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Purpose The aim of this work is to quantify the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions savings potential in magazine paper production through the application of the innovative manufacturing strategies using advanced sheet structure design and fibre modifications. Methods The study applies Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) methodology to two different magazine paper products: supercalendered (SC) paper and light-weight coated (LWC) paper. A cradle-to-gate approach is used aiming to assess the environmental benefits gained through the implementation of new manufacturing strategies in both products. The functional unit of the system was defined as the production of one square meter of finished paper for printing magazines. Conventional and new production processes have been compared. Results and discussion The strategies applied to SC paper resulted in reduction of GHG emissions by 22.9%, with a total of 10.7 gCO 2 eq emissions saved per square meter of SC paper. In the case of LWC paper, GHG emissions are reduced by 20.3%, which are equal to a total of 19.7 gCO 2 eq saved per square meter of LWC paper. The influence of certain methodological approaches -functional unit, electricity mix and avoided impacts- in the final results is also discussed in the paper. Conclusions The manufacturing strategies implemented show a remarkable potential for reducing GHG emissions. Taking into account that the pulp and paper industry is a very energy-intensive sector and one of the main GHG emitters, the potential of the strategies for the improvement of the environmental performance of the papermaking processes is significant. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The increasing presence of e-books (electronic books) has become a major focus in countries around the world. In the United States, e-books represented 28% of the total book sales for 2012. In Japan, the conversion from paper books to e-books is expected to accelerate by the prevalent use of smartphones and tablet PCs. It is therefore important to quantitatively evaluate the environmental load of paper books and e-books for a sustainable society. In this study, paper books are compared to e-books read on different electronic devices (e-ink tablets, tablets, cell phones, smartphones, laptop computers, desktop computers and portable music players) through a case study on a 224-page book. The study is based on key primary data such as use time and reading speed for each device and aims to minimize assumptions made in other studies. GHG emissions for paper books are 1.24 kg-CO 2 e/book, and are reduced to 1.11 kg-CO 2 e/book when the effect of paper recycling is taken into consideration. The results for e-books under average use-time conditions range from 0.25 to 0.91 kg-CO 2 e/book with the e-ink tablet having the lowest emissions. When the average use time of each e-book device is applied, the paper book has a higher impact than all the e-books. However, sensitivity analysis shows that the impact of paper books can be lower than that of e-books for larger screen devices such as tablets, laptops and desktops when the reuse of books is considered or the e-book reading device is hardly used during its life cycle. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The urgent challenge of reducing industrial greenhouse gas emissions has created a growing demand for a more comprehensive understanding of how various technology options can contribute to achieving carbon neutrality. Energy efficiency has long been regarded as a key pathway in this context, but the volume and diversity of efficiency options has resulted in an unclear understanding of their combined impacts. In this study, we present a novel technology-explicit method to estimate the overall abatement potential associated with a comprehensive suite of 115 energy efficiency technologies spanning all relevant sector processes and energy types. By applying our flexible analysis framework to a case study of the Canadian pulp and paper sector, we demonstrate that energy efficiency could be the single largest contributor to achieving a carbon-neutral target for the sector. We find that efficiency can reduce emissions by 4.92 MtCO 2 e/yr (66%) relative to business-as-usual by 2050 at a weighted average abatement cost of -$162/tCO 2 e when accounting for capital, operating, maintenance, and energy costs. Abatement at the energy system-wide level is even larger, reaching 6.67 MtCO 2 e in 2050 when accounting for upstream effects. Adoption of the full suite of efficiency measures could materially improve the competitiveness of the sector by reducing energy and carbon costs. On the whole, our results suggest that proven energy efficiency technologies could be the primary element of a credible low-cost pathway towards achieving a target of carbon neutrality for the pulp and paper sector. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this research was to quantify and compare the environmental impact of a number of different deinking sludge utilization approaches. A comparative life cycle assessment of deinking sludge material and energy recovery was performed for the baseline scenario—landfill disposal, and four alternative scenarios: two cement plants, a lightweight aggregate plant, and a stone wool plant. Sludge pretreatment and transportation processes were included in the scenario analyses. The results of the life cycle assessment showed that the use of dry deinking sludge in a cement plant in Finland, 45 km from the point of supply of the deinking sludge, to substitute 46% of the petcoke and 2.7% of the limestone showed the best performance. Therein, a global warming potential reduction of 13% and an eutrophication potential reduction of 12% – the highest reduction out of all impact categories studied – were achieved. A similar reduction in global warming potential of 12% was achieved when deinking sludge was incinerated and the ash utilized in cement production in a Russian plant located 350 km from the paper mill. However, abiotic depletion potential and acidification potential slightly increased by 2.6 and 1.5%, respectively. A maximum reduction of 2.1% out of al impact categories was achieved when dry sludge was used in a lightweight aggregate plant. That is considerably less compared to the reduction achieved at the cement plants. The use of deinking sludge ash in a stone wool plant to substitute 25% of cement resulted in a maximum reduction of 25% in the ozone layer depletion potential. Thus, the utilization of deinking sludge in construction materials production while preventing its landfilling has beneficial effects on the environment, in particular decreased greenhouse gas emissions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The paper industry is responsible for a considerable amount of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions mainly due to its intensive energy requirements. The production of heat and power streams in a cogeneration system, i.e., a combined heat and power (CHP) plant, releases considerable amounts of GHG emissions into the atmosphere. Such emissions are already subjected to legislation globally. The amount of GHG emissions is usually calculated from the product of the total amount of energy activity multiplied by an emission factor. However, each energy output stream should get a share of emissions responsibility. This fact could assist in assigning weights to the emissions generated for power and thermal purposes in a combined heat and power plant. However, developing a suitable method of allocating emissions in a cogeneration system is still a concern and a subject research for scientists, companies and policy makers. This paper exposes and evaluates different published allocation methods and applies them to a real case of a combined heat and power plant integrated in a paper mill and proposes a new allocation method. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Compared to cast-in-situ construction, prefabricated construction reduces the generation of construction waste; however, construction waste cannot be entirely eliminated through prefabrication and can be generated at each stage of its life cycle. This paper generates a system dynamics model, comprising two causal-loop diagrams and one stock-flow diagram, to simulate the effectiveness of policies on decarbonizing prefabricated concrete building waste. The model can predict the annual and total construction waste, along with the associated carbon emissions, under different policy scenarios in China by 2030. This paper focuses on prefabricated concrete buildings in China, with specific attention to the wastage of concrete, bricks, mortar, and metal. In single-factor scenario simulations, increasing landfilling fee is the most effective policy for waste decarbonization, potentially reducing carbon emissions by 31%. Increasing prefabrication rate and enhancing regulation degree at the design phase of prefabrication can directly reduce prefabricated building waste generation, subsequently resulting in an 18% and 7% carbon emissions reduction. Multi-factor scenario simulations demonstrate that the simultaneous application of all four policies is most effective, achieving a 44% reduction in carbon emissions. This research establishes a theoretical framework for prefabricated concrete building waste management and provides the Chinese government with practical insights on optimizing policies for waste decarbonization in the dynamic landscape of prefabrication. • This paper develops the prefabricated building waste generation and disposal systems. • The model predicts the construction waste and associated carbon emissions by 2030. • Raising landfill fee is an effective policy for decarbonizing construction waste by 31.06%. • Prefabrication rate reaching 100% can reduce 18.04% of carbon emissions from waste. • Applying all policies is most effective, achieving a 44.34% carbon emissions reduction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Product service systems (PSS) are an example of a novel business model billed as having the potential to significantly reduce the environmental burdens of production and consumption processes. However, despite widespread interest in PSS, consensus regarding their actual environmental impacts, particularly with regard to salient issues such as global warming, is lacking. Hence this paper explores existing research to investigate the state of the art regarding the climatic impacts of PSS, alongside the set of factors that influence climatic impacts. The paper comprises a systematic review of peer-reviewed academic literature, quantifying the extent to which different types of PSS have the capacity to reduce greenhouse gas emissions across multiple product categories. Our study shows that significant reductions in climatic emissions are possible, but PSS are in many cases associated with more modest reductions and, in some cases, increased emissions. Further, we observe no clear differences in climatic impacts according to the type of PSS model that is deployed. Rather, differences in climatic impact are influenced by factors such as production and design alongside use-phase impacts and contextual factors such as transportation and the energy mix. The study argues that further research is needed to establish a more robust baseline upon which to draw conclusions regarding the sources of climatic impacts, and outlines fruitful ways for companies to tackle the complexities of climatic emissions that are beyond their control. • In some cases, product service systems can reduce climatic impacts by up to 80%. • In other cases, climatic impacts increase compared to traditional product sales. • Climatic impacts are influenced by use intensity, transportation and production. • Other contextual factors such as the energy mix play a role. • More quantitative assessments are needed with less reliance on estimations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A good risk warning model is an effective way to guarantee the stable operation of the carbon market and exert its emission reduction function. This paper takes the China's pilot carbon market as the research object and measures the carbon market risk by ARMA-GARCH-VaR. Then, influential factors are selected as non-market characteristics from the perspective of causality and incorporated into the risk warning model, and SMOTE and SMOTEENN are introduced to deal with the unbalanced samples. Results show that (1) The risk fluctuations of Beijing and Shenzhen carbon market are large, and the risk fluctuations of Guangdong carbon market are relatively smooth in the early period and larger in the recent period. (2) Air quality, average daily temperature, CSI 300, power coal, natural gas, European carbon market, exchange rate, and Baidu index are all important factors in the risk volatility of carbon market. (3) The Classification Decision Tree (CDT) has the best performance. CDT has the best performance in Guangdong carbon market, SMOTE-CDT has the best performance in Hubei carbon market, and SMOTEENN-CDT has the best performance in Shanghai carbon market, in which SMOTEENN-CDT has a 76% Recall. The non-equilibrium treatment improves the overall Recall, and the risk warning model after non-equilibrium treatment can avoid missing important risk points. This paper can provide a certain degree of reference for the improvement of carbon trading market and risk management. [Display omitted] • A carbon market warning model is constructed. • The average VaR of the carbon trading markets in Shenzhen and Beijing is larger. • CDT performs better in market risk warning. • The model improves 34.8% in the avoidance of risk compared with other models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In response to the growing emphasis on green packing, e-commerce businesses actively pursue sustainable solutions that balance cost reduction with environmental conservation. Traditional research on three-dimensional bin packing has concentrated on maximizing spatial utilization under fixed box dimensions. However, in the practical context of e-commerce, packing boxes exhibit a wide range of sizes within a single warehouse. Customizing packing to prevent material and space wastage has become crucial for sustainable development. This paper innovates traditional three-dimensional packing research by introducing open dimensions instead of fixed ones. It addresses challenges in e-commerce packing, such as multiple orders and diverse bin shapes, to formulate a mixed-integer programming model. Focused on the carbon emission lifecycle's usage phase for packing boxes, the model aims to minimize associated costs while ensuring that items' weight, the center of gravity, sufficient support, and non-overlapping placement are maintained during the packing process. It also incorporates one-dimensional and two-dimensional fixed bin sizes. To solve this model, the paper proposes an improved hybrid genetic algorithm for stack sequence optimization. This algorithm systematically optimizes the dimensions for each box type. Building upon this, the study introduces an algorithm capable of estimating packing material consumption and the percentage reduction in carbon emissions during the packing process, given the known variability in packing box utilization. These two algorithms are integrated into an open-dimension packing box warehouse management ecological closed loop system designed for the B2B e-commerce context. In experiments with the proposed model and algorithms, the results demonstrate an average packing rate improvement of 10%–12% compared to alternative methods. Additionally, packing material consumption and carbon emissions are reduced by approximately 16.56%–19.85%, confirming the effectiveness of the proposed approach. • Open dimension model boosts green e-commerce packing efficiency. • Stacking algorithm lifts space use up to 12%. • Material and emissions cut 16%–20% on space gains. • Eco warehouse system enables box reuse and material recycle. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Geopolymers are novel aluminosilicate inorganic polymers. The preparation of geopolymers has the potential to minimize the environmental impacts of solid wastes through a reduction in both resource depletion and pollution. Owing to their high mechanical performance, resource/energy conservation, and low-carbon emission, waste-based geopolymer materials (WGM) have attracted increasing attention in recent years. This paper reviews the research and application of WGM in solid waste disposal, wastewater treatment, and greenhouse gas emission reduction. The potential raw materials for producing WGM from available solid wastes are classified into three categories, highlighting significant differences among these wastes. Moreover, this paper comprehensively reviews the current status of WGM with different forms and functions used in the wastewater treatment field, along with their effect mechanisms. Additionally, this paper extensively elucidates the significant contributions of WGM in reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The wide range of raw materials, multifunctionality for water treatment, and low greenhouse gas emission characteristics of WGM ensure its practical and economically feasible application as an environmentally functional material. Owing to these characteristics, this paper outlines the future development prospects of WGM, further highlighting its advantages in preparation and practical application. This review provides references for addressing future challenges and promoting the development of WGM, contributing to its accelerated application in sustainable development and environmental protection. • WGM has great potential for the disposal and high value-added utilization of solid waste from different fields. • Based on the functional diversity, WGM has shown significant advantages in wastewater treatment. • GHG emission characteristics of WGM in application determine it is a low carbon material. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As a significant source of carbon emissions, road logistics operators are under increasing pressure from governments and customers to find ways to decarbonize as part of broader global efforts to reach net zero. Decarbonization of road logistics relies on the widespread diffusion of existing and emerging technological transport solutions. These include alternative fuel vehicles, battery technologies, renewable energy and charging solutions. All promise to reduce carbon emissions, but their implementation remains challenging, expensive, and risky. As early adopters of alternative fuel vehicles have reported, transitioning from fossil fuels poses challenges that must be prepared for and understood to minimize the obstacles to genuine emissions reductions in road logistics. A considerable volume of academic research has been published advocating emission reduction solutions and providing detailed analyses of their potential positive environmental impacts. However, to our knowledge, no frameworks integrate these analyses with practical insights into current and anticipated challenges for road logistics operators transitioning from fossil fuels to a decarbonized future. This paper analyses contemporary evidence and insights on current and future issues and presents an integrated framework for road freight logistics decarbonization challenges. The framework primarily focuses on decarbonization through alternative fuels and analyses three categories of challenges from socio-technical, economic, and environmental perspectives. The three categories of challenges relate to alternative fuel vehicles and fleets, alternative fuel distribution infrastructure and renewable energy generation. The underlying principle of the framework is to provide a practical tool that supports a more informed view of both the advantages and challenges of transitioning to alternative fuels. This research contributes to the body of knowledge by providing a framework to help direct future research into tackling these logistics decarbonization challenges. The insights presented in this paper may also inform practitioners by sensitizing them to potential roadblocks in the transition away from fossil fuels. • Framework integrating road freight logistics decarbonization challenges. • Analyse alternative fuels, alternative fuel distribution and renewable energy. • Three perspectives on decarbonization: socio-technical, economic, and environmental. • Highlight logistics services provider strategies to minimize risk and uncertainty. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Under the goal of "carbon peaking" and "carbon neutrality" in China, it is significant to explore whether emission reduction commitments contribute to carbon risk premium. Therefore, based on a sample of Chinese listed companies that publicly disclosed questionnaires in the CDP from 2009 to 2021, this paper empirically examines the relationship between emission reduction commitments and carbon risk premium and their formation mechanism. The results show that emission reduction commitments can effectively hedge the carbon risk premium, which pass several robustness tests. Specifically, the more comprehensive and ambitious the commitment is, the greater the suppression of the carbon risk premium. The mechanism test shows that disclosing emission reduction commitment information can reduce carbon risk by improving investor confidence and attracting political resources. Differences in enterprise emission levels, regional environmental regulation intensity and green financial development result in different risk-hedging effects of emission reduction commitments. Moreover, the greater the substantial pressure from stakeholders, the greater the tendency for firms to set up emission reduction commitments. Finally, the heterogeneity analysis reveals that confidence level of commitments has a significant impact on risk premium. Specifically, enterprises with SBTi validation, higher CDP ratings and higher target completion are more helpful in curbing carbon risk premium. Our findings contribute to corporate commitment to climate change and complement the carbon risk premium hypothesis. [Display omitted] The possible highlights of this study are as follows. • With the help of forward-looking information on emission reduction commitments, we re-examine the conclusion of the carbon risk premium and find that emission reduction commitments can effectively hedge the risk premium, enriching and developing the carbon risk premium hypothesis • This paper brings commitment levels and carbon emission levels into a unified analytical framework to study the correspondence between emission reduction commitments made under pressure to reduce emissions and the carbon risk premium, providing micro evidence for solving the mystery of the carbon risk premium. • Measure emission reduction commitment indicators from various angles, making the data on emission reduction commitments more objective and scientific. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cities have emerged as critical and challenging places for promoting the green and low-carbon transformation of the economy and society in the context of the "dual carbon" targets. Meanwhile, fiscal policy is also an indispensable component of the public policy framework supporting the green and low-carbon transformation. This paper uses the pilot project of "Comprehensive Demonstration Cities for Energy Conservation and Emission Reduction Fiscal Policies" ("ECER-CD" policy) implemented in China since 2011 as a quasi-natural experiment. This research theoretically analyzes and empirically tests the energy conservation and emission reduction effects of fiscal policies supporting green and low-carbon transformation utilizing methodologies such as time-varying DID and multiple periods and multiple groups of DID. The study finds that the pilot cities effectively reverse the behavioural bias of local governments and promote energy conservation and emission reduction efforts. This conclusion holds after undergoing robustness tests such as parallel trend analysis and heterogeneity treatment effects. The effectiveness of the pilot policy is attributed to the upgrade of industrial structure, improvement of energy efficiency, and the effects of green technology innovation. However, cities' geographic location and resource dependency can interfere with the effective implementation of policies. This paper also further explores the environmental dividends and economic consequences of the policy and finds that the pilot cities have certain environmental dividends and do not significantly restrain economic and social development. This study broadens the research perspective on fiscal policies in energy conservation and emission reduction and clarifies the pathways through which fiscal policies promoting green, low-carbon transformation drive energy conservation and emission reduction in cities. Moreover, it also improves the use of the Difference-in-Differences method in evaluating policy effects in scenarios such as the overlapping implementation of pilot policies and policy withdrawal. Finally, this paper proposes policy recommendations to provide more empirical evidence for China to accelerate the green and low-carbon transformation of the economy and society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Existing studies on emission accounting in global value chains (GVCs) have not focused on the relational nature of GVC activities manifested as the interaction of intermediate goods between enterprises. This paper proposes a relational GVC emissions accounting framework based on an inter-country input-output (ICIO) model distinguishing between domestic-owned enterprises (DOEs) and foreign-invested enterprises (FIEs), which is classified as trade-based, investment-based and hybrid-based emissions. Using AMNE-ICIO tables from 2005 to 2016, this paper traces emissions and carbon intensity in relational GVC activities at the global, economic, and industry levels. We find the following: (1) Investment-based emissions accounted for about 94.15% of the increase in relational GVC emissions, of which more than half comes from the interactive activities between DOEs and FIEs. (2) For the United States, high-income economies, and high-tech manufacturing, investment-based emissions were higher than trade-based emissions, and the reverse was true for upper-middle and lower-middle income economies and China. (3) Although relational GVC carbon intensity was high, the trend of decline was significant. (4) Compared to trade activities, investment-based activities were less carbon intensity in China and upper-middle income economies due to the interaction of production between FIEs and DOEs. The findings add new insights into the coordination of global emissions reductions and the allocation of emissions responsibility. • Emphasize the interdependence between enterprises in cross-border production. • Combine GVC linkages with carbon emissions and carbon intensity. • Investment-based emissions are the main factor of relational GVC emissions growth. • The carbon intensity of relational GVC decreased significantly. • Developing countries can access green spillover through investment-based GVC links. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a comprehensive system for assessing contaminant emissions, including the dominant contaminant reduction effects, recessive contaminant reduction effects, and contaminant reduction efficiency indexes. The system is used to evaluate the linkage changes in contaminant emissions reduction across different sectors, the ease of regulation, and the returns on emissions reduction efforts. The study's results demonstrate that firstly, COVID-19 initially reduced contaminant emissions across almost all sectors, although this effect waned over time. Secondly, applying conventional regulatory measures to sectors with high reductions in contaminant emissions may not yield the expected results. Thirdly, while some sectors may be more difficult to regulate, they may offer a higher return on investment in terms of emissions reduction. Based on the above results, the paper advocates for timely measures to consolidate environmental gains, prevent rebounding of contaminant emissions, prioritize supervision and management of easily regulated sectors, prioritize upgrading of cleaner production in sectors with high reduction efficiency indices, and increase investment in environmental technology. • Created a new comprehensive system for assessing contaminant emission changes. • Quantified the unique linkage changes of contaminant emissions during COVID-19. • Developed new models to reveal contaminants' regulatory difficulty and return. • The innovative reduction effects of four key contaminant indicators were measured. • Applied WHEM firstly in research across multiple areas of contaminant emissions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the paper of vehicle path planning, it is necessary to factor in both governmental regulation policies and enterprise regulation investments. In this paper, a novel method for vehicle path planning is investigated, which incorporates environmental regulation to determine the transportation path, driver, and vehicle type in a joint manner. The mathematical formulation of the investment decisions related to internal self-regulation is provided, considering four external regulation policies. To address the challenges posed by the multidimensional, discrete, and non-linearity model, an improved dynamic disaster genetic algorithm with elite strategy (ED-GA) is proposed. The numerical results demonstrate the effectiveness of the ED-GA in solving large-scale path planning problems, considering both effectiveness and running time. Moreover, this paper analyzes the variations in internal environmental regulation and external environmental regulation, elucidating the impact of different degrees of internal regulation and exploring the applicability of various external regulations. The proposed method is particularly relevant for freight enterprises that possess their own vehicles and are committed to investing in emission reduction. It offers valuable guidance for decision-making and management in low carbon vehicle path planning. • Exploring Environmental Regulation from Two Aspects: Internal and External Regulation. • Proposing a Vehicle Path Planning Model Considering Environmental Regulation. • Designing an Improved Dynamic Catastrophic Genetic Algorithm with Elite Strategy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Global production of bulk materials such as steel, paper, and aluminium has tripled over the past three decades and decarbonising their production is a difficult challenge. The transition to net zero emissions depends on three key zero emissions resources, non-emitting electricity, biomass, and carbon storage. This paper develops a model to anticipate how likely deployment of these three resources will constrain bulk material production on the transition to net zero emissions by 2050. The results predict that 2050 supply of steel, paper and aluminium will be up to 40% lower than demand. To address this shortfall, policy should promote a more rapid deployment of zero emissions resources in parallel with the strategies of material demand reduction. This paper quantifies potential production levels of aluminium, steel and paper on a trajectory that achieves net zero emissions by 2050 given constraints on zero emissions resources. [Display omitted] • Quantifies levels of bulk material production for different trajectories of zero emissions resources. • Results suggest gap between expected demand and possible supply levels under the constraint of net zero emissions. • Need for a more rapid deployment of zero emissions resources in parallel with the strategies of material demand reduction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China's industry is facing a carbon lock-in (CLI) dilemma. Based on the complexity and dynamics of CLI, exploring diversified unlocking paths is an important way to achieve emission reduction goals. This paper innovatively applies system dynamics (SD) to the study of CLI prediction and unlocking path, and systematically constructs an industrial CLI SD model, trying to break the positive feedback mechanism of CLI through multiple causality and feedback chains. This paper simulates and predicts the changing trend of the CLI level of China's industry and 8 major subsectors from 2020 to 2050. At the same time, the random forest algorithm is used to select the regulatory variables of policy analysis. Compared with the previous research methods, the accuracy and objectivity of the selection of regulatory variables are improved, so as to test the effectiveness of the unlocking path under each scenario. The results show that (1) the whole industry faces a serious CLI problem and is still in a deep lock-in state. From the perspective of subsectors, the light, electromechanical, and textile industries have achieved unlocking; the oil and extractive industries are in a moderately lock-in state; the chemical, steel, and power industries are in a deep lock-in state; and the CLI situation is serious. (2) The results of the random forest algorithm show that R&D investment, the proportion of fixed asset investments in the energy industry, car sales, energy structure, and carbon emission industry structure are the most significant factors affecting CLI in each subsystem. (3) Compared with the existing economic development model, the technological, institutional, social, and comprehensive unlocking scenarios can all enable industry to achieve carbon peak and carbon unlocking in advance. However, the effect of each scenario is as follows: comprehensive unlocking scenario > technological unlocking scenario > institutional unlocking scenario > social unlocking scenario. (4) The unlocking times of the oil, chemical, steel, and power industries are relatively late in each scenario. To realize carbon unlocking in industry, these four areas should be focused on in the future. This study helps policymakers formulate reasonable policies to accelerate industrial carbon unlocking and promote the implementation of the "dual carbon" strategy. • The whole industry faces a serious carbon lock-in problem. • The technological, institutional, social and comprehensive unlocking scenarios can all achieve carbon unlocking in advance. • The comprehensive unlocking scenario has the best effect, and the social unlocking scenario has the worst effect. • The oil, chemical, steel and power industries should be focused on in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Roads play a vital role in transportation systems, and their construction and maintenance expenses are high. Those reasons make crucial the examination of factors that accelerate road deterioration and those factors' negative impacts on societies. Climatic-related elements, especially temperature and precipitation, significantly affect the quality and lifespans of roads. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has reported that increasing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions is causing changes in climate and that the rate of change has accelerated during the past several decades. To assess the impacts of changing climatic parameters on flexible-pavement performance, this study used 32 climate models to evaluate the performance of interstate, primary, and secondary roads across 11 diverse locations with varying traffic and climatic conditions. The study's findings reveal that changing climate exacerbates pavement distresses, leading to reduced pavement lifespans and increased numbers of reconstruction projects, which in turn raise demands for materials and equipment and contribute to higher GHG emissions. The effects of changing climate and changing climate's associated economic and environmental costs make the application of various engineering solutions to enhance pavement resilience essential, as described in this paper, in the absence of comprehensive emissions reduction strategies. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The concept of a circular food economy, particularly through insect farming using food waste, has gained increasing attention in recent years. This approach holds the potential to reduce the environmental impacts of food production by repurposing food waste as insect feed, while simultaneously offering an alternative source of protein. Although the environmental advantages of insect farming are well established, limited research exists on insect farming in colder regions with cleaner grid electricity, such as Quebec, Canada. In this paper, a framework is developed to evaluate the greenhouse gas emissions of a mealworm farm within a circular economy context. The benefits of circular economy practices are assessed through multiple different feed acquisition scenarios (virgin feed and feed diverted from composting, anaerobic digestion, and landfilling). Furthermore, the benefits of mealworm farming are assessed through a comparative analysis with other sources of protein. The framework consists of five stages: feed acquisition, transformation, heating, transportation, and fertilizer production. The results show that farming mealworms using virgin feed emits +14.94 Kg CO 2 eq/Kg protein. However, using diverted food waste as feed eliminates the need for conventional waste management and leads to a reduction of greenhouse gas emissions of −1.54, −2.48, and −16.39 Kg CO 2 eq/Kg protein for food waste diverted from composting, anaerobic digestion, and landfilling, respectively. This study highlights that mealworm farming with virgin feed generates lower greenhouse gas emissions compared to beef and pork and is on par with chicken production. Overall, this study demonstrates the environmental superiority of mealworm farming, whether or not food waste is utilized, in a Canadian context. [Display omitted] • Circular economy and insect farming can decrease agriculture's carbon footprint. • Upcycling food waste yields carbon-negative edible insects. • Mealworms fed by diverting organic waste from landfill emit −16 KgCO 2 eq/Kg protein. • Mealworms fed virgin grains emit +15 KgCO 2 eq/Kg protein. • Virgin-grain-fed insects have impacts similar to chicken but lower than beef or pork. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Because transport in the port hinterlands heavily depends on roads with negative externalities, much social interest has been in modal shifts (MSs) to rail and shipping with lower environmental impact. Currently, leading industry sectors to ambitiously embrace technological innovations to decarbonize—consequently, in line with these changes, the significance of MSs should change; however, no previous studies have comprehensively presented the overall CO 2 emissions and transport mode shares for future regional cargo transport. This paper presents a scenario analysis of CO 2 emission reductions in the Japanese domestic hinterland of international maritime container transport based on future scenarios of technological innovation and change in shipper behavior. The simulation results using the global logistics intermodal network simulation model showed that up to 87% CO 2 reduction is possible, and the primary driver for this is technological innovation. Moreover, the significance of MSs fluctuates depending on the advancement of technological innovation, suggesting that MSs hold a degree of import as a decarbonization measure during the transitional phase toward carbon neutrality (CN) as technological innovation advances. The results of this study, which fluctuated considerably by scenario and timing, have policy implications with respect to the path to be followed toward CN, including whether to promote MSs. • Scenario analysis of CO 2 emission reductions in Japanese maritime transportation. • Up to 87% CO 2 reduction possible using technological innovation. • Significance of modal shifts fluctuated with the degree of technological innovation. • Policy implications suggesting that the path toward carbon neutrality is crucial. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 2015, the Chinese government set ultra-low emission standards for thermal power to alleviate the pressure of increasing total pollutants from energy demand. This paper analyzes the policy effect of ultra-low emission in different regions based on panel data of 1202 thermal power enterprises, and the results of hierarchical linear model show that the total amount of air pollutants emitted by thermal power enterprises showed a decreasing trend during 2017–2021, realizing the dual control of concentration and total amount. Due to the differences in primary energy structure, industrial structure and economic development level of different regions, the total emission reduction of thermal power pollutants is affected differently. First, the proportion of the region's secondary industry in the region's GDP is negatively correlated with the decrease of the total pollutant emission of local thermal power enterprises. Second, the higher the per capita GDP of the region, the more significant the decrease in the total amount of pollutants, economic development is conducive to pollutant emission reduction. Third, the higher the proportion of thermal power in local energy, the more obvious the reduction of total pollutant emissions of thermal power enterprises, indicating that the implementation of ultra-low emission policies in these regions is more thorough. In addition, the environmental protection tax plays a positive role in the total emission reduction, and the higher the sulfur dioxide tax rate, the more significant the reduction of total pollutants of thermal power enterprises. To further reduce the total amount of pollutants in thermal power, more coordinated efforts of environmental and economic policies are needed. [Display omitted] • The ultra-low emission policy can achieve dual control of pollutants. • The total pollutant emission reduction has obvious regional differences. • Environmental protection tax can reduce the total amount of pollutants. • The coordinated emission reduction of different pollutants is not obvious. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Green finance is a financial innovation that directs capital allocation towards green industries. How will this affect regional carbon emissions? Based on the data on green finance and carbon emissions of 30 provinces in China from 2008 to 2019, this paper employs a multivariate linear regression model and a spatial econometric model to empirically study the impact of green finance on carbon emissions. The results find that (1) green finance significantly reduces provincial carbon emissions, specifically through promoting a cleaner energy structure and an advanced industrial structure, as well as improving the quality of green innovation. (2) Heterogeneity exists between regions. In eastern regions and areas characterized by high levels of marketization and minimal fiscal pressure, the role of green finance in promoting provincial carbon emission reduction is more pronounced. (3) Spatial econometric analysis found that green finance has a significant spatial spillover effect on carbon reduction in adjacent regions. Specifically, the flow of green resources and green ideas between provinces facilitates the formation of regional radiation, while green competition generates a siphon effect on neighboring regions. These findings provide some meaningful policy implications to achieve China's dual-carbon goal by promoting green finance. • Green finance has significantly reduced China's provincial carbon emissions. • The upgrading of energy structure and industrial structure is a positive channel to reduce carbon emissions. • Green innovation strengthens the carbon reduction effect of green finance, but reveals the potential "greenwashing". • Green finance has a significant spatial spillover effect on carbon reduction in adjacent regions. • Policymakers should develop flexible, dynamic and coordinated green finance development policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China's climate and environmental problems remained prominent. Energy transition was the key to improve climate and pollution, and it was at a critical period. Previous studies mostly focused on the impact of climate policies on the reduction of air pollutants and the environmental health impacts of individual sector or pathway policies. Thus, focusing on the synergistic abatement of CO 2 and air pollutants and health effects of energy transition in carbon neutrality was significant for building beautiful and healthy China. LEAP-HEA model was constructed to project energy demand, CO 2 and air pollutants, and assess energy transition's environmental health effects from 2020 to 2060. LMDI model was adopted to decompose the abatement contribution. Synergistic assessment index was used to estimate the coordinated abatement effects. Cost-effectiveness of energy transition and regional heterogeneity of PM 2.5 toxicity were not considered. The results indicated: (1) energy demand would decrease and structure would be optimized significantly under deep energy transition scenario. (2) Deep energy transition could promote earlier realization of carbon neutrality. It would contribute significantly to CO 2 and air pollutants abatement with strong synergistic effects. (3) Energy transition would reduce health risks with large economic benefits. Recommendations were proposed based on the conclusions. The framework of LEAP-HEA model. [Display omitted] • The synergistic abatement and health effect of energy transition were explored. • The models of LEAP, LMDI, exposure-response and the data of 2020 were used. • Energy transition would have significant synergistic abatement and health effect. • The paper has significance for promoting carbon neutrality and healthy China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Achieving greenhouse gas emission reductions to meet the 1.5 °C target by 2050 is particularly challenging for the agricultural sector. Cleaner Growth Mitigation Measures (CG-MM) are practices and technologies which balance food production with greenhouse gas abatement and are also identified as being economically acceptable. This paper explores a large number of CG-MMs to assess their feasibility using a novel participatory filtering process. Each measure is explored through a series of mapping exercises with supply chain actors to identify the impact on greenhouse gases and their applicability to different farming systems. These are then refined in a series of farmer workshops to identify which measures were considered feasible. Results show that acceptance of CG-MMs by the industry and the farmers themselves is limited. A pessimistic estimate of 50–60% of potential abatement could be lost due to lack of acceptance of currently available CG-MMs within farming. This impacts expectations on decarbonisation trajectories for the agricultural sector to reach net zero by 2050. This also argues for targeted approaches in order to capture some of the lost abatement. • Cleaner growth mitigation measures are assessed at farming systems level. • Half of the potential abatement from cost-effective measures is considered feasible for farmers. • Agricultural support needs to be targeted to capture lost abatement from cleaner growth measures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract The purpose of this paper is to evaluate greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of a Chinese highway tunnel in the life cycle. Life cycle assessment (LCA) method is adopted in the paper. Based on rock mass classification and pavement categories, five different functional units have been proposed for the first time. The system boundaries, processes and assumptions are defined. The study results indicate: 1) the GHG emissions of a double-track four-lane Chinese highway tunnel in 100 years can be up to 375.5 thousand tons of CO 2 eq. Cement and electricity contribute to more than 80% of the total emissions in all functional units. 2) The construction stage, operation stage and maintenance stage emit 30.89%, 56.12% and 12.99% of the total GHG respectively. During the construction stage, casting and lining, rock support and road work are the top three GHG emission processes. 3) Rock conditions are discovered to be an important factor of affecting GHG emissions in tunnels. The GHG emissions of the 1-m Chinese highway tunnel are between 82 t to 113 t CO 2 eq. With the increase of rock mass grades, GHG emissions rapidly rise if the pavement design stays the same. The emission differences among the functional units are mainly from materials. 4) Asphalt pavements tend to generate more GHG emissions than concrete pavement due to the more frequent replacements of asphalt pavements. This paper investigates the influences of rock conditions and pavement types on the GHG emissions of Chinese tunnels in the life cycle, which can provide a scientific reference for policy making of the Chinese government. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Onshore and offshore wind turbines may have different environmental sustainability due to their own characteristics, and this information is important for future growth of wind power. The paper uses life cycle assessment (LCA) to estimate the life-cycle greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of onshore and offshore wind turbines with the nominal capacity of 2 MW, to advance our understanding of onshore and offshore wind energy and to inform policy, planning, and investment decisions for future growth of wind power. Results show that the life-cycle GHG emission intensity is 0.082 kg CO 2 -equivalent (eq)/Megajoule (MJ) for onshore wind turbine and is 0.130 kg CO 2 -eq/MJ for offshore wind turbine, respectively. Offshore wind turbine has larger life-cycle GHG emissions than onshore wind turbine, owing to the floating platform fixed in sea. Onshore and offshore wind turbines have much smaller life-cycle GHG emission intensity than coal power plants. If the installed wind turbines in 2014 displace coal, the saved GHG emissions can roughly reach 5.08 × 107 t CO 2 -eq, accounting for 0.09% of global GHG emissions in 2012. The sensitive analysis shows that the lifetime and energy production of wind turbine have large influences on the GHG emission intensity of both onshore and offshore wind turbines, implying that it is an effective way to prolong the lifetime of wind turbine and increase the energy production of wind turbine to reduce the GHG emission intensity of wind turbine. The sensitivity analysis further shows that the distance from wind turbine factory to wind farm site has more significant influence on the life-cycle GHG emission intensities of both onshore and offshore wind turbines than that from wind farm site to the recycling and landfill locations, suggesting that the wind farm site and the wind turbine factory should be as close as possible. Highlights • The paper presents a first attempt to analyse the life-cycle GHG emission of onshore and offshore wind turbines with same capacity size. • Offshore wind turbine has larger life-cycle GHG emissions than onshore wind turbine. • Onshore and offshore wind farms have much smaller life-cycle GHG emission intensity than coal power plants. • Lifetime and energy production have large influences on GHG emission intensity of onshore and offshore wind turbines. • If the installed wind turbines in 2014 displace coal, the saved GHG emissions can roughly reach 5.08 × 107 t CO 2 -eq. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Concerns about environmentally sustainable supply chain management have increased widely in recent years. As a consequence, supply chain members have cooperated with one another to make efficient contracts, frequently called green supply-chain management contracts. The purpose of this paper is to investigate one such contract between a single manufacturer and multiple retailers with limited resources for several types of products under greenhouse-gas emission regulations. Each retailer orders the products regularly within a limited budget and warehouse capacity. In response to orders, the manufacturer produces products and ships them after inspections. Demand for the products can be either known or have some uncertainty, which can best be represented using fuzzy number demand. To reflect demand properties, this paper introduces two nonlinear integer programming models, a crisp model and a fuzzy model. A genetic algorithm (GA) and hybrid genetic algorithm-pattern search (HGAS) are developed to solve the models. Numerical experiments evaluating the efficiency of the algorithms showed that the HGAS method performed better than the GA. Also observed is that the crisp model's average total costs were lower than those of the fuzzy model. The results as a whole indicate that the models can evaluate the performance of contracts and optimize cooperative green supply chain management. Highlights • We formulate two NIP models for GSCM with GHG emissions constraints, assuming constant and fuzzy demand, respectively. • The extension principle is used to apply the fuzzy set theory to the fuzzy model. • GA and HGAS methods are proposed. • HGAS performs better than GA in accuracy. • The total cost of GSCM is changing in accordance with the upper limit of GHG emissions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract This paper deals with the efficiency of the 28 European Union (EU) Member States for the years 2008, 2010, 2012 and 2014 by employing Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) and directional distance function to tackle undesirable outputs. Eight parameters are used, namely municipal solid waste (MSW) generation, employment rate, capital formation, gross domestic product (GDP), population density and for the first time sulphur oxide (SOx), nitrogen oxide (NOx) and greenhouse gases (GHG) emissions from the waste sector for the relevant countries. The innovation of this paper lies in the fact that both new parameters are taken into account and that diverse modelling techniques have been employed in terms of the outputs and inputs used. The empirical results obtained were bias corrected in order to get the correct efficiency scores for each country studied. Overall the most efficient countries were shown to be Germany, Ireland and the UK. These results were then reviewed against the recycling rate of each country for the examined time periods. The recycling rate actually depicts the DEA results, namely more efficient countries seem to have a higher recycling rate too. Moreover the DEA efficiency results were contrasted to the overall treatment options used in the countries under consideration. Overall it is noticed that countries employing all four treatment options with high use of more sustainable ones and decrease in the use of landfill are the ones that also proved to be efficient according to DEA. These results resemble the image of a financial crisis hit Europe which tried to take advantage of the more sustainable treatment options in order to achieve a transition to a circular economy, whereas the value of products, materials and resources needs to be maintained in the economy for as long as possible and the generation of waste minimised. This can be a valuable lesson for policy makers in the design and application of national and EU legislations and directives in order to achieve also the targets towards a circular economy driven Europe. Highlights • Employing DEA to assess national waste generation. • Three novel environmental production frameworks designed. • Directional distance function to tackle undesirable outputs. • Comparison of results with treatment options and recycling rates. • Policy implications under a circular economy approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To fulfil the hunger for sustainable development, Australian construction sector seems to contemplate toward green design. Green-Star environmental rating system, one of the active building rating systems in Australia, has also been employed in New Zealand, and South Africa. To help engineers and designers obtain comprehensive visualisation on sustainable projects, this paper develops a model to evaluate energy consumption and greenhouse-gas emissions based on typical Australian commercial building alternatives. From that, this paper explains how to achieve points for “Energy” and “Life-cycle impacts” categories of this rating system. The model uses GaBi 8.1 platforms and shows relationships between building's energy consumption, and greenhouse-gas emissions released during the building lifetime. This paper provides insight into life-cycle greenhouse-gas emissions assessment for several typical commercial building fabrics in Australia. The developed model can also be conveniently modified to automate calculations for other credits under the Green-Star environmental rating system, and other environmental rating systems around the world. The study suggests that designers should consider the inverse relationship between building envelopes' total R-value with energy consumption and greenhouse-gas emissions. Another finding shows that materials used for building envelopes play a significant role to manage energy consumption as well as greenhouse-gas emissions amount during the building's life-cycle. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Decomposition analysis provides a potentially powerful means for analyzing community greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions data. However, this form of analysis is typically conducted at larger geographical scales (i.e., national and state/provincial levels), which leaves questions around how to apply this methodology to local and regional contexts. This study explores the application of decomposition methodology to community data in order to elucidate how this form of analysis can be employed to inform local/regional planning and climate policy. The research involved developing decomposition models that focus on two particularly areas important for local climate action - transportation and residential energy. Each model consisted of five factors - population, population distribution, travel (transportation) or energy customer accounts (residential) intensity, vehicle (transportation) or home energy (residential) type, and emissions intensity. Using data from the BC Community Energy Emissions Inventory, the study examined effects of the different factors on emissions changes occurring between 2007 and 2012 in the Metro Vancouver Regional District (British Columbia, Canada). Results from the transportation analysis indicated that population growth and people's choices in vehicle type had the effect of increasing emissions in the MVRD, whereas travel and emissions intensity factors had mitigating effects. The residential energy analysis indicated that only population effects led to emissions-increases in the MVRD, whereas the other factors had mitigating effects. Community-scale analyses also were conducted to identify municipalities where emissions-increasing effects were experienced more dramatically, for example, travel intensity effects in smaller communities (e.g., White Rock), energy accounts intensity effects in Vancouver, and emissions intensity effects in the District of North Vancouver. The study demonstrated how decomposition analysis can provide regional and local governments with valuable insight on what is contributing to GHG emissions and where progress is being made, which in turn can help these governments focus climate policy and planning efforts to achieve progress toward mitigation. The paper begins with an introduction on the use of decomposition methodology in energy and GHG emissions studies, and its potential value for analyzing local emissions data. The next sections discuss the analytical approach designed for and employed in this study, as well as describing the data used for this research. The paper then presents the results of the analysis performed on the MVRD. Finally, it concludes with a discussion on the implications of the results of this study for regional and local policy and planning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As agriculture is an important contributor to greenhouse gas emissions, carbon labelling aiming at climate protection will play an increasing role in the future. An important example is the development of guidelines and standards for climate-neutral agricultural products and their respective certification. Carbon neutral certifications are, however, affected by criticism and mistrust as there were cases of doubtful claims to carbon neutrality in the past. Against this background, this paper analyses a rather promising case of certification for carbon neutrality: the pioneer case of the Costa Rican coffee cooperative Coopedota, which is the first organization worldwide that achieved certification for carbon neutrality in coffee using a renowned international standard. Coopedota's carbon neutral coffee is certified according to the Publicly Available Specification (PAS) 2060, which is based on a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA). The paper analyses how the cooperative came to apply this certification, which challenges it faced and how the cooperative solved them. Furthermore, the paper examines the social, political and institutional factors that fostered this innovation. To analyse the success factors that were relevant in this case, a Social Network Analysis approach was used. An innovative tool called ‘Process Net-Map’ was applied to visualize the social networks that enabled the actors to pursue the certification scheme. Process Net-Map also made it possible to identify the role and importance of different types of actors. The analysis shows that the certification created awareness on emission hot-spots along the coffee value chain. Reliable farm data from producers were identified as crucial because emissions at the farm level account for 60% of total emissions. It was also found that by avoiding pure offsetting, PAS 2060 supports emission reduction; however, PAS 2060 does not account for on-site carbon sequestration, for which coffee cultivation has high potential. Overall, the study found that the most important success factors include a combination of (i) past achievements in Coopedota's sustainability policy, which was incentivised by national and international trends and (ii) strong, visionary actors who performed the necessary network functions. The analysis also showed that the network of relevant actors is highly centralized, (indicated by a degree centrality of 86%), which may jeopardize the sustainability of the innovation project. Moreover, the network analysis revealed the importance of ‘double linkages’ between actors, which points to the role that combined services, such as funding and advice, played for the introduction of the certification scheme. General implications are derived from this case for future efforts to promote carbon neutral certification schemes for agri-food products. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The GHG Protocol has become the standard for corporate reporting of greenhouse gases, adopted by governments for regulations, NGOs for accountability and corporations for compliance. The GHG Protocol's scope 1 and 2 have largely succeeded in gaining compliance from large firms to report their internal GHG emissions and those from electricity purchases. Achieving Scope 3's intent of a full audit of value chain emissions GHG, however, is a much more complicated affair and according to the CDP, scope 3 is much less successful. This lack of success challenges the premise and purpose of the standard, especially, the expectation that the power of MNCs can be used to leverage reporting and reductions through the value chain. This paper constructs a heuristic framework to explain why success has been limited. The paper discusses six interdependent factors that inhibit scope 3's ambition of promoting the measurement and management of GHG emissions throughout the value chain. These factors are transaction costs, power, responsibility allocation, uncertainty, location contingency and production costs. The impact of these factors on likelihood of compliance to the scope 3 are revealed by an examination of what the sustainable supply chain management, the supply chain management and other literature tell us about value chain interactions on environmental performance. The weight of these factors cast doubt on scope 3's ambition to compel firms to report a full audit of their scope 3 emissions. Moreover, the pursuit of that ambition diverts corporate efforts from more efficient and effective environmental efforts. The paper concludes with a discussion of options for harnessing the power of the lifecycle approach to reforming the value chain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Improved energy efficiency among industrial companies is recognized as a key effort to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases. In this context, benchmarking industrial energy efficiency plays an important part in increasing industrial companies' awareness of their energy efficiency potential. A method for calculating an energy efficiency index is proposed in this paper. The energy efficiency index is used to benchmark the energy performance of industrial small and medium-sized companies' support and production processes. This enables the possibility to compare the energy performance of single energy end-use processes. This paper's proposed energy efficiency index is applied to energy data from 11 sawmills that participated in the Swedish national energy audit program. The index values were compared with each sawmill's energy saving potential, as stated in the energy audits. One conclusion is that the energy efficiency index is suitable as an energy strategy tool in industrial energy management and could be used both by industrial SMEs and by governmental agencies with an auditing role. However, it does require a harmonized categorization of energy end-use processes as well as quality assured energy data. Given this, a national energy end-use database could be created to facilitate the calculation of an energy efficiency index. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The European Union Emissions Trading System (EU ETS) was created with the aim of promoting reductions of greenhouse gas emissions in a cost-effective and economically efficient manner. In line with this objective, when making their decisions, policy makers should consider not only the CO 2 reduction targets but also the influence of these pollution reduction goals on companies' economic performance. This paper analyses the relationship between the economic and environmental performance of a sample of Spanish companies involved in the EU ETS in order to provide more information to the institutions responsible for developing these policies. This relationship is considered from two perspectives: the first examines how a company's production affects the ratio of the level of emissions to allocated allowances (the EA ratio), while the second examines how the EA ratio affects company results. A statistical methodology based on copulas is used, which allows us to analyze the relationship between these variables without requiring the assumptions of joint normality and linearity, thus providing the study with greater flexibility and realism. Our results highlight the existence of three different periods that correspond to Phases I, II and III of the EU ETS. During Phase I (2005–2007), the relationship between the EA ratio and firms' production and profitability was weak and, in the case of production, not significant. In Phase II (2008–2012), the efficiency of the EU ETS was higher, the allocations were better adjusted to firms' activities, and firms with EA values close to 1 were the most productive and profitable. The same trend occurred in Phase III (2013–2015), where a significant reduction of CO 2 emissions levels was observed but with higher EA values, especially in the Energy and Other Manufacturing sectors (including the Food, Textile, Leather, Footwear and Clothing, and Rubber and Paper industries). Therefore, although the environmental policy promulgated by the EU ETS is partially achieving its goal of reducing CO 2 emissions, it is still necessary to encourage green investments in order to decrease the EA levels, which are too high to satisfy the European Union Allowances allocation policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is important to target the cogeneration potential of utility systems in the process of designing or retrofitting Total Site utility systems. Simulation software has been widely used in process design and analysis. However, it is rarely employed in estimating of the cogeneration potential of a utility system. A new method is presented in this paper for targeting the cogeneration potential of Total Site utility systems with a commercial software. The simulator is used to calculate the temperatures of steam mains, steam flowrates and shaft power rates. Shaft power generation by steam turbines in expansion zones are computed with the built-in simulation module. Compared to the existing approaches, the new method needs neither establishing iterative calculation, nor programming procedure, and it requires fewer parameters. For the illustrated case studies, the results obtained by this method are comparable to those obtained in the literature. It is shown that the calculation procedure proposed in this paper is simple, and the results obtained are accurate. In addition, the calculation of the steam turbine capital cost and environmental footprints are considered in the targeting procedure to provide decision makers with a more complete picture of the designed sites. This should allow them to efficiently screen and compare the major design options on the basis of both economic and environmental performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Thanks to many government incentives, China has provided, at relatively low prices, a number of solar PV products to the world and enhanced domestic solar PV power. While China's growing solar PV industry has brought about both domestic and international environmental benefits, the provision of heavy subsidies has motivated the discussion of social and economic benefits and costs of this technology. Using the LCA approach, this paper performs an in-depth analysis on the environmental benefits and costs of this industry for the period of 2011–2016. Differing from existing literature, this paper broadens system boundaries to cover 11 stages of the solar PV industry life cycle, taking module sources and market directions of PV system into consideration, and quantifies the costs of environmental emissions of the industry by shadow pricing. The key finding of this study is that during 2011–2016 the total environment benefit was smaller than the total cost of China's solar PV industry. Meanwhile, coinciding with the rise of the domestic solar PV market, the resulting net environmental benefits have witnessed dramatic yearly growth. Policy implications and conclusions from findings are provided at the end of this paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Given the urgency of the transition to renewable energy, this study examines the challenges and opportunities associated with the electrification of heavy-duty vehicles, particularly new energy construction dump trucks, in China. Through a combination of policy analysis and empirical research, it investigates drivers' purchase intentions towards these alternative energy vehicles in a designated study area. The findings reveal that while policies aimed at encouraging adoption are in place, drivers' purchase intentions remain low due to factors such as high costs, technical concerns, inadequate infrastructure, and satisfaction with existing trucks. Specifically, the study identifies key technical challenges, including battery performance and range limitations, and advocates for a shift in policy support towards product development to address these issues. Overall, the paper highlights the need for a comprehensive approach that combines policy incentives with technological advancements to promote the widespread adoption of new energy construction dump trucks in China and achieve sustainability and carbon neutrality goals in the transportation sector. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Much of the existing literature on greenhouse gas peaking focuses on carbon dioxide (CO 2) emissions, however there is a lack of research on peaking methane (CH 4) emissions, the second-largest greenhouse gas. This paper attempts to determine and classify the peaking status of anthropogenic CH 4 emissions in 188 economies over the period 1970–2021 using a trend analysis model and a decoupling model. Fifty-eight economies achieved a peak in total CH 4 emissions, and 125 economies achieved a peak in CH 4 emissions per capita, showing marked spatial-temporal variation. Emissions generated by the agricultural sector peaked in 84 economies, followed by the energy sector in 63 economies, and the waste sector in 34 economies. Of these, the most volatile was the peak in emissions in the energy sector. There were 45 benign peaking economies and 13 pseudo-peaking economies. The majority of developed economies showed strong decoupling after reaching their peaks. The agricultural sector had the most peak economies which achieved strong decoupling. Among the factors influencing national pathways to peak CH 4 emissions, technological progress driving CH 4 emissions reductions in benign peak economies is the most important. This study provides targeted strategies for global and national CH 4 emissions reduction, particularly given the historical trend and current profile of economies at different levels of emissions evolution. • Peaking status of CH 4 emissions in 188 economies during 1970–2021 is evaluated. • 58 economies peaked in total CH 4 emissions and 125 in per capita emissions. • Agriculture-, energy- and waste-related emissions show various peaking patterns. • There are 45 benign peaking economies and 13 pseudo-peaking economies. • Factors influencing national pathways to peak CH 4 emissions are identified. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The quest for sustainability and reduction of human impact on the planet has led to discussions about environmental efficiency in the manufacture and use of automotive vehicles. The advancement of environmental and government laws has encouraged the automotive industry to seek constant improvements in safety, fuel economy and reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. To achieve these goals, reducing the weight of vehicles has been considered a relevant strategy, with several research and development efforts in search of high-tech materials and innovative design. The assessment of the life cycle of vehicles, from the extraction of raw materials to the end of their useful life, is essential for estimating environmental impacts. In this context, this paper focuses on the life cycle analysis of vehicles with new generation steel structures (Body in White Solution) compared to current steels (Body in White Baseline), aiming at reducing greenhouse gas emissions by reducing of the thickness of the steel plates, maintaining the mechanical properties necessary to guarantee the safety of the vehicle. The methodology of this study was divided into the evaluation of Body in White (BIW) mass in current steels (Baseline) and in advanced high resistance steels (Solution); detailing the vehicular life cycle from the extraction of materials to its end of life; in the estimation of greenhouse gas emissions through simulation and in the comparison of vehicle emissions with BIW in current steels and in advanced high resistance steels. As a result, it was possible to observe that, in the comparison of the CO 2 footprint, modeled in the Eco Audit, there is a 15% reduction in emissions in the CO 2 footprint for the BIW solution, as well as a 7% reduction in the C eq total , in the on-site test and a saving of 260.40 L in fuel consumption, that is, the reduction in vehicle weight plays a significant role in reducing CO 2 emissions, providing a mitigation factor for global warming. [Display omitted] • There is a 15% reduction in emissions in the CO2 footprint for the BIW solution. • There is a 7% reduction in the Ceq total, in the on-site test. • Reduction in vehicle weight plays a significant role in reducing CO2 emissions. • Providing a mitigation factor for global warming. • There is a fuel economy of 260.4 L over the vehicle's life cycle. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is crucial for long-term carbon emission reduction to analyze how the government affects enterprises and customers to reduce carbon emissions and purchase low-carbon products. A tripartite evolutionary game among the government, enterprises, and customers is constructed. In addition, the evolutionary courses of the game among the behaviors of government, enterprises, and customers are examined. On this basis, the influence of internal and external factors on the results is analyzed. MATLAB software is used for numerical simulation analysis to simulate the influence of some parameters on the decision-making of game players. The analysis demonstrates that: the subsidy for enterprises has a more significant influence on the behavior of the government than on those made by enterprises and customers. At this point, enterprises and customers will take more account of the government's decision, which will lead to the strategies of "low-carbon production mode" and "purchasing low-carbon products," respectively. This paper focuses on the impacts of the low-carbon consumption subsidy policy and the "carbon inclusion" system on the evolution of the three parties. When carbon credits are at a reasonable level and low-carbon consumption subsidies are combined with carbon inclusion mechanism, it may be observed that the former is more effective in encouraging customers to purchase low-carbon products. In other words, this is the situation where the two policy implementations are most effective. Simultaneously, it will motivate enterprises to reduce carbon emissions and the government to positively regulate. • This study adopts the research perspective of carbon emission reduction. • A tripartite evolutionary game model is proposed to study stakeholders' strategies. • Government subsidy policies and carbon inclusion mechanism favor game outcomes. • Governmental policies in low-carbon consumption must be strengthened. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the growing global concern about construction industry emissions, a potentially useful approach to reduce such emissions could be to obligate the contractual parties to establish emissions-related construction contract provisions. Unfortunately, implementation of such initiatives has been limited in the practice. This study is motivated by the realization from previous studies that it is feasible to use contract clauses to regulate contractor use of equipment in a manner that reduces emissions and that there exist opportunities to establish frameworks that could facilitate implementation. In this paper, a framework is developed for designing and evaluating a green-performance variation clause. The framework involves a model whose objective is to maximize the net present value (NPV) by minimizing greenhouse gas emissions from the contractor's equipment fleet. The model addresses the uncertainties associated with the analysis inputs using Monte Carlo simulation, and the model outcomes are the probabilities of a positive NPV of emissions associated with the Owner and the contractor separately. The framework is demonstrated using a case study in road construction. The case study results yielded the following probabilities that a positive NPV for each of the two parties: 52% and 70% for the Owner and the contractor, respectively. This result suggests that using the developed framework, contract clauses can be designed at the pre-procurement phase to promote mutual and voluntary adoption of emissions-reducing practices at the subsequent phase (construction) of road development. This is shown to yield outcomes that are attractive (thereby, encouraging obligated parties to pursue emissions reduction) and the attractiveness is consistent across the parties. The proposed framework, which is consistent with green contracting, can generally help promote sustainability-related goals and outcomes related to construction projects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The issue of carbon emissions has become increasingly urgent in tandem with the rapid growth of the economy in the Pearl River Delta region. This paper uses kernel density estimation and standard deviation ellipses based on Pearl River Delta data from 2012 to 2021 to explore the spatiotemporal evolution trends of green financing and carbon emissions. Additionally, it uses a spatial Durbin model to examine the spatial effects of green finance on carbon emissions. The results indicate the following: Firstly, over the years, green finance shows an overall increasing trend, with an internal spatial pattern characterized by higher levels in the northeast and lower levels in the southwest. In contrast, carbon emissions are decreasing, with an internal spatial pattern characterized by higher levels in the southwest and lower levels in the northeast. Secondly, more and more green financing initiatives are aiming towards the Pearl River Delta's northeast, suggesting a more significant concentration of such initiatives there than elsewhere. At the same time, carbon emissions seem to converge on the southwest of the Pearl River Delta, which could indicate that this area generally has greater carbon emission levels. Finally, the spatial effect results reveal that improving green finance levels can significantly inhibit carbon emission levels in the Pearl River Delta region. Evidence of spatial spillover effects indicates that the carbon emissions in neighboring areas are influenced to some extent. This study on green finance and carbon emissions' spatiotemporal characteristics and spatial impact gives a development path and theoretical support for sustainable development goals in the global economy. • Studied the spatial evolution direction of green finance and carbon emissions. • Studied the spatial spillover effects of carbon emissions. • Studied the impact of green finance on carbon emissions. • Provided decision-making reference for carbon emission reduction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 2022, Saudi Arabia's anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions amounted to 810 million tons of CO 2 e. The country has pledged to cut its emissions by 278 million tons of CO 2 e per year by 2030. This paper contributes a modeling view on the climate-related effects of various energy policies on the Saudi energy system. We use an energy system model designed to represent seven sectors in the Saudi economy. In addition to a baseline, which entails the continuation of current domestic policies, we look at a scenario that incorporates some of the plans announced by the Saudi government. We also examine the baseline scenario with a cap on total CO 2 emissions equal to those exhibited with the announced plans. The model then makes the necessary decisions to abate CO 2. We find that the energy system contributes 130 million tons of CO 2 e to the nationally determined contribution amount in 2030. Also, a non-prescriptive scenario that caps energy-system CO 2 emissions produces the same emissions reductions as the announced plans while lowering the present cost by 2030 by $70 billion. The corresponding implicit marginal abatement cost of CO 2 approaches 35 $/tonCO 2 by 2045. This cost would displace around half of crude and fuel oil use in the Saudi energy system. • Saudi Arabia plans to cut annual greenhouse gas emissions by 278 million tonsCO 2 e. • We use a multi-sector model built from the ground up for Saudi Arabia. • The energy system can contribute 130 million tons of CO 2 e in reductions in 2030. • We find a scenario that achieves GHG abatement at a lower cost than official plans. • The marginal value attributed to CO 2 approaches 35 $ per tonCO 2 by 2045. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is the inaugural attempt to investigate the herding behavior of firms in the context of environmental orientation to achieve the UN SDGs (Sustainable Development Goals) in the ASEAN region. Insights from the previous literature infer that peer effect is visibly seen in firms across various fields, especially amongst their CSR and ESG performance. Using data from the Thai listed firms, we document strong evidence of peer effects concerning environmental performance and its dimensions (emission reduction, product innovation, and resource reduction). The targeted time frame for the current study is from 2009 to 2019 for which we analyze the firms listed on the Thailand Stock Exchange (SET). Moreover, the results of our study support the fact that mimicking behavior is one of the common behaviors that is followed by the majority of the firms keeping in view their varied purposes which include enhancing their market reputation, increasing profits, attracting shareholders and investors and most importantly raising their sustainability standing. Thus, overall our study highlights the main perspective that peer effects and herding behavior a common practices amongst firms concerning their environmental policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to probe collaborative environmental governance (CEG) in China's "1 + N" policy framework for carbon peak and carbon neutrality, this paper applies the Actor-network theory (ANT) as an analytical framework to explore carbon reduction policy coordination. We then model ANT's relations with an evolutionary game theory (EGT) model to examine the evolutionarily stable strategies in CO 2 emission reduction by various actors including the central government, local governments, commercial banks, and polluting enterprises. Our objective is to examine policy coordination as the key enabler for governing success via an ANT-based mechanism design in China's institutional context. Combining the strength of ANT with a four-party EGT model, we investigate how to improve policy coordination to mobilize the actor-network for promoting CEG. Simulations are conducted to examine the effectiveness of policy coordination involving multiple policy instruments for controlling carbon emissions. The central government fulfills leadership in translating the interests of other actors and shaping the desired collaborative network. Without proper coordination, environmental policies may counteract each other. Government transfers and subsidies have direct impacts, but in the long run enhanced competitiveness and profitability of enterprises represent the intrinsic key to CEG success. From a methodology perspective, policy simulation in an EGT framework represents a novel addition to the research toolbox that expands ANT. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Global marine shipping annually accounts for about one billion tonnes of CO 2 equivalent greenhouse gas emissions. Nuclear power propulsion may be an option to de-carbonise some niches of the merchant ocean fleet. This paper considers the three experimental nuclear-powered merchant ships launched and operated in the world so far; the iconic Savannah (USA), Otto Hahn (West Germany) and Mutsu (Japan). They were independently developed and operated in the 1960s and 1970s for technology demonstration and learning. A fourth ship, Sevmorput (Soviet Union/Russia, 1988–to date), is a pioneer in respect of its logistics functions and propulsion system. This paper develops a theoretical framework for the sustainability assessment of nuclear propulsion in ocean merchant shipping and presents a method for exploring nuclear propulsion, relative to flag state, ports, shipping resources and ocean transport services. The experimental ships’ transport efficiency is discussed and related to contemporary oil-fired shipping of general cargo, and to recent literature presenting possible future applications of merchant nuclear propulsion in some market niches. Insights provided include: (1) the experiments demonstrate that merchant nuclear propulsion may be technically feasible; (2) port and canal access for merchant nuclear-powered ships may be difficult and restricted; (3) the up-front costs, refuelling and end-of-life decommissioning costs of nuclear-powered ships are vast and uncertain against conventionally-powered ships; (4) because nuclear fuel is comparatively low-cost, the conventional oil-fired ship cost implications of high-speed operations do not apply. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to the high reliance on fossil fuels in the electricity production and transport sectors, completing the energy transition holds a particular importance for non-interconnected territories. The environmental impacts from electricity generation are mainly imputed to fossil fuel based technologies, for instance in the case of French insular territories. This paper summarizes the present electricity situation in these territories and aims to determine their different emissions and environmental impacts through a life cycle assessment (LCA) approach. To deliver 1 kWh of electricity to the power grid from the studied regions, the electricity mix is defined as the functional unit. The results refer to a life cycle cradle-to-gate electricity production model. The impact categories discussed in this paper are related to global warming potential, acidification potential, tropospheric ozone precursor potential, and the cumulative energy used. Due to its high share of renewable energies sources, French Guyana has the lowest greenhouse gases (GHG) emissions per kilowatt-hour produced compared to the other islands (373 g CO 2 -eq/kWh, 4.29 g SO 2 -eq/kWh and 2.65 g NMVOC-eq/kWh). Combined with other social, economic and environmental parameters, these results will be also used to determine the typologies of islands in order to define a common energy strategy for each group. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Decarbonisation of stationary energy supply, particularly electricity grids, is the current focus of climate change mitigation policy. However, studies have suggested that this narrow policy focus is insufficient to achieve meaningful global emissions reductions. Using Iceland as a case study, this paper demonstrates that significant emissions arise from transport and imported products, which are often not fully captured in territorial GHG inventories. This results in high greenhouse gas emissions per capita regardless of the nation's domestic energy supply. The result is a low carbon illusion in which rich economies believe they are reducing their GHG responsibility whilst global emissions continue to grow. This paper presents the first consumption-based carbon footprint (CBCF) analysis for Iceland, a nation where the stationary energy supply is 99% renewable, and could be viewed as a decarbonisation ‘future case’ for rich nations globally. The study combines Icelandic household expenditure data with the Multi-Regional Input-Output database Eora to calculate the CBCF of Icelandic households. The average annual CBCF of Icelandic households was 10.4 tCO 2 eq/capita, similar in magnitude to other EU nations despite Iceland's unique energy supply. GHG emissions from transport, food and goods dominated the household CBCF. The national CBCF was higher than most European nations and 55% higher than the territorial emissions inventory. Approximately 71% of household emissions were attributed to imported goods, which were mapped globally revealing that the GHG emissions burden of Icelandic consumption falls primarily on developing nations. The findings suggest that a broader GHG accounting framework and resulting policy focus is required, both in Iceland and globally, that incorporates both supply and demand-based GHG reduction strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The transport sector accounts for a large proportion of energy demand and environmental emissions and is growing rapidly. The city is the hub of modern human life and the urban transport sector is developing fast. Specifically, in the Internet era, the development of public transport has brought new challenges and opportunities to urban passenger transport. Thus, research on the energy demand and environmental emissions of the urban transport sector is significant and timely. This paper takes Beijing’s public transport as an example and applies the Long-range Energy Alternatives Planning (LEAP) model to analyze the energy demand and the main greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions under different scenarios during the period 2016–2030. The results show that: 1) if the government fails to guide the development of passenger transport appropriately, its energy demand and GHG emissions will rise rapidly and under the baseline scenario, the energy demand and emissions in 2030 are about 1.8 times those oft 2015; 2) the scenarios of developing public transport and transport sharing have a significant effect of energy saving and emission reduction and in 2030 the energy demand and GHG emissions falls by 25%–30% compared with that of the baseline scenario, so the combination of public transport and transport sharing is a wise choice for the low carbon development of the passenger transport sector in Beijing; 3) scenarios of easing road congestion and new-energy and clean-energy vehicle development have huge potential for energy saving and emission reduction, particularly the internal adjustment of the energy structure in the scenario of developing new-energy and clean-energy vehicles, which can greatly reduce the demand for traditional energy sources and reduce GHG emissions. This paper illustrates the development trends of energy demand and GHG emissions in Beijing’s passenger transport sector under the scenarios of transport sharing development and traditional development in the Internet era, providing a basis for decision making. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]