A Fine Spatial Resolution Modeling of Urban Carbon Emissions: A Case Study of Shanghai, China

Quantification of fossil fuel carbon dioxide emissions (CEs) at fine space and time resolution is a critical need in climate change research and carbon cycle. Quantifying changes in spatiotemporal patterns of urban CEs is important to understand carbon cycle and development carbon reduction strategies. However, fine resolution spatial data of CEs deficient. This study quantified CEs from 15 types of energy sources, including residential, tertiary, and industrial sectors in Shanghai. Additionally, we mapped the CEs for the three sectors using point of interest data and web crawler technology, which is different from traditional methods. At a resolution of 30 m, the improved CEs data has a higher spatial resolution than existing studies. In addition, the method of this study is better than traditional methods with details and heterogeneity of CEs, the CEs distribution close to reality. The results indicated that there was a consistent increase in CEs during 2000–2015, with a low rate of increase during 2009–2015. The intensity of CEs increased significantly in the outskirts of the city, mainly due to industrial transfer. Moreover, intensity of CEs reduced in city center. Decoupling between the economic development and CEs in the city was observed during in 2000–2015 owing to technological progress and reduction in CEs intensity.