Carbon Emission Regulations Research Articles

Heterogeneity study on mechanisms influencing carbon emission intensity at the county level in the Yangtze River Delta urban Agglomeration: A perspective on main functional areas

Identifying the regional heterogeneity characterizing the mechanisms influencing carbon emissions is crucial to the scientific formulation of emission reduction targets and strategies. The studies that have been conducted have limitations in terms of regional classification criteria and study scales, and their findings are limited to reflect the actual situation. In this study, the perspective of main functional area is chosen as the entry point to carry out regional classification. First, the 305 county-level administrative districts in the Yangtze River Delta urban agglomeration (YRDUA) are categorized into four different types of main functional areas according to official standards. Then, the differences in carbon emission intensity (CEI) within and outside each main functional area are analyzed. The STIRPAT model (Stochastic Impacts by Regression on Population, Affluence and Technology) is used to analyze the differences in the impact mechanisms of various carbon emission influencing factors in the four main functional areas. The results show that there are significant differences in the CEI of different main functional areas, indicating the feasibility and necessity of studying carbon emission from the perspective of main functional area. The key development area (KDA) and optimized development area (ODA) dominate the evolution of regional CEI, especially KDA should be the core area for carbon reduction. There are significant differences in the mechanisms influencing CEI in different main functional areas, especially in terms of population density, industrial structure and government intervention. Our study provides a scientific basis for the subregional regulation of carbon emissions from the perspective of main functional area.

Long-Term Optimal Generation Expansion Planing considering CO2 Reduction Policies and Mechanisms

In a deregulated power system, a well-designed market mechanism could promote the optimal distribution of resources within the system. As one of the major sources of CO2 emissions, power industry can be seriously impacted by carbon emission related policies and regulations. This paper considers three widely promoted emission policies, using a long-term power system planning model to obtain the optimal generation expansion plan for twenty years. By analysing and comparing system investment schemes under different emission-related mechanisms, the processes of how these policies influence generation investment are revealed. The effectiveness of these policies is compared to determine the optimal carbon emission mechanism.

The impact of supply chain structure on the promotion of maritime green energy consumption under carbon emission regulation

The impact of supply chain structure on the promotion of maritime green energy consumption under carbon emission regulation

Hydrogen economy potential and low-carbon development.

The issue of hydrogen production and the formation of its cost price as a solution to global energy problems has been examined in the article. The main idea of the article is focused on exploring the potential of the hydrogen economy to achieve the goals of the Paris Climate Agreement and decarbonize many emission sectors. The study reveals and describes the main ways of producing gray, blue and green hydrogen and related problems of reducing the cost of one kilogram of hydrogen. Hydrogen is a universal energy carrier, both in the way it is produced and in the final products it can produce. The functioning of regional hydrogen markets with existing value chains has been described in the article. The main characteristics of hydrogen trade in the era of energy transition are defined and substantiated. Carbon intensity is a key characteristic of hydrogen trade. One of the common problems associated with electrolysis is the consumption of water used as feedstock. Therefore, water is another important resource in the production of hydrogen. It was determined that a situation is not foreseen when water consumption will become the main obstacle to the expansion of the use of renewable hydrogen. The study substantiates that the cost of green hydrogen will decrease by 2030 due to the decrease in the cost of electricity and the expected decrease in the cost of electrolyzers. Continued technological innovation and economies of scale are also likely to drive down the price as well. It is predicted that by 2050, the cost of green hydrogen will be even lower than that of blue hydrogen. Hydrogen can provide decarbonization of many emission sectors. At the same time, the role of carbon emissions regulation is vital for increasing the attractiveness of hydrogen technologies for investors.

Research on energy efficiency and decarbonization pathway of nearly zero energy buildings based on system dynamic simulation

Accounting for over 40% of the total energy consumption, the global building sector is pivotal for achieving carbon peak and neutrality objectives. The intricate nature of building carbon emissions, influenced by spatial, temporal, and multifactor coupling, poses challenges on implementing carbon-neutral technologies and conservation strategies. This study focuses on nearly zero energy buildings in China and employs system dynamics to predict energy consumption and carbon emissions according to various scenarios, unveiling influencing patterns and viable emission reduction pathways. The results highlight the substantial impact of enhancing energy conservation awareness as this leads to a 36.4% reduction in energy consumption and a 44.2% reduction in carbon emissions. To attain energy efficiency and carbon reduction goals, a comprehensive approach is essential, encompassing improved building performance, heightened resident energy awareness, increased renewable energy use, and energy landscape adjustments. These findings inform future building energy and carbon emission regulations and offer valuable policy insights.

A holistic approach to sustainable manufacturing: Rework, green technology, and carbon policies

The significance of sustainability and environmental conservation is on the rise, garnering increasing attention from customers, businesses, industries, and regulatory authorities. To foster sustainable manufacturing practices, this research paper presents a comprehensive framework that integrates synergistic elements such as rework strategies, green technology, and carbon control policies. Imperfect quality items are being considered in the model which are proposed to be dealt with a dual approach: either salvaging or reworking them. The study also investigates the impact of carbon control policies on the manufacturing industry, focusing on sustainability and the equilibrium between environmental protection and economic growth. These policies aim to regulate carbon emissions by imposing penalties or incentives, thus encouraging companies to adopt practices that reduce their carbon footprint. Furthermore, investing in green technology offers environmental benefits, cost savings, a competitive advantage, and regulatory compliance. It helps in carbon reduction through which organizations can assess their cleaner practices and environmental efforts. The objective of the developed model is to maximize the expected profit by optimizing selling price, green investment, and production quantity.Analysis of the numerical results of the proposed study is being provided to demonstrate its validity and reliability.Results demonstrated that the utilization of the rework process yields superior outcomes compared to the scenario without rework. A closer evaluation reveals that the limited carbon policy with the rework process leads to significantly diminished levels of carbon emissions and augmented profitability in contrast to alternative policies. Importantly, this approach exhibits a remarkable 2.13% higher economic efficiency and an impressive 37.10% greater adherence to environmentally sustainable practices, thus highly favoring the adoption of such strategies. Consequently, the manufacturing industry can reduce greenhouse gas emissions while promoting economic growth and profitability through the implementation of carbon control policies and investment in green technology, particularly in conjunction with rework processes.

Integrating reaction pathways and downstream separation network for optimal sustainable process route selection

Reducing the environmental impact of chemical production has become a critical objective due to carbon emission regulations and the challenges the carbon market poses. Downstream separation network optimization, which can improve process sustainability by using complex heat exchanger networks, applying advanced separation techniques, optimizing the design/operating parameters, etc., has been researched for many years. However, most optimization work focuses solely on downstream separation sections without considering the selection of raw materials and different reaction pathways. This work aims to develop a mixed integer nonlinear programming (MINLP) optimization model, which integrates reaction pathway selection and downstream separation optimization, to select the optimal sustainable process route for utilizing raw materials or producing products. The objective is to maximize/minimize the process profit/cost. Decision variables such as binary variables, which represent the selection of separation task, key component, heating utility, and continuous variables, which influence the separation mass/energy balance, are considered. By giving parameters like reaction conversion rate, selectivity, and raw material/product price, this optimization model can identify the optimal process route for producing a target product or utilizing a raw material. The optimization model was applied to two case studies: one-step isobutylene and methanol utilization and two-step 1,4-butanediol (BDO) production. The process routes, using isobutylene for pivalic acid production and methanol for gasoline production, have the highest process profit per carbon emission. And the process route, which uses acetylene for BDO production, leads to minimum process cost.

Collaborative governance effects of carbon market on GHG and air pollutants emission reduction in 3E model —— analysis based on System Dynamics

The carbon market is regarded as one of the important means to achieve China's dual carbon target. It has ancillary effect for reducing air pollution while regulating carbon emissions since climate change and air pollution share the same origin and homology. Research on how to design the carbon market mechanism in order to maximize the synergistic effect of reducing greenhouse gas and air pollution will have a very important practical impact for China. This study conducts a theoretical analysis of the collaborative emission reduction path of China's carbon market, and constructs an Energy-Economy-Environment (3E) model of the collaborative emission reduction effect of carbon trading system based on System Dynamics. After analyzing the feedback path of the core cycle of the model and verifying its performance, three main policy factors in the carbon market are explored, and their effects under the dual objectives of emission control and economic development are comprehensively evaluated. This study suggests that the exploration of the potential of carbon market for collaborative governance should be accelerated, and ensure the orderly expansion of coverage and precise setting of limits, so as to ensure the smooth achievement of carbon reduction targets while guaranteeing the social and economic development.

Ecological Restoration Effectively Mitigated pCO2 and CO2 Evasions From Severely Polluted Urban Rivers

AbstractUrban rivers are significant hotspots of CO2 emissions into the atmosphere, playing important roles in global carbon emission inventories. However, little is known about the effect of ecological restoration on CO2 dynamics in severely polluted urban rivers, and this strongly hindering our understanding of the positive effects of human activities on CO2 emissions in urbanized aquatic ecosystems. We measured CO2 partial pressure (pCO2) and fluxes in nine severely polluted urban rivers with varying degrees of ecological restoration, and assessed the relationships with water physicochemical parameters, pollution levels and basin environmental investment. Our results indicate that urban rivers with high pollution loadings were indeed hotspots of CO2 evasion. However, fully restored rivers had generally lower pCO2 and CO2 emissions than partially restored rivers and were observably lower than unrestored rivers, suggesting that watershed eco‐restoration could effectively reduce CO2 evasion. In particular, environmental investment per unit basin area had a significant negative correlation with CO2 evasion and could explain 51%–85% and 51% of total variability in pCO2 and CO2 fluxes among nine urban rivers respectively, emphasizing the potential benefits of carbon emission regulation resulting from positive environmental management. Nutrient removal and sewage interception during watershed eco‐restoration were key processes reducing pCO2 and CO2 fluxes in polluted urban rivers. pH alteration kept close correlations with pCO2 and acted as a sensitive regulator of CO2 evasion in the nine rivers. We highlight the importance of considering the coupling effects of pollution and restoration on the spatiotemporal variability of CO2 evasion and the uncertainty of related monitoring methods in urban watersheds.

The pathway of regional carbon peak in building sector: A case study of Central China

As the greenhouse effect intensifies, controlling carbon emissions has become increasingly critical. China, having the world's highest carbon emissions, sees almost half of its total emissions from the building sector. China is confronted with the challenge of different provinces having diverse timelines for achieving carbon peak in the building sector, leading to “undesirable responses”. To address this, our study expands the research scope and introduces dynamic forecasting methods through the D-STIRPAT model. The model has produced more accurate predictions for carbon emissions in the building sector of the Central China region. The research results indicate that collaborative optimization between urban and construction industries is the most effective pathway to reduce carbon emissions. Henan Province can achieve peak emissions in the building sector relatively quickly, with most scenarios reaching their peak by 2040, with the lowest peak value reaching 415.4 MtCO2e. Hubei and Hunan provinces are likely to achieve peak emissions for most scenarios between 2050 and 2060. However, the building sector in the Central China region can achieve peak emissions between 2030 and 2045, with peak values ranging from 1.235 to 1.702 BtCO2e. In terms of carbon reduction effects, the overall strategy for achieving peak emissions in the building sector in Central China should focus primarily on optimizing urban and building sector development, supported by energy structure optimization and the promotion of building energy efficiency. Henan and Hubei provinces should prioritize urban and building sector development, while Hunan Province should emphasize both urban and building sector development and energy structure optimization concurrently. This study highlights the benefits of regional carbon emissions regulation in the building sector, provides innovative solutions for achieving dual carbon targets, and offers guidance and approaches for achieving peak emissions in the building sector through regional collaboration.

Decarbonizing innovation investment strategy in competing supply chains considering technology spillovers and environmental regulation

Decarbonizing innovation plays a significant role in curbing carbon emissions, allowing a firm to meet governmental environmental regulations and gain a competitive edge. However, innovation uncertainty and technology spillovers deter a firm from doing so. This paper studies the issue of firms’ decarbonizing innovation investment in a competing market under carbon emission regulation. We construct game-theoretic models of two competing supply chains, each consisting of a manufacturer and a retailer. Either manufacturer has the opportunity to invest in decarbonizing innovation, but she may fail in the end. According to the manufacturers’ innovation investment decisions, several subcases with no investment, unilateral decarbonizing investment, and bilateral decarbonizing investment are explored. The results show that when both manufacturers have a strong absorbing capacity, neither invests in decarbonizing innovation; when they are weak in absorbing external technology, bilateral decarbonizing investment exists. The findings also reveal that unilateral decarboning investment dominates when the probability of innovation success is moderate. There is a case in which both manufacturers do not conduct decarbonizing investment, although the probability of innovation success is high. In addition, we also find that a retailer can make more profit if his upstream manufacturer invests in decarbonizing innovation than in the no-investment scenario. However, he is harmed by bilateral decarbonizing investment if his upstream manufacturer is weak in absorbing external knowledge relative to the case of unilateral decarbonizing investment. Our results elucidated how technology spillovers and the stochastic nature of innovation affect a manufacturer’s decarbonizing innovation investment strategy in a competitive environment.

Study on the Realization of Freshwater Ecosystem Services from the Perspective of Consumer Willingness to Pay in China

The realization of freshwater ecosystem services value plays a vital role in the survival of human beings and the sustainable development of fisheries, and this process is inseparable from the support of consumers. This paper decomposes freshwater ecosystem services in multiple dimensions. From the perspective of consumers’ willingness to pay for ecosystem services, using the survey data of 821 consumers in China, the influence of various dimensions of freshwater ecosystem services on consumers’ willingness is explored by the structural equation model. The results show that: (1) consumers already have a certain awareness of freshwater ecosystem services, but the proportion of consumers willing to pay extra for them is not high; (2) the individual characteristics (age, gender, education, and income ) affect consumers’ willingness to pay for freshwater ecosystem services value, but the impact degree is not high; (3) regulating, cultural, and provisional servers functions of freshwater ecosystem services significantly affect consumers’ willingness to pay, especially freshwater ecosystem services’ role on regulating carbon emissions, controlling algal biomass, enhancing local fishery culture and improving leisure and leisure entertainment services. This study is helpful to deeply understand consumers’ willingness to pay for various dimensions of freshwater ecosystem services and provide more targeted and detailed guidance for realizing it.

Ship Carbon Intensity Indicator Assessment via Just-in-Time Arrival Algorithm Based on Real-Time Data: Case Study of Pusan New International Port

Decarbonization is the most urgent task for the shipping industry. The International Maritime Organization, which makes the rules for shipping companies, has strengthened their carbon emissions regulation in order to reduce emissions to 70% of 2008’s carbon emissions by 2050. However, 75% of the existing fleet cannot satisfy this carbon emission regulation. The building of new vessels makes it possible to reduce carbon emissions and satisfy this regulation through adopting eco-friendly propulsion methods, such as LNG, ammonia, and methanol propulsion. However, the existing vessels on the sea find it difficult to dock and change their propulsion equipment. This research aims to propose a novel voyage operation method—a just-in-time arrival policy—that converts vessels’ waiting time into voyage time. The proposed method can reduce carbon emissions without propulsion system alteration and expand a vessel’s lifespan, thus satisfying carbon regulations. The carbon intensity indicator, invented by the IMO to regulate vessel carbonization, assesses the quantity of reduced carbon emissions. This research investigated the variation in the carbon intensity indicators of vessels when the just-in-time arrival policy was applied through studying an actual vessel’s arrival and departure dates at the Pusan International container terminal. According to the results of our analysis, ship carbon emissions decreased by an average of 45.8%, and by a maximum of 91%, compared to the levels before applying the proposed method. In addition, 87.0% of vessels obtained a carbon intensity indicator rank improvement and expanded the period that can satisfy the carbon intensity regulation by an average of eleven years and a maximum of twenty-seven years through applying the proposed just-in-time arrival policy. Additionally, the improvement effect of the carbon intensity rank positively correlates with ship size and waiting time at the port.

A Comparative Study on Carbon Emission Trade System Between China and US

It has been years since the Paris Agreement and most states are still struggling with their goals to reduce the carbon emission. Many ways and measures are taken but few show effectiveness. Because the industrial development and daily lives of the common people count on the activities that emit much carbon dioxide. Most governments are reluctant to restrict the carbon emission of local industry. Whats more, in the international level, the developed countries refused to take all reduction responsibilities based on their historical emission volume. While the developing ones are eager to pursue more progress in industry. To overcome such difficulty, the market-orientation carbon emission regulations are created to tackle with the challenges that the normal order-control regulations cannot deal with. In contrast to the carbon tax that is more direct and obvious, the carbon emission trade system is favored by both China and US. The system of carbon emission trade system is much younger and less experienced than it is in the US. The comparative study on the carbon emission trade system needs to be done to find more possible solutions to improve the current carbon emission trading system of China. In the paper, main research method is the comparative research and system analysis. In conclusion, the carbon emission trade system of China is relatively immature, lacking the legal support and clear regulations. The carbon emission trade system in China needs stronger laws to support, achieving more active flexible form of trading. The central and local governments should also provide the proper policies like open auction and third-party supervision.

Joint Optimal Production Planning in Supply Chains under Diverse Low-Carbon Policies

This paper studies the impact of diverse carbon emission regulations on optimal operation decisions by exploiting the economic production lot model of a multi-manufacturer system in a low-carbon environment. The optimal production planning for multiple enterprises in terms of cost optimization and carbon emission optimization are presented in various scenarios of the fully decentralized system under carbon taxation, cap and trade, and mandatory carbon cap. We prove a unified framework for modeling the scenarios enabled by carbon tax and cap-and-trade policies. Furthermore, the decision vector of the optimal production lot is obtained by analyzing the joint decision scenario based on shared carbon emission caps. We give a comparative analysis of two settings of fully decentralized and carbon quota sharing. The results show that the decision of joint production and stock preparation can reduce the total operational costs of the multi-enterprise system, but the realized carbon emissions may not change or only increase slightly. Our study provides a useful reference for government carbon emission regulation and enterprise operation decision optimization under carbon neutrality and a carbon peak environment.

The Development of China’s Carbon Emissions Regulation System

In the face of climate and environmental problems caused by carbon emissions, China is taking positive actions, such aspromoting the achievement of the emission peak of traditional energy sources, accelerating the optimization of industrial andenergy structures, promoting and improving the construction of the national carbon trading market, increasing investmentand scientific research work to develop new energy sources, and several other actions. The administrative approach plays animportant role in the development of Chinaʼs low-carbon economy. The carbon trading system also greatly promotes energyconservation and emission reduction, contributes to attracting investment in low-carbon technology and transforming theenergy structure and is becoming an important policy guarantee for Chinaʼs carbon emission reduction. However, at thesame time, Chinaʼs carbon trading market faces many practical challenges. For China, the task of reducing carbon emissionsthrough carbon trading alone is unrealistic. Chinaʼs current actions on carbon taxation are not broad enough to regulateemission reductions. With the implementation of carbon trading, there is a need to establish a carbon tax as a policy optionto further strengthen the regulation of emission reduction. The introduction of a carbon tax should consider the relationshipbetween economic and social development and carbon reduction and coordinate the relationship between the carbon tax andcarbon trading system on various aspects, including the field and object of taxation, tax rates, use of tax revenue and therelationship between the authorities regulating the two policies, to leverage their complementary roles.

Analysis on the shadow price of carbon emissions from China's forestry fruit industry-taking peaches as an example.

The shadow price of carbon emissions can measure the marginal output effect under the carbon emission regulation and is also one of the key indicators to construct a low-carbon development path for production units. Currently, international research on shadow price is focused on the industrial and energy sectors. However, in the context of carbon peaking and carbon neutrality targets in China, the use of shadow price to study the cost of reducing emissions from agricultural production, especially forestry fruit industries, is significant. In this paper, we use a parametric approach to construct the quadratic ambient directional distance function. Using the input-output data of peach, we then calculate the environmental technical efficiency and shadow price of carbon emissions from peach production in Guangxi, Jiangsu, Shandong, and Sichuan provinces, and further estimate the values of green output in each province. The results show that (i) the environmental technology efficiency of peach production in Jiangsu province, located in the coastal plain area of eastern China, is the highest among the four provinces, while that in Guangxi province, located in the hilly area of southeast China, is the lowest. (ii) Guangxi province has the smallest carbon shadow price of peach production among the four provinces, while Sichuan province, located in the mountainous area of southwest China, has the largest. (iii) The green output value of the peach production in Jiangsu province is the highest among the four provinces, and that in Guangxi province is the lowest. In order to effectively reduce carbon emissions in peach production without affecting economic benefits, the paper puts forward the following suggestions: for peach-producing areas in the southeast hills of China, it is necessary to increase the application of green environmental technology while reducing the input of production factors in peach production. For peach-producing areas in the northern plains of China, the input of production factors should be reduced. It is not easy for peach-producing areas in the southwest mountains of China to reduce the input of production factors while increasing the application of green technologies. Finally, for peach-producing areas in China's eastern coastal plain, the implementation of environmental regulations for peach production should be gradual.

Solving the winner determination problem with discounted bids in transportation auctions

AbstractContinuing advances in modern technologies have transformed the procedure of transportation procurement through auctions in supply chain management (SCM). This study examines the online combinatorial auction (CA), which serves customers placed at the nodes of a transportation network, with particular consideration given to carbon emissions. The CA mechanism allows early shipments of the carriers to improve their load consolidation and reduce their repositioning trips. Sustainability and carbon emissions are considered by prioritizing the carrier’s carbon reduction performances. Two models are examined under the carbon emission regulations (Carbon tax and Cap-and-offset) to choose the winners in the CA. Our aim is to minimize the cost of transportation procurement and reduce carbon emissions by incorporating the green reputation-based winner determination problem within the procurement model. Computational experiments reveal the positive impact of prioritization and discounted offers in reducing both transportation costs and the number of empty trips. Indeed, our results show the introduction of the discounted bids allows a reduction of about 2% in the transportation cost for the shipper and 24% of empty movements, on average, for the carriers.

Fuel consumption-reduction investment decisions and coordination contracts in fuel vehicle supply chains: A dynamic analysis

The share of carbon emissions from road transport is as high as 14% of global carbon emissions; fuel vehicles account for a significant part of these emissions. Therefore, there is a long way to reduce fuel consumption in fuel vehicles. We consider the government’s choice of two policies, Vehicle Carbon Emission Regulation (VCER) and Dual Credit Policy (DCP), to regulate the fuel vehicle supply chain and construct a Stackelberg differential game model for fuel consumption-reduction investment decision and operation coordination in a fuel vehicle supply chain consisting of one supplier and one manufacturer. Furthermore, we analyze the supply chain’s equilibrium strategies under centralized and decentralized decision scenarios. Finally, design a bilateral sharing contract to coordinate the supply chain and verify the theoretical analysis by numerical simulation. The results show that the DCP has a stronger incentive for fuel consumption reduction investment than the VCER; the supplier’s profit increases as the severity of the two policies increases, but the change in the manufacturer’s profit is not consistent under the two policies, where the increase in the penalty rate under the VCER decreases the manufacturer’s profit. However, it falls and then rises with tighter fuel consumption standards under the DCP. At the same time, the two-way cost-sharing contracts can encourage more fuel consumption reduction investments while increasing the profits of supply chain members, which is a Pareto improvement for the ecosystem and the supply chain parties.

Low carbon and cost-effective pathways for specialty paper production in China

The paper and pulp industry is one of the critical sectors with respect to regulations of carbon emissions. In this study, real-time data from a specialty papermaking enterprise were collected to analyze the life-cycle carbon footprint of fine-grained grammage paper products, and pathways for economic carbon mitigation in papermaking enterprises were proposed. The results showed that the carbon footprint of the products ranged from 0.95 to 1.83 tCO2e/t paper. Low-grammage products have a high life-cycle carbon footprint and manufacturing emissions owing to their high raw materials and energy consumption. Conversely, high-grammage products have a low lifecycle carbon footprint but high manufacturing emissions owing to their low energy consumption and high raw material consumption. Various scenarios have shown that purchasing green electricity and implementing rooftop photovoltaics are the most cost-effective measures for enterprises to substantially reduce their carbon footprint. In addition, using information technology and intelligence to optimize and control papermaking systems can provide a more efficient and economical approach for mitigating carbon emissions without relying on external changes in energy structures. This study offers valuable insights for papermaking enterprises to reduce their carbon footprint and adhere to China's carbon emission regulations.