Abstract
The swift evolution of urbanization in China has led to a rapid increase in the demand for infrastructure. Infrastructure consumes significant amounts of construction materials. The production, packaging, transportation and use of these materials require energy and, therefore, are a source of carbon emissions. In order to make the construction of infrastructure satisfy people’s life demands and economic development, and at the same time conform to low carbon ideas, it is necessary to understand the spatial and temporal variations of embodied carbon emissions and its regional disparity. This study classifies and sorts the calculation parameters of infrastructure material stock and embodied carbon emissions. It estimates the trends and magnitude of 31 provinces over a period of 20 years (1997–2016) and analyzes the spatial-temporal characteristics. Our results indicate that: (1) The overall infrastructure embodied carbon emissions amount to 3204 billion tons; (2) the embodied carbon emissions from buildings are far greater than that of transportation infrastructure, however, the annual growth rate is contrary to this; (3) the spatial and temporal variations show regional inequality, with the eastern coastal area being higher than the central and western inland areas and the economically developed areas being higher than the less developed areas.
Highlights
Infrastructure construction is crucial to both developed and developing countries
Population is a direct factor leading to the accumulation of infrastructure material stock and emboSdusiteadinacbailritbyo2n01e9m, 11is, sxiFoOnRs.PAEEsRthReEVmIEaWin place where people live and work, the scale and quan5titoyf 1o8f buildings will increase with the growth of the population
The life cycle of a building covers all stages of planning, construction, maintenance and demolition. It directly affects the consumption of construction materials, which is one of the key factors in determining the material stock and embodied carbon emissions
Summary
Infrastructure construction is crucial to both developed and developing countries. In developing countries, infrastructure construction has a transformational impact on lives of people and the development of enterprises; in more mature economies, building and updating infrastructure to meet demand is an integral part of the maintenance of economic growth [1]. Most of the published literature about China’s infrastructure’s embodied carbon emissions just focuses on a single infrastructure or construction material and is confined to a particular area, rather than the whole infrastructure system from the national level. Shi [10] and Huang [11] measured the material stock and CO2 emissions of China’s buildings and transportation infrastructure by dynamic MFA, but the data were only about steel and cement. The significance of the research is as follows: As people’s incomes increase, they pursue more comfortable and enjoyable living conditions that still meet basic living needs These demands may lead to the construction of larger infrastructures, which will inevitably consume more materials and energy and emit more greenhouse gases. The mathematical equations used to estimate material stock and the embodied carbon emissions of China’s infrastructures are described beloww. M m where C is the embodied carbon of infrastructure, CiB,j,k,t is the embodied carbon of building, CiT,t is the embodied carbon of transportation, and cm is the embodied carbon emission intensity of material
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