In the 25 years from 1990 to 2015, annual global carbon emissions grew by 60%, approximately doubling total global cumulative emissions. This has brought the world perilously close to exceeding 2°C of warming, and it is now on the verge of exceeding 1.5°C. This paper examines the starkly different contributions of different income groups to carbon emissions in this period. It draws on new data that provides much improved insight into global and national income inequality, combined with national consumption emissions over this 25-year period, to provide an analysis relating emissions to income levels for the populations of 117 countries. Future scenarios of carbon inequality are also presented based on different possible trajectories of economic growth and carbon emissions, highlighting the challenge of ensuring a more equitable distribution of the remaining and rapidly diminishing global carbon budget.
The interlinkages between water for irrigation and for fish habitat are complex. This is particularly true in the Stung Chinit, a tributary to one of the most robust fisheries in the world, where livelihoods rely heavily on rice production and fishing and there is pressure to increase rice production with increased irrigation. This study assesses the tradeoffs between various management options and irrigation strategies in the Stung Chinit watershed under multiple projections of climate change. Due to the relative demands for instream flows and rice, if dry season rice is widely promoted, flows will be severely impacted. However, implementing a flow requirement protects these flows, while only causing minor shortages to rice when planted once or twice per year. These shortages may be alleviated with improved cooperation, management and shifting rice irrigation practices. While climate change will lead to warming temperatures and potentially higher demands for irrigation, the larger threat to rice and ecosystems appears to be water management (or lack thereof). This study suggests that there is sufficient water in the system to expand the irrigated area by 10%, grow rice twice per year and protect downstream flows under climate change; however, well-coordinated management is required to achieve this.
Kenya has experienced a decade of relative prosperity with consistent economic growth and minimal political tension. GDP is growing by 3% annually and poverty rates are declining. Despite these gains, Kenya still has a lot of ground to cover to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030. SDG7, which aims to ‘Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all’, exemplifies both Kenya’s achievements and the challenges that remain. Access to grid-based electricity and LPG have grown rapidly. However, over 90% of Kenyans still rely on polluting fuels like wood, charcoal and/or kerosene for some or all of their cooking needs. Substantial effort is needed to ensure all Kenyans have access to clean cooking options by 2030. We present the results of a pilot study in which gasifier-based pellet stoves were introduced in 150 peri-urban households. The stoves include an internal fan that improves combustion efficiency and reduces emissions by 90%–99% relative to charcoal and fuelwood in traditional devices. A subset of participants received stoves with ‘Pay-as-You-Cook’ (PAYC) hardware, which relies on pre-paid RFID card to activate the stove’s internal fan, allowing vendors to sell the stove below cost and recoup losses through pellet sales. We find that people were willing to include pellet stoves in their cooking routines and, in many cases, pellets displaced polluting fuels. We also find that PAYC hardware did not negatively impact adoption: PAYC users had higher daily rates of fuel consumption and reported higher willingness to pay for the stove than non-PAYC users. However, stoves were not used exclusively. Instead, people stacked pellets in combination with other cooking options, with pellets contributing to 12%–40% of their cooking needs (inter-quartile range). Though the project did not successfully overcome all of the barriers necessary to achieve long-term adoption of advanced pellet stoves, the results demonstrate that pellets could contribute to a portfolio of cleaner options.
Social media abstract:
In a pilot project, clean-burning ‘pay-as-you-cook’ pellet stoves were stacked with LPG and polluting fuels.
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