2021 Fiscal Year Annual Research Report
Development and Pilot Testing of a Standardized Method to Map Urban CO2 Emissions
| Project/Area Number |
19K20497
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| Research Institution | Hiroshima University |
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Principal Investigator |
SHARIFI AYYOOB 広島大学, 人間社会科学研究科(国), 准教授 (50726239)
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| Project Period (FY) |
2019-04-01 – 2022-03-31
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| Keywords | Local climate zones / Cities / Climate mitigation / Urban form / CO2 emissions |
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| Outline of Annual Research Achievements |
Cities are major contributors to Carbon Dioxide (CO2) emissions, and thereby, contribute to global climate change. Since land-use change and urban form are major sources of CO2 emissions, in this project I examined the association between different urban forms and carbon emissions. I used the Local Climate Zone (LCZ) framework to investigate the relationship between urban form and CO2 emission patterns. This framework divides urban areas into 17 classes according to their urban form characteristics. I developed the LCZ map of the three selected cities of Baltimore, Indianapolis, and Los Angeles for 2015. Next, I used the annual carbon emission data of the Hestia project to measure the per capita consumption and the amount of annual CO2 emissions in each LCZ class. Results of the project showed that, overall, carbon intensity of high-density areas with low or no vegetation is high. It was also found that per capita emissions increase with urban sprawl. But in the case of Los Angeles in particular, urban sprawl was not necessarily associated with the amount of per capita CO2 emission. Although, this project showed the utility of using the LCZ framework, but, further research is needed to gain a more comprehensive understanding. It is important to also apply this method in other contexts can compare the findings. For that, I have also prepared LCZ maps for some Chinese cities and will use them to do more related research on climate change adaptation and mitigation.
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