Critical transmission paths and nodes of carbon emissions in electricity supply chain

As the largest contributor to production-based emissions, electricity generation sector has led to huge carbon emission transmissions. This is the first attempt to explore the latest features of carbon emission transmissions from electricity sector to the final domestic consumption of China in 2002–2015, combining MRIO-based Structural Path Analysis and transmission-based emission method. Results show that: (1) Although inter-provincial transmissions are increasing significantly, emission transmissions within intra-provincial trading are dominated. (2) 30 provinces are classified into two types, i.e., consumption centers and production centers. Both the inter-provincial transmission paths in consumption centers and production centers show the grid-level agglomeration and provincial heterogeneity. The inflow paths in consumption centers are mainly sourced from the production of Eastern China and South China, while the outflow paths for production centers are caused by the consumption in Central China, Guangdong and Jiangsu. Inter-provincial linkages are intensified and perform the feature of territorial propinquity. (3) Both intra-grid and inter-grid transmission nodes show an agglomeration trend of “electricity sector < intermediate sectors < electricity sector < consumption”. These intermediate sectors include manufacture sectors, energy-intensive sectors and service sector. This paper provides policy implications on promoting low-carbon electricity cooperation across provinces and managing intermediate transmissions along supply chain.