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China is the largest paper producer and consumer in the world. However, China's paper industry is inefficient in its consumption of natural resources. Whereas the proportion of wood pulp used by the paper industry in developed countries is up to 63%, the corresponding figure for China is only 23%, leading to high energy and water consumption and severe environmental pollution. This article presents a systematic risk analysis using life cycle assessment and carbon footprint calculation associated with China's straw-pulp and wood-pulp paper industries. Risk prevention measures are proposed based on the results of this analysis. The study has important ramifications for the sustainable development of China's paper industry. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Purpose: Universities and their actions affect the environment directly and significantly. Therefore, the carbon footprint (CF) needs to be implemented in these institutions for mitigating climate change and its potential risks. Based on this understanding, the university consortium quality and environment (QualEnv) stands out by its main objective – to increase the university's contribution to sustainable development (SD) through the deployment of systematic environmental practices and quality processes. Hence, the purpose of this paper is to present the CF of the Latin American universities of the QualEnv consortium. Design/methodology/approach: The study was based on the actions for adopting CF and its implementation at the universities that take part in the QualEnv consortium. The measurement process and report presentation were done properly by the universities and published as institutional documents. Therefore, data were collected and analyzed through a document search, systematic literature review and participant observation. Findings: The results show knowledge deepening and systematization on CF in higher education. In addition, it presents the effort of a group of universities that, through a research network, seek to adopt practices towards a carbon-neutral university, which requires an incremental and systematic change to break out of the traditional system. Originality/value: This paper discusses the practical implications for universities and the need to implement initiatives for measuring and reducing their CF since it shows how the institutions belonging to QualEnv consortium have created their own strategies to mitigate climate change and contribute to SD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Reducing our carbon footprint (CF) or decarbonizing is a sustainable development goal. Although there has been an increase in research on this topic, little is known about the status of CF research within universities. The purpose of this paper is to identify the initiatives implemented in universities aimed at reducing CF in their efforts toward creating a Green Campus. Design/methodology/approach: Using a bibliometric method, the status of this field of research was examined for the purpose of identifying the main publications and the most central researchers in terms of productivity and citations. Also, by using an exploratory factor analysis (EFA), the regions of the world with the most active research, as well as the direction of research, were identified. Findings: The survey identified the region that published the most on the subject in the past 10 years, as well as the most relevant authors in the publications. Through this factor analysis, it was possible to identify, among the 105 publications analyzed, four distinct factors (clusters) with different thematic strands that appear to define a difference between the related studies on this topic. These factors were identified as campus management: supply and consumption operations; greenhouse gases emissions assessment: CF calculation; university air travel; sustainable food systems. The changes in people's attitudes and in the use of university spaces during the COVID-19 pandemic in relation to the CF was also noted as a point that can be investigated in future research. As well as the reflection of the reduction in academic air travel and the "forced" occurrence of online events during the same period. Originality/value: The paper aims to innovate by applying the multidimensional scaling method and EFA to scientific articles on the topic of decarbonizing campuses and identifying the clusters that constitute this field of study. The research seeks to contribute to current metric knowledge on the topic and to the creation of a specific research agenda. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Polymer concrete (PC) has been used to replace cement concrete when harsh service conditions exist. Polymers have a high carbon footprint when considering their life cycle analysis, and with increased climate change concerns and the need to reduce greenhouse gas emission, bio-based polymers could be used as a sustainable alternative binder to produce PC. This paper examines the development and characterization of a novel bio-polymer concrete (BPC) using bio-based polyurethane used as the binder in lieu of cement, modified with benzoic acid and carboxyl-functionalized multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs). The mechanical performance, durability, microstructure, and chemical properties of BPC are investigated. Moreover, the effect of the addition of benzoic acid and MWCNTs on the properties of BPC is studied. The new BPC shows relatively low density, appreciable compressive strength between 20–30 MPa, good tensile strength of 4 MPa, and excellent durability resistance against aggressive environments. The new BPC has a low carbon footprint, 50% lower than ordinary Portland cement concrete, and can provide a sustainable concrete alternative in infrastructural applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the paper, the research on the process of optimizing the carbon footprint to obtain the low-carbon products is presented. The optimization process and limits were analyzed based on the CFOOD project co-financed by the Polish Research and Development Agency. In the article, the carbon footprint (CF) testing methods with particular emphasis on product life cycle assessment (LCA) are discussed. The main problem is that the energy received from the energy-meters per the production stage is not directly represented in the raw data set obtained from the factory because many production line machines are connected to a single measurement point. In the paper, we show that in some energy-demanding production stages connected with cooling processes the energy used for the same stage and similar production can differ even 25-40%. That is why the energy optimization in the production can be very demanding. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The whole life cycle of wool products is long and involves many inputs and outputs. There are many issues that need to be discussed and solved in the carbon footprint accounting of wool products. In this paper, key issues such as system boundary, calculation method, accounting data, and allocation method are analyzed and discussed to accurately account for the carbon footprint of wool products. The results show that when accounting for the partial carbon footprint of wool products, the system boundary endpoint of the "gate" is more operable. The model estimation method used to calculate the carbon footprint of sheep rumination needs further improvement in feed intake prediction and methane conversion coefficient. Clarifying the carbon sequestration and carbon transfer mechanism and accurately tracing the source of carbon elements in wool can quantify the carbon sequestration effect of wool products. The data should be prioritized in the order of site-specific data, primary data, and secondary data. The protein mass allocation method can better allocate wool and co-products in the raw material production stage. A full and systematic analysis of the key issues of the carbon footprint accounting for wool products can ensure the effectiveness and comparability of the carbon footprint accounting results and contribute to the green and low-carbon development of the wool industry. [Display omitted] • System boundaries, accounting data and calculation methods of wool products' carbon footprint were discussed. • Allocation methods for wool products' carbon footprint calculation were explored. • Quantify methods for carbon footprint of rumination and excreta were analyzed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: Global sustainability is considered the number one health concern facing our planet. Dental care is currently not provided in a sustainable way. This study aims to quantify the potential environmental burden of an examination in a hypothetical dental practice and identify major contributors to environmental harm. Materials and Methods: A life cycle analysis was performed for the life cycle of an examination of one patient in a hypothetical dental practice. The equipment and products analysed were those available at the Faculty of Dentistry, Malmö University. The Ecoinvent version 3.5 database and the life cycle assessment software tool OpenLCA version 1.10 were chosen for this study. Results: Normalized results indicate that the impact categories to which the modelled examination most significantly contributes are water scarcity, freshwater eutrophication and human toxicity (cancer effects). The major contributors or hotspots relating to the environmental harm of an examination procedure are soaps and detergents, disposable bibs, surface disinfection, stainless‐steel instruments, clothing, water use and wastewater. Conclusion: Normalized results indicate that the potential environmental impact of an examination compared to one individual's impact per year is minimal. Considering the potential number of dental examinations and other dental procedures performed every year puts the findings in another perspective. This paper touches on some of the ways that the environmental burden of an examination could be reduced. Small changes to everyday practice, such as always making sure the dishwasher and washing machines are full when turned on, using less environmentally damaging soaps, more sustainable clothing alternatives and using necessary instruments could significantly reduce dentistry's environmental impact. Changes in materials and practice may result in potential trade‐offs. Research would need to be carried out comparing the environmental burden of any alternatives. We hope in the near future that there will be more evidence relating to products used within dental care settings, potential trade‐offs and dentistry's environmental burden. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Renewable energy sources can help combat climate change but knowing the land, water and carbon implications of different renewable energy production mixes becomes a key. This paper systematically applies land, water and carbon footprint accounting methods to calculate resource appropriation and CO 2 eq GHG emissions of two energy scenarios. The '100% scenario' is meant as a thinking exercise and assumes a complete transition towards bioenergy, mostly as bioelectricity and some first-generation biofuel. The 'SDS-bio scenario' is inspired by IEA's sustainable development scenario and assumes a 9.8% share of bioenergy in the final mix, with a high share of first-generation biofuel. Energy inputs into production are calculated by differentiating inputs into fuel versus electricity and exclude fossil fuels used for non-energy purposes. Results suggest that both scenarios can lead to emission savings, but at a high cost of land and water resources. A 100% shift to bioenergy is not possible from water and land perspectives. The SDS-bio scenario, when using the most efficient feedstocks (sugar beet and sugarcane), would still require 11–14% of the global arable land and a water flow equivalent to 18–25% of the current water footprint of humanity. In comparative terms, using sugar or starchy crops to produce bioenergy results in smaller footprints than using oil-bearing crops. Regardless of the choice of crop, converting the biomass to combined heat and power results in smaller land, water and carbon footprints per unit of energy than when converting to electricity alone or liquid biofuel. • The greenhouse gas emission savings of bioenergy entail large land and water use. • Land, water and carbon footprints of biofuels and bioelectricity are calculated. • A dynamic energy feedback loop is used to clarify gross and net footprints. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Low-carbon production is one of the dominating issues in the sustainable development of the food industry with high energy consumption, especially in the table grapes cold chain. The aim of this paper is to propose a profit maximization strategy of table grapes cold chain by integrating the carbon footprint to improve the low-carbon production and sustainability of the cold chain system. The carbon footprint was evaluated by life cycle assessment (LCA) in entire cold chain system of table grapes, and the economic order quantity (EOQ) model was used to develop the profit maximization model with minimal carbon footprint and to maintain the optimal balance between stock and cost. The profit optimization performance, the sensitivity performance and the influencing factors of the decay rate, the carbon emission price, and the distance and carbon emission coefficient in refrigerated transport were analyzed according to the profit maximization model and the inventory data in actual cold chain investigated. The sensitivity performance analysis illustrated that the selling price had the highest sensitivity, and the carbon emission coefficient in storage had the lowest sensitivity. The comprehensive analysis results indicated that there is an optimal combination point between the economy and environment in actual cold chain, which not only reduced the carbon emission, but also had minimal impact on the profit in cold chain. The enterprises should integrate the carbon footprint cost into the profit maximization once the carbon emission tax is levied. The proposed strategy of the profit maximization with carbon footprint constraint is also suitable for improving profit maximization of other low-carbon supply chain applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sustainable development efforts aimed at substantial reduction of carbon dioxide emissions focused research activities in this field, among others, on a partial or full replacement of Portland cement by environmental more friendly alternatives. Calcined gypsum can be considered as one of possible options in that respect. However, although the environmental impact is an important issue, gypsum was analyzed only rarely and sufficiently accurate data are still missing. In this paper, a carbon footprint analysis of two types of gypsum ranging from cradle to gate according to ISO 14067 is presented. The inventory data based on primary data obtained from the producers of natural gypsum and flue gas desulfurization gypsum in the Czech Republic are completed by the emission factors obtained from the literature survey. The results of the carbon footprint analysis show that the carbon dioxide emissions related to the manufacturing of calcined gypsum from flue gas desulfurization gypsum are 105.3 kg of carbon dioxide/t, i.e., 25.2% lower than for the application of natural gypsum. Calcination is identified as the most harmful process from the point of view of carbon dioxide generation for both raw materials; it is responsible for 55% and 72% of total carbon dioxide emissions for natural gypsum and flue gas desulfurization gypsum, respectively. The obtained information is essential for further design and development of new types of composites meeting the requirements of sustainable development better than today’s mainstream solutions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An increasing number of studies show that efficiency improvements alone will not be sufficient to attain the substantial emission reductions needed to mitigate global warming to a target of 2 °C. Consumption side changes are likely to be needed to achieve sufficient emission reductions. The United Nations emphasize the importance of developed countries taking the lead in lowering emissions to achieve the sustainable development goals. This paper assess to what extent Norwegian households can lower their carbon footprint consistent with territorial emission reductions towards the 2 °C target of global warming through implementing a set of behavioral actions. We evaluate the efficacy of the set of actions both initially and after considering rebound effects. A multiregional environmentally extended input-output database is linked with the Norwegian consumer expenditure survey to analyze both average and marginal expenditure per unit of increased income. Further, linear programming is applied to examine the changes needed by households to reach different emission reduction targets. We find that households implementing the full set of actions without re-spending can obtain a 58% decrease in their carbon footprint. When accounting for the effect of re-spending, this reduction drops to 24–35%, which is not within the requirements of the 2 °C target. The optimization analysis suggests households can achieve reductions up to 45% by restricting re-spending to specific goods and services. This indicates that curbing the rebound effect is key to achieving real reductions in household carbon footprints. We show that changing consumption patterns can significantly contribute to lowering anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions without compromising the level of economic activity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Even without economic factors and government regulations, the pressure and motivation of corporation to reduce emissions are still increasing. This is because the key factors for corporation to reduce emissions have been corporate social responsibility and increasing awareness of low carbon among consumers and society not economic trade-off and stringent government regulations. So, the purpose of this paper is to provide quantity methods for the logistics organizations with wish of voluntary reduction and social responsibility to reduce emissions through operations adjustment. Design/methodology/approach: Being difference from the traditional research that takes economic value as objective and carbon footprint as constraint or another source of economic cost, this paper takes carbon footprint as objective directly, order quantity as decision variable. By referring to the traditional economic order quantity model, the paper proposes logistics carbon footprint model which takes transport and inventory into account. Then it solves the model by calculating the values of order quantity, carbon footprint and revenue using the method of optimization. Findings: By solving and comparing the two models, economic order quantity model and carbon footprint model, it gets some results, such as carbon optimization order quantity, the effects of order quantity deviating from economic or carbon order quantity on economic or carbon footprint values, which can give some meaningful insights for corporation to look for reduction opportunities by operations adjustment. Originality/value: The study takes carbon footprint as objective directly and creates the corresponding quantity model. By comparing with the traditional economic order quantity model, it can provide quantity methods and some meaningful insights for the logistics organizations to reduce emissions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There are many opportunities for consumers to design their lives more sustainably. While a rapidly growing body of literature has investigated how consumers can reduce carbon footprints in key consumption areas, such as food, housing and mobility, an overall framework that allows structuring those options across all consumption areas is still missing. Hence, this paper presents a novel and systematic framework to identify improvement options that promote climate change mitigation and structure them based on their primary mode of impact on GHG emissions. The framework targets consumer practices and focuses on ambitious, but technically and socioeconomically feasible strategies for consumers to lower their carbon footprint. Four major categories for reducing consumption-based emissions form the basic framework, which are then subdivided into behavioural strategies and sub-strategies. The practical application of the framework is illustrated by using food consumption as an example. Systematically identifying improvement options can advance a holistic understanding of the range of behavioural strategies targeting consumer choices that operate at different stages in the supply chain. It thus provides a starting point for addressing critical questions related to the role of consumers in supporting climate change mitigation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The growing concern about climate change and related greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) has been shared by many companies who are now involved in emission reduction efforts. In order to do this, it is necessary to first develop GHG emission inventories. The construction of inventories is not common practice in developing countries and among Brazilian water and wastewater companies, only four companies, among the top 25, have developed their GHG inventories, and none in the Northeast of the country. This paper aims to identify and estimate GHG emissions from the activities of a water utility, Empresa Baiana de Águas e Saneamento S.A (Embasa) in the State of Bahia during 2012. The method used for the inventory was the GHG Protocol proposed by World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) and World Resources Institute (WRI), the most widely adopted method worldwide. In addition, the guidelines of IPPC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) were used to calculate emissions from wastewater treatment plants. It was found that the emissions resulting from sewage treatment (mostly carried out by anaerobic processes) constitute the largest source of GHG at the sanitation company studied, when considering the activities defined in this work. The assessment of GHG sources and emissions identified in this research can support proposals for reduction targets and benchmarking. The results form the basis for the incorporation of GHG reduction measures in the company's strategic planning as well as for integrating its sustainability report. The findings of this work can also help other companies to undertake GHG reduction measures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Beef cattle are unique, because they not only suffer from climate change, but they also contribute to climate change through the emission of greenhouse gases (GHG). Mitigation and adaptation strategies are therefore needed. An effective way to reduce the carbon footprint from beef cattle would be to reduce the numbers and increase the production per animal, thereby improving their productivity. Sustainable crossbreeding systems can be an effective way to reduce GHG, as it has been shown to increase production. There are a wide range of different cattle breeds in South Africa which can be optimally utilized for effective and sustainable crossbreeding. This paper reports on the effects of crossbreeding on the kilogram calf weaned per Large Stock Unit (kgC/LSU) for 29 genotypes. These genotypes were formed by crossing Afrikaner (A) cows with Brahman (B), Charolais (C), Hereford (H) and Simmentaler (S) bulls and by back-crossing the F1 cows to the sire lines. A LSU is the equivalent of an ox of 450 kg with a daily weight gain of 500 g on grass pastures with a mean digestible energy (DE) content of 55% and a requirement of 75 MJ metabolizable energy (ME). Crossbreeding with A as dam line increased the kgC/LSU on average by 8 kg (+6%) - with the CA cross producing the most kgC/LSU (+8%) above that of the AA. The BA dam in crosses with C, H and S, increased kgC/LSU on average by 26 kg (+18%) above that of the AA dam, with the H x BA cross, producing the most kgC/LSU (+21%). The BA, CA, HA and SA F1 dam lines, back-crossed to the sire line breeds, increased kgC/LSU on average by 30 kg (21%), 21 kg (15%), 19kg (13%) and 26 kg (18%) above the that of the AA, respectively. The big differences between breeds in kgC/LSU provide the opportunity to facilitate effective crossbreeding that can be useful in the era of climate change. From this study it is clear that cow productivity can be increased by up to 21% through properly designed, sustainable crossbreeding systems, thereby reducing the carbon footprint of beef production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Impact-based water footprint of rolled steel production is first performed. • Fossil energy footprint and carbon footprint are evaluated by using LCA. • Maritime transport, iron power and direct emissions are major contributors. • Adjustment of industrial structure is essential for carbon mitigation of steel industry. The Iron and Steel Industry (ISI) is a difficult-to-mitigate sector that has considerable contributions to energy consumption, water pollution, and CO 2 emissions. Despite broad interest in energy consumption and CO 2 emissions generated by steel production, there are few impact-oriented Water Footprint (WF) assessments of steel production. This study evaluates the water, carbon and fossil energy footprints generated from rolled steel production on the basis of life cycle assessment. Key contributors attributing to those environmental impacts are also identified so as to explore their potential mitigation. Using the Monte Carlo model, an uncertainty analysis is conducted with the aim of providing reliable results for decision-making. Results show that the impact per ton China's rolled steel production has on global warming, human health, ecosystem quality, and resources is 4.40 × 103 kg CO 2 eq (GSD2 = 1.24), 4.15 × 10-3 Disability Adjusted of Life Years (DALY) (GSD2 = 1.31), 7.08 × 10-5 Species·yr (GSD2 = 2.04), and 4.39 × 104 MJ (GSD2 = 1.28), respectively. Global warming and freshwater ecotoxicity is the dominant contributor to the damage impact on human health and ecosystem quality, respectively. Results also show that the transport (freight ship) of raw materials and the production of iron powder are the two main contributors to the overall impact on the environment that rolled steel production has. Several policy recommendations are proposed in this paper, which focus on adjusting the steel industry's industrial structure, promoting the national-level carbon emissions trading in the ISI, promoting international cooperation, and improving public awareness of green and low-carbon development. Such policy recommendations provide decision-makers with valuable insights, which thus allow them to prepare the appropriate mitigation policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper studies how consumers' reported practices related to food, energy use in housing, daily mobility, and tourism are combined and structured. Social practice theories are the main theoretical framework of this research. Data are drawn from a sensitisation campaign run by the WWF-Belgium and the methods developed to attempt to translate the theoretical focus to practices. Results show that both the low number of ‘green’ practices reported and the multiplicity of combinations of practices indicate a rather important compartmentalisation of ‘green’ practices and seem to refute the hypothesis of vast domino effects in these four different areas. In addition, a wider openness to information on environmentally friendlier practices is associated with a larger number of such practices, which raises questions about the design of such campaigns. Finally, there is no conventionalised way of linking practices and commitments taken by the respondents to reduce their environmental impact. A few policy recommendations are derived for sensitisation campaigns that often assume domino effects between ‘green’ practices, and for tools dealing with personal carbon awareness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper builds on and extends previous research to contribute to ongoing discussion on the use of resource and carbon accounting tools in regional policy making. The Northern Visions project has produced the first evidence-based footpath setting out the actions that need to be taken to achieve the step changes in the Ecological and Carbon Footprint of Northern Ireland. A range of policies and strategies were evaluated using the Resources and Energy Analysis Programme. The analysis provided the first regional evidence base that current sustainable development policy commitments would not lead to the necessary reductions in either the Ecological Footprint or carbon dioxide emissions. Building on previous applications of Ecological Footprint analysis in regional policy making, the research has demonstrated that there is a valuable role for Ecological and Carbon Footprint Analysis in policy appraisal. The use of Ecological and Carbon Footprint Analysis in regional policy making has been evaluated and recommendations made on ongoing methodological development. The authors hope that the research can provide insights for the ongoing use Ecological and Carbon Footprint Analysis in regional policy making and help set out the priorities for research to support this important policy area. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Providing more affordable and cleaner energy for all raises complex and significant financial, political, technical, and institutional issues, which must all be addressed to ensure sustainable development. Energy technology innovation has a critical role to play as one of the best pathways to achieve the transition to a global clean energy system. This paper is an endeavor to study the impact of government energy technology research, development, and demonstration (RD&D) budget, which is the primary input of energy technology innovations on cleaner energy supply and carbon footprints (CFP). In this study, a cleaner energy supply is measured as the contribution of renewable energy to total primary energy supply (RE). We assumed that the effect of energy innovation is not uniform but varies according to the descending and ascending movements in a government's energy technology RD&D budget. To this end, we distinguished the impact of the descending and ascending movements in government energy technology RD&D budgets on cleaner energy supply, and CFP in Europe over the period 1985 to 2016. Additionally, we carried out a comparative examination of the effects of energy technology RD&D expenditures on RE and CFP under both linear and nonlinear panel techniques. To increase room for policy implications, we also controlled for the role of economic growth and trade openness and performed several robustness check analyses. We found that the reduction of carbon footprints associated with an increase in public support to energy technology RD&D is more pronounced than the contribution of energy technology innovation to the deployment of renewable energy in Europe. This study provided little evidence in favor of the effectiveness of a government energy technology RD&D budget to substantially boost renewable energy in Europe. Following these results, we suggest that the knowledge of the asymmetric linkage between public energy technology innovation, RE, and CFP is a starting point to achieve win-win solutions that favor clean energy and environmental sustainability. • Optimizing the nonlinear effects of energy technology RD&D budgets over different time horizons. • Asymmetries in the responses of RE and CFP to shocks in energy technology innovation budgets. • The influences of energy technology innovation vary over different time horizons. • The public budget devoted to energy innovation is fundamental for curbing CFP rather than boosting RE. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ambitious scenarios of carbon emission redistribution for mitigating climate change in line with the Paris Agreement and reaching the sustainable development goal of eradicating poverty have been proposed recently. They imply a strong reduction in carbon footprint inequality by 2030 that effectively halves the Gini coefficient to about 0.25. This paper examines feasibility of these scenarios by analyzing the historical evolution of both weighted international inequality in CO 2 emissions attributed territorially and global inequality in carbon footprints attributed to end consumers. For the latter, a new dataset is constructed that is more comprehensive than existing ones, and footprints are found to be more unequal than territorial emissions. In both cases, we find a decreasing trend in global inequality, partially attributed to the move of China from the lower to the middle part of the distributio. Still, realization of the redistributive scenarios would require an unprecedented reduction in global inequality far below historical levels. Moreover, the territorial emissions data, available for more recent years up to 2017, show a saturation of the decreasing Gini coefficient at a level of 0.5. This observation confirms an earlier prediction based on maximal entropy reasoning that the Lorenz curve converges to the exponential distribution. This saturation further undermines feasibility of the redistributive scenarios, which are also hindered by structural tendencies that reinforce carbon footprint inequality under global capitalism. One way out of this conundrum is a fast decarbonization of the global energy supply in order to decrease global carbon emissions without relying crucially on carbon inequality reduction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Construction operations are highly energy-intensive and account for significant environmental impacts, including greenhouse gases (GHG) and other engine exhaust associated with material procurement/delivery and on-site construction activities. The opportunities for mitigating air pollutant emissions from construction operations can be captured by estimating and benchmarking during the preconstruction phase and then monitoring during the construction phase. However, a formal process model to manage the environmental aspects of on-site construction activities has yet to be clearly delineated, although recently several research efforts have appeared in relevant areas such as the development of in-use emission factors of construction equipment, methods for reliably estimating emissions at the project level, embodied carbon footprint benchmarking methods, and practical monitoring tools. Such a lack of a formal process model causes the misinterpretation of the benefits from recent research efforts in each area and hinders their implementation in practice. In this context, this paper aims to establish a framework model that could be a systematic and generic reference to the management of pollutant emissions from construction operations with state-of-the-art methods and tools. To do so, the paper identifies a generic process to be supported by research efforts in each area and presents an integrated framework based on the analysis of data connectivity between processes. An example of the indirect emission measurement is presented to demonstrate how data connectivity can be ensured between processes within the framework. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]