Dataset Information

Arranging university semester date to minimize annual CO₂ emission: A UK university case study.

ABSTRACT: Existing methods of reducing carbon emissions on campus often require substantial investment, and the potential opportunities for carbon dioxide and energy savings in universities with existing infrastructure have not been considered in much detail. This work fills this gap by considering an indirect and soft demand response strategy, i.e., semester arrangement. To identify the optimal operational strategy of a realistic campus-level multi vector energy system (MES) in Scotland based on CO₂ emissions, an original tool is presented. Two conclusions can be drawn safely from the case study. Firstly, changing the operational mode of the university could significantly reduce CO₂ emissions. Secondly, considering the difference between average emission factor (AEF) and marginal emission factor (MEF) in the power grid, the different operational modes will bring different electricity/heat demands and also affect carbon emissions. The work opens up a new perspective for worldwide university operators who are considering reducing CO₂ emissions.

SUBMITTER: Li Z

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8710558 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Arranging university semester date to minimize annual CO<sub>2</sub> emission: A UK university case study.

Li Zihao Z Sun Wei W Xiang Yue Y Thomson Camilla C Harrison Gareth G

iScience 20211208 12

Existing methods of reducing carbon emissions on campus often require substantial investment, and the potential opportunities for carbon dioxide and energy savings in universities with existing infrastructure have not been considered in much detail. This work fills this gap by considering an indirect and soft demand response strategy, i.e., semester arrangement. To identify the optimal operational strategy of a realistic campus-level multi vector energy system (MES) in Scotland based on CO<sub>2 ...[more]

PMID: 34988388

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Project description:Photosynthesis is co-limited by multiple factors depending on the plant and its environment. These include biochemical rate limitations, internal and external water potentials, temperature, irradiance and carbon dioxide ( CO2 ). Amphistomatous leaves have stomata on both abaxial and adaxial leaf surfaces. This feature is considered an adaptation to alleviate CO2 diffusion limitations in productive environments as the diffusion path length from stomate to chloroplast is effectively halved in amphistomatous leaves. Plants may also reduce CO2 limitations through other aspects of optimal stomatal anatomy: stomatal density, distribution, patterning and size. Some studies have demonstrated that stomata are overdispersed compared to a random distribution on a single leaf surface; however, despite their prevalence in nature and near ubiquity among crop species, much less is known about stomatal anatomy in amphistomatous leaves, especially the coordination between leaf surfaces. Here, we use novel spatial statistics based on simulations and photosynthesis modelling to test hypotheses about how amphistomatous plants may optimize CO2 diffusion in the model angiosperm Arabidopsis thaliana grown in different light environments. We find that (i) stomata are overdispersed, but not ideally dispersed, on both leaf surfaces across all light treatments; (ii) the patterning of stomata on abaxial and adaxial leaf surfaces is independent and (iii) the theoretical improvements to photosynthesis from abaxial-adaxial stomatal coordination are miniscule ( ≪1 %) across the range of feasible parameter space. However, we also find that (iv) stomatal size is correlated with the mesophyll volume that it supplies with CO2 , suggesting that plants may optimize CO2 diffusion limitations through alternative pathways other than ideal, uniform stomatal spacing. We discuss the developmental, physical and evolutionary constraints that may prohibit plants from reaching this theoretical adaptive peak of uniform stomatal spacing and inter-surface stomatal coordination. These findings contribute to our understanding of variation in the anatomy of amphistomatous leaves.

Dataset Information

Arranging university semester date to minimize annual CO₂ emission: A UK university case study.

Publications

Arranging university semester date to minimize annual CO<sub>2</sub> emission: A UK university case study.

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Dataset Information

Arranging university semester date to minimize annual CO2 emission: A UK university case study.

Publications

Arranging university semester date to minimize annual CO<sub>2</sub> emission: A UK university case study.

Similar Datasets

OmicsDI is part of the ELIXIR infrastructure

Tweets

Arranging university semester date to minimize annual CO₂ emission: A UK university case study.