Climate change is a relatively new area of engineering, with the concern for climate change and desire for solutions growing in the last two decades. As it is also highly evolving, new approaches and terminology are being incorporated. Here is a peek at where things stand now; terms and approaches may change quickly in the future!

Climate change vs. global warming. The popular press interchanges these two terms and, in fact, uses global warming more often. But there is a difference between the two and climate change is the preferred term in most cases. While initially, we were concerned with the planet warming, subsequent studies have pointed out that not all of the Earth will warm. In fact, some areas may cool slightly or not change in temperature appreciably. One example that modelers point out is extreme western Europe whose warmth is contributed to by the Gulf Stream. However, if cold water from melting glaciers from the north reach the north Atlantic, it could neutralize the Gulf Stream and lessen its warming effect. Thus, areas like Portugal, Spain, western France, and Ireland can actually cool over the years. There are many other effects like the Gulf Stream. Certainly, the climate will change and, thus, climate change is the preferred term.

Climate change is centered around “carbon” emissions. This is, in my opinion, an unfortunate term because it is carbon dioxide that is the main greenhouse gas and many other “carbon” compounds have no appreciable effect on trapping radiation. But “carbon” has become so ingrained that it is now accepted. And thus, many terms derive from “carbon”. For example, the new term about the study of the economics of carbon pricing, regulations and reduction strategies is now called ”carbonomics”.

This is not a new term, but an approach companies are using to analyze their carbon emissions is life cycle analysis (LCA). LCA is an analysis of the impacts of a process or a product through its life cycle. Just imagine an item you have right now: the shirt you are wearing, the laptop on which you are reading this article, a pen, a cup of coffee, etc. What is the life cycle of that item? What investment was made for the infrastructure to make it (factory, roads, trucks, etc.)? What is its supply chain? How is it fabricated or manufactured? How is it distributed from the factory to the warehouse or store? How is it sold and how is it used by the consumer? And the final step of the product’s life cycle is its end-of-life (recycling, landfill, etc.). Each one of these six portions of an item’s life cycle has greenhouse gas (GHG) emission and energy usage implications. An analysis of GHG emissions of each of these six areas can reveal where GHG emissions are greatest and what would make the most sense to focus on. By the way, LCA can be used for other analyses, too (water usage, waste generation, etc.). A growing amount of data is being published on LCA procedures and results.

Carbon regulation and incentives are not commonplace currently in the US, but significant worldwide, and worth understanding nomenclature. This is highlighted by emission trading systems (ETSs) that encourage the development of carbon credits based on the trading system or regulation. A common ETS is “cap and trade”, which gives a limit (cap) of GHG emissions. If an entity emits less than its cap, it can sell (trade) the excess emissions not emitted as credits. For entities having trouble finding feasible ways to reduce GHG emissions, purchasing such credits is a viable option; the developer of the credits is financially rewarded. Another ETS is simply a “carbon tax”, a payment required for emitting GHGs, which, of course, goes up with greater GHG emissions. Finally, a feature of most ETSs is “offsets”, the reduction of GHG emissions outside your facility. Being a global problem, reductions of GHG emissions does not need to occur within your property lines to be effective. If it is cheaper to reduce GHG emissions – even thousands of miles away – than to reduce it at your facility, then take advantage. It’s all good.

I hope this has been helpful to discuss new or existing nomenclature on climate change that is not discussed all that often.

CCES has the technical experts to help you assess and reduce your GHG emissions in an economic manner to save you significant costs and other benefits. Contact us today at karell@CCESworld.com or at 914-584-6720.