Emission Reduction Objectives Research Articles

An emission pathway classification reflecting the Paris Agreement climate objectives

The 2015 Paris Agreement sets the objectives of global climate ambition as expressed in its long-term temperature goal and mitigation goal. The scientific community has explored the characteristics of greenhouse gas emission reduction pathways in line with the Paris Agreement. However, when categorizing such pathways, the focus has been put on the temperature outcome and not on emission reduction objectives. Here we propose a pathway classification that aims to comprehensively reflect the climate criteria set out in the Paris Agreement. We show how such an approach allows for a fully consistent interpretation of the Agreement. For Paris Agreement compatible pathways, we report net zero CO2 and greenhouse gas emissions around 2050 and 2065, respectively. We illustrate how pathway design criteria not rooted in the Paris Agreement, such as the 2100 temperature level, result in scenario outcomes wherein about 6 - 24% higher deployment (interquartile range) of carbon dioxide removal is observed.

Renewable energy driven heat pumps decarbonization potential in existing residential buildings: Roadmap and case study of Spain

Buildings are one of the most important energy consumers worldwide and heating requirements are usually achieved using fossil fuels. This situation poses a risk to achieving the objectives for emissions reduction in existing buildings and electrification, based on heat pumps. It is one of the most feasible solutions to achieve emissions reduction objectives. Current research analyzes the potential for decarbonization of heat pumps and uses the Spanish scenario as a novel case study, where 8.5% of carbon dioxide emissions into the atmosphere came from the residential sector, with 66% of the energy consumption associated with cooling and heating. Using EnergyPlan the potential of decarbonization using heat pumps or heating systems in existing buildings and installing this technology in new buildings is analyzed. Results show a reduction of 8.43% in total emissions and prove that the proposed methodology can be extended worldwide as a solution to reduce emissions and improve energy efficiency in existent heating systems in buildings. Moreover, the integration of electrical climatization systems allows increasing the renewable electricity share in the grid or electrical vehicles integration, among others.

Defining the Objectives of a National Energy Policy for Transport

This paper examines the objectives and the main elements of a national energy policy for transport based on the experience of such plans in the six Mediterranean EU-member countries. These plans define the energy and Green House Gas emission reduction objectives in the field of Transport which are adopted by each country and provide a guideline for future transport policies. They are strategic energy management plans which have to be aligned with the overall energy plans of the country that define the objectives for reducing the total energy consumption and developing new renewable sources of energy. Furthermore, the paper refers to the potential energy savings and the use of alternative fuels in Transport for the case of other Mediterranean region countries and defines the main pillars of a national strategic plan for energy policy for the Transport sector.

Integrating climate change impact in new building design process: A review of building life cycle carbon emission assessment methodologies

Life-Cycle Carbon Emission Assessment (LCCO2A) of buildings integrating climate change impact has received increasing attention by researchers as the consequences of climate change become more apparent. It is crucial to integrate the indicator of life cycle carbon equivalent greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions at the early design stage combined with a life cycle assessment, to ensure the elimination of GHG emissions from a building, for its entire life. LCCO2A can provide the necessary information required for reducing carbon emissions of the buildings sector both systematically and comprehensively; however, the lack of a unified assessment framework has prevented the LCCO2A from being utilised as a common daily decision-support tool for sustainable design. This paper will take a retrospective approach when reviewing the methodologies of building LCCO2A in order to facilitate sustainable collective building design which incorporates GHG emission reduction objectives. The paper discusses a wide array of issues concerning LCCO2A and will demonstrate solution methods, as addressed in the extensive existing literature examined in the review and will attempt to establish an effective framework for life cycle carbon assessment. The implication of promoting sustainable designs which incorporate climate change mitigation objectives at the design phase together with the need for climate change policies to facilitate such processes, are also discussed.

Phasing in electric vehicles: Does policy focusing on operating emission achieve net zero emissions reduction objectives?

• Future policy should consider both LCA and operating emissions models. • Decline in BEV emissions are dependent on electricity generation mix. • The UK will struggle to meet emission targets if BEVs are introduced in 2030. • Current UK policies miss operating emission targets by 48.9 MtCO 2 . • In 2050 for cars, total LCA emissions were 44% higher than operating emissions. Battery electric vehicles (BEVs) are being integrated into the UK transport network to reduce operating emissions (OEs) as BEVs produce zero emission at point of use. True OEs depend upon fuel source emissions, and ‘cradle-to-grave’ life cycle emissions. This paper investigates method comparisons of a simple operation emissions model (OPEM) against a life cycle analysis (LCA) (Transport Energy and Air Pollution Model (TEAM-UK)) approach to inform on the UK’s target to achieve net zero emissions. Emission comparisons from internal combustion engine vehicles (ICEVs) and BEVs between 2017 and 2050 using TEAM-UK (estimating both OEs and full LCA) and the OPEM (OEs only) across three vehicle scenarios were analysed: (S1) 100% ICEVs, (S2) new ICEVs banned from 2040, and (S3) new ICEVs banned from 2030. Both model outputs varied between scenarios. The OPEM predicted 19% more emissions in S1 (OEs only comparison). Differences between methods in S2 and S3 were minimal (<0.1% and <3% respectively). Comparing the LCA with its own OE estimate indicates OEs remain at approximately 40% of total emissions suggesting they are a strong candidate for monitoring and policy targeting. These comparisons would imply the simpler OE approach is robust for a precautionary approach to assessing changes in OEs for policy implementation impact assessments of ultra-low emission vehicle initiatives. Development of future emission policies should consider both LCA and OPEMs, as although LCAs give more complete results, OPEMs can provide rapid, low data requirement, useful policy guidance. A stringent shift towards earlier BEV adoption is recommended, however, to approach net zero emissions a mode shift away from private cars is required.

Inward- versus outward-focused bioeconomy strategies for British Columbia\u2019s forest products industry: a harvested wood products carbon storage and emission perspective

BackgroundBritish Columbia’s (BC) extensive forest resources provide climate change mitigation opportunities that are available to few other jurisdictions. However, as a consequence of the Mountain Pine Beetle outbreak and large-scale wildfires, BC is anticipating reduced roundwood harvest for the next decades. Progress towards more climatically efficient utilization of forest resources is needed. This research quantitatively compared the greenhouse gas emission consequences of nine harvested wood products trade and consumption strategies. Inward-focused strategies use wood products within Canada to achieve emission reduction objectives, while outward-focused strategies encourage exports of wood products.ResultsIn the business-as-usual baseline scenario, average emissions arising from BC-originated harvested wood products between 2016 and 2050 were 40 MtCO2e yr−1. The estimated theoretical boundaries were 11 MtCO2e yr−1 and 54 MtCO2e yr−1, under the scenarios of using all harvests for either construction purposes or biofuel production, respectively. Due to the constrained domestic market size, inward-focused scenarios that were based on population and market capacity achieved 0.3–10% emission reductions compared to the baseline. The international markets were larger, however the emissions varied substantially between 68% reduction and 25% increase depending on wood products’ end uses.ConclusionsFuture bioeconomy strategies can have a substantial impact on emissions. This analysis revealed that from a carbon storage and emission perspective, it was better to consume BC’s harvests within Canada and only export those products that would be used for long-lived construction applications, provided that construction market access beyond the US was available. However, restricting export of wood products destined for short-lived uses such as pulp and wood pellets would have significant economic and social impacts. On the other hand, inward-focused strategies had a small but politically and environmentally meaningful contribution to BC’s climate action plan. This study also revealed the conflicts between a demand-driven bioeconomy and targeted environmental outcomes. A hierarchical incentive system that could co-exist with other market drivers may help achieve emission reduction goals, but this would require a better quantitative understanding of wood products’ substitution effects. While the analyses were conducted for BC, other regions that are net exporters of wood products may face similar issues.

China's carbon emissions from the electricity sector: Spatial characteristics and interregional transfer.

As a major carbon emitter, the electricity sector is crucial to the realization of China's emission reduction objectives. Existing studies focus mostly on the influencing factors, emission efficiency and low carbon development of carbon emissions in the electricity sector. Missing from the literature is an analysis of spatial characteristics of carbon emissions and the embodied carbon emission transfer caused by the separation of electricity production and consumption, which is the basis for assigning the responsibility for emission reduction. Thirty provinces in China were taken as research objects, and Moran's I index was adopted to analyze the spatial characteristics of the electricity sector's carbon emissions and carbon emission intensity. Based on multiregional input-output tables, we compared the transfer situation of China's provincial electricity carbon emissions in 2010 and 2015. The results demonstrate that, from 2010 to 2015, the electricity carbon emissions in 20 provinces increased, whereas the carbon emission intensity in 21 provinces decreased. Carbon emissions and carbon emission intensity of electricity in most provinces demonstrate positive spatial clustering characteristics. The total amount of carbon emission transfer in the electricity sector increased from 421.22 million tons in 2010 to 581.369 million tons in 2015, the number of net transfers out of areas increased from 13 to 15, and the number of net transfers into areas decreased from 16 to 15. The active degree of carbon emission transfer reveals the eastern region > the central region > the western region. Different emission reduction policies should be formulated based on the difference in resource endowment between the north and south. Provinces that transferred out large amounts of electricity carbon emissions should take greater responsibility for emission reduction. Integr Environ Assess Manag 2022;18:258-273. © 2021 SETAC.

Features extraction of wind ramp events from a virtual wind park

In the European renewable energy portfolio, wind has a sizeable share in the total energy production. The Nordic and Baltic energy systems in particular are benefiting from wind energy to reach the greenhouse gas emissions reduction objectives set by the EU. The wind energy production varies with time, and this intermittent characteristic imposes a challenge for full utilization of renewable energy potential. The power system operator needs to ensure timely power supply of demand. An accurate estimation of power output from a non-dispatchable generation resource such as a wind farm is essential for the operator to ensure the supply–demand balance and adequate sizing of reserve power capacity. Existing methods of feature extraction and prediction such as linear regression often overlook the significant variations or do not utilize in the model building. However, this method misinterprets the trend in data. Understanding the properties of the variations in more details would reduce the uncertainty and significantly improve the feature extraction to aid in decision making. Furthermore, as the volume, shape and type of dataset start to increase and new methods are required to extract meaningful information from the patterns in the big data. The objective of the paper is to present a novel Ramping BehaviourAnalysis (RBAθ) model that identifies and quantifies the variations in a time-varying dataset. The variations are classified into significant and stationary events. The former refers to the significant swings beyond a set threshold range and the latter refers to the swings that are relatively within the threshold limits. The features associated to each event include start time, end time, change in magnitude, persistence of an event, angle at which the event took place and frequency of occurrences of the features. In addition, the rain-flow cycles count is extracted from the original data for each event as a sum of half cycles and full cycles. The model is validated using simulated wind power production data from a virtual wind park spread across Estonia and the results are elaborated. The spatial dynamics of the virtual windfarm are captured through localized spatial autocorrelation of the events with the geospatial locations of the turbines. The results demonstrate that RBAθ precisely and accurately identify and quantify the time varying power generation into events with subsequent features. The volume of the data is significantly reduced in the process of summarizing time series data into a series of events. Thereby RBAθ can be also used for data compression and reconstruction with minor losses. The system operators can use the proposed algorithm in operational scheduling, maintenance and investment-capacity building decisions.

Technology innovation system analysis of decarbonisation options in the EU steel industry

Decarbonisation of the iron and steel (I&S) industry is crucial in the efforts to meet the EU GHG emission reduction objectives in 2030 … 2050. Promoting decarbonisation in this sector will necessarily require the identification, development, and diffusion of breakthrough technologies for I&S production.This paper uses an approach inspired by the Technology Innovation System (TIS) to analyse the development of technology in the EU I&S industry and identify potential avenues of its decarbonisation. We have described key elements of the TIS, analyse the functioning of these elements and their interactions in a more general context of innovation dynamics and policy design; The focus has been put on the role of actors and the identification of the main specific blocking and inducement mechanism in the TIS to better explain its functioning. Risks and uncertainties have also been discussed.We argue that deep decarbonisation in the I&S industry is feasible but its TIS requires firm support, mostly political, to finance intensive R&D and reduce the business risk. To this end, all actors shall support more effectively the invention and implementation of new radical production technologies. The recommendations are mostly addressed to politicians although stressing the importance of collaboration of all actors.

Design of energy-conservation and emission-reduction plans of China’s industry: Evidence from three typical industries

It is important to estimate the energy-conservation and emission-reduction potentials accurately and design practicable paths to ensure the achievement of the emission reduction target set at the “Paris Climate Conference”. Selecting the petroleum and gas extraction industry, the construction industry, and the transportation industry, which are the greatest energy consumers and carbon emitters in China, this study estimates their energy-conservation and emission-reduction potentials of 2018–2025 and designs the implementation paths. The results show that: (1) under the short-term energy rebound effect, the cumulative energy-conservations of 2018–2025 of the three industriesare17.55%, 18.29%, and 13.46%, respectively; the cumulative emission-reductions are 18.21%, 14.85%, and 16.98%, respectively. Under the long-term rebound effect, the cumulative energy-conservations are 21.3%, 22.39%, and 18.54%, respectively; the cumulative emission-reductions are 19.76%, 18.1%, and 23.75%, respectively. Moreover, the effect of the short-term energy rebound effect is greater than the long-term rebound effect. (2) There are three paths for energy-conservation and emission-reduction: the “unilateral breakthrough”, the “promotion of advantages and compensate for disadvantages”, and the “leap forward” paths. (3) When formulating the energy-conservation and emission-reduction policies, for industries of resource-intensive, factor market distortion, governments’ administrative orders and intensive production should be focused on; for industries of labor-intensive, energy efficiency, energy structure, carbon tax and the upgrade of industry structure should be focused on; for industries of capital-intensive, regional investment bias, the construction of carbon trading system and clean production should be focused on. Our results can provide guidance for the formulation of energy-conservation and emissions-reduction objectives and policies for China’s industry.

The Energy-conservation and Emission-reduction Paths of Industrial sectors: Evidence from Chinas 35 industrial sectors

Accurately estimating and formulating the paths of energy-conservation and emission-reduction for industrial sectors is of great significance for the coordinated development of economic growth and environment in China. In this study, considering the influences of short- and long-term energy rebound effects, we estimated the energy-conservation and emission-reduction potential of China's 35 industrial sectors and formulated the implementation paths. Our results show that: (1) under a long-term energy rebound effect impact, for the resource-intensive, labor-intensive, and capital-intensive industries, the industrial sectors with the greatest energy-conservation potential are the manufacture of tobacco, manufacture of textile, wearing apparel and accessories, and the manufacture of general purpose machinery, with cumulative energy-conservations of 14.41, 25.67, and 11.455%, respectively. The industrial sectors with the greatest emission-reduction potential are the extraction of petroleum and natural gas, mining and processing of non-ferrous metal ores, and the manufacture of chemical fibers, with cumulative emission-reductions of 23.54, 35.42, and 22.14%, respectively. (2) Under a short-term energy rebound effect impact, for resource-intensive, labor-intensive, and capital-intensive industries, the industrial sectors with the greatest energy-conservation potential are the manufacture of tobacco, manufacture of textile and manufacture of medicines, with cumulative energy-conservations of 23.56, 28.65, and 15.36%, respectively. The industrial sectors with the greatest emission-reduction potential are the manufacture of tobacco, mining and processing of ferrous metal ores, and smelting and pressing of non-ferrous metals, with cumulative emission-reductions of 27.88, 38.48, and 33.28%, respectively. (3) There are three paths for energy-conservation and emission-reduction for the industrial sectors: the unilateral breakthrough, gradual improvement, that promotes advantages and accounts for disadvantages, and leap forward path. For industrial sectors with a high energy consumption and low carbon emissions, the gradual improvement path that promotes advantages and accounts for disadvantages is suitable. For industrial sectors with low energy consumption and high carbon emissions, the unilateral breakthrough path is suitable. For industrial sectors with high energy consumption and carbon emissions, the leap forward path is suitable. (4) The impacts of investment bias and factor market distortion should be considered when formulating energy-conservation and emission-reduction policies. Our results can provide a theoretical basis for the formulation of energy-conservation and emissions-reduction objectives and policies for China's 35 industrial sectors.

The control method of green production efficiency based on multi-layer and complex network under the background of export trade transformation

Under the background of export trade transformation, the traditional control method has many problems, such as big error and long time. This paper puts forward a green production efficiency control method based on multi-layer complex network under the background of export trade transformation. This paper analyses the current situation of China's industrial development and reveals the necessity of research. Under this background, green production efficiency control index is analysed and optimised; green production efficiency objective function is constructed by industrial production objective function and energy saving and emission reduction objective function; green production efficiency objective function is optimised by GABEC Algorithm, and green production efficiency objective function is optimised by multi-layer complex network model, thus green production efficiency control is realised method of manufacture. The experimental results show that this method has high precision and low control error in green production efficiency control.

Carbon emission quota allocating on coal and electric power enterprises under carbon trading pilot in China: Mathematical formulation and solution technique

Abstract This paper considers the fair and efficient principles, a fairness deviation index model was established based on measurement of carbon emissions in various links inside the coal power supply chain enterprise in consideration. Meanwhile, a carbon quota allocation model was built by taking minimum fairness deviation index as the objective and department production levels inside various links as constraint conditions under the carbon trading pilot program. Furthermore, from the angle of inter-link coordination of the coal power supply chain enterprise, carbon quotas in different links were coordinated with total emission quantity and tradability of the enterprise's carbon quota taken as objectives. X coal power supply chain enterprise taken as an example, its carbon emission reduction responsibilities in raw coal mining, coal washery and various power generation links during 2018–2020 were internally decomposed under constraints of total carbon emission and emission reduction objective. Study conclusions provide a theoretical support and corresponding policy basis for internal and external coordination between coal and electric power enterprises in carbon emission reduction under the carbon quota constraint.

Factors Influencing Electric Vehicle Penetration in the EU by 2030: A Model-Based Policy Assessment

The European Commission (EC) has set ambitious CO2 emission reduction objectives for the transport sector by 2050. In this context, most decarbonisation scenarios for transport foresee large market penetration of electric vehicles in 2030 and 2050. The emergence of electrified car mobility is, however, uncertain due to various barriers such as battery costs, range anxiety and dependence on battery recharging networks. Those barriers need to be addressed in the 2020–2030 decade, as this is key to achieving electrification at a large scale in the longer term. The paper explores the uncertainties prevailing in the first decade and the mix of policies to overcome the barriers by quantifying a series of sensitivity analysis scenarios of the evolution of the car markets in the EU Member States and the impacts of each barrier individually. The model used is PRIMES-TREMOVE, which has been developed by E3MLab and constitutes a detailed energy-economic model for the transport sector. Based on model results, the paper assesses the market, energy, emission and cost impacts of various CO2 car standards, infrastructure development plans with different geographic coverage and a range of battery cost reductions driven by learning and mass industrial production. The assessment draws on the comparison of 29 sensitivity scenarios for the EU, which show that removing the barriers in the decade 2020–2030 is important for electrification emergence. The results show that difficult policy dilemmas exist between adopting stringent standards and infrastructure of wide coverage to push technology and market development and adverse effects on costs, in case the high cost of batteries persists. However, if the pace of battery cost reductions is fast, a weak policy for standards and infrastructure is not cost-effective and sub-optimal. These policies are shown to have impacts on the competition between pure electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles. Drivers that facilitate electrification also favour the uptake of the former technology, the latter being a reasonable choice only in case the barriers persist and obstruct electrification.

Optimal Timing of Greenhouse Gas Emissions Abatement in Europe

Decarbonization by the mid-21st century requires strong commitment to greenhouse emission abatement measures, but national emission reduction pledges are made for the medium term. Achieving medium term targets without taking into account the long term can lead to a lock-in effect, binding countries in pathways that cannot lead to strong decarbonization. This paper sheds light in this issue by combining a theoretical approach with real-world engineering and cost data. We develop a constrained optimization model to examine least-cost greenhouse gas emission abatement pathways, taking into account (a) emission reduction objectives for two years: 2030 and 2050; and (b) the potential speed of implementation of each measure, which expresses technical and behavioural inertia in the deployment of a measure. We focus on European countries and economic sectors that are not subject to the EU Emissions Trading System. We derive relationships between 2030 abatement targets of varying ambition and the possibility for a country to achieve a strong 2050 target. We find that more ambitious EU-wide targets have to be set by 2030 so that Europe delivers deep decarbonization by 2050. Moreover, if air pollution costs are taken into account, strong decarbonization by 2050 has lower social costs than less ambitious policies.

A pathway design framework for national low greenhouse gas emission development strategies

The Paris Agreement introduces long-term strategies as an instrument to inform progressively more ambitious emission reduction objectives, while holding development goals paramount in the context of national circumstances. In the lead up to the twenty-first Conference of the Parties, the Deep Decarbonization Pathways Project developed mid-century low-emission pathways for 16 countries, based on an innovative pathway design framework. In this Perspective, we describe this framework and show how it can support the development of sectorally and technologically detailed, policy-relevant and country-driven strategies consistent with the Paris Agreement climate goal. We also discuss how this framework can be used to engage stakeholder input and buy-in; design implementation policy packages; reveal necessary technological, financial and institutional enabling conditions; and support global stocktaking and increasing of ambition.

Optimization analysis of carbon emission rights allocation based on energy justice—The case of China

Carbon emission rights allocation affects the effective operation of carbon trading system, and then the achievement of energy saving and emissions reduction objectives. Reasonable allocation scheme should meet the principle of justice. Carbon emission rights allocation based on energy justice is a novel and worth discussing subject. This paper explores the optimization of carbon emission rights allocation based on energy justice. The justice-based model is built with the aid of Gini coefficient. The way to optimize allocation scheme with constraints of population, ecological productive land, fossil energy resources and GDP is discussed. Results show that fossil energy resources and ecological productive land play more important role in the allocation. The prime example is Inner Mongolia, its quota percentage change reaches up to 150.01%. As the GDP and population growth rate are fixed in a given interval, the quota allocation in eastern China shows some interesting results. When the GDP growth rate is 6.25%, the quotas of eastern China will not change with varying population growth rate. The allocation will enter a relative stable stage as the population growth rate is greater than or equal to 6.4‰. These results can provide China with experience to deal with the new problem appeared in carbon trading system like two-children policy and the new normal of economic growth.

Aligning integrated assessment modelling with socio-technical transition insights: An application to low-carbon energy scenario analysis in Europe

In this study, we present and apply an interdisciplinary approach that systematically draws qualitative insights from socio-technical transition studies to develop new quantitative scenarios for integrated assessment modelling. We identify the transition narrative as an analytical bridge between socio-technical transition studies and integrated assessment modelling. Conceptual interaction is realised through the development of two contrasting transition narratives on the role of actors in meeting the European Unions' 80% greenhouse gas emission reduction objective for 2050. The first transition narrative outlines how large-scale innovation trajectories are driven by incumbent actors, whereas the second transition narrative assumes more ‘alternative’ strategies by new entrants with strong opposition to large-scale technologies. We use the multi-level perspective to draw out plausible storylines on actor positioning and momentum of change for several technological and social niche-innovations in both transition narratives. These storylines are then translated into quantitative scenarios for integrated assessment modelling. Although both developed transition pathways align with the European Union's low-carbon objective for 2050, we find that each pathway depicts a substantial departure from systems that are known to date. Future research could focus on further systematic (joint) development of operational links between the two analytical approaches, as well as work on improved representation of demand-oriented solutions in techno-economic modelling.

Do Kenya’s climate change mitigation ambitions necessitate large-scale renewable energy deployment and dedicated low-carbon energy policy?

In this paper Kenya’s climate change mitigation ambitions are analysed from an energy system perspective, with a focus on the role of renewable and other low-carbon energy technologies. At COP-21 in 2015 in Paris, Kenya has committed to a ‘nationally determined contribution’ of reducing domestic greenhouse gas emissions by 30% in 2030 in comparison to a business-as-usual projection. An efficient exploitation of the country’s renewable energy resources is key to achieving this target. We use the TIAM-ECN model to characterize plausible development pathways for the Kenyan energy mix until 2050 under different climate change mitigation scenarios. We conclude that the power sector can expand with mostly renewable energy options even in the absence of stringent greenhouse gas abatement targets. On the contrary, on the demand side a substantial deployment of low-carbon technologies is triggered only when ambitious emission reduction objectives are in place. The introduction of these technologies entails additional energy system costs, ranging in 2050 from 0.5% to 2% of the country’s GDP. Our analysis supports the feasibility of Kenyan climate management goals, provided that adequate investments in renewable and other low-carbon energy technologies are timely made available.

Effect of crude oil carbon accounting decisions on meeting global climate budgets

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change quantified a cumulative remaining carbon budget beyond which there is a high likelihood global average temperatures will increase more than 2 °C above preindustrial temperature. While there is global participation in mitigation efforts, there is little global collaboration to cooperatively mitigate emissions. Instead, countries have been acting as individual agents with independent emission reduction objectives. However, such asymmetric unilateral climate policies create the opportunity for carbon leakage resulting from the shift in embodied carbon emissions within trade networks. In this analysis, we use an optimization-based model of the global crude trade as a case study to demonstrate the importance of a cooperative, system-level approach to climate policy in order to most effectively, efficiently, and equitably achieve carbon mitigation objectives. To do this, we first characterize the cost and life cycle greenhouse gas emissions associated with the 2014 crude production and consumption system by aggregating multiple data sources and developing a balanced trade matrix. We then optimize this network to demonstrate the potential for carbon mitigation through more efficient use of crude resources. Finally, we implement a global carbon cap on total annual crude emissions. We find that such a cap would require crude consumption to drop from 4.2 gigatons (Gt) to 1.1 Gt. However, if each country had an individual carbon allocation in addition to the global cap consistent with the nationally determined contribution limits resulting from the 2015 United Nations Climate Change Conference, allowable consumption would further decrease to approximately 770 million metric tonnes. Additionally, the carbon accounting method used to assign responsibility for embodied carbon emissions associated with the traded crude further influences allowable production and consumption for each country. The simplified model presented here highlights how global cooperation and a system-level cooperative approach could guide climate policy efforts to be more cost effective and equitable, while reducing the leakage potential resulting from shifting trade patterns of embodied carbon emissions. Additionally, it demonstrates how the spatial distribution of crude consumption and production patterns change under a global carbon cap given various carbon accounting strategies.