Abstract
Some problems exist in the current carbon emissions benchmark setting systems. The primary consideration for industrial carbon emissions standards highly relate to direct carbon emissions (power-related emissions) and only a portion of indirect emissions are considered in the current carbon emissions accounting processes. This practice is insufficient and may cause double counting to some extent due to mixed emission sources. To better integrate and quantify direct and indirect carbon emissions, an embodied industrial carbon emissions benchmark setting method is proposed to guide the establishment of carbon emissions benchmarks based on input-output analysis. This method attempts to link direct carbon emissions with inter-industrial economic exchanges and systematically quantifies carbon emissions embodied in total product delivery chains. The purpose of this study is to design a practical new set of embodied intensity-based benchmarks for both direct and indirect carbon emissions. Beijing, at the first level of carbon emissions trading pilot schemes in China, plays a significant role in the establishment of these schemes and is chosen as an example in this study. The newly proposed method tends to relate emissions directly to each responsibility in a practical way through the measurement of complex production and supply chains and reduce carbon emissions from their original sources. This method is expected to be developed under uncertain internal and external contexts and is further expected to be generalized to guide the establishment of industrial benchmarks for carbon emissions trading schemes in China and other countries.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Anandarajah G, Gambhir A (2014). India’s CO2 emission pathways to 2050: what role can renewables play? Appl Energy, 131: 79–86
Beijing Environment Exchange in China (2008). http://www.cbeex.com.cn/ (in Chinese)
BSY (2000). Beijing Statistical Yearbook 1999. Beijing: China Statistics Press (in Chinese)
BSY (2014). Beijing Statistical Yearbook 2013. Beijing: China Statistics Press (in Chinese)
Chen B, Yang Z F (2013). Modelling for multi-scale ecosystems in the context of global climate change. Ecol Modell, 252: 1–2
Chen G Q, Chen Z M (2010). Carbon emissions and resources use by Chinese economy 2007: a 135-sector inventory and input-output embodiment. Commun Nonlinear Sci Numer Simul, 15(11): 3647–3732
Chen G Q, Guo S, Shao L, Li J S, Chen Z M (2013). Three-scale inputoutput modeling for urban economy: carbon emission by Beijing 2007. Commun Nonlinear Sci Numer Simul, 18(9): 2493–2506
Chen G Q, Han M Y (2015a). Global supply chain of arable land use: production-based and consumption-based trade imbalance. Land Use Policy, 49: 118–130
Chen G Q, Han M Y (2015b). Virtual land use change in China 2002-2010: internal transition and trade imbalance. Land Use Policy, 47: 55–65
Chen G Q, Yang Q, Zhao Y H, Wang Z F (2011). Nonrenewable energy cost and greenhouse gas emissions of a 1.5 MW solar power tower plant in China. Renew Sustain Energy Rev, 15(4): 1961–1967
Chen S Q, Chen B (2012). Network environ perspective for urban metabolism and carbon emissions: a case study of Vienna, Austria. Environ Sci Technol, 46(8): 4498–4506
Chen S Q, Chen B (2015). Urban energy consumption: different insights from energy flow analysis, input-output analysis and ecological network analysis. Appl Energy, 138: 99–107
Chen S Q, Chen B, Fath B D (2014). Urban ecosystem modeling and global change: potential for rational urban management and emissions mitigation. Environ Pollut, 190: 139–149
China Carbon Emissions Trading Network (2015}). http://www.tanpaifang.com (in Chinese
Costanza R (1980). Embodied energy and economic valuation. Science, 210(4475): 1219–1224
CSY (2014). China Statistical Yearbook 2013. Beijing: China Statistics Press (in Chinese)
Cui L B, Fan Y, Zhu L, Bi Q H (2014). How will the emissions trading scheme save cost for achieving China’s 2020 carbon intensity reduction target? Appl Energy, 136: 1043–1052
Davis S J, Caldeira K (2010). Consumption-based accounting of CO2 emissions. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA, 107(12): 5687–5692
Feijoo F, Das T K (2014). Design of Pareto optimal CO2 cap-and-trade policies for deregulated electricity networks. Appl Energy, 119(15): 371–383
Feng Y Y, Chen S Q, Zhang L X (2013). System dynamics modeling for urban energy consumption and CO2 emissions: a case study of Beijing, China. Ecol Modell, 252: 44–52
Chandran Govindaraju V G R, Tang C F (2013). The dynamic links between CO2 emissions, economic growth and coal consumption in China and India. Appl Energy, 104: 310–318
Guan D, Hubacek K, Weber C L, Peters G P, Reiner D M (2008). The drivers of Chinese CO2 emissions from 1980 to 2030. Glob Environ Change, 18(4): 626–634
Guangzhou Municipal Development Reform Commission (2013). Announcement on issuing carbon emission quota allocation and work programme for the first time (for Trial Implementation). Guangzhou Municipal Development Reform Commission (in Chinese)
Han M Y, Chen G Q, Shao L, Li J S, Alsaedi A, Ahmad B, Guo S, Jiang M M, Ji X (2013). Embodied energy consumption of building construction engineering: case study in E-town, Beijing. Energy Build, 64: 62–72
Han M Y, Guo S, Chen H, Ji X, Li J S (2014a). Local-scale systems input-output analysis of embodied water for the Beijing economy in 2007. Front Earth Sci, 8(3): 414–426
Han M Y, Shao L, Li J S, Guo S, Meng J, Ahmad B, Hayat T, Alsaadi F, Ji X, Alsaedi A, Chen G Q (2014b). Emergy-based hybrid evaluation for commercial construction engineering: a case study in BDA. Ecol Indic, 47: 179–188
Han M Y, Sui X, Huang Z L, Wu X D, Xia X H, Hayat T, Alsaedi A (2014c). Bibliometric indicators for sustainable hydropower development. Ecol Indic, 47: 231–238
Hannon B, Blazeck T, Kennedy D, Illyes R (1983). A comparison of energy intensities: 1963, 1967 and 1972. Resour Energy, 5(1): 83–102
Huang A Y, Lenzen M, Weber C, Murray J, Matthews H S (2009). The role of input-output analysis for the screening of corporate carbon footprints. Econ Syst Res, 21(3): 217–242
ICAP (2007). International Carbon Action Partnership. https://icapcarbonaction.com/
IPCC (2006). IPCC guidelines for national greenhouse gas inventories. http://wwwipcc-nggipigesorjp/public/
Ji X, Chen B (2016). Assessing the energy-saving effect of urbanization in China based on stochastic impacts by regression on population, affluence and technology (STIRPAT) model. J Clean Prod, doi: 10.1016/j.jclepro.2015.12.002
Ji X, Chen Z M, Li J K (2014). Embodied energy consumption and carbon emissions evaluation for urban industrial structure optimization. Front Earth Sci, 8(1): 32–43
Ji X, Long X L (2016). A review of the ecological and socioeconomic effects of biofuel and energy policy recommendations. Renew Sustain Energy Rev, 61: 41–52
Lenzen M (2000). Errors in conventional and input-output-based life-cycle inventories. J Ind Ecol, 4(4): 127–148
Lenzen M (2008). Double-counting in life-cycle calculations. J Ind Ecol, 12(4): 583–599
Lenzen M, Lundie S, Bransgrove G, Charet L, Sack F (2003a). Assessing the ecological footprint of a large metropolitan water supplier: lessons for water management and planning towards sustainability. J Environ Plann Manage, 46(1): 113–141
Lenzen M, Murray S A, Korte B, Dey C J (2003b). Environmental impact assessment including indirect effects—A case study using input-output analysis. Environ Impact Assess Rev, 23(3): 263–282
Leontief W (1986). Input-Output Economics. Oxford University Press
Lin B, Sun C (2010). Evaluating carbon dioxide emissions in international trade of China. Energy Policy, 38(1): 613–621
Massetti E, Tavoni M (2010). A developing Asia emission trading scheme (Asia ETS). Energy Econ, 34(3): S436–S443
National Development and Reform Commission of People’s Republic of China (2011). Twelfth Five-Year Plan (in Chinese)
Odum H T (1983). Systems Ecology: An Introduction. New York: John Wiley and Sons, Inc.
Perdan S, Azapagic A (2011). Carbon trading: current schemes and future developments. Energy Policy, 39(10): 6040–6054
Peters G P, Hertwich E G (2008). CO2 embodied in international trade with implications for global climate policy. Environ Sci Technol, 42(5): 1401–1407
Shao L, Chen G Q, Chen Z M, Guo S, Han M Y, Zhang B, Hayat T, Alsaedi A, Ahmad B (2014). Systems accounting for energy consumption and carbon emission by building. Commun Nonlinear Sci Numer Simul, 19(6): 1859–1873
Shenzhen Municipal People’s Congress Standing Committee (2012). Some regulations on of carbon emissions management in Shenzhen Special Economic Zone (in Chinese)
UNFCC (2015). UNITED draft decision- /CP. 15. 2 English
Weber C L, Peters G P, Guan D, Hubacek K (2008). The contribution of Chinese exports to climate change. Energy Policy, 36(9): 3572–3577
Wiedmann T, Lenzen M, Barrett J (2009). Companies on the scale: comparing and benchmarking the sustainability performance of businesses. J Ind Ecol, 13(3): 361–383
Zhang B, Chen G Q (2010). Methane emissions by Chinese economy: inventory and embodiment analysis. Energy Policy, 38(8): 4304–4316
Zhang B, Chen G Q, Li J S, Tao L (2014a). Methane emissions of energy activities in China 1980?2007. Renew Sustain Energy Rev, 29: 11–21
Zhang B, Chen Z M, Xia X H, Xu X Y, Chen Y B (2013a). The impact of domestic trade on China’s regional energy uses: a multi-regional input-output modeling. Energy Policy, 63: 1169–1181
Zhang B, Chen Z M, Zeng L, Qiao H, Chen B (2016). Demand-driven water withdrawals by Chinese industry: a multi-regional input-output analysis. Front Earth Sci, 10(1): 13–28
Zhang D, Karplus V, Cassisa C, Zhang X L (2014b). Emission trading in China: progress and prospects. Energy Policy, 75: 9–16
Zhang D, Rausch S, Karplus V, Zhang X L (2013b). Quantifying regional economic impacts of CO2 intensity targets in China. Energy Econ, 40: 687–701
Zhou P, Zhang L, Zhou D Q, Xia W J (2013). Modeling economic performance of interprovincial CO2 emission reduction quota trading in China. Appl Energy, 112: 1518–1528
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Han, M., Ji, X. Alternative industrial carbon emissions benchmark based on input-output analysis. Front. Earth Sci. 10, 731–739 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11707-016-0574-3
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11707-016-0574-3