UC Davis
Date: 2020-03-25
According to a study from the University of California-Davis, concrete production contributes 8 pct of global greenhouse gases and caused $335 billion per year in damages while strategies to reduce the concrete sector's global GHG emissions could, under some scenarios, increase local air pollution and related health damages.

While CCS technologies could reduce GHG emissions from concrete production by as much as 28 pct , the study found it could actually increase human health impacts from air pollutants unless the technology itself is powered by clean energy.

Cement production is responsible for about 32 pct of the total climate damages and 18 pct of health damages of making concrete. That is followed by aggregate production, which is responsible for 34 pct of health damages and 4 pct in climate damages.

To reduce these impacts, the study suggests the following readily implementable methods to reduce climate damages: cleaner combusting kiln fuel; increase use of limestone filler or other low-impact mineral additions to partially replace cement; clean renewable energy; amine scrubbing and calcium looping which could reduce climate damage costs over 50 pct and 65 pct respectively. They are not yet readily implementable but may become so in the future.

While the effectiveness of strategies varies by region, the study says that overall, a mixture of the strategies could reduce climate and health damages by 85 pct and 19 pct respectively. (Source: UC Davis, Nature Climate Change, Daily Democrat, UC Davis, Mar., 2020) Contact: UC Davis, Assist. Prof.,Frances Moore, UCD Department of Environmental Science and Policy, fmoore@ucdavis.edu, www.ucdavis.edu

More Low-Carbon Energy News Concrete,  Cement,  Carbon Emissions,  Climate Change,  UC Davis,  

Carbon Sequestration
Date: 2020-03-23
According to a new study authored by Dr. Doborah Bossio of the Nature Conservancy and University of California-Davis, repairing, protecting and properly managing the ecosystem and the earths soil, the soil can absorb roughly 5.5 billion tpy CO2. The study found the soil's total potential carbon sequestration to be 23.8 gigaton of carbon dioxide -- an average of 5.5 billion tpy -- 40 pct of this potential is left to leave the existing land to itself.

According to Bassio, "Much of the ongoing destruction in these ecosystems is the footprint of expanding agriculture. In other words, slowing or stopping this expansion is a very important strategy. So the restoration of the soil will be of great benefit to humanity. In this way, the quality of water, food production and resistance of crops will increase. The incentive structure in agriculture should be directed from payments to ecosystem services, food, water, climate and biodiversity, Bassio added. (Source: SOMAG, 22 Mar., 2020)Contact: UC Davis, Dr, Deborah Bassio, www.asi.ucdavis.edu/people/deborah-bossio; UC Davis, www.ucdavis.edu; Nature Conservancy,(703) 841-5300, www.nature.org

More Low-Carbon Energy News Soil Carbon,  UC Davis,  Nature Conservancy,  ,  

UC-Davis,Million Light Bulb Challenge
Date: 2019-03-11
The University of California - Davis is reporting the launch of the Million Light Bulb Challenge to replace one million incandescent light bulbs for high-quality, energy-efficient LED light bulbs in campus buildings and residences to encourage the reduction of carbon footprints and energy usage.

Under the program, all UC students, staff, faculty, alumni and retirees can purchase high-quality LED light bulbs through the Community Buy program.

Lighting can account for 30 pct of the energy usage in a typical home so switching to high performance LED technology can deliver significant cuts in energy consumption, reduced energy bills and lower carbon emissions. (Source: UC Davis, California Aggie, Mar., 2019) Contact: Million Light Bulb Challenge, www.millionledchallenge.com; UC Davis, www.ucdavis.edu

More Low-Carbon Energy News LED Light,  Energy Efficient Lighting,  UC Davis,  

Carbon Sequestration,UC Davis
Date: 2019-01-21
In the Golden State, the University of California, Davis, and the UC Working Lands Innovation Center are reporting receipt of $4.7 million in grant funding over 3-years from the California Strategic Growth Council to research scalable methods of using soil amendments to sequester greenhouse gases like (CO2) in soil. The project aims to find ways to capture billions of tons of CO2 and bring net carbon emissions in California to zero by 2045.

The consortium will conduct and oversee 29 treatment and control sites across California and assess whether soil amendments -- pulverized rock, compost and biochar -- can bring additional carbon Capture and storage (CCS) co-benefits, such as improved crop and rangeland productivity and soil health to California growers and ranchers across diverse regions.

The sites range from croplands in the Sacramento and San Joaquin valleys to the Imperial Valley, as well as ranchlands from Marin County to Southern California.

In addition to UC Berkeley and UC Davis, the consortium also includes scientists from UC Merced, Lawrence Berkeley National Lab and California State University, East Bay. The group will be working with the California Collaborative for Climate Change Solutions (C4S), Larta Institute, the Almond Board of California, commercial manufacturers of compost and biochar, ranchers and farmers, carbon offset registries, the USDA California Climate Hub, and UC Cooperative Extension. (Source: UC Davis, PR, 16 Jan., 2019) Contact: UC Davis, John Muir Institute of the Environment , Benjamin Houlton, Dir., (530) 752-7627, johnmuir.ucdavis.edu; California Strategic Growth Council, www.sgc.ca.gov, UC Working Lands Innovation Center Grant Award, www.sgc.ca.gov/programs/climate-research/docs/20181221-CCR_Summary_2019CCR20007.pdf

More Low-Carbon Energy News UC Davis,  CCS,  CO2,  Carbon Sequestration,  Greenhouse Gas,  

UC Davis
Date: 2018-07-11
Researchers from the University of California, Davis have found that grasslands and rangelands are better carbon sinks than forests in present-day California. Years of warming temperatures, fire suppression, and drought have increased wildfire risks and turned the state's forests into carbon producers more than carbon consumers, according to the research.

Trees store much of their carbon within their leave and woody biomass, while grass stores most of its carbon underground. This means that when a tree catches fire, it releases its stores of carbon back into the atmosphere. But when a fire burns through grasslands, the carbon fixed underground tends to stay in the roots and soil.

The study suggests that grasslands and range lands should be given opportunities in California's cap-and-trade market, which was designed to reduce the state's greenhouse gas emissions by 40 percent below 1990 levels by 2030. Their findings could also influence other carbon offset efforts around the world, especially those in semi-arid environments. This study states that, from a cap-and-trade and carbon-offset perspective, conserving grasslands and promoting rangeland practices that lead to reliable rates of carbon sequestration may help meet California's emission-reduction goals. (Source: UC Davis, earth.com, July, 2018) Contact: UC Davis, John Muir Institute of the Environment , Benjamin Houlton, Dir., (530) 752-7627, johnmuir.ucdavis.edu

More Low-Carbon Energy News Carbon Storage,  Carbon Sink,  Climate Change,  Carbon Storage,  

UC Davis
Date: 2017-08-16
Getting to 80%: Mobilizing Feedback, Lifestyles, and Social Practices Research to Shape Residential Energy Consumption -- a new report by Bridget Clark at University of California-Davis -- suggests that with all the advances in building more energy-efficient air conditioners, better insulated homes and cars that run on less or no fuel, consumers have actually increased their energy consumption and that the expected energy savings have been outweighed by people living in larger homes with more and more often used appliances.

In her paper, Clark looked at the goals of recently passed legislation mandating that the state of California cut its greenhouse gas emissions by 40 pct of 1990 levels by 2030, and a further reduction to 80 pct by 2050. Along with these cuts are authorizations for policy changes, technology improvements and other measures, such as rebates and upgrades in the electrical grid, that would help California achieve its goals. But policy changes and technology improvements alone won't work because people want to be comfortable in a cool (or warm) room, have convenient ways to cook food, and have lighting in their homes they consider to be warm and pleasing.

The report suggests that Californians should consider interventions to limit CO2 emissions similar to those undertaken in Japan which mandated that all government buildings could not be heated or cooled when temperatures are between 20 and 28 degrees Celsius (68-82 F). Within two years of implementation, the program led to an estimated 1.14 million-ton reduction in emissions.

What is needed is more sociological research that focuses on consumer behavior and policy that focuses on reducing the overall consumption of energy, according to the study. "Through deeper examinations of the ways in which energy consumption is socially and culturally determined we can begin to construct more holistic policies that take into account why and how people actually consume energy." (Source: UC Davis, DOE Science News Source, 14 Aug., 2017) Contact: UC-Davis, Dept. of Socialogy, Bridget Clark, (530) 752-0782, www.ucdavis.edu

More Low-Carbon Energy News Carbon Emissions,  Energy Consumptiuon,