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• A high spatial resolution CO 2 emissions inventory of 280 Chinese cities was compiled. • Three methods were compared to evaluate the carbon efficiency of Chinese cities. • The best and worst-performing cities were consistent regardless of different methods. • Top-ranking cities were located in the coastal regions of China. • Lagging-behind cities were located in the central and western regions of China. Comprehensive and accurate city-level carbon dioxide emissions inventory is key to success in China's pursuit of low-carbon development. Based on a high-resolution gridded data, this paper evaluates and benchmarks the carbon emissions efficiency of 280 Chinese cities using three different methods, i.e., composite index, data envelopment analysis and stochastic frontier analysis. The comparative analysis reveals that the average carbon emissions efficiency of Chinese cities is about 70–90%, with only 9 efficient cities (3%). Although the ranking of intermediate cities varies greatly according to the method employed, the most and least carbon-efficient cities remain consistent. While the best-performing cities are found in the coastal regions, the worst-performing cities are located in the central and western regions, which suggests an imbalanced low-carbon development in China. Guided by the results, local governments are encouraged to compete and learn from similar ranking benchmarks in a new regime of "Top Runner City". Finally, the scores of carbon emissions efficiency can provide a scientific basis for the bottom-up allocation of carbon emissions rights to boost the development of the nationwide carbon market in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights • The average compliance cost for China's fuel economy regulation by 2020 is $688. • The market share of New Energy Vehicles will be 16.9% and 34.2% by 2025 and 2030. • China's fuel saving target cannot be fully achieved using current schemes. • Vehicles will grow heavier due to the regulation's curb weight based feature. • The favorable test method will make PHEV the most promising fuel-saving technology. Abstract Under the annually strengthened fuel economy regulations for light-duty vehicles, a technology pathway provides automakers with forward-looking guidance to strategically manage their vehicle assortment and fuel-efficient technologies. Because the regulations worldwide are very different in terms of their various schemes and designs, it is difficult to calculate the optimal pathway or to evaluate a regulation's impact on the vehicle fleet without an assessment model specifically designed to do so. To date, China has issued four Phases of Corporate Average Fuel Consumption regulations; however, a bottom-up optimized technology pathway for the regulation compliance of domestic automakers is still missing. In this paper, real-world data on each vehicle model's market and technology parameters are used to describe China's passenger vehicle fleet. Employing a combinational optimization assessment model for China's regulation, this study calculates bottom-up fuel-efficient technology pathways for complying with the 2020 regulation and the potential 2025–2030 regulations. Under scenarios that do not consider the subsidy or super-credit preferential policies for New Energy Vehicles (Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicles and Battery Electric Vehicles in China), the average compliance costs for the three future phases of the regulations will be $687.5, $2344.4 and $3111.2. The average fuel consumption rate of passenger vehicle fleet will reach 5.28, 4.07 and 3.33 L/100 km, and the average vehicle curb weight will increase by 4.7%, 6.3% and 9.2%. These results mean that if current schemes are followed, the regulations will fail to achieve their fuel saving targets and to promote lightweighting vehicles. The technology pathway of powertrains and specific fuel-efficient technologies is analyzed in great detail. The results show that the market share of New Energy Vehicles will increase to 16.9% and 34.2% by 2025 and 2030, and that Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicle will be the most promising fuel saving technology due to the preferential test method in China. The sensitivity of the compliance cost and the market share of New Energy Vehicles to regulation stringency is further analyzed. For every change in regulation stringency of 0.05 L/100 km in the 2025 and 2030 regulations, the compliance cost will change by 3.03% and 2.31%, while the market share of New Energy Vehicle will change by 0.58% and 0.73%. These results indicate that if the various schemes for regulation compliance are not taken into account, only making adjustment to the regulations' stringency may have little effect on reducing automakers' compliance cost or promoting the market share of New Energy Vehicles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• An energy storage value estimation model in monopoly power markets is put forward. • Ancillary services model in the monopolized electricity market is proposed. • A novel value-drive policy is introduced and compared with two other mechanisms. • Energy storage value under different energy storage configurations is analyzed. Recent trend in increasing the penetration level of renewable energy challenges safety and stability of the power grid. Electrical energy storage (EES) has been deemed as one of the key elements needed to mitigate the fluctuant and intermittent nature of renewables, and is undergoing rapid development nowadays. However, there are still many questions regarding the benefits and drawbacks that EES technologies will present to society, as well as the economic feasibility of EES in monopoly power markets. Given this, this paper presents a grid-scale production cost model for monopoly power markets in which EES generates profits by offering both energy and ancillary services. The production costs of the power system with and without an EES power plant was compared in order to generate a value estimation. Results indicate that the value of EES is related to the unit fuel price and the start-up cost of thermal power units, the penetration level of wind power and size of the EES system. Based on these variables, a value-driven pricing mechanism for EES was put forward and compared with other policies. Economic viability analysis revealed that the pricing mechanism currently used in monopoly power markets are highly inaccurate in capturing the value generated by EES. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With important implications for global climate change mitigation, the development of a cap-and-trade emission trading scheme (ETS) in China is embedded in distinctive political, economic, and institutional contexts and has been attracting increasing attention in recent years. To offer a clear perspective on current research progress, this paper systematically reviews the recent literature on China’s ETS from three main aspects: mechanism design, policy and regional linkages, as well as impact assessment. The current research consensuses are summarized based upon detailed literature analyses and commentaries, and together with observations of international experience and China’s actual condition, the paper provides policy proposals for the development of China’s national ETS during 2016–2020. Finally, several important controversies in the current literature are discussed with regard to the practical demands of China’s ETS development. Five pressing topics that need to be further studied in the coming years are highlighted, including cap setting, allowance allocation among sectors and enterprises, carbon pricing, policy package and unified carbon market construction, as well as ex-ante and ex-post impact assessments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As part of its energy transition strategy, China has set ambitious targets for increasing the contribution of renewable energy and, in particular, of wind power. However, the Chinese power sector has not undergone the necessary reforms to facilitate the integration and absorption of a larger share of variable renewable energy. This is evident from the difficulties in absorbing wind power from already commissioned wind farms and the resultant curtailment of wind power. Pumped storage hydroelectricity (PSH) is a flexible power source that can facilitate higher penetration levels of wind power as well as complement China’s growing nuclear power capacity. However, regulatory policy constraints have restricted the effective utilization of existing PSH capacity and discouraged investment in new PSH capacity. This paper examines these constraints and assesses the likely impact of new policies designed to address them. Finally, policy recommendations and concluding remarks are provided. This paper contributes to the literature on renewable energy integration from a new perspective. The lessons from China are relevant to other countries going through the energy transition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Chinese government has committed to reduce its carbon intensity by 40–45% over the period 2005–2020 at the 2009 Copenhagen Summit. To achieve the target in a cost-effective way, China is signaling strong intentions to establish emissions trading scheme, and presently seven pilots have been established. This paper focuses on the cost-saving effects of carbon emissions trading in China for the 2020 target. First, an interprovincial emissions trading model is constructed. Then, three kinds of policy scenarios, including no carbon emissions trading among provinces (NETS), the carbon emissions trading only covering the pilots (PETS), and the unified carbon emissions trading market (CETS), have been designed. The results show that China needs to reduce its emissions by 819 MtCO 2 for achieving the 42.5% reduction in carbon intensity over the period 2005–2020. The PETS and the CETS, which may result in a carbon price of 99 yuan/tCO 2 and 53 yuan/tCO 2 , could reduce the total abatement costs by 4.50% and 23.67%, respectively. This paper also finds that the carbon emissions trading could yield different impacts on different provinces, and the cost-saving effects of the eastern and western provinces are more pronounced than the central provinces. Necessary sensitivity analysis is also provided at the end of the research. These findings may be useful for promoting the development of carbon emissions trading in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The potential relocation of various industrial sectors from China to India and countries of the SE Asian region presents low cost opportunities for manufacturers, but also risks rising for energy demand and CO 2 emissions. A cross-country shift of industrial output would present challenges for controlling emissions since India and SE Asian countries present higher industrial emissions intensity than China. We find that although there is a convergence in emissions intensity in the machinery manufacturing and paper and pulp industries, there are significant variations in all other industrial sectors. Indian emissions intensity is double that of China in the iron and steel and textile and leather industries and almost triple in the cement industry; Indonesian emissions intensity is almost double that of China in the non-metallic minerals and textile and leather industries and 50% higher in the chemical and petrochemical industry. We demonstrate that the expected higher emissions are driven by both a higher carbon fuel mix intensity in the recipient countries and higher energy intensity in their industrial activities. While industrial relocation could benefit certain countries financially, it would impose considerable threats to their energy supply security and capacity to comply with their Paris Agreement commitments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

After China launched its “Belt and Road” (BR) initiative, the international community became concerned that it may worsen the environmental performance of the BR countries. Due to a lack of data for empirical testing, this paper addresses this concern through an indirect method and draws the implications of the potential impacts of China’s BR initiative. This method empirically examines the effects of trade integration and regional cooperation, two major functions of the BR initiative, on energy efficiency (EE) convergence, a concept that describes the catching up process of EE across countries. A sample of 89 countries was selected to analyse the process of EE convergence from 2000 to 2014. The results indicate that although the gaps in EE among countries around the world become larger after 2010, regional cooperation may lead to a convergence process. It also finds that trade integration has a positive influence on convergence across the countries, especially among middle- and low-income countries. The results suggest that the BR initiative, through its roles in trade integration and regional cooperation, may promote EE convergence among countries. This is a desirable environmental outcome. This research also provides policy implications for both China and the other BR countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The analysis framework of a digital business model of PV fishery is constructed. • Multiple value propositions in the digital business model of PV fishery to create value for stakeholders. • The digital business model of PV fishery improves the operational efficiency of PV power generation. • The digital PV fishery increases the diversification of revenue sources of PV agricultural company. A business model that combines solar photovoltaic and fishery plays a role to expand distributed renewable energy and improve rural economy development. However, the business model of solar photovoltaic fishery is encountering growing difficulties with revenues decreasing due to changes of policy such as withdrawal of photovoltaic subsidies and land control. The spreading of digitization in photovoltaic industry and rural areas provides new opportunities for innovation of traditional solar photovoltaic fishery. This paper focuses on multiple value propositions to discuss a digital business model based of solar photovoltaic fishery on a case with a local Chinese photovoltaic agricultural company. The study results show that the digital business model of solar photovoltaic fishery improves the operational efficiency of solar photovoltaic power generation, economic benefits of aquaculture, and the diversification of revenue sources of solar photovoltaic agricultural company and leasing company. The transformation of business model from traditional solar photovoltaic power generation and fishery business to digital service platforms can not only accelerate expansion of distributed renewable energy and be potential deployed globally but also assist photovoltaic agricultural company to effectively respond to policy change. Finally, this paper proposes that supportive policy may focus on advocating system coupling to expedite the development of distributed renewable energies based on digital technology, and digital photovoltaic combined with rural energy market and financial, which will advance development of renewable energy electrification and promote rural economic growth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Accurately understanding the real situation of China’s carbon emissions at the provincial level is not only crucial for realizing carbon mitigation in China, but also of great importance for tackling climate change on a global scale. This paper uses detailed energy consumption data subdivided within each fuel type and sector-specific emission factors, to calculate both direct and indirect energy-related CO 2 emissions for China’s provinces, and offers provincially-targeted policy proposals on emission reductions. The results uncover large divergences in calculation of provincial CO 2 emissions between production-based and consumption-based accounting approaches. Considering the large amount of interprovincial CO 2 emission transfers embodied in secondary energy deployment, the consumption-based accounting performs better in reflecting the actual features and responsibilities of carbon emissions in the provinces of China. From the consumption perspective, Shandong, Hebei, Jiangsu, Inner Mongolia, Guangdong, Henan, Liaoning and Shanxi contributed to the majority of China’s carbon emission growth during the period of 1996–2013, while Xinjiang, Sichuan, Anhui, Tianjin and Hunan were playing an increasingly important role. These two groups of provinces should be regarded as the key regions for national emissions abatement. Meanwhile, the energy industry was the top sectoral contributor to CO 2 emissions growth in most provinces, while service and household sectors made increasingly significant impacts on driving up provincial emissions. Together with ongoing efforts in the energy sector, the mitigation of CO 2 emissions in service and household sectors deserves much more attention, especially in the transportation and urban household sectors. Furthermore, the temporal trends of carbon emissions in various provinces, as well as their factor and sectoral driving forces, varied greatly with each other. Therefore, each of the provinces should formulate emission reduction policies according to their own situation, and target the key driving factors and sectors of carbon emissions at the current stage or in the near future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: In March 2011, China’s central government set a new challenging target of reducing its energy intensity by 16% during 2011–2015, after it had achieved a reduction of 19.1% during 2006–2010. And this new target was assigned to provincial authorities in August 2011. However, China’s provincial energy-economic developments are unbalanced and different provinces have different key sectors for energy conservation. Most previous studies focused on provincial energy efficiency at the aggregate level, or the three-industry level (or one-digit level). However, whether for policy decision or academic research, it is necessary to further subdivide the sectors. In this paper, we use three indicators (Gini Coefficient, energy consumption share and energy intensity) to compare provincial energy conservation potentials at the two-digit sector level. To our knowledge, this paper is the first one to identify the keys for energy conversation across the 31 provinces×65 sectors. And the results are shown in visualized maps and matrix tables to help identify the key province×sectors for energy conservation easier. This also helps the central and provincial governments to distinguish key sectors when they monitor the energy conservation progress. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This study estimates the effect of carbon pricing for CO 2 mitigation in China’s cement industry. The statistics and prediction show that cement production initially experienced accelerated growth and is now expected to plateau out over the next few years. The energy saving and carbon mitigation technologies considered in this estimation are at different adoption stages. Full technology diffusion is expected within 10–20 years, and the remaining technology mitigation potential stands at about 8.8% by 2025 and 10.2% by 2030. Nevertheless, attaching a price to carbon would have a limited effect. Reductions of 9.9 and 12.9 Mt-CO 2 might have been realised in 2015 under respective prices of 60 and 100 Yuan/t-CO 2 , compared to a non-pricing scenario. The reduction attributed to carbon pricing would be around 4.9 Mt-CO 2 in 2020 at both price levels, and around 70% of the mitigation may be at a marginal cost of 50 Yuan/t-CO 2 by 2020. The marginal cost for nearly 90% of the policy mitigation would be below 100 Yuan/t-CO 2 by 2030. This paper confirms the effectiveness of a command-and-control approach so far for energy saving in China’s cement industry and advises early introduction of a carbon pricing regime with consideration of policy interactions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Recently, energy production in China fell behind energy consumption. This poses important challenges for the rapidly growing Chinese economy. As a consequence, the causal relationship between energy consumption and GDP is an important empirical issue. This paper examines Granger causality between energy consumption and GDP in China using province-level data. The current paper extends the Granger causality analysis employed in previous studies by taking into account panel heterogeneity. Specifically, four different causal relationships are examined: homogeneous non-causality (HNC), homogeneous causality (HC), heterogeneous non-causality (HENC), and heterogeneous causality (HEC). HC and HNC hypotheses are rejected for causality in either direction, from GDP to energy or from energy to GDP, which implies that the panel made up of Chinese provinces is not homogeneous. Then, heterogeneous causality tests (HEC ad HENC) are conducted for each province. For the causality running from GDP to energy, 19 provinces exhibit HEC and 11 provinces exhibit HENC. For the causality running from energy to GDP, 14 provinces exhibit HEC and 16 provinces exhibit HENC. The results suggest that the Chinese government should incorporate a regional perspective while formulating and implementing energy policies. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Methane (CH 4 ), the second largest greenhouse gas emitted in China, hasn’t been given enough attention in the country’s policies and actions for addressing climate change. This paper aims to perform a bottom-up estimation and multi-regional input–output analysis for China’s anthropogenic CH 4 emissions from both production-based and consumption-based insights. As the world’s largest CH 4 emitter, China’s total anthropogenic CH 4 emissions in 2010 are estimated at 44.3 Tg and correspond to 1507.9 Mt CO 2 -eq by the lower global warming potential factor of 34. Energy activities as the largest contributor hold about half of the national total emissions, mainly from coal mining. Inherent economic driving factors covering consumption, investment and international exports play an important role in determining regional CH 4 emission inventories. Interregional transfers of embodied emissions via domestic trade are equivalent to half of the national total emissions from domestic production, of which two thirds are energy-related embodied emissions. Most central and western regions as net interregional CH 4 exporters such as Shanxi and Inner Mongolia have higher direct emissions, while the eastern coastal regions as net interregional importers such as Guangdong and Jiangsu always have larger embodied emissions. Since China’s CH 4 emissions have significant contributions to global climate change, a national comprehensive action plan to reduce CH 4 emissions should be designed by considering supply-side and demand-side emission characteristics, mitigation potentials and emission responsibilities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Air pollution is increasingly a focus of concern worldwide due to its adverse impacts on human health and profound influences on global ecosystem. Although the existing studies have paid much attention to the causes of pollutant emissions, they fail to distinguish between direct and indirect factors, yielding the mixed results. Direct causes denote energy-related factors, as air pollutants are mainly produced by energy utilization directly, while indirect elements refer to socio-economic factors, as these factors act on pollutant emissions through affecting energy-related aspects. This paper investigated the impacts of three dominant direct factors: total energy consumption (EC), energy structure (ES) and treatment technology (TT) on sulfur dioxide (SO 2 ) emissions in China during 1995–2014 using the logarithmic mean Divisia Index method. Distinguished from the previous studies which took particular interest in SO 2 emissions from the industrial sector, this study put the total amount of SO 2 emissions as the target. The results show that increased EC was the main reason for SO 2 enhancement, while increasingly advanced TT played a dominant role in inhibiting the emissions throughout the study period. In contrast, ES had an unusually slight effect on SO 2 emissions due to its minor variation in the meantime. On regional scale, the differences in relative contribution rates (RCRs) of EC, ES and TT among the eastern, central and western regions all gradually decreased over time; EC in central region had the largest improved effect, ES in eastern region held the greatest reduction effect, and TT in western region got the biggest inhibitory effect. At provincial level, most provinces (60%) had relatively quick EC growth and slow ES adjustment (i.e., reducing the coal consumption rate); only Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai and Sichuan had a relatively slow growth of EC and quick decrease in the percentage of coal consumption. Further, the projection of SO 2 emissions in four scenarios from 2015 to 2020 based on a grey projection model indicated that controlling both EC and ES would be the most efficient approach to SO 2 abatement followed by individually controlling EC and ES. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyses the impacts of the gasoline vehicle replacement programme with EVs at different penetration rates on petroleum and electricity sectors and their CO 2 emissions. The study utilises a top-down-type Environmental Input–Output (EI–O) model. Our results show that the replacement of gasoline cars with EVs causes greater impacts on total gasoline production than on total electricity generation. For example, at 5%, 20%, 50%, 70% and 100% gasoline vehicle replacement with EVs, the total gasoline production decreases by 1.66%, 6.65%, 16.62%, 23.27% and 33.24% in policy scenario 1, while the total electricity production only increases by 0.71%, 2.82%, 7.05%, 9.87% and 14.10%. Our study confirms that the gasoline vehicle replacement with EVs, powered by 80% coal, has no effect on overall emissions. The CO 2 emissions reduction in the petroleum sector is offset by the increase in CO 2 emissions in the electricity sector, leaving the national CO 2 emissions unchanged. By decarbonising the electricity sector, i.e. using 30% less coal in electricity generation mix, the total CO 2 emissions will be reduced by 28% (from 10,953 to 7870 Mt CO 2 ) on the national level. The gasoline vehicle replacement programme with EVs, powered by 50% coal-based electricity, helps reduce CO 2 emissions in petroleum sector and contributes zero or a very small proportion of additional CO 2 emissions to the electricity sector (policy scenario 2 and 3). We argue that EVs can contribute to a reduction of petroleum dependence, air quality improvement and CO 2 emission reduction only when their introduction is accompanied by aggressive electricity sector decarbonisation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The so-called post-China countries (PC-16́s), distinguished by low wages and high economic growth, will replace China as the “world’s factory”. The aim of this paper is to assess the effect of these changes on global CO 2 emissions pathways. To achieve this, a counterfactual is proposed wherein China’s trade with the rest of the world is replaced by the PC-16’s trade in a global multiregional input–output context. The emissions savings realized by trade replacement are significant in those scenarios where the current pattern of trade is maintained (−13% on emissions traded and −3.5% on global emissions) and in scenarios where enterprises relocate their production directly or indirectly to the most environmentally efficient countries (ranging from −15.2% to −18.2% on emissions embodied in trade). Nevertheless, the potential savings drop considerably (ranging from −1.5% to −7.1%) if companies and host countries take advantage of cheaper, but more polluting means of production and do not internalize the externalities. Through changes in international trade, there is a possibility of reducing emissions, which have to be included in international, multilateral and bilateral agreements to mitigate climate change if we do not want to lose the opportunities these changes present. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The use of data envelopment analysis (DEA) in China’s regional energy efficiency and carbon emission efficiency (EE&CE) assessment has received increasing attention in recent years. This paper conducted a comprehensive survey of empirical studies published in 2006–2015 on China’s regional EE&CE assessment using DEA-type models. The main features used in previous studies were identified, and then the methodological framework for deriving the EE&CE indicators as well as six widely used DEA models were introduced. These DEA models were compared and applied to measure China’s regional EE&CE in 30 provinces/regions between 1995 and 2012. The empirical study indicates that China’s regional EE&CE remained stable in the 9th Five Year Plan (1996–2000), then decreased in the 10th Five Year Plan (2000–2005), and increased a bit in the 11th Five Year Plan (2006–2010). The east region of China had the highest EE&CE while the central area had the lowest. By way of conclusion, some useful points relating to model selection are summarized from both methodological and empirical aspects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Energy is important for China and for the whole world. Previously, the huge investment in energy-related research and commercialisation made it possible for China to cooperate with its international partners in various channels, and programs involving international cooperation and co-published papers increased annually. In this paper, through the review of intergovernmental cooperation programs and bibliometric analysis of the top energy journals, it was found that: (1) intergovernmental cooperation and non-governmental cooperation are two effective channels for energy R&D. (2) In these two channels, most participants of international cooperation are universities and institutes, and the most important partner countries are the US, Japan, and European Countries. (3) Industries began to be involved in international cooperation gradually. (4) For different areas, the degree of cooperation is not the same. Some areas have been more fruitful in cooperation, some are just beginning hydrogen energy, fuel energy and applied energy are the main co-publication areas with Chinese involvement; while wind energy, solar energy, fuel cells and bio-energy are new areas for China and there has not been so much co-publication until now. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The Chinese government identifies the renewable energy sector as a core strategic industry. Since 2009, China is the country with the highest annual investment into renewable energy, predominantly wind and solar photovoltaic projects. Due to rapid cost decline, industrial transformation, and policy support, the relative share of solar project investment is growing at a disproportionate rate. However, there is no systematic analysis of how efficiently these investments are allocated; or the underlying risk and return characteristics. Based on structured interviews with 69 market participants, this paper identifies severe cash-flow uncertainty, unreliable supply chains and a weak regulatory environment as most prominent risk factors that currently inhibit sustainable and demand-driven market development. Expanding on the interview results, this study discusses the origins of risk in China and how the institutional response to investment risk currently fails to address the core problems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This work investigates different scenarios for electric vehicle (EV) deployment in China and explores the implications thereof with regard to energy portfolio, economics and the environment. Specifically, we investigate how to better deliver the value of EVs by improving designs in the power system and charging strategies, given expected developments by 2030 in both the power system and EV penetration levels. The impact of EV charging is quantified by applying an integrated transportation-power system model on a set of scenarios which represent uncertainties in charging strategies. We find that deploying EVs essentially shifts the use of gasoline to coal-fired power generation in China, thus leading to more coal consumption and CO 2 emissions of the power system. Economically, EVs outperform gasoline-powered vehicles in terms of average fueling costs. However, the impact of EVs in terms of CO 2 emissions at the national level largely depends on the charging strategy. Specifically, controlled charging results in more CO 2 emissions associated with EVs than uncontrolled charging, as it tends to feed EVs with electricity produced by cheap yet low-efficiency coal power plants located in regions where coal prices are low. Still, compared with uncontrolled charging, controlled charging shows absolute advantages in: (1) mitigating the peak load arising from EV charging; (2) facilitating RES generation; and (3) reducing generation costs and EV charging costs. Hence, in light of this trade-off of controlled charging with the goals of energy security, economic efficiency and reducing environmental impacts, policy interventions in the Chinese power system should opt for controlled charging strategies in order to best realize the benefits of EVs. Accordingly, this paper proposes that increasing the use of cleaner forms of electricity generation, such as RES power and gas power, and establishing energy efficiency and CO 2 emission regulations in power dispatch are critical for China. Lastly, this work illustrates what the optimized charging profiles from the power system perspective look like for different regions. These results can inform Chinese policy makers in creating a better integration of the transportation and the power system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Facing serious energy constraints and environmental challenges, policy makers in China have set up clear targets to reduce energy intensity in order to secure a sustainable economic growth; however, it is unclear in theory what the determining forces are. The empirical evidence, although intensively discussed in the literature, also remain divided in opinion. This paper contributes to the existing literature full of heated debates using a Bayesian averaging approach to identify robust determinants of energy intensity in China. Using provincial level data, key contributors that help explain the level of energy intensity across China are found. By ranking the relative importance of explanatory variables according to their posterior inclusion probabilities, this study can also offer support to policy makers in designing intensity reduction policies. It is suggested that policies should focus on those robust and relatively more important factors such as fiscal expenditure, infrastructure and economic structure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Renewable energy has a critical role in limiting the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. This paper assesses the implication of aligning renewable energy deployment target with national emission reduction target for mitigation cost. The assessment methodology uses Asia-Pacific Integrated Assessment/computable general equilibrium (AIM/CGE) model to determine the mitigation cost in terms of GDP and welfare loss under alternative renewable targets in different climate-constrained scenarios. A range of country-specific emission constraints is taken to address the uncertainties related to global emission pathway and emission entitlement scheme. Comparative results show that China needs to increase its share of non-fossil fuel significantly in the primary energy mix to achieve the stringent emission reduction target compared to India. The mitigation cost in terms of economic and welfare loss can be reduced by increasing the penetration of the renewable energy to achieve the same emission reduction target. The modeling results show that coordinated national climate and renewable energy policies help to achieve the GHG emission reduction target in an efficient and cost-effective manner. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper targets to evaluate the overall CO 2 emissions from cement industry based on the detailed information of China’s total 1574 cement enterprises in 2013. State-owned enterprises and large scale enterprises dominate the total CO 2 emissions, accounting for 59.35% and 61.87% of the total emissions respectively. The process emission intensities of all enterprises ranged among 500–600 kg CO 2 /t clinker, while the energy emission intensities varied among different enterprises, with an average level of 348 kg CO 2 /t clinker and a standard deviation of 233 kg CO 2 /t clinker. The average CO 2 emissions performance of China’s cement enterprises (806 kg CO 2 /t clinker) is 35 kg CO 2 /t clinker lower than the global level in 2013. The CO 2 emissions intensity of the best 20th clinker production, which is lower than the IEA’s 2020 target, could be the entry threshold for future new enterprises and top runner bench mark for the existing enterprises. The Yangtze River Delta region is the most important hotspot of the cement CO 2 emissions. Wuhu & Tongling are the hottest emission centers, with an average of 8288 ton of CO 2 emissions per square kilometers. Ownership of cement enterprises should be carefully considered in the policy preparation. Favorable policies could focus on medium sized facilities and facilities in the ENDI type along the Silk Road Economic Belt. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China has proposed its ambitious cap targets of carbon emissions in both carbon intensity (CO 2 emissions per unit of GDP) and carbon scale (gross carbon emissions). Since mining sector is the foundation of the whole industrial production as well as a carbon intensive sector, it is critical to uncover the key driving factors on inducing corresponding carbon emissions so that appropriate mitigation policies can be raised. Under such a circumstance, this paper aims to fill such a research gap by employing a novel index decomposition method, namely, Generalized Divisia Index Method (GDIM), so that the driving factors of energy-related carbon emissions changes in China’s mining sector and its five sub-sectors over the period of 1999–2013 can be identified. In addition, a scenario analysis approach is applied in order to seek the feasible mitigation pathways on China’s mining sector and its five sub-sectors. The results indicate that output scale effect is the primary contributor of the increase in carbon emissions of both mining sector and its five sub-sectors and energy use effect also plays a positive role, while carbon intensity effect contributes most to the decrease in carbon emissions. All sub-sectors have achieved the target of 45% carbon intensity reduction except the extraction industry of petroleum and natural gas. Nevertheless, more efforts should be made for the whole mining sector in order to achieve the 2030 peak target of carbon scale. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The rapid growth of energy consumption in China has led to increased emissions of air pollutants. As a response, in its 12th Five Year Plan the Chinese government proposed mitigation targets for SO 2 and NO x emissions. In this paper, we have investigated mitigation measures taken in different sectors and their corresponding impacts on the energy system. Additionally, as non-fossil energy development has gained attention in addressing energy and environmental challenges in China, we investigated the impact of non-fossil energy development on air pollutant emissions, and explored interactions and co-benefits between these two types of policies. An extended Global Change Assessment Model (GCAM) was used in this study. The extended version of GCAM includes an additional air pollutant emissions control module coupling multiple end-of-pipe (EOP) control technologies with energy technologies, as well as more detailed end-use sectors in China. We find that implementing EOP control technologies would reduce air pollution in the near future, but with little room left to implement these EOP technologies, other cleaner and more efficient technologies are also effective. These technologies would reduce final energy consumption, increase electricity’s share in final energy, and increase the share of non-fossil fuels in primary energy and electricity consumption. Increasing non-fossil energy usage at China’s proposed adoption rate would in turn also reduce SO 2 and NO x emissions, however, the reductions from this policy alone still lag behind the targets for air pollutant reduction. A combination of air pollutant controls and non-fossil energy development could synergistically help realize the respective individual targets, and would result in lower costs than would addressing these issues separately. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since 2003, Mainland China has been promoting the public–private partnership (PPP) procurement model in the waste-to-energy incineration sector to reduce the waste burying rate and improve environmental quality. Five critical risk factors (CRFs) that affect the construction and operation of waste-to-energy incineration projects have been identified from real-life risk events of 14 PPP waste-to-energy incineration plants through content analysis. These risk factors are insufficient waste supply , disposal of non - licensed waste , environmental risk , payment risk , and lack of supporting infrastructure . A recently completed PPP waste-to-energy incineration plant, the Shanghai Tianma project, was investigated to learn from the effective management of CRFs. First-hand data about the Shanghai Tianma project was collected, with a focus on project negotiation and concession agreement. Lessons learned about risk management were acquired. This paper presents a detailed study of the contractual structure, risk sharing scheme, risk response measures to CRFs, and project transfer of a PPP project. The study results will provide governments with management implications to prepare equitable concession agreements and benefit private investors by effectively mitigating and managing risks in future PPP waste-to-energy incineration projects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The growth of China’s road transport sector has driven huge increases in China’s oil demand and CO 2 emissions over the last two decades, and these trends are likely to continue in the absence of specific measures to reduce the average carbon intensity of road vehicles. This paper describes a model, provided in full online, to undertake scenario analysis on the cost and CO 2 emissions impact of substituting current vehicle drivetrain types with alternatives during the period 2010–2050. A detailed decomposition of the additional costs and CO 2 emissions savings of each low-carbon vehicle type into their component parts is undertaken to calculate the marginal abatement cost of each vehicle and drivetrain type in 2050. The results indicate that passenger cars and heavy-duty trucks constitute the majority of future CO 2 emissions savings potential, but that, using the central cost assumptions, alternative vehicle drivetrains are significantly more cost-effective for trucks than passenger cars. The low-carbon scenario sees demand for oil products (gasoline and diesel) more than 40% below the business-as-usual scenario in 2050. The total mitigation cost in 2050 is (US2010)$64 billion per year, or 1.3% of the total annual expenditure on road transport in China in 2050, using a discount rate of 5% to annualise vehicle purchase costs, although this cost increases with higher discount rates. A sensitivity analysis demonstrates that measures in addition to those assumed in the low-carbon scenario could achieve further emissions reductions, in some cases at negative costs. The availability and transparency of the model allows testing and development of a range of further scenarios and sensitivities, to aid in planning an optimal decarbonisation strategy for this highly carbon-intensive sector. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: The aim of the present article is to conduct an integrated assessment in order to explore whether CCS could be a viable technological option for significantly reducing future CO 2 emissions in China. Methods: In this paper, an integrated approach covering five assessment dimensions is chosen. Each dimension is investigated using specific methods (graphical abstract). Results: The most crucial precondition that must be met is a reliable storage capacity assessment based on site-specific geological data. Our projection of different trends of coal-based power plant capacities up to 2050 ranges between 34 and 221 Gt of CO 2 that may be captured from coal-fired power plants to be built by 2050. If very optimistic assumptions about the country’s CO 2 storage potential are applied, 192 Gt of CO 2 could theoretically be stored as a result of matching these sources with suitable sinks. If a cautious approach is taken, this figure falls to 29 Gt of CO 2 . In practice, this potential will decrease further with the impact of technical, legal, economic and social acceptance factors. Further constraints may be the delayed commercial availability of CCS in China; a significant barrier to achieving the economic viability of CCS due to a currently non-existing nation-wide CO 2 pricing scheme that generates a sufficiently strong price signal; an expected life-cycle reduction rate of the power plant’s greenhouse gas emissions of 59–60%; and an increase in most other negative environmental and social impacts. Conclusion and practice implications: Most experts expect a striking dominance of coal-fired power generation in the country’s electricity sector, even if the recent trend towards a flattened deployment of coal capacity and reduced annual growth rates of coal-fired generation proves to be true in the future. In order to reduce fossil fuel-related CO 2 emissions to a level that would be consistent with the long-term climate protection target of the international community to which China is increasingly committing itself, this option may require the introduction of CCS. However, a precondition for opting for CCS would be finding robust solutions to the constraints highlighted in this article. Furthermore, a comparison with other low-carbon technology options may be useful in drawing completely valid conclusions on the economic, ecological and social viability of CCS in a low-carbon policy environment. The assessment dimensions should be integrated into macro-economic optimisation models by combining qualitative with quantitative modelling, and the flexible operation of CCS power plants should be analysed in view of a possible role of CCS for balancing fluctuating renewable energies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The prioritized purpose of this dissertation is to put forward a scientific and plausible interval of carbon price benchmark on the unified carbon trading market, of which will be scheduled to be established in the year of 2016. A model named EMD–GARCH that integrated Empirical Mode Decomposition (EMD) with Generalized Autoregressive Conditionally Heteroskedastic (GARCH) together is presented here in order to forecast the carbon price of the five pilots (Shenzhen, Shanghai, Beijing, Guangdong, and Tianjin) in 2016 so as to provide exogenous data for later analysis. For further study, a recursive dynamic Computable General Equilibrium (CGE) model will be structured to explore the impacts on China’s macroeconomics, environmental quality, and energy demand respectively under 8 different simulation scenarios, which are being designed in terms of the aforementioned calculated carbon price outcome. The simulation results illustrate that the unified carbon price policy will exert a comprehensive effect on China in various perspectives that we discussed in this paper. Moreover, regarding the carbon price scenarios, the price level by itself generates a different degree of impacts in improving the environmental quality, decreasing the energy demand, and increasing the macroeconomic growth. Consequently, based on the analysis of those three approaches mix in this study, we suggest the alternative interval of carbon price benchmark in the national unified carbon trading market with a lower bound of 30 yuan/tCO 2 to an upper bound of 50 yuan/tCO 2 . [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The current mode of economic development in China is typified by high growth, high energy consumption, and high pollution characteristics and this has caused great stress on both energy consumption and the environment. This paper focuses on a historical analysis of China’s energy, environmental, and economic (‘E3’) efficiency and the sources of E3 productivity growth therein. A developed slacks-based measure is utilized to evaluate the performance of E3 efficiency and decompose the performance fluctuations into three components: energy, economy, and environmental efficiency fluctuations. By applying a method based on global data envelopment analysis, we also analyze the key factors responsible for the change in E3 productivity during 2002–11 from the point of view of technical progress, production scale, and management level. The results show that China performs well on the economic front, while the energy and environmental performances are not optimistic. Fortunately, energy and environmental efficiency have gradually improved in recent years. Further analysis shows that the trend in E3 productivity in China has begun to follow an ascending path. Technical progress is the most powerful contributor to China’s E3 productivity growth, while falling scale and management efficiency are the two main obstacles preventing improvement in E3 productivity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China’s past economic development policies resulted in different energy infrastructure patterns across China. Regional disparities in China’s current energy flow are rarely visualised and quantified from a system-wide perspective. This study therefore constructs Sankey diagrams for three sub-regions of China in 2010, benchmarks those to the corresponding national Sankey diagram, and quantifies the following major regional disparities: (i) West- and Central-China account for about 89% of the country's coal production. (ii) About 50% of coal fired power generation and about 90% of refining can be mapped to East-China. (iii) East-China also dominated the country's industrial energy consumption, accounting for about 70% of oil, about 58% of coal and about 53% of electricity consumption in industry. This paper highlights the need to combine national and regional energy planning to account for this spatial heterogeneity in China’s energy infrastructure, such as future energy intensity and CO 2 emission reduction targets. More comparable statistical research is needed to better understand inconsistencies between China’s provincial and national energy statistics, in particular for coal. We find data differences of up to 46% for coal, which are due to statistical inconsistencies and assumptions in our methodology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Oil security has become a major issue in China. This paper analyzes China’s oil security from the supply chain perspective, as the country faces challenges from an increasing reliance on imported oil, a fast-growing economy, the Malacca dilemma, and volatile international oil prices. To clarify the issue of oil security, we first review the development phase of China’s oil industry and previous research related to its energy security. Then a framework from the supply chain perspective is constructed to identify the current risk from three aspects: energy flow, financial and environmental. Finally, policies aimed at improving the country’s energy security are examined and potential problems presented. From this analysis, we conclude that the potential risk arising from China’s oil system is inherently interconnected. There is still great potential for the country to improve oil security by strengthening its strategic oil reserves, improving energy efficiency, and developing its domestic oil tanker fleet. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The fluctuations of China’s energy intensity have attracted the attention of many scholars, but fewer studies consider the data quality of official input–output tables. This paper conducts a decomposition model by using the Divisia method based on the input–output tables. Because of the problems with input–output tables and price deflators, we first produce constant prices to deflate the input–output tables. And then we consider different levels of biased technical change for different sectors in the adjusting the input–output table. Finally, we use RAS technique to adjust input–output matrix. Then the decomposition model is employed to empirically analyze the change of China’s energy intensity. We compare the decomposition results with and without biased technical change and do sensitive analysis on the level of biased technical change. The decomposition results are that during 2002–2007, the energy intensity of coal and electricity increased, the changes were mostly attributed to the structural change and the contribution was 594.08%, 73.88%, respectively; as for crude oil and refined oil, the energy intensity decreased, the changes were mostly attributed to the changes in the production technology and the contribution was 978.89%, 246.95%, respectively. And the results of sensitive analysis shows that 1% variation of the level of biased technical change will cause at most 0.6% change of decomposition results. Therefore, we can draw our conclusions: compared to the decomposition without biased technical change, decomposition results are sensitive to the level of biased technical change; the level of biased technical change can be determined by the difference in the change rate of total factor productivity and energy efficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Study the optimization of the EV incentive policy mixes at city level. • Residential preference heterogeneity has been examined in the research. • A stated preference experiment is conducted in the EV pilot cities. • Cities are grouped into three clusters by the compositions of the preference segments. • Demand-side EV policy mixes are tailored for the three city groups. The large-scale diffusion of electric vehicles (EVs) helps pave the way towards carbon peak and neutrality goals, while it is affected by the governmental incentive policies at different levels. This paper studies the optimization of demand-side policy mixes from the perspective of residential preference heterogeneity with 18 EV pilot cities in China as the case. A latent class model is used to investigate urban residents' preferences for demand-side policies and characterization of urban heterogeneities of the preferences. Valid survey data from 1455 respondents were collected from a stated preference experiment, which segmented urban residents into a "policy-sensitive" group (8.25% of the sample), "policy-indifferent" group (27.97%), and "policy-cognitive" group according to their preferences. The 18 pilot cities were grouped into three clusters according to the different compositions of the preference segments. Our analysis shows that it may not be necessary for the municipal governments to provide subsidies for the installations of home chargers currently. Besides, different optimized policy mixes of bus lane access privileges, replacement subsidies, toll discounts, and preferential parking fees for charging were proposed for the three clusters of cities. Our research paradigm applies to cities in other countries that need to optimize EV policy mixes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Renewable energy is one of the possible solutions when addressing climate change. Today, large-scale renewable energy integration needs to include the experience to balance the discrepancy between electricity demand and supply. The electrification of transportation may have the potential to deal with this imbalance and to reduce its high dependence on oil production. For this reason, it is interesting to analyse the extent to which transport electrification can further the renewable energy integration. This paper quantifies this issue in Inner Mongolia, where the share of wind power in the electricity supply was 6.5% in 2009 and which has the plan to develop large-scale wind power. The results show that electric vehicles (EVs) have the ability to balance the electricity demand and supply and to further the wind power integration. In the best case, the energy system with EV can increase wind power integration by 8%. The application of EVs benefits from saving both energy system cost and fuel cost. However, the negative consequences of decreasing energy system efficiency and increasing the CO2 emission should be noted when applying the hydrogen fuel cell vehicle (HFCV). The results also indicate that developing renewable energy is crucial for transportation electrification. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Evaluation of the energy and emissions efficiency of Chinese regions has recently attracted increasing interest. A number of previous studies have contributed to the measurement of energy efficiency using various types of data envelopment analysis (DEA) techniques. However, most of these DEA-based energy efficiency analyses were restricted to the radial expansions of outputs or radial contractions of inputs. In this paper, we utilize the multi-directional efficiency analysis (MEA) approach instead of the traditional radial DEA to investigate Chinese regional energy and emissions efficiency. Since MEA selects benchmarks such that the input contractions or output expansions are proportional to the potential improvement identified by considering the improvement potential in each input or output variable separately, not just the efficiency status but also the efficiency patterns of different Chinese regions and areas can be detected. The empirical study results indicate that, in general, the MEA efficiency of China experienced an increasing process over the study period 1997–2010; the east area overall is more MEA efficient than the central area and the west area of China during the study period; the significant higher MEA efficiency of the east area to the central area and the west area are due to both the higher energy specific efficiency and the higher emissions specific efficiency of the east area compared to the other two areas; the provinces of Hebei, Shanxi, Inner Mongolia, Shandong, Henan, and Hubei etc. have both high energy saving potentials and high emissions reduction potentials, thus they will play the most important roles in China’s effort on energy conservation and CO2 emissions mitigation. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: This paper estimates the affordability of increased energy costs for Chinese companies due to the possible introduction of carbon pricing policies. The data were collected from 121 valid respondents in Taicang, China, using a multiple-bounded discrete choice (MBDC) format. Estimations indicate that a mean of 8.5% in energy cost increase would be acceptable for the surveyed companies on the whole. Companies from chemical and dyeing industries expressed a slightly higher affordability, with the mean of acceptable energy cost increase being 9.8% and 9.4% respectively. Econometric analysis identified two determinants of affordability for companies. One is the current energy price level, having a significant but negative relationship with affordability. The other is the energy management strategies of companies, significantly and positively associated with affordability. Calculations indicate that the mean of affordable energy cost increases for companies roughly equals a carbon price of 60 CNY/t-CO2 (about 9 USD/t-CO2). This result may be used as a referendum during the development of carbon tax policy and the establishment of a domestic carbon emissions trading scheme in China from the perspective of individual companies. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: China has set ambitious goals to increase the use of renewable energy. Developing renewables in rural areas is also one of the most important energy strategies. This paper examines rural social acceptance of renewable energy deployment taking Shandong as a case study via a field questionnaire survey. Theory of planned behavior is adopted to establish an analytical framework, and a logit model is used to examine possible determinants of local social acceptance. The results show that rural residents are generally supportive renewable energy development given its positive impacts on environment. A stated willingness to pay more for renewable electricity is taken as a variable representing an individual’s behavioral intention. The probability of occurrence of positive intention is found to increase with household income, individual knowledge level and belief about costs of renewable energy use but decrease with individual age. Residents with higher level of income are more likely to be willing to pay more for green electricity, so are the younger people. Enhancive knowledge and understanding about renewable energy (for instance, the cost) would be conducive to win public acceptance of renewable energy deployment. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: In this paper, we present a process-based model to estimate the well-to-tank (WTT) costs of vehicle fuels (gasoline and diesel). The model breaks down the WTT process into four stages, i.e., crude oil sourcing (import and extraction), crude oil transportation, crude oil refining, and vehicle fuel transportation and distribution, which can provide high-resolution data for the WTT cost components. Using this model, we further develop an empirical study of China. The results obtained from the study indicate that the price of imported crude oil is the dominant factor affecting the WTT costs of vehicle fuels in China and that the cost of crude oil refining also has a relatively large influence. By comparing the costs with the prices of vehicle fuels under the volatile price of imported crude oil, we illustrate the unstable margin caused by China’s current pricing policy, which causes a distorted price signal and fiscal risks. The key findings derived from the empirical study reveal that the WTT cost is an essential guide for altering the vehicle fuel price with the aim of not only smoothing the impacts caused by the volatile price of crude oil price but also reflecting the correct oil price signal and reducing the fiscal risks. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: This paper uses nonparametric efficiency analysis technique to estimate the energy efficiency, potential emission reductions and marginal abatement costs of energy-related CO2 emissions in China. We employ a non-radial slacks-based data envelopment analysis (DEA) model for estimating the potential reductions and efficiency of CO2 emissions for China. The dual model of the slacks-based DEA model is then used to estimate the marginal abatement costs of CO2 emissions. An empirical study based on China’s panel data (2001–2010) is carried out and some policy implications are also discussed. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: China’s electricity industry has experienced two major stages of development: from 1949 to 1984, the industry was treated as a subordinate sector whose goal was to support the development of other industrial sectors; since 1985, a series of reforms in its governance mechanisms have been carried out. This paper applies transaction-cost analysis to provide a new perspective on the efficiency of these reforms, emphasizing changes in the areas of electricity prices and investment incentives. We argue that the governance reforms successfully ended the significant social welfare losses resulting from the severe power shortages of the previous 30years, introduced real or potential competition, and encouraged technological progress. However, they also led to low operational efficiency and excessive investment in power generation plants. Our empirical analysis, uses panel regression models, shows that by 2003 the reforms led electric capacity to increase tremendously. Meanwhile, the electricity price reform in 1996 promoted power generation corporations more responsive to electricity demand and price signals to some extend. However, it cannot be proved that the electricity price reform in 2003 (and the dismantle reform at the end of 2002) affect electricity generation corporations in the same way. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Tiered electricity price (TEP) reform is a planning policy for household electricity conservation in China. Based on TEP, several price hierarchies are provided, and additional payment will be charged if the electricity consumptions exceed the upper bound of each hierarchy. Yet, the optimal level of each price tier and the institutions for implementing TEP need further research, which are set on the basis of considering residents’ affordability and willingness to pay. Therefore, this paper aims at exploring determinants of public willingness to accept TEP and finding out the acceptable range of premium. A questionnaire survey in four urban cities of China is conducted to collect data, and an ordinary regression model is adopted in our analysis to identify the drivers and barriers to general public’s acceptance of TEP. The results show that middle income earners are the groups that are mostly opposed to TEP. Rather than just focusing on economic factors, public environmental awareness should be highlighted during the implementation of TEP, because cost is not a statistically significant determinant in this study. Moreover, the public acceptable rate of premium of TEP in the urban cities, according to our research results, may be below .05RMB/kWh. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: This paper examines the driving forces for reducing China’s CO2 emission intensity between 1998 and 2008, utilizing the logarithmic mean divisia index (LMDI) technique. By first grouping the CO2 emissions into two categories, those arising from activities related to the electric power industry and those from other sources, emission intensity is further broken down into the effects of the CO2 emission coefficient, energy intensity of power generation, power generation and consumption ratio, electricity intensity of the gross domestic product (GDP), provincial structural change, and the energy intensity of the GDP for other activities. The decomposition results show that improvements in the energy intensity of power generation, electricity intensity of GDP, and energy intensity of GDP for other activities were mainly responsible for the success in reducing China’s CO2 emission intensity and that activities related to the electric power industry played a key role. It is also revealed that performance varied significantly at the individual province level. The provinces with higher emission levels contributed the most to China’s improvements in CO2 emission intensity. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The combined impact of global climate change and increasing human activities has led to the severe deterioration of grasslands in China. Using the solar irrigation systems is an effective way for sustaining pasture lands in arid regions. A solar irrigation system is the device that uses the solar cell from the sun’s radiation to generate electricity for driving the pump. And photovoltaic pump consists of an array of photovoltaic cells and pumps water from a well or reservoir for irrigation. Although ecologists and organizations constantly work and find ways to conserve grasslands through irrigation systems that use solar energy, issues on water resources are not yet thoroughly discussed. This paper takes into account the main factors in the study of water resources, including precipitation and groundwater, to analyze the feasibility of using a photovoltaic (PV) pumping irrigation. The appropriate area for such a PV pumping irrigation in Qinghai Province is also presented. The results show that the grasslands appropriate for PV pumping cover about 8.145millionha, accounting for 22.3% of the grasslands in the entire province. Finally, the problems and countermeasures of PV pumping irrigation, including the impact on regional water balance, groundwater level and highland permafrost, are also considered. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Along with high-speed economic development and increasing energy consumption, the Chinese Government faces a growing pressure to maintain the balance between energy supply and demand. In 2009, China has become both the largest energy consumer and CO2 emitting country in the world. In this case, the inappropriate energy consumption structure should be changed. As an alternative, a suitable infrastructure for the implementation of renewable energy may serve as a long-term sustainable solution. The perspective of a 100% renewable energy system has been analyzed and discussed in some countries previously. In this process, assessment of domestic renewable energy sources is the first step. Then appropriate methodologies are needed to perform energy system analyses involving the integration of more sustainable strategies. Denmark may serve as an example of how sustainable strategies can be implemented. The Danish system has demonstrated the possibility of converting into a 100% renewable energy system. This paper discusses the perspective of renewable energy in China firstly, and then analyses whether it is suitable to adopt similar methodologies applied in other countries as China approaches a renewable energy system. The conclusion is that China’s domestic renewable energy sources are abundant and show the possibility to cover future energy demand; the methodologies used to analyse a 100% renewable energy system are applicable in China. Therefore, proposing an analysis of a 100% renewable energy system in China is not unreasonable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The design and operation of combined cooling, heating and power (CCHP) systems are greatly dependent upon the seasonal atmospheric conditions, which determine thermal and power demands of buildings. This paper presents a mathematical analysis of CCHP system in comparison to separate system. The corresponding primary energy consumption in thermal demand management (TDM) and electrical demand management (EDM) operation modes are deduced. Three relative criteria, primary energy saving (PES), CO2 emission reduction (CO2ER), and annual total cost saving (ATCS) are employed to evaluate the respective performances of CCHP systems for a hypothetical building in five different climate zones from the technical, environmental and economic aspects. The results indicate that CCHP system in TDM mode in the cold area, where the building requires more heating during the year, achieves more benefit over separate system while CCHP system in EDM mode suits the building having stable thermal demand in mild climate zone. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: China is now the third largest bioethanol producer in the world after the United State and Brazil. The overall goals of this paper are to provide an overview of China’s current bioethanol program, its future trend, and the likely impacts on its agricultural economy in the future. The analysis shows that China has developed an ambitious long-run biofuel program with a series of financial and institutional supports. While there are several potential feedstock crops available for bioethanol production, lack of land for feedstock production is one of major constraints in China’s bioethanol expansion. The results show that although China’s bioethanol expansion will have little impacts on overall agricultural prices in international markets, it will have significant impacts on the prices, productions, and trade of those energy crops being used for bioethanol production in China. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: This paper presents the results of estimating how much electricity is currently used and would be used in future in China’s urban household-sector. Conclusions are derived from an analysis of data obtained from a questionnaire survey recently conducted in 13 cities in China. Electricity used for various purposes in China’s urban-households is evaluated, considering climate conditions specific to the target regions and the possession of end-use appliances. How much electricity could be saved in the future by improving the efficiency of end-use lighting equipment, room air-conditioners, refrigerators, and TV sets is estimated. It is demonstrated that about 28% reduction could be achieved in the year of 2020 by means of improving the efficiency of these end-use appliances. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

• It evaluates the effect of China's ETS on non-fossil energy development. • It analyzes ETS's effects from energy type, pilot, and pilot-energy type aspects. • The ETS has the most significant promoting effect on hydropower and photovoltaics. • Carbon price plays a positive role in moderating the effect of China's ETS. Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) can internalize the environmental costs of fossil energy consumption and encourage enterprises to consume non-fossil energy, which is crucial for People's Republic of China (PRC) to achieve the contribution target of the Paris Agreement cost-effectively. However, whether the ETS in PRC can promote non-fossil energy development remains to be answered. This paper uses a difference-in-differences model to evaluate the effect of the ETS on non-fossil energy development in PRC. Using provincial monthly panel data from January 2004 to December 2019, we find that (1) the ETS has significantly promoted non-fossil energy development in PRC, increasing the monthly average share of non-fossil energy power generation in total power generation by 2.326 percentage points, which has been verified by a series of robustness tests. (2) The effect of the ETS on non-fossil energy development is heterogeneous by energy type, pilot region, and pilot-energy type. The ETS has significantly increased the share of hydropower and photovoltaic power generation, and has significantly promoted non-fossil energy development in Guangdong; meanwhile, the ETS has significantly increased the share of hydropower and nuclear power in Guangdong, and the share of wind power and photovoltaic power in Hubei. (3) The higher the carbon price, the greater the role of the ETS in promoting non fossil energy development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]