Technological innovation for the coal industry to achieve carbon neutrality in China

Abstract

Abstract The energy crisis in Europe, triggered by the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, has again drawn attention to the decarbonisation 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 revealed that (1) Power generation & heating and iron & steel smelting are the highest CO2 emissions sectors. In addition, the coal chemical industry and power generation & 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 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 the one of phasing out coal-fired power plants using carbon prices. For China, UCG-IGCC and renewable energy should be developed simultaneously.