Hybrid Simulation Model of Lifecycle Simulation and Replacement Simulation Considering Carbon Lock-In by Coal-Fired Power Plants

Abstract

To meet the temperature goal set by the Paris Agreement, cumulative CO₂ emissions must be kept below 300 GtCO₂. Road transportation accounted for approximately 18% of the CO₂ emissions from fuel combustion in 2017. Electric vehicles (EVs) have been rapidly adopted by environmentally conscious consumers in many countries to reduce CO₂ emissions. EVs have lower emission intensities than do internal combustion engine vehicles (ICEVs) in most parts of the world, except where the penetration of renewable energy is low in the energy production mix. In such places, the CO₂ emissions of EVs are larger than those of ICEVs. Despite the obvious need to increase renewable energy sources to reduce CO₂ emissions, Japan and many other countries around the world have yet to shift away from fossil fuels. This is due in part to carbon lock-in, which refers to prior decisions related to technologies and infrastructure that constrain the implementation of better paths toward low-carbon technologies. Coal-fired power plants are the most problematic in terms of carbon lock-in because of their high carbon intensities and long physical lives. In addition, because carbon lock-in by coal-fired power plants has a significant impact on the embodied CO₂ intensity of grid power, it impacts society through products that use electric power. In this study, we propose a hybrid simulation model of lifecycle simulation and replacement simulation, considering carbon lock-in by coal-fired power plants. In the replacement simulation, we simulated the replacement of end-of-life coal- and oil-fired power plants with renewable energy power plants using a probability called the lock-in rate and estimated the changes in the embodied CO₂ intensity of grid power in Japan. In the lifecycle simulation, we evaluated cumulative CO₂ emissions from entire product lifecycles of ICEVs and EVs based on three different EV diffusion scenarios. The results showed that the lock-in rate of coal-fired power plants strongly affects the decarbonization effect due to the market diffusion of EVs.