I Ben-Gurion University of the Negev Faculty Of
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BEN-GURION UNIVERSITY OF THE NEGEV FACULTY OF HUMANITIES AND SOCIAL SCIENCES DEPARTMENT OF GEOGRAPHY AND ENVIRONMENTAL DEVELOPMENT SUSTAINABLE CITIES: A NEIGHBOURHOODS CARBON FOOTPRINT ANALYSIS –THE CITY TEL AVIV - JAFFA THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE MASTER OF ARTS DEGREE TAL HAR EVEN LEVY UNDER THE SUPERVISION OF: PROF. MEIDAD KISSINGER APRIL 2020 I BEN- GURION UNIVERSITY OF THE NEGEV THE FACULTY OF HUMANITIES AND SOCIAL SCIENCES DEPARTMENT OF GEOGRAPHY AND ENVIRONMENTAL DEVELOPMENT SUSTAINABLE CITIES: A NEIGHBOURHOODS CARBON FOOTPRINT ANALYSIS –THE CITY TEL AVIV - JAFFA THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE MASTER OF ARTS DEGREE TAL HAR EVEN LEVY UNDER THE SUPERVISION OF: PROF. MEIDAD KISSINGER Signature of student: ________________ Date: _19/04/20_ Signature of supervisor: ________________ Date: _19/04/20_ Signature of chairperson of the committee for graduate studies: _________ Date: _________ APRIL 2020 II Abstract Population growth, lifestyle change and an increase in resource consumption have led to an increase in greenhouse gas emissions, resulting in climate change. Most of the world’s population lives in cities, the urban lifestyle is characterised by excessive materials and energy consumption. Most of the greenhouse gas emissions are emitted directly or indirectly as a result of urban activity. Therefore, the role of cities in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reduction is significant. Many cities around the world are committed to reduce urban emissions. Analysing the source and amount of emission from different urban activities is essential to applying reduction measures. This growing interest in the interaction between urban activity and climate change processes and the understanding of the importance of the city in mitigating the problem have led to the growth and development of various approaches and methods of measuring cities' "carbon footprint" in the last few years. As a result of the increasing interest in the connection urban and climate change processes and the recognition of the importance of the city to reduce the problem, various approaches and methods of urban carbon accounting have developed over the last few years. Carbon is the most important component of greenhouse gases, so it is important to compare the carbon emitted by human activity with carbon fixed by plants in order to promote the principle of sustainability and preserve resources for future generations. This study focuses on the carbon accounting method "carbon footprint". Carbon footprint is the total amount of carbon dioxide (CO2) and other greenhouse gases emitted during the entire lifecycle of a product or process, from extracting the raw material to its decomposition. Carbon footprint is expressed in units of carbon dioxide (CO2eq). IV Until recently, research in the topic and the urban monitoring was in the whole city scale. Neighbourhoods are urban units that attract people with similar socioeconomic characteristics. Recent studies examine the GHG emissions of urban neighbourhoods in order to determine the most appropriate means of reduction, thereby contributing to the reduction of total urban emissions. The study examines the carbon footprint of the domestic sector in the neighbourhoods of Tel Aviv - Jaffa. The consumption components examined in this study are electricity, food and private transportation. After examining the carbon footprint, the study examines the social, economic and spatial characteristics of the neighbourhoods and their relation to the results of the carbon footprint. Finally, the study examines policy measures, technology and behavioural changes and their impact on the reduction of neighbourhood and urban emissions. The research found that the overall annual carbon footprint of Tel Aviv-Jaffa is approximately 1,980,000-ton CO2eq, or the equivalent of 4.6 ton of CO2eq per resident. Electricity consumption related emissions found to be responsible of almost half of the overall urban emissions. The neighbourhoods with the highest CO2eq emissions per person are Glilot Tzuki Aviv and Sde Dov Area - neighbourhood no. 1 (6.8 ton). The scenario with the highest mitigation potential is the electricity based technological scenario with a potential of reducing 6.3% of all urban emissions. V Table of contents 1. Introduction ........................................................................................ 9 2. Literature review .............................................................................. 11 2.1 Measuring GHG Emissions .............................................................................. 11 2.1.1Cities and climate change ........................................................................... 11 2.1.2 Emissions on the household scale .............................................................. 12 2.1.3 Neighbourhood carbon footprint ............................................................... 14 2.2 Approaches for calculating cities’ GHG emissions.......................................... 16 2.3 Socio-economic, demographic and spatial factors’ relation to GHG emissions ................................................................................................................................ 17 2.3.1 Neighbourhood emissions and socio-economic, demographic and spatial factors.................................................................................................................. 19 2.4 Cities working towards climate change mitigation plans ................................. 20 2.4.1 Neighbourhoods GHG emissions reduction plans and scenarios .............. 21 3. Methods ........................................................................................... 27 3.1 The research questions and purpose ................................................................. 27 3.2 The importance of the research ........................................................................ 27 3.3 The place of the research .................................................................................. 28 3.4 Neighbourhoods' carbon footprint analysis ...................................................... 28 3.5 Data collection .................................................................................................. 32 3.6 Processing the data ........................................................................................... 33 3.7 Characterizing the city's neighbourhoods ......................................................... 35 3.7.1 Statistical analysis ...................................................................................... 35 3.8 GHG emissions reduction scenarios ................................................................. 36 3.9 Research assumptions and limitations .............................................................. 37 4. Results .............................................................................................. 39 4.1 Neighbourhood's carbon footprint analysis ...................................................... 39 4.1.1 Total carbon emissions .............................................................................. 39 4.1.2 Electricity ...................................................................................................... 41 4.1.3 Transportation ............................................................................................ 44 4.1.4 Food ........................................................................................................... 46 4.2 Neighbourhood Characteristics-Carbon Footprint Correlation ........................ 48 4.3 Neighbourhoods GHG mitigation scenarios .................................................... 55 4.3.1 Electricity scenarios ................................................................................... 55 4.3.2 Transportation scenarios ............................................................................ 56 VII 4.3.3 Food scenarios ........................................................................................... 57 4.3.4 Overall mitigation potential scenarios ....................................................... 58 5. Discussion and conclusion ............................................................... 63 6. References ....................................................................................... 71 7. Appendix .......................................................................................... 78 Figure index Figure 1 Carbon footprint analysis ............................................................................. 29 Figure 2 Neighbourhoods ........................................................................................... 30 Figure 3 Carbon footprint components ..................................................................... 40 Figure 4 Total carbon footprint .................................................................................. 40 Figure 5 Total electricity CO2eq emissons, per household and per person ............... 44 Figure 6 Transportation components ......................................................................... 45 Figure 7 Total transportation CO2eq emissons, per household and per person ......... 46 Figure 8 Total food CO2eq emissons, per household and per person ....................... 48 Figure 9 Income level................................................................................................. 49 Figure 10 Average house size ...................................................................................