[Intertemporal allocation and cost of forest carbon sequestration in China under the carbon neutrality target]

Ying Yong Sheng Tai Xue Bao. 2022 Sep;33(9):2413-2421. doi: 10.13287/j.1001-9332.202209.027.
[Article in Chinese]

Abstract

The situations are complex and variant in the three stages of "carbon emission peak", "rapid reduction of carbon emission" and "deep decarbonization for carbon neutrality" in China's carbon neutralization roadmap. Forest carbon sequestration is an important means to achieve the goal of carbon neutralization in China. Its intertemporal allocation is a vital way to balance industrial emission reduction and forest carbon sequestration, reduce the cost of carbon neutrality, and gradually achieve the goal of carbon neutrality based on optimal cost. Based on the cost optimization allocation theory, we simulated the cost change process of three stages of carbon neutralization in China by quoting the theory of marginal carbon sequestration cost and combining with the existing domestic marginal abatement cost theory. The results showed that annual forest carbon sequestrations with the optimal cost in China was 20 million t, 775 million t and 1.982 billion t respectively in the three stages of "carbon emission peak", "rapid reduction of carbon emission" and "deep decarbonization for carbon neutrality", accounting for 1.8%, 17.5%, and 37.6% of the total emission reduction in each period. Compared with the way relying only on industrial emission reduction, forest carbon sequestration under the optimal cost design reduced the total cost by 48, 79136, and 909253 million US$ in the three stages of carbon neutralization, respectively. Due to the limited cost advantage of forest carbon sequestration, industrial emission reduction should be emphasized in the "carbon emission peak" stage. In the "rapid reduction of carbon emissions" stage, the cost advantage of forest carbon sequestration will be increasingly prominent. In the stage of "deep decarbonization for carbon neutrality", it is necessary to fully exploit the cost advantage of forest carbon sequestration to achieve the goal of "zero carbon" to avoid the risk of high costs, especially for industries with high decarbonization cost or that will never be completely decarbonized. The optimal cost design for forest carbon sequestration can save 988.437 billion US $ in carbon-neutral costs.

我国实现碳中和路线图的“碳排放达峰”、“快速降低碳排放”、“深度脱碳实现碳中和”3阶段具有复杂且差异的减排形势。森林固碳作为我国实现碳中和目标的重要手段,其跨期分配是平衡产业减排与森林固碳关系、降低我国实现碳中和的成本代价、以最优成本分步实现碳中和目标的重要途径。本研究从成本优化分配理论出发,引入森林边际固碳成本理论,结合国内现有产业边际减排理论,对我国实现碳中和3个阶段的成本变化过程进行模拟。结果表明: 我国在“碳排放达峰”、“快速降低碳排放”、“深度脱碳实现碳中和”3个阶段,实现成本最优的森林年固碳量分别为0.20、7.75、19.82亿t,分别占当期总减排量的1.8%、17.5%、37.6%。相较于仅依赖产业减排,在成本最优设计下发挥森林固碳成本优势,使得碳中和3个阶段的总成本分别降低0.48、791.36、9092.53亿美元。在“碳排放达峰”阶段,森林固碳的成本优势十分有限,应当主要依靠产业减排;在“快速降低碳排放”阶段,森林固碳的成本优势逐渐凸显;在“深度脱碳实现碳中和”阶段,应当充分发挥森林固碳的成本优势实现“零碳”目标,否则将会面临十分高昂的成本代价,尤其对于脱碳成本十分高昂或永远无法完全脱碳的产业。最优成本设计下森林固碳可以节约9884.37亿美元的碳中和成本。.

Keywords: carbon neutrality; forest carbon sequestration; intertemporal allocation; marginal carbon sequestration cost.

MeSH terms

  • Carbon / analysis
  • Carbon Dioxide / analysis
  • Carbon Sequestration*
  • China
  • Forests
  • Greenhouse Gases*

Substances

  • Greenhouse Gases
  • Carbon Dioxide
  • Carbon