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Shuozhou, located northwest of Shanxi Province, is a typical mining city in China. Pingshuo, one of the largest opencast coal mines in China, is located north of Shanxi Province, and east of the Loess Plateau
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In recent years, concern has been increasing regarding the carbon emissions generated by mining activities. China is an extremely large coal producer (3695 Mt/2015) and consumer (3698 Mt/2015), and Shanxi Province (i.e., a major coal-producing province in China) is a crucial element in China’s energy conservation and emission reduction goals. In th...
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... Following the STIRPAT model (Dietz and Rosa, 1997;York et al., 2003) -i.e., the stochastic version of the IPAT model -, the Impact variable (in our case, consumption-based CO2 emissions per capita) is a function of Population, Affluence and Technology: I=PAT. The STIRPAT model is a widely acknowledged formula used to analyse the effect of human and economic activities on the environment (e.g., York et al., 2003;Yang et al., 2021;Schneider, 2022;Liang et al., 2023). To avoid possible collinearity issues, we use population growth as representative of the P factor, and real GDP growth as representative of affluence. ...
... It also contributes to the depletion of the ozone layer and has a positive ecological impact by enhancing warming. CH 4 from coal extraction can be used for electricity or commercial purposes (Ianc et al. 2020;Yang et al. 2021). However, CH 4 concentrations increased 2.5 times from 731 ppb in 1750 to 1890 ppb in 2020 (Nisbet et al. 2019). ...
... It also contributes to the depletion of the ozone layer and has a positive ecological impact by enhancing warming. CH 4 from coal extraction can be used for electricity or commercial purposes (Ianc et al. 2020;Yang et al. 2021). However, CH 4 concentrations increased 2.5 times from 731 ppb in 1750 to 1890 ppb in 2020 (Nisbet et al. 2019). ...
The unprecedented population and anthropogenic activity rise have challenged the future look up for shifts in global temperature and climate patterns. Anthropogenic activities such as land fillings, building dams, wetlands converting to lands, combustion of biomass, deforestation, mining, and the gas and coal industries have directly or indirectly increased catastrophic methane (CH4) emissions at an alarming rate. Methane is 25 times more potent trapping heat when compared to carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere. A rise in atmospheric methane, on a 20-year time scale, has an impact of 80 times greater than that of CO2. With increased population growth, waste generation is rising and is predicted to reach 6 Mt by 2025. CH4 emitted from landfills is a significant source that accounts for 40% of overall global methane emissions. Various mitigation and emissions reduction strategies could significantly reduce the global CH4 burden at a cost comparable to the parallel and necessary CO2 reduction measures, reversing the CH4 burden to pathways that achieve the goals of the Paris Agreement. CH4 mitigation directly benefits climate change, has collateral impacts on the economy, human health, and agriculture, and considerably supports CO2 mitigation. Utilizing the CO2 from the environment, methanogens produce methane and lower their carbon footprint. NGOs and the general public should act on time to overcome atmospheric methane emissions by utilizing the raw source for producing carbon–neutral fuel. However, more research potential is required for green energy production and to consider investigating the untapped potential of methanogens for dependable energy generation.
... Environmental and development disasters are the product of environmental hazards capable of catastrophic impact (whether from the biophysical environment or human activities) and a human or valued natural system that is exposed and vulnerable to the hazard (Aven, 2010;Sajid et al., 2020;IPCC, 2022a). Disaster hazards have highly consequential effects across a range of topics relevant to environmental management and sustainable development including wildlife disease (Beauvais et al., 2019), dam breaches (Jakob et al., 2016), glacial calving and coastal erosion (Overland, 2021), flooding (also due to climate change) and coastal development (Tsoukala et al., 2016), wildfire (Taylor et al., 2013), oil and gas spills (Afenyo et al., 2020;Sajid et al., 2020) and mining (Yang et al., 2021). Indeed, rare events and natural disasters have been recognized as contributing to species declines and extinctions (Penn and Deutsch, 2022), and development disasters (such as oil spills and mine tailings releases) have contributed to environmental devastation and severe social disruption in many contexts (Garcia et al., 2017). ...
While disaster events are consequential, they are rare. Ecological risk assessment processes tend to estimate risk through an “expected value” lens that focuses on the most probable events, which can drastically underappreciate the importance of rare events. Here, we show that expected value and average risk-based calculations underappreciate disaster events through questionable assumptions about equally weighing high probability low impact events with low probability high impact events, and in modeling probability as a chance among an ensemble of possible futures when many contexts of ecological risk assessment are focused on a single entity over time. We propose an update to ecological risk assessment that is specifically inclusive of disaster risk potential by adopting analytical processes that estimate the maximum hazard or impact that might be experienced in the future, borrowing from the practice of modeling “Value at Risk” in financial risk contexts. We show how this approach can be adopted in a variety of data contexts, including situations where no quantitative data is available and risk assessment is based on expert judgement, which is common for ecological risk assessment. Increased exposure to environmental variation requires assessment tools to better prepare for, mitigate, and respond to disasters.
... With the goal of carbon emission reduction required in each production process of open-pit mines, Guoyu Wang et al. (2022) [9] used a multi-objective optimization algorithm to establish a multi-objective carbon emission distribution model for open-pit mines from the perspective of carbon quota allocation, and used this model to provide optimization suggestions for carbon emission quotas in each process link in the production process. Boyu Yang et al. (2021) [10] selected the Pingshuo open pit coal mine in Shanxi Province, China, as a case study object, analyzed the dynamic changes of carbon emissions based on the IPCC method, and used the IPAT equation to analyze the influencing factors of carbon emissions. It is concluded that the carbon emission sources of open-pit mines mainly include the use of fuel and explosives, methane escape from coal mines, spontaneous combustion of coal and gangue, power consumption, and other parts; at the same time, the carbon emissions caused by the open-pit coal mine increased year by year, with an average annual growth rate of 11.64%, of which the carbon emissions of fuel consumption and methane emissions accounted for 41.79% and 46.66%, respectively. ...
... With the goal of carbon emission reduction required in each production process of open-pit mines, Guoyu Wang et al. (2022) [9] used a multi-objective optimization algorithm to establish a multi-objective carbon emission distribution model for open-pit mines from the perspective of carbon quota allocation, and used this model to provide optimization suggestions for carbon emission quotas in each process link in the production process. Boyu Yang et al. (2021) [10] selected the Pingshuo open pit coal mine in Shanxi Province, China, as a case study object, analyzed the dynamic changes of carbon emissions based on the IPCC method, and used the IPAT equation to analyze the influencing factors of carbon emissions. It is concluded that the carbon emission sources of open-pit mines mainly include the use of fuel and explosives, methane escape from coal mines, spontaneous combustion of coal and gangue, power consumption, and other parts; at the same time, the carbon emissions caused by the open-pit coal mine increased year by year, with an average annual growth rate of 11.64%, of which the carbon emissions of fuel consumption and methane emissions accounted for 41.79% and 46.66%, respectively. ...
... √ means the citation has used or studied the methods. [9] √ √ [10] √ √ [11] √ √ √ [15] √ √ ...
At present, the carbon emissions in China’s metal mining industry can be calculated based on the amount of energy consumed in the mining process. However, it is still difficult to predict the carbon emissions before implementation of mining engineering. There are no effective approaches that could reasonably estimate the amount of carbon emissions before mining. To this end, based on the ‘Top–down’ carbon emission accounting method recommended by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), this study proposes a model to predict the greenhouse gases emitted in seven carbon-intensive mining stages, namely, drilling, blasting, ventilation, drainage, air compression, transportation, and backfilling. The contribution of this model is to enable a prediction of the accumulation of greenhouse gases based on the mining preliminary design of mine, rather than on the consumption of energy and materials commonly used in recent research. It also establishes the amount of carbon emissions generated by mining per unit cubic meter of ore rock as the minimum calculation unit for carbon emissions, which allows for the cost and footprint of carbon emissions in the mining process to become clearer. Then, a gold–copper mine is involved as a case study, and the greenhouse gas emissions were predicted employing its preliminary design. Among all the predicted results, the carbon emissions from air compression and ventilation are larger than others, reaching 22.00 kg CO2/m3 and 10.10 kg CO2/m3, respectively. By contrast, the carbon emissions of rock drilling, drainage, and backfilling material pumping are 5.87 kg CO2/m3, 6.80 kg CO2/m3, and 7.79 kg CO2/m3, respectively. To validate the proposed model, the calculation results are compared with the actual energy consumption data of the mine. The estimated overall relative error is only 5.08%. The preliminary predictions of carbon emissions and carbon emission costs in mining before mineral investment were realized, thus helping mining companies to reduce their investment risk.
... It is located in the ecologically fragile area of the Loess Plateau, which is one of the largest and most modernized open-pit coal mining areas in China, including three open-pit coalmines and three underground mines (Fig. 1). This area spans 380 km 2 and is rich in coal resources, with a proven geological reserve of 12.75 billion tons (Yang et al. 2021). The Pingshuo mining area has a temperate semi-arid continental monsoon climate, with cool summers and cold winters. ...
Remote sensing image data of typical mining areas in the Loess Plateau from 1986 to 2018 were used to analyze the evolution of land use, explore the division of carbon sink functional areas, and propose carbon neutrality paths to provide a reference for the coal industry carbon peak, carbon-neutral action plan. Results show that (1) land use has changed significantly in the Pingshuo mining area over the past 30 years. Damaged land in industrial, opencast, stripping, and dumping areas comprises 4482.5 ha of cultivated land, 1648.13 ha of grassland, and 963.49 ha of forestland. (2) The carbon sink functional areas of the Pingshuo mining land is divided into invariant, enhancement, low carbon optimization, and carbon emission control areas. The proportion of carbon sinks in the invariant area is decreasing, whereas the proportion in enhancement, low carbon optimization, and carbon emission control areas is gradually increasing. (3) The carbon neutrality of the mining area must be reduced from the entire process of stripping–mining–transport–disposal–reclamation, and carbon emissions and carbon sink accounting must start from the life cycle of coal resources. Therefore, carbon neutrality in mining areas must follow the 5R principles of reduction, reuse, recycling, redevelopment, and restoration, and attention must be paid to the potential of carbon sinks in ecological protection and restoration projects in the future.
... In 2020, China's raw coal output reached 3.84 billion tons, an increase of 0.9%, accounting for 51% of the world's output (Tai et al., 2020). However, large-scale underground coal mining poses many societal issues (Choudhury et al., 2017;Etteieb et al., 2020) and causes environmental damage (Hu et al., 2015;Yang et al., 2021), such as intensifying "man-cropland" relationship (Ge et al., 2018), and causing surface subsidence (Duo and Hu, 2018;Hu et al., 2014;Wang et al., 2019), drops in cropland yields or even crop unharvestable . On the one hand, more than 81.8% of China's coal production comes from underground coal mining, which has a hazardous impact on cropland (Bian et al., 2012;Choudhury et al., 2020;Feng et al., 2019), but on the other hand, overlaying strata roofs are were controlled by the strike longwall full-caving method, which given rising to the deterioration of the surface eco-environment (Guzy and Malinowska, 2020;Luan et al., 2020;Ren et al., 2020;F. ...
... In addition, the subsidence area has now reached more than 1.5 million hectares and is increasing at a rate of 70,000 ha/year in China . Therefore, the Chinese government is putting an emphasis on land reclamation and ecological restoration of mining areas (Bell et al., 2001;Yang et al., 2021). ...
Coal and cropland resources play a vital role in energy safety and grain supply, respectively. However, the social growth that is driven by coal mining is followed by cropland damage, reductions in grain yields, and human-land conflict, all of which impede the sustainable development of coal mining and food safety. Thus, finding a way to optimize both coal mining and farmland protection in the coal-cropland overlapping area is crucial. In this paper, we constructed theoretical and empirical models to analyze the impact of the working face width on cropland with non-full subsidence based on the extent of cropland damage due to land subsidence caused by mining. Taking the Jining Coalfield with its high groundwater table as an example, this critical land subsidence was discussed based on the groundwater level (reclamation timing), suitable groundwater depth of crop growth, and coal mining efficiency. In addition, the reasons for surface ponding were analyzed caused by underground coal mining. The results showed that the surface ponding's anthropogenic item and internal factors are mining-induced land subsidence and the high groundwater table, respectively. These joint factors raise the groundwater level and lead to grainland damages which can be divided into four categories based on their extents (no effect, slight-reduction in yield, moderate-reduction in yield, and no harvest). Critical subsidence caused by mining width could optimize the groundwater depth or cropland damage. The calculated results from both models of the eight coal mines showed that the average mean deviation was 3.93%. The calculated results from the models were reliable, while the empirical model had fewer parameters and an easily calculable simple formula. The proposed optimal framework verified that the mining width needed to be reduced to 134m, 126m or 116m, 112m based on the groundwater depth or the damaged farmland in the Xinglongzhuang Coal Mine. The optimal framework will be of great significance for providing scientific references as to why the sustainable development of coal mining and grainland protection has been chosen.
... The sustainable use of oil through cleaner technologies would help in the shift from nonrenewable to renewable fuels. These results are in line with those of earlier studies by Anser et al. [60], Yang et al. [61], Huang et al. [62], Lei et al. [63], and Kanaboshi et al. [64]. Coal combustion adversely impacts community health [60], and needs to apply cleaner technologies in coal mining sites and improve refinement and operational processes [61]. ...
... These results are in line with those of earlier studies by Anser et al. [60], Yang et al. [61], Huang et al. [62], Lei et al. [63], and Kanaboshi et al. [64]. Coal combustion adversely impacts community health [60], and needs to apply cleaner technologies in coal mining sites and improve refinement and operational processes [61]. The need to operationalize and construct oil pipelines opens new avenues of energy-saving and carbon reduction targets [62]. ...
The global energy mix is shifting from fossil fuels to combinations of multiple energy storage and generation types. Hybrid energy system advancements provide opportunities for developing and deploying innovative green technology solutions that can further reduce emissions and achieve net-zero emissions by 2050. This study examined the impact of an increasing share of wind and solar electricity production on reducing carbon intensity by controlling coal and lignite domestic consumption and the production of refined oil products in a world aggregated data panel. Data covering the last three decades were used for the analysis by the ARDL bounds testing approach. The results showed that an increasing share of wind and solar electricity production would be helpful to decrease carbon intensity in the short and long term. On the other hand, a 1% increase in coal and domestic lignite consumption increased carbon intensity by 0.343% in the short run and 0.174% in the long run. The production of refined oil products decreases carbon intensity by 0.510% in the short run and 0.700% in the long run. However, refining oil products is associated with positive and negative environmental externalities. The positive aspect depends upon the removal of harmful pollutants and the production of cleaner-burning fuels, while the negative part is related to the operational side of refineries and processing plants that may release contaminants into the atmosphere, affecting global air and water quality. Hence, it is crucial to improve processing and refining capacity to produce better-refined oil products by using renewable fuels in energy production. It is proposed that these are the most cost-effective pathways to achieve industrial decarbonization.
In response to the long-standing environmental problems caused by mining, some green mining concepts and policies have been gradually developed. Nowadays, under the goal of carbon peaking and carbon neutrality, green mining is facing some new requirements such as low carbon production and ecological mining. It is necessary to explore the critical directions and key issues of green mining in the new era under the goal of energy saving and emission reduction, and to help the synergistic development of carbon neutrality and green mining. Taking green mining, carbon sources/sinks, emission reduction and sink enhancement as key focuses, through literature review and inductive analysis, the connotation and requirements of green mining under the " dual carbon" goal were summarized, and the research progress on carbon sources/sinks and emission reduction and sink enhancement under the background of green mining was analyzed, the research techniques related to carbon source and carbon sink accounting in mining areas were reviewed, and the strategies
