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Energy and water are interdependent. Water is essential for energy production, and energy is indispensable for water processes. This paper develops a Stackelberg game based bi-level multi-objective model for optimal water allocation under uncertainties from an energy-water nexus perspective, which considers energy-related water consumption and water-related energy production. It handles the hierarchical decision-making problem between the river basin authority and the subareas, as well as the tradeoffs between social equality and ecological damage. The upper level of the model makes schemes on water allocation for multiple subareas, and the lower level decides on water allocation for different types of power generation. To generate reasonable and practical strategies for water allocation, ɛ -constraint method and KKT conditions are used. A case study of Minjiang River, China is given to demonstrate the applicability and practicality. Scenarios analysis is also conducted to demonstrate the effectiveness of the model and the effects of the control parameter changes. The results indicate that the river basin authority would allocate larger water resources to the subareas with higher energy demand. It is concluded that the proposed allocation method is advantageous to the subareas with higher water utilization efficiency. The proposed bi-level model demonstrates its reasonableness and superiority to the single-level model. Policy implications are finally provided to support the sustainable development of energy-water nexus. • A bi-level model for water allocation in energy-water nexus system is proposed. • The hierarchical decision sequence between the river basin and subareas is solved. • The tradeoffs between social equality and ecological damage are made. • Optimal water allocation for multiple subareas and energy resources are quantified. • Uncertainties in decision-making environment are handled by fuzzy set theory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China's rural solar photovoltaic projects (SPVPs), as an innovative initiative to improve livelihoods through clean energy, have played a positive role in poverty reduction. However, whether this measure can enhance energy services for rural families remains unconfirmed. This paper employs a quasi-experimental method from the perspectives of energy service accessibility and affordability to quantify the net contribution of China's rural SPVPs to enhancing family energy services. The results indicate: (1) SPVPs can significantly improve family energy services, with a net effect of 14.7 % on the energy service accessibility and a net effect of 44.5 % on the energy service affordability. (2) SPVPs can increase the energy consumption capacity, energy supply capacity and energy equipment utilization rate by 2.6 %, 7.1 % and 5 %, respectively. Furthermore, these initiatives can effectively slash the energy costs of rural families by 4.3 %, bolster the energy access affordability by 3.9 %, and catapult energy investments by an impressive 44.9 %. (3) These projects also perform well in the family energy consumption cleanliness. (4) The effect of SPVPs in providing energy services presents a regional difference, with the best performance observed in 'Type III' solar resource areas. Meanwhile, the implementation of China's rural SPVPs does not involve "elite capture." • We analyze the changes of energy accessibility and affordability in rural China. • We quantify the energy services effect of solar PV projects (SPVPs). • SPVPs perform well in improving family energy consumption cleanliness. • The energy services effect of solar PV projects has spatial heterogeneity. • The implementation of China's rural SPVPs does not involve "elite capture.". [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The transfer of energy-intensive projects to areas abundant in clean energy resources holds promise for optimizing the energy structure. After obtaining specific information on transferred projects of listed energy-intensive firms through search or phone contact, this paper innovatively constructs a three-dimensional panel containing 1,859,220 observations to empirically examine the attraction of clean energy to energy-intensive projects under the carbon intensity constraint policy (CICP). Our findings reveal that: (1) the CICP promotes the transfer of gray energy-intensive projects, leading to the transfer structure trending towards graying. (2) Furthermore, we observe a positive correlation between the proportion of thermal power in transfer-out areas and the outflow of gray energy-intensive projects. Conversely, areas with higher wind power and photovoltaics attract a greater inflow of gray energy-intensive projects. (3) Notably, clean energy predominantly attracts the inflow of gray projects rather than green projects. Our findings provide micro evidence and valuable insights into the transfer of energy-intensive industries, informing the design and implementation of future environmental policies for policymakers and stakeholders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the growing share of the climate-sensitive renewable energy market supply in China, estimating future energy drought risk (ED) is essential. In this paper, based on CMIP6, energy demand and power generation are estimated from 2023 to 2100 under SSP2-4.5 and SSP5-8.5 climate scenarios, and ED is defined from high demand (HD), low wind-solar generation (LWS), and residual load (RL). The results show that the ED exacerbation is relatively high under the SSP5-8.5. Between 2023 and 2100, the duration and severity of HD and RL notably increase, while LWS changes are relatively weak. We find that HD and RL exhibit high summer risks in the south and high winter risk in the north. The return periods vary significantly and extends over time in most regions. Moreover, there are few ED when the installed power generation capacity (IPGC) is increased. When the IPGC increases by 2%–5%, the LWS will decrease at least 20%–72%. With a 10% increase, the LWS will be mitigated by at least 80%, whereas the mitigation for RL is limited, approximately 3–17% at different rates. This work performs the first evaluation of future ED and provides the useful references for risk mitigation in China based on CMIP6. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]