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U-Mich researcher’s first-principles analysis challenges conventional carbon accounting for biofuels; implications for climate policy

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System boundaries (red line) schematic for liquid fuel carbon balance. For biofuels, because biogenic carbon is automatically credited within a product lifecycle, the boundary effectively excludes vehicle end-use CO 2 emissions. DeCicco 2013. Click to enlarge.

Climate 273
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DeCicco: Transportation GHG reduction policy should focus upstream on fuel supply rather than downstream on choice of fuels in vehicles

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John DeCicco at the University of Michigan argues that to reduce transportation sector greenhouse gas emissions, the proper policy focus should be upstream in sectors that provide the fuel, rather than downstream on the choice of fuels in the automobile. In a new working paper, Prof. A parametric analysis by Barter et al.

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Univ. of Michigan researcher recommends shifting the basis of fuel carbon regulation from lifecycle analysis to ABC accounting

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Instead, DeCicco proposes a method using annual basis carbon (ABC) accounting to track the stocks and flows of carbon and other relevant greenhouse gases (GHGs) throughout fuel supply chains. From the perspective of resource economics, it is not obvious that LCA is the right tool for regulation. under the U.S.

Carbon 218
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Perspective: Regional Greenhouse Gas Cap-and-Trade Programs May be the Solution

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Cantwell said that cap-and-trade had been discredited by the Wall Street crisis, the Enron scandal and the rocky start to a carbon credits trading system in Europe that has been subject to dizzying price fluctuations and widespread fraud. states (Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, and Wisconsin) and one Canadian province (Manitoba).

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