| 1. |
- Bo, Xu, et al.
(författare)
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An Analysis of Chinese Policy Instruments for Climate Change Mitigation
- 2010
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Ingår i: International Journal of Climate Change Strategies and Management. - : Emerald Group Publishing Ltd. - 1756-8692. ; 2:4, s. 380-392
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Design/methodology/approach - First, the paper reviews Chinese energy consumption per unit of GDP (EC/GDP) in order to determine the overall effects of the combined policy instruments. Second, the different policy instruments are compared in terms of their effects. Third, the actual trends of EC/GDP in two provinces and the instruments adopted by them are analysed on the provincial level. Findings - The decline in EC/GDP can indirectly reflect the Chinese contribution to mitigation of CO2 emissions since fossil fuels dominate Chinese energy consumption. The national EC/GDP values have shown a declining trend from 2005 to date, indicating that the policy instruments are very important to mitigate climate change as regards reducing EC/GDP. The technological improvement regulations have made the greatest contribution to date to reduce EC/GDP values. The experiences from the Beijing and Shandong province indicate that their final targets in 2010 will be most likely achieved because the different provinces are not only following the national policy instruments but have also developed quite a few new instruments to assist in reaching the these reductions. Research limitations/implications - There are three limitations regarding Chinese policy instruments analysis. First, the paper does not go far to determine the other factors which can affect EC/GDP apart from policy instruments. Second, some data were lacking and there may be inaccuracies in the existing data that could affect the analysis results. Third, EC/GDP cannot reflect the Chinese contribution to mitigation of CO2 emissions if the composition of Chinese energy consumption changes significantly. Originality/value - The paper addresses the importance of various policy instruments in reducing EC/GDP. The results can be referenced by Chinese policy makers on both the national and provincial level.
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| 2. |
- Laurenti, Rafael, 1980-, et al.
(författare)
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Towards a framework to work within broader systems boundaries in the process of product design
- 2012
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Konferensbidrag (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Most of the environmental impacts of which a product will potentially have during its life cycle are determined during the design phase by choices such as type of materials and manufacturing processes. These definitions, in addition, strongly influence the rate of material or energy input per unit of the service offered by the product. Consequently, on the one hand, potential achievements in lowering energy or materials per-unit of service may be translated into lower consumer costs, encouraging increasing consumption. On the other hand, the way products are designed and offered can have large impact in resources use reduction and also influence user behaviour towards more sustainable practices. We believe that by working within broader systems boundaries, undesirable feedback loops arising in this large system could be addressed. This paper describes a novel conceptual framework named Sustainability Driven Systems-Oriented Design to identify the effects of which micro-level gains (e.g. increased material and energy efficiency) have on macro-level loss (e.g. over consumption). Moreover, a first version of an inference diagram of the industrial system is presented. The diagram graphically illustrates how chosen variables influence one another and interacts by means of feedback loops. The aim of using the conceptual framework and the inference diagram in the design process is to shift the traditional linear cause-effect thinking to feedback-loop thinking.
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| 3. |
- Liu, Hongling, et al.
(författare)
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Conceptual Sustainability Framework for Eco-City Development in the City Core of Xuzhou
- 2016
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Ingår i: Journal of urban planning and development. - : American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE). - 0733-9488 .- 1943-5444. ; 142:4
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Urban planners in China often face major challenges when developing or revising their city master plan in accordance with sustainability principles. They are very much trapped between policies and guidelines issued by the government and a market economy controlled by developers. The government has issued some overall recommendations for establishing eco-cities in China built on resource efficiency principles, but they lack more hands-on guidelines to be used by urban planners. Several of the most well-known eco-city projects have also encountered difficulties in the implementation phase. One problem is that the frameworks have not been developed bottom-up in a local participation process but have mainly been imported from other projects, in several cases from international experiences. This creates a gap between planning and implementation. The traditional way of planning in China is done in a sectoral way. That is, different sectors, like transport, energy, water, waste, and environment, are planned separately. This is also reflected in the lack of cooperation between the different city departments and companies responsible for energy, water, and transport. The overall aim of this study was to develop and test a new simplified framework that can guide urban planners when developing the master plan for a city or a city area aiming at becoming an eco-city. The framework developed was applied in devising a more comprehensive and integrated plan for the city of Xuzhou based on cross-sectoral planning. Meeting the future challenges of a growing population and consumption of a third planning level, the 3R level, is proposed in this paper. This is in line with a growing skepticism towards the belief in ecological modernization. In order to avoid the problem of finding exact definitions for concepts, such as sustainability and eco-city as used in China, an approach with three levels of ambition for sustainability and sustainable development was adopted. Each level of ambition requires different planning approaches related to sectoral, cross sectoral, and 3R planning. The framework will next be refined and applied in other eco-city projects in China.
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| 4. |
- Sun, Qie, 1982-, et al.
(författare)
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Sustainability of CDM projects : An experimental study using AHP
- 2010
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Konferensbidrag (populärvet., debatt m.m.)abstract
- Two CDM projects were compared in terms of their impacts on SD, using the popular AHP method. Two experimental groups of post-graduate students performed the assessment and both found that the HFC23 decomposition project studied was a bigger contributor to SD than the hydropower project, although the details differed. The outcome could have been different if the assessment had been performed by real stakeholders and decision-makers instead of students. Nevertheless, the study confirmed that AHP can be a useful method for decision-making especially in a complex situation relating to SD. However, some weaknesses of the AHP method were identified. These, inter alia, included: (1) the final results depended heavily on the participants in the assessment; (2) only a limited number of alternatives can be considered; and (3) the final results are difficult to use elsewhere.
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| 5. |
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| 6. |
- Wennersten, Ronald, et al.
(författare)
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The Future Potential for Carbon Capture and Storage in Climate Change Mitigation : An overview from perspectives of technology, economy and risk
- 2015
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Ingår i: Journal of Cleaner Production. - : Elsevier. - 0959-6526 .- 1879-1786. ; 103, s. 724-736
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- According to the recent IPCC reports, the effects from anthropogenic climate change effects are becoming more serious and actions more urgent. The global mean concentration of CO2, the most important Greenhouse Gas (GHG), in the atmosphere is now close to 400 ppm. The most comprehensive research efforts concerning safe levels propose that we should strive to keep the atmospheric concentration of CO2below 350 ppm. This is also a more transparent global goal than using effects in the components of the climate system. Most scenarios show that the combustion of fossil fuels will increase in the future, while the development of renewables is still too marginal to stop this growth. The possibility that countries will leave fossil resources underground does not seem realistic. The only options in the short run to halt emissions of CO2 are the large-scale application of Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) in combination with increased energy efficiency. In the long run, we have to radically transform our societal metabolism towards greater resource efficiency, where renewables can play a more important role. The main barriers for implementation of CCS on a large scale are not technical, but economic and social. As long as the costs for emitting CO2 are much lower than implementing CCS technology, there will not be a market-driven development of CCS. A major challenge for CCS will be to achieve wide public acceptance, since this will also affect the future political attitude to it. This will require an open communication about safety aspects early in the planning phase, where it can be shown that safety issues can be handled, even in the event of major leaks of CO2. To assume a low probability of accidents is not a feasible way forward in the communication process. The future concerning CO2 emissions will be determined very much by actions of the biggest emitters. The developed countries have already emitted a large amount of CO2 and must now take a step forward to show that they are willing to invest in CCS technology. At this stage, it is reasonable to expect developed countries to take a leading role in developing the CCS technology on a large-scale. It is highly probable that developing countries like China will follow this path in the near future, since they have a clear ambition to take a lead in climate change mitigation in the long run and to avoid blame for a deteriorating environment.
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| 7. |
- Xu, Bo, 1982-, et al.
(författare)
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A projected turning point in China's CO2 emissions - an Environmental Kuznets Curve analysis
- 2012
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Ingår i: International Journal of Global Warming (IJGW). - 1758-2083 .- 1758-2091. ; 4:3-4, s. 317-329
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This paper examines the possible existence fan Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) relationship between China's carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions per capita (CO2/capita) and GDP per capita (GDP/capita) during the period 1980-2008. The timing of the turning point in China's CO2/capita can be further estimated if an EKC relationship exists. In regression results, a natural logarithm-quadratic relationship was found between CO2/capita and GDP/capita, which supports the EKC hypothesis. However, China's CO2 emissions are still on a growing track until around 2078 in empirical analysis. More importantly, CO2 emissions will not spontaneously decrease if China continues to develop its economy without adopting instruments for mitigating climate change. China's wealth gap and China's role in international trade are discussed as two possible factors to affect EKC hypothesis. Therefore, reduction in domestic income inequality and negotiations to allocate responsibilities between China and developed countries for CO2 emissions associated with China's exports arc suggested as further efforts.
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| 8. |
- Xu, Bo, 1982-
(författare)
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Climate change mitigation in China
- 2012
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- China has been experiencing great economic development and fast urbanisation since its reforms and opening-up policy in 1978. However, these changes are reliant on consumption of primary energy, especially coal, characterised by high pollution and low efficiency. China’s greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, with carbon dioxide (CO2) being the most significant contributor, have also been increasing rapidly in the past three decades. Responding to both domestic challenges and international pressure regarding energy, climate change and environment, the Chinese government has made a point of addressing climate change since the early 2000s. This thesis provides a comprehensive analysis of China’s CO2 emissions and policy instruments for mitigating climate change.In the analysis, China’s CO2 emissions in recent decades were reviewed and the Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) hypothesis examined. Using the mostly frequently studied macroeconomic factors and time-series data for the period of 1980-2008, the existence of an EKC relationship between CO2 per capita and GDP per capita was verified. However, China’s CO2 emissions will continue to grow over coming decades and the turning point in overall CO2 emissions will appear in 2078 according to a crude projection. More importantly, CO2 emissions will not spontaneously decrease if China continues to develop its economy without mitigating climate change. On the other hand, CO2 emissions could start to decrease if substantial efforts are made.China’s present mitigation target, i.e. to reduce CO2 emissions per unit of GDP by 40-45% by 2020 compared with the 2005 level, was then evaluated. Three business-as-usual (BAU) scenarios were developed and compared with the level of emissions according to the mitigation target. The calculations indicated that decreasing the CO2 intensity of GDP by 40-45% by 2020 is a challenging but hopeful target.To study the policy instruments for climate change mitigation in China, domestic measures and parts of international cooperation adopted by the Chinese government were reviewed and analysed. Domestic measures consist of administration, regulatory and economic instruments, while China’s participation in international agreements on mitigating climate change is mainly by supplying certified emission reductions (CERs) to industrialised countries under the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM). The most well-known instruments, i.e. taxes and emissions trading, are both at a critical stage of discussion before final implementation. Given the necessity for hybrid policies, it is important to optimise the combination of different policy instruments used in a given situation.The Durban Climate Change Conference in 2011 made a breakthrough decision that the second commitment period under the Kyoto Protocol would begin on 1 January 2013 and emissions limitation or reduction objectives for industrialised countries in the second period were quantified. China was also required to make more substantial commitments on limiting its emissions. The Chinese government announced at the Durban Conference that China will focus on the current mitigation target regarding CO2 intensity of GDP by 2020 and will conditionally accept a world-wide legal agreement on climate change thereafter. However, there will be no easy way ahead for China.
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