A Cloud-Based Information System of Emission Inventory Compilation for Digital Governance of Urban Air Pollution and Carbon Management

Abstract

Emission inventory is important for air pollution prevention and control as well as carbon management for cities because they pinpoint when and where air pollutants and carbon dioxide are emitted. However, the compilation of emission inventory involves cumbersome data collection from diverse parties about the combustion activities and related emission factors that convert activity data to emissions. Here we design and implement a cloud-based information system that can facilitate efficient emission inventory compilation. We base our information system on cloud infrastructure and adopt a microservice architecture in which the data and computing needed in inventory compilation are accessed through service consumptions. This makes the inventory compilation processes online, digital and distributive, and enables seamless data sharing and collaborative compilation. By this way, scalable timely high-resolution emission inventory can be achieved for a rapid response mechanism where regulations, scientific data and computing, and local actions can be connected for efficient digital governance of urban air pollution and carbon management. We illustrate applications of our cloud-based information system for the emission inventory compilation of a coastal city in China to prove the effectiveness of our design.