The estimation of carbon imbalance and driving factors in China's urban residential building sector

Understanding the imbalance of carbon emissions in the urban residential building (URB) sector is beneficial for equitable and effective emission reduction policies. However, carbon imbalance in URB and its major driving factors remain unclear. Therefore, according to the Kaya identity and Zenga index, this study aims to analyze the imbalance in carbon emissions and carbon emission unit area of URB from 2005 to 2019. The results represent the following: 1) Although the overall carbon emission unit area reached its peak value (36.17 kgCO2/m2) in 2011, the overall carbon emission of URB did not reach the peak value, arriving at 0.86 BtCO2 in 2019; 2) the obvious imbalance of carbon emission and carbon emission unit area was led by the population and energy consumption unit area, respectively; 3) Compared to the difference in economy, the difference in climate had a larger impact on inter-group imbalance of carbon emission unit area without heating. In summary, these results and provided policies facilitate future formulation of fair and effective provincial decarbonization responsibility and emission mitigation implementation policies.

Automated summary

Understanding the imbalance of carbon emissions in the urban residential building (URB) sector is crucial for developing equitable and effective emission reduction policies. This study analyzes the carbon emissions and per unit area carbon emissions imbalance in URB from 2005 to 2019 using the Kaya identity and Zenga index. The results show that the imbalance is primarily driven by population and energy consumption unit area, with climate having a greater impact on inter-group imbalance. These findings and suggested policies can aid in formulating fair and effective provincial decarbonization responsibilities and emission mitigation implementation policies.