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Considering China's goal of achieving peak carbon emissions in 2030 and carbon neutrality in 2060, this paper analyzes carbon emissions, carbon emission intensity, the decoupling of carbon emissions and economic development, and associated influencing factors using data from Ordos City from 2009 to 2020. The methods employed are the IPCC carbon emission calculation method, Tapio decoupling model, and logarithmic average Dickens index decomposition. The results show the following: (1) During the study period, Ordos City carbon emissions showed an increasing trend, and the total carbon emissions increased from 5.634 billion tons in 2009 to 204.734 million tons in 2020, with an average annual growth rate of 13.77%. (2) The decoupling elasticity of Ordos City from 2009 to 2016 was 1.26, which is the expansion negative decoupling state. From 2016 to 2020, the decoupling elasticity was -3.2657, showing a strong negative decoupling state. (3) The increase in population and per capita GDP in Ordos are the main factors contributing to the increase of carbon emissions, and the main negative growth driver is the increase in energy intensity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China has announced its goal of reaching carbon neutrality by 2060, which will have a profound impact on its energy and economic systems. During this process, the power sector will play a key role in helping the country on its road towards carbon neutrality. This study develops a multi-regional power dispatch and capacity expansion model to combine long-term capacity expansion with short-term power dispatch. The model is built to optimise the carbon-neutral transition pathway from the perspective of economics, focussing on power system stability and reliability under high penetrations of renewables. Using the case study of North China, the cost-effective methods for power system transitions under the targets of reaching peak emissions by 2030 and achieving carbon neutrality by 2060 are discussed under different scenarios. We find that the future power supply system will rely heavily on renewable energy which will account for more than 89% of power generation. Inner Mongolia will produce more than 84% of power in the North China region. The inter-regional power transmission capacity will be five times higher than its current level. Policy choices will lead to different transition pathways as the early-stage installation decisions will have a lock-in effect on the following carbon emission reduction strategies and determine the importance of technologies adopted in achieving carbon neutrality. Although the transition to a low-carbon economy will result in an increase in cost by 17–19%, it will bring huge climate benefits to the world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]