Black carbon and methane are two pollutants which are rapidly warming the climate and which offer promising targets for mitigation. CATF plays a central role in advancing an aggressive agenda to control these pollutants. We locate financial support for targeted research and collaborate on technical work with university, governmental, foundation, and NGO partners; support effective legislative and regulatory strategies; and speak in Congressional hearings and other venues to draw attention to this enormous challenge.
Black Carbon
Black carbon aerosol—soot—forms as a result of incomplete combustion of fossil and biomass fuels. Pound for pound, it can warm the climate much more dramatically than CO2. CATF has been a leader in efforts to better understand the climate impacts and opportunities to reduce emissions. Bringing together the climate science, advocacy, and policy communities, we:
- Assess emissions and evaluate pollution controls for high black carbon emitting sources such as diesel, brick kilns, and coke ovens
CATF assesses pollution controls for high BC emitters such as diesel engines.
Moveable Chimney Bull's Trench Kiln, Nepal. Photo used with permission of the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation.
- Advocate in the Congress and before Federal agencies to better understand BC emissions and impacts, quantify opportunities and constrain uncertainties, pilot mitigation efforts, locate funding sources for controls, and support mandates, where appropriate.
- Fund targeted research to answer key questions about the sources and behavior of BC, in order to craft the most effective reduction strategies. Research we have supported has led to a number of peer-reviewed publications.
- Bring together scientists, regulators, and policy makers on black carbon science and mitigation opportunities. CATF has sponsored, organized, and participated in a number of scientific, technical, and policy meetings and workshops.
Methane
Methane is a powerful, short-lived greenhouse gas, which pound-for-pound warms the climate 25 times more than CO2 in the century after it is released. Since the pre-industrial era, atmospheric levels of methane have increased 150% as a result of sources such as livestock, rice cultivation, waste (landfills, manure, and waste water), coal mining, and oil and gas systems.
Technologies are currently available for this methane to be collected and used as a clean-burning fuel. Yet so far, only a fraction has been captured. CATF works with scientists to examine the climate response of plausible reductions of methane and the climate reductions associated with methane reductions.
To raise awareness of methane’s role in climate change and to address the barriers to methane mitigation, CATF, along with the International Cryosphere Climate Initiative (ICCI) launched the Global Methane Fund Initiative. This initiative has developed a roadmap for a fast-action global methane fund focused on the completion of the many “shovel-ready” methane projects currently stalled by the global credit crisis. The fund would jumpstart new abatement initiatives around the world. A recent CATF report on methane’s untapped potential provides an up-to-date overview of the most promising mitigation strategies available today.
Short-lived pollutant mitigation
Methane, black carbon, and tropospheric ozone are the focus of a number of national and international efforts.
The Arctic Council Task Force on Mitigation Options for Short Lived Forcers was established in April 2009 by eight Arctic Council foreign ministers. The group reports to senior Arctic officials charged with identifying mitigation opportunities for short-lived forcers including BC, methane, and ground-level ozone by Arctic nations, and reporting on progress toward the next ministerial meeting, set for April 2011. As background to the Arctic Council Task Force formation, CATF participated with Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Program (AMAP) and other scientists to prepare critical reports:
- The Impact of Short-Lived Pollutants on Arctic Climate
- Sources and Mitigation Opportunities to Reduce Emissions of Short-term Arctic Climate Forcers
The Convention on Long Range Transport of Air Pollution (CLRTAP) created the Ad Hoc Expert Group on Black Carbon in December 2009, with a one-year mandate to recommend how and whether black carbon (and perhaps other SLFs for regional climate benefits) might be included in the ongoing revision of the Gothenburg Protocol. CLRTAP includes all Annex I nations except Japan, Australia, and New Zealand.
The UNEP Integrated Assessment of Black Carbon and Tropospheric Ozone was launched in September 2009 for completion by end of 2010. Its objectives include to broaden understanding of the current state of the science, and to commence dialogue on appropriate policy response, particularly in the context of climate change mitigation and adaptation.
The U.S. EPA Study on Black Carbon was mandated by the 2009 federal appropriations bill, which CATF championed. This provision of the bill requires study on domestic and international black carbon emissions including: 1) emission inventories; 2) quantification of BC’s global warming potential; 3) identification of the most cost-effective approaches to reduce BC; and 4) an assessment of the public health and environmental benefits from mitigating BC. The final study is due to Congress on or before April 30, 2011.
The IGAC-NOAA-AC&C Bounding Study on Black Carbon is a component of the Atmospheric Chemistry & Climate Initiative of the SPARC (Stratospheric Processes and their Role in Climate) project of the WCRP (World Climate Research Programme) and IGAC (International Global Atmospheric Chemistry) projects. The study will contain best current guess of net black carbon impact on climate and detail any key remaining uncertainties that must be addressed in order to fully evaluate the promise of black carbon mitigation.
The CLRTAP Task Force on Hemispheric Transport of Air Pollution (HTAP) is one of 21 task forces under UNECE Convention on Long Range Transport of Air Pollution (LRTAP). Established in 2004, CLRTAP is co-chaired by the U.S. and EU, is responsible for a five-year assessment of air pollution transport (mandate extended to 2010). The final assessment will cover ozone, fine particles, mercury, and persistent organic pollutants, links between air pollution and climate change (thru 2050/2100), health and ecosystem relevance of intercontinental transport, and global mitigation scenarios. The final 500-page study, anticipated in August 2010, will include a 45-page summary for policy makers.
CATF plays an active role in these activities.
