Low-carbon Measures Research Articles

Technical and economic aspects of municipal energy planning

The present paper analyzes the technical and economic aspects of municipal energy planning, assessing the contribution coming from different energy-saving measures in terms of greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reduction, and estimating the local authorities' investment necessary to foster climate change mitigation. Results are based on three municipal energy plans developed for urban areas located in Marche Region with a number of inhabitants ranging from 5,000 to 100,000. Different aspects of municipal energy management connected to urban size have been investigated. The public administration role has been analyzed in detail in order to identify the determinant factors for municipal energy market involvement. Various opportunities and measures can be undertaken by municipalities to steer the energy system in the right direction, such as building codes, administration simplification, information campaigns and pilot projects aimed at reducing the public administration expenditure and also driving changes in the private sectors. The following barriers to municipal energy market participation have been identified: i) rules of municipal budgeting with debt limit, ii) difficult access to non-budgetary sources and iii) lack of human resources dedicated to energy-related issues. Several energy-saving measures have been analyzed for both public and private sectors such as: i) thermal insulation and introduction of photovoltaic (PV) power generation in schools, ii) introduction of micro-combined heat and power (CHP) system as well as geothermal energy in residential sector, iii) CHP systems in the industry sector. Factors suitable for the analysis of urban areas characterized by similar parameters (climate condition, urban density, socio-economic indexes) have been found out. Results reveal that an efficient local energy planning is able to achieve, at least, a 10% reduction of the energy demand, thus helping the achievement of the ambitious EU's 2020 targets. In particular, the main contribution is expected to come from low-carbon measures in the industry and residential sector.

A Low Carbon City Action Plan for one of China’s Low Carbon Pilot Cities

In Chinese cities urbanization, industrialization and a changing life style of the population are driving growing energy consumption in buildings, industries and transportation and an increase in CO2 emissions. Facing these challenges, the National Development and Reform Commission has recognised an urgent need for transformation and designated 8 Cities and 5 Provinces in China to pioneer the planning and implementation of concrete low carbon measures, aiming to decrease the CO2 intensity of the economic development, to increase the energy efficiency of urban systems and to improve the quality of life in growing urban regions. In this context, a Sino-Austrian cooperation has been initiated between the Development and Reform Commission of Nanchang, one of the 8 selected Low Carbon Pilot Cities, and the Austrian Institute of Technology to develop a comprehensive set of Low Carbon City Measures and a Low Carbon City Action Plan, proposing specific technological and non-technological measures and concrete actions, capable of introducing important impulses targeting the increase of energy efficiency and the reduction of CO2 emissions in Nanchang. A team of experts has developed an integrated Low Carbon City Action Plan, including sectors such as buildings, energy supply and consumption, industries, transportation, agriculture and urban planning.

Thailand's low-carbon scenario 2030: Analyses of demand side CO 2 mitigation options

This paper presents the possibility for Thailand to become a low-carbon society (LCS). The methodology involves development of current CO 2emission inventory, and quantification of socio-economic activity level in 2030. In this study, the increase of CO 2 emissions is estimated based on i) 2030 BAU (business-as-usual) without mitigation measures, and ii) 2030 CM (climate change mitigation measures) assumptions of employed demand-side technologies as well as the potential to reduce the CO 2 emissions by low-carbon measures available during 2005–2030. In this study, only selected climate change mitigation options, which have been found to be cost effective, are included in the 2030 CM scenario. Several comprehensive demand-side measures such as diffusion of low-carbon technologies in the residential sector, energy efficient buildings, energy efficient industry and fuel switching, and fuel substitution in the transport sector are proposed. Results show that i) the annual CO 2 emissions in the base year of 2005 are 185,983 kilo-ton (kt) of CO 2, ii) under the scenario without climate change mitigation measures (the BAU scenario), year 2030 CO 2 emissions would increase to 563,730 kt-CO 2 or 3.03 times that of the base year 2005, and iii) by adopting the selected climate change mitigation measures, CO 2 emissions can be decreased approximately 28.4% compared to the 2030 BAU scenario, i.e. to 403,642 kt-CO 2. The research findings hope to contribute to sustainable energy and environmental transition of Thailand, one of the fastest growing economies in Southeast Asia, towards a Thai low carbon society.

Measures to Reduce Carbon Dioxide Emission of China Cement Industry

Cement industry bear the brunt in the tide of resisting global warming because of large carbon dioxide emission. Five low-carbon measures and implementation approach to Chinese cement industry was put forward: Increasing industrial concentration degree and developing new dry process cement; Processing waste in cement kilns and reducing the use of raw materials and fuels; Increasing the amount of admixture in cement; Producing cement from calcium oxide content solid waste; Taking energy-saving measures such as cogeneration and grinding technology.

A Study on Urban Low-Carbon Landscape Construction

The landscape industry has become one of the industries with higher resource and energy consumption, and the implementation of urban low-carbon landscape construction is of great significance to improve the ecological environment. In this study, the method of low-carbon landscape construction was studied from two aspects including the carbon source control and carbon sink, as well as both direct and indirect effect. The results showed that the low-carbon landscape construction can be controlled from five aspects including landscape planning, landscape design, low-carbon landscape technology, low-carbon landscape behavior and low-carbon policy. Through a series of low-carbon measures, carbon emissions can be controlled at a reasonable level during the urban landscape construction, which also promotes the sustainable development of urban ecological environment.