Estimate of the Carbon Dioxide Uptake by the Urban Green Space for a Carbon–Neutral Sejong City in Korea

Abstract

Atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) is the main indicator of global warming and consumption of fossil fuels by humans. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) emphasized on mitigation technologies, practices, and policies to reduce CO2 emissions in urban sectors, which included forest management and land–use regulation. Since the enforcement of a special law to construct a multifunctional administrative city, named “Sejong City,” in 2005, the city aims to achieve the goal of a “Carbon–Neutral Sejong” through maximizing CO2 uptake by urban green space and its surrounding forest as well as reducing CO2 emissions in association with environmentally friendly urban planning, energy efficient building design, and renewable energy use during the planning phase. This research aims to make a preliminary estimate of the annual CO2 uptake by urban green space in the city and the peripheral areas via a bottom–up approach based on the established Sejong City Master Plan for Construction. In addition, the annual CO2 uptake estimate is compared with the annual CO2 emission estimate from literature sources, and recommendations are made based on the findings. The annual CO2 uptake by the city's urban green space is estimated at 70,641 tCO2/yr based on the annual plant growth, and the CO2-uptake-to-emission ratio, from the use of fossil fuels in buildings, is estimated at 2.3%, based on the Sejong City Master Plan.