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Global Climate Change Digest
A Guide to Information on Greenhouse Gases and Ozone Depletion
Published July 1988 through June 1999

FROM VOLUME 5, NUMBER 7, JULY 1992

REPORTS...
SOURCES AND SINKS

Item #d92jul88

Emissions of Greenhouse Gases from the Use of Transportation Fuels and Electricity. Vol. 1. Main Text (ANL/ESD/TM-22, Vol. 1), M.A. DeLuchi (Inst. Transport. Studies, Univ. California, Davis CA 95616), 142 pp., Nov. 1991. Available to U.S. DOE and contractors from Off. Sci. Tech. Info., Oak Ridge Nat. Lab., POB 62, Oak Ridge TN 37831; others, order from NTIS. Vol. 2, consisting of 19 appendices that provide detailed explanations and tables for their respective subject areas and a complete list of references, is available in draft form from the author, as is a four-page memo dated April 1992 explaining the implications for report results of recent revisions in global warming potentials of greenhouse gases. These revisions are documented in the 1992 update of the IPCC assessment (see first entry in Reports/General Interest, this issue--July 1992).

Estimates full fuel cycle emissions, for CO₂ and other greenhouse gases, resulting from such factors as end use, compression or liquefaction of gaseous transportation fuels, distribution and production, feedstock transport and recovery, motor vehicle manufacture, maintenance of transportation systems, manufacture of materials used in major energy facilities, and land use changes resulting from using biomass-derived fuels. CO₂ emissions from fuel combustion account for the bulk of total greenhouse gas emissions, but emissions of other greenhouse gases can be responsible for a large part of the total global warming potential of energy use, or may be more important than CO₂. For most energy options, the analysis is sensitive to assumptions about several factors (like chemical composition of fuels, emission standards, emission control technologies, origination of feedstocks), which can be chosen to produce results with a wide range--from favorable to unfavorable.

Item #d92jul89

Constraining the Atmospheric Carbon Budget: A Preliminary Assessment (CSIRO Res. Tech. Paper 25), I.G. Enting (CSIRO, Div. Atmos. Res., Pvt. Bag 1, Mordialloc, Vic. 3195, Australia), 28 pp., 1992.

Presents initial budget estimates to provide base cases against which to measure improvements in knowledge; guides modeling studies that explore the range of uncertainty in the atmospheric carbon budget; presents a formalism for application to other species. The budgets illustrate the need for recognizing the secular change when analyzing atmospheric carbon budgets and the need to consider the error structure.

Item #d92jul90

Workshop Statement: Natural Sinks of CO₂ (Palmas Del Mar, Puerto Rico; Feb. 24-27, 1992), J. Wisniewski, A.E. Lugo, Eds., 6 pp., 1992. Proceedings will be available from Kluwer Acad. Pubs., POB 322, 3300 AH Dordrecht, Neth., and 101 Philip Dr., Norwell MA 02061.

Sponsored by U.S. EPA, U.S. DOE et al. Participants reached consensus on several points. Among them are that a vast number of natural and managed ecosystems are currently accreting carbon, and this accretion may account for the so-called "missing carbon"; appropriate ecosystem management can enhance net carbon storage and is compatible with conservation of biodiversity, sustainable land use, energy conservation and economic development. Recommends studies on: carbon reservoirs, fluxes and management; CO₂ fertilization; and modeling.

Item #d92jul91

Effects of Forest Management on Soil Carbon Storage (NCASI Tech. Bull. 628), D.W. Johnson (Dept. Wildl., Univ. Nevada, Reno, NV), 41 pp., Mar. 1992. Nat. Council for the Paper Indus. on Air & Stream Improvement (NCASI), 260 Madison Ave., New York NY 10016 (212-532-9000).

Presents a literature review of soil carbon storage in managed forests, covering recent publications relating to global change, and older studies of soil change resulting from harvest, site preparation, fire, fertilization, species conversion and stand development. Reported losses of soil carbon after harvesting and reforestation were generally negligible, or could be recovered more quickly than expected after reforestation.

Item #d92jul92

Greenhouse Gases from Small-Scale Combustion in Developing Countries: A Pilot Study in Manila (EPA/600/R-92/005), K.R. Smith (Alliance Technol. Corp., Chapel Hill, N.C.), R.A. Rasmussen et al., 75 pp., Jan. 1992. NTIS: PB92-139369; $19.

Measured the emissions of over 90 carbon and halocarbon compounds emitted from cookstoves fueled by liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), kerosene, charcoal and wood. Emissions of nearly every major component were least for LPG and greatest for unprocessed solid fuels. The greenhouse impact of non-CO₂ greenhouse gas emissions may rival or exceed those from CO₂ alone, when weighted.

Item #d92jul93

Landbouw en broeikaseffect (Rep. 84-1992), 1992, approx. $16. In Dutch; English summary. Order from Ctr. Agric. Environ. (CLM), POB 10015, 3505 AA Utrecht, Neth. (tel: 31 30 441 301).

Estimates that Dutch agriculture and horticulture contribute 12% of the total emission of greenhouse gases in the Netherlands, but this could be reduced by 20% within ten years. Cattle farming generates the most greenhouse gases; CO₂ emissions mainly result from the energy intensive production of concentrates and fertilizers.

Item #d92jul94

The Carbon Dioxide Report for Canada 1990, 1992, Can.$25 (Can.$15, nongovernment organizations). Order from Friends of the Earth, 701-251 Laurier Ave. W, Ottawa, Ont. K1P 5J6, Can. (613-230-3352).

Canada's CO₂ emissions in 1990 were 6.5% lower in 1990 than in 1989, but they fell despite government policies, rather than because of them. The reasons are that: (1) economic recession impacted Canadian industry; (2) improved river flows in Saskatchewan allowed more use of hydroelectric power; and (3) Ontario Hydro replaced Canadian coal-fired electricity with that purchased from the U.S.

Item #d92jul95

Report of the Technical Meeting on Natural Sources and Sinks of Greenhouse Gases (Downsview, Ont., Feb. 5-7, 1991), 114 pp., 1991. Available at no charge from Pam Kertland, Atmos. Environ. Serv. (COCO), 4905 Dufferin St., Downsview, Ont. M3H 5T4, Can. In English; forward and general statement of the meeting in French.

Addressed the state of Canadian research. The sinks and pathways of carbon are generally less well-known than are sources, with the greatest uncertainties relating to the dynamics of carbon cycling in soils, oceans and their biota. With coastlines on three oceans, Canada may have a unique opportunity to examine terrestrial and oceanic aspects of the carbon cycle. PERD (Panel on Energy Research and Development) resources would be best used in process research on energy-related greenhouse gas cycles.

Item #d92jul96

Reducing Greenhouse Gas Emissions with Alternative Fuels, D.C. Fisher, 1991, $10. Order from Environ. Defense Fund, 1616 P St. NW, Washington DC 20036 (202-387-3500).

Although alternate fuels (compressed natural gas; ethanol from biomass, methanol from coal, natural gas or biomass; and electricity from various sources) generally pollute less than gasoline or diesel, they may produce more greenhouse gases. For example, biomass can reduce greenhouse gas emissions by up to 70%, but the only currently available biomass fuel, ethanol from corn, actually increases greenhouse gas emissions 25% above gasoline because of the fossil fuels and nitrogen fertilizers used to grow corn.