scholarly journals Assessing China’s efforts to pursue the 1.5°C warming limit

Science ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 372 (6540) ◽  
pp. 378-385
Author(s):  
Hongbo Duan ◽  
Sheng Zhou ◽  
Kejun Jiang ◽  
Christoph Bertram ◽  
Mathijs Harmsen ◽  
...  

Given the increasing interest in keeping global warming below 1.5°C, a key question is what this would mean for China’s emission pathway, energy restructuring, and decarbonization. By conducting a multimodel study, we find that the 1.5°C-consistent goal would require China to reduce its carbon emissions and energy consumption by more than 90 and 39%, respectively, compared with the “no policy” case. Negative emission technologies play an important role in achieving near-zero emissions, with captured carbon accounting on average for 20% of the total reductions in 2050. Our multimodel comparisons reveal large differences in necessary emission reductions across sectors, whereas what is consistent is that the power sector is required to achieve full decarbonization by 2050. The cross-model averages indicate that China’s accumulated policy costs may amount to 2.8 to 5.7% of its gross domestic product by 2050, given the 1.5°C warming limit.

2010 ◽  
Vol 171-172 ◽  
pp. 183-187 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hui Zhou ◽  
Yong Yang

This paper used input-output table and the energy consumption data by sector to estimate the effect of international trade on carbon emissions of China in 2007. The result shows that international trade has played a great part in increasing China’s carbon emissions. China is a net carbon exporter, with carbon emissions embodied in exports 583.4Mt, and emissions embodied in imports from 186.0 to 476.8 Mt, according to different assumptions taken. Besides, international trade increases the global emissions and makes the problem of global warming worse. Therefore the paper suggests that it is necessary to change the present ‘producer responsibility principle’ used in regional carbon accounting and allocate certain part of responsibility of the carbon emissions to consumers.


2019 ◽  
Vol 49 ◽  
pp. 37-45
Author(s):  
Patrick Hohlwegler

Abstract. Several terrestrial Negative Emission Technologies (tNETs), like Bioenergy with Carbon Capture and Storage (BECCS), Afforestation/Reforestation (AR) and Enhanced Weathering (EW), rely on natural processes and could therefore be designated as “green” forms of geoengineering. However, even those “green” tNETs may lead to undesirable side effects and thereby provoke moral concerns and conflicts. In this paper, I investigated whether BECCS, AR and EW would cause moral conflicts regarding the human right to adequate food if implemented on a scale sufficient to limit global warming “to well below 2 ∘C”. Reviewing recent publications concerning BECCS, AR and EW, I found that EW would not conflict with the human right to adequate food but would likely even promote agricultural food production due to a higher nutrient provision. However, EW does not provide a feasible solution to limit global warming “to well below 2 ∘C”, since a large-scale deployment of EW would require large investments and considerable amounts of energy to grind suitable rock-material. In regard of BECCS and AR, I found that even under the optimistic Representative Concentration Pathway 2.6 (RCP2.6), as assessed by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) in its latest assessment report from 2013, a large-scale deployment of BECCS and/or AR would cause moral conflicts regarding the human right to adequate food for present and future generations. Due to this, I advocate for more and stronger mitigation efforts in line with efficient land management actions concerning, e.g. peats and soils, designated as “natural climate solutions” (NCS) and a deployment of multiple tNETs in near future.


2021 ◽  
Vol 114 ◽  
pp. 01006
Author(s):  
Leonid Sorokin

The Race to Zero is the largest credible alliance aiming to reduce twice emissions by 2030, with the main goal of moving towards a carbon-zero economy by 2050. Zero emission technologies can reduce the greenhouse gas concentrations in Atmosphere that can help to slowdown the Global Warming but for making the Earth’s climate system more stable we need implement Negative emission technologies. Negative emission technologies can significantly reduce the greenhouse gas concentrations in Atmosphere that can getting down the global average temperature to the pre-industrial level and prevent Global Warming and future Sea Level Rise. The currently observed climatic changes cannot be completely explained by the increase in the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Taking into account the impact of methane emissions, including the Polar Regions and the World Ocean, it will be possible to explain rapid changes in the Earth's climate. For getting the Earth’s climate system stable and predictable we need to reduce greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere and the global average temperature to the pre-industrial levels. If this aims cannot be achieved then Climate Change and associated with Global Warming future Sea Level Rise in the nearest future would be the most important Risk factors in the Global World and World Economy, that can provide the world massive losses and economic crisis.


2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-7 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthias M. May ◽  
Kira Rehfeld

Abstract. The pace of the transition to a low-carbon economy – especially in the fuels sector – is not high enough to achieve the 2 ∘C target limit for global warming by only cutting emissions. Most political roadmaps to tackle global warming implicitly rely on the timely availability of mature negative emission technologies, which actively invest energy to remove CO2 from the atmosphere and store it permanently. The models used as a basis for decarbonization policies typically assume an implementation of such large-scale negative emission technologies starting around the year 2030, ramped up to cause net negative emissions in the second half of the century and balancing earlier CO2 release. On average, a contribution of −10 Gt CO2 yr−1 is expected by 2050 (Anderson and Peters, 2016). A viable approach for negative emissions should (i) rely on a scalable and sustainable source of energy (solar), (ii) result in a safely storable product, (iii) be highly efficient in terms of water and energy use, to reduce the required land area and competition with water and food demands of a growing world population, and (iv) feature large-scale feasibility and affordability.


2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthias M. May ◽  
Kira Rehfeld

Abstract. The pace of the transition to a low-carbon economy – especially in the fuels sector – is not high enough to achieve the 2 °C target limit for global warming by only cutting emissions. Most political roadmaps to tackle global warming implicitly rely on the timely availability of mature negative emission technologies, which actively invest energy to remove CO2 from the atmosphere and store it permanently. The models used as a basis for decarbonisation policies typically assume an implementation of such large-scale negative emission technologies starting around the year 2030, ramped up to cause net negative emissions in the second half of the century and balancing earlier CO2 release. On average, a contribution of −10 Gt CO2/year is expected by 2050.(Anderson and Peters, 2016) A viable approach for negative emissions should (i) rely on an unlimited source of energy (solar), (ii) result in a safely storable product (e.g. liquid or solid, not gaseous), (iii) be highly efficient in terms of water and energy use, to reduce the required land area and competition with water and food demands of a growing world population and (iv) be large-scale feasibility and affordability.


2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (6) ◽  
pp. 1805-1817 ◽  
Author(s):  
Felix Creutzig ◽  
Christian Breyer ◽  
Jérôme Hilaire ◽  
Jan Minx ◽  
Glen P. Peters ◽  
...  

While a rapid decommissioning of fossil fuel technologies deserves priority, most climate stabilization scenarios suggest that negative emission technologies (NETs) are required to keep global warming well below 2 °C.


2016 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
pp. 9-20
Author(s):  
Ersalina Tang

The purpose of this study is to analyze the impact of Foreign Direct Investment, Gross Domestic Product, Energy Consumption, Electric Consumption, and Meat Consumption on CO2 emissions of 41 countries in the world using panel data from 1999 to 2013. After analyzing 41 countries in the world data, furthermore 17 countries in Asia was analyzed with the same period. This study utilized quantitative approach with Ordinary Least Square (OLS) regression method. The results of 41 countries in the world data indicates that Foreign Direct Investment, Gross Domestic Product, Energy Consumption, and Meat Consumption significantlyaffect Environmental Qualities which measured by CO2 emissions. Whilst the results of 17 countries in Asia data implies that Foreign Direct Investment, Energy Consumption, and Electric Consumption significantlyaffect Environmental Qualities. However, Gross Domestic Product and Meat Consumption does not affect Environmental Qualities.


2021 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-16
Author(s):  
Asim Hasan ◽  
Rahil Akhtar Usmani

Rising greenhouse gas emissions is an important issue of the current time. India’s massive greenhouse gas emissions is ranked third globally. The escalating energy demand in the country has opened the gateway for further increase in emissions. Recent studies suggest strong nexus between energy consumption, economic growth, and carbon emissions. This study has the objective to empirically test the aforementioned interdependencies. The co-integration test and multivariate vector error correction model (VECM) are used for the analysis and the Granger Causality test is used to establish the direction of causality. The time-series data for the period of 1971–2011 is used for the analysis. The results of the study confirm strong co-integration between variables. The causality results show that economic growth exerts a causal influence on carbon emissions, energy consumption exerts a causal influence on economic growth, and carbon emissions exert a causal influence on economic growth. Based on the results, the study suggests a policy that focuses on energy conservation and gradual replacement of fossil fuels with renewable energy sources, which would be beneficial for the environment and the society.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 1339
Author(s):  
Ziyuan Chai ◽  
Zibibula Simayi ◽  
Zhihan Yang ◽  
Shengtian Yang

In order to achieve the carbon emission reduction targets in Xinjiang, it has become a necessary condition to study the carbon emission of households in small and medium-sized cities in Xinjiang. This paper studies the direct carbon emissions of households (DCEH) in the Ebinur Lake Basin, and based on the extended STIRPAT model, using the 1987–2017 annual time series data of the Ebinur Lake Basin in Xinjiang to analyze the driving factors. The results indicate that DCEH in the Ebinur Lake Basin during the 31 years from 1987 to 2017 has generally increased and the energy structure of DCEH has undergone tremendous changes. The proportion of coal continues to decline, while the proportion of natural gas, gasoline and diesel is growing rapidly. The main positive driving factors affecting its carbon emissions are urbanization, vehicle ownership and GDP per capita, while the secondary driving factor is residents’ year-end savings. Population, carbon intensity and energy consumption structure have negative effects on carbon emissions, of which energy consumption structure is the main factor. In addition, there is an environmental Kuznets curve between DCEH and economic development, but it has not yet reached the inflection point.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (12) ◽  
pp. 6749
Author(s):  
Shuyang Chen

In the literature, very few studies have focused on how urbanisation will influence the policy effects of a climate policy even though urbanisation does have profound socioeconomic impacts. This paper has explored the interrelations among the urbanisation, carbon emissions, GDP, and energy consumption in China using the autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) model. Then, the unit urbanisation impacts are inputted into the policy evaluation framework of the Computable General Equilibrium (CGE) model in 2015–2030. The results show that the urbanisation had a positive impact on the GDP but a negative impact on the carbon emissions in 1980–2014. These impacts were statistically significant, but its impact on the energy consumption was not statistically significant. In 2015–2030, the urbanisation will have negative impacts on the carbon emissions and intensity. It will decrease the GDP and the household welfare under the carbon tax. The urbanisation will increase the average social cost of carbon (ASCC). Hence, the urbanisation will reinforce the policy effects of the carbon tax on the emissions and welfare.


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