47 research outputs found

    Physical and Monetary Input-Output Analysis: What Makes the Difference?

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    A recent paper in which embodied land appropriation of exports was calculated using a physical input-output model (Ecological Economics 44 (2003) 137-151) initiated a discussion in this journal concerning the conceptual differences between input-output models using a coefficient matrix based on physical input-output tables (PIOTs) in a single unit of mass and input-output models using a coefficient matrix based on monetary input-output tables (MIOTs) extended by a coefficient vector of physical factor inputs per unit of output. In this contribution we argue that the conceptual core of the discrepancies found when comparing outcomes obtained using physical vs. monetary input-output models lies in the assumption of prices and not in the treatment of waste as has been claimed (Ecological Economics 48 (2004) 9-17). We first show that a basic static input-output model with the coefficient matrix derived from a monetary input-output table is equivalent to one where the coefficient matrix is derived from an input-output table in physical units provided that the assumption of unique sectoral prices is satisfied. We then illustrate that the physical input-output table that was used in the original publication does not satisfy the assumption of homogenous sectoral prices, even after the inconsistent treatment of waste in the PIOT is corrected. We show that substantially different results from the physical and the monetary models in fact remain. Finally, we identify and discuss possible reasons for the observed differences in sectoral prices and draw conclusions for the future development of applied physical input-output analysis.

    International comparison of health care carbon footprints

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    Climate change confronts the health care sector with a dual challenge. Accumulating climate impacts are putting an increased burden on the service provision of already stressed health care systems in many regions of the world. At the same time, the Paris agreement requires rapid emission reductions in all sectors of the global economy to stay well below the 2 °C target. This study shows that in OECD countries, China, and India, health care on average accounts for 5% of the national CO2 footprint making the sector comparable in importance to the food sector. Some countries have seen reduced CO2 emissions related to health care despite growing expenditures since 2000, mirroring their economy wide emission trends. The average per capita health carbon footprint across the country sample in 2014 was 0.6 tCO2, varying between 1.51 tCO2/cap in the US and 0.06 tCO2/cap in India. A statistical analysis shows that the carbon intensity of the domestic energy system, the energy intensity of the domestic economy, and health care expenditure together explain half of the variance in per capita health carbon footprints. Our results indicate that important leverage points exist inside and outside the health sector. We discuss our findings in the context of the existing literature on the potentials and challenges of reducing GHG emissions in the health and energy sector.Austrian Climate Research ProgramPeer Reviewe

    Physical and virtual carbon metabolism of global cities

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    Urban activities have profound and lasting effects on the global carbon balance. Here we develop a consistent metabolic approach that combines two complementary carbon accounts, the physical carbon balance and the fossil fuel-derived gaseous carbon footprint, to track carbon coming into, being added to urban stocks, and eventually leaving the city. We find that over 88% of the physical carbon in 16 global cities is imported from outside their urban boundaries, and this outsourcing of carbon is notably amplified by virtual emissions from upstream activities that contribute 33–68% to their total carbon inflows. While 13–33% of the carbon appropriated by cities is immediately combusted and released as CO₂, between 8 and 24% is stored in durable household goods or becomes part of other urban stocks. Inventorying carbon consumed and stored for urban metabolism should be given more credit for the role it can play in stabilizing future global climate
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