Zhi Cao
Nankai University| Nankai University | |
| Tianjin, China | |
| Member ID | 1807 |
|---|---|
| Member since | Mar 15, 2019 |
| Status | Active |
Awards
Sections
About
I am broadly interested in industrial ecology and built environment stocks, with specific expertise in material flow analysis (MFA) and life cycle assessment (LCA). Over the past years, driven by the motivation to understand the interactions between the built environment and the natural environment, I developed industrial ecology tools to examine the techno-economic feasibility of implementing low-carbon and circular economy strategies in the built environment and identify technology and policy pathways that can enable sustainable transitions in material cycles closely tied with the built environment.Details
Short CVStarting in mid-2023, I have assumed the position of Full Professor at Nankai University, Tianjin, China. Prior to my position at Nankai University, I served as a Tenure-Track Assistant Professor at the Faculty of Applied Engineering, University of Antwerp, Belgium. I started my postdoctoral training at the Center for Life Cycle Engineering at the University of Southern Denmark, Denmark, followed by a stint at the Energy and Resource Systems Analysis Laboratory at Northwestern University, United States. In 2017, I earned my PhD degree from the Chinese Academy of Sciences (Beijing).
Representative Publications
In recent years, I have authored over 50 articles in top journals, including Nature Climate Change, Nature Sustainability, Nature Communications, and Environmental Science & Technology. More details are available from my Google Scholar page (https://scholar.google.com/citations?hl=en&user=Hj-kD_sAAAAJ&view_op=list_works).
Song, L., van Ewijk, S., Masanet, E., Watari, T., Meng, F., Cullen, J., Cao, Z.*, and Chen, W*. (2023). China’s bulk material loops can be closed but deep decarbonization requires demand reduction. Nature Climate Change, 1-8.
Wang, Z., Wiedenhofer, D., Stephan, A., Perrotti, D., Van den bergh, W., and Cao, Z*. (2023). High-resolution mapping of material stocks in Belgian road infrastructure: material efficiency patterns, material recycling potentials, and greenhouse gas emissions reduction opportunities. Environmental Science & Technology, 57(34), 12674-12688.
Wu, T., Ng, S. T.*, Chen, J., & Cao, Z*. (2023). More intensive use and lifetime extension can enable net-zero emissions in China’s cement cycle. Resources, Conservation and Recycling, 198, 107144.
Watari, T.*, Cao, Z.*, Hata, S. and Nansai, K. (2022). Efficient use of cement and concrete to reduce reliance on supply-side technologies for net-zero emissions. Nature Communications, 13(1), 4158.
Cao, Z., & Masanet, E. (2022). Material efficiency to tackle the sand crisis. Nature Sustainability, 5(5), 370-371. (News & Views)
Cao, Z., Myers, R.J., Lupton, R.C., Duan, H., Sacchi, R., Zhou, N., Miller, T.R., Cullen, J.M., Ge, Q., & Liu, G. (2020). The sponge effect and carbon emission mitigation potentials of the global cement cycle. Nature Communications, 11(1), 3777.
Cao, Z., O’Sullivan, C., Tan, J., Kalvig, P., Ciacci, L., Chen, W., Kim, J., & Liu, G. (2019). Resourcing the fairytale country with wind power: a dynamic material flow analysis. Environmental Science & Technology, 53(19), 11313-11322.
Cao, Z., Liu, G., Zhong, S., Dai, H., & Pauliuk, S. (2018). Integrating Dynamic Material Flow Analysis and Computable General Equilibrium Models for Both Mass and Monetary Balances in Prospective Modeling: A Case for the Chinese Building Sector. Environmental Science & Technology, 53(1), 224-233.
Cao, Z., Shen, L., Løvik, A. N., Müller, D. B., & Liu, G. (2017). Elaborating the history of our cementing societies: an in-use stock perspective. Environmental Science & Technology, 51(19), 11468-11475.
Cao, Z., Shen, L., Zhong, S., Liu, L., Kong, H., & Sun, Y. (2018). A probabilistic dynamic material flow analysis model for Chinese urban housing stock. Journal of Industrial Ecology, 22(2), 377-391.
Research Interests
material flow analysislife cycle assessment
sustainable built environment
industrial decarbonization