Three-perspective energy-carbon nexus analysis for developing China's policies of CO2-emission mitigation

• Published in: The Science of the total environment Vol. 705; p. 135857
• Main Authors: Zhai, Mengyu, Huang, Guohe, Liu, Hongzhi, Liu, Lirong, He, Chengyu, Liu, Zhengping
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier B.V 25.02.2020
• Subjects: Emission factor; Energy-carbon nexus; Environmental management; Input-output analysis; Policy making; Policy making; Emission factor; Energy-carbon nexus; Environmental management; Input-output analysis
• ISSN: 0048-9697; 1879-1026
• DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2019.135857

Energy usage and CO2 emission have intimate and inseparable linkages. The growth of energy usage causes an increase in CO2 emissions, which will in turn constrain the related energy policies and challenge the energy-system stability. It is essential to quantify China's CO2 emission inventories embodied in production-driven, demand-driven and supply-driven chains considering different energy types. A Three-Perspective Energy-Carbon Nexus model is developed to facilitate comprehensive CO2 emission-reduction analysis in China. The model incorporates environmental input-output analysis and ecological network analysis within a general framework to clarify the relationships among provinces in terms of the production-based, consumption-based and income-based accountings. A new indicator, indirect emission dominant factor, is for the first time examined to evaluate the dominant capabilities of indirect emissions. It is discovered that the emissions triggered by the demand-side are not sensitive to energy types. Furthermore, the changes of integral flow control intensity in each province are insignificant from consumption-based and income-based perspectives. Final demand contributes 80% of consumption-based emissions and gross value-added creation leads to a total of 82% income-based CO2 emissions in China in 2012. When controlling emissions from multiple perspectives, traditional methods may not be effective since they do not consider the forms of emissions; some methods (e.g., product allocation) are not suitable for suppressing indirect emissions. Moreover, the prosperity of developed regions (e.g. Guangdong) highly rely on support from underdeveloped regions (e.g. Inner Mongolia). Some underdeveloped provinces are receptors of CO2, while the developed ones are emitting CO2 to the system without assuming their emission-reduction responsibilities. In addition, secondary energy consumptions in developed regions are conducive in increasing their emission contributions to the system. In this research, an innovative perspective is initiated to disclose the energy-carbon interconnections across Chinese provinces. The obtained findings could help support the formulation of China's CO2 emission-reduction policies. [Display omitted] •A Three-Perspective Energy-Carbon Nexus model for China is developed.•Indirect emission dominant factor is first identified.•IOA and ENA are first applied in consumption-based and income-based accountings.•The emission inventories from production, consumption and income side are established.•Policy suggestions are proposed at the energy types, sectoral and provincial levels.