Critical transmission paths and nodes of carbon emissions in electricity supply chain

Yuhuan Zhao; Ye Cao; Xunpeng Shi; Song Wang; Hua Yang; Long Shi; Hongxian Li; Jianyang Zhang

doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.142530

Critical transmission paths and nodes of carbon emissions in electricity supply chain

Sci Total Environ. 2021 Feb 10;755(Pt 2):142530. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.142530. Epub 2020 Sep 28.

Authors

Yuhuan Zhao¹, Ye Cao², Xunpeng Shi³, Song Wang⁴, Hua Yang⁵, Long Shi⁶, Hongxian Li⁷, Jianyang Zhang⁸

Affiliations

¹ School of Management and Economics, Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing 100081, China; Sustainable Development Research Institute for Economy and Society of Beijing, Beijing 100081, China.
² School of Management and Economics, Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing 100081, China; Australia-China Relations Institute, University of Technology Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2007, Australia. Electronic address: bit_yecao@yeah.net.
³ Australia-China Relations Institute, University of Technology Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2007, Australia.
⁴ Institute of Latin American Studies of Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Beijing 100007, China.
⁵ Australia-China Relations Institute, University of Technology Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2007, Australia; School of Management, Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang, Jiangsu 212013, China.
⁶ School of Engineering, Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology University, Melbourne, VIC 3000, Australia.
⁷ School of Architecture and Built Environment, Deakin University, Geelong, VIC 3220, Australia.
⁸ State Grid Xinyuan Henan Luoning Pumped Storage Company Limited, Henan 471700, China.

PMID: 33039931
DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.142530

Abstract

As the largest contributor to production-based emissions, electricity generation sector has led to huge carbon emission transmissions. This is the first attempt to explore the latest features of carbon emission transmissions from electricity sector to the final domestic consumption of China in 2002-2015, combining MRIO-based Structural Path Analysis and transmission-based emission method. Results show that: (1) Although inter-provincial transmissions are increasing significantly, emission transmissions within intra-provincial trading are dominated. (2) 30 provinces are classified into two types, i.e., consumption centers and production centers. Both the inter-provincial transmission paths in consumption centers and production centers show the grid-level agglomeration and provincial heterogeneity. The inflow paths in consumption centers are mainly sourced from the production of Eastern China and South China, while the outflow paths for production centers are caused by the consumption in Central China, Guangdong and Jiangsu. Inter-provincial linkages are intensified and perform the feature of territorial propinquity. (3) Both intra-grid and inter-grid transmission nodes show an agglomeration trend of "electricity sector < intermediate sectors < electricity sector < consumption". These intermediate sectors include manufacture sectors, energy-intensive sectors and service sector. This paper provides policy implications on promoting low-carbon electricity cooperation across provinces and managing intermediate transmissions along supply chain.

Keywords: Electricity sector; Emission transmission; Multi-regional input-output table; Structural path analysis; Transmission-based emission.