Beyond Carbon: Environment
Environment
We all win when we protect the environment and ecosystems. Conservation agriculture practices and temperate forest stewardship extend the benefits of our natural carbon sinks like trees, soil and other vegetation. In turn, a healthier natural world hedges against extreme weather impacts.
Lowering emissions almost always means better air quality. Some communities may have concerns about land that is used for large scale solar (or solar farms), so it is an area to watch. We want to be sure that these potential concerns and impacts are visible to everyone involved in the process of making the big decisions that will help scale these solutions.
Largely Positive
Areas to Watch or Address
Limited Impacts or Limited Data
| Sector Solutions | Air Quality | Water Quality & Quantity |
Land Use | Ecosystems & Biodiversity |
Material Disposability |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Large Scale Solar
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Cogeneration
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Rooftop Solar
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Demand Response
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Landfill Methane
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| Sector Solutions | Air Quality | Water Quality & Quantity |
Land Use | Ecosystems & Biodiversity |
Material Disposability |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Recycling/Waste Management
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Refrigerant Management
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Retrofitting
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| Sector Solutions | Air Quality | Water Quality & Quantity |
Land Use | Ecosystems & Biodiversity |
Material Disposability |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Composting
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Conservation Agriculture
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Plant-Forward Diet
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Reduced Food Waste
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| Sector Solutions | Air Quality | Water Quality & Quantity |
Land Use | Ecosystems & Biodiversity |
Material Disposability |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Coastal Wetlands Restoration
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Afforestation & Silvopasture
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Temperate Forest Stewardship
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| Sector Solutions | Air Quality | Water Quality & Quantity |
Land Use | Ecosystems & Biodiversity |
Material Disposability |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Energy Efficient Cars
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Energy Efficient Trucks
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Mass Transit
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Electric Vehicles
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Alternative Mobility
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Stories & Studies
The Social Cost of Carbon
One way that governments work to understand climate change is by examining the social cost of carbon, which seeks to determine the economic damage that comes from emitting greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. In other words, the social cost of carbon
Could Electric Vehicles Drive More Equitable Mobility in Georgia?
Imagine if electric vehicles also drove the trend toward more equitable mobility in Georgia. Three graduate student teams from Georgia Tech conducted research as part of a class on Energy Technology and Policy focusing on EV charging infrastructure and battery
Ideas for New Year’s Resolutions to Improve Your Health and Advance Climate Solutions
What New Year’s resolutions are you making for 2023? And when you are choosing your resolutions, are you keeping their impact on climate in mind? So many climate solutions can actually do double-duty and improve your health, nutrition, and fitness. If
Questions?
Why focus on refrigerants?
Hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) are chemicals used to cool refrigerators and air conditioners. They are also an extremely potent greenhouse gas, with thousands of times the heat trapping potential of CO2. This class of chemicals was used to replace CFCs, a class of refrigerant chemicals that were phased out because they were depleting the ozone layer. In December 2020, Congress passed legislation to phase down HFCs nationwide by 40% by 2024 and by 85% by 2036. The phase down will be administered by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
Which industries dominate in Georgia’s building products?
According to the Georgia Forestry Commission, Georgia is a leader in paper and pulp products, with an economic output of $13.1 billion in 2018, representing almost 20,000 jobs and $1.8 billion in annual wages and salaries.
What is our current recycling rate?
In 2011, Georgia recycled only approximately 0.7 million tons out of 10.6 million tons of MSW, or a recycling rate of about 6.6%. This is significantly below the U.S. average rate of 22.6% reported by the same study (Shin, 2014).
