A continuous growth of international trade, especially between developing countries, has greatly increased carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions associated with energy consumption over the past two... Show moreA continuous growth of international trade, especially between developing countries, has greatly increased carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions associated with energy consumption over the past two decades. Given the more intensified intraregional cooperation and trade within the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), this study aims to trace the imbalance of CO2 embodied in trade between nations in BRI and the rest of the world, providing new insights into the drivers of emissions growth by contrasting consumption, production and technological differences-based perspectives. Results indicate that the BRI contributed to over 50% of global carbon footprint and 92% of its increase in 1995–2015. The BRI was a net exporter of trade-embodied emissions, whose technological-adjusted carbon footprint remained remarkably large due to comparatively high carbon intensity. Geographically, carbon leakage has gradually moved from China and India to other BRI countries, especially to Southeast Asia, West Asia and Africa. Technological change was the key driver of emissions reduction, followed by the change in industrial structure. The growth in final demand per capita was the most important driver for the growth of CO2 emissions in BRI. Improving carbon efficiency remains a critical step for BRI nations to slow down not only emissions growth but also carbon leakage. The paper managed to provide novel insights into the carbon leakage in BRI by contrasting the consumption, production and technological differences-based perspectives, thus being able to better inform policymakers on region-specific low-carbon transition and global climate governance. Show less
The current study makes use of life cycle assessment to evaluate the potential greenhouse gas (GHG) savings in coal electricity generation by 5% co-firing with sorghum pellets. The research models... Show moreThe current study makes use of life cycle assessment to evaluate the potential greenhouse gas (GHG) savings in coal electricity generation by 5% co-firing with sorghum pellets. The research models the utilization of 100 thousand hectares of under-utilized marginal land in Flores (Indonesia) for biomass sorghum cultivation. Based on equivalent energy content, 1.12 tons of pellets can substitute one ton of coal. The calculated fossil energy ratio of the pellets was 5.8, indicating that the production of pellets for fuel is energetically feasible. Based on a biomass yield of 48 ton/ha·yr, 4.8 million tons of pellets can be produced annually. In comparison with a coal system, the combustion of only pellets to generate 8,300 GWh of electricity can reduce global warming impacts by 7.9 million tons of CO2-eq, which is equivalent to an 85% reduction in GHG emissions. However, these results changed when reduced biomass yield of 24 ton/ha·yr, biomass loss, field emissions, and incomplete combustion were considered in the model. A sensitivity analysis of the above factors showed that the potential GHG savings could decrease from the initially projected 85% to as low as 70%. Overall, the production of sorghum pellets in Flores and their utilization for electricity generation can significantly reduce the reliance on fossil fuels and contribute to climate change mitigation. Some limitations to these conclusions were also discussed herein. The results of this scenario study can assist the Indonesian government in exploring the potential utilization of marginal land for bioenergy development, both in Indonesia and beyond. Show less
The aims of this thesis are to conduct a comprehensive investigation into the theoretical and methodological aspects of environmental footprints and into the disciplinary relationship with the... Show moreThe aims of this thesis are to conduct a comprehensive investigation into the theoretical and methodological aspects of environmental footprints and into the disciplinary relationship with the latest science in defining planetary boundaries for human activities. Main conclusions are as follows: (1) environmental footprints are measures of anthropogenic pressure or impact on the planet's environment irrespective of their precise units and dimensions; (2) environmental footprints are classified into the inventory-oriented footprints and impact-oriented footprints, which offer two competing paradigms for footprint indicators; (3) integrating the impact-oriented footprints provides policy makers with a unified approach to assessing overall environmental impacts and has a broader scope of applicability than life cycle assessment; (4) life cycle assessment cannot be interpreted as a versatile tool for accounting for all possible environmental footprints, although the footprint community has indeed learned and borrowed much from it; (5) latest science in planetary boundaries is found to complement environmental footprints in assessing environmental sustainability that is a critical prerequisite for the economic and social pillars of sustainable development; and (6) the sustainability gap between the converted footprint and boundary metrics plays a central role in understanding the national performance on individual and collective environmental issues. Show less
Fang, K.; Heijungs, R.; Duan, Z.; Snoo, G.R. de 2015
Growing scientific evidence for the indispensable role of environmental sustainability in sustainable development calls for appropriate frameworks and indicators for environmental sustainability... Show moreGrowing scientific evidence for the indispensable role of environmental sustainability in sustainable development calls for appropriate frameworks and indicators for environmental sustainability assessment (ESA). In this paper, we operationalize and update the footprint-boundary ESA framework, with a particular focus on its methodological and application extensions to the national level. By using the latest datasets available, the planetary boundaries for carbon emissions, water use and land use are allocated to 28 selected countries in comparison to the corresponding environmental footprints. The environmental sustainability ratio (ESR)—an internationally comparable indicator representing the sustainability gap between contemporary anthropogenic interference and critical capacity thresholds—allows one to map the reserve or transgression of the nation-specific environmental boundaries. While the geographical distribution of the three ESRs varies across nations, in general, the worldwide unsustainability of carbon emissions is largely driven by economic development, while resource endowments play a more central role in explaining national performance on water and land use. The main value added of this paper is to provide concrete evidence of the usefulness of the proposed framework in allocating overall responsibility for environmental sustainability to sub-global scales and in informing policy makers about the need to prevent the planet’s environment from tipping into an undesirable state. Show less
Inventory and characterization schemes play different roles in shaping a variety of footprint indicators. This paper performs a systematic and critical investigation of the hidden inventory aspect... Show moreInventory and characterization schemes play different roles in shaping a variety of footprint indicators. This paper performs a systematic and critical investigation of the hidden inventory aspect and characterization aspect of selected footprints with implications for classification and integration of those footprints. It shows that all of the carbon, water, land and material footprints have two fundamentally distinct versions, addressing the environmental exchange of substances in terms of emissions and/or extractions either at the inventory level or at the impact assessment level. We therefore differentiate two broad categories of footprints, namely the inventory-oriented footprints and the impact-oriented footprints. The former allow for a physical interpretation of human pressure by inventorying emissions and extractions and aggregating them with value-based weighting factors, whereas the latter assess and aggregate the inventory results according to their potential contributions to a specific environmental impact using science-based characterization factors, with the recognition that these contributing substances are too different to be compared by mass, volume or area. While both categories have individual strengths and weaknesses, the impact-oriented footprints have a better performance than the inventory-oriented footprints on the integration of footprints into a single-score metric in support of policy making. Resembling the general procedure for life cycle impact assessment, we formulate a three-step framework for characterization, normalization and weighting of a set of impact-oriented footprints to yield a composite footprint index, which would allow policy makers to better assess the overall environmental impacts of entities at multiple scales ranging from single products, organizations, nations, even to the whole economy. The main value added of this paper is the establishment of a unified framework for structuring, categorizing and integrating different footprints. It may serve as a starting point for clearing the footprint jungle and for facilitating the ongoing discourse on a truly integrated footprint family. Show less
While in recent years both environmental footprints and planetary boundaries have gained tremendous popularity throughout the ecological and environmental sciences, their relationship remains... Show moreWhile in recent years both environmental footprints and planetary boundaries have gained tremendous popularity throughout the ecological and environmental sciences, their relationship remains largely unexplored. By investigating the roots and developments of environmental footprints and planetary boundaries, this paper challenges the isolation of the two research fields and provides novel insights into the complementary use of them. Our analysis demonstrates that knowledge of planetary boundaries improves the policy relevance of environmental footprints by providing a set of consensus-based estimates of the regenerative and absorptive capacity at the global scale and, in reverse, that the planetary boundaries framework benefits from well-grounded footprint models which allow for more accurate and reliable estimates of human pressure on the planet's environment. A framework for integration of environmental footprints and planetary boundaries is thus proposed. The so-called footprint-boundary environmental sustainability assessment framework lays the foundation for evolving environmental impact assessment to environmental sustainability assessment aimed at measuring the sustainability gap between current magnitudes of human activities and associated capacity thresholds. As a first attempt to take advantage of environmental footprints and planetary boundaries in a complementary way, there remain many gaps in our knowledge. We have therefore formulated a research agenda for further scientific discussions, mainly including the development of measurable boundaries in relation to footprints at multiple scales and their trade-offs, and the harmonization of the footprint and boundary metrics in terms of environmental coverage and methodological choices. All these points raised, in our view, will play an important role in setting practical and tangible policy targets for adaptation and mitigation of worldwide environmental unsustainability. Show less
