Tracing China’s energy flow and carbon dioxide flow based on Sankey diagrams

Abstract

China has promised to optimize its energy structure and reduce its CO₂ emission in the 13th Five-Year Plan. To track the energy structure, the conversions, efficiencies, end consumptions of total energy and coal and the whole CO₂ emission status, the energy flow, coal flow and CO₂ flow in 2015 were, respectively, drawn at the national level based on Sankey diagrams. Besides, each provincial fossil fuel structure, CO₂ structure and CO₂ intensity were calculated and plotted. It is mainly found that China’s energy structure consisted of 69.2% of coal, 19.9% of oil, 6.3% of natural gas and 4.7% of non-fossil energy, where 45.5% of energy was consumed by industry and 23.9% by losses and statistical difference; coal was distributed to industry (55.6%), etc., with a utilization rate of 70.1%; and CO₂ were derived from coal (84.7%), oil (11.1%) and natural gas (4.2%), of which 39.0% was released through the process of thermal power generation and 19.4% by industry. The structures of fossil fuels and their CO₂ emissions together with the evolution of CO₂ intensity at the provincial level and the regional level were also given. Besides, two pieces of policy implications were proposed to provide the government with reference.

Keywords

Energy flow / Coal flow / Utilization efficiency / Carbon dioxide flow / Fossil fuel / CO₂ intensity

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Funding

the National Natural Science Foundation of China(51274206)