Exploring the participation willingness and potential carbon emission reduction of Chinese residential green electricity market

China officially established a green electricity trading market in 2021. This study investigated the intention of Chinese households to participate in the green electricity tariff and surveyed their acceptable maximum premium; afterwards, the corresponding potential carbon emission reduction is evaluated. The survey shows that 82% of Chinese households support the additional willingness-to-pay (WTP) for green electricity. The mean willingness-to-pay values without protest-zeros are evaluated as RMB14.6 with a gender differential that men prefer to pay more than women. Relative impact factors analysis shows that household' intention of using green-e significantly impacts their participation in extra WTP, but households' income does not show a significant effect. On the other hand, the model for extra expenditure shows the opposite effect of these two factors. Last, the study conducted a scenario analysis to evaluate the potential emission reduction and related welfare transformation efficiency. The scenario analysis reveals that households’ green electricity trading potentially contributes to 30%–54% of the carbon reduction and a reasonable trading mechanism could achieve emission reductions goal with less welfare loss. Finally, some policy implications are proposed, providing theoretical support for policy-makers.