Towards Sustainable Product Carbon Footprint Accounting Through Green Electricity and Green Certificate Mechanisms

Against the global transition toward sustainable energy systems and the rapid development of green electricity trading and green certificate systems, traditional regional average electricity emission factors are no longer sufficient to accurately reflect the carbon emission responsibilities associated with enterprises’ actual electricity consumption. This may lead to the double counting of renewable electricity attributes and the overestimation of emission reduction effects. To address this issue, this study focuses on electrical equipment products. Building upon the existing life-cycle accounting framework, a method for constructing provincial residual electricity emission factors coupled with green electricity and green certificate attribute verification mechanisms is proposed. By excluding non-fossil electricity volumes whose environmental attributes have already been claimed through market-based mechanisms, an accounting factor capable of characterizing the actual emission intensity of “residual electricity” is established, together with an accounting model for indirect electricity emissions during the production stage. Furthermore, eleven typical categories of electrical equipment, including transformers, electricity meters, conductors, and power cables, are selected to conduct an empirical cradle-to-gate carbon footprint analysis and evaluate their carbon reduction potential under a 50% green electricity substitution scenario. The results indicate that provincial residual electricity emission factors incorporating renewable electricity attributes can improve the accuracy and transparency of product carbon footprint accounting. This approach provides methodological support for sustainable manufacturing, green procurement, low-carbon supply chain management, and the development of product carbon footprint standards.