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Rural household energy consumption is an important component of national energy consumption and plays an important role in rural social and ecological environment developments. In this paper, energy consumption of 1440 households in 8 typical counties of 8 China's economic zones was investigated. The investigation data analysis revealed significant difference of different economic zones in rural household energy consumption level and structure. For 8 studying counties, the annual average energy consumption per capita was 26.7 GJ, 10.4 GJ the lowest (Shanghang County) and 86.6 GJ the highest (Shulan County). In energy consumption, straw, biogas, fuel wood and electricity accounted for 44.33%, 23.13%, 12.79% and 9.61%, respectively. Rural families with high incomes preferred commercial energies (e.g. electricity and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG)) to biomass energy (e.g. straw and fuel wood). The traditional biomass energy is still the main energy source for China's rural household. Research results provide references to understand current situations and future development of China's rural household energy consumption, and formulate related energy and environmental policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China has become the most important country in the development and implementation of Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) projects. The CDM has brought an opportunity for the development of household biogas in rural China. The feasibility analysis, calculation methods and potential of emissions reduction, CDM project development process, problems and countermeasures of household biogas CDM projects in rural China are discussed in this paper. The results of our analysis indicated it's feasible to develop household biogas CDM projects in rural China. There are several constraints for household biogas CDM project development in rural China. These include a lack of CDM knowledge, scattered distribution of household biogas digesters, long CDM registration time, high investment costs and the problems of sustainable development of household biogas which include a shortage of raw materials, inefficient straw fermentation technology, and poor follow-up services. Also, training for managers and farmers should be strengthened. The construction of programmatic clean development mechanism (PCDM) needs to be promoted. The declaration process should be simplified and multi-channels financing must be found. Those measures should be taken to promote the sustainable development of household biogas: straw will replace animal manure as the main raw material of biogas; Farmer's need training in biogas digester operation and management; Establishment of Rural Biogas Service Station is needed to provide follow-up services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China's transport sector is facing severe energy and environmental challenges. Establishing energy efficiency standards is an essential measure to cope with these challenges. This paper comprehensively reviews the energy efficiency standards in China's road, water, aviation, railway and pipeline transport sectors. Based on the review, it is suggested that (1) the integrity of policy framework should be further improved. Energy efficiency standards-based market access qualification mechanism is quite necessary for all transport sectors, especially the aviation, railway and pipeline transport sectors, where such mechanism is absent. (2) Efforts for improving energy efficiency should be balanced among different transport sectors. Priority should be determined by considering each sector's energy consumption, the cost and potential of energy efficiency improvement, etc. Especially, the major energy-consuming sectors, such as heavy-duty vehicles should have similar priority to passenger vehicles in the overall energy efficiency improvement scheme. (3) The scientific basis for the energy efficiency standards should be enhanced. Policies should be proposed with full considerations of China's context, rather than borrowing the experiences of developed countries. Intelligence from the research community should be incorporated to ensure the rationality of the policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This research studies the low carbon transition of the electric power sector in China using a multi-level perspective (MLP) of niches, socio-technical regime, and landscape, as well as literature on innovation systems. Three lines of thought on transition process are integrated in the paper to probe the possible transition pathways in China. A MLP analysis is presented to understand the current niches, regime, and landscape of China’s power sector. A brief analysis on the future macroscopic socio-economic transition in the process of industrialization, urbanization, and modernization of Chinese society and its implication on power landscape are depicted to prove the urgency and magnitude of transition in China and why systematic transition management is needed. Five transition pathways, namely reproduction, transformation, substitution, reconfiguration, de-alignment/re-alignment, and reconfiguration, with their possible technology options are presented. The paper goes further to propose an interactive framework for managing the transition to a low carbon energy system in China. Representative technology options are appraised by employing innovation theory to indicate the logic of policymaking within the framework. Institutional gaps in realizing the transition are also addressed. The work presented in the paper will be useful in informing policy-makers and other stakeholders and may provide references for power sector transition management in other countries. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

In order to achieve the large-scale, long-distance and high-efficiency trans-regional electricity transmission, it is of significance to construct a strong and national smart grid with ultra-high voltage (UHV) transmission system as its backbone and the coordinated development of power grids at all levels, which will enhance the resources allocation capacity of grid, promote the large-scale integration into grid of renewable energy, and further mitigate the power shortage in eastern and southern China. This paper starts with the analysis of the regional grids' supply and demand situation in China, and then analyzes the development status and existing issues of China's trans-regional electricity transmission. Finally, strategies and recommendations are proposed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Development of shale gas resources is expected to play an important role in China's projected transition to a low-carbon energy future. The question arises whether the availability of water could limit this development. The paper considers a range of scenarios to define the demand for water needed to accommodate China's projected shale gas production through 2020. Based on data from the gas field at Fuling, the first large-scale shale gas field in China, it is concluded that the water intensity for shale gas development in China (water demand per unit lateral length) is likely to exceed that in the US by about 50%. Fuling field would require a total of 39.9–132.9 Mm 3 of water to achieve full development of its shale gas, with well spacing assumed to vary between 300 and 1000 m. To achieve the 2020 production goal set by Sinopec, the key Chinese developer, water consumption is projected to peak at 7.22 Mm 3 in 2018. Maximum water consumption would account for 1% and 3%, respectively, of the available water resource and annual water use in the Fuling district. To achieve China's nationwide shale gas production goal set for 2020, water consumption is projected to peak at 15.03 Mm 3 in 2019 in a high-use scenario. It is concluded that supplies of water are adequate to meet demand in Fuling and most projected shale plays in China, with the exception of localized regions in the Tarim and Jungger Basins. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The ecological protection project of substituting small hydropower for fuel (SSHF) in China is to consolidate the achievements of conceding the land to forestry and natural forest protection, solve the problems of the peasants' fuel and rural energy, protect the ecological environment, and promote the comprehensive development of rural economy and society. It is of great importance to the sustainable development of China in the 21st century. This paper provides a survey of substituting small hydropower for fuel in China. Over the last ten years, using small hydropower to replace the rural living fuel in China has resulted in great fruits. By the end of 2013, 252 SSHF projects had been completed in China, and the newly installed capacity of the SSHF power plants had reached 564 MW (MW). The demand of 1.593 million rural residents for living fuel and energy had been met in a long term, 6.29 million ac-res of the forest area had been protected, and the emission of a large amount of pollutants had been decreased. Moreover, many SSHF projects all over the country are still under construction. With regard to the challenges existing in the development course, some suggestions have been proposed. Implementation of the SSHF project will help realize the harmonious coexistence between human beings and the nature in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China has become the world׳s largest country in steel production and consumption. Steel industry is one of the major high-polluting industries, and serious pollution problems have been caused by steel industry in China. In this paper, we first present a review of the development status and the emissions of China׳s steel industry. Then, the emission reduction measures of China׳s steel industry are analyzed. These measures include the overall actions on emission reduction in China and some actions on emission reduction of China׳s steel industry. Finally, suggestions in five aspects to further promote the emission reduction of China׳s steel industry are proposed and discussed, including eliminating backward steel production capacity, improving the legal system of emission control, strengthening government regulation, improving steel production technology and efficiency, and establishing the national carbon emission trading market of the steel industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This paper presents the typical evaporative cooling air conditioning systems used in China, including all-air central evaporative cooling systems, air–water semi-central evaporative cooling systems and hybrid desiccant dehumidification and evaporative cooling systems. Their environmental impacts and energy saving potential are illustrated, and other factors closely related to the practical application of evaporative cooling, such as water treatment, appropriate design codes and handbooks, and automatic control strategies, are outlined. The paper concludes with a discussion of the prospects for future research and applications of evaporative cooling. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Since 2005, there has been dramatic progress in China''s wind power industry. The annual growth rate of newly constructed capacity reached a miracle of 105% and the total installed capacity has increased from 1.27GW in 2005 to 44.73GW in 2010, which has exceeded the target of China''s energy long-term planning for 2020. During the 11th Five-Year-Plan (FYP), the Chinese government has issued a series of polices to promote and regulate the development of wind power industry, which is the underlying force driving its rapid development. This paper is a systematical review on the current status and policies of wind power industry in China. Firstly the current status including achievements and shortcomings is presented, and then the relevant polices and regulations released during the period of 11th FYP are reviewed. Meanwhile, the main approaches of the policies and regulations in promoting the development of wind power industry are discussed and the issues of the current policies are analyzed. Finally, the paper concludes on the perspectives of wind power policies in China. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Solar energy is increasingly essential to fortify energy security and promote Chinese socio-economic development. The applications of solar thermal energy in China are mainly centralized at low and medium temperature, such as solar water heating, solar cooling and air conditioning, building heating, solar drying and solar power generating. Based on the reality in China, it is presented in this paper that China should promote the distributed concentrated solar thermal (DCST) technology, especially in the industrial field. This technology, which has the potential to reduce the high cost of DCST and overcome the intermittent output of solar energy, is discussed in this paper, as well as how to put DCST technology forward and enlarge scale deployment in China. Finally, it is hoped that suggestions in this paper could be helpful to the researchers, designers and policy-makers who are involving in this field. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Low carbon electricity is essential for China''s low carbon development. In the paper low carbon electricity is defined as an economy body manages to realize its potential economic growth fueled by less electricity consumption, which can be characterized by indexes of GDP electricity intensity and CO2 emissions per unit electricity generation. IRSP is proposed by Hu to implement power planning on state level in deregulated power sector and is used in the paper to study China''s power planning into 2030. A business-as-usual scenario is projected as baseline for comparison while low carbon electricity development based on IRSP is studied. Results show that, with IRSP, China could save energy by 1.5 billion toes and reduce CO2 emission by 5.7 billion tons, during 2010–2030. Super Smart Grid (SSG) must be constructed as the physical foundation of IRSP. The main components of developing SSG in China are discussed. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Renewable energy technologies offer an economically viable and environmentally suitable scenario towards addressing energy requirements for rural livelihoods. China''s Renewable Energy Rural Electrification Program, initiated in 2001, is an effort to employ renewable energy technologies on a large-scale for rural electrification. The Program has been designed with several stages. This paper firstly offers an analysis of the problems encountered during the progress of this rural electrification program, using data obtained from field survey of representative areas in western China where the first stage of the program was implemented. The paper then explores feasible solutions in order to address existing rural energy issues and provide long-term reliable energy service for remote communities. In support of future course of development of renewable energy application for rural energy demands, policy recommendations are provided. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

While large-scale photovoltaic is regarded as a water saving generation technology, it comes with direct water consumption and embodied indirect water consumption associated with the manufacture of system equipment and building materials during construction. However, few studies have quantified the water consumptive use for photovoltaic generation from a life cycle perspective. In this context, this paper carefully calculated the life cycle water consumption for large-scale photovoltaic power generation in China and identified the hot spots in its supply chain. The results show the life cycle water consumption per kW installed capacity of large-scale photovoltaic plants is 20,419 L. Photovoltaic panel production and the Balance of System together make up over 85% of the total. The application of recycling technologies to the photovoltaic system is promised to cut down the total water consumption by another 13%. Then the water consumption intensity of large-scale photovoltaic power generation in China is presented at the provincial resolution in the range of 0.45–1.52 L/kWh, which is significantly lower than that of current power generation in China. In addition, considering the power generation structure in China in recent years, the water saving potential under the maximum photovoltaic scenario in China during the year 2015–2017 could reach 3.75%, 4.04%, and 4.27% of China's national water supply. Finally, the regional water stress index is also introduced to explore the influence of water consumption on locally available water resources. This study could enable policymakers to better relate the development of large-scale photovoltaics to water saving strategies. • A more updated and comprehensive LCA study for PV water consumption is conducted. • Under the landfilling scenario, the water consumption of PV plants is 20,419 L/kWp. • Replacing China's electricity supply with PV brings water saving potential. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As a renewable energy, wind power has been improving energy structures and assisting in the maintenance of strategic energy security. Based on provincial level panel data from 2000 to 2018, this paper developed models to evaluate the effects of different policies on newly installed wind power capacity and investigated the market reform influences on wind development in eight spot market pilots. It was found that on a national level, while the pricing and government guideline policies significantly promoted wind power growth, present market reforms were having an opposite effect. The results also suggested that from a resource endowment heterogeneity perspective, there was a significant difference in the wind capacity promotion policy performances. Additionally, of the eight spot market pilots, market designs had led to a significant reduction in new wind power installations in Gansu and Inner Mongolia, and no significant wind power development effects were found in the other pilots. Based on the research results, a discussion on policy use and suggestions on policy improvements are given. • Effectiveness of different representative wind power policies are examined. • The panel models are developed using data that covers 30 provinces over 2000–2018. • Policy effectiveness varies by policy types and wind resource levels. • The current market designs show little impact on wind power development. • Implications on policy use and improvement suggestions are given. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China׳s 12th Five-Year Plan, released in March 2011, specifies water management targets in addition to energy and carbon intensity targets. Energy and water resources are becoming the major bottlenecks restricting sustainable development in China. Energy and water are interconnected and complementary; however, macroenergy policies do not consider the impact on water resources, while water related policies do not consider the impact on energy consumption. In this paper, an energy-water evaluation methodology based on an input–output model was introduced, and correlation between energy and water supply sectors was established by this methodology. The correlation coefficients for the energy-water nexus, allowing the water savings associated with energy saving policies in China to be estimated, particularly for key industrial sectors during the 12th Five-Year Plan period were provided. These results indicate that by achieving the energy saving targets in the end of the 12th Five-Year Plan, progress will also be made toward achieving the water use targets. It is believed that targets for the synergies between energy savings and water conservation should be improved. The effect of water conservation resulting from energy savings varies greatly in different sectors, and to maximize the synergies, energy and water conservation technologies should be promoted in key industrial sectors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Facing with great pressure to feed the demand outstripping the supply situation as well as alleviate the energy pollution problem, China has accelerated the pace of shale gas exploration. During the 12th Five-Year-Plan (FYP) period, Chinese government and petroleum enterprises actively promoted the development of shale gas industry, and made certain progresses in various aspects. Meanwhile, a series of preferential and supportive policies were developed to encourage shale gas exploration. However, as the shale gas industry is still in the initial stage in China, there are many challenges and difficulties existing in shale gas development. This paper presents a systematical review on the current status and policies of shale gas industry in China, aiming to provide important reference to the policy-makers for introducing and improving policies. Firstly, the current status including progresses and difficulties is presented. Subsequently, the recent policies for shale gas development are reviewed. The analyses of current policies and implementation barriers are followed. Finally, specific policy suggestions are proposed and a general conclusion is drawn. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyzed the changes in carbon-dioxide (CO 2 ) emission in China׳s cement industry over the period 1991–2010. Logarithmic Mean Divisia Index (LMDI) was applied for the decomposition analysis. Five determinants were examined and the results divided into five time intervals, according to China׳s five-year economic plans. The results show that labor productivity was the major driving force of increase in CO 2 emission in China׳s cement industry, and energy intensity was the major contributor to CO 2 emission reduction. The other three factors also generated certain level of effects. This article provides some policy suggestions which could be adopted to reduce CO 2 emission in this energy-intensive industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China applies no efforts to promote the development of renewable energy (REE) so as to enhance China׳s energy security and address climate change. National top-down support scheme and the local renewable energy industry (REEI) development are the two important and intervened countermeasures for promoting REEI development in China. Considering China׳s vast regional disparity, the review on the spatial distribution of REEI in provincial level is critical and enlightening for future appropriate policy-making, while to date, there has been few related studies. With this circumstance, this paper made an empirical study on the distribution and cluster pattern of China׳s REEI based on the analysis on the industrial output value, the number and location of key companies/industrial bases, through on-site survey and updating statistical data. Results highlighted that in general, four REEI clusters were formed, included Bohai sea region, Yangtze River Delta, middle area, and western area. Supply chains were diversely distributed based on the regional resources allocation as well as economy development level and. In summary, REE resource supply and transformation facilities construction were the main REEI in western China, while R&D and high-tech equipment manufacture were clustered in eastern coastal regions. Based on the empirical study and Analytic Network Process (ANP) of the roles of stakeholders involved REEI of China, we further proposed various strategic measures and policy implications to better balance the REEI development in China. Our findings were critical for China׳s authority to design appropriate policies and take effective measures for promoting the harmonious development of REEI. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Renewable energy is an important factor in achieving a low-carbon economic development path in China. This paper investigates the factors influencing renewable electricity consumption in China. Specifically, the factors that influence the share of renewable electricity in total electricity consumption in China is investigated using data from 1980 to 2011 and employing the Johansen cointegration technique and vector error correction model. The result of the analysis shows that there is a long run relationship between renewable electricity consumption and GDP per capita, trade openness, foreign direct investment, financial development and share of fossil fuel in energy consumption. Economic development and financial development promotes renewable electricity consumption while foreign direct investment, trade openness and the lobby of conventional energy sources undermine the share of renewables in total electricity consumption in China. While the effects of shocks to the other variables appear to die out over time, the “lobby effect” is persistent and explosive. The results also show that there is a uni-directional short run causality from financial development to renewable electricity consumption and from renewable electricity consumption to trade openness. The Chinese government should pursue policies that not only increase the amount of renewable electricity, but also increase the share of renewables in total electricity consumption. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since 2000, solar thermal utilization (STU) has a great process in China, not only with a large scale commercial development, but also with an increasing number of scientific publications and patent applications. In this paper, several representative technologies of STU in China are studied based on an analysis of the relationship between patents and policies. Patent information of STU is collected and analyzed in terms of the time distribution, type distribution and technical trends. The main driving factor—energy policy—was discussed through the patent analysis. STU patents took off after the millennium and 85.8% of them came from the solar water heater. For conventional technologies, 94.2% of the granted patents were from companies and individuals, and the patents proposed by various research institutions were mainly in the technological beginning and technological maturity. Advanced technologies are still at a growth stage in China, and they have 412 patents in all and 70.5% of the patents were from systematic design and test method. Energy policies have played a significant role in promoting the progress of STU in China. Based on a patent analysis, it can be expected that STU will enter the age of medium-high temperature in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Wind power generation has increased rapidly in China over the last decade. In this paper the authors present an extensive survey on the status and development of wind power generation in China. The wind resource distributions in China are presented and assessed, and the 10 GW-scale wind power generation bases are introduced in details. The domestic research status of main components of WP system is then elaborated, followed by an evaluation of the wind power equipment manufacturers. Finally, the outlook for the development of the wind power utilization in China is presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Renewable energy is believed to be the central issue in sustainable development. Literatures on renewables׳ costs are rather sparse, especially on costs of integration and system balancing. The objective of this paper is to fill the research gap by providing an assessment for the cost of China׳s grid-connected renewable energy development and analyze its sharing between different stakeholders. Due to China׳s pricing mechanism of renewable energy and their cost decreasing potential, the pricing model of feed-in tariff and dynamic technological learning processes are employed. In the estimation of purchasing cost, the positive bias is overcome by considering China׳s energy-saving dispatching policy. The results suggest that purchasing cost would be 32.57–40.80 billion Yuan over 2012–2020, and peak in 2017. Grid integration costs which further involve costs of grid infrastructure and system balancing are also investigated. We find that grid infrastructure will cost 27.88 billion Yuan by 2015 and soar to 45.32 billion by 2020, while system balancing will cost 31.49 billion Yuan in 2015 and 63.97 billion Yuan in 2020 among which a substantial part (over 60%) comes from electricity loss in energy transfer. The different parts of these costs are underwritten by disparate participants due to China׳s renewable energy policies and its institutional arrangement. Purchasing cost is shared by power consumers through RES; the cost of grid infrastructure is mainly covered by grid enterprises; and there is no mechanism to specify how to share the cost electricity loss during system balancing which might become a major obstacle for system balancing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reviewed the application of renewable energy in buildings (REIB) in China in the last decade. Based on the statistics during the 10th and 11th Five-year Plan period, the application of solar thermal, photovoltaic (PV) and ground-source heat pumps (GSHPs) in buildings for the next decade was forecasted via a transformed grey prediction model under three different development scenarios (Baseline, Reference and Aggressive Scenario). The results showed that, under Reference Scenario, 26.50 million tce (tons of standard coal equivalent) energy consumption in buildings could be replaced by renewable energy in 2015, and the share of renewable energy in building energy consumption would rise to 12.06% in 2020. However, according to domestic medium-term and long-term plans for renewable energy development, there would be some difficulties to achieve the 2015 and 2020 targets with current development trend in the construction sector. Therefore, the detailed technology roadmap of “improving the performance efficiency, expanding the technique scope and controlling the total amount of energy consumption” was thus proposed to evaluate the contribution of different technologies for achieving the medium-term and long-term targets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent decades, China has witnessed substantial progress in urbanization and industrialization and has become the manufacturing center of the world, but has suffered from severe environmental deterioration, especially air pollution. National and provincial governments have adopted a series of policy tools aiming at energy conservation and emission reduction, varying from energy saving regulations to cleaner production policies. This paper investigates provincial energy saving and emission reduction policies by evaluating their effectiveness on local air pollution control. Relying on a panel data regression analysis on a sample of 26 provinces and four centrally-controlled municipalities over a ten-year period from 2002 to 2011, we find empirical support for the positive impacts of provincial energy saving regulations and two environmental standards on the improvement of local air quality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Small hydropower is a green and renewable energy resource. China has very rich small hydropower resources with a total technically utilizable installed capacity of 128 gigawatts (GW). Developing small hydropower is of great importance to speed up the economic growth of rural areas and alleviate the environmental pollution in China in the 21st century. This paper provides a survey of small hydropower exploitation in China. Over the last six decades, China’s small hydropower has developed rapidly. The installed capacity of small hydropower exceeds 59.24 GW at the present time. Fifteen large-scale small hydropower bases have been completed, and more bases are still under construction. The small hydropower for fuel project has been in operation. It not only provides cooking fuel for peasants, but also protects the eco-logical environment. The rural electrification construction based on small hydropower has lasted for 25 years, and 412 counties had realized rural electrification by 2010. The reasonable exploitation of small hydropower will accelerate the harmonic development of resources and the environment in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Carbon Capture, Utilization and Storage (CCUS) is considered a critical carbon dioxide reduction technology for climate change mitigation. More recently, it has been attracting significant attention from the Chinese government, industry and academia in relation to its research, development and deployment. This paper screens 1,202 unique scientific articles from Web of Science related to China's CCUS and employs Citespace to conduct a knowledge mapping of the domain. The results show that the number of publications have increased and CCUS has become a multidisciplinary area of study. The paper visually demonstrates the most productive institutions, main authors, and primary sources of China's CCUS research domain. Moreover, the paper explains how the research topics have changed over time and discovers the current research frontiers including "pipeline", "shale gas" and "steel". Of significant interest is the finding that China's CCUS research progress appears to be directly related to the increasing policy support through China's five-year planning process. However, research regarding public perception, financial mechanisms and appropriate business models for CCUS deployment is found to be less prevalent. Recommendations to improve research in these areas are provided from the perspective of government intervention. This paper also highlights the importance of continued government support for CCUS as part of the national development strategy for carbon emissions reduction and transitioning towards a low carbon future. • The evolution of China's CCUS research is identified using a bibliometric method. • Outlines research foci, most productive organizations, main authors and top-tier journals. • Government intervention appears the most significant driver for CCUS development in China. • Three research areas−"pipeline", "shale gas" and "steel"− are receiving strongest policy support. • The topics "public perception", "financial mechanisms", and "business models"− lack sufficient focus in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the great successes in improving rural electrification and reducing poverty, China's small hydropower (SHP) development is expected to provide a good example for other developing countries. However, recently, nearly all new SHP development plans have been halted, and many plants have been urged to shut down or even be removed. The SHP industry in China is now in a dilemma. This paper presents a review of the status of SHP development in China and explores the challenges troubling this industry. It was revealed that SHP resources in many provinces have been intensively exploited, with an exploration rate over 0.80, while untapped resources are primarily located in remote western provinces, such as ecologically fragile Tibet. This intensive and disordered SHP development has caused serious dewatering of rivers and affected local agricultural and household water access, which arouses fierce controversy. Moreover, the role of SHP has been gradually weakened by the extension of power grids and diversified electricity sources. Therefore, the transition and upgrade of the SHP industry has become critical to enhance its sustainable development and to provide a solid example for the world. A divergence management strategy for SHP should be adopted to achieve low-impact development, as opposed to blind large-scale development or rigidly discontinuing all projects. Future transition strategies are proposed in this paper that include delicate management of existing plants and construction of new plants with higher standards, as well as pathways for the development benefits to be shared by a wider range of local residents. • This study investigated the history and status quo of SHP development in China. • SHP resources in most provinces are intensively developed except some western areas. • Growing challenges that trouble the SHP industry in China were identified. • Future transition strategies for the SHP industry in China were proposed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An understanding of how storage technologies coordinate with other power resources to deliver value for electricity market participants in compliance with climate policy will be vital as policy makers seek to decarbonize electricity generation in a cost-effective way. This paper adopts a game-theoretic electricity market model to evaluate the interaction between pumped hydro storage, electric vehicles, and climate policy under a range of assumptions regarding market power and ownership of generation and storage assets. Using data from the Chinese electricity market, it shows that climate policy may not incentivize storage utilization especially when firms that hold a dominant position in storage operation own a limited portfolio of generation assets. In addition, electric vehicles may not improve consumers' welfare in the presence of pumped hydro storage when perfect competition exists in the market. These results have significant implications for public policy. • A game-theoretic electricity market model is evaluated for China. • The interaction between storage, electric vehicles, and climate policy is studied. • Climate policy may not incentivize storage use depending on the ownership of assets. • The benefits of electric vehicles decline in the presence of pumped hydro storage. • Perfect competition may not always create the best choices for consumers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The reform of China’s power industry has lasted for decades, while the implementation of demand side management (DSM) in China is still in its infancy. In this paper, we present a comprehensive study of the DSM and Demand Response (DR) programs in China under the context of China’s power industry reform. We first present a brief introduction of the background, including the socio economic status and geographical location of China, the energy policy of China, China’s power industry, the smart grids and microgrid in China, and the reform of China’s power industry. Then, based on the introduction of DSM and the analysis of DSM practices in some countries, we discuss the development status of DSM and the reform of electricity pricing in China. Finally, the main challenges in five aspects for the future development of DSM programs in China are proposed and discussed. These challenges include customer understanding and participation, advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) and information and communication technology (ICT), pricing mechanisms and optimal scheduling, big data analytics based decision support, as well as government regulations and market policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Electric power industry is a typical industry with high energy consumption and high emissions in China. To relieve the increasing environmental pressures and promote the sustainable development of China’s economy and society, it is urgent to take actions to reduce energy consumption and pollution emissions of China’s electric power industry. In this paper, we first present an overview of the development status of China’s electric power industry, including the total power generating capacity and proportions of different power generation methods, the development of renewable energy power generation, as well as the average utilization hours of different power generation equipment. Then, the development of energy conservation and emissions reduction of China’s electric power industry is studied. The indicators of energy conservation include coal consumption for power supply, power consumption rate of power plants and comprehensive line loss rate; while the contents of emissions reduction include desulfurization, emissions control and the comprehensive utilization of solid waste. Finally, suggestions in five aspects to promote energy conservation and emissions reduction of China’s electric power industry are presented. The five suggestions are improving power generation technologies, expanding renewable energy power generation, optimizing power generation process, strengthening monitoring and regulation, and promoting power generation rights and emissions trading. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to ease environment pressure and alleviate the scarce problem of energy, Chinese government has begun to exploit and develop shale gas (SG) since 2009. However, the formation of competitive market is bristled with difficulties, due to its infancy, imperfect and lack of standardization. This paper firstly analyzes the status quo of technology, policy, cost, and competition of SG industry in China. Then a system dynamics (SD) model is built to show various trends of Chinese SG industry under different scenarios, which shows that technology, policy and cost all have effects on competitiveness. At last, the simulations reveal that the number of competitors in Chinese SG industry will arrive at its peak from 2019 to 2020. The corresponding recommendations have been presented: Chinese government should pay more attention on the perfection of laws and regulations of SG industry. And competitors should focus on increasing R&D investment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As wind power resources are abundant, China’s wind power industry has entered a period of rapid growth since 2005, and constantly facing new challenges at the same time. In this paper, the general situation of China’s wind power resource and wind power industry development are introduced. On this basis, future development potential and target of wind power industry are analyzed combining with the recent introduction of the policy and the “Twelfth Five-Year Plan”. The main obstacles prevailing in the development such as grid integration, price mechanism, industry standard system, and supporting policies are discussed. In addition, strategy advice for promoting the further development of China’s wind power is proposed. In general, the development prospect of China’s wind power industry will be even brighter. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite reforms, China still largely applies the cost plus pricing mechanism for the energy sector. Government administrative energy pricing leads to energy price distortions, which could result in not only the excessive and wasteful energy consumption, but also environmental deterioration, thereby undermining energy conservation and emission abatement. Using fossil-fuel subsidies as a proxy for the level of energy price distortions, this paper estimates the subsidy of 22 Chinese departments during the period 2006–2010, and adopts the price-gap approach to analyze the impacts of subsidy removal on energy consumption and CO 2 emissions for the various sectors and energy types. The results demonstrate that removing energy subsidies would reduce energy consumption and emissions by 3.77% and 2.85%, respectively, but the effects vary across sectors. The transport, storage and post sector and the electricity, gas and water supply sector are much more affected by energy subsidies removal than other sectors. With respect to energy types, fuel oil and natural gas are sensitive to subsidies, indicating the magnitude of their consumption. This suggests that removing subsidies on these fuel types could significantly reduce CO 2 emissions. Finally, we comprehensively discuss relevant policy issues on energy price formation reform. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the rapid growing number of automobiles, new energy vehicle is becoming one of approaches to mitigate the dependence of the auto industry on petroleum so as to reduce pollutant emissions. The Chinese government has promulgated a number of policies from the perspectives of industrial development, development plans, demonstration projects, fiscal subsidies and tax incentives with an aim to promote the new energy vehicle industry. This paper presents a comprehensive and critical review of the policy framework for new energy vehicles. The analysis shows that electric vehicle has been assigned a top priority in the future development of the automobile industry in China. Policy guidance and planning has played a vital role to the growth of new energy vehicle industry. However, this industry faces significant challenges related to technologies, industrial chain and social factors. Some core technologies are still in its infancy. Similarly, the market share of new energy vehicles is very small in spite of the preferential policies. The construction of supporting facilities and infrastructures has to be accelerated in order to accommodate the growing demands. There is a long way to go for the industrialization and popularization of new energy vehicles in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a comparison of the changes in the energetic metabolic pattern of China and India, the two most populated countries in the world, with two economies undergoing an important economic transition. The comparison of the changes in the energetic metabolic pattern has the scope to characterize and explain a bifurcation in their evolutionary path in the recent years, using the Multi-Scale Integrated Analysis of Societal and Ecosystem Metabolism (MuSIASEM) approach. The analysis shows an impressive transformation of China׳s energy metabolism determined by the joining of the WTO in 2001. Since then, China became the largest factory of the world with a generalized capitalization of all sectors, especially the industrial sector, boosting economic labor productivity as well as total energy consumption. India, on the contrary, lags behind when considering these factors. Looking at changes in the household sector (energy metabolism associated with final consumption) in the case of China, the energetic metabolic rate (EMR) soared in the last decade, also thanks to a reduced growth of population, whereas in India it remained stagnant for the last 40 years. This analysis indicates a big challenge for India for the next decade. In the light of the data analyzed both countries will continue to require strong injections of technical capital requiring a continuous increase in their total energy consumption. When considering the size of these economies it is easy to guess that this may induce a dramatic increase in the price of energy, an event that at the moment will penalize much more the chance of a quick economic development of India. [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]

China is the global leader in terms of installed wind capacity. Further, wind energy development is expected for the next years and decades to meet the continuously increasing electricity demand and the need of using clean domestic energy. Since 2009 China is divided into four geographical regions, each assigned with a different benchmark on-grid tariff. Moreover the existing infrastructures are not equally developed throughout the country, making investment decisions more complicated and risky. The scope of this paper is to apply an innovative methodology and evaluate the attractiveness of each region for wind energy development, by taking into consideration all relevant investment risks, such as wind potential, wind curtailment, access to the grid and macroeconomic parameters. To this purpose a Monte Carlo simulation approach, integrated into a typical financial model, is implemented in each of the four regions, performing many hundreds of iterations, each characterized by a randomly selected set of the examined uncertain parameters. This approach intends to provide information to private investors doing a first exploratory research in the huge country׳s area in order to decide whether and where to invest, as well as to policy makers to help them assess critical policy parameters and investigate different scenarios of wind energy development. The evaluation of the current framework for wind energy development in China verifies that the existing system of feed-in tariffs in China is very effective for the balanced deployment of wind energy in the whole country. However, it is shown that the risk of curtailment and grid accessibility may significantly reduce the potential profitability of wind energy investments in all four regions. Priority for development of infrastructures should be given in isolated northern windy areas with high-accumulation of wind farms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Currently, the energy structure with coal is given priority to in China. This situation would not change in a short time which results in massive CO 2 emissions and increased pressure to natural environment. Carbon capture and storage technology (known as CCS) is a carbon abatement technology that separates CO 2 from industrial production or energy conversion, transports to the storage site after compression, and injects to the deep underground to make long-term isolation from the atmosphere. This technology achieves zero emission during fossil energy extraction and conversion, so the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) regarded it as one of the effective methods reducing greenhouse gas emissions in 2005. First, based on the development status of CCS in China, in terms of policies, technology research and CCS projects are described. SWOT is an analysis method that analyses objects all-around from four main aspects of strength, weakness, opportunity and threat. By SWOT, this paper focuses on analyzing the development environment currently in order to find the main stimulatives and obstacles and confirm the feasibility of CCS development in China. Finally, recommendations are proposed addressing the problems and obstacles. The results show that CCS is an effective way to reduce future emissions in China, as with the huge market, and the general support by Chinese government and green groups. However, relevant departments should strengthen economic and policy support at the same time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Developing biogas capacity is a key pillar in China’s rural sustainable development program. The very dynamic transition of the rural socio-economic platform on which the current biogas development strategy has been based will require significant adjustments in material, technology and supply. The changes of socio-economic status, the problems of resent state and prospects of rural biogas development in China, including fermentation material, fermentation technology, development model and comprehensive utilization of biogas, are discussed in this paper. The results of our analysis indicated the full use of straw as a raw material will be the direction of biogas development in China. Dry methane fermentation will become an important method in the large scale production of biogas from agricultural wastes. The central supply model is the future biogas development model in rural China. It is with broad market and great potential to produce commercial fertilizer from biogas residue. Using biogas to generate electricity has become a new and efficient way to use biogas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Wind power industry has experienced swift development and gradually moved towards maturity in China. However some hiding issues have appeared and threatened its sustainable development. In this paper, we employ the supply chain framework to present a thorough and comprehensive review on China׳s wind power industry. First we identify key stakeholders along the supply chain and discuss their concerns. Then we summarize the evolution of related policies in both upstream and downstream of the supply chain. The concerns of stakeholders and the existing policies will help understand the progress and challenges of the industry in China. We find that inability of independent technique innovation, unordered and unbalanced pattern of wind farm development, de-motivation of power grid companies, incompatible technical codes of power grid operation, and neglected demand response are among the key issues. Policy recommendations are proposed to address these problems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nowadays, renewable energy plays a vital role in the sustainable development of a society. In China, renewable energy power has developed rapidly since the implementation of Renewable Energy Act. Through a series of specific incentive measures, especially subsidy policies, China's renewable energy power has made great achievements both in technology and application. Based on the state-of-the-art of renewable energy power, this paper comprehensively analyzed the costs and benefits of renewable energy power subsidy in China. The analysis results show the cost of renewable energy power subsidy was 0.248 CNY/kWh between 2006 and April 2011, which was distributed among different renewable energy power types (including wind power, biomass power, and solar PV power) or categories (including electricity price, accessing-grid projects, and public independent renewable energy power system). On the other hand, the renewable energy power subsidy also brings benefits to different aspects of the society. Specifically, the environmental benefit amounted to 17.88 billion CNY, and the benefits of guaranteeing energy security, advancing technology innovation and promoting economic development were also noteworthy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Smart grid is the direction of power system development and it has aroused wide attention. It is also the physical infrastructure to integrate renewable energy into the power system. In China power grid companies are the pioneer in developing smart grids. Propelled by strong demand, China has made encouraging progress in smart grid development, especially in the aspect of ultra-high voltage transmission system. However, in other aspects as distributed generation, microgrid and intelligent demand management etc., the progress is slow and limited. In this paper we analyze the policy, pilot projects, achievements and barriers of developing smart grids in China. We find that lack of a clear national strategy is one main institutional barrier. The current industrial structure of the electric power sector, or the vertical integration of power transmission with distribution and supply, is another institutional barrier. Finally we provide an outlook on smart grid development in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of the research is to study consumers' attitudes towards biodiesel implementation in China. In the paper, authors analyzed the future trends of diesel demand and revealed the prospects of biodiesel in China. And a comprehensive survey has been conducted for 226 private diesel vehicle owners (drivers) in Beijing. The questionnaire survey method is used to collect information, including respondents' viewpoints on fuels selection, biodiesel quality, biodiesel price and related policies. Furthermore, authors applied Structured Equation Modeling (SEM) to analyze the collected data. The results indicate that the most important factor affecting consumers' selection of biodiesel is price. Other significant factors are policy, government incentives and biodiesel quality. Besides, the results also showed that policy and government incentives could affect the price and quality of biodiesel. These results give rise to serious consideration about consumers' preference for and awareness of biodiesel. The research findings will help government and corporations to understand the consumer's energy consumption behaviors and improve the further implementation for biodiesel in Beijing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

All recent analyses acknowledge that environmental resources are in short supply and that it is on them that "carrying capacity" calculations ought to be based. For the specific case of the Chinese society, which is undergoing an unprecedented period of continuous growth, it seems therefore mandatory to alleviate the conflict between high-speed development and available resources. This paper analyzes the variation of the natural resources input into China during years 2000-2007 using the exergy and extended exergy socio-economic metric. Fluxes of materials, labor, capital and environmental remediation expenses were quantified by a numeraire solidly rooted on a second-law metric, so that a new mode of ecological accounting that quantifies both the composition and the proportion of the extended exergy flows can shed light on the total available energy input into the Chinese society. Two new indicators, labor production efficiency and net pro-capite exergy resource input, are proposed to depict the contribution of economic, social and environmental aspects to the usual four production factors and to express the conversion results in transferring efficiency and quantity from material energy to economic output. "Social" extended exergy analysis, applied to each one of the seven sectors of the society, is suggested as an effective method to reveal the energy quality degradation in the resource conversion process at both national and sectoral levels. The comparison of social resource accounting among different societies by using these two indicators may provide useful additional information to evaluate the production conversion coefficients, to assess the environmental impacts and to diagnose possible ecological dysfunctions. In addition, the extended exergy analysis of the Chinese society is helpful in uncovering the long-term resource depletion and promoting efficiency of the resource transformation in the social-economic-environmental system, thus providing a holistic method and a systematic view for decision makers responsible for environmental management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster has rekindled the world's attention to nuclear safety following the devastating nuclear accidents that occurred in the Three Mile Island and Chernobyl. As China continues to expand in nuclear power development, how it views and responds to nuclear safety carries significant implications on its nuclear safety and security in the future. This paper examines the Chinese authorities' response to nuclear safety pre- and post-Fukushima, based on (1) a longitudinal big-data discourse analysis of the Chinese newspaper articles published during the period 2008–2017, and (2) an in-depth comprehensive review of nuclear safety performance and safety governance based on credential and publicly available documents and websites, both locally and internationally. Our assessment reveals that (i) China's concerns over nuclear safety and accident surged immediately following the Fukushima crisis. Increasing attention towards nuclear emergency response has been observed since 2014, (ii) China has displayed strengths in reactor design and safety operation, and (iii) its safety governance has been constrained by institutional fragmentation, inadequate transparency, inadequate safety professionals, lack of a strong safety culture, amid its ongoing plans to increase nuclear capacity three-fold by 2050. To improve nuclear safety, China may further strengthen its safety standards, safety management and monitoring, improve institutional arrangements, increase the ratio of safety professionals, intensify its safety culture and transparency, develop process-based safety regulations, and champion international collaboration to keep itself abreast of the latest international best practices. • China's concerns over nuclear safety surged after the Fukushima crisis. • China displayed strengths in reactor technology design and safety operation. • China can benefit from better safety management culture, institutional integration and and and regulatory design, etc. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As it is the world's top exporter of goods and a carbon emitter, a reduction in China's embodied carbon emissions in exports (ECEE) can help reduce its total carbon emissions. In the post-2008 financial crisis era, the adjustment of the industrial structure has emerged as a powerful tool for reducing carbon emissions. However, it is unclear whether changes in China's production structure have reduced its ECEE and how production substitution affects this reduction. This paper proposes an approach based on a three-tier structural decomposition analysis (SDA) to evaluate the effects of production substitution on China's ECEE from 1997 to 2017. The results indicate that production substitution led to a reduction in China's ECEE whereas changes in production levels increased them. Furthermore, from 1997 to 2017, intra-group production substitution increased China's ECEE while inter-group production substitution reduced it. In the context of inter-group production substitution, the substitution of energy-intensive production with non-energy-intensive production is key to reducing China's ECEE. These findings provide a deeper understanding for how changes in the industrial structure and production substitution affect China's ECEE. • The effect of production substitution on China's ECEE is explored. • A three-tier SDA approach is developed to evaluate the effects of production substitution on China's ECEE. • Intra-group production substitution increased China's ECEE while inter-group production substitution reduced it. • Substitution of energy-intensive production by non-energy-intensive production is the key factor in reducing China's ECEE. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Carbon Capture Utilization and Storage (CCUS) technology is an essential component to decarbonize society and reach carbon neutrality. Its success depends on not only technological advances but also people's reaction to it. This study applied traditional content analysis to uncover the CCUS reporting landscape and employed the Socio-Political Evaluation of Energy Deployment (SPEED) framework to explore how different aspects of the CCUS value chain were discussed in Chinese newspapers. A total of 492 news items from November 21st 2002 to May 8th 2021 were identified and analyzed. Results showed that news coverage of CCUS technology in China started in 2005. The media explained the nature and sources of carbon dioxide (CO 2), framed CCUS by various terms, for example, " greengen " and " a clean energy technology ", as well as demonstrated various tones in CCUS. The analysis found 71.3% (N = 351) of newsletters took an affirmative stance towards CCUS. It was also revealed that environmental frames appeared in almost every article, while much less attention was paid to other issues. Moreover, this research demonstrated that CCUS-related policies were driving media coverage closely year by year. However, current news presentations were inadequate due to technical misperceptions and a lack of comprehensive coverage. Therefore, this research proposed a science-for-the-community communication strategy that involved several key factors such as policy guidance, newspaper functions at different levels, journalist training, direct engagement of the public as well as student education. • This paper pioneered to investigate Chinese newspaper coverage of CCUS technology. • The frequency of CCUS inclusion in newspapers was somehow affected by policies in China. • CCUS reporting revolved its emission reduction potential, and CCUS influences on health and safety issues were limited framed. • The current CCUS reporting landscape had misperceptions and lacked comprehensive coverage of the value chain. • A science-for-the-community communication strategy that can make media communication effective was proposed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Wind power is one of the world׳s major renewable energy sources, and its utilization provides an important contribution in helping solve the energy problems of many countries. After nearly 40 years of development, China׳s wind power industry now not only manufactures its own massive six MW turbines but also has the largest capacity in the world with a national output of 50millionMWh in 2010 and set to rise by eight times of that amount by 2020. This paper investigates this development route by analyzing relevant academic literature, statistics, laws and regulations, policies and research and industry reports. The main drivers of the development in the industry are identified as technologies, turbines, wind farm construction, pricing mechanism and government support systems, each of which is also divided into different stages with distinctive features. A systematic review of these aspects provides academics and practitioners with a better understanding of the history of the wind power industry in China and reasons for its rapid development with a view to enhancing progress in wind power development both in China and the world generally. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: This research focuses on the enhanced geothermal systems (EGS) potential in China and related technology, especially induced microseismicity and carbon storage combination. Hydraulic fracturing mechanisms applied in EGS were compared with similar fracturing mechanisms for shale gas. Besides, geothermal gradient in China was mapped based on the most recent heat flow values with interpolation method. The development history of geothermal plants in China was comprehensively reviewed through case studies. This paper revealed that the geothermal measuring wells in China were too shallow and too few to offer an accurate estimation. A coming work should aim at heat flow survey in deep layer, induced microseismicity mechanisms, and economically feasible scope in China. These problems will strengthen practical understanding and facilitate extensive application of EGS in China. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]