Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Contribution of anthropogenic pollutant sources to greenhouse gas emissions: a case study from a developing country

  • Research Article
  • Published:
Environmental Science and Pollution Research Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Anthropogenic greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions are the primary cause of climate change, one of the biggest challenges for humankind. To tackle this problem, the international community is looking for ways to reduce GHG emissions. To create reduction strategies in a city/province/country, there is a need for an inventory that provides emission amounts from different sectors. This study aimed to develop a GHG emission inventory for Karaj, a megacity in Iran, using international guidelines such as AP-42 and ICAO, and IVE software. The emissions of mobile sources were accurately calculated by a bottom-up method. The results showed that power plant with 47% of the total emissions is the primary GHG contributor in Karaj. Residential and commercial units with 27% and mobile sources with 24% of the total emissions play a critical role in emitting GHGs in Karaj. On the other hand, the industrial units and the airport have negligible (2%) contribution to the total emissions. Subsequent estimates showed that GHG emissions per capita and per GDP of Karaj were 6.03 t per person and 0.47 t per thousand US dollars, respectively. These amounts are higher than the global averages (4.97 t per person and 0.3 t per thousand US dollars). The relatively high GHG emissions in Karaj are due to the sole reliance on the consumption of fossil fuels. To reduce emissions, mitigation strategies such as developing renewable energy sources, switching to low-emission transportation, and raising public awareness should be implemented.

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
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6
Fig. 7

Similar content being viewed by others

Data availability

All data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

Code availability

Not applicable.

References

  • Ahmadi M, Khorsandi B, Mesbah M (2020) The effect of air pollution on drivers’ safety performance. Environ Sci Pollut Res 28:15768–15781

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Amini F, Saber L, Soleimanpor P, Golghahremani N, Shafiezade M, Tavanpor M, Farmad M (2019) Iran’s Energy Balance Sheet for 2017. Iran Energy Ministry, in Persian. Available at: https://isn.moe.gov.ir/getattachment/3740212e-5dec-4e42-801a-3ca01772ae2a/%D8%AA%D8%B1%D8%A7%D8%B2%D9%86%D8%A7%D9%85%D9%87-%D8%A7%D9%86%D8%B1%DA%98%DB%8C-%D8%B3%D8%A7%D9%84-1396

  • Aye GC, Edoja PE (2017) Effect of economic growth on CO2 emission in developing countries: evidence from a dynamic panel threshold model. Cogent Econ Financ 5(1):1379239. (accessed on 9 january 2020)

  • C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group, C40 Knowledge Hub (2022) Greenhouse gas emissions interactive dashboard. https://www.c40knowledgehub.org/s/article/C40-cities-greenhouse-gas-emissions-interactive-dashboard?language=en_US. Accessed 27 Nov 2022

  • Castro MCCS, Castro SR, Cordeiro PF, Maria MA, Castro FMR, Dias EHO (2020) GHG emissions inventory: a statistical analysis of the voluntary disclosure in Brazil. Int J Environ Technol Manage 23(1):68–82

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Chen J, Zhao F, Zeng N, Oda T (2020) Comparing a global high-resolution downscaled fossil fuel CO 2 emission dataset to local inventory-based estimates over 14 global cities. Carbon Balance Manage 15:1–15

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • COP26 (2021) COP26 Goals. https://ukcop26.org/cop26-goals/

  • Cox W (2010) How much of the world is covered by cities? https://www.newgeography.com/content/001689-how-much-world-covered-cities

  • Crippa M, Oreggioni G, Guizzardi D, Muntean M, Schaaf E, Lo Vullo E, Solazzo E, Monforti-Ferrario F, Olivier JGJ, Vignati E (2019) Fossil CO2 and GHG emissions of all world countries. Publication Office of the European Union, Luxemburg

    Google Scholar 

  • De Souza HG, Chaves FAH, Santos CO, de Araujo JA (2019) Spatial influence evaluation research of economic growth on greenhouse gas emissions in Brazil. Greenhouse Gas Sci Technol 9(6):1114–1122

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • DEEP (2016) Connecticut’s 2011 periodic emissions inventory. https://portal.ct.gov/-/media/DEEP/air/Inven/PEI2011Finalpdf.pdf

  • Ding N, Liu J, Kong Z, Yan L, Yang J (2019) Life cycle greenhouse gas emissions of Chinese urban household consumption based on process life cycle assessment: exploring the critical influencing factors. J Clean Prod 210:898–906

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dodman D (2009) Blaming cities for climate change? An analysis of urban greenhouse gas emissions inventories. Environ Urban 21(1):185–201

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dwivedi YK, Hughes L, Kar AK, Baabdullah AM, Grover P, Abbas R, Andreini D, Abumoghli I, Barlette Y, Bunker D (2022) Climate change and COP26: are digital technologies and information management part of the problem or the solution? An editorial reflection and call to action. Int J Inf Manage 63:102456

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Farzad K, Khorsandi B, Khorsandi M, Bouamra O, Maknoon R (2020) A study of cardiorespiratory related mortality as a result of exposure to black carbon. Sci Total Environ 725:138422

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Farzad K, Khorsandi B, Khorsandi M, Bouamra O, Maknoon R (2021) Estimating short-term mortality benefits associated with a reduction in tropospheric ozone. Atmos Environ 252:118342

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Fong WK, Sotos M, Doust M, Schultz S, Marques A, Deng-Beck C (2014) Global protocol for community-scale greenhouse gas inventories. Greenhouse gas protocol. https://ghgprotocol.org/greenhouse-gas-protocol-accounting-reporting-standard-cities. Accessed 27 Nov 2022

  • Garg A, Bhattacharya S, Shukla PR, Dadhwal VK (2001) Regional and sectoral assessment of greenhouse gas emissions in India. Atmos Environ 35(15):2679–2695

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Ghadiri Z, Rashidi Y, Broomandi P (2017) Evaluation Euro IV of effectiveness in transportation systems of Tehran on air quality: application of IVE model. Pollution 3(4):639–653

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Ghaemi Z, Smith AD (2020) A review on the quantification of life cycle greenhouse gas emissions at urban scale. J Clean Prod 252:119634

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Heilig GK (2012) World urbanization prospects: the 2011 revision. United Nations, New York. https://www.un.org/en/development/desa/population/publications/pdf/urbanization/WUP2011_Report.pdf

  • Houghton JT (1992) Climate change 1992. In Climate Change 1992. https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/1992clch.book.....H. Accessed 27 Oct 2022

  • ICAO, N. N (2017) ICAO carbon emissions calculation methodology. Version

  • Iran’s Climate Change Office (2003) Climate change newsletter (p. 11). Iran’s Climate Change Office

  • IVE model, version 2 (2008) IVE Model Users Manual. 54

  • Izadi M (2016) Iran only committed to 4% emissions reduction. https://financialtribune.com/articles/environment/53559/iran-only-committed-to-4-emissions-reduction. Accessed 9 Jan 2020

  • Kennedy C, Steinberger J, Gasson B, Hansen Y, Hillman T, Havranek M, Pataki D, Phdungsilp A, Ramaswami A, Mendez GV (2009) Greenhouse gas emissions from global cities. Environ Sci Technol 43(19):7297–7302

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Kennedy C, Steinberger J, Gasson B, Hansen Y, Hillman T, Havránek M, Pataki D, Phdungsilp A, Ramaswami A, Mendez GV (2010) Methodology for inventorying greenhouse gas emissions from global cities. Energy Policy 38(9):4828–4837

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Khorsandi B, Farzad K, Tahriri H, Maknoon R (2021) Association between short-term exposure to air pollution and COVID-19 hospital admission/mortality during warm seasons. Environ Monit Assess 193:426

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

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

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Markolf SA, Matthews HS, Azevedo IL, Hendrickson C (2017) An integrated approach for estimating greenhouse gas emissions from 100 US metropolitan areas. Environ Res Lett 12(2):24003

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Meinshausen M, Meinshausen N, Hare W, Raper SCB, Frieler K, Knutti R, Frame DJ, Allen MR (2009) Greenhouse-gas emission targets for limiting global warming to 2 °C. Nature 458(7242):1158–1162. https://doi.org/10.1038/nature08017

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Mirzaei A, Tahriri H, Khorsandi B (2021) Comparison between AirQ+ and BenMAP-CE in estimating the health benefits of PM2.5 reduction. Air Qual Atmos Health 14:807–815

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Muntean M, Guizzardi D, Schaaf E, Crippa M, Solazzo E, Olivier J, Vignati E (2018) Fossil CO2 emissions of all world countries. Publications Office of the European Union, Luxembourg

    Google Scholar 

  • Nagar PK, Sharma M, Gupta S, Singh D (2019) A framework for developing and projecting GHG emission inventory and preparing mitigation plan: a case study of Delhi City, India. Urban Clim 28:100462. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.uclim.2019.100462

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nguyen YLT, Nghiem TD, Le AT, Duc KN, Nguyen DH (2021) Emission characterization and co-benefits of bus rapid transit: a case study in Hanoi, Vietnam. Atmos Pollut Res 12(8):101148

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Ohadi A, Habibian M, Khorsandi B, Ghasabzadeh M, Fallah N (2022) Emission inventory of air pollutants from anthropogenic sources in Karaj metropolis, University of Tehran Press. (In Persian). https://www.researchgate.net/publication/361935537_Emission_inventory_of_air_pollutants_from_anthropogenic_sources_in_Karaj_metropolis

  • Osobajo OA, Otitoju A, Otitoju MA, Oke A (2020) The impact of energy consumption and economic growth on carbon dioxide emissions. Sustainability 12:7965. https://doi.org/10.3390/su12197965

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Pashaei Farahani S (2020) Assessment of urban greenhouse gas emission inventory in Montréal. Masters thesis, Concordia University. https://spectrum.library.concordia.ca/id/eprint/986773/

  • Rama M, Entrena-Barbero E, Dias AC, Moreira MT, Feijoo G, González-García S (2020) Evaluating the carbon footprint of a Spanish city through environmentally extended input output analysis and comparison with life cycle assessment. Sci Total Environ 762:143133. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.143133

  • Ramachandra TV, Aithal BH, Sreejith K (2015) GHG footprint of major cities in India. Renew Sustain Energy Rev 44:473–495

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rogelj J, Den Elzen M, Höhne N, Fransen T, Fekete H, Winkler H, Schaeffer R, Sha F, Riahi K, Meinshausen M (2016) Paris Agreement climate proposals need a boost to keep warming well below 2 °c. Nature 534(7609):631–639. https://doi.org/10.1038/nature18307

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Romero B, Coello M, Cordero-Moreno D (2020) GPS data correction through the IVE Model for use in vehicle emission estimates for congestion pricing," 2020 IEEE ANDESCON, 2020, pp. 1–5, https://doi.org/10.1109/ANDESCON50619.2020.9272080

  • Satterthwaite D (2008) Cities’ contribution to global warming: notes on the allocation of greenhouse gas emissions. Environ Urban 20(2):539–549

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shafiepour M, Tavakoli A (2013) On-road vehicle emissions forecast using IVE simulation model. Int J Environ Res Public Health 7(2):367–376

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Shahbazi H, Reyhanian M, Hosseini V, Afshin H (2016a) The relative contributions of mobile sources to air pollutant emissions in Tehran, Iran: an emission inventory approach. Emission Control Sci Technol 2(1):44–56

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Shahbazi H, Taghvaee S, Hosseini V, Afshin H (2016b) A GIS based emission inventory development for Tehran. Urban Clim 17:216–229

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shan Y, Guan D, Zheng H, Ou J, Li Y, Meng J, Mi Z, Liu Z, Zhang Q (2018) China CO 2 emission accounts 1997–2015. Sci Data 5:170201

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Song Q, Wang Z, Li J, Duan H, Yu D, Liu G (2018) Comparative life cycle GHG emissions from local electricity generation using heavy oil, natural gas, and MSW incineration in Macau. Renew Sustain Energy Rev 81:2450–2459

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sovacool BK (2008) Valuing the greenhouse gas emissions from nuclear power: a critical survey. Energy Policy 36(8):2950–2963

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sówka I, Bezyk Y (2018) Greenhouse gas emission accounting at urban level: a case study of the city of Wroclaw (Poland). Atmos Pollut Res 9(2):289–298

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Statistical Centre of Iran (2016) 8th National Population and Housing Census, 2016 (In Persian)

  • Stocker TF, Qin D, Plattner G-K, Tignor MMB, Allen SK, Boschung J, Nauels A, Xia Y, Bex V, Midgley PM (2014) Climate change 2013: the physical science basis. Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781107415324

  • Sun DJ, Yin Z, Cao P (2020) An improved CAL3QHC model and the application in vehicle emission mitigation schemes for urban signalized intersections. Build Environ 183:107213

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Szymczyk K, Şahin D, Bağcı H, Kaygın CY (2021) The effect of energy usage, economic growth, and financial development on CO2 emission management: an analysis of OECD countries with a High environmental performance index. Energies 14(15):4671

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • The World Bank (2019) World Bank list of economies (June 2019). https://hupo.org/resources/Documents/World Bank list of economies (June 2019).pdf (accessed on 9 january 2020)

  • Tubiello FN, Salvatore M, Rossi S, Ferrara A, Fitton N, Smith P (2013) The FAOSTAT database of greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture. Environ Res Lett 8(1):015009

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • U.S. Energy Information Administration (2021) How much carbon dioxide is produced per kilowatthour when generating electricity with fossil fuels? Frequently Asked Questions. https://www.eia.gov/tools/faqs/faq.cfm?id=74&t=11.%5Cnhttps://www.eia.gov/tools/faqs/faq.cfm?id=74&t=11

  • USEPA (1995) US Environmental Protection Agency. Compilation of air pollutant emission factors, Chapter 3: Stationary Internal Combustion Sources

  • Wang H, Zhang R, Liu M, Bi J (2012) The carbon emissions of Chinese cities. Atmos Chem Phys 12(14):6197–6206

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Wiedmann TO, Chen G, Barrett J (2016) The concept of city carbon maps: a case study of Melbourne, Australia. J Indus Ecol 20(4):676–691

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Wunch D, Wennberg PO, Toon GC, Keppel‐Aleks G, Yavin YG (2009) Emissions of greenhouse gases from a North American megacity. Geophys Res Lett 36(15). https://doi.org/10.1029/2009GL039825

  • Xi F, Geng Y, Chen X, Zhang Y, Wang X, Xue B, Dong H, Liu Z, Ren W, Fujita T (2011) Contributing to local policy making on GHG emission reduction through inventorying and attribution: a case study of Shenyang, China. Energy Policy 39(10):5999–6010

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Zhang M, Mu H, Ning Y (2009) Accounting for energy-related CO2 emission in China, 1991–2006. Energy Policy 37(3):767–773

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Amirkabir University of Technology (Tehran Polytechnic), 350 Hafez Avenue, Tehran, 159163-4311, Iran

    Amin Reza Omranian, Shahab Dabirinejad, Babak Khorsandi & Meeghat Habibian

Authors
  1. Amin Reza Omranian
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Shahab Dabirinejad
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Babak Khorsandi
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Meeghat Habibian
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Babak Khorsandi.

Ethics declarations

Ethics approval

Not applicable.

Consent to participate

Not applicable.

Consent for publication

Not applicable.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare no competing interests.

Additional information

Responsible Editor: V.V.S.S. Sarma

Publisher's note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Omranian, A.R., Dabirinejad, S., Khorsandi, B. et al. Contribution of anthropogenic pollutant sources to greenhouse gas emissions: a case study from a developing country. Environ Sci Pollut Res 30, 70159–70169 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-023-27396-1

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-023-27396-1

Keywords

Search

Navigation