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China's paper production accounted for nearly a quarter of the world's total paper production in 2010. In this study, 23 energy saving technologies applicable to the pulping and papermaking process in China are identified and analyzed. The conservation supply curve (CSC) method is employed to assess the technical and economic aspects of energy conservation. The fuel CSC for Chinese pulp and paper industry shows the cost-effective and technical fuel conservation potential is 180 PJ and 254 PJ, accounting for 27% and 38% of total fuel used in 2010, respectively. The CO 2 mitigation potential related to the cost-effective fuel efficiency is 17 Mt CO 2 and the technical potential is 24 Mt CO 2 . The electricity CSC shows the technical electricity conservation potential is 2316 GWh, representing 4% of total electricity consumption. All of the electricity efficiency measures are shown to be cost-effective in this study. The CO 2 mitigation resulted from electricity efficiency is around 2 Mt CO 2 . In addition, sensitivity analyses for the parameters of penetration rate, discount rate, and energy price are conducted to assess their influence on the final results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to meet the IPCC recommendation for an 80% cut in CO 2 emissions by 2050, industries will be required to drastically reduce their emissions. To meet these targets, technologies such as carbon capture and storage (CCS) must be part of the economic set of decarbonisation options for industry. A systematic review of the literature has been carried out on four of the largest industrial sectors (the iron and steel industry, the cement industry, the petroleum refining industry and the pulp and paper industry) as well as selected high-purity sources of CO 2 from other industries to assess the applicability of different CCS technologies. Costing data have been gathered, and for the cement, iron and steel and refining industries, these data are used in a model to project costs per tonne of CO 2 avoided over the time period extending from first deployment until 2050. A sensitivity analysis was carried out on the model to assess which variables had the greatest impact on the overall cost of wide-scale CCS deployment for future better targeting of cost reduction measures. The factors found to have the greatest overall impact were the initial cost of CCS at the start of deployment and the start date at which large scale deployment is started, whilst a slower initial deployment rate after the start date also leads to significantly increased costs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The pulp and paper industry is placed in a unique position as biomass used as feedstock is now in increasingly high demand from the energy sector. Increased demand for biomass increases pressure on the availability of this resource, which might strengthen the need for recycling of paper. In this study, we calculate the energy use and carbon dioxide emissions for paper production from three pulp types. Increased recycling enables an increase in biomass availability and reduces life-cycle energy use and carbon dioxide emissions. Recovered paper as feedstock leads to lowest energy use (22GJ/t) and CO2 emissions (−1100kgCO2/t) when biomass not used for paper production is assumed to be converted into bio-energy. Large differences exist between paper grades in e.g. electricity and heat use during production, fibre furnish, filler content and recyclability. We found large variation in energy use over the life-cycle of different grades. However, in all paper grades, life-cycle energy use decreases with increased recycling rates and increased use of recovered fibres. The average life-cycle energy use of the paper mix produced in The Netherlands, where the recycling rate is approximately 75%, is about 14GJ/t. This equals CO2 savings of about 1tCO2/t paper if no recycled fibres would be used. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This study considers different alternative uses of secondary heat in a mechanical pulp and paper mill. The considered alternatives are (1) three different heat exchanger network retrofits, (2) drying of bark, (3) drying of primary and activated sludge and (4) drying of both bark and sludge. The data has been gathered from an operating mill and a simulation model has been built to examine the mill-wide effects of the proposed changes. Targets for steam and cooling water use, used in the heat exchanger network retrofits, have been evaluated using pinch analysis. The amount of available secondary heat found in the pinch analysis can be used in drying of bark or sludge. Sludge is typically burned together with mill fuel in the bark boiler of a power plant to deliver heat and electricity to the mill. These wood-based biofuels typically consist of 50%w.b. water, which will evaporate and consume some of the fuel''s energy content during combustion. Fuel drying is a way to increase the heating value of fuels and to increase the energy efficiency of heat and power production. The utilisation of low-temperature secondary heat in the drying may reduce the need for fuels and primary energy in the mill. The different ways of using the secondary heat have different effects on primary fuel consumption and electricity production. Therefore the different results are compared using the reduction of CO2 emissions as a common criterion. The results show that all the considered alternatives have great energy-saving potential up to 8MW steam use in winter and 6MW in summer time. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The pulp and paper industry is a high energy consuming and polluting sector, and carbon emissions emitted from this sector are worthy of attention. This article, based upon an analysis of China’s Pulp and Paper Industry (CPPI), provides estimates of each of the following: carbon emissions from energy consumption, pre-treatment sector, combustion of condensed black liquor, and methane emitted from incomplete aerobic digestion during sewage treatment of CPPI. During the study period (2005–2012), total CO 2 emissions ranged from 126.0 Mt to 155.4 Mt. Energy consumption was estimated to be the largest source of carbon emissions, however, due to the application of the local emission inventory rather than the IPCC inventory, energy consumption decreased by 4.7%, a lower percentage than was calculated in a previous study. According to this study’s estimation, the emissions caused by the recovery of biomass energy contributed 26–29% of the total CO 2 emissions. CH 4 generated from sewage treatment accounted for 9–11% of the total carbon emissions. The CO 2 intensity dropped during the study period, which reflected the improvement of energy efficiency in the pulp and paper industry. The outcome of this study provides not only detailed information about CPPI’s carbon emissions, but also a calculation framework for studying carbon emissions from pulp and paper sector in the other regions. It suggests that the local carbon emissions inventory should be used for estimating carbon emissions and to reduce the fossil fuel energy, increase energy recovery from biomass, and that promoting cleaner production is essential to achieve a low carbon development of the pulp and paper industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This paper evaluates system aspects of biorefineries based on biomass gasification integrated with pulp and paper production. As a case the Billerud Karlsborg mill is used. Two biomass gasification concepts are considered: BIGDME (biomass integrated gasification dimethyl ether production) and BIGCC (biomass integrated gasification combined cycle). The systems analysis is made with respect to economic performance, global CO2 emissions and primary energy use. As reference cases, BIGDME and BIGCC integrated with district heating are considered. Biomass gasification is shown to be potentially profitable for the mill. The results are highly dependent on assumed energy market parameters, particularly policy support. With strong policies promoting biofuels or renewable electricity, the calculated opportunity to invest in a gasification-based biorefinery exceeds investment cost estimates from the literature. When integrated with district heating the BIGDME case performs better than the BIGCC case, which shows high sensitivity to heat price and annual operating time. The BIGCC cases show potential to contribute to decreased global CO2 emissions and energy use, which the BIGDME cases do not, mainly due to high biomass demand. As biomass is a limited resource, increased biomass use due to investments in gasification plants will lead to increased use of fossil fuels elsewhere in the system. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The cities' area accounts for only 2% of the world's surface area, but the cities' population accounts for 50% of the total population and produces more than 80% of the total CO 2 emissions. So the cities have a key position in solving the global challenge of climate change. In order to estimate the impacts of city size change and industrial structure change on CO 2 emissions, based on the background, the data availability of the CO 2 emissions per person, the economic scale, the size of land use, the industrial concentration degree and the industrial structure change in 50 cities in different sizes (the population size between 0.5 million and 1 million, 1–2 million, 2–4 million and more than 4 million) from 2005 to 2014, the paper studies the impact of the city size change and the industrial structure change on CO 2 emissions. The results show that the increase in the sizes of cities can bring in the rise of CO 2 emissions and the impacts on CO 2 emissions in different city sizes are significant. Meanwhile, both industrial agglomeration and industrial structure change have a significant role in the CO 2 emissions reduction. The paper finds out that (1) the medium-sized cities produce relatively fewer CO 2 emissions than the smaller cities and the bigger cities. As smaller cities are not conducive to save land and also can't play the externalities of industry agglomeration, leading to the reduction in energy efficiency. Bigger cities may produce all kinds of city diseases. The medium-sized cities with the population of 1 million and 2 million can have relatively higher energy efficiency and fewer city diseases, which may produce lower CO 2 emissions. (2) economic growth can increase CO 2 emissions.(3) the industrial structure change has effects on CO 2 emissions, and CO 2 emissions from the secondary industry are the largest in the three industries. So, the government should reasonably give priority development of medium-sized cities with the population between 1 million and 2 million, and adjust energy consumption structure and the industrial structure to give priority to the tertiary industry to reduce CO 2 emissions in China's cities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The iron and steel industry accounts for one third of global industrial CO 2 emissions, putting pressure on the industry to shift towards more sustainable modes of production. However, for an industry characterised by path dependency and technological lock-ins, sustainability transitions are not straightforward. In this study, we aim to explore the potential pathways for sustainability transitions in the iron and steel industry. To do so, we have conducted a case study in Sweden where there are policy and industry commitments towards fossil-free steel production. Our theoretical points of departure are the technological innovation system (TIS) approach and the multi-level perspective (MLP), and our paper presents the dynamics behind an emerging case of transition towards a hydrogen-based future. The paper has two major contributions to the literature on sustainability transitions. First, it attempts to borrow some concepts from the MLP and integrate them with the TIS approach. Second, it empirically presents an in-depth case study of the iron and steel industry – an understudied context in the field of sustainability transitions. By doing so, it sheds some light on the dynamics between an emerging TIS and potential transition pathways of a regime. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Integration of intermittent renewable energy in the power systems requires balancing service of conventional fossil fuel power plants, which is mainly provided by coal power in China. However, flexible operation of coal power units will incur energy efficiency penalty, and output additional CO 2 and pollutant emissions. In this paper, we use a high-resolution operation dataset collected from two typical coal power units to evaluate environmental impacts of flexible operation of coal power in China. To address this, we examine the generation mechanisms of CO 2 and three atmospheric pollutants by coal power units, and then calculate the emissions. We also outline the potential of coal power units to perform flexible operation and discuss retrofit options for more efficient flexible operation. In addition, we use plant-level operation data from typical-sized coal power units to estimate emission levels during processes of start-up, deep cycling and regular operations. In the case 300 MW and 600 MW unit respectively, deep cycling operation would incur an increase of 17.5% and 11.3% in heat rate and CO 2 emissions factor, 10.2% and 108.4% in NOx factor, and 41% in dust factor, compared with full load operation. The NOx emissions of a cold start-up in the case 300 MW and 600 MW unit are roughly the amount of 8 hours and 12.3 hours of regular full load operation, respectively. This paper has implication on employing flexible operation of coal power to integrate renewable energy in China’s coal-dominated power systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An important area of urban sustainability planning refers to the reduction of environmental impacts. Transport sector is one of the main contributors of these impacts due to its role in air pollution, greenhouse gases and CO 2 emissions. Effective actions are needed to limit the environmental impacts of transport activities. Transition studies focus on these types of actions and plans. The role of local authorities as the closest level of government to the citizens in managing transition process is highlighted because they can better understand, inform, and guide local inhabitants, businesses and industries for achieving sustainability targets. The paper aims at assessing the efforts of local public authorities in transition toward low carbon mobility in Italy. To achieve this aim a mixed method analysis was applied. First, the analysis of qualitative data obtained from interviews with urban mobility stakeholders; used to design a framework for evaluating the role of local government in transition process. Then a quantitative analysis conducted on the data gathered through a questionnaire distributed to a sample of mobility managers (or transport responsible) in municipalities. The analyses provided a final framework showing how municipalities influence low carbon mobility transition process in Italy. In conclusion, municipalities’ strategies and plans have a direct effect on the final goals. These strategies are influenced by financial support and cooperative activities, while the level of cooperation is dependent on the attitudes of deciding authorities. The paper also discusses the need to identify challenges and impediments for sustainable urban mobility transitions which was highlighted by stakeholders but less valued by local authorities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Capture and sequestration of CO 2 released by conventional fossil fuel combustion is an urgent need to mitigate global warming. In this work, main CO 2 capture and sequestration (CCS) systems are reviewed, with the focus on their integration with renewables in order to achieve power plants with nearly zero CO 2 emissions. Among these technologies under development, the Dry Carbonate Process shows several advantages. This manuscript analyses the integration of a CO 2 sorption-desorption cycle based on Na 2 CO 3 /NaHCO 3 into a coal fired power plant (CFPP) for CO 2 capture with solar support for sorbent regeneration. The Dry Carbonate Process relies on the use of a dry regenerable sorbent such as sodium carbonate (Na 2 CO 3 ) to remove CO 2 from flue gases. Na 2 CO 3 is converted to sodium bicarbonate (NaHCO 3 ) through reaction with CO 2 and water steam. Na 2 CO 3 is regenerated when NaHCO 3 is heated, which yields a gas stream mostly containing CO 2 and H 2 O. Condensation of H 2 O produces a pure CO 2 stream suitable for its subsequent use or compression and sequestration. In this paper, the application of the Dry Carbonate CO 2 capture process in a coal-based power plant is studied with the goal of optimizing CO 2 capture efficiency, heat and power requirements. Integration of this CO 2 capture process requires an additional heat supply which would reduce the global power plant efficiency by around 9–10%. Dry Carbonate Process has the advantage compared with other CCS technologies that requires a relatively low temperature for sorbent regeneration (< 200 °C). It allows an effective integration of medium temperature solar thermal power to assist NaHCO 3 decarbonation. This integration reduces the global system efficiency drop to the consumption associated with mechanical parasitic consumption, resulting in a fossil fuel energy penalty of 3–4% (including CO 2 compression). The paper shows the viability of the concept through economic analyses under different scenarios. The results suggest the interest of advancing in this Solar-CCS integrated concept, which shows favourable outputs compared to other CCS technologies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous research has highlighted the dangers of considering air pollution policy and climate change policy separately. Measures to reduce CO 2 emissions have been adopted in several countries, and in some instances, these have resulted in increases in some air pollution emissions and vice versa. Research has also highlighted the potential co-benefits of air pollution and climate change mitigation policy where these are considered together. This paper addresses the co-benefits of climate change mitigation policies to reduce the air pollution (PM 2.5 ) and climate change (CO 2 ) impacts of passenger cars, using a scenario-based approach in Ireland. Scenario-based approaches have previously been adopted for these pollutants in several co-benefit studies. However, a detailed disaggregation of non-exhaust PM 2.5 by brake, tyre and road abrasion, and a disaggregation of both PM 2.5 and CO 2 by a number of current and future passenger car technologies have not been considered to date. The current study, therefore provides deeper insights into the impact of policy on exhaust and non-exhaust emissions. In order to derive detailed disaggregated emission, an add-on module was developed for a well-known emission modelling software (COPERT). The add-on module adopted concepts and parameters from previous research papers and analysis from the COPERT software to estimate fuel-based emissions e.g. exhaust and disaggregated non-exhaust PM 2.5 and CO 2 emissions. To analyse future scenarios (2015–2035), estimation was initially conducted using that software for the current Irish fleet data. This estimation was later replicated using the add-on module, as a baseline scenario considering a different disaggregation of the same passenger car fleet. Two additional estimations were conducted in the add-on module: An Electric Vehicle policy scenario, and a scenario to show the effects of a ban on the sale of conventional vehicles by 2030. The results revealed that CO 2 emissions continuously decreased in the projection period, however, reductions of PM 2.5 reversed from the year 2028 due to increases in the non-exhaust component of PM 2.5 emissions. Under the two alternative scenarios, a 52–69% reduction of CO 2 could be possible whereas only a 9–15% reduction in PM 2.5 could be achieved by 2035. In conclusion, non-exhaust PM 2.5 was found to have a larger share (as much as 34 times that of exhaust emissions) in 2035 where passenger cars with alternative technologies represented a major share in the fleet. The research also provided a methodology capable of detailing the CO 2 and PM 2.5 emissions in future scenarios for a range of vehicle technologies. This research also highlights an urgent need for investigation of emission factors for several emerging passenger car technologies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Early stage decision-making for structural design critically influences the overall cost and environmental performance of buildings and infrastructure. However, the current approach often fails to consider the multi-perspectives of structural design, such as safety, environmental issues and cost in a comprehensive way. This paper presents a holistic approach based on knowledge processing (ontology) to facilitate a smarter decision-making process for early design stage by informing designers of the environmental impact and cost along with safety considerations. The approach can give a reasoning based quantitative understanding of how the design alternatives using different concrete materials can affect the ultimate overall performance. Embodied CO 2 and cost are both considered along with safety criteria as indicative multi-perspectives to demonstrate the novelty of the approach. A case study of a concrete structural frame is used to explain how the proposed method can be used by structural designers when taking multi performance criteria into account. The major contribution of the paper lies on the creation of a holistic knowledge base which links through different knowledge across sectors to enable the structural engineer to come up with much more comprehensive decisions instead of individual single objective targeted delivery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The technology shift from fossil-fuelled systems to renewable energies has been promoted by governments with the purpose of decarbonising the power industry. However, rapid technology progress has prompted disruptive changes that transformed market structures. Incumbent electricity utilities, particularly those based on fossil-fuel plant, are shifting from their stable and predictable situation to confront challenges from those that offer alternative energy services. In this new environment, the industry will benefit from mid- to long-term sector foresight. The paper studies the potential impact of renewable energy sources (RES) on electricity systems, specifically on the generation and distribution businesses. For this purpose, a fairly detailed and integrated supply and demand-based system dynamics model has been built to quantify the extent of their potential impact; the model disaggregates the household sector, which may generate a significant part of its electricity using rooftop solar energy. This is illustrated by examining a utility engaged in the generation and distribution businesses in the Colombian electricity market. Through simulation runs, this paper concludes that, subject to policy and all other things remaining equal, solar rooftop generation is a major threat for utilities; while the generation business is most affected in the short-term, the distribution business is the one most impacted in the long-term, and jointly they may induce the utility “death spiral”. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With around 1–2% annual replacement of the UK’s housing stock, housing retrofit must play a major role in reducing future energy use and CO 2 emissions. This paper presents a whole-house approach for energy retrofit for five houses located in South Wales. This ‘systems based’ approach combines reduced energy demand, renewable energy supply and battery storage. The paper describes a combination of energy modelling, using the building energy model HTB2, and field measurements to analyse the performance of the houses before and after retrofit. The results indicate that significant reductions in energy use, CO 2 emissions and energy costs can be achieved using a whole house approach, combining energy efficiency with building integrated renewable energy generation and energy storage. CO 2 emission reductions are estimated to be in the range of 50–75%, with cost savings of £402 to £621 per year. The cost of carrying out the retrofitting ranges from £23,852 to £30,510. Although retrofits are still relatively expensive in relation to their annual cost savings, there are multiple benefits relating to reducing fuel poverty, reducing electricity grid stress and contributing to national CO 2 emission reduction targets. Also, as costs of measures are further reduced and energy prices likely to rise in future, the cost balance will change more in favour of whole house retrofit. The paper demonstrates the advantages in using a combination of energy simulation and field monitoring to investigate the performance of buildings in use, which in this case concerns the impact of carrying out energy retrofits in housing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Life cycle impacts in buildings includes operational carbon for heating, cooling, hot water, ventilation, lighting, on the one hand, and embodied carbon for material supply, production, transport, construction and disassembly, on the other. Improved operational carbon has increased the percentage of embodied carbon in the total life cycle of buildings. Kuwait is looking at enhancing the sustainability of its built environment, as there is an urgent need to expand and build new cities. This research analyses the sustainability of the Middle Eastern built environment in order to provide the most appropriate strategies to respond to this demand. Therefore, this paper looks at different alternatives to the current construction methodologies, such as cement replacement in concrete or rammed earth structural systems. The impact of three envelope and energy upgrades on the whole life cycle environmental performance of a Middle Eastern residential neighborhood is evaluated. Simulations are performed through urban modeling, resulting in a distribution of the embodied and operational impacts of buildings for the different design options. Based on the results showing embodied carbon can be lowered by 200 kg CO2e /m 2 , this paper offers guidelines for building codes and governments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abatement of Greenhouse gas emissions is the top concern of global climate change policy. On November 4, 2016, the day when the Paris Agreements took effect officially, the State Council of China issued the Work Plan for the Control of Greenhouse Gas Emissions during the 13th Five-Year Period as its national policy for climate change. An important regulation is the carbon dioxide emission performance for key power generation groups, i.e. carbon dioxide emissions for power supply within 550 g/kWh by 2020. The Top five state-owned generation groups (Top Five hereafter), namely China Huaneng Group, China Guodian Corporation, China Huadian Corporation, China Datang Corporation and State Power Investment Corporation (SPIC), produce more than 40% of electricity in China and hold critical role in the compliance to this new regulation. This paper estimates the CO 2 emissions performance of Top five by 2020 with best available data. We find that with the exception of SPIC the rest four can’t reach the target under their established clean energy development strategies. Carbon lock-in renders China’s power generation utilities unable to make timely adjustment in their development trajectory and reach the performance target within five years. The paper concludes with policy implications on how to better implement this regulation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As the world leader in CO 2 emissions, China is a key focus for climate change mitigation. In this paper, we conducted a cross-province comparison of CO 2 emission trends in China from 2006 to 2012. We determined effects of CO 2 emission factor (EMF), energy mix change (EMX), potential energy intensity change (PEI), industrial structure (STR), economic activity (EAT), technological change (BPC) and energy efficiency change (EC) as underlying forces of CO 2 emission changes with production-based decomposition. Compared to other production-theory decomposition analyses (PDA), the method used in this paper can overcome the weakness of PDA on the measurement of structural changes and energy mix effect. The results provided strong evidence that EAT is the main driver behind rising emissions, while changes in PEI, EMX and EC have led to CO 2 emission reductions in most provinces/municipalities in China. In particular, we introduced the global benchmark technology to establish the relationship between CO 2 emissions and energy use technology. The potential CO 2 reductions in China were further measured under the scenarios of contemporaneous technology and global technology. The principal empirical implication is that the promotion of energy conservation technology and reductions in inter-regional technological disparity would be effective in reducing CO 2 emissions in technically inefficient regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The construction industry is considered as one of the most dynamic sectors that have upstream and downstream economic links and has been growing rapidly in the last few decades. On the other hand, it is considered as one of the main sources of greenhouse gases where construction projects represent a huge portion of sources producing carbon dioxide gases (CO 2 ). Furthermore, greenhouse gases (GHG) are one of construction emissions that should be investigated to calculate the overall emissions. Therefore, estimating construction emissions is very important in order to keep emissions at an acceptable level. This paper presents a building information modeling (BIM)-based model that enables the estimation of six types of emissions including: greenhouse gases, sulfur dioxide, particular matter, eutrophication particles, ozone depleting particles and smog. As such, the total direct and indirect emissions can be calculated where these emissions are produced from construction activities during the overall project life cycle phases which are: manufacturing phase, transportation phase, construction phase, operation phase, maintenance phase, and deconstruction/demolition phase. The methods of calculating direct and indirect emissions are extensively described in the paper. A case study is presented to illustrate the use of the proposed BIM-based model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Researchers and policy-makers have suggested tools to mitigate CO2 emissions worldwide. However, there appears to be uncertainty in terms of policy effectiveness. The objective of this paper is to develop an innovatively effective CO2 internalizing mechanism worldwide which builds on currency in circulation as its core operational tool. The study is based on a large sample of countries. Findings show that urbanization, electric power consumption and trade positively impact on CO2 emissions. No evidence is found in favour of the Environmental Kuznets Curve while the use of renewable energy reduces the level of CO2 emissions. The paper proposes a Central Bank Carbon Dioxide Emissions Internalizing Fund which rests on quantitative and qualitative tools to ensure a truly effective mechanism in CO2 emissions abatement. Quantitatively, this implies the use of a direct tax on currency in circulation and a conversion penalty in the fund. Qualitatively, there is the need to establish a global institution which would ensure that funds flow to the most polluting sectors in each country in view of unleashing the strongest decline in CO2 emissions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analysed CO 2 emission pathways for the Japanese iron and steel industry towards 2030, taking into account the likely development of process capacities that could flexibly adapt to a range of projected future crude steel production levels (“optimal capacities”) while maintaining minimum capacity utilisation rates. Coke and pig iron production capacities were optimised to the levels that enable flexible operation for 90–120 Mt-crude steel/y, compared to 110 Mt/y in 2010. Operational constraints were applied to the capacity utilisation rates (minimum of 85%) and the maximum use of coke and pig iron substitutes. This paper also assessed the implications of the aforementioned flexible operation across a range of crude steel production levels on the future scrap balances. This study calculated the optimal capacities for coke ovens and blast furnaces in 2030 to be 29 Mt-coke/y (compared to 43 Mt/y in 2010) and 83 Mt-pig iron/y (compared to 90 Mt/y in 2010). Under these optimal capacities and the aforementioned range for crude steel production levels, the projected total CO 2 emissions were 4–21% below 2010 levels. If the 2030 production level remains at 105 Mt/y, which equals the 2015 production level and the 1973–2015 average, the total emissions will be 9–16% below 2010 levels, depending on the level of emissions reduction effort. These results indicate that the industry is likely to considerably overachieve its voluntary emissions reduction target for 2030 (0.1% below 2010 levels). Moreover, it was found that the lifetime extensions for existing blast furnaces and coke ovens have limited impact on CO 2 emissions while significantly reducing the investment needs. The study also showed that the low crude steel production (90 Mt/y) combined with high pig iron and coke consumption levels to maintain minimum capacity utilisation rates may lead not only to an increase in specific CO 2 emissions per tonne of crude steel but also to a net export of obsolete scrap up to 17 Mt, which is nearly twice the historical high. Towards 2030, Japan would need to consider not only opportunities to maximize the use of steel scrap but also the development of an extended steel scrap trade infrastructure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Market based pricing of CO 2 was designed to control CO 2 emissions by means of the price level, since high CO 2 price levels discourage emissions. In this paper, it will be shown that the level of uncertainty on CO 2 market prices, i.e. the volatility of CO 2 prices itself, has a strong influence not only on generation portfolio risk management but also on CO 2 emissions abatement. A reduction of emissions can be obtained when rational power generation capacity investors decide that the capacity expansion cost risk induced jointly by CO 2 volatility and fossil fuels prices volatility can be efficiently hedged adding to otherwise fossil fuel portfolios some nuclear power as a carbon free asset. This intriguing effect will be discussed using a recently introduced economic analysis tool, called stochastic LCOE theory. The stochastic LCOE theory used here was designed to investigate diversification effects on energy portfolios. In previous papers this theory was used to study diversification effects on portfolios composed of carbon risky fossil technologies and a carbon risk-free nuclear technology in a risk-reward trade-off frame. In this paper the stochastic LCOE theory will be extended to include uncertainty about nuclear power plant construction times, i.e. considering nuclear risky as well, this being the main uncertainty source of financial risk in nuclear technology. Two measures of risk will be used, standard deviation and CVaR deviation, to derive efficient frontiers for generation portfolios. Frontier portfolios will be analyzed in their implications on emissions control. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Manufacturing sector nowadays has to deal with the global need to reduce the environmental impact of human activity. As manufacturing accounts for a significant portion of the global CO 2 emissions, scientific research should be addressed to understand the environmental impact of manufacturing processes and, in the meantime, to take advantage of their full potential in reducing the overall CO 2 emissions. The present review paper aims at describing the role of metal shaping processes in reducing the environmental impact across different stages of metal components life. Actually, an increased consciousness concerning both the environmental performances of manufacturing processes and their potential to enable circular economy practices can uncover and unlock new energy and resource efficiency strategies. Besides the straightforward role in the manufacturing stage, the impact of these processes in others life stages (mainly material production and End-of-life) is analyzed. The review paper aims both at outlining the already developed scientific research in the domain of energy and resource efficiency and at highlighting the role of metal shaping processes in putting in place energy and resource efficient manufacturing strategies. Concerning the unit process level, quantified improvements in environmental indicators with varying processes parameters, machine tools architectures, used process and manufacturing approach itself have been analyzed. As far as material efficiency is concerned, both innovative recycling as well as reuse strategies (remanufacturing, reshape and relocate) implemented by means of metal shaping processes are described. The idea is to provide a comprehensive picture of environmental aspects of metal shaping processes analyzing the developed scientific research, looking at them from a new perspectives and outlining research needs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Chinese government committed to controlling carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) emissions and promoting development of non-fossil fuels. Thus, it becomes a top priority for the government to develop effective climate policies. Against such background, this paper develops a new multi-country computable general equilibrium (CGE) model with detailed energy disaggregation. This study evaluates the impact of single policy instrument (carbon tax) and combined policy mixes, in order to investigate driving factors affecting the policy performance. The main findings are as follows. Firstly, the driving factors can be classified into two types. The first type of factors affects cost-effectiveness significantly, while the second type generates considerable effect on emission performance. Secondly, cross-border externalities function as important barriers to the CO 2 emission reduction, since they imply extra competitiveness loss and result in considerable carbon leakage. Finally, this paper considers two integrated policy mixes, wherein carbon tax revenue is recycled to reduce capital tax or support clean energy subsidy. These policy mixes can improve both cost-effectiveness and emission performance, and thus perform better than carbon tax alone. In this way, carbon tax revenue can be used to improve the performance. Looking ahead, complicated policy mixes are preferred to improve the performance of China's carbon tax. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite all improvements in buildings shell, equipment, and design, CO 2 emissions from buildings are increasing. Since occupants spend more than 87% of their time indoors, they are inseparable and significant elements of building system dynamics. Hence, there is a great potential for energy efficiency in buildings using a wide range of programs such as intervention and eco-feedback. Despite the high level of individual differences and intra-class variability of occupants’ behaviors, the current state-of-the-art eco-feedback programs treat all the occupants uniformly and do not target and tailor the feedback. Therefore, it leaves an opportunity to increase the efficacy of eco-feedback systems through the designing of tailored and targeted programs. In this paper, we conducted a comprehensive analysis and tested hypotheses on occupants’ behavioral responses to a normative comparison feedback program, in addition to the impact of notifications on the level of engagement of each group of occupants. We categorized occupants who participated in the normative comparison feedback program into three groups (i.e. low, medium, and high energy consumers) based on their baseline energy consumption, and tested 9 hypotheses. A mixed-effect regression model (MRM) and a paired t -test was implemented to evaluate the proposed hypotheses. The hypotheses examine the variability of occupants’ responses under the same eco-feedback program, and the effectiveness of notifications on reinforcing occupants’ engagement in these programs. The contribution of this paper is two-fold: (1) reporting that the effectiveness of the notifications in eco-feedback programs are initially highly dependent on the type and the nature of the program, and then the interval and the content of the notification, and (2) demonstrating the variability of occupants’ behavioral responses under the same normative comparison eco-feedback program. These findings indicate the need for a shift in focus toward targeted and tailored feedback programs which treat occupants based on their characteristics. Moreover, they highlight the need for eco-feedback design, development, testing and implementation research that acknowledges and addresses differences in occupant responses to feedback. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Opportunities for online shopping are transforming travel behaviour related to shopping, and they have the potential to reduce overall travel demands. This paper analyses the potential for reductions in carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) emissions from passenger transport due to an increased use of online shopping in Sweden and adds to the broader picture of what potential growing online shopping might have on transport sustainability. This paper shows that there is a sustainability potential related to more sustainable travel habits by those who shop online more frequently. Calculations indicate that the predicted increase in online shopping behaviour together with the predicted increase of the Swedish population in 2030 would give a 22% decrease in CO 2 emissions related to shopping trips compared to 2012. Furthermore, if all travel is taken into account this would result in a 2% reduction in 2030 compared to total CO 2 emissions 2012. The paper furthermore discusses how these results might influence transport sustainability ambitions and policies. The discussion suggests that online shopping might facilitate reductions in CO 2 emissions but above all, it could act as a facilitator for implementing other policies promoting a less car dependent planning regime including shopping localisation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

M-TES (Mobile Thermal Energy Storage) technology is explored in this paper for transportation of industrial surplus heat for use in LTDH (low temperature district heating network). LTDH has promising potential in utilizing low grade heat, on the other hand, 20%–50% of industry generated surplus heat is often released to the ambient environment. M-TES is used to match thermal energy supply and demand that occur at different locations and that are shifted in time. In this paper, design of M-TES is conducted, optimization in operating strategies is performed, sensitivity analysis on levelized cost is studied, and environmental impact of CO 2 emissions due to transportation is evaluated. The results of the study show an array of transportation means and storage operating strategies under which M-TES is technically, economically and environmentally sound for transportation of industrial surplus heat for use in LTDH network. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An adequate response to global climate change and low carbon economy development has become a worldwide concerned subject. As one of the energetically most intensive industries, construction industry is a key area to promote decarbonization, which is an important path to realize national strategic goals on carbon reduction in China. This paper focuses on low carbon technology integration management, and analyzes the existing research status of green building or low carbon buildings on the related evaluation indexes, then proposes an evaluation system framework for the low carbon technology integration innovation from the perspective of the system management. It points out, that t he evaluation of low carbon technology innovation should be conducted by a smarter managing of system resource input, the process control and the system comprehensive performance as an output . Furthermore, based on the questionnaire survey and the exploratory factor analysis result on the selected indexes, this paper implements a rough set method to identify the weight of all the indexes and found that:(1) managers focus more on the affordable input of the beginning stage and the management control in the middle period of the innovation, instead on the output performance in the later stage . This indicates, that the management control during the front stages is more essential than this during the later ones; (2) the constructed evaluation framework, from the system perspective, can properly reflect the integrity, multi-level stakeholder structure and technology integration in low carbon projects , which could support the decision-maker into considering the complexity of construction and evaluation of the technology innovation performance from multi-level perspective; (3) the combined methods, adopted with exploratory factor analysis and rough set evaluation to determine the evaluation index and its weights, could well reflect the overall performance of low carbon project evaluation, the selected indicators have certain scientific and practical effectiveness , which could provide references for enterprise on LCT innovation management. as an industry with a multi-level technologies integration, the single Technological adoption or innovation cannot satisfy the economic transformation requirements of the modern construction industry development. An integration innovation management evaluation model is needed for the sustainability evaluation in the construction practice. Its development is the main scientific objective of this study, by taking into consideration the entire life cycle assessment and various other factors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As materials production and transport are two relevant sectors in terms of global environmental impact, over the last years environmental impact analyses (mainly life cycle based analyses) of material replacing strategies in means of transportation were developed. Life cycle approach allows to consider the light-weighing benefit without neglecting the environmental impact of material production. In the present research energy and CO 2 emissions life cycle analysis of a real case study is presented. Industrial data, experimental measurements and literature analysis were used to develop the life cycle analysis of an aluminum window panel to be assembled on an Italian high speed train. The paper, taking advantage of an industrial case study, aims at improving the awareness for dealing with the material related (with a specific focus on innovative recycling strategy) and manufacturing inventory issues. The present research reports the energy and CO 2 emissions modeling effort for quantifying the impact of innovative solid state recycling strategy for aluminum alloys. Besides the recycling strategy influence itself, the relevance of the method for accounting for recycling is also analyzed. Moreover, the paper includes a digression on manufacturing step modeling; differences in energy and CO 2 emissions between experimental measurements and processes impact modeling by means data available in literature/databases are analyzed. Finally, advantages of using aluminum over GFRP (Glass-Fiber- Reinforced-Polymers) are highlighted by developing a comparative analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this paper is to optimize reliability and mass of three CO 2 extraction technologies/components: the 4-Bed Molecular Sieve, the Electrochemical Depolarized Concentrator and the Solid Amine Water Desorption. The first one is currently used in the International Space Station and the last two are being developed, and could be used for future long duration missions. This work is part of a complex study of the Environmental Control and Life Support System (ECLSS) reliability. The result of this paper is a methodology to analyze the reliability and mass at a component level, which is used in this paper for the CO 2 extraction technologies, but that can be applied to the ECLSS technologies that perform other tasks, such as oxygen generation or water recycling, which will be a required input for the analysis of an entire ECLSS. The key parameter to evaluate any system to be used in space is mass, as it is directly related to the launch cost. Moreover, for long duration missions, reliability will play an even more important role, as no resupply or rescue mission is taken into consideration. Each technology is studied as a reparable system, where the number of spare parts to be taken for a specific mission will need to be selected, to maximize the reliability and minimize the mass of the system. The problem faced is a Multi-Objective Optimization Problem (MOOP), which does not have a single solution. Thus, optimum solutions of MOOP, the ones that cannot be improved in one of the two objectives, without degrading the other one, are found for each selected technology. The solutions of the MOOP for the three technologies are analyzed and compared, considering other parameters such as the type of mission, the maturity of the technology and potential interactions/synergies with other technologies of the ECLSS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a methodology that helps managers evaluate how to assess the impact of postponement on supply chain performance considering logistics and ecological criteria. We consider a green supply chain design that considers CO 2 transport emissions under different postponement strategy scenarios using a simulation tool. The paper focuses on a relevant extension of postponement theory by including green considerations into the evaluation of postponement strategies in green supply chain design. Moreover, it provides some insight on how to measure and evaluate the impact of postponement regarding supply chain transport performance, considering different transport mode (container ocean ship and truck) using the European Platform on Life-Cycle Assessment (EPLCA) of ELCD – European Life-Cycle Database. The study has demonstrated that logistics and packing postponement strategies can improve the performance of logistics (total inventory and order lead-time) and, at the same time contribute to reducing the environmental impact of CO 2 emissions from transportation process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this paper is to present a case of an office building and show how different concepts of envelope construction affect the energy efficiency of building. Assessment of energy performances of different scenarios of the hypothetical models of the office building in the central zone of Belgrade is the aim of this research. A few scenarios are created for each hypothetical model: basic scenario and scenarios of two shading devices types in order contribution to reduction of cooling demands to be estimated. The office building scenarios are modelled and analysed by using PHPP ’ 2007 software to estimate heat and cooling energy demands. Also, CO 2 emissions are discussed. Comparative analysis of the results highlights the advantages and disadvantages of the treated models and scenarios of office building envelope construction. Findings indicate the preferable solutions and highlight methodological approach in the office building envelope design, which has not yet been adopted extensively in practice in our country. Methodological approach and findings can generally be applicable for new office building design, both in Belgrade and in the similar climatic conditions. The paper demonstrates various feasible solutions of office building envelope construction that might help comply with the regulation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the sustainability transitions literature the idea of ‘protective space’ shielding niche innovations from unfriendly selection environments is a fundamental concept. Few studies pause to consider how and by whom such protective space is created, maintained or expanded. The paper develops three propositions to deepen our understanding of the ‘outward-oriented socio-political work’ performed by technology advocates. The paper conducts a meta-analysis of six low-carbon technology case studies in the UK and The Netherlands. In each case, analysis finds the cases relevant to the propositions, but requiring finer nuance and further development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The appropriate allocation of CO 2 emission quotas can build up a solid foundation for future emissions trading. Building CO 2 emissions allocation mechanism has significant practical implications. Based on radial zero sum gains data envelopment (ZSG-DEA) allocation model, this paper uses a non-radial ZSG-DEA model to allocate CO 2 emissions between different Chinese provinces. Unlike previous studies treating CO 2 as the input variable, we treat CO 2 as the undesirable output variable. The modified model can better reflect macro-production process while earlier relevant models treated CO 2 emissions as inputs. This paper contributes to the existing resource allocation method and allocates China's provincial CO 2 emissions from the view of technical efficiency. The results of our paper reveal that (1) between 2006 and 2010 the cumulative optimal amounts of CO 2 emissions were higher than the actual amounts in 12 provinces, and lower in other 18 provinces. (2) Several energy-abundant provinces such as Shanxi and Inter Mongolia need to take more responsibilities in CO 2 emissions reduction. (3) After the ZSG-DEA allocation, all provinces' CO 2 emissions are on ZSG-DEA frontier, which reflects the overall “Pareto Optimality”. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The international community set clear goals regarding the reduction of CO 2 emissions and energy demand in the built environment. This drives research and building practice to search for solutions and new building concepts that contribute to achieving these goals. The work presented in this paper should be seen in that context. This research focuses on a building concept that makes use of the thermal energy storage capacity of materials and buildings. The concept combines the thermophysical benefits of low and high thermal mass buildings by adapting (on demand) to the most optimal thermal capacity. The main objective of this research is to identify if this so-called hybrid adaptable thermal energy storage (HATS) approach shows potential to reduce the energy demand of new lightweight residential buildings in the Netherlands and maintain or improve thermal comfort. This paper gives an overview of various HATS concepts and discusses the predicted performance of three HATS concepts. This research shows that the HATS approach is able to reduce the heating energy demand compared to a lightweight and heavyweight reference case. Furthermore, it shows that the HATS approach is able to improving thermal comfort compared to the lightweight reference case and maintain thermal comfort compared to the heavyweight reference case . [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the causal relationship between road transportation energy consumption, fuel prices, transport sector value added and CO 2 emissions in Tunisia for the period of 1980–2012. We apply the newly developed combined cointegration test proposed by Bayer, C, Hanck, C. Combining non‐cointegration tests. J Time Ser Anal 2013; 34(1): 83–95 and the ARDL bounds testing approach to cointegration for establishing the existence of long-run relationship in presence of structural breaks. The direction of causality between these variables is determined via vector error correction model (VECM). Our empirical exercise reveals that cointegration is present. Energy consumption adds in CO 2 emissions. Fuel prices decline CO 2 emissions. Road infrastructure boosts CO 2 emissions. Transport value-added also increases CO 2 emissions. The causality analysis indicates the bidirectional casual relationship between energy consumption and CO 2 emissions. Road infrastructure causes CO 2 emissions and similar is true from opposite side in Granger sense. The bidirectional causality is also found between transport value-added and CO 2 emissions. Fuel prices cause CO 2 emissions, energy consumption, road infrastructure and transport value-added in Granger sense. This paper provides new insights to policy makers for designing a comprehensive energy, transport and environment policies for sustainable economic growth in long run. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper, which is part of a special issue of the International Journal of Greenhouse Gas Control, gives an overview of the latest achievements in the pre-combustion decarbonisation route for the production of electricity with CO 2 capture. Pre-combustion technologies applied to two different fuels are considered, natural gas and coal, since they cover most of electricity production from fossil fuels worldwide. The work first discusses in detail the different sections in which a power plant with pre-combustion CO 2 capture can be divided. For each section, the available technologies with corresponding advantages and disadvantages are presented. Next, the plant lay-outs for natural gas and coal proposed in literature, including heat & mass balances and the economic assessment, are discussed. In general, research activity in pre-combustion decarbonisation for power production focused more on coal than on natural gas-based plant since in the latter case the plant complexity and costs are not competitive with post-combustion CO 2 capture, which is a technology on the verge of commercialization. Finally the paper briefly discusses pre-combustion CO 2 capture in industry especially those projects where CO 2 is captured and stored or used for EOR. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Currently, post-combustion carbon capture (PCC) is the only industrial CO 2 capture technology that is already demonstrated at full commercial scale in the TMC Mongstad in Norway (300,000 tonnes per year CO 2 captured) and BD3 SaskPower in Canada (1 million tonnes per year CO 2 captured). This paper presents a comprehensive review of the most recent information available on all aspects of the PCC processes. It provides designers and operators of amine solvent-based CO 2 capture plants with an in-depth understanding of the most up-to-date fundamental chemistry and physics of the CO 2 absorption technologies using amine-based reactive solvents. Topics covered include chemical analysis, reaction kinetics, CO 2 solubility, and innovative configurations of absorption and stripping columns as well as information on technology applications. The paper also covers in detail the post build operational issues of corrosion prevention and control, solvent management, solvent stability, solvent recycling and reclaiming, intelligent monitoring and plant control including process automation. In addition, the review discusses the most up-to-date insights related to the theoretical basis of plant operation in terms of thermodynamics, transport phenomena, chemical reaction kinetics/engineering, interfacial phenomena, and materials. The insights will assist engineers, scientists, and decision makers working in academia, industry and government, to gain a better appreciation of the post combustion carbon capture technology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Oxyfuel combustion is one of the leading technologies considered for capturing CO 2 from power plants with CCS. This involves the process of burning the fuel with nearly pure oxygen instead of air. In order to control the flame temperature, some part of the flue gas are recycled back into the furnace/boiler. Since the publication of the Special Report on CO 2 Capture and Storage by the International Panel for Climate Change ( IPCC, 2005 ), the development of oxyfuel combustion technology has progressed significantly and could be considered at par in terms of technology maturity as compared to other leading CO 2 capture technologies. This paper presents an overview to the current state-of-the-art technology on the development of oxyfuel combustion applied to (a) PC and CFB coal fired power plants and (b) gas turbine based power plant. It should be noted that it is not the intention of this paper to provide a comprehensive review but to present what have been achieved in the past 10 years of RD&D efforts. For coal fired power plant using oxyfuel combustion, this paper primarily presents the different development aspects of the burners and boilers (combustion and heat transfer), emissions, operation of the plant (i.e. start-up and turndown) and its integration to the ASU and CPU. For gas turbine based power plant using oxyfuel combustion, the different GT cycles are described, looking at the different aspects in combustion, emissions, cycle efficiency and development of the turbomachineries. Also presented in this paper is a snapshot to what we have learned from the operation of the different large-scale pilot plants and development of large scale demonstration projects worldwide. The paper concludes by presenting the potential of this technology and highlighting the importance of realizing large scale demonstration plant as a necessary step to achieve its ultimate goal of technology commercialization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

When the IPCC SRCCS report was released there was very little information in relation to public acceptance and communication. Ten years later, there has been a sizeable increase in the outputs from the social sciences with numerous papers, reports, and presentations, case reviews, toolkits, best practice guides, and other materials that have also been released in the public domain. This paper collectively examines many of the outputs from this research. It finds that much of the work can be loosely grouped into four main areas that include assessment and concerns of the general public, assessment and concerns of key stakeholders, assessment of the role of communication style and content, and assessment of experiences from real-life projects. Reflecting on the large body of work, it shows that there has been great progress in many areas of social science research, and the findings from this work possibly has greater, far reaching application than just for CCS projects. However, despite the positive progress the IPCC SRCCS identified two essential pre-conditions for CCS to be seen as credible. The pre-conditions were the recognition that: (1) anthropogenic global climate change is a serious problem and (2) there is a need for large reductions in carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) emissions. Unfortunately, this has not been the case. While public awareness of CCS has increased slightly from ten years ago, it remains low unless there has been some controversy about the technology in the local context. Given the lack of consistent, robust climate policy and the ensuing call for large amounts of GHG reductions, the larger public concern may be whether there will be the political will to address climate change at levels necessary to stabilize climate, that would make CCS a useful and more viable option. Despite this concern, as projects move to implementation stage the body of social science research that has focused on CCS provides a useful database of reference materials and ideas to help move projects forward. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 2005, the IPPC Special report on carbon dioxide capture and storage (SRCCS) summarized the state of knowledge about CCS as an emerging technology for reducing CO 2 emissions to the atmosphere. At the time of writing, the emphasis of the SRCCS was on understanding the fate of injected CO 2 whereas less attention was paid to effects of pressure buildup associated with CO 2 injection. Since then, the CCS community has significantly improved the knowledge base and addressed many of the technical gaps mentioned in 2005. A large body of research has been devoted to identify and verify the main processes that control CO 2 migration, trapping, and containment in deep saline aquifers. Much work has also been conducted to better understand the magnitude and implications of reservoir pressure buildup in response to large CO 2 storage projects. The aim of this paper is to provide a summary and overview of the most relevant recent (since publication of the IPCC SRCCS) literature and findings in the areas of CO 2 migration and pressure evolution. The paper first summarizes recent findings related to CO 2 plume migration and trapping, based on analytical and numerical modeling studies as well as several field injection tests conducted to examine the fate of injected CO 2 in various subsurface settings. The paper then discusses pressure effects as a function of space and time, including the effects of confinement (boundary conditions), highlights possible unwanted pressure impacts such as pressure-driven leakage and geomechanical damage, analyzes potential capacity constraints, reviews current concepts for pressure management, and closes with a discussion about use of pressure signals for advanced monitoring. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this paper is twofold: to investigate the applicability of a building-stock modelling methodology to assess the potential of Energy Conservation Measures (ECMs) and their associated effects on carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) emissions for a building stock in a South European climate, with Spain being used as an example; and to analyse the technical potentials and costs of the ECMs when applied both individually and as packages of multiple ECMs for the entire Spanish building stock, including residential and non-residential buildings. The modelling methodology, which has been designed to be applicable to any European country, is fully dynamic and based on an aggregated description of the building stock. This paper updates and validates the methodology to account for the climate and technical characteristics of the region under study. Applying all ECMs as a package gives a potential technical reduction in final energy demand of 55% and a 65% reduction in CO 2 emissions, while the corresponding techno-economical potentials are 33% and 37%. Nevertheless, the market potentials estimated are substantially lower (5–10%), which indicate that policy shifts are needed if the techno-economic potentials identified in this work are to be realized. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This paper investigates the impact of food production processes on the environment in terms of energy and exergy utilization and carbon dioxide emission. There are three different energy utilization mechanisms in food production: Utilization of solar energy by plants to produce agricultural goods; feed consumption by herbivores to produce meat and milk; fossil fuel consumption by industrial processes to perform mixing, cooling, heating, etc. Production of strawberry-flavored yogurt, which involves these three mechanisms, is investigated here thermodynamically. Analysis starts with the cultivation of the ingredients and ends with the transfer of the final product to the market. The results show that 53% of the total exergy loss occurs during the milk production and 80% of the total work input is consumed during the plain yogurt making. The cumulative degree of perfection is 3.6% for the strawberry-flavored yogurt. This value can rise up to 4.6%, if renewable energy resources like hydropower and algal biodiesel are employed instead of fossil fuels. This paper points the direction for the development of new technology in food processing to decrease waste of energy and carbon dioxide accumulation in the atmosphere. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Using supplementary cementitious materials (SCMs) in concrete is considered as one of the possible solutions to making green concrete. Previous research often analyzed the environmental impact of concrete without considering the influences of compressive strength and durability simultaneously. Such a practice will lead to less rational life cycle assessment (LCA) results, since the service life of concrete could be shortened when durability is poor, especially if concrete is exposed to marine dry-wet environment where chloride ion is intensive. Moreover, Fick's second law of diffusion was always used to determine the chloride diffusion coefficient of concrete, without considering the influences of convection zone and peak value of chloride concentration. Therefore, this paper proposed an integrated functional unit combining durability (resistance to chloride ion diffusion), compressive strength and volume to evaluate the environmental impact of concrete containing SCMs. The chloride diffusion coefficient was calculated by re-scaling the "zero" of penetration axis to calibrate Fick's second law of diffusion. In addition, three other functional units (volume, combining volume and compressive strength, combing volume and durability) were also proposed and compared. Results indicate that the selection of functional unit has a significant influence on the LCA results of the studied concrete. Despite the variation with different functional units, concrete containing silica fume or silica fume as well as fly ash shows a consistently superior environmental performance over the ordinary concrete. Highlights • Effect of convection zone on the chloride diffusion coefficient is considered. • The volume, strength and durability of concrete are incorporated in the LCA. • Four functional units to evaluate the sustainability of concrete are compared. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Modeling the driving factors and spatial nexus of carbon dioxide (CO 2) emissions may be complicated by the fact that trans-provincial transportation of energy- and pollution-intensive products, maybe or to a large extent, transports their emissions to the exporting provinces due to the frequent occurrence of bilateral economic-trade ties and the asynchrony of economic development in China. In this paper, a spatial econometric tool is utilized to examine to what extent CO 2 spillover depends on provinces' bilateral geographical and economic linkages. Besides, different subgroups are built to estimate and compare the degree of spatial interactions among regions under five definitions of spatial dependency, to determine how the spatial effects of CO 2 emissions behave among our selected subgroups. The results demonstrate an N-shaped relationship, either before or after grouping, which shows a strong correlation against the effectiveness of the Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) hypothesis. Additionally, the results show that economic linkage significantly outperforms all the other linkages in capturing the spatial dependencies between provinces, and the spatial dependence of CO 2 emissions in the high-energy structure group is far greater than that in the low-energy structure group. Our results suggest that even though considering the spatial aggregation effect, the economic relations behind CO 2 emissions can also capture the spatial features more accurately, providing valuable references for policymaking and carbon emission reduction. Highlights • Bilateral economic relations affect CO 2 emissions by the spatial dependence. • Economic spatial neighborhoods excel at capturing spatial dependence of CO 2. • The effect of spatial dependence varies under different energy consumption level. • Spatial dependence effect is more remarkable with high energy consumption level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract The improvement of CO 2 emission efficiency is of great significance to realizing energy-saving and emission reduction targets and achieving low-carbon development. While it is increasingly recognized that urban form could significantly influence the CO 2 emissions of urban areas, few studies have been able to quantify the implications of urban form in relation to CO 2 emission efficiency. The purpose of this paper is thus to contribute to existing literature by empirically quantifying how urban form influences CO 2 emission efficiency. CO 2 emission efficiency in this study is presented in terms of CO 2 economic efficiency (CEE) and CO 2 social efficiency (CSE). Firstly, we calculated the CEE and CSE of nine cities in the Pearl River Delta (Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Zhuhai, Foshan, Jiangmen, Zhaoqing, Huizhou, Dongguan, and Zhongshan) using locally important socioeconomic variables over the period 1990–2013. Then, seven landscape metrics were selected in order to quantify three dimensions of urban form (extension, irregularity, and compactness) using remote sensing data. Finally, panel data models were utilized to estimate the associations between urban form and CO 2 emission efficiency. We identified a negative correlation between urban sprawl and CEE as well as CSE, a finding that indicates that urban growth decreases CO 2 economic efficiency. Further, increasing irregularity in the form of cities was found to decrease both CEE and CSE—a larger degree of irregularity, in other words, results in lower CO 2 emission efficiency. Conversely, urban compactness was identified as having a significant positive influence on both CEE and CSE, indicating that the compact development of cities can actually help to improve CO 2 emission efficiency. The findings of this study hold important implications for building low-carbon cities in China. Highlights • The impact of urban form on CO 2 emission efficiency is investigated. • Panel data models are utilized, taking the period 1990–2013. • Increases in urban area bring about inhibitory effects on CO 2 emission efficiency. • Urban shape irregularity correlates negatively with CO 2 emission efficiency. • Building more concentrated cities will help to improve CO 2 emission efficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper focused on the dispersion of carbon dioxide (CO2) cloud due to large accidental release in urban areas. A three-dimensional urban model was designed and applied to capture the circulation flow and channeling flow in street canyons. The effects of building height, aspect ratio and roof shape on CO2 cloud dispersion were studied by wind tunnel experiment and Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) method. Building Reynolds number was calculated to ensure Reynolds number independence and turbulent flow. The results of model evaluation indicate that 100% of the predictions were within a factor of two of the experimental measurements (FAC2), and the relative mean bias (MG) was about 7%. CO2 behaved as a dense gas, whose volume fraction was more than 30% near the ground and about 5% in the upper region, respectively. Only 0.5% of CO2 removed from the canyon was through the top opening. Increasing windward-side building height enhanced vertical recirculation, thus reduced CO2 volume fraction from 22.9% (equal to 422 g/m³) to 14.5% (267 g/m³). Increasing aspect ratio to 3/2 could take greater amount of air into the canyon through the larger area of the openings, and then reduced CO2 volume fraction to 15.9% (293 g/m³). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights • A comprehensive decomposition approach is proposed to study the transport sector's CO 2 intensity change in China. • Four major factors driving the transport CO 2 intensity change were found. • Three strategies were proposed to adjust regional low carbon transport policies. Abstract Understanding the factors driving changes in transport carbon dioxide (CO 2) intensity and the contributions of different regions to each factor helps inform targeted emissions reduction policies. This paper provides a comprehensive approach, combining index decomposition analysis (IDA), production-theoretical decomposition analysis (PDA) and attribution analysis (AA), to decompose the changes in transport CO 2 intensity into nine factors and identify the contributions of different regions to the individual factors. Energy-related and transport-related factors are considered simultaneously and some new factors are created to provide additional insights for exploring changes in transport CO 2 intensity. An empirical study of the transport sector across 30 Chinese PARs (provincial administrative regions) resulted in three key findings. First, the effect of potential transport energy intensity and the effect of the economic output technology were the major drivers for the reduction in transport CO 2 intensity, while the effect of potential transport intensity and the effect of energy utilization technology were the major factors that increased the transport CO 2 intensity. Second, due to the diverse transport sector characteristics of the 30 PARs, their contributions to the four driving factors for the transport CO 2 intensity mitigation varied. Third, specific policy implications in terms of energy conservation and transport management policy were proposed for the 30 PARs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract The negative appraisals of the impact of airline industry on climate change have forced the industry to become greener. Over the past several decades, CO 2 emissions in the airline industry have increased considerably, thereby adversely affecting the environment. Therefore, airlines are seeking different approaches to reduce the environmental degradation. In this paper, we study cruise speed control to achieve this goal by reducing CO 2 emissions while studying passenger service level. We use some indicators to measure the passenger service level in the airline industry. These indicators create a conflict between CO 2 emissions and passenger service level. We develop a bi-objective mixed-integer non-linear programming model to integrate flight scheduling, aircraft-path assignment, and gate assignment with the aim of reducing CO 2 emissions while increasing passenger service level. Based on a real problem, the model can lead to 11% and 31% improvement in CO 2 emissions and passenger service level, respectively. The model is NP-hard. Therefore, we develop a new constructive heuristic method, and we also use the multi-objective simulated annealing algorithm and extend this algorithm to enhance its performance. We also use the design of experiment and Taguchi method to optimize the algorithms parameters. Finally, we evaluate the proposed methods based on information retrieved from major U.S. airlines. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The main objective of this paper was to attempt to identify the underlying driving forces which affect CO2 emissions. Based on the known IPAT equation, in this paper, economic scale was considered as one of main determinant of CO2 emissions, and the model on the factors was established to analyze the relationship between CO2 emissions, economic scale, technology, income and population in China. The regression results indicated that economic scale, income and population have a positive effect on CO2 emission; the impact of technology on CO2 emission was more complex. In first phase of the new technology, its effect on CO2 emission was positive. While at the later stage, the effect was negative through technology improvement. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]