Articulating a trans-boundary infrastructure supply chain greenhouse gas emission footprint for cities: Mathematical relationships and policy relevance

Abel Chavez, Anu Ramaswami

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

89 Scopus citations

Abstract

This paper compares the policy relevance and derives mathematical relationships between three approaches for GHG emissions accounting for cities. The three approaches are: (a) Purely-Geographic Inventory, (b) Trans-boundary Community-Wide Infrastructure Footprint (CIF), and (c) Consumption-Based Footprint (CBF). Mathematical derivations coupled with case study of three US communities (Denver Colorado, Routt Colorado, and Sarasota Florida), shows that no one method provides a larger or more holistic estimate of GHG emissions associated with communities. A net-producing community (Routt) demonstrates higher CIF GHG emissions relative to the CBF, while a net-consuming community (Sarasota) yields the opposite. Trade-balanced communities (Denver) demonstrate similar numerical estimates of CIF and CBF, as predicted by the mathematical equations. Knowledge of community typology is important in understanding trans-boundary GHG emission contributions.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)376-384
Number of pages9
JournalEnergy Policy
Volume54
DOIs
StatePublished - Mar 2013
Externally publishedYes

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • General Energy
  • Management, Monitoring, Policy and Law

Keywords

  • City typology
  • City-scale greenhouse gas footprints
  • Consumption-based carbon footprint
  • Urban infrastructure-based carbon footprints

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