Analysis on the driving forces of methane emissions from solid waste treatment in G7 countries

doi:10.12006/j.issn.1673-1719.2023.090

Abstract

Abstract:

Methane emission control and reduction is considered as one of the important measures for effectively mitigating global warming effect, which has attracted widespread attention both domestically and internationally. In this paper, based on the EDGAR database, the decoupling index and Logarithmic Mean Divisia Index (LMDI) decomposition method were used to quantitatively analyze the relationship between methane emissions from solid waste treatment and economic development in G7 countries. It is found that methane emissions from solid waste treatment in G7 countries have already peaked, with the per capita GDP of the US, Canada, France, Germany, the UK and Japan being concentrated in the range of 30000-40000 US dollars when reaching the peak, and Italy’s per capita GDP just exceeded 20000 US dollars. No country has achieved absolute decoupling between emissions and economic development. As for the structural decomposition results driven by population, per capita GDP, solid waste generation intensity, and methane emission coefficient, the growth of population and per capita GDP sustainably drives the increase in methane emissions from solid waste treatment in G7 countries, but the driving force significantly weakens as the development speed slows down. The reduction of methane emission coefficient is the most important factor in achieving methane control, and the decrease in solid waste generation intensity can also suppress the increase in methane emissions in most periods. By continuously strengthening solid waste classification and recycling and promoting methane collection and utilization in landfills, methane emission coefficient is expected to continue to decline. Combining with the main methane control policies and actions taken by G7 countries, some suggestions are proposed to help China achieve methane control in the field of solid waste treatment, including formulating emission reduction strategies, controlling the intensity of solid waste generation, reducing organic matter entering landfills, and strongly promoting landfill gas recovery and utilization or disposal.

Key words: Methane, Solid waste treatment, Decoupling index, Logarithmic Mean Divisia Index (LMDI), Driving force analysis

YANG Ru-Pu, FENG Xiang-Zhao, WANG Min, LI Li-Ping. Analysis on the driving forces of methane emissions from solid waste treatment in G7 countries[J]. Climate Change Research, 2023, 19(5): 573-581.

Figures/Tables 6

Fig. 1 Changes in global methane emissions from 1970 to 2021

Fig. 2 Trends in methane emissions from solid waste treatment in G7 countries in 1970-2021

Table 1 The peaking information of methane emissions from solid waste treatment in G7 countries

Table 2 Methane reduction policies and measures from solid waste treatment in G7 countries and China[8]

Fig. 3 The decoupling status between methane emissions from solid waste treatment and economic development in G7 countries

Fig. 4 The results of LMDI decomposition

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