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Physical and virtual carbon metabolism of global cities

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  • Shaoqing Chen

    (State Key Joint Laboratory of Environment Simulation and Pollution Control, School of Environment, Beijing Normal University
    Sun Yat-sen University
    Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Environmental Pollution Control and Remediation Technology (Sun Yat-sen University))

  • Bin Chen

    (State Key Joint Laboratory of Environment Simulation and Pollution Control, School of Environment, Beijing Normal University)

  • Kuishuang Feng

    (University of Maryland)

  • Zhu Liu

    (Ministry of Education Key Laboratory for Earth System Modeling, Department of Earth System Science, Tsinghua University)

  • Neil Fromer

    (Resnick Sustainability Institute, California Institute of Technology)

  • Xianchun Tan

    (Institutes of Science and Development, Chinese Academy of Sciences)

  • Ahmed Alsaedi

    (NAAM Research Group, Faculty of Science, King Abdulaziz University)

  • Tasawar Hayat

    (NAAM Research Group, Faculty of Science, King Abdulaziz University
    Quaid-I-Azam University)

  • Helga Weisz

    (Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research
    Humboldt-University Berlin)

  • Hans Joachim Schellnhuber

    (Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research)

  • Klaus Hubacek

    (Center for Energy and Environmental Sciences (IVEM), Energy and Sustainability Research Institute Groningen (ESRIG), University of Groningen
    International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis
    Masaryk University)

Abstract

Urban activities have profound and lasting effects on the global carbon balance. Here we develop a consistent metabolic approach that combines two complementary carbon accounts, the physical carbon balance and the fossil fuel-derived gaseous carbon footprint, to track carbon coming into, being added to urban stocks, and eventually leaving the city. We find that over 88% of the physical carbon in 16 global cities is imported from outside their urban boundaries, and this outsourcing of carbon is notably amplified by virtual emissions from upstream activities that contribute 33–68% to their total carbon inflows. While 13–33% of the carbon appropriated by cities is immediately combusted and released as CO2, between 8 and 24% is stored in durable household goods or becomes part of other urban stocks. Inventorying carbon consumed and stored for urban metabolism should be given more credit for the role it can play in stabilizing future global climate.

Suggested Citation

  • Shaoqing Chen & Bin Chen & Kuishuang Feng & Zhu Liu & Neil Fromer & Xianchun Tan & Ahmed Alsaedi & Tasawar Hayat & Helga Weisz & Hans Joachim Schellnhuber & Klaus Hubacek, 2020. "Physical and virtual carbon metabolism of global cities," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 11(1), pages 1-11, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:11:y:2020:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-019-13757-3
    DOI: 10.1038/s41467-019-13757-3
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    Cited by:

    1. Kılkış, Şiir, 2022. "Urban emissions and land use efficiency scenarios towards effective climate mitigation in urban systems," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 167(C).
    2. Zhou, Xi-Yin & Xu, Zhicheng & Zheng, Jialin & Zhou, Ya & Lei, Kun & Fu, Jiafeng & Khu, Soon-Thiam & Yang, Junfeng, 2023. "Internal spillover effect of carbon emission between transportation sectors and electricity generation sectors," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 208(C), pages 356-366.
    3. Wang, Changjian & Miao, Zhuang & Chen, Xiaodong & Cheng, Yu, 2021. "Factors affecting changes of greenhouse gas emissions in Belt and Road countries," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 147(C).
    4. Xu, Dongxiao & Zhang, Yan & Chen, Bin & Bai, Junhong & Liu, Gengyuan & Zhang, Boyu, 2022. "Identifying the critical paths and sectors for carbon transfers driven by global consumption in 2015," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 306(PB).
    5. Hakyoung Kim & Saeyeon Kim & Jeongmin Lee & Minyoung Kim & Dohee Kwon & Sungyup Jung, 2023. "Pyrolysis of rice husk using CO2 for enhanced energy production and soil amendment," Energy & Environment, , vol. 34(4), pages 873-885, June.
    6. Chen Chen & Zongguo Wen, 2024. "The dynamic characteristics of multi‐media carbon pollution and their spatial influencing factors: A case study of the Greater Bay Area of China," Journal of Industrial Ecology, Yale University, vol. 28(1), pages 130-143, February.
    7. Wang, Saige & Chen, Bin, 2021. "Unraveling energy–water nexus paths in urban agglomeration: A case study of Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 304(C).
    8. Blignaut, James & Meissner, Heinz & Smith, Hendrik & du Toit, Linde, 2022. "An integrative bio-physical approach to determine the greenhouse gas emissions and carbon sinks of a cow and her offspring in a beef cattle operation: A system dynamics approach," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 195(C).
    9. Galychyn, Oleksandr, 2022. "Towards sustainable cities: A multi-criteria assessment framework for studying urban metabolism," MPRA Paper 121584, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 11 May 2022.
    10. Huang, Rui & Tian, Lixin, 2021. "CO2 emissions inequality through the lens of developing countries," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 281(C).

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