Low-carbon Programs Research Articles

Community Participation in Low Carbon Lifestyle Programs in Kuala Lumpur -

This paper explores community engagement in Kuala Lumpur's Low Carbon Lifestyle (LCL) programs, led by Local Agenda 21 Kuala Lumpur (LA21KL). It focuses on how community participation can advance the city's goal of achieving zero carbon emissions by 2050. Through qualitative research and in-depth interviews, the study highlights three themes: Empowering Community Participation, Strengthening Engagement in Low Carbon Programs, and Green Urban Governance. It emphasises the need for increased awareness of the benefits of LCL programs to strengthen community involvement. Strategies like developing local champions are essential for successfully implementing these initiatives.

Poison or catalyst? How do energy saving targets matter for firm-level productivity in China

China’s Top-10000 Enterprises Energy Conservation and Low Carbon Program, enacted in 2011, sets binding energy saving targets for enterprises. However, whether energy saving target setting is a poison or a catalyst remains controversial, and no research has been conducted on how the targets affect enterprises’ total factor productivity. We construct 2012–2013 panel data models by mapping the enterprises subject to the energy saving targets onto the China Industrial Enterprise Database to systematically quantify the effects of the targets on enterprises’ total factor productivity. The study reveals an inverted-U-shaped curve between energy saving targets and manufacturers’ total factor productivity. We also find that the targets boost an enterprise’s total factor productivity by expanding the enterprise’s market share and their impacts vary according to region, type of enterprise, and industry. The study shows that setting appropriate energy saving targets can improve the environment and boost enterprise productivity.

Can Low–Carbon City Development Stimulate Population Growth? Insights from China’s Low–Carbon Pilot Program

In line with global trends, China confronts significant environmental challenges while navigating critical shifts in its population dynamics. The low–carbon pilot program, initiated in China in 2010 and spanning over 100 cities, is dedicated to reducing carbon emissions while facilitating robust economic growth. However, the program’s impact on population growth has remained uncertain. Employing a quasi–natural experiment and the Difference–in–Difference method, this study reveals a positive association between the program and population growth. The analysis of mediating effects indicates that the program potentially stimulates population growth by attracting more Investment and reducing exhaust emissions. Nevertheless, there is a lack of evidence supporting its ability to enhance population growth through the promotion of household income. Further investigation reveals a diminishing effect of the program on population growth as cities transition from eastern to middle to western regions. Notably, no substantial heterogeneity is observed concerning the impact of GDP per capita on population growth. This research contributes empirical insights into the relationship between low–carbon programs and population growth, offering valuable guidance to municipalities seeking to bolster their populations. The potency of these strategies can be augmented by attracting investment and enhancing air quality, in contrast to a sole focus on income levels. Ultimately, the study provides actionable policy recommendations in this context.

Assessing climate action progress of the City of Toronto

The Canadian City of Toronto’s progress is evaluated for the implementation of its climate action plan, TransformTO, and its effectiveness in reducing sectoral emissions. Following a brief history of climate action in Toronto, the key climate policies and programs are subjected to a content analysis and assessed using an aggregate evaluation framework composed of qualitative indicators commonly used to track municipal climate action. The results of this assessment reveal that the city has made steady progress in reducing emissions, surpassing its 2020 greenhouse gas emissions reduction target of 30% reduction below 1990 levels. However, Toronto is not on track to meet its 2030 target of a 65% emissions reduction from 1990 levels. Without transformational action across all sectors, it is unlikely to meet the 2030 and 2040 targets. The results are intended to strengthen implementation and evaluation efforts in Toronto. The discussion will be of interest to decision-makers and practitioners who seek to accelerate implementation of municipal climate action plans. <em><strong>Policy relevance</strong></em> This paper is intended to support and strengthen the City of Toronto’s implementation of its climate action plan, TransformTO, and supporting Net Zero Strategies. Of potential relevance to policymakers in other Canadian cities is the role of ambitious top-down target-setting of the municipal organization and city at large for pursuing bold climate action, even in the face of significant constraints (e.g. provincial building code and energy grid, difficulties in accessing utilities energy use data). Policymakers may also draw insights from the Toronto context for leveraging staff and community commitment to climate action by involving them in planning and implementation of emissions reductions strategies. Useful recommendations are provided for overcoming modeling deficiencies and data limitations, while advancing transformative climate action through multi-sectoral partnerships, policies that support market transformation, the scale-up of low carbon programs and investments in low carbon infrastructure.

Impact of the low-carbon city pilot project on China's land transfers in high energy-consuming industries

Cities help mitigate climate change and global warming. To help reduce carbon emissions at the city-level, China launched a low-carbon city pilot (LCCP) project in 2010. From the perspective of local government behavior, this study examines the impact of China's LCCP project on land transfers in high energy-consumption industries (HECI) by applying a spatial difference-in-differences method. The results show that the LCCP project promoted local pilot cities to decrease HECI land transfers to reduce carbon emissions. In contrast, neighboring non-pilot cities are encouraged to increase HECI land transfers. Thus, this study suggests urban low-carbon programs and their overall effect should be given more importance. Further, environmental indicators of the cadre evaluation system should be strengthened and government monopolies on land transfers should be weakened to improve local government behavior toward China's urban low-carbon efforts. This study provides empirical evidence of urban low-carbon programs from a developing country, and contributes to environmental decentralization literature by supplementing evidence from a centralized country. More importantly, the study results improve the limits of current LCCP research without considering the policy spatial spillover effect.

A Bayesian approach with urban-scale energy model to calibrate building energy consumption for space heating: A case study of application in Beijing

Urban-scale energy model can be a crucial tool for evaluating and in turn propelling the implementation of energy efficiency and low carbon programs for buildings and cites. A variety of disputes on integrity and correctness lie in basic statistical data of China's building energy use. Inadequate information and performance gap caused by input uncertainties are the common obstacles to produce reliable energy modelling results. This paper develops a bottom-up approach to depict energy use intensity (EUI) for space heating of building in the urban level accurately, even if the data resource is inadequate and imprecise or the data are influenced by uncertain issues. A hybrid probability model is developed and the model parameters are calibrated by Bayesian inference and Markov Chain Monte Carlo simulation using data set of meter reading from 2062 stochastic-sampled heating substations in Beijing. Preparation and simulation efforts of using this energy model are discussed, following this framework and adjusting according to local climate conditions, typological building characteristics and morphological urban-scale parameters. The results show that the approach is reliable and efficient to calibrate parameters in building energy models. The urban-scale benchmarks of EUI for space heating in Beijing is successfully performed to demonstrate the proposed methodology.

Climate change perceptions and the adoption of low-carbon agricultural technologies: Evidence from rice production systems in the Yangtze River Basin

Using a sample of 1115 rice farmers, we explored climate change perceptions, adoption of agricultural low-carbon technologies (LCTs), and the determinants influencing rice farmers' climate change adaptation in the Yangtze River Basin (YRB), central China. We built a theoretical framework based on the Theory of Planned Behavior and performed both binary and count estimations to explore the determinants affecting farmers' adoption of LCTs. Our results indicated that most rice farmers strongly agreed they observed shifting local weather conditions (52.74% of respondents) and irregular rainfall patterns (52.56%) within the last year. Further, over two-thirds of the respondents perceived that agricultural production contributes to climate variability (26.73% strongly agreed, and 40.54% agreed with that statement). In terms of the adoption intensity of LCTs, we found that about 96% of rice farmers implemented at least one low-carbon technology. Importantly, farmers' perceptions of climate change were positively associated with climate change adaptation. Other significant predictors of climate change adaptation included gender, years of experience, access to agricultural training through extension services, exchange of technical information among farmers, and access to mobile networks and postal services. We underlined policy recommendations that may accelerate climate change adaptation in rice production and complement current agricultural low-carbon programs in China.

An Assessment of Low Energy Design Practices in Housing Retrofit Projects

The UK housing sector accounts for approximately 30% of total energy demand and accounts for 27% of carbon emissions. The uptake of low energy retrofit (LER) within the existing housing stock is piecemeal and currently not sufficient to achieve the 80% carbon reduction legally binding commitment by 2050 in the UK. Literature reveals that improving thermal insulation is the most preferred LER design approach in housing projects. Furthermore, there are no legislative requirements to drive architects to design in low energy housing retrofit strategies in their current projects. Therefore, this research engaged architects specializing in housing refurbishment through a questionnaire survey to investigate LER design challenges and enablers. Results indicate that high capital costs for micro- generation technologies; disparity in VAT between new build and refurbishment; and the complexity of the UK existing housing stock are the most considerable LER housing design challenges. On the other hand; a tax rebate for LER driven projects; removal of the VAT difference between new build and refurbishment; increased research to produce affordable low energy technologies; and increased government low carbon programs were identified as the key incentives to drive the LER housing agenda.