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Abstract Canada has numerous climatic and geographical regions and the Canadian housing stock (CHS) is diversified in terms of vintage, geometry, construction materials, envelope, occupancy, energy sources and heating, ventilation and air conditioning system and equipment. Therefore, strategies to achieve net zero energy (NZE) status with the current stock of houses need to be devised considering the unique characteristics of the housing stock, the economic conditions and energy mix available in each region. Identifying and assessing pathways for converting existing houses to NZE buildings at the housing stock level is a complex and multifaceted problem and requires extensive analysis on the impact of energy efficiency and renewable/alternative energy technology retrofits on the energy use and GHG emissions of households. A techno-economic analysis of retrofitting renewable/alternative energy technologies in the CHS to reduce energy consumption and GHG emissions was conducted to develop strategies to achieve or approach NZE status for Canadian houses. The results indicate that substantial energy savings and GHG emission reductions are techno-economically feasible for the CHS through careful selection of retrofit options. While achieving large scale conversion of existing houses to NZEB is not feasible, approaching NZE status is a realistic goal for a large percentage of Canadian houses.

This research examines the economic implications of different designs for a national low carbon fuel standard (NLCFS) for the road transportation sector. A NLCFS based on the average Carbon Intensity (CI) of all fuels sold generates an incentive for fuel suppliers to reduce the measured CI of their fuels. The economic impacts are determined by the availability of low carbon fuels, estimates of which can vary widely. Also important are the compliance path, reference level CI, and the design of the credit system, particularly the opportunities for trading and banking. To quantitatively examine the implications of a NLCFS, we created the Transportation Regulation and Credit Trading (TRACT) Model. With TRACT, we model a NLCFS credit trading system among profit maximizing fuel suppliers for light- and heavy-duty vehicle fuel use for the United States from 2012 to 2030. We find that credit trading across gasoline and diesel fuel markets can lower the average costs of carbon reductions by an insignificant amount to 98% depending on forecasts of biofuel supplies and carbon intensities. Adding banking of credits on top of trading can further lower the average cost of carbon reductions by 5%–9% and greatly reduce year-to-year fluctuations in credit prices.

India is among the world lowest per capita greenhouse gas (GHG) emitters, but rapid increases are expected. At the same time, World Health Organization (WHO) estimates show that 424,000 die prematurely in Indian households each year from air pollution exposure due to solid fuel use. We analyze GHG emissions and health through three policy scenarios for household energy, using projections for population, income and urbanization. In policy scenarios called Business as Usual (BAU), Improved Health, and Green Future, projected per capita household GHG emissions in 2026 increase by 169%, 164% and 139%, respectively, compared to 2001, whereas household mortality rates decrease by 45%, 67% and 45%, respectively. Due to income growth and urbanization, an increase in GHG emissions is likely inevitable, but can be slowed. For health, in contrast, improvements are expected and can be expanded.

Abstract Many countries are concerned with the waste-to-energy for economic development and societal welfare. This paper constructs a dynamic game model that, for the first time compares the incentive effects of four common subsidy modes on waste cooking oil supply for biofuel refining and sales of waste cooking oil refined products. The model considers the impact of preferential tax treatment, a raw material subsidy, a sales subsidy and an investment subsidy on the profits of biofuel enterprises and waste cooking oil recyclers. Results indicate that common approaches adopted in developed economies such as raw material price subsidies and finished products sales subsidies increase the profits of both biofuel enterprises and recyclers. On the contrary, investment subsidies, which are relatively common in some regions of China, increase the profits of recyclers, while reducing revenues achieved by biofuel enterprises. To promote the supply chain, policy should give priority to raw material price subsidies and finished products sales subsidies, and for investment subsidies, however, the government should be cautious.

Abstract This study describes a district-level energy intervention and conservation program designed and implemented with the help of community stakeholders, which include students and staff of an educational institution, the National University of Singapore, a local non-governmental environmental group in Singapore and the district government. The program – known formally as the Eco-living Program – was funded by the district government and implemented in the Hong Kah North Residential Council in the south western part of Singapore. The research objectives are three-fold: (1) compare the effectiveness of different intervention methods, based on self-reported behavior scores and actual electricity reduction; (2) investigate how behavior and electricity consumption are influenced by values, situational and psychological factors; (3) assess the effectiveness of different methods of intervention and provide recommendations for improvement. It was found that a combined use of leaflets and stickers resulted in highest (that is, 15.8%) reduction in average consumption. Ease of practicing the recommended energy conservation actions is a strong motivators to change energy consumption behavior. This program exemplifies the important role that community-initiated bottom-up programs can play in promoting sustainable consumption with the financial support from the local (district) government.

Abstract The development of the regional economy in China is unbalanced. Interregional "carbon leakage" and "carbon transfer" have a significant impact on the realization of carbon emission mitigation targets and the allocation of responsibility. Using China's interregional input-output tables and the corresponding carbon emission data for 2007 and 2010, this paper proposes an interregional Ghosh input-output model and estimates the amount of interprovincial carbon emission transfer from the supply-side perspective. We find that the main direction of supply-side carbon emission transfer is from resource-intensive provinces in the central and western regions to developed provinces in the eastern coastal regions. Further analysis shows that the transfer is mainly concentrated in the production and distribution of electricity and heat, nonmetallic mineral products, and basic metals, whose carbon emissions account for approximately 70% of all sectors’ carbon emissions. The differences between the supply side and the demand side of China's provinces are mainly reflected in the transfer out of carbon emissions.

Abstract Since the increase in greenhouse gas emissions has increased the global warming potential, an international agreement on carbon emissions reduction target (CERT) has been formulated in Kyoto Protocol (1997). This study aimed to develop a framework for the analysis of the low-carbon scenario 2020 to achieve the national CERT. To verify the feasibility of the proposed framework, educational facilities were used for a case study. This study was conducted in six steps: (i) selection of the target school; (ii) establishment of the reference model for the target school; (iii) energy consumption pattern analysis by target school; (iv) establishment of the energy retrofit model for the target school; (v) economic and environmental assessment through the life cycle cost and life cycle CO 2 analysis; and (vi) establishment of the low-carbon scenario in 2020 to achieve the national CERT. This study can help facility managers or policymakers establish the optimal retrofit strategy within the limited budget from a short-term perspective and the low-carbon scenario 2020 to achieve the national CERT from the long-term perspective. The proposed framework could be also applied to any other building type or country in the global environment.

The majority of clean development mechanism (CDM) projects are confined to a few countries. For many developing nations, entry into the carbon market, either through CDM or others, has been difficult. Thus, rationalizing CDM projects and the carbon market as a tool for sustainable development is often questioned. Many developing countries, such as Nepal, lack a quantification of CO2 reduction potential and an assessment of bottlenecks necessary for the carbon market. In this context, this paper assesses the potential emission reductions from major sectors of Nepal and the accompanying bottlenecks of the carbon market. The analyses provide indications of the type and scale of the carbon mitigation opportunities in key sectors such as waste management, biogas utilization, promotion of electric vehicles, rice cultivation, bio-energy utilization, brick making, hydropower development and a few others. These might be helpful to decision-makers in Nepal as well as to the process of re-orienting CDM and other carbon markets to better understand the bottlenecks of developing countries.

Abstract Due to Taiwan's lack of natural resources, dependence on imported energy, and pursuit of sustainable development, renewable energies are extremely important for Taiwan's future energy supply. Since Taiwan's feed-in tariff (FIT) is still in its initial stage, one must examine whether the current system is compatible with a well-designed FIT scheme. This study examines the main features of Taiwan's FIT system and assesses design options using several criteria. Additionally, one of the most important elements of a FIT scheme, namely, a tariff system, is discussed. Taiwan's FIT scheme has the design options required by well-functioning FITs, and the guaranteed-return tariff system coincides with the spirit underlying leading global FITs; however, many issues, such as setting goals by stages, refinement of the tariff calculation methodology, and elimination of other non-economic barriers, must be addressed to achieve future developmental goals and green industry growth.

Current optimizing climate-economy models use CO2 uptake functions that greatly underestimate both peak atmospheric CO2 concentrations and the time horizon of elevated CO2. As a result these models underestimate potential global warming damages. Here, a more realistic, but practical, carbon cycle parameterization is developed that can be incorporated within an optimizing climate-economy model framework. This method is utilized in conjunction with the DICE model (Nordhaus, 1994) to estimate optimal reductions in CO2 emissions. The results are shown to be extremely sensitive to the pore rate of time preference, rho. For rho=3% (Nordhaus' preferred value), our model predicts an optimal CO2 emission reduction of 13% by the year 2045, as compared to 11% in the original DICE model. But, for rho=0% the optimal emissions reduction rises to 79% in the year 2045 and to 97% by the year 2200. We argue that energy policy should be guided by the rho=0% results for both economic and ethical reasons. A steady-state analysis performed using the DICE model supports the argument that large fractional reductions in CO2 emissions should be undertaken.