A 2015 inventory of embodied carbon emissions for Chinese power transmission infrastructure projects

The spatial mismatch of energy resources and electricity demand in China drives the large-scale construction of power transmission infrastructure, which consumes a large amount of carbon-intensive products. However, a systematic accounting framework for the carbon emissions of power transmission infrastructure has not yet been established. This study for the first time compiles an embodied carbon emissions inventory covering 191 typical power transmission infrastructure projects in China in 2015, including 145 types of alternating current (AC) transmission line projects, 37 typical AC substation projects, 8 typical direct current (DC) transmission line projects and 1 typical DC converter station project. The inventory also shows the detailed inputs of all the projects. These data not only enable a quantitative assessment of the embodied carbon emissions of power transmission infrastructure in China but also provide essential information for climate mitigation policy design in the power sector.