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Achievement of national climate targets and the corresponding costs would entirely depend on regional actions within the country. However, because of substantial inequalities and heterogeneities among regions, especially in developing economies, aggressive or uniform actions may exacerbate inequity and induce huge economic losses, which in turn challenges the national climate pledges. Hence, this study extends prior research by proposing economically optimal strategies that can achieve national climate targets and ensure the greatest local and national benefits as well as regional equality. Focusing on the biggest developing country China, we find this strategy can avoid up to 1.54% of cumulative GDP losses for approaching carbon neutrality, and more than 90% of regions would obtain economic gains compared either with existing independently launched targets or with the uniform strategy that all regions achieve peak carbon emissions before 2030. We also provide optimal carbon mitigation pathways to regional peak carbon, carbon intensity and energy consumption. Aggressive or uniform actions on climate targets may exacerbate regional inequality and induce economic losses in China. The proposed collaborative strategy for carbon neutrality can avoid up to 1.54% of GDP losses while 90% of provinces would gain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The study quantifies component-based learning curves of four CCS pathways. • A nonlinear programming approach of CCS technology selection was developed. • An empirical analysis of China's power sector was carried out. • Advanced CCS technology roadmaps in line with 2 °C target were put forward. Carbon capture and storage (CCS) is indispensable in achieving the well below 2 °C warming target, especially for China with coal-dominated energy structures. However, high investment makes the development of CCS far from the global warming target. Concerns about the high cost have led to a spread of pessimistic attitude towards the future of CCS to some extent. Therefore, this study provides the first instance to determine the unit CO 2 avoided cost learning curves of various CCS pathways for China's thermal power generation based on a component-based approach, and establishes a non-linear technology optimization model with endogenous technological progress. Model developed by this study aims to explore the economically optimal CCS deployment strategy for achieving the necessary emission reductions in line with 2 °C target in China and the amount of investment required. Results show that the nominal learning rates of CO 2 avoided costs are in the range of 0.018 to 0.151 for four CCS pathways. The strategic priority should be given to the integrated gasification combined cycle (IGCC) pathway and the supercritical pulverized coal (SPC) pathway, considering that they have greater cost reduction potential than that of oxy-combustion and gas-fired pathway. To achieve the 2 °C target, the total abatement cost will be at least 330 billion US dollars with a CCS capacity of 499 GW for power sector by 2050. The preferred time of large-scale deployment of CCS in China's power sector is around 2030. Postponing CCS commercialization will surge the abatement cost to $626 billion by 2050. In addition, this study provides the long term break-even CO 2 prices for implementing CCS, ranging from approximately $46/ton CO 2 to $62/ton CO 2 , which is informative for the future subsidy setting and carbon trading market. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Cumulative publication of China's CCS research was about 3.4 times that of Canada. • China's CCS research had the advantage of pre-combustion carbon capture. • Canada's CCS research advantage lied in the ecosystem carbon sequestration. • Canada's CCS research will reach saturation 15 years later than that in China. In order to effectively address climate change, academia and industry have paid much attention to the development trend of Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS). However, there is no mature CCS research trend monitoring system. China is likely to be the largest market for CCS technology in the future, while Canada is the first country to start the research and development of CCS. Existing studies have discussed the CCS research trends at the global level, in China, Canada, and in other countries. However, few comparative studies have been carried out in key countries. In this study, an integrated method of bibliometrics and S-Curve is proposed with the purpose of comparing CCS research trends between China and Canada. Firstly, the bibliometrics method was used to compare the conceptual structure and research route of CCS research in China and in Canada. Secondly, the key collaborators were indentified through the comparison of collaboration relationships. Finally, the S-Curve model was employed to forecast the CCS research output trend in China and Canada. This study found that China's CCS research had the advantage of pre-combustion carbon capture, while Canada's advantage lied in the ecosystem carbon sequestration. It was also shown that Canada's CCS cumulative publication may reach saturation 15 years later than that in China. This paper provides insight into the CCS research and development optimization for China, Canada and globally. The CCS research trends comparison tools proposed in this study can benefit to monitor the CCS research by governments and enterprises. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Biomass co-firing technology is a potential solution for low-carbon transition of coal-fired power plants. Existing techno-economic analyses of this technology fail to consider indirect benefits, such as avoided losses from technology retrofitting, and the heterogeneity across regions. To address these limitations, we developed five types of techno-economic indicators to analyze six possible future scenarios for the application of this technology in 29 provinces of China, based on regional heterogeneous data. The results show, first, generally, the higher the local coal price, the local on-grid electricity price, the biomass feed-in tariff subsidy, and the carbon trading price, the greater the incentives and benefits for biomass co-firing. Second, bio-electricity tariff subsidies greatly increase the incentives for technology retrofitting, with 26 of the 29 provinces analyzed having sufficient incentives for retrofits in this scenario. Third, biomass co-firing technology has more revenue potential when emission quota is limited than when it's not. Our results indicate that a timely tightening of the CO 2 emission quotas of the coal power sector will stimulate technological retrofits even without additional policy incentives, while more plants retrofitted will achieve positive returns with additional incentives. [Display omitted] • A biomass cofiring technology scenario-economics assessment model is built. • Five types of techno-economic indicators for six future scenarios are analyzed. • Indirect revenues of biomass co-firing technology are considered. • Tighten the CO 2 quota will stimulate the impetus of technological retrofit. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS) is a crucial technology for global climate mitigation. To implement large-scale CCUS, decisions about where and how to build a CO 2 transportation network are urgently required. However, previous studies are limited in proposing the economical transportation network for CCUS that considered comprehensive risks from socio-economic, geographical and geological factors. Here, we develop a pipeline layout planning model to investigate the cost-effective and reliable transportation network for CCUS. Results show that to meet the annual CO 2 emission reduction target of 654 million tons for CCUS in the coal-fired power sector under China's carbon neutral goal, pipelines with a total length of 17,589 km need to be constructed. The emission sources can be transported in pipelines with an average radius of 58 km, and with diameters of 8, 12, and 16 inches. Northeast, north, and northwest China are the main areas suitable for pipeline construction. • Northeast, North, and Northwest in China are vital areas for capture, transport, and storage. • Five large-scale pipeline network groups can be constructed in China. • Pipeline construction is greatly affected by a variety of practical factors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• A source–sink optimization model is proposed for the optimal CCS planning. • 175 GW coal-fired power plants need to be retrofitted with CCS under the 2 °C constraint. • Four large-scale power plant clusters as candidates for CO 2 hubs and clusters have been identified. • A CO 2 storage site can be found within an average radius of 115 km from these power plants. • The minimum abatement cost is USD 1212 billion for the national-level CCS layout. Carbon capture and storage (CCS) has been widely recognized as a key technology to reduce CO 2 emissions in the power sector. China's power sector needs to achieve large-scale emission reductions through CCS technologies to contribute to limiting the global temperature rise to less than 2℃. The best source–sink matching directly affects total mitigation costs for the power sector. However, China has not yet established an optimal CCS plan. This study evaluates the least-cost source–sink relationship and cluster development opportunities for CCS in China under the 2 °C constraint. The results show that 165 existing coal-fired power plants, which have an installed capacity of approximately 175 GW, need CCS retrofitting and can find a suitable CO 2 storage site within an average radius of 115 km. The total captured CO 2 is 17.42 billion tons in Northeast, North, East, Northwest, and South regions with the share of 10.79% (1.88 GtCO 2), 31.29% (5.45 GtCO 2), 35.25% (6.14GtCO 2), 22.39% (3.90GtCO 2), and 0.27% (47MtCO 2), respectively. Approximately 90% of captured CO 2 can be stored in the Songliao, Bohai Bay, and Subei basins. In addition, 23% of the emission reductions can be achieved through CO 2 -enhanced oil recovery. The total mitigation cost is USD 1212 billion and the revenue generated from CO 2 -enhanced oil recovery is USD 377 billion. Overall, it provides the least-cost source–sink layout and cluster development opportunities for CCS development under the 2 ℃ constraint, which can serve as a basis for large-scale CCS adoption in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]