Industrial Carbon Emission Distribution and Regional Joint Emission Reduction:A Case Study of Cities in the Pearl River Basin,China

China’s low-carbon development path will make significant contributions to achieving global sustainable development goals.Due to the diverse natural and economic conditions across different regions in China,there exists an imbalance in the distribution of car-bon emissions.Therefore,regional cooperation serves as an effective means to attain low-carbon development.This study examined the pattern of carbon emissions and proposed a potential joint emission reduction strategy by utilizing the industrial carbon emission intens-ity(ICEI)as a crucial factor.We utilized social network analysis and Local Indicators of Spatial Association(LISA)space-time trans-ition matrix to investigate the spatiotemporal connections and discrepancies of ICEI in the cities of the Pearl River Basin(PRB),China from 2010 to 2020.The primary drivers of the ICEI were determined through geographical detectors and multi-scale geographically weighted regression.The results were as follows:1)the overall ICEI in the Pearl River Basin is showing a downward trend,and there is a significant spatial imbalance.2)There are numerous network connections between cities regarding the ICEI,but the network structure is relatively fragile and unstable.3)Economically developed cities such as Guangzhou,Foshan,and Dongguan are in the center of the network while playing an intermediary role.4)Energy consumption,industrialization,per capita GDP,urbanization,science and techno-logy,and productivity are found to be the most influential variables in the spatial differentiation of ICEI,and their combination in-creased the explanatory power of the geographic variation of ICEI.Finally,through the analysis of differences and connections in urban carbon emissions under different economic levels and ICEI,the study suggests joint carbon reduction strategies,which are centered on carbon transfer,financial support,and technological assistance among cities.

Carbon Emission Effects Driven by Evolution of Chinese Dietary Structure from 1987 to 2020

Exploring carbon emission effects based on the evolution of residents’ dietary structure to achieve the carbon neutrality goal and mitigate climate change is an important task.This study took China as the research object(data excluding Hong Kong,Macao and Taiwan) and used the carbon emission coefficient method to quantitatively measure the food carbon emissions from 1987–2020,then analyzed the carbon emission effects under the evolution of dietary structure.The results showed that during the study period,the Chinese dietary structure gradually changed to a high-carbon consumption pattern.The dietary structure of urban residents developed to a balanced one,while that of rural residents developed to a high-quality one.During the study period,the per capita food carbon emissions and total food consumption of Chinese showed an increasing trend.The per capita food carbon emissions of residents in urban and rural showed an overall upward trend.The total food carbon emissions in urban increased significantly,while that in rural increased first and then decreased.The influence of beef and mutton on carbon emissions is the highest in dietary structure.Compared with the balanced dietary pattern,the food carbon emissions of Chinese residents had not yet reached the peak,but were evolving to a high-carbon consumption pattern.

An Integrated Analysis on the Synergistic Reduction of Carbon and Pollution Emissions from China’s Iron and Steel Industry

Decarbonization and decontamination of the iron and steel industry(ISI),which contributes up to 15%to anthropogenic CO_(2) emissions(or carbon emissions)and significant proportions of air and water pollutant emissions in China,are challenged by the huge demand for steel.Carbon and pollutants often share common emission sources,indicating that emission reduction could be achieved synergistically.Here,we explored the inherent potential of measures to adjust feedstock composition and technological structure and to control the size of the ISI to achieve carbon emission reduction(CER)and pollution emission reduction(PER).We investigated five typical pollutants in this study,namely,petroleum hydrocarbon pollutants and chemical oxygen demand in wastewater,particulate matter,SO_(2),and NO_(x) in off gases,and examined synergies between CER and PER by employing cross elasticity for the period between 2022 and 2035.The results suggest that a reduction of 8.7%-11.7%in carbon emissions and 20%-31%in pollution emissions(except for particulate matter emissions)could be achieved by 2025 under a high steel scrap ratio(SSR)scenario.Here,the SSR and electric arc furnace(EAF)ratio serve critical roles in enhancing synergies between CER and PER(which vary with the type of pollutant).However,subject to a limited volume of steel scrap,a focused increase in the EAF ratio with neglection of the available supply of steel scrap to EAF facilities would lead to an increase carbon and pollution emissions.Although CER can be achieved through SSR and EAF ratio optimization,only when the crude steel production growth rate remains below 2.2%can these optimization measures maintain the emissions in 2030 at a similar level to that in 2021.Therefore,the synergistic effects between PER and CER should be considered when formulating a development route for the ISI in the future.

Central environmental protection inspection and carbon emission reduction: A tripartite evolutionary game model from the perspective of carbon neutrality

Since the carbon neutrality target was proposed,many countries have been facing severe challenges to carbon emission reduction sustainably.This study is conducted using a tripartite evolutionary game model to explore the impact of the central environmental protection inspection(CEPI)on driving carbon emission reduction,and to study what factors influence the strategic choices of each party and how they interact with each other.The research results suggest that local governments and manufacturing enterprises would choose strategies that are beneficial to carbon reduction when CEPI increases.When the initial willingness of all parties increases 20%,50%—80%,the time spent for the whole system to achieve stability decreases from 100%,60%—30%.The evolutionary result of“thorough inspection,regulation implementation,low-carbon management”is the best strategy for the tripartite evolutionary game.Moreover,the smaller the cost and the larger the benefit,the greater the likelihood of the three-party game stability strategy appears.This study has important guiding significance for other developing countries to promote carbon emission reduction by environmental policy.

Prospects for green steelmaking technology with low carbon emissions in China

The steel industry is a major source of CO_(2) emissions,and thus,the mitigation of carbon emissions is the most pressing challenge in this sector.In this paper,international environmental governance in the steel industry is reviewed,and the current state of development of low-carbon technologies is discussed.Additionally,low-carbon pathways for the steel industry at the current time are proposed,emphasizing prevention and treatment strategies.Furthermore,the prospects of low-carbon technologies are explored from the perspective of transitioning the energy structure to a“carbon-electricity-hydrogen”relationship.Overall,steel enterprises should adopt hydrogen-rich metallurgical technologies that are compatible with current needs and process flows in the short term,based on the carbon substitution with hydrogen(prevention)and the CCU(CO_(2) capture and utilization)concepts(treatment).Additionally,the capture and utilization of CO_(2) for steelmaking,which can assist in achieving short-term emission reduction targets but is not a long-term solution,is discussed.In conclusion,in the long term,the carbon metallurgical process should be gradually supplanted by a hydrogen-electric synergistic approach,thus transforming the energy structure of existing steelmaking processes and attaining near-zero carbon emission steelmaking technology.

Structural Characteristics and Influencing Factors of Carbon Emission Spatial Association Network:A Case Study of Yangtze River Delta City Cluster,China

City cluster is an effective platform for encouraging regionally coordinated development.Coordinated reduction of carbon emissions within city cluster via the spatial association network between cities can help coordinate the regional carbon emission management,realize sustainable development,and assist China in achieving the carbon peaking and carbon neutrality goals.This paper applies the improved gravity model and social network analysis(SNA)to the study of spatial correlation of carbon emissions in city clusters and analyzes the structural characteristics of the spatial correlation network of carbon emissions in the Yangtze River Delta(YRD)city cluster in China and its influencing factors.The results demonstrate that:1)the spatial association of carbon emissions in the YRD city cluster exhibits a typical and complex multi-threaded network structure.The network association number and density show an upward trend,indicating closer spatial association between cities,but their values remain generally low.Meanwhile,the network hierarchy and network efficiency show a downward trend but remain high.2)The spatial association network of carbon emissions in the YRD city cluster shows an obvious‘core-edge’distribution pattern.The network is centered around Shanghai,Suzhou and Wuxi,all of which play the role of‘bridges’,while cities such as Zhoushan,Ma'anshan,Tongling and other cities characterized by the remote location,single transportation mode or lower economic level are positioned at the edge of the network.3)Geographic proximity,varying levels of economic development,different industrial structures,degrees of urbanization,levels of technological innovation,energy intensities and environmental regulation are important influencing factors on the spatial association of within the YRD city cluster.Finally,policy implications are provided from four aspects:government macro-control and market mechanism guidance,structural characteristics of the‘core-edge’network,reconfiguration and optimization of the spatial layout of the YRD city cluster,and the application of advanced technologies.

Synergistic dance of digital economy and green finance on carbon emissions:Insights from China

China has recently implemented a dual-carbon strategy to combat climate change and other environmental issues and is committed to modernizing it sustainably.This paper supports these goals and explores how the digital economy and green finance intersect and impact carbon emissions.Using panel data from 30 Chinese provinces over the period 2011-2021,this paper finds that the digital economy and green finance can together reduce carbon emissions,and conducts several robustness tests supporting this conclusion.A heterogeneity analysis shows that these synergistic effects are more important in regions with low levels of social consumption Meanwhile,in the spatial dimension,the synergistic effect of the local digital economy and green finance adversely impacts the level of carbon emissions in surrounding areas.The findings of this paper provide insights for policymakers in guiding capital flow and implementing carbon-reduction policies while fostering the growth of China’s digital economy and environmental sustainability.

Effect of building energy efficiency standards on carbon emission efficiency in commercial buildings

The building sector plays a crucial role in the worldwide shift toward achieving net-zero emissions.Building energy efficiency standards(BEESs)are highly effective policies for reducing carbon emissions.Therefore,exploring the provincial variations in carbon emission efficiency(CEE)in the building sector and identifying the effect of BEESs on CEE is crucial.This study focuses on commercial buildings in China and applies a difference in differences model to evaluate the impact of BEESs on the CEE of commercial buildings.The slacks-based measure–data envelopment analysis model is employed to assess the CEE of commercial buildings in 30 Chinese provinces from 2000 to 2019.Furthermore,heterogeneous tests are used to explore how climate characteristics and economic conditions affect the efficiency of BEESs.The results indicate that BEESs positively influence the CEE of commercial buildings.Specifically,a 1%increase in the intensity of BEESs causes a 0.1484%increase in the CEE of commercial buildings.Moreover,the impact of BEESs is particularly pronounced in the southern and western provinces.This study provides valuable scientific evidence for governments to enhance BEESs implementation.

Rolling Decision Model of Thermal Power Retrofit and Generation Expansion Planning Considering Carbon Emissions and Power Balance Risk

With the increasing urgency of the carbon emission reduction task,the generation expansion planning process needs to add carbon emission risk constraints,in addition to considering the level of power adequacy.However,methods for quantifying and assessing carbon emissions and operational risks are lacking.It results in excessive carbon emissions and frequent load-shedding on some days,although meeting annual carbon emission reduction targets.First,in response to the above problems,carbon emission and power balance risk assessment indicators and assessment methods,were proposed to quantify electricity abundance and carbon emission risk level of power planning scenarios,considering power supply regulation and renewable energy fluctuation characteristics.Secondly,building on traditional two-tier models for low-carbon power planning,including investment decisions and operational simulations,considering carbon emissions and power balance risks in lower-tier operational simulations,a two-tier rolling model for thermal power retrofit and generation expansion planning was established.The model includes an investment tier and operation assessment tier and makes year-by-year decisions on the number of thermal power units to be retrofitted and the type and capacity of units to be commissioned.Finally,the rationality and validity of the model were verified through an example analysis,a small-scale power supply system in a certain region is taken as an example.The model can significantly reduce the number of days of carbon emissions risk and ensure that the power balance risk is within the safe limit.

Research on Carbon Emission for Preventive Maintenance of Wind Turbine Gearbox Based on Stochastic Differential Equation

Time based maintenance(TBM)and condition based maintenance(CBM)are widely applied in many large wind farms to optimize the maintenance issues of wind turbine gearboxes,however,these maintenance strategies do not take into account environmental benefits during full life cycle such as carbon emissions issues.Hence,this article proposes a carbon emissions computing model for preventive maintenance activities of wind turbine gearboxes to solve the issue.Based on the change of the gearbox state during operation and the influence of external random factors on the gearbox state,a stochastic differential equation model(SDE)and corresponding carbon emission model are established,wherein SDE is applied to model the evolution of the device state,whereas carbon emission is used to implement carbon emissions computing.The simulation results indicate that the proposed preventive maintenance cannot ensure reliable operation of wind turbine gearboxes but reduce carbon emissions during their lifespan.Compared with TBM,CBM minimizes unit carbon emissions without influencing reliable operation,making it an effective maintenance method.

Spatiotemporal Differentiation of Urban Spatial Form and Carbon Emissions in Poyang Lake City Group

In response to the inherent requirements of low-carbon land spatial planning in Jiangxi Province and the lack of existing research,this paper explored the mechanism of spatial form elements of Poyang Lake urban agglomeration on urban carbon emissions.Based on generalized linear regression and geographically weighted regression models,this paper analyzed the spatiotemporal distribution characteristics of carbon emissions,the spatiotemporal relationship between urban form index and carbon emissions,and the spatial differentiation of the intensity of dominant factors from 63 county-level administrative units in the Poyang Lake city group from 2005 to 2020.The results showed that:①The carbon emissions of urban agglomerations around Poyang Lake are generally increasing,and the spatial distribution of carbon emissions is characterized by high-value concentration in the middle and low-value agglomeration in pieces;②The main driving factor for the spatial heterogeneity of carbon emissions was the expansion of built-up area;③Improving urban compactness and optimizing urban form could effectively reduce urban carbon emissions.The results showcased the correlation between urban spatial landscape pattern and the spatiotemporal distribution of carbon emissions,which could make the low-carbon land spatial planning in the Poyang Lake city group more reasonable and practical.

Carbon emission risk of construction industry in Hebei Province of China based on carbon sink thresholds

In order to assess the environmental risks caused by carbon emissions from the construction industry in Hebei Province of China,an environmental risk assessment model based on forest carbon sink threshold was constructed to evaluate the carbon emission risks of the construction industry in Hebei Province,China from 2005 to 2020.The results are shown as follows:(1)The overall carbon emissions of the construction industry in Hebei Province of China showed an inverted"V"-shaped evolution trend during the past 16 years.Tangshan and Shijiazhuang maintained high carbon emissions,while Langfang,Hengshui and Baoding saw rapid increases in carbon emissions.(2)The environmental safety threshold of carbon emission from the construction industry in Hebei Province,China,has been continuously improved,and the provincial environmental safety threshold is between 9475080-23144760 tons;The environmental safety threshold was the highest in Baoding and Langfang,and the lowest in Xingtai.(3)In the past 16 years,the carbon emission risk of the construction industry in Hebei Province of China has been in a state of extremely serious risk,and the risk index generally presents an inverted"V"type trend.(4)The carbon emission risk of Hebei city in China presents a spatial pattern of"high in the south and low in the north",which goes through two stages:risk increase period and risk reduction period.

Reduction effect of carbon emission and optimisation path of green finance

Under the background of"dual-carbon",green finance is an important way to promote carbon emission reduction and realize the development of a low-carbon economy.Using provincial panel data from 2000 to 2020,this paper constructs a basic regression model to study the"carbon reduction"effect,mechanism of action,and heterogeneity of green finance.The study finds that:the development of green finance significantly inhibits carbon emissions and has an obvious"carbon reduction"effect;green technology innovation has a mediating effect on the carbon emission reduction effect of green finance;in regions with a high level of economic development or a high degree of marketization,the"carbon reduction"effect of green finance is significant.

Carbon emission reduction accounting method for a CCUS-EOR project

It is difficult to quantify and certify the greenhouse gas(GHG)emission reduction in the entire process of a project of carbon capture,utilization and storage(CCUS)-enhanced oil recovery(EOR).Under the methodological framework for GHG voluntary emission reduction project,the carbon emission reduction accounting method for CCUS-EOR project was established after examining the accounting boundaries in process links,the baseline emission and project emission accounting methods,and the emission and leakage quantification and prediction models,in order to provide a certification basis for the quantification of GHG emission reduction in the CCUS-EOR project.Based on the data of energy consumption,emission and leakage monitoring of the CCUS-EOR industrial demonstration project in Jilin Oilfield,the net emission reduction efficiency is determined to be about 91.1%at the current storage efficiency of 80%.The accounting and prediction of carbon emission reduction for CCUS-EOR projects with different concentrations and scales indicate that within the project accounting boundary,the certified net emission reduction efficiency of the low-concentration gas source CCUS-EOR projects represented by coal-fired power plants is about 37.1%,and the certified net emission reduction efficiency of the high-concentration gas source CCUS-EOR projects represented by natural gas hydrogen production is about 88.9%.The proposed method is applicable to the carbon emission reduction accounting for CCUS-EOR projects under multiple baseline scenarios during the certification period,which can provide decision-making basis for the planning and deployment of CCUS-EOR projects.

Current situation of carbon emissions and countermeasures in China's ironmaking industry

The iron and steel industry(ISI) involves high energy consumption and high pollution. ISI in China, a leading country in the ISI,consumed 15% of the country’s total energy and produced more than 50% of the global ISI’s carbon emissions. Therefore, in the context of global low-carbon economy and emission reduction requirements, low-carbon smelting technology in the ISI has attracted increasingly more attention in China. This review summarizes the current status of carbon emissions and energy consumption in China’s ISI and discusses the development status and prospects of low-carbon ironmaking technology. The main route to effectively reducing carbon emissions is to develop a gas-based direct reduction process and replace sintering with pelletizing, both of which focus on developing pelletizing technology. However,the challenge of pelletizing process development is to obtain high-quality iron concentrates. Consequently, the present paper also summarizes the development status of China’s mineral processing technology, including fine-grained mineral processing technology, magnetization roasting technology, and flotation collector application. This paper aims to provide a theoretical basis for the low-carbon development of China’s ISI in terms of a dressing–smelting combination.

Evolutionary game-based optimization of green certificate-carbon emission right-electricity joint market for thermal-wind-photovoltaic power system

With the increasing proportion of renewable energy in the power market,the demands on government financial subsidies are gradually increasing.Thus,a joint green certificate-carbon emission right-electricity multi-market trading process is proposed to study the market-based strategy for renewable energy.Considering the commodity characteristics of green certificates and carbon emission rights,the dynamic cost models of green certificates and carbon rights are constructed based on the Rubinstein game and ladder pricing models.Furthermore,considering the irrational bidding behavior of energy suppliers in the actual electricity market,an evolutionary game based multi-market bidding optimization model is presented.Subsequently,it is solved using a composite differential evolutionary algorithm.Finally,the case study results reveal that the proposed model can increase profits and the consumption rate of renewable energy and reduce carbon emission.

Toward inclusive list-making for trade liberalization in environmental goods to reduce carbon emissions

The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation(APEC)is contemplating expanding its list of environmental goods(EG)for trade liberalization to fight climate change.In support of doing so,this study proposes that a long list that retains controversies is better for carbon emission reduction than a short common list.This study examines four mechanisms of longer lists:enlarging market scales,enriching product mixes,enhancing product sophistication,and enriching trade patterns.Using China’s emerging EG trade during the 2001-2015 period as a case study,this study compares four EG lists with different EG.The results show that:(1)a longer list reduces carbon emissions from both imports and exports,making domestic regions with different advantages have better chances of improving carbon efficiencies.(2)Product sophistication reduces the emission gap between trading partners,regardless of the length of EG lists.(3)China’s EG exports contribute to carbon reduction in leading regions,while EG imports provide laggard regions with better chances of reducing carbon emissions.These findings provide three implications for future list-making:it is important to(1)seek a long and inclusive list rather than a short common list,(2)shift the focus from environmental end-use to the technological contents of products,and(3)balance the demand of laggard regions to import and the capacity of leading regions to export.

Asymmetric nexus between commercial policies and consumption‑based carbon emissions:new evidence from Pakistan

The current study extends the previous literature by exploring the effects of a newly discovered driver,i.e.,import taxes(as a proxy for commercial policies),on the consumption-based carbon emissions(CCO2e)for 1990Q1-2017Q4.For empirical analysis,several tests and methods,including Augmented Dickey–Fuller unit root test,Zivot–Andrews unit root test,asymmetric cointegration bound testing approach,non-linear ARDL,Wald-test,Granger causality test and wavelet quantile correlation(WQC)method are utilized.Furthermore,NARDL technique estimates reveal that contractionary commercial policy enhances the environmental quality by disrupting the detrimental effects of CCO2e.However,expansionary commercial policy escalates the environmental pollution by boosting the carbon emissions.Also,the exports and the renewable energy improve the ecological quality;however,GDP deteriorates the atmospheric quality by increasing the CCO2e.Besides,WQC method and the trivariate Granger causality test are deployed to confirm the robustness of the results.Based on the findings,some crucial policies are also recommended for sustainable and green development in Pakistan.

Has China-ASEAN Trade opening increased China’ s carbon emissions?

This study uses carbon emission data at the provincial level in China between 1998-2018 and the proportion of the total import and export trade between provinces and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations(ASEAN)in GDP to measure the level of China-ASEAN trade openness.It examines the impact of China ASEAN trade openness on carbon emissions and its transmission mechanism,and selects the RMB/USD exchange rate as an instrumental variable to address the endogeneity of China-ASEAN trade openness variables.The impact of China-ASEAN trade openness on China’s environment is estimated within a two-stage least squares framework.The results show that trade openness between China and ASEAN positively impacts China’s environment and can facilitate carbon emission reduction.The scale,structural,and technology effects brought by China-ASEAN trade liberalization jointly promote China’s carbon dioxide emission reduction.An inverted“U”relationship is found between economic growth and environmental quality in China,and some provinces and municipalities have now crossed the inflection point of the curve,in which carbon emi ssions decrease with an increase in per capita wealth.

Does enterprise digitization reduce carbon emissions? Evidence from China

The digital transformation and expansion of businesses will provide China’s low-carbon economic develop‐ment strategy with fresh impetus in the backdrop of the emerging digital economy and environmentally friendly growth.This article measures the level of enterprise digitization using two methods:the enterprise digitization index and text analysis word frequency statistics.Additionally,carbon emissions are obtained by measuring various types of emissions according to the carbon emission classification range standard.To ac‐count for endogeneity and unobservable variables,relative indicators,such as the rate of increase for company emissions of carbon,are utilized.Using microdata from Chinese listed firms from 2011 to 2021,this study ex‐amines the implications of corporate digitization on enterprise carbon emissions.This study further analyzes the transmission mechanism and investigates the function of green finance in controlling corporate digitiza‐tion and reducing corporate carbon emissions by distinguishing between two types of green patents.Research shows that businesses’carbon emissions are greatly reduced as a consequence of getting digital.Even after performing several robustness and endogeneity tests,the conclusion still remains valid.According to mecha‐nism analysis,which demonstrates that the main strategy for reducing corporate emissions of carbon through the digitalization of enterprises is to promote innovation in green technology.The regulation of green finance in enterprise digitalization will further reduce corporate carbon emissions.According to the analysis of hetero‐geneity,state-owned businesses and those situated in areas with stringent environmental regulations are more significantly impacted by enterprise digitization on corporate carbon emissions.This article discusses the mechanism of promoting corporate carbon emissions through digitalization,expands on relevant research on corporate digitalization,and analyzes the achievable paths of corporate digitalization and low-carbon develop‐ment strategies.