LEAP-Based Greenhouse Gases Emissions Peak and Low Carbon Pathways in China’s Tourist Industry
Open Access
- 29 January 2021
- journal article
- research article
- Published by MDPI AG in International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
- Vol. 18 (3), 1218
- https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18031218
Abstract
China has grown into the world’s largest tourist source market and its huge tourism activities and resulting greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions are particularly becoming a concern in the context of global climate warming. To depict the trajectory of carbon emissions, a long-range energy alternatives planning system (LEAP)-Tourist model, consisting of two scenarios and four sub-scenarios, was established for observing and predicting tourism greenhouse gas peaks in China from 2017 to 2040. The results indicate that GHG emissions will peak at 1048.01 million-ton CO2 equivalent (Mt CO2e) in 2033 under the integrated (INT) scenario. Compared with the business as usual (BAU) scenario, INT will save energy by 24.21% in 2040 and reduce energy intensity from 0.4979 tons of CO2 equivalent/104 yuan (TCO2e/104 yuan) to 0.3761 Tce/104 yuan. Although the INT scenario has achieved promising effects of energy saving and carbon reduction, the peak year 2033 in the tourist industry is still later than China’s expected peak year of 2030. This is due to the growth potential and moderate carbon control measures in the tourist industry. Thus, in order to keep the tourist industry in synchronization with China’s peak goals, more stringent measures are needed, e.g., the promotion of clean fuel shuttle buses, the encouragement of low carbon tours, the cancelation of disposable toiletries and the recycling of garbage resources. The results of this simulation study will help set GHG emission peak targets in the tourist industry and formulate a low carbon roadmap to guide carbon reduction actions in the field of GHG emissions with greater certainty.Keywords
Funding Information
- Ministry of Education of Humanities and Social Science Project (18YJA630039, 18011121003)
This publication has 37 references indexed in Scilit:
- The policy-driven peak and reduction of China's carbon emissionsAdvances in Climate Change Research, 2020
- Nonlinear and Spatial Effects of Tourism on Carbon Emissions in China: A Spatial Econometric ApproachInternational Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 2019
- Dynamic linkages between tourism, energy, environment, and economic growth: evidence from top 10 tourism-induced countriesEnvironmental Science and Pollution Research, 2019
- Integrated impacts of climate change on glacier tourismAdvances in Climate Change Research, 2019
- Accounting for carbon emissions associated with tourism-related consumptionTourism Economics, 2018
- Scenario analysis of urban GHG peak and mitigation co-benefits: A case study of Xiamen City, ChinaJournal of Cleaner Production, 2018
- Factors that Influence the Tourism Industry's Carbon Emissions: a Tourism Area Life Cycle Model PerspectiveEnergy Policy, 2017
- The measurement and comparative study of carbon dioxide emissions from tourism in typical provinces in ChinaActa Ecologica Sinica, 2015
- Climate policy: Steps to China's carbon peakNature, 2015
- National emissions from tourism: An overlooked policy challenge?Energy Policy, 2013