Energy-related greenhouse gas emission features in China’s energy supply region: the case of Xinjiang

Abstract

Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region was selected for studying its energy-related greenhouse gas emission features due to its rich reserve of coal, crude oil and natural gas. First, GHG inventories in Xinjiang were presented in order to provide a holistic picture of its features and trajectories on energy-related GHG emission. Then, transferred GHG emission embodied in exported energy products was analyzed. Finally, the driving forces for energy-related GHG emission increment were uncovered by adopting a time series LMDI analysis. Results indicate that annual energy-related GHG emission increased stably after 2002 and reached 227.71 Mt CO2e in 2011. Fugitive GHG emission was an important contributor to Xinjiang׳s GHG emission, accounting for more than 8% of the total energy-related GHG emission in 2011. Transferred GHG emission embodied in exported energy products was up to 8.07 Mt CO2e in 2011, accounting for 3.54% of the total energy related GHG emission, indicating a shift of environmental pollution from other regions to Xinjiang. Decomposition analysis shows that economic activity effect was the key driving force for energy-related GHG emission increment in Xinjiang during 1995–2011 and intensity effect partially offset the energy-related GHG emission growth. Research findings propose that a comprehensive consideration on all the relevant aspects should be initiated so that appropriate mitigation policies can be raised by considering the local realities.