Carbon Performance, Company Financial Performance, Financial Value And Transmission Channel: An Analysis of South African Listed Companies

This article examines the influence of carbon performance on corporate financial performance and company financial value among South African listed firms for the period 2014 to 2018 using a two-step GMM panel process. The short-run findings show that carbon performance develops a positive and significant association with return on assets, firm value and Tobin’s Q. In the long run, the relationship between carbon performance and return on assets as well as firm value is significantly negative; however, the link with Tobin’s Q remains positively significant. Where carbon performance is employed as the dependent parameter, a positive, significant relationship is established with return on assets, firm value and Tobin’s Q in both the short and long run. The findings also demonstrate that carbon performance is a transmission channel whereby the debt-to-equity ratio, interest cover ratio, price to cash flow ratio and current ratio improve corporate financial performance and firm value in the long run. In the short run, the regression analysis frameworks produce mixed findings on whether carbon performance is a transmission channel. Policy recommendations are made based on the findings.

How can UK Housing Projects be Brought in Line With Net-Zero Carbon Emission Targets?

Numerous local authorities are committed to constructing buildings to net-zero carbon emissions performance, and have declared carbon emergency, striving to reach carbon neutrality well before 2050. However, buildings in the UK are currently being designed and constructed to current building regulations which do not require net-zero performance, and these buildings will last well beyond 2050. This paper presents a case study of a housing development in Hertfordshire, UK, where a structured approach for achieving net-zero carbon performance homes was developed. The methodology was based on dynamic simulation modelling to design buildings which achieve net-zero operational emissions, and an industry standard inventory of carbon and energy database was used to evaluate embodied emissions in building materials. The approach comprised of developing dynamic simulation models to investigate the improvement in energy performance of the development through fabric-first approach, focusing on building envelope design prior to introducing renewable energy systems, in order to achieve operational net-zero carbon performance. Carbon emissions (operational and embodied) were investigated to assess the appropriateness of the deployed strategies. Dynamic simulation results combined with embodied emissions analysis illustrated that, by combining embodied and operational emissions, a net-zero carbon performance would be achievable by the 2050 target only if alternative building materials based on photosynthetic bio-composites are used. This analysis also highlighted the limitations of conventional retrofit interventions carried out 10 years after the construction as they resulted in increased embodied carbon emissions, thus lengthening the time period well beyond the 2050 target for achieving net-zero carbon performance. As the use of conventional materials appeared to delay the achievement of net-zero emissions by several decades, the only way to achieve net-zero targets before 2050 is to design new buildings to be carbon negative from the operational point of view and to use photosynthetic materials for their construction.

Towards net-zero carbon performance: using demand side management and a low carbon grid to reduce operational carbon emissions in a UK public office

This paper investigates the performance of an office building that has achieved a low carbon performance in practice thanks to a performance contract and Soft Landings approach. The findings show the potential of this building for further de-carbonisation as a result of electrification of heating and load shifting to take advantage of a low carbon electricity grid. Whilst retrospective modelling based on the past carbon intensity data shows the effectiveness of demand-side management, assessment of the existing smart readiness of the building revealed that the building services and control strategy are not fully equipped with the data analytics and carbon or price signal responsiveness required to facilitate grid integration. The environmental strategy and procurement method used for this building combined with an effective grid integration strategy can serve as a prototype for low carbon design to achieve the ever stringent carbon emissions objectives set out for the non-domestic buildings.

Life-Cycle Carbon Emissions and Energy Implications of High Penetration of Photovoltaics and Electric Vehicles in California

California has set two ambitious targets aimed at achieving a high level of decarbonization in the coming decades, namely (i) to generate 60% and 100% of its electricity using renewable energy (RE) technologies, respectively, by 2030 and by 2045, and (ii) introducing at least 5 million zero emission vehicles (ZEVs) by 2030, as a first step towards all new vehicles being ZEVs by 2035. In addition, in California, photovoltaics (PVs) coupled with lithium-ion battery (LIB) storage and battery electric vehicles (BEVs) are, respectively, the most promising candidates for new RE installations and new ZEVs, respectively. However, concerns have been voiced about how meeting both targets at the same time could potentially negatively affect the electricity grid’s stability, and hence also its overall energy and carbon performance. This paper addresses those concerns by presenting a thorough life-cycle carbon emission and energy analysis based on an original grid balancing model that uses a combination of historical hourly dispatch and demand data and future projections of hourly demand for BEV charging. Five different scenarios are assessed, and the results unequivocally indicate that a future 80% RE grid mix in California is not only able to cope with the increased demand caused by BEVs, but it can do so with low carbon emissions (<110 g CO2-eq/kWh) and satisfactory net energy returns (EROIPE-eq = 12–16).