energies Article Coal Supply Chains: A Whole-Process-Based Measurement of Carbon Emissions in a Mining City of China Guangfang Luo 1,2, Jianjun Zhang 1,3,*, Yongheng Rao 1, Xiaolei Zhu 1 and Yiqiang Guo 3,4 1 School of Land Science and Technology, China University of Geosciences, Beijing 100083, China;
[email protected] (G.L.);
[email protected] (Y.R.);
[email protected] (X.Z.) 2 China Three Gorges Corporation Chongqing Branch, Chongqing 401147, China 3 Key Laboratory of Land Consolidation and Rehabilitation, Ministry of Land and Resources, Beijing 100083, China;
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[email protected] Received: 10 October 2017; Accepted: 9 November 2017; Published: 13 November 2017 Abstract: The purpose of the study is to understand the carbon emissions in the coal supply chains of a mining city. The paper employed a conceptual methodology for the estimation of carbon emissions in the four processes of coal mining, selection and washing, transportation and consumption. The results show that the total carbon emission of the coal supply chain in Wu’an is up to 3.51 × 1010 kg and is mainly sourced from the coal mining and consumption, respectively accounting for 13.10% and 84.62%, which indicates that deep coal processing plays a more critical determinant in coal production and consumption. Among the pillar industries, the carbon emissions from the steel industry accounts for 85.41% of the total in the coal consumption process, which indicates that the structure of carbon emissions is dependent on the local industrial structure.