Carbon Reduction Targets Research Articles

Towards a low carbon ASEAN: an environmentally extended MRIO optimization model

BackgroundEconomic growth is dependent on economic activity, which often translates to higher levels of carbon emissions. With the emergence of technologies that promote sustainable production, governments are working towards achieving their target economic growth while minimizing environmental emissions to meet their commitments to the international community. The IPCC reports that economic activities associated with electricity and heat production contributed most to GHG emissions and it led to the steady increase in global average temperatures. Currently, more than 90% of the total GHG emissions of the ASEAN region is attributable to Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam. These regions are expected to be greatly affected with climate change. This work analyzes how ASEAN nations can achieve carbon reduction targets while aspiring for economic growth rates in consideration of interdependencies between nations. We thus develop a multi-regional input–output model which can either minimize collective or individual carbon emissions. A high-level eight-sector economy is used for analyzing different economic strategies.ResultsThis model shows that minimizing collective carbon emissions can still yield economic growth. Countries can focus on developing sectors that have potentials for growth and lower carbon intensity as new technologies become available. In the case study examined, results indicate that the services sector, agriculture, and food manufacturing sector have higher potential for economic growth under carbon reduction emission constraints. In addition, the simultaneous implementation of multiple carbon emission reduction strategies provides the largest reduction in regional carbon emissions.ConclusionsThis model provides a more holistic view of how the generation of carbon emissions are influenced by the interdependence of nations. The emissions reduction achieved by each country varied depending on the state of technology and the level of economic development in the different regions. Though the presented case focused on the ASEAN region, the model framework can be used for the analysis of other multi-regional systems at various levels of resolution if data is available. Insights obtained from the model results can be used to help nations identify more appropriate and achievable carbon reduction targets and to develop coordinated and more customized policies to target priority sectors in a country. This model is currently limited by the assumption of fixed technical coefficients in the exchange and interdependence of different regions. Future work can investigate modelling flexible multi-regional trade where regions have the option of substituting goods and products in its import or export structure. Other strategies for reducing carbon emission intensity can also be explored, such as modelling transport mode choices, or establishing sectors for waste management. Hybrid models which integrate the multi-regional input–output linear program model with data envelopment analysis can also be developed.

Why LNG Can Be a First Step in East Asia’s Energy Transition to a Low Carbon Economy: Evaluation of Challenges Using Game Theory

As countries scramble for cleaner energy production and to meet carbon reduction targets, natural gas seems to become an increasingly attractive option with liquified natural gas (LNG) as a popular transportation choice. In this paper, we first conduct a literature review and discuss the various factors affecting the global natural gas market, its recent history, current state, and future. Then we look at the possibility of East Asia becoming an alternative market to Europe for Russian LNG. We also bring in the US both as a political force that employs economic sanctions and as a potential LNG supplier. As a case study, we define a 3-player game between Russia, The United States, and Japan which results in relative market stability. In the case of sanctions against Russia, we conclude that it will lose its foothold in the Japanese market in the long term. Finally, we discuss the potential of LNG trading as the first step for East Asia’s energy transition to a low-carbon economy.

The Impact of the Gain-Loss Frame on College Students' Willingness to Participate in the Individual Low-Carbon Behavior Rewarding System (ILBRS): The Mediating Role of Environmental Risk Perception.

Since Chinese households account for more than half of the country’s total carbon emissions, efforts focused on consumption will be key to reaching carbon reduction targets. The Individual Low-carbon Behavior Rewarding System (ILBRS) is an emerging mechanism in China that encourages the public to develop a low-carbon lifestyle and it is critical to look for various approaches to enhance the public’s willingness to participate in it. The framing effect has been widely used to study pro-environmental behavior as a low-cost nudge. We used an online questionnaire (N = 320) to investigate how framing information (loss and gain framing) influenced people’s willingness to participate in the ILBRS through the mediation of environmental risk perception. The results indicated that the public’s willingness to participate in the ILBRS under the loss frame was significantly higher than the gain frame. Furthermore, environmental risk perception played a mediating role in the proceedings. Based on our findings, the designers and promoters of ILBRS systems could employ loss-frame information to promote the public’s willingness to participate in the ILBRS and drive more people to live a low-carbon life in the process of mechanism construction, information communication, and operational promotion.

2022 IEEE Ad Hoc Committee to Coordinate IEEE's Response to Climate Change (CCIRCC)

There is an unprecedented level of awareness of climate change and the role of decarbonization in enabling environmental sustainability moving forward. In particular, there has been a major focus placed on the carbon produced through electricity generation, as it is responsible for roughly 30% of emissions globally, per the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). When renewable energy solutions are advanced very heavily, that raises the level of tension among competing interests. This needs to be navigated very carefully if we are to meet carbon reduction targets, which in turn need to be shared based on historical contributions and current emission levels. A nuanced approach to navigating this tension will see industrialized nation states collaborating with emerging economies to deploy a portfolio of solutions with low-carbon generation, storage and demand side management with advanced technology focusing on energy efficiency. To more efficiently facilitate the global shift towards renewable energy adoption, the below six areas should be our priority.

Review of the Carbon Management Strategies of Retail Industry in Energy Consumption and the Whole Value-Chain of the Product - A Case Study of Auchan Holding

Scientific data are almost nonexistent regarding the health-protectiveness of most hazardous-waste-site remediation. Given this data-gap, recently the World Health Organization (WHO) urged scientists to develop methods of “cost-efficient health surveillance” of toxics’ cleanups, including any “illegal operations”. Following WHO, this article’s <strong>importance</strong> is to develop one such cost-efficient method. Given the <strong>assumption</strong> that remediators’-redevelopers’ <strong>public</strong> <strong>misrepresentations</strong> of their cleanups’ safety may warrant independently assessing the health-adequacy of their remediation, the article asks the <strong>question:</strong> “For US hazardous-waste sites, deemed by the courts ‘Imminent and Substantial Endangerment’ (ISE) health threats, are remediators’ <em>public</em> representations of testing-cleanup quality consistent with what their more <em>private</em> technical documents say?” The <strong>working hypothesis</strong> is that for representative toxic sites, remediators’-redevelopers’ public representations of cleanup often contradict their private technical documents. Using the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) weight-of-evidence <strong>method</strong>,<strong> </strong>the article (1) develops 5 transparent, reproducible criteria for discovering representative, ISE-designated, US toxic-waste sites; (2) develops 3 transparent, reproducible criteria to discover remediators’-redevelopers’ <em>public</em> representations of their testing-cleanup; (3) uses these 3 criteria to discover what remediators’-redevelopers’ <em>private</em> or technical documents say about the health-adequacy of their testing/cleanup; (4) investigates whether any <em>public</em> representations in (2) contradict any of (3)’s<em> </em>private or technical documents; and (5) discusses the degree to which such contradictions, if any, suggest waste-site threats to health or environmental justice. Our <strong>results</strong> show that for the representative hazardous sites assessed, many remediator-redeveloper public guarantees of testing-cleanup quality contradict their private or technical documents. The <strong>discussion</strong> suggests that such contradictions likely violate EPA scientific-integrity regulations, threaten public health, jeopardize environmental justice, thus may require independent investigation of the adequacy of testing-cleanup. For representative, US toxic-waste sites, posing court-determined ISE, remediators’-developers’ <strong>public</strong> representations of testing-cleanup quality threaten health by often contradicting their <strong>private</strong> technical documents. The article closes by outlining two scientific strategies to promote health-protective, hazardous-waste testing/remediation.

Dynamic production and carbon emission reduction adjustment strategies of the brand-new and the remanufactured product under hybrid carbon regulations

In recent years, the government and consumers are concerned about environmental issues. Motivated by carbon regulations and consumers’ low-carbon preferences, manufacturers have implemented carbon emission reduction (CER) through green technologies and remanufacturing. Most of the existing literature related to the low-carbon supply chain considered single carbon regulation and assumed that enterprises are completely rational. However, in practice, it is rather difficult for the government to achieve the carbon reduction target only by a single carbon regulation, and manufacturers are bounded rational due to the complexity of the low-carbon market. Consequently, based on bounded rationality, this paper aims to investigate the dynamic production and CER adjustment strategies of the brand-new and the remanufactured product under hybrid carbon regulations, i.e. the carbon tax regulation and the cap-and-trade regulation. Furthermore, the impacts of adjustment parameters and important parameters on decision variables, expected profits, and total carbon emissions are explored. The results showed that adjustment speeds of production and CER have significant impacts on the system stability. For both manufacturers, excessive production and CER adjustment strategies not only reduce their own expected profits but also cause more harm to the environment. In addition, the increase of the carbon tax, the carbon trading price, and consumers’ low-carbon preferences all shrink the stable regions of adjustment parameters, but the increase of these parameters can promote CER behaviors and reduce total carbon emissions. Finally, the feedback control method was used to control the chaos of the supply chain system.

Research on carbon emission measurement and low-carbon path of regional industry.

As industry is the world's leading carbon emitter, promoting industrial carbon reduction is of key significance to carbon peak and carbon neutrality. Using a data-driven method, based on the collection and processing of relevant data from statistical yearbooks and others, we analyze the efficiency and amount of carbon emission of each industrial sector after processing multi-dimensional data by the improved IPCC EF method of calculating carbon emissions. In addition, we adopt the LMDI decomposition method for data modeling to measure the contribution of energy efficiency, industrial structure, GDP per capita, and population size to carbon emission changes, to identify targets for industrial carbon reduction, and to propose a targeted optimization path for carbon emission. We show how the method is implemented by taking the statistics of Anhui Province from 2010 to 2019 as an example and advises on an optimization path for carbon emission in Anhui Province. This study is of both theoretical and practical significance as it provides theoretical and methodological support for the low-carbon development of the regional industry, and provides a reference for other countries and regions to explore the path of low-carbon and environment-friendly green transformation and upgrading.

Scenario Analysis of Energy-Related CO2 Emissions from Current Policies: A Case Study of Guangdong Province

Regional carbon management is essential for China to achieve the carbon reduction target. Studying the emission peak time and volume for Guangdong Province, which is the largest economic province with rapid carbon growth, is important for developing regions to formulate low-carbon policies. In this study, an end-use energy-based emission model integrating the guidelines for provincial CO2 emission peaking action plans and updated policies was developed to study the regional energy-related peaking time and emission scale. Taking Guangdong as a case, multiple scenarios were designed and analyzed considering factors of economic development, energy intensity, and structure. The results show that the energy-related CO2 cannot reach its peak by 2030 without control, even under low economic growth scenarios. Specifically, under high economic growth scenarios, the carbon peak can only be addressed by 2030 at around 0.65 Gt in the context of a strong transformation in energy structure as well as improvement in energy efficiency. Under medium and low economic scenarios, energy-related CO2 emissions will reach a plateau before 2030 between 0.61 and 0.64 Gt by implementing the medium and strengthening optimization of energy structure. Thus, effective measures are necessary for Guangdong’s peak target in both energy efficiency improvement and energy structure optimization. At last, this study puts forward policy recommendations for the low-carbon pathway of Guangdong Province, which can provide an experience for other regions in understanding their carbon emission trajectories and help policymakers enact appropriate actions.

Flexibility System for Heilongjiang Power Grid Considering Carbon Reduction Targets

Enhancing the flexibility of power systems helps to balance the increasing renewable generation for achieving the rigid carbon reduction targets. The current flexible system in China can hardly meet the regulating demand of its ever-increasing renewable generation, especially in the Heilongjiang power grid (HPG), where the proportion of combined heat and power units that determine power generation by the heat requirement is enormous, while the peak shaving capacity in winter is limited. This research analyzes the necessity of establishing a new flexibility system for the HPG. Also, it introduces the new characteristics and the flexibility of the HPG. Then, it proposes classification and definition methods for the flexibility system of the HPG by referring to some similar power grids, e.g., the UK grid and the Danish grid. A simulation framework of power systems with flexibility enhancement is developed to perform quantitative evaluation of the HPG in different carbon reduction scenarios. The suggested flexibility system reorganizes and revises the principles of reserve classification, response time, and minimum reserve configuration. Simulation results verify the effectiveness of the proposed method through the measurement and analysis data of the HPG. This paper takes the HPG as an example to perform a quantitative analysis of the flexibility system. Also, it can provide tips and suggestions for other regions seeking carbon reductions.

Carbon Emission Characteristics and Reduction Pathways of Urban Household in China

With China’s rapid urbanization and rising living standards, the household sector has become the second largest contributor to urban carbon emissions and important pathway to achieve China’s carbon reduction targets. Based on data of Chinese Residential Energy Consumption Survey in 2014, this paper establishes standard households in 54 cities to identify the carbon emission characteristics and explores the emission reduction paths of urban households. We present evidence that rich households tend to increase their use of clean energy, low-income households will not completely abandon inferior energy because of their usage habits and costs and they always live in suburban areas and urban villages. Cities with high household carbon emissions are almost located in north of Huai River/Qinling Mountains line, while cities with low carbon emissions are mostly located around the line and which are mainly on the south side. Monocentric urban development patterns and frigid climates are easy to increase higher household carbon emissions. In this regard, policy makers should help low-income households to escape from inferior energy dependence, encourage the use of new energy vehicles and green housing technologies, introduce a two-part pricing system for central heating services and maintain relative balance of residential and public resources in urban planning.

Vélomobility is to degrowth as automobility is to growth: prefigurative cycling imaginaries

ABSTRACT At the end of the nineteenth century, the autonomous mobility provided by bicycles and tricycles created a mobile imaginary that paved the way for automobility. Through the course of the twentieth century, the growth and decline of cycling mobilities was inseparably entangled with the rise of a range of motor-mobilities (two and four wheeled). Yet cycling persists and is championed widely as a contender for future mobility in post-growth societies. However, the hegemonic position reached by automobility as a dominant system has led to closure of political non-car mobility imaginaries. Reaching targets for Carbon reduction. will entail dramatic transformation of mobility scapes. This paper explores the possibilities and problems inherent in formulating vélomobility as a system of autonomobility, paying special attention to its alignment with the range of radical alternatives clustered around degrowth and pluriversal thought as promising ways to think and act beyond the unsustainable carbon economy. It first examines the challenges of imagining vélomobility not just as a set of practices but cognitively, through its conceptual construction not as an inverse of automobility but as challenge to the political underpinnings of automobility. Second, it considers vélomobility through a set of propositions to reimagine mobility regimes and assess relevant resources from political theory. The final section reverses the gaze and asks what the reconsideration of vélomobility as described previously can bring to the broader discussion of autonomobility.

The Impact of Legal Recycling Constraints and Carbon Trading Mechanisms on Decision Making in Closed-Loop Supply Chain.

To investigate how legal constraints on the recycling rate of used products and carbon trading mechanisms affect the profits and other decisions of supply chain system members, this paper develops and solves a two-cycle game model in which the manufacturer dominates while the retailer takes a secondary position; the manufacturer produces only non-low-carbon new products in the first cycle and both new and low-carbon remanufactured products in the second cycle. Simultaneously, the effects of parameters such as recovery rate, unit carbon trading price, and carbon emission reduction factor on the decision making of members of the supply chain system are also discussed. Finally, the conclusions are verified by numerical analysis: (1) When carbon reduction is low, the manufacturer will choose the highest recycling rate to obtain the highest profit, and when carbon reduction is high, manufacturers tend to choose not to recycle when the minimum recycling rate bound by law harms the interests of manufacturers. (2) Under the implementation of the carbon trading mechanism, the unit carbon trading price affects the profits of the members of the supply chain system depending on the size of the carbon emission reduction, and the two are negatively correlated at lower carbon emission reductions and positively correlated at higher carbon emission reductions. (3) From the perspective of supply chain system members’ interests, legal constraints and the existence of carbon trading mechanisms are not always conducive to increasing the margins of members of the supply chain system, both relevant to the size of carbon emission reductions. (4) From the perspective of environmental benefits, supply chain members do not need to pay economic costs in all cases to contribute to environmental benefits, and the existence of minimum recycling rate constraints and carbon trading mechanisms are conducive to achieving carbon reduction targets.

LAYERS: A Decision-Support Tool to Illustrate and Assess the Supply and Value Chain for the Energy Transition

Climate change mitigation strategies are developed at international, national, and local authority levels. Technological solutions such as renewable energies (RE) and electric vehicles (EV) have geographically widespread knock-on effects on raw materials. In this paper, a decision-support and data-visualization tool named “LAYERS” is presented, which applies a material flow analysis to illustrate the complex connections along supply chains for carbon technologies. A case study focuses on cobalt for lithium-ion batteries (LIB) required for EVs. It relates real business data from mining and manufacturing to actual EV registrations in the UK to visualize the intended and unintended consequences of the demand for cobalt. LAYERS integrates a geographic information systems (GIS) architecture, database scheme, and whole series of stored procedures and functions. By means of a 3D visualization based on GIS, LAYERS conveys a clear understanding of the location of raw materials (from reserves, to mining, refining, manufacturing, and use) across the globe. This highlights to decision makers the often hidden but far-reaching geo-political implications of the growing demands for a range of raw materials that are needed to meet long-term carbon-reduction targets.

Fossil Fuel Consumption, CO<sub>2</sub> Emissions and Growth in High-Income Countries and Low-Income Countries

This paper investigates the pairwise causality and co-integration that links fossil fuel consumption (FFC), carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, and real gross domestic product (RGDP) between low-income countries (LIC) and high-income countries (HIC). This comparative analysis is anchored on Lv et al. (2019). Lv et al. (2019) enable the analytical framework model utilized to investigate the causality between FFC and CO2, CO2 and RGDP, and FFC and RGDP in HIC and LIC. Data were obtained from world development indicator between 1960 and 2019. The results obtained are, as follows: There exists a unidirectional causality, thus the RGDP granger causes CO2 in HIC, and no causality between RGDP and CO2 in LIC. Also, the study found no causality between FFC and RGDP, and FFC and CO2 in HIC and LIC. The mixed inter-regional causality result showed that there exists bi-directional causality between RGDP and CO2 for HIC and LIC. This implies that RGDP in LIC granger causes CO2 in HIC, and CO2 in HIC granger causes RGDP in LIC. Hence, the presence of a regional super-wicked problem. Also, CO2 in HIC granger causes FFC in LIC. The result suggests that countries should seamlessly adopt proportionate mitigation and adaptation policies to reduce the pollution transmission between economies. The non-existence of pairwise co-integration between FFC, CO2, and RGDP in HIC and LIC connotes that the CO2 reduction policy should be a short-term public policy strategy with conscious and deliberate targeting to avoid long-run growth reversal. Therefore, this paper concludes that reducing FFC may not necessarily lead to a decline in growth vice versa. Thus, to achieve a low carbon economy and a high growth regime, the global community should adopt a techno-economic paradigm model that would accelerate growth within a low-carbon economy regime to realize the 45% carbon reduction target by 2030 and the 2050 net-zero emission target.

Risk of Carbon Leakage and Border Carbon Adjustments under the Korean Emissions Trading Scheme

Purpose – This paper examines South Korea’s potential status as a carbon leakage country, and the level of risk posed by the Korean emissions trading scheme (ETS) for Korean industries. The economic effects of border carbon adjustments (BCAs) to protect energy-intensive Korean industries in the process of achieving the carbon reduction target by 2030 through the Korean ETS are also analyzed. Design/methodology – First, using the Korean Input–Output (IO) table, this paper calculates the balance of emissions embodied in trade (BEET) and the pollution terms of trade (PTT) to determine Korean industries’ carbon leakage status. Analyses of the risk level posed by carbon reduction policy implementation in international trade are conducted for some sectors by applying the EU criteria. Second, using a computable general equilibrium (CGE) model, three BCA scenarios, exemption regulations (EXE), reimbursement (REB), and tariff reduction (TAR) to protect the energy-intensive industries under the Korean ETS are addressed. Compared to the baseline scenario of achieving carbon reduction targets by 2030, the effects of BCAs on welfare, carbon leakage, outputs, and trading are analyzed. Findings – As Korea’s industrial structure has been transitioning from a carbon importing to a carbon leaking country. The results indicate that some industrial sectors could face the risk of losing international competitiveness due to the Korean ETS. South Korea’s industries are basically exposed to risk of carbon leakage because most industries have a trade intensity higher than 30%. This could be interpreted as disproving vulnerability to carbon leakage. Although the petroleum and coal sector is not in carbon leakage, according to BEET and PTT, the Korean ETS exposes this sector to a high risk of carbon leakage. Non-metallic minerals and iron and steel sectors are also exposed to a high risk of carbon leakage due to the increased burden of carbon reduction costs embodied in the Korean ETS, despite relatively low levels of trade intensity. BCAs are demonstrated to have an influential role in protecting energy-intensive industries while achieving the carbon reduction target by 2030. The EXE scenario has the greatest impact on mitigation of welfare losses and carbon leakage, and the TAF scenario causes a disturbance in the international trade market because of the pricing adjustment system. In reality, the EXE scenario, which implies completely exempting energy-intensive industries, could be difficult to implement due to various practical constraints, such as equity and reduction targets and other industries; therefore, the REB scenario presents the most realistic approach and appears to have an effect that could compensate for the burden of economic activities and emissions regulations in these industries. Originality/value – This paper confirms the vulnerability of the Korean industrial the risk of carbon leakage, demonstrating that some industrial sectors could be exposed to losing international competitiveness by implementing carbon reduction policies such as the Korean ETS. The contribution of this paper is the identification of proposed approaches to protect Korean industries in the process of achieving the 2030 reduction target by analyzing the effects of BCA scenarios using a CGE model.

A review on proliferation of artificial intelligence in wind energy forecasting and instrumentation management.

Energy is the source of economic growth, and energy consumption indicates the country's state of development. Energy engineering is a relatively new technical discipline. It is increasinglyconsidered as a significant step in meeting carbon reduction targets, which can produce a variety of appealing outcomes that are useful to humanity's evolution. Many countries have adopted national policies to decrease pollution by reducing fossil fuel use and increasing renewable energy usage by alleviating climate change (wind and solar, etc.). The ever-growing need for renewable sources has led to economic and technological problems, such as wind energy, essential for effective grid control, and the design of a wind project. Precise estimates offer network operators and power system designers vital information for the generation of an appropriate wind turbine and controlling demand and supply power. This work provides an in-depth study of the proliferation of artificial intelligence (AI) in the prediction of wind energy generation. The devices employed to calculate wind speed are examined and discussed, with a focus on studies recently published. This review's findings show that AI is being employed in power wind energy measurement and forecasts. When compared to individual systems, the hybrid AI system gives more accurate findings. The discussion also found that correct handling and calibration of the anemometer can increase predicting accuracy. This conclusion suggests that increasing the accuracy of wind forecasting can be accomplished by lowering equipment errors that measure the meteorological parameter and mitigate carbon emission.

Cleaner production and carbon reduction target: Analysis of sewage treatment plants in Nort-Central China

ABSTRACT In order to realize cleaner production of Sewage Treatment Plants and reduce the emission of carbon, the current situation of various sewage treatment plants of varying scales in Nort-Central China from 2019 to 2020 was investigated. For contrast, the energy consumption and material consumption of each sewage treatment plant and their cleaner production potential were analyzed. The results revealed that the implementation of a cleaner production scheme in the 14 investigated sewage treatment plants resulted in a cost reduction of 2.13 million annually. Further, the energy-saving effects of the cleaner production schemes of the sewage treatment plants were compared, and the results revealed that the use of a magnetic levitation fan reduced the power consumption of the wastewater treatment unit and carbon emission by 13.16–17.87 and 4.58–7.69%, respectively. In addition, the utilization of a modified precise aeration system reduced the wastewater power consumption and carbon emission by 2.8–6.33 and 10.37–17.24%, respectively. This study demonstrates that the Sewage Treatment Plants can become cleaner by using magnetic levitation fan and precise aeration system. The paper highlights the value of increased energy efficiency and reduction of greenhouse gas emissions.

Synthesis of dual-functionalized APTES-Bentonite/PVDF mixed-matrix membranes for the efficient separation of CO2/CH4 and CO2/N2

In response to global climate change, most countries have set carbon reduction targets. Mixed matrix membranes (MMMs), which combine the characteristics of inorganic nanofillers and organic matrices, have received wide attentions because of their good permeability and selective performance for the separation of CO2 from industrial waste gases. However, the poor dispersion, compatibility and interfacial defects often lead to poor gas separation performance. In this paper, according to the dissolution-diffusion and Lewis acid-base theories, inorganic filler of amino-functionalized Bentonite (APTES-Bentonite) with -NH2 was firstly synthesized to improve the affinity of CO2. Then, the dual-functionalized MMMs of APTES-Bentonite/PVDF (A-B/P MMMs) was prepared and adopted for the separation of CO2/CH4 and CO2/N2, showing the increase of 87.76% and 75.31% compared to the pristine PVDF membrane, respectively. These excellent performances were attributed to the synergistic effect of APTES-Bentonite with -NH2 groups and PVDF with -F groups, which provide a dual-functional transport pathway for CO2 molecules due to the interactions of host-guest. Overall, the customized A-B/P MMMs offer superior CO2 separation performance, which provides some valuable references for large-scale CO2 capture studies.

Net zero by 2050: Investigating carbon-budget compliant retrofit measures for the English housing stock

The UK has enacted one of the most ambitious carbon reduction targets striving for net zero emissions by 2050. A major challenge to achieving this is decarbonizing heating demand with almost 25 m homes in need of retrofit. This paper explores a range of retrofit interventions to the English residential stock. These are deployed immediately in 2021 to investigate the maximum carbon reduction that could be achieved. The impact of these interventions on embodied and operational carbon emissions is estimated from 2021 to 2050. The resulting emissions are compared to estimated national carbon budgets, in order to ascertain, if, and with what combination of retrofit measures, the English housing stock can stay within carbon budgets. The results show that mass deployment of air source or ground source heat pumps can reliably achieve combined embodied and operational emissions within national carbon budgets by 2050. The careful selection of insulation materials is key in bringing down the embodied emissions, particularly to meet stricter carbon budgets. The identified scale and pace of deployment thus needed to stay within carbon budgets is likely to pose enormous practical challenges. To overcome these challenges, we argue for (a) urgently increasing both heat pump deployment, and renewable generation targets beyond existing pledges, (b) increasing social awareness of residential retrofit benefits, and (c) providing more attractive financing options to incentivise and facilitate retrofit uptake.

Impact Analysis of a National and Corporate Carbon Emission Reduction Target on Renewable Electricity Use: A Review

The Paris Agreement requires countries to propose their National Determined Contributions (NDCs) and encourages companies to engage in climate action. This two-stage study explores the mutual influence of national and corporate carbon reduction targets and their effect on the adoption of renewable energy using Hierarchical Linear Modeling (HLM). The subjects are companies nested in the G20, engaging in the Science-Based Target initiative (SBTi) or the RE100 initiative. These empirical results show corporate targets are positively correlated to adoption of renewable energy, and development of renewable energy varies by country groups, however; national targets are insignificantly correlated. Our key findings: (1) companies which set SBTs are more willing to use renewable energy to achieve their targets but prefer power purchase agreements (PPAs) and renewable energy certificates (RECs) to investment in renewables. (2) The effect of a national-level target on corporate renewable energy use is non-significant, probably because most multinational corporations are used to compliance and their performances are likely to be better than the national deployment on climate change. We argue that an industrial energy transition to renewables is economically beneficial and needs substantial support in the form of policies or subsidies, instead of just setting targets or attracting publicity.