Requirements for a maritime transition in line with the Paris Agreement

The shipping industry is a hard-to-abate sector in today's society. Although past studies have looked at levels of carbon pricing, fuel savings, and the upscaling of green fuel availability separately, we combine these critical parameters for a green transition of the shipping industry to show what it takes to reach sectoral emissions reduction targets in line with the Paris Agreement. We utilize a least-cost optimization model drawing on data on, e.g., emissions with lifecycle elements and the costs of green fuel production. We find that reaching maritime reduction targets for a green transition requires high growth rates for green fuel availability, carbon pricing beyond 300EUR/tCO₂eq, and at least 50% in fuel demand savings compared to today's demand projection for 2050. The results show the importance of immediate climate action if maritime emissions reduction goals are to be achieved.

Municipal solid waste available to the Chinese energy sector - Provincial projections to 2050

A shift is underway in China, from perceiving municipal solid waste (MSW) as a strictly environmental concern to identifying MSW as a resource. China exhibits a growing focus on using MSW in the energy sector while putting more emphasis on waste sorting and recycling in general and sorting food waste in particular. Timely planning of MSW treatment capacity requires reliable forecasts of future MSW quantities and their characteristics. This article uses econometric analysis to perform regional specific projections for collected MSW. Four scenarios are presented, three of which include sorting of food waste from the mixed MSW stream and/or capping mixed MSW generation. In the different scenarios, aggregated on a national level, mixed MSW ranges from 159 million metric tons (MMT) to 340 MMT and sorted food waste from MSW from zero to 109 MMT in 2050. Conclusions show that sorting of food waste will create stable levels of mixed MSW in many provinces and that there is a risk of overinvestments in MSW incineration capacity in most provinces.