Low-carbon Management Research Articles

Carbon risk management and corporate competitive advantages: “Differential promotion” or “cost hindrance”?

AbstractGiven the strengthening of carbon regulations and the launch of emission trading scheme in China, companies are facing tremendous pressure to reduce carbon emissions, suggesting the necessity of understanding whether carbon risk management may affect corporate financial benefits. Therefore, this paper empirically demonstrates the influence of carbon risk management on corporate competitive advantages. We find that the relationship between carbon risk management and corporate competitive advantages is a “kuznets curve” that exists only among firms with weak product competition. And this relationship tends to be weakened in firms with a distant administrative hierarchy. We conclude that the influence of low carbon management on corporate competitive advantages is complicated and subject to the firm's political relevance.

Defining competences for future geography students in relation to low carbon societies

ABSTRACTThis paper presents the results of an analysis of the most important skills and competences that will be important in the coming years for future geographers involved in assessing and managing low-carbon societies. The analysed information was extracted from a questionnaire answered by professionals working in low-carbon management in three European countries (Finland, Poland and Catalonia, Spain). From the results, we have identified not only the most requisite abilities and skills, but also differences between countries on a European scale. Among the findings, we would highlight the general agreement that “soft skills”, as opposed to “hard skills”, are critical for future professionals addressing policies in relation to low carbon societies.

Environmental and Energy Assessment of Municipal Wastewater Treatment Plants in Italy and Romania: A Comparative Study

Municipal wastewater treatment plants (MWWTPs) are essential infrastructures in any urban context, but they may be considered as a potential source of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and should be coherent with European Union (EU) policy on energy efficiency. This study presents a sustainability evaluation of four Italian and Romanian MWWTPs in terms of energy efficiency and greenhouse gas emissions using Energy Performance and Carbon Emissions Assessment and Monitoring (ECAM) tool software. The obtained results indicated that biogas recovery improved energy performances, while the largest contributions in terms of GHG emissions were in all cases caused by energy consumption and methane produced during wastewater treatment. The Romanian plants exhibited higher GHG emissions, compared to the Italian plants, mainly because of the different values of national conversion factors for grid electricity (0.41 kg CO2/kWh for Italy and 1.07 kg CO2/kWh for Romania). Two scenarios aimed at enhancing the overall sustainability were hypothesized, based on increasing the serviced population or energy efficiency, achieving significant improvements. A sustainability assessment of MWWTPs should be adopted as a useful tool to help water utilities to introduce low-energy, low-carbon management practices as well as being useful for policy recommendations.

Integrated evaluation of energy and emission reduction potential and management strategies for urban road systems

Solving the problems of high energy consumption and high emissions generated by the urban road systems is of great importance for the construction of low-carbon cities. Several tools have been developed to establish a method to evaluate the carbon emission related to the life cycle of road pavements. However, the lack of key basic data such as energy consumption, pollutants and carbon emissions, and accurate management policies have hindered the transition of urban roads to clean, low-carbon systems. The HERMES project aims to compile long-term dynamic inventory of urban road energy consumption and environmental emissions and build a life cycle model. The Data Envelopment Analysis model will be used to predict the energy saving and emission reduction potential of urban roads depending on the technological solution, establish a multi-criteria evaluation system that includes energy, environment, and economic parameters, identify the best available technological solution in different cities, and propose a more targeted and effective clean low-carbon management policies. The study will provide an accurate understanding of the environmental impact of urban roads in China and Europe, evaluate the potential for energy saving and emission reduction, and provide theoretical data and decision-making reference for a clean, low-carbon transition.

Who are the low-carbon activists? Analysis of the influence mechanism and group characteristics of low-carbon behavior in Tianjin, China

Individual low-carbon behavior plays an important role in reducing carbon emissions and improving the ecological health of the environment. This study explored the factors that influence individuals' low-carbon behavior and the variations between different groups. A questionnaire measuring seven dimensions (including low-carbon awareness, low-carbon knowledge, personal norms, social norms, situational factors, private low-carbon behavior, and public low-carbon behavior) was distributed to the residents of Tianjin, yielding 418 valid responses. The results indicated that low-carbon awareness, low-carbon knowledge, personal norms, social norms, and situational factors had an impact on residents' low-carbon behavior. In particular, the level of public low-carbon behavior was higher than private low-carbon behavior. Second, by exploring the effects of situational factors on residents' low-carbon behaviors, we found that situational factors inhibited both private and public low-carbon behaviors. Third, in different groups based on age, gender, income, education, and other variables there were differences in impact effects. This research has significant potential for guiding residents' low-carbon behavior and improving low-carbon management.

Technical training and rice farmers’ adoption of low-carbon management practices: The case of soil testing and formulated fertilization technologies in Hubei, China

More than a decade ago, the Chinese government created several agricultural programs with the objective to promote food security and to foster environmental sustainability via the adoption of more eco-conscious practices in agriculture. While the overall application rate of chemical fertilizer has significantly declined, the adoption of low-carbon technologies promoted through these initiatives remains relative low—partly due to the lack of a wide-reaching systems to implement the recommended practices and farmers' lack of awareness and knowledge about the technologies. The purpose of this study is to examine the impact of technical training on low-carbon management practices, specifically on the adoption of soil testing and formulated fertilization technologies. We hypothesize that technical training and education facilitates the adoption of promoted technologies. Data for this research come from a random sample of 1115 rice farmers in Hubei, China. Using a logistic regression, we empirically examine the effect of having received formal technical training within the last 12 months on the likelihood of adopting low-carbon technologies. To account for potential heterogeneity and selection bias, we employ counterfactual framework and propensity score matching and estimate the average treatment effect for those who have received formal technical training. Our results revealed a positive and significant association between formal technical training and rice farmers’ adoption of low-carbon technologies, with an average treatment effect of 0.2078. Males, younger farmers, and members of agricultural cooperatives were more likely to adopt soil testing and formulated fertilization technologies. Further, a gender analysis, conducted only with those who indicated having received technical training on low-carbon technologies, showed that trained females were more prone to adopt these technologies than trained males. Our findings provide and discuss meaningful implications for the development of future efforts to promote the adoption of low-carbon agricultural technologies in China.

Special issue: Low-carbon management

Special issue: Low-carbon management

Comprehensive analysis on China’s National Climate Change Assessment Reports: Action and emphasis

Climate change assessment is central for low-carbon management practice. This paper investigates China’s National Climate Change Assessment Reports of 2007, 2011, and 2015. These three reports are compared with other climate change assessment reports by data mining. The necessity of national climate change assessment is analyzed with the requirements at home and abroad. The latest progress surrounding climate change impacts, adaptation, and mitigation is outlined with the increasing temperature rise in China and the urgency of climate change commitments. The achievements in climate change assessment indicate the increasing climate change vulnerability on sectors and regions in China and the strategies and priorities for low-carbon actions. Distinct gaps and differences are identified in the coverage of industry, regions, and vulnerability assessment between our assessments and other evaluation reports. These gaps and differences demonstrate the importance and future improvements of China’s national climate change assessment in international climate governance. The outlook for China’s fourth assessment report is proposed.

Research on the Payment for the Government-Driven Program of Low Carbon Agriculture

Research on the Payment for the Government-Driven Program of Low Carbon Agriculture

Low-carbon governance in China – Case study of low carbon industry park pilot

China is under the pressure of international climate change negotiation, domestic energy security and haze reduction. Replying to these pressures positively, China announced to reduce 40%–45% CO2 per unit Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 2020, 60%–65% CO2 per unit GDP in 2030 based on 2005 level, and to carry out ambitious reduction measures. To achieve this target, low-carbon governance is necessary. The central government expects to build low-carbon society and develop low-carbon economy through pilots. This paper analyzes the framework of low-carbon governance in China. The government plays a guidance role in the governance process which involves enterprises, NGOs and citizens. Different types of measures, policy tools and actions have been implemented as response to the pressure. The governance can be achieved through the integration of technical, spatial and social pathways.The paper analyzes the framework by using Suzhou Industry Park (SIP) as case study which is a very important part of low carbon management of cities. Although the total CO2 amount in the Park has increased, its CO2 intensity per unit GDP has been reduced in recent years after the efforts made by its Park Council and enterprisers. The policy implementation indicates that the guidance role of local governments and the process are still based on a top-down management at park level, although the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) hopes to carry out pilot program and summarize experiences from a bottom-up mechanism. Target Responsibility System (TRS) is still the key working mechanism and makes contribution to the reduction of CO2 per unit GDP. The low-carbon governance experiences of SIP can be learned by other cities, while local government displays positive attitudes towards low-carbon practices.

Regional low-carbon timber logistics network design and management using multi-objective optimization

ABSTRACTWith the concern about environmental issues, supply chain designers and managers need to make trade-offs between the environmental impacts and costs of a logistics network. We develop a multi-objective optimization model that minimizes the total cost and CO2 emissions of a regional timber logistics network and seeks for the simultaneous optimization of logistics network design and operation. The generic model is applied to a case study in Jiangle County in China. The Pareto solution set, derived by applying the normalized normal constraint method, shows the relationship between carbon emissions and total cost. Our results reveal that both network structure and the allocations of timber flows have effects on the Pareto solutions, suggesting the importance of considering network design and management together in logistics network analysis. The model results also indicate that though the current carbon price is hard to trigger the change of the timber logistics network structure in Jiangle County, it can still be a driving force to push the decision-makers to implement lower carbon logistics plans. Additionally, sensitivity analysis shows that improving road conditions can remarkably reduce CO2 emissions in the logistics network and that maintaining an appropriate ratio of timber supply to demand can lead to some compromise between carbon emissions and total cost. These findings offer new insights into the trade-offs between the carbon emissions and total cost of the regional timber logistics network, which are of value to logistics network designers and managers as well as policy-makers in the study region and beyond.

Research on Low-carbon Mode Construction from the Perspective of Organizational Legitimacy

A conception model of enterprise low-carbon management legitimacy is explored through the theoretical deduction and three conclusions are put forward by the verification of case analysis Danfoss, GE and Hitachi. It is proved that the formation of low carbon enterprise management mode is a process of internal integration and external adaptation; As for the construction of internal enterprise low-carbon management builds in an order of low-carbon consciousness rating system-service-oriented production low carbon management ritual; Low-carbon management ritual is a continued activation process, the formulation of which should experience a long term with the cognitive schemata, low-carbon action framework, low-carbon production process and low-carbon product design.

Application research on big data in energy conservation and emission reduction of transportation industry

In the context of big data age, the energy conservation and emission reduction of transportation is a natural big data industry. The planning, management, decision-making of energy conservation and emission reduction of transportation and other aspects should be supported by the analysis and forecasting of large amounts of data. Now, with the development of information technology, such as intelligent city, sensor road and so on, information collection technology in the direction of the Internet of things gradually become popular. The 3G/4G network transmission technology develop rapidly, and a large number of energy conservation and emission reduction of transportation data is growing into a series with different ways. The government not only should be able to make good use of big data to solve the problem of energy conservation and emission reduction of transportation, but also to explore and use a large amount of data behind the hidden value. Based on the analysis of the basic characteristics and application technology of energy conservation and emission reduction of transportation data, this paper carries out its application research in energy conservation and emission reduction of transportation industry, so as to provide theoretical basis and reference value for low carbon management.

Construction and applied research of low-carbon building evaluation index system

Energy conservation in building is a key link on alleviating energy-deficient contradiction, improving the quality of human life environment, and realizing sustainable development in our country. In this paper, we construct low-carbon building evaluation index system and evaluation method from five aspects—low-carbon structure, low-carbon materials, low-carbon energy, low-carbon technology and low-carbon management. Finally, taking “Solar Valley” in Dezhou as an example, we make the evaluation to its situation of low-carbon building.

Low carbon development and local sustainability from a carbon balance perspective

Urbanization raises great challenges for global sustainability and natural resources. With the increasing carbon constraints in the context of climate change, the capacity of carbon sequestration becomes an important resource to address regional sustainable development. However, there is still a lack of an integrated methodology to evaluate urban sustainability within a local urbanization process from a carbon cycle perspective. This paper presents a new way of understanding regional sustainability, which assumes that the status of carbon balance is closely related to low carbon management and local sustainability. The concept of carbon neutral coefficient (CNC) is proposed based on the estimation of carbon emissions and sinks, which emphasizes the fundamental role of carbon sinks in achieving low carbon development and improving local sustainability. Taking Chongming Island (China), the largest alluvial island in the world, as a case study, carbon emissions and sinks are calculated respectively according to an integrated carbon inventory and local coefficients. From 2005–2013, a temporal-spatial variation of CNC was observed on Chongming Island, owing to the different growth rate of carbon emissions and sinks. Furthermore, a spatial variation of change of CNC was detected, caused by the imbalanced spatial distribution of carbon emissions and sinks. Remote Sensing based analysis shows that the change of land use and cover which was induced by human activities can greatly influence local carbon balance and sustainable development. It is also found that the CNC results can help explaining the positive impacts and limitations of ecological environment policies in Chongming Island during the same period. Consequently, the approach of carbon balance analysis serves as an additional tool for monitoring policy effectiveness, which contributes to the debate of sustainable carbon management for local sustainable development.

Research on the Imitation Path of Corporate Low-carbon ManagementA Multi-Case Analysis

Benchmarking imitation within the fields is feasible for the corporate low-carbon management. Three cases of Danfoss, GE and Hitachi were selected to conclude their way to realize the low-carbon management. For verification, semantic analysis, context graph and a causal state diagram is adopted for the multiple case duplications. It is verified that Imitation is especially suitable for the enterprise which is at the beginning of low-carbon management and in a puzzle for the management mode. Imitative isomorphism is an effective way for the spread of organizational legitimacy.

China's low carbon competitiveness: an assessment based on international comparison

Today, national competitiveness has evolved into the low carbon competitiveness. This paper attempts to assess China's low carbon competitiveness, measure the overall level of China's low carbon competitiveness based on international comparisons, and then offer some recommendations to improve China's low carbon competitiveness. Specially, it includes: 1) the concept of national low carbon competitiveness is defined; 2) a new national low carbon competitiveness index is designed, which is made up of two comprehensive indexes, national low carbon development ability and national low carbon constraints; 3) the corresponding evaluation system and calculation method are built. National low carbon development ability mainly includes the ability of national economic growth, the ability of national low carbon technology development and the ability of governmental low carbon management. And national low carbon constraints include saturating force of energy consumption and carbon emission, national environmental carrying capacity and national expansion capability of consumption; 4) 19 countries with relatively strong global competitiveness and international influence are selected for low carbon competitiveness assessment. The results show that China's low carbon competitiveness ranks 18 in the 19 countries; 5) several suggestions to enhance China's low carbon competitiveness are proposed.

DETERMINANTS OF CORPORATE CARBON EFFICIENCY: EVIDENCE FROM CDP 2011-2014 QUESTIONNAIRE FOR STANDARD & POOR'S 500 INDEX COMPANIES

Carbon efficiency has been used to measure the economic and environmental benefits of enterprises. Studies on the influencing factors of carbon efficiency significantly affect the optimization of low-carbon management system, enhancing low-carbon operations and achieving a low-carbon economy. In accordance with the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP), and with Standard & Poor's 500 Index (S&P 500) enterprises during 2011 2014 as the research sample, this paper analyzes the relationships between carbon efficiency and enterprise value, institutional environment, and capital market pressure. Results indicate that carbon efficiency exhibits a positive correlation with enterprise value, a negative correlation with institutional environment, and a weak correlation with financing and asset-liability ratio. Carbon efficiency is also influenced by internal and external factors, including social, economic, and market determinants.

Evaluating rural low-carbon communities: A study of Guangdong Province, China

As the Chinese economy has rapidly developed, energy consumption and carbon emissions in China’s rural areas have also steadily increased. Rural communities are the most important component of rural areas; as such, developing low-carbon communities will likely promote reductions in rural carbon emissions. As one of the low-carbon pilot provinces, Guangdong Province has gradually constructed low-carbon communities; however, neither the province nor China as a whole has established a system for evaluating different energy-related factors in rural low-carbon communities. Using real-world conditions in Guangdong Province, combined with the general parameters associated with low-carbon communities, this study evaluated six categorical factors: carbon reduction performance, low-carbon planning, energy consumption, low-carbon transportation, environment and resources, and low-carbon management and living. These categories were measured using several suitable indices according to the SMART principle. The baseline value corresponding to each index was determined by two zones: the Pearl River Delta zone and the non-Pearl River Delta zone. Each index weight was calculated using a method that combines a Monte Carlo simulation and an Analytical Hierarchy Process. Ultimately, one typical community was selected for a pilot evaluation. The sensitivity analysis of each index was conducted using the One-At-a-Time (OAT) method. Establishing this system is beneficial for promoting rural low-carbon communities construction in Guangdong Province, and supports system evaluation and adoption in rural low-carbon communities. This study’s system can also provide a reference case and experience for the Chinese government, as it establishes a system for evaluating rural low-carbon communities at the national level.

A Hybrid Life-Cycle Analysis and Two-Stage Stochastic Programming Model for Low-Carbon Management upon Urban Water Resources

Due to population growth and economic development, water demands for municipal, industrial, and agricultural users are increasing. It is a challenging and critical issue in water resources system to properly allocate and utilize water resources to satisfy the goals of different stakeholders and greenhouse gases mitigation. In this study, a hybrid life-cycle analysis and two-stage stochastic programming model was proposed to analyze the water-allocation strategies based on complicated urban water resource system. The hybrid model can effectively assess the low-carbon performance of an urban water resources system in the framework of life-cycle analysis. The environmental impacts and GHGs reduction of urban water resources were firstly considered as the objective and constraint for solving the water allocation problems. The results indicated that the firststage solutions of surface water conveyance of Dalian could be [3.83×10 8 , 8.25×10 8 ] in 2015, and [3.83×10 8 , 9.21×10 8 ] in 2020; Meanwhile, the first-stage solutions of surface water conveyance of Dalian could be [4.26×10 8 , 8.68×10 8 ] in 2015, and [5.35×10 8 , 10.7×10 8 ] in 2020.