Spatiotemporal heterogeneities of carbon emissions and driving factors of railway sector in China

LI Min; ZHU Zhiyao; LIU Qin; DU Pengbo; XIONG Xin; SUN Jiazhen; WANG Yinsheng

doi:10.13205/j.hjgc.202605023

Volume 44 Issue 5

May 2026

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Article Navigation > ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING > 2026 > 44(5): 225-235

LI Min, ZHU Zhiyao, LIU Qin, DU Pengbo, XIONG Xin, SUN Jiazhen, WANG Yinsheng. Spatiotemporal heterogeneities of carbon emissions and driving factors of railway sector in China[J]. ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING , 2026, 44(5): 225-235. doi: 10.13205/j.hjgc.202605023

Citation:

LI Min, ZHU Zhiyao, LIU Qin, DU Pengbo, XIONG Xin, SUN Jiazhen, WANG Yinsheng. Spatiotemporal heterogeneities of carbon emissions and driving factors of railway sector in China[J]. ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING , 2026, 44(5): 225-235. doi: 10.13205/j.hjgc.202605023

Citation:

LI Min, ZHU Zhiyao, LIU Qin, DU Pengbo, XIONG Xin, SUN Jiazhen, WANG Yinsheng. Spatiotemporal heterogeneities of carbon emissions and driving factors of railway sector in China[J]. ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING , 2026, 44(5): 225-235. doi: 10.13205/j.hjgc.202605023

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Spatiotemporal heterogeneities of carbon emissions and driving factors of railway sector in China

doi: 10.13205/j.hjgc.202605023

1. China Railway Academy Group Co., Ltd., Chengdu 610031, China;
2. School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Southwest Jiaotong University, Chengdu 611756, China

Received Date: 2024-12-20
Available Online: 2026-06-06

Abstract

Abstract

Identifying the characteristics of carbon emissions and driving forces of the railway sector is essential for formulating effective measures to develop a green and low-carbon railway industry. It is of great importance for the achievement of national strategic goals such as “a country with strong transportation network” and “carbon peak and carbon neutrality”. This study systematically evaluated the direct and indirect carbon emissions from 2016 to 2021 generated by the railway sector of China， and analyzed the spatiotemporal dynamic changes of the carbon emissions. On this basis， by adopting the LMDI model， the key factors affecting the carbon emissions of railway sector were discerned. Moreover， the variations in the dominant factors of the carbon emissions over time， and the spatial heterogeneities in the dominant factors of the carbon emissions of the 18 railway bureaus， were analyzed. The results show that： 1）During the periods from 2016 to 2021， the carbon emissions of China's railway sector showed an overall upward trend， increasing from 57.7486 million tons to 64.2084 million tons， by 11.2%. The Shanghai Bureau， Beijing Bureau， Zhengzhou Bureau， Chengdu Bureau and Guangzhou Bureau substantially contributed to the increases of railway carbon emissions. In spatial， the carbon emissions of the 18 railway bureaus were characterized by lower emissions in the west and higher emissions in the east， mainly due to the regional differences in the socio-economic development， industrial structure and population density； 2）During 2016 to 2021， the decline in energy consumption intensity reduced the carbon emissions of the railway sector by 18.8654 million tons， while the changes in carbon emission intensity， economic benefits of per unit passenger and freight turnover， and operating capacity led to an increase of a sum of 25.3252 million tons of carbon emissions. When decomposing the contributions of each factor by sub-periods， it can be found that the impacts of these factors on the carbon emissions changed over time. Only the factor of carbon emission intensity showed a promoting effect in all sub-periods， the other three factors， as energy consumption intensity， economic benefits of per unit passenger and freight turnover， and operating capacity， had a conversion between promoting and inhibiting effects in different sub-periods. 3）Due to the differences in regional socio-economic development， population density， industrial structure and energy structure， the dominant influencing factors of carbon emissions of 18 railway bureaus were different. For the railway bureaus with high passenger and freight volume， the increase in operating capacity was the main reason for the increasing carbon emissions. For the railway bureaus with rapid socio-economic development level， the economic benefit of unit passenger and freight turnover was the main factor to promote the increase in carbon emissions. 4）The carbon emissions of railway sector can be reduced by measures of cutting down the empty-loading ratio， optimizing the energy structure， and the differentiation strategy considering the real situation of each railway bureau.
- railway sector,
- carbon emissions,
- spatiotemporal heterogeneities,
- LMDI,
- driving forces

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References(33)

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