Embodied greenhouse gas emissions from building China’s large-scale power transmission infrastructure

Wendong Wei, Jiashuo Li (), Bin Chen, Meng Wang, Pengfei Zhang, Dabo Guan (), Jing Meng, Haoqi Qian, Yaohua Cheng, Chongqing Kang, Kuishuang Feng, Qing Yang, Ning Zhang, Xi Liang and Jinjun Xue
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Wendong Wei: Shanghai Jiao Tong University
Jiashuo Li: Shandong University
Bin Chen: Fudan University
Meng Wang: University of Shanghai for Science and Technology
Pengfei Zhang: Shandong University
Dabo Guan: Tsinghua University
Jing Meng: University College London
Yaohua Cheng: Tsinghua University
Chongqing Kang: Tsinghua University
Kuishuang Feng: Shandong University
Qing Yang: Huazhong University of Science and Technology
Xi Liang: University of Edinburgh
Jinjun Xue: Future Energy Center of Malardalen University

Nature Sustainability, 2021, vol. 4, issue 8, 739-747

Abstract: Abstract China has built the world’s largest power transmission infrastructure by consuming massive volumes of greenhouse gas- (GHG-) intensive products such as steel. A quantitative analysis of the carbon implications of expanding the transmission infrastructure would shed light on the trade-offs among three connected dimensions of sustainable development, namely, climate change mitigation, energy access and infrastructure development. By collecting a high-resolution inventory, we developed an assessment framework of, and analysed, the GHG emissions caused by China’s power transmission infrastructure construction during 1990–2017. We show that cumulative embodied GHG emissions have dramatically increased by more than 7.3 times those in 1990, reaching 0.89 GtCO2-equivalent in 2017. Over the same period, the gaps between the well-developed eastern and less-developed western regions in China have gradually narrowed. Voltage class, transmission-line length and terrain were important factors that influenced embodied GHG emissions. We discuss measures for the mitigation of GHG emissions from power transmission development that can inform global low-carbon infrastructure transitions.

Date: 2021
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DOI: 10.1038/s41893-021-00704-8

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