Power sector is the largest industrial emitter in China, and renewable energy development would contribute to the large-scale construction of power grid. Mitigating carbon emissions of power gird construction is extremely important. So, the objective of this study is to understand embodied carbon emissions of power grid construction under carbon neutrality target, and then put forward to policy implications of carbon mitigation. This study, based on top-down and bottom-up integrated assessment models (IAMs), investigates carbon emissions of power grid construction towards 2060, through identifying the key driving factors and forecasting their embodied emissions in line with China's carbon neutrality target. Our results show that, the increase of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) dominates the increase in embodied carbon emissions of power grid construction, while energy efficiency and energy structure improvement contribute to the decrease. Large scale renewable energy development promotes the power grid construction. In 2060, total embodied carbon emissions would increase to 1105.7 Million tons (Mt) under the carbon neutrality target. However, the cost and key carbon-neutral technologies should be re-considered to ensure the sustainable electricity supply. The results could provide data reference and decision-making of designing power construction and mitigating carbon emissions of power sector in future.
Keywords: Carbon neutrality; Driving factors; Embodied carbon emissions; Global Change Assessment Model; Power grid construction.
© 2023. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.