Analysis Of The Critical Path Of Carbon Emissions In China’s Interregional Electric Power Industry

The electric power industry is the main driver of China’s carbon dioxide emissions.An in-depth study of the industrial chain of carbon emissions in the electric power industry is conducive to the formulation of targeted emission reduction policies and the improvement of emission reduction efficiency,which is of great significance to the development of low-carbon economy and the realization of emission reduction targets.Based on China’s multi-regional input-output table in 2012,this paper uses structural path analysis(SPA)to investigate the industrial path of carbon emissions in the electric power industry from the perspective of regional correlation,and analyzes the hidden regional and industrial links behind the path from the perspective of production and consumption.Based on the production side perspective,this paper obtains the main demand areas of carbon emissions caused by power production;based on the consumption side perspective,the main power supply areas in the carbon emission process that meet the power consumption demand are obtained.At the same time,an in-depth discussion of the key intermediate sectors connecting the electric power industry and the needs met.The results of this paper show that: From the production side,in 2012,China’s regional power generation produced more carbon emissions when it met regional internal demand,and it also had more carbon emissions for external demand such as exports,Chongqing,Hebei,Shandong,Jiangsu,and Zhejiang.From the consumption side,areas rich in coal resources such as Inner Mongolia and Shanxi have produced more carbon emissions to meet China’s cross-regional power consumption;the coastal region’s electric power industry generates a large amount of carbon emissions when it meets export demand.Based on the inter-regional level in China,the electric power industry in the resource-rich regions of the central and western regions meets the needs of Hebei,Chongqing,Zhejiang and other regions with more carbon emissions.Based on the inter-industry level,construction,chemical products,etc.are the most common intermediate sectors in the power industry to meet the needs of various regions.Through " The electric power industry→(intermediate sector)→construction industry " to meet the needs of China’s various regions,through " The electric power industry→ chemical products industry" to meet export demand generates a large amount of carbon emissions.In view of the carbon emissions caused by power production and consumption in various regions of China,this paper proposes the following measures to more effectively achieve carbon emission reduction in the power industry: optimizing the power supply structure,steadily increasing the proportion of clean energy power generation;optimizing energy consumption structure and improving energy efficiency;promote energy conservation and emission reduction and common development among regions;strengthen the control of carbon emissions in major intermediate sectors in the industrial chain.