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• A novel probabilistic method for evaluating the sustainability performance of reinforced concrete (RC) structures made with conventional and green concretes and subjected to carbonation is presented. • The method is based on the combination of life cycle assessment (LCA) and life cycle cost analysis (LCCA) methodologies. • The method takes into account the impact of climate change, which is illustrated for three locations with different types of climate. • It is shown that green concretes demonstrate superior sustainability performance compared to conventional concrete, both in terms of CO 2 emissions and costs, and that climate change does not affect that. The paper presents a probabilistic method based on two methodologies – Life Cycle Cost Analysis (LCCA) and Life Cycle Assessment (LCA), for evaluating the sustainability of reinforced concrete (RC) structures in terms of their costs and CO 2 emissions. The method considers the whole life of a RC structure by taking into account CO 2 initially embodied in its construction materials, the absorption of CO 2 by concrete due to carbonation during the service life of the structure, potential damage to the structure due to carbonation-induced corrosion of reinforcing steel that may require repairs, and relevant costs. Since there are numerous uncertainties associated with the calculation of CO 2 emissions and costs, a probabilistic approach is beneficial. The emphasis is made on RC structures made of the so-called "green concretes", in which Portland cement is partially replaced with supplementary cementitious materials such as fly ash and ground granulated blast-furnace slag. The issue of a changing climate is also addressed. The method is illustrated by assessing the sustainability of a multi-story RC carpark made of different concrete types at three different locations (London, Paris and Marseille) for present and future climate conditions. This assessment's results show that using green concretes leads to a major reduction in CO 2 emissions and a small decrease in the life-cycle cost of the carpark RC elements. The relative sustainability performance of green concretes slightly improves compared to Portland cement concrete for future climate conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract The aim of this paper is to evaluate and compare the techno-economic performance of grid-connected photovoltaic (PV) power systems for a rooftop solar PV building containing 14 families in five climate zones in China. The techno-economic performance of grid-connected PV system in the five regions was evaluated using the HOMER software. Monthly average electric production, economic and environmental considerations, and sensitivity analyses were all considered. The results show that the pollutants from grid-only, grid/PV, and grid/PV/battery systems come mainly in the form of CO 2 emissions. In addition, this study concludes that grid/PV systems are technically, economically and environmentally feasible for all five climate zones. The excess electricity, NPC, and COE values of the grid/PV systems for all five climate zones increased with PV penetration increased, whereas the CO 2 emissions for these climate zones decreased due to the increasing PV sizes. For the grid/PV systems of five climate zones, Kunming is the most economical with the least NPC ($113,382) and COE ($0.073/kWh). The lowest CO 2 (38,975 kg/yr), SO 2 (35.4 kg/yr), and NO x (165 kg/yr) emissions of grid/PV systems occurred in Kunming. From an economic and environmental perspective, Kunming, with its mild climate conditions, may be especially suitable for grid/PV power generation. Highlights • The techno-economic performance of grid/PV system is evaluated using HOMER in five climate zones. • The grid/PV systems are feasible in five climate zones, China. • Kunming is the most economical with the least NPC ($113,382) and COE ($0.073/kWh). • Kunming may be especially suitable for grid/PV power generation. • The grid/PV system is a better choice for all five regions than the other studied systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This paper is intended to analyze CO2 transmission between Japan and South Korea through international trade based on 1990 and 1995 international input–output data. It applied a residual-free structural decomposition method proposed by Chung and Rhee [Chung, H.S., Rhee, H.C., 2001. A residual-free decomposition of the sources of carbon dioxide emissions: a case of the Korean industries. Energy 26 (1), 15–30] to emission-related international input–output analysis for the first time in the decomposition studies. This paper is a case study regarding the manner and the extent to which CO2 emissions are influenced by international trade between Japan (an Annex I country) and South Korea (a non-Annex I country), which is of particular interest for the carbon leakage issue. In this paper, we attempted to show which factors contributed to the changes in emission of the major greenhouse gas in South Korea and Japan. The changes in emission are analyzed in terms of emission intensity, input techniques, demand composition, and trade structures. According to our analysis, South Korea, a non-Annex I country, has more energy-intensive production structures than Japan, an Annex I country. South Korea''s trade pattern with Japan reflects these production features, resulting in the Korea''s comparative advantage in emission intensive products, though the degree has somewhat mitigated in 1995 compared to 1990. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Most of the research articles on climate change study the relationships between economic growth, and, carbon dioxide (CO2) emission or energy consumption separately for analyzing the impacts of economic growth and energy consumption on global carbon dioxide emissions. In this paper, the linkages among CO2 emissions, Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth and energy consumption are studied simultaneously using Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA). The time period considered for the study is 1980–2001. The results show that world in the year 1980 was the most efficient in achieving the highest economic growth, emitting least carbon dioxide for a given level of energy consumption for that year. The efficiency index reduced in the next 8 years, fluctuated with a declining trend for the next 7 years, and began to rise from 1996 till 2001. The model is further extended in this paper for technology forecasting to identify the links between energy consumption and carbon dioxide emissions for achieving projected levels of GDP under two different assumptions on efficiency index. It has been identified using the forecasting model that, when the carbon dioxide emissions are restricted to the levels emitted in the year 1990 and when the efficiency index for the year 2025 is assumed to be at the level registered for the year 1980 (highest value), the non-fossil energy consumption needed to meet the GDP level projected for 2025 will be much smaller (35.46 quadrillion Btu for the reference GDP) than the values actually recorded in the year 1990 (44.59). However, the non-fossil energy consumption in 2025 (118.8) increases much more than the actual recorded in the year 1990 when the efficiency index in 2025 is assumed to be at the level registered for the year 1990. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The Chinese Government just released its Energy Revolution Strategy (2016–2030) as an official policy response to President Xi Jinping’s urge. Withdraw of the US from Paris Climate Agreement has turned the global focus on if China can comply with its climate change commitments. The purpose of this paper is to conduct a comprehensive assessment on this utterly important question. We find that the 2030 Strategy is consistent with the GDP CO 2 intensity target but cannot deliver CO 2 peak earlier than 2030. We also explore the possibility for China to realize leapfrog in energy efficiency and contribute more to global society in CO 2 emissions abatement. Given China’s economic restructuring potential, continuous efforts in energy efficiency could lead to much lower primary energy demand than the Strategy proposed and thus peak energy-related CO 2 emissions around 2020. It can also make China a new champion in the world with highest energy efficiency level at comparable income level during the economic development process. A much lower primary energy demand can also facilitate China’s non-fossil primary energy share target and the low-carbon power system transition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many international organizations have called for an increased usage of renewable energy as a means to reduce CO 2 emissions and address climate change. This paper uses a large panel data set of 93 countries and recently developed panel estimation techniques to answer the question by how much does increasing non-fossil fuels in electricity generation reduce the subsequent carbon dioxide emissions. For the full sample, we find long-run displacement elasticities for non-fossil fuel consumption per capita of approximately −0.38; however, for the share of non-fossil fuels used in electricity generation, those long-run displacement elasticities are −0.82. Thus, a one percent increase of the share of non-fossil fuel electricity generation reduces CO 2 emissions per capita from electricity generation by about 0.82%. Long-run share displacement elasticities for non-OECD countries are substantially higher than those for OECD countries (approximately −0.98 to −0.54). These results have a number of policy implications. Our results are important in establishing that a very rapid increase in the share of non-fossil fuels used in electricity generation is needed in order to have a meaningful impact on per capita CO 2 emissions from electricity generation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: At the beginning of the 21st century imports of agricultural and food commodities have become a major part of many nations’ food baskets. Indeed the global food system has several merits for nations, businesses and individual consumers’ well-being. However, as increasing evidence suggests that we are approaching an era of climate change and scarcity of cheap energy sources the sustainability of that system must be examined. One part of any food commodity chain is its ‘food miles’ – the distance the commodity travels from point of production to point of consumption, the required energy and resulting emissions. This paper presents a 1 year ‘snapshot’ of Canada’s total import related food miles. It presents an analysis of the distance imported foods traveled from around the world to major points of consumption in Canada and documents the equivalent carbon dioxide emissions related to those imports. It presents both a macro scale picture of the equivalent emissions related to transportation of imported food and a micro scale picture which focuses on specific commodities consumed in various parts of the country. It then discusses policy implications for food sustainability. Overall the research highlights that about 30% of the agricultural and food commodities consumed in Canada are imported, resulting in ‘food miles’ of over 61billiontonneskm, leading to annual emissions of 3.3 million metric tonnes of CO2. Of the various agriculture and food commodities studied, fruits and vegetables had the highest food miles related emissions. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Detailed estimates of carbon dioxide emissions at fine spatial scales are critical to both modelers and decision makers dealing with global warming and climate change. Globally, traffic-related emissions of carbon dioxide are growing rapidly. This paper presents a new method based on a multiple linear regression model to disaggregate traffic-related CO2 emission estimates from the parish-level scale to a 1×1km grid scale. Considering the allocation factors (population density, urban area, income, road density) together, we used a correlation and regression analysis to determine the relationship between these factors and traffic-related CO2 emissions, and developed the best-fit model. The method was applied to downscale the traffic-related CO2 emission values by parish (i.e. county) for the State of Louisiana into 1-km2 grid cells. In the four highest parishes in traffic-related CO2 emissions, the biggest area that has above average CO2 emissions is found in East Baton Rouge, and the smallest area with no CO2 emissions is also in East Baton Rouge, but Orleans has the most CO2 emissions per unit area. The result reveals that high CO2 emissions are concentrated in dense road network of urban areas with high population density and low CO2 emissions are distributed in rural areas with low population density, sparse road network. The proposed method can be used to identify the emission “hot spots” at fine scale and is considered more accurate and less time-consuming than the previous methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This paper uses multivariate co-integration Granger causality tests to investigate the correlations between carbon dioxide emissions, energy consumption and economic growth in China. Some researchers have argued that the adoption of a reduction in carbon dioxide emissions and energy consumption as a long term policy goal will result in a closed-form relationship, to the detriment of the economy. Therefore, a perspective that can make allowances for the fact that the exclusive pursuit of economic growth will increase energy consumption and CO2 emissions is required; to the extent that such growth will have adverse effects with regard to global climate change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate change research is currently a topic of great interest for economic researchers. In particular, environmental input–output analysis increasingly plays an important role in measuring the economic and environmental effects of sustainable development policies in Europe. Other approaches also exist, such as econometric modelling, in which impacts are quantified on statistical grounds and with certain desirable properties (efficient estimates, confidence intervals, hypothesis testing, etc.) that are not found in the input–output approach. Consequently, this paper merges the two approaches to address the calculation of unbiased and consistent carbon dioxide emission multipliers for Denmark and their respective confidence intervals. The use of the supply and use system instead of the symmetric input–output table also presents the opportunity to avoid the common problems associated with the construction of technical coefficients (technology assumptions, negatives, etc.). Moreover, a new policy-relevant application of these multipliers is introduced: the quantification of the performance of the carbon dioxide emission reductions carried out by industries via external trading. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]