Abstract
Thermal power generation has increased CO2 emissions, which in turn has put tremendous pressure on the environment. Therefore, analyzing the regional ecological environmental carrying capacity of thermal power carbon emissions is of great significance for countries with high thermal power capacity to guide the development of low-carbon power and industrial layout. To accurately measure the pressure of regional power production for the environment, this paper proposes the concept of renewable energy virtual carbon emission based on the carbon footprint theory. The regional power carbon footprint (PCF) depth model and the regional power carbon deficit model are constructed. Moreover, through the statistics of China’s power production, this paper calculates the depth of China’s PCF and analyzes the temporal and spatial differences of China’s PCF depth from the three aspects of regional power installation structure, power deficit, and PCF transfer. The results obtained illustrate, firstly, that China’s overall PCF continues to increase, with the depth of PCF moving eastward. Secondly, due to the imbalance of China’s PCF, there are significant temporal and spatial differences in the depth of regional PCF. Thirdly, with the rapid development of renewable energy in China, the effect of controlling the depth of regional PCF by renewable energy is rising. Besides, the transfer of PCF among different China’s regions has significant impact on the change of PCF depth of power output provinces.
Highlights
According to the report of the International Energy Agency (IEA), China has become the world’s largest energy consumer
To reduce fossil energy consumption and GHG emissions, the Chinese government promised that the total amount of carbon emission(CE) will not increase by 2030, and the CE intensity will be reduced to 60–65% compared with that of 2005 [3]. erefore, China is currently encountering the huge CE reduction pressure
In order to measure the pressure of regional power production on the environment, this paper proposed to convert the virtual CE of renewable energy into the virtual power carbon footprint (PCF) and regarded it as a part of the CE carrying capacity
Summary
According to the report of the International Energy Agency (IEA), China has become the world’s largest energy consumer. Erefore, it is necessary to explore how to scientifically assess the CE level and ecological environmental carrying capacity of thermal power in different regions. The carbon footprint has become an essential concept for assessing the impact of human activities on the ecological environment [9], and it was mainly used to measure GHG emissions [10]. From the existing research on carbon footprint, the current measurement of PCF is mainly focused on fossil energy power generation. Erefore, it is difficult to accurately assess the impact of regional renewable energy power on the environment using the existing research methods. From the time and space dimensions, this paper analyzed the impact of power production structure, power demand, and carbon footprint transfer on the depth of regional PCF. The impact of renewable energy on the depth of regional PCF will be investigated from the perspective of time and space
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