Study of Effect of Introducing Photovoltaic and Construction of Estimation Model for CO₂ Emissions from Japanese Prefectures

Abstract

 In aiming at continuous development, global warming is a challenge that must be acknowledged. It would be necessary to shift to the low-carbon society in order to solve this challenge. When examining the environmental load of urban structure, it is desirable to consider and analyze life cycles at various scales. In this study, we estimate future CO₂ emission scenarios from Japan's prefectures. We compared the effects of energy-saving measures such as compacting of urban areas and photovoltaic systems have on the CO₂ emissions.
 The result for the Business As Usual (BAU) scenario was 1,985 million tons of CO₂ emissions from 2045 to 2049. However, a scenario of energy saving measures reduces CO₂ emissions to 1,250 million tons, a 40% reduction. It was found that the introduction of photovoltaic affected the results most significantly.