Environmental and Climate Change Co-benefits Analysis of Wind Power Generation in China

In China, the fossil energy consumption in electricity generation leads to a large quantity of greenhouse gas (GHG) and air pollutant emissions. Along with the rapid development of renewable power generation technologies, especially wind power, substantial environmental emissions were avoided due to the substitution of fossil fuel combustion. The co-benefits approach, which uses resources efficiently to solve multiple environmental problems, provides a new angle for the power generation and deployment. In this paper, the environmental co-benefits of wind power penetration in China were calculated. The regional distribution of environmental co-benefits was also mapped. Based on the co-benefits analysis results, the wind power deployment pathways are designed to enlarge the environmental co-benefits in the whole country level.