Urban CO2 emissions in China: Spatial boundary and performance comparison

• Published in: Energy policy Vol. 66; pp. 557 - 567
• Main Authors: Cai, Bofeng, Zhang, Lixiao
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Kidlington Elsevier Ltd 01.03.2014; Elsevier
• Subjects: Air pollution caused by fuel industries; Applied sciences; Buildings. Public works; Carbon emissions; Energy; Energy. Thermal use of fuels; Exact sciences and technology; General. Regulations. Norms. Economy; Gridded dataset; Metering. Control; Urban boundary; Urban development; Urban boundary; Carbon emissions; Gridded dataset
• ISSN: 0301-4215; 1873-6777
• DOI: 10.1016/j.enpol.2013.10.072

Different names/concepts and therefore different spatial boundaries for cities in China are responsible for the conflicting and confusing results associated with urban CO2 emissions accounting. In this study, four types of urban boundaries, i.e., city administrative boundary (UB1), city district boundary (UB2), city built-up area (UB3) and urban proper (UB4), were identified and defined. Tianjin was subsequently selected as the case city to illustrate the different performances of CO2 emissions with respect to these four boundaries using a 1-km grid dataset built bottom-up by point-emission sources. Different urban boundaries can induce a difference in CO2 emissions as large as 654%. UB1 and UB2 are not the appropriate proxies for urban boundaries in the analysis of urban CO2 emissions, although UB1 is a widely adopted boundary. UB3 is a good representative of city clusters and urban sprawl in a certain region, whereas UB4 is the appropriate system boundary for such issues as urban CO2 emissions in light of landscape characteristics and pertinent human activities, as well as the comparability to counterparts in developed countries. These results provide sound policy implications for the improvement of urban energy management and carbon emission abatement in China. •Four types of urban boundaries in China were clarified and defined.•Different urban boundaries will induce deviation in CO2 emissions as large as 654%.•The UB4 stands for appropriate urban boundary for urban CO2 emissions analysis.•Gridded data proves to be supplementary tools for urban CO2 emissions accounting.