Analysis of Carbon Emission Characteristics and Influencing Factors of Herder Households: A County-Scale Investigation of the Sanjiangyuan Region on the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau
With further urbanization, household consumption firmly plays a key role in China’s national carbon emissions. However, current research concerning carbon issues has mainly focused on urban household consumption, and few studies have paid attention to herder households, leading to a research gap in...
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
MDPI AG
2023-12-01
|
| Series: | Atmosphere |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4433/14/12/1800 |
| _version_ | 1797382116936253440 |
|---|---|
| author | Changsu Song Lu Liu Chaofan Xian Fan Feng Zhiyun Ouyang |
| author_facet | Changsu Song Lu Liu Chaofan Xian Fan Feng Zhiyun Ouyang |
| author_sort | Changsu Song |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | With further urbanization, household consumption firmly plays a key role in China’s national carbon emissions. However, current research concerning carbon issues has mainly focused on urban household consumption, and few studies have paid attention to herder households, leading to a research gap in the field of low-carbon shifting related to nomadic economies. In this study, we interviewed more than one-thousand herder households in the Sanjiangyuan region of the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau in China. The household carbon emissions and their influencing factors were investigated across the herder households of 15 counties. Our findings revealed the following: (1) There exist differences in the amounts of household carbon emissions and their compositions in the Sanjiangyuan region. From the perspective of spatial distribution, the emission hotspots are mainly concentrated in the eastern part of the Sanjiangyuan region. (2) At the prefecture level, average personal emissions were larger in the Hainan Prefecture (3.26 t ce/year), while they were approximately 1.36 times that of the Huangnan Prefecture (2.4 t ce/year), though with smaller personal emissions. The indirect carbon emissions of the four prefectures all occupied larger percentages of household carbon emissions that were mainly contributed by food consumption and housing. (3) Family type was the main diver influencing personal carbon emissions in the Huangnan Prefecture, Guoluo Prefecture, and Yushu Prefecture. The more people living in the household, the lower the per capita carbon emissions. However, the effect size of potential carbon reductions was weakened when the number of family members rose to over three. (4) We propose that grazing prohibitions and low-carbon dietary shifts would contribute to low-carbon herder livelihoods, especially for small-sized households that should be peer-to-peer targeted by regional government propaganda, which may help to strengthen the implementation of in-depth low-carbon promotions across the Sanjiangyuan region and even the overall Qinghai–Tibet Plateau. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-08T21:00:51Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-a91db0c0ba224a41b51936ac38170a25 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2073-4433 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-08T21:00:51Z |
| publishDate | 2023-12-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Atmosphere |
| spelling | doaj.art-a91db0c0ba224a41b51936ac38170a252023-12-22T13:52:54ZengMDPI AGAtmosphere2073-44332023-12-011412180010.3390/atmos14121800Analysis of Carbon Emission Characteristics and Influencing Factors of Herder Households: A County-Scale Investigation of the Sanjiangyuan Region on the Qinghai–Tibet PlateauChangsu Song0Lu Liu1Chaofan Xian2Fan Feng3Zhiyun Ouyang4Department of Social & Ecological Studies, Chinese Academy of Governance, Beijing 100091, ChinaDepartment of Economics, Chinese Academy of Governance, Beijing 100091, ChinaState Key Laboratory of Urban and Regional Ecology, Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100085, ChinaSchool of Economics and Management, Nanjing University of Science and Technology, Nanjing 210094, ChinaState Key Laboratory of Urban and Regional Ecology, Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100085, ChinaWith further urbanization, household consumption firmly plays a key role in China’s national carbon emissions. However, current research concerning carbon issues has mainly focused on urban household consumption, and few studies have paid attention to herder households, leading to a research gap in the field of low-carbon shifting related to nomadic economies. In this study, we interviewed more than one-thousand herder households in the Sanjiangyuan region of the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau in China. The household carbon emissions and their influencing factors were investigated across the herder households of 15 counties. Our findings revealed the following: (1) There exist differences in the amounts of household carbon emissions and their compositions in the Sanjiangyuan region. From the perspective of spatial distribution, the emission hotspots are mainly concentrated in the eastern part of the Sanjiangyuan region. (2) At the prefecture level, average personal emissions were larger in the Hainan Prefecture (3.26 t ce/year), while they were approximately 1.36 times that of the Huangnan Prefecture (2.4 t ce/year), though with smaller personal emissions. The indirect carbon emissions of the four prefectures all occupied larger percentages of household carbon emissions that were mainly contributed by food consumption and housing. (3) Family type was the main diver influencing personal carbon emissions in the Huangnan Prefecture, Guoluo Prefecture, and Yushu Prefecture. The more people living in the household, the lower the per capita carbon emissions. However, the effect size of potential carbon reductions was weakened when the number of family members rose to over three. (4) We propose that grazing prohibitions and low-carbon dietary shifts would contribute to low-carbon herder livelihoods, especially for small-sized households that should be peer-to-peer targeted by regional government propaganda, which may help to strengthen the implementation of in-depth low-carbon promotions across the Sanjiangyuan region and even the overall Qinghai–Tibet Plateau.https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4433/14/12/1800herder householdshousehold consumptioncarbon emissionsdemographic effectsSanjiangyuan region |
| spellingShingle | Changsu Song Lu Liu Chaofan Xian Fan Feng Zhiyun Ouyang Analysis of Carbon Emission Characteristics and Influencing Factors of Herder Households: A County-Scale Investigation of the Sanjiangyuan Region on the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau Atmosphere herder households household consumption carbon emissions demographic effects Sanjiangyuan region |
| title | Analysis of Carbon Emission Characteristics and Influencing Factors of Herder Households: A County-Scale Investigation of the Sanjiangyuan Region on the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau |
| title_full | Analysis of Carbon Emission Characteristics and Influencing Factors of Herder Households: A County-Scale Investigation of the Sanjiangyuan Region on the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau |
| title_fullStr | Analysis of Carbon Emission Characteristics and Influencing Factors of Herder Households: A County-Scale Investigation of the Sanjiangyuan Region on the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau |
| title_full_unstemmed | Analysis of Carbon Emission Characteristics and Influencing Factors of Herder Households: A County-Scale Investigation of the Sanjiangyuan Region on the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau |
| title_short | Analysis of Carbon Emission Characteristics and Influencing Factors of Herder Households: A County-Scale Investigation of the Sanjiangyuan Region on the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau |
| title_sort | analysis of carbon emission characteristics and influencing factors of herder households a county scale investigation of the sanjiangyuan region on the qinghai tibet plateau |
| topic | herder households household consumption carbon emissions demographic effects Sanjiangyuan region |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4433/14/12/1800 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT changsusong analysisofcarbonemissioncharacteristicsandinfluencingfactorsofherderhouseholdsacountyscaleinvestigationofthesanjiangyuanregionontheqinghaitibetplateau AT luliu analysisofcarbonemissioncharacteristicsandinfluencingfactorsofherderhouseholdsacountyscaleinvestigationofthesanjiangyuanregionontheqinghaitibetplateau AT chaofanxian analysisofcarbonemissioncharacteristicsandinfluencingfactorsofherderhouseholdsacountyscaleinvestigationofthesanjiangyuanregionontheqinghaitibetplateau AT fanfeng analysisofcarbonemissioncharacteristicsandinfluencingfactorsofherderhouseholdsacountyscaleinvestigationofthesanjiangyuanregionontheqinghaitibetplateau AT zhiyunouyang analysisofcarbonemissioncharacteristicsandinfluencingfactorsofherderhouseholdsacountyscaleinvestigationofthesanjiangyuanregionontheqinghaitibetplateau |