Frontiers in Energy - Call for papers:"Toward carbon neutrality: Innovative energy and resource management"
1. Call for papers for a Special Issue of Frontiers in Energy
Carbon neutrality refers to net-zero anthropogenic greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, mostly CO2 emissions. Achieving carbon neutrality by the middle of the 21st century is critical for limiting global warming to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). Carbon neutrality has attracted global attention. More than 120 countries have set their carbon neutrality targets. These countries contribute to more than half of the global CO2 emission in total.
Currently, the energy system contributes to about two thirds of the global GHG emission, which indicates that efficient energy system management is the key to achieving carbon neutrality (International Energy Agency, 2018). Many relevant studies have been conducted, covering energy efficiency improvement development, renewable energy, etc., some of which indicate that the lock-in effect of the existing energy system jeopardizes the 1.5°C target (Cui et al., 2019; Tong et al., 2019). The International Energy Agency also illustrates that although it is feasible, achieving the 1.5°C target is extremely challenging and requires all the countries to take immediate action (International Energy Agency, 2021). Consequently, it is critical to reform the existing energy system so that it can facilitate the implementation of carbon neutrality targets.
To date, many energy system transition pathways at regional or global levels have been proposed based on different socio-economic and technological scenarios (Guan et al., 2012). However, there is a lack of consensus on these pathways. It is difficult for policymakers to choose a suitable one from very different pathways, especially when some of them lack feasibility, or even contradict each other. These differences or contradictions can be explained by different assumptions and treatments for key factors such as resource constraints, conflicts of different goals, and uncertainties in future technological progress (Duan et al., 2021).
To address these concerns, more comprehensive studies should be initiated to facilitate innovative energy and resource management so that appropriate transition pathways can be identified. Firstly, both low carbon technologies and negative emission technologies rely on a large amount of virgin materials and may be limited by sufficient material supply. For example, several rare earth elements are necessary for renewable power technologies (e.g., wind power and solar power), but their supply has been restricted due to imbalanced and scarce geological concentrations (Li et al., 2020). The economic cost is another factor influencing carbon neutrality. Achieving carbon neutrality requires a large amount of investment in energy infrastructure, technologies, etc (Wei et al., 2021). Most developing countries may not be able to provide sufficient financial support. Meanwhile, the pursuit of sustainable development goals (SDGs) also requires another global effort. However, several SDGs may have conflicts with the carbon neutrality targets (Xu et al., 2020). Therefore, the tradeoffs between carbon neutrality and SDGs deserve more academic studies. In addition, achieving carbon neutrality requires a profound transformation of economic and technological development, leading to a need for joint efforts from governments, enterprises, and individuals (Geng et al., 2019; Geng et al., 2013). However, the coordination of different interests, benefits and ethical considerations among different stakeholders still poses a big challenge.
In order to address these issues, this special issue aims to provide a platform for researchers, policy makers, entrepreneurs, and the general public to share their outstanding research outcomes so that valuable insights can be obtained for preparing appropriate mitigation policies. Authors are invited to submit their papers to present their innovative strategies, policies, methods, and behavior aspects for achieving carbon neutrality.
2. Topic areas
The Editorial Team encourages submissions with a target-oriented research framework, which focuses on pathways, policies, and models for carbon neutrality at both regional and global levels. The Editorial Team welcomes review papers, research papers, and case studies that include but are not restricted to the following topics:
National and regional carbon neutrality policiesEnergy demand forecasting and energy system modeling toward carbon neutralityResource and material constraints towards carbon neutralityResource efficiency improvement and circular economy in the context of carbon neutralityEnergy security in the context of high-penetration renewable energyImpact of energy system transition toward carbon neutralityBehavioural changes toward carbon neutralityInvestment for carbon neutrality and corresponding environmental impacts
3. Tentative schedule for this Special Issue
Prospective authors are expected to submit an abstract of 500 words to Professor Yong Geng (ygeng@sjtu.edu.cn) before August 31, 2021.The Editorial Team of the Special Issue is to reply to prospective authors before September 15, 2021.Prospective authors are expected to submit their ‘peer-review ready’ manuscript via the ScholarOne system before December 31, 2021.The peer review/paper revision process is to be completed by March 31, 2022.Prospective authors are expected to submit the final manuscript before June 30, 2022.The Special Issue is expected to be published in September, 2022.
4. Contributions
Full papers are invited for potential publication in this Special Issue of Frontiers in Energy. Submissions should be between 9000 and 13000 words for comprehensive reviews, between 7000 and 8500 words for full research/theoretical papers with broad empirical studies and between 4000 and 5000 words for case studies. All should be developed based upon the editorial and formatting guidelines provided in the instructions for authors for Frontiers in Energy, which can be accessed from the website: http://journal.hep.com.cn/fie/EN/column/column257.shtml.
Upon receipt of the manuscripts, three to six independent reviewers will be invited to provide peer reviews for each manuscript. Upon receipt and acceptance of the author’s revised or re-revised manuscript, all manuscripts will be published in this Special Issue of Frontiers in Energy titled: ‘Carbon Neutrality’.
Papers must be written in fluent English. Authors with limitations in the command of written English are recommended to have their papers edited by a Native English Science Editor before the first submission because poorly written pieces can compromise the decisions during the review process. Similarly, they should have their final document edited by a Native English Science Editor before submission to the journal.
Guest Editor Team:
Professor Yong Geng, School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, E-mail: ygeng@sjtu.edu.cn (this opens in a new tab)
Professor Raimund Bleischwitz, The Bartlett School of Environment, Energy and Resources, University College London, E-mail: r.bleishcwitz@ucl.ac.uk (this opens in a new tab);
Professor Anthony S.F. Chiu, Industrial & Systems Engineering Department, Gokongwei College of Engineering, De La Salle University, Manila, Phillipine, E-mail: anthony.chiu@dlsu.edu.ph (this opens in a new tab)
Dr. Wendong Wei, School of International and Public Affairs, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, E-mail: wendongwei@sjtu.edu.cn (this opens in a new tab)
Dr. Han Hao, Tsinghua-Rio Tinto Joint Research Center for Resources Energy and Sustainable Development, Tsinghua University, E-mail: hao@tsinghua.edu.cn (this opens in a new tab)
References
Cui, R.Y., Hultman, N., Edwards, M.R., He, L., Sen, A., Surana, K., McJeon, H., Iyer, G., Patel, P., Yu, S., et al. (2019). Quantifying operational lifetimes for coal power plants under the Paris goals. Nat Commun 10, 4759.
Duan, H., Zhou, S., Jiang, K., Bertram, C., Harmsen, M., Kriegler, E., Vuuren, D.P.v., Wang, S., Fujimori, S., Tavoni, M., et al. (2021). Assessing China’s efforts to pursue the 1.5°C warming limit. Science 372, 378.
Geng, Y., Sarkis, J., and Bleischwitz, R. (2019). How to globalize the circular economy. Nature 565, 153–155.
Geng, Y., Sarkis, J., Ulgiati, S., and Zhang, P. (2013). Measuring China’s circular economy. Science 339, 1526–1527.
Guan, D., Liu, Z., Geng, Y., Lindner, S., and Hubacek, K. (2012). The gigatonne gap in China’s carbon dioxide inventories. Nat Clim Change 2, 672–675.
International Energy Agency (2018). CO2 emissions from fuel combustion highlights (2018 Edition).
International Energy Agency (2021). Net Zero by 2050: A Roadmap for the Global Energy Sector.
Li, J., Peng, K., Wang, P., Zhang, N., Feng, K., Guan, D., Meng, J., Wei, W., and Yang, Q. (2020). Critical Rare-Earth Elements Mismatch Global Wind-Power Ambitions. One Earth 3, 116–125.
Tong, D., Zhang, Q., Zheng, Y., Caldeira, K., Shearer, C., Hong, C., Qin, Y., and Davis, S.J. (2019). Committed emissions from existing energy infrastructure jeopardize 1.5°C climate target. Nature 572, 373–377.
Wei, W., Li, J., Chen, B., Wang, M., Zhang, P., Guan, D., Meng, J., Qian, H., Cheng, Y., Kang, C., et al. (2021). Embodied greenhouse gas emissions from building China’s large-scale power transmission infrastructure. Nature Sustainability.
Xu, Z., Chau, S.N., Chen, X., Zhang, J., Li, Y., Dietz, T., Wang, J., Winkler, J.A., Fan, F., Huang, B., et al. (2020). Assessing progress towards sustainable development over space and time. Nature 577, 74–78.