This content will become publicly available on December 1, 2024
- Award ID(s):
- 1847077
- NSF-PAR ID:
- 10492343
- Publisher / Repository:
- MDPI
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Sustainability
- Volume:
- 15
- Issue:
- 24
- ISSN:
- 2071-1050
- Page Range / eLocation ID:
- 16562
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
More Like this
-
In the 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) and the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), the United States (U.S.) Congress placed a major bet on the importance of household actions, and the incentives for these actions may yield disproportionately large emissions reductions. Modeling estimates from Rapid Energy Policy Evaluation and Analysis Toolkit (REPEAT) suggest that the IRA's $331 billion investment can reduce carbon emissions by as much as 4% below a 2005 baseline by 2030, assuming a low-friction economic environment. To evaluate the role of household actions, we use a two-part method: 1) Policy analyses of the IRA and IIJA to identify household incentives; 2) Secondary data analysis of REPEAT's policy models to identify the potential for emissions reductions associated with household action. We find that $39 billion, or 12% of climate and energy funds in the IRA and $4.3 billion or 5.7% of clean energy and power funds in the IIJA, target voluntary household actions, and that these actions contribute 40% of the cumulative emissions reductions under the IRA and IIJA, assuming a mid-range scenario for uptake. The importance of household actions to achieving IRA and IIJA's emissions reduction goals suggests that actual impacts will likely vary by behavioral plasticity, and that program design should reflect social and behavioral science insights.more » « less
-
Abstract Vehicle electrification is a common climate change mitigation strategy, with policymakers invoking co‐beneficial reductions in carbon dioxide (CO2) and air pollutant emissions. However, while previous studies of U.S. electric vehicle (EV) adoption consistently predict CO2mitigation benefits, air quality outcomes are equivocal and depend on policies assessed and experimental parameters. We analyze climate and health co‐benefits and trade‐offs of six U.S. EV adoption scenarios: 25% or 75% replacement of conventional internal combustion engine vehicles, each under three different EV‐charging energy generation scenarios. We transfer emissions from tailpipe to power generation plant, simulate interactions of atmospheric chemistry and meteorology using the GFDL‐AM4 chemistry climate model, and assess health consequences and uncertainties using the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Benefits Mapping Analysis Program Community Edition (BenMAP‐CE). We find that 25% U.S. EV adoption, with added energy demand sourced from the present‐day electric grid, annually results in a ~242 M ton reduction in CO2emissions, 437 deaths avoided due to PM2.5reductions (95% CI: 295, 578), and 98 deaths avoided due to lesser ozone formation (95% CI: 33, 162). Despite some regions experiencing adverse health outcomes, ~$16.8B in damages avoided are predicted. Peak CO2reductions and health benefits occur with 75% EV adoption and increased emission‐free energy sources (~$70B in damages avoided). When charging‐electricity from aggressive EV adoption is combustion‐only, adverse health outcomes increase substantially, highlighting the importance of low‐to‐zero emission power generation for greater realization of health co‐benefits. Our results provide a more nuanced understanding of the transportation sector's climate change mitigation‐health impact relationship.
-
Given the increasing occurrence of high-impact low-probability (HILP) contingencies in existing power systems, strengthening the resilience of these systems has become of paramount importance. Enhancing the resilience of power systems is not solely a technical issue but also a socio-economic and policy concern. Therefore, improving the performance of power systems greatly relies on the guidance provided by energy policies. While the decarbonization response, supported by these policies to mitigate climate change, influences the adoption of energy technologies, its impact on the resilience of the system remains uncertain. To uncover the interactions between technologies, policies, and economics concerning power systems resilience, this study focuses on constructing resilience-oriented networked microgrid systems. It develops a two-stage stochastic programming model by integrating a method for selecting power outage scenarios identified by users, in the presence of emissions policies. The results confirm the contributions of integrated systems in enhancing resilience, but they also reveal that low-carbon emissions policies play an inhibiting role by increasing the financial costs associated with resilience planning and operations. Nevertheless, a 30% emissions reduction threshold can still be achieved from the integrated network, facilitating the dual benefits of maximizing emissions reduction and minimizing the burden of emissions taxes. The study's contributions are threefold: firstly, it incorporates techno-economic incentives and regulations simultaneously; secondly, it quantifies the unintended consequences of policies on resilience; and thirdly, it provides constructive guidance for future energy policymaking, particularly in maintaining system resilience.more » « less
-
Agricultural management practices improve crop yields to satisfy food demand of the growing population. However, these activities can have negative consequences, including the release of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions that contribute to global climate change. To mitigate this global environmental problem, the management practices that contribute the most to system GHG emissions should be identified and targeted to mitigate emissions. Accordingly, we estimated the cradle-to-product GHG emissions of irrigated corn production under various farmer-selected scenarios at an experimental testing field in the semi-arid U.S. Great Plains. We applied a carbon footprint approach to quantify life cycle GHG emissions associated with pre-field (e.g., energy production, fertilizer production) and in-field (e.g., groundwater pumping, fertilizer application) activities within fourteen scenarios in the 2020 Oklahoma Testing Ag Performance Solutions (TAPS) sprinkler corn competition. We determined that 63% of the total GHG emission from corn production was associated with in- field activities and that agricultural soil emissions were the overall driving factor. Soil biochemical processes within agricultural soils were expected to contribute an average of 89 ± 18 g CO2-eq kg− 1 corn of the total 271 ± 46 g CO2-eq kg− 1 corn estimated from these systems. On-site natural gas combustion for agricultural groundwater pumping, pre-field fertilizer production, and pre-field energy production for groundwater pumping were the next most influential parameters on total GHG emissions. Diesel fuel, seed, and herbicide production had insignificant contributions to total GHG emissions from corn production. The model was most sensitive to the modeled GHG emissions from agricultural soil, which had significant uncertainty in the emission factor. Therefore, future efforts should target field measurements to better predict the contribution of direct soil emissions to total GHG emissions, particularly under different managements. In addition, identifying the optimal application rate of irrigation water and fertilizer will help to decrease GHG emissions from groundwater irrigated crops.more » « less
-
Abstract Agricultural soils play a dual role in regulating the Earth's climate by releasing or sequestering carbon dioxide (CO2) in soil organic carbon (SOC) and emitting non‐CO2greenhouse gases (GHGs) such as nitrous oxide (N2O) and methane (CH4). To understand how agricultural soils can play a role in climate solutions requires a comprehensive assessment of net soil GHG balance (i.e., sum of SOC‐sequestered CO2and non‐CO2GHG emissions) and the underlying controls. Herein, we used a model‐data integration approach to understand and quantify how natural and anthropogenic factors have affected the magnitude and spatiotemporal variations of the net soil GHG balance in U.S. croplands during 1960–2018. Specifically, we used the dynamic land ecosystem model for regional simulations and used field observations of SOC sequestration rates and N2O and CH4emissions to calibrate, validate, and corroborate model simulations. Results show that U.S. agricultural soils sequestered Tg CO2‐C year−1in SOC (at a depth of 3.5 m) during 1960–2018 and emitted Tg N2O‐N year−1and Tg CH4‐C year−1, respectively. Based on the GWP100 metric (global warming potential on a 100‐year time horizon), the estimated national net GHG emission rate from agricultural soils was Tg CO2‐eq year−1, with the largest contribution from N2O emissions. The sequestered SOC offset ~28% of the climate‐warming effects resulting from non‐CO2GHG emissions, and this offsetting effect increased over time. Increased nitrogen fertilizer use was the dominant factor contributing to the increase in net GHG emissions during 1960–2018, explaining ~47% of total changes. In contrast, reduced cropland area, the adoption of agricultural conservation practices (e.g., reduced tillage), and rising atmospheric CO2levels attenuated net GHG emissions from U.S. croplands. Improving management practices to mitigate N2O emissions represents the biggest opportunity for achieving net‐zero emissions in U.S. croplands. Our study highlights the importance of concurrently quantifying SOC‐sequestered CO2and non‐CO2GHG emissions for developing effective agricultural climate change mitigation measures.