Projecting future carbon emissions from cement production in developing countries.

Achieving low-carbon development of the cement industry in the developing countries is fundamental to global emissions abatement, considering the local construction industry's rapid growth. However, there is currently a lack of systematic and accurate accounting and projection of cement emissions in developing countries, which are characterized with lower basic economic country condition. Here, we provide bottom-up quantifications of emissions from global cement production and reveal a regional shift in the main contributors to global cement CO2 emissions. The study further explores cement emissions over 2020-2050 that correspond to different housing and infrastructure conditions and emissions mitigation options for all developing countries except China. We find that cement emissions in developing countries except China will reach 1.4-3.8 Gt in 2050 (depending on different industrialization trajectories), compared to their annual emissions of 0.7 Gt in 2018. The optimal combination of low-carbon measures could contribute to reducing annual emissions by around 65% in 2050 and cumulative emissions by around 48% over 2020-2050. The efficient technological paths towards a low carbon future of cement industry vary among the countries and infrastructure scenarios. Our results are essential to understanding future emissions patterns of the cement industry in the developing countries and can inform policies in the cement sector that contribute to meeting the climate targets set out in the Paris Agreement.

The impact of 100% electrification of domestic heat in Great Britain.

Britain has been a global leader in reducing emissions, but little progress has been made on heat, which accounts for almost one-third of UK emissions and the largest single share is domestic heat, which is responsible for 17% of the national total. Given the UK's 2050 "Net-Zero" commitment, decarbonizing heat is becoming urgent and currently one of the main pathways involves its electrification. Here, we present a spatially explicit optimization model that investigates the implications of electrifying domestic heat on the operation of the power sector. Using hourly historical gas demand data, we conclude that the domestic peak heat demand is almost 50% lower than widely cited values. A 100% electrification pathway can be achieved with only a 1.3-fold increase in generation capacity compared to a power-only decarbonization scenario, but only by leveraging the role of thermal energy storage technologies without which a further 40% increase would be needed.

Conspiracy spillovers and geoengineering.

Geoengineering techniques such as solar radiation management (SRM) could be part of a future technology portfolio to limit global temperature change. However, there is public opposition to research and deployment of SRM technologies. We use 814,924 English-language tweets containing #geoengineering globally over 13 years (2009-2021) to explore public emotions, perceptions, and attitudes toward SRM using natural language processing, deep learning, and network analysis. We find that specific conspiracy theories influence public reactions toward geoengineering, especially regarding "chemtrails" (whereby airplanes allegedly spray poison or modify weather through contrails). Furthermore, conspiracies tend to spillover, shaping regional debates in the UK, USA, India, and Sweden and connecting with broader political considerations. We also find that positive emotions rise on both the global and country scales following events related to SRM governance, and negative and neutral emotions increase following SRM projects and announcements of experiments. Finally, we also find that online toxicity shapes the breadth of spillover effects, further influencing anti-SRM views.

Immunogenicity, safety, and tolerability of the meningococcal serogroup B bivalent rLP2086 vaccine in adult laboratory workers.

BACKGROUND: The bivalent rLP2086 vaccine is approved in the United States to prevent meningococcal disease caused by Neisseria meningitidis serogroup B (MnB) in individuals aged 10-25 years. The immunogenicity and safety of bivalent rLP2086 were evaluated in microbiologists 24-62 years old who handle MnB. METHODS: Seven subjects vaccinated at 0, 2, and 6 months had functional antibodies measured before vaccination and 1 month after each dose by serum bactericidal assays using human complement (hSBAs) and 4 vaccine-heterologous MnB test strains. RESULTS: Six subjects qualified for analysis. All demonstrated hSBA titers ≥the lower limit of quantitation (LLOQ) against 3 of 4 strains; 3 subjects achieved titers ≥LLOQ for the fourth. Safety-related events following vaccination were generally mild to moderate in severity. CONCLUSIONS: Three doses of bivalent rLP2086 were generally well tolerated in laboratory personnel and elicited protective functional immune responses reflective of broad coverage against MnB disease.

Regulating the geological sequestration of CO2.

Governments worldwide should provide incentives for initial large-scale GS projects to help build the knowledge base for a mature, internationally harmonized GS regulatory framework. Health, safety, and environmental risks of these early projects can be managed through modifications of existing regulations in the EU, Australia, Canada, and the U.S. An institutional mechanism, such as the proposed Federal Carbon Sequestration Commission in the U.S., should gather data from these early projects and combine them with factors such as GS industrial organization and climate regime requirements to create an efficient and adaptive regulatory framework suited to large-scale deployment. Mechanisms to structure long-term liability and fund long-term postclosure care must be developed, most likely at the national level, to equitably balance the risks and benefits of this important climate change mitigation technology. We need to do this right. During the initial field experiences, a single major accident, resulting from inadequate regulatory oversight, anywhere in the world, could seriously endanger the future viability of GS. That, in turn, could make it next to impossible to achieve the needed dramatic global reductions in CO2 emissions over the next several decades. We also need to do it quickly. Emissions are going up, the climate is changing, and impacts are growing. The need for safe and effective CO2 capture with deep GS is urgent.