Skip Navigation Links
Journal of Environmental Accounting and Management
António Mendes Lopes (editor), Jiazhong Zhang(editor)
António Mendes Lopes (editor)

University of Porto, Portugal

Email: aml@fe.up.pt

Jiazhong Zhang (editor)

School of Energy and Power Engineering, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, Shaanxi Province 710049, China

Fax: +86 29 82668723 Email: jzzhang@mail.xjtu.edu.cn


Life Cycle Perspective for Urban Energy Use and Carbon Emissions: A Case Study of Xiamen, China

Journal of Environmental Accounting and Management 5(1) (2017) 71--76 | DOI:10.5890/JEAM.2017.03.007

Fanxin Meng$^{1}$, Gengyuan Liu$^{1}$,$^{2}$, Zhifeng Yang$^{1}$,$^{2}$, Yan Hao$^{1}$, Yan Zhang$^{1}$,$^{2}$, Sergio Ulgiati$^{1}$,$^{2}$,$^{3}$

$^{1}$ State Key Joint Laboratory of Environment Simulation and Pollution Control, School of Environment, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China

$^{2}$ Beijing Engineering Research Center for Watershed Environmental Restoration & Integrated Ecological Regulation, Beijing 100875, China

$^{3}$ Department of Science and Technology, Parthenope University of Naples, Centro Direzionale, Isola C4, 80143 Naples, Italy

Download Full Text PDF

 

Abstract

Low-carbon city is the key to achieving low-carbon future. Carbon emission accounting is the most fundamental step. Carbon emissions from urban energy use are the principal and key bodies of global carbon emissions reduction, which are the most important parts of urban carbon emissions. The goal of this study is to construct a novel hybrid analysis model framework (PEIO), a combination of Process Analysis (PA) and Environmental Input-Output Analysis (EIOA), to access the carbon emissions on urban energy use from life cycle perspective, including the carbon emissions from end-use sector activities, cross-boundary traffic and the embodied energy of key urban materials.

Acknowledgments

This work is supported by the Fund for the Projects of Sino-America International Cooperation and Exchanges of NSFC (No. 51661125010), Creative Research Groups of the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 51121003), the National Key Research and Development Program of China (No. 2016YFC0503005), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 41471466, 71673029). Sergio Ulgiati also acknowledges the contract by the School of Environment, Beijing Normal University, within the framework of the National “One Thousand Foreign Experts Plan”.

References

  1. [1]  Amakpah, S.W., Larbi, M., Liu, G.Y., Zhang, L.X. 2016, Dynamics of Eco-Cities: A Review of Concepts towards Operationalizing Sustainable Urbanization, Journal of Environmental Accounting and Management 4(1), 73-86.
  2. [2]  Chavez, A. and Ramaswami, A. 2011, Progress toward low carbon cities: approaches for transboundary GHG emissions’ footprinting, Carbon Management 2, 471-482.
  3. [3]  Cui, S.H., Meng, F.X., Wang, W. and Lin, J.Y. 2011, GHG accounting for public transport in Xiamen city, China, Carbon Management 2, 383-395.
  4. [4]  Dhakal, S. 2009, Urban energy use and carbon emissions from cities in China and policy implications, Energy Policy 37, 4208-4219.
  5. [5]  GIZ and ICLEI. 2012, Discussion Paper: Green Urban Economy-Conceptual Basis and Courses for Action.
  6. [6]  Hao, Y., Su, M.R., Zhang, L.X., Cai, Y.P. and Yang, Z.F. 2015, Integrated accounting of urban carbon cycle in Guangyuan, a mountainous city of China: the impacts of earthquake and reconstruction, Journal of Cleaner Production 103, 231-240.
  7. [7]  Hillman, T. and Ramaswami, A. 2010, Greenhouse Gas Emission Footprints and Energy Use Benchmarks for Eight US Cities, Environmental Science & Technology 44, 1902-1910.
  8. [8]  Hoornweg, D., Sugar, L., Freire, M., Anderson, C., Bhada, P., Trejos, C.L., Dave, R. and Lee, M. Cities and climate change: an urgent agenda. World Bank, Washington, DC. 2010.
  9. [9]  Lin, J.Y., Liu, Y., Meng, F.X., Cui, S.H. and Xu, L.L. 2013, Using hybrid method to evaluate carbon footprint of Xiamen City, China, Energy Policy 58, 220-227.
  10. [10]  Casazza, M., Liu, G.Y. and Ulgiati, S. 2016, The Tenth Planetary Boundary: To What Extent Energy Constraints Matter, Journal of Environmental Accounting and Management 4(4), 399-411.
  11. [11]  Meng, F.X. 2012, Carbon footprint analysis on urban energy use: a case study of Xiamen city, China. University of Chinese Academy of Sciences. Master Thesis.
  12. [12]  Meng, F.X., Liu, G.Y., Yang, Z.F., Casazza, M., Cui, S.H., Ulgiati, S. 2017, Energy efficiency of urban transportation system in Xiamen, China. An integrated approach, Applied Energy 186(2), 234-248.
  13. [13]  Meng, J., Yang, Q., Li, Z., Wu, X.D. and Chen, G.Q. 2014, A Comparative Study on CCS and Renewable Energy in China: Challenges and Policy Choices, Journal of Environmental Accounting and Management 2(2), 133-143.
  14. [14]  Ramaswami, A., Hillman, T., Janson, M., Reiner, G. and Thomas, A. 2008, Demand-centered, hybrid life-cycle methodology for cityscale greenhouse gas inventories, Environmental Science & Technology 42, 6455-6461.
  15. [15]  Peters, G.P. 2010, Carbon footprints and embodied carbon at multiple scales, Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability 2, 245- 250.
  16. [16]  Shukla, J., Nobre, C. and Seller, P. 1990, Amazon deforestation and climate change, Science (Washington) 247(4948), 1322-1325.
  17. [17]  Su, M.R., Chen, L., Chen, B., Chen, S.Q. and Yang, Z.F. 2012, Low-carbon development patterns: observations of typical Chinese cities, Energies 5, 291-304.
  18. [18]  Su, M.R., Zheng, Y., Pauleit, S., Hao, Y., Yin, X.M., Liu, G.Y. and Zhang, Y. 2016, Embodied Services of Greenhouse Gas Emissions: A Case Study of the EU Member Countries, Journal of Environmental Accounting and Management 4(3), 269-286.
  19. [19]  UN-HABITAT. 2011, Cities and Climate Change: Global Report on Human Settlements Global Report on Human Settlements, Washington, DC.
  20. [20]  Vitousek, P.M., Ehrlich, P.R., Ehrlich, A.H. and Matson, P.A. 1986, Human appropriation of the products of photosynthesis, BioScience 36(6), 368-373.
  21. [21]  Vitousek, P.M., Mooney, H.A., Lubchenco, J. and Melillo, J.M. 1997, Human domination of Earth’s ecosystem, Science 277(5325), 494-499.
  22. [22]  Wiedmann, T. and Minx, J. 2017, A Definition of ‘Carbon Footprint’, ISAUK Research & Consulting, Durham, pp. 1-11.
  23. [23]  WRI/WBCSD. 2004, The Greenhouse Gas Protocol: A Corporate Accounting and Reporting Standard, Revised Edition ed. World Resources Institute and World Business Council for Sustainable Development. 2004.
  24. [24]  Wright, L. and Kemp, S. 2011, 'Carbon footprinting': towarding a universally accepted definition, Carbon Management 2, 61-72.
  25. [25]  Xiamen Municipal Bureau of Statistics (XMBS). 2010, Yearbook of Xiamen Special Economic Zone, Xiamen Municipal Bureau of Statistics (XMBS) ed. China Statistics Press, Beijing.
  26. [26]  Zhou, N., Fridley, D., Khanna, N.Z., Ke, J., McNeil, M. and Levine, M. 2013, China's energy and emissions outlook to 2050: Perspectives from bottom-up energy end-use model, Energy Policy 53, 51-62.