Agricultural Carbon Emissions Research Articles

County-level intensity of carbon emissions from crop farming in China during 2000–2019

Agriculture is an important contributor to global carbon emissions. With the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations and China’s carbon neutral strategy, accurate estimation of carbon emissions from crop farming is essential to reduce agricultural carbon emissions and promote sustainable food production systems in China. However, previous long-term time series estimates in China have mainly focused on the national and provincial levels, which are insufficient to characterize regional heterogeneity. Here, we selected the county-level administrative district as the basic geographical unit and then generated a county-level dataset on the intensity of carbon emissions from crop farming in China during 2000–2019, using random forest regression with multi-source data. This dataset can be used to delineate spatio-temporal changes in carbon emissions from crop farming in China, providing an important basis for decision makers and researchers to design agricultural carbon reduction strategies in China.

Study on agricultural water resource utilization efficiency under the constraint of carbon emission and water pollution

Agricultural water resource utilization efficiency in China is facing significant challenges due to the dual constraints of carbon emissions and water pollution. The inefficiency in water usage in agriculture not only impacts the sustainability of water resources but also contributes to environmental degradation through increased carbon emissions and water pollution. Agricultural water resource utilization efficiency under the constraint of carbon emission and water pollution has been a critical issue in China from 2005 to 2022. This study employs the Quantile Autoregressive Distributed Lag (QARDL) method to comprehensively assess and analyze the complex relationship that exists between agricultural water usage, carbon emissions, and water pollution. By analyzing distinct quantiles of the data distribution, the research investigates how different levels of water resource utilization efficiency relate to carbon emissions and water pollution under various conditions. The findings reveal nuanced insights into the dynamic interactions among these components within the agricultural sector. This research project focuses on the efficiency of water resource utilization in agriculture while considering the constraints of carbon emission and water pollution. Given the dynamic and time-dependent character of these components, the QARDL methodology makes it possible to get a detailed knowledge of how they interact within the framework of agriculture. The study aims to give significant insights and policy suggestions to improve agricultural practices while minimizing environmental concerns linked to carbon emissions and water pollution.

Agricultural carbon emission efficiency and agricultural practices: Implications for balancing carbon emissions reduction and agricultural productivity increment

The current Ukraine War underlines the importance of grain self-sufficiency. After the adoption of the Paris Agreement, two major challenges developing countries are facing in the coming decades are increasing agricultural production to ensure food security and reducing carbon emissions (CE). The key to such an “environment-development dilemma” is to improve agricultural carbon emission efficiency (CEE). Using China as the study site, we systematically analyze the impacts of agricultural management activities on agricultural CEE from 1997 to 2019. Global and local Moran’s I index tests provide evidence of a positive spatial dependence of agricultural CEE. Using the LISA cluster map, we observe that high CEE regions tend to be distributed together, dominated by environmental conditions. However, with the promotion of agricultural management activities, such a clustering pattern vanished. Our spatial Durbin model (SDM) estimation results indicate that there are significant nonlinear relationships between agricultural practices and agricultural CEE. While the consumption of fertilizers and pesticides has economies of scale effects, the deployment of agricultural machinery and irrigation have diseconomies of scale effects on local CEE. Based on the SDM results, the direct and indirect effect estimation results suggest that the significant direct and spillover effects of many practices on agricultural CEE have opposite nonlinear shapes, implying a more complicated situation in promoting these activities, as the positive regional effect of an agricultural activity might have a negative impact on adjacent regions. All the results indicate that local policymakers should carefully tailor agricultural development policies based on local environmental conditions.

Changes in crop mix and the effects on agricultural carbon emissions in China

ABSTRACT Changes in crop mix significantly affect the carbon emissions from cropping systems, thus underscoring their importance in achieving sustainable agriculture development. This article aims to offer new insights into the relationship between crop mix changes and carbon emissions from cropping systems. Based on provincial statistical data on crop production, this study analyzed the spatiotemporal dynamics of crop mix and the subsequent effect on the carbon emissions from cropping systems in China from 2005 to 2020. The crop-mix type identification rules, emission-factor approach, and grey incidence analysis were applied. The results showed clear changes in crop mix and obvious transitions from grain crops to cash crops in southern provinces. Among crops, the abundance of maize, vegetables, and melons increased remarkably. Besides, the carbon emission intensity (CI) from cropping systems generally showed an upward trend in most provinces, with a spatial pattern of gradual decrease from southeast to northwest. The changes in CI were most closely correlated with rice, maize, vegetables, and melon, with coefficients of 0.808, 0.773, 0.814, and 0.792, respectively. Additionally, the growth of maize and vegetables ratios played a significant role in the CI increases in most provinces. To optimize crop cultivation and mitigate carbon emissions, possible strategies including rational crop production layout, land transfer, and clean production technologies were proposed.

Inventory and Distribution Characteristics of Carbon Emissions from Agricultural Sources in Henan Province from 2011 to 2020

Agriculture is an important part of Henan's economic development, and agricultural production is also an important source of greenhouse gas emissions. In this paper, the activity level data of agricultural carbon emissions in 18 cities in Henan Province were collected. Based on the calculation method provided by the Guidelines for Compiling Provincial Greenhouse Gas Inventories and referring to the 2006 IPCC Guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories, agricultural CO2, CH4 and N2O emissions were carefully estimated. An agricultural greenhouse gas inventory was compiled for Henan Province from 2011 to 2020. Then, based on the spatial distribution and emission intensity, the carbon emissions of each city in Henan Province in 2019 were further analyzed. The results show that carbon emissions decreased from 57,603,500 tons in 2011 to 44,517,300 tons in 2020, with an average annual decrease rate of about 2.66%. The total agricultural carbon emissions in Henan showed a downward trend, and agricultural land was the dominant factor of carbon emissions, accounting for about 47% of the total carbon emissions over the years.

Have Agricultural Land-Use Carbon Emissions in China Peaked? An Analysis Based on Decoupling Theory and Spatial EKC Model

Assessing the emission-peaking process of agricultural land use provides valuable insights for mitigating global warming. This study calculated agricultural land-use carbon emissions (ALUCEs) in China from 2000 to 2020 and explored the peaking process based on quantitative criteria. Further, we applied the Tapio decoupling index and environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) model to discuss the robustness of the peaking process. The main conclusions are as follows: (1) From 2000 to 2020, China’s average ALUCEs were 368.1 Mt C-eq (1349.7 CO2-eq), peaking at 396.9 Mt C-eq (1455.3 Mt CO2-eq) in 2015 before plateauing. Emissions from agricultural materials and soil management had entered the declining period, while those from rice cultivation were in the peaking period, those from straw burning were still rising, and those from livestock breeding remained at the plateauing phase. (2) The provinces of Beijing, Tianjin, and nine others saw a decline in ALUCEs, while Hainan, Guizhou, and another nine provinces observed plateauing, and Ningxia, Qinghai, and six other provinces experienced peaking. (3) Decoupling analysis confirmed that emission-peaking states remained stable even with agricultural growth. Instead of an inverted U-shaped relationship, we found an N-shaped relationship between ALUCEs and agricultural GDP. The spatial EKC model indicated that the peaking process had spillover effects between provinces. It is recommended that China accelerate ALUCE mitigation based on the source and phase of emissions, considering the peaking process and magnitude.

Does Free Compulsory Education Matter for the Green Transformation of Agriculture? Evidence from Rural China

Education plays a crucial role in promoting green development by shaping environmentally friendly production behaviors and fostering low-carbon lifestyles. This research examines the impact of China’s free compulsory education (FCE) policy on agricultural green total factor productivity (AGTFP) using provincial panel data from 2002 to 2015. Additionally, it explores the impact mechanisms and regional heterogeneity. The results indicate that first, the FCE policy has a significantly positive effect on AGTFP, as confirmed through a series of robustness tests. Second, the FCE policy primarily influences AGTFP by increasing farmers’ awareness of green production and promoting the development of green technologies in agriculture. Third, the impact of the FCE policy varies across regions. It promotes green technologies in agriculture in developed provinces and fosters ecological awareness among farmers in less developed provinces. These findings offer valuable empirical evidence and policy implications for implementing education popularization projects and reducing agricultural carbon emissions in developing countries.

Analysis of the interactive effects of new urbanization and agricultural carbon emission efficiency

<p>Exploring the relationship between new urbanization and agricultural carbon emission is of great significance to promote the green and low-carbon development of agriculture. The urbanization level was comprehensively assessed by constructing an index system, and the agricultural carbon emission efficiency was measured using the SBM model, and finally, the relationship between urbanization and agricultural carbon emission efficiency was quantitatively analyzed with the help of the PVAR model. The results of the study show that：(1) From a general point of view, new urbanization is the Granger cause of agricultural carbon emission efficiency, and new urbanization has a reverse effect on the improvement of agricultural carbon emission efficiency, while the opposite is not true. (2) Agricultural urbanization is always the Granger cause of agricultural carbon emission efficiency in both main grain-producing and non-main grain-producing areas, but the inhibitory effect of new urbanization on the improvement of agricultural carbon emission efficiency is significantly stronger in main grain-producing areas.</p>

Digital Economy Enables Low-Carbon Agricultural Development in Liaoning Province under the "Double Carbon" Goal

This paper takes the agricultural in Liaoning Province as the research object, and combs through the current development status of digital economy and agricultural carbon emission in Liaoning Province, in which the problems of unsound policy system related to agricultural low-carbon development, the difficulty of small-scale cultivation in realizing the comprehensive promotion of carbon emission reduction, and the insufficient support of agricultural financial services limit the agricultural low-carbon development, and puts forward suggestions on this basis.

Urbanization and Agricultural Carbon Emissions: the Mediation Effect of Agricultural Land Use Change

Urbanization and Agricultural Carbon Emissions: the Mediation Effect of Agricultural Land Use Change

Inventory, Dynamic Evolution, and Scenario Projections of Agricultural Carbon Emissions in Shandong Province, China

The reduction in agricultural carbon emissions (ACEs) in Shandong Province is essential to China’s carbon peak and carbon neutrality objectives. In this regard, we constructed an ACE inventory for Shandong Province at a resolution of 1 km × 1 km, integrating the emission factor method with geographic information system (GIS) technology. Building upon this, we explored the dynamic evolution patterns of ACEs using kernel density estimation and conditional probability density estimation. Additionally, long short-term memory networks were trained to predict ACEs under various scenarios. The results showed that: (1) ACEs in Shandong Province exhibited two stages of change, i.e., “rise and decline”. Notably, 64.39% of emissions originated from the planting industry. The distribution of emissions was closely correlated with regional agricultural production modes. Specifically, CO2 emissions were predominantly distributed in crop cultivation areas, while CH4 and N2O emissions were primarily distributed in livestock breeding areas. The uncertainty of the emission inventory ranged from −12.04% to 10.74%, mainly caused by emission factors. (2) The ACE intensity of various cities in Shandong Province is decreasing, indicating a decoupling between ACEs and agricultural economic growth. Furthermore, the emission disparities among different cities are diminishing, although significant spatial non-equilibrium still persists. (3) From 2022 to 2030, the ACEs in Shandong Province will show a continuous downward trend. By 2030, the projected values under the baseline scenario, low-carbon scenario I, and low-carbon scenario II will be 6301.74 × 104 tons, 5980.67 × 104 tons, and 5850.56 × 104 tons. The low-carbon scenario reveals greater potential for ACE reduction while achieving efficient rural economic development and urbanization simultaneously. This study not only advances the methodology of the ACE inventory but also provides quantitative references and scientific bases for promoting low-carbon, efficient, and sustainable regional agriculture.

The agricultural carbon reduction effect of digital rural construction under the dual carbon target.

The exploration of the agricultural carbon emission reduction effect of digital rural construction offers a promising path towards achieving dual carbon goals. This study establishes an evaluation system for digital rural construction and analyzes its impact on agricultural carbon emissions using various creative techniques including panel fixed effects, mediation effects, threshold effects, and spatial Durbin models based on provincial panel data from 2011 to 2021.It is found that: (1) The impact of digital rural construction on agricultural carbon emissions exhibits a "inverted U-shaped" pattern, with a nonlinear effect on emissions through promoting agricultural green total factor productivity and adjusting agricultural structure.(2) Digital rural construction has both promoting and inhibiting effects on agricultural carbon emissions, both locally and in adjacent areas. It also demonstrates a threshold effect, with rural human capital as the sole threshold. Once the threshold value 8.830 is surpassed, the agricultural carbon emission reduction effect becomes prominent.(3)Digital rural construction has a dual effect on local agricultural carbon emissions in terms of both promoting and then restraining the emissions, which has a spatial spill-over effect in the neighboring areas. This study contributes to our understanding of carbon reduction pathways by highlighting the comprehensive utilization of digital rural construction and expanding research on the dynamic context of its impact on carbon emissions.

How has the rural digital economy influenced agricultural carbon emissions? Agricultural green technology change as a mediated variable

Digital economy is being closely integrated with agricultural development and tapping into its unique potential to alleviate agriculture’s carbon emissions To explore the mechanism of how digital economy reduce the agricultural carbon emissions, this paper constructs a systematic evaluation method with extend STIRPAT model and panel data drawn from 29 provinces (or municipalities and autonomous regions) in the Chinese mainland from 2013–2020. The results show that the development of the rural digital economy has a significant negative influence on agricultural CEs, and this result is still valid given robustness tests. Second, the alleviation of CEs based on the rural digital economy is more significant in the higher technological investment zones than that in the lower technological investment zones, and the central and eastern regions also have more significant CEs reduction effect. Third, the influence mechanism analysis shows that agricultural green technology change is an effective means to promote the rural digital economy’s CEs reduction effect. This paper not only provide new empirical evidence for understanding nexus between digital economy and agricultural carbon reduction, but also give constructive policy implication to improve agricultural green development.

How green finance boosts carbon efficiency in agriculture: a quasi-experiment from China

PurposeThe research objective of this paper is to investigate the direct and indirect impacts of green finance on agricultural carbon total factor productivity (ACTFP) within the framework of the carbon peaking and carbon neutrality (dual carbon) goals, while also identifying the driving factors through an exponential decomposition of ACTFP, aiming to provide policy recommendations to enhance financial support for low-carbon agricultural development.Design/methodology/approachIn this paper, the Global Malmquist Luenberger (GML) Index method was employed to analyze and decompose the ACTFP, while the direct and spillover effects of China’s green finance pilot policy (GFPP) on ACTFP were assessed using the difference-in-differences (DID) method and the spatial differences-in-differences (SDID) method, respectively.FindingsAfter the implementation of the GFPP, the ACTFP in the pilot area has experienced significant improvement, with the enhancement of technical efficiency serving as the main driving force. In addition, the GFPP exhibits a positive low-carbon spatial spillover effect, indicating it benefits ACTFP in both the pilot and adjacent areas.Originality/valueWithin the framework of the dual carbon goals, the paper highlights agriculture as a significant carbon emitter. ACTFP is assessed by considering the agricultural carbon emission factor as the sole non-desired output, and the impact of the GFPP on ACTFP is investigated through the DID method, thereby providing substantial validation of the hypotheses inferred from the mathematical model. Subsequently, the spillover effects of GFPP on ACTFP are analyzed in conjunction with the spatial econometric model.

Exploring the Impact of Digital Inclusive Finance on Agricultural Carbon Emissions: Evidence from the Mediation Effect of Capital Deepening

Carbon emissions from agriculture should not be underestimated. With the aim for carbon peaking and carbon neutralization and the help of digital inclusive finance, the effective reduction in carbon emissions in agriculture and animal husbandry production is crucial to achieving China’s carbon emission reduction goals. We used the balanced panel data of 31 provinces in China from 2011 to 2021 to study this issue. We empirically tested the impact, mechanism, and heterogeneity of digital inclusive finance on agricultural carbon emissions based on the systematic measurement of agricultural carbon emissions. The results revealed that (1) the development of digital inclusive finance has a significant inhibitory effect on agricultural carbon emissions, and it is an important path to reduce agricultural carbon emissions. (2) Through the intermediary effects’ analysis, it was found that capital deepening is an important transmission mechanism for the promotion of agricultural carbon emission reduction through digital inclusive finance. (3) Further analysis using the quantile regression model reveals that the impact of digital inclusive finance on agricultural carbon emissions is significantly negative at different quantiles. (4) Through the spatial Durbin model, digital inclusive finance has a space carbon enhancement effect. Finally, we put forward suggestions to promote the development of low-carbon agriculture by paying attention to the technical effect of digital inclusive finance, strengthening the connection and cooperation between various regions and promoting the carbon emission reduction role of capital deepening.

A Coupling Study of Agricultural Carbon Emission, Water Resources and Economic Development in Heilongjiang Province

Heilongjiang Province is a major agricultural province in China, and its agricultural water consumption will account for 88.6% of the province's water consumption in 2020.Based on the coupling effects of agricultural water resources, agricultural carbon emissions and agricultural economy, this paper calculates and finds the data of Heilongjiang Province from 2000 to 2019,and uses Kuznets model theory, literature reading method, systematic research method and geographical research as the theoretical basis. The negative problems of Heilongjiang Province's agriculture, such as weak level of sustainable development, unreasonable consumption of agricultural water resources, and poor sustainable and good development of environment and economy, are analyzed in depth. Finally, by analyzing the restrictive factors, the author puts forward the path and countermeasures of the corresponding coordinated economic development.

Agricultural carbon reduction in China: The synergy effect of trade and technology on sustainable development

The control of carbon emissions from agriculture is imperative in addressing the challenges posed by the greenhouse effect. China must develop a specific pathway for reducing its agricultural carbon emissions, accounting for its unique circumstances and considering the impacts of trade liberalization. (1) The study revealing that agricultural trade liberalization (ATL) has a marked effect on lowering China's agricultural carbon emission intensity (ACEI), with robustness and endogeneity tests supporting these findings. (2) In the pursuit of emissions reduction, the crucial role of technology spillovers (TS) and the optimization of industrial structure (OIS) are essential. (3) The reduction in ACEI is particularly notable in coastal regions, areas with low environmental regulations and during periods characterized by more stable agricultural tariffs. This study shows a synergistic association between ATL and ACEI, indicates the potential for a mutually beneficial situation with advantages in both economic and environmental aspects.

Planned expansion of transportation infrastructure in Brazil has implications for the pattern of agricultural production and carbon emissions

High transportation costs have been a barrier to the expansion of agriculture in the interior of Brazil. To reduce transportation costs, Brazil launched the National Logistics Plan, aiming to expand its railway network by up to 91 % by 2035. Such a large-scale infrastructure investment raises concerns about its economic and environmental consequences. By combining geospatial estimation of transportation cost with a grid-resolving, multi-scale economic model that bridges fine-scale crop production with its trade and demand from national and global perspectives, we explore impacts of transportation infrastructure expansion on agricultural production, land use changes, and carbon emissions both locally and nationally in Brazil. We find that globally, the impacts on output and land use changes are small. However, within Brazil, the plan's primary impacts are impressive. PNL2035 results in the reduction of transportation costs by 8–23 % across states (depending on expansion's extent) in the interior Cerrado biome. This results in cropland expansion and increases in terrestrial carbon emissions in the Cerrado region. However, the increase in terrestrial carbon emissions in the Cerrado is offset by spillover effects elsewhere in Brazil, as crop production shifts away from the Southeast-South regions and accompanying change in the mix of transportation mode for farm products from roadway to more emission-efficient railway. Furthermore, we argue that the transportation infrastructure's impact on the enhanced mobility of labor and other agricultural inputs would further accentuate the regional shift in agricultural production and contribute to carbon emission mitigation. Upon its completion, PNL2035 is expected to result in the reduction of net national emissions by 1.8–30.7 million metric ton of CO2-equivalent, depending on the impacts on labor and purchased input mobility. We conclude that the omission of spillover effects due to infrastructure expansion can lead to misleading assessments of transport policies.

Assessment of agricultural carbon emissions reduction potential and optimisation pathways based on a framework of equity and efficiency principles: Evidence from Fujian Province in China

Assessment of agricultural carbon emissions reduction potential and optimisation pathways based on a framework of equity and efficiency principles: Evidence from Fujian Province in China

The effects of farmer cooperatives on agricultural carbon emissions reduction: Evidence from rural China

Agricultural carbon emission reduction is an effective approach to achieve the dual carbon goals. Farmer cooperatives have widely been viewed as an important agricultural organization to enhance production scale and technological capabilities. This study aims to explore how farmer cooperatives influence agricultural carbon emissions, contributing to the achievement of dual carbon goals. Using Chinese county-level panel data during the period between 2013 and 2017, this study employs ordinary least-squares to examine the impact of farmer cooperatives, particularly regulated cooperatives, on agricultural carbon emissions. The results show that farmer cooperatives, particularly regulated cooperatives have significantly negative influence on agricultural carbon emissions and the effects are heterogeneous across the level of agricultural carbon emissions and the agricultural economy. Specifically, the farmer cooperatives effect tends to be bigger for regions with high-level agricultural carbon emissions and primary industry of high-level value-added. Additionally, mechanism analysis reveals that farmer cooperatives contribute to emission reduction by decreasing fertilizer input. These findings are crucial for promoting the development of farmer cooperatives, especially regulated ones, in achieving carbon peak and neutrality goals. This study fills a research gap in the role of agricultural cooperatives in carbon mitigation and offers a novel perspective for cooperative development and agriculture-based carbon mitigation strategies.