The high temperatures, long residence times, and alkaline environment of cement kilns enable effective degradation of organic pollutants and stabilization of heavy metals, making them a highly promising solution for industrial hazardous waste disposal. This study investigates a typical co-processing cement kiln plant in China as a case study [Scenario 1 (S1)]. Applying the system expansion method, it evaluates the environmental impacts and benefits of S1 relative to those of conventional cement production combined with independent hazardous waste incineration [Scenario 2 (S2)]. This study innovatively applies a Chinese localized life cycle impact assessment (LCIA) model, based on the Goddard Earth Observing System-Chem atmospheric chemistry transport model and the global exposure mortality model exposure-response model, to analyze the health impacts of fine particulate matter formation (FPMF). The results are then compared with those obtained using the ReCiPe 2016 model. The ReCiPe model shows that S1 outperforms S2, reducing impacts by 3.4%-7.1% across the categories of human health, ecosystem quality, and fossil resource scarcity. Applying the localized LCIA model, yielded an FPMF environmental impact over 3.4 times that calculated by the ReCiPe model, and a total environmental impact over 1.7 times that. This study underscores the need for localized LCIA models with high spatiotemporal resolution to better capture domestic heterogeneity. Such models can enable more precise industrial decision-making and inform policies on seasonal operation strategies, region-specific environmental access mechanisms, and coordinated regional approaches within the hazardous waste co-processing industry.

Sustainable dietary choices can yield synergistic benefits for both human health and the environment, highlighting the importance of recipe-level analysis to provide actionable guidance for consumers. Chinese cuisines are highly diverse and are often classified into regional cuisines, with the Chinese eight cuisines as the most widely recognized grouping. The environmental and health impacts of these diverse cuisines remain unclear. This study quantified the cradle-to-table carbon footprint and nutritional profiles of 320 recipes from the Chinese eight cuisines, covering nine food categories and 13 cooking methods. The results show that the average carbon footprint of the Chinese cuisines was 1,337 (1,224-1,453) g CO₂e, some 60%-73% lower than that of Western meals. Among the eight cuisines, Sichuan Cuisine had the lowest greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, with an average of 1,057 (970-1,144) g CO₂e. The main contributors to GHG emissions from Chinese cuisine were non-ruminant meat production (30%) and cooking (17%). The most common Chinese cooking methods were stir-frying (16 min, 25 g CO₂e, 20-30) and boiling (46 min, 287 g CO₂e, 231-352), both of which generated significantly lower emissions than the Western roasting method (112 min, 1,447-2,127 g CO₂e). A correlation analysis between nutrition and carbon footprint reveals that protein, cholesterol, and niacin were positively correlated with GHG emissions, whereas dietary fiber and carbohydrates showed negative correlations. This study provides standardized recipe-level data characterizing the environmental and nutritional performance of Chinese dishes, providing a scientific basis for promoting carbon labeling policies and the transition to low-carbon diets.

Rising demand for lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) is driven by booming new energy vehicles and grid storage, yet conventional liquid LIBs face thermal runaway risks and high embodied carbon. As a transitional technology between liquid LIBs and all-solid-state batteries, semi-solid-state batteries (SSSBs) deliver outstanding electrochemical performance and match existing production lines, gaining wide industrial and academic attention. Following ISO 14040 and ISO 14044, this study applies life cycle assessment with the China Local Life Cycle Database to evaluate nine environmental indicators of SSSBs within a cradle-to-gate (CTG) scope, including global warming potential, primary energy demand, and abiotic depletion potential. Sensitivity and uncertainty analyses are conducted to validate result reliability. Quantitative outcomes demonstrate that the aggregate CTG carbon footprint of SSSBs totals 133.64 kg CO₂ eq, among which NCM811 cathode materials dominate emissions at a contribution ratio of 81.1%. Raw material logistics generate 0.136 kg CO₂ eq of carbon loads, with cathode transport accounting for 59.2% of logistics emissions. Over 98% of manufacturing greenhouse gas emissions stem from electricity consumption, and cell formation and dry rooms are the most energy-intensive units. Hazardous waste transportation dominates emissions in the waste treatment stage. This work fills the gap of localized industrial life cycle inventories for Chinese SSSBs, identifies key carbon hotspots, and provides low-carbon strategies and theoretical support for production optimization, industrial policy formulation, and national clean energy transition.

An increasing global demand for omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) necessitates the development of sustainable alternatives to traditional fish oil. Thraustochytrids, a group of marine protists, have emerged as a promising microbial source capable of producing high levels of PUFAs. However, the commercial viability of producing PUFA-rich thraustochytrid biomass often is hindered by high media costs. This study explores a sustainable process design using distillery wastewater (DWW) as a low-cost feedstock. A commercial-scale process of the thraustochytrid biomass (TB) production is simulated in DWSIM (a steady-state and dynamic sequential modular chemical process simulator) to establish a validated flowsheet. Mathematical validation is done by calculating the percentage error between the DWSIM simulation and the empirical bench-scale cell dry weight data. Based on the model’s material and energy balances, a comprehensive carbon footprint analysis is conducted to evaluate the environmental sustainability of the system. Analysis identified carbon footprint hotspots from electricity consumption, specifically for the freeze-dryer unit. Alternatives include replacement of the unit to a homogenizer for cell disruption, reducing the footprint to 4.16%, still below the desired 7.5% reduction target. Therefore, more emissions reduction options such as shifting to renewable energy should be explored. This DWSIM-based commercial-scale analysis addresses a critical knowledge gap in microbial PUFA production by quantifying unit operation resource intensities, identifying key environmental hotspots, and providing footprint-reduction strategies essential for translating thraustochytrid cultivation from laboratory to industrial scale.

As wind power capacity continues expanding, its carbon-reduction effectiveness increasingly hinges on the spatiotemporal alignment of production, deployment, and power systems. However, these dimensions are assessed separately, and the role of spatiotemporal interactions in shaping carbon mitigation benefits remains unclear. Here, we develop a spatiotemporal life cycle assessment framework and systematically evaluate the carbon mitigation benefits of global onshore wind power across historical (2014-2023) and future (2025-2060) periods. We show that global wind power achieved cumulative net carbon mitigation benefits of 3,690 Mt CO₂e over 2014-2023, while carbon emissions accounted for 8.5% of the direct carbon mitigation benefits from fossil-fuel electricity displacement. Under counterfactual settings, the climate-priority deployment scenario (C3) increases cumulative mitigation to 53,711 ± 935 Mt CO₂e by 2060, approximately 2.3 times that of the baseline deployment scenario (C1). The clean-oriented production scenario (M3) yields comparatively modest gains, reducing carbon emissions by approximately 14% relative to the baseline production scenario (M1). The spatially diversified production scenario (M2) achieves the lowest transportation emissions, with cumulative reductions of approximately 6% and approximately 24% relative to M1 and M3. Under the baseline and balanced deployment scenarios (C1/C2), annual net mitigation peaks around 2034 and then declines persistently. In some production-deployment combinations, it turns negative by 2060 due to grid decarbonization. Conversely, scenario C3 remains positive throughout 2025-2060. The work provides scientific evidence for enhancing the carbon mitigation effectiveness of wind power development and boosting climate benefits through international coordinated planning, alongside decision support for optimizing wind power deployment and supply chain configurations.

As Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) economies deepen their role in regional and global production networks, carbon responsibility is increasingly shared across production, consumption, and trade systems. This study assesses direct and indirect carbon emissions across nine ASEAN economies from 2017 to 2023 using an environmentally extended multi-regional input-output framework with Logarithmic Mean Divisia Index (LMDI)-based structural decomposition analysis (SDA). Direct, energy-related indirect, and supply chain-related emissions were quantified using Asian Development Bank multi-regional input-output tables and environmental satellite accounts. Emission changes were decomposed into emission intensity, economic system structure, final demand structure, and total final demand effects. Embodied carbon flow matrices traced carbon transfers through intermediate transactions, final demand, ASEAN economies, and the Rest of the World (RoW). Results show that direct emissions increased by 19.76% (2,363.10 to 2,829.95 MtCO₂e), while indirect emissions increased by 7.83% (4,003.85 to 4,317.47 MtCO₂e), with energy-related indirect emissions showing the highest growth rate among the indirect categories at 16.72% (1,176.48 to 1,373.17 MtCO₂e). LMDI-based SDA results indicate that emissions growth was mainly driven by global final demand expansion, while negative emission intensity effects partly offset emission increases in all three categories. Country-sector hotspots included Indonesia’s energy and mining sectors, and Vietnam’s manufacturing sector. Embodied carbon flow results identify manufacturing as the central carbon redistribution hub and energy as a major upstream source. National production chains dominated ASEAN embodied flows, while RoW-linked exchanges were larger than intra-ASEAN exchanges. These findings highlight the need for coordinated regional and country-specific strategies targeting cleaner energy systems, industrial networks, and material supply chains.

As gender equality and low-carbon development have become pressing social issues, researching how gender diversity among corporate executives influences a company’s low-carbon performance can help advance social progress and corporate sustainability. This study analyzes 5,413 Chinese listed companies from 2007 to 2024 to examine the impact of female executives on corporate low-carbon performance and the underlying mechanisms. Furthermore, this study explores the nonlinear relationships among these factors. The results indicate that the presence of female executives generally contributes to reducing corporate carbon emissions. Notably, a U-shaped relationship is observed between the proportion of female executives and corporate carbon emissions, suggesting that there is an optimal range for female executive participation in corporate low-carbon performance, and that achieving a more balanced gender structure is more beneficial. Mechanism analysis indicates that female executives enhance corporate low-carbon performance by fostering green awareness among executive teams, and this effect is amplified in highly competitive markets. Furthermore, heterogeneity analysis reveals that the emission-reduction effect of female executive participation is influenced by firm size and ownership structure, with more pronounced effects observed in large enterprises and state-owned enterprises.

Climate change mitigation is a global challenge. Negative emission technologies (NETs) such as enhanced weathering (EW) are among the promising emerging techniques for CO₂ capture. However, the optimal deployment of EW requires systematic planning tools. In this work, novel algebraic and automated targeting techniques are presented to locate the external outsourced capacity of the EW network. The results of the algebraic and automated targeting techniques may be plotted as the grand composite curve, which has a good visual interface that facilitates planning and discussion. Two examples involving single and multiple regions are solved to elucidate the newly extended methods. When EW sources are integrated across different regions, excess capacity of the EW regions is better utilised, which allows a greater extent of CO₂ capture.

Cement production accounts for about 8% of global CO₂ emissions, making it the largest industrial source in the construction material chain. Replacing cement with industrial by-products (IBPs) in concrete is a core pathway to reducing carbon footprint, but a scientifically sound allocation method is essential for accurately quantifying the carbon reduction contribution of IBPs. At present, the mainstream allocation methods in this field suffer from significant spatial and temporal fluctuations and low accounting stability, which seriously interfere with the accurate assessment of the carbon footprint and carbon emission reduction benefits of concrete incorporating IBPs. This study established an innovative production cost-based economic allocation principle for IBPs carbon footprints, which takes the manufacturing costs of primary industrial products and associated IBPs as the allocation core and considers their operational linkages within the industrial chain. Meanwhile, based on 929 groups of fly ash (FAH) concrete mix proportion data, a life cycle assessment approach was employed to systematically evaluate the carbon footprint characteristics of FAH concrete and quantify its critical transport distances (CTD). The findings indicate that the environmental impacts allocation principle and concrete mix design dominate the carbon footprint reduction potential and CTD of FAH. Low-carbon transportation equipment can significantly expand FAH’s CTD by reducing transport-related carbon footprint, which provides a scientific basis for the rational planning of large-scale promotion and efficient utilization of FAH. The proposed method offers a transferable methodological framework and may be adapted for carbon footprint accounting and carbon emission reduction contribution evaluation of other IBPs.

Carbon dioxide removal (CDR) strategies are central to long-term plans for reaching carbon neutrality, and projections of their mitigation potential underpin national and global carbon accounting. How reliably a strategy delivers that potential depends on how its technology interacts with the natural carbon cycle, and in particular on whether the coupled system can settle into more than one steady state. Throughout, a tipping point means an abrupt transition from one positive steady state of the coupled system to a different one. Multiple steady states are a necessary condition for such a transition since a system with only one has no second state to move to. Such a shift would leave the strategy removing far less CO₂ than projected, invalidating the carbon accounting that justified it, and recovery may be slow. Using Chemical Reaction Network Theory (CRNT), we represent four CDR strategies (biochar sequestration, ocean fertilization, soil carbon sequestration, and wetland restoration) as networks of carbon pools and the transfers between them. From the graphical and kinetic structure of each network alone, without exact rate values, we identify the conditions under which multiple steady states can exist and those under which they are excluded. For ocean fertilization, multiple steady states are guaranteed in one regime of the natural carbon cycle, provided the technology's own reaction sensitivities also meet additional conditions; outside this identified regime, the framework does not rule multistationarity out. Biochar sequestration and soil carbon sequestration share the broadest reach across the regimes in which multiple steady states can occur, reflecting shared features of their networks. Wetland restoration departs most from the others, admitting at most one steady state in a regime where the other three admit multiple. The network-level structure of a CDR system is therefore itself an assessment criterion for the reliability of projected carbon removal, and CRNT offers a parameter-minimal first screen for tipping-point risk, complementing conceptual and numerical carbon-cycle models.