The circular economy and carbon footprint: A systematic accounting for typical coal-fuelled power industrial parks

Abstract

Due to unclear research boundaries and a confusion between direct and indirect emissions, the impact of the circular economy (CE) on carbon emissions needs to be researched in depth. In this paper, we use a life cycle model based on carbon emissions and carbon reduction to build an emissions (reduction) matrix for the carbon footprint (CF) of coal-fuelled power generation, and then calculate the life cycle carbon emissions from China's coal-fuelled power CE parks. Results show that carbon emissions from China's coal-fuelled power at the industrial park level follow the trend of raw coal production and consumption, increasing from 2000 to a maximum of 3.25 billion tCO2e in 2014, with the proportion of direct emissions remaining stable at above 86%. The life cycle CF in 2016 was 778.9 gCO2/kWh, a decrease of 20.81% compared to 2000. The positive and negative impacts of the CE from 2000 to 2016 were quantitatively analysed, and resource recycling measures will reduce the overall carbon emissions of industrial parks through the substitution of carbon-intensive energy sources. Finally, policy recommendations are proposed to reduce life cycle carbon emissions by energy replacement and embodied emissions control. The novelty of this study is the quantitative evaluation of indirect carbon emissions caused by the CE and determining the correlation between CE and carbon emissions reduction.