Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Mobilising the potential towards low-carbon emissions society in Asia

  • Review
  • Published:
Clean Technologies and Environmental Policy Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Emission of CO2, CH4, and NO x is among the main sources of greenhouse gases (GHGs) emitted through human activities such as fossil fuels combustion for power, heat and transportation, industrial processes, and land-use change. Low-carbon emission has become synonymous with GHG emission, which is often expressed in t CO2 eq. as derived from the major GHG. However, CO2 emission from fossil fuel constitutes just about 2/3 of GHGs. Low-carbon emission has received high publicity in recent years as a major reason for the potential mitigation of climate change. Achieving low GHG emission targets while decoupling the economic growth from high emissions, pollution, and resource use is desirable. This paper reviews the low-carbon emissions initiatives to develop resilient growth strategies to reduce GHG emissions in Asia and beyond. Four major initiatives, including the modelling of GHG emission and mitigation initiative; sustainable energy systems; sustainable waste management; and education and community outreach, are reviewed for mobilising the potential towards low-carbon emissions societies in Asia. Cooperation from major stakeholders, e.g. government, policy makers, financial institutions, private investors, industrial, commercial sector, residential, has been needed towards realising the goal.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Alves JJ, Towler GP (2002) Analysis of refinery hydrogen distribution systems. Ind Eng Chem Res 41(23):5759–5769

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Alwi SRW, Rozali NEM, Abdul-Manan Z, Klemeš JJ (2012) A process integration targeting method for hybrid power systems. Energy 44:6–10

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Aziz EA, Alwi SRW, Lim JS, Abdul-Manan Z, Klemeš JJ (2016) An integrated Pinch Analysis framework for low CO2 emissions industrial site planning. J Clean Prod. doi:10.1016/j.jclepro.2016.07.175

    Google Scholar 

  • Batan L, Quinn J, Willson B, Bradley T (2010) Net energy and greenhouse gas emission evaluation of biodiesel derived from microalgae. Environ Sci Technol 44:7975–7980

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Boitier B (2012) CO2 emissions production-based accounting vs. consumption: Insights from the WIOD databases. In: WIOD Conference Paper. www.wiod.org/conferences/groningen/paper_Boitier.pdf. Accessed 7 Aug 2016

  • Bong CPC, Goh RKY, Lim JS, Ho WS, Lee CT, Hashim H, Mansor NNA, Ho CS, Ramli AR, Takeshi F (2016) Towards low carbon society in Iskandar Malaysia: implementation and feasibility of community organic waste composting. J Environ Manag. doi:10.1016/j.jenvman.2016.05.033

    Google Scholar 

  • Cai YP, Huang GH, Tan Q, Yang ZF (2009) Planning of community-scale renewable energy management systems in a mixed stochastic and fuzzy environment. Renew Energy 34(7):1833–1847

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chan TK (2014) Green wealth in oil palm. Global Oils Fats Bus Mag 11(2):24–28

    Google Scholar 

  • Demirbas MF (2011) Biofuels from algae for sustainable development. Appl Energy 88(10):3473–3480

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • El-Halwagi MM, Manousiouthakis V (1989) Synthesis of mass exchange networks. AIChE J 35:1233–1244

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Gomi K, Shimada K, Matsuoka Y (2010) A low-carbon scenario creation method for a local-scale economy and its application in Kyoto city. Energy Policy 38(9):783–4796

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gomi K, Deshpande A, Kapshe M (2013) Aligning low carbon society scenario with city development goals in Bhopal, India. Global Environ Res 17(1):129–138

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Haq G, Schwela D (2008) Foundation course on air quality management in Asia: urban air pollution in Asia. Stockholm Environment Institute, Stockholm

    Google Scholar 

  • Hayashi Y, Simson JJ, Gomi K, Matsuoka Y (2012) Development of a method to design a low-carbon society in small community and its application to Putrajaya, Malaysia. Environ Res 67(6):213–224

    Google Scholar 

  • Ho CS, Matsuoka Y, Simson J, Gomi K (2013) Low carbon urban development strategy in Malaysia–the case of Iskandar Malaysia development corridor. Habitat Int 37:43–51

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ho CS, Chau LW, The BT, Matsuoka Y, Gomi K (2016a) ‘Science to Action’ of the sustainable low carbon city-region: lessons learnt from Iskandar Malaysia. In: Nishioka S (ed) Enabling Asia to stabilise the climate. Springer, Singapore

    Google Scholar 

  • Ho WS, Hashim H, Lim JS, Lee CT, Sam KC, Tan ST (2016b) Waste management pinch analysis (WAMPA): application of pinch analysis for greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reduction in municipal solid waste management. Appl Energy. doi:10.1016/j.apenergy.2016.01.044

    Google Scholar 

  • Hoa NT, Gomi K, Matsuoka Y, Tu TT, Fujino J, Kainuma M, Shrestha RM (2010) Preliminary study on sustainable low-carbon development towards 2030 in Vietnam. 2050nies.go.jp/report/file/lcs_asia/Vietnam_Brochure_20100415.pdf. Accessed 28 July 2016

  • Jiang K, Zhuang X, Hu X (2009) Scenario analysis on low-carbon economy development of Jilin City. 2050.nies.go.jp/report/file/lcs_asialocal/Jilin.pdf. Accessed 28 July 2016

  • Jilani T, Gomi K, Matsuoka Y (2011) Low-carbon society development towards 2025 in Bangladesh. 2050.nies.go.jp/report/file/lcs_asia/Bangladesh_2012.pdf. Accessed 28 July 2016

  • Karanfil F, Li Y (2015) Electricity consumption and economic growth: exploring panel-specific differences. Energy Policy 82:264–277

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Klemeš JJ, Varbanov PS, Kravanja Z (2013) Recent developments in process integration. Chem Eng Res Des 91(10):2037–2053

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Klemeš JJ, Varbanov PS, Alwi SRW, Abdul-Manan Z (2014) Process integration and intensification: saving energy, water and resources. De Gruyter, Berlin

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Lam HL, Varbanov P, Klemeš JJ (2010) Minimising carbon footprint of regional biomass supply chains. Resour Conserv Recycl 54(5):303–309

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Linnhoff B, Flower JR (1978) Synthesis of heat exchanger networks. Part I. Systematic generation of energy optimal networks. AIChE J 24(4):633–642

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Liu X, Klemeš JJ, Čuček L, Varbanov PS, Yang S, Qian Y (2015) Export-import of virtual carbon emissions and water flows embodied in international trade. Chem Eng Trans 45:571–576. doi:10.3303/CET1545096

    Google Scholar 

  • Liu X, Klemeš JJ, Varbanov PS, Čuček L, Qian Y (2016) Virtual carbon and water flows embodied in international trade: a review on consumption-based analysis. J Clean Prod. doi:10.1016/j.jclepro.2016.03.129

    Google Scholar 

  • Low Carbon Society Blueprint for Iskandar Malaysia 2025 (2012) Johor Bahru, Malaysia. 2050.nies.go.jp/cop/cop18/SPM_LCS%20Blueprint_Iskandar%20Malaysia.pdf. Accessed 27 July 2016

  • Marcotullio PJ, Sarzynski A, Albrecht J, Schulz N (2012) The geography of urban greenhouse gas emissions in Asia: a regional analysis. Global Environ Environ Change 22(4):944–958

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mi Z, Zhang Y, Guan D, Shan Y, Liu Z, Cong R, Yuan X, Wei Y (2016) Consumption-based emission accounting for Chinese cities. Appl Energy. doi:10.1016/j.apenergy.2016.06.094

    Google Scholar 

  • Ngah I, Zulkifli AS (2014) Participatory approach in planning for low carbon and ecovillage: a case of Felda Taib Andak. In: 8th International Symposium of the Digital Earth (ISDE8) IOP Publishing IOP Conf. Series: Earth and Environmental Science 18. iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1755-1315/18/1/012150/pdf. Accessed 28 July 2016

  • Nguyen TH, Gomi K, Matsuoka Y (2014) A scenario for sustainable low-carbon development in Vietnam towards 2030. Int Proc Chem Biol Environ Eng 61(1):1–5

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Osawa R, Gomi K, Matsuoka Y (2014) Development of low carbon society scenarios considering energy and agriculture, forestry and landuse in Indonesia. Environ Res 70(5):201–209

    Google Scholar 

  • Singhvi A, Shenoy UV (2002) Aggregate planning in supply chains by pinch analysis. Trans Inst Chem Eng Part A 80:597–605

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Smith R (1995) Chemical process design. McGraw Hill Inc, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Tan RR, Foo DCY (2007) Pinch analysis approach to carbon-constrained energy sector planning. Energy 32:1422–1429

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tan S, Yang Y, Yan J, Lee C, Hashim H, Chen B (2016) A holistic low carbon city indicator framework for sustainable development. Appl Energy. doi:10.1016/j.apenergy.2016.03.041

    Google Scholar 

  • The Global Carbon Atlas (2016). www.globalcarbonatlas.org/?q=en/emissions. Accessed 27 July 2016

  • The 11th Malaysian Plan 2016–2020 (2016) http://rmk11.epu.gov.my/pdf/11MP%20Summary%20BI.pdf. Accessed 10 Aug 2016

  • The Malaysia National Blue Ocean Strategy (NBOS) (2016). www.blueoceanstrategy.com/malaysia-nbos/. Accessed 10 Aug 2016

  • Ueda M (2013) Changing to a sustainable socio-economic system: A challenge for Kyoto as a historic city. Springer, London

    Google Scholar 

  • UNU-INWEH (2013) The United Nations University, Institute for Water, Environment and Health. inweh.unu.edu/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/Waste-to-Wealth-Background-Paper.pdf. Accessed 9 Aug 2016

  • US Energy Information Administration (2016) International Energy Outlook 2016. www.eia.gov/forecasts/ieo/pdf/0484(2016).pdf. Accessed 17 Aug 2016

  • Wang YP, Smith R (1994) Wastewater minimization. Chem Eng Sci 49(7):981–1006

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Wilson DC (2015) Global Waste Management Outlook (GWMO). UNEP DTIE International Environmental Technology Centre, Osaka

    Google Scholar 

  • Winyuchakrit P, Limmeechokchai B, Matsuoka Y, Gomi K, Kainuma M, Fujino J, Suda M (2016) CO2 mitigation in Thailand’s low-carbon society: the potential of renewable energy. Energy Sour Part B 11(6):553–561

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Yong JY, Klemeš JJ, Varbanov PS, Huisingh D (2016) Cleaner energy for cleaner production: modelling, simulation, optimisation and waste Management. J Clean Prod 111:1–16

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zhang S, Worrell E, Crijns-Graus WHJ (2016) Relationships between energy efficiency and air quality. A project presented on Researchgate. www.researchgate.net/project/Relationships-between-energy-efficiency-and-air-quality. Accessed 19 Aug 2016

Download references

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank the Ministry of Higher Education (MOHE), Malaysia, for providing the research Grant Nos. 7301.4B145 and 2546.15H25 as well as Universiti Teknologi Malaysia for the GUP UTM research Grant Nos. 2546.14H65 and 2501.10H28. The authors would like to express the gratitude for the funding and support from JICA-JST-SATREPS entitled “Development of Low Carbon Scenarios in Asian Region (2011–2016)” and support from the Faculty of Information Technology and Bionics, Pázmány Péter Catholic University in Budapest, Hungary.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Chemical and Energy Engineering, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM), 81310, Johor Bahru, Johor, Malaysia

    Chew Tin Lee & Haslenda Hashim

  2. Faculty of Information Technology and Bionics, Pázmány Péter Catholic University, Práter u. 50/a, Budapest, 1083, Hungary

    Jiří Jaromír Klemeš

  3. Faculty of Built Environment, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM), 81310, Johor Bahru, Johor, Malaysia

    Chin Siong Ho

  4. Low Carbon Asia Research Centre, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM), 81310, Johor Bahru, Johor, Malaysia

    Chew Tin Lee, Haslenda Hashim & Chin Siong Ho

Authors
  1. Chew Tin Lee
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Jiří Jaromír Klemeš
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Haslenda Hashim
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Chin Siong Ho
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Chew Tin Lee.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Lee, C.T., Klemeš, J.J., Hashim, H. et al. Mobilising the potential towards low-carbon emissions society in Asia. Clean Techn Environ Policy 18, 2337–2345 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10098-016-1288-7

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10098-016-1288-7

Keywords

Search

Navigation