A Dynamic Analysis on the Urban Carbon Footprint and Carbon Carrying Capacity—A Case Study of Chongqing

Abstract

The rapid improvement of the urban economy and urbanization process has led to an increase in carbon emissions every year, which has caused various environmental problems. In this paper, we have conducted a dynamic analysis on the carbon footprint, carbon carrying capacity and net carbon footprint in Chongqing of China. The data used for analysis come from official statistics during the period of 1998–2013. The method for the evaluation of carbon footprint, carbon carrying capacity and net carbon footprint is improved. The results show that the carbon footprint in Chongqing has risen from 67,641,200 to 176,227,300 tons from 1998 to 2013. Among that, the energy utilization contributed 74.76–93.31% to the total carbon footprint, the main cause of the growth of carbon footprint. On the other hand, the carbon carrying capacity in Chongqing has increased from 28,270,000 to 32,433,500 tons during the surveyed period. It has been formed that the average carbon sequestration of the cultivated land and forest land accounted for 40.60 and 53.38% respectively, indicating that the cultivated land and forest land are important parts of the carbon carrying capacity. Furthermore, the net carbon footprint has increased from 39,371,200 tons to 143,793,800 tons during the surveyed period, with the growth rate of 265.23%, indicating that the total carbon footprint of Chongqing is much larger than the carbon carrying capacity. Carbon emissions and carbon sequestrations in Chongqing are unbalanced, indicating that the mission of carbon emission reduction is still under severe challenge.