The nexus between income inequality,economic growth and environmental degradation in Pakistan

This study examines the impact of income inequality and economic growth on environmental degradation in Pakistan using ARDL bounds testing approach for the period 1966–2011. Empirical results for the aggregate CO₂ emissions and its four sources such as CO₂ emissions from solid fuel, liquid fuel and gaseous fuel consumption as well as electricity and heat production confirm the existence of long run co-integrated relationship between income inequality, economic growth and environment degradation. The estimated results indicate that carbon emissions increase as the income gap expands in Pakistan. Besides the negative impact of industrial share and population density on CO₂ emissions, we also confirm that economic growth in Pakistan comes up with higher emissions. Hence, the hypothesis of EKC is not valid for Pakistan during the study period. Our empirical findings are robust as evidenced by dynamic ordinary least squared and the U-tests. Overall, this study suggests that the distribution of income matters to aggregate carbon emissions and focus should be made on sustained economic growth to reduce pollutants and hence CO₂ emission in the study area.     

Decomposing the changes of energy-related carbon emissions in China: evidence from the PDA approach

In order to investigate the main drivers of CO₂ emissions changes in China during the 11th Five-Year Plan period (2006–2010) and seek the main ways to reduce CO₂ emissions, we decompose the changes of energy-related CO₂ emissions using the production-theoretical decomposition analysis approach. The results indicate that, first, economic growth and energy consumption are the two main drivers of CO₂ emissions increase during the sample period; particularly in the northern coastal, northwest and central regions, where tremendous coal resources are consumed, the driving effect of their energy consumption on CO₂ emissions appears fairly evident. Second, the improvement of carbon abatement technology and the reduction in energy intensity play significant roles in curbing carbon emissions, and comparatively the effect of carbon abatement technology proves more significant. Third, energy use technical efficiency, energy use technology and carbon abatement technical efficiency have only slight influence on CO₂ emissions overall. In the end, we put forward some policy recommendations for China’s government to reduce CO₂ emissions intensity in the future.     

Impact of household expenditures on CO2 emissions in China: Income-determined or lifestyle-driven?

The aim of this paper is to analyze the relationship between household expenditure and CO₂ emissions among different income groups of urban and rural households in China. Having employed the 2007 Social Accounting Matrix of China, this study examines the direct and indirect CO₂ emissions caused by household demand. The results show that within both urban and rural households, the higher the income level is, the higher the per capita emissions are; the CO₂ emissions per unit expenditure due to savings and taxes are generally much larger than those from consumption of goods and services; and these emissions per unit consumption expenditures mainly come from indirect emissions. To deeply explore the relationships between consumption patterns and CO₂ emissions, two scenarios are established to eliminate the differences in income level and consumption propensity among different groups step by step. Main results indicate that (1) the income gap is the primary cause of the significant differences in emission levels among each group; (2) the difference in consumption propensity is also a notable reason; and (3) the rural higher income groups spend a larger share of their income on those carbon-intensive goods (e.g., electricity, transportation, energy products), thus making their consumption patterns more carbon-intensive, while for the urban, the consumption patterns of lower income groups are more carbon-intensive. Finally, policy recommendations on the reduction of household emissions are also made.

     

The spatio-temporal variability of droughts using the standardized precipitation index in Yunnan,China

As the main greenhouse gas, carbon dioxide (CO₂) has been under intensive studied in the last two decades. This paper addresses the research that whether the environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) for CO₂ emissions exists in G20 group—an international forum for governments and central banks from 19 countries and European Union. To analyze the studied relationship thoroughly, other four explanatory variables—two trade openness terms, the ratio of secondary industry value-added to GDP and population density—are employed to investigate whether they have any influences on the existence and shapes of EKC. In the empirical study, two multinational panel data sets covering the periods between 1960 and 2010 (50 years) and between 1990 and 2010 (20 years) are utilized, and the panel data fixed effects and generalized method of moments estimators are employed. The estimation results indicate that the EKC indeed exists in the G20 members as a whole. To investigate whether the existence of EKC depends on the level of economic growth, the G20 countries are further divided into two subgroups: developed and developing countries. Although the estimation results suggest that there exists EKC in developing countries during both 20- and 50-year period, there is no persuasive evidence to prove the existence of EKC in developed countries during the 20-year period. For the time periods we studied, most developed countries have seen relatively stable or even decreasing CO₂ emissions, while for the majority of the developing countries, the peak of CO₂ emissions could not be reached in the near future.     

Using decomposition analysis to evaluate the performance of China’s 30 provinces in CO2 emission reductions over 2005–2009

This paper aims to evaluate the carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions reduction performance of 30 mainland provinces in China over 2005?C2009. First, the log-mean Divisia index (LMDI) technique is used to decompose the changes in CO₂ emissions at the provincial level into 4 effects that are carbon intensity effect, energy mix effect, energy intensity effect and gross domestic product (GDP) effect. Next, two indicators, decoupling index and rescaled decoupling index, are implemented to evaluate the performance of 30 provinces in CO₂ emission reduction from 2005 to 2009. The decomposition result shows that the GDP growth is mainly responsible for the CO₂ emissions increase, while the energy intensity effect is the key factor for the decrease in CO₂ emissions in each province. Moreover, according to the evaluation, the performance of each province in what concerns the CO₂ emission reduction varies significantly. Most provinces in China made significant efforts in emissions reduction during 2005?C2009, while some provinces only made weak efforts or even no efforts in decoupling progress.     

The asymmetric nexus of energy-growth and CO2 emissions: An empirical evidence based on hidden cointegration analysis

Noting the significance of asymmetries in macroeconomic literature, this study aimed to estimate the asymmetric linkages between energy growth and the environment for BRICST countries between 1990 & 2017. For this purpose, this study applied hidden cointegration, panel NARDL, and asymmetric causality tests between the variables. In the first step, the results supported the existence of hidden cointegration between the variables. In the next step, empirical results obtained from panel NARDL results explained that the chosen variables have asymmetric relationships and are highly responsive to macroeconomic shocks. Initially, the positive shocks of energy consumption positively respond to environmental degradation; similarly, the negative shocks also correspond positively to CO₂ emissions. In the economic expansion phase, the positive shocks of growth have insignificant, and adverse shocks negatively respond to CO₂ emissions in BRICST countries. The results of individual countries along BRICST differ at various levels in response to asymmetric shocks. Different asymmetric causalities between the chosen dimension of variables are explored. From the asymmetric associations between the variables, the study proposes to forecast the energy demand and explore alternative ways to energy resources to shift their fossil energy bases to renewable systems. Similarly, adopting ICT products could make energy efficiency in these countries more productive towards improving environmental quality.     

Analysis of spatial distribution of global energy-related CO2 emissions

The purpose of this paper is to use the gravity theory to study the spatial distribution and centers of gravity for the global energy-related CO₂ emissions and to determine how they have changed over time. The main results are as follows: (1) In 2011, global energy-related CO₂ emissions reached 34,032.74 Mt, and Asia was the largest CO₂ emitter, which accounted for 45.25 % of total CO₂ emissions in the world. (2) Since 2006, China has exceeded the USA and become the biggest CO₂ emissions country. (3) In terms of the annual growth speed of CO₂ emissions, China is the fastest, followed by India, Saudi Arabia, Brazil, and South Africa. (4) During the study period, the center of gravity for CO₂ emissions is an overall movement toward the southeast, and Asia has become the center of gravity for CO₂ emissions.     

Assessing the synergistic reduction effects of different energy environmental taxes: the case of China

Imposing any tax among carbon tax, sulfur tax and nitrogen tax on fossil fuels will also reduce the other two air pollutants. Neglecting the synergistic effect of each energy environmental tax and levying carbon tax, sulfur tax and nitrogen tax at the same time will overestimate the abatement cost of air emissions. This study adopts a partial equilibrium model which uses linear demand and supply curves to illustrate the emission reductions in carbon tax, sulfur tax and nitrogen tax. The synergistic reduction effects of CO₂, SO₂ and NO _x are firstly evaluated under the implicit tax scenario of resource tax and consumption tax on fossil fuels. Then it is compared with the synergistic reduction effects of CO₂, SO₂ and NO _x under different explicit tax scenarios of increasing tax rate on carbon tax, sulfur tax and nitrogen tax. If the synergistic reduction effect of explicit environmental taxes is better, this research aims to find one kind of environmental tax among carbon tax, sulfur tax and nitrogen tax with the best synergistic reduction effect and to provide a decision support for the policy makers of energy environmental taxes. The results indicate that explicit environmental taxes have better synergistic reduction effects compared with the current implicit environmental taxes. And explicit sulfur tax can lead to the largest synergistic reduction effects of CO₂, SO₂ and NO _x . Therefore, the policy makers of energy environmental taxes could consider adopting the explicit sulfur tax to reduce various environmental air emissions at the largest amount.     

Multi-peril risk assessment for business downtime of industrial facilities

The chemical industry is one of the most important industry sectors in terms of energy consumption and CO₂ emissions in China. However, few studies have undertaken accounting of the CO₂ emissions in the chemical industry. In addition, there are some shortcomings in the traditional accounting method as a result of poor data availability, such as the incomplete consideration of emission sources and overestimation of actual emissions. Based on the traditional accounting method and the actual situation of the chemical industry, this study proposes a method called the Emission Accounting Model in the Chemical Industry, which covers fossil energy-related emission, indirect emission generated by electricity and heat, carbonate-related process emission and the reuse of CO₂. In particular, fossil energy used as feedstock is included. By applying the Emission Accounting Model in the Chemical Industry in China, the calculated CO₂ emissions would be 19–30% less than the result from the traditional method. In addition, it is found that the indirect CO₂ emissions generated by electricity and heat account for 67% of the total amount, the fossil energy-related emissions account for approximately 37%, the process-related emissions accounted for 2%, and reuse of CO₂ accounts for ??6% in 2016. The production of ammonia, ethylene and calcium carbide generated approximately half of the total CO₂ emissions in 2016. In addition, in view of emission sources and carbon source flow, two other bottom-up accounting methods are proposed that can take effect when the chemical plant-level data are available.

     

Assessment of greenhouse gas emissions from coal and natural gas thermal power plants using life cycle approach

The importance of mitigation of climate change due to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from various developmental and infrastructure projects has generated interest at global level to reduce environmental impacts. Life cycle assessment may be used as a tool to assess GHG emissions and subsequent environmental impacts resulting from electricity generation from thermal power plants. This study uses life cycle approach for assessing GHG emissions and their impacts due to natural gas combined cycle (NGCC) and imported coal thermal power plants using the IPCC 2001 and Eco-Indicator 99(H) methods in India for the first time. The total GHG emission from the NGCC thermal power plant was 584 g CO₂ eq/kWh electricity generation, whereas in case of imported coal, it was 1,127 g CO₂ eq/kWh electricity generation. This shows that imported coal has nearly ~2 times more impacts when compared to natural gas in terms of global warming potential and human health as disability-adjusted life years from climate change due to GHG emissions such as carbon dioxide (CO₂), methane (CH₄) and nitrous oxide (N₂O).     

Low-carbon development in the least developed region: a case study of Guangyuan, Sichuan province, southwest China

The Wenchuan earthquake in 2008 has resulted in 50% of Guangyuan city facing recovery from different extents of damages. The massive reconstruction provides a good opportunity for Guangyuan city to response to the National Council??s call for tackling climate change by developing a harmonised and low-carbon economy. However, there are many arguments about the definition of ??low carbon?? and the framework that low-carbon development should follow. Low-carbon development in an economically least developed region such as Guangyuan would provide evidence and contribute to the discussion. The paper employs CO₂ emissions as an environmental indicator in scenario analysis to investigate Guangyuan??s future carbon performance in following the national call of reducing 40% of carbon intensity by 2020 and an alternative low-carbon development path. The results have demonstrated that a ??win?Cwin?? solution can be reached??keeping rapid economic growth while reducing CO₂ emissions, however, only by addressing the ??correct?? determining factors. Technology improvements and production structure changes have been identified as the key determining factors to affect both carbon intensity and CO₂ emissions in the future. The two factors are also interdependent. Governmental policies should give appropriate guideline to address both factors but with strong emphasis on production structure decarbonisation in order to avoid the mistake of ??polluting first and deal with the pollution later?? during the emission-intensive industrialisation processes that many western countries and China??s coastal regions have followed.     

地球科学与碳中和：现状与发展方向

碳中和是当前世界关注的热点,地球科学可以在其中发挥很大的作用。在国际上,政府间气候变化专门委员会、国际能源署、能源转型委员会,以及在国家层面,政策咨询小组已就CO_2减排可能的实现方式提出了一系列模型和预测情景,表明要实现碳中和,电将代替化石燃料成为全球能源的主要载体。在全球迫切需要减排的背景下,地球科学为实现《巴黎协定》气候目标提供地质解决方案至关重要,主要科学问题涉及:储热与地热;干热岩;水电储能;压缩空气储能;核能;碳捕集与储存;氢经济;能源转型需要的矿产原材料。这就需要地球科学:一是对岩石进行地球化学和地质体的岩石力学特征描述,以便在可能开展脱碳的地区储存CO_2和建立绿色能源系统;二是进一步揭示电动汽车电池和风力涡轮机等所需矿产资源的起源和成因;三是从小型实验室尺度扩大到试点、工业化和商业化全尺度规模;四是要了解公众对地下脱碳技术的态度,保证项目安全性。碳中和目标为地球科学研究提供了新的机遇,未来发展需要从多方面提供支持;提高对地球科学在实现脱碳方面关键作用的认识,并发展技术,打造产业链,实现可持续发展。     

Life Cycle Assessment of Energy Balance and Emissions of a Wind Energy Plant

Life cycle analysis (LCA) methodology was used to perform a quantitative, comparative analysis and rating of the construction and operation of a wind energy plant. For this case study, the Glacier Hills Wind Park (90 1.8-MW turbines in south-central Wisconsin) was evaluated. Significant environmental and economic benefits are often advertised with the installation of new wind energy facilities, although independent and comprehensive LCA and sustainable energy science are typically not implemented. Hence, a quantitative demonstration with LCA methodology of the life cycle emissions and environmental impact, from construction through operations, can greatly assist in highlighting significant areas of energy consumption and emissions during manufacturing, transportation, and construction of a wind farm. Results portray the amount of greenhouse gas emissions and energy consumption/generation over the life cycle of the wind park. Transportation of large components from overseas led to the consumption of considerable quantities of fossil fuel, responsible for up to 22 % of the total greenhouse gas emissions due to transportation. The energy payback ratio (25.5), energy payback time (12.3 months) and the total grams of equivalent CO_2(eq) per kWh of energy (16.9) produced were calculated over the life time of this onshore wind farm.     

Investigating the sensitivity factors of household indirect CO<Subscript>2</Subscript> emission from the production side

Indirect emission from household consumption, which is affected by technologies of production sectors, is the significant contributor to national CO₂ emission. Input–output model is preferred when direct and indirect transactions and emissions are considered simultaneously. Based on input–output model, this study applies the sensitivity analysis to indirect emission from rural and urban domestic consumption, respectively. It allows us to investigate the influences of the technology change both at the transaction level and at the sector level. In addition, multi-years symmetrical input–output tables are adopted to obtain dynamic analysis in order to study the variation trend of the influences. At the transaction level, the technology change of production and supply of electric power and heat power self-supplied intermediate inputs exerts the most significant influence on indirect emission from both rural and urban consumption. At the sector level, indirect emissions from rural and urban consumption are both the most sensitive to the technology change of chemistry industry. Furthermore, there are more key transactions selected under consideration of rural domestic consumption compared with the urban. Additionally, the influencing degree and variation trends of the same technology change would be different between rural and urban situation. According to the above findings, policy recommendations aiming at achieving emission abatement from household consumption are provided in detail.     

The influence of degradation of the swamp and alpine meadows on CH<Subscript>4</Subscript> and CO<Subscript>2</Subscript> fluxes on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau

CH₄ and CO₂ fluxes from a high-cold swamp meadow and an alpine meadow on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau, subject to different degrees of degradation, were measured over a 12-month period. Air temperature, soil temperature and moisture, and the depths of the water table and thawing-freezing layer were determined. For swamp meadows, the greater the degradation, the lesser the carbon efflux. CH₄ emissions at the nondegraded swamp meadow site were 1.09–3.5 and 2.5–11.27 times greater, and CO₂ emissions 1.08–1.69 and 1.41–4.43 times greater, respectively, than those from moderately and severely degraded sites. For alpine meadows, the greater the degradation, the greater the CH₄ consumption and CO₂ emissions. CH₄ consumption at the severely degraded alpine meadow site was 6.6–21 and 1.1–5.25 times greater, and CO₂ emissions 1.05–78.5 and 1.04–6.28 times greater, respectively, than those from the nondegraded and moderately degraded sites. The CH₄ and CO₂ fluxes at both sites were significantly correlated (R ² > 0.59, P < 0.05) with air temperature, soil temperature, and topsoil (0–5 cm depth) moisture, indicating these to be the main environmental factors affecting such fluxes.     

Overview of the potential of microalgae for CO2 sequestration

An economic and environmentally friendly approach of overcoming the problem of fossil CO₂ emissions would be to reuse it through fixation into biomass. Carbon dioxide (CO₂), which is the basis for the formation of complex sugars by green plants and microalgae through photosynthesis, has been shown to significantly increase the growth rates of certain microalgal species. Microalgae possess a greater capacity to fix CO₂ compared to C₄ plants. Selection of appropriate microalgal strains is based on the CO₂ fixation and tolerance capability together with lipid potential, both of which are a function of biomass productivity. Microalgae can be propagated in open raceway ponds or closed photobioreactors. Biological CO₂ fixation also depends on the tolerance of selected strains to high temperatures and the amount of CO₂ present in flue gas, together with SO_x and NO_x. Potential uses of microalgal biomass after sequestration could include biodiesel production, fodder for livestock, production of colorants and vitamins. This review summarizes commonly employed microalgal species as well as the physiological pathway involved in the biochemistry of CO₂ fixation. It also presents an outlook on microalgal propagation systems for CO₂ sequestration as well as a summary on the life cycle analysis of the process.     

Decomposition analysis of factors driving CO2 emissions in Chinese provinces based on production-theoretical decomposition analysis

Using a production-theoretical decomposition analysis, this study evaluated the driving factors impacting CO₂ emissions between 2001 and 2010 in 28 provinces in China. Factors were decomposed into six indicators: scale effect, technical efficiency, technological progress, change in carbon emission intensity, change in inputs, and change in output structure. The results showed that changes in scale effect and change in inputs were the main factors driving CO₂ emissions growth. Conversely, technical efficiency, technological progress, and change in output structure inhibited CO₂ emission growth. Change in carbon emission intensity had little effect on CO₂ emission growth.     

The impact of inter-industry R&amp;D technology spillover on carbon emission in China

Based on input–output table to measure inter-industry R&D technology spillover, this paper introduces inter-industry R&D technology spillover into panel econometric model for carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions factor analysis. Using the panel data of 34 industrial sectors in China from 2005 to 2014, the results reveal that there is an inverted “U-shaped” nonlinear relationship between R&D technology spillover (intensity) and carbon emission; it is estimated that R&D technology spillover can reduce carbon emission currently; the indirect impact of R&D technology spillovers or spillovers intensity through R&D intensity on carbon emissions is also beneficial to carbon emission reduction; at last, this study suggests that industrial sectors should improve R&D intensity and strengthen technical exchanges and cooperation with other related sectors for the purpose of R&D technology spillover increase and CO₂ emissions reduction.     

Subsurface sequestration of carbon dioxide — an overview from an Alberta (Canada) perspective

To stabilize the atmospheric concentration of greenhouse gases (GHG), a huge reduction of carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions is required. Although some people believe that this necessitates a considerable reduction in the use of fossil fuels or fuel switching, other options are available that allow the use of fossil fuels and reduce atmospheric emissions of CO₂. Sequestration of CO₂ from fossil fuel combustion in the subsurface could prevent the CO₂ from reaching the surface for millions of years. Geological sequestration of CO₂ in deep aquifers or in depleted oil and gas reservoirs is a mature technology. Despite the huge quantities of CO₂ that can be sequestered in this way, this approach does not provide any economic benefit. This paper discusses a third option, which consists of injecting CO₂ in deep coal seams to sequester the carbon and enhance the recovery of coalbed methane (CBM). Waste CO₂ from CBM-fueled power plants could be injected into CBM reservoirs to produce more methane (CH₄) for the power plant. The 2:1 coal-sorption selectivity for CO₂ over CH₄ supports the feasibility of operating fossil-fueled power plants without atmospheric CO₂ emissions. Other CO₂ sequestration technologies, such as ocean disposal and biofixation, are briefly discussed and the suitability of these approaches is evaluated for use in Alberta, Canada.     

水足迹视角下低水消费模式研究 ——以黑河流域张掖市居民消费为例

人口的迅速增长、技术的日益进步和消费的不断增加,被认为是产生当前环境危机的最主要的三大原因。由人口的增长和技术的进步所引起的环境问题,早已引起人们的广泛关注,而消费的增加所引起的环境问题直到近年来才逐渐为人们所关注,但对相关问题的研究已经成为热点。水足迹概念的提出,帮助人类更好地认识到食物、工业产品的消费,享受由水资源提供的各种服务。基于水足迹理论,探讨了倡导在满足人类基本需求的同时减少消费水足迹的低水消费模式的必要性,并以德国营养协会推荐的健康饮食模式（DGE）为参考,比较与分析了澳大利亚日常饮食消费模式、典型内陆河张掖市各县区饮食结构的差异,分析了三种消费结构的食物消费量、消费水足迹组分与总消费水足迹特征。研究发现,与DGE健康模式相比,张掖市各县区在肉类、蛋类消费量较高,而蔬菜、水果消费量较低;从消费总水足迹来看,仅有临泽县、山丹县较为接近DGE健康模式,肃南县远高于DGE健康模式;与DGE健康模式的水足迹多样性指数相比,临泽县的多样性指数（1.82）与DGE健康模式的多样性指数最为接近（1.84）,在张掖市各县区中,临泽县今后将通过优化、调整当前饮食结构,最先实现德国营养协会推荐的健康消费模式,实现水足迹视角下的低水消费模式。