Carbon Flows in Sweden : A Substance Flow Analysis of anthropogenic carbon flows
Sammanfattning: Carbon (C) is an essential element for all life. However, modern livestock keeping and usage of carbon through burning of fossil fuels are resulting in increased concentrations of carbon dioxide and methane in the atmosphere, two important greenhouse gases (GHG). Rising concentrations of GHGs in the atmosphere is one of the world’s most pressing issues and is evidently resulting in rising global temperatures. Nations are fighting to reach net zero emissions of carbon dioxide, and Sweden has set out to have net zero emissions by 2045. To reach this goal, system changes are needed over all sectors in Sweden. The aim of this study is therefore to provide a holistic picture of anthropogenic carbon flows, sources and sinks in Sweden to contribute to a better understanding of the functioning of the Swedish anthropogenic carbon system. This is done by quantifying the most significant anthropogenic carbon sources, flows, and sinks, and visualise them in substance flow charts. The results from this study will thus provide insight into the functioning of the Swedish anthropogenic carbon system. Through the practical usage of Substance Flow Analysis, this study identifies and quantifies anthropogenic carbon flows between the sectors set out by the 2006 IPCC Guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories; (i) Agriculture, Forestry and Other Land Use (AFOLU), (ii) Industrial Processes and Product Use (IPPU), (iii) Energy, and (iv) Waste. The study also regards imports, exports, extractions from the lithosphere, and emissions to the atmosphere. Furthermore, the study analyses and visualises how carbon flows between different activities within each above-mentioned sector. The major identified carbon flows occur in the Energy sector, the IPPU sector, and the AFOLU sector. In the Energy sector, transportation and electricity production & domestic heating are the main contributing activities to emissions of carbon, and in the IPPU sector, industrial processing is subjected to the largest carbon flows. The carbon flows related to the transportation, electricity production & domestic heating and industrial processing activities depend largely on fossil carbon. Targeting these activities with measures to reduce fossil fuels could potentially have positive trade-off effects on the Swedish anthropogenic carbon system. The forestry activity in the AFOLU sector act as an important carbon sink, through capturing significant amounts of carbon each year. The result from this study provides a holistic visualisation of the Swedish carbon flows, sources and sinks that occur from anthropogenic activities. It can be used as tool to describe the relation between different sectors and activities, and it contributed to an understanding of the functioning of the Swedish anthropogenic carbon system.
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