Open AccessGlobal and Regional Drivers of Power Plant CO 2 Emissions Over the Last Three Decades Revealed From Unit‐Based Database
Author(s) -
Qin Xinying,
Tong Dan,
Liu Fei,
Wu Ruili,
Zheng Bo,
Zheng Yixuan,
Liu Jun,
Xu Ruochong,
Chen Cuihong,
Yan Liu,
Zhang Qiang
Publication year - 2022
Publication title -
earth's future
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.641
H-Index - 39
ISSN - 2328-4277
DOI - 10.1029/2022ef002657
Subject(s) - fossil fuel , environmental science , power station , unit (ring theory) , renewable energy , greenhouse gas , china , coal , biomass (ecology) , thermal power station , natural resource economics , database , geography , engineering , economics , waste management , computer science , ecology , mathematics education , mathematics , electrical engineering , archaeology , biology
Abstract The past three decades have witnessed the dramatic expansion of global biomass‐ and fossil fuel‐fired power plants, but the tremendously diverse power infrastructure shapes different spatial and temporal CO 2 emission characteristics. Here, by combining Global Power plant Emissions Database (GPED v1.1) constructed in this study and the previously developed China coal‐fired power Plant Emissions Database (CPED), we analyzed multi‐scale changes and underlying drivers from the globe to the unit in generating capacities, age structure, and CO 2 emissions over the past 30 yr. Our estimates show global CO 2 emissions from the power sector increased from 7.5 Gt in 1990 to 13.9 Gt in 2019, and the growth of power demand meeting by large and young units mainly drives this increase for all stages. However, regional drivers were broadly different from those affecting global trends. For example, the critical roles of thermal efficiency improvement (accounting for 20% of the decrease in CO 2 emissions) by eliminating small and low‐efficient coal‐fired units and fossil fuel mix (61%) by developing natural‐gas‐ and oil‐fired units were identified in preventing CO 2 emission increases in the developed regions. By contrast, the decrease of fossil fuel share by speeding up the expansion of renewable power gradually demonstrates its importance in curbing emissions in the most of regions, especially including the developing economies (i.e., China and India) after 2010. Our multi‐scale results of 30 yr emission variations indicate the structure optimization and transformations of power plants is paramount importance to further curb or reduce CO 2 emissions from the power sector.