Carbon Flow Tracing Method for Assessment of Demand Side Carbon Emissions Obligation

As increasing number of nations, industries, and individuals are involved in the carbon mitigation initiative, it becomes significant to answer what amount of carbon emissions social entities are responsible for, especially from electricity service. In this paper, a carbon flow tracing method is presented to determine carbon emissions obligation from electricity consumption. The method traces energy sources of electricity consumption across the electricity network to determine the indirect carbon emissions caused. From a “generation-to-consumption” perspective, the transmission characteristic of electricity supply and locational energy mix are reflected. The method is employed to address two important issues uniformly, i.e., carbon accounting at the regional level and locational carbon intensity assessment at the user level, respectively. Test results from two examples show that the method is a preferable choice to solve the two problems. Additionally, the method may contribute to carbon reduction cooperation and end user participation in carbon mitigation.