IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v8y2016i5p484-d70246.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Achieving a Carbon Neutral Society without Industry Contraction in the Five Major Steel Producing Countries

Author

Listed:
  • Kyunsuk Choi

    (Materials Science and Engineering, Yonsei University, Seoul 120-749, Korea)

  • Hiroyuki Matsuura

    (Graduate School of Frontier Sciences, The University of Tokyo, Chiba 277-8561, Japan)

  • Hyunjoung Lee

    (Yonsei Green Institute of Technology, Yonsei University, Seoul 120-749, Korea
    These authors contribute equally to this work.)

  • Il Sohn

    (Materials Science and Engineering, Yonsei University, Seoul 120-749, Korea
    These authors contribute equally to this work.)

Abstract

This study analyzed the direct and indirect CO 2 emissions of the energy-intensive basic metals industry, in particular steels, using the distributions of various energy sources, including coal/peat, oil, and electricity, from an input–output table. An analysis of five major steel producing countries indicated that direct CO 2 emissions increased 1.4-fold and that indirect CO 2 emissions increased by more than two-fold between 1995 and 2010. The elasticity of the CO 2 emissions and the total energy costs indicated that Korea, Japan, and Germany are sensitive to energy sources from the electric power industry, whereas China and the US are more sensitive to energy sources pertaining to the coal and oil industry. Using the available forest area and photosynthesis, the potential neutralization ability of CO 2 was estimated using the eco-CO 2 index. The US yielded the highest CO 2 neutralization ability of 66.1%, whereas Korea yielded a CO 2 neutralization ability of 15%. Future trends of the 2030 eco-CO 2 index revealed China and Korea will rapidly lose their neutralization ability resulting in a net negative neutralization ability if left unabated. The significant decline in the eco-CO 2 index for the basic metals industry may be inhibited by utilizing bamboo wood charcoal for pulverized coal injection (PCI) in the steelmaking process.

Suggested Citation

  • Kyunsuk Choi & Hiroyuki Matsuura & Hyunjoung Lee & Il Sohn, 2016. "Achieving a Carbon Neutral Society without Industry Contraction in the Five Major Steel Producing Countries," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 8(5), pages 1-18, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:8:y:2016:i:5:p:484-:d:70246
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/8/5/484/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/8/5/484/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Su, Bin & Huang, H.C. & Ang, B.W. & Zhou, P., 2010. "Input-output analysis of CO2 emissions embodied in trade: The effects of sector aggregation," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 32(1), pages 166-175, January.
    2. Peter M. Cox & Richard A. Betts & Chris D. Jones & Steven A. Spall & Ian J. Totterdell, 2000. "Acceleration of global warming due to carbon-cycle feedbacks in a coupled climate model," Nature, Nature, vol. 408(6809), pages 184-187, November.
    3. Stanley D. Smith & Travis E. Huxman & Stephen F. Zitzer & Therese N. Charlet & David C. Housman & James S. Coleman & Lynn K. Fenstermaker & Jeffrey R. Seemann & Robert S. Nowak, 2000. "Elevated CO2 increases productivity and invasive species success in an arid ecosystem," Nature, Nature, vol. 408(6808), pages 79-82, November.
    4. Su, Bin & Ang, B.W., 2014. "Input–output analysis of CO2 emissions embodied in trade: A multi-region model for China," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 114(C), pages 377-384.
    5. Su, Bin & Ang, B.W., 2013. "Input–output analysis of CO2 emissions embodied in trade: Competitive versus non-competitive imports," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 56(C), pages 83-87.
    6. Li Li & Yalin Lei & Dongyang Pan, 2016. "Study of CO 2 emissions in China’s iron and steel industry based on economic input–output life cycle assessment," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 81(2), pages 957-970, March.
    7. Su, Bin & Ang, B.W., 2010. "Input-output analysis of CO2 emissions embodied in trade: The effects of spatial aggregation," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 70(1), pages 10-18, November.
    8. Chen, G.Q. & Zhang, Bo, 2010. "Greenhouse gas emissions in China 2007: Inventory and input-output analysis," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 38(10), pages 6180-6193, October.
    9. Peter M. Cox & Richard A. Betts & Chris D. Jones & Steven A. Spall & Ian J. Totterdell, 2000. "Erratum: Acceleration of global warming due to carbon-cycle feedbacks in a coupled climate model," Nature, Nature, vol. 408(6813), pages 750-750, December.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. Qi, Tianyu & Winchester, Niven & Karplus, Valerie J. & Zhang, Xiliang, 2014. "Will economic restructuring in China reduce trade-embodied CO2 emissions?," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 42(C), pages 204-212.
    2. Weitzel, Matthias & Ma, Tao, 2014. "Emissions embodied in Chinese exports taking into account the special export structure of China," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 45(C), pages 45-52.
    3. Yan, Junna & Zhao, Tao & Kang, Jidong, 2016. "Sensitivity analysis of technology and supply change for CO2 emission intensity of energy-intensive industries based on input–output model," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 171(C), pages 456-467.
    4. Liu, Hongguang & Liu, Weidong & Fan, Xiaomei & Zou, Wei, 2015. "Carbon emissions embodied in demand–supply chains in China," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 50(C), pages 294-305.
    5. Zhu, Bangzhu & Su, Bin & Li, Yingzhu & Ng, Tsan Sheng, 2020. "Embodied energy and intensity in China’s (normal and processing) exports and their driving forces, 2005-2015," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 91(C).
    6. Piñero, Pablo & Heikkinen, Mari & Mäenpää, Ilmo & Pongrácz, Eva, 2015. "Sector aggregation bias in environmentally extended input output modeling of raw material flows in Finland," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 119(C), pages 217-229.
    7. Yuhuan Zhao & Song Wang & Jiaqin Yang & Zhonghua Zhang & Ya Liu, 2016. "Input-output analysis of carbon emissions embodied in China-Japan trade," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 48(16), pages 1515-1529, April.
    8. Su, Bin & Ang, B.W., 2014. "Attribution of changes in the generalized Fisher index with application to embodied emission studies," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 69(C), pages 778-786.
    9. Su, Bin & Ang, B.W., 2015. "Multiplicative decomposition of aggregate carbon intensity change using input–output analysis," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 154(C), pages 13-20.
    10. Das, Aparna & Paul, Saikat Kumar, 2014. "CO2 emissions from household consumption in India between 1993–94 and 2006–07: A decomposition analysis," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 41(C), pages 90-105.
    11. Zhang, Zengkai & Guo, Ju'e & Hewings, Geoffrey J.D., 2014. "The effects of direct trade within China on regional and national CO2 emissions," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 46(C), pages 161-175.
    12. Zhu, Bangzhu & Su, Bin & Li, Yingzhu, 2018. "Input-output and structural decomposition analysis of India’s carbon emissions and intensity, 2007/08 – 2013/14," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 230(C), pages 1545-1556.
    13. Zhang, Youguo & Tang, Zhipeng, 2015. "Driving factors of carbon embodied in China's provincial exports," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 445-454.
    14. Xie, Rui & Hu, Guangxiao & Zhang, Youguo & Liu, Yu, 2017. "Provincial transfers of enabled carbon emissions in China: A supply-side perspective," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 107(C), pages 688-697.
    15. Xin Yan & Jianping Ge, 2017. "The Economy-Carbon Nexus in China: A Multi-Regional Input-Output Analysis of the Influence of Sectoral and Regional Development," Energies, MDPI, vol. 10(1), pages 1-28, January.
    16. Su, Bin & Ang, B.W., 2017. "Multiplicative structural decomposition analysis of aggregate embodied energy and emission intensities," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 65(C), pages 137-147.
    17. Hongguang Liu & Xiaomei Fan, 2017. "Value-Added-Based Accounting of CO 2 Emissions: A Multi-Regional Input-Output Approach," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(12), pages 1-18, December.
    18. Su, Bin & Thomson, Elspeth, 2016. "China's carbon emissions embodied in (normal and processing) exports and their driving forces, 2006–2012," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 59(C), pages 414-422.
    19. Jiang, Xuemei & Guan, Dabo & Zhang, Jin & Zhu, Kunfu & Green, Christopher, 2015. "Firm ownership, China's export related emissions, and the responsibility issue," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 466-474.
    20. Jiansuo Pei & Bo Meng & Fei Wang & Jinjun Xue & Zhongxiu Zhao, 2018. "Production Sharing, Demand Spillovers And Co2 Emissions: The Case Of Chinese Regions In Global Value Chains," The Singapore Economic Review (SER), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 63(02), pages 275-293, March.

    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:8:y:2016:i:5:p:484-:d:70246. 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.