The impact of the expansion in non-fossil electricity infrastructure on China’s carbon emissions
| Autor: | Rong Yuan, Paul Behrens, João F.D. Rodrigues, Arnold Tukker |
|---|---|
| Rok vydání: | 2018 |
| Předmět: |
Natural resource economics
020209 energy Information Society 02 engineering and technology Environment 010501 environmental sciences Management Monitoring Policy and Law CO2 emissions 01 natural sciences Multi-regional input-output model Non-fossil electricity 0202 electrical engineering electronic engineering information engineering 0105 earth and related environmental sciences Infostructures Wind power business.industry Mechanical Engineering Fossil fuel Building and Construction Investment (macroeconomics) Nameplate capacity General Energy Electricity generation Greenhouse gas Carbon footprint Environmental science Electricity Investment business |
| Zdroj: | Applied Energy Applied Energy, 228, 1994-2008 |
| ISSN: | 0306-2619 |
| Popis: | In recent years, China has embarked upon an ambitious roll-out of non-fossil electricity investments. This has led to substantial impacts on carbon emissions, which is expected to continue into the future. However, non-fossil electricity has a significant carbon footprint in pre-operation activities, which we term investments (in the form of the construction, transportation and assembly of electricity generators). This paper addresses two main questions: (1) How do non-fossil electricity investments impact CO2 emissions in China? and (2) How are such impacts distributed within China? To answer these questions, we use a hybrid, multi-region, input-output (MRIO) model to assess the emission impacts of investments compared with impacts during the operation of generators. As there was a large surge in the installed capacity during the analysis period (2002–2010) we considered a counterfactual scenario in which non-fossil electricity expansion did not occur, and where generation followed historical patterns (i.e. using fossil energy). Results indicate that non-fossil electricity investments resulted in a net emission increase of 16.21 Mt, 28.71 Mt and 47.29 Mt in 2002, 2007 and 2010 respectively, while the net emission reduction during the operational phase of electricity generation was, respectively, 48.84 Mt, 81.83 Mt and 129.48 Mt per year. Non-fossil electricity investments led to a significant increase of emissions in the northern, northeastern and northwestern regions due to a rapid development of wind power. In general, due to supply chains, developed regions (e.g. east China) outsource the carbon impacts of non-fossil electricity investments to developing regions (central and north China). The carbon impacts of non-fossil electricity investments are often transferred to adjacent regions. © 2018 The Author(s) |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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