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Under the background of the construction of ecological civilization in China, since China has a vast amount of territory and large distances between cities, the intensity of environmental supervision in different regions may affect the enthusiasm of enterprises to disclose carbon information. Based on the listed companies of the Chinese heavy pollution industry from 2009 to 2014, using the content analysis method, the paper researches the influence of the spatial heterogeneity regarding government regulation and spatial distance on enterprise carbon information disclosure and puts forward some suggestions. The empirical results show that carbon information disclosure is significantly positively related with the spatial heterogeneity of government regulation. The spatial heterogeneity of government regulation is significantly positively associated to non-financial carbon information disclosure. The relationship between government supervision and financial carbon information disclosure is not significant. Spatial distance and carbon information disclosure are significantly positively related. There is also a significant positive correlation between spatial distance and financial carbon information disclosure. Further study finds that in public enterprises, the spatial heterogeneity of government regulation will promote carbon information disclosure, and the influence of spatial heterogeneity of government regulation on non-financial and financial carbon information disclosure both are significantly positively related. In non-public enterprises, spatial distance and carbon information disclosure are significantly positively related, and spatial distance and non-financial carbon information disclosure are significantly positively related as well.

The anthropogenic emission of carbon dioxide (CO2) into the atmosphere is recognized as the main contributor to global climate change. To date, scientists have developed various strategies, including CO2 utilization technologies, to reduce global carbon emissions. This paper presents the global scientific landscape of the CO2 utilization research from 1995 to 2019 based on a bibliometric analysis of 1875 publications extracted from Web of Science. The findings indicate a major increase in the number of publications and citations received from 2015 to 2019, denoting a fast-emerging research trend. The dynamics of global CO2 utilization research is partly driven by China's policies and research funding to promote low-carbon economic development. Applied Energy is recognized as a core journal in this research topic. The utilization of CO2 is a multidisciplinary topic that has progressed by multidimensional collaborations at the country and organizations levels, while the formation of co-authorship networks at the individual level is mostly influenced by the authors' affiliations. Keyword co-occurrence analysis reveals a rapid evolution in the CO2 utilization strategies from chemical fixation in carbonates and epoxides to pilot-scale testing of power-to-gas technologies in Europe and the USA. The development of efficient power-to-fuel technologies and biological utilization routes (using microalgae and bacteria) will probably be the next research priorities in CO2 utilization research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Carbon footprint (CF) research has attained tremendous popularity for improving the climate environment purposes. In particular, current energy use has been identified as the main cause of climate change. CF plays an irreplaceable role in managing energy use, reducing gas emissions, and improving climate change. The objective of this study was to review studies that have developed CF and to perform a bibliometric analysis using two key terms: "climate change" and "energy use". From bibliometric analysis using CiteSpace and VOSviewer, it was possible to establish a knowledge map of cooperative network structure and research evolution. We are aiming to reveal the main logical chain of CF research leading to climate change, to make up for the lack of current literature, and provide research inspiration for researchers. The research findings mainly focus on four aspects. First, the relevant research began in 2008 and is in a state of continuous rise. Second, due to the law of research development and the prominence of practical problems, related research has experienced a stage from conceptual methods to specific problems. Third, China and the USA assume an important role in which international cooperation is the overall trend. Fourth, related research can be divided into CF algorithm research, ecological environment management research, and specific cross-industry fields. In addition, possible opportunities for change in related research are explored. It is also suggested that the integration of CF with other footprints, when energy use and environmental change are fully considered, may become an important future research trend by providing a more comprehensive environmental impact. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The food industry accounts for 25% of global carbon emissions, of which animal food accounts for 57%. Therefore, the reduction of carbon emissions from meat products consumption is one of the important issues of global climate governance. This study calculates and compares the carbon footprints of major meat products in China at various stages of production and consumption and the trends of their development based on life cycle assessment and questionnaires, which will help to understand the emission characteristics and reduction potential of the food sector in China. The results show that the main stages of the life cycle and the size of the total carbon footprint of the meat category for the same unit standard exhibit the following order: beef > mutton > pork > poultry (chicken and duck) > seafood (fish and shrimp); the farming factor has a greater impact on carbon emissions, followed by transportation and a smaller impact at the meal-making stage; from 2010 to 2021, China's total meat products consumption and carbon emissions continue to increase, but the structure of meat consumption is gradually diversified and balanced, and the trend of carbon emissions shows a slowdown in growth with structural changes. Finally, based on the results of the study, this paper proposes countermeasures for meat production and consumption. • Designed a unique meat consumption life cycle carbon footprint inventory and carbon emission calculation example diagram. • Measured the carbon footprint of different meat products and their life cycle phases in Chinese household meat consumption. • Analyzed the development trend of carbon emissions caused by the total and structural changes in China's meat consumption. • Identified potential opportunities for carbon emission reduction in meat consumption and propose targeted countermeasures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Biochar soil amendment (BSA) had been advocated as a promising approach to mitigate greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in agriculture. However, the net GHG mitigation potential of BSA remained unquantified with regard to the manufacturing process and field application. Carbon footprint (CF) was employed to assess the mitigating potential of BSA by estimating all the direct and indirect GHG emissions in the full life cycles of crop production including production and field application of biochar. Data were obtained from 7 sites (4 sites for paddy rice production and 3 sites for maize production) under a single BSA at 20 t/ha−1 across mainland China. Considering soil organic carbon (SOC) sequestration and GHG emission reduction from syngas recycling, BSA reduced the CFs by 20.37–41.29 t carbon dioxide equivalent ha−1 (CO2‐eq ha−1) and 28.58–39.49 t CO2‐eq ha−1 for paddy rice and maize production, respectively, compared to no biochar application. Without considering SOC sequestration and syngas recycling, the net CF change by BSA was in a range of −25.06 to 9.82 t CO2‐eq ha−1 and −20.07 to 5.95 t CO2‐eq ha−1 for paddy rice and maize production, respectively, over no biochar application. As the largest contributors among the others, syngas recycling in the process of biochar manufacture contributed by 47% to total CF reductions under BSA for rice cultivation while SOC sequestration contributed by 57% for maize cultivation. There was a large variability of the CF reductions across the studied sites whether in paddy rice or maize production, due likely to the difference in GHG emission reductions and SOC increments under BSA across the sites. This study emphasized that SOC sequestration should be taken into account the CF calculation of BSA. Improved biochar manufacturing technique could achieve a remarkable carbon sink by recycling the biogas for traditional fossil‐fuel replacement. Biochar soil amendment with the rate of 20 t/ha reduced the carbon footprints by 29 and 33 t CO2‐eq/ha for paddy rice and maize production, respectively, compared to no biochar application. Syngas recycling in the process of biochar manufacture contributed by 47% to total carbon footprint reductions for rice cultivation while SOC sequestration contributed by 57% for maize cultivation. There was a large variability of the carbon footprint reductions across the studied sites, due likely to the difference in GHG emission reductions and SOC increments under biochar amendment across the sites. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A key part of reducing CO2 emissions is exploring scientific methods for calculating carbon footprints and allocating their sources. Several limitations in current approaches exist at smaller scales due to shortcomings and uncertainty in data collection. This article implements an improved approach to allocate carbon footprints at the local, neighborhood scale, taking land uses as a criteria, after verifying the correlation between industry sectors and land uses through cointegration test. A case study of the Wuhan Metropolitan Area (Wh MA) is provided to examine the method's applicability and effectiveness. Some related spatiotemporal variations in carbon-footprint values at the township scale are depicted as a spatial tendency from zonal agglomeration to radial diffusion in a core-periphery structure, which relates to such human-driven factors as population, transportation, and urban (built-up) area. The findings provide insight for policymakers to generate appropriate allocative strategies for low-carbon development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tea is an important cash crop and a beverage that is widely consumed across the world. In China (the largest producer of tea), the industry is growing, and there is a need to understand current greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and sequestrations and the potential for mitigation so that climate action can be strategically undertaken. Life cycle assessment and carbon footprint methods were used to quantify emissions in tea cultivation and processing in the 16 major producing regions for the year 2017. The system boundary was from cradle to factory gate, which was divided into three subsystems, namely agricultural materials production, tea production and tea processing. Several units of analysis were chosen: the production region (province), the production area (ha) and the product (kg loose tea), etc. Total GHG emissions were 28.75 Mt CO2eq, which were mainly attributable to energy use in tea processing (41%), fertilizer production (31.6%) and soil emissions (26.7%). This equated to 12.0 t CO2eq per ha and 10.8 kg CO2eq per kg processed tea. Production in Hubei, Yunan, Guizhou, Sichuan and Fujian provinces contributed almost two thirds of industry emissions, representing priority areas for strategic action to reduce GHG emissions. At the same time, the total carbon sink amounted to 21.37 MtCO2, representing 74.3% of total GHG emissions. The proportions stored in soil, biomass, and tea production were 49.3%, 30.0%, and 20.7%, respectively. If best recommended management practices for fertilizer application were adopted and biomass was used as a source of energy for tea processing, the GHG emissions reduction potential was 16.66 Mt CO2eq, or 58% of total emissions. The GHG emissions associated with tea production and processing in China appeared high by comparison to other regions of the world. However, considering the carbon sink and emissions reduction potential, the tea industry should be viewed as an important sector for climate action. Moreover, the potential for substantial GHG emissions reduction through the adoption of improved practices seems very realistic. There may also be additional opportunities for GHG emissions reduction through the development of organic tea cultivation systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]