(Press-News.org) The current international climate policy framework is mainly based on the national and regional level of macroscopic carbon emissions data, such as the regional per capita carbon emissions are often used as the indicator to measure the fairness of carbon emission rights. However, the per capita emissions based on regional macro data can not accurately reveal the low carbon emissions of the poor within the region, and cover up the emission differences among people intra-country and intra-region, the household carbon emission data based on field surveys could compensate for this deficiency well.
The research group for Regional Carbon Emission and Reduction Quotas from Scientific Information Center for Resources and Environment/Lanzhou Branch of the National Science Library, Chinese Academy of Sciences undertaked the family interview surveys from the summer of 2011 to the spring of 2012, selecting 1523 urban and rural families in 24 cities and counties of Gansu, Xinjiang, Ningxia, Inner Mongolia, Shanxi, Shaanxi, Qinghai in Northwestern China, in order to reveal the pattern of household carbon emissions in Northwestern China. The research paper Household Carbon Emission Differences and their Driving Factors in Northwestern China has been published on Chinese Science Bulletin, 2013, No.3.
Family is the basic unit of social system. Household carbon emission is one of the important sources of the anthropogenic greenhouse gas which is closely related with the family income and household consumption Surveying and assessing the household carbon emissions from the basic family activities, which includes the direct carbon emissions generating from fossil fuel and the indirect carbon emissions caused by household consumption expenditure, could more accurately quantitative analysis the contribution of household activities and find their differences among different regions and families.
The study established an evaluation index of Household Carbon Emission. Based on a >1 year's survey of the main domestic energy consumption and consumption expenditure data of urban and rural households in Northwestern China, the group discovered the status of household carbon emissions in Northwestern China. The results showed the household carbon emission per capita in Northwestern China was only 2.05 tons CO2 per year. The direct carbon emissions generating from fossil fuel usage accounted for 39.29%, and the indirect carbon emissions caused by household consumption expenditure on electricity and other activities comprised 60.71%. Household carbon emission was mainly from coal, electricity and food consumption, which accounted for 62.85% which is necessary for the natural human demands, followed by carbon emission generated by oil, education, culture, entertainment and clothing consumption, and carbon emission caused by water and LPG consumption was at the least, only accounting for 1.20% (Figure1). Carbon emissions varied between urban and rural households, as well as between households in different provinces. Household carbon emission was mainly affected by geographic environment, family size and income, and household age structure. Family size had the most prominent effect on the per capita household carbon emission, the bigger the family size, the lower the per capita household carbon emission (Figure2).
The fact, that the household carbon emission in Northwestern China is at a relatively low level, has important reference value for the international discussion on the carbon reduction responsibility which has great influence on the poverty population's rights, and will be helpful for the development of the regional energy-saving emission reduction targets.
INFORMATION:
This study was supported by the "Strategic Priority Research Program — Climate Change: Carbon Budget and Related Issues" of the Chinese Academy of Sciences，Grant No. XDA05140100.
Corresponding author
QU Jiansheng
jsqu@lzb.ac.cn
Source：
QU J S, ZHANG Z Q, ZENG J J, et al. Household carbon emission differences and their driving factors in Northwestern China (in Chinese). Chinese Science Bulletin, 2013, 58(3): 260-266.
linkage：http://csb.scichina.com:8080/kxtb/CN/abstract/abstract510064.shtml
The household carbon emission per capita in Northwestern China is only 2.05 tons CO2 per year
2013-03-11
[Attachments] See images for this press release:
ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:
Why people put themselves under the knife
2013-03-11
In a long-term study, Prof. Dr. Jürgen Margraf, Alexander von Humboldt Professor for Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy at the RUB, investigated the psychological effects of plastic surgery on approximately 550 patients in cooperation with colleagues from the University of Basel. Patients demonstrated more enjoyment of life, satisfaction and self-esteem after their physical appearance had been surgically altered. The results of the world's largest ever study on this issue are reported by the researchers in the journal "Clinical Psychological Science".
The aim of the ...
Environmental change impacts on migratory shorebirds differ for males and females
2013-03-11
Extensive shell fishing and sewerage discharge in river estuaries could have serious consequences for the rare Icelandic black-tailed godwits that feed there. But it is the males that are more likely to suffer, according to new research from the University of East Anglia.
Research published today in the journal Ecology and Evolution reveals very different winter feeding habits between the sexes.
Both males and females mainly consume bivalve molluscs, sea snails and marine worms, probing vigorously into soft estuary mud with their long beaks. But the study shows that ...
Coffee and tea during pregnancy affect fetal growth
2013-03-11
Drinking just two cups of coffee a day is associated with the risk of low birth weight. Researchers at Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, Sweden, have conducted a study on 59,000 women in collaboration with the Norwegian Institute of Public Health.
Expectant mothers who consume caffeine, usually by drinking coffee, are more likely to have babies with lower birth weight than anticipated, given their gestational age. Researchers at Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, conducted a study on 59,000 pregnant Norwegian women in collaboration with the Norwegian ...
Evolution in the antibody factory
2013-03-11
This press release is available in German.
Immune system B cells play a crucial role in the defence of pathogens; when they detect such an intruder, they produce antibodies that help to combat the enemy. They concurrently and continuously improve these molecules to more precisely recognize the pathogens. A team of scientists with participation of the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research (HZI) has discovered that during this process the cells are able to advance their own evolution themselves by increasing the selection pressure through previously-produced antibodies. ...
Neck injuries linked to high costs for patients and spouses, reports study in Spine
2013-03-11
Philadelphia, Pa. (March 11, 2013) - Patients with neck injuries incur increased health and social costs—which also affect their spouses and may begin years before the initial injury, reports a study in the March 1 issue of Spine. The journal is published by Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, a part of Wolters Kluwer Health.
Some individuals and families seem more susceptible to experiencing socioeconomic consequences of neck injury, according to the new research by Dr Poul Jennum of University of Copenhagen and colleagues. Particularly for patients who develop chronic ...
NUS graphene researchers create 'superheated' water that can corrode diamonds
2013-03-11
A team of researchers from the National University of Singapore (NUS) led by Professor Loh Kian Ping, Head of the Department of Chemistry at the NUS Faculty of Science, has successfully altered the properties of water, making it corrosive enough to etch diamonds. This was achieved by attaching a layer of graphene on diamond and heated to high temperatures. Water molecules trapped between them become highly corrosive, as opposed to normal water.
This novel discovery, reported for the first time, has wide-ranging industrial applications, from environmentally-friendly degradation ...
Researchers develop tools for discovering new species
2013-03-11
AMHERST, Mass. – For hundreds of years, naturalists and scientists have identified new species based on an organism's visible differences. But now, new genetic techniques are revealing that different species can show little, to no visible differences.
In a just-published study, evolutionary biologists at the University of Massachusetts Amherst and the American Museum of Natural History (AMNH) combine traditional morphological tests plus genetic techniques to describe new species. Groups of morphologically similar organisms that show very divergent genetics are generally ...
DNA barcoding alone sufficient to detect fraudulent deer products
2013-03-11
Many Europeans are fretting these days over what they eat, and whether horse meat might have adulterated their pork chops. Food fraud has been dominating headlines globally - calling for new policies in law enforcement and more robust methods for successful food identification and authentication. As companies and manufacturers resort to fraudulent practices to extract more cash from the gullible public, it is estimated that up to 7% of the consumer supply chain contains hidden ingredients (i.e. – not disclosed on the label). And while all too often policymakers seem oblivious ...
Folic acid lowers risk of autism
2013-03-11
These findings are the result of a new study carried out at the Norwegian Institute of Public Health. In the study, women who took folic acid supplements from four weeks before conception to eight weeks into pregnancy had a 40 per cent lower risk of giving birth to children with childhood autism (classic autism).
"It appears that the crucial time interval is from four weeks before conception to eight weeks into pregnancy," states Pål Surén, MD and doctoral fellow at the Norwegian Institute of Public Health.
The study is based on the Norwegian Mother and Child Cohort ...
Peer support shows promise in epilepsy fight
2013-03-11
Peer support groups show promise for combating the debilitating stigma that surrounds epilepsy in much of the developing world, according to a new study led by a Michigan State University medical student.
The researchers report in the journal Epilepsy and Behavior that young people with the disease felt significantly less stigmatized after meeting regularly to discuss their illness.
While drugs are widely available to reduce epileptic seizures, the stigma and discrimination that arise from those seizures is a thornier problem, said Melissa Elafros, who is pursuing medical ...