Publications

The concept of city carbon maps: A case study of Melbourne, Australia

Research article by Thomas Wiedmann, John Barrett on 12 Oct 2015

Cities are thought to be associated with most of humanity’s consumption of natural resources and impacts on the environment. Cities not only constitute major centers of economic activity, knowledge, innovation, and governance—they are also said to be linked to approximately 70% to 80% of global carbon dioxide emissions. This makes cities primary agents of change […]




To what extent can China’s near-term air pollution control policy protect air quality and human health? A case study of the Pearl River Delta region

Research article by Dabo Guan, Andy Gouldson, Q. Zhang on 8 Oct 2015

Following a series of extreme air pollution events, the Chinese government released the Air Pollution Prevention and Control Action Plan in 2013 (China’s State Council 2013). The Action Plan sets clear goals for key regions (i.e. cities above the prefecture level, Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Province, the Yangtze River Delta and the Pearl River Delta) and establishes near-term […]


Construction sector views on low carbon building materials

Research article by Peter Taylor on 7 Oct 2015

Giesekam J, Barrett JR, Taylor P (2015). In: Building Research and Information. Abstract As is the case in a number of countries, the UK construction industry faces the challenge of expanding production whilst making ambitious greenhouse gas emission reductions. Embodied carbon constitutes a growing proportion of whole-life carbon emissions and accounts for a significant share […]


Construction sector views on low carbon building materials

Research article by John Barrett, Peter Taylor on 7 Oct 2015

As is the case in a number of countries, the UK construction industry faces the challenge of expanding production whilst making ambitious greenhouse gas emission reductions. Embodied carbon constitutes a growing proportion of whole-life carbon emissions and accounts for a significant share of total UK emissions. A key mitigation strategy is increasing the use of […]





Understanding China’s past and future energy demand: An exergy efficiency and decomposition analysis

Research article by Paul E. Brockway, Julia Steinberger, John Barrett, Tim Foxon on 1 Oct 2015

There are very few useful work and exergy analysis studies for China, and fewer still that consider how the results inform drivers of past and future energy consumption. This is surprising: China is the world’s largest energy consumer, whilst exergy analysis provides a robust thermodynamic framework for analysing the technical efficiency of energy use. In […]