Spatial-Temporal Evolution and Improvement Measures of Embodied Carbon Emissions in Interprovincial Trade for Coal Energy Supply Bases: Case Study of Anhui, China

Menghan Zhang; Suocheng Dong; Fujia Li; Shuangjie Xu; Kexin Guo; Qian Liu

doi:10.3390/ijerph192417033

Spatial-Temporal Evolution and Improvement Measures of Embodied Carbon Emissions in Interprovincial Trade for Coal Energy Supply Bases: Case Study of Anhui, China

Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2022 Dec 18;19(24):17033. doi: 10.3390/ijerph192417033.

Authors

Menghan Zhang^{1

2}, Suocheng Dong^{1

2}, Fujia Li^{1

2

3}, Shuangjie Xu^{1

4}, Kexin Guo^{1

2}, Qian Liu^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ Research Office of Resource Economics and Energy and Mineral Resources, Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, CAS, Beijing 100101, China.
² College of Resources and Environment, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China.
³ Innovation Academy for Green Manufacture, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China.
⁴ College of Geographical Sciences, Liaoning Normal University, Dalian 116029, China.

Abstract

On account of the long-term dependence on energy trade and the phenomenon of embodied carbon emissions in interprovincial trade (ECEs-IPT), energy supply bases (ESBs) in the economic integration regions (EIRs) are under unprecedented dual pressure of achieving carbon emissions (CEs) reduction targets and ensuring security and stability of the energy supply. This problem has attracted more and more attention and research by experts and scholars. This paper took Anhui, the coal ESB of the Yangtze River Economic Belt (YREB), as an example and took the key stage of rapid development of regional economic integration (REI) and accelerated the realization of CEs reduction targets in YREB from 2007 to 2017 as the study period. From the perspectives of regions and industry sectors, we calculated the transfer amount of ECEs-IPT in Anhui among the YREB, analyzed the spatial-temporal evolution pattern of ECEs-IPT, and revealed the industrial characteristics of ECEs-IPT. Then, we classified the industry sectors and proposed the direction of industrial improvement measures. The results showed that, during the decade, the amount of provinces undertaking the net ECEs-IPT outflow from Anhui increased significantly and spatially expanded from only Jiangxi Province to almost all of the YREB. In addition, 39.77% of the net ECEs-IPT outflow of Anhui was concentrated in petroleum processing, coking, and nuclear fuel processing (RefPetraol), metal smelting and rolling processing (MetalSmelt), and electricity and heat production and supply (ElectpowerProd) that trade with Shanghai, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Jiangxi. The analytical model and results will provide a useful reference for the global similar coal ESBs, especially the coal ESBs within the EIRs, to formulate improvement measures for regions or even the world to ensure stability of the energy supply and achieve regional CEs reduction targets.

Keywords: Anhui; embodied carbon emissions in interprovincial trade (ECEs-IPT); energy supply bases (ESBs); improvement measures; regional economic integration (REI); spatial–temporal evolution.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Carbon Dioxide / analysis
Carbon* / analysis
China
Coal*
Economic Development
Industry

Substances

Carbon
Coal
Carbon Dioxide

Grants and funding

This research was funded by Innovation Academy for Green Manufacture, Chinese Academy of Sciences (Grant No. IGAM-2019-A16-2), National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grants No.42071282 and No.71733003), and National Science and Technology Basic Resources Investigation Project of China by Ministry of Science and Technology of China (Grant No. 2022FY101903).