Indirect Carbon Emissions Research Articles

Decomposition of China's regional carbon emission paths: an analysis of environmental input and output considering regional development differences.

At present, the imbalance in regional development and carbon emissions are the two major challenges that China faces in terms of achieving high-quality development. This paper takes regional development differences as the starting point. First, we adopt the improved CRITIC method to measure the comprehensive development level of 30 regions in China and use K-means clustering to divide the 30 regions into five development levels. Second, the structural path analysis for environmental input-output analysis (EIOA-SPA) model is used to quantify the transfer of carbon emissions between sectors in various regions. Finally, a comprehensive analysis is performed based on the development characteristics of each region and the decomposition results of the carbon emission paths. Then, more precise carbon emission reduction strategies are proposed for the development of different regions in China. The results show that first, the development gap between regions in China has improved, and the development of the central and western regions has achieved remarkable results. However, differences between the north and the south and the gap between coastal and inland regions still exist. Second, the direct carbon emissions of regions with different levels of development are mainly derived from high energy-consuming sectors, especially the production and supply of electricity and heat sector. Third, there are certain differences in the indirect carbon emission pathways of regions with different development levels. The transportation, storage, and postal sector in high developed regions have obvious driving effects on carbon emissions. The building sector plays a prominent role in driving carbon emissions in high developed regions and medium-high developed regions. The building sector, nonmetallic mineral products sector, metal smelting sector, and rolled processed product sector in medium developed regions and medium-low developed regions have relatively high carbon emission-stimulating effects. Therefore, it is necessary to adopt differentiated emission reduction strategies for regions with different development levels in China to achieve adequate carbon emission reductions. This effort would further promote the construction of China's ecological civilization.

Carbon neutrality of wastewater treatment - A systematic concept beyond the plant boundary

Recently, every industry has been working to achieve carbon neutrality, and the wastewater sector is no exception. However, little research focuses on the carbon accounting of wastewater treatment and the roadmap to carbon neutrality. Here, to systematically perform accounting, we provide a sketch that describes three boundaries of the wastewater system and propose that the carbon neutrality of the wastewater system is far beyond the plant boundary. Moreover, we identify the direct and indirect carbon emissions of wastewater treatment. In addition to direct emissions of CH4 and N2O, direct fossil CO2 emissions from wastewater treatment should be included in accounting to set accurate guidelines. Next, the technologies that assist in achieving carbon-neutral wastewater treatment both within-the-fence of wastewater treatment plants and beyond the plant boundary are summarized. All measurements of energy recovery, resource recovery, and water reuse contribute to reaching this goal. The concepts of energy neutrality and carbon neutrality are identified. Successful wastewater treatment cases in energy self-sufficiency may not achieve carbon neutrality. Meanwhile, resource recovery methods are encouraged, especially to produce carbon-based materials. Ultimately, the trend of preference for the decentralized sewage treatment system is pinpointed, and systematic thinking to set the urban infrastructure layout as a whole is advocated.

Low‐Carbon Supplier Selection Using Fuzzy AHP and Goal Programming Approach

It has become the leading world trend that all countries join hands to respond to climate change and promote green and low‐carbon development. In this background, more and more enterprises seek to control carbon emissions from the source and reduce indirect carbon emissions, consequently paying increased importance to the carbon footprint of their suppliers. Most of the earlier studies concerning supplier selection mainly focus on traditional factors, such as quality, service, and lead time, but minimal importance to the carbon emission of supplies. This study fills this gap by incorporating carbon emission criteria into supplier selection and presenting a method of combining fuzzy analytic hierarchy process (AHP) and fuzzy goal programming (GP) to address the problem of supplier selection and order quota allocation. Firstly, we use fuzzy AHP to evaluate the relevance and importance of supplier selection criteria according to the experts’ opinions. Second, each objective is given weights according to the fuzzy AHP results, and then the fuzzy GP method is used for supplier selection and order quota allocation. Finally, we implement an example study with a data set from a realistic situation, and the results confirm the effectiveness of the proposed method in an uncertain environment.

A review of different technologies for refrigerated truck

Refrigeration is one of the ways of preserving the quality of transported food products. It removes heat from a low-temperature space and transfers it to a high-temperature space. During the processes, a conventional mechanical refrigeration system is primarily used, which impacts on the environment through both direct and indirect carbon emissions. Also, using the poorly insulated body for refrigerated trucks contributes significantly to the energy consumed by the refrigerated trucks. To reduce this energy consumption and carbon emission, research and development on the improvement of the conventional refrigeration system and the development of new technologies is aimed at across the world. This study provides an overview of various technologies that can be used for a refrigerated truck to reduce energy consumption and emissions. The review includes the description of the technology, their developmental state, their energy-driven source, their challenges and their sustainability. The need for research and development is also highlighted to improve the performance for both the commercially available and the developed technologies and to speed up the adoption of the emerging technologies in refrigerated transport industries.

Relative Assessment on E-Vehicle Indirect Carbon Emissions and Emission Control Strategies for Existing Automotive Fleet

Relative Assessment on E-Vehicle Indirect Carbon Emissions and Emission Control Strategies for Existing Automotive Fleet

Analysis of China's urban household indirect carbon emissions drivers under the background of population aging

Population aging is an important concern not only in China but also to many developed countries, and it will be a more serious issue throughout the world in the future. From this point, understanding the impact of population aging on CO2 emissions is important for achieving carbon neutral in the future. To analyze this impact, this study quantifies lifestyle and urban household's consumption impacts upon carbon emissions from the indirect CO2 emissions aspect and uses the structural decomposition method to analyze the factors influencing the growth of indirect CO2 emissions from 2007 to 2012. The analysis results indicate that the indirect CO2 emissions peak at 20 s age group and gradually decline as age increases. Since elderly households have relatively lower indirect CO2 emissions, population aging in the future will reduce indirect CO2 emissions. The decomposition analysis for indirect CO2 emissions shows that the effects of changes in consumption pattern and production technology progress reduced indirect CO2 emissions to a large extent. The main factors leading to the increase in indirect CO2 emissions are the increase in the number of households and consumption volume. The corresponding policy implications are proposed based on our findings: improving energy efficiency in older households, promoting energy conservation promotion among younger households, and cultivating consumers’ green-consumption awareness.

Spatio-temporal evolutionary characteristics of carbon emissions and carbon sinks of marine industry in China and their time-dependent models

Altering the marine industry economic development model has helped achieve low-carbon development goals for comparative research on the spatio-temporal evolutionary characteristics of carbon emissions and carbon sinks. The carbon emissions and existing carbon sinks resulting from the marine industry in ten coastal provinces (cities) in China over the period from 2008 to 2019 were quantitatively determined, and their spatio-temporal evolutionary characteristics were analysed from the national and provincial perspectives. Additionally, time-dependent models of the national and provincial carbon emissions and carbon sinks were constructed. The results showed that: 1) carbon emissions and carbon sinks of the marine industry in China increased annually from 2008 to 2019, and the growth rate of carbon emissions was higher than that of carbon sinks. 2) Direct, indirect and total carbon emissions, as well as shellfish, algae and total carbon sinks of the marine industry in China all conform with time to the power function leading to the estimation that total carbon emissions and carbon sinks of the Chinese marine industry will peak in 2021 and 2022, respectively. 3) The carbon emissions and sinks in different provinces (cities) were affected by multiple factors according to their time-dependent models. These findings could provide a reference for accelerating energy conservation and emission reduction within fisheries, while also improving the ecological functioning of their carbon sinks. Meanwhile, the role of marine policy in the development of the marine industry in China's coastal regions has also been clarified.

Holistic LCA evaluation of the carbon footprint of prefabricated concrete stairs

The construction industry accounts for a large proportion of the direct and indirect carbon emissions in China. The traditional cast-in-place method, still rather common, can no longer meet contemporary green buildings requirements. Prefabricated concrete components can reduce carbon footprint, especially the materialization stage that generates the bulk of the carbon emissions. A computational method to assess carbon footprint could inform emission reduction strategy. This study investigated prefabricated concrete (PC) stairs products and their carbon footprint at the materialization stage, divided into the production, transportation, and construction substages. Based on the life cycle assessment (LCA) method, the carbon emission calculation model was established and applied to compute carbon emissions of five representative case studies in Fuzhou City in China. The results indicated that: (1) the carbon emissions of PC stairs were mainly generated by raw-material consumption in the production stage; (2) the carbon emission intensity per unit height fluctuated around 811.40 kgCO2/m, per unit cost around 1670.89 kgCO2/10,000 Yuan, and per unit cubic quantity around 857.48 kgCO2/m3; and (3) A strong and significant linear relationship existed between total carbon emissions and three key attributes of project building height, cubic quantity of prefabricated stairs, and cost of prefabricated stairs. This study has developed a standard method to calculate the carbon footprint of a key prefabricated component in buildings. The findings have a reference value for assessing carbon emissions of other prefabricated components and developing sustainable strategies to reduce carbon emissions and energy consumption to align with green construction.

Impact of carbon markets on industrial competitiveness: An analysis of selected industries in Beijing

Although the booming carbon markets provide additional incentives to reduce greenhouse gases, their impacts on the society and economy have attracted increasing attention. Based on 2014–2016 daily carbon market trading price data, this study estimates the direct and indirect carbon emissions cost incurred by Beijing carbon market and explores its impact on industrial competitiveness via an evaluation model. Our results show that the impact of the carbon emissions cost is negligible, and the proportion of the three most affected industries’ added values to Beijing’s gross domestic product is only 10%, indicating that the economic impact is limited. However, the impact on the production and supply of power, gas and water industry could reach as high as 3.02% in three years. Compared with the European carbon market, the trading price of Beijing’s carbon market is relatively low, and the price cap could possibly increase to 100 Yuan per ton. However, each 10-Yuan increment in the carbon price will increase the impact on industry competitiveness by 1.68%. This study provides a scientific basis for exploring the impact of China’s carbon market on industry competitiveness and will be of significant value to policy makers.

Carbon emission reduction decisions of supply chain members under cap-and-trade regulations: A differential game analysis

A global consensus has been reached that carbon emission reduction is now an inevitable social trend. A manufacturer can reduce its direct carbon emission by itself and indirect carbon emission by cooperating with suppliers. In a low-carbon context, we investigate a detailed model that combines cap-and-trade regulations with the low-carbon preferences of consumers. In this research, differential game models are developed to study the emission reduction decisions of two supply chain members under three scenarios: (1) a non-cooperation (coop) scenario where the manufacturer makes a decision on its level of effort in carbon emission reduction and the supplier is followed; (2) a coop program scenario in which the supplier’s emission reduction efforts are supported by the manufacturer; and (3) a two-way coop contract scenario in which both supply chain members support each other’s emission reduction efforts. A comparative study is conducted on supply chain members’ carbon emission reduction efforts and optimal profits obtained under the above scenarios. The results indicate that under the two-way coop contract scenario, both supply chain profits and emission reduction levels are the largest, with the greatest efforts made by channel members. In contrast to the non-coop scenario, both firms make more emission reduction efforts and earn more profits under the coop program scenario.

Decomposition and sector aggregation analysis of indirect household carbon emission indicators: a case study of Guangdong Province in China

Decomposition and sector aggregation analysis of indirect household carbon emission indicators: a case study of Guangdong Province in China

Methods to Decrease Carbon Emission at the University of Szeged

The implementation of innovations and technologies to decrease carbon emission is one of the main priorities that the University of Szeged is striving to achieve. Although, effective investments cannot be carried out without proper measurement systems in energy management and carbon emission monitoring. Understanding the importance of proper measurement, the University of Szeged has decided to calculate the whole carbon footprint of one of its main buildings, namely, the Study and Information Centre with the help of KÖVET association. The carbon evaluation uses data of 2019 and contains the direct and indirect carbon emission of building management, and of its employees’ and visitors’. This calculation will be the basis of further carbon reduction investments, protocols and events held for shaping the visitors’ and employees’ consciousness. In parallel with the evaluation, the University of Szeged has made some huge steps to decrease carbon emission factors. For instance, a newly installed visitor monitoring system regulates the electricity usage of ventilation in the most used areas of the Study and Information Centre based on the actual number of visitors present in the building. Furthermore, from April 2020, five electric cars substitute the most driven cars of the University in urban areas, rapidly decreasing the direct carbon emission in the city.

Global patterns and changes of carbon emissions from land use during 1992–2015

Carbon emissions from land use (ELUC) are an important part of anthropogenic CO2 emissions, but its size and location remain uncertain, and our knowledge of the relationship between ELUC and GDP remains partial. We showed that the carbon emissions directly caused by land use change (direct ELUC) during 1992–2015 was 26.54 Pg C (1.15 Pg C yr-1), with a decreased trend and a net reduction rate of −0.15 Pg C yr-1. The areas that exhibited reductions were concentrated in South America, Central Africa, and Southeast Asia, and those with increments were scattered in Northwestern North America, Eastern South America, Central Africa, East Asia, and parts of Southeast Asia. For the indirect carbon emissions from the utilization of built-up land (indirect ELUC), it manifested an upward trend with a total emission of 27.51 Pg C (1.2 Pg C yr-1). The total value resulted by global ELUC was $136.3 × 109 US, and the value of annual was equivalent to 3.7 times the GDP of the Central African Republic in 2015 ($5.93 × 109 US yr-1). Among the 79 countries and regions considered in this study, 54 represented the upward GDP with increased emissions, and only 25 experienced GDP growth with emission reductions. These findings highlight the pivotal role of land use change in the carbon cycle and the significance of coordinated development between GDP and carbon emissions.

The comprehensive measurement method of energy conservation and emission reduction in the whole process of urban sewage treatment based on carbon emission.

It is of great significance to establish a carbon emission management system and carbon emission reduction target to put forward emission reduction measures for each subunit of a sewage treatment plant. In this paper, a mathematical model was constructed for calculating carbon emission in the whole sewage treatment system process. Meanwhile, the model calculated the carbon emission changes after upgrading three sewage treatment plants and identified the critical controlling unit. The results showed that the CO2 produced from electric energy consumption and chemical application was the primary source of carbon emission of wastewater treatment. Raising sewage discharge standards appropriately could effectively reduce the carbon emission generated by each link of the wastewater treatment plant. Further improvement of effluent standards could adversely affect sewage treatment plants in terms of energy, resources, and greenhouse gas emissions. In addition, raising the standard of total phosphorus concentration in the effluent may lead to a corresponding increase in the amount of phosphorus removal agents, as well as an increase in indirect carbon emission, material consumption, and chemical sludge. Therefore, it is necessary to develop sewage treatment technologies that are economical, applicable, energy-saving, and environmental friendly to realize the environmental benefits of carbon emission reduction in sewage treatment and sustainable utilization of energy and resource from wastewater.

Dynamic load shifting for the abatement of GHG emissions, power demand, energy use, and costs in metropolitan hybrid wastewater treatment systems

The installation of satellite water resource recovery facilities (WRRFs) has strengthened the ability to provide cheap and reliable recycled water to meet the increasing water demand of expanding cities. As a result, recent studies have attempted to address the problem of how to optimally integrate satellite systems with other sectors of the urban sphere, such as the local economy, the power supply, and the regional carbon footprint. However, such studies are merely based on the spatial domain, thus neglecting potential time-dependent strategies that could further improve the sustainability of metropolitan water systems. Therefore, in this study a new conceptual framework is proposed for the dynamic management of hybrid systems comprised of both centralized and satellite WRRFs. Furthermore, a novel set of integrated real-time control (RTC) strategies are considered to analyze three different scenarios: 1) demand response, 2) flow equalization of the centralized WRRF and 3) reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. Data from a case study in California is used to develop an integrated dynamic model of a system of 8 facilities. Our results show that by dynamically shifting the dry-weather influent wastewater flows between hydraulically connected WRRFs, a reduction in power demand (up to 25%), energy use (4%), operating costs (8.5%) and indirect carbon emissions (4.5%) can be achieved. Therefore, this study suggests that a certain degree of hydraulic interconnection coupled with dynamic load-shifting strategies, can broaden the operational flexibility and overall sustainability of hybrid WRRF systems.

Assessing the carbon footprint of tourism businesses using environmentally extended input-output analysis

The tourism industry contributes eight percent to global carbon emissions, directly and indirectly. Indirect carbon emissions are often neglected because they are difficult to calculate. The traditional approach to calculating indirect emissions – Life Cycle Assessment – is expensive and requires an expert data analyst. We introduce an alternative approach, the Environmentally Extended Input-Output Analysis. We show how this approach – currently used at macro-level to estimate carbon emissions at national or regional level – can be applied to the business level using carbon emissions generated by one hotel room clean as an example. Our comparative analysis shows that Environmentally Extended Input-Output Analysis leads to similar results as Life Cycle Assessment, while being substantially cheaper and more user-friendly. Environmentally Extended Input-Output Analysis, we conclude, enables tourism businesses to estimate the indirect carbon emissions of their operations, which is the key to identifying target areas for improvement.

Scheduling Optimization of a Cabinet Refrigerator Incorporating a Phase Change Material to Reduce Its Indirect Environmental Impact

Phase Change Materials (PCMs) incorporated in refrigerators can be used to shift their energy consumption from peak periods, when the electric network energy demand is the highest, to off-peak periods. While PCMs can flatten the energy demand curve, they can achieve economic savings if Time-of-Use (TOU) electricity tariffs are applied. However, the hourly carbon emission factor is not commonly linked to the hourly tariff, and the final CO2 emitted due to the operations of the refrigerator would not be fully optimized. In this work, a method based on the Simulated Annealing optimization technique was proposed to identify the optimal working schedule of a cabinet refrigerator incorporating a PCM to reduce its indirect carbon emissions. Data from countries with different representative carbon intensity profiles were used. The normalized standard deviation and normalized range are the best statistical indexes to predict carbon emission reduction in the proposed solution. These parameters proved that countries with a higher hourly carbon intensity variation (Uruguay, France, Denmark, and Germany) benefit from the application of the algorithm. Cost and carbon emission reduction cannot be maximized simultaneously, and a trade-off is required.

A Carbon Emission Calculation Model for Roadside Parking

With the sustained and rapid development of China’s national economy, the number of motor vehicles owned by families in cities is rapidly growing. Consequently, problems of traffic congestion and air pollution have also appeared in these cities. Roadside parking traffic has also become an important part of the transportation system in cities. However, there is no specific measurement model for carbon emissions caused by roadside parking in the proposed traffic carbon emission model. Therefore, we aim to establish a carbon emission measurement model for roadside parking. In this paper, we first study the characteristics of the deceleration and maneuvering of parking vehicles and the blocking impact on running vehicles in a typical roadside parking scenario. We then establish and fit models of the direct and indirect carbon emissions during roadside parking. Based on the carbon emission model, we propose a calculation method for roadside parking carbon emissions, including accounting and estimation methods. These models can be used to calculate the carbon emissions from roadside parking in a traffic carbon emissions system. We also hope that these models will help future research on the optimization of roadside parking facilities for energy saving and emission reduction.

Forecast of the time lag effect of carbon emissions based on a temporal input-output approach

This paper investigates the time lag effect of carbon emissions using a novel temporal input-output approach (TIO). The sectoral average production time of various sectors is evaluated based on the turnover rate data of 3394 listed companies in China’s A-share market. Then, a polynomial function is developed to fit the indirect carbon emissions and time lag at each consumption stage in the industrial chains. Finally, an empirical study is carried out to forecast the time lag effect of carbon emissions with final demand fluctuations based on the latest 2017 input-output table for China. The results show that indirect carbon emissions caused by sectoral economic activities decline stage by stage in the industrial chains, and the decline rate and time lag intensity vary significantly among sectors. The logistics industry has the highest spread efficiency for indirect carbon emissions in the industrial chains, and the construction industry is the first industry affected by the indirect carbon emissions caused by the manufacturing industry. The power/thermal industry’s impact on China’s carbon emissions is the fastest, but its duration is the shortest, while the impact of the manufacturing and mining industries are more stable and durable. However, considering the fluctuations in final demand, the manufacturing industry has replaced the power/thermal industry as the most important industry affecting the time lag effect of China’s carbon emissions. This study provides important theoretical and practical value for indirect carbon emissions forecasting.

Outsourcing Climate Change

This paper exploits newly available information on firms' direct (own production) and indirect (supplier-generated) carbon emission intensities and transaction-level imports to conduct an in-depth analysis of whether and how U.S. firms address climate change. We find robust evidence that U.S. firms' imports amplify the substitutional relationship between their direct and indirect carbon emissions, suggesting that these firms outsource part of their pollution to suppliers overseas. Our key evidence is further substantiated by quasi-natural experiments associated with demand and supply shocks to emissions. We also show that firms, management, and directors with desires to maintain high environmental standings and environmentally-conscious customers and investors play a role in corporate environmental policies. Finally, firms with more imported emissions tend to have higher reputational risks and larger future stock returns but are less incentivized to develop clean technologies.