Spatio-temporal aspects of carbon dioxide emissions due to rail transport of coal in China

Abstract

Climate change means that China needs to reduce carbon dioxide emissions from its transport sector. The study reported in the paper analysed the spatial–temporal characteristics of carbon doxide emissions produced by transporting coal by rail in the country between 2000 and 2014. The kriging interpolation method was used to analyse the emission distributions. The results showed that total emissions produced from rail transport of coal increased from 1·18 Mt in 2000 to 11·71 Mt in 2014, although they appear to have peaked. Inner Mongolia, Shanxi and Shaanxi were the provinces with the largest emission increases. The emissions were positively correlated and showed spatial heterogeneity, with Shanxi and Shaanxi provinces being high-emission provinces surrounded by other high-emission provinces. The paper concludes with a discussion of energy conservation and emissions-reduction measures that could be implemented by the Chinese transport industry.