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In order to evaluate the potential impact of the Arctic anthropogenic emission sources it is essential to understand better the natural aerosol sources of the inner Arctic and the atmospheric processing of the aerosols during their transport in the Arctic atmosphere. A 1-year time series of chemically specific measurements of the sub-micrometre aerosol during 2015 has been taken at the Mt. Zeppelin observatory in the European Arctic. A source apportionment study combined measured molecular tracers as source markers, positive matrix factorization, analysis of the potential source distribution and auxiliary information from satellite data and ground-based observations. The annual average sub-micrometre mass was apportioned to regional background secondary sulphate (56%), sea spray (17%), biomass burning (15%), secondary nitrate (5.8%), secondary marine biogenic (4.5%), mixed combustion (1.6%), and two types of marine gel sources (together 0.7%). Secondary nitrate aerosol mainly contributed towards the end of summer and during autumn. During spring and summer, the secondary marine biogenic factor reached a contribution of up to 50% in some samples. The most likely origin of the mixed combustion source is due to oil and gas extraction activities in Eastern Siberia. The two marine polymer gel sources predominantly occurred in autumn and winter. The small contribution of the marine gel sources at Mt. Zeppelin observatory in summer as opposed to regions closer to the North Pole is attributed to differences in ocean biology, vertical distribution of phytoplankton, and the earlier start of the summer season.
Stockholm University Press
2019
There is little information to decision support in air traffic management in case of nuclear releases into the atmosphere. In this paper, the dose estimation due to both, external exposure (i.e. cloud immersion, deposition inside and outside the aircraft), and due to internal exposure (i.e, inhalation of radionuclides inside the aircraft) to passengers and crew is calculated for a worst-case emergency scenario. The doses are calculated for different radionuclides and activities. Calculations are mainly considered according to International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP) recommendations and Monte Carlo simulations. In addition, a discussion on potential detectors installed inside the aircraft for monitoring the aerosol concentration and the ambient dose equivalent rate, H*(10), for during-flight monitoring and early warning is provided together with the evaluation of a response of a generic detector. The results show that the probability that a catastrophic nuclear accident would produce significant radiological doses to the passengers and crew of an aircraft is very low. In the worst-case scenarios studied, the maximum estimated effective dose was about 1 mSv during take-off or landing operations, which is the recommended yearly threshold for the public. However, in order to follow the ALARA (As Low As Reasonably Achievable) criteria and to avoid aircraft contamination, the installation of radiological detectors is considered. This would, on one hand help the pilot or corresponding decision maker to decide about the potential change of the route and, on the other, allow for gathering of 4D data for future studies.
Elsevier
2019
Environmental impacts of a chemical looping combustion power plant
Chemical Looping Combustion (CLC) is a promising CO2 capture option since it inherently separates CO2 from other flue components, theoretically with low energy penalty. Here, a Life Cycle Assessment model was developed of a theoretical hybrid CLC (HCLC) power plant facility utilising experimental data for CuO based oxygen carrier (OC) production and oxygen capacity. Power plant models with and without post-combustion CO2 capture, recognised as the most mature capture technology, acted as environmental performance targets. Results show that when OC is produced at lab-scale without optimisation, almost all (>99.9%) lifecycle impacts per kWh electricity from an HCLC plant derive from the specific OC material used, giving a total of ˜700 kg CO2eq/kWh. This is related to high electrical input required for OC processing, as well as high OC losses during production and from plant waste. Only when processing parameters are optimised and OC recycling from plant waste is implemented - reducing fresh OC needs – is the environmental impact lower than the conventional technologies studied (e.g. 0.2 kg CO2 eq/kWh vs. ˜0.3-1 kg CO2 eq/kWh, respectively). Further research should thus focus on identifying OCs that do not require energy intensive processing and can endure repeated cycles, allowing for recycling.
Elsevier
2019
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Science Press
2019
The carbonaceous aerosol accounts for an important part of total aerosol mass, affects human health and climate through its effects on physical and chemical properties of the aerosol, yet the understanding of its atmospheric sources and sinks is still incomplete. This study shows the state-of-the-art in modelling carbonaceous aerosol over Europe by comparing simulations performed with seven chemical transport models (CTMs) currently in air quality assessments in Europe: CAMx, CHIMERE, CMAQ, EMEP/MSC-W, LOTOS-EUROS, MINNI and RCGC. The simulations were carried out in the framework of the EURODELTA III modelling exercise and were evaluated against field measurements from intensive campaigns of European Monitoring and Evaluation Programme (EMEP) and the European Integrated Project on Aerosol Cloud Climate and Air Quality Interactions (EUCAARI). Model simulations were performed over the same domain, using as much as possible the same input data and covering four seasons: summer (1–30 June 2006), winter (8 January – 4 February 2007), autumn (17 September- 15 October 2008) and spring (25 February - 26 March 2009). The analyses of models’ performances in prediction of elemental carbon (EC) for the four seasons and organic aerosol components (OA) for the last two seasons show that all models generally underestimate the measured concentrations. The maximum underestimation of EC is about 60% and up to about 80% for total organic matter (TOM). The underestimation of TOM outside of highly polluted area is a consequence of an underestimation of secondary organic aerosol (SOA), in particular of its main contributor: biogenic secondary aerosol (BSOA). This result is independent on the SOA modelling approach used and season. The concentrations and daily cycles of total primary organic matter (TPOM) are generally better reproduced by the models since they used the same anthropogenic emissions. However, the combination of emissions and model formulation leads to overestimate TPOM concentrations in 2009 for most of the models. All models capture relatively well the SOA daily cycles at rural stations mainly due to the spatial resolution used in the simulations. For the investigated carbonaceous aerosol compounds, the differences between the concentrations simulated by different models are lower than the differences between the concentrations simulated with a model for different seasons.
Elsevier
2019
2019
Carbonaceous aerosol (total carbon, TCp) was source apportioned at nine European rural background sites, as part of the European Measurement and Evaluation Programme (EMEP) Intensive Measurement Periods in fall 2008 and winter/spring 2009. Five predefined fractions were apportioned based on ambient measurements: elemental and organic carbon, from combustion of biomass (ECbb and OCbb) and from fossil-fuel (ECff and OCff) sources, and remaining non-fossil organic carbon (OCrnf), dominated by natural sources.
OCrnf made a larger contribution to TCp than anthropogenic sources (ECbb, OCbb, ECff, and OCff) at four out of nine sites in fall, reflecting the vegetative season, whereas anthropogenic sources dominated at all but one site in winter/spring. Biomass burning (OCbb + ECbb) was the major anthropogenic source at the central European sites in fall, whereas fossil-fuel (OCff + ECff) sources dominated at the southernmost and the two northernmost sites. Residential wood burning emissions explained 30 %–50 % of TCp at most sites in the first week of sampling in fall, showing that this source can be the dominant one, even outside the heating season. In winter/spring, biomass burning was the major anthropogenic source at all but two sites, reflecting increased residential wood burning emissions in the heating season. Fossil-fuel sources dominated EC at all sites in fall, whereas there was a shift towards biomass burning for the southernmost sites in winter/spring.
Model calculations based on base-case emissions (mainly officially reported national emissions) strongly underpredicted observational derived levels of OCbb and ECbb outside Scandinavia. Emissions based on a consistent bottom-up inventory for residential wood burning (and including intermediate volatility compounds, IVOCs) improved model results compared to the base-case emissions, but modeled levels were still substantially underestimated compared to observational derived OCbb and ECbb levels at the southernmost sites.
Our study shows that natural sources are a major contributor to carbonaceous aerosol in Europe, even in fall and in winter/spring, and that residential wood burning emissions are equally as large as or larger than that of fossil-fuel sources, depending on season and region. The poorly constrained residential wood burning emissions for large parts of Europe show the obvious need to improve emission inventories, with harmonization of emission factors between countries likely being the most important step to improve model calculations for biomass burning emissions, and European PM2.5 concentrations in general.
2019
Arctic-breeding geese acquire resources for egg production from overwintering and breeding grounds, where pollutant exposure may differ. We investigated the effect of migration strategy on pollutant occurrence of lipophilic polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and protein-associated poly- and perfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) and mercury (Hg) in eggs of herbivorous barnacle geese (Branta leucopsis) from an island colony on Svalbard. Stable isotopes (δ13C and δ15N) in eggs and vegetation collected along the migration route were similar. Pollutant concentrations in eggs were low, reflecting their terrestrial diet (∑PCB = 1.23 ± 0.80 ng/g ww; ∑PFAS = 1.21 ± 2.97 ng/g ww; Hg = 20.17 ± 7.52 ng/g dw). PCB concentrations in eggs increased with later hatch date, independently of lipid content which also increased over time. Some females may remobilize and transfer more PCBs to their eggs, by delaying migration several weeks, relying on more polluted and stored resources, or being in poor body condition when arriving at the breeding grounds. PFAS and Hg occurrence in eggs did not change throughout the breeding season, suggesting migration has a greater effect on lipophilic pollutants. Pollutant exposure during offspring production in Arctic-breeding migrants may result in different profiles, with effects becoming more apparent with increasing trophic levels.
2019
The comet assay applied to HepG2 liver spheroids
In accordance with the 3 Rs to reduce in vivo testing, more advanced in vitro models, moving from 2D monolayer to 3D cultures, should be developed for prediction of human toxicity of industrial chemicals and environmental pollutants. In this study we compared cytotoxic and genotoxic responses induced by chemicals in 2D and 3D spheroidal cultures of the human liver cancer cell line HepG2.
HepG2 spheroids were prepared by hanging drop technology. Both 3D spheroids and 2D monolayer cultures were exposed to different chemicals (colchicine, chlorpromazine hydrochloride or methyl methanesulfonate) for geno- and cytotoxicity studies. Cytotoxicity was investigated by alamarBlue assay, flow cytometry and confocal imaging. DNA damage was investigated by the comet assay with and without Fpg enzyme for detection of DNA strand breaks and oxidized or alkylated base lesions.
The results from the cyto- and genotoxicity tests showed differences in sensitivity comparing the 2D and 3D HepG2 models. This study shows that human 3D spheroidal hepatocellular cultures can be successfully applied for genotoxicity testing by the comet assay and represent a promising advanced in vitro model for toxicity testing.
2019
This paper reports estimated maintenance-cleaning costs, cost savings and cleaning interval increases for structural surfaces and windows in Europe obtainable by reducing the air pollution. Methodology and data from the ICP-materials project were used. The average present (2018) cleaning costs for sheltered white painted steel surfaces and modern glass due to air pollution over background, was estimated to be ~2.5 Euro/m2∙year. Hypothetical 50% reduction in the air pollution was found to give savings in these cleaning costs of ~1.5 Euro/m2∙year. Observed reduction in the air pollution, from 2002–2005 until 2011–2014, have probably increased the cleaning interval for white painted steel with ~100% (from 12 to 24 years), representing reductions in the single intervention cleaning costs from 7 to 4%/year (= % of one cleaning investment, per year during the cleaning interval) and for the modern glass with ~65% (from 0.85 to 1.3 years), representing reductions in the cleaning cost from 124 to 95%/year. The cleaning cost reductions, obtainable by 50% reduction in air pollution, would have been ~3 %/year for white painted steel and ~60%/year for the modern glass, representing ~100 and 50% additional cleaning interval increases. These potential cleaning cost savings are significantly higher than previously reported for the weathering of Portland limestone ornament and zinc monuments.
MDPI
2019
Two years of continuous in situ measurements of Arctic low‐level clouds have been made at the Mount Zeppelin Observatory (78°56′N, 11°53′E), in Ny‐Ålesund, Spitsbergen. The monthly median value of the cloud particle number concentration (Nc) showed a clear seasonal variation: Its maximum appeared in May–July (65 ± 8 cm−3), and it remained low between October and March (8 ± 7 cm−3). At temperatures warmer than 0 °C, a clear correlation was found between the hourly Nc values and the number concentrations of aerosols with dry diameters larger than 70 nm (N70), which are proxies for cloud condensation nuclei (CCN). When clouds were detected at temperatures colder than 0 °C, some of the data followed the summertime Nc to N70 relationship, while other data showed systematically lower Nc values. The lidar‐derived depolarization ratios suggested that the former (CCN‐controlled) and latter (CCN‐uncontrolled) data generally corresponded to clouds consisting of supercooled water droplets and those containing ice particles, respectively. The CCN‐controlled data persistently appeared throughout the year at Zeppelin. The aerosol‐cloud interaction index (ACI = dlnNc/(3dlnN70)) for the CCN‐controlled data showed high sensitivities to aerosols both in the summer (clean air) and winter–spring (Arctic haze) seasons (0.22 ± 0.03 and 0.25 ± 0.02, respectively). The air parcel model calculations generally reproduced these values. The threshold diameters of aerosol activation (Dact), which account for the Nc of the CCN‐controlled data, were as low as 30–50 nm when N70 was less than 30 cm−3, suggesting that new particle formation can affect Arctic cloud microphysics.
American Geophysical Union (AGU)
2019
Exploring the prospects for adaptive governance in marine transboundary conservation in East Africa
Elsevier
2019
Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons Not Declining in Arctic Air Despite Global Emission Reduction
Two decades of atmospheric measurements of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) were conducted at three Arctic sites, i.e., Alert, Canada; Zeppelin, Svalbard; and Pallas, Finland. PAH concentrations decrease with increasing latitude in the order of Pallas > Zeppelin > Alert. Forest fire was identified as an important contributing source. Three representative PAHs, phenanthrene (PHE), pyrene (PYR), and benzo[a]pyrene (BaP) were selected for the assessment of their long-term trends. Significant decline of these PAHs was not observed contradicting the expected decline due to PAH emission reductions. A global 3-D transport model was employed to simulate the concentrations of these three PAHs at the three sites. The model predicted that warming in the Arctic would cause the air concentrations of PHE and PYR to increase in the Arctic atmosphere, while that of BaP, which tends to be particle-bound, is less affected by temperature. The expected decline due to the reduction of global PAH emissions is offset by the increment of volatilization caused by warming. This work shows that this phenomenon may affect the environmental occurrence of other anthropogenic substances, such as more volatile flame retardants and pesticides.
2019
A number of studies have shown that assimilation of satellite derived soil moisture using the ensemble Kalman Filter (EnKF) can improve soil moisture estimates, particularly for the surface zone. However, the EnKF is computationally expensive since an ensemble of model integrations have to be propagated forward in time. Here, assimilating satellite soil moisture data from the Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) mission, we compare the EnKF with the computationally cheaper ensemble Optimal Interpolation (EnOI) method over the contiguous United States (CONUS). The background error–covariance in the EnOI is sampled in two ways: (i) by using the stochastic spread from an ensemble open-loop run, and (ii) sampling from the model spinup climatology. Our results indicate that the EnKF is only marginally superior to one version of the EnOI. Furthermore, the assimilation of SMAP data using the EnKF and EnOI is found to improve the surface zone correlation with in situ observations at a 95% significance level. The EnKF assimilation of SMAP data is also found to improve root-zone correlation with independent in situ data at the same significance level; however this improvement is dependent on which in situ network we are validating against. We evaluate how the quality of the atmospheric forcing affects the analysis results by prescribing the land surface data assimilation system with either observation corrected or model derived precipitation. Surface zone correlation skill increases for the analysis using both the corrected and model derived precipitation, but only the latter shows an improvement at the 95% significance level. The study also suggests that assimilation of satellite derived surface soil moisture using the EnOI can correct random errors in the atmospheric forcing and give an analysed surface soil moisture close to that of an open-loop run using observation derived precipitation. Importantly, this shows that estimates of soil moisture could be improved using a combination of assimilating SMAP using the computationally cheap EnOI while using model derived precipitation as forcing. Finally, we assimilate three different Level-2 satellite derived soil moisture products from the European Space Agency Climate Change Initiative (ESA CCI), SMAP and SMOS (Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity) using the EnOI, and then compare the relative performance of the three resulting analyses against in situ soil moisture observations. In this comparison, we find that all three analyses offer improvements over an open-loop run when comparing to in situ observations. The assimilation of SMAP data is found to perform marginally better than the assimilation of SMOS data, while assimilation of the ESA CCI data shows the smallest improvement of the three analysis products.
MDPI
2019
Untargeted analysis of a composite house dust sample has been performed as part of a collaborative effort to evaluate the progress in the field of suspect and nontarget screening and build an extensive database of organic indoor environment contaminants. Twenty-one participants reported results that were curated by the organizers of the collaborative trial. In total, nearly 2350 compounds were identified (18%) or tentatively identified (25% at confidence level 2 and 58% at confidence level 3), making the collaborative trial a success. However, a relatively small share (37%) of all compounds were reported by more than one participant, which shows that there is plenty of room for improvement in the field of suspect and nontarget screening. An even a smaller share (5%) of the total number of compounds were detected using both liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry (LC-MS) and gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC-MS). Thus, the two MS techniques are highly complementary. Most of the compounds were detected using LC with electrospray ionization (ESI) MS and comprehensive 2D GC (GC×GC) with atmospheric pressure chemical ionization (APCI) and electron ionization (EI), respectively. Collectively, the three techniques accounted for more than 75% of the reported compounds. Glycols, pharmaceuticals, pesticides, and various biogenic compounds dominated among the compounds reported by LC-MS participants, while hydrocarbons, hydrocarbon derivatives, and chlorinated paraffins and chlorinated biphenyls were primarily reported by GC-MS participants. Plastics additives, flavor and fragrances, and personal care products were reported by both LC-MS and GC-MS participants. It was concluded that the use of multiple analytical techniques was required for a comprehensive characterization of house dust contaminants. Further, several recommendations are given for improved suspect and nontarget screening of house dust and other indoor environment samples, including the use of open-source data processing tools. One of the tools allowed provisional identification of almost 500 compounds that had not been reported by participants.
Springer
2019
2019
Eggs of snow buntings (Plectrophenax nivealis) were applied as a bio-indicator to examine differences in exposure to legacy persistent organic pollutants (POPs) and perflouroalkyl subtances (PFAS) from the terrestrial environment surrounding the settlements of Longyearbyen, Barentsburg and Pyramiden on Svalbard, Norway. Significantly higher concentrations of summed polychlorinated biphenyls (sumPCB7) in eggs collected from Barentsburg (2980 ng/g lipid weight (lw)) and Pyramiden (3860 ng/g lw) compared to Longyearbyen (96 ng/g lw) are attributed to local sources of PCBs within these settlements. Similar findings were observed for p,p′-dichlorodiphenyldichloroethylene (p,p′-DDE) where higher median concentrations observed in Pyramiden (173 ng/g lw) and Barentsburg (75 ng/g lw) compared to Longyearbyen (48 ng/g lw) may be influenced by guano inputs from breeding seabird populations, although other point sources cannot be ruled out. Concentrations of perfluorooctane sulphonate (PFOS) and several perfluorinated carboxylic acids (PFCAs) in snow bunting eggs were found to be statistically higher in the populated settlements of Longyearbyen and Barentsburg compared to the abandoned Pyramiden. Narrow foraging ranges of snow buntings during breeding season was useful in assessing point sources of exposure for PCBs and PFAS at particular sites with extreme differences observed between nest locations. SumPCB7 concentrations ranged from 2 μg/g ww to below detection limits between nest sites located less than a kilometer from each other in Pyramiden. Similar findings were observed in Longyearbyen, where several PFCAs ranged from 2 to 55 times higher between nest sites with similar spatial distances. These findings indicate that snow buntings can be a useful bio-indicator offering high spatial resolution for contaminant source apportionment in terrestrial environments on Svalbard.
Elsevier
2019
Source apportionment of circum-Arctic atmospheric black carbon from isotopes and modeling
Black carbon (BC) contributes to Arctic climate warming, yet source attributions are inaccurate due to lacking observational constraints and uncertainties in emission inventories. Year-round, isotope-constrained observations reveal strong seasonal variations in BC sources with a consistent and synchronous pattern at all Arctic sites. These sources were dominated by emissions from fossil fuel combustion in the winter and by biomass burning in the summer. The annual mean source of BC to the circum-Arctic was 39 ± 10% from biomass burning. Comparison of transport-model predictions with the observations showed good agreement for BC concentrations, with larger discrepancies for (fossil/biomass burning) sources. The accuracy of simulated BC concentration, but not of origin, points to misallocations of emissions in the emission inventories. The consistency in seasonal source contributions of BC throughout the Arctic provides strong justification for targeted emission reductions to limit the impact of BC on climate warming in the Arctic and beyond.
2019
Highly unusual open fires burned in western Greenland between 31 July and 21 August 2017, after a period of warm, dry and sunny weather. The fires burned on peatlands that became vulnerable to fires by permafrost thawing. We used several satellite data sets to estimate that the total area burned was about 2345 ha. Based on assumptions of typical burn depths and emission factors for peat fires, we estimate that the fires consumed a fuel amount of about 117 kt C and emitted about 23.5 t of black carbon (BC) and 731 t of organic carbon (OC), including 141 t of brown carbon (BrC). We used a Lagrangian particle dispersion model to simulate the atmospheric transport and deposition of these species. We find that the smoke plumes were often pushed towards the Greenland ice sheet by westerly winds, and thus a large fraction of the emissions (30 %) was deposited on snow- or ice-covered surfaces. The calculated deposition was small compared to the deposition from global sources, but not entirely negligible. Analysis of aerosol optical depth data from three sites in western Greenland in August 2017 showed strong influence of forest fire plumes from Canada, but little impact of the Greenland fires. Nevertheless, CALIOP (Cloud-Aerosol Lidar with Orthogonal Polarization) lidar data showed that our model captured the presence and structure of the plume from the Greenland fires. The albedo changes and instantaneous surface radiative forcing in Greenland due to the fire emissions were estimated with the SNICAR model and the uvspec model from the libRadtran radiative transfer software package. We estimate that the maximum albedo change due to the BC and BrC deposition was about 0.007, too small to be measured. The average instantaneous surface radiative forcing over Greenland at noon on 31 August was 0.03–0.04 W m−2, with locally occurring maxima of 0.63–0.77 W m−2 (depending on the studied scenario). The average value is up to an order of magnitude smaller than the radiative forcing from other sources. Overall, the fires burning in Greenland in the summer of 2017 had little impact on the Greenland ice sheet, causing a small extra radiative forcing. This was due to the – in a global context – still rather small size of the fires. However, the very large fraction of the emissions deposited on the Greenland ice sheet from these fires could contribute to accelerated melting of the Greenland ice sheet if these fires become several orders of magnitude larger under future climate.
2019
Interactions between the atmosphere, cryosphere, and ecosystems at northern high latitudes
The Nordic Centre of Excellence CRAICC (Cryosphere–Atmosphere Interactions in a Changing Arctic Climate), funded by NordForsk in the years 2011–2016, is the largest joint Nordic research and innovation initiative to date, aiming to strengthen research and innovation regarding climate change issues in the Nordic region. CRAICC gathered more than 100 scientists from all Nordic countries in a virtual centre with the objectives of identifying and quantifying the major processes controlling Arctic warming and related feedback mechanisms, outlining strategies to mitigate Arctic warming, and developing Nordic Earth system modelling with a focus on short-lived climate forcers (SLCFs), including natural and anthropogenic aerosols.
The outcome of CRAICC is reflected in more than 150 peer-reviewed scientific publications, most of which are in the CRAICC special issue of the journal Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics. This paper presents an overview of the main scientific topics investigated in the centre and provides the reader with a state-of-the-art comprehensive summary of what has been achieved in CRAICC with links to the particular publications for further detail. Faced with a vast amount of scientific discovery, we do not claim to completely summarize the results from CRAICC within this paper, but rather concentrate here on the main results which are related to feedback loops in climate change–cryosphere interactions that affect Arctic amplification.
2019
Observed recent change in climate and potential for decay of Norwegian wood structures
The wood rot decay of structures and buildings in Norway represents high costs. This paper reports the observed trends for the potential rot decay of Norwegian wood structures in the cities of Oslo and Bergen over the recent 55 years, calculated as the “wood rot climate index” developed by Scheffer, and compares the reports with previous reported values based on climate change modelling. The observed change in the wood rot climate index was close to the modelling result. Bergen is exposed directly to the westerly Atlantic winds and has among the highest rain amounts in Norway, whereas Oslo is shielded by the Scandinavian mountain chain and has much less rain. The change in the wood rot climate index since 1961 was about 20% in both cities, but the trend in the index (climate index change per year) was about 80% stronger in Bergen. The absolute index changes were largest in the summer; then spring (50 to 60% of the summer increase); and small, zero, or even negative (autumn in Oslo) in the remaining seasons. The relative changes were higher in the spring than summer and very high in Bergen in the winter from a low value. The change to positive index values in the spring and winter indicates temperature and humidity conditions favoring the growth of wood rot and, thus, extended the rot duration through the year. The expected increase in the future wood rot decay potential in Norway shows the need for increased focus on adaption measures to reduce the related damages and costs.
MDPI
2019
Using life cycle assessment to inform municipal climate mitigation planning
Local governments can play a key role in reducing emissions associated with local energy use. 17 Polish municipalities provided data on energy use and CO2 emissions for 2015. Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) was used to calculate lifecycle impact indicators for greenhouse gases, particulate matter, acidification and eutrophication associated with the annual energy demand in each municipality. Results showed that impacts from energy use increase almost proportionally with total energy used in the participating municipalities due to the heavy reliance on fossil fuels. Analysis of two municipalities of similar size showed that impacts can be attributed to different usage sectors. For one municipality, energy plans should focus on reducing emissions from private transport and associated fuel use. For the other, energy plans should focus on reducing energy demand from residential buildings. This means that a ‘one-size-fits-all’ energy plan, which may be developed at a national level, would not fit all municipalities. The application of LCA allows for identifying and informing energy planning with impact reduction potential for multiple environmental pressures. Analysis of the provided energy use and CO2 data showed large uncertainties in CO2 emission intensities and allowing for sufficient time and guidance in the energy and emissions accounting is recommended.
Elsevier
2019