Abstract
Carbon footprint analysis method was employed to evaluate the ecological benefits of the straw collection, transportation, and storage system based on the case of Laifa Straw Recycling Company, and the emergy-based carbon emission indicator system was also set up to assess the relationship between input resource and carbon emission. In the condition of collecting 2 × 108 kg of straw production, the carbon emission of the artificial model (7.26 × 103 t CO2eq) and mechanical model (6.11 × 103 t CO2eq) was greatly lower than that of the straw burned in the field (2.78 × 105 t CO2eq). According to the emergy-based carbon emission indicator system, the carbon emission of straw recycling system was mainly triggered from labor input, which could be reduced by adjusting the resource structure. The ratio of carbon emission to environmental loading rate (ELRCO2) and ratio of carbon emission to emergy sustainability index (ESICO2) of the artificial model were 90.75E+6 kgCO2eq and 1.52E+6 kgCO2eq, respectively, which were higher than that of the mechanical model, 55.55E+6 kgCO2eq and 1.22E+6 kgCO2eq. It was obviously that the mechanical model had weaker influence on environmental loading than that of the artificial model and presented promising sustainable development ability in the case of mitigating carbon emissions.
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Data availability
The datasets used and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.
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This study was supported from China Scholarship Council (Grant No. 201808410102), Henan Scientific and Technological Research Program (Grant No. 182102110027).
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Yufeng Sun and Bin Yang designed the study. Yufeng Sun, Jinwei Wang, and Yaping Yue conducted the field survey. Bin Yang, Yapeng Wang, and Zipeng Zheng helped to analyze data. Yufeng Sun and Bin Yang wrote the initial manuscript. Yufeng Sun, Bin Yang, Yapeng Wang, and Wenlong Mu reviewed and revised the manuscript. All the authors read and approved the manuscript.
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Sun, Y., Yang, B., Wang, Y. et al. Carbon footprint analysis of straw collection, transportation, and storage system for power generation in China based on emergy evaluation. Environ Sci Pollut Res 29, 66922–66934 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-022-20525-2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-022-20525-2