User behavior, influence factors, and impacts on real-world pollutant emissions from the household heating stoves in rural China

A comprehensive review of the production, adoption and sustained use of biomass pellets in Ghana

Ghana's Renewable Energy Master Plan of 2019 includes the production and use of biomass pellets. However, pellets have neither been developed commercially nor included in Ghana's energy mix. This paper reviewed the prospect of production, adoption and sustained use of pellets in Ghana. Besides having abundant biomass resources, Ghana has high market demand and relevant policies for pellet development. The production of pellets can significantly replace traditional household biomass demand and improve environmental and health quality. However, the production and use of pellets are limited due to technical, financial, social and policy issues. Our estimates show that 3% of the annual national average household income will be spent on pellet demand for cooking, with the highest burden on rural households in Ghana. Practical measures are required since the cost of pellets and gasifier stoves may limit pellet adoption and use in Ghana. Based on study findings, it is recommended that the government of Ghana establishes a robust supply chain and provides infrastructure for pellet production and use. Existing renewable energy policies should be reviewed to remove ambiguities, attract investment, and build capacity in the renewable energy sector. Apart from raising public awareness of the benefits of pellets use, the government of Ghana should ensure that continuous and thorough impact assessments are undertaken to assess the implications of pellet production and use. This review will inform policymaking on achieving sustainable production, adoption and use of pellets and assess Ghana's contribution to achieving the United Nations' sustainable development goals.

City-Level Determinants of Household CO2 Emissions per Person: An Empirical Study Based on a Large Survey in China

Studies have shown that household consumption accounts for more than 60% of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Reducing household CO2 emissions (HCEs) can help combat climate change globally and can provide a wide range of environmental, financial and public health benefits. Here, we present data from a large survey on 14,928 households in eighty-eight Chinese cities to investigate the spatial patterns in HCEs per person (PHCEs) and the drivers behind these patterns based on a multi-scale geographically weighted regression (MGWR) model. We found that higher PHCEs were mainly in northern cities with a severe and cold climate. Our findings suggest that PHCEs could be modeled as a function of household size, education level, income level, consumption tendency and HCEs intensity. HCEs intensity was identified as the most important determinant, and its effect increased from eastern cities to central and western cities in China. The quantification of city-level PHCEs and their drivers help policy makers to make fair and equitable GHG mitigation polices, and they help achieve many of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, including affordable and clean energy, sustainable cities and communities, and climate action.