Inter-regional electricity trade is an important way to mitigate the imbalance between regional electricity generation and consumption. With the increasing amount of inter-regional electricity trade in China, the emission transfer problem is more severe. By using Quasi-Input-Output model, which can consider the ripple effect of electricity trade network, this study analyzed embodied greenhouse gas emissions of electricity trade among 30 provinces in China. Results indicated that, in 2017, the national transfer volumes of CO2, CH4, and N2O embodied in inter-provincial electricity trade were 603.25 Mt, 6803.81 t, and 9899.25 t, respectively. Emissions are mainly transferred from the eastern to the western regions, especially to those with high proportion of electricity generated from fossil fuels. The amount of emission transfer is not consistent with that of purchased electricity, since some regions are rich in clean energy. Although direct emission transfer plays the dominant role for most province, indirect emission transfer should also be noticed. Provinces with larger indirect emission transfer generally purchase electricity from provinces with a lot of electricity inflows. The findings could help policy makers coordinate regional energy utilization strategies and issue more effective emission reduction policies in the electricity industry.
Keywords: Quasi-Input-Output model; emission transfer; greenhouse gas; inter-provincial electricity trade.