Systems scale assessment of the sustainability implications of emerging green initiatives

This paper demonstrates a systems framework for assessment of environmental impacts from ‘green initiatives’, through a case study of meso-scale, anthropogenic–biogenic interactions. The following cross-sectoral green initiatives, combining the emerging trends in the North East region of the United Kingdom, have been considered – increasing the vegetation cover; decarbonising road transport; decentralising energy production through biomass plants. Two future scenarios are assessed – Baseline_2020 (projected emissions from realisation of policy instruments); Aggressive_2020 (additional emissions from realisation of green initiatives). Resulting trends from the Aggressive_2020 scenario suggest an increase in emissions of pollutant precursors, including biogenic volatile organic compounds and nitrogen dioxide over the base case by up to 20% and 5% respectively. This has implications for enhanced daytime ozone and secondary aerosols formation by up to 15% and over 5% respectively. Associated land cover changes show marginal decrease of ambient temperature but modest reductions in ammonia and ambient particulates.