APPENDIX 4: GLOSSARY
BAU 'business as usual' - usually of a scenario
that involves no policy changes
Biofuels fuels based on biomass, e.g. wood
C carbon (one tonne carbon = 3.67 tonnes
CO2)
C2F6 perfluoroethane,
a greenhouse gas
CCS carbon capture and storage
CDM Clean Development Mechanism: process under
the Kyoto Protocol whereby one country can pay for emissions reductions
in a developing country and collect the 'credit' for the reduction
CF4 perfluoromethane, a
greenhouse gas
CH4 methane (natural gas),
a greenhouse gas
c/kWh (US) cents per kilowatt hour
Concentrations Concentrations of greenhouse gases
in the atmosphere
Convergence View that per capita real incomes
in rich and poor countries will converge to the same level at
some time in the future
CO2 carbon dioxide, the
main greenhouse gas
Defra Department of the Environment,
Food and Rural Affairs
$/GJ (US) dollars per gigajoule
DTI Department of Trade and Industry
Emissions Emissions of greenhouse gases, mainly
from the combustion of fossil fuels and burning of forests
Equity weighting Procedure for adjusting economic
costs and benefits to reflect their relative importance to different
income levels.
FSU Former Soviet Union
GCM global circulation model
GDP Gross Domestic Product (measure of a nation's
economic output)
GNP Gross National Product (= GDP + net property
income from abroad)
GHGs greenhouse gases
GJ gigajoule = one billion joules
GtC gigatonnes of carbon (one gigatonne = 1 billion
(109) tonnes of carbon
Hockey stick figurative name for the suggested
time-profile of temperature change over long periods of time -
fairly constant until the 19th century with a sharp
upturn thereafter (the blade of the stick).
IAM Integrated Assessment Model - a model combining
a simplified form of a climate model and a model of the global
economic system
IEA International Energy Agency
Insolation incoming solar radiation
IPCC (United Nations) Intergovernmental Panel
on Climate Change
kWh kilowatt hour
kWh/m2 kilowatt hours per square
metre
Kyoto Protocol first protocol (1997 ratified
2005) to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (1992)
setting GHG emission reduction targets for industrialised nations
Land use change alteration of land uses such
that carbon emissions (especially) are likely to change, e.g.
conversion of forest to agriculture
MARKAL a computerised model integrating energy
and economic magnitudes
MER market exchange rate
MtC million tonnes of carbon
NG natural gas
NG/CC natural gas combined cycle
N2O nitrous oxide, a greenhouse
gas
Nuclear fusion possible future form of nuclear
power, based on a nuclear reaction in which atomic nuclei of low
atomic number fuse to form a heavier nucleus with the release
of energy
ppm parts per million (a measure of
atmospheric concentration)
PPP purchasing power parity exchange
rate
Proxy measure (in the current context) a measure
of temperature that is not derived from direct observation via
thermometers, e.g. tree rings, ice cores
PV present discounted value
PV photovoltaic
R & D Research and Development
SF6 sulphur hexafluoride,
a greenhouse gas
SRES (IPCC) Special Report on Emission
Scenarios
tC tonne of carbon
tCO2 tonne of carbon dioxide
THC ocean thermohaline circulation
(deep ocean currents)
WTO World Trade Organisation
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