China’s industrial carbon dioxide emissions in manufacturing subsectors and in selected provinces

Panel: 3. Matching policies and drivers: Policies and Directives to drive industrial efficiency

This is a peer-reviewed paper.

Authors:
Hongyou Lu, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, USA
Lynn Price, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, USA

Abstract

China has announced to reduce its carbon dioxide intensity (CO2/unit of gross domestic product) by 40-45% by 2020 from the level of 2005 in 2009. In 2010, China established a goal of reducing 17% of carbon dioxide intensity in its 12th Five-Year Plan (2011-2015). Five provinces and eight cities have been selected to pilot low-carbon activities, and are required to establish local-level emissions inventories.

The industrial sector dominates the country’s energy-related CO2 emissions, using two thirds of the total energy consumption. A better understanding of China’s industrial energy use and CO2 emissions at the sub-sectoral and provincial levels can assist researchers and decision-makers in identifying the largest areas of energy-saving and emission-reduction potential. However, previous studies have largely focused on China’s energy use and CO2 emissions at an aggregated level. Based on publicly-available information, this paper aims to estimate industrial energy-related CO2 emissions for each manufacturing sub-sector at the national level and in twelve provinces for which data are readily available: Chongqing, Guangdong, Hebei, Henan, Jiangsu, Liaoning, Shaanxi, Shandong, Shanghai, Shanxi, Sichuan, and Xinjiang.

This paper first explains data availability issues and discusses the methodology as well as conversion factors used for the CO2 emissions calculations. This paper then presents the results of the calculation of the carbon intensity of fuel and electricity for each manufacturing subsector and identifies the largest CO2-emitting sub-sectors in the selected provinces. In addition, three provinces are showcased, illustrating that economic and energy structure play an important role in the different structures of industrial CO2 emissions within provinces. Finally, this paper discusses how to further improve carbon inventories at the sub-sectoral level and summarizes the findings of this study in light of China’s current domestic carbon inventory efforts.