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Based on provincial panel data from 2000 to 2014, this paper measured the total factor energy efficiency by adopting the dynamic slacks-based measure model, and then employed the spatial econometric model to analyze the impact of regional mitigation of carbon dioxide on energy efficiency from both intra-regional and inter-regional perspectives in China. The results show the following: first, the average of total factor energy efficiency presents a rising trend from 2000 to 2014, and it shows a significant difference among regions. Second, the direct effect of carbon productivity on energy efficiency is positive, but the indirect effect is negative. The share ratio of direct and indirect effects is 1: −0.96; the total effect is positive but insignificant. Based on this conclusion, the paper provides some relevant policy suggestions and measures for regionally saving energy resources and relieving environmental constraints. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the rapid development of regional economy, energy consumption and carbon dioxide emission increase sharply. This study examines the relationship between carbon dioxide emissions and regional economic growth. Based on the mean value decomposition method of double logarithm, the model was built to identify the key indexes affecting the decomposition, and the carbon emission formula was calculated to obtain the regional carbon dioxide emission. Based on the actual data, the kuznets curve model is established to represent the relationship between CO2 emission and regional economic growth in logarithm form. The unit root test, co-integration test and granger causality test are carried out for the correlation sequences in the kuznets curve model in order to realize the research on the relationship between CO2 emission and regional economic growth. This paper discusses the relationship between carbon dioxide emission and regional economic growth through an example. It shows that the relationship between carbon dioxide emission and regional economic growth is inversely u-shaped, and there is a kuznets curve between the two. According to the result of empirical analysis, the paper puts forward some suggestions to reduce energy consumption and improve energy efficiency, which is helpful to improve social and economic structure and promote social and economic development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Cuajimalpa campus of the Autonomous Metropolitan University (UAM) is located in the western region of Mexico City. In 2016, its global average population (students, faculty and staff) was around 2750 people. Campus policies include sustainability as one of its main aims. To evaluate and eventually reduce the environmental impact of the campus, its greenhouse gas (GHG) inventory was assessed and the carbon footprint was calculated, using the GHG protocol (GHGP): Scope 1: direct GHG emissions; Scope 2: indirect GHG emissions; and Scope 3: other indirect GHG emissions, on a calendar year basis. Scope 1 includes mobile and stationary sources and leakage of refrigerants; Scope 2 includes electrical energy usage; Scope 3 includes consumption of paper, food, water, gases, cleaning products, solvents, wastewater treatment, municipal and hazardous wastes and academic travel. In 2016, the campus produced around 3000 tons of CO2 equivalent, with Scope 1, 2 and 3 accounting for 4%, 24% and 72%, respectively. Emissions analysis by activity indicated 51% for commuting; 24% for electricity usage; 14% for academic travel; 11% for other activities. The inventory will aid the establishment of policies for reduction and mitigation of GHG, resulting in environmental and potential economic benefits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The reliance on petroleum derivatives and the increasing trend of fuel consumption in the transport sector have brought attention to biofuels as a measure to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, enhance energy security and boost economic development. The incentive for utilizing biofuels is their potential to reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions compared to fossil fuels. Biofuels are considered to be carbon-neutral, regarding the direct CO2 emissions associated with their combustion, on the grounds that the carbon dioxide absorbed by the plants through photosynthesis is equivalent to the CO2 released during their combustion. However, a part of the carbon of biofuels may have a fossil origin and therefore, it is responsible for "non-neutral" CO2 emissions. This was recognized by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) in its guidelines for greenhouse gas inventories. Nevertheless, specific guidance of how to estimate fossil CO2 emissions per each type of biofuel, in order to facilitate the work of emission inventory compilers and practitioners, is neither available in the IPCC guidelines nor in the scientific literature. The purpose of this paper is to define a higher tier method to estimate the associated CO2 emissions with the fossil carbon content of biofuels, aiming to cover all possible biofuel types that are mainly used nowadays to replace diesel and gasoline. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To achieve China's CO2 emissions targets, all Chinese provinces need to ensure that their CO2 emissions are maintained at a reasonable level to avoid the shortboard effect. This paper proposed an integrated method, the LSTM-STIRPAT, to predict the CO2 emissions in 30 provinces, and assess the drivers of a different region. We divide 30 provinces according to the prediction result into provinces with peak value(PWP) and provinces without peak value(PWTP) and found that (i) Inner Mongolia, Jiangxi, Shandong, Hainan, Chongqing, Guizhou, Qinghai, Xinjiang are failed to reach their CO2 emissions peak by 2030, but almost all provinces experienced a small peak in their carbon emissions from 2008 to 2013; (ii) The ranking of CO2 emissions influencing factors in the PWTP is energy intensity (+) > population density (+) > energy consumption (+) > urbanization rate (−) > GDP per capita (+) > ratio of secondary industry (+); the ranking of CO2 emissions influencing factors in the PWP is energy intensity (+) > ratio of secondary industry (+) > urbanization rate (−) > population density (+) > energy consumption (+) > GDP per capita (−); (iii) PWTP's CO2 emissions show a significant lag effect, of which the ratio of secondary industry accounts for the most significant impact. According to the research results, we put forward relevant targeted measures to achieve China's carbon emissions peak commitments in 2030: (1) PWTP should give priority to encouraging the development of technology and strengthening the utilization of new energy and renewable energy; (2) PWP should give priority to reducing energy intensity, optimizing the industrial structure and accelerating the process of urbanization; (3) CO2 emission reduction in PWTP is a long-term task, it is necessary to adhere to the optimization and adjustment of the industrial structure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nowadays, as China has become the factory of the world, China's industrial sectors have become the country's main source of energy consumption and emissions including CO2, SO2, NOx and soot. This article will use the non-radial directional dispersion function model (DDF) to explore ways to improve both the energy efficiency and the emission efficiency of China's industrial sectors. Based on current research, this article proposes a new projected input for the treatment of industrial waste gas, and optimizes the projected input and output settings. The data analysis shows that there is room for improvement in China's energy efficiency, and its regional imbalances have expanded. The Chinese government is urged to pay more attention to the improvement of energy efficiency in the central and western regions, and to provide more policy support. Simultaneously, the paper attemtps to establish measurement indexes to improve the efficiency of emission reduction. As a result, the authors suggest that increasing government expenditure can play a positive role in the overall improvement of emission reduction efficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A reduction in the CO2 emission intensity (ton per gross domestic product) from a base year to a target year with different rates of reduction in each individual year can yield different cumulative CO2 emissions over time, which could have different effects on the climate. In this paper, an indicator is proposed to measure the extent to which the cumulative CO2 emissions are generated by a specific reduction trajectory of CO2 emission intensity, especially for emerging economies with a relatively higher economic growth rate. The proposed indicator is important for less-developed countries and regions in which economic growth is heavily reliant on energy and in which significant potential exists for improvement of energy efficiency. The indicator is applied to evaluate the CO2 emission reduction performance in China's 12th Five-Year Plan period, and the result is not encouraging, especially when the likely gap between the energy conservation goals and temperature goals is further examined. Mitigation goals should be set by considering not only the performance in the final year, but also the reduction in cumulative emissions over the evaluation period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study investigates the long-run impact of financial development, energy consumption and economic growth on greenhouse gas emissions for India, in the presence of endogenous structural breaks, over the period 1971–2013. The autoregressive distributed lag bounds testing procedure (ARDL) and Hatemi-J threshold cointegration technique were used to test the variables for cointegration. ARDL bounds test did not confirm any cointegrating relationship between the variables. The threshold cointegration test establishes the presence of long-run impact of financial development, energy use and economic growth on greenhouse gas emissions in India. The results reveal that the long-run relationship between the variables has witnessed two regime shifts, in 1978 and 2002. The empirical evidence shows that financial sector development and energy consumption in India degrade the environment. Unlike previous studies, this paper finds no statistical evidence of a long-run relationship between economic growth and environmental deterioration. The study also challenges the existence of an environmental Kuznets curve in India. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the rise in global food insecurity, pollution, and wildlife extinction caused by climate change, development policies are now tailored toward addressing this quagmire. However, the unresolved question is, are climate-related development finances effective in greening the environment in developing countries? In this milieu, this study assessed the effectiveness of climate-related development finances and renewable energy consumption on CO2 emissions in Africa by applying the system Generalized Method of Moments (GMM) estimation technique on data from 2000 to 2020 for 41 selected countries. The findings show that the overall climate-related development finances, adaptation-related development finances, and mitigation-related development finances have short-run carbon-enhancing and long-run carbon-reducing effects in Africa. Similarly, renewable energy consumption and the net inflows of foreign direct investment have short-run worsening and long-run carbon-abatement effects in Africa. In contrast, higher GDP per capita, urbanization, and higher energy intensity are effective in reducing CO2 emissions in Africa only in the short run, however, they exacerbate CO2 emissions in Africa over the long run. In this light, the study underscores the need to invest heavily in climate-related development projects, and green technology innovation and production in Africa. The results also suggest the need to upgrade the current energy structure in Africa to renewable energy sources for a greener, cleaner, and brighter Africa. However, these policy perspectives require enough funds for effective implementation. Hence, the study calls on the developed countries (the polluters) to support Africa with the required funds to pay off climate debt by 2030 and build climate-resilient practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The developing countries rely heavily on imports of capital goods to spur economic growth. When the economy grows, energy consumption rises, adversely impacting climate change. The low levels of renewable energy share in total energy consumption, developing nations confront a difficult task in achieving the SDGs targets related to an increase in renewable energy share and access to affordable, reliable, and modern energy. Finding solutions to increase renewable energy usage is critical. International trade is an unavoidable part of development, prompting us to consider the impact of imports on renewable energy usage. This study explores the effects of imports of capital goods from China, EU and USA on renewable energy consumption in developing countries by using panel data from 20 countries spanning 2000–2018. It is found that capital goods imported from China in developing countries negatively impact renewable energy consumption while imports from EU have a positive impact on renewable energy consumption. However, in the case of US it is found negative but insignificant. The role of economic, social, and political globalization is explored, and it is found that three types of globalization are positively and significantly linked with renewable energy consumption. Thus, this study recommends that trade policies complement domestic efforts toward increasing renewable energy production and consumption in developing countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bangladesh—recently graduated to developing nation category from a least developed country with an emerging economy also is one of the severely affected countries by climate change—is heading towards a coal-intensive electricity generation mix contrary to global decarbonisation efforts. It is facing formidable challenges in achieving universal access to affordable, reliable, and sustainable electricity, decarbonising the energy mix by 2030 to achieve the objective of Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 7, despite a 285% increase of installed capacity between 2008–09 and 2020–21 and aiming at achieving 40 GW and 60 GW by 2030 and 2041 with planned expansions, respectively. This study reviewed Bangladesh's electricity sector developments—demand, generation, transmission, and distribution (T&D)—to identify progress in policies, drivers, and challenges behind the Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions-intensive future direction. The rapid population and economic growth and shift towards industry-based economy drove the exponential growth in energy demand, eventually influencing the rapid generation capacity and T&D infrastructure development. However, Bangladesh has targeted transitioning from natural gas to coal dominating fuel mix due to the lower renewable potential, energy, and food security challenges, because of the anticipated substantial future electricity demand for becoming an Upper Middle and a High-income country by 2031 and 2041, respectively. We also recommended nuclear energy, (renewable) electricity import and floating solar plants to decarbonise the current trajectory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The measurement indicator system of carbon lock-in was constructed from four dimensions: fixed investment, technique, institution and social behavior; and the projection pursuit evaluation model based on the Real-coded Accelerating Genetic Algorithm, (RAGA-PP model) was established. In this study, China's carbon lock-in level was measured and analyzed based on relevant data from 2003 to 2016. The model application contributes to solving problems such as the subjectivity of weight estimation and premature convergence. The results indicate that, in addition to the increasing degree of social behavior lock-in, for China, the overall carbon lock-in and lock-in levels of fixed input, technique, and institution have decreased dramatically. The overall carbon lock-in level of the eastern provinces is the weakest, followed by the central and northeastern regions, with the western regions being the strongest, and the polarization of provincial carbon lock-in levels being the most significant in the central and western areas. The government should make prudent decisions on the main investment and construction of social infrastructure from a long-term perspective. It is essential to make breakthroughs in the core technologies of complementary and coupled energy utilization to accelerate the formation of new power systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nowadays, as China has become the factory of the world, China’s industrial sectors have become the country’s main source of energy consumption and emissions including CO2, SO2, NOx and soot. This article will use the non-radial directional dispersion function model (DDF) to explore ways to improve both the energy efficiency and the emission efficiency of China’s industrial sectors. Based on current research, this article proposes a new projected input for the treatment of industrial waste gas, and optimizes the projected input and output settings. The data analysis shows that there is room for improvement in China’s energy efficiency, and its regional imbalances have expanded. The Chinese government is urged to pay more attention to the improvement of energy efficiency in the central and western regions, and to provide more policy support. Simultaneously, the paper attemtps to establish measurement indexes to improve the efficiency of emission reduction. As a result, the authors suggest that increasing government expenditure can play a positive role in the overall improvement of emission reduction efficiency.

Using country's ecological footprint, the present empirical study aims to analyze the influence of the economic growth, energy consumption, and globalization on ecological footprint in the Environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) model for the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries; namely Bahrain, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE covering the period 1991-2017. By employing panel econometric approaches that considered issues of heterogeneity and cross sectional dependence, we find that all variables are first-difference stationary by using the cross-sectional augmented IPS (CIPS) and the cross-sectional augmented Dickey-Fuller (CADF) unit root tests. There exists a long-run relationship among examined variables tested by using the Westerlund cointegration tests statistics. By employing the dynamic ordinary least square (DOLS), and the fully modified ordinary least square (FMOLS), we also find that increase in the consumption of energy and globalization increases the ecological footprint, and the EKC hypothesis is not supported for the GCC countries. From the outcome of this empirical work a number of policy implications have been discussed in the study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The agriculture sector has a 21 percent share in global CO2 emission. It is contributing the 40 percent share in the gross domestic product of OBORI (One Belt and One Road Initiative) economies. Therefore, the present work intends to evaluate the role of agriculture and forest on environmental degradation from 1980 to 2017 for OBORI economies. The cross-sectional dependence, and order of integration are checked by cross-sectional dependence and second-generation panel unit roots tests respectively. Afterwards, the Wester-Lund co-integration test infers the existence of co-integration between under-considered variables for OBORI region. The empirical results from Fully Modified Ordinary Least Square (FMOLS) and Dynamic Ordinary Least Square (DOLS) suggest that agriculture and energy demand cause to upsurge the environmental degradation. While, the forest is improving the environment quality. The authorities may consider the efficient energy utilizing, and eco-friendly techniques to overcome the deteriorating effects of energy usage and agriculture on environment respectively. The heterogeneous panel causality test infers a bidirectional causality between environmental degradation, finance, agriculture, and energy demand respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study investigates the long-run impact of financial development, energy consumption and economic growth on greenhouse gas emissions for India, in the presence of endogenous structural breaks, over the period 1971–2013. The autoregressive distributed lag bounds testing procedure (ARDL) and Hatemi-J threshold cointegration technique were used to test the variables for cointegration. ARDL bounds test did not confirm any cointegrating relationship between the variables. The threshold cointegration test establishes the presence of long-run impact of financial development, energy use and economic growth on greenhouse gas emissions in India. The results reveal that the long-run relationship between the variables has witnessed two regime shifts, in 1978 and 2002. The empirical evidence shows that financial sector development and energy consumption in India degrade the environment. Unlike previous studies, this paper finds no statistical evidence of a long-run relationship between economic growth and environmental deterioration. The study also challenges the existence of an environmental Kuznets curve in India.

This work is intended to present an investigation into the macroeconomic reasons for carbon dioxide emissions in Pakistan for the period 1971-2016. This study adds to the current empirical literature on the association among carbon dioxide emissions, energy consumption, economic growth and the level of investment in Pakistan. The data has been checked for its stationarity by applying the augmented Dickey-Fuller (ADF) unit root test, and then a cointegration test helped in the estimation of long-run equilibrium association between environmental variables. The outcomes of the co-integration test suggest the presence of a long-run equilibrium connection between series. The results of Vector Error Correction Model (VECM) demonstrate that all variables transform to sustain long-run equilibrium. The outcomes of a Granger causality test showed that causality runs from economic performance and population toward CO2 emissions, while bi-directional causality is found between carbon dioxide emissions and energy usage, and carbon dioxide emissions and trade openness. The results of cumulative sum of recursive residuals (CUSUM) and cumulative sum of recursive residuals squares (CUSUMSQ) show the stability of the functional relationship established in the present work, which implies that this model is an adequate and useful tool for strategy formulation. So, an upsurge or a decrease in macroeconomic series will cause and has caused variations in carbon dioxide emissions in the long run in Pakistan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Glass is one of the materials most extensively used for packaging. Its manufacturing process is typically energy intensive, with a large quantity of CO2 emissions. In this study, the material and energy consumptioninventory of the manufacturing stage were quantified and CO2 emissions from the glass manufacturing process were calculated. When fuel oil, coal or natural gas is used as the major energy source in the production system, it produces CO2 emissions of 1.2798, 0.6250 and 0.4498 t/t, respectively. CO2 emissions from fossil fuel combustion account for 67.79% of the total emissions and a huge potential exists for emission reduction. Due to differences in energy structure, current research results cannot represent the emissions in China; therefore, six scenarios were created to explore the CO2 emission reduction potential of the glass industry with different energy structures, and six scenarios were created to explore the cost from the adjustment of the energy structure. According to the analysis of the glass furnace, the effective heat accounts for 35.31%, so the basic approach for energy saving and emission reduction is to enhance the effective heat quantity of the glass furnace. Also, energy and virgin feedstock savings were calculated for 1 t of glass container production with different recycling levels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Single-day trawling is commercially practiced along Thoothukudi coast, involving a total of 275 trawlers of varying length range operated from Thoothukudi fishing harbour (8°47’N, 78°9.5’E). The trawlers can be classified in three categories: vessels with overall length (OAL) of 40–50′ (Type 1), OAL 50–60′ (Type 2) and OAL above 60′ (Type 3). Trawlers with OAL of 45′, 55′ and 65′ were selected for the study. Irrespective of the type of vessel, the power required for towing the net was found to be unnecessarily high. The excess power wasted due to faulty trawl designs in Type-1, Type-2 and Type-2 vessels was 55, 87 and 133 hp, respectively. While trawling with optimal trawl design would contribute only 28.67% of the brake horse power (BHP) of the Type 3 vessels, the existing design of trawl used in this type of vessels contributed as much as 50.83% of the BHP. The Type-1, Type-2 and Type-3 trawlers were found to operate with excess fuel consumption at the rate of 103, 212 and 418 L of diesel per cruise, respectively. Based on the annual fuel consumption, true total annual CO2emission was estimated as 458 tons. The study revealed that the total fuel consumption can be reduced by 40% by optimizing the trawl design and reducing the free-running speed, free-running duration and trawling speed. Further, vessels with an OAL of 60′ and above may be permitted for multi-day fishing in distant waters after suitably limiting the number of fishing trips/month in order to minimize the fuel loss through free running. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Buildings are a major contributor to climate change. Use phase has traditionally been the focus area, but the importance of construction-phase has increased with the emergence of energy-efficient buildings. Life-cycle assessment (LCA) is arguably the best method to assess and analyze the emissions caused by buildings. However, within LCA there are two very different approaches – process LCA and input–output (IO) LCA – which lead to different results. When looking at the scale of published LCA results, it is evident that IO LCAs are placed at the top end, and process LCAs at the bottom end. It is thus questionable whether LCA can provide data that can be used for decision-making and policy formation. This study takes a step toward filling this gap by presenting a comparison of process and IO LCA results of the pre-use phase of a residential concrete element building in Finland. Exactly the same scope is utilized in order to maximize comparability. The results depict how the two main LCA methods produce significantly different results. The implications of acknowledging this are discussed. The results fall in midway between the extremes published using the two methods but still deviate from each other by a multiplier of almost 2. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This article considers why price-based frameworks may be inherently unsuitable for delivering unprecedented global emissions reductions while retaining the necessary public and political support, and argues that it is time to instead draw on quantity-based mechanisms such as TEQs (tradable energy quotas). TEQs is a climate policy framework combining a hard cap on emissions with the use of market mechanisms to distribute quotas beneath that cap. The significant international research into TEQs is summarized, including a 2008 UK government feasibility study, which concluded that the scheme was “ahead of its time.” TEQs would cover all sectors within a national economy, including households, and findings suggest it could act as a catalyst for the socio-technical transitions required to maximize wellbeing under a tightening cap, while generating national common purpose toward innovative energy demand reductions. Finally, there are reflections on the role that the carbon management community can play in further developing TEQs and reducing the rift between what climate science calls for and what politics is delivering. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Lighting is becoming more energy efficient, first through compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs) and now with light-emitting diodes (LEDs). The decline in overall UK electricity consumption is resulting in a drop in peak demand, as lighting is the largest constituent of this: the 3.7% annual decline in total electricity use for lighting is mirrored by a 3.7% drop in lighting’s contribution to peak demand. Lighting is the major contributor, therefore, to the drop in absolute peak demand: in 2012 it was 7% lower than in 2007. As European policy continues to require the phasing out of inefficient lights – halogens will be next – this downward consumption trend will continue, probably until 2025 or 2030. The reduction in peak demand is offsetting the phasing out of coal-fired plant and old nuclear stations. Hence, the risk of a gap is less, so the lights are more likely to stay on. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Since the 2007 European Council, both sustainable development and the fight against climate change have been acknowledged as strategic objectives of EU energy policy, together with energy security and economic competitiveness. With this threefold objective, the EU has recognized the multisectorial origin of its energy policy, which is related to the creation of the internal energy market, external relations and environmental protection. In this context, climate change has gradually come to be considered as the main environmental concern faced by EU energy policy, triggering a collateral effect, sustainable development has been sidelined as a political priority. Yet very few studies have been devoted to the inner process that structures the environmental dimension of the EU energy policy (i.e., the axis related to the environmental policy and concerns such as the development of renewable energy, energy efficiency and savings, or reduction of GHG emissions). This oversight becomes even more surprising when we take into consideration the broad consensus around the idea that environmental concerns regarding energy consumption have been among the most significant drivers of the EU energy policy under construction. To bridge this gap, this article seeks to provide a closer look at the 'green' dimension of the EU energy policy. By analyzing the discourse of the main EU institutions involved in the shaping of the energy policy, we intend to provide: an explanation on how it has evolved in time, giving way to an overwhelming relevance to climate change; a picture of what the effects of this drive have been in terms of policy options for the EU energy policy; and finally, a perspective on the future of the EU energy policy under the current circumstances. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The world is facing an energy shortage and climate crisis. Climate change is a global issue and, therefore, requires people from around the globe to take effective action together. As an action-driven organization, R20 Regions of Climate action is working with subnational governments, public and private partners, especially technologically and financially together, to bring the necessary resources into the regions to fulfill the project development. R20 has put great efforts into developing countries, such as China, Brazil and African countries, where the economy is developing and where the manufacturing activities exist. Through regions in action, technologies in action and finance in action, we can bring more climate actions together. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a new report by the International Energy Agency suggesting that the Nordic region could become carbon neutral by 2050, if major changes are made in its energy sector. The report outlines how the Nordic countries of Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden can use their extensive renewable energy resources to decarbonize their power sectors and electrify transport. Improved energy efficiency will account for much of the emissions reductions in the short term.