Low-carbon technological innovation of coal production and utilization impetus carbon neutrality in China

European energy crisis, triggered by the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, has again drawn attention to the decarbonization of fossil energy sources. However, few studies have objectively considered coal from an integrated life cycle and its position in the energy system. In the present study, we used the integrated life cycle analysis and fixed-effect panel threshold model to reveal that (1) power generation and heating and iron and steel smelting are the highest CO2 emission sectors. In addition, the coal chemical industry and power generation and heating are the two sectors with the highest contribution rate of CO2 emissions. (2) Based on these, underground coal gasification (UCG) and underground coal gasification-integrated gasification combined cycle (UCG-IGCC) technologies were introduced to innovate the coal life cycle (the process cycle of coal production and utilization). The panel threshold model has proved that when the energy intensity falls in the interval 0.363-2.599, UCG-IGCC technology could be the complement in mitigating CO2 emissions. (3) Finally, for the same amount of emission mitigations, the social cost of innovating coal production and utilization processes using UCG-IGCC technology will be lower than phasing out coal-fired power plants using carbon prices. For China, UCG-IGCC and renewable energy should be developed simultaneously.

Automated summary

The European energy crisis, caused by the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, has brought attention to the decarbonization of fossil energy sources. This study used integrated life cycle analysis and fixed-effect panel threshold model to analyze the CO2 emissions in different sectors and introduced underground coal gasification (UCG) and UCG-integrated gasification combined cycle (UCG-IGCC) technologies as innovative approaches. The study found that UCG-IGCC technology can be a complementary measure to mitigate CO2 emissions within a certain range of energy intensity, and the social cost of innovating coal production and utilization processes using UCG-IGCC technology is lower than phasing out coal-fired power plants using carbon prices.