Abstract
The agricultural sector has become an important emitter of greenhouse gases in China. The CO2 emissions in the western undeveloped region have attracted less attention than those in the eastern developed region in China. In this paper, the change in carbon footprint (CF) caused by agrochemical and agricultural energy inputs, the contributions of various inputs to the total carbon footprint (TCF), and the different changing trends between carbon intensity in output value (CV) and carbon intensity in area (CA) in Qinghai province were studied based on the data for agrochemical and energy inputs over 1995–2016. The change in TCF had a roughly stable period over 1995–1999, a slowly decreasing period over 2000–2007, and a rapidly increasing period over 2008–2016, which generally synchronize with the periods of before the Grain for Green Policy (GFGP), during the GFGP, and after the GFGP, respectively. The chemical nitrogen fertilizer and energy inputs were the principal factors influencing the TCF. The N fertilizer was the highest contributor to the TCF and contributed more to the relatively lower TCF during the GFGP in the study area. The relative CF caused by plastic film and diesel input in the study area increased faster than that in the whole country. The CV declined, with a mean of 0.022 kg carbon equivalent (CE)/Chinese Yuan (CNY), which was 55.59% of the mean CV in China over 1995–2016; inversely, the CA obviously rose after 2007, with a mean of 5.11 kg CE/ha, which was only 1.94% of the mean CA in China from 1995 to 2016. Compared with the whole country, Qinghai province generally had a higher rate of increase of carbon efficiency accompanied by a higher rate of increase of CA. The improvements of local agricultural activities should aim to keep a balance between higher carbon efficiency and lower CA in the study area.
Highlights
CO2 emissions have kept increasing due to large-scale use of fossil fuels and have attracted global attention [1]; and recent human-induced emissions of greenhouse gases are reaching the highest levels in history [2]
By considering each section of emissions of greenhouse gases in carbon equivalent (CE), the total carbon footprint (TCF) in the agricultural sector was estimated over 1995–2016, which was caused by 10 main inputs of chemical fertilizers, pesticides, plastic film, raw coal, gasoline, diesel, and electricity
The TCF induced by 10 main types of agrochemical and energy inputs rose from 194.30 to 309.89
Summary
CO2 emissions have kept increasing due to large-scale use of fossil fuels and have attracted global attention [1]; and recent human-induced emissions of greenhouse gases are reaching the highest levels in history [2]. Increasing human-induced CO2 emissions may affect climate change and limit the sustainable development of human society and economy [3]. In order to study the trend and affecting factors of CO2 emissions in different production sectors and to promote the green economic development, many researchers have used the evaluation methods of carbon footprint (CF) in different research fields [4,5,6]. Because of the population increase, economic development, improvement of living standards, and limitation of agricultural land resources, the modern agricultural production mainly depends on agrochemicals and fossil fuels both.
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