Analysis on material flows and carbon emissions of nickel resources in China
Nickel is a crucial resource in the development of new energy vehicles,wind turbines,solar photovoltaic power generation and other renewable energy technologies.It plays a significant role in economic and social development.China is the world's largest consumer of nickel,but there is a lack of detailed and in-depth research on the trade flow and carbon emission distribution of nickel resources among provinces in China.This paper combined the material flow analysis(MFA)and the emission factor method(IPCC)based on the life cycle assessment concept to analyze the nickel material flow and carbon emissions of typical nickel products in different provinces in China from 2010-2020.The results showed that from 2010 to 2020,the nickel material flowed in China increased from 0.6 million tons to 1.24 million tons,among which the mining stage mainly came from imports,the smelting stage changed from import-oriented to domestic supply-oriented,the product manufacturing stage had the largest share of stainless steel and some nickel products were recycled after recovery in the end-use stage.The carbon emissions from the production of 1 tonne of refined nickel,ferronickel and nickel sulphate were 10.19t CO2,14.01t CO2 and 28.76t CO2,respectively.Domestic refined nickel,ferronickel and nickel sulphate were primarily concentrated in Gansu,Shandong and Guangdong.In terms of spatial distribution,their carbon emissions showed a trend of progressive increase,fluctuation and significant growth.In the context of low-carbon energy transition,clarifying the material flow of nickel resources and carbon emission distribution relationship of related products in China can help to improve the mechanism of nickel resource management,and provided basic data and methodology support for achieving clean production and sustainable development of Chinese nickel industry.
万方数据
维普
