Impacts on the embodied carbon emissions in China’s building sector and its related energy-intensive industries from energy-saving technologies perspective: A dynamic CGE analysis

Abstract

Research on embodied carbon emission reduction in the building sector from an energy-saving technology perspective has attracted wide attention. However, because the embodied carbon emissions in the building sector comprise a complex category involving multiple related industries, existing studies have often focused on the environmental impacts on one related industry, while few researchers have explored the impacts of energy-saving technologies on the embodied carbon emissions in the building sector from an industrial relevance perspective. In this study, a computable general equilibrium (CGE) model was employed, and different energy-saving technology scenarios were established to assess the economic and environmental impacts on three related energy-intensive industries (the cement, steel and construction industries) and to analyze the impacts on the embodied carbon emissions in the building sector. The results indicated that the considered energy-saving technologies increased the outputs of the three related industries and reduced product prices. The energy-saving technologies reduced the energy and carbon emission intensities. It was also demonstrated that the embodied carbon emission reduction in the building sector mainly depends on the implementation of energy-saving technologies in the steel and cement industries, the construction industry exhibits a high potential for embodied carbon emission reduction, and the reduction potential largely depends on industry-wide energy-saving technologies.