Harvested wood products in the context of climate change : A comparison of different models and approaches for the Norwegian greenhouse gas inventory

Emissions of greenhouse gases is accounted for and reported annually under the UNFCCC and the Kyoto protocol. In the current accounting system, emissions of CO2 from harvested wood products (HWP) are attributed to the year of harvest and the country of harvest. All harvested wood is thus assumed to be oxidised to CO2 in the year of harvesting, and no wood goes into long term storage. This is called the IPCC default approach. Much of the harvested wood will however be stored for a short or long period of time before it oxidises and this will cause a delayed emission of CO2. If more wood is stored than oxidised in a given year, harvested wood products will act as a sink and a removal of CO2 is recorded. However, if the consumption of wood decreases to a level below what is oxidised, harvested wood products will act as a source and emissions of CO2 is recorded. In Norway, as on many other countries, the stock of harvested wood products has been increasing for many years, and is likely to increase further. Including emissions/removals of CO2 from harvested wood products in the post Kyoto 2012 regime is under consideration by the UNFCCC, and in that context it is imperative to evaluate estimation models and approaches for the reporting/accounting (IPCC 2006a).The project received financial support from the Norwegian Pollution Control Authority (SFT)

Harvested wood products in the context of climate change : A comparison of different models and approaches for the Norwegian greenhouse gas inventory

Emissions of greenhouse gases is accounted for and reported annually under the UNFCCC and the Kyoto protocol. In the current accounting system, emissions of CO2 from harvested wood products (HWP) are attributed to the year of harvest and the country of harvest. All harvested wood is thus assumed to be oxidised to CO2 in the year of harvesting, and no wood goes into long term storage. This is called the IPCC default approach. Much of the harvested wood will however be stored for a short or long period of time before it oxidises and this will cause a delayed emission of CO2. If more wood is stored than oxidised in a given year, harvested wood products will act as a sink and a removal of CO2 is recorded. However, if the consumption of wood decreases to a level below what is oxidised, harvested wood products will act as a source and emissions of CO2 is recorded. In Norway, as on many other countries, the stock of harvested wood products has been increasing for many years, and is likely to increase further. Including emissions/removals of CO2 from harvested wood products in the post Kyoto 2012 regime is under consideration by the UNFCCC, and in that context it is imperative to evaluate estimation models and approaches for the reporting/accounting (IPCC 2006a)

Tropospheric Photolysis Rates of the Acetaldehyde Isotopologues CD3CHO and CD3CDO Relative to CH3CHO Measured at the European Photoreactor Facility.

Acetaldehyde is a hazardous pollutant found in indoor and ambient air. Acetaldehyde photolysis is pressure- and wavelength-dependent with three distinct product channels. In this study, the photolysis rates of CH3CHO, CD3CDO, and CD3CHO are studied in natural tropospheric conditions using long path FTIR spectroscopy, at the European Photoreactor Facility (EUPHORE) in Valencia, Spain. The average relative photolysis rate as an average of four experiments for the fully deuterated isotopologue is jCH3CHO/jCD3CDO = 1.75 ± 0.04, and as a result of a single experiment jCH3CHO/jCD3CHO = 1.10 ± 0.10. These results, combined with our previous determination of jCH3CHO/jCH3CDO = 1.26 ± 0.03, provide mechanistic insight into the photodissociation dynamics of the photoexcited species. Despite the extensive isotopic scrambling in photoexcited acetaldehyde that has recently been reported, the position of the substitution has a clear effect on the relative photolysis rates

Which illicit drugs are injected in Oslo? A study based on analysis of drug residues in used injection equipment and self-reported information

Background People who inject drugs (PWID) have a high risk of premature death due to fatal overdoses. Newly emerged fentanyls, much more potent than heroin and other opioids, may increase this risk further. Therefore, precise information on injected drugs is critical to improving prevention strategies. Aims This study aimed to analyse drug residues in used injection equipment in order to determine drug and drug combinations and compare and complement findings with self-reported information. Methods Used syringes and needles ( n=766) were collected at the supervised drug consumption facilities, the needle exchange service and two low-threshold health services for problem drug users in Oslo, Norway. The material was collected every third month from June 2019 to June 2020 and analysed for 64 substances using highly specific analytical methods (ultra–high performance liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry). Additionally, a street-recruited sample of PWID was interviewed from 2017 to 2019 regarding their drug injection habits ( n=572). Results Heroin (65.5%) or amphetamines (59.8%), often in combination (30.5%), were commonly detected in drug residues. Other opioids, stimulants or benzodiazepines were rarely detected (6.1%). Fentanyl was detected in only one syringe. Heroin was the most reported drug (77.6% during the past four weeks, 48.3% daily/almost daily), followed by amphetamines (57.5% during the past four weeks, 23.1% daily or almost daily). Injection of methadone, buprenorphine and dissolved tablets was self-reported more frequently than determined in drug residue findings. Conclusions Analysis of the injection equipment proved useful as a non-invasive, rapid and accurate means to obtain detailed information on injected drugs in Oslo and supplement traditional PWID survey information

Kinetic isotope effects in the gas phase reactions of OH and Cl with CH₃Cl, CD₃Cl, and ¹³CH₃Cl

The kinetic isotope effects in the reactions of CH₃Cl, ¹³CH₃Cl and CD₃Cl with OH radicals and Cl atoms were studied in relative rate experiments at 298&plusmn;2 K and 1013&plusmn;10 mbar. The reactions were carried out in a smog chamber using long path FTIR detection and the spectroscopic data analyzed employing a non-linear least squares spectral fitting method using measured high-resolution infrared spectra as well as absorption cross sections from the HITRAN database. The reaction rates of ¹³CH₃Cl and CD₃Cl with OH and Cl were determined relative to CH₃Cl as: <i>k</i>_OH+CH3Cl<i>k</i>_OH+CH3Cl/<i>k</i>_OH+13CH3Cl}<i>k</i>_OH+13CH3Cl=1.059&plusmn;0.008, <i>k</i>_OH+CH3Cl<i>k</i>_OH+CH3Cl/<i>k</i>_OH+CD3Cl<i>k</i>_OH+CD3Cl=3.9&plusmn;0.4, <i>k</i>_Cl+CH3Cl<i>k</i>_Cl+CH3Cl/<i>k</i>_Cl+13CH3Cl<i>k</i>_Cl+13CH3Cl =1.070&plusmn;0.010 and <i>k</i>_Cl+CH3Cl<i>k</i>_Cl+CH3Cl/<i>k</i>_Cl+CD3Cl<i>k</i>_Cl+CD3Cl=4.91&plusmn;0.07. The uncertainties given are 2&sigma; from the statistical analyses and do not include possible systematic errors. The unexpectedly large ¹³C kinetic isotope effect in the OH reaction of CH₃Cl has important implications for the global emission inventory of CH₃Cl