henrik;Wei, Xiaohua;Yakir, Dan;Wu, Xiuchen;Yu, Pengtao",2022,Global Change Biology,afforestation | climate impact | comprehensive vegetation carrying capacity | dryland | forest | trade-offs | water,"Drylands cover more than 40% of Earth's land surface and occur at the margin of forest distributions due to the limited availability of water for tree growth. Recent elevated temperature and low precipitation have driven greater forest declines and pulses of tree mortality on dryland sites compared to humid sites, particularly in temperate Eurasia and North America. Afforestation of dryland areas has been widely implemented and is expected to increase in many drylands globally to enhance carbon sequestration and benefits to the human environment, but the interplay of sometimes conflicting afforestation outcomes has not been formally evaluated yet. Most previous studies point to conflicts between additional forest area and water consumption, in particular water yield and soil conservation/desalinization in drylands, but were generally confined to local and regional scales. Our global synthesis demonstrates that additional tree cover can amplify water consumption through a nonlinear increase in evapotranspiration—depending on tree species, age, and structure—which will be further intensified by future climate change. In this review we identify substantial knowledge gaps in addressing the dryland afforestation dilemma, where there are trade-offs with planted forests between increased availability of some resources and benefits to human habitats versus the depletion of other resources that are required for sustainable development of drylands. Here we propose a method of addressing comprehensive vegetation carrying capacity, based on regulating the distribution and structure of forest plantations to better deal with these trade-offs in forest multifunctionality. We also recommend new priority research topics for dryland afforestation, including: responses and feedbacks of dryland forests to climate change; shifts in the ratio of ecosystem ET to tree cover; assessing the role of scale of afforestation in influencing the trade-offs of dryland afforestation; and comprehensive modeling of the multifunctionality of dryland forests, including both ecophysiological and socioeconomic aspects, under a changing climate.",Nature-based framework for sustainable afforestation in global drylands under changing climate,journal article,review,,CDR,,,,,
10.1111/gcb.15219,13541013,,"['ENVI', 'ENVI', 'ENVI', 'ENVI']","McElwee, Pamela;Calvin, Katherine;Campbell, Donovan;Cherubini, Francesco;Grassi, Giacomo;Korotkov, Vladimir;Le Hoang, Anh;Lwasa, Shuaib;Nkem, Johnson;Nkonya, Ephraim;Saigusa, Nobuko;Soussana, Jean Francois;Taboada, Miguel Angel;Manning, Frances;Nampanzira, Dorothy;Smith, Pete",2020,Global Change Biology,adaptation | ecosystem services | food security | land degradation | mitigation | Nature's Contribution to People | sustainable development | sustainable land management | trade-offs,"Interlocked challenges of climate change, biodiversity loss, and land degradation require transformative interventions in the land management and food production sectors to reduce carbon emissions, strengthen adaptive capacity, and increase food security. However, deciding which interventions to pursue and understanding their relative co-benefits with and trade-offs against different social and environmental goals have been difficult without comparisons across a range of possible actions. This study examined 40 different options, implemented through land management, value chains, or risk management, for their relative impacts across 18 Nature's Contributions to People (NCPs) and the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). We find that a relatively small number of interventions show positive synergies with both SDGs and NCPs with no significant adverse trade-offs; these include improved cropland management, improved grazing land management, improved livestock management, agroforestry, integrated water management, increased soil organic carbon content, reduced soil erosion, salinization, and compaction, fire management, reduced landslides and hazards, reduced pollution, reduced post-harvest losses, improved energy use in food systems, and disaster risk management. Several interventions show potentially significant negative impacts on both SDGs and NCPs; these include bioenergy and bioenergy with carbon capture and storage, afforestation, and some risk sharing measures, like commercial crop insurance. Our results demonstrate that a better understanding of co-benefits and trade-offs of different policy approaches can help decision-makers choose the more effective, or at the very minimum, more benign interventions for implementation.",The impact of interventions in the global land and agri-food sectors on Nature’s Contributions to People and the UN Sustainable Development Goals,journal article,review,,CDR,,,,,
10.1016/j.jclepro.2019.119714,9596526,,"['ENER', 'ENVI', 'BUSI', 'ENGI']","Lee, Mengshan;Lin, Yi Li;Chiueh, Pei Te;Den, Walter",2020,Journal of Cleaner Production,Agriculture waste | Bioenergy | Biomass residue | Carbon abatement | Environmental trade-offs | Life cycle assessment,"This study explores the environmental and energy benefits of biomass residues, including crop residues and agricultural waste, for the production of renewable energy in the form of biochar as fuel, in order to offer recommendations for policy makers, by reviewing information regarding the key environmental issues associated with the implementation of the systems. The highest environmental benefits for biochar-to-fuel systems were most observed in reduction of global warming potentials (i.e., carbon abatement), particularly for those integrated with combined heat and power technology, or for those incorporating electricity offsets from biochar combustion and co-firing. But all of these practices come at the cost of hidden environmental burdens, such as elevations in eutrophication, acidification, carcinogens and ecotoxicity impacts, as a consequence from land use change, additional infrastructure requirement or additional fertilizer application connected to biochar production or post-treatment. Other notable challenges, including regional availability of biomass residues, improper management of the residues, limited economic incentives, low energy efficiency and synergies, as well as mistreating adverse impacts from indirect land use change, were discussed. This suggests the flexibility to adjust the biomass-biochar ratio to optimize desired energy yields, carbon abatement and environmental beneficial objectives. Comprehensive analysis of the trade-offs between energy yields, carbon abatement and other associated environmental impacts is therefore recommended for future studies. Future studies in this field are also advised to explore the solution and to develop methodologies capable of quantifying the impacts and other equally relevant trade-offs, to better reflect the changes in real-world trends for decision making.",Environmental and energy assessment of biomass residues to biochar as fuel: A brief review with recommendations for future bioenergy systems,journal article,review,,CDR,,,,,
10.1080/1943815X.2016.1159578,1943815X,,"['ENER', 'ENVI', 'MEDI']","McCormack, Caitlin G.;Born, Wanda;Irvine, Peter J.;Achterberg, Eric P.;Amano, Tatsuya;Ardron, Jeff;Foster, Pru N.;Gattuso, Jean Pierre;Hawkins, Stephen J.;Hendy, Erica;Kissling, W. Daniel;Lluch-Cota, Salvador E.;Murphy, Eugene J.;Ostle, Nick;Owens, Nicholas J.P.;Perry, R. Ian;Pörtner, Hans O.;Scholes, Robert J.;Schurr, Frank M.;Schweiger, Oliver;Settele, Josef;Smith, Rebecca K.;Smith, Sarah;Thompson, Jill;Tittensor, Derek P.;van Kleunen, Mark;Vivian, Chris;Vohland, Katrin;Warren, Rachel;Watkinson, Andrew R.;Widdicombe, Steve;Williamson, Phillip;Woods, Emma;Blackstock, Jason J.;Sutherland, William J.",2016,Journal of Integrative Environmental Sciences,Biodiversity | carbon dioxide removal | climate engineering | ecosystems | geoengineering | solar radiation management,"Climate change has significant implications for biodiversity and ecosystems. With slow progress towards reducing greenhouse gas emissions, climate engineering (or ‘geoengineering’) is receiving increasing attention for its potential to limit anthropogenic climate change and its damaging effects. Proposed techniques, such as ocean fertilization for carbon dioxide removal or stratospheric sulfate injections to reduce incoming solar radiation, would significantly alter atmospheric, terrestrial and marine environments, yet potential side-effects of their implementation for ecosystems and biodiversity have received little attention. A literature review was carried out to identify details of the potential ecological effects of climate engineering techniques. A group of biodiversity and environmental change researchers then employed a modified Delphi expert consultation technique to evaluate this evidence and prioritize the effects based on the relative importance of, and scientific understanding about, their biodiversity and ecosystem consequences. The key issues and knowledge gaps are used to shape a discussion of the biodiversity and ecosystem implications of climate engineering, including novel climatic conditions, alterations to marine systems and substantial terrestrial habitat change. This review highlights several current research priorities in which the climate engineering context is crucial to consider, as well as identifying some novel topics for ecological investigation.","Key impacts of climate engineering on biodiversity and ecosystems, with priorities for future research",journal article,review,,CDR,,,,,
10.3390/land8120179,2073-445X,,,"Tisserant, Alexandre; Cherubini, Francesco",2019,Land,"food security, biochar, biogeochemical cycles, biophysical effects, carbon dioxide removal, climate mitigation, environmental assessment, life-cycle assessment, negative emission technology, pyrolysis","Biochar is one of the most affordable negative emission technologies (NET) at hand for future large-scale deployment of carbon dioxide removal (CDR), which is typically found essential to stabilizing global temperature rise at relatively low levels. Biochar has also attracted attention as a soil amendment capable of improving yield and soil quality and of reducing soil greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. In this work, we review the literature on biochar production potential and its effects on climate, food security, ecosystems, and toxicity. We identify three key factors that are largely affecting the environmental performance of biochar application to agricultural soils: (1) production condition during pyrolysis, (2) soil conditions and background climate, and (3) field management of biochar. Biochar production using only forest or crop residues can achieve up to 10% of the required CDR for 1.5      °    C pathways and about 25% for 2      °    C pathways; the consideration of dedicated crops as biochar feedstocks increases the CDR potential up to 15–35% and 35–50%, respectively. A quantitative review of life-cycle assessment (LCA) studies of biochar systems shows that the total climate change assessment of biochar ranges between a net emission of 0.04 tCO     2    eq and a net reduction of 1.67 tCO     2    eq per tonnes feedstock. The wide range of values is due to different assumptions in the LCA studies, such as type of feedstock, biochar stability in soils, soil emissions, substitution effects, and methodological issues. Potential trade-offs between climate mitigation and other environmental impact categories include particulate matter, acidification, and eutrophication and mostly depend on the background energy system considered and on whether residues or dedicated feedstocks are used for biochar production. Overall, our review finds that biochar in soils presents relatively low risks in terms of negative environmental impacts and can improve soil quality and that decisions regarding feedstock mix and pyrolysis conditions can be optimized to maximize climate benefits and to reduce trade-offs under different soil conditions. However, more knowledge on the fate of biochar in freshwater systems and as black carbon emissions is required, as they represent potential negative consequences for climate and toxicity. Biochar systems also interact with the climate through many complex mechanisms (i.e., surface albedo, black carbon emissions from soils, etc.) or with water bodies through leaching of nutrients. These effects are complex and the lack of simplified metrics and approaches prevents their routine inclusion in environmental assessment studies. Specific emission factors produced from more sophisticated climate and ecosystem models are instrumental to increasing the resolution and accuracy of environmental sustainability analysis of biochar systems and can ultimately improve the characterization of the heterogeneities of varying local conditions and combinations of type feedstock, conversion process, soil conditions, and application practice.","Potentials, Limitations, Co-Benefits, and Trade-Offs of Biochar Applications to Soils for Climate Change Mitigation",journal article,review,,CDR,,,,,
10.1038/nclimate1462,1758678X,,"['ENVI', 'SOCI']","Phelps, Jacob;Webb, Edward L.;Adams, William M.",2012,Nature Climate Change,0,"Climate change and biodiversity loss are leading environmental crises that converge most critically in tropical forests. Policies for reducing emissions from deforestation and degradation are often portrayed as win-win solutions for forest-based climate change mitigation and biodiversity conservation. However, the win-win narrative has obscured necessary trade-offs and a range of alternative policy approaches, insulating policymakers from difficult, potentially unpopular decisions. We provide a typology that characterizes the five underlying policy approaches for linking forest-based climate change mitigation and biodiversity conservation and their related trade-offs. Such clarification will enable policymakers and stakeholders to better articulate their positions in the protracted and controversial biodiversity co-benefits debate that is at the centre of contemporary conservation efforts. © 2012 Macmillan Publishers Limited. .",Biodiversity co-benefits of policies to reduce forest-carbon emissions,journal article,review,,CDR,,,,,
10.1038/nclimate2870,1758-6798,,,"Smith, Pete; Davis, Steven J.; Creutzig, Felix; Fuss, Sabine; Minx, Jan; Gabrielle, Benoit; Kato, Etsushi; Jackson, Robert B.; Cowie, Annette; Kriegler, Elmar; van Vuuren, Detlef P.; Rogelj, Joeri; Ciais, Philippe; Milne, Jennifer; Canadell, Josep G.; McCollum, David; Peters, Glen; Andrew, Robbie; Krey, Volker; Shrestha, Gyami; Friedlingstein, Pierre; Gasser, Thomas; Grübler, Arnulf; Heidug, Wolfgang K.; Jonas, Matthias; Jones, Chris D.; Kraxner, Florian; Littleton, Emma; Lowe, Jason; Moreira, José Roberto; Nakicenovic, Nebojsa; Obersteiner, Michael; Patwardhan, Anand; Rogner, Mathis; Rubin, Ed; Sharifi, Ayyoob; Torvanger, Asbjørn; Yamagata, Yoshiki; Edmonds, Jae; Yongsung, Cho",2016,Nature Climate Change,"Attribution, Climate-change impacts, Environmental economics","Scenario analyses suggest that negative emissions technologies (NETs) are necessary to limit dangerous warming. Here the authors assess the biophysical limits to, and economic costs of, the widespread application of NETs.",Biophysical and economic limits to negative CO2 emissions,journal article,review,,CDR,,,,,
10.1016/j.psep.2012.10.007,9575820,,"['ENVI', 'ENVI', 'CENG', 'ENGI']","Williamson, Phillip;Wallace, Douglas W.R.;Law, Cliff S.;Boyd, Philip W.;Collos, Yves;Croot, Peter;Denman, Ken;Riebesell, Ulf;Takeda, Shigenobu;Vivian, Chris",2012,Process Safety and Environmental Protection,Geoengineering | Governance | Iron | Negative emission technologies | Ocean fertilization | Southern Ocean,"Dangerous climate change is best avoided by drastically and rapidly reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Nevertheless, geoengineering options are receiving attention on the basis that additional approaches may also be necessary. Here we review the state of knowledge on large-scale ocean fertilization by adding iron or other nutrients, either from external sources or via enhanced ocean mixing. On the basis of small-scale field experiments carried out to date and associated modelling, the maximum benefits of ocean fertilization as a negative emissions technique are likely to be modest in relation to anthropogenic climate forcing. Furthermore, it would be extremely challenging to quantify with acceptable accuracy the carbon removed from circulation on a long term basis, and to adequately monitor unintended impacts over large space and time-scales. These and other technical issues are particularly problematic for the region with greatest theoretical potential for the application of ocean fertilization, the Southern Ocean. Arrangements for the international governance of further field-based research on ocean fertilization are currently being developed, primarily under the London Convention/London Protocol. © 2012 The Institution of Chemical Engineers.","Ocean fertilization for geoengineering: A review of effectiveness, environmental impacts and emerging governance",journal article,review,,CDR,,,,,
10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.154161,489697,,"['ENVI', 'ENVI', 'ENVI', 'ENVI']","Bhattacharyya, Siddhartha Shankar;Leite, Fernanda Figueiredo Granja Dorilêo;France, Casey L.;Adekoya, Adetomi O.;Ros, Gerard H.;de Vries, Wim;Melchor-Martínez, Elda M.;Iqbal, Hafiz M.N.;Parra-Saldívar, Roberto",2022,Science of the Total Environment,Environmental health | Eutrophication | GHG emissions | Soi organic matter | Soil carbon sequestration | Soil health | Tillage systems | Water pollution,"Tillage is a common agricultural practice and a critical component of agricultural systems that is frequently employed worldwide in croplands to reduce climatic and soil restrictions while also sustaining various ecosystem services. Tillage can affect a variety of soil-mediated processes, e.g., soil carbon sequestration (SCS) or depletion, greenhouse gas (GHG) (CO2, CH4, and N2O) emission, and water pollution. Several tillage practices are in vogue globally, and they exhibit varied impacts on these processes. Hence, there is a dire need to synthesize, collate and comprehensively present these interlinked phenomena to facilitate future researches. This study deals with the co-benefits and trade-offs produced by several tillage practices on SCS and related soil properties, GHG emissions, and water quality. We hypothesized that improved tillage practices could enable agriculture to contribute to SCS and mitigate GHG emissions and leaching of nutrients and pesticides. Based on our current understanding, we conclude that sustainable soil moisture level and soil temperature management is crucial under different tillage practices to offset leaching loss of soil stored nutrients/pesticides, GHG emissions and ensuring SCS. For instance, higher carbon dioxide (CO2) and nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions from conventional tillage (CT) and no-tillage (NT) could be attributed to the fluctuations in soil moisture and temperature regimes. In addition, NT may enhance nitrate (NO3−) leaching over CT because of improved soil structure, infiltration capacity, and greater water flux, however, suggesting that the eutrophication potential of NT is high. Our study indicates that the evaluation of the eutrophication potential of different tillage practices is still overlooked. Our study suggests that improving tillage practices in terms of mitigation of N2O emission and preventing NO3− pollution may be sustainable if nitrification inhibitors are applied.","Soil carbon sequestration, greenhouse gas emissions, and water pollution under different tillage practices",journal article,review,,CDR,,,,,
10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.153553,489697,,"['ENVI', 'ENVI', 'ENVI', 'ENVI']","Khudhur, Faisal W.K.;MacDonald, John M.;Macente, Alice;Daly, Luke",2022,Science of the Total Environment,Artificial soil | Carbon sequestration | Mineral carbonation | Silicate weathering | Slag | Tailings,"Alkaline wastes have been the focus of many studies as they act as CO2 sinks and have the potential to offset emissions from mining and steelmaking industries. Passive carbonation of alkaline wastes mimics natural silicate weathering and provides a promising alternative pathway for CO2 capture and storage as carbonates, requiring marginal human intervention when compared to ex-situ carbonation. This review summarizes the extant research that has investigated the passive carbonation of alkaline wastes, namely ironmaking and steelmaking slag, mine tailings and demolition wastes, over the past two decades. Here we report different factors that affect passive carbonation to address challenges that this process faces and to identify possible solutions. We identify avenues for future research such as investigating how passive carbonation affects the surrounding environment through interaction with the biosphere and the hydrosphere. Future research should also consider economic analyses to provide investors with an in-depth understanding of passive carbonation techniques. Based on the reviewed materials, we conclude that passive carbonation can be an important contributor to climate change mitigation strategies, and its potential can be intensified by applying simple waste management practices.","The utilization of alkaline wastes in passive carbon capture and sequestration: Promises, challenges and environmental aspects",journal article,review,,CDR,,,,,
10.3390/su141610372,,,"['COMP', 'SOCI', 'ENER', 'ENGI', 'ENVI', 'ENER', 'COMP', 'COMP', 'ENVI']","El Semary, Nermin A.",2022,Sustainability (Switzerland),algae | biodiversity | biological pump | ferritin | fish productivity | geoengineering | industry | iron fertilization | sustainability,"Iron limitation in vast water bodies has been linked to decreased algal productivity, despite different iron-acquiring mechanisms, and the presence of ferritin in many algal species that act as an iron internal reservoir. Therefore, iron fertilization has been proposed to increase algal biomass and photosynthesis. This, in turn, will reduce carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and increase oxygen, thereby decreasing global warming, and achieving ecological balance. In addition, algal proliferation will hopefully lead to enhancement in biodiversity, Biological pump, fish productivity and, subsequently marine food industry. Many climate geoengineering experiments in the form of ocean iron fertilization have been conducted globally in order to achieve such a purpose. However, reservations remain as the outcomes are not as promising as were previously expected. As the temporal and spatial scales of iron fertilization experiments are limited, the effects on fish productivity remain speculative. On the other hand, side effects were also recorded. The main purpose of iron fertilization, for carbon dioxide sequestration and global warming mitigation, still remains to be fully realized and verified. Several improvements and future modifications are suggested, and legal issues are discussed in this review.",Iron-Marine Algal Interactions and Impacts: Decreasing Global Warming by Increasing Algal Biomass,journal article,review,,CDR,,,,,
10.1016/j.biortech.2022.128423,9608524,,"['CENG', 'ENVI', 'ENER', 'ENVI']","Li, Yize;Gupta, Rohit;Zhang, Qiaozhi;You, Siming",2023,Bioresource Technology,Agricultural waste | Compositions | Machine learning | Resource recovery | Sustainable development,"Worldwide surge in crop residue generation has necessitated developing strategies for their sustainable disposal. Pyrolysis has been widely adopted to convert crop residue into biochar with bio-oil and gas being two co-products. The review adopts a whole system philosophy and systematically summarises up-to-date knowledge of crop residue pyrolysis processes, influential factors, and biochar applications. Essential process design tools for biochar production e.g., cost-benefit analysis, life cycle assessment, and machine learning methods are also reviewed, which has often been overlooked in prior reviews. Important aspects include (a) correlating techno-economics of biochar production with crop residue compositions, (b) process operating conditions and management strategies, (c) biochar applications including soil amendment, fuel displacement, catalytic usage, etc., (d) data-driven modelling techniques, (e) properties of biochar, and (f) climate change mitigation. Overall, the review will support the development of application-oriented process pipelines for crop residue-based biochar.",Review of biochar production via crop residue pyrolysis: Development and perspectives,journal article,review,,"CDR, biochar",,,,,
10.1088/1748-9326/ab0fe3,17489318,,"['ENER', 'ENVI', 'MEDI']","Hertwich, Edgar G.;Ali, Saleem;Ciacci, Luca;Fishman, Tomer;Heeren, Niko;Masanet, Eric;Asghari, Farnaz Nojavan;Olivetti, Elsa;Pauliuk, Stefan;Tu, Qingshi;Wolfram, Paul",2019,Environmental Research Letters,cement | circular economy | climate change mitigation | industrial policy | iron and steel | life cycle assessment | resource efficiency,"As one quarter of global energy use serves the production of materials, the more efficient use of these materials presents a significant opportunity for the mitigation of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. With the renewed interest of policy makers in the circular economy, material efficiency (ME) strategies such as light-weighting and downsizing of and lifetime extension for products, reuse and recycling of materials, and appropriate material choice are being promoted. Yet, the emissions savings from ME remain poorly understood, owing in part to the multitude of material uses and diversity of circumstances and in part to a lack of analytical effort. We have reviewed emissions reductions from ME strategies applied to buildings, cars, and electronics. We find that there can be a systematic trade-off between material use in the production of buildings, vehicles, and appliances and energy use in their operation, requiring a careful life cycle assessment of ME strategies. We find that the largest potential emission reductions quantified in the literature result from more intensive use of and lifetime extension for buildings and the light-weighting and reduced size of vehicles. Replacing metals and concrete with timber in construction can result in significant GHG benefits, but trade-offs and limitations to the potential supply of timber need to be recognized. Repair and remanufacturing of products can also result in emission reductions, which have been quantified only on a case-by-case basis and are difficult to generalize. The recovery of steel, aluminum, and copper from building demolition waste and the end-of-life vehicles and appliances already results in the recycling of base metals, which achieves significant emission reductions. Higher collection rates, sorting efficiencies, and the alloy-specific sorting of metals to preserve the function of alloying elements while avoiding the contamination of base metals are important steps to further reduce emissions.","Material efficiency strategies to reducing greenhouse gas emissions associated with buildings, vehicles, and electronics - A review",journal article,review,,Construction,Construction,,,,
10.1016/j.coesh.2019.11.001,,,"['ENVI', 'ENVI', 'MEDI']","Batlle-Bayer, Laura;Aldaco, Rubén;Bala, Alba;Fullana-i-Palmer, Pere",2020,Current Opinion in Environmental Science and Health,Diets | Food | Food consumption | Life Cycle Assessment | Sustainability | WEF nexus,"The big challenge of the next decades is meeting the global nutritional demand, while reducing the pressure on food resources and the GHG emissions. In this regard, the overall goal consists of redesigning the food systems and promoting sustainable dietary patterns is a crucial aspect. This article focuses on reviewing the state-of-the-art of the combined Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) and the Water–Energy–Food (WEF) Nexus approach in assessing the effects of diet transitions. Diet LCAs differ in methodology, design, and assessed environmental impacts. The WEF nexus, which aims at finding synergies and trade-offs between the water, energy, and food resources systems, has been applied to different contexts and levels. However, a limited number of nexus methods have been developed at the food and diet levels, and no commonly recognizable methodology for the nexus assessment has been achieved. An integrated LCA and WEF Nexus approach can be a decisive tool to improve the understanding of the interconnections in the nexus, as it enables the consideration of entire supply chains.",Toward sustainable dietary patterns under a water–energy–food nexus life cycle thinking approach,journal article,review,,Diet change,Diet change,,,,
10.1088/1748-9326/abc2f7,17489318,,"['ENER', 'ENVI', 'MEDI']","Jarmul, Stephanie;Dangour, Alan D.;Green, Rosemary;Liew, Zara;Haines, Andy;Scheelbeek, Pauline F.D.",2019,Environmental Research Letters,"co-benefits, dietary change | greenhouse gas emissions | health impacts | land use | sustainable diets | water use","The adoption of healthy diets with low environmental impact has been widely promoted as an important climate change mitigation strategy. Typically, these diets are high in plant-sourced and low in animal-sourced and processed foods. Despite the fact that their environmental impacts vary, they are often referred to as 'sustainable diets'. Here we systematically review the available published evidence on the effect of 'sustainable diets' on environmental footprints and human health. Eight databases (OvidSP-Medline, OvidSP-Embase, EBSCO-GreenFILE, Web of Science Core Collection, Scopus, OvidSP-CAB-s, OvidSP-AGRIS, and OvidSP-Global Health) were searched to identify literature (published 1999-2019) reporting health effects and environmental footprints of 'sustainable diets'. Available evidence was mapped and pooled analysis was conducted by unique combinations of diet pattern, health and environmental outcome. Eighteen studies (412 measurements) met our inclusion criteria, distinguishing twelve non-mutually exclusive sustainable diet patterns, six environmental outcomes, and seven health outcomes. In 87% of measurements (n = 151) positive health outcomes were reported from 'sustainable diets' (average relative health improvement: 4.09% [95% CI -0.10-8.29]) when comparing 'sustainable diets' to current/baseline consumption patterns. Greenhouse gas emissions associated with 'sustainable diets' were on average 25.8%[95%CI -27.0 to -14.6] lower than current/baseline consumption patterns, with vegan diets reporting the largest reduction in GHG-emissions (-70.3% [95% CI: -90.2 to -50.4]), however, water use was frequently reported to be higher than current/baseline diets. Multiple benefits for both health and the environment were reported in the majority (n = 315[76%]) of measurements. We identified consistent evidence of both positive health effects and reduced environmental footprints accruing from 'sustainable diets'. The notable exception of increased water use associated with 'sustainable diets' identifies that co-benefits are not universal and some trade-offs are likely. When carefully designed, evidence-based, and adapted to contextual factors, dietary change could play a pivotal role in climate change mitigation, sustainable food systems, and future population health.",Climate change mitigation through dietary change: A systematic review of empirical and modelling studies on the environmental footprints and health effects of 'sustainable diets,journal article,review,,Diet change,Diet change,,,,
10.1016/j.jenvman.2016.02.008,3014797,,"['ENVI', 'ENVI', 'ENVI']","Tang, Kai;Kragt, Marit E.;Hailu, Atakelty;Ma, Chunbo",2016,Journal of Environmental Management,Agricultural GHG mitigation | Biophysical models | Cost estimates | Economic analyses | Policy incentives,"This study reviewed 62 economic analyses published between 1995 and 2014 on the economic impacts of policies that incentivise agricultural greenhouse (GHG) mitigation. Typically, biophysical models are used to evaluate the changes in GHG mitigation that result from landholders changing their farm and land management practices. The estimated results of biophysical models are then integrated with economic models to simulate the costs of different policy scenarios to production systems. The cost estimates vary between $3 and $130/t CO2 equivalent in 2012 US dollars, depending on the mitigation strategies, spatial locations, and policy scenarios considered. Most studies assessed the consequences of a single, rather than multiple, mitigation strategies, and few considered the co-benefits of carbon farming. These omissions could challenge the reality and robustness of the studies' results. One of the biggest challenges facing agricultural economists is to assess the full extent of the trade-offs involved in carbon farming. We need to improve our biophysical knowledge about carbon farming co-benefits, predict the economic impacts of employing multiple strategies and policy incentives, and develop the associated integrated models, to estimate the full costs and benefits of agricultural GHG mitigation to farmers and the rest of society.",Carbon farming economics: What have we learned?,journal article,review,,Diet change,Diet change,,,,
10.1002/wene.358,20418396,,"['ENER', 'ENVI']","Li, Hao;Zhao, Yuhuan;Lin, Jiang",2020,Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Energy and Environment,concepts | ECW nexus | future research directions | mechanisms | methodologies | research focuses,"The energy–carbon–water (ECW) nexus has aroused increasing attention worldwide, as it is very important for sustainable development of socioeconomic systems. Researchers conducted a literature review of existing studies on the ECW nexus in terms of concepts, research focuses, mechanisms, and methodologies. Current research on the ECW nexus mainly focuses on the ECW flow accounting, the impact assessment of ECW-related policies or measures, and the description of the nexus characteristics. ECW-related measures may lead to a variety of cobenefits: economic growth, pollutant reduction, water quality improvement, and the carbon–water trade-off—that is, that the adoption of water-saving cooling technologies (such as wet cooling) could increase energy use and carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. ECW-related measures could also lead to the deployment of some low-carbon power generation technologies, such as hydro, nuclear, and biofuel that could increase power sector water use. Nexus mechanisms of existing studies are mainly aimed at a specific sector; fewer studies consider the mechanisms from an economy-wide perspective. Integrated models, such as computable general equilibrium-based models and input–output (IO)-based hybrid life cycle assessment models, should be used to assess the broad socioeconomic impacts of ECW-related measures in future, in order to inspire policymakers to design and implement effective measures for integrated ECW management. This article is categorized under: Energy and Climate > Economics and Policy Concentrating Solar Power > Climate and Environment.","A review of the energy–carbon–water nexus: Concepts, research focuses, mechanisms, and methodologies",journal article,review,,Diet change,Diet change,,,,
10.4155/cmt.12.49,17583004,,['ENVI'],"Williams, Martin",2012,Carbon Management,0,"This article addresses the impact of climate change policies on air pollution. It notes firstly that while the co-benefits of climate change to air pollution are potentially large, institutionally the links have yet to be made in a substantive way in international treaties and agreements. The article discusses economic studies that quantify and monetize the synergistic benefits to health and the environment arising from improved air quality in pursuit of climate change objectives. This article also discusses the areas where antagonisms might arise, necessitating trade-off decisions on the part of policymakers, notably in the use of biomass and diesel vehicles. It also discusses the merits of CCS for both climate change and air quality. © 2012 Future Science Ltd.",Tackling climate change: What is the impact on air pollution?,journal article,review,,General mitigation,General mitigation,,,,
10.1080/14693062.2023.2175637,14693062,,"['ENVI', 'ENVI', 'EART', 'ENVI']","Baldwin-Cantello, William;Tickner, Dave;Wright, Mark;Clark, Michael;Cornelius, Stephen;Ellis, Karen;Francis, Angela;Ghazoul, Jaboury;Gordon, James E.;Matthews, Nathanial;Milner-Gulland, E. J.;Smith, Pete;Walmsley, Simon;Young, Lucy",2023,Climate Policy,biodiversity | Climate change | human wellbeing | sustainable development goals | synergy | trade-off(s),"Humankind faces a Triple Challenge: averting dangerous climate change, reversing biodiversity loss, and supporting the wellbeing of a growing population. Action to address each of these issues is inherently dependent on action to address the others. Local, national, and international policy goals on climate change, biological diversity, and human wellbeing have been set. Current implementation measures are insufficient to meet these goals, but the Triple Challenge can still be met if governments, corporations, and other stakeholders take a holistic perspective on management of land and waters. To inform this effort, we identify a set of priority policy responses drawn from recent international assessments that, whilst not being the only potential solutions, can form the core of such a holistic approach. We do this through an iterative process using three methodological approaches: (i) structured literature review; (ii) deliberative expert analysis; and (iii) wider consultation, before synthesizing into this paper. Context-appropriate implementation of responses will be needed to capitalize on potential policy synergies and to ensure that unavoidable trade-offs between management of land and waters for climate mitigation, biodiversity restoration, and human wellbeing outcomes are made explicit. We also set out four approaches to managing trade-offs that can promote fair and just transitions: (1) social and economic policy pivoting towards ‘inclusive wealth’; (2) more integrated policymaking across the three areas; (3) ‘Triple Challenge dialogues’ among state and non-state actors; and (4) a new research portfolio to underpin (1), (2), and (3). Key policy insights: Multiple recent global assessments provide a strong scientific basis for action on each of the three aspects of the Triple Challenge–climate, biodiversity, and human wellbeing (with a focus on food and nutrition)–but they do not provide an integrated perspective on how to address them simultaneously. Synthesis of these assessments identifies a portfolio of five core policy responses that deliver across the Triple Challenge: (i) rapidly cutting fossil fuel use; (ii) promoting sustainable, healthy diets; (iii) increasing food productivity and cutting food loss and waste; (iv) implementing nature-based solutions at scale; and (v) strengthening governance and management of land and waters. Even with widespread implementation of that portfolio, trade-offs between climate, biodiversity, and wellbeing outcomes might be unavoidable. Policymakers, researchers, and other actors should explicitly identify such trade-offs, and take steps to ensure management priorities are set through equitable dialogue processes informed by integrated research.","The Triple Challenge: synergies, trade-offs and integrated responses for climate, biodiversity, and human wellbeing goals",journal article,review,,General mitigation,General mitigation,,,,
10.1080/14693062.2014.980212,14693062,,"['ENVI', 'ENVI', 'EART', 'ENVI']","Smith, Alison C.;Holland, Michael;Korkeala, Outi;Warmington, Jamie;Forster, Daniel;ApSimon, Helen;Oxley, Tim;Dickens, Roald;Smith, Stephen M.",2016,Climate Policy,climate change mitigation | co-benefits | energy technologies | external costs | health | transport policy,"Many actions to reduce GHG emissions have wider impacts on health, the economy, and the environment, beyond their role in mitigating climate change. These ancillary impacts can be positive (co-benefits) or negative (conflicts). This article presents the first quantitative review of the wider impacts on health and the environment likely to arise from action to meet the UK's legally-binding carbon budgets. Impacts were assessed for climate measures directed at power generation, energy use in buildings, and industry, transport, and agriculture. The study considered a wide range of health and environmental impacts including air pollution, noise, the upstream impacts of fuel extraction, and the lifestyle benefits of active travel. It was not possible to quantify all impacts, but for those that were monetized the co-benefits of climate action (i.e. excluding climate benefits) significantly outweigh the negative impacts, with a net present value of more than £85 billion from 2008 to 2030. Substantial benefits arise from reduced congestion, pollution, noise, and road accidents as a result of avoided journeys. There is also a large health benefit as a result of increased exercise from walking and cycling instead of driving. Awareness of these benefits could strengthen the case for more ambitious climate mitigation action. Policy relevance This article demonstrates that actions to mitigate GHG emissions have significant wider benefits for health and the environment. Including these impacts in cost–benefit analysis would strengthen the case for the UK (and similar countries) to set ambitious emissions reduction targets. Understanding co-benefits and trade-offs will also improve coordination across policy areas and cut costs. In addition, co-benefits such as air quality improvements are often immediate and local, whereas climate benefits may occur on a longer timescale and mainly in a distant region, as well as being harder to demonstrate. Dissemination of the benefits, along with better anticipation of trade-offs, could therefore boost public support for climate action.",Health and environmental co-benefits and conflicts of actions to meet UK carbon targets,journal article,review,,General mitigation,General mitigation,,,,
10.1016/j.cosust.2016.12.003,18773435,,"['ENVI', 'SOCI']","Melamed, Megan L.;Schmale, Julia;von Schneidemesser, Erika",2016,Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability,0,"Air quality and climate change are inexorably linked from their emission sources to their impacts on climate, human health, and ecosystems, including agriculture. However, in global environmental change and sustainability policies the link between air quality and climate change is often ignored. To facilitate including the link between air pollution and climate change in the policy process, three key considerations (1) mix of emissions, (2) lifetime, and (3) benefits and trade-offs should be taken into account. These three key considerations will help decision makers understand how proposed policies may impact the emissions of air pollutants and greenhouse gases and their resulting impacts on climate, human health, and ecosystems, thus reducing unintended consequences and likely resulting in additional economic and environmental benefits.",Sustainable policy—key considerations for air quality and climate change,journal article,review,,General mitigation,General mitigation,,,,
10.1088/1748-9326/aa98d2,17489318,,"['ENER', 'ENVI', 'MEDI']","Deng, Hong Mei;Liang, Qiao Mei;Liu, Li Jing;Anadon, Laura Diaz",2017,Environmental Research Letters,bibliometric analysis | co-benefits | co-occurrence analysis | geographic level | greenhouse gas mitigation | methods | sectors,"The perceived inability of climate change mitigation goals alone to mobilize sufficient climate change mitigation efforts has, among other factors, led to growing research on the co-benefits of reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. This study conducts a systematic review (SR) of the literature on the co-benefits of mitigating GHG emissions resulting in 1554 papers. We analyze these papers using bibliometric analysis, including a keyword co-occurrence analysis. We then iteratively develop and present a typology of co-benefits, mitigation sectors, geographic scope, and methods based on the manual double coding of the papers resulting from the SR. We find that the co-benefits from GHG mitigation that have received the largest attention of researchers are impacts on ecosystems, economic activity, health, air pollution, and resource efficiency. The co-benefits that have received the least attention include the impacts on conflict and disaster resilience, poverty alleviation (or exacerbation), energy security, technological spillovers and innovation, and food security. Most research has investigated co-benefits from GHG mitigation in the agriculture, forestry and other land use (AFOLU), electricity, transport, and residential sectors, with the industrial sector being the subject of significantly less research. The largest number of co-benefits publications provide analysis at a global level, with relatively few studies providing local (city) level analysis or studying co-benefits in Oceanian or African contexts. Finally, science and engineering methods, in contrast to economic or social science methods, are the methods most commonly employed in co-benefits papers. We conclude that given the potential mobilizing power of understudied co-benefits (e.g. poverty alleviation) and local impacts, the magnitude of GHG emissions from the industrial sector, and the fact that Africa and South America are likely to be severely affected by climate change, there is an opportunity for the research community to fill these gaps.","Co-benefits of greenhouse gas mitigation: A review and classification by type, mitigation sector, and geography",journal article,review,,General mitigation,General mitigation,,,,
10.1111/gcb.16056,13541013,,"['ENVI', 'ENVI', 'ENVI', 'ENVI']","Smith, Pete;Arneth, Almut;Barnes, David K.A.;Ichii, Kazuhito;Marquet, Pablo A.;Popp, Alexander;Pörtner, Hans Otto;Rogers, Alex D.;Scholes, Robert J.;Strassburg, Bernardo;Wu, Jianguo;Ngo, Hien",2022,Global Change Biology,biodiversity | climate change mitigation | co-benefits | nature-based solutions | trade-offs,"A multitude of actions to protect, sustainably manage and restore natural and modified ecosystems can have co-benefits for both climate mitigation and biodiversity conservation. Reducing greenhouse emissions to limit warming to less than 1.5 or 2°C above preindustrial levels, as outlined in the Paris Agreement, can yield strong co-benefits for land, freshwater and marine biodiversity and reduce amplifying climate feedbacks from ecosystem changes. Not all climate mitigation strategies are equally effective at producing biodiversity co-benefits, some in fact are counterproductive. Moreover, social implications are often overlooked within the climate-biodiversity nexus. Protecting biodiverse and carbon-rich natural environments, ecological restoration of potentially biodiverse and carbon-rich habitats, the deliberate creation of novel habitats, taking into consideration a locally adapted and meaningful (i.e. full consequences considered) mix of these measures, can result in the most robust win-win solutions. These can be further enhanced by avoidance of narrow goals, taking long-term views and minimizing further losses of intact ecosystems. In this review paper, we first discuss various climate mitigation actions that evidence demonstrates can negatively impact biodiversity, resulting in unseen and unintended negative consequences. We then examine climate mitigation actions that co-deliver biodiversity and societal benefits. We give examples of these win-win solutions, categorized as ‘protect, restore, manage and create’, in different regions of the world that could be expanded, upscaled and used for further innovation.",How do we best synergize climate mitigation actions to co-benefit biodiversity?,journal article,review,,General mitigation,General mitigation,,,,
10.1111/gcb.14878,13541013,,"['ENVI', 'ENVI', 'ENVI', 'ENVI']","Smith, Pete;Calvin, Katherine;Nkem, Johnson;Campbell, Donovan;Cherubini, Francesco;Grassi, Giacomo;Korotkov, Vladimir;Le Hoang, Anh;Lwasa, Shuaib;McElwee, Pamela;Nkonya, Ephraim;Saigusa, Nobuko;Soussana, Jean Francois;Taboada, Miguel Angel;Manning, Frances C.;Nampanzira, Dorothy;Arias-Navarro, Cristina;Vizzarri, Matteo;House, Jo;Roe, Stephanie;Cowie, Annette;Rounsevell, Mark;Arneth, Almut",2020,Global Change Biology,adaptation | adverse side effects | co-benefits | demand management | desertification | food security | land degradation | land management | mitigation | practice | risk management,"There is a clear need for transformative change in the land management and food production sectors to address the global land challenges of climate change mitigation, climate change adaptation, combatting land degradation and desertification, and delivering food security (referred to hereafter as “land challenges”). We assess the potential for 40 practices to address these land challenges and find that: Nine options deliver medium to large benefits for all four land challenges. A further two options have no global estimates for adaptation, but have medium to large benefits for all other land challenges. Five options have large mitigation potential (>3 Gt CO2eq/year) without adverse impacts on the other land challenges. Five options have moderate mitigation potential, with no adverse impacts on the other land challenges. Sixteen practices have large adaptation potential (>25 million people benefit), without adverse side effects on other land challenges. Most practices can be applied without competing for available land. However, seven options could result in competition for land. A large number of practices do not require dedicated land, including several land management options, all value chain options, and all risk management options. Four options could greatly increase competition for land if applied at a large scale, though the impact is scale and context specific, highlighting the need for safeguards to ensure that expansion of land for mitigation does not impact natural systems and food security. A number of practices, such as increased food productivity, dietary change and reduced food loss and waste, can reduce demand for land conversion, thereby potentially freeing-up land and creating opportunities for enhanced implementation of other practices, making them important components of portfolios of practices to address the combined land challenges.","Which practices co-deliver food security, climate change mitigation and adaptation, and combat land degradation and desertification?",journal article,review,,General mitigation,General mitigation,,,,
10.1111/gcb.12160,13541013,,"['ENVI', 'ENVI', 'ENVI', 'ENVI']","Smith, Pete;Haberl, Helmut;Popp, Alexander;Erb, Karl Heinz;Lauk, Christian;Harper, Richard;Tubiello, Francesco N.;De Siqueira Pinto, Alexandre;Jafari, Mostafa;Sohi, Saran;Masera, Omar;Böttcher, Hannes;Berndes, Göran;Bustamante, Mercedes;Ahammad, Helal;Clark, Harry;Dong, Hongmin;Elsiddig, Elnour A.;Mbow, Cheikh;Ravindranath, Nijavalli H.;Rice, Charles W.;Robledo Abad, Carmenza;Romanovskaya, Anna;Sperling, Frank;Herrero, Mario;House, Joanna I.;Rose, Steven",2013,Global Change Biology,AFOLU | Agriculture | Climate | Ecosystem services | Food security | Forestry | GHG | Mitigation,"Feeding 9-10 billion people by 2050 and preventing dangerous climate change are two of the greatest challenges facing humanity. Both challenges must be met while reducing the impact of land management on ecosystem services that deliver vital goods and services, and support human health and well-being. Few studies to date have considered the interactions between these challenges. In this study we briefly outline the challenges, review the supply- and demand-side climate mitigation potential available in the Agriculture, Forestry and Other Land Use AFOLU sector and options for delivering food security. We briefly outline some of the synergies and trade-offs afforded by mitigation practices, before presenting an assessment of the mitigation potential possible in the AFOLU sector under possible future scenarios in which demand-side measures codeliver to aid food security. We conclude that while supply-side mitigation measures, such as changes in land management, might either enhance or negatively impact food security, demand-side mitigation measures, such as reduced waste or demand for livestock products, should benefit both food security and greenhouse gas (GHG) mitigation. Demand-side measures offer a greater potential (1.5-15.6 Gt CO2-eq. yr-1) in meeting both challenges than do supply-side measures (1.5-4.3 Gt CO2-eq. yr-1 at carbon prices between 20 and 100 US$ tCO2-eq. yr-1), but given the enormity of challenges, all options need to be considered. Supply-side measures should be implemented immediately, focussing on those that allow the production of more agricultural product per unit of input. For demand-side measures, given the difficulties in their implementation and lag in their effectiveness, policy should be introduced quickly, and should aim to codeliver to other policy agenda, such as improving environmental quality or improving dietary health. These problems facing humanity in the 21st Century are extremely challenging, and policy that addresses multiple objectives is required now more than ever. © 2013 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.",How much land-based greenhouse gas mitigation can be achieved without compromising food security and environmental goals?,journal article,review,,General mitigation,General mitigation,,,,
10.1038/s41893-019-0454-4,2398-9629,,,"Lade, Steven J.; Steffen, Will; de Vries, Wim; Carpenter, Stephen R.; Donges, Jonathan F.; Gerten, Dieter; Hoff, Holger; Newbold, Tim; Richardson, Katherine; Rockström, Johan",2020,Nature Sustainability,"Climate change, Biodiversity","The planetary boundary framework presents a ‘planetary dashboard’ of humanity’s globally aggregated performance on a set of environmental issues that endanger the Earth system’s capacity to support humanity. While this framework has been highly influential, a critical shortcoming for its application in sustainability governance is that it currently fails to represent how impacts related to one of the planetary boundaries affect the status of other planetary boundaries. Here, we surveyed and provisionally quantified interactions between the Earth system processes represented by the planetary boundaries and investigated their consequences for sustainability governance. We identified a dense network of interactions between the planetary boundaries. The resulting cascades and feedbacks predominantly amplify human impacts on the Earth system and thereby shrink the safe operating space for future human impacts on the Earth system. Our results show that an integrated understanding of Earth system dynamics is critical to navigating towards a sustainable future.",Human impacts on planetary boundaries amplified by Earth system interactions,journal article,review,,General mitigation,General mitigation,,,,
10.1038/s41893-019-0334-y,2398-9629,,,"Fuso Nerini, Francesco; Sovacool, Benjamin; Hughes, Nick; Cozzi, Laura; Cosgrave, Ellie; Howells, Mark; Tavoni, Massimo; Tomei, Julia; Zerriffi, Hisham; Milligan, Ben",2019,Nature Sustainability,"Climate sciences, Sustainability, Scientific community","The international community has committed to combat climate change and achieve 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Here we explore (dis)connections in evidence and governance between these commitments. Our structured evidence review suggests that climate change can undermine 16 SDGs, while combatting climate change can reinforce all 17 SDGs but undermine efforts to achieve 12. Understanding these relationships requires wider and deeper interdisciplinary collaboration. Climate change and sustainable development governance should be better connected to maximize the effectiveness of action in both domains. The emergence around the world of new coordinating institutions and sustainable development planning represents promising progress.",Connecting climate action with other Sustainable Development Goals,journal article,review,,General mitigation,General mitigation,,,,
10.3390/su131910774,,,"['SOCI', 'ENER', 'ENVI', 'ENER', 'ENVI']","Iacobuţă, Gabriela Ileana;Höhne, Niklas;van Soest, Heleen Laura;Leemans, Rik",2021,Sustainability (Switzerland),Climate change | Climate-change policy | Domestic policies | G20 | Policy coherence | Sustainable development goals,"The 2030 Agenda with its Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the Paris Agreement on climate change were adopted in 2015. Although independently defined, the two agreements are strongly interlinked. We developed a framework that scores the impacts of climate-change actions on all SDG targets based on directionality (i.e., trade-offs or co-benefits) and likelihood of occurrence (i.e., ubiquitous or context-dependent), and categorizes them by dependence on four key context dimensions—geographical, governance, time horizon and limited natural resources. Through an extensive literature review, we found that climate-change mitigation measures directly affect most SDGs and their targets, mostly through co-benefits. Improving energy efficiency, reducing energy-services demand and switching to renewables provide the most co-benefits. In contrast, carbon capture and storage and nuclear energy likely lead to multiple trade-offs. We show how understanding the relevant context dimensions facilitates policy design and policy mixes that enhance co-benefits and minimize trade-offs. Finally, by assessing the prevalence of climate-change mitigation measures in G20 countries, we found that measures with more co-benefits are more frequently adopted. Our study advances the knowledge of climate–SDG interactions, contributing to climate and sustainable development governance research, and facilitating policy design for a joint implementation of the Paris Agreement and the 2030 Agenda.",Transitioning to low-carbon economies under the 2030 agenda: Minimizing trade-offs and enhancing co-benefits of climate-change action for the sdgs,journal article,review,,General mitigation,General mitigation,,,,
10.1016/j.spc.2020.12.034,2352-5509,,,"Cohen, Brett; Cowie, Annette; Babiker, Mustafa; Leip, Adrian; Smith, Pete",2021,Sustainable Production and Consumption,"Mitigation, SDGs, Adaptation, Co-impacts, Sustainable development goals","In addition to driving mitigation of greenhouse gas emissions, climate change mitigation actions can deliver non-climate benefits (co-benefits) but can also have adverse side-effects, working counter to other development objectives. Co-impacts assessment seeks to identify these co-benefits and adverse side-effects. Understanding of co-impacts can provide the knowledge base to garner support for mitigation actions, and to plan interventions that realize synergistic opportunities and contribute simultaneously to multiple objectives, increasing the efficiency and cost-effectiveness of climate actions. However, the value of this information is determined by the manner in which it is framed and communicated. In this paper, the relationships between climate change mitigation action and co-impacts and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are explored and illustrated using a selection of examples from countries’ Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs). We suggest that in the context of SDGs, the co-benefits approach could provide a cohesive framing to incentivize stakeholders to work together to garner support for ambitious policy which simultaneously achieves climate change mitigation and non-climate objectives. Similarly, understanding of adverse side-effects can help to ensure that trade-offs with delivery of the SDGs arising from mitigation actions are recognised and minimised. We note that the best way of framing these concepts is context and application specific.",Co-benefits and trade-offs of climate change mitigation actions and the Sustainable Development Goals,journal article,review,,General mitigation,General mitigation,,,,
10.1016/j.ecolind.2016.02.004,1470-160X,,,"Lee, Heera; Lautenbach, Sven",2016,Ecological Indicators,"Ecosystem services, Trade-offs, Pairwise analysis of ecosystem services, Quantitative review, Relationship of ecosystem services, Synergies","Ecosystems provide multiple ecosystem services (ES) to society. Ignoring the multi-functionality of land systems in natural resource management generates potential trade-offs with respect to the provisioning of ES. Understanding relationships between ES can therefore help to minimize undesired trade-offs and enhance synergies. The research on relationships between ES has recently gained increasing attention in the scientific community. However, a synthesis on existing knowledge and knowledge gaps is missing so far. We analyzed 67 case studies that studied 476 pairwise ES combinations. The relationships between these pairs of ES were classified into three categories: “trade-off”, “synergy” or “no-effect”. We tested three hypotheses: (1) a dominant relationship between ES exists for each ES pair; (2) this relationship is influenced by the scale at which the relationship had been studied as well as by the land system the analysis took place; and (3), this relationship is further affected by the method applied to characterize the relationship. For the first hypothesis, we demonstrated a comprehensive matrix of pairs of ES. Most pairs of ES (74%) had a clear association with one category: the majority of case studies reported similar relationships for pairs of ES. A synergistic relationship was dominant between different regulating services and between different cultural services, whereas the relationship between regulating and provisioning services was trade-off dominated. Increases in cultural services did not influence provisioning services (“no-effect”). For the second hypothesis, our analysis showed that the overall pattern of ES relationships did not change significantly with scale and land system archetypes except for some ES pairs. The regional scale was the most commonly considered, and case studies were biased among different land system archetypes, which might affect our ability to find the effect of scale or land system archetypes on the pattern of relationships. The analysis for the third hypothesis showed that the choice of methods used to determine the relationship had an effect on the direction of the relationship: studies that employed correlation coefficients showed an increased probability to identify no-effect relationships, whereas descriptive methods had a higher probability of identifying trade-offs. Our results provide helpful information of which services to include in ES assessments for the scientific community as well as for practitioners. Furthermore, they allow a first check if critical trade-offs and synergies have been considered in an analysis.",A quantitative review of relationships between ecosystem services,journal article,review,,General mitigation,General mitigation,,,,
10.1016/j.erss.2018.11.003,22146296,,"['ENER', 'ENER', 'ENER', 'ENER', 'SOCI']","Bhardwaj, Ankit;Joshi, Madhura;Khosla, Radhika;Dubash, Navroz K.",2019,Energy Research and Social Science,Climate change | Co-benefits | Development | Multiple objectives,"The Sustainable Development Goals and the Paris Agreement pose new conceptual challenges for energy decision makers by compelling them to consider the implications of their choices for development and climate mitigation objectives. This is a nontrivial exercise as it requires pragmatic consideration of the interconnections between energy systems and their social and environmental contexts and working with a plurality of actors and values. There are an increasing number of indices, frameworks and academic studies that capture these interconnections, yet policy makers have relatively few ex-ante tools to pragmatically aid decision-making. This paper, based on a collation of 167 studies, reviews how multi-criteria decision approaches (MCDA) are used in energy policy decisions to explicitly consider multiple social and environmental objectives, and the conceptual usefulness of doing so. First, MCDA can be used to distil a finite set of objectives from those of a large number of actors. This process is often political and objectives identified are aligned with vested interests or institutional incentives. Second, MCDA can be used to build evidence that is both qualitative and quantitative in nature to capture the implications of energy choices across economic, environmental, social and political metrics. Third, MCDA can be used to explore synergies and trade-offs between energy, social and environmental objectives, and in turn, make explicit the political implications of choices for actors. The studies reviewed in this paper demonstrate that the use of MCDA is so far mainly academic and for problems in the Global North. We argue for a mainstreaming of such a multi-criteria and deliberative approaches for energy policy decisions in developing countries where trade-offs between energy, development and climate mitigation are more contentious while recognizing the data, capacity and transparency requirements of the process.","More priorities, more problems? Decision-making with multiple energy, development and climate objectives",journal article,review,,General mitigation,General mitigation,,,,
10.1016/j.jenvman.2021.112583,3014797,,"['ENVI', 'ENVI', 'ENVI']","Choi, Changsoon;Berry, Pam;Smith, Alison",2021,Journal of Environmental Management,Adaptation | Climate change | Co-benefits | Green infrastructure | Mitigation | Trade-offs,"Climate change increases risks to natural and human systems. Green infrastructure (GI) has been increasingly recognized as a promising nature-based solution for climate change adaptation, mitigation, and other societal objectives for sustainable development. Although the climate contribution of GI has been extensively addressed in the literature, the linkages between the climate benefits and associated co-benefits and trade-offs remain unclear. We systematically reviewed the evidence from 141 papers, focusing on their climate benefits, relevant co-benefits and trade-offs, and the GI types that provide such climate (co-)benefits. This study presents a comprehensive overview of the links between climate benefits, co-benefits and types of GI, categorized along a green-grey continuum so that researchers/practitioners can find information according to their topic of interest. We further provide an analysis of trade-offs between various GI benefits. ‘Bundles’ of major co-benefits and trade-offs for each climate benefit can be identified with recommendations for strategies to maximize benefits and minimize trade-offs. To promote climate-resilient pathways through GI, it is crucial for decision-makers to identify opportunities to deliver multiple ecosystem services and benefits while recognizing disservices and trade-offs that need to be avoided or managed.","The climate benefits, co-benefits, and trade-offs of green infrastructure: A systematic literature review",journal article,review,,Green infrastructure,Green infrastructure,,,,
10.1016/j.scs.2021.103284,22106707,,"['ENGI', 'SOCI', 'ENER', 'SOCI']","Wang, Zhi Hua",2021,Sustainable Cities and Society,Air quality | Building energy | Green-blue infrastructure | Heat mitigation | Mathematical framework | Reflective surfaces,"Urban areas confront a number of environmental issues including excessive thermal stress and concentrated emissions of greenhouse gases and pollutants. In past decades, many mitigation strategies have been designed and implemented to counteract these issues and ameliorating the environmental quality in cities, which can be broadly classified as white, green or blue infrastructure. The functioning and efficacy of urban mitigation strategies involve complex interactions between landscape dynamics, anthropogenic activities, and atmospheric transport, which leads to compound, rather than singular, environmental impacts. In this study, we conducted a critical review of the compound environmental impact of urban mitigation strategies, and evaluated, besides the targeted cooling effect, the resultant co-benefits, trade-offs, or unintended consequence, in terms of building energy saving, air quality improvement, carbon emission offset, and impact to human health. Furthermore, we proposed a novel mathematical framework that is capable of assessing the compound environmental impact in a unified way, together with some preliminary results as the proof-of-concept. A number of knowledge gaps are identified which calls for future transdisciplinary synergy among urban engineers, atmosphere and climate scientists, and epidemiologists.","Compound environmental impact of urban mitigation strategies: Co-benefits, trade-offs, and unintended consequence",journal article,review,,Green infrastructure,Green infrastructure,,,,
10.1021/acs.energyfuels.0c03685,0887-0624,,,"Valera-Medina, A.; Amer-Hatem, F.; Azad, A. K.; Dedoussi, I. C.; de Joannon, M.; Fernandes, R. X.; Glarborg, P.; Hashemi, H.; He, X.; Mashruk, S.; McGowan, J.; Mounaim-Rouselle, C.; Ortiz-Prado, A.; Ortiz-Valera, A.; Rossetti, I.; Shu, B.; Yehia, M.; Xiao, H.; Costa, M.",2021,Energy & Fuels,,"Ammonia, a molecule that is gaining more interest as a fueling vector, has been considered as a candidate to power transport, produce energy, and support heating applications for decades. However, the particular characteristics of the molecule always made it a chemical with low, if any, benefit once compared to conventional fossil fuels. Still, the current need to decarbonize our economy makes the search of new methods crucial to use chemicals, such as ammonia, that can be produced and employed without incurring in the emission of carbon oxides. Therefore, current efforts in this field are leading scientists, industries, and governments to seriously invest efforts in the development of holistic solutions capable of making ammonia a viable fuel for the transition toward a clean future. On that basis, this review has approached the subject gathering inputs from scientists actively working on the topic. The review starts from the importance of ammonia as an energy vector, moving through all of the steps in the production, distribution, utilization, safety, legal considerations, and economic aspects of the use of such a molecule to support the future energy mix. Fundamentals of combustion and practical cases for the recovery of energy of ammonia are also addressed, thus providing a complete view of what potentially could become a vector of crucial importance to the mitigation of carbon emissions. Different from other works, this review seeks to provide a holistic perspective of ammonia as a chemical that presents benefits and constraints for storing energy from sustainable sources. State-of-the-art knowledge provided by academics actively engaged with the topic at various fronts also enables a clear vision of the progress in each of the branches of ammonia as an energy carrier. Further, the fundamental boundaries of the use of the molecule are expanded to real technical issues for all potential technologies capable of using it for energy purposes, legal barriers that will be faced to achieve its deployment, safety and environmental considerations that impose a critical aspect for acceptance and wellbeing, and economic implications for the use of ammonia across all aspects approached for the production and implementation of this chemical as a fueling source. Herein, this work sets the principles, research, practicalities, and future views of a transition toward a future where ammonia will be a major energy player.",Review on Ammonia as a Potential Fuel: From Synthesis to Economics,journal article,review,,Hydrogen carriers,Hydrogen carriers,,,,
10.1080/15567036.2022.2124326,15567036,,"['ENER', 'ENER', 'ENER', 'ENER']","Sahu, Tomesh Kumar;Shukla, Pravesh Chandra;Belgiorno, Giacomo;Maurya, Rakesh Kumar",2022,"Energy Sources, Part A: Recovery, Utilization and Environmental Effects",alcohol blends | alternative fuels | CO 2 | compression ignition engines | dual fuel | emissions | ethanol | Methanol,"Alcohol fuels, primarily ethanol and methanol, have emerged as one of the important alternatives for sustainable transportation and power generation applications, due to the overall lower carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. The higher octane number of alcohol makes it suitable for spark ignition (SI) engines while lower blend ratios can be used for compression ignition (CI) engines as well. Since significant work and exploration have already been performed for the application of alcohol in SI engines, the present study is primarily focused on alcohol utilization in CI engines. This review majorly consists of three parts: first, a discussion on the physical and chemical properties of ethanol and methanol from the fuel perspective, second, combustion, and engine performance of CI engines fueled with alcohol and lastly, emissions characterization of alcohol as fuel. A summary of this review is provided which highlights the potential of alcohol utilization in the form of blend or under dual-fuel combustion modes, as well as neat alcohol fueled CI engine. Alcohol-fueled CI engine improves the soot-NOx trade-off characteristic in comparison to conventional diesel combustion, this fuel could be an enabler to meet future emissions regulations. Overall lower CO2 emissions (up to 15% lower compared to diesel) by utilizing alcohol as fuel make it suitable for sustainable transportation.",Alcohols as alternative fuels in compression ignition engines for sustainable transportation: a review,journal article,review,,Hydrogen carriers,Hydrogen carriers,,,,
10.1016/j.rser.2019.109391,1364-0321,,,"Jin, Yi; Behrens, Paul; Tukker, Arnold; Scherer, Laura",2019,Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews,"Electricity generation, Energy technology, Energy-water nexus, Life cycle assessment, Water footprint, Water scarcity","Understanding the water use of power production is an important step to both a sustainable energy transition and an improved understanding of water conservation measures. However, there are large differences across the literature that currently present barriers to decision making. Here, the compiled inventory of the blue water use of power production from existing studies allowed to uncover the characteristics of water use and to investigate current uncertainties. The results show that photovoltaics, wind power, and run-of-the-river hydropower consume relatively little water, whereas reservoir hydropower and woody and herbaceous biomass can have an extremely large water footprint. The water consumption of power production can differ greatly across countries due to different geographic conditions. Only a few studies provided the values for the influencing factors of water use, such as the capacity factor. Values that are reported came mainly from assumptions and other literature rather than direct measurement. Omitting a life cycle stage may lead to significant underestimations. Water scarcity is attracting more attention, but the few existing results are not useable for a regional comparison due to data gaps and inconsistent measurements. In the future, a clear and detailed definition of the water footprint and system boundary of power production is essential to improving comparisons and energy systems modelling.",Water use of electricity technologies: A global meta-analysis,journal article,review,,Low carbon electricity,Low carbon electricity,,,,
10.1016/j.rser.2022.112334,1364-0321,,,"Liang, Yanan; Kleijn, René; Tukker, Arnold; van der Voet, Ester",2022,Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews,"Energy transition, Low-carbon technologies, Material demand, Material intensity","Deployment of clean energy technologies will require a considerable amount of materials. The surge in demand for metals related to emerging energy technologies may hinder the energy transition. In this study we provide a comprehensive overview and analysis of existing work in this field, a solid quantitative baseline for material requirements of different energy technologies and quantitative information that can be used to generate learning curves for the material requirements of different energy technologies. We conducted a quantitative review of the material requirements of low-carbon energy technologies in 132 scientific publications, and provided a comparative analysis of detailed data including material intensity and lifetime data. Besides providing a large amount of structured quantitative data, the results of our work indicate that: (1) research on the demand for low-carbon technology related metals has received much attention since the 2010s; (2) around 80% of the publications focus on the global level while national level studies are underrepresented; (3) science-based future scenarios are the main means of estimating total future material requirements; (4) most studies foresee material constraints of large-scale implementation of low-carbon technologies and the secure and responsible supply of these materials is still the subject of discussion; (5) changes in metal intensity caused by technological development and material requirements for non-critical components are important though often overlooked.",Material requirements for low-carbon energy technologies: A quantitative review,journal article,review,,Low carbon electricity,Low carbon electricity,,,,
10.1016/j.rser.2016.08.039,1364-0321,,,"Peters, Jens F.; Baumann, Manuel; Zimmermann, Benedikt; Braun, Jessica; Weil, Marcel",2017,Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews,"Environmental impact, GHG emissions, Life cycle assessment, Battery production, Li-Ion battery","The increasing presence of Li-Ion batteries (LIB) in mobile and stationary energy storage applications has triggered a growing interest in the environmental impacts associated with their production. Numerous studies on the potential environmental impacts of LIB production and LIB-based electric mobility are available, but these are very heterogeneous and the results are therefore difficult to compare. Furthermore, the source of inventory data, which is key to the outcome of any study, is often difficult to trace back. This paper provides a review of LCA studies on Li-Ion batteries, with a focus on the battery production process. All available original studies that explicitly assess LIB production are summarized, the sources of inventory data are traced back and the main assumptions are extracted in order to provide a quick overview of the technical key parameters used in each study. These key parameters are then compared with actual battery data from industry and research institutions. Based on the results from the reviewed studies, average values for the environmental impacts of LIB production are calculated and the relevance of different assumptions for the outcomes of the different studies is pointed out. On average, producing 1Wh of storage capacity is associated with a cumulative energy demand of 328Wh and causes greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of 110 gCO2eq. Although the majority of existing studies focus on GHG emissions or energy demand, it can be shown that impacts in other categories such as toxicity might be even more important. Taking into account the importance of key parameters for the environmental performance of Li-Ion batteries, research efforts should not only focus on energy density but also on maximizing cycle life and charge-discharge efficiency.",The environmental impact of Li-Ion batteries and the role of key parameters – A review,journal article,review,,Low carbon electricity,Low carbon electricity,,,,
10.3390/su13116107,,,"['SOCI', 'ENER', 'ENVI', 'ENER', 'ENVI']","Yavor, Kim Maya;Bach, Vanessa;Finkbeiner, Matthias",2021,Sustainability (Switzerland),Abiotic resources | Energy system | Renewable energy | Resource assessment,"The reduction of greenhouse gas emissions by the energy transition may lead to trade-offs with other impacts on the environment, society, and economy. One challenge is resource use impacts due to increasing demand for high-tech metals and minerals. A review of the current state of the art resource assessment of energy systems was conducted to identify gaps in research and application. Publications covering complete energy systems and supplying a detailed resource assessment were the focus of the evaluation. Overall, 92 publications were identified and categorized by the type of system covered and the applied abiotic resource assessment methods. A total of 78 out of 92 publications covered sub-systems of renewable energy systems, and nine considered complete energy systems and conducted a detailed resource use assessment. Most of the publications in the group “complete energy system and detailed resource assessment” were found in grey literature. Several different aspects were covered to assess resource use. Thirty publications focused on similar aspects including criticality and supply risks, but technology-specific aspects are rarely assessed in the resource assessment of renewable energy systems. Few publications included sector coupling technologies, and among the publications most relevant to the aim of this paper one third did not conduct an indicator-driven assessment.",Resource assessment of renewable energy systems—a review,journal article,review,,Low carbon electricity,Low carbon electricity,,,,
10.1088/1748-9326/aae9b1,1748-9326,,,"Agusdinata, Datu Buyung; Liu, Wenjuan; Eakin, Hallie; Romero, Hugo",2018,Environmental Research Letters,,"The production of lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) has increased in capacity by almost eight fold in the past ten years due to growing demand for consumer electronics and electric-drive vehicles. The social and environmental implications of increased lithium demand is significant not only in the context of policy initiatives that are incentivizing electric vehicle adoption, but also because electric vehicle adoption is part of the vision of sustainability transitions that are being put forth in a variety of contexts. Any evidence that suggests that the externalities of the technology uptake are not being addressed would directly counter the intent of such initiatives. For LIBs to be fully sustainable, it is imperative that impacts along life cycle stages be adequately addressed, including lithium mineral extraction. This study investigates how the scope and focus of research in this area are changing and what drives their evolution. Based on a bibliometric analysis, we evaluate the state of research on the issues of lithium mineral extraction, use, and their impacts. The article identifies research hotspots and emerging research agendas by mapping the evolution of research focus and themes. Our analysis finds that research on the socio-environmental impacts of lithium extraction at local level has been very limited. We discuss some research directions to address the knowledge gaps in terms of specific research topics, methodologies, and broader system perspectives.",Socio-environmental impacts of lithium mineral extraction: towards a research agenda,journal article,review,,Minerals,Minerals,,,,
10.1088/1748-9326/ac4763,1748-9326,,,"Agusdinata, Datu Buyung; Eakin, Hallie; Liu, Wenjuan",2022,Environmental Research Letters,,"The rapid growth of electric vehicles adoption, which plays a crucial role to reduce transportation carbon emissions, is leading to a surge in demand for critical minerals such as cobalt, nickel, lithium, and rare earths. Efforts to systematically address the emerging sustainability issues associated with critical minerals have been challenged by complex mineral supply chains, and the distal and geographically dispersed nature of social-ecological impacts from mineral extraction and processing and eventual use. In this review, we apply a bibliometric analysis of the literature in the 2010–2020 period to analyze the state of research on the issues of critical mineral extraction impacts and the global governance responses. We use the concept of telecoupling to structure our literature search and analysis across four themes: (a) critical minerals global trade and supply chain, (b) sustainability and resource policy and governance, (c) mining corporate social responsibility, and (d) information feedback and public discourse. We find a growing attention to the social-ecological implications of critical mineral extraction, but also fragmentation among thematic domains that could impede progress towards more coordinated system governance. Based on the analyses, the paper concludes with a definition of some research and engagement opportunities around the telecoupling themes.",Critical minerals for electric vehicles: a telecoupling review,journal article,review,,Minerals,Minerals,,,,
10.1088/1748-9326/ac4071,17489318,,"['ENER', 'ENVI', 'MEDI']","Schulte, Ingrid;Eggers, Juliana;Nielsen, Jonas;Fuss, Sabine",2022,Environmental Research Letters,climate change policy | global environmental assessment | land-based mitigation | natural climate solutions | nature-based solutions | systematic mapping | systematic review,"Emergingresearch points to large greenhouse gas mitigation opportunities for activities that are focused on the preservation and maintenance of ecosystems, also known as natural climate solutions (NCS). Despite large quantifications of the potential biophysical and carbon benefits of these activities, these estimates hold large uncertainties and few capture the socio-economic bounds. Furthermore, the uptake of NCS remains slow and information on the enabling factors needed for successful implementation, co-benefits, and trade-offs of these activities remain underrepresented at scale. As such, we present a systematic review that synthesizes and maps the bottom-up evidence on the contextual factors that influence the implementation of NCS in the peer-reviewed literature. Drawing from a large global collection of (primarily case study-based, N = 211) research, this study (1) clarifies the definition of NCS, including in the context of nature-based solutions and other ecosystem-based approaches to addressing climate change; (2) provides an overview of the current state of literature, including research trends, opportunities, gaps, and biases; and (3) critically reflects on factors that may affect implementation in different geographies. We find that the content of the reviewed studies overwhelmingly focuses on tropical regions and activities in forest landscapes. We observe that implementation of NCS rely, not on one factor, but a suite of interlinked enabling factors. Specifically, engagement of indigenous peoples and local communities, performance-based finance, and technical assistance are important drivers of NCS implementation. While the broad categories of factors mentioned in the literature are similar across regions, the combination of factors and how and for whom they are taken up remains heterogeneous globally, and even within countries. Thus our results highlight the need to better understand what trends may be generalizable to inform best practices in policy discussions and where more nuance may be needed for interpreting research findings and applying them outside of their study contexts.",What influences the implementation of natural climate solutions? A systematic map and review of the evidence,journal article,review,,NCS,NCS,,,,
10.1016/j.energy.2012.02.011,3605442,,"['ENGI', 'ENGI', 'ENVI', 'ENGI', 'ENGI', 'ENGI']","Vujić, Jasmina;Antić, Dragoljub P.;Vukmirović, Zorka",2012,Energy,Cost estimates | Environmental impact | Fossil-burning plants | Nuclear power | Sustainable energy sources,"With all energy production systems there are environmental issues to be considered, risks to be assessed, and challenges to be addressed. It must be emphasized that an ideal energy source that is at the same time efficient, cost-effective, environment-friendly, and risk-free does not exist. There are always some necessary trade-offs to be made, in order to ensure optimal use of energy resources, while limiting environmental and health impacts. Nuclear energy is currently the only technology with a secure base-load electricity supply and no greenhouse gas emissions that has the potential to expand at a large scale. However, the spent fuel and safety issues must be addressed. Another base-load electricity source - the fossil-burning power plants - although affordable, emits various air pollutants (chemical and radioactive effluents, dust, ash, etc.), which are dispersed from a power source and transported through various pathways that could lead to the general population exposure. This paper summarizes current status and future trends in base-load electricity sources in the U.S., including environmental footprints, new regulatory requirements, and cost issues. It also presents an analysis of challenges that need to be overcome and opportunities that could us lead us closer to a sustainable energy future. © 2012.",Environmental impact and cost analysis of coal versus nuclear power: The U.S. case,journal article,review,,Nuclear,Nuclear,,,,
10.1016/j.cosust.2012.10.005,1877-3435,,,"Visseren-Hamakers, Ingrid J; McDermott, Constance; Vijge, Marjanneke J; Cashore, Benjamin",2012,Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability,,"Fundamental trade-offs exist between different land uses for carbon, livelihoods, economic development, biodiversity, agriculture and energy (especially biofuels). This article analyses the scientific debates on REDD+ trade-offs, co-benefits and safeguards, and shows how the development and expanded scope of REDD+ mechanisms have shaped these debates over time. We find substantial evidence that the non-carbon values of biodiversity conservation, equity and sustainable livelihoods are critical to both the legitimacy and effectiveness of REDD+, and argue that they therefore are better viewed as prerequisites than as values to be safeguarded. Scientists can contribute to the development of a more integrative REDD+ through interdisciplinary research and through a ‘learning architecture’ that supports the REDD+ policy development process with research dedicated to finding durable solutions.","Trade-offs, co-benefits and safeguards: current debates on the breadth of REDD+",journal article,review,,REDD,REDD,,,,
10.1002/wcc.425,17577780,,"['ENVI', 'SOCI', 'EART']","Turnhout, Esther;Gupta, Aarti;Weatherley-Singh, Janice;Vijge, Marjanneke J.;de Koning, Jessica;Visseren-Hamakers, Ingrid J.;Herold, Martin;Lederer, Markus",2017,Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Climate Change,0,"From its advent in 2005 within global climate change negotiations, reducing carbon emissions from deforestation and other forest-related activities (so-called REDD+) has been experimented with in developing country contexts for over a decade now, with a wide array of expectations coming to be associated with it. Three consecutive conceptualizations are identifiable: carbon-centered, where REDD+ is primarily a climate mitigation strategy; co-benefits-centered, where REDD+ becomes a triple win solution for climate, biodiversity and communities; and landscape-centered, where REDD+ activities are embedded in integrated sustainable land-use approaches. In assessing such evolving expectations against existing REDD+ experiences, a mixed picture emerges. Some expectations, specifically relating to forest carbon financing, are not being adequately met, while others, notably the delivery of co-benefits, hold out more promise. Yet this also highlights a potential paradox facing REDD+. While there is growing recognition that co-benefit generation is key, and that piece-meal, forest-carbon focused REDD+ interventions are unlikely to address the complex causes of tropical forest loss, forest carbon is still being foregrounded in measuring and reporting on REDD+ performance, and in generating results-based payments (even as these aspects remain challenging). This implies, however, that the future of REDD+ may lie not in one conceptualization coming to dominate, but rather in co-existence of heterogeneous practices. REDD+ may end up as a patchwork of projects and practices with different foci and financing mechanisms. Although this cannot prevent trade-offs, such a heterodox REDD+ may provide building blocks for the polycentric governance of the world's remaining tropical forests. WIREs Clim Change 2017, 8:e425. doi: 10.1002/wcc.425. For further resources related to this article, please visit the WIREs website.",Envisioning REDD+ in a post-Paris era: between evolving expectations and current practice,journal article,review,,REDD,REDD,,,,
10.1016/j.agee.2022.107891,1678809,,"['ENVI', 'AGRI', 'AGRI']","Schils, René L.M.;Bufe, Conny;Rhymer, Caroline M.;Francksen, Richard M.;Klaus, Valentin H.;Abdalla, Mohamed;Milazzo, Filippo;Lellei-Kovács, Eszter;Berge, Hein ten;Bertora, Chiara;Chodkiewicz, Anna;Dǎmǎtîrcǎ, Claudia;Feigenwinter, Iris;Fernández-Rebollo, Pilar;Ghiasi, Shiva;Hejduk, Stanislav;Hiron, Matthew;Janicka, Maria;Pellaton, Raoul;Smith, Kate E.;Thorman, Rachel;Vanwalleghem, Tom;Williams, John;Zavattaro, Laura;Kampen, Jarl;Derkx, Ria;Smith, Pete;Whittingham, Mark J.;Buchmann, Nina;Price, J. Paul Newell",2022,"Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment",Agro-ecology | Ecosystem services | Grassland | Land use change | Systematic literature review,"Permanent grasslands cover 34% of the European Union's agricultural area and are vital for a wide variety of ecosystem services essential for our society. Over recent decades, the permanent grassland area has declined and land use change continues to threaten its extent. Simultaneously, the management intensity of permanent grasslands increased. We performed a systematic literature review on the multifunctionality of permanent grasslands in Europe, examining the effects of land use and management on 19 grassland ecosystem service indicators. Based on the evidence in 696 out of 70,456 screened papers, published since 1980, we found that both land use change and intensification of management decreased multifunctionality. In particular, preventing conversion of permanent grasslands to croplands secured the delivery of multiple ecosystem services. A lower management intensity was associated with benefits for biodiversity, climate regulation and water purification, but impacted the provision of high-quality animal feed. Increasing the number of species in the sward enhanced multifunctionality of permanent grassland without significant trade-offs such as losses in production. Our review covered many aspects of land use, management and ecosystem services, but we also identified areas with no or only few studies. The most prominent gaps were related to comparisons between permanent and temporary grasslands, and effects of management practices on the provision of cultural values, and on erosion and flood control. We suggest that, despite apparent changes in human dietary preferences, the protection of permanent grasslands in Europe must be prioritised. At the same time, considering the need to reduce ruminant livestock's contribution to climate change, the time seems ripe to increase support for low-intensity grassland management to optimise the provision of essential ecosystem services from Europe's permanent grasslands.",Permanent grasslands in Europe: Land use change and intensification decrease their multifunctionality,journal article,review,,Reduced conversion of forests,Reduced conversion of forests,,,,
10.1016/S0306-2619(99)00077-X,0306-2619,,,"Abbasi, S. A; Abbasi, Naseema",2000,Applied Energy,,"The global attention has always been focussed on the adverse environmental impacts of conventional energy sources. In contrast nonconventional energy sources, particularly the renewable ones, have enjoyed a ‘clean’ image vis a vis environmental impacts. The only major exception to this general trend has been large hydropower projects; experience has taught us that they can be disastrous for the environment. The belief now is that minihydel and microhydel projects are harmless alternatives. But are renewable energy sources really as benign as is widely believed? The present essay addresses this question in the background of Lovin's classical paradigm, which had postulated the hard (malignant) and soft (benign) energy concepts in the first place. It critically evaluates the environmental impacts of major renewable energy sources. It then comes up with the broad conclusion that renewable energy sources are not the panacea they are popularly perceived to be; indeed in some cases their adverse environmental impacts can be as strongly negative as the impacts of conventional energy sources. The paper also dwells on the steps we need to take so that we can utilize renewable energy sources without facing environmental backlashes of the type we got from hydropower projects.",The likely adverse environmental impacts of renewable energy sources,journal article,review,,SHW,SHW,,,,
10.1525/bio.2011.61.12.8,0006-3568,,,"Lovich, Jeffrey E.; Ennen, Joshua R.",2011,BioScience,,"Large areas of public land are currently being permitted or evaluated for utility-scale solar energy development (USSED) in the southwestern United States, including areas with high biodiversity and protected species. However, peer-reviewed studies of the effects of USSED on wildlife are lacking. The potential effects of the construction and the eventual decommissioning of solar energy facilities include the direct mortality of wildlife; environmental impacts of fugitive dust and dust suppressants; destruction and modification of habitat, including the impacts of roads; and off-site impacts related to construction material acquisition, processing, and transportation. The potential effects of the operation and maintenance of the facilities include habitat fragmentation and barriers to gene flow, increased noise, electromagnetic field generation, microclimate alteration, pollution, water consumption, and fire. Facility design effects, the efficacy of site-selection criteria, and the cumulative effects of USSED on regional wildlife populations are unknown. Currently available peer-reviewed data are insufficient to allow a rigorous assessment of the impact of USSED on wildlife.","Wildlife Conservation and Solar Energy Development in the Desert Southwest, United States",journal article,review,,SHW,SHW,,,,
10.1111/j.1365-2664.2009.01697.x,1365-2664,,,"Inger, Richard; Attrill, Martin J.; Bearhop, Stuart; Broderick, Annette C.; James Grecian, W.; Hodgson, David J.; Mills, Cheryl; Sheehan, Emma; Votier, Stephen C.; Witt, Matthew J.; Godley, Brendan J.",2009,Journal of Applied Ecology,"environmental impact, artificial reefs, fish aggregation devices, marine-protected areas, wave power, wind farm, wind power","1. The evidence for anthropogenically induced climate change is overwhelming with the production of greenhouse gases from burning fossil fuels being a key driver. In response, many governments have initiated programmes of energy production from renewable sources. 2. The marine environment presents a relatively untapped energy source and offshore installations are likely to produce a significant proportion of future energy production. Wind power is the most advanced, with development of wave and tidal energy conversion devices expected to increase worldwide in the near future. 3. Concerns over the potential impacts on biodiversity of marine renewable energy installations (MREI) include: habitat loss, collision risks, noise and electromagnetic fields. These factors have been posited as having potentially important negative environmental impacts. 4. Conversely, we suggest that if appropriately managed and designed, MREI may increase local biodiversity and potentially benefit the wider marine environment. Installations have the capacity to act as both artificial reefs and fish aggregation devices, which have been used previously to facilitate restoration of damaged ecosystems, and de facto marine-protected areas, which have proven successful in enhancing both biodiversity and fisheries. 5. The deployment of MREI has the potential to cause conflict among interest groups including energy companies, the fishing sector and environmental groups. Conflicts should be minimized by integrating key stakeholders into the design, siting, construction and operational phases of the installations, and by providing clear evidence of their potential environmental benefits. 6. Synthesis and applications. MREI have the potential to be both detrimental and beneficial to the environment but the evidence base remains limited. To allow for full biodiversity impacts to be assessed, there exists an urgent need for additional multi and inter-disciplinary research in this area ranging from engineering to policy. Whilst there are a number of factors to be considered, one of the key decisions facing current policy makers is where installations should be sited, and, dependent upon site, whether they should be designed to either minimize negative environmental impacts or as facilitators of ecosystem restoration.",Marine renewable energy: potential benefits to biodiversity? An urgent call for research,journal article,review,,SHW,SHW,,,,
10.1016/j.rser.2015.12.005,13640321,,['ENER'],"Sokka, L.;Sinkko, T.;Holma, A.;Manninen, K.;Pasanen, K.;Rantala, M.;Leskinen, P.",2016,Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews,Environmental impacts | Environmental policy | Life cycle assessment | Renewable energy | Risks,"Reduction of greenhouse gas emissions and mitigation of climate change are the main aims of the global climate policy. Increased use of renewable energy is a central measure in achieving these goals. However, mitigation of climate change through increased use of renewable energy also has negative environmental impacts. Focusing merely on greenhouse gas emissions may lead to overseeing these other negative environmental impacts and thereby in unwanted side-effects. The aim of this review was to assess the overall life cycle impacts related to the production and use of the different renewable energy sources. Impacts were assessed for unit processes and for the Finnish national renewable energy targets as a whole. The review points out that in order to comprehensively understand the overall environmental impacts of the different renewable energy sources, a thorough life cycle assessment with a unified framework would be needed. Presently there is only limited information available or the published results are not comparable with each another. However, assessment using the Finnish National Renewable Energy Targets for 2020 also indicates that under the present targets, the overall environmental impacts of the renewable energy use are likely to be low. Main impacts or risks of impacts relate to the use of forest energy.",Environmental impacts of the national renewable energy targets - A case study from Finland,journal article,review,,SHW,SHW,,,,
10.1016/j.rser.2016.08.030,1364-0321,,,"Gasparatos, Alexandros; Doll, Christopher N. H.; Esteban, Miguel; Ahmed, Abubakari; Olang, Tabitha A.",2017,Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews,"Renewable energy, Ecosystem services, Biodiversity, Green Economy, Mitigation strategies","This literature review identifies the impacts of different renewable energy pathways on ecosystems and biodiversity, and the implications of these impacts for transitioning to a Green Economy. While the higher penetration of renewable energy is currently the backbone of Green Economy efforts, an emerging body of literature demonstrates that the renewable energy sector can affect ecosystems and biodiversity. The current review synthesizes the existing knowledge at the interface of renewable energy and biodiversity accross the five drivers of ecosystem change and biodiversity loss of the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (MA) framework (i.e. habitat loss/change, pollution, overexploitation, climate change and introduction of invasive species). It identifies the main impact mechanisms for different renewable energy pathways, including solar, wind, hydro, ocean, geothermal and bioenergy. Our review demonstrates that while all reviewed renewable energy pathways are associated (directly or indirectly) with each of the five MA drivers of ecosystem change and biodiversity loss, the actual impact mechanisms depend significantly between the different pathways, specific technologies and the environmental contexts within which they operate. With this review we do not question the fundamental logic of renewable energy expansion as it has been shown to have high environmental and socio-economic benefits. However, we want to make the point that some negative impacts on biodiversity do exist, and need to be considered when developing renewable energy policies. We put these findings into perspective by illustrating the major knowledge/practices gaps and policy implications at the interface of renewable energy, biodiversity conservation and the Green Economy.",Renewable energy and biodiversity: Implications for transitioning to a Green Economy,journal article,review,,SHW,SHW,,,,
10.1016/j.rser.2012.06.023,1364-0321,,,"Arvesen, Anders; Hertwich, Edgar G.",2012,Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews,"Carbon footprint, Electricity, Wind energy, LCA, Sustainability assessment","We critically review present knowledge of the life cycle environmental impacts of wind power. We find that the current body of life cycle assessments (LCA) of wind power provides a fairly good overall understanding of fossil energy use and associated pollution; our survey of results that appear in existing literature give mean values (± standard deviation) of, e.g., 0.060 (±0.058)kWh energy used and 19 (±13)g CO2e emitted per kWh electricity, suggesting good environmental performance vis-à-vis fossil-based power. Total emissions of onshore and offshore wind farms are comparable. The bulk of emissions generally occur in the production of components; onshore, the wind turbine dominates, while offshore, the substructure becomes relatively more important. Strong positive effects of scale are present in the lower end of the turbine size spectrum, but there is no clear evidence for such effects for MW-sized units. We identify weaknesses and gaps in knowledge that future research may address. This includes poorly understood impacts in categories of toxicity and resource depletion, lack of empirical basis for assumptions about replacement of parts, and apparent lack of detailed considerations of offshore operations for wind farms in ocean waters. We argue that applications of the avoided burden method to model recycling benefits generally lack transparency and may be inconsistent. Assumed capacity factor values are generally higher than current mean realized values. Finally, we discuss the need for LCA research to move beyond unit-based assessments in order to address temporal aspects and the scale of impacts.",Assessing the life cycle environmental impacts of wind power: A review of present knowledge and research needs,journal article,review,,SHW,SHW,,,,
10.1016/S0301-4215(03)00241-6,0301-4215,,,"Tsoutsos, Theocharis; Frantzeskaki, Niki; Gekas, Vassilis",2005,Energy Policy,"Environmental impact assessment, Photovoltaic, Solar energy systems","Solar energy systems (photovoltaics, solar thermal, solar power) provide significant environmental benefits in comparison to the conventional energy sources, thus contributing, to the sustainable development of human activities. Sometimes however, their wide scale deployment has to face potential negative environmental implications. These potential problems seem to be a strong barrier for a further dissemination of these systems in some consumers. To cope with these problems this paper presents an overview of an Environmental Impact Assessment. We assess the potential environmental intrusions in order to ameliorate them with new technological innovations and good practices in the future power systems. The analysis provides the potential burdens to the environment, which include—during the construction, the installation and the demolition phases, as well as especially in the case of the central solar technologies—noise and visual intrusion, greenhouse gas emissions, water and soil pollution, energy consumption, labour accidents, impact on archaeological sites or on sensitive ecosystems, negative and positive socio-economic effects.",Environmental impacts from the solar energy technologies,journal article,review,,SHW,SHW,,,,
no doi,,,,"Taber Allison; Diffendorfer, James E.; Erin Baerwald; Julie Beston; David Drake; Amanda Hale; Cris Hein; Huso, Manuela M.; Scott Loss; Lovich, Jeffrey E.; Dale Strickland; Kate Williams; Virginia Winder",2019,Issues in Ecology,,"Electricity from wind energy is a major contributor to the strategy to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuel use and thus reduce the negative impacts of climate change. Wind energy, like all power sources, can have adverse impacts on wildlife. After nearly 25 years of focused research, these impacts are much better understood, although uncertainty remains. In this report, we summarize positive impacts of replacing fossil fuels with wind energy, while describing what we have learned and what remains uncertain about negative ecological impacts of the construction and operation of land-based and offshore wind energy on wildlife and wildlife habitat in the U.S. Finally, we propose research on ways to minimize these impacts. TO SUMMARIZE: 1 Environmental and other benefits of wind energy include near-zero greenhouse gas emissions, reductions of other common air pollutants, and little or no water use associated with producing electricity from wind energy. Various scenarios for meeting U.S. carbon emission reduction goals indicate that a four- to five-fold expansion of land-based wind energy from the current 97 gigawatts (GW) by the year 2050 is needed to minimize temperature increases and reduce the risk of climate change to people and wildlife. 2 Collision fatalities of birds and bats are the most visible and measurable impacts of wind energy production. Current estimates suggest most bird species, especially songbirds, are at low risk of population-level impacts. Raptors as a group appear more vulnerable to collisions. Population-level impacts on migratory tree bats are a concern, and better information on population sizes is needed to evaluate potential impacts to these species. Although recorded fatalities of cave-dwelling bat species are typically low at most wind energy facilities, additional mortality from collisions is a concern given major declines in these species due to white-nose syndrome (WNS). Assessments of regional and cumulative fatality impacts for birds and bats have been hampered by the lack of data from areas with a high proportion of the nation’s installed wind energy capacity. Efforts to expand data accessibility from all regions are underway, and this greater access to data along with improvements in statistical estimators should lead to improved impact assessments. 3 Habitat impacts of wind energy development are difficult to assess. An individual wind energy facility may encompass thousands of acres, but only a small percentage of the landscape within the project area is directly transformed. If a project is sited in previously undisturbed habitat, there is concern for indirect impacts, such as displacement of sensitive species. Studies to date indicate displacement of some species, but the long-term population impacts are unknown. 4 Offshore wind energy development in the U.S. is just beginning. Studies at offshore wind facilities in Europe indicate some bird and marine mammal",Impacts to wildlife of wind energy siting and operation in the United States,journal article,review,,SHW,SHW,,,,
10.3390/su12062408,,,"['SOCI', 'ENER', 'ENVI', 'ENER', 'ENVI']","Yoshida, Yuichiro;Lee, Han Soo;Trung, Bui Huy;Tran, Hoang Dung;Lall, Mahrjan Keshlav;Kakar, Kifayatullah;Xuan, Tran Dang",2020,Sustainability (Switzerland),Aquaculture | Economic impacts | Floodplain | Mekong river | Migration barrier | Tonle Sap | Tradeoff,"The riverine ecosystems of the Mekong River Basin possess the world's most productive inland fishery and provide highly productive food crops for millions of people annually. The development of hydropower potential in the Mekong River has long been of interest to governments in the region. Among the existing 64 dams, 46 dams have been built in the Lower Mekong Basin (LMB) to produce up to 8650 MW of electricity. Additionally, of the 123 proposed built hydropower dams, eleven hydropower plants have been nominated for the river mainstream and are expected to install a total of 13,000 MW in the LMB countries. However, serious concerns have intensified over the potential negative economic consequences, especially on fisheries and agriculture in Cambodia and Vietnam. To date, most of the concerns have concentrated on the impacts on hydrology, environment, livelihood, and diversity in the LMB attributed to hydropower development. This paper, however, discusses the fishery and agricultural sectors of the LMB and focuses on the downstream floodplains of Cambodia and Vietnam. The dam construction has caused greater losses of biodiversity and fisheries than climate change in the LMB. The reduction of 276,847 and 178,169 t of fish, 3.7% and 2.3% of rice, 21.0% and 10.0% of maize will contribute to a decrease of 3.7% and 0.3% of the GDP of Cambodia and Vietnam, respectively. Lao PDR may benefit the most revenue from electricity generation than the other country in the LMB, as most of the proposed dams are projected in the country. Cambodia burdens 3/4 of the reduction of total capture fishery destruction, whilst Lao PDR, Thailand, and Vietnam endure the remaining 1/3 losses. The tradeoff analyses reveal that losses of capture fisheries, sediment or nutrients, and social mitigation costs are greater than the benefits from electricity generation, improved irrigation, and flood control of the LMB region. The socioeconomic and environmental damage caused by hydropower dams in developing countries, including the Mekong, is greater than the early costs in North America and Europe. It is proposed that dam construction for hydropower in the Mekong River, as well as other rivers in developing countries, should be gradually removed and shifted toward solar, wind, and other renewable resources.",Impacts of mainstream hydropower dams on fisheries and agriculture in lower mekong basin,journal article,review,,SHW,SHW,,,,
10.1016/j.biocon.2021.109297,,,,"Copping, Andrea E.;Hemery, Lenaïg G.;Viehman, Haley;Seitz, Andrew C.;Staines, Garrett J.;Hasselman, Daniel J.",2021,Biological Conservation,Environmental effects | Fish | Interactions | Marine renewable energy,"Many fish species are threatened worldwide by overfishing, contamination, coastal development, climate change, and other anthropogenic activities. Marine renewable energy (MRE) is under development as a sustainable alternative to carbon-based energy sources. Regulators and stakeholders worry that MRE devices will add another threat to fish populations already under pressure. This paper reviews the current knowledge of potential effects of MRE development on fish. These may include collision with devices that may lead to injury or death; underwater noise generated by MRE devices that may affect fish behavior and health; electromagnetic fields from power cables and other electrical infrastructure that may lead sensitive fish species to approach or avoid them; changes in critical fish habitat, including nursery, feeding, and spawning grounds; shoaling of fish around MRE devices; and displacement of fish populations or communities around arrays of multiple MRE devices. Field- and laboratory-based studies that have examined fish presence, avoidance, and evasion around MRE devices suggest that collisions are rare. Progress is being made on data collection and modeling tools to estimate fish encounter rates with MRE devices, the consequences of collisions, and population-level ecological risks. Similarly, studies exposing fish to turbine-generated noise and electromagnetic fields demonstrate little effect on fish behavior; in fact, MRE device noise falls below reported hearing thresholds. Inquiries into the effects of MRE devices on fish are ongoing, and research is needed to ensure the health of fish populations while facilitating the sustainable development of renewable energy sources.",Are fish in danger? A review of environmental effects of marine renewable energy on fishes,journal article,review,,wind power,,,,,
10.1016/j.catena.2022.106232,,,,"Gong, Chen;Tan, Qingyue;Liu, Guobin;Xu, Mingxiang",2022,Catena,Loess Plateau | Monocultures | Plant biomass | Soil moisture | Trade-offs | Tree species mixtures,"Afforestation is an effective measure to combat land degradation and mitigate climate change. However, afforestation tends to consume a tremendous amount of soil moisture while increasing vegetation biomass and coverage. Although convincing evidence indicates that mixed trees have higher resistance and resilience to climate change and natural disturbance than pure trees, it is unclear how tree mixtures affect the relationship between soil water storage and tree biomass. By conducting a meta-analysis of 86 observations from 27 studies, we showed that there was a trade-off between soil water storage and tree biomass in artificially planted trees on the Loess Plateau, with an average root mean square deviation (RMSD) value of 0.22. The RMSD value between soil water storage and tree biomass for mixed trees was significantly lower than that for pure trees, and the relative benefits of the trade-off were biased toward soil water storage. In dry areas (aridity index (AI) < 0.3), the RMSD value between soil water storage and tree biomass of artificially planted trees was the highest, and this value of mixed trees was significantly lower than that of pure trees. In terms of different plantation ages, the RMSD value between soil water storage and tree biomass for mixed trees was significantly lower than that for pure trees in plantations aged >20 years. Additionally, RMSD values between soil water storage and tree biomass under different afforestation patterns were negatively correlated with the initial water storage and soil organic carbon content. Our results show that tree mixtures optimize the trade-off between soil water storage and tree biomass in arid and semiarid areas.",Advantage of mixed trees in the trade-off between soil water storage and tree biomass: A meta-analysis from artificially planted forests in Chinese Loess Plateau,journal article,review,,ARR,,,,,
10.1007/s10040-011-0715-4,,,,"Lemieux, Jean Michel",2011,Hydrogeology Journal,Carbon sequestration | Contamination | Groundwater protection | Review | Saline aquifers,"Underground geological storage of CO2 in deep saline aquifers is considered for reducing greenhouse gases emissions into the atmosphere. However, some issues were raised with regard to the potential hazards to shallow groundwater resources from CO2 leakage, brine displacement and pressure build-up. An overview is provided of the current scientific knowledge pertaining to the potential impact on shallow groundwater resources of geological storage of CO2 in deep saline aquifers, identifying knowledge gaps for which original research opportunities are proposed. Two main impacts are defined and discussed therein: the near-field impact due to the upward vertical migration of free-phase CO2 to surficial aquifers, and the far-field impact caused by large-scale displacement of formation waters by the injected CO2. For the near-field, it is found that numerical studies predict possible mobilization of trace elements but concentrations are rarely above the maximum limit for potable water. For the far-field, numerical studies predict only minor impacts except for some specific geological conditions such as high caprock permeability. Despite important knowledge gaps, the possible environmental impacts of geological storage of CO2 in deep saline aquifers on shallow groundwater resources appears to be low, but much more work is required to evaluate site specific impacts. © 2011 Springer-Verlag.",Review: The potential impact of underground geological storage of carbon dioxide in deep saline aquifers on shallow groundwater resources,journal article,review,,CCS,,,,,
10.3390/land10010072,,,,"Cherubin, Maurício Roberto;Carvalho, João Luís Nunes;Cerri, Carlos Eduardo Pellegrino;Nogueira, Luiz Augusto Horta;Souza, Glaucia Mendes;Cantarella, Heitor",2021,Land,Bioelectricity | Brazil | Ecosystem services | Ethanol | Land-use change | RenovaBio | Soil carbon sequestration | Soil health,"Bioenergy is an important and feasible option for mitigating global warming and climate change. However, large-scale land-use change (LUC) to expand bioenergy crops, such as sugarcane, raises concerns about the potential negative environmental and socioeconomic side effects. Such effects are context-specific, and depending on the LUC scenario and management practices, several co-benefits can be attained. We reviewed the literature and discussed how LUC and best management practices affect key components of sustainability (e.g., soil health, soil carbon (C) sequestration, greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) emissions, nutrient cycling, water quality, among others) of sugarcane-derived bioenergy production in Brazil. Sugarcane expansion has occurred predominantly over pasture areas, although converting croplands could be also an environmentally feasible option. The land transition from low-productivity pastures to sugarcane cultivation seems to be a sustainable pathway to increase bioenergy production. This LUC scenario enhances soil health and soil C sequestration over time, although soil compaction, biodiversity loss, and erosion are still challenging. Besides, adopting best management practices, such as conservation tillage, sustainable crop residue management, rational fertilization, and recycling by-products, has been fundamental to ensuring sustainable bioenergy production. Public policies and well-designed legal frameworks and regulations, such as the Forest Code and the RenovaBio legislations in Brazil, are necessary to make bioenergy production compatible with rational land use and protection. Lastly, our analysis provided insights into sugarcane expansion over a small proportion (1%) of pasture areas in Latin American and Caribbean (LAC) and sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries, which may result in a substantial impact on global bioenergy supply. We concluded that sugarcane-derived bioenergy is a sustainable option to tackle climate change while provisioning other key ecosystem services and promoting socioeconomic development.",Land use and management effects on sustainable sugarcane-derived bioenergy,journal article,review,,Bioenergy,,,,,
10.3390/LAND8120179,,,,"Tisserant, Alexandre;Cherubini, Francesco",2019,Land,Biochar | Biogeochemical cycles | Biophysical effects | Carbon dioxide removal | Climate mitigation | Environmental assessment | Food security | Life-cycle assessment | Negative emission technology | Pyrolysis,"Biochar is one of the most affordable negative emission technologies (NET) at hand for future large-scale deployment of carbon dioxide removal (CDR), which is typically found essential to stabilizing global temperature rise at relatively low levels. Biochar has also attracted attention as a soil amendment capable of improving yield and soil quality and of reducing soil greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. In this work, we review the literature on biochar production potential and its effects on climate, food security, ecosystems, and toxicity. We identify three key factors that are largely affecting the environmental performance of biochar application to agricultural soils: (1) production condition during pyrolysis, (2) soil conditions and background climate, and (3) field management of biochar. Biochar production using only forest or crop residues can achieve up to 10% of the required CDR for 1.5 °C pathways and about 25% for 2 °C pathways; the consideration of dedicated crops as biochar feedstocks increases the CDR potential up to 15-35% and 35-50%, respectively. A quantitative review of life-cycle assessment (LCA) studies of biochar systems shows that the total climate change assessment of biochar ranges between a net emission of 0.04 tCO2eq and a net reduction of 1.67 tCO2eq per tonnes feedstock. The wide range of values is due to different assumptions in the LCA studies, such as type of feedstock, biochar stability in soils, soil emissions, substitution effects, and methodological issues. Potential trade-offs between climate mitigation and other environmental impact categories include particulate matter, acidification, and eutrophication and mostly depend on the background energy system considered and on whether residues or dedicated feedstocks are used for biochar production. Overall, our review finds that biochar in soils presents relatively low risks in terms of negative environmental impacts and can improve soil quality and that decisions regarding feedstock mix and pyrolysis conditions can be optimized to maximize climate benefits and to reduce trade-offs under different soil conditions. However, more knowledge on the fate of biochar in freshwater systems and as black carbon emissions is required, as they represent potential negative consequences for climate and toxicity. Biochar systems also interact with the climate through many complex mechanisms (i.e., surface albedo, black carbon emissions from soils, etc.) or with water bodies through leaching of nutrients. These effects are complex and the lack of simplified metrics and approaches prevents their routine inclusion in environmental assessment studies. Specific emission factors produced from more sophisticated climate and ecosystem models are instrumental to increasing the resolution and accuracy of environmental sustainability analysis of biochar systems and can ultimately improve the characterization of the heterogeneities of varying local conditions and combinations of type feedstock, conversion process, soil conditions, and application practice.","Potentials, limitations, co-benefits, and trade-offs of biochar applications to soils for climate change mitigation",journal article,review,,Biochar,,,,,
no doi,,978-1-4471-5531-7 978-1-4471-5532-4,,"Andersen, Otto",2013,n/a,"Environmental and Health Impacts of Renewable Energy, Implementation of Sustainable Practices, Science and Technology Studies on Renewable Energy, Sustainable Energy Sources, Unintended Impacts of Renewable Energy",,Unintended Consequences of Renewable Energy,Book,theory/concept,,,,,,,
no doi,,978-0-262-01358-1,,"Graedel, T. E.; Van der Voet, Ester",2010,n/a,"Science / Environmental Science, Business & Economics / Development / Sustainable Development","Experts discuss the multiple components of sustainability, the constraints imposed by their linkages, and the necessity of taking a comprehensive view. Humanity faces immense hurdles as it struggles to define the path toward a sustainable future. The multiple components of sustainability, all of which demand attention, make understanding the very concept of sustainability itself a challenge. Information about whether global agriculture can be made sustainable, for example, or calculations of the global need for water are useless unless we understand how these issues connect to each other and to other components of sustainability. In this book, experts engage in an extended dialogue concerning these linkages, arguing for a comprehensive view of sustainability. They emphasize the constraints imposed by the relationships among the components--for example, how the need for clean, easily accessible water intersects with the need for the energy required to provide it--and distinguish those constraints that may pose severe limitations on humanity's future from those of less concern. The book also highlights areas for future research and debate. Linkages of Sustainability urges a transformation in the way we view sustainability--a transformation that is necessary if we are to plan responsibly for a more sustainable world.",Linkages of Sustainability,Book,theory/concept,,,,,,,
no doi,,978-1-136-52514-8,,"Toman, Michael; Burtraw, Dallas",2010,Climate Change Economics and Policy: An RFF Anthology,"Technology & Engineering / Environmental / General, Nature / Ecology","What are the potential adverse impacts of climate change? How can society determine the amount of protection against climate change that is warranted, given the benefits and costs of various policies? In concise, informative chapters, Climate Economics and Policy considers the key issues involved in one of the most important policy debates of our time. Beginning with an overview and policy history, it explores the potential impact of climate change on a variety of domains, including water resources, agriculture, and forests. The contributors then provide assessments of policies that will affect greenhouse gas emissions, including electricity restructuring, carbon sequestration in forests, and early reduction programs. In considering both domestic and international policy options, the authors examine command and control strategies, energy efficiency opportunities, taxes, emissions trading, subsidy reform, and inducements for technological progress. Both policymakers and the general public will find this volume to be a convenient and authoritative guide to climate change risk and policy. It is a useful resource for professional education programs, and an important addition for college courses in environmental economics and environmental studies. Climate Economics and Policy is a collection of Issue Briefs, prepared by the staff of Resources for the Future (RFF) and outside experts. Many are adapted from pieces originally disseminated on Weathervane, RFF‘s acclaimed web site on global climate change.","""Ancillary Benefits"" of Greenhouse Gas Mitigation Policies",Book chapter,theory/concept,,,,,,,
no doi,,3-924859-25-6,,"Weidner, Helmut; Tsuru, Shigeto; Weidner, Helmut",1989,Environmental policy in Japan,"environmental policy, environment, act, damages, environmental law, environmental pollution, environmental protection, environmental reporting, Far East, Gesetz, international comparison, internationaler Vergleich, Japan, Ostasien, Prävention, prevention, Qualität, quality, Schadensersatz, Umwelt, Umweltberichterstattung, Umweltpolitik, Umweltrecht, Umweltschutz, Umweltverschmutzung",,Japanese environmental policy in an international perspective: lessons for a preventive approach,Book chapter,theory/concept,,,,,,,
no doi,,,,"Kim, Rakhyun E.; van Asselt, Harro; Morgera, E; Kulovesi, K",2016,Research Handbook on International Law and Natural Resources,,,Global governance: Problem shifting in the Anthropocene and the limits of international law,Book chapter,theory/concept,,,,,,,
no doi,,,,"Gruben, Thomas",2022,n/a,,,The Effects of Short-termism on Sectoral Problem Shifting,Master thesis,theory/concept,,,,,,,
no doi,,,,"Nilsson, M.; Griggs, D.; McCollum, D.; Stevance, A.",2017,n/a,,"The United Nations’ 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development was adopted in September 2015. It is underpinned by 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and 169 targets. National policy-makers now face the challenge of implementing this indivisible agenda and achieving progress across the economic, social and environmental dimensions of sustainable development world-wide. As the process moves towards implementation, there is a need to address the scope and systemic nature of the 2030 Agenda and the urgency of the challenges. This requires a wide range of tools and science-based analysis to navigate that complexity and to realise the ambition. This report explores the nature of interlinkages between the SDGs. It is based on the premise that a science-informed analysis of interactions across SDG domains – which is currently lacking – can support more coherent and effective decision-making, and better facilitate follow-up and monitoring of progress.  Under   standing possible trade-offs as well as synergistic relations between the different SDGs is crucial for achieving long-lasting sustainable development outcomes. A key objective of the scoring approach described here is to stimulate more science-policy dialogue on the importance of interactions, to provide a starting point for policy-makers and other stakeholders to set their priorities and implementation strategies, and to engage the policy community in further knowledge developments in this field.",A guide to SDG interactions: From science to implementation,Report,theory/concept,,,,,,,
no doi,,92-64-18542-9,,"Rothman, Dale",2000,Ancillary Benefits and Costs of Greenhouse Gas Mitigation: Proceedings of an IPCC Co-Sponsored Workshop,,,"Estimating Ancillary Impacts, Benefits and Costs on Ecosystems from Proposed GHG Mitigation Policies",Conference proceedings,theory/concept,,,,,,,
no doi,,,,"van der Voet, Ester; van Oers, Lauran",1997,Regional and National Material Flow Accounting: From Paradigm to Practice of Sustainability,,,Materials management and problem shifting,Conference proceedings,theory/concept,,,,,,,
no doi,,,,"Pearce, D.",2000,Ancillary Benefits and Costs of Greenhouse Gas Mitigation: Proceedings of an IPCC Co-Sponsored Workshop,,"Climate change policies which involve measures to reduce carbon dioxide emissions may also have effects on levels of other pollutants such as nitrogen oxides, particulates and sulfur dioxide, reducing other harmful impacts (traffic noise, accidents etc.), increasing employment levels and stimulating technological change. Knowing the size of these so-called ancillary benefits has great significance for various aspects of policy. This paper focuses on how ancillary effects can be integrated into decision making and with what methodologies, and what the implications are, of the ancillary effects for the choice of policy instruments such as taxes, which is the issue of policy design. 73 refs., 4 figs., 2 tabs.",Policy frameworks for the ancillary benefits of climate change policies,Conference proceedings,theory/concept,,,,,,,
10.1021/es204163f,0013936X,,"['CHEM', 'ENVI']","Laurent, Alexis;Olsen, Stig I.;Hauschild, Michael Z.",2012,Environmental Science & Technology,0,"Greenhouse gas accountings, commonly referred to with the popular term carbon footprints (CFP), are a widely used metric of climate change impacts and the main focus of many sustainability policies among companies and authorities. However, environmental sustainability concerns not just climate change but also other environmental problems, like chemical pollution or depletion of natural resources, and the focus on CFP brings the risk of problem shifting when reductions in CFP are obtained at the expense of increase in other environmental impacts. But how real is this risk? Here, we model and analyze the life cycle impacts from about 4000 different products, technologies, and services taken from several sectors, including energy generation, transportation, material production, infrastructure, and waste management. By investigating the correlations between the CFP and 13 other impact scores, we show that some environmental impacts, notably those related to emissions of toxic substances, often do not covary with climate change impacts. In such situations, carbon footprint is a poor representative of the environmental burden of products, and environmental management focused exclusively on CFP runs the risk of inadvertently shifting the problem to other environmental impacts when products are optimized to become more ""green"". These findings call for the use of more broadly encompassing tools to assess and manage environmental sustainability. © 2012 American Chemical Society.",Limitations of carbon footprint as indicator of environmental sustainability,journal article,theory/concept,,,,,,,
10.1016/j.biombioe.2007.06.012,9619534,,"['AGRI', 'ENER', 'AGRI', 'ENVI']","Stupak, I.;Asikainen, A.;Jonsell, M.;Karltun, E.;Lunnan, A.;Mizaraite, D.;Pasanen, K.;Pärn, H.;Raulund-Rasmussen, K.;Röser, D.;Schroeder, M.;Varnagiryte, I.;Vilkriste, L.;Callesen, I.;Clarke, N.;Gaitnieks, T.;Ingerslev, M.;Mandre, M.;Ozolincius, R.;Saarsalmi, A.;Armolaitis, K.;Helmisaari, H. S.;Indriksons, A.;Kairiukstis, L.;Katzensteiner, K.;Kukkola, M.;Ots, K.;Ravn, H. P.;Tamminen, P.",2007,Biomass and Bioenergy,Bioenergy | Certification | Environmental consequences | Forest fuel extraction | Guidelines | Legislation | Policy | Recommendations | Sustainable forest management | Wood ash,"The substitution of biomass for fossil fuels in energy consumption is a measure to mitigate global warming, as well as having other advantages. Political action plans for increased use exist at both European and national levels. This paper briefly reviews the contents of recommendations, guidelines, and other synthesis publications on sustainable use of forest biomass for energy. Topics are listed and an overview of advantages, disadvantages, and trade-offs between them is given, from the viewpoint of society in general and the forestry and energy sectors in particular. For the Nordic and Baltic countries, the paper also identifies the extent to which wood for energy is included in forest legislation and forest certification standards under the ""Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification"" (PEFC) and the ""Forest Stewardship Council"" (FSC) schemes. Energy and forest policies at EU and national levels, and European PEFC forest standards are analysed. With respect to energy policies, the utilisation of wood for energy is generally supported in forest policies, but forest legislation is seldom used as a direct tool to encourage the utilisation of wood for energy. Regulations sometimes restrict use for environmental reasons. Forest certification standards include indicators directly related to the utilisation of wood for energy under several criteria, with most occurrences found under environmental criteria. Roles and problems in relation to policy, legislation, certification standards, recommendations and guidelines, and science are discussed. © 2007 Elsevier Ltd. .","Sustainable utilisation of forest biomass for energy-Possibilities and problems: Policy, legislation, certification, and recommendations and guidelines in the Nordic, Baltic, and other European countries",journal article,theory/concept,,Bioenergy,Bioenergy,,,,
10.1111/gcbb.12798,1757-1707,,,"Creutzig, Felix; Erb, Karl-Heinz; Haberl, Helmut; Hof, Christian; Hunsberger, Carol; Roe, Stephanie",2021,GCB Bioenergy,"climate change mitigation, biodiversity, BECCS, IPCC, livelihood, sustainable","The majority of scenarios that meet the goals of the Paris agreements exceed sustainability and precautionary thresholds in land, biodiversity and BECCS potentials. Risks may be best avoided by demand-side driven rapid decarbonization and less land-intensive carbon dioxide removal technologies.",Considering sustainability thresholds for BECCS in IPCC and biodiversity assessments,journal article,theory/concept,,CDR,BECCS,,,,
10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2018.02.004,0959-3780,,,"Heck, Vera; Hoff, Holger; Wirsenius, Stefan; Meyer, Carsten; Kreft, Holger",2018,Global Environmental Change,"Biodiversity, Carbon sequestration, Land use, Optimisation, Planetary Boundaries, Sustainable Development Goals","In this paper we develop and assess alternative global land use patterns, guided by the Planetary Boundaries framework, to quantify land use opportunities for staying within the safe environmental operating space. Through a simulation based multi-criteria land use optimisation procedure, we determine the potential upper bounds of improved terrestrial carbon storage and of biodiversity conservation, while also meeting the Planetary Boundaries of land and water use and ensuring improved food supply for a population of 9 billion people. We present alternative global land use scenarios that could simultaneously yield better outcomes on all of these goals, in particular if substantial increases in agricultural productivity are realised. Terrestrial carbon sequestration potentials reach 98 GtC, whereas the potential reduction of the risk to biodiversity is 53%. Furthermore, we analyse the potential synergies and trade-offs of these global land use scenarios with national- and local-level environmental and developmental goals such as those specified in the SDGs, e.g. related to nature conservation, afforestation, bioenergy, employment and equity. This model-based information on synergies and trade-offs between different sustainability goals at different scales can be used in scientific assessments of transformation pathways, in policy making, in support of improved horizontal and vertical policy coherence and multi-level institutional solutions, as well as in SDG implementation, sustainable production and consumption (SDG 12) and global partnership mechanisms (SDG 17).",Land use options for staying within the Planetary Boundaries – Synergies and trade-offs between global and local sustainability goals,journal article,theory/concept,,CDR,,,,,
10.1556/032.2018.68.4.2,"1588-2659, 0001-6373",,,"Szalavetz, Andrea",2018,Acta Oeconomica,,"The purpose of the paper is to explain the widely-observed phenomenon that the benefits of some apparently environmentally friendly solutions are much smaller than predicted. The applied research method is a systematic review of papers belonging to the ‘business and environment’ and ‘environmental science and technology’ literatures. Qualitative and interpretive research is used to support our propositions. Five key concepts accounting for the pitfalls associated with environmental sustainability-oriented (ESO) interventions have been identified and illustrated with reallife examples. Overlooked (1) interconnections among resources and environmental impacts, e.g. trade-offs, reveal that (2) system boundaries are often ill-defined, which can easily result in (3) problem shifting from one aspect of corporate environmental performance to another or from one stage in the life cycle to another. Additionally, false (4) assumptions and a strong (5) contextuality of best practices also overshadow the outcomes of ESO interventions. The relation among these general concepts is analysed and a graphic representation is provided.",Fifty shades of green – What pales the final colour of green solutions?,journal article,theory/concept,,General interaction,General interaction,,,,
10.1146/annurev-environ-031312-125456,,,,"Ürge-Vorsatz, Diana; Herrero, Sergio Tirado; Dubash, Navroz K.; Lecocq, Franck",2014,Annual Review of Environment and Resources,,"Co-benefits rarely enter quantitative decision-support frameworks, often because the methodologies for their integration are lacking or not known. This review fills in this gap by providing comprehensive methodological guidance on the quantification of co-impacts and their integration into climate-related decision making based on the literature. The article first clarifies the confusion in the literature about related terms and makes a proposal for a more consistent terminological framework, then emphasizes the importance of working in a multiple-objective–multiple-impact framework. It creates a taxonomy of co-impacts and uses this to propose a methodological framework for the identification of the key co-impacts to be assessed for a given climate policy and to avoid double counting. It reviews the different methods available to quantify and monetize different co-impacts and introduces three methodological frameworks that can be used to integrate these results into decision making. On the basis of an initial assessment of selected studies, it also demonstrates that the incorporation of co-impacts can significantly change the outcome of economic assessments. Finally, the review calls for major new research and innovation toward simplified evaluation methods and streamlined tools for more widely applicable appraisals of co-impacts for decision making.",Measuring the co-benefits of climate change mitigation,journal article,theory/concept,,General interaction,General interaction,,,,
10.1007/s10098-012-0577-z,1618954X,,"['ENVI', 'ENVI', 'ENVI']","Ingwersen, Wesley W.;Garmestani, Ahjond S.;Gonzalez, Michael A.;Templeton, Joshua J.",2014,Clean Technologies and Environmental Policy,Adaptation strategies | Climate mitigation | Life cycle thinking | Risk-benefit analysis | Systems theory,"The science of climate change integrates many scientific fields to explain and predict the complex effects of greenhouse gas concentrations on the planet's energy balance, weather patterns, and ecosystems as well as economic and social systems. A changing climate requires responses to curtail climate forcing as well as to adapt to impending changes. Responses can be categorized into mitigation and adaptation-the former involving efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and the latter involving strategies to adapt to predicted changes. These responses must be of significant scale and extent to be effective, but significant tradeoffs and unintended effects must be avoided. Concepts and science based on systems theory are needed to reduce the risk of unintended consequences from potential responses to climate change. We propose expanding on a conventional risk-based approach to include additional ways of analyzing risks and benefits, such as considering potential cascading ecological effects, full life cycle environmental impacts, and unintended consequences, as well as considering possible co-benefits of responses. Selected responses to climate change are assessed with this expanded set of criteria, and we find that mitigation measures that involve reducing emissions of greenhouse gases that provide corollary benefits are likely to have less negative indirect impacts than large-scale solar radiation management approaches. However, because effects of climate change are unavoidable in the near and medium-term, adaptation strategies that will make societies more resilient in the face of impending change are essential to sustainability. © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg (outside the USA) 2012.",A systems perspective on responses to climate change,journal article,theory/concept,,General interaction,General interaction,,,,
10.1016/j.cosust.2018.04.009,1877-3435,,,"Liu, Jianguo; Dou, Yue; Batistella, Mateus; Challies, Edward; Connor, Thomas; Friis, Cecilie; Millington, James DA; Parish, Esther; Romulo, Chelsie L; Silva, Ramon Felipe Bicudo; Triezenberg, Heather; Yang, Hongbo; Zhao, Zhiqiang; Zimmerer, Karl S; Huettmann, Falk; Treglia, Michael L; Basher, Zeenatul; Chung, Min Gon; Herzberger, Anna; Lenschow, Andrea; Mechiche-Alami, Altaaf; Newig, Jens; Roche, James; Sun, Jing",2018,Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability,,"The world has become increasingly telecoupled through distant flows of information, energy, people, organisms, goods, and matter. Recent advances suggest that telecouplings such as trade and species invasion often generate spillover systems with profound effects. To untangle spillover complexity, we make the first attempt to develop a typology of spillover systems based on six criteria: flows from and to sending and receiving systems, distances from sending and receiving systems, types of spillover effects, sizes of spillover systems, roles of agents in spillover systems, and the origin of spillover systems. Furthermore, we highlight a portfolio of qualitative and quantitative methods for detecting the often-overlooked spillover systems. To effectively govern spillover systems for global sustainability, we propose an overall goal (minimize negative and maximize positive spillover effects) and three general principles (fairness, responsibility, and capability).","Spillover systems in a telecoupled Anthropocene: typology, methods, and governance for global sustainability",journal article,theory/concept,,General interaction,General interaction,,,,
10.5194/esd-7-267-2016,2190-4979,,,"van Vuuren, Detlef P.; Lucas, Paul L.; Häyhä, Tiina; Cornell, Sarah E.; Stafford-Smith, Mark",2016,Earth System Dynamics,,"There is a need for more integrated research on sustainable development and global environmental change. In this paper, we focus on the planetary boundaries framework to provide a systematic categorization of key research questions in relation to avoiding severe global environmental degradation. The four categories of key questions are those that relate to (1) the underlying processes and selection of key indicators for planetary boundaries, (2) understanding the impacts of environmental pressure and connections between different types of impacts, (3) better understanding of different response strategies to avoid further degradation, and (4) the available instruments to implement such strategies. Clearly, different categories of scientific disciplines and associated model types exist that can accommodate answering these questions. We identify the strength and weaknesses of different research areas in relation to the question categories, focusing specifically on different types of models. We discuss that more interdisciplinary research is need to increase our understanding by better linking human drivers and social and biophysical impacts. This requires better collaboration between relevant disciplines (associated with the model types), either by exchanging information or by fully linking or integrating them. As fully integrated models can become too complex, the appropriate type of model (the racehorse) should be applied for answering the target research question (the race course).</p>",Horses for courses: analytical tools to explore planetary boundaries,journal article,theory/concept,,General interaction,General interaction,,,,
10.1016/j.ecolecon.2011.12.015,9218009,,"['ENVI', 'ECON']","Nilsson, Måns;Persson, Åsa",2012,Ecological Economics,Environment | EU | Governance functions | Nexus | Planetary boundaries,"Earth system interactions, as highlighted by the planetary boundaries framework, occur within and across natural, social and economic systems and shape global environmental change. This paper addresses the multi-level governance problem of coherently addressing key interactions between four Earth sub-systems - climate change, freshwater use, land use and biodiversity - taking into account concerns over problem shifting. After discussing possibilities for regional downscaling of the boundaries, we explore challenges for the EU region to coherently address this particular set of interacting Earth sub-systems and reduce the risk of problem shifting. This analysis demonstrates that Earth system interactions can be governed, but that they likely require comprehensive packages of governance responses across both sub-systems and levels. Three overarching governance functions are tentatively identified that directly or indirectly address Earth system interactions: reduction of system stress, risks and vulnerabilities; triggering and navigation of transformation of economic activity; and development of a diversity of options. Finally, the paper briefly discusses political and institutional challenges for developing, enabling and stabilising these governance functions. © 2012 Elsevier B.V.","Can Earth system interactions be governed? Governance functions for linking climate change mitigation with land use, freshwater and biodiversity protection",journal article,theory/concept,,General interaction,General interaction,,,,
10.5751/ES-05873-180226,1708-3087,,,"Liu, Jianguo; Hull, Vanessa; Batistella, Mateus; DeFries, Ruth; Dietz, Thomas; Fu, Feng; Hertel, Thomas W.; Izaurralde, R. Cesar; Lambin, Eric F.; Li, Shuxin; Martinelli, Luiz A.; McConnell, William J.; Moran, Emilio F.; Naylor, Rosamond; Ouyang, Zhiyun; Polenske, Karen R.; Reenberg, Anette; de Miranda Rocha, Gilberto; Simmons, Cynthia S.; Verburg, Peter H.; Vitousek, Peter M.; Zhang, Fusuo; Zhu, Chunquan",2013,Ecology and Society,,". Interactions between distant places are increasingly widespread and influential, often leading to unexpected outcomes with profound implications for sustainability. Numerous sustainability studies have been conducted within a particular place with little attention to the impacts of distant interactions on sustainability in multiple places. Although distant forces have been studied, they are usually treated as exogenous variables and feedbacks have rarely been considered. To understand and integrate various distant interactions better, we propose an integrated framework based on telecoupling, an umbrella concept that refers to socioeconomic and environmental interactions over distances. The concept of telecoupling is a logical extension of research on coupled human and natural systems, in which interactions occur within particular geographic locations. The telecoupling framework contains five major interrelated components, i.e., coupled human and natural systems, flows, agents, causes, and effects. We illustrate the framework using two examples of distant interactions associated with trade of agricultural commodities and invasive species, highlight the implications of the framework, and discuss research needs and approaches to move research on telecouplings forward. The framework can help to analyze system components and their interrelationships, identify research gaps, detect hidden costs and untapped benefits, provide a useful means to incorporate feedbacks as well as trade-offs and synergies across multiple systems (sending, receiving, and spillover systems), and improve the understanding of distant interactions and the effectiveness of policies for socioeconomic and environmental sustainability from local to global levels.",Framing Sustainability in a Telecoupled World,journal article,theory/concept,,General interaction,General interaction,,,,
10.1088/1748-9326/aaafe3,1748-9326,,,"McCollum, David L.; Echeverri, Luis Gomez; Busch, Sebastian; Pachauri, Shonali; Parkinson, Simon; Rogelj, Joeri; Krey, Volker; Minx, Jan C.; Nilsson, Måns; Stevance, Anne-Sophie; Riahi, Keywan",2018,Environmental Research Letters,,"The United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) provide guide-posts to society as it attempts to respond to an array of pressing challenges. One of these challenges is energy; thus, the SDGs have become paramount for energy policy-making. Yet, while governments throughout the world have already declared the SDGs to be ‘integrated and indivisible’, there are still knowledge gaps surrounding how the interactions between the energy SDG targets and those of the non-energy-focused SDGs might play out in different contexts. In this review, we report on a large-scale assessment of the relevant energy literature, which we conducted to better our understanding of key energy-related interactions between SDGs, as well as their context-dependencies (relating to time, geography, governance, technology, and directionality). By (i) evaluating the nature and strength of the interactions identified, (ii) indicating the robustness of the evidence base, the agreement of that evidence, and our confidence in it, and (iii) highlighting critical areas where better understanding is needed or context dependencies should be considered, our review points to potential ways forward for both the policy making and scientific communities. First, we find that positive interactions between the SDGs outweigh the negative ones, both in number and magnitude. Second, of relevance for the scientific community, in order to fill knowledge gaps in critical areas, there is an urgent need for interdisciplinary research geared toward developing new data, scientific tools, and fresh perspectives. Third, of relevance for policy-making, wider efforts to promote policy coherence and integrated assessments are required to address potential policy spillovers across sectors, sustainability domains, and geographic and temporal boundaries. The task of conducting comprehensive science-to-policy assessments covering all SDGs, such as for the UN’s Global Sustainable Development Report, remains manageable pending the availability of systematic reviews focusing on a limited number of SDG dimensions in each case.",Connecting the sustainable development goals by their energy inter-linkages,journal article,theory/concept,,General interaction,General interaction,,,,
10.1890/1540-9295(2003)001[0262:BCATKP]2.0.CO;2,15409295,,"['AGRI', 'ENVI']","Totten, Michael;Pandya, Sonal I.;Janson-Smith, Toby",2003,Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment,0,"Climate change is occurring at the same time as another problem of global and historical proportions - the sixth mass species extinction crisis in the history of life on earth. Wide-scale deforestation is fueling climate change and biodiversity loss, and is expected to greatly accelerate biodiversity loss and species extinctions. Recognizing the intimate interconnection between these two global problems and designing resilient actions that address both simultaneously is more important than ever; humanity has neither the time nor the financial resources to treat these challenges separately and sequentially. We must establish an international framework to encourage synergistic actions that capture multiple benefits while avoiding negative trade-offs. The Kyoto Protocol, as currently written, does little to advance such convergent solutions, and in many ways could unwittingly promote further biodiversity loss. Here we outline the risks associated with this climate treaty and suggest possible approaches that could capture otherwise lost opportunities.","Biodiversity, climate, and the Kyoto Protocol: Risks and opportunities",journal article,theory/concept,,General interaction,General interaction,,,,
10.1038/534320a,1476-4687,,,"Nilsson, Måns; Griggs, Dave; Visbeck, Martin",2016,Nature,"Policy, Environmental sciences, Developing world, Health care","Måns Nilsson, Dave Griggs and Martin Visbeck present a simple way of rating relationships between the targets to highlight priorities for integrated policy.",Policy: Map the interactions between Sustainable Development Goals,journal article,theory/concept,,General interaction,General interaction,,,,
10.1098/rspb.2017.2798,9628452,,"['BIOC', 'IMMU', 'ENVI', 'AGRI']","Smith, Pete",2018,Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences,Biodiversity | Climate change | Food security | Greenhouse gas removal | Land | Sustainable development goal,"With a growing population with changing demands, competition for the global land resource is increasing. We need to feed a projected population of 9–10 billion by 2050, rising to approximately 12 billion by 2100. At the same time, we need to reduce the climate impact of agriculture, forestry and other land use, and we almost certainly need to deliver land-based greenhouse gas removal for additional climate change mitigation. In addition, we need to deliver progress towards meeting the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, all without compromising the many ecosystem services provided by land and without exceeding planetary boundaries. Managing the land to tackle these pressing issues is a major global challenge. In this perspective paper, I provide a very broad overview of the main challenges, and explore co-benefits, trade-offs and possible solutions.",Managing the global land resource,journal article,theory/concept,,General interaction,General interaction,,,,
10.1126/science.1258832,,,,"Liu, Jianguo; Mooney, Harold; Hull, Vanessa; Davis, Steven J.; Gaskell, Joanne; Hertel, Thomas; Lubchenco, Jane; Seto, Karen C.; Gleick, Peter; Kremen, Claire; Li, Shuxin",2015,Science,,"Without sustainable solutions, the world's most pressing environmental concerns will continue to persist or worsen. Achieving the goal of sustainability involves so many factors—from economics to ecology—that investigating one or even a handful of variables at a time often overlooks major parts of the problem. Liu et al. review systems-based approaches that are beginning to provide tenable ways to assess sustainability. Further integrating coupled human and natural components of a problem across multiple dimensions, including how one solution can create unintended consequences elsewhere, is essential for developing effective policies that seek global sustainability.",Systems integration for global sustainability,journal article,theory/concept,,General interaction,General interaction,,,,
10.1126/science.1144004,,,,"Liu, Jianguo; Dietz, Thomas; Carpenter, Stephen R.; Alberti, Marina; Folke, Carl; Moran, Emilio; Pell, Alice N.; Deadman, Peter; Kratz, Timothy; Lubchenco, Jane; Ostrom, Elinor; Ouyang, Zhiyun; Provencher, William; Redman, Charles L.; Schneider, Stephen H.; Taylor, William W.",2007,Science,,"Integrated studies of coupled human and natural systems reveal new and complex patterns and processes not evident when studied by social or natural scientists separately. Synthesis of six case studies from around the world shows that couplings between human and natural systems vary across space, time, and organizational units. They also exhibit nonlinear dynamics with thresholds, reciprocal feedback loops, time lags, resilience, heterogeneity, and surprises. Furthermore, past couplings have legacy effects on present conditions and future possibilities.",Complexity of Coupled Human and Natural Systems,journal article,theory/concept,,General interaction,General interaction,,,,
10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.138405,0048-9697,,,"Bennich, Therese; Weitz, Nina; Carlsen, Henrik",2020,Science of The Total Environment,"SDGs, Sustainable Development Goals, 2030 Agenda, Network analysis, SDG interactions, Sustainability governance","The 2030 Agenda includes 17 overarching Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). These are integrated in nature, and a principle of indivisibility should guide their implementation. Yet, the 2030 Agenda itself does not provide guidance on what indivisibility means in practice, how the SDGs interact, or on how to assess these interactions. The fast-emerging field of what could be referred to as SDG interaction studies seeks to provide such guidance, but as of yet there is no general agreement on what it means to take an integrated approach to the SDGs. Hence, navigating the diverse research landscape on SDG interactions might prove challenging. This paper aims to decipher the literature on SDG interactions by providing an overview of the current research, based on a sample of 70 peer-reviewed articles. The review explores four themes in SDG interaction research by mapping: (i) policy challenges typically addressed, (ii) ways in which SDG ‘interactions’ have been conceptualized, (iii) data sources used, and (iv) methods of analysis frequently employed. Research gaps are identified, where perspectives largely missing include policy innovation, and integrated monitoring and evaluation. Further, few studies consider actor interactions, account for geographic spill-overs, analyze SDG indicator interactions, employ participatory methods, or take a whole-systems approach to the 2030 Agenda. Failing to address these gaps could lead to inefficient SDG implementation and delay goal attainment. Another contribution of the paper is a reading guide, proposing a way to decipher the literature along the themes emerging from the review, and offering a structure to code future papers.",Deciphering the scientific literature on SDG interactions: A review and reading guide,journal article,theory/concept,,General interaction,General interaction,,,,
10.3390/su11072092,2071-1050,,,"Breuer, Anita; Janetschek, Hannah; Malerba, Daniele",2019,Sustainability,"trade-offs, SDGs, 2030 Agenda, interdependencies, policy-coherence, synergies","The 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the 2030 Agenda, and their 169 targets, are interdependent and interlinked. The successful implementation of all SDGs will rely upon disentangling complex interactions between the goals and their targets. This implies that implementing the SDGs requires cross-sectoral processes to foster policy coherence. Over recent years, academic research has produced a number of different proposals for categorizing the SDGs, systematically mapping the linkages between them, and identifying the nature of their interdependencies. The aim of this review article is to provide ideas of how to move from generic appraisals of SDG interdependencies towards translating these interdependencies into policy action. To do so, the article first provides an overview of existing frameworks for the systematic conceptualization of the SDGs and the interlinkages and interdependencies between them. Secondly, the article critically discusses advantages and limitations of these frameworks, with a particular focus on methodological weaknesses, practical applicability to specific contexts, and utility for the development of policy strategies for coherent SDG planning and implementation. Based on this discussion, the article proposes a roadmap for how research on interdependencies can meaningfully provide orientation for policy action.",Translating Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) Interdependencies into Policy Advice,journal article,theory/concept,,General interaction,General interaction,,,,
10.1007/s11625-018-0604-z,1862-4057,,,"Nilsson, Måns; Chisholm, Elinor; Griggs, David; Howden-Chapman, Philippa; McCollum, David; Messerli, Peter; Neumann, Barbara; Stevance, Anne-Sophie; Visbeck, Martin; Stafford-Smith, Mark",2018,Sustainability Science,"2030 Agenda, Connections, Development, Interlinkages, Knowledge platform, SDG","Pursuing integrated research and decision-making to advance action on the sustainable development goals (SDGs) fundamentally depends on understanding interactions between the SDGs, both negative ones (“trade-offs”) and positive ones (“co-benefits”). This quest, triggered by the 2030 Agenda, has however pointed to a gap in current research and policy analysis regarding how to think systematically about interactions across the SDGs. This paper synthesizes experiences and insights from the application of a new conceptual framework for mapping and assessing SDG interactions using a defined typology and characterization approach. Drawing on results from a major international research study applied to the SDGs on health, energy and the ocean, it analyses how interactions depend on key factors such as geographical context, resource endowments, time horizon and governance. The paper discusses the future potential, barriers and opportunities for applying the approach in scientific research, in policy making and in bridging the two through a global SDG Interactions Knowledge Platform as a key mechanism for assembling, systematizing and aggregating knowledge on interactions.",Mapping interactions between the sustainable development goals: lessons learned and ways forward,journal article,theory/concept,,General interaction,General interaction,,,,
10.1002/sd.452,1099-1719,,,"Baumgartner, Rupert J.; Korhonen, Jouni",2010,Sustainable Development,"sustainable development, problem shifting, reductionism, strategic sustainable development, strategy content, strategy context, strategy process","The idea of this editorial research article is to start making sense out of the seemingly limitless debate on the environmental dimension of sustainable development. We have evaluated a collection of international peer-reviewed papers. These contributions have been debated at the conferences of the International Sustainable Development Research Society (ISDRS). Our main research objective here is to consider the often posed question of why the progress made in sustainable development has been so slow and the work implemented so unsuccessful. We argue that one of the main explanations is that the approaches used in sustainable development are reductionist and often lead into problem shifting and problem displacement. To address the problem of reductionism, we propose what we call ‘strategic thinking’ and its incorporation into sustainable development work in general. To open up this argument, we arrive at the discussion of three central dimensions of strategic thinking and the relevance of these dimensions when addressing reductionism. These dimensions are the strategy content, strategy process and strategy context. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment.",Strategic thinking for sustainable development,journal article,theory/concept,,General interaction,General interaction,,,,
10.1080/1943815X.2022.2146137,1943815X,,"['ENER', 'ENVI', 'MEDI']","Dagnachew, Anteneh G.;Hof, Andries F.",2022,Journal of Integrative Environmental Sciences,Climate change mitigation | co-benefits and trade-offs | sustainable development goals,"Measures that aim to reduce greenhouse gas emissions also have impacts on achieving other Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Given the enormous challenge of achieving the goals of the Paris Agreement and the SDGs, insight into these impacts provides information on how to improve the feasibility of climate change mitigation measures by maximizing the co-benefits and managing the risks of possible trade-offs across SDGs. In this paper, we explore the impact of 20 promising climate mitigation measures on achieving the other SDGs for 11 world regions. Using the IMAGE modelling framework, the paper explores the GHG emission reduction potential of these measures aggregated by the sector under three scenarios. Based on peer-reviewed articles, the impact of the measures on other SDGs is assessed for the top three sectors with the highest GHG reduction potential in each region. We conclude that the number of synergies between the selected climate change mitigation measures and other SDGs dwarf the number of trade-offs in all regions. The magnitude of these synergies and trade-offs, however, varies by regional and socio-economic context. In high- and middle-income regions, the mitigation measures show few trade-offs that are generally associated with technology choices that could aggravate inequality and impact biodiversity. In low-income regions, some measures, especially land-use related ones, could interfere with efforts to reduce poverty, end hunger and improve well-being, if not complemented by additional policies that aim to protect the poor from increasing food and energy prices.",Climate change mitigation and SDGs: modelling the regional potential of promising mitigation measures and assessing their impact on other SDGs,journal article,theory/concept,,General mitigation,General mitigation,,,,
10.1016/j.oneear.2022.10.007,"2590-3330, 2590-3322",,,"Steg, Linda; Veldstra, Janet; Kleijne, Kiane de; Kılkış, Şiir; Lucena, André F. P.; Nilsson, Lars J.; Sugiyama, Masahiro; Smith, Pete; Tavoni, Massimo; Coninck, Heleen de; Diemen, Renée van; Renforth, Phil; Mirasgedis, Sebastian; Nemet, Gregory; Görsch, Robert; Muri, Helene; Bertoldi, Paolo; Cabeza, Luisa F.; Mata, Érika; Novikova, Aleksandra; Caldas, Lucas R.; Chàfer, Marta; Khosla, Radhika; Vérez, David",2022,One Earth,"climate change, IPCC, barriers, enablers, feasibility, mitigation options","Mitigation option are not yet being implemented at the scale required to limit global warming to well below 2 C. Various factors have been identified that inhibit the implementation of specific mitigation options. Yet, an integrated assessment of key barriers and enablers is lacking. Here we present a comprehensive framework to assess which factors inhibit and enable the implementation of mitigation options. The framework comprises six dimensions, each encompassing different criteria: geophysical, environmental-ecological, technological, economic, sociocultural, and institutional feasibility. We demonstrate the approach by assessing to what extent each criterion and dimension affects the feasibility of six mitigation options. The assessment reveals that institutional factors inhibit the implementation of many options that need to be addressed to increase their feasibility. Of all the options assessed, many factors enable the implementation of solar energy, while only a few barriers would need to be addressed to implement solar energy at scale.",A method to identify barriers to and enablers of implementing climate change mitigation options,journal article,theory/concept,,General mitigation,General mitigation,,,,
10.1088/1748-9326/aaa9c6,1748-9326,,,"Albrecht, Tamee R.; Crootof, Arica; Scott, Christopher A.",2018,Environmental Research Letters,,"The water-energy-food (WEF) nexus is rapidly expanding in scholarly literature and policy settings as a novel way to address complex resource and development challenges. The nexus approach aims to identify tradeoffs and synergies of water, energy, and food systems, internalize social and environmental impacts, and guide development of cross-sectoral policies. However, while the WEF nexus offers a promising conceptual approach, the use of WEF nexus methods to systematically evaluate water, energy, and food interlinkages or support development of socially and politically-relevant resource policies has been limited. This paper reviews WEF nexus methods to provide a knowledge base of existing approaches and promote further development of analytical methods that align with nexus thinking. The systematic review of 245 journal articles and book chapters reveals that (a) use of specific and reproducible methods for nexus assessment is uncommon (less than one-third); (b) nexus methods frequently fall short of capturing interactions among water, energy, and food—the very linkages they conceptually purport to address; (c) assessments strongly favor quantitative approaches (nearly three-quarters); (d) use of social science methods is limited (approximately one-quarter); and (e) many nexus methods are confined to disciplinary silos—only about one-quarter combine methods from diverse disciplines and less than one-fifth utilize both quantitative and qualitative approaches. To help overcome these limitations, we derive four key features of nexus analytical tools and methods—innovation, context, collaboration, and implementation—from the literature that reflect WEF nexus thinking. By evaluating existing nexus analytical approaches based on these features, we highlight 18 studies that demonstrate promising advances to guide future research. This paper finds that to address complex resource and development challenges, mixed-methods and transdisciplinary approaches are needed that incorporate social and political dimensions of water, energy, and food; utilize multiple and interdisciplinary approaches; and engage stakeholders and decision-makers.",The Water-Energy-Food Nexus: A systematic review of methods for nexus assessment,journal article,theory/concept,,General nexus,General nexus,,,,
10.1038/s41893-018-0135-8,2398-9629,,,"Liu, Jianguo; Hull, Vanessa; Godfray, H. Charles J.; Tilman, David; Gleick, Peter; Hoff, Holger; Pahl-Wostl, Claudia; Xu, Zhenci; Chung, Min Gon; Sun, Jing; Li, Shuxin",2018,Nature Sustainability,"Agriculture, Environmental social sciences, Energy and society, Water resources","Many global challenges, though interconnected, have been addressed singly, at times reducing one problem while exacerbating others. Nexus approaches simultaneously examine interactions among multiple sectors. Recent quantitative studies have revealed that nexus approaches can uncover synergies and detect trade-offs among sectors. If well implemented, nexus approaches have the potential to reduce negative surprises and promote integrated planning, management and governance. However, application and implementation of nexus approaches are in their infancy. No studies have explicitly quantified the contributions of nexus approaches to progress toward meeting the Sustainable Development Goals. To further implement nexus approaches and realize their potential, we propose a systematic procedure and provide perspectives on future directions. These include expanding nexus frameworks that consider interactions among more sectors, across scales, between adjacent and distant places, and linkages with Sustainable Development Goals; incorporating overlooked drivers and regions; diversifying nexus toolboxes; and making these strategies central in policy-making and governance for integrated Sustainable Development Goal implementation.",Nexus approaches to global sustainable development,journal article,theory/concept,,General nexus,General nexus,,,,
10.1038/s41893-018-0173-2,2398-9629,,,"Bleischwitz, Raimund; Spataru, Catalina; VanDeveer, Stacy D.; Obersteiner, Michael; van der Voet, Ester; Johnson, Corey; Andrews-Speed, Philip; Boersma, Tim; Hoff, Holger; van Vuuren, Detlef P.",2018,Nature Sustainability,"Sustainability, Scientific community and society","Debate around increasing demand for natural resources is often framed in terms of a ‘nexus’, which is perhaps at risk of becoming a buzz word. A nexus between what? Over what scales? And what are the consequences of such a nexus? This article analyses why readers should care about the nexus concept in relation to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). We discuss a five-nodes definition and propose perspectives that may lead to a reload of climate policy with buy-in from supply-chain managers and resource-rich developing countries. Our research perspectives address modelling approaches and scenarios at the interface of bio-physical inputs and the human dimensions of security and governance.",Resource nexus perspectives towards the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals,journal article,theory/concept,,General nexus,General nexus,,,,
10.1016/j.erss.2020.101902,22146296,,"['ENER', 'ENER', 'ENER', 'ENER', 'SOCI']","Kramarz, Teresa;Park, Susan;Johnson, Craig",2021,Energy Research and Social Science,Climate change | Contamination | Dependence | Displacement | Dispossession | Global supply chains | International political economy | Lithium batteries | Renewable energy | Solar | Transition | Wind,"Renewable energy (RE) is critical for curbing global greenhouse gas emissions to achieve 2 to 4 degrees of global warming by 2100. While this is an imperative technical response to the climate crisis, the shift to renewables is also driving a surge in demand for metals and minerals used in RE. Calls are being made for “smarter” and more “responsible” forms of mining, but questions remain about the socio-economic and environmental impacts of extraction, processing, application, and disposal at multiple scales. The literature has been limited to the technical and cost-benefit dimensions of managing RE global supply chains. This article seeks to expand this focus by developing a typology of displacement that may be used to understand the socio-economic and environmental effects of onshore wind, solar photovoltaics (PV), and lithium-ion batteries. It encourages a critical analysis of how the global surge in demand for renewable energy is affecting development pathways and displacement patterns.",Governing the dark side of renewable energy: A typology of global displacements,journal article,theory/concept,,Minerals,Minerals,,,,
10.1016/j.cosust.2015.05.007,18773435,,"['ENVI', 'SOCI']","Van den Bergh, Jeroen;Folke, Carl;Polasky, Stephen;Scheffer, Marten;Steffen, Will",2015,Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability,0,"Solving one environmental problem may often invoke or intensify another one. Such environmental problem shifting (EPS) is a neglected topic in global sustainability research. Indeed, it is difficult to study as it requires the merging of insights from various research areas. Here we identify relevant studies, and provide an illustration and guidelines for the systematic study of EPS. As a modest thought experiment to illustrate the relevance of EPS, we consider solutions to scarcity of energy resources and climate change that, due to their extreme nature, may lead to considerable environmental problem shifting. We qualitatively assess the likely environmental and socioeconomic impacts of three hypothetical energy futures to highlight the possibility that as we resolve one environmental problem, another may be aggravated. We further present a set of guidelines to study EPS in a systematic and focused way. Here we stress that shifting can be mediated by biophysical as well as socioeconomic mechanisms, which means that its analysis requires a genuine interdisciplinary effort.",What if solar energy becomes really cheap? A thought experiment on environmental problem shifting,journal article,theory/concept,,SHW,SHW,,,,
10.1163/18786561-01002001,18786553,,"['ENVI', 'SOCI']","McCormack, Phillipa C.;McDonald, Jan;Brent, Kerryn A.",2020,Climate Law,Australia | biodiversity conservation | climate adaptation | governance of | Negative-emission technologies (nets),"Climate change is a fundamental threat to biodiversity. Climate mitigation in general, and Negative-Emission Technologies (nets) in particular, have the potential to benefit biodiversity by reducing climate impacts. Domestic laws could help to ensure that nets have benefits for biodiversity adaptation to climate change (e.g. reducing land clearing and habitat loss and facilitating habitat restoration, corridors for species' migration, and broader ecological resilience). Domestic laws will also need to govern trade-offs between nets and biodiversity adaptation (e.g. increased competition for land and landscape-scale fragmentation by new industrial developments and linear infrastructure). We argue that domestic laws should be used to maximize the benefits of nets while minimizing trade-offs for biodiversity. These laws should ensure that trade-offs are, at the very least, explicit and transparent, both in terms of their implications for current biodiversity and in the context of an acceleration of climate-driven biodiversity decline.",Governance of Land-based Negative-emission Technologies to Promote Biodiversity Conservation: Lessons from Australia,journal article,theory/concept,,,,,,,
10.1007/s10584-023-03507-2,1650009,,"['ENVI', 'EART']","McDermid, Sonali Shukla;Hayek, Matthew;Jamieson, Dale W.;Hale, Galina;Kanter, David",2023,Climatic Change,Animal agriculture | Plant based | Scenarios,"The global food system, and animal agriculture in particular, is a major and growing contributor to climate change, land system change, biodiversity loss, water consumption and contamination, and environmental pollution. The copious production and consumption of animal products are also contributing to increasingly negative public health outcomes, particularly in wealthy and rapidly industrializing countries, and result in the slaughter of trillions of animals each year. These impacts are motivating calls for reduced reliance on animal-based products and increased use of replacement plant-based products. However, our understanding of how the production and consumption of animal products, as well as plant-based alternatives, interact with important dimensions of human and environment systems is incomplete across space and time. This inhibits comprehensively envisioning global and regional food system transitions and planning to manage the costs and synergies thereof. We therefore propose a cross-disciplinary research agenda on future target-based scenarios for food system transformation that has at its core three main activities: (1) data collection and analysis at the intersection of animal agriculture, the environment, and societal well-being, (2) the construction of target-based scenarios for animal products informed by these new data and empirical understandings, and (3) the evaluation of impacts, unintended consequences, co-benefits, and trade-offs of these target-based scenarios to help inform decision-making.",Research needs for a food system transition,journal article,theory/concept,,,,,,,
10.1002/eet.1691,1756932X,,"['SOCI', 'ENVI']","Simoes, Sofia;Huppes, Gjalt;Seixas, Julia",2015,Environmental Policy and Governance,Electricity systems | Energy and environmental policy instruments | Policy integration,"In OECD countries, many overlapping energy and environmental policy instruments are targeting the various stakeholders in the electricity supply chain (producers, transmission and distribution companies and various consumers). Although synergies between different policy instruments exist, e.g. reducing acidification and climate change by reducing energy consumption, there are also measures whose effects counter each other. Such counter effects arise not only within different environmental policy instruments but also with energy policy instruments. This paper surveys the overlaps in the policy instruments that target the European Union electricity system and characterizes their interactions. A framework for further assessment and analysis of overlaps and co-effects between policy instruments is presented. The development of policies and their implementation using specific instruments may then be better aligned. A brief discussion on how trade-offs can be structured is made, as well as some notes on issues to be considered towards policy integration.",A Tangled Web: Assessing overlaps between energy and environmental policy instruments along the electricity supply chain,journal article,theory/concept,,,,,,,
10.1002/fee.1517,1540-9309,,,"Moore-O'Leary, Kara A; Hernandez, Rebecca R; Johnston, Dave S; Abella, Scott R; Tanner, Karen E; Swanson, Amanda C; Kreitler, Jason; Lovich, Jeffrey E",2017,Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment,,"Renewable energy development is an arena where ecological, political, and socioeconomic values collide. Advances in renewable energy will incur steep environmental costs to landscapes in which facilities are constructed and operated. Scientists – including those from academia, industry, and government agencies – have only recently begun to quantify trade-offs in this arena, often using ground-mounted, utility-scale solar energy facilities (USSE, ≥1 megawatt) as a model. Here, we discuss five critical ecological concepts applicable to the development of more sustainable USSE with benefits over fossil-fuel-generated energy: (1) more sustainable USSE development requires careful evaluation of trade-offs between land, energy, and ecology; (2) species responses to habitat modification by USSE vary; (3) cumulative and large-scale ecological impacts are complex and challenging to mitigate; (4) USSE development affects different types of ecosystems and requires customized design and management strategies; and (5) long-term ecological consequences associated with USSE sites must be carefully considered. These critical concepts provide a framework for reducing adverse environmental impacts, informing policy to establish and address conservation priorities, and improving energy production sustainability.",Sustainability of utility-scale solar energy – critical ecological concepts,journal article,theory/concept,,,,,,,
10.1016/j.jeem.2017.05.011,950696,,"['ECON', 'ENVI']","Ambec, Stefan;Coria, Jessica",2018,Journal of Environmental Economics and Management,Ancillary benefits | Co-benefits | Emission standard | Emission tax | Environmental regulation | Multiple-pollutants | Tradable emissions permits | Transboundary pollution,"We analyze the interplay between policies aimed to control transboundary and local pollutants such as greenhouse gases and particulate matter. The two types of pollution interact in the abatement cost function of the polluting firms through economies or diseconomies of scope. They are regulated by distinct entities, potentially with different instruments that are designed according to some specific agenda. We show that the choice of regulatory instrument and the timing of the regulations matter for efficiency. Emissions of the local pollutant are distorted if the regulators anticipate that transboundary pollution will later be regulated through emission caps. The regulation is too stringent with diseconomies of scope, and not enough with economies of scope. In contrast, we obtain efficiency if the transboundary pollutant is regulated by emission taxes or tradable emission permits provided that the revenue from taxing emissions are redistributed to the countries in a lump-sum way and that the initial allocation of tradable emission permits is not linked to abatement costs.",Policy spillovers in the regulation of multiple pollutants,journal article,theory/concept,,,,,,,
10.1126/science.aaz6003,,,,"Sovacool, Benjamin K.; Ali, Saleem H.; Bazilian, Morgan; Radley, Ben; Nemery, Benoit; Okatz, Julia; Mulvaney, Dustin",2020,Science,,,Sustainable minerals and metals for a low-carbon future,journal article,theory/concept,,,,,,,
10.1016/j.biocon.2011.12.031,,,,"Phelps, J.;Friess, D. A.;Webb, E. L.",2012,Biological Conservation,Carbon | Emissions | Forest | Leakage | Policy | REDD | Safeguard,"Recent practise has revealed that conservation interventions that seek to achieve multiple benefits generally face significant, if under-recognized trade-offs. REDD+ policies present prospective win-win solutions for climate change mitigation, rural development and biodiversity conservation. Notably, protecting, enhancing and restoring forests for their carbon sequestration services has the potential to additionally promote the conservation of imperiled tropical biodiversity. However, it has become increasingly apparent that efforts to design a REDD+ mechanism that optimizes emissions reductions and associated co-benefits face significant environmental and economic trade-offs. We provide a framework for conceptualizing the major related policy options, presenting the associated trade-offs as a continuum and as functions of two key factors: (1) geographic targeting, and (2) the selection of specific forest management activities. Our analysis highlights the challenges of assessing trade-offs using existing data and valuation schemes, and the difficulty of paying for and legislating biodiversity co-benefits and safeguards within a future REDD+ mechanism. © 2011 Elsevier Ltd.",Win-win REDD+ approaches belie carbon-biodiversity trade-offs,journal article,theory/concept,,REDD,,,,,biodiv