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Knowledge domain and emerging trends of carbon footprint in the field of climate change and energy use: a bibliometric analysis

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A Correction to this article was published on 19 January 2023

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Abstract

Carbon footprint (CF) research has attained tremendous popularity for improving the climate environment purposes. In particular, current energy use has been identified as the main cause of climate change. CF plays an irreplaceable role in managing energy use, reducing gas emissions, and improving climate change. The objective of this study was to review studies that have developed CF and to perform a bibliometric analysis using two key terms: “climate change” and “energy use”. From bibliometric analysis using CiteSpace and VOSviewer, it was possible to establish a knowledge map of cooperative network structure and research evolution. We are aiming to reveal the main logical chain of CF research leading to climate change, to make up for the lack of current literature, and provide research inspiration for researchers. The research findings mainly focus on four aspects. First, the relevant research began in 2008 and is in a state of continuous rise. Second, due to the law of research development and the prominence of practical problems, related research has experienced a stage from conceptual methods to specific problems. Third, China and the USA assume an important role in which international cooperation is the overall trend. Fourth, related research can be divided into CF algorithm research, ecological environment management research, and specific cross-industry fields. In addition, possible opportunities for change in related research are explored. It is also suggested that the integration of CF with other footprints, when energy use and environmental change are fully considered, may become an important future research trend by providing a more comprehensive environmental impact.

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Data availability

The datasets used or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

Change history

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Funding

We gratefully acknowledge financial support from the National Social Science Foundation of China (No. 18XJL011) and the Chongqing Graduate Scientific Research Innovation Project of China (No. CYS18056).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Public Policy and Administration, Chongqing University, 174 Shazheng Street, Shapingba District, Chongqing, 400044, China

    Yuequn Cao, Fulin Qi, Huanyu Cui & Meng Yuan

Authors
  1. Yuequn Cao
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  2. Fulin Qi
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  3. Huanyu Cui
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  4. Meng Yuan
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Contributions

Fulin Qi: conceptualization, methodology, formal analysis, investigation, resources, writing — original draft, and writing — review and editing. Yuequn Cao: conceptualization, writing — review and editing, supervision, funding acquisition, and project administration. Huanyu Cui: writing — review and editing and data. Meng Yuan: writing — review and editing and data.

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Correspondence to Fulin Qi.

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Cao, Y., Qi, F., Cui, H. et al. Knowledge domain and emerging trends of carbon footprint in the field of climate change and energy use: a bibliometric analysis. Environ Sci Pollut Res 30, 35853–35870 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-022-24756-1

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