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In this paper, we outline a transdisciplinary approach and design thinking methodology (TADTM) to tackle complex problems. Our premise is that these problems need a fundamental understanding of technological solutions and those for human interactions, business operations, financing, socioeconomic governance, legislation, and regulations. They must be approached by different decisionmakers from different disciplines to establish seamless interactions and structured teamwork. In this regard, we emphasize the need for a transdisciplinary framework that accounts for personal preferences based on human behavior as well as the traditional interdisciplinary frameworks. To test and prove our hypothesis, three case studies are discussed. Case Study 1 is based on our studies at a major medical establishment, and Case Study 2 is about the integrated engineering and architecture approach we used at our university campus. Case Study 3 is based on an ongoing project to lead industrial corporations to change their energy policies with practical energy efficiency measures and by adapting renewable/alternative energy adaptations for their operations. Developing creative solutions and strategies to decrease atmospheric greenhouse gas emissions requires such an energy transition framework and should involve every person, company, entity, and all governments. It can only be achieved with efforts on both local and global levels, which needs to convince (a) industries to change their traditional operation modalities, (b) people to alter their consumption behaviors, and (c) governments to change their rules, regulations, and incentives. The complexity and magnitude of this enormous task demand the coordination and collaboration of all stakeholders, as well as the need for technological innovations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The increase in global average temperature, mainly due to the high rate of greenhouse gas emissions, has triggered severe global warming and climate change. In Europe, the building sector accounts for a significant portion of emissions and energy consumption, prompting attention on nearly-zero-energy buildings (nZEBs) and zero-carbon buildings, as they play a pivotal role in reaching the goal of climate neutrality by 2050. Passive systems offer a promising solution, optimizing energy usage by better adapting buildings to their local climates. This paper reviews the state-of-the-art of passive heating and cooling techniques, exploring their contributions to contemporary architecture and showcasing their features and adaptability across different climates. Furthermore, the link between traditional and bioclimatic architecture is assessed. Recent years have witnessed a surge in publications on bioclimatic solar passive strategies, reflecting an intensified debate on climate change. Europe leads research in this area, aligned with initiatives like the Green Deal and Fit for 55. While dynamic simulation software is widely utilized for energy efficiency analysis, there remains limited integration of Building Information Modeling (BIM) and life cycle analysis (LCA) tools, which could enhance holistic assessments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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]

Agriculture is the second-highest, after energy use, source of greenhouse gas emissions, which are released from soils and animal digestion processes and as a result of energy consumption at various stages of agricultural production. However, changes in the management of agricultural systems may mitigate the negative impact of this sector on the atmosphere and climate. This paper presents a literature review on energy consumption in agriculture and the potential of agricultural crop production to assist in mitigation of global warming by increasing absorption of CO2 from the atmosphere. The issue was considered in the context of managing the cultivation of main, catch and cover crops. The potential of carbon sequestration in the above- and below-ground biomass of selected crops was analyzed. It was stated that, depending on the species, main crops can sequester up to 113 CO2 ha−1 yr−1 in whole biomass, while catch or cover crops can sequester up to 14.80 CO2 ha−1 yr−1 and 0.17 CO2 ha−1 yr−1 in the above- and below-ground biomass, respectively. The benefits of the spread of catch or cover crops, such as improvement of soil quality (leading to an increase in primary crop yield by even as much as 65%) and a phytosanitary effect, as well as the barriers that limit the use of catch crops, including the problems with matching crop species to climate and soil conditions and the risk of reducing farmers' income, were considered. The results of the review show that catch crops can assimilate an additional amount of 4 to 6 tonnes CO2 ha−1 yr−1, and thus, spreading of catch crops is an effective way to reduce the climate impact of agriculture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The increasing demand for food, the lack of natural resources and arable land, and the recent restrictions on energy consumption require an immediate solution in terms of agricultural activities. This paper's objective was to review hydroponics (a new soilless cultivation technology) and compare it with conventional agriculture (soil cultivation) regarding its environmental impact and water and energy consumption. The soil loss, the crop/soil contamination, and the greenhouse gas emissions were the criteria for the environmental comparison of conventional agriculture and hydroponics. As for resource consumption, the water consumption rates (L/kg), energy consumption rates (kWh), and energy required (kW) were the criteria for comparing conventional agriculture with hydroponics. Tomato and cannabis cultivation were used as case studies in this review. The review results showed that the advantages of hydroponics over conventional cultivation include zero-soil cultivation, land-use efficiency, planting environment cleanliness, fertilizer and resource saving, water consumption reduction, and conservation. The disadvantages of hydroponics versus conventional cultivation were found to include the high investment costs, technical know-how requirements, and higher amount of demanded energy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper studies the influence of temperature and of rainfall intensity and the effect of such variations on the treatment efficiencies and on the electrical consumptions in seven medium-large size Wastewater Treatment Plants (WWTPs) in Apulia in South Italy (Bari, Barletta, Brindisi, Lecce, Foggia, Andria and Taranto). It has been observed, in the considered WWTPs, a slight but clear increase of the incoming flow due to the increase in rainfall intensity, which results to an increase of the energy consumption per incoming volume. The impact of the climate change to the incoming flow, during the last five years (2016–2020), has been assessed indicating that an increase in rainfall intensity results to an increase of the WWTPs energy consumptions per wastewater treated volume. More specifically, for a specific WWTP (Lecce) it was found that the electrical consumption increases from 0.36 kw/m3 to 0.51 kw/m3 when the rainfall intensity was increased from 0.8 mm/min to 2.9 mm/min. Some adaption measures have been considered to upgrade the existing WWTP so to mitigate the energy increase and to limit the global effects of climate change. [Display omitted] • As Rain intensity rises, wastewater influx into WWTPs increases. • Rainfall intensity influences negatively electrical consumptions. • BOD removal is lower with increasing annual precipitations. • Temperature influences BOD, COD and SST removal efficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The current work aims to analyze the existing situation in Romania compared to other EU countries, regarding bovines herds, given that this species is one of the ones that causes the highest level of greenhouse gases, with a direct effect on the environment and global warming. This is the reason why the subject has become a priority not only at the community level, but also worldwide. Through the Common Agricultural Policy, important funds have been allocated at the level of the European Union, which will continue to be allocated, not only for the reduction of climate change, but also for the adaptation of the states of the world to these existing climate changes at the global level. Given the path in which animal husbandry influences sustainable development, through the study we have followed both the effective changes, but also the obtained productions, with a direct impact on consumption. It was found that both at the community level, as well as at the national level, there was a decrease in bovines herds in in the period 2016-2020, the reasons being primarily of an economic nature, but equally important being the social and environmental ones. The analysis was carried out starting from the data published by the National Institute of Statistics and Eurostat, data that were then processed and analyzed with the help of statistical methods. Based on these, the conclusions were formulated that show us that in Romania the number of bovines herds decreased by 11% in the period 2016-2021. At the European Union level, Romania ranks 10th in terms of bovines herds and 20th in terms of density/100 ha. Although there are advances in terms of applied technologies or more productive breeds, at the global level the objectives pursued by the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions have not been influenced by these advances, which makes the activity of raising bovines to be considered one with effects negative effects on the environment, but also high consumption of energy and water, which in turn have a negative impact on climate change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nowadays, air transport is the most modern and the most dynamically developing branch of transport. This intensive development of air transport causes the continuous increase in emissions of pollutants, mainly greenhouse gases, leading to the deepening of the greenhouse effect, which in turn leads to irreversible global climate change. In order to optimize air communication and make it even more economical and environmentally friendly, such activities as e.g. SESAR project are undertaken. One of the parts of this project is the research on minimizing fuel consumption and emissions of pollutants in jet engine exhausts. The paper presents a developed model of emission and main pollutants (NOx, CO, HC and CO2) in the exhausts of jet engines of a passenger aircraft during a cruise phase. Applying simple optimization tools, such as e.g. the Dijkstra's algorithm, this model was verified by the optimization of a trajectory of a jet aircraft in a cruise phase on an exemplary route in terms of minimizing emission of selected harmful compounds in jet engines exhausts. To meet the aim of the research, it was necessary to develop a computer program that determines a two-dimensional grid graph, assigns its appropriate weights to its edges and passing along these edges, determines the optimal trajectory of a given flight between two indicated start and end vertices. The developed research methodology is universal and can be applied for any jet passenger aircraft. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Energy model, a systematic data-intensive multi-objective framework replicating the energy sector of the country or globe, constitutes of energy resource supply, energy consumption sector-by-sector, energy transformation technologies, greenhouse gas emission and energy pricing. Considering the atypical weather pattern yearly and geographical diversity, the challenges and benefits of designing an energy model have been summarized. The paper has documented the tremendous jeopardy of drastic climate change, energy crisis on the global economy, requirement for transition to low carbon economy and rural electrification which have been impetus for the evolution of legitimate energy model. Special emphasis has been provided on the types of energy models that have been developed and practiced throughout the world followed by a comparative analysis of a few. The requirement to configure a unique energy model in India followed by certain recommendations has been proposed in this paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Globally, population weighting substantially changes degree-days rate of change. • Choice of base temperature strongly influences degree-day calculation. • For typical base temperatures, heating degree-days are falling at twice the rate that cooling degree days are increasing. • Within countries, heterogeneity in population changes determines relative changes in heating and cooling degree-days. Anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions are driving global increases in temperature. This rise will likely lead to an increase in demand for cooling in the coming years. However, increasing temperatures are not the main explanatory factor for why the world is moving towards more cooling. This paper compares population and area-weighted cooling and heating degree-days derived using ERA5-Land reanalysis temperature, to show that population growth in warmer parts of the world drives cooling demand globally. The analysis shows that mean global area-weighted heating degree-days have fallen 8.46 °C days/year, whereas population-weighted heating degree-days have fallen by 12.5 °C days/year. At the same time, mean global area-weighted cooling degree-days have risen by 3.0 °C days/year, while population-weighted cooling degree-days have risen at 6.0 °C days/year. By using sub-country analysis, this paper shows that population-weighted degree-days can substantially differ from area-weighted degree-days. Finally, the findings highlight that the choice of heating and cooling degree-day base temperature is the most important parameter in the variability of degree-days and will need to be understood better in order to accurately account for future heating and cooling energy demand. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The building sector is considered as the biggest single contributor to world energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions. Therefore, a good understanding of the nature and structure of energy use in buildings is crucial for establishing the adequate future energy and climate change policies. Availability of the updated data is becoming increasingly important in order to allow a rigorous analysis. In this paper, recent data on the world energy consumption in both residential and commercial buildings are reported. Past situation, current status and future trends are discussed and analyzed for selected countries. A breakdown of buildings energy consumption is realized in order to determine the influencing key parameters. A whole section of this paper is dedicated to give an overview of measures and policies adopted by different countries, allowing the monitoring, management and reduction of the energy consumption in buildings. Critical aspects of these policies are discussed based on the feedback of the early adopters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Global warming, climate change, and resource depletion have forced us to reconsider energy usage and efficiencies over the last few decades. Residential and commercial buildings are both large energy consumers, so improving energy and material usage efficiency in this sector is a common research topic. According to a recent study, the Building Sector (BS) accounts for 40% of greenhouse gas emissions. The primary objective of this paper is to examine and assess the potential of Renewable Energy Systems (RES) and their combinations for enhancing energy efficiency in the BS. Specifically, the focus will be on converting low energy-efficient buildings into highly efficient ones. The potential of the RES and their combinations for the BS is evaluated based on payback durations, energy generation, and reduction of CO 2 emissions. The optimization flow charts for the RES, feasibility studies, commercialization road maps of energy storage systems and the necessity of control mechanisms for enhancing RES efficiency were discussed. Additionally, the technology drawbacks are discussed, along with various innovative techniques recommended to direct future study in this area. Finally, this article assists the audience clear idea in the selection of the right combination of potential RES based on different conditions to achieve deep decarbonization in BSs. • Buildings sector (BS) responsible for 40% of GHG emissions. • Study assesses potential of Renewable Energy System (RES) in BS. • RES evaluated on payback, energy generation, and CO 2 reduction. • Optimization, feasibility and commercialization studies were discussed. • Article recommends right RES combinations for deep decarbonization in BS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Investigated climate change impacts on office building performance in Brussels. • Applied a long-term climate change sensitive system sizing and design approach. • Time-integrated discomfort analysis showed a major surge in overheating by 2100. • Long-term climate change resistivity is ensured in reference building until 2100. • Primary energy use and GHG emission findings are useful in mixed humid climates. As climate change continues, it is expected that the risk of overheating will rise in both new and existing buildings in mixed humid climate zones in Europe. This study introduced a novel climate change sensitive sizing and design approach for cooling and heating systems in nearly zero-energy office buildings in Brussels, Belgium, for different weather scenarios. This approach considered the long-term effects of climate change on building performance. The climate change effects were assessed using current and future climate data from the regional atmospheric model, MAR. To demonstrate the approach, a case study of a nearly zero-energy office building in Brussels was conducted. The reference building model was first calibrated using monthly energy use data from the year 2019 using ASHRAE Guideline 14. Then, the building was evaluated with different HVAC strategies and their performances were quantified. The results indicated an increase in overheating as high as 1.2 °C and cooling energy use as high as 13.5 kWh/m2 and a decrease in overcooling as low as 0.3 °C and heating energy use as low as 10.9 kWh/m2 in the reference building by the end of the century. In addition, due to climate change sensitive sizing and design approach coupled with optimal sizing, the reference building was climate change resistant towards the worst-case scenario by end of the century with up to 3.7 for climate change overheating resistivity and 20.2 for climate change overcooling resistivity. Finally, the paper provided recommendations for future practice and research based on the study findings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper assesses costs, emissions, and climate impact by freight shipping in the Arctic with main focus on the Northern Sea Route. The entire route lies in Arctic waters, which due to global warming, has become ice free during summer and autumn. The route goes from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean along the Russian Arctic coast and reduces voyage distance by 40% between Northern Europe and Japan. Traditionally, comparisons of the climate impact of transport solutions have been based on fuel consumption and carbon dioxide (CO 2 ), while other trace emissions in the exhaust gas have been ignored. It is becoming increasingly well-known however, that aerosols, and their precursors emitted from shipping are strong climate forcers, with a magnitude that is intimately connected to the specific region of emission. Taking into account these considerations, we apply region-specific Global Warming Potential (GWP) characterization factors to estimate the relative magnitude of the short-lived climate forcers in the Arctic compared to traditional shipping regions and to the impact of CO 2 emissions in light of reduced overall fuel consumption. The results indicate that there are no general climate benefits of utilizing the Northern Sea Route, even with cleaner fuels, since the additional impact of emissions in the Arctic more than offsets the effect of shorter voyages. In terms of climate change mitigation, managing this trade-off will be challenging, as the Northern Sea Route offers cost savings per ton of freight transported. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The electricity consumption in the ASEAN (Association of East Asian Nations) region is one of the fastest growing in the world and will lead to a dramatic increase in greenhouse gas emissions in the next decades. A decarbonization of the region's electricity supply is thus a very important measure when taking action on global climate change. This paper defines cost-optimal pathways towards a sustainable power system in the region by employing linear optimization. The proposed model simultaneously optimizes the required capacities and the hourly operation of generation, transmission, and storage. The obtained results show that all different kinds of renewable sources will have to be utilized, while none of them should have a share of more than one third. The findings give reason for setting up an ASEAN power grid, as it enables the transportation of electricity from the best sites to load centers and leads to a balancing of the fluctuations from wind and solar generation. We suggest fostering a diversified extension of renewables and to elaborate on political and technical solutions that enable the build up an transnational supergrid. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate change and global warming as the main human societies’ threats are fundamentally associated with energy consumption and GHG emissions. The residential sector, representing 27% and 17% of global energy consumption and CO 2 emissions, respectively, has a considerable role to mitigate global climate change. Ten countries, including China, the US, India, Russia, Japan, Germany, South Korea, Canada, Iran, and the UK, account for two-thirds of global CO 2 emissions. Thus, these countries’ residential energy consumption and GHG emissions have direct, significant effects on the world environment. The aim of this paper is to review the status and current trends of energy consumption, CO 2 emissions and energy policies in the residential sector, both globally and in those ten countries. It was found that global residential energy consumption grew by 14% from 2000 to 2011. Most of this increase has occurred in developing countries, where population, urbanization and economic growth have been the main driving factors. Among the ten studied countries, all of the developed ones have shown a promising trend of reduction in CO 2 emissions, apart from the US and Japan, which showed a 4% rise. Globally, the residential energy market is dominated by traditional biomass (40% of the total) followed by electricity (21%) and natural gas (20%), but the total proportion of fossil fuels has decreased over the past decade. Energy policy plays a significant role in controlling energy consumption. Different energy policies, such as building energy codes, incentives, energy labels have been employed by countries. Those policies can be successful if they are enhanced by making them mandatory, targeting net-zero energy building, and increasing public awareness about new technologies. However, developing countries, such as China, India and Iran, still encounter with considerable growth in GHG emissions and energy consumption, which are mostly related to the absence of strong, efficient policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The realization of national climate change commitments, as agreed through international negotiations, requires local action. However, data is still insufficient to make accurate statements about the scale of urban emissions (UNHABITAT, 2011). The need of comparable emission inventories at city level, including smaller cities, is widely recognized to develop evidence-based policies accounting for the relation between emissions and institutional, socio-economic and demographic characteristics at city level. This paper presents a collection of harmonized greenhouse gases (GHG) emission inventories (the "CoM sample 2013") at municipal level directly computed by the cities and towns that participate in the EU Covenant of Mayors initiative. This is the mainstream European movement of local and regional authorities who voluntarily commit to reduce GHG emissions by 20% or more by 2020. The "CoM sample 2013" (http://edgar.jrc.ec.europa.eu/com/data/index.php? SECURE=123, doi:10.2904/EDGARcom2013) has been carefully checked to ensure its internal consistency and its congruity with respect to internationally accepted guide values for emission factors. Overall, it provides valuable data for the analysis of the heterogeneity of final energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions of cities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Population growth and the pressures spawned by increasing demands for energy and resource-intensive goods, foods, and services are driving unsustainable growth in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Recent GHG emission trends are consistent with worst-case scenarios of the previous decade. Dramatic and near-term emission reductions likely will be needed to ameliorate the potential deleterious impacts of climate change. To achieve such reductions, fundamental changes are required in the way that energy is generated and used. New technologies must be developed and deployed at a rapid rate. Advances in carbon capture and storage, renewable, nuclear, and transportation technologies are particularly important; however, global research and development efforts related to these technologies currently appear to fall short relative to needs. Even with a proactive and international mitigation effort, humanity will need to adapt to climate change, but the adaptation needs and damages will be far greater if mitigation activities are not pursued in earnest. In this review, research is highlighted that indicates increasing global and regional temperatures and ties climate changes to increasing GHG emissions. GHG mitigation targets necessary for limiting future global temperature increases are discussed, including how factors such as population growth and the growing energy intensity of the developing world will make these reduction targets more challenging. Potential technological pathways for meeting emission reduction targets are examined, barriers are discussed, and global and U.S. modeling results are presented that suggest that the necessary pathways will require radically transformed electric and mobile sectors. While geoengineering options have been proposed to allow more time for serious emission reductions, these measures are at the conceptual stage with many unanswered cost, environmental, and political issues. Implications: This paper lays out the case that mitigating the potential for catastrophic climate change will be a monumental challenge, requiring the global community to transform its energy system in an aggressive, coordinated, and timely manner. If this challenge is to be met, new technologies will have to be developed and deployed at a rapid rate. Advances in carbon capture and storage, renewable, nuclear, and transportation technologies are particularly important. Even with an aggressive international mitigation effort, humanity will still need to adapt to significant climate change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the long-term stabilization targets of greenhouse gases concentrations, various carbon emission rights allocation schemes have been proposed. To compare and evaluate them, the most essential is the equity-efficiency tradeoff. This paper measures the equity and the efficiency in the global rather than the narrower national perspective. Specifically, the equity of the first allocation is quantified by the carbon Gini coefficient defined by per capita cumulative emission, and the economic efficiency to accomplish obligations is described with the discounted global abatement costs. Under 20 key allocation schemes, the numerical comparison on the equity-efficiency tradeoff side is carried out through the Equitable Access to Sustainable Development model. Our studies indicate that the equity and the efficiency of future emission space allocation approximately show a three-stage relationship. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The mitigation of climate change is the main issue for environmental policymakers. A large number of authors analysed the impact of various factors on greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. In this paper, we proposed a multiplicative approach to use 2- and 3-way interactions simultaneously in order to analyse the effects of energy efficiency, renewable energy and sector mix as the moderators that shape the economic activity – environmental degradation nexus. The results encompassing global panel data show that the turning point increased from 1990 to 1995 to 2002–2007 and decreased afterwards. Considering the analysis of moderators, a high share of agriculture and industry sectors make the curve flat with a positive slope and a high level of economic activity was associated with more GHG emissions with no turning point. The marginal effect of energy efficiency to reduce the negative impact of agriculture and industry sectors was growing. Meanwhile, the marginal effect of renewables to reduce the negative impact of agriculture and industry sectors was diminishing. Service sector and energy efficiency, service sector and renewables worked as the substituting forces reducing GHG emissions with a diminishing marginal rate of substitution. Therefore, this study confirms that the economic activity – environmental degradation relationship is very complex and further studies should consider the role of the moderators of this nexus. [Display omitted] • Technique, composition effects should be considered as moderators of HGH emissions. • The multiplicative approach was applied to model interactions of GHG factors. • Agriculture, industry sectors made the economic activity GHG emissions curve flat. • Marginal effect of renewables to reduce GHG emissions was diminishing. • Service sector and renewables worked as substituting forces reducing emissions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Buildings contribute to greenhouse gas emissions that cause environmental impacts on climate change. Net Zero Energy (NZ) buildings would reduce greenhouse gases. The current definition of NZ lacks consensus and has created uncertainties, which cause delays in the adoption of NZ. This paper proposes a Process for Clarification to Accelerate the Net Zero (PC-A-NZ) through three integrated steps: variations, strategies, and requirements. We expand on the results in published NZ literature to clarify the differences in definition and strategy. The objective of this review is to (1) distinguish current variable parameters that are slowing the acceptance of NZ, and (2) focus the discussion internationally on moving faster toward applying NZ to a larger common agreement. The publications of global NZ target assessment and energy efficient strategies will be reviewed to address the main requirements in expediting NZ's successful progress. Our NZ review analysis highlights (1) how the existing NZ definitions and criteria differ, (2) how calculation strategies vary, and (3) how standards and requirements are often localized. The proposed PC-A-NZ will help policymakers and stakeholders to re-evaluate the existing definitions, standards, and requirements to optimize the use of renewable technologies, improved energy efficiency and electrification to speed up achieving the NZ targets. Definition: There are multiple NZ definitions that vary in source and supply requirement, timescale, emission source, and grid connection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To tackle climate change, Chinese government has applied an array of mitigating measures to reduce CO2 emissions. During the 11th Five-year Plan, Chinese government set the emission reduction target policy to reduce energy consumption per unit of gross domestic product (GDP) by 20%. This paper attempts to estimate the effect of this emission reduction target policy on industrial performance from complexity perspective. The result shows more complex industrial structure is related to less coal consumption. In general, emission reduction target policy has a negative effect on the probability of branching into new industries and lower the productivity and profitability of a given industry. However, this negative effect is weaker for more complex industries. Only for industries with very high complexity, emission reduction target policy can improve the performance of an industry rather than exerting a negative effect. Our finding not only helps to design a more effective policy to achieve industrial development strategy, but also provides a potential way to achieve economic growth while reduce the emission of greenhouse gases at the same time. • We investigate the impact of Emission reduction target policy(ERT) on industrial performance from complexity perspective. • We apply the method of reflection to calculate the Economic Complexity of provinces and Industry Complexity of industries. • More complex industrial structure contributes to the coal consumption reduction. • ERT has negative effects on the probability of branching into new industries, lowers the productivity and profitability of a given industry. • ERT has weaker negative effects for more complex industries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]