Carbon emissions from electricity consumption in interprovincial grids of China: An electricity-extended input-output analysis

Life cycle carbon emissions mitigation from electricity consumption is crucial for China's decarbonization. With the expansion of interprovincial electricity trade, carbon emissions from electricity consumption become increasingly diverse in both sources and determinants. Tracking the carbon emissions and determinants is thus fundamental to formulating targeted mitigation measures. To this end, we develop an electricity-extended input-output model that incorporates interconnected grids into the macroeconomic input-output framework. The proposed method holistically accounts for electricity generation, transmission, distribution and higher upstream production across the life cycle of electricity consumption. Applying this method to examine the carbon footprints of electricity consumption across 30 provinces during 2018–2022 shows that North, East and Central grids exhibited higher carbon footprints, and carbon footprint factors varied significantly across provinces. Beijing, Hebei, Shandong, Liaoning and Zhejiang witnessed great electricity and carbon inflows and registered indirect interprovincial trading paths. Revealing the determinants shows that improvements in electricity structure, transmission and distribution efficiency, fuel mix and in-plant electricity use efficiency contributed to carbon reduction, while the regional structure of electricity supply became carbon-intensive, particularly in Guangdong, East grid and Shandong. Policy implications regarding carbon footprint reduction from the interprovincial electricity trade perspective are discussed.