China's power transition under the global 1.5 °C target: preliminary feasibility study and prospect

Regional differences and driving factors of carbon emission intensity in China's electricity generation sector

As an industry with immense decarbonization potential, the low-carbon transformation of the power sector is crucial to China's carbon emission (CE) reduction commitment. Based on panel data of 30 provinces in China from 2000 to 2019, this research calculates and analyzes the provincial CE intensity in electricity generation (CEIE) and its spatial distribution characteristics. Additionally, the GTWR model based on the construction explains the regional heterogeneity and dynamic development trend of each driving factor's influence on CEIE from time and space. The main results are as follows: CEIE showed a gradual downward trend in time and a spatial distribution pattern of high in the northeast and low in the southwest. The contribution of driving factors to CEIE has regional differences, and the power structure contributes most to the CEIE of the power sector, which promotes regional CE. Concurrently, most provinces with similar economic development, technological level, geographic location, or resource endowment characteristics show similar spatial and temporal trends. These detections will furnish broader insights into implementing CE reduction policies for the regional power sector.

Low-carbon transformation of power structure under the "double carbon" goal: power planning and policy implications

The proposal of "double carbon" goal increases the pressure of power structure transformation. This paper sets up two scenarios according to the timing progress of realizing the "double carbon" goal and explores the transformation planning schemes of China's power structure. The conclusions are as follows: (1) Technological progress and policy support will greatly reduce the levelized cost of electricity (LCOE) of onshore wind power, offshore wind power, photovoltaic power, and photothermal power. The rapid rise in carbon price will lead to the LCOE of coal power in 2060 rising to 2 CNY/kWh. (2) The power consumption of the whole society in the baseline scenario can reach 17,000 TWh in 2060. In the acceleration scenario, this value may triple that in 2020 to 21,550 TWh. (3) The acceleration scenario will pay more newly added power costs and coal power stranded scale than the baseline scenario but can achieve carbon peak and negative emissions earlier. (4) More attention should be paid to the flexible level of power system, improve the allocation proportion and requirements of new energy storage on the power supply side, help the steady exit of coal power, and ensure the safety of low-carbon transformation of power structure.

Research Characteristics and Development Trend of Global Low-Carbon Power—Based on Bibliometric Analysis of 1983–2021

Achieving Net zero emissions is a common challenge facing all mankind. Low-carbon electricity has always been the main research field of global GHG emission control. The current article aims to use the bibliometric analysis to describe the characteristics and trends of low-carbon electricity publications from 1983 to 2021. We found that: (1) the number of publications in this area has shown an overall increase in the past 33 years. (2) the United States is the most powerful country in this field of research. Moreover, with the exception of major developed countries, more and more emerging economies have also joined the research on low-carbon power systems. (3) co-citation analysis and literature clustering characteristics show that the knowledge base in this field is focused on the decomposition of driving factors for carbon dioxide emissions and the optimization of the operation of renewable energy (RE) in low-carbon power systems. (4) the utilization of RE is a hot topic in low-carbon power research. Through this research, global scholars can be provided with the latest overview of valuable low-carbon energy research trends.

Exploring the impact of transition in energy mix on the CO2 emissions from China's power generation sector based on IDA and SDA

The energy transition from coal and oil to renewable energy, nuclear energy, and natural gas is a fundamental way for emission reduction of China's power generation sector. Until now, research on the drivers of CO₂ emissions from China's power generation sector has generally evaluated the energy mix as a whole, with a lack of exploration of the decomposition of different types of energy. This paper uses both index decomposition analysis (IDA) and structural decomposition analysis (SDA) to explore the impacts of energy transition on CO₂ emissions in the power generation sector during periods of 2002-2007, 2007-2012, and 2012-2017. We find that the results of IDA and SDA are almost consistent, indicating that our results are robust. During the whole study period, CO₂ emissions of power generation sector increased by 2447 Mt, of which the fossil fuel structure significantly contributed 642 Mt of incremental emissions (IDA). The thermal power generation efficiency was a dominator for reducing emissions, with a total reduction of 586 Mt (IDA). Simultaneously, the impacts of renewable energy and nuclear energy on emission reduction tend to be strengthening over time, with values changing from 38 Mt and -5 Mt in 2002-2007 to -219 Mt and -83 Mt (IDA) in 2012-2017, respectively. Based on the results, we put forward some suggestions such as promoting coal-to-gas, renewable energy, and nuclear energy in power generation to cut down CO₂ emissions of China's power generation sector.

Levelized cost of offshore wind power in China

With the deepening implementation of the energy revolution and the advent of the era in which renewable energy will be grid parity, China's offshore wind power projects have gradually taking steps to shape a large-scale development. This paper reviews the relevant policies for offshore wind power, adopting the levelized cost of electricity (LCOE) model to conduct an economic evaluation of offshore wind power projects in six typical provinces in China. Among the six provinces studied in this paper, Hebei Province has the highest LCOE value of 0.87 yuan/kWh, and Fujian Province has the lowest LCOE value of 0.71 yuan/kWh; the LCOE results of offshore wind power projects in Hebei and Guangdong provinces are higher than the policy guidance price by 8.75% and 6.25% respectively; the LCOE value of the offshore wind power projects in the other four provinces are lower than the guidance price, and the average profit is considerable; the expected annual utilization hours and unit cost have varied impact on the LCOE value in different provinces. The results show that with the upcoming offshore wind power on-grid price bidding era, China's offshore wind power grid parity era is just around the corner. Finally, this paper puts forward relevant policy suggestions, hoping to provide practical guidance for the promotion of offshore wind power technology in China.

Public preference toward an energy transition policy: the case of South Korea

South Korea is pursuing an energy transition policy (ETP) of expanding the use of renewable energy and natural gas and decreasing that of nuclear energy and coal in total generation. An investigation of whether the public is for or against the ETP is needed by the government. This article explores the public preference toward the ETP employing the data collected through a survey of 1000 individuals. They were asked to reveal their preference for the ETP on a five-point scale in the survey. Overall, there are more advocates of the ETP than those who opposed it. For the purpose of analyzing the determinants of advocacy and opposition of the ETP, an ordered probit model is employed. The results suggest that people living in the Seoul Metropolitan area think that the environment is more important than new jobs, or know the renewable energy 100% campaign before the survey is more favorable to the ETP than others. However, people who use electricity for heating tend to be negative about the ETP. As the age increases, people approve of the ETP, but when age goes beyond a certain level, they oppose it.

Governing the energy-water nexus in China: An analysis from the perspective of the science-policy interface

China is facing great water and energy pressure due to industrialization, urbanization, population growth and environmental change. China's explosive economic development has come at a steep cost in terms of natural resource exploitation and environmental problems. These unintended negative consequences are partly the result of a narrow single-sector management approach to natural resources, which often caused conflicts and low efficiency of related policies. Although the nexus approach is beneficial for optimization of natural resource utilization and development, the question of whether it can be applied in policy and practice is determined by various factors. The science-policy interface that stresses the political and social contexts provides a useful perspective for understanding the process of the nexus approach, from the scientific domain to policy. Combining criteria of good governance and an effective science-policy interface, suggestions for promoting good energy-water nexus governance are put forward, including popularization of scientific knowledge about the nexus in the political and social fields, collaborative governance of the nexus, and accelerating good governance of the whole of society.