Low-carbon Consumption Research Articles

Nudging low-carbon consumption through advertising and social norms

Widespread advertising of high-carbon goods challenges a shift to low-carbon consumption which is needed to limit climate change. We test the pure and combined effects of advertising and communicating a social norm on low- and high-carbon consumption. This involved presenting to 2728 US citizens an imitation Facebook homepage containing green and non-green advertising as well as weak and strong social norms to nudge low-carbon consumption. In isolation, both green advertising and social norms were effective in promoting low-carbon choices. But when combined, advertising dominated choice and counteracted the positive effects of the social norm. We show that this result is due to advertising affecting more decision channels than the social norm. It suggests that low-carbon norms have a limited effectiveness in changing consumer preferences in a world dominated by advertising.

Comparison of the Start-up and Long-term Operation Characteristics of floc sludge and biofilm Integrated Anammox Reactors

<p>Integrated anammox process has competitive advantages of low energy and carbon consumption in nitrogen removal. Because of the coupling of partial nitrification and anammox process, complex physicochemical and biological interactions occur in integrated anammox reactors, and long-term operation might change the characteristics which is seldom reported in previous studies. In this study, a floc sludge bioreactor and a MBBR reactor were investigated for more than 450 days and compared from the startup to stable operation. The results showed that flocs aggregated into biofilms first and granulated after being detached artificially in the suspended sludge system, which provided solid evidence that the sludge granulation can be achieved by operational control in a continuous flow reactor. In the MBBR reactor, inhibiting Nitrate Oxidizing Bacteria (NOB ) was more difficult due to biofilm protection, and the total nitrogen removal rate was restricted by aeration. The biofilm and granular sludge samples in the reactors were analyzed by metagenomic sequencing, and the results revealed that the abundance of anammox was higher in the biofilm, while the NOB was inhibited greater in the granular sample. This study provides an in-depth understanding the mechanism of anammox process and broaden the feasibility of its application.</p>

Consumers' attitudes toward low-carbon consumption based on a computational model: Evidence from China

The COP26 conference emphasized the “shift from commitment to action”, and the Chinese government has actively issued a series of policies related to the low-carbon economy, which have impacted Chinese consumers' attitudes toward low-carbon consumption. However, one of the current challenges is the perspectives used to understand attitudes toward low carbon consumption vary, and the research methodology relies heavily on traditional methods with a time lag. This paper presents a computational model that combines Sentiment Classification (SC), the Latent Dirichlet Allocation (LDA) model, and VOSviewer clustering to show persuasive topics from consumers. We illustrate the validity of the model and apply it to new energy vehicle posts from social media platforms (e.g., Zhihu) between January 2022 and March 2022. Finally, we observe 14 clusters with sentiment and find that consumers' attitudes are polarized, positive stakeholders consider the long-term development and macroscopic aspects, while negative stakeholders believe that there are real problems with new energy vehicles, especially batteries and charging, and then we provide some suggestions to the government, manufacturers, and investors.

Advance selling of uncertain demand in low-carbon supply chain

PurposeThe development of low-carbon production is impeded by the investment costs of green technology research and development (R&D) and carbon emission reduction while facing the uncertain risk of emission reduction investment. With the government's carbon emission constraints, green manufacturers implement the advance selling strategy to increase both profit and reduction level. However, few studies consider the consumer's green preference and emission constraints in advance selling market and spot market independently. The authors' paper investigates the optimal strategies of advance selling pricing and reduction effort for green manufacturers to maximize profits.Design/methodology/approachThe authors' paper designs a stochastic model and investigates the manufacturer's optimal strategies of advance selling price and emission reduction efforts by categorizing different purchasing periods of low-carbon consumers. With the challenges of uncertain demand and government's emission constraints, the authors' develop the non-linear optimization model to investigate the manufacturer's profit-oriented decisions.FindingsThe results show the government's carbon constraints cannot influence the manufacturer's profit, but the consumer's low-carbon preference in the advance selling period can. Interestingly, the manufacturer will make fewer reduction efforts even when the consumers have stronger environmental awareness. In addition, the increasing consumer price sensitivity will exacerbate the profit loss from mandatory emissions reduction. Overall, for achieving a win–win situation between emission reduction and profit growth, green manufacturers should not only consider the sales strategies, market demand, and government constraints in a low-carbon market, but also pay attention to the uncertainty of green technology innovation.Originality/valueWith the consideration of the government's carbon emission constraints, uncertain demand, and low-carbon consumer's preferences, the authors' study innovatively incorporates the joint impacts of advance selling strategy and emission reduction effort strategy and then differentiates between two cases that pertain to the diverse carbon emission regulations.

Impact of Tourists’ Perceived Value and Sense of Social Responsibility on the Low-Carbon Consumption Behavior Intention: A Case Study of Zhangjiajie National Forest Park

People’s increasing attention towards environmental issues and carbon emission level per capita of consumption has made the influencing factors of low-carbon consumption behavior a research hotspot. In this study, a random sample of tourists in Zhangjiajie National Forest Park in China were surveyed by questionnaire to examine the impact of tourists’ perceived value and sense of social responsibility on the low-carbon consumption behavior intention. Results suggest that tourists’ perceived value has a direct and significant positive effect on the sense of social responsibility and low-carbon consumption behavior intention. Tourists’ sense of social responsibility demonstrates a significant positive impact on consumption attitude, with the latter having a positive impact on tourists’ low-carbon consumption behavior intention. A sense of social responsibility and the consumption attitude are found to play an important intermediary role between perceived value and tourists’ low-carbon consumption behavior intention. Some suggestions for managing and promoting tourists’ low-carbon consumption behavior intention are also put forward in this paper.

Empirical analysis of the role of the environmental accountability system in energy conservation and emission reduction in China

Many developing countries are facing the difficulty of choosing between economic growth and energy conservation and emission reduction (ECER). China has strengthened the implementation of ECER by setting environmental accountability as the development goal of local governments, hoping to have better governance effects. To evaluate the actual intervention effect of this approach, this paper constructs panel data covering 46 countries from 1995 to 2014 and uses the difference-in-differences (DID) method and the composite control method to quantitatively analyse the policy effect. The results show that China can effectively curb energy consumption and carbon emission intensity per unit of GDP by adding ECER targets to the government’s five-year plan, which has significant effects on ECER. Furthermore, we use an intermediary mechanism to test and identify low-carbon alternatives and an ECER promotion mechanism for technological advancement. The conclusion shows that economic development is compatible with low carbon and energy consumption. Combined with China’s long-term goals for ECER, it can be considered that on the road to achieving carbon peaking and carbon neutrality in the future, the economy and tertiary industry should be rationally developed, the degree of urbanization should receive more attention, and the proportion of thermal power generation should be reduced.

Reuse of vitrified argon oxygen decarburization slag as supplementary cementitious materials: Comprehensive performance and chromium immobilization mechanism

• The virified AOD slag with CaO/(SiO 2 + Al 2 O 3 ) = 0.82 has the higher [SiO 4 ] depolymerization and reactive silicate network. • The vitrified AOD slag based cementitious material reaches to 52.5R strength level of Portland cement. • Higher polymerization degree of glass owning stronger chromium immobilization ability. • Chromium can be physical encapsulated in cementitious material with denser microstructure and higher hydration degree. Using vitrified argon oxygen decarburization (AOD) slag as a supplementary cementitious materials (SCM) provides low carbon consumption and improved slag recycling. We investigated vitrified AOD slags with fly ash (FA) as the SCM. The results show that the vitrified AOD slag with CaO/(SiO 2 + Al 2 O 3 ) = 0.82 has the highest [SiO 4 ] depolymerization. The cementitious materials (CM) dosage with this slag reaches the 52.5R strength level of Portland cement. The chromium can be physically encapsulated in CM with denser microstructures and higher hydration degrees. The amount of chromium leaching from the vitrified AOD slag and CM meet the industrial requirements. Thus, vitrified AOD slag is a promising SCM.

Urban Low-Carbon Consumption Performance Assessment: A Case Study of Yangtze River Delta Cities, China

Urban low carbonization has been an essential element in China’s carbon peak and carbon neutrality strategies. An assessment of urban low-carbon performance could provide valuable information for monitoring and guiding the low-carbon transition in cities. However, due to cross-regional carbon transfer, the actual level of achievement would be masked, if the assessment was based only on a production-based index such as carbon emission intensity (CEI). Focusing, instead, on consumption-based low-carbon performance, this study calculated levels of urban carbon consumption intensity (CCI) based on city-level carbon footprint accounting, investigated the patterns and drivers of changes in CCI of 26 Yangtze River Delta (YRD) cities from 2012 to 2015, and conducted a comparative analysis of CEI and CCI data from both static and dynamic viewpoints. It was found that the CCI of YRD cities decreased from 1.254 to 1.153 over the period. Cities at higher economic levels were found to have lower CCI values. Decomposition results show that shifts in production structure, intensity of emissions and changing consumption patterns contributed to the decline in CCI of the YRD area. Richer cities were found to show greater declines in CCI due to decarbonizing structures in production and consumption. The comparative results show that although the CEI and CCI of cities were generally correlated in both static level and dynamic change, the net carbon transfer impacted the correlation sensitivity between various cities. Finally, our findings provide practical guidance on achieving coordinated emission reductions at an inter-city level from both production and consumption perspectives.

Energy, exergy and economy (3E) investigation of a SOFC-GT-ORC waste heat recovery system for green power ships

Ships are moving land in the vast ocean and are an indispensable means of transportation for humanity. At present, green power systems and low-carbon fuels are the development trend of energy-saving, emission-reduction, and low-carbon consumption of green ships. However, existing ships have many waste heat emissions and considerable noise pollution from shipboard electromechanical equipment. Based on the above issues, this study combined SOFC (Solid Oxide Fuel Cells) with a GT (Gas Turbine) and ORC (Organic Rankine Cycle). It proposed a waste heat-driven composite energy recovery system for the green power ships. Based on the feasibility analysis of single SOFC performance and waste heat utilization, combined with GT-ORC system, the thermodynamic model construction, working medium selection, energy, exergy and economy (3E) analysis of the whole system are carried out. The result shows that among the effective energy destruction of the entire system, the endogenous effective energy loss accounts for 89.73%. The avoidable-endogenous energy destruction of GT accounted for 92.95%, which has a significant improvement in saving space. The investment cost of heat exchanger accounts for the highest proportion, which is 22.62%. Therefore, it is necessary to focus on strengthening the heat exchange process to reduce the investment cost. The evaporative pressure and isentropic efficiency seriously affect the investment ratio of the system, in which the investment of expander and working medium pump increases by 34.6% and 153.3%, respectively, within the allowable working conditions.

Promotion Strategy of Low-Carbon Consumption of Fresh Food Based on Willingness Behavior

The research on the influencing factors of residents’ low-carbon consumption willingness and low-carbon consumption behavior of fresh food has certain practical guiding significance. Existing studies have analyzed the low-carbon consumption willingness, but the factors considered are not comprehensive and the degree of fit needs to be improved. Therefore, this paper starts with 37 variables from six aspects: demographic factors, psychological factors, low-carbon related knowledge, external factors, policy norms, and product factors. The binary logistic model is used to carry out regression analysis on low-carbon consumption willingness and low-carbon consumption behavior, and the fitting degree is higher and reaches about 90%. The regression results show that sense of responsibility, government tax, low-carbon product quality, and low-carbon product price have a significant impact on residents’ low-carbon consumption willingness. Whether there are fake and shoddy products in the market and whether the products are really of low carbon have a significant impact on low-carbon consumption behavior. Finally, starting from the three subjects of government, enterprises, and residents, this paper puts forward targeted suggestions to improve residents’ low-carbon consumption willingness and promote residents’ low-carbon consumption behavior, in order to promote low-carbon consumption.

Determinants of Proactive Low-Carbon Consumption Behaviors: Insights from Urban Residents in Eastern China.

Proactive low-carbon consumption behaviors (PLCBs) are crucial to achieving carbon neutrality and identifying motivations for PLCBs is indispensable to changing individual consumption patterns. This study establishes a model by incorporating individual–group-level factors with psychological empowerment perception. The ordinary least-squares regression model was applied to identify the influencing factors of PLCBs with data collected from 1732 urban residents in eastern China. Results show that PLCBs are positively influenced by normative internalization, learning capacity, symbol concern, expertise level, and an environmentalism culture. In particular, the effect of learning capacity is the largest, with an influence coefficient of 0.271. A negative impact is observed between the consumerism culture and PLCBs. Moreover, psychological empowerment perception partly medicated the association between individual–group-level factors and PLCBs, and the maximum ratio of mediating effect to the full impact is 62.64%. The study sheds light on low-carbon-related behavioral management, and recommendations to promote PLCBs are further proposed.

Analysis of the Influence Mechanism of Low-Carbon Consumption Behavior in Beijing, China

Abstract The daily consumption pattern of residents has an important influence on energy conservation and emission reduction, and tackling climate change. It is an important task for theoretical researchers and policy makers to guide and encourage residents to transform low-carbon consumption pattern. Based on the questionnaire survey, the structural equation model was established to explore the individual psychological factors and external factors which affect residents' low-carbon consumption behavior. Bootstrap method was used to explore and test the mediating effect of pre-variables. The discrepancies of different characteristic groups were analyzed by independent sample T test. The results showed that behavioral intention and low-carbon knowledge directly promoted residents' low-carbon consumption behavior. Psychological variables such as values, subjective norms and perceived behavioral control advanced residents’ low-carbon consumption behavior through behavioral intention. Policies and regulations affected residents’ low-carbon consumption behavior by individual psychological variables. Publicity and education could directly facilitate residents' low-carbon consumption behavior, and had a significant effect on behavior by improving the knowledge of low-carbon. Groups with different gender, age, educational background, family structure and monthly household income had a prominent discrepancy in low-carbon performance. On this basis, it provided targeted policy ideas for the government to guide residents to convert low-carbon lifestyle and consumption pattern. JEL classification numbers: Q54, Q56, D12. Keywords: Low-carbon consumption behavior, Psychological consciousness, Policies and regulations, Structural equation model, Mediating effect analysis.

Simulating the impact of demand-side policies on low-carbon technology diffusion: A demand-supply coevolutionary model

Alleviating the pressure of climate and energy calls for an improved understanding of how policy interventions influence the diffusion of low-carbon technologies (LCTs) among enterprises. With the rapid convergence of supply-side policy effects, implementing demand-side policies to drive LCT diffusion may be a promising area for carbon abatement action. This study proposes a demand-supply coevolutionary model embedded in two-layer network is to capture the LCT diffusion among supply-side enterprises and low-carbon consumption diffusion among demand-side consumers. Using this model, we simulate the effects of demand-side policies, including public procurement, financial incentives for consumers, public information dissemination, and policy mixes combined with these instruments on LCT diffusion. The results show that public procurement can effectively facilitate LCT diffusion and restrain the magnitudes of market fluctuations caused by demand-side dynamics in the diffusion process. The high consumer incentives facilitate the rapid diffusion of LCTs, but there are noticeable diminishing marginal effects; even if subsidies are only used on the demand side, the promotion effect on LCT can still be achieved through the demand-supply interaction. Furthermore, the public information dissemination improves LCT diffusion and stabilizes the adaptive behavior of enterprises, but its time-lag effect leads to the pattern of “hot policies and cold markets.” The introduction of policy mixes verifies these findings and reveals that although the public information dissemination is constrained by other policies, it may still be the premise of large-scale LCT diffusion. This study develops a valuable framework that enriches the modeling practice of LCT and provides insights for implementing well-designed policy packages.

Low-Carbon Literacy of Exhibitors in the Exhibition Industry in China

While low-carbon and environmentally friendly construction by the exhibition industry has gradually improved, there is a lack of relevant research on whether exhibition-relevant personnel have corresponding low-carbon knowledge, attitudes, and behaviours to jointly assume the responsibility of developing low-carbon exhibitions. This research draws on the literature regarding low-carbon literacy and applies it to the exhibition industry to preliminarily assess the level of low-carbon literacy in China. A questionnaire was formulated through expert surveys and a pre-test. During the formal investigation, 412 valid questionnaires were obtained from exhibitors at seven Chinese exhibition events. The results revealed seven important dimensions of low-carbon literacy in exhibitions, namely, altruistic behaviour, values, low-carbon sensitivity, locus of control, low-carbon knowledge, low-carbon consumption, and action strategies. Low-carbon knowledge and low-carbon sensitivity ranked at the bottom, and middle- and high-level managers and exhibitors with large booth areas exhibited relatively insufficient performance regarding some low-carbon literacy factors. Based on the results, insights for exhibition management and future research directions are proposed in this paper.

Pricing research for automotive supply chains considering low-carbon consumer preferences under a dual policy

PurposeThe promotion of new energy vehicles (EVs) is an effective way to achieve low carbon emission reduction. This paper aims to investigate the optimal pricing of automotive supply chain members in the context of dual policy implementation while considering consumers' low-carbon preferences.Design/methodology/approachThis article takes manufacturers, retailers and consumers in a main three-level supply chain as the research object. Stackelberg game theory is used as the theoretical guidance. A game model in which the manufacturer is the leader and the retailer is the follower is established. The author also considered the impact of carbon tax policies, subsidy policies and consumer preferences on the results. Furthermore, the author investigates the optimal decision-making problem under the profit maximization model.FindingsThrough model solving, it is found that the pricing of EVs is positively correlated with the unit price of carbon and the amount of subsidies. The following conclusions can be obtained by numerical analysis of each parameter. Changes in carbon prices have a greater impact on conventional gasoline vehicles. Based on the numerical analysis of parameter β, it is also found that when the government subsidizes consumers, supply chain members will increase their prices to obtain partial subsidies. Compared with retailers, low-carbon preferences have a greater impact on manufacturers.Research limitations/implicationsThe new energy automobile industry involves many policies, including tax cuts, tax exemptions and subsidies. The policy environment faced by the members of a supply chain is complex and diverse. Therefore, the analysis in this article is based only on partial policies.Originality/valueThe authors innovatively combine the three factors of subsidy policy, carbon tax policy and consumer low-carbon preference, with research on the pricing of EVs. The influence of policy factors and consumer preferences on the pricing of EVs is studied.

A study on the Low Carbon Consumption Behavior of College Students

In recent years, the rapid development of the global economy has led to problems such as resource depletion and environmental degradation. For the sustainability of our development, this requires us to develop low-carbon consumption while developing a low-carbon economy. Therefore, this article takes Ludong University’s student groups at all levels as the research object, analyzes which factors affect the low-carbon consumption behavior of college students, and then puts forward suggestions for the problems that college students have in low-carbon consumption, so that it can regulate and lead the society The group’s low-carbon consumption behavior accelerates the construction of China’s low-carbon consumption model.This paper first clarifies the definition of low-carbon economy and low-carbon consumption; secondly, it carries out a questionnaire on the consumption behavior of students at all levels in Ludong University, and analyzes the current consumption situation of college students through the data obtained from the questionnaire; finally, it establishes the return model of low-carbon consumption behavior of College Students and obtains the disposable income, gender, herd mentality, social responsibility and individual every month The six factors of consumption view and low-carbon consumption have a positive and significant impact on College Students’ low-carbon consumption behavior.Finally, according to the problems of College Students’ low-carbon consumption behavior, this paper puts forward several methods: first, to cultivate college students’ sense of social responsibility; second, to create a good low-carbon consumption environment atmosphere; third, to carry out low-carbon consumption education activities; fourth, to carry out low-carbon environmental protection extracurricular activities.

Ant Forest - China's low-carbon consumption practices driven by a community currency mechanism

Ant Forest - China's low-carbon consumption practices driven by a community currency mechanism

Promoting Low-Carbon Consumption from Social Norms Perspective

Promoting Low-Carbon Consumption from Social Norms Perspective

A New Perspective to Promote Sustainable Low-Carbon Consumption: The Influence of Informational Incentive and Social Influence

A New Perspective to Promote Sustainable Low-Carbon Consumption: The Influence of Informational Incentive and Social Influence

Nudging Low-Carbon Consumption Through Advertising and Social Norms

Nudging Low-Carbon Consumption Through Advertising and Social Norms