CO2 emissions vs. CO2 responsibility: An input–output approach for the Turkish economy

Recently, global warming (greenhouse effect) and its effects have become one of the hottest topics in the world agenda. There have been several international attempts to reduce the negative effects of global warming. The Kyoto Protocol can be cited as the most important agreement which tries to limit the countries’ emissions within a time horizon. For this reason, it becomes important to calculate the greenhouse gas emissions of countries. The aim of this study is to estimate the amount of CO₂—the most important greenhouse gas—emissions, for the Turkish economy. An extended input–output model is estimated by using 1996 data in order to identify the sources of CO₂ emissions and to discuss the share of sectors in total emission. Besides, ‘CO₂ responsibility’, which takes into account the CO₂ content of imports, is estimated for the Turkish economy. The sectoral CO₂ emissions and CO₂ responsibilities are compared and these two notions are linked to foreign trade volume. One of the main conclusions is that the manufacturing industry has the first place in both of the rankings for CO₂ emissions and CO₂ responsibilities, while agriculture and husbandry has the last place.     

Analyses of CO2 emissions embodied in Japan–China trade

This paper examines CO₂ emissions embodied in Japan–China trade. Besides directly quantifying the flow of CO₂ emissions between the two countries by using a traditional input–output (IO) model, this study also estimates the effect of bilateral trade to CO₂ emissions by scenario analysis. The time series of quantifications indicate that CO₂ emissions embodied in exported goods from Japan to China increased overall from 1990 to 2000. The exported CO₂ emissions from China to Japan greatly increased in the first half of the 1990s. However, by 2000, the amount of emissions had reduced from 1995 levels. Regardless, there was a net export of CO₂ emissions from China to Japan during 1990–2000. The scenario comparison shows that the bilateral trade has helped the reduction of CO₂ emissions. On average, the Chinese economy was confirmed to be much more carbon-intensive than Japan. The regression analysis shows a significant but not perfect correlation between the carbon intensities at the sector level of the two countries. In terms of CO₂ emission reduction opportunities, most sectors of Chinese industry could benefit from learning Japanese technologies that produce lower carbon intensities.     

Forecasting of CO2 emissions from fuel combustion using trend analysis

The accelerating use of fossil fuels since the Industrial Revolution and the rapid destruction of forests causes a significant increase in greenhouse gases. The increasing threat of global warming and climate change has been the major, worldwide, ongoing concern especially in the last two decades. The impacts of global warming on the world economy have been assessed intensively by researchers since the 1990s. Worldwide organizations have been attempting to reduce the adverse impacts of global warming through intergovernmental and binding agreements. Carbon dioxide (CO₂) is one of the most foremost greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. The energy sector is dominated by the direct combustion of fuels, a process leading to large emissions of CO₂. CO₂ from energy represents about 60% of the anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions of global emissions. This percentage varies greatly by country, due to diverse national energy structures. The top-25 emitting countries accounted 82.27% of the world CO₂ emissions in 2007. In the same year China was the largest emitter and generated 20.96% of the world total. Trend analysis is based on the idea that what has happened in the past gives traders an idea of what will happen in the future. In this study, trend analysis approach has been employed for modelling to forecast of energy-related CO₂ emissions. To this aim first, trends in CO₂ emissions for the top-25 countries and the world total CO₂ emissions during 1971–2007 are identified. On developing the regression analyses, the regression analyses with R² values less than 0.94 showing insignificant influence in statistical tests have been discarded. Statistically significant trends are indicated in eleven countries namely, India, South Korea, Islamic Republic of Iran, Mexico, Australia, Indonesia, Saudi Arabia, Brazil, South Africa, Taiwan, Turkey and the world total. The results obtained from the analyses showed that the models for those countries can be used for CO₂ emission projections into the future planning. The calculated results for CO₂ emissions from fitted curves have been compared with the projected CO₂ emissions given in International Energy Outlook 2009 of U.S. Department of Energy calculated from “high economic growth case scenario”, “reference case scenario” and “low economic growth case scenario” respectively. Agreements between calculated results and the projected CO₂ emissions from different scenarios are in the acceptable range.     

Factors affecting transport sector CO2 emissions growth in Latin American and Caribbean countries: An LMDI decomposition analysis

This study determines the factors responsible for the growth of transport sector CO₂ emissions in 20 Latin American and Caribbean (LAC) countries during the 1980–2005 period by decomposing the emissions growth into components associated with changes in fuel mix (FM), modal shift and economic growth, as well as changes in emission coefficients (EC) and transportation energy intensity (EI). The key finding of the study is that economic growth and the changes in transportation EI are the principal factors driving transport sector CO₂ emission growth in the countries considered. While economic growth is responsible for the increasing trend of transport sector CO₂ emissions in Argentina, Brazil, Costa Rica, Peru and Uruguay, the transportation EI effect is driving CO₂ emissions in Bolivia, the Caribbean, Cuba, Ecuador, Guatemala, Honduras, Other Latin America, Panama and Paraguay. Both economic activity (EA) and EI effects are found responsible for transport sector CO₂ emissions growth in the rest of the Latin American countries. In order to limit CO₂ emissions from the transportation sector in LAC countries, decoupling of the growth of CO₂ emissions from economic growth is necessary; this can be done through policy instruments to promote fuel switching, modal shifting and reductions in transport sector EI. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

An innovative indicator of carbon dioxide emissions for developing countries: A study of Taiwan

Ever since the Kyoto Protocol entered into force, the issues of climate change and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions have drawn more and more attention globally. However, the major concern of the Kyoto Protocol to reduce the overall GHG emissions might be inaccessible for most developing countries, which rely heavily on the energy-intensive industries for exports and economic growth. In this study, an innovative indicator of net carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions, which excludes the emissions corresponding to the exports, is proposed to explicitly reveal domestic situations of developing countries. By introducing the indicator of net CO₂ emissions to top five energy-intensive industries in Taiwan, the analysis indicates that the increase in CO₂ emissions from 1999 to 2004 is mostly contributed by the expanded exports rather than the domestic demand. The distinct growth patterns of the apparent and net CO₂ emissions also imply the transformation of the industrial sector. It is expected that, for developing countries, the concept of net emissions may not only serve as a proper interim target during the process of international negotiations over GHG reductions but also highlights the prominence of addressing the emissions from the industrial sector as the top priority.     

Participation in GVCs and CO2 emissions

This paper attempts to explore the determinants of CO₂ emissions in the context of international trade. While there exist studies that examine the roles of horizontal specialization and inter-industry trade transactions, little previous research attention has been paid to the roles of vertical specialization and intra-industry trade transactions in affecting CO₂ emissions. To fill the knowledge gap, this study uses the panel data of 62 countries and regions for the period of 1995–2011 to estimate the effect of participation in global value chains (GVCs) on per capita CO₂ emissions. Major findings include: (1) The relationship between participation degrees in GVCs and per capita CO₂ emissions is found to be inversely U-shaped at the aggregate economy-level and for most individual industries; (2) Per capita GDP shows an N-shaped relationship with per capita CO₂ emissions; and (3) Benign drivers of CO₂ emissions include R&D, energy conservation, and population control. It can be concluded that countries with low GDP or GVC participation degrees are expected to experience worsening CO₂ emissions in the short or even medium run. This trend, however, can be moderated or even reversed with more R&D investments.     

Revisiting CO2 emissions convergence in G18 countries

This study revisits whether CO₂ emissions converge in G18 countries over the period of 1950–2013. To work on this empirical analysis, we employ a more powerful quantile unit root test with per capita CO₂ emissions. While conventional unit root tests fail to reject convergence in CO₂ emissions in these G18 countries, quantile unit root test results demonstrate CO₂ emissions converged in 5 of these G18 countries (i.e., Australia, Brazil, Canada, Germany, and India). Our empirical results have important policy implications for the governments of G18 countries to direct efficient and effective energy policies to reduce the CO₂ emissions.     

A note on the environmental Kuznets curve for CO2: A pooled mean group approach

This paper investigates whether the environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) hypothesis for CO₂ emissions is satisfied using the panel data of 28 countries by taking nuclear energy into account. Using the pooled mean group (PMG) estimation method, our main results indicate that (1) the impacts of nuclear energy on CO₂ emissions are significantly negative, (2) CO₂ emissions actually increase monotonically within the sample period in all cases: the full sample, OECD countries, and non-OECD countries, and (3) the growth rate in CO₂ emissions with income is decreasing in OECD countries and increasing in non-OECD countries.     

Greenhouse-gas emissions from biofuel combustion in Asia

An inventory of biofuel combustion is used to develop estimates of the emissions of carbon-containing greenhouse gases (CO₂, CO, CH₄, and NMHC) in Asian countries. It is estimated that biofuels contributed 573 Tg-C (teragrams of carbon; 1 Tg=10¹² g) in 1990, about 28% of the total carbon emissions from energy use in Asia. China (259 Tg-C) and India (187 Tg-C) were the largest emitting countries. The majority of the emissions, 504 Tg-C, were in the form of CO₂; however, emissions of non-CO₂ greenhouse gases were significant: 57 Tg-C as CO, 6.4 Tg-C as CH₄, and 5.9 Tg-C as NMHC. Because of the high rates of incomplete combustion in typical biofuel stoves and cookers and the high global warming potentials (GWP) of the products of incomplete combustion (PICs), biofuels comprise an even larger share of energy-related emissions when measured in terms of total GWP (in CO₂ equivalents): 38% over a 20-year time horizon and 31% over a 100-year time horizon. Even when the biofuel is assumed to be harvested on a completely sustainable basis (all CO₂ emissions reabsorbed in the following growing season), PIC emissions from biofuel combustion account for 4.5% of the total carbon emissions and 23% of CO₂ equivalents on a short-term (20-year) GWP basis.     

Long-term abatement potential and current policy trajectories in Latin American countries

This paper provides perspectives on the role of Latin American and Latin American countries in meeting global abatement goals, based on the scenarios developed through the CLIMACAP–LAMP modeling study. Abatement potential in Latin America, among other things, is influenced by its development status, the large contributions of non-CO₂ and land use change CO₂ emissions, and energy endowments. In most scenarios in this study, the economic potential to reduce fossil fuel CO₂ as well as non-CO₂ emissions in Latin America in 2050 is lower than in the rest of the world (in total) when measured against 2010 emissions, due largely to higher emission growth in Latin America than in the rest of the world in the absence of abatement. The potential to reduce land use change CO₂ emissions is complicated by a wide range of factors and is not addressed in this paper (land use emissions are largely addressed in a companion paper). The study confirms the results of previous research that the variation in abatement costs across models may vary by an order of magnitude or more, limiting the value of these assessments and supporting continued calls for research on the degree to which models are effectively representing key local circumstances that influence costs and available abatement options. Finally, a review of policies in place in several Latin American countries at the time of this writing finds that they would be of varying success in meeting the emission levels proposed by the most recent IPCC reports to limit global temperature change to 2 °C.     

On the income–nuclear energy–CO2 emissions nexus revisited

This paper seeks to contribute to the debate over the income–nuclear enery–CO₂ emissions nexus by taking specific account of the possible endogeneity of income, which has been largely ignored by early studies. A multivariate cointegrated vector autoregression (CVAR) is applied to top six nuclear generating countries. We find that nuclear energy tends to reduce CO₂ emission for all countries. It is also found that income has a beneficial effect on the environment only in some countries. Finally, we find that CO₂ emissions and income are indeed determined simultaneously, while nuclear energy acts exogenously, indicating that nuclear energy is the driving variable, which significantly influences the long-run movements of CO₂ emissions and income, but is not affected by CO₂ emissions and income in the model.     

Determinants of carbon dioxide emissions: Empirical evidence from 69 countries

This study investigates the determinants of carbon dioxide emissions (CO₂) for a global panel consisting of 69 countries using a dynamic panel data model. To make the panel data analysis more homogenous, we also investigate the determinants of CO₂ emissions for a number of sub-panels. These sub-panels are constructed based on the income level of countries. In this way, we end up with three income panels; namely, high income, middle income, and low income panels. The time component of our dataset is 1985–2005 inclusive. Our main findings are that trade openness, per capita GDP, and energy consumption, proxied by per capita electric power consumption and per capita total primary energy consumption, have positive effects on CO₂ emissions. Urbanisation is found to have a negative impact on CO₂ emissions in high income, middle income, and low income panels. For the global panel, only GDP per capita and per capita total primary energy consumption are found to be statistically significant determinants of CO₂ emission, while urbanisation, trade openness, and per capita electric power consumption have negative effects on the CO₂ emissions.     

CO2 emissions from electricity generation in seven Asia-Pacific and North American countries: A decomposition analysis

The Logarithmic Mean Divisia Index (LMDI) method of complete decomposition is used to examine the role of three factors (electricity production, electricity generation structure and energy intensity of electricity generation) affecting the evolution of CO₂ emissions from electricity generation in seven countries. These seven countries together generated 58% of global electricity and they are responsible for more than two-thirds of global CO₂ emissions from electricity generation in 2005. The analysis shows production effect as the major factor responsible for rise in CO₂ emissions during the period 1990–2005. The generation structure effect also contributed in CO₂ emissions increase, although at a slower rate. In contrary, the energy intensity effect is responsible for modest reduction in CO₂ emissions during this period. Over the 2005–2030 period, production effect remains the key factor responsible for increase in emissions and energy intensity effect is responsible for decrease in emissions. Unlike in the past, generation structure effect contributes significant decrease in emissions. However, the degree of influence of these factors affecting changes in CO₂ emissions vary from country to country. The analysis also shows that there is a potential of efficiency improvement of fossil-fuel-fired power plants and its associated co-benefits among these countries.     

Modeling the CO2 emissions from battery electric vehicles given the power generation mixes of different countries

With the number of vehicles on the world’s roads expected to grow to 2.9 billion by 2050, steps must be taken to reduce the CO₂ emissions from transport. Battery electric vehicles (BEVs) can help achieve this. This study aimed to determine the CO₂ emissions stemming from BEV operation in different countries and to compare those CO₂ emissions to the emissions from similar vehicles based on internal combustion engines (ICEs). This study selected four ICE-based vehicles, and modeled BEVs based on the specifications of each of these vehicles. The modeled BEVs were run through a simulation to determine their energy consumption. Their energy consumption was combined with data on the CO₂ intensity of the power generation mix in different countries to reveal the emissions resulting from BEV operation. The CO₂ emissions from the BEVs were compared to the CO₂ emissions for their ICE-based counterparts. Amongst the results, it was shown that for China and India, and other countries with a similarly high CO₂ intensity, unless power generation becomes dramatically less CO₂ intensive, BEVs will not be able to deliver a meaningful decrease in CO₂ emissions and an increase in the penetration of BEVs could actually lead to higher CO₂ emissions.     

Carbon dioxide emissions and trade: Evidence from disaggregate trade data

The relationship between trade and environmental quality is a major controversial issue. The paper intends to provide robust evidence and new insights into the discussion. Specifically, it examines the effect of trade on carbon dioxide emissions (CO₂) systematically in a North-North, North-South, South-North, and South-South context. It employs a panel data instrumental-variable quantile approach to control for endogeneity and account for potential (quantile) parameter heterogeneity. Some important results emerge. First, trade with the North increases CO₂ emissions whereas trade with the South mitigates CO₂ emissions with a relatively larger effect for less polluted host countries. Second, for advanced countries, their trade with the South or the North leads to a reduction in CO₂ emissions, the effect that seems relatively stronger for less polluted advanced countries. Third, for developing countries, their trade with the North worsens CO₂ emissions whereas their trade with the South mitigates CO₂ emissions with a larger effect for less polluted developing countries. Last, the environmental Kuznets hypothesis is also detected across quantiles for the full sample and both developing and advanced countries subsamples. The findings suggest that trade benefits the advanced countries but could hurt the developing countries when trade with high-income trading partners occurs, in terms of CO₂ emissions.     

Inequality in CO2 emissions across countries and its relationship with income inequality: A distributive approach

This paper analyzes the inequality in CO₂ emissions across countries (and groups of countries) and the relationship of this inequality with income inequality across countries for the period (1971–1999). The research employs the tools that are usually applied in income distribution analysis. The methodology used here gives qualitative and quantitative information on some of the features of the inequalities across countries that are considered most relevant for the design and discussion of policies aimed at mitigating climate change. The paper studies the relationship between CO₂ emissions and GDP and shows that income inequality across countries has been followed by an important inequality in the distribution of emissions. This inequality has diminished mildly, although the inequality in emissions across countries ordered in the increasing value of income (inequality between rich and poor countries) has diminished less than the “simple” inequality in emissions. Lastly, the paper shows that the inequality in CO₂ emissions is mostly explained by the inequality between groups with different per capita income level. The importance of the inequality within groups of similar per capita income is much lower and has diminished during the period, especially in the low middle income group.     

Transport sector CO2 emissions growth in Asia: Underlying factors and policy options

This study analyze the potential factors influencing the growth of transport sector carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions in selected Asian countries during the 1980–2005 period by decomposing annual emissions growth into components representing changes in fuel mix, modal shift, per capita gross domestic product (GDP) and population, as well as changes in emission coefficients and transportation energy intensity. We find that changes in per capita GDP, population growth and transportation energy intensity are the main factors driving transport sector CO₂ emission growth in the countries considered. While growth in per capita income and population are responsible for the increasing trend of transport sector CO₂ emissions in China, India, Indonesia, Republic of Korea, Malaysia, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Thailand; the decline of transportation energy intensity is driving CO₂ emissions down in Mongolia. Per capita GDP, population and transportation energy intensity effects are all found responsible for transport sector CO₂ emissions growth in Bangladesh, the Philippines and Vietnam. The study also reviews existing government policies to limit CO₂ emissions growth, such as fiscal instruments, fuel economy standards and policies to encourage switching to less emission intensive fuels and transportation modes.     

The impact of energy trade patterns on CO2 emissions: An emergy and network analysis

Fossil fuel is considered to be the major cause of CO₂ emissions, and it flows across countries through the international energy trade. In this paper, we analyse the impact of energy trade patterns on CO₂ emissions for a global sample from 2000 to 2014. We construct an international fossil fuel trade network based on emergy theory and calculate some corresponding structural parameters. Then, we systematically evaluate the impact of energy trade on CO₂ emissions from the trade volume and trade relationships perspectives. We obtain the following results: (1) Trade strength mainly affects CO₂ emissions through the scale effect, composition effect and technique effect. (2) Trade security and trade-centre status of one country will significantly affect CO₂ emissions. (3) For high economic-level (HE) countries, concentrating the trade volume on several finite countries will destroy the environment; low economic-level (LE) countries that are proximal to the important countries of the energy market will experience an increase in pollution. This research also discusses some implications for policy makers.     

Climate change and energy scenarios in Asia-Pacific developing countries

Worldwide increases in energy use are the largest source of rising emissions of CO₂. In the past, Europe and North America were the regions with the largest emissions. The rapid rate of industrialization, combined with population growth, has led to substantial increases in energy use in the developing countries of Asia and the Pacific. If present trends continue, the region will become the largest emitter of CO₂ from the use of fossil fuels within the next two or three decades. In this paper, we examine some alternate energy scenarios for the individual countries of the region and the potential for reducing CO₂ emissions from energy use to the year 2010.     

Carbon intensity of electricity in ASEAN: Drivers,performance and outlook

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), with its ten member countries, has a total population exceeding 600 million. Its energy-related CO₂ emissions have been growing and in 2013 amounted to 3.6% of total global emissions. About 40% of ASEAN's energy-related CO₂ emissions are currently attributable to electricity production. In view of this high share, we study the CO₂ emissions of ASEAN's electricity production sector with a focus on the aggregate emission intensity (ACI) given by the level of CO₂ emissions for each unit of electricity produced. Drivers of ACI are analysed for individual countries and spatial analysis is conducted by comparing factors contributing to differences between the ACIs of individual countries and that of the ASEAN average. Arising from these analyses and in light of the current developments, it is concluded that drastic actions need to be taken both at the national and regional levels in order to reduce growth in the region's electricity-related CO₂ emissions. Two key policy issues, namely overcoming national circumstances to improve electricity generation mix and improving power generation efficiency, are further discussed.