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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Construction and Application of a Regional Kilometer-Scale Carbon Source and Sink Assimilation Inversion System(CCMVS-R)

CO_(2)is one of the most important greenhouse gases(GHGs)in the earth’s atmosphere.Since the industrial era,anthropogenic activities have emitted excessive quantities of GHGs into the atmosphere,resulting in climate warming since the 1950s and leading to an increased frequency of extreme weather and climate events.In 2020,China committed to striving for carbon neutrality by 2060.This commitment and China’s consequent actions will result in significant changes in global and regional anthropogenic carbon emissions and therefore require timely,comprehensive,and objective monitoring and verification support(MVS)systems.The MVS approach relies on the top-down assimilation and inversion of atmospheric CO_(2)concentrations,as recommended by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change(IPCC)Inventory Guidelines in 2019.However,the regional high-resolution assimilation and inversion method is still in its initial stage of development.Here,we have constructed an inverse system for carbon sources and sinks at the kilometer level by coupling proper orthogonal decomposition(POD)with four-dimensional variational(4DVar)data assimilation based on the weather research and forecasting-greenhouse gas(WRF-GHG)model.Our China Carbon Monito ring and Verification Support at the Regional level(CCMVS-R)system can continuously assimilate information on atmospheric CO_(2)and other related information and realize the inversion of regional and local anthropogenic carbon emissions and natural terrestrial ecosystem carbon exchange.Atmospheric CO_(2)data were collected from six ground-based monito ring sites in Shanxi Province,China to verify the inversion effect of regio nal anthropogenic carbon emissions by setting ideal and real experiments using a two-layer nesting method(at 27 and 9 km).The uncertainty of the simulated atmospheric CO_(2)decreased significantly,with a root-mean-square error of CO_(2)concentration values between the ideal value and the simulated after assimilation was close to 0.The total anthropogenic carbon emissions in Shanxi Province in 2019 from the assimilated inversions were approximately 28.6%(17%-38%)higher than the mean of five emission inventories using the bottomup method,showing that the top-down CCMVS-R system can obtain more comprehensive information on anthropogenic carbon emissions.

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.

Influences of large-scale farming on carbon emissions from cropping:Evidence from China

Reducing agricultural carbon emissions is important to enable carbon emission peaking by 2030 in China.However,China's transformation towards large-scale farming brings uncertainties to carbon emission reduction.This study quantifies the carbon emissions from cropping based on life cycle assessment and estimates the effects of farm size on carbon emissions using a fixed effects model.Furthermore,the variations of the carbon emissions from cropping driven by the changes in farm size in future years are projected through scenario analysis.Results demonstrate an inverted U-shaped change in total carbon emission from cropping as farm size increases,which is dominated by the changes in the carbon emission from fertilizer.Projections illustrate that large-scale farming transformation will postpone the peak year of total carbon emission from cropping until 2048 if the change in farm size follows a historical trend,although it is conducive to reducing total carbon emission in the long run.The findings indicate that environmental regulations to reduce fertilizer usages should be strengthened for carbon emission abatement in the early stage of large-scale farming transformation,which are also informative to other developing countries with small farm size.

Indian Solar Panel Initiatives in Reducing Carbon Dioxide Emissions

Environmental degradation and the emission of greenhouse gases particularly carbon dioxide have expanded problems to human wellness and to the atmosphere. The second-most populated country in the globe, India, is among the primary users of conventional resources, which leads to global warming. The growth rate is anticipated to raise more before 2050, which will cause the brisk industrial expansion and rising energy demand to both increases. In order to reduce carbon emissions and meet energy requirements, many countries use alternate usage of renewable energy particularly solar energy. In this review we aim to study solar panel schemes initiated by India, mainly focusing on National Solar Mission. This study also reviews the present solar installed capacity, solar panel scheme 2022, and initiatives and outcomes of solar panels in residences and offices. This study reviewed that by using solar panel resources, the (MNRE) Ministry of New and Renewable Energy hopes to help the Indian Government reach its purpose of 100 GW solar installed capacity by end of 2022. Despite having an amazing 40 GW of solar power installed capacity till December 2021, India is still far from reaching its own goal of 100 GW by March 2023 as per NSM. In essence, this means that India will need to change a few of its ongoing plans further.

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.

An Empirical Study on the Impact of Different Structural Systems on Carbon Emissions of Prefabricated Buildings Based on SimaPro

In the context of global emission reduction, the low-carbon sustainable development of the construction industry has become an important research content. With the vigorous development of new industrial technologies, the application of prefabrication technology to buildings had become a mainstream. However, the research on the role of prefabricated technology in reducing building carbon emissions was not yet comprehensive, and the research on the relationship between prefabricated structure types and carbon emissions in the construction stage was not yet thorough. Guided by life cycle assessment (LCA), this paper used the scenario analysis method to set different working conditions for five different structural systems, and used SimaPro software to evaluate the carbon emissions of prefabricated buildings in order to clarify the carbon emissions of prefabricated buildings under different structural systems, and explore their impact mechanisms in depth. Finally, take the existing buildings in China as an empirical study, the results showed that: 1) The carbon emissions produced by the four common prefabricated structural systems were almost the same. Different structures had different requirements for the combination of components. The carbon emissions of individual buildings would be superimposed according to the carbon emission characteristics of various individual components to form the final total carbon emissions. 2) When the building structure system requires more combinations of components, the greater the amount of transportation invested in the transportation process, the more carbon emissions would be caused. In the calculation of all individual building construction stages, the carbon emissions generated by tower cranes almost exceed the sum of the carbon emissions of all mobile machinery. 3) Prefabricated shear wall structures and prefabricated frame-shear wall structures require a large amount of hoisting of prefabricated shear walls, so the carbon emissions of their mechanical equipment were also the highest.

Research Status of Land Use and Carbon Emissions in China:A Visual Analysis Based on Cite Space

In view of the reality of China’s high carbon emissions and its own development pressure,the research on land use and carbon emissions is becoming more and more important.Therefore,it is of great significance for the development of China’s low-carbon economy and related theories to have a comprehensive and clear understanding of the research on carbon emissions from land use.This paper analyzed the relevant literature on land use and carbon emissions in China in the past 19 years by using Citespace software.It summarized the research status and progress in this field,and showed the current research level of China in this field in a more concrete and vivid way through the form of knowledge graph.

Regional Renewable Energy Optimization Based on Economic Benefits and Carbon Emissions

With increasing renewable energy utilization,the industry needs an accurate tool to select and size renewable energy equipment and evaluate the corresponding renewable energy plans.This study aims to bring new insights into sustainable and energy-efficient urban planning by developing a practical method for optimizing the production of renewable energy and carbon emission in urban areas.First,we provide a detailed formulation to calculate the renewable energy demand based on total energy demand.Second,we construct a dual-objective optimization model that represents the life cycle cost and carbon emission of renewable energy systems,after which we apply the differential evolution algorithmto solve the optimization result.Finally,we conduct a case study in Qingdao,China,to demonstrate the effectiveness of this optimizationmodel.Compared to the baseline design,the proposedmodel reduced annual costs and annual carbon emissions by 14.39%and 72.65%,respectively.These results revealed that dual-objective optimization is an effective method to optimize economic benefits and reduce carbon emissions.Overall,this study will assist energy planners in evaluating the impacts of urban renewable energy projects on the economy and carbon emissions during the planning stage.

Carbon emissions reduction potentiality for railroad transportation based on life cycle assessment

This study addresses the comparative carbon emissions of different transportation modes within a unified evaluation framework,focusing on their carbon footprints from inception to disposal.Specifically,the entire life cycle carbon emissions of High-Speed Rail(HSR),battery electric vehicles,conventional internal combustion engine vehicles,battery electric buses,and conventional internal combustion engine buses are analyzed.The life cycle is segmented into vehicle manufacturing,fuel or electricity production,operational,and dismantlingrecycling stages.This analysis is applied to the Beijing-Tianjin intercity transportation system to explore emission reduction strategies.Results indicate that HSR demonstrates significant carbon emission reduction,with an intensity of only 24%-32% compared to private vehicles and 47%-89% compared to buses.Notably,HSR travel for Beijing-Tianjin intercity emits only 24% of private vehicle emissions,demonstrating the emission reduction benefits of transportation structure optimization.Additionally,predictive modeling reveals the potential for carbon emission reduction through energy structure optimization,providing a guideline for the development of effective transportation management systems.

Spatial and temporal heterogeneity of the impact of per capita income on household indirect carbon emissions in western China

With China entering the stage of high-quality development,the issue of carbon emission has become a hot research topic.This paper analyzes the different temporal and spatial effects of per capita income on household indirect carbon emissions in western China.Based on the data of Chinese Family Panel Studies(CFPS)in 2016 and 2018 in the western China,this paper uses Regression analysis and Bayesian correlation analysis to study the relationship between per capita income and household indirect carbon emissions.The results showed that the indirect carbon emissions generated by the expenditure on food,housing and household equipment in the household consumption structure in the western China were relatively high.In 2016-2018,the per capita income and per capita household consumption indirect carbon emissions in the western China showed an increasing trend.There was a positive correlation between per capita income and indirect carbon emissions of per capita household consumption,and its correlation was gradually enhanced in time dimension.In the spatial dimension,the household indirect carbon emissions in Yunnan,Qinghai,Guangxi Zhuang and Ningxia in the western China were greatly affected by per capita income,while the household indirect carbon emissions in Guizhou was least affected by per capita income.Finally,the paper puts forward some problems that we should consider in the process of facing the per capita income growth and climate change:the collection of carbon tax,the optimization of household consumption structure,the research and development of low-carbon products,and the differentiated carbon reduction.

Toward Establishing a Low-cost UAV Coordinated Carbon Observation Network(LUCCN):First Integrated Campaign in China

In this study,we introduce our newly developed measurement-fed-perception self-adaption Low-cost UAV Coordinated Carbon Observation Network(LUCCN)prototype.The LUCCN primarily consists of two categories of instruments,including ground-based and UAV-based in-situ measurement.We use the GMP343,a low-cost non-dispersive infrared sensor,in both ground-based and UAV-based instruments.The first integrated measurement campaign took place in Shenzhen,China,4 May 2023.During the campaign,we found that LUCCN’s UAV component presented significant data-collecting advantages over its ground-based counterpart owing to the relatively high altitudes of the point emission sources,which was especially obvious at a gas power plant in Shenzhen.The emission flux was calculated by a crosssectional flux(CSF)method,the results of which differed from the Open-Data Inventory for Anthropogenic Carbon dioxide(ODIAC).The CSF result was slightly larger than others because of the low sampling rate of the whole emission cross section.The LUCCN system will be applied in future carbon monitoring campaigns to increase the spatiotemporal coverage of carbon emission information,especially in scenarios involving the detection of smaller-scale,rapidly varying sources and sinks.

Examining the Effects and Operational Mechanisms of Green Credit on Carbon Emissions in Chinese Regions

The utilization of a green financial system,particularly through the implementation of green credit,plays a pivotal role in fostering environmentally sustainable,low-carbon economic growth and facilitating the transition toward a more ecologically responsible economy.This paper employs a two-way fixed-effects model,utilizing provincial panel data spanning from 2012 to 2020,to investigate the influence of green credit on regional carbon emissions within different regions of China.The results reveal a significant reduction in carbon emissions as a consequence of the green credit program’s implementation.The analysis of the pathway indicates that green credit is instrumental in mitigating carbon emissions by instigating shifts in the energy mix,with evidence suggesting a partial mediating effect.Furthermore,a heterogeneity analysis discovered that the suppressive impact of green credit on carbon emissions is more pronounced in the eastern and western regions of China,while it is less significant in the central and northeastern areas.The implications of this study provide robust evidence in support of the role of green credit in reducing carbon emissions and can serve as a valuable resource for policymakers aiming to promote the expansion of green credit programs and,in turn,contribute to substantial reductions in carbon emissions.