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Batteries have the potential to significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions from on-road transportation. However, environmental and social impacts of producing lithium-ion batteries, particularly cathode materials, and concerns over material criticality are frequently highlighted as barriers to widespread electric vehicle adoption. Circular economy strategies, like reuse and recycling, can reduce impacts and secure regional supplies. To understand the potential for circularity, we undertake a dynamic global material flow analysis of pack-level materials that includes scenario analysis for changing battery cathode chemistries and electric vehicle demand. Results are produced regionwise and through the year 2040 to estimate the potential global and regional circularity of lithium, cobalt, nickel, manganese, iron, aluminum, copper, and graphite, although the analysis is focused on the cathode materials. Under idealized conditions, retired batteries could supply 60% of cobalt, 53% of lithium, 57% of manganese, and 53% of nickel globally in 2040. If the current mix of cathode chemistries evolves to a market dominated by NMC 811, a low cobalt chemistry, there is potential for 85% global circularity of cobalt in 2040. If the market steers away from cathodes containing cobalt, to an LFP-dominated market, cobalt, manganese, and nickel become less relevant and reach circularity before 2040. For each market to benefit from the recovery of secondary materials, recycling and manufacturing infrastructure must be developed in each region. This data was collected through various sources, including from EV Volumes, International Energy Agency, Argonne National Lab, and published articles. A model was created with R to process the data.  R is required to open the models.

Project: Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 6 (CMIP6) datasets - These data have been generated as part of the internationally-coordinated Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 6 (CMIP6; see also GMD Special Issue: http://www.geosci-model-dev.net/special_issue590.html). The simulation data provides a basis for climate research designed to answer fundamental science questions and serves as resource for authors of the Sixth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC-AR6). CMIP6 is a project coordinated by the Working Group on Coupled Modelling (WGCM) as part of the World Climate Research Programme (WCRP). Phase 6 builds on previous phases executed under the leadership of the Program for Climate Model Diagnosis and Intercomparison (PCMDI) and relies on the Earth System Grid Federation (ESGF) and the Centre for Environmental Data Analysis (CEDA) along with numerous related activities for implementation. The original data is hosted and partially replicated on a federated collection of data nodes, and most of the data relied on by the IPCC is being archived for long-term preservation at the IPCC Data Distribution Centre (IPCC DDC) hosted by the German Climate Computing Center (DKRZ). The project includes simulations from about 120 global climate models and around 45 institutions and organizations worldwide. Summary: These data include the subset used by IPCC AR6 WGI authors of the datasets originally published in ESGF for 'CMIP6.DAMIP.MPI-M.MPI-ESM1-2-LR' with the full Data Reference Syntax following the template 'mip_era.activity_id.institution_id.source_id.experiment_id.member_id.table_id.variable_id.grid_label.version'. The MPI-ESM1.2-LR climate model, released in 2017, includes the following components: aerosol: none, prescribed MACv2-SP, atmos: ECHAM6.3 (spectral T63; 192 x 96 longitude/latitude; 47 levels; top level 0.01 hPa), land: JSBACH3.20, landIce: none/prescribed, ocean: MPIOM1.63 (bipolar GR1.5, approximately 1.5deg; 256 x 220 longitude/latitude; 40 levels; top grid cell 0-12 m), ocnBgchem: HAMOCC6, seaIce: unnamed (thermodynamic (Semtner zero-layer) dynamic (Hibler 79) sea ice model). The model was run by the Max Planck Institute for Meteorology, Hamburg 20146, Germany (MPI-M) in native nominal resolutions: aerosol: 250 km, atmos: 250 km, land: 250 km, landIce: none, ocean: 250 km, ocnBgchem: 250 km, seaIce: 250 km.

Project: Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 6 (CMIP6) datasets - These data have been generated as part of the internationally-coordinated Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 6 (CMIP6; see also GMD Special Issue: http://www.geosci-model-dev.net/special_issue590.html). The simulation data provides a basis for climate research designed to answer fundamental science questions and serves as resource for authors of the Sixth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC-AR6). CMIP6 is a project coordinated by the Working Group on Coupled Modelling (WGCM) as part of the World Climate Research Programme (WCRP). Phase 6 builds on previous phases executed under the leadership of the Program for Climate Model Diagnosis and Intercomparison (PCMDI) and relies on the Earth System Grid Federation (ESGF) and the Centre for Environmental Data Analysis (CEDA) along with numerous related activities for implementation. The original data is hosted and partially replicated on a federated collection of data nodes, and most of the data relied on by the IPCC is being archived for long-term preservation at the IPCC Data Distribution Centre (IPCC DDC) hosted by the German Climate Computing Center (DKRZ). The project includes simulations from about 120 global climate models and around 45 institutions and organizations worldwide. Summary: These data include the subset used by IPCC AR6 WGI authors of the datasets originally published in ESGF for 'CMIP6.ScenarioMIP.NOAA-GFDL.GFDL-CM4.ssp585' with the full Data Reference Syntax following the template 'mip_era.activity_id.institution_id.source_id.experiment_id.member_id.table_id.variable_id.grid_label.version'. The GFDL-CM4 climate model, released in 2018, includes the following components: aerosol: interactive, atmos: GFDL-AM4.0.1 (Cubed-sphere (c96) - 1 degree nominal horizontal resolution; 360 x 180 longitude/latitude; 33 levels; top level 1 hPa), atmosChem: fast chemistry, aerosol only, land: GFDL-LM4.0.1 (1 degree nominal horizontal resolution; 360 x 180 longitude/latitude; 20 levels; bottom level 10m); land-Veg:unnamed (dynamic vegetation, dynamic land use); land-Hydro:unnamed (soil water and ice, multi-layer snow, rivers and lakes), landIce: GFDL-LM4.0.1, ocean: GFDL-OM4p25 (GFDL-MOM6, tripolar - nominal 0.25 deg; 1440 x 1080 longitude/latitude; 75 levels; top grid cell 0-2 m), ocnBgchem: GFDL-BLINGv2, seaIce: GFDL-SIM4p25 (GFDL-SIS2.0, tripolar - nominal 0.25 deg; 1440 x 1080 longitude/latitude; 5 layers; 5 thickness categories). The model was run by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory, Princeton, NJ 08540, USA (NOAA-GFDL) in native nominal resolutions: aerosol: 100 km, atmos: 100 km, atmosChem: 100 km, land: 100 km, landIce: 100 km, ocean: 25 km, ocnBgchem: 25 km, seaIce: 25 km.

Wind characteristics (e.g., mean wind speed, gust factor, turbulence intensity and integral scale, etc.) are quite scattered in different measurement conditions, especially during typhoon and/or hurricane processes, which results in the structural engineer ambiguously determining the wind parameters in wind-resistant design of buildings and structures in cyclone-prone regions. In tropical cyclones (including typhoons and hurricanes), the inconsistent wind characteristics may be in part ascribed to the complex flow structure with the coexistence of both mechanical and convective turbulence in the boundary layer of tropical cyclones. Another significant contribution to the scattered wind characteristics is due to various measurement conditions (e.g., terrain exposure and height) and data processing schemes (e.g., averaging time). The removal of the inconsistency in the field-measurement system may offer a more rational comparison of measured wind data from various observation platforms, and hence facilitates a better identification scheme of the wind characteristics to guide the urban planning design and wind-resistant design of buildings and structures. In this study, an analytical framework was firstly proposed to eliminate the potential observation-related effects in wind characteristics and then the wind characteristics of seven field measured tropical cyclones (four typhoons and three hurricanes) were comparatively investigated. Specifically, field measurements of wind characteristics were converted to a standard reference station with a roughness length of 0.03 m, observation duration of 10 min for mean wind and averaging time of 3 s for gusty wind at a 10 m height. The differences of the measured wind characteristics between the typhoons and hurricanes were highlighted. The standardized turbulent wind characteristics under the analytical framework for typhoons and hurricanes were compared with the corresponding recommendations in standard of American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE 7-10) and Architectural Institute of Japan Recommendations for Loads on Buildings (AIJ-RLB-2004).

Climate change, environmental degradation, and limited resources are motivations for sustainable forest management. Forests, the most abundant renewable resource on earth, used to make a wide variety of forest-based products for human consumption. To provide a scientific measure of a product’s sustainability and environmental performance, the life cycle assessment (LCA) method is used. This article provides a comprehensive review of environmental performances of forest-based products including traditional building products, emerging (mass-timber) building products and nanomaterials using attributional LCA. Across the supply chain, the product manufacturing life-cycle stage tends to have the largest environmental impacts. However, forest management activities and logistics tend to have the greatest economic impact. In addition, environmental trade-offs exist when regulating emissions as indicated by the latest traditional wood building product LCAs. Interpretation of these LCA results can guide new product development using biomaterials, future (mass) building systems and policy-making on mitigating climate change. Key challenges include handling of uncertainties in the supply chain and complex interactions of environment, material conversion, resource use for product production and quantifying the emissions released.

ASHRAE Standard 62-1989 (Standard 62-89) Ventilation for Acceptable Indoor Air Quality'' is the new heating, ventilating, and air-conditioning (HVAC) industry consensus for ventilation air in commercial buildings. Bonneville Power Administration (Bonneville) references ASHRAE Standard 62-81 (the predecessor to Standard 62-89) in their current environmental documents for required ventilation rates. Through its use, it had become evident to Bonneville that Standard 62-81 needed interpretation. Now that the revised Standard (Standard 62-89) is available, its usefulness needs to be evaluated. Based on current information and public comment, the American Society of Heating, Refrigeration, and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) revised Standard 62-1981 to Standard 62-89. Bonneville's study estimated the energy and cost implications of ASHRAE Standard 62-89 using simulations based on DOE-2.1D, a computer simulation program which estimates building use hourly as a function of building characteristics and climatic location. Ten types of prototypical commercial buildings used by Bonneville for load forecasting purposes were examined: Large and Small Office, Large and Small Retail, Restaurant, Warehouse, Hospital, Hotel, School, and Grocery. These building characterizations are based on survey and energy metering data and represent average or typical construction and operation practices and mechanical system types. Prototypical building ventilation rates were varied in five steps to estimate the impacts of outside air on building energy use. 11 refs., 14 tabs.

Understanding the system of connections between societal contexts and policy outcomes in municipal governments provides important insights into how community sustainability happens, and why it happens differently in various communities. A growing body of research in recent years has focused on understanding the socio-economic characteristics of communities and cities that are recognized as policy leaders in sustainability. In this paper, we expand the focus beyond the leaders in sustainability as we apply a selection of socio-demographic influences of community sustainability to a large sample of U.S. communities using community classification analytics to identity a range of community types and levels of engagement with sustainability. Our typology presents an integrated and comprehensive perspective on the structure of community sustainability in the United States, highlighting key points of comparison between human capital factors such as population size and density, affluence, home ownership, and adoption of sustainability policy. The analysis provides new insights not only about community leaders in sustainability, but also communities with the civic and social capacity to do more, and the challenges that may inhibit sustainability efforts in others.

Abstract. Reliable quantification of the sources and sinks of greenhouse gases, together with trends and uncertainties, is essential to monitoring the progress in mitigating anthropogenic emissions under the Paris Agreement. This study provides a consolidated synthesis of CH4 and N2O emissions with consistently derived state-of-the-art bottom-up (BU) and top-down (TD) data sources for the European Union and UK (EU27+UK). We integrate recent emission inventory data, ecosystem process-based model results, and inverse modelling estimates over the period 1990–2018. BU and TD products are compared with European National GHG Inventories (NGHGI) reported to the UN climate convention secretariat UNFCCC in 2019. For uncertainties, we used for NGHGI the standard deviation obtained by varying parameters of inventory calculations, reported by the Member States following the IPCC guidelines recommendations. For atmospheric inversion models (TD) or other inventory datasets (BU), we defined uncertainties from the spread between different model estimates or model specific uncertainties when reported. In comparing NGHGI with other approaches, a key source of bias is the activities included, e.g. anthropogenic versus anthropogenic plus natural fluxes. In inversions, the separation between anthropogenic and natural emissions is sensitive to the geospatial prior distribution of emissions. Over the 2011–2015 period, which is the common denominator of data availability between all sources, the anthropogenic BU approaches are directly comparable, reporting mean emissions of 20.8 Tg CH4 yr−1 (EDGAR v5.0) and 19.0 Tg CH4 yr−1 (GAINS), consistent with the NGHGI estimates of 18.9 ± 1.7 Tg CH4 yr−1. TD total inversions estimates give higher emission estimates, as they also include natural emissions. Over the same period regional TD inversions with higher resolution atmospheric transport models give a mean emission of 28.8 Tg CH4 yr−1. Coarser resolution global TD inversions are consistent with regional TD inversions, for global inversions with GOSAT satellite data (23.3 Tg CH4yr−1) and surface network (24.4 Tg CH4 yr−1). The magnitude of natural peatland emissions from the JSBACH-HIMMELI model, natural rivers and lakes emissions and geological sources together account for the gap between NGHGI and inversions and account for 5.2 Tg CH4 yr−1. For N2O emissions, over the 2011–2015 period, both BU approaches (EDGAR v5.0 and GAINS) give a mean value of anthropogenic emissions of 0.8 and 0.9 Tg N2O yr−1 respectively, agreeing with the NGHGI data (0.9 ± 0.6 Tg N2O yr−1). Over the same period, the average of the three total TD global and regional inversions was 1.3 ± 0.4 and 1.3 ± 0.1 Tg N2O yr−1 respectively, compared to 0.9 Tg N2O yr−1 from the BU data. The TU and BU comparison method defined in this study can be operationalized for future yearly updates for the calculation of CH4 and N2O budgets both at EU+UK scale and at national scale. The referenced datasets related to figures are visualized at https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.4288969 (Petrescu et al., 2020).