About the Journal
Editorial Office
Editorial Board
Scope
Indexing and Abstracting
Contact
Current issue
Online first
Notes to Authors
Editorial policies
Publication Policy Overview
Peer Review Policy
Research Ethics and Malpractice Policy
Plagiarism Policy
Conflict of Interest Policy
Open Access Policy
Instructions for Reviewers
Generative AI and AI-Assisted Technologies Policy
Promotion Rules
Archive
REVIEW PAPER
Time-Sharing and Zonal Electricity Carbon
Emission Factor: Research Progress, Key
Challenges, and Future Prospects
1
State Grid Jibei Electric Power Company Limited Economic and Technical Research Institute, Beijing 100053, China
Submission date: 2025-08-11
Final revision date: 2025-10-13
Acceptance date: 2025-11-24
Online publication date: 2026-01-26
Corresponding author
Yan Lu
State Grid Jibei Electric Power Company Limited Economic and Technical Research Institute, Beijing 100053, China
State Grid Jibei Electric Power Company Limited Economic and Technical Research Institute, Beijing 100053, China
KEYWORDS
electricity carbon emission factortime-sharing zoningelectricity carbon emissiondecarbonization of the power sectordynamic electro-carbon factor
TOPICS
ABSTRACT
Traditional regional or annual average electricity carbon emission factors struggle to accurately
reflect the temporal and spatial variations in carbon emissions associated with electricity consumption,
making it difficult to support refined low-carbon management needs such as demand-side response,
green electricity trading, and carbon footprint accounting. The Time-Sharing and Zonal Electricity
Carbon Emission Factor (TSZ-ECF), a key metric that dynamically characterizes the marginal carbon
emission intensity per unit of electricity consumption across different time periods and grid nodes
(or regions), has garnered widespread attention in academia and industry in recent years. This paper
systematically reviews the theoretical foundations of TSZ-ECF, mainstream accounting methods, their
advantages and disadvantages, and applicable scenarios. It focuses on analyzing the application value
and practical progress of TSZ-ECF in areas such as electricity market mechanism design, user-side
carbon management, grid planning and operation, and policy formulation. Finally, the paper delves
into the key challenges faced in current research and outlines future research directions for TSZ-ECF.
This review aims to provide researchers and practitioners in related fields with a comprehensive overview
of the current state of research, promoting the advancement of TSZ-ECF theory, methodologies,
and applications to support the low-carbon transition of power systems and the achievement of “Carbon
Neutrality and Carbon Peaking” goals.
REFERENCES (79)
1.
A Y., YANG W.J., CHENG Y.Y., DU Z.X., LV Y., MA L.Y. Global climate governance and organizational carbon inventory check. Yi Ra. 51 (6), 81, 2025 [in Chinese].
2.
ZHANG Q., WANG Y., ZHAO L.W., FANG Z.H. Analysis of policy system, structural transformation and systematic challenges under the 'Carbon peak' and 'carbon neutrality' goals. Chinese Battery Industry. 1, 2025 [in Chinese].
3.
JIANG L.L., LI Y.P., HE X., ZHOU Q. Research progress on low-carbon transition pathways in the power sector toward "Dual Carbon" targets. High Technology and Industrialization. 31 (6), 65, 2025 [in Chinese].
4.
LIU G.Y., WANG J.Y., TANG Y. C., WANG D. Evolution process of research directions and application requirements of electricity carbon emission factors. Power System Technology. 48 (1), 12, 2024 [in Chinese].
5.
HARDISTY P.E., CLARK T.S., HYNES R.G. Life cycle greenhouse gas emissions from electricity generation: a comparative analysis of Australian energy sources. Energies. 5 (4), 872. 2012.
6.
DE CHALENDAR J.A., TAGGART J., BENSON S.M. Tracking emissions in the US electricity system. Proceedings of The National Academy of Sciences of The Unifed States of America. 116 (51) 25497, 2019.
7.
HE G.S., ZENG J.C., ZHU H.J., CHEN A.Z. Summary of statistical accounting methods for average carbon emission factors of power grid. Environmental Impact Assessment. 46 (4), 64, 2024 [in Chinese].
8.
GU Y.F. Research on power carbon emission accounting method for the grid side. Ph.D. Dissertation, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China, 2024 [in Chinese].
9.
MA M.C., LI Y.W., DU E.S. Analysis of multi-period marginal carbon emission factors and their uncertainties. Automation of Electric Power Systems. 1, 2025 [in Chinese].
10.
WAN Y.X., SUN X.C., BAO M.L., DING Y. WANG X.R. Carbon-green certificate mutual conversion mechanism and market benefit analysis based on marginal carbon intensity. Power System Technology. 1, 2025 [in Chinese].
11.
PENG T.H., CAI X., ZHAI Z.H., TANG A.H., SHEN R., WANG Q.M., YU W.H. Research on calculation model of power supply carbon emission factor in regional power grid considering hierarchical and regional decoupling of large-scale power grid. Proceedings of the CSEE. 44 (3), 894, 2024 [in Chinese].
12.
LIN W.J., CAO H.Y., TIAN W., LIU H.Y., WENG R.X., ZHANG Y. Research on real-time carbon measurement system for the entire process of power system considering distributed generation. Electrical Measurement & Instrumentation. 61 (10), 113, 2024 [in Chinese].
13.
ZHAN G.H., ZHANG X.Y., WEI S.Y., ZHANG X.S., LI L. A prediction method for power grid carbon emission factor based on T-Graphormer. Integrated Intelligent Energy. 47 (6), 30, 2025 [in Chinese].
14.
SONG J.W., YANG W., ZHOU C. L., ZHANG N., CHEN X., KANG C.Q. Distributed calculation method for regional power carbon emission factors across power grids. Automation of Electric Power Systems. 1, 2025 [in Chinese].
15.
WANG C.Q., CHEN Y., CHI C.Y., TAO Y., LI X.B., JIANG X.D. Calculation method of power system carbon emission flow based on power flow distribution matrix. Science Technology and Engineering. 22 (12), 4835, 2022 [in Chinese].
16.
ZUO W.L., QIN X.H., XU Y.P., FAN C.H., PAN R. Carbon flow network distribution and path tracing algorithm based on graph theory. Power System Technology. 49 (4), 1305, 2025 [in Chinese].
17.
ZHANG N., LI Y.W., HUANG J.H., LI Y.H., DU E.S., LI M.X., LIU Y.L., KANG C.Q. Carbon measurement method and carbon meter system for whole chain of power system. Automation of Electric Power Systems. 47 (9), 2, 2023 [in Chinese].
18.
YAN L.M., HU W.S. Carbon flow tracking method of power systems based on the complex power distribution matrix. Integrated Intelligent Energy. 45 (8), 1, 2023 [in Chinese].
19.
LEAL-ARCAS R., FAKTAUFON M., KYPRIANOU A. A legal exploration of the European Union's carbon border adjustment mechanism. European Energy and Environmental Law Review. 31 (4), 2022.
20.
MILLER G.J., NOVAN K., JENN A. Hourly accounting of carbon emissions from electricity consumption. Environmental Research Letters. 17 (4), 044073, 2022.
21.
HE H.J., ZHOU S.L., ZHANG L.P., ZHAO W., XIAO X. Dynamic accounting model and method for carbon emissions on the power grid side. Energies. 16 (13) 5016, 2023 [in Chinese].
22.
BERTOLINI M., DUTTILO P., LISI F. Accounting carbon emissions from electricity generation: a review and comparison of emission factor-based methods. Applied Energy. 392, 125992, 2024.
23.
LI Y.W., YANG X.X., DU E.S., LIU Y.L., ZHANG S.X., YANG C., ZHANG N., LIU C. A review on carbon emission accounting approaches for the electricity power industry. Applied Energy. 359, 122681, 2024.
24.
LI Z., PAN Q., SHI J., JI H. Construction and Application of Enterprise Electric Carbon Model: A Study Based on Key Enterprises in Qinghai Province. Sustainability. 17 (5), 2243, 2025.
25.
YANG Y.Y., PAN F., LI J.L., JI Y.L., ZHONG L.H., ZHANG J. Electricity consumption optimization of power users driven by a dynamic electric carbon factor. Frontiers in Energy Research. 12, 1373206, 2024.
26.
TANG Y.Z., LI Y., YUAN X.L., PIMM A., COCKERILL T.T., WANG Q.S., MA Q. Estimation of emission factors from purchased electricity for European countries: Impacts on emission reduction of electricity storage. Environmental Science & Technology. 56 (8), 5111, 2022. [https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.es...) PMid:35380436.
27.
ZUO J., ZHONG Y.S., YANG Y., FU C., HE X.Z., BAO B., QIAN F. Analysis of carbon emission, carbon displacement and heterogeneity of Guangdong power industry. Energy Reports. 8, 438, 2022.
28.
HU Z., WANG M., CHENG Z. YANG Z. Impact of marginal and intergenerational effects on carbon emissions from household energy consumption in China. Journal of Cleaner Production. 273, 123022, 2020.
29.
ZHONG Z.W., YU Y., ZHAO X.L., XIAO L. Revisiting electric vehicle life cycle greenhouse gas emissions in China: a marginal emission perspective. iScience. 26 (5), 106565, 2023.
30.
YU H., YANG Y., LI B., LIU B.W., GUO Y.H, WANG Y.Q., GUO Z.F., MENG R.H. Research on the community electric carbon emission prediction considering the dynamic emission coefficient of power system. Scientific Reports. 13 (1), 5568, 2023. [https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598...) PMid:37019907 PMCid:PMC10076421.
31.
FANG B., ZHANG J.Y., CHEN S.Y., LI L., WANG S.L., WEN M.Z. A data-driven method for deriving the dynamic characteristics of marginal carbon emissions for power systems. Energies. 18 (13), 3297, 2025.
32.
YANG T.Y., DANG Z.S., WANG X.J., WANG B., GAO Y., WANG Q.C. Comprehensive carbon accounting for power systems considering hybrid power trading mode. Energy. 333, 136897, 2025.
33.
WANG H., ZHANG Y.Y., LIN W.F., WEI W.D. Transregional electricity transmission and carbon emissions: evidence from ultra-high voltage transmission projects in China. Energy Economics. 123, 106751, 2023.
34.
SU W.Q., CHEN F.X., SHAO Z.G., HUANG T.H., WU H.B. A low-carbon economic scheduling of power systems considering marginal carbon emission factor. Journal of Physics: Conference Series. 2935, 012027, 2025.
35.
YANG L.J., GAO Y.J., ZHANG P., TAN X.L., AN J.K. Two-stage low-carbon economic dispatch of an integrated energy system considering flexible decoupling of electricity and heat on sides of source and load. Sustainable Energy Grids ＆ Networks. 40, 101552, 2024.
36.
WENG G.P., REN J.R., YAO Y., WANG L., HUANG F. Low-carbon economic dispatch of integrated energy systems in industrial parks considering time-varying electricity-carbon factors. Zhejiang Electric Power. 41 (10), 106, 2022 [in Chinese].
37.
BAI M., LI C. Study on the spatial correlation effects and influencing factors of carbon emissions from the electricity industry: a fresh evidence from China. Environmental Science and Pollution Research. 30 (53), 113364, 2023.
38.
WANG C., ZHAO Y.L., YAN H., JIANG X., KANG Q., ZHOU J.C. Prediction of electricity carbon emission peak in intelligent buildings with discrete second-order differential and time-sharing carbon measurement. Sustainable Energy Research. 12 (1), 20, 2025.
39.
QU J.B., QI S., LEI T.T., CHEN A.Z., ZENG J.C. Research on the analysis of thermal power plant's electricity-carbon factor based on units. Environmental Impact Assessment. 47 (2), 34, 2025 [in Chinese].
40.
ZHANG X.C., ZHU Q.W., ZHANG X.Q. Carbon emission intensity of final electricity consumption: assessment and decomposition of regional power grids in China from 2005 to 2020. Sustainability. 15 (13), 9946, 2023.
41.
JIA Y.P. Research on measures for improving the calculation of electricity-carbon factors in the context of building a carbon emission statistical accounting system. China Business Guide. (17), 56, 2024 [in Chinese].
42.
GUAN Z., YANG C., FENG H.R., CHEN L.P., CEN H.F., LI Y.W., DU E.S., ZHANG N. Low-carbon demand response technology considering uncertainty of marginal carbon emission factors. Southern Power System Technology. 1, 2025 [in Chinese].
43.
YANG Y., YI W.F., WANG C.Q., WANG M.S., WU Z.J., MU Y.F., ZHENG M.Z. Low-carbon economic dispatch of power system sources, nets and loads based on carbon flow tracking. Electric Power Construction. 44 (5), 108, 2023 [in Chinese].
44.
ZHU J.Z., XIE C.C., ZHANG D., LAN J., ZHOU J.L. Review of electric-carbon coupling market studies: status, challenges, and sustainability perspectives. Electric Power Construction. 46 (1), 158, 2025 [in Chinese].
45.
ZHANG X.L., HUANG X.D., ZHANG D., GENG Y., TIAN L.X., FAN Y., CHEN W.Y. Research on the pathway and policies for China's energy and economy transformation toward carbon neutrality. Management World. 38 (1), 35, 2022 [in Chinese].
46.
LI X., LIU Z.M., YANG D., WANG D.P. Power market efficiency evaluation and carbon market price design-estimation of pass-through rate based on the perspective of power-carbon market correlation. China Industrial Economics. 1, 132, 2022 [in Chinese].
47.
LI F., LI X.S, LU M.F., ZHANG L. Game optimization model of direct power purchase between power suppliers and large consumers with RPS assessment constrains. High Voltage Engineering. 49 (1), 1, 2022 [in Chinese].
48.
WANG D., LI D., FENG L.J., JIA Q.G., PING J., YAN Z. Trustworthy and autonomous electricity trading method among multiple microgrids considering green property. Automation of Electric Power Systems. 46 (23), 1, 2022 [in Chinese].
49.
GUO S.W., MEN X.J., SUN H.P., ZHANG S.J., SUN W.J. Comparison and analysis on current situation and future prospects of three policy tools of green power transaction, green energy certificate and CCER. Energy of China. 44 (3), 75, 2022 [in Chinese].
50.
ZHOU T.R., KANG C.Q, XU Q.Y., CHEN Q.X. Preliminary theoretical investigation on power system carbon emission flow. Automation of Electric Power Systems. 36 (7), 38, 2012 [in Chinese].
51.
LI B.W., HU Z.C., SONG Y.H., WANG G.H. Principle and model for regional allocation of carbon emission from electricity sector. Power System Technology. 36 (7), 12, 2012 [in Chinese].
52.
KHAN I., JACK M.W., STEPHENSON J. Analysis of greenhouse gas emissions in electricity systems using time-varying carbon intensity. Journal of Cleaner Production. 184, 1091, 2018.
53.
VALENZUELA L.F., DEGLERIS A., EL GAMAL A., PAVONE M., RAJAGOPAL R. Dynamic locational marginal emissions via implicit differentiation. IEEE Transactions on Power Systems. 39 (1), 1138, 2024.
54.
WANG Z.S., SHI Y., TANG Y.M., MEN X.Y., CAO J., WANG H.F. Low carbon economy operation and energy efficiency analysis of integrated energy systems considering LCA energy chain and carbon trading mechanism. Proceedings of the CSEE. 39 (6), 1614, 2019 [in Chinese].
55.
LI Y.W., ZHANG N., DU E.S. LIU Y.L., CAI X., HE D.W. Mechanism study and benefit analysis on power system low carbon demand response based on carbon emission flow. Proceedings of the CSEE. 42 (8), 2830, 2022 [in Chinese].
56.
LEVASSEUR A., MERCIER-BLAIS S., PRAIRIE Y.T., TREMBLAY A., TURPIN C. Improving the accuracy of electricity carbon footprint: estimation of hydroelectric reservoir greenhouse gas emissions. Renewable ＆ Sustainable Energy Reviews. 136, 110433, 2021.
57.
BIE P., LIN S.H., WANG N., WANG H.H. Calculation of carbon emission factors on the corporate electricity consumption side based on power flow tracing and green power trading. Southern Power System Technology. 17 (6), 34, 2023 [in Chinese].
58.
LI X.Z., HAN B., LI G.J., WANG K.Y., XU J. Challenges of distributed green energy carbon trading mechanism and carbon data management. Journal of Shanghai Jiao Tong University. 56 (8), 1006, 2022 [in Chinese].
59.
WEI Y.H., FAN S., XU S.L., ZENG F., XIAO J.C., HE G.Y. Evaluation method for renewable energy share of customers based on marginal contribution to renewable energy accommodation. Automation of Electric Power Systems. 47 (10), 14, 2023 [in Chinese].
60.
SHI Y., LI W.J., YANG F.J., ZHOU X.L., LIU C.M. Two-layer low-carbon optimized dispatching for integrated energy systems considering carbon liability allocation and demand response. Modern Electric Power. 42 (4), 669, 2023 [in Chinese].
61.
CUI Y., ZOU X.P., ZHAO Y.T., FU X.B., SHEN Y.P. Electricity-carbon integrated demand response scheduling method for new power system considering dynamic electricity-carbon emission factor. Electric Power Automation Equipment. 44 (10), 1, 2024 [in Chinese].
62.
LU Z.L., YAN L., WANG J.X., KANG C.Q., SHAHIDEHPOUR M., LI Z.Y. A market-clearing-based sensitivity model for locational marginal and average carbon emission. IEEE Transactions on Energy Markets, Policy and Regulation. 2 (4), 579, 2024. [https://doi.org/10.1109/TEMPR....).
63.
KAMJOU A.S., MILLER C.J., ROUHOLAMINI M., WANG C.S. Comparison between historical and real-time techniques for estimating marginal emissions attributed to electricity generation. Energies. 14 (17), 5261, 2021.
64.
LI B.W., HU Z.C., SONG Y.H., WANG G.H. Principle and Model for Regional Allocation of Carbon Emission from Electricity Sector. Power System Technology. 36 (7), 12, 2012 [in Chinese].
65.
KHAN I., JACK M.W., STEPHENSON J. Analysis of greenhouse gas emissions in electricity systems using time-varying carbon intensity. Journal of CleanerProduction. 184, 1091, 2018.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcle...
66.
WANG Z.L., SHI Y., TANG Y.M., MEN X.Y., CAO J., WANG H.F. Low Carbon Economy Operation and Energy Efficiency Analysis of Integrated Energy Systems Considering LCA Energy Chain and Carbon Trading Mechanism. Proceedings of the CSEE. 39 (6), 1614, 2019 [in Chinese].
67.
LI Y.W., ZHANG N., DU E.S., LIU Y.L., CAI X., HE D.W. Mechanism Study and Benefit Analysis on Power System Low Carbon Demand Response. Proceedings of the CSEE. 42 (8), 2830, 2022 [in Chinese].
68.
LEVASSEUR A., MERCIER-BLAIS S., PRAIRIE Y.T., TREMBLAY A., TURPIN C. Improving the accuracy of electricity carbon footprint: estimation of hydroelectric reservoir greenhouse gas emissions. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews. 136 (4), 2021. [https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rser...).
69.
LI X.Z., HAN B., LI G.J., WANG K.Y., XU J. Challenges of Distributed Green Energy Carbon Trading Mechanism and Carbon Data Management. Journal of Shanghai Jiao Tong University. 56(8), 977, 2022 [in Chinese].
70.
LU X.B., ZHAO L., YANG Y., SHU Y.B., HUANG H.W., SHU A.J., YE J.C., ZHU H. Calculation of Time- and Area-Specific Electric Carbon Factor and Its Application in Product Carbon Footprint Accounting. Strategic Study of CAE. 27 (5),1009, 2025 [in Chinese].
71.
SHI Y., LI W.J., YANG F.J., ZHOU X.L., LIU C.M. Two-layer Low-carbon Optimized Dispatching for Integrated Energy Systems Considering Carbon Liability Allocation and Demand Response. Modern Electric Power. 42 (4), 2025 [in Chinese].
72.
CUI Y., ZHOU X.P., ZHAO Y.T., FU X.B., SHEN Y.P. Electricity-carbon integrated demand response scheduling method for new power system considering dynamic electricity-carbon emission factor. Electric Power Automation Equipment. 44 (10), 1, 2024 [in Chinese].
73.
WEI Y.H., FAN S., XU S.L., ZENG F., XIAO J.C., HE G.Y. Evaluation Method for Renewable Energy Share of Customers Based on Marginal Contribution to Renewable Energy Accommodation. Automation of Electric Power Systems. 47 (10), 14, 2023 [in Chinese].
74.
SHI Y., LI W.J., YANG F.J., ZHOU X.L., LIU C.M. Two-layer Low-carbon Optimized Dispatching for Integrated Energy Systems Considering Carbon Liability Allocation and Demand Response. Modern Electric Power. 42 (4), 2025 [in Chinese].
75.
CUI Y., ZHOU X.P., ZHAO Y.T., FU X.B., SHEN Y.P. Electricity-carbon integrated demand response scheduling method for new power system considering dynamic electricity-carbon emission factor. Electric Power Automation Equipment. 44 (10), 1, 2024 [in Chinese].
76.
BAKER BOTTS HYDROGEN PRACTICE GROUP. Final Section 45V Clean Hydrogen Production Tax Credit Regulations: A Closer Look. Available online: https://www.bakerbotts.com/tho.... 2025.
77.
GUANGZHOU MUNICIPAL PEOPLE'S GOVERNMENT. Notice of the Guangzhou Municipal People's Government on Printing and Distributing the Implementation Plan for the National Carbon Peak Pilot (Guangzhou). Available online: https://www.gz.gov.cn/gkmlpt/c.... (accessed on 2024-07-12).
78.
ZHOU R., GUAN S., HE B. The Impact of Trade Openness on Carbon Emissions: Empirical Evidence from Emerging Countries. Energies. 18 (3), 697, 2025.
79.
ZHANG C.J., ZHANG S.H., ZHAO C.Y., HE B. Carbon Risk and Capital Mismatch: Evidence from Carbon-Intensive Firms in China. Sustainability. 17 (14), 6477, 2025.
| ISSN: | 3072-1962 |
We process personal data collected when visiting the website. The function of obtaining information about users and their behavior is carried out by voluntarily entered information in forms and saving cookies in end devices. Data, including cookies, are used to provide services, improve the user experience and to analyze the traffic in accordance with the Privacy policy. Data are also collected and processed by Google Analytics tool (more).
You can change cookies settings in your browser. Restricted use of cookies in the browser configuration may affect some functionalities of the website.
You can change cookies settings in your browser. Restricted use of cookies in the browser configuration may affect some functionalities of the website.
