The China Carbon Watch (CCW) system: A rapid accounting of household carbon emissions in China at the provincial level

Abstract

A large proportion of carbon emissions emitted by human activities is from the household sector. Efforts to control such carbon emissions need a timely accounting. We attempt to establish a rapid accounting China Carbon Watch (CCW) system, through which we use an alternative solution for accounting household carbon emissions in China by applying monthly nighttime light (NTL) data. The compiled carbon emission accounting method is considered as timely with high accuracy by employing a 1-km grid dataset built from point-emission sources. The heterogeneities of carbon emissions in both urban and rural sectors are presented. Furthermore, this research calculates monthly data of urban and rural household carbon emissions at the provincial level from January to May 2020. Results show that the overall household carbon emissions slightly increased during the COVID-19 forced confinement due to the closure of international borders and the confinement of urbanists with significant heterogeneity between provinces.