GEO217 Climate Change & Sustainability Lecture 2 PDF

GEO217 – Climate Change and Sustainability Mohamed Mahmoud, PhD Email: [email protected] & Tarek Abdel Shafy, PhD Email: [email protected] gu.edu.eg  Who has contributed most to global CO2 emissions? - The United States has emitted more...

GEO217 – Climate Change and Sustainability Mohamed Mahmoud, PhD Email: [email protected] & Tarek Abdel Shafy, PhD Email: [email protected] gu.edu.eg  Who has contributed most to global CO2 emissions? - The United States has emitted more CO2 than any other country to date (i.e., ~ 400 billion tonnes) and it is responsible for 25% of historical emissions; which is twice more than China. - The 27 European Union (EU-27), which are grouped together, is also a large historical contributor at 22%. - Many of the large annual emitters today, such as India and Brazil, are not large contributors in a historical context. - Africa’s regional contribution – relative to its population size – has been tiny. This results from very low per capita emissions – historically and currently. 1 Developing Countries are the most vulnerable to climate change Impacts are worse - already more flood and drought-prone and a large share of the economy is in climate- sensitive sectors. Lower capacity to adapt because of a lack of financial, institutional, and technological capacity and access to knowledge. Impacts disproportionately upon the poorest countries and the poorest people, exacerbating inequities in health status and access to adequate food, clean water, and other resources. 2 An integrated climate change-sustainable development strategy is essential Climate Change Development Former Viewpoint Climate Integrated ` CC-SD Development Change Strategy Emerging Viewpoint 3  The expected increase in the share of global GHG emissions 1995 total emissions: 2035 total emission estimate: 6.46 billion tons of carbon 11.71 billion tons of carbon Source: OSTP 4 Stabilization of atmospheric CO2 will require significant emissions reductions 5 6  Energy (electricity, heat, and transport): 73.2% I. Energy use in industry: 24.2% (such as the iron and steel industry, chemical & petrochemical, and food and tobacco) II. Transport: 16.2% (This includes a small amount of electricity (indirect emissions) as well as all direct emissions from burning fossil fuels to power transport activities. These figures do not include emissions from the manufacturing of motor vehicles or other transport equipment – this is included in the previous point ‘Energy use in Industry (such as road transport (11.9%), aviation (1.9%), shipping (1.7%), and rail (0.4%)). III. Energy use in buildings: 17.5% (i.e., residential buildings (10.9%) and commercial buildings (6.6%)). IV. Unallocated fuel combustion: 7.8% (i.e., Energy-related emissions from the production of energy from other fuels including electricity and heat from biomass; on-site heat sources; combined heat and power (CHP); nuclear industry; and pumped hydroelectric storage). V. Fugitive emissions from energy production: 5.8% (fugitive emissions are the often-accidental leakage of methane to the atmosphere during oil and gas extraction and transportation, from damaged or poorly maintained pipes. This also includes flaring – the intentional burning of gas at oil facilities. VI. Energy use in agriculture and fishing: 1.7% (Energy-related emissions from the use of machinery in agriculture and fishing, such as fuel for farm machinery and fishing vessels). 7  Agriculture, Forestry, and Land Use: 18.4% Agriculture, Forestry, and Land Use directly account for 18.4% of greenhouse gas emissions. The food system as a whole – including refrigeration, food processing, packaging, and transport – accounts for around one-quarter of greenhouse gas emissions. We look at this in detail here. - Grassland (0.1%): when grassland becomes degraded, these soils can lose carbon, converting to carbon dioxide in the process. Conversely, when grassland is restored (for example, from cropland), carbon can be sequestered. Emissions here, therefore, refer to the net balance of these carbon losses and gains from grassland biomass and soils. - Cropland (1.4%): depending on the management practices used on croplands, carbon can be lost or sequestered into soils and biomass. This affects the balance of carbon dioxide emissions: CO2 can be emitted when croplands are degraded, or sequestered when they are restored. The net change in carbon stocks is captured in emissions of carbon dioxide. This does not include grazing lands for livestock. - Deforestation (2.2%): net emissions of carbon dioxide from changes in forestry cover. This means reforestation is counted as ‘negative emissions’ and deforestation as ‘positive emissions’. Net forestry change is therefore the difference between forestry loss and gain. Emissions are based on lost carbon stores from forests and changes in carbon stores in forest soils. 8 Crop burning (3.5%): the burning of agricultural residues – leftover vegetation from crops such as rice, wheat, sugar cane, and other crops – releases carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide, and methane. Farmers often burn crop residues after harvest to prepare land for the resowing of crops. Rice cultivation (1.3%): flooded paddy fields produce methane through a process called ‘anaerobic digestion’. Organic matter in the soil is converted to methane due to the low-oxygen environment of water-logged rice fields. 1.3% seems substantial, but it’s important to put this into context: rice accounts for around one-fifth of the world’s supply of calories and is a staple crop for billions of people globally.8 Agricultural soils (4.1%): Nitrous oxide – a strong greenhouse gas – is produced when synthetic nitrogen fertilizers are applied to soils. This includes emissions from agricultural soils for all agricultural products – including food for direct human consumption, animal feed, biofuels and other non-food crops (such as tobacco and cotton). Livestock & manure (5.8%): animals (mainly ruminants, such as cattle and sheep) produce greenhouse gases through a process called ‘enteric fermentation’ – when microbes in their digestive systems break down food, they produce methane as a by-product. This means beef and lamb tend to have a high carbon footprint, and eating less is an effective way to reduce the emissions of your diet. Nitrous oxide and methane can be produced from the decomposition of animal manure under low oxygen conditions. This often occurs when large numbers of animals are managed in a confined area (such as dairy farms, beef feedlots, and swine and poultry farms), where manure is typically stored in large piles or disposed of in lagoons and other types of manure management systems ‘Livestock’ emissions here include direct emissions from livestock only – they do not consider impacts of land use change for pasture or animal feed. 9 Direct Industrial Processes: 5.2% - Cement (3%): carbon dioxide is produced as a byproduct of a chemical conversion process used in the production of clinker, a component of cement. In this reaction, limestone (CaCO3) is converted to lime (CaO), and produces CO2 as a byproduct. Cement production also produces emissions from energy inputs – these related emissions are included in ‘Energy Use in Industry’. - Chemicals & petrochemicals (2.2%): greenhouse gases can be produced as a byproduct from chemical processes – for example, CO2 can be emitted during the production of ammonia, which is used for purifying water supplies, cleaning products, and as a refrigerant, and used in the production of many materials, including plastic, fertilizers, pesticides, and textiles. Chemical and petrochemical manufacturing also produces emissions from energy inputs – these related emissions are included in ‘Energy Use in Industry’. 10 Waste: 3.2% - Wastewater (1.3%): organic matter and residues from animals, plants, humans, and their waste products can collect in wastewater systems. When this organic matter decomposes it produces methane and nitrous oxide. - Landfills (1.9%): landfills are often low-oxygen environments. In these environments, organic matter is converted to methane when it decomposes. 11 Thank You gu.edu.eg 12