IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/energy/v239y2022ipbs0360544221023628.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Trajectory, driving forces, and mitigation potential of energy-related greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in China's primary aluminum industry

Author

Listed:
  • Li, Shupeng
  • Niu, Liping
  • Yue, Qiang
  • Zhang, Tingan

Abstract

As the world's largest primary aluminum producer, China's primary aluminum industry (PAI) faces a huge challenge in reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. However, detailed research on presenting the historical trajectory of GHG emissions from China's PAI and identifying the main driving factors affecting its changes has not been completed thus far. This study quantifies the GHG emission trajectory of China's PAI from 1990 to 2018 and identifies the key driving factors affecting its changes. The results show that the total GHG emissions from China's PAI from 1990 to 2018 increased by approximately 18 times, reaching 481 Tg CO2-eq in 2018, of which 69 %, 17 %, and 14 % were electricity-related, fuel-related, and process-related, respectively. Additionally, the production activity effect is the main factor driving the increase in GHG emissions; however, the energy intensity and energy emission factor effects can effectively reduce GHG emissions. Based on this, scenario analysis is used to evaluate the GHG emission mitigation potential of China's PAI by 2030. According to our analysis, policy suggestions for mitigating the GHG emissions in China's PAI are proposed, including reducing the energy intensity, promoting clean energy use, controlling the production capacity, and decarbonizing electricity.

Suggested Citation

  • Li, Shupeng & Niu, Liping & Yue, Qiang & Zhang, Tingan, 2022. "Trajectory, driving forces, and mitigation potential of energy-related greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in China's primary aluminum industry," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 239(PB).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:energy:v:239:y:2022:i:pb:s0360544221023628
    DOI: 10.1016/j.energy.2021.122114
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0360544221023628
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.energy.2021.122114?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Ding, Yang & Li, Feng, 2017. "Examining the effects of urbanization and industrialization on carbon dioxide emission: Evidence from China's provincial regions," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 125(C), pages 533-542.
    2. Huang, Beijia & Zhao, Juan & Geng, Yong & Tian, Yihui & Jiang, Ping, 2017. "Energy-related GHG emissions of the textile industry in China," Resources, Conservation & Recycling, Elsevier, vol. 119(C), pages 69-77.
    3. Ang, B.W., 2015. "LMDI decomposition approach: A guide for implementation," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 86(C), pages 233-238.
    4. Zhang, Pengfei & Cai, Wenqiu & Yao, Mingtao & Wang, Zhiyou & Yang, Luzhen & Wei, Wendong, 2020. "Urban carbon emissions associated with electricity consumption in Beijing and the driving factors," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 275(C).
    5. Jiang, Shan & Zhu, Yongnan & He, Guohua & Wang, Qingming & Lu, Yajing, 2020. "Factors influencing China’s non-residential power consumption: Estimation using the Kaya–LMDI methods," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 201(C).
    6. Li, Fangyi & Cai, Bofeng & Ye, Zhaoyang & Wang, Zheng & Zhang, Wei & Zhou, Pan & Chen, Jian, 2019. "Changing patterns and determinants of transportation carbon emissions in Chinese cities," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 174(C), pages 562-575.
    7. Chen, Wei-Qiang & Shi, Lei, 2012. "Analysis of aluminum stocks and flows in mainland China from 1950 to 2009: Exploring the dynamics driving the rapid increase in China's aluminum production," Resources, Conservation & Recycling, Elsevier, vol. 65(C), pages 18-28.
    8. Gao, Tianming & Shen, Lei & Shen, Ming & Liu, Litao & Chen, Fengnan & Gao, Li, 2017. "Evolution and projection of CO2 emissions for China's cement industry from 1980 to 2020," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 74(C), pages 522-537.
    9. Xie, Xuan & Shao, Shuai & Lin, Boqiang, 2016. "Exploring the driving forces and mitigation pathways of CO2 emissions in China’s petroleum refining and coking industry: 1995–2031," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 184(C), pages 1004-1015.
    10. Joeri Rogelj & Michel den Elzen & Niklas Höhne & Taryn Fransen & Hanna Fekete & Harald Winkler & Roberto Schaeffer & Fu Sha & Keywan Riahi & Malte Meinshausen, 2016. "Paris Agreement climate proposals need a boost to keep warming well below 2 °C," Nature, Nature, vol. 534(7609), pages 631-639, June.
    11. Alexandre Milovanoff & I. Daniel Posen & Heather L. MacLean, 2021. "Quantifying environmental impacts of primary aluminum ingot production and consumption : A trade‐linked multilevel life cycle assessment," Journal of Industrial Ecology, Yale University, vol. 25(1), pages 67-78, February.
    12. Shiraki, Hiroto & Matsumoto, Ken'ichi & Shigetomi, Yosuke & Ehara, Tomoki & Ochi, Yuki & Ogawa, Yuki, 2020. "Factors affecting CO2 emissions from private automobiles in Japan: The impact of vehicle occupancy," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 259(C).
    13. Huang, Jian-Bai & Luo, Yu-Mei & Feng, Chao, 2019. "An overview of carbon dioxide emissions from China's ferrous metal industry: 1991-2030," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 62(C), pages 541-549.
    14. Li, Kong & Xianzhong, Mu & Guangwen, Hu, 2021. "A decomposing analysis of productive and residential energy consumption in Beijing," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 226(C).
    15. Hao, Han & Geng, Yong & Hang, Wen, 2016. "GHG emissions from primary aluminum production in China: Regional disparity and policy implications," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 166(C), pages 264-272.
    16. Li, Qiang & Zhang, Wenjuan & Li, Huiquan & He, Peng, 2017. "CO2 emission trends of China's primary aluminum industry: A scenario analysis using system dynamics model," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 105(C), pages 225-235.
    17. Liu, Zhe & Geng, Yong & Adams, Michelle & Dong, Liang & Sun, Lina & Zhao, Jingjing & Dong, Huijuan & Wu, Jiao & Tian, Xu, 2016. "Uncovering driving forces on greenhouse gas emissions in China’ aluminum industry from the perspective of life cycle analysis," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 166(C), pages 253-263.
    18. Wang, Miao & Feng, Chao, 2018. "Decomposing the change in energy consumption in China's nonferrous metal industry: An empirical analysis based on the LMDI method," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 82(P3), pages 2652-2663.
    19. Xu, Jin-Hua & Fleiter, Tobias & Eichhammer, Wolfgang & Fan, Ying, 2012. "Energy consumption and CO2 emissions in China's cement industry: A perspective from LMDI decomposition analysis," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 50(C), pages 821-832.
    20. Wang, Qiang & Jiang, Xue-ting & Li, Rongrong, 2017. "Comparative decoupling analysis of energy-related carbon emission from electric output of electricity sector in Shandong Province, China," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 127(C), pages 78-88.
    21. Tao Du & Jian Wang & Heming Wang & Xin Tian & Qiang Yue & Hiroki Tanikawa, 2020. "CO2 emissions from the Chinese cement sector: Analysis from both the supply and demand sides," Journal of Industrial Ecology, Yale University, vol. 24(4), pages 923-934, August.
    22. Tian, Yihui & Zhu, Qinghua & Geng, Yong, 2013. "An analysis of energy-related greenhouse gas emissions in the Chinese iron and steel industry," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 56(C), pages 352-361.
    23. Yu, Jinglei & Shao, Chaofeng & Xue, Chenyang & Hu, Huaqing, 2020. "China's aircraft-related CO2 emissions: Decomposition analysis, decoupling status, and future trends," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 138(C).
    24. Karmellos, M. & Kosmadakis, V. & Dimas, P. & Tsakanikas, A. & Fylaktos, N. & Taliotis, C. & Zachariadis, T., 2021. "A decomposition and decoupling analysis of carbon dioxide emissions from electricity generation: Evidence from the EU-27 and the UK," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 231(C).
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Wang, Junya & Zhao, Qinfang & Ning, Ping & Wen, Shikun, 2024. "Greenhouse gas contribution and emission reduction potential prediction of China's aluminum industry," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 290(C).
    2. Li, Shupeng & Wang, Zhe & Yue, Qiang & Zhang, Tingan, 2022. "Analysis of the quantity and spatial characterization of aluminum in-use stocks in China," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 79(C).
    3. Sapnken, Flavian Emmanuel & Hong, Kwon Ryong & Chopkap Noume, Hermann & Tamba, Jean Gaston, 2024. "A grey prediction model optimized by meta-heuristic algorithms and its application in forecasting carbon emissions from road fuel combustion," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 302(C).
    4. Cao, Yue & Guo, Lingling & Qu, Ying & Wang, Liang, 2024. "Possibility and pathways of China's nonferrous metals industry to achieve its carbon peak target before 2030: A new integrated dynamic forecasting model," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 306(C).
    5. Shen, Angxing & Zhang, Jihong, 2024. "Technologies for CO2 emission reduction and low-carbon development in primary aluminum industry in China: A review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 189(PA).
    6. Lin, Boqiang & Zhao, Hengsong, 2023. "Evaluating current effects of upcoming EU Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism: Evidence from China's futures market," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 177(C).
    7. Yichao Xie & Bowen Zhou & Zhenyu Wang & Bo Yang & Liaoyi Ning & Yanhui Zhang, 2023. "Industrial Carbon Footprint (ICF) Calculation Approach Based on Bayesian Cross-Validation Improved Cyclic Stacking," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(19), pages 1-35, September.
    8. Burke, Paul J. & Beck, Fiona J. & Aisbett, Emma & Baldwin, Kenneth G.H. & Stocks, Matthew & Pye, John & Venkataraman, Mahesh & Hunt, Janet & Bai, Xuemei, 2022. "Contributing to regional decarbonization: Australia's potential to supply zero-carbon commodities to the Asia-Pacific," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 248(C).
    9. Yuan, Dongdong & Jiang, Wei & Sha, Aimin & Xiao, Jingjing & Shan, Jinhuan & Wang, Di, 2022. "Energy output and pavement performance of road thermoelectric generator system," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 201(P2), pages 22-33.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Shen, Angxing & Zhang, Jihong, 2024. "Technologies for CO2 emission reduction and low-carbon development in primary aluminum industry in China: A review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 189(PA).
    2. Wu, Rui & Geng, Yong & Cui, Xiaowei & Gao, Ziyan & Liu, Zhiqing, 2019. "Reasons for recent stagnancy of carbon emissions in China's industrial sectors," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 172(C), pages 457-466.
    3. Trotta, Gianluca, 2020. "Assessing energy efficiency improvements and related energy security and climate benefits in Finland: An ex post multi-sectoral decomposition analysis," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 86(C).
    4. Jiang, Jingjing & Ye, Bin & Liu, Junguo, 2019. "Peak of CO2 emissions in various sectors and provinces of China: Recent progress and avenues for further research," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 112(C), pages 813-833.
    5. Wang, Junya & Zhao, Qinfang & Ning, Ping & Wen, Shikun, 2024. "Greenhouse gas contribution and emission reduction potential prediction of China's aluminum industry," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 290(C).
    6. Song, Yi & Huang, Jian-Bai & Feng, Chao, 2018. "Decomposition of energy-related CO2 emissions in China's iron and steel industry: A comprehensive decomposition framework," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 59(C), pages 103-116.
    7. Wang, Miao & Feng, Chao, 2018. "Using an extended logarithmic mean Divisia index approach to assess the roles of economic factors on industrial CO2 emissions of China," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 76(C), pages 101-114.
    8. Fang, Kai & Li, Chenglin & Tang, Yiqi & He, Jianjian & Song, Junnian, 2022. "China’s pathways to peak carbon emissions: New insights from various industrial sectors," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 306(PA).
    9. Guang, Fengtao & Wen, Le & Sharp, Basil, 2022. "Energy efficiency improvements and industry transition: An analysis of China's electricity consumption," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 244(PA).
    10. Alajmi, Reema Gh, 2021. "Factors that impact greenhouse gas emissions in Saudi Arabia: Decomposition analysis using LMDI," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 156(C).
    11. Li, Yonglin & Zuo, Zhili & Cheng, Yue & Cheng, Jinhua & Xu, Deyi, 2023. "Towards a decoupling between regional economic growth and CO2 emissions in China's mining industry: A comprehensive decomposition framework," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 80(C).
    12. Nadiia Charkovska & Mariia Halushchak & Rostyslav Bun & Zbigniew Nahorski & Tomohiro Oda & Matthias Jonas & Petro Topylko, 2019. "A high-definition spatially explicit modelling approach for national greenhouse gas emissions from industrial processes: reducing the errors and uncertainties in global emission modelling," Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change, Springer, vol. 24(6), pages 907-939, August.
    13. Xu, Jin-Hua & Guo, Jian-Feng & Peng, Binbin & Nie, Hongguang & Kemp, Rene, 2020. "Energy growth sources and future energy-saving potentials in passenger transportation sector in China," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 206(C).
    14. Yu, Biying & Zhao, Zihao & Zhang, Shuai & An, Runying & Chen, Jingming & Li, Ru & Zhao, Guangpu, 2021. "Technological development pathway for a low-carbon primary aluminum industry in China," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 173(C).
    15. Wang, Shubin & Sun, Shaolong & Zhao, Erlong & Wang, Shouyang, 2021. "Urban and rural differences with regional assessment of household energy consumption in China," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 232(C).
    16. Cao, Yue & Guo, Lingling & Qu, Ying & Wang, Liang, 2024. "Possibility and pathways of China's nonferrous metals industry to achieve its carbon peak target before 2030: A new integrated dynamic forecasting model," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 306(C).
    17. Zhang, Puwei & You, Jianxin & Jia, Guangshe & Chen, Jindao & Yu, Anyu, 2018. "Estimation of carbon efficiency decomposition in materials and potential material savings for China's construction industry," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 59(C), pages 148-159.
    18. Isik, Mine & Ari, Izzet & Sarica, Kemal, 2021. "Challenges in the CO2 emissions of the Turkish power sector: Evidence from a two-level decomposition approach," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 70(C).
    19. Xiao, Hao & Sun, Ke-Juan & Bi, Hui-Min & Xue, Jin-Jun, 2019. "Changes in carbon intensity globally and in countries: Attribution and decomposition analysis," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 235(C), pages 1492-1504.
    20. Zou, Chenchen & Ma, Minda & Zhou, Nan & Feng, Wei & You, Kairui & Zhang, Shufan, 2023. "Toward carbon free by 2060: A decarbonization roadmap of operational residential buildings in China," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 277(C).

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:energy:v:239:y:2022:i:pb:s0360544221023628. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.journals.elsevier.com/energy .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.