• Journal of Korea Trade
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.58-74
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• 2021

Purpose - This paper research on the embodied carbon emission in Sino-Korea trade. It calculates and analyzes the carbon emission coefficient and specific carbon emissions in Sino-Korea trade from 2005 to 2014. Design/methodology - This paper conducted an empirical analysis for embodied carbon emission in Sino-Korea trade during the years 2005-2014, using a multi-region input-output model. First, direct and complete CO2 emission coefficient of the two countries were calculated and compared. On this basis, combined with the world input-output table, the annual import and export volume and sector volume of embodied carbon emission are determined. Then through the comparative analysis of the empirical results, the reasons for the carbon imbalance in Sino-Korea trade are clarified, and the corresponding suggestions are put forward according to the environmental protection policies being implemented by the two countries. Findings - The results show that South Korea is in the state of net trade export and net embodied carbon import. The carbon emission coefficient of most sectors in South Korea is lower than that of China. However, the reduction of carbon emission coefficient in China is significantly faster than that in South Korea in this decade. The change of Korea's complete CO2 emission coefficient shows that policy factors have a great impact on environmental protection. The proportion of intra industry trade between China and South Korea is relatively large and concentrated in mechanical and electrical products, chemical products, etc. These sectors generally have large carbon emissions, which need to be noticed by both countries. Originality/value - To the best knowledge of the authors, this study is the first attempt to research the embodied carbon emission of ten consecutive years in Sino-Korea Trade. In addition, In this paper, some mathematical methods are used to overcome the error problem caused by different statistical caliber in different databases. Finally, the accurate measurement of carbon level in bilateral trade will provide some reference for trade development and environmental protection.

• East Asian Economic Review
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• v.28 no.1
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• pp.37-67
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• 2024

This paper analyses carbon emissions and value-added embodied in trade between two large developed countries, South Korea and the United States, during 2000-2014. Using multi-regional input-output (MRIO) tables, our analysis reveals that carbon emissions and value-added embodied in exports grew by 19% and 101% for South Korea but shrank by 43% and 7% for the United States. As a result, South Korea experienced a 40% increase in net carbon exports and 243% increase in net value-added exports. At the industry level, the primary drivers of changes in carbon exports were electricity and basic materials. The majority of industries in witnessed improvements in carbon intensities suggesting improved environmental efficiency. While both countries achieved a decoupling of carbon emissions from value-added exports, substantial year-to-year and sectoral variations were observed. Finally, structural decomposition analysis indicates that domestic supply-side factors played a role in decreasing emissions whereas foreign demand-side factors contributed to emissions increases. In line with the main findings, various implications for policy and future research are discussed.

• International conference on construction engineering and project management
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• 2017.10a
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• pp.14-23
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• 2017

In high-density high-rise cities such as Hong Kong, buildings account for nearly 90% of energy consumption and 61% of carbon emissions. Therefore, it is important to study the design of buildings, especially high-rise buildings, to achieve lower carbon emissions in the city. The carbon emissions of a building consist of embodied carbon from the production of construction materials and operational carbon from energy consumption during daily operation (e.g., air-conditioning and lighting). An integrated analysis of both types of carbon emissions can strengthen the design of low carbon buildings, but most of the previous studies concentrated mainly on either embodied or operational carbon. Therefore, the primary objective of this study is to develop a holistic methodology framework considering both embodied and operational carbon, in order to enhance the sustainable design of low carbon high-rise buildings. The framework will be based on the building information modeling (BIM) technology because BIM can be integrated with simulation systems and digital models of different disciplines, thereby enabling a holistic design and assessment of low carbon buildings. Structural analysis program is first coupled with BIM to validate the structural performance of a building design. The amounts of construction materials and embodied carbon are then quantified by a BIM-based program using the Dynamo programming interface. Operational carbon is quantified by energy simulation software based on the green building extensible Markup Language (gbXML) file from BIM. Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) will be applied to analyze the ambient wind effect on indoor temperature and operational carbon. The BIM-based framework serves as a decision support tool to compare and explore more environmentally-sustainable design options to help reduce the carbon emissions in buildings.

• Environmental and Resource Economics Review
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.141-164
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• 2015

The concept of consumption-based greenhouse gas (GHG) inventory is directly related with the carbon content of international trade. Along the lines of the consumption-based GHG inventory, we investigate domestic and foreign carbon contents embodied in sectoral exports of Korea. In addition to the analysis of carbon content of exports, it is investigated how much share of responsibility for carbon emissions of Korea belongs to each major trading partner of Korea. We also compute the carbon intensities of Korean exports in carbon chain with other trading partners and find some characteristics revealed in Korea's carbon emissions embodied in its exports.

• Advances in Computational Design
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• v.3 no.4
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• pp.385-404
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• 2018

The study investigated an area of sustainable structural design that is often overlooked in practical engineering applications. Specifically, a novel method to simultaneously optimise the cost and embodied carbon performance of steel building structures was explored in this paper. To achieve this, a parametric design model was developed to analyse code compliant structural configurations based on project specific constraints and rigorous testing of various steel beam sections, floor construction typologies (precast or composite) and column layouts that could not be performed manually by engineering practitioners. Detailed objective functions were embedded in the model to compute the cost and life cycle carbon emissions of the different material types used in the structure. Results from a comparative numerical analysis of a real case study illustrated that the proposed optimisation approach could guide structural engineers towards areas of the solution space with realistic design configurations, enabling them to effectively evaluate trade-offs between cost and carbon performance. This significant contribution implied that the optimisation model could reduce the time required for the design and analysis of multiple structural configurations especially during the early stages of a project. Overall, the paper suggested that the deployment of automated design procedures can enhance the quality as well as the efficiency of the optimisation analysis.

• Environmental and Resource Economics Review
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.31-52
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• 2013

The recent analyses of carbon emissions embodied in international trade are related with discussions on who is responsible for the carbon emissions causing global warming. Some authors insist that the countries importing carbon-intensive goods should share the responsibility with the suppliers of those goods. In order to determine which countries are net importers of carbon dioxide embodied in traded goods, we need to construct the multi-regional input-output (MRIO) model incorporating national input-output tables and data on bilateral trades. The paper calculates consumption-based as well as production-based inventories by using MRIO model whose global database is GTAP version 8 to get the picture of carbon footprints in international trades of Korea and other regions in the world.

• International Journal of High-Rise Buildings
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.121-128
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• 2023

Cities cover only 3% of the planet's surface, yet they are responsible for more than 75% of the global emissions. Given the projected urban built area will double by 2060, the carbon emitted from cities will further increase. SOM proposes the Urban Sequoia concept, for buildings that go beyond 'net zero' and absorb carbon from the atmosphere. This concept combines multiple strategies, including the use of an optimised building form with a highly efficient structural system, modularized prefabrication techniques, holistic integration of facade, MEP and interiors' components, bio-based materials, and Direct Air Capture (DAC) technology, to reduce a 40-storey building's whole life cycle carbon emissions by more than 300% over a 100-year lifespan. Calculations of embodied carbon emissions are performed with SOM's in-house Environmental Analysis (EA) Tool to demonstrate the effectiveness of employing Urban Sequoia's design strategies in the design of new buildings using current technologies.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Geothermal and Hydrothermal Energy
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• v.19 no.4
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• pp.18-26
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• 2023

Green-remodeling is to improve the energy performance of existing buildings that have been aged for more than 15 years since completion. In order to achieve the national greenhouse gas emission reduction plan in the building sector, it is necessary to analyze the carbon reduction effect by considering the internal carbon emissions that may occur during green-remodeling of old buildings. This study analyzed the effects of energy reduction and carbon emission reduction when green-remodeling was applied to old health centers constructed in 1992. When applying green-remodeling, the carbon emission reduction effect considered the embodied carbon emission of the improvement items and the carbon emission at the building operation stage. When applying green-remodeling to existing buildings, energy consumption was reduced by 39.3%, and carbon emissions were reduced by 48.9% after 27 years of green-remodeling. In order to reduce carbon emissions, it was important to apply a renewable system as an item to improve the performance of green-remodeling. In particular, it was confirmed that it is very important to consider the photovoltaic system as a top priority for the carbon emission reduction.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.26 no.2
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• pp.373-384
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• 2016

The membrane-aerated biofilm reactor (MABR) is a promising municipal wastewater treatment process. In this study, two cross-flow MABRs were constructed to explore the carbon and nitrogen removal performance and bacterial succession, along with changes of influent loading shock comprising flow velocity, COD, and NH₄-N concentrations. Redundancy analysis revealed that the function of high flow velocity was mainly embodied in facilitating contaminants diffusion and biosorption rather than the success of overall bacterial populations (p > 0.05). In contrast, the influent NH₄-N concentration contributed most to the variance of reactor efficiency and community structure (p < 0.05). Pyrosequencing results showed that Anaerolineae, and Beta- and Alphaproteobacteria were the dominant groups in biofilms for COD and NH₄-N removal. Among the identified genera, Nitrosomonas and Nitrospira were the main nitrifiers, and Hyphomicrobium, Hydrogenophaga, and Rhodobacter were the key denitrifiers. Meanwhile, principal component analysis indicated that bacterial shift in MABR was probably the combination of stochastic and deterministic processes.

• New & Renewable Energy
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• v.6 no.4
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• pp.15-29
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• 2010

In order to make the best choice for $CO_2$ abatement using renewable energy technologies, it is important to be able to adapt these technologies on the basis of their sustainability, which may include a variety of environmental indicators. This study examined the comparative sustainability of renewable technologies in terms of their life cycle $CO_2$ emissions and embodied energy, using life cycle analysis. The models developed were based on case studies of bioenergy pilot plant in P city of Kyungki province. Final results were total emission of $CO_2$ in Pocheonsi is 670,041 $tCO_2$, around 500,877 $tCO_2$ for electricity and for heat generation, and 169,164 $tCO_2$ for transportation. When used $1,984\;m^3$/day of waste (pig manure etc.) and operated CHP with wood chips of 144,664 ton/year, the $CO_2$ emission in P city was left as is an emission of 449,274 $tCO_2$ and an abatement of $CO_2$ in this region was increased by 32.9%.