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Climate change is progressing faster than previously envisioned. Efforts to mitigate the challenges of greenhouse gas emissions by countries through the establishment of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has resulted in continuous environmental improvements in the energy efficiency and carbon emission signatures of products. In this paper, an energy–carbon emissions nexus causal model was applied using the Leontief Input–Output mathematical model for low-carbon products in future transport-manufacturing industries., The relationship between energy savings, energy efficiency, and the carbon intensity of products for the carbon emissions signature of the future transport manufacturing in South Africa was established. The interrelationship between the variables resulted in a 29% improvement in the total energy intensity of the vehicle body part products, 7.22% in the cumulative energy savings, and 16.25% in the energy efficiency. The scope that has been examined in this paper will be interesting to agencies of government, researchers, policymakers, business owners, and practicing engineers in future transport manufacturing and could serve as a fundamental guideline for future studies in these areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Biomass use for energy and materials is, on the one hand, one of the key mitigation options to reach the 1.5 °C GMT target set in the Paris Agreement, as highlighted by the IPCC and many other key analyses. On the other hand, particularly in parts of the EU, a strong negative connotation has emerged in public debate and EC policy, with a particular emphasis on the (presumed) displacement effect in markets and land use. This is a remarkable contrast because the reasons to use sustainable biomass, on the one hand, and the possibilities and synergies for supplying sustainable biomass, on the other, are underpinned with strong evidence, also providing insights on how displacement issues can be avoided. Sustainable biomass supplies can contribute 20–30% of the future global and European energy supply, leading to reduced overall mitigation costs, including realizing the net CO2 removal from the atmosphere using BECCS concepts. This paper highlights which options, pathways and preconditions are key to achieving such a substantial contribution of sustainable biomass in future (2050) energy and material supply (with a focus on the European setting). By pinpointing how "biomass can be done right" and how important synergies can be achieved via better agricultural methods, the restoration of marginal and degraded lands and the adaptation of climate change, a different policy agenda emerges in sharp contrast to how a biobased economy has been framed in recent years. It is recommended that future policy priorities, particularly at the EU level, take a more integral view on the synergy between the role of biomass in the energy transition, climate adaptation and mitigation, better agriculture and the better use of land in general. Strategies to achieve such positive results typically require an alignment between renewable energy, and agricultural, environmental, mitigation and adaptation policies, which is a largely missing nexus in different policy arenas. Resolving this lack of alignment offers a major opportunity, globally, to contribute to the European Green deal and improve energy security. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) 5th Assessment report, energy-efficient appliances can reduce global electricity consumption even though there is an expected increase in the number and ownership of appliances. The International Energy Agency (IEA) expects a high increase in energy efficiency in traditional appliances (refrigerators, washing machines, television, etc.), and in the number of new appliances installed (also called plug loads). The bibliometric study of publications related to energy-efficient appliances carried out in this paper shows that research on this topic is growing in developed regions (North America and Europe) and even more in some developing regions (Asia Pacific) with a high emphasis on China and India. The results indicate that, in general, policies are always implemented before the core of publications on the topic, with time spans ranging from 3 to 30 years. However, the trend seems to be changing with publications related to new appliances where the core research happens shortly after or in parallel to the establishment of policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper contributes to the climate policy discussion by focusing on the challenges and opportunities of reaching net zero emissions by 2050 in Italy. To support Italian energy planning, we developed energy roadmaps towards national climate neutrality, consistent with the Paris Agreement objectives and the IPCC goal of limiting the increase in global surface temperature to 1.5 °C. Starting from the Italian framework, these scenarios identify the correlations among the main pillars for the change of the energy paradigm towards net emissions by 2050. The energy scenarios were developed using TIMES-RSE, a partial equilibrium and technology-rich optimization model of the entire Italian energy system. Subsequently, an in-depth analysis was developed with the sMTISIM, a long-term simulator of power system and electricity markets. The results show that, to achieve climate neutrality by 2050, the Italian energy system will have to experience profound transformations on multiple and strongly related dimensions. A predominantly renewable-based energy mix (at least 80–90% by 2050) is essential to decarbonize most of the final energy consumption. However, the strong increase of non-programmable renewable sources requires particular attention to new flexibility resources needed for the power system, such as Power-to-X. The green fuels produced from renewables via Power-to-X will be a vital energy source for those sectors where electrification faces technical and economic barriers. The paper's findings also confirm that the European "energy efficiency first" principle represents the very first step on the road to climate neutrality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the convening of the annual global climate conference, the issue of global climate change has gradually become the focus of attention of the international community. As the largest carbon emitter in the world, China is facing a serious situation of carbon emission reduction. This paper uses the IPCC (The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) method to calculate the carbon emissions of energy consumption in China from 1996 to 2016, and uses it as a dependent variable to analyze the influencing factors. In this paper, five factors, total population, per capita GDP (Gross Domestic Product), urbanization level, primary energy consumption structure, technology level, and industrial structure are selected as the influencing factors of carbon emissions. Based on the expanded STIRPAT (Stochastic Impacts by Regression on Population, Affluence, and Technology) model, the influencing degree of different factors on carbon emissions of energy consumption is analyzed. The results show that the order of impact on carbon emissions from high to low is total population, per capita GDP, technology level, industrial structure, primary energy consumption structure, and urbanization level. On the basis of the above research, the carbon emissions of China′s energy consumption in the future are predicted under eight different scenarios. The results show that, when the population and economy keep a low growth rate, while improving the technology level can effectively control carbon emissions from energy consumption, China′s carbon emissions from energy consumption will reach 302.82 million tons in 2020. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]