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China's rapid economic development has consumed a large amount of energy, causing serious environmental pollution problems and contributing to global warming. This paper calculates the carbon emissions of the fishery sector and uses Random Forest (RF) for the first time to analyze the influencing factors of future carbon emissions. The results of the study show that increasing carbon sinks dominate the reduction of carbon emissions in the fisheries sector. Carbon sinks will continue to dominate emission reductions in the fisheries sector if positive mitigation measures are taken. Continuing the current pattern of fisheries development, the fishery population has a significant impact on future carbon emissions. Per capita incomes under a crude economic model will inhibit carbon emission reductions. The research results can provide guidance for the development of fishery low carbon economy and the formulation of emission reduction policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rice production is the agricultural activity with the highest energy consumption and carbon emission intensity. Water and fertilizer management constitutes an important part of energy input for rice production and a key factor affecting greenhouse gas emissions from paddy fields. Water–fertilizer integration management (AIM) is an automated water and fertilizer management system for large-scale rice production, which can effectively save water and fertilizer resources. At present, the energy utilization and environmental impact of AIM in rice production are not clear. To clarify whether AIM is a water and fertilizer management measure that combines energy conservation and carbon emission reduction, a comparative study between the widely used farmers' enhanced water and fertilizer management (FEM) in China and AIM was conducted in this paper. Field experiments were conducted to evaluate the rice yield, carbon emission, energy utilization, and economic benefits of the two management methods. The results showed that AIM reduced water and fertilizer inputs, energy inputs, and economic costs by 12.18–28.57%, compared to FEM. The energy utilization efficiency, energy profitability, and energy productivity under AIM were improved by 11.30–12.61%. CH4 and N2O emissions and carbon footprint were reduced by 20.79%, 6.51%, and 16.39%, respectively. Compared with FEM, AIM can effectively improve the utilization efficiency of water and fertilizer resources and reduce carbon emissions. This study presents a mechanized water and fertilizer management approach suitable for large-scale rice production systems in China. By analyzing rice yield, resource utilization efficiency, and environmental benefits, AIM can serve as a crucial management strategy for enhancing productivity, economic returns, and environmental conservation within profitable rice production systems. In the future, further investigation into the impact of AIM on the microbial mechanisms underlying rice yield formation and greenhouse gas emissions is warranted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The increasing contribution of refrigeration systems to global warming has led to widespread demand for low global warming potential (GWP) refrigerants as alternatives. This paper proposed a comprehensive environmental assessment method for evaluating the carbon footprint of units charged with low-GWP refrigeration. Experimental and numerical studies were used to investigate the carbon footprint impact of using alternative refrigerants at different ambient temperatures in China. Initially, the model was validated through experimental case studies on the use stage of cold storage units. Subsequently, a comparison was made between the cooling capacity (CC) and energy efficiency ratio (EER) of cold storage units charged with different refrigerants. Additionally, the impact of alternative refrigerants in the use stage was analyzed by numerical calculations, and the adaptability of the cold storage unit to the ambient temperature and the national energy structure was also studied. The results indicate that among the four stages of the cold storage unit, the use stage is the hotspot of carbon footprint due to the large amount of energy consumption and the existence of refrigerant leakage and other behaviors. Utilizing low-GWP alternative refrigerants could significantly reduce the carbon footprint of the cold storage units' use stage by 10.56%–16.39%, thereby lowering the whole stage carbon footprint. Furthermore, the ambient temperature and national energy structure could also effectively reduce the carbon footprint of cold storage units' whole stage by 1%–27.17%. Furthermore, after adopting low GWP refrigerants, the life-cycle cost (LCC) of the units have also decreased by 6.1%–12%. Taking into account both environmental impact and economic considerations, it is recommended to directly replace R404A with R448A in the units in regions where the average ambient temperature is above 15 °C. • A carbon footprint evaluation model for the units was established. • Influencing factors of carbon footprint are studied numerically and experimentally. • By GHG assessments, the optimal refrigerant and external conditions were determined. • Alternative refrigerants reduce carbon emissions for cold storage units by 8.8%–24.92%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

National key towns are one of the most important units for mitigating China's carbon emissions from urbanisation, industrialisation and agricultural modernisation under China's rural revitalisation strategy. The rise in the carbon footprint (CF) corresponding to increasing populations and energy consumption in national key towns has not been underestimated. This paper aims to explore the impact of local resident energy consumption on the degree of coordination between ecology and the economy. To achieve this objective, the carbon pressure index (CPI), carbon occupancy index (COI) and eco-economic coordination index (EECI) are constructed by applying the CF, carbon carrying capacity (CC) and carbon deficit (CD) of Caijiapo Town from 2012 to 2017. Furthermore, the relationship between the CF, economic growth and per capita disposable income is described based on the decoupling index (DI). The results reveal that, apart from a decline in 2014, the per capita CF of Caijiapo Town has increased, with an average annual growth rate of 16.80%. The CF of different energy sources shows that the CF of natural gas is much larger than those of raw coal, oil and electricity. The DI between GDP, the per capita disposable income of urban and rural residents and the resident energy CF first decreases and then increases. The DI between GDP, the per capita disposable income of urban residents and the resident energy CF is 1.09 and 1.72, and urban residents are the main contributors to the resident energy CF from 2015 to 2017. The CPI and COI show an upward trend, and the eco-economic coordination index (EECI) of Caijiapo Town undergoes a change from poor coordination (grade II) to worst coordination (grade I) from 2012 to 2017. Therefore, the following suggestions are proposed: the CC should be treated as a constraint, energy utilisation should be improved, residents' consumption structure should be optimised, differentiated policies should be implemented for the energy consumption of urban and rural residents and a spatial planning system and operational mechanism should be established that combines multiple regulations into a single regulation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Whereas current building related life cycle energy and carbon assessment in China has typically focused on either the national building stock or the single building level, this paper attempts to evaluate life cycle energy consumption and carbon emissions at the level of Chinese residential small district (RSD). This paper discusses a case study of RSD in order to illustrate the way of measuring material, energy and water flows at this spatial level with transparent assessment boundary. Results indicate that evaluating the RSD as a whole, rather than building by building, can provide extra decisionmaking information for various stakeholders such as housing buyers and RSD designers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As one of the largest energy consumers, the transport sector generated direct and indirect emissions which significantly affect the environment, accounting for approximately one-third of the total carbon emissions. While the major impacts are from transport energy use and emissions, very few studies attempted to examine the impacts from transport infrastructure, especially at a city or country level. This paper, taking Shenzhen in China (a fast developing megacity) as the case study, is specially designed to quantify the carbon footprint of the urban roads by using streamlined life cycle assessment method. For given years (ranged from 2004 to 2013), various activities of urban roads (e.g. newly planned road construction, maintenance of road in use, and road renovation and demolition) have been examined in this study. The results show that the total carbon footprint from urban roads in Shenzhen was 260 (±20) thousand tons CO 2 e in 2013. The major contributor was the materials use (embodied impact) from newly constructed roads, which accounts for 52.3% of the total carbon footprint, followed by the maintenance stage (24.3%). The eco-design process of road construction plays a vital role in achieving the effective carbon footprint reduction. These findings help to better understand the carbon footprint from urban roads in megacities, and provide useful inputs for policy making process in terms of identifying carbon reduction opportunities for the transport sector. In addition, the methodologies are useful for the quantification of carbon footprint in other cities of China and beyond. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Governments worldwide are attempting to reduce energy consumption and environmental pollution by confronting environmental problems and adopting more energy-efficient products. However, because of the rebound effect, energy-saving targets cannot always be fully achieved, and sometimes greater energy consumption is generated. Research on the rebound effect from the perspective of industrial ecology considers not only direct energy consumption but also its life cycle negative impacts on the environment with China’s rapid economic development and simultaneously improving quality of life, the ownership of room air conditioners (RACs) has increased more than three hundred times, and air conditioners’ energy consumption has increased one thousand times over the last twenty years. The Air Conditioner Energy Efficiency Standard is one of the most important measures in China for reducing the amount of energy consumed by RACs. This paper introduces a life cycle based method to estimate the rebound effect of Chinese RACs consumption. This model provides a product’s life-cycle view to assess the rebound effect, considering the contribution of both producer and consumer. Based on the established life cycle rebound effect model, we compared urban household RAC consumption behaviour before and after the launch of the Air Conditioner Energy Efficiency Standard. A rebound effect in RAC consumption was found that there was a longer daily usage period in the household as air conditioner efficiency levels improved. The life cycle rebound effect of household air-conditioner consumption was calculated to be 67%. The main conclusion obtained from this study is that policies and regulations should consider the rebound effect when encouraging households to alter their energy consumption patterns. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on current research on carbon footprint, this paper proposes concepts and models pertaining to regional carbon capacity, carbon footprint density, and the carbon footprint coupling degree. Dynamic analysis on the variation of carbon footprint and the degree of coupling of carbon footprint in Liaoning province, from 1996 to 2014, was carried out. The impact of economic development, energy intensity, energy efficiency, population pressure, and the energy structure on the carbon footprint of the Liaoning Province was analysed by logarithmic mean Divisia index (LMDI) method. Results indicated that the carbon footprint emitted in Liaoning increased annually by 8.249% from 52.06065 million t to 1.3494741 billion t. The degree of coupling of carbon footprint changed from 3.4732 in 1996 to 0.2484 in 2014. The coupling coordination process underwent two stages: coupling imbalance and basic coupling. Economic development, population pressure, and energy intensity contribute to the increase in carbon footprint. Economic development is the main contributor. Energy efficiency and energy structure impede the emission of carbon footprint. Carbon footprint in Liaoning can be reduced by optimising industrial structure and distribution, developing new energy resources and improving the coverage of solid carbon vegetation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: To respond to the call of greenhouse gas emissions mitigation, an efficient carbon accounting framework should be proposed. Traditional narrowly defined estimation protocols that consider the direct emissions from native energy consumption may generally lead to underestimates of the carbon emissions derived from providing products and services. To comprehensively evaluate the supply-chain carbon performance in all economic sectors of China, the Economic Input–Output Life Cycle Assessment (EIO-LCA) based carbon footprint accounting framework should be employed. Because carbon emissions also occur in non-energy production processes, carbon emissions from the non-energy industrial process should also be incorporated into the accounting framework. This paper assessed 3 scopes of carbon emissions of Chinese economic sectors, including (1) direct emissions from energy consumption, and the industrial process, (2) emissions from purchased energy, (3) supply chain emissions combining both fuel combustion and industrial processes. The results shown that there is a huge underestimation of the carbon emission from various sectors using traditional carbon protocols compared with the tier 3 supply-chain CO2 emission. The emissions from industrial processes also constitute a large proportion, which cannot be ignored. In addition, we find that embodied CO2 emissions in exports concentrated on primary energy intensive sectors, indicating the importance of restructuring of export goods and services. It is proved that the three tier model provides a tool for decision makers to identify the national high carbon emission sectors and make effective carbon mitigation strategies. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: In order to measure the relationship between economic activities and energy consumption for low-carbon economy strategy in ethnic minority autonomous regions, this paper used the Carbon Footprint Model and based the VAR model, used the Impulse Response Function method to describe the dynamic relations between economic growth and the energy Carbon Footprint in these regions. The result indicated that there is a strong interactive response between economic growth and Energy Carbon Footprint. The increases of Carbon Footprint can also cause the increase of GDP, this means the economic growth will be growth more rapidly depends on the massive energy consumption in the short-term, but when the economic growth to the certain extent, energy''s excessive consumption can’t bring higher growth of economic, even give the negative influence to the economic growth, therefore, transforming economic growth pattern, modifying industrial structure and improving energy efficiency are useful ways for low-carbon economy. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Based on the definition of carbon footprint and elements that affect it, a model was constructed for empirical research, using data of cities in Hunan Province from 2005 to 2009, to calculate the amount of carbon footprint and to analyze the relationships between carbon footprint and each of the elements, including population, level of economic development, industrial structure and energy structure. In addition, this paper also puts forward solutions to further low-carbon development of Hunan Province in the areas of low-carbon development mechanism energy structure low carbon life style and talent development. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]