Real-Time Carbon Accounting Method for the European Electricity Markets

Abstract

Electricity accounts for 25% of global greenhouse gas emissions. Reducing emissions related to electricity consumption requires accurate measurements readily available to consumers, regulators and investors. In this case study, we propose a new real-time consumption-based accounting approach based on flow tracing. This method traces power flows from producer to consumer thereby representing the underlying physics of the electricity system, in contrast to the traditional input-output models of carbon accounting. With this method we explore the hourly structure of electricity trade across Europe in 2017, and find substantial differences between production and consumption intensities. This emphasizes the importance of considering cross-border flows for increased transparency regarding carbon emission accounting of electricity.

References in corpus (4)

• Flow tracing as a tool set for the analysis of networked large-scale renewable electricity systems
• Power flow tracing in a simplified highly renewable European electricity network
• Flow-based nodal cost allocation in a heterogeneous highly renewable European electricity network
• Flow-based analysis of storage usage in a low-carbon European electricity scenario

Cited by in corpus (12)

• The effect of price-based demand response on carbon emissions in European electricity markets: The importance of adequate carbon prices
• Let's Wait Awhile: How Temporal Workload Shifting Can Reduce Carbon Emissions in the Cloud
• Short-term CO2 emissions forecasting based on decomposition approaches and its impact on electricity market scheduling
• The use of primary energy factors and CO2 intensities -- reviewing the state of play in academic literature
• A graphical approach to carbon-efficient spot market scheduling for Power-to-X applications
• Towards Standardized Grid Emission Factors: Methodological Insights and Best Practices
• A Physics-informed data reconciliation framework for real-time electricity and emissions tracking
• The Green Mirage: Impact of Location- and Market-based Carbon Intensity Estimation on Carbon Optimization Efficacy
• Load and generation time series for German federal states: Static vs. dynamic regionalization factors
• Tracing carbon dioxide emissions in the European electricity markets
• Carbon Leakage in a European Power System with Inhomogeneous Carbon Prices
• Optimal Scheduling of Flexible Power-to-X Technologies in the Day-ahead Electricity Market