Trajectory, driving forces, and mitigation potential of energy-related greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in China's primary aluminum industry

Technologies for CO2 emission reduction and low-carbon development in primary aluminum industry in China: A review

Energy-related GHG emissions of the textile industry in China

Uncovering driving forces on greenhouse gas emissions in China’ aluminum industry from the perspective of life cycle analysis

This report summarizes the findings and recommendations of a three-year study on greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in China and options for abatement over the coming decades. Macroeconomic modeling results show that the continuation of rapid economic growth in China could result in a threefold increase in GHG emissions between 1990 and the year 2020. Specific measures for limiting GHG emissions are examined in detail, including improvements in energy efficiency, more rapid introduction of non-fossil energy technologies, afforestation for carbon sequestration, and modifications to various GHG-producing agricultural practices. In the short- to medium-term (before 2010), energy efficiency holds the greatest potential for low-cost GHG emission reduction. Over the longer term, however, the only option for China and the world is to switch to non-carbon energy sources. The study concludes that a two-pronged strategy for reducing GHG emissions in China should be adopted, whereby (i) economic reform and policy initiatives are continued for the purpose of improving resource allocation and encouraging energy conservation, and (ii) a set of priority investment and technical assistance programs are undertaken which promote the acceleration of more efficient and low-carbon technologies and which improve the institutional and human resource capacities to implement and sustain these programs.

BackgroundSocietal pressures exist to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from farm animals, especially in beef cattle. Both total GHG and GHG emissions per unit of product decrease as productivity increases. Limitations of previous studies on GHG emissions are that they generally describe feed intake inadequately, assess the consequences of selection on particular traits only, or examine consequences for only part of the production chain. Here, we examine GHG emissions for the whole production chain, with the estimated cost of carbon included as an extra cost on traits in the breeding objective of the production system.MethodsWe examined an example beef production system where economic merit was measured from weaning to slaughter. The estimated cost of the carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2-e) associated with feed intake change is included in the economic values calculated for the breeding objective traits and comes in addition to the cost of the feed associated with trait change. GHG emission effects on the production system are accumulated over the breeding objective traits, and the reduction in GHG emissions is evaluated, for different carbon prices, both for the individual animal and the production system.ResultsMultiple-trait selection in beef cattle can reduce total GHG and GHG emissions per unit of product while increasing economic performance if the cost of feed in the breeding objective is high. When carbon price was $10, $20, $30 and $40/ton CO2-e, selection decreased total GHG emissions by 1.1, 1.6, 2.1 and 2.6% per generation, respectively. When the cost of feed for the breeding objective was low, selection reduced total GHG emissions only if carbon price was high (~ $80/ton CO2-e). Ignoring the costs of GHG emissions when feed cost was low substantially increased emissions (e.g. 4.4% per generation or ~ 8.8% in 10 years).ConclusionsThe ability to reduce GHG emissions in beef cattle depends on the cost of feed in the breeding objective of the production system. Multiple-trait selection will reduce emissions, while improving economic performance, if the cost of feed in the breeding objective is high. If it is low, greater growth will be favoured, leading to an increase in GHG emissions that may be undesirable.

Greenhouse gas emissions and future development trends of primary aluminum in China

Major US electric utility climate pledges have the potential to collectively reduce power sector emissions by one-third

The influence of crop and chemical fertilizer combinations on greenhouse gas emissions: A partial life-cycle assessment of fertilizer production and use in China

Sectoral changing patterns of China’s green GDP considering climate change: An investigation based on the economic input-output life cycle assessment model

Energy-related GHG emission in agriculture of the European countries: An application of the Generalized Divisia Index

Municipal solid waste (MSW) management systems play a crucial role in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in China. Although the government has implemented many policies to improve the MSW management system, the impact of these improvements on city-level GHG emission reduction remains largely unexplored. This study conducted a comprehensive analysis of both direct and downstream GHG emissions from the MSW sector, encompassing sanitary landfill, dump, incineration, and biological treatment, across 352 Chinese cities from 2001 to 2021 by adopting inventory methods recommended by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). The results reveal that (1) GHG emissions from the MSW sector in China peaked at 70.6 Tg of CO2 equiv in 2018, followed by a significant decline to 47.6 Tg of CO2 equiv in 2021, (2) cities with the highest GHG emission reduction benefits in the MSW sector were historical emission hotspots over the past 2 decades, and (3) with the potential achievement of zero-landfilling policy by 2030, an additional reduction of 203.7 Tg of CO2 equiv is projected, with the emission reduction focus toward cities in South China (21.9%), Northeast China (17.8%), and Southwest China (17.3%). This study highlights that, even without explicit emission reduction targets for the MSW sector, the improvements of this sector have significantly reduced GHG emissions in China.

With the mass market penetration of electric vehicles, the Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions associated with lithium-ion battery production has become a major concern. In this study, by establishing a life cycle assessment framework, GHG emissions from the production of lithium-ion batteries in China are estimated. The results show that for the three types of most commonly used lithium-ion batteries, the (LFP) battery, the (NMC) battery and the (LMO) battery, the GHG emissions from the production of a 28 kWh battery are 3061 kgCO2-eq, 2912 kgCO2-eq and 2705 kgCO2-eq, respectively. This implies around a 30% increase in GHG emissions from vehicle production compared with conventional vehicles. The productions of cathode materials and wrought aluminum are the dominating contributors of GHG emissions, together accounting for around three quarters of total emissions. From the perspective of process energy use, around 40% of total emissions are associated with electricity use, for which the GHG emissions in China are over two times higher than the level in the United States. According to our analysis, it is recommended that great efforts are needed to reduce the GHG emissions from battery production in China, with improving the production of cathodes as the essential measure.

Aluminum production is a major energy consumer and source of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The regional transfer of the primary aluminum (PA) industry, which mainly consists of the processes of electrolysis and aluminum ingot casting, is currently an important international trend in aluminum industrial development. However, the changes in GHG emissions from aluminum production for such transfers are unclear. This study has established a life cycle assessment model of aluminum industry based on regional transfers in the context of China, determined the GHG emissions of PA and secondary aluminum (SA) production, examined the GHG emission changes of PA production based on regional industry transfer between the years 2007 and 2017, and explored seven driving factors that affect GHG emissions in the aluminum industry. GHG emissions per unit PA and SA production in China decreased by 18.6% and 6.3%, respectively, but the total GHG emissions from aluminum industry still increased by 2.2 times between the years 2007 and 2017. The driving factor analysis showed that the major positive effects of GHG emissions from China's aluminum industry from 2007 to 2017 included the production scale effect of SA and the energy structure effect. Existing regional transfers (between the years 2007 and 2017) did not deliver significant annual GHG emissions reductions. Currently, Xinjiang, Henan, Shandong, and Inner Mongolia are the main PA production provinces in China, although regional transfers have been implemented. This study provides a basis for the improvement and sustainable development of the aluminum industry, suggests policies for regional aluminum development, and proposes a beneficial layout of the aluminum industry.

Mitigating Curtailment and Carbon Emissions through Load Migration between Data Centers

Balancing crop production and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from agriculture soil requires a better understanding and quantification of crop GHG emissions intensity, a measure of GHG emissions per unit crop production. Here we conduct a state-of-the-art estimate of the spatial-temporal variability of GHG emissions intensities for wheat, maize, and rice in China from 1949 to 2012 using an improved agricultural ecosystem model (Dynamic Land Ecosystem Model-Agriculture Version 2.0) and meta-analysis covering 172 field-GHG emissions experiments. The results show that the GHG emissions intensities of these croplands from 1949 to 2012, on average, were 0.10-1.31kgCO2 -eq/kg, with a significant increase rate of 1.84-3.58×10-3 kgCO2 -eqkg-1 year-1 . Nitrogen fertilizer was the dominant factor contributing to the increase in GHG emissions intensity in northern China and increased its impact in southern China in the 2000s. Increasing GHG emissions intensity implies that excessive fertilizer failed to markedly stimulate crop yield increase in China but still exacerbated soil GHG emissions. This study found that overfertilization of more than 60% was mainly located in the winter wheat-summer maize rotation systems in the North China Plain, the winter wheat-rice rotation systems in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River and southwest China, and most of the double rice systems in the South. Our simulations suggest that roughly a one-third reduction in the current N fertilizer application level over these "overfertilization" regions would not significantly influence crop yield but decrease soil GHG emissions by 29.60%-32.50% and GHG emissions intensity by 0.13-0.25kgCO2 -eq/kg. This reduction is about 29% and 5% of total agricultural soil GHG emissions in China and the world, respectively. This study suggests that improving nitrogen use efficiency would be an effective strategy to mitigate GHG emissions and sustain China's food security.