84 research outputs found
Energy and Economic Growth
Physical theory shows that energy is necessary for economic production and therefore growth but the mainstream theory of economic growth, except for specialized resource economics models, pays no attention to the role of energy. This paper reviews the relevant biophysical theory, mainstream and resource economics models of growth, the critiques of mainstream models, and the various mechanisms that can weaken the links between energy and growth. Finally we review the empirical literature that finds that energy used per unit of economic output has declined, but that this is to a large extent due to a shift from poorer quality fuels such as coal to the use of higher quality fuels, and especially electricity. Furthermore, time series analysis shows that energy and GDP cointegrate and energy use Granger causes GDP when additional variables such as energy prices or other production inputs are included. As a result, prospects for further large reductions in energy intensity seem limited.
Carbon Free Boston: Waste Technical Report
Part of a series of reports that includes:
Carbon Free Boston: Summary Report;
Carbon Free Boston: Social Equity Report;
Carbon Free Boston: Technical Summary;
Carbon Free Boston: Buildings Technical Report;
Carbon Free Boston: Transportation Technical Report;
Carbon Free Boston: Energy Technical Report;
Carbon Free Boston: Offsets Technical Report;
Available at http://sites.bu.edu/cfb/OVERVIEW:
For many people, their most perceptible interaction with their environmental footprint is through the
waste that they generate. On a daily basis people have numerous opportunities to decide whether to
recycle, compost or throwaway. In many cases, such options may not be present or apparent. Even
when such options are available, many lack the knowledge of how to correctly dispose of their waste,
leading to contamination of valuable recycling or compost streams. Once collected, people give little
thought to how their waste is treated. For Boston’s waste, plastic in the disposal stream acts becomes a
fossil fuel used to generate electricity. Organics in the waste stream have the potential to be used to
generate valuable renewable energy, while metals and electronics can be recycled to offset virgin
materials. However, challenges in global recycling markets are burdening municipalities, which are
experiencing higher costs to maintain their recycling.
The disposal of solid waste and wastewater both account for a large and visible anthropogenic impact
on human health and the environment. In terms of climate change, landfilling of solid waste and
wastewater treatment generated emissions of 131.5 Mt CO2e in 2016 or about two percent of total
United States GHG emissions that year. The combustion of solid waste contributed an additional 11.0 Mt
CO2e, over half of which (5.9 Mt CO2e) is attributable to the combustion of plastic [1]. In Massachusetts,
the GHG emissions from landfills (0.4 Mt CO2e), waste combustion (1.2 Mt CO2e), and wastewater (0.5
Mt CO2e) accounted for about 2.7 percent of the state’s gross GHG emissions in 2014 [2].
The City of Boston has begun exploring pathways to Zero Waste, a goal that seeks to systematically
redesign our waste management system that can simultaneously lead to a drastic reduction in emissions
from waste. The easiest way to achieve zero waste is to not generate it in the first place. This can start at
the source with the decision whether or not to consume a product. This is the intent behind banning
disposable items such as plastic bags that have more sustainable substitutes. When consumption occurs,
products must be designed in such a way that their lifecycle impacts and waste footprint are considered.
This includes making durable products, limiting the use of packaging or using organic packaging
materials, taking back goods at the end of their life, and designing products to ensure compatibility with
recycling systems. When reducing waste is unavoidable, efforts to increase recycling and organics
diversion becomes essential for achieving zero waste. [TRUNCATED]Published versio
Carbon Free Boston: Offsets Technical Report
Part of a series of reports that includes:
Carbon Free Boston: Summary Report;
Carbon Free Boston: Social Equity Report;
Carbon Free Boston: Technical Summary;
Carbon Free Boston: Buildings Technical Report;
Carbon Free Boston: Transportation Technical Report;
Carbon Free Boston: Waste Technical Report;
Carbon Free Boston: Energy Technical Report;
Available at http://sites.bu.edu/cfb/OVERVIEW:
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency defines offsets as a specific activity or set of activities
intended to reduce GHG emissions, increase the storage of carbon, or enhance GHG removals from the
atmosphere [1]. From a city perspective, they provide a mechanism to negate residual GHG emissions—
those the city is unable to reduce directly—by supporting projects that avoid or sequester them outside
of the city’s reporting boundary.
Offsetting GHG emissions is a controversial topic for cities, as the co-benefits of the investment are
typically not realized locally. For this reason, offsetting emissions is considered a last resort, a strategy
option available when the city has exhausted all others. However, offsets are likely to be a necessity to
achieve carbon neutrality by 2050 and promote emissions reductions in the near term. While public and
private sector partners pursue the more complex systems transformation, cities can utilize offsets to
support short-term and relatively cost-effective reductions in emissions. Offsets can be a relatively
simple, certain, and high-impact way to support the transition to a low-carbon world.
This report focuses on carbon offset certificates, more often referred to as offsets. Each offset
represents a metric ton of verified carbon dioxide (CO2) or equivalent emissions that is reduced,
avoided, or permanently removed from the atmosphere (“sequestered”) through an action taken by the
creator of the offset. The certificates can be traded and retiring (that is, not re-selling) offsets can be a
useful component of an overall voluntary emissions reduction strategy, alongside activities to lower an
organization’s direct and indirect emissions. In the Global Protocol for Community-Scale Greenhouse Gas
Emissions Inventories (GPC), the GHG accounting system used by the City of Boston, any carbon offset
certificates that the City has can be deducted from the City’s total GHG emissions.http://sites.bu.edu/cfb/files/2019/06/CFB_Offsets_Technical_Report_051619.pdfPublished versio
Carbon Free Boston: Energy Technical Report
Part of a series of reports that includes:
Carbon Free Boston: Summary Report;
Carbon Free Boston: Social Equity Report;
Carbon Free Boston: Technical Summary;
Carbon Free Boston: Buildings Technical Report;
Carbon Free Boston: Transportation Technical Report;
Carbon Free Boston: Waste Technical Report;
Carbon Free Boston: Offsets Technical Report;
Available at http://sites.bu.edu/cfb/INTRODUCTION:
The adoption of clean energy in Boston’s buildings and transportation systems will produce sweeping
changes in the quantity and composition of the city’s demand for fuel and electricity. The demand for
electricity is expected to increase by 2050, while the demand for petroleum-based liquid fuels and
natural gas within the city is projected to decline significantly. The city must meet future energy demand
with clean energy sources in order to meet its carbon mitigation targets. That clean energy must be
procured in a way that supports the City’s goals for economic development, social equity, environmental
sustainability, and overall quality of life. This chapter examines the strategies to accomplish these goals.
Improved energy efficiency, district energy, and in-boundary generation of clean energy (rooftop PV)
will reduce net electric power and natural gas demand substantially, but these measures will not
eliminate the need for electricity and gas (or its replacement fuel) delivered into Boston. Broadly
speaking, to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050, the city must therefore (1) reduce its use of fossil fuels
to heat and cool buildings through cost-effective energy efficiency measures and electrification of
building thermal services where feasible; and (2) over time, increase the amount of carbon-free
electricity delivered to the city. Reducing energy demand though cost effective energy conservation
measures will be necessary to reduce the challenges associated with expanding the electricity delivery
system and sustainably sourcing renewable fuels.Published versio
Carbon Free Boston: Transportation Technical Report
Part of a series of reports that includes:
Carbon Free Boston: Summary Report;
Carbon Free Boston: Social Equity Report;
Carbon Free Boston: Technical Summary;
Carbon Free Boston: Buildings Technical Report;
Carbon Free Boston: Waste Technical Report;
Carbon Free Boston: Energy Technical Report;
Carbon Free Boston: Offsets Technical ReportOVERVIEW:
Transportation connects Boston’s workers, residents and tourists to their livelihoods, health care, education,
recreation, culture, and other aspects of life quality. In cities, transit access is a critical factor determining
upward mobility. Yet many urban transportation systems, including Boston’s, underserve some populations
along one or more of those dimensions. Boston has the opportunity and means to expand mobility access to
all residents, and at the same time reduce GHG emissions from transportation. This requires the
transformation of the automobile-centric system that is fueled predominantly by gasoline and diesel fuel.
The near elimination of fossil fuels—combined with more transit, walking, and biking—will curtail air
pollution and crashes, and dramatically reduce the public health impact of transportation. The City embarks
on this transition from a position of strength. Boston is consistently ranked as one of the most walkable and
bikeable cities in the nation, and one in three commuters already take public transportation.
There are three general strategies to reaching a carbon-neutral transportation system:
• Shift trips out of automobiles to transit, biking, and walking;1
• Reduce automobile trips via land use planning that encourages denser development and affordable
housing in transit-rich neighborhoods;
• Shift most automobiles, trucks, buses, and trains to zero-GHG electricity.
Even with Boston’s strong transit foundation, a carbon-neutral transportation system requires a wholesale
change in Boston’s transportation culture. Success depends on the intelligent adoption of new technologies,
influencing behavior with strong, equitable, and clearly articulated planning and investment, and effective
collaboration with state and regional partners.Published versio
Carbon Free Boston: Technical Summary
Part of a series of reports that includes:
Carbon Free Boston: Summary Report;
Carbon Free Boston: Social Equity Report;
Carbon Free Boston: Buildings Technical Report;
Carbon Free Boston: Transportation Technical Report;
Carbon Free Boston: Waste Technical Report;
Carbon Free Boston: Energy Technical Report;
Carbon Free Boston: Offsets Technical Report;
Available at http://sites.bu.edu/cfb/OVERVIEW:
This technical summary is intended to argument the rest of the Carbon Free Boston technical reports
that seek to achieve this goal of deep mitigation. This document provides below: a rationale for carbon
neutrality, a high level description of Carbon Free Boston’s analytical approach; a summary of crosssector strategies; a high level analysis of air quality impacts; and, a brief analysis of off-road and street
light emissions.Published versio
Carbon Free Boston: Buildings Technical Report
Part of a series of reports that includes:
Carbon Free Boston: Summary Report;
Carbon Free Boston: Social Equity Report;
Carbon Free Boston: Technical Summary;
Carbon Free Boston: Transportation Technical Report;
Carbon Free Boston: Waste Technical Report;
Carbon Free Boston: Energy Technical Report;
Carbon Free Boston: Offsets Technical Report;
Available at http://sites.bu.edu/cfb/OVERVIEW:
Boston is known for its historic iconic buildings, from the Paul Revere House in the North End, to City
Hall in Government Center, to the Old South Meeting House in Downtown Crossing, to the African
Meeting House on Beacon Hill, to 200 Clarendon (the Hancock Tower) in Back Bay, to Abbotsford in
Roxbury. In total, there are over 86,000 buildings that comprise more than 647 million square feet of
area. Most of these buildings will still be in use in 2050.
Floorspace (square footage) is almost evenly split between residential and non-residential uses, but
residential buildings account for nearly 80,000 (93 percent) of the 86,000 buildings. Boston’s buildings
are used for a diverse range of activities that include homes, offices, hospitals, factories, laboratories,
schools, public service, retail, hotels, restaurants, and convention space. Building type strongly
influences energy use; for example, restaurants, hospitals, and laboratories have high energy demands
compared to other commercial uses.
Boston’s building stock is characterized by thousands of turn-of-the-20th century homes and a postWorld War II building boom that expanded both residential buildings and commercial space. Boston is in
the midst of another boom in building construction that is transforming neighborhoods across the city. [TRUNCATED]Published versio
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