Towards BitCO2, an individual consumption-based carbon emission reduction mechanism

Human activities, such as burning fossil fuels for electricity generation, heating, and transport, are the primary drivers of a large amount of greenhouse gases emission. The individual consumers, able to influence the supply chains behind the commodities their chose to fulfil their needs is the driver behind production and, consequently, its impacts. Thus, the active and willing participation of citizens in combatting climate change may be pivotal to address this issue. The present work is aimed at presenting and modelling a novel market-based carbon emission reduction mechanism, called BitCO2, designed to incentivize individual consumption choices toward lower carbon footprints. This mechanism is tested for the Italian private transportation sector thanks to an ad hoc developed System Dynamics model. The Battery Electric Vehicle (BEV) adoption, if compared with the Internal Combustion Engine Vehicle (ICEV) one, cause less CO2 emissions per km travelled. After a certain number of travelled km, a BitCO2 token is assigned to BEV owners for each ton of avoided CO2. This token can be exchanged in a dedicated market and used to get a discount on insurance services. Assuming a Social Cost of Carbon of 9.22 [2.13-22.3] euro/tonCO2eq, model results show that the BitCO2 mechanism would allow for a cumulated CO2 emission reduction of 973 [68.9-5'230] ktonCO2eq over 20 years of operation with a peak of 39.3 [5.34-189] thousand additional BEV registration per year

Environmental and energy implications of meat consumption pathways in sub-saharan africa

In sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), diets are largely based on cereal or root staple crops. Together with socio-cultural change, economic and demographic growth could boost the demand for meat, with significant environmental repercussions. We model meat consumption pathways to 2050 for SSA based on several scenarios calibrated on historical demand drivers. To assess the consequent environmental impact, we adopt an environmentally-extended input-output (EEIO) framework and apply it on the EXIOBASE 3.3 hybrid tables. We find that, depending on the interplay of resources efficiency and demand growth, by 2050 the growth in meat consumption in SSA could cause a growth in greenhouse gases emissions of 1.4 [0.9–1.9] Gt CO2 e/yr (~175% of current regional agriculture-related emissions), which is an extension of cropping and grazing-related land of 15 [12.5–21] · 106 km2 (one quarter of today’s global agricultural land), the consumption of an additional 36 [29–47] Gm3 /yr of blue water (nearly doubling the current regional agricultural consumption), an eutrophication potential growth of 7.6 [4.9–9.5] t PO4 e/yr, and the consumption of additional 0.9 [0.5–1.4] EJ/yr of fossil fuels and 49 [32–73] TWh/yr of electricity. These results suggest that—in the absence of significant improvements in the regional sectoral resource efficiency—meat demand growth in SSA is bound to become a major global sustainability challenge. In addition, we show that a partial substitution of the protein intake from the expected growth in meat consumption with plant-based alternatives carries additional significant potential for mitigating environmental impacts. The policies affecting both farming practices and dietary choices will thus have a significant impact on the SSA and global environmental flows

Fighting carbon leakage through consumption-based carbon emissions policies: Empirical analysis based on the World Trade Model with Bilateral Trades

Policy initiatives towards reduction of CO2 emissions implemented so far are grounded on the so-called Production-Based paradigm: this approach allocates responsibility of emissions to countries that directly caused such emissions, without taking into account all the indirect contributions to CO2 emissions caused outside country's borders, eventually leading to the so-called carbon leakage phenomenon. In this paper, the alternative Consumption-Based approach is proposed, and its effectiveness assessed: according to this approach, policy initiatives allocates responsibility for CO2 emissions proportionally to the CO2 emissions embedded in goods and services required by industries as inputs for production. Global environmental and economic consequences of carbon emissions reduction policies, applied at the European level based on both Production- and Consumption-Based paradigms, are comparatively assessed based on the World Trade Model with Bilateral Trades. Results of this study suggest that defining CO2 emissions policies based on a Consumption-Based paradigm seems to be the most effective way to reduce the global carbon emissions, avoiding the carbon leakage phenomenon which may occur in economies regulated by Production-Based policies. Indeed, an imposed reduction in CO2 emissions embedded in EU final demand through a Consumption-Based Accounting policy would result in a global CO2 emissions reduction up to almost 1.2 Gton. On the other hand, an imposed reduction in direct EU CO2 emissions according to a PBA approach would result in an overall increase in global carbon emissions up to almost 0.8 Gton

Supporting life-cycle conscious decisions in household energy requalification

The framework of the European Green Deal represents an unmis sable opportunity for governments to allocate significant budgets to ener gy-efficiency related operations. However, the presence of external incenti ves can lead to sub-optimal implementation from the energy point of view, with relevant consequences on the expected impact on energy and emission savings that drives the policy. This work presents a modelling framework able to capture the complexities of the household energy system, that provides insights on optimal technology selection and dispatch strategies. Such framework is presented by means of a simplified case study, in which different configurations of household energy systems are optimised at different levels of implicit carbon price and national subsidies

A multi-disciplinary approach to estimate the medium-term impact of COVID-19 on transport and energy: A case study for Italy

9siThe aim of this paper is to estimate the potential impacts of different COVID-19 scenarios on the Italian energy sector through 2030, with a specific focus on transport and industry. The analysis takes a multi-disciplinary approach to properly consider the complex interactions of sectors across Italy. This approach includes the assessment of economic conditions using macroeconomic and input-output models, modelling the evolution of the energy system using an energy and transport model, and forecasting the reaction of travel demand and modal choice using econometric models and expert interviews. Results show that the effect of COVID-19 pandemic may lead to mid-term effects on energy consumption. The medium scenario, which assumes a stop of the emergency by the end of 2021, shows that energy-related emissions remain 10% lower than the baseline in the industry sector and 6% lower in the transport sector by 2030, when compared with a pre-COVID trend. Policy recommendations to support a green recovery are discussed in light of the results.nonenoneBazzana D.; Cohen J.J.; Golinucci N.; Hafner M.; Noussan M.; Reichl J.; Rocco M.V.; Sciullo A.; Vergalli S.Bazzana, D.; Cohen, J. J.; Golinucci, N.; Hafner, M.; Noussan, M.; Reichl, J.; Rocco, M. V.; Sciullo, A.; Vergalli, S