IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v12y2020i12p4814-d370601.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Exploring Carbon Neutral Potential in Urban Densification: A Precinct Perspective and Scenario Analysis

Author

Listed:
  • Bin Huang

    (School of Energy and Power Engineering, Changsha University of Science and Technology, Changsha 410114, China
    UniSA STEM, University of South Australia, Mawson Lakes, Adelaide 5095, Australia)

  • Ke Xing

    (UniSA STEM, University of South Australia, Mawson Lakes, Adelaide 5095, Australia)

  • Stephen Pullen

    (UniSA STEM, University of South Australia, Mawson Lakes, Adelaide 5095, Australia)

  • Lida Liao

    (School of Energy and Power Engineering, Changsha University of Science and Technology, Changsha 410114, China)

Abstract

Decarbonising the urban built environment for reaching carbon neutrality is high on the agenda for many cities undergoing rapid expansion and densification. As an important urban form, precincts have been increasingly focused on as the context for urban redevelopment planning and at the forefront for trialling carbon reduction measures. However, due to interplays between the built forms and the occupancy, the carbon performance of a precinct is significantly affected by morphological variations, demographical changes, and renewable energy system deployment. Despite much research on the development of low-carbon precincts, there is limited analysis on aggregated effects of population growth, building energy efficiency, renewable energy penetration, and carbon reduction targets in relation to precinct carbon signature and carbon neutral potential for precinct redevelopment and decarbonisation planning. In this paper, an integrated carbon assessment model, including overall precinct carbon emissions and carbon offset contributed by precinct-scale renewable energy harvesting, is developed and applied to examine the lifecycle carbon signature of urban precincts. Using a case study on a residential precinct redevelopment, scenario analysis is employed to explore opportunities for decarbonising densification development and the carbon neutral potential. Results from scenario analysis indicate that redevelopment of buildings with higher-rated energy efficiency and increase of renewable energy penetration can have a long term positive impact on the carbon performance of urban precincts. Meanwhile, demographical factors in precinct evolution also have a strong influence on a precinct’s carbon neutral potential. Whilst population size exerts upward pressure on total carbon emissions, changes in family types and associated consumption behaviour, such as travelling, can make positive contributions to carbon reduction. The analysis also highlights the significance of embodied carbon to the total carbon signature and the carbon reduction potential of a precinct during densification, reinforcing the notion that “develop with less” is as important as carbon offsetting measures for decarbonising the precinct toward carbon neutrality.

Suggested Citation

  • Bin Huang & Ke Xing & Stephen Pullen & Lida Liao, 2020. "Exploring Carbon Neutral Potential in Urban Densification: A Precinct Perspective and Scenario Analysis," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(12), pages 1-19, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:12:y:2020:i:12:p:4814-:d:370601
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/12/12/4814/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/12/12/4814/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Sarah Giest, 2017. "Big data analytics for mitigating carbon emissions in smart cities: opportunities and challenges," European Planning Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 25(6), pages 941-957, June.
    2. Wang, Ran & Lu, Shilei & Feng, Wei, 2020. "A three-stage optimization methodology for envelope design of passive house considering energy demand, thermal comfort and cost," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 192(C).
    3. Saber Talari & Miadreza Shafie-khah & Pierluigi Siano & Vincenzo Loia & Aurelio Tommasetti & João P. S. Catalão, 2017. "A Review of Smart Cities Based on the Internet of Things Concept," Energies, MDPI, vol. 10(4), pages 1-23, March.
    4. Metz, David, 2012. "Demographic determinants of daily travel demand," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 21(C), pages 20-25.
    5. Menz, Tobias & Welsch, Heinz, 2012. "Population aging and carbon emissions in OECD countries: Accounting for life-cycle and cohort effects," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 34(3), pages 842-849.
    6. Yuanyuan Gong & Deyong Song, 2015. "Life Cycle Building Carbon Emissions Assessment and Driving Factors Decomposition Analysis Based on LMDI—A Case Study of Wuhan City in China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 7(12), pages 1-17, December.
    7. Roberts, Mike B. & Haghdadi, Navid & Bruce, Anna & MacGill, Iain, 2019. "Characterisation of Australian apartment electricity demand and its implications for low-carbon cities," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 180(C), pages 242-257.
    8. Peter Newton & Denny Meyer & Stephen Glackin, 2017. "Becoming Urban: Exploring the Transformative Capacity for a Suburban-to-Urban Transition in Australia’s Low-Density Cities," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(10), pages 1-22, September.
    9. Ou, Ting-Chia & Hong, Chih-Ming, 2014. "Dynamic operation and control of microgrid hybrid power systems," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 66(C), pages 314-323.
    10. Thomas O. Wiedmann & Guangwu Chen & John Barrett, 2016. "The Concept of City Carbon Maps: A Case Study of Melbourne, Australia," Journal of Industrial Ecology, Yale University, vol. 20(4), pages 676-691, August.
    11. Nugent, Daniel & Sovacool, Benjamin K., 2014. "Assessing the lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions from solar PV and wind energy: A critical meta-survey," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 65(C), pages 229-244.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Dongxiao Niu & Gengqi Wu & Zhengsen Ji & Dongyu Wang & Yuying Li & Tian Gao, 2021. "Evaluation of Provincial Carbon Neutrality Capacity of China Based on Combined Weight and Improved TOPSIS Model," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(5), pages 1-18, March.
    2. Rui Liang & Xichuan Zheng & Jia Liang & Linhui Hu, 2023. "Energy Efficiency Model Construction of Building Carbon Neutrality Design," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(12), pages 1-16, June.
    3. Yan Liu & Meiyue Sang & Xiangrui Xu & Liyin Shen & Haijun Bao, 2023. "How Can Urban Regeneration Reduce Carbon Emissions? A Bibliometric Review," Land, MDPI, vol. 12(7), pages 1-19, June.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Rajanna, S. & Saini, R.P., 2016. "Modeling of integrated renewable energy system for electrification of a remote area in India," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 90(C), pages 175-187.
    2. Fangyi Li & Zhaoyang Ye & Xilin Xiao & Dawei Ma, 2019. "Environmental Benefits of Stock Evolution of Coal-Fired Power Generators in China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(19), pages 1-17, October.
    3. Phil Goodwin & Kurt Van Dender, 2013. "'Peak Car' - Themes and Issues," Transport Reviews, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 33(3), pages 243-254, May.
    4. William Villegas-Ch & Xavier Palacios-Pacheco & Sergio Luján-Mora, 2019. "Application of a Smart City Model to a Traditional University Campus with a Big Data Architecture: A Sustainable Smart Campus," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(10), pages 1-28, May.
    5. Emblemsvåg, Jan, 2022. "Wind energy is not sustainable when balanced by fossil energy," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 305(C).
    6. Kumar, Indraneel & Tyner, Wallace E. & Sinha, Kumares C., 2016. "Input–output life cycle environmental assessment of greenhouse gas emissions from utility scale wind energy in the United States," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 89(C), pages 294-301.
    7. Pengfei Wang & Jialiang Yi & Mansoureh Zangiabadi & Pádraig Lyons & Phil Taylor, 2017. "Evaluation of Voltage Control Approaches for Future Smart Distribution Networks," Energies, MDPI, vol. 10(8), pages 1-17, August.
    8. Zhang, Zumeng & Ding, Liping & Wang, Chaofan & Dai, Qiyao & Shi, Yin & Zhao, Yujia & Zhu, Yuxuan, 2022. "Do operation and maintenance contracts help photovoltaic poverty alleviation power stations perform better?," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 259(C).
    9. Nantian Huang & Hua Peng & Guowei Cai & Jikai Chen, 2016. "Power Quality Disturbances Feature Selection and Recognition Using Optimal Multi-Resolution Fast S-Transform and CART Algorithm," Energies, MDPI, vol. 9(11), pages 1-21, November.
    10. Liang, Yushi & Wu, Chunbing & Ji, Xiaodong & Zhang, Mulan & Li, Yiran & He, Jianjun & Qin, Zhiheng, 2022. "Estimation of the influences of spatiotemporal variations in air density on wind energy assessment in China based on deep neural network," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 239(PC).
    11. Andrés Henao-Muñoz & Andrés Saavedra-Montes & Carlos Ramos-Paja, 2018. "Optimal Power Dispatch of Small-Scale Standalone Microgrid Located in Colombian Territory," Energies, MDPI, vol. 11(7), pages 1-20, July.
    12. Dixon, Christopher & Reynolds, Steve & Rodley, David, 2016. "Micro/small wind turbine power control for electrolysis applications," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 87(P1), pages 182-192.
    13. Dagnachew, Anteneh G. & Lucas, Paul L. & Hof, Andries F. & Gernaat, David E.H.J. & de Boer, Harmen-Sytze & van Vuuren, Detlef P., 2017. "The role of decentralized systems in providing universal electricity access in Sub-Saharan Africa – A model-based approach," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 139(C), pages 184-195.
    14. Amir Faraji & Maria Rashidi & Fatemeh Rezaei & Payam Rahnamayiezekavat, 2023. "A Meta-Synthesis Review of Occupant Comfort Assessment in Buildings (2002–2022)," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(5), pages 1-36, February.
    15. Piotr Olczak & Małgorzata Olek & Dominika Matuszewska & Artur Dyczko & Tomasz Mania, 2021. "Monofacial and Bifacial Micro PV Installation as Element of Energy Transition—The Case of Poland," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(2), pages 1-22, January.
    16. Meng, Fanxin & Wang, Dongfang & Meng, Xiaoyan & Li, Hui & Liu, Gengyuan & Yuan, Qiuling & Hu, Yuanchao & Zhang, Yi, 2022. "Mapping urban energy–water–land nexus within a multiscale economy: A case study of four megacities in China," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 239(PB).
    17. Chulin Pan & Huayi Wang & Hongpeng Guo & Hong Pan, 2021. "How Do the Population Structure Changes of China Affect Carbon Emissions? An Empirical Study Based on Ridge Regression Analysis," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(6), pages 1-16, March.
    18. Rødseth, Kenneth Løvold & Wangsness, Paal Brevik & Alexander Gregersen, Fredrik, 2024. "Panel data analysis of drivers under an evolving cordon tolling system," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 179(C).
    19. Marsal-Llacuna, Maria-Lluïsa, 2018. "Future living framework: Is blockchain the next enabling network?," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 128(C), pages 226-234.
    20. Dühr, Stefanie & Berry, Stephen & Moore, Trivess, 2023. "Sustainable housing at a neighbourhood scale," SocArXiv wdfhs, Center for Open Science.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:12:y:2020:i:12:p:4814-:d:370601. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.