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Abstract: With the largest population living in countryside, the carbon dioxide (CO2) emission from rural energy consumption is a serious problem in China. The full development and utilization of renewable energy is the key and effective way for solving the CO2 emissions problem. This paper reviews the rural energy consumption level and structure in China. Then, this paper discusses the potential for renewable energy development as well as its CO2 emissions reductions in rural areas. Results show that if full development and utilization of renewable energy is achieved, on the basis of energy data in 2008, China's rural energy consumption and even 2.2 times of that can be supplied by 100% carbon-free energy resources (which do not contain the biomass energy) without considering economic and technical constraints, and 2.4 times of that can be provided by renewable energy. Moreover, to evaluate the application priority, cost-effectiveness of each renewable energy resource is analyzed. Based on the characteristics of renewable energy resources, new promotional strategies to ensure the full development and utilization of renewable energy in rural China are also presented. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: With rapid urbanization and industrialization, China has become both the largest energy consumer and CO2 emitting country in the world. As a clean and low-carbon energy source, renewable energy is a good choice to substitute for the exhausted fossil energy. The Chinese central and local governments have made a series of policies and optimistic plans to promote a rapid development of renewable energies. China′s renewable energy development has become a key to the sustainable development of socio-economic system. Unlike most of the current studies which mainly identified the challenges regarding policies and technologies around renewable energy or performed specific analyses for a certain kind of renewable energy, this paper summarizes the spatial disparity and consistency among the major renewable energies, coal resources, energy consumption and its major influencing factors in China, and reviews the positive and negative environmental impacts of major renewable energies. Based on the geographical and environmental perspectives, this paper recommends that the Chinese government: constructs the national energy production bases according to the resource distribution; integrates different energies on the basis of their natural features and spatial consistency; adjusts the overall layout of socio-economic development consistent with renewable energies; and promotes a moderate renewable energy development to maximize the environmental benefits. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Reducing carbon emissions and managing the aging crisis represent two major challenges in China that involve various requirements for continued economic growth. This paper investigated the relationships between population factors and carbon emissions and further explored the impact of population aging on carbon emissions at the national and regional levels based on the STIRPAT model and provincial panel data from China. Our results show that at the national level, population aging and population quality are positively correlated with China's carbon emissions. The impact of the population living standard on carbon emissions exhibits an urban-rural difference. At the regional level, the impact of population aging on carbon emissions exhibits regional differences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper mainly investigates the relationship among energy consumption, carbon emissions and economic growth in China from 1952 to 2012. First, we implement unit root and cointegration analysis to test the stationary. Furthermore, we analyze the mutual influence among energy consumption, carbon emissions and economic growth through Granger causality analysis. Next, we also conduct static and dynamic regression analysis on the determinants of carbon emissions and economic growth. Last, we predict the future influence of different energy consumption on carbon emissions and economic growth. We find that coal has dominant impact on economic growth and carbon emissions. GDP (Gross Domestic Product) has bi-directional relationship with CO 2 (carbon dioxide) emission, coal, gas, and electricity consumption. It is imperative to change energy consumption structure in China. We had better decrease coal consumption rate. It is significant to develop hydro and nuclear power in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this paper is to investigate the relationship between renewable energy consumption and economic growth in China for the period 1977–2011. Autoregressive Distributed Lag approach (ARDL) to cointegration and Johansen cointegration techniques are employed by including intermittent variables namely carbon dioxide emissions and labor. We also employed Granger causality test in order to determine the direction of the causality among the variables. The results show that there is a bi-directional long term causality between renewable energy consumption and economic growth. This finding implies that growing economy in China is propitious for the development of renewable energy sector which in turn helps to boost economic growth. We also find that labor influences renewable energy consumption in the short term. However, there is no evidence of long or short run causality between carbon emissions and renewable energy consumption. This implies that actual level of renewable energy in China is still insignificant and not considerably exploited in order to contribute to the mitigation of carbon dioxide emissions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Climate change has become the most globally concerned environmental issue. As the world's largest carbon dioxide emitter and primary energy consumer, China has strong incentives to change its coal-dominated electricity structure. Various renewable powers such as wind and solar are suitable and necessary options for carbon emission reduction. The 12th Five-Year (2011–2015) and the mid-term until 2020 are critical periods for the development of Chinese renewable powers. In this paper individual renewable electricity sources were introduced based on their characteristics. Based on the introduction, the targets as well as their effects in the medium and long-term were presented and explained; challenges China has to face in the periods were discussed in detail, and emphasis was put on hydro, solar and wind power, which is highlighted in the plans. Also solutions against these challenges were recommended. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]