Variation of Net Carbon Emissions from Land Use Change in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Region during 1990–2020

Abstract

Global increasing carbon emissions have triggered a series of environmental problems and greatly affected the production and living of human beings. This study estimated carbon emissions from land use change in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region during 1990–2020 with the carbon emission model and explored major influencing factors of carbon emissions with the Logarithmic Mean Divisia Index (LMDI) model. The results suggested that the cropland decreased most significantly, while the built-up area increased significantly due to accelerated urbanization. The total carbon emissions in the study area increased remarkably from 112.86 million tons in 1990 to 525.30 million tons in 2020, and the built-up area was the main carbon source, of which the carbon emissions increased by 370.37%. Forest land accounted for 83.58–89.56% of the total carbon absorption but still failed to offset the carbon emission of the built-up area. Carbon emissions were influenced by various factors, and the results of this study suggested that the gross domestic product (GDP) per capita contributed most to the increase of carbon emissions in the study area, resulting in a cumulative increase of carbon emissions by 9.48 million tons, followed by the land use structure, carbon emission intensity per unit of land, and population size. By contrast, the land use intensity per unit of GDP had a restraining effect on carbon emissions, making the cumulative carbon emissions decrease by 103.26 million tons. This study accurately revealed the variation of net carbon emissions from land use change and the effects of influencing factors of carbon emissions from land use change in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, which can provide a firm scientific basis for improving the regional land use planning and for promoting the low-carbon economic development of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region.

Spatiotemporal evolutions and reasons of land-use carbon emissions in counties, Shaanxi Province, China

“…This study adopted the Emission-Factor Approach and performed calculations using Microsoft Excel 2016. The Emission-Factor Approach for nonconstruction land is presented in (1). 𝑁𝑘 = ∑𝑒 𝑖 = ∑𝑇 𝑖 × 𝑎𝑖 (1) where, Nk represents the total carbon emission (kg) from non-construction land in county k, where k takes values from 1 to 107; the variable ei denotes the carbon emission generated by six different land use types (i=1,2,3,4,5,6) respectively; Ti represents the area of land use type i (km2), and αi denotes the carbon emission (absorption) coefficient associated with each land use type; Positive values of αi indicate carbon emission, while negative values indicate carbon absorption (Table 2).…”

“…Global temperatures are expected to rise by at least 1.5 °C in the mid-21st century due to carbon emissions from human activities, posing a significant threat to human survival and environmental sustainability [1]. China is the world's largest energy consumer and carbon emitter, whose urban carbon emissions account for 85% [2].…”

Spatial-Temporal Characteristics and Influencing Factors of Carbon Emissions from Land Use and Land Cover in Black Soil Region of Northeast China Based on LMDI Simulation

“…Chen et al obtained energy-related carbon emissions, including those from various fossil fuels such as raw coal and gasoline, through county-level carbon emission statistics [86]. Haiming Yan et al believed that per capita GDP growth is the main driving factor of carbon emissions [18]. Since land use carries a large amount of human production and life activities, we believe that land use has an impact on carbon emissions.…”

“…It is evident that land plays a crucial role in the climate system, and to achieve the goal of limiting temperature rise, emissions from all sectors, including land, must be reduced [16,17]. Human activities such as economic development, population growth, and energy consumption are closely linked to carbon emissions, and are ultimately dependent on various land use activities [18,19]. These activities include heating in settlements, tailpipe emissions from transportation on land, and process emissions from industrial and mining activities on land [20][21][22].…”

Differentiation of Carbon Sink Enhancement Potential in the Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei Region of China

“…The core of carbon sink enhancement is to improve the carbon sequestration capacity of terrestrial ecosystems through "optimal ecosystem layout, species allocation and ecosystem management" [12], and territorial spatial planning is widely recognized as an effective way of controlling greenhouse gas emissions from the macro perspective [2,13]. For example, the central government of China has issued the National Outline of Territorial Spatial Planning (2021-2035), which provides an important basis for guiding the planning of national carbon sink function areas and lays an important foundation for macro decision making on the upgrading of ecological carbon sinks [14].…”