• Title/Summary/Keyword: carbon footprints

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Green ICT framework to reduce carbon footprints in universities

  • Uddin, Mueen;Okai, Safiya;Saba, Tanzila
    • Advances in Energy Research
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    • v.5 no.1
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    • pp.1-12
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    • 2017
  • The world today has reached a certain level where it is impossible to get the quality education at the tertiary level without the use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT). ICT has made life better, communication easier and faster, teaching and learning more practical through computers and other technology based learning tools. However, despite these benefits ICT has equally contributed immensely to environmental problems. Therefore there is the need to use ICT resources efficiently in universities for environmental sustainability so as to save both the university environment and the world at large from the effects of global warming. This paper evaluates the carbon footprints from the use of ICT devices and comes up with a proposed green ICT framework to reduce the carbon footprints in universities. The framework contains techniques and approaches to achieve greenness in the data center, personal computers (PCs) and monitors, and printing in order to make ICT more environmentally friendly, cheaper, safer and ultimately more efficient. Concerned experts in their respective departments at Asia Pacific University of Technology and Innovation (APU) Malaysia evaluated the proposed framework. It was found to be effective for achieving efficiency, reducing energy consumption and carbon emissions.

Trends and Interpretation of Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) for Carbon Footprinting of Fruit Products: Focused on Kiwifruits in Gyeongnam Region (과수의 탄소발자국 표지를 위한 LCA 동향 및 해석: 경남지역 참다래를 중심으로)

  • Deurer, Markus;Clothier, Brent;Huh, Keun-Young;Jun, Gee-Ill;Kim, In-Hea;Kim, Dae-Il
    • Horticultural Science & Technology
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    • v.29 no.5
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    • pp.389-406
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    • 2011
  • As part of a feasibility study for introducing carbon labeling of fruit products in Korea, we explore the use of carbon footprints for Korean kiwifruit from Gyeongnam region as a case study. In Korea, the Korean Environmental Industry and Technology Institute (KEITI) is responsible for the carbon footprint labeling certification, and has two types of certification programs: one program focuses on climate change response (carbon footprint labeling analysis) and the other on low-carbon products (reduction of carbon footprints analysis). Currently agricultural products have not yet been included in the program. Carbon labeling could soon be a prerequisite for the international trading of agricultural products. In general the carbon footprints of various agricultural products from New Zealand followed the methodology described in the ISO standards and conformed to the PAS 2050. The carbon footprint assessment focuses on a supply chain, and considers the foreground and the background systems. The basic scheme consists of four phases, which are the 'goal', 'scope', 'inventory analysis', and 'interpretation' phases. In the case of the carbon footprint of New Zealand kiwifruit the study tried to understand each phase's contribution to total GHG emissions. According to the results, shipping, orchard, and coolstore operation are the main life cycle stages that contribute to the carbon footprint of the kiwifruit supply chain stretching from the orchard in New Zealand to the consumer in the UK. The carbon emission of long-distance transportation such as shipping can be a hot-spot of GHG emissions, but can be balanced out by minimizing the carbon footprint of other life cycle phases. For this reason it is important that orchard and coolstore operations reduce the GHG-intensive inputs such as fuel or electricity to minimize GHG emissions and consequently facilitate the industry to compete in international markets. The carbon footprint labeling guided by international standards should be introduced for fruit products in Korea as soon as possible. The already established LCA methodology of NZ kiwifruit can be applied for fruit products as a case study.

Single Manufacturer and Multiple Retailers Multi-Product Inventory Model under Cap-and-Trade Mechanism (배출권거래제 하에서 단일 제조업자-다소매업자의 공급사슬에서 다품목의 재고모형)

  • Kim, Dae-Hong
    • Journal of Korean Society of Industrial and Systems Engineering
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    • v.42 no.1
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    • pp.158-166
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    • 2019
  • In pursuing carbon emission reduction efforts, companies have focused for the most part on reducing emissions due to the more efficient equipment and facilities. However they overlook a significant source of carbon emissions, one that is driven by operational policies. Currently companies are looking for solutions to reduce carbon emissions associated with their operations. Operational adjustments, such as modifications in order quantities could an effective way in reducing carbon emissions in the supply chain. Also, Cap-and-Trade mechanism is generally accepted as on of the most effective market-based mechanism to reduce carbon emissions. In this paper, we investigate a supply chain with single manufacturer and multiple retailers multi-product inventory model under the cap-and-trade system incorporating the carbon emissions caused by transportation and warehousing activities. Also, we provide an iterative solution algorithm and derive the common order interval and the number of intervals for each product. We show by numerical example that the inventory model incorporating cap & trade mechanism can reduce total cost and carbon emissions compared to the classical inventory model. Using the numerical examples, we also investigates different carbon price on the performance of the inventory model.

Carbon Literacy on Education in Connection with SDGs of the Pre-service Earth Science Teachers (SDGs 연계 교육에서 예비 지구과학 교사들의 탄소 소양)

  • Kim, Yunji
    • Journal of the Korean Society of Earth Science Education
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    • v.14 no.3
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    • pp.292-301
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    • 2021
  • This study is a basic research to apply ESD linked to SDGs to pre-service teachers majoring in earth science education. The purpose of this study is to evaluate carbon literacy by analyzing the awareness, attitude and knowledge, subjective norms, and behavioral control of the carbon footprint internalized by pre-service teachers. Pre-service teachers recognize the carbon footprint as their responsibility, but are not willing to pay the cost and accept inconveniences of the actions to reduce carbon footprint. They also support actions to reduce carbon footprint, but do not demand the actions from others. While they have sufficient knowledge about carbon mitigation actions, their conception of causes and effects of global warming is unstable. Pre-service teachers will go out to school sites and teach millions of students about global warming. It is essential to educate these teachers on the economic cost and social responsibility of reducing their carbon footprints. It is also important to find ways to bridge the gap between their thought and action. It is hoped that this study on pre-service teachers' carbon literacy will lead to realizing ESD.

The Calculation of Carbon Footprint Embodied in International Trade: A Multi-Regional Input-Output Analysis (국제무역에 함유된 탄소이력(carbon footprint)의 측정과 분석: MRIO모형의 응용)

  • Shin, Dong Cheon
    • Environmental and Resource Economics Review
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    • v.22 no.1
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    • pp.31-52
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    • 2013
  • The recent analyses of carbon emissions embodied in international trade are related with discussions on who is responsible for the carbon emissions causing global warming. Some authors insist that the countries importing carbon-intensive goods should share the responsibility with the suppliers of those goods. In order to determine which countries are net importers of carbon dioxide embodied in traded goods, we need to construct the multi-regional input-output (MRIO) model incorporating national input-output tables and data on bilateral trades. The paper calculates consumption-based as well as production-based inventories by using MRIO model whose global database is GTAP version 8 to get the picture of carbon footprints in international trades of Korea and other regions in the world.

Estimation of GHG emissions and footprint from Daecheong Reservoir using G-res Tool

  • Min, Kyeongseo;Kim, Dongmin;Chung, Sewoong
    • Proceedings of the Korea Water Resources Association Conference
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    • 2022.05a
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    • pp.209-209
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    • 2022
  • Reservoirs play a key role in the carbon cycle between terrestrial and marine systems and are pathways that release greenhouse gases(GHGs), CO2, CH4, and N2O, into the atmosphere by decomposing organic matters. Developed countries have been actively conducting research on carbon emission assessment of dam reservoirs for over 10 years under the leadership of UNESCO/IHA, but associated research is very rare in Korea. In particular, the GHGs footprint evaluation, which calculates the change in net carbon emission considering the watershed environment between pre- and post- impoundment, is very important in evaluating the carbon emission of hydroelectric dams. The objective of this study was to estimate the GHG emissions and footprints in Daecheong Reservoir using the G-res Tool, an online platform developed by UNESCO/IHA. The G-res Tool estimates CO2 and CH4 emissions in consideration of diverse pathway fluxes of GHGs from the reservoir and characterizes changes in GHG fluxes over 100 years based on the expected lifetime of the dam. The input required to use the G-res Tool include data related to watersheds, reservoirs, and dams, and most were collected through the government's public portal. As a result of the study, the GHG footprint of Daecheong Reservoir was estimated to be 93 gCO2eq/m2/yr, which is similar to that of other reservoirs around the world in the same climate zone. After impoundment, the CH4 diffusion emission from the reservoir was 73 gCO2eq/m2/yr, also similar to those of the overseas reservoirs, but the CH4 bubbling emission, degassing emission, and CO2 diffusion emissions were 44, 34, 252 gCO2eq/m2/yr, respectively, showing a rather high tendency. Since the dam reservoir carbon footprint evaluation is essential for the Clean Development Mechanism evaluation of hydroelectric power generation, continuous research is needed in the future. In particular, experimental studies that can replace the emission factors obtained from the overseas dam reservoirs currently used in the G-res Tool should be promoted.

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LCA (Life Cycle Assessment) for Evaluating Carbon Emission from Conventional Rice Cultivation System: Comparison of Top-down and Bottom-up Methodology (관행농 쌀 생산체계의 탄소배출량 평가를 위한 전과정평가: top-down 방식의 국가평균값과 bottom-up 방식의 사례분석값 비교)

  • Ryu, Jong-Hee;Jung, Soon Chul;Kim, Gun-Yeob;Lee, Jong-Sik;Kim, Kye-Hoon
    • Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
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    • v.45 no.6
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    • pp.1143-1152
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    • 2012
  • We established a top-down methodology to estimate carbon footprint as national mean value (reference) with the statistical data on agri-livestock incomes in 2007. We also established LCI (life cycle inventory) DB by a bottom-up methodology with the data obtained from interview with farmers from 4 large-scale farms at Gunsan, Jeollabuk-do province to estimate carbon footprint in 2011. This study was carried out to compare top-down methodology and bottom-up methodology in performing LCA (life cycle assessment) to analyze the difference in GHGs (greenhouse gases) emission and carbon footprint under conventional rice cultivation system. Results of LCI analysis showed that most of $CO_2$ was emitted during fertilizer production and rice cultivation, whereas $CH_4$ and $N_2O$ were mostly emitted during rice cultivation. The carbon footprints on conventional rice production system were 2.39E+00 kg $CO_2$-eq. $kg^{-1}$ by top-down methodology, whereas 1.04E+00 kg $CO_2$-eq. $kg^{-1}$ by bottom-up methodology. The amount of agro-materials input during the entire rice cultivation for the two methodologies was similar. The amount of agro-materials input for the bottom-up methodology was sometimes greater than that for top-down methodology. While carbon footprint by the bottom-up methodology was smaller than that by the top-down methodology due to higher yield per cropping season by the bottom-up methodology. Under the conventional rice production system, fertilizer production showed the highest contribution to the environmental impacts on most categories except GWP (global warming potential) category. Rice cultivation was the highest contribution to the environmental impacts on GWP category under the conventional rice production system. The main factors of carbon footprints under the conventional rice production system were $CH_4$ emission from rice paddy field, the amount of fertilizer input and rice yield. Results of this study will be used for establishing baseline data for estimating carbon footprint from 'low carbon certification pilot project' as well as for developing farming methods of reducing $CO_2$ emission from rice paddy fields.

Barely Visible Impact Damage Detection Analyses of CFRP by Various NDE Techniques (다양한 비파괴 측정 방법에 의한 CFRP의 BVID 분석)

  • Lim, Hyunmin;Lee, Boyoung;Kim, Yeong K.
    • Composites Research
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    • v.26 no.3
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    • pp.195-200
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    • 2013
  • This study aims to detecting and analyzing the defects of damaged carbon fiber reinforced composites after impacts, particularly focusing on barely visible impact damages. The impact test was progressed by a drop-weight machine and applied to introduce simulated damages on laminated composites used in aircrafts. Various nondestructive testing (NDT) techniques were applied to identify the defects on the specimens with different levels of impact energies. Based on the measurements data, the levels of the barely visible impacts, and the applicability and effectiveness of the detection methods were discussed. Generally, the results demonstrated that their inner damages contained bigger footprints than those on the surfaces. However, when the damage energy was low, it was found that the inner damage size could be smaller than those appeared on the surfaces.

Transparency in Urban Environment

  • Leung, Luke;Zhu, Yue;Ray, Stephen D.;Jevtic, Adri
    • International Journal of High-Rise Buildings
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    • v.6 no.2
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    • pp.187-196
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    • 2017
  • A generation of tall buildings has been dominated by International Style with full height glazing that is often vision glass. Large glass was intended to bring the outside in, to allow a connection to the natural environment, and to promote daylighting. Yet the glass box model of architecture is now under criticism due to expense to build, thermal and visual comfort issues for occupants, large carbon footprints, danger for birds, and aesthetic concerns with lack of transparency. This paper will take a fresh look at glass, transparency, energy consumption, and human health before offering alternative paths forward.

Analysis of CO/CO2 Ratio Variability According to the Origin of Greenhouse Gas at Anmyeon-do (안면도 지역 온실기체 기원에 따른 CO/CO2 비율 변동성 분석 연구)

  • Kim, Jaemin;Lee, Haeyoung;Kim, Sumin;Chung, Chu-Yong;Kim, Yeon-Hee;Lee, Greem;Choi, Kyung Bae;Lee, Yun Gon
    • Atmosphere
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    • v.31 no.5
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    • pp.625-635
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    • 2021
  • South Korea established the 2050 Carbon Neutral Plan in response to the climate crisis, and to achieve this policy, it is very important to monitor domestic carbon emissions and atmospheric carbon concentration. Both CO2 and CO are emitted from fossil fuel combustion processes, but the relative ratios depend on the combustion efficiency and the strength of local emission regulations. In this study, the relationship between CO2 and CO was analyzed using ground observation data for the period of 2018~2020 at Anmyeon-do site and the CO/CO2 ratio according to regional origin during high CO2 cases was investigated based on the footprint simulated from Stochastic Time-Inverted Lagrangian Transport (STILT) model. CO2 and CO showed a positive correlation with correlation coefficient of 0.66 (p < 0.01), and averaged footprints during high CO2 cases confirmed that air particles mainly originated from eastern and north-eastern China, and inland of Korean Peninsula. In addition, it was revealed that among the cases of high CO2 concentration, when the CO/CO2 ratio is high, the industrial area of eastern China is greatly affected, and when the ratio is low, the contribution of the domestic region is relatively high. The ratio of CO2 and CO in this study is significant in that it can be used as a useful factor in determining the possibility of domestic and foreign origins of climate pollutants.