The accumulation of carbon within a forest growth cycle can be considered in four stages. The initial establishment stage involves low global carbon cycle accumulation and may even experience net carbon loss (particularly from soil) as a result of site preparation and low biomass and bioenergy inputs. A rapid uptake of carbon is then experienced during the second phase, known as the full vigor stage, which subsequently levels off as the stand reaches the mature stage. Finally, the forest reaches old growth and the carbon is in steady state with accumulation associated with new growth balanced by mortality and disturbances. (more…)

Climatologists generally agree that there is accumulating evidence that a warming trend has been occurring since the mid-1960s. There are rather distinct seasonal and regional climate variations in the lower 48 states of the United States. Livezey and Smith determined that the average national warming trend has been 0.0151F per year. Since 1964, this implies that average annual temperature has increased by approximately one-half of one degree. (more…)

Frying oils are often thrown away by restaurants while they might serve as a true fuel for diesel engines, for example. Why not recycle? How to recycle frying oil?

The waste oil is bad for nature and especially for the aquatic environment. Sewage treatment plants are becoming more and more difficult to reprocess. (more…)

Energy is consumed by various segments of the economy, including households, commercial establishments, manufacturing enterprises, and electric power generators. Only a portion of total energy demand is sensitive to temperature changes. (more…)

Biodegradable materials are considered those materials that can be destroyed by microorganisms. To prevent the accumulation of non-biodegradable compounds in nature, there are two solutions that are currently under investigation: use roots or microbial strains that can attack thought products were not degradable, biodegradable materials or develop common strains. (more…)

Although the focus of many policy studies of climate change is on establishing the causal links between anthropogenic systems, emissions of greenhouse gases climate change, the line of causation also runs the other way. Short-term fluctuations in climate conditions, particularly in the temperate zones on the planet, affect energy consumption. If the popular expectation that the climate will become warmer becomes a reality, we can expect winters and summers that are warmer than those of the past. (more…)

Bioenergy produced from biomass is sometimes called a carbon-neutral energy source, because the same quantity of carbon released when the biomass is burned is sequestered again when the crop or forest is re-grown. Referring to bioenergy as carbon neutral or having zero net emissions may be misleading; there are emissions associated with producing biomass, such as from fossil fuel used in cultivation, harvest, processing and transport, and in manufacture and construction of fuel conversion technology. (more…)

The Eco-Management and Audit Scheme (EMAS) is the EU voluntary scheme for organizations willing to commit themselves to evaluate, improve and report on their environmental performance. The EMAS is established to evaluate and improve the environmental performance of organizations and to provide relevant information to the public and other interested parties. (more…)

Establishing the impact of climate change on energy demand requires a measure of heating and cooling requirements. In the United States, this measure is a degree day, which is defined in terms of an absolute difference between average daily temperature and 651F, which is an arbitrary benchmark for household comfort. Commercial heating degree days are incurred when outside temperatures are below 651F, generally during the winter heating season from October through March. (more…)

The operation of electric power systems in the 1970s was a vertically integrated activity with a strongly monopolistic character and with a public acceptance energy supply service obligation in their location area. Their activities were under the scrutiny of a regulatory authority accountable, directly or indirectly, to the government. (more…)