Volume 9: Sustainable Energy Solutions for Changing the World: Part I

Change of CO2 emissions in Tokyo under the COVID-19 situation: Urban carbon mapping approach Takahiro Yoshida, Yoshiki Yamagata

Abstract

Energy is vital for creating resilient and zero emission carbon cities. Over 70% of global carbon emission originate from urban activities. Urban carbon mapping is an effective approach for planning, managing, and monitoring energy consumption and carbon emission. However, this approach has not been exploited for evaluating the impact of the coronavirus on a city due to limited data. In this study, the carbon emission from buildings during the coronavirus pandemic is estimated and visualized using the three-dimensional fine-scale spatiotemporal urban carbon mapping approach through big data. We studied the 23 wards of Tokyo, Japan from January to June 2020, representing the COVID-19 first wave period in the area. The results reveal that the carbon emitted from commercial buildings decreased by approximately 40% compared to the January value. Conversely, residential buildings emission increased by at least 10% due to the increased stay at home lifestyle including working from home.

Keywords COVID-19, urban carbon mapping, CO2 emissions, big data, residential sector, mitigation