Abstract
Land use change not only directly influences carbon storage in terrestrial ecosystems but can also cause energy-related carbon emissions. This study examined spatiotemporal land use change across Jiangsu Province, China; calculated vegetation carbon storage loss caused by land use change and energy-related carbon emissions; analysed the relationship among land use change, carbon emissions and social-economic development; and optimized land use structure to maximize carbon storage. Our study found that 13.61% of the province’s land area underwent a change in type of land use between 1995 and 2010, mainly presented as built-up land expansion and cropland shrinkage, especially in southern Jiangsu. Land use change caused a 353.99 × 104 t loss of vegetation carbon storage loss. Energy-related carbon emissions increased 2.5 times from 1995 to 2013; the energy consumption structure has been improved to some extent while still relying on coal. The selected social-economic driving forces have strong relationships with carbon emissions and land use changes, while there are also other determinants driving land use change, such as land use policy. The optimized land use structure will slow the rate of decline in vegetation carbon storage compared with the period between 1995 and 2010 and will also reduce energy-related carbon emissions by 12%.
Highlights
Global warming, a problem that is mainly due to greenhouse gas emissions, has already caused significant damage[1]
The economic level of Jiangsu is relatively high compared with other regions[30], and rapid urbanization and economic development have propelled the expansion of built-up land[18]
Based on the assumption of no carbon gain or loss for all land types between 1995 and 2010, total land use change caused 353.99 × 104 t of carbon storage losses from vegetation; the quantities were much smaller than annual energy-related carbon emissions, there are still many uncertainties (SI-5)
Summary
A problem that is mainly due to greenhouse gas emissions, has already caused significant damage[1]. Some scholars have studied land use structure optimization based on low carbon emissions, including a study that aimed to maximize terrestrial ecosystem carbon storage[10,15] and another that aimed to minimize energy-related carbon emissions by using land surface as a carrier[16] These studies may offer feasible ways for government to alleviate the pressure to reduce carbon emissions, the implementation process may be difficult and may be not carried out well under the Zhengzhou 450011, Henan Province, China. Land use change and carbon emissions may be linked by their similar driving forces, and to guarantee effective implementation, we believe that land use control and structural optimization need to be carried out from the perspective of controlling these driving factors This may hinder economic benefits to some extent, compared to the potential environmental damages these driving factors could cause, it is highly valuable. Our study will explore a new approach to low carbon development; it makes an essential contribution to current research and will help to guarantee the implementation of low carbon land use
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