China has the capacity to lead in carbon trading

Abstract:With the rapid economic development of the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, the area's transport sector has witnessed significant growth, which in turn has led to a large increase in carbon dioxide emissions. As such, calculating of the carbon footprint of Xinjiang's transportation sector and probing the driving factors of carbon dioxide emissions are of great significance to the region's energy conservation and environmental protection. This paper provides an account of the growth in the carbon emissions of Xinjiang's transportation sector during the period from 1989 to 2012. We also analyze the transportation sector's trends and historical evolution. Combined with the STIRPAT (Stochastic Impacts by Regression on Population, Affluence and Technology) model and ridge regression, this study further quantitatively analyzes the factors that influence the carbon emissions of Xinjiang's transportation sector. The results indicate the following: (1) the total carbon emissions and per capita carbon emissions of Xinjiang's transportation sector both continued to rise rapidly during this period; their average annual growth rates were 10.8% and 9.1%, respectively; (2) the carbon emissions of the transportation sector come mainly from the consumption of diesel and gasoline, which accounted for an average of 36.2% and 2.6% of carbon emissions, respectively; in addition, the overall carbon emission intensity of the transportation sector showed an "S"-pattern trend within the study period; (3) population density plays a dominant role in increasing carbon dioxide emissions. Population is then followed by per capita GDP and, finally, energy intensity. Cargo turnover has a more significant potential impact on and role in emission reduction than do private vehicles. This is because road freight is the primary form of transportation used across Xinjiang, and this form of transportation has low energy efficiency. These findings have important implications for future efforts to reduce the growth of transportation-based carbon dioxide emissions in Xinjiang and for any effort to construct low-carbon and sustainable environments.

Section: Multicollinearity Detection and Ridge Regression Analysismentioning

confidence: 87%

“…As a key component of sustainable development, reducing the level of energy use in the transportation sector would both tackle energy security and address climate change concerns [8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19]. Researchers have analyzed the carbon emissions of the transportation sector from various perspectives.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Moving Low-Carbon Transportation in Xinjiang: Evidence from STIRPAT and Rigid Regression Models

Dong

Deng

et al. 2016

“…Yang et al [33] analyzed the allocation of carbon intensity reduction targets by 2020, as applied to different industrial sectors in China. China appears to be paying close attention to the need to reduce the levels of carbon emissions [11,13,[34][35][36][37][38]. Fei, Wang, et al [39] analyzed the driving forces behind carbon emissions caused by energy consumption in Guangdong Province.…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

An Analysis of Decoupling and Influencing Factors of Carbon Emissions from the Transportation Sector in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Area, China

Zhu

2017

Abstract:The transport sector is the major green-house gas emitter and most rapidly growing sector in terms of consuming energy in China. Understanding the driving forces behind carbon emission is a prerequisite for reducing carbon emissions and finding a balance between economic growth and carbon emissions. The purpose of this paper is to identify the impact of the factors which influence the level of carbon emissions from the transportation sector in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei (BTH) area, China, using decomposition model, combined with a decoupling elasticity index. The results of our study indicate that: (1) changes in the level of carbon emissions from the transportation sector are not always synchronized with changes in economic growth. (2) The decoupling state between the carbon emissions and economic growth of Tianjin and Beijing can be roughly divided into two phases. The first phase was during the 2005 to 2009 period, when the decoupling state was pessimistic. The second phase was from 2009 to 2013, when the decoupling state became better overall and was mainly dominated by weak decoupling. Conversely, the decoupling state of Hebei was mainly weak during this period. (3) Economic growth and population size play positive roles in increasing the levels of transportation-related carbon emissions in BTH. However, the energy structure is a negative force. The effect of energy intensity always plays a negative role in Tianjin and Hebei, but positive in Beijing. The industrial structure effect shows a fluctuating trend, but the cumulative effect value is negative, and negative interaction is prominent. Finally, this paper gives some suggestions on how to develop low-carbon transport in BTH area.

“…Reducing ICE has become increasingly important for the Chinese policymakers, partly because China committed itself to lower the carbon intensity of GDP by 40% to 45% below 2005 levels by 2020. Based on the Copenhagen Climate Change Conference in 2009 [10][11][12][13][14], China has realized the importance of reducing carbon emissions [15][16][17][18]. China also should pay significant attention to make emission reductions compatible with economic growth, especially for industry.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Decoupling and Decomposition Analysis of Carbon Emissions from Industry: A Case Study from China

Wang

Jiang

2016

Self Cite

China has overtaken the United States as the world's largest producer of carbon dioxide, with industrial carbon emissions (ICE) accounting for approximately 65% of the country's total emissions. Understanding the ICE decoupling patterns and factors influencing the decoupling status is a prerequisite for balancing economic growth and carbon emissions. This paper provides an overview of ICE based on decoupling elasticity and the Tapio decoupling model. Furthermore, the study identifies the factors contributing to ICE changes in China, using the Kaya identity and Log Mean Divisia Index (LMDI) techniques. Based on the effects and contributions of ICE, we close with a number of recommendations. The results revealed a significant upward trend of ICE during the study period 1994 to 2013, with a total amount of 11,147 million tons. Analyzing the decoupling relationship indicates that "weak decoupling" and "expansive decoupling" were the main states during the study period. The decomposition analysis showed that per capita wealth associated with industrial outputs and energy intensity are the main driving force of ICE, while energy intensity of industrial output and energy structure are major determinants for ICE reduction. The largest contributing cumulative effect to ICE is per capita wealth, at 1.23 in 2013. This factor is followed by energy intensity, with a contributing cumulative effect of −0.32. The cumulative effects of energy structure and population are relatively small, at 0.01 and 0.08, respectively.