Spatial and Temporal Variations of Embodied Carbon Emissions in China’s Infrastructure

Jing Bai, Jiansheng Qu, Tek Narayan Maraseni, Jinjia Wu, Li Xu and Yujie Fan
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Jing Bai: Key Laboratory of Western China’s Environmental Systems (Ministry of Education), College of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730000, China
Jiansheng Qu: Key Laboratory of Western China’s Environmental Systems (Ministry of Education), College of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730000, China
Tek Narayan Maraseni: Institute for Agriculture and the Environment, University of Southern Queensland, Toowoomba, QLD 4350, Australia
Jinjia Wu: Key Laboratory of Western China’s Environmental Systems (Ministry of Education), College of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730000, China
Li Xu: Key Laboratory of Western China’s Environmental Systems (Ministry of Education), College of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730000, China
Yujie Fan: Key Laboratory of Western China’s Environmental Systems (Ministry of Education), College of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730000, China

Sustainability, 2019, vol. 11, issue 3, 1-17

Abstract: The swift evolution of urbanization in China has led to a rapid increase in the demand for infrastructure. Infrastructure consumes significant amounts of construction materials. The production, packaging, transportation and use of these materials require energy and, therefore, are a source of carbon emissions. In order to make the construction of infrastructure satisfy people’s life demands and economic development, and at the same time conform to low carbon ideas, it is necessary to understand the spatial and temporal variations of embodied carbon emissions and its regional disparity. This study classifies and sorts the calculation parameters of infrastructure material stock and embodied carbon emissions. It estimates the trends and magnitude of 31 provinces over a period of 20 years (1997–2016) and analyzes the spatial-temporal characteristics. Our results indicate that: (1) The overall infrastructure embodied carbon emissions amount to 32.04 billion tons; (2) the embodied carbon emissions from buildings are far greater than that of transportation infrastructure, however, the annual growth rate is contrary to this; (3) the spatial and temporal variations show regional inequality, with the eastern coastal area being higher than the central and western inland areas and the economically developed areas being higher than the less developed areas.

Keywords: infrastructure; material flow analysis (MFA); material stock; embodied carbon emissions; spatial-temporal characteristics (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (6)

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