Open research questions in Environmental Impact and Sustainability
140 unresolved questions extracted from the limitations and future-work sections of 784 Environmental Impact and Sustainability papers in our library. Each links back to the study that raised it.
What the literature leaves open
Comparisons of implementation outcomes would require additional empirical evidence - Studies could test whether policy instruments have produced corresponding reductions in real-world emissions
Whole-Life Carbon Governance in Building Regulation: Türkiye and Selected European Regulatory Pathways · 2026 · DOIThe incorporation of WLC governance into building regulation differs across jurisdictions and instrument types. There is a need to examine how WLC governance is represented in building regulatory frameworks and to compare the positioning of operational energy and WLC within regulatory hierarchies. The study identifies a gap in the literature regarding the treatment of regulatory and policy documents as primary governance objects.
Whole-Life Carbon Governance in Building Regulation: Türkiye and Selected European Regulatory Pathways · 2026 · DOIThe study faces challenges in collecting data on demolition carbon emissions due to the lack of available data. The study encounters difficulties in comparing carbon emissions across different stages and sources due to varying accounting boundaries. The study highlights the need to address the complexity of hospital buildings and their high energy consumption.
Using BIM and LCA to Calculate the Life Cycle Carbon Emissions of Inpatient Building: A Case Study in China · 2024 · DOILimited research on the life cycle carbon emissions of Chinese hospitals - Data on demolition are not available - Different scholars have drawn different carbon emissions boundaries for the accounting process
Using BIM and LCA to Calculate the Life Cycle Carbon Emissions of Inpatient Building: A Case Study in China · 2024 · DOIThe technical challenges of implementing hydrogen metallurgy technology on a large scale. The need to strengthen the supply capacity of scrap steel resources and develop hydrogen metallurgy technology rapidly. The challenge of reducing steel demand and using scrap steel to meet the steel industry's carbon dioxide emission reduction requirements.
Research of the Impact of Hydrogen Metallurgy Technology on the Reduction of the Chinese Steel Industry’s Carbon Dioxide Emissions · 2024 · DOIAchieving carbon neutrality requires a multifaceted strategy that takes into account efficiency improvements, sector-specific strategies, technology advancements, and wider socioeconomic effects. The study highlights the need for integrated, interdisciplinary approaches to achieve carbon neutrality. The study identifies the complex interplay between technological innovation, sectoral strategies, and policy intervention in achieving carbon neutrality.
Finally, drawing upon the analyses, informed directions and limitations of the present study have been discussed to guide future research, including three broad research propositions.
This systematic review applies the Multi-Level Perspective (MLP), which examines interactions between niche innovations, socio-technical regimes, and broader landscapes, to the underexplored area of asbestos-free urban transitions.
Pathways to asbestos-free and sustainable cities using multi-level perspective approach · 2025 · DOIHowever, ex ante measurement of the environmental effects of such industrial relocation is poorly understood.
The environmental and economic impacts of India’s emergence as the global manufacturing hub · 2025 · DOIPrevious research has demonstrated the feasibility and emission reduction effects of hydrogen metallurgy technology; however, further research is needed to dynamically analyze the overall impact of the large-scale development of hydrogen metallurgy technology on future CO2 emissions from the steel industry.
Research of the Impact of Hydrogen Metallurgy Technology on the Reduction of the Chinese Steel Industry’s Carbon Dioxide Emissions · 2024 · DOILand scarcity, namely the imbalance state between cropland availability and demand, can be mitigated by the trade of agricultural products, but how effective it is remains unclear.
On the other hand, while having a large potential for sequestering carbon, the agriculture and forestry sectors are still understudied.
Future research is needed to understand how greater mass timber adoption leads to changes in forest product markets, land use, and total forest sector carbon.
The potential use of mass timber in mid-to high-rise construction and the associated carbon benefits in the United States · 2024 · DOIThis paper aims to fill these gaps in the literature, considering LCA, carbon footprint, and carbon handprint assessment tools of concrete-, timber-, and steel-framed cases.
As this study is based on an IAM heavily reliant on carbon capture and storage and bioenergy, future research should explore the effects of different technology pathways and alternative mitigation strategies.
Decarbonizing the cement industry: Findings from coupling prospective life cycle assessment of clinker with integrated assessment model scenarios · 2024 · DOIFour main reasons limit the influence of LCA within decision-making: lower priority of environmental aspects compared to other decision criteria, complex LCA methods, complex results, and a lack of data to perform a reliable LCA.
The relevance of life cycle assessment to decision-making in companies and public authorities · 2024 · DOITo increase the reliability of the results, different aspects of input data fluctuations should be examined to provide a broader view of the stability of the results.
A multi-dimensional sensitivity analysis approach for evaluating the robustness of renewable energy sources in European countries · 2024 · DOIFuture research can focus on applying the study's methods to other countries or regions. Future research can focus on exploring the impact of the low-carbon transition on different sectors of the economy.
Low-carbon electricity generation through demand and carbon neutrality prediction 2035 of a transitional economy: decomposition and LEAP learning approaches · 2026 · DOIThe study identifies a gap in the existing literature on the low-carbon transition in developing countries. The study identifies a need for a new approach to theoretical decomposition analysis.
Low-carbon electricity generation through demand and carbon neutrality prediction 2035 of a transitional economy: decomposition and LEAP learning approaches · 2026 · DOIThe study identifies a gap in the understanding of carbon sustainable development in the Yellow River Basin. The carbon ecological footprint methodology is used to address this gap.
Evaluation of carbon sustainable development in the nine provinces and regions of the Yellow River Basin based on carbon ecological footprints · 2026 · DOIAdditionally, future studies should consider integrating production-based and consumption-based accounting frameworks to explore the coupling mechanisms among capital flows, demographic structures, and carbon responsibilities, thereby providing a more comprehensive foundation for equitable and effective low-carbon governance in the Yellow River Basin. Future research should focus on advancing frontier directions such as the construction of dynamic carbon sink models, full-scope greenhouse gas inventories, and cross-basin comparative analysis, in order to continuously deepen the scientific understanding and policy support for carbon sustainable development in the Yellow River Basin.
Evaluation of carbon sustainable development in the nine provinces and regions of the Yellow River Basin based on carbon ecological footprints · 2026 · DOIThe transportation sector is a primary source of CO₂ emissions. The scale of expressways continues to expand, increasing carbon emission pressure. There is a need to develop regional emission reduction pathways.
Regional variation and prediction model of carbon emissions in the highway construction stage · 2026 · DOIThe study identifies a gap in understanding regional variations in carbon emission intensity during the construction phase of expressways. There is a need to develop regional emission reduction pathways.
Regional variation and prediction model of carbon emissions in the highway construction stage · 2026 · DOITraditional process-based inventory methods face practical constraints, including missing original drawings and complex site conditions. Systematic accounting of buildings, landscapes, and natural carbon sinks remains difficult.
Life Cycle Carbon Emission Accounting of an Old Residential Community Based on Digital Technologies: A Case Study of Nanyuan Xincun, Hefei · 2026 · DOIInsufficient supply of low-carbon materials and weak infrastructure in Africa - Limited data availability for some materials, such as reinforcing steel - Uncertainty of carbon emission factors
Research on Carbon Emission Accounting and Reduction Measures for Bridges in Africa Throughout Its Life Cycle: A Case Study of the Jangwani Bridge in Tanzania · 2026 · DOI
Most-cited papers in Environmental Impact and Sustainability
- PRospective EnvironMental Impact asSEment (premise): A streamlined approach to producing databases for prospective life cycle assessment using integrated assessment models · Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews · 2022 · 538 citations
- Imperialist appropriation in the world economy: Drain from the global South through unequal exchange, 1990–2015 · Global Environmental Change · 2022 · 476 citations
- Assessing the energy transition in China towards carbon neutrality with a probabilistic framework · Nature Communications · 2022 · 431 citations
- Impacts of industrial structure and technical progress on carbon emission intensity: Evidence from 281 cities in China · Technological Forecasting and Social Change · 2020 · 372 citations
- Can low-carbon city construction reduce carbon intensity？Empirical evidence from low-carbon city pilot policy in China · Journal of Environmental Management · 2023 · 362 citations
- Ethanol as Fuel: Energy, Carbon Dioxide Balances, and Ecological Footprint · BioScience · 2005 · 350 citations
- Impact of population, age structure, and urbanization on carbon emissions/energy consumption: evidence from macro-level, cross-country analyses · Population and Environment · 2013 · 343 citations
- Carbon intensity and economic development 1962–1991: A brief exploration of the environmental Kuznets curve · World Development · 1997 · 332 citations
- The carbon footprint of urban green space—A life cycle approach · Landscape and Urban Planning · 2011 · 321 citations
- Estimating profitability of two biochar production scenarios: slow pyrolysis vs fast pyrolysis · Biofuels Bioproducts and Biorefining · 2010 · 302 citations
Most recent work
- Carbon Footprint Efficiency Ratio: A Unified Indicator for Green Evaluation of Evolutionary Algorithms · IEEE Transactions on Emerging Topics in Computational Intelligence · 2026
- Have industrial robots reduced carbon emissions? Empirical evidence from China · Technology in Society · 2026
- Can the digital technology implementation promote the spatial convergence of carbon emissions? Evidence from China · The Annals of Regional Science · 2026
- Prestige competition: Inter-city striving for excellence and the low-carbon transition in residential energy use · Cities · 2026
- A provincial-level multi-criteria assessment of hydrogen supply-demand potential in china: integrating industrial demand, policy, resources, and technology · Renewable Energy Focus · 2026
- Landscape of Research on Accounting Scope 3 Emissions: A Review of Methodologies and Data · Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management · 2026
- Path integral approach to input-output theory · Physical Review Research · 2026
- Low-carbon electricity generation through demand and carbon neutrality prediction 2035 of a transitional economy: decomposition and LEAP learning approaches · Frontiers in Sustainable Energy Policy · 2026
- Understanding the drivers of regional greenhouse gas emissions: a case study of Tatarstan · Carbon Footprints · 2026
- An explainable percolation-based clustering framework for China's transport carbon emissions analysis · GIScience & Remote Sensing · 2026
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