carbon emissions

So Much for COP23 – There’s a Whole Class of Carbon Emissions we’re Totally Ignoring

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We sometimes refer to the emissions while a building is functioning as the operational carbon, and all the other emissions across its life cycle as the embodied carbon. Focusing on one and not the other is puzzling to say the least – we’re effectively trying to take the carbon out of our energy bills while paying no attention to the carbon in the buildings themselves.

False Methane Math

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Because of the difference in nature between methane and carbon dioxide we should cease expressing the climate effect of methane in carbon dioxide equivalents. This has important implications for policy as well as for the assessment of different strategies for minimizing the climate effect of production or lifestyles. Culling all cows may sound like a great proposition if we use the conventional metrics but is actually a rather futile effort to curb climate change. 

Beyond Paris: Avoiding the Trap of Carbon Metrics

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Until recently terms like “carbon accounting,” “carbon footprint,” and “carbon offsetting” would have raised some quizzical eyebrows among the general public. Today, such carbon-based metrics are everywhere, but are they helpful or unhelpful in motivating the necessary action on climate change?

EPA Carbon Rules, Climate Progress? – headlines

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•Here’s Why The Carbon Regulations EPA Will Announce Monday Are So Important •A guide to Obama’s new rules to cut carbon emissions from power plants •EPA unveils far-reaching climate plan targeting power plants •Obama’s New Plan To Fight Climate Change Is A Really Big Deal