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Ports play an important role in transportation networks, but the ecological efficiency of many ports cannot reach an effective level. To improve the ecological efficiency of ports, we need to analyze the current ecological efficiency of ports and propose policy recommendations based on the results. In this paper, we first employed the super-efficiency SBM model to calculate the ecological efficiency of the four major ports in the Yangtze River Delta port group from 2011 to 2021. The results showed that the average comprehensive ecological efficiency of the four major ports was 0.647, which did not reach the effective level. The overall ecological efficiency curve was U-shaped. Then we used the Tobit model to analyze the key factors affecting the port's ecological efficiency. We found that the economic development of port cities could promote the improvement of port ecological efficiency. The application level of emerging technologies also had a positive impact, but the impact was weak. However, expanding the scale of the port would reduce its ecological efficiency. At last, we provided some policy recommendations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In light of the carbon neutrality goals set post-Paris Climate Conference (COP21), this study delves into the relationship between green technology innovations, energy consumption, and CO2 emissions in China, spanning the period of 1990 to 2021. The objective of this paper is to creatively present the idea of a low-carbon digital economy from the viewpoint of digital technology. Utilizing the Stochastic Impacts by Regression on Population, Affluence, and Technology (STIRPAT) model, we scrutinize this relationship, employing unit-root testing to verify the integrative attributes of the variables, inclusive of structural break data. Further analysis using the bootstrap Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) bound testing method corroborates the relationship between these key variables. The study reveals unidirectional co-integration over time among green technology innovations, renewable and non-renewable energy, per capita income, population, and CO2 emissions as per the Granger causality test. Interestingly, our findings suggest that while green technology innovation, per capita income, and renewable energy contribute to the reduction of CO2 emissions, non-renewable energy consumption and population growth exacerbate them. These insights offer valuable guidance for policymakers in formulating comprehensive strategies to enhance environmental quality through the promotion of renewable energy and green technology innovations, with a specific emphasis on the Chinese context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The United States (U.S.) and China are key to meeting the goals of the Paris Agreement and reaching carbon neutrality by around mid-century. Despite differences, carbon neutrality will be met more rapidly if the two countries coordinate and facilitate synergies in carbon-neutral technologies and policy development and implementation. Building on long-term pathway models in the U.S. and China, current emissions trends and sources, and a policy analysis, this paper puts forward a novel framework for U.S.-China coordination on carbon neutrality. The analysis reveals similar technology and policy pathways, policy gaps, and shared milestones for decarbonization in 2030, 2040, and 2050-2060. The main technological pathways focus on reductions in energy demand and non-energy-related CO2 emissions, decarbonization of electricity and fuels, and increases in electrification rates and CO2 sequestration. Given existing domestic policies and opportunities for further action, areas for coordination on carbon neutrality include common policy milestones; dialogue and technical exchange; research, development, and demonstration (RD&D); and international climate leadership. Despite escalated tensions between the U.S. and China, and challenges for climate cooperation, coordination between both countries on carbon neutrality is both possible and necessary. Carbon neutrality will be met more swiftly if the U.S. and China coordinate and facilitate synergies in carbon-neutral technologies and policy. Despite the rise in geo-political tensions between the U.S. and China, coordination on carbon neutrality is both possible and necessary. An analytical framework for U.S.-China coordination on carbon neutrality, includes technology and policy pathways, and common milestones of key sectors' decarbonization for 2030, 2040, and 2050-2050. The two countries could coordinate on common policy milestones, dialogue and technical exchange, research and development, and international climate leadership. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The process of carbon neutrality does have economic costs; however, few studies have measured the cost and the economic neutral opportunities. This paper uses a dynamic computable general equilibrium (CGE) model to simulate China's carbon neutrality path from 2020 to 2060 and analyzes its economic impact. This paper innovatively adjusts the CGE modeling technology and simulates the boundary of the Porter hypothesis on the premise of economic neutrality. The results show that the carbon neutrality target may reduce the annual GDP growth rate by about 0.8% in 2020–2060. To make the carbon pricing method under the carbon neutrality framework meet the strong version of the Porter hypothesis (or economic neutrality), China must increase its annual total factor productivity by 0.56–0.57% in 2020–2060; this is hard to achieve. In addition, the study finds that China's 2030 carbon target has little impact on the economy, but the achievement of the 2060 carbon neutrality target will have a significant effect. Therefore, the paper believes that the key to carbon neutrality lies in the coexistence of technological innovation and carbon pricing to ensure that we can cope with global warming with the lowest cost and resistance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the context of carbon neutrality target, renewable energy sources have been transforming from "supplementary energy" to "main energy", which have promoted the green and low-carbon transition of global energy supply system. In-depth analyzing the spatial patterns and driving mechanisms of renewable energy expansion are of significance for optimizing the spatial layout of clean power, and avoiding the phenomenon of wind and solar power curtailment. In this paper, we proposed an ensemble learning model to examine the nonlinear effects of physical geography, resource endowment, and socio-economic factors on solar photovoltaic (PV) capacity at the prefecture-level city scale in China. Using the city-level multi-sources geospatial big data, we extensively collected a total of 175 related explanatory variables and cumulative installed capacity of solar PV power for 295 prefecture-level cities of China. The recursive feature elimination algorithm (SVM-REF) is firstly used to extract the optimal feature subset of urban PV capacity from multi-dimensional features variables. Furthermore, three advanced machine learning models (random forest, decision tree, extreme gradient boosting) are developed to identify the key influencing factors and nonlinear driving effect of urban solar PV power expansion in China. The results show that China's PV installation capacity is highly concentrated in Northern and Northwest parts of China, with the occupancy over 70% in 2019. Moreover, the XGBoost model has the best prediction accuracy (R2 = 0.97) among three methods. We also found that total amount of urban water resources, average solar radiation, and population density are the most important controlling factors for urban solar PV capacity expansion in China, with contribution of 35.6%, 17.7%, and 13.3%, respectively. We suggested that urban solar PV layout mode in China is recommended to gradually shift from resource orientation to the "resource-environment-demand" comprehensive orientation. The paper provides a replicable, scalable machine learning models for simulating solar PV power capacity at the prefecture-level city scale, and serves as a motivation for decision-making reference of the macro siting optimization and sustainable development of China's green power industry. • This study examines the impact of high-dimensional features variables on urban solar energy development. • Over 70% of solar PV installation capacity is concentrated in Northern and Northwest parts of China. • Water resources, solar radiation, population density have significant impact on solar PV distribution. • Solar PV distribution in China should shift from resource orientation to the comprehensive orientation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Carbon neutrality is an important policy in the current global response to climate change and has been widely recognized by various industries. In the process of promoting carbon neutrality, new energy plays a pivotal role. In this study, the definition and connotation of new energy and its role and specific operation in the energy transition of carbon neutrality are firstly explained. Promoting new energy development requires significant green and low-carbon investments. Taking China as an example, this paper analyzes the opportunities brought by the carbon neutral process to the field of green finance and analyzes the main features and development trends of green finance in China at present. Then this paper proposes policy recommendations to strengthen the development of green finance in China in terms of improving the green financial policy system, enhancing the supply capacity of green financial services, and optimizing the supporting environment for green financial development. Finally, this paper analyzes the measures and experiences of the United States in promoting low-carbon development and proposes countermeasures for China's low-carbon development on the basis of the five major relationships that need attention in China's carbon-neutral process. That is, strengthen the top-level design and improve the regulatory policy system; optimize the energy structure and increase the proportion of clean energy; optimize the industrial structure and reduce energy consumption in key industries; build a complete low-carbon technology system and promote low-carbon technology research and development and demonstration applications, and encourage local conditions to explore low-carbon development paths. The development of green finance can contribute to the advancement of new energy technologies, thus contributing to the achievement of carbon neutrality goals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The carbon neutrality agenda requires that carbon lock-in enters an endgame. A well-developed energy system, which is secure, equitable, and sustainable is paramount to getting rid of carbon lock-in and realizing decarbonization. We carry out systematic research to empirically study the possible carbon lock-in reduction effect of energy trilemma based on the instrumental variable-generalized method of moment (IV-GMM) model. We also detect heterogeneous effects in terms of geographical locations and endowments of capital, as well as the impact mechanisms. Moreover, this paper highlights the mediating and threshold role of environmental regulation. We thus get the following conclusions. (1) The paper's primary findings underscore that the continuous increase of energy trilemma exacerbates carbon lock-in and hampers the process of decarbonization; (2) Energy trilemma has a higher stimulating effect on carbon lock-in in provinces that lie in the central region and that have a comparatively low level of physical, social, and human capital; (3) Energy trilemma can also indirectly aggravate carbon lock-in by inhibiting technology innovation and exacerbating carbon emissions intensity; (4) The interaction of environmental regulation and energy trilemma can alleviate the energy trilemma - carbon lock-in nexus, and environmental regulation also shows a significant threshold effect. • We investigate the impact of the energy trilemma on carbon lock-in. • Energy trilemma eradication is an effective way to realize the carbon lock-in endgame. • The nexus between energy trilemma and carbon lock-in is more prominent in provinces with high capital endowments. • Environmental regulation shows significant mediating and threshold effects. • The exacerbate carbon lock-in effect of energy trilemma depends on technology and intensity effect. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Traditional analysis of China's policy experimentation has focused on the role of central–local relations and rotating leaders in shaping the local agenda-setting process. Less is known about the role of less mobile mid-level local bureaucrats who serve as bridges in the implementation process. This paper examines why some cities have performed better than others at implementing and maintaining low-carbon policy experiments. Drawing on a comparison of four case cities and over 100 expert interviews, I argue that the availability of bureaucratic entrepreneurs and their resource mobilization capacity determine the level of local engagement in climate policy experimentation. This study shows that the institutionalization of local policy experiments is not only driven by the central government or rotating top local leaders but also by bureaucratic entrepreneurs who help policy experiments survive periodic changes in the bureaucracy. The findings have important implications for the fulfilment of China's 2060 carbon neutrality pledge. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, China has proposed the goal of peaking carbon dioxide emissions by 2030 and achieving carbon neutrality by 2060, which will significantly alter its existing coal-based energy mix. Since coal is China's primary source of energy and the largest contributor to carbon emissions, coal reduction is an important measure toward carbon neutrality. In order to guarantee the stable development of economy and society in the process of coal reduction, the path and cost of coal reduction need to be studied in depth. Based on coal use in China, this paper examines and measures the stages and costs of coal reduction. It also gives a definition for coal reduction costs for the first time, including economic cost, environment and ecology cost, and health cost, as well as proposes a framework for analyzing the "full cost, full process, and full scenario". We measure the cost in combination with the KAYA formula, and take into account the time value of the cost. Based on the above measurement framework, we calculate the unit coal reduction cost and estimate the coal reduction cost between CNY 454.38 and 827.1 billion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Global warming is a critical crisis threatening human survival and development. International organizations and countries worldwide are introducing policies and practices to achieve carbon neutrality. In China, numerous carbon neutrality policies have been established; however, a systematic understanding of the underlying policy logic is lacking. Using the institutional analysis and development (IAD) framework, this paper analyzes selected carbon neutrality policies in China. We conducted a bibliometric visualization analysis of the texts of 20 policies and matched their logic to the elements of the IAD framework. We established 90 keywords with occurrences of no less than 10 times in China's carbon neutrality policies. The network visualization analysis identified six clusters. We discuss implementation challenges of China's carbon neutrality policies, address the policy implementation, and finally outline impacts on China's carbon neutrality governance. This study responds to the global concern over China's carbon neutrality commitments by clarifying the institutional logic of China's policies and actions. This study could provide a reference for countries worldwide that are designing and introducing carbon neutrality policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To address global climate change, achieving carbon peak and carbon neutrality has become a global consensus. However, the means to simultaneously achieve carbon reduction and promote green economic development, particularly in developing countries, require further investigation. This study evaluates the impact of e-commerce on CO 2 emissions. Through an examination of the effects of the National E-Commerce Demonstration City (NEDC) policy from 2006 to 2017, this paper reveals that e-commerce growth facilitated by the NEDC policy resulted in a 7.89% reduction in total CO 2 emissions and a per capita reduction of 1.1146 tons in the pilot cities. Mechanism analysis demonstrates that the upgrading of industrial structure, development of digital finance, and the growth of innovation and entrepreneurship serve as primary pathways for this impact. The robustness of the findings is supported by parallel trend tests, placebo tests, and additional sensitivity analyses. Furthermore, the research reveals that the NEDC policy exhibits a more significant reduction in CO 2 emissions in cities with higher levels of economic development and non-resource-based cities. Welfare analyses show that the NEDC policy has significant socio-economic effects. These findings provide new evidence on the environmental effects of the digital economy and offer insights into achieving carbon neutrality. • The National E-commerce Demonstration Cities (NEDC) policy reduced CO 2 emissions. • Optimizing industrial structure, enhancing digital finance, and promoting innovation and entrepreneurship are mechanisms. • The effect is more pronounced in cities with high economic levels and high resource dependence. • The NEDC policy substantially enhanced social welfare by reducing CO 2 emissions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China has set a goal of carbon neutrality by 2060 and is determined to increase wind and solar power to 1200 GW by 2030, even though it already has the world's largest installed capacity of renewables. However, the lack of flexibility in the power system will limit the development of a higher proportion of renewable energy. This paper evaluates the applicability of different types of flexible power sources in China for the first time. Above all, it describes the current situation of China's power industry and the necessity of increasing flexible power sources, establishes an evaluation system from the perspectives of benefit, opportunity, cost & risk, then determines 19 evaluation criteria. The BOCR-ANP-TOPSIS method was used to evaluate the system, where the ANP method determines the weights and the TOPSIS method ranks the alternatives. The result shows that pumped storage hydropower has the highest overall ranking, followed by the flexibility transformation of coal-fired power. Coupled with sensitivity and comparative analysis, valuable findings that will help future energy policymakers are reported. • Evaluating the applicability of different flexible power sources in China for the first time. • The identification of criteria for the selection of flexible power sources was given. • Making recommendations for China's flexible power source development policy. • The BOCR-ANP-TOPSIS method adopted can be extended to select flexible power sources in different regions meticulously. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Exploring the relationship between government subsidies, market competition, and the total factor productivity (TFP) of new energy enterprises will help countries optimize renewable energy support policies in the context of carbon neutrality constraints and energy demand growth. Based on the panel data of 145 listed new energy enterprises from 2007 to 2020, this paper investigates how government subsidies affect the TFP of new energy enterprises and the moderating effects of market competition. Our main findings are as follows: (1) Government subsidies positively affect the TFP of new energy enterprises. Heterogeneity analysis suggests that government subsidies have a larger effect on the TFP of non-SOEs, midstream and upstream enterprises, and smaller enterprises. (2) Industry market competition negatively moderates the effect of government subsidies on TFP, while enterprise competition power has a positive moderating effect. The marginal effect of government subsidies is significantly positive only when the industry market competition is below a certain threshold or the enterprise competitive power exceeds a certain threshold. (3) Government subsidies enhance the TFP by promoting invention and utility model innovation of new energy enterprises. In addition, market competition significantly moderates the relationship between government subsidies and utility model innovation, thereby moderating the marginal effect of government subsidies on TFP. The findings contribute to a better understanding of the relationship between government support, market competition, and new energy development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aquavoltaic is an essential tool in overcoming the ground-based photovoltaic (PV) development barrier and achieving China's carbon neutrality target. After summarizing aquavoltaic technologies and global cases, this paper assesses the effectiveness of 292 aquavoltaic plants in China using the data envelopment analysis (DEA) method. Six essential input and output variables are included: installed capacity, power generation, occupied water area, construction cost, PV modules, and global horizontal irradiation to offer an appropriate measure of aquavoltaics efficiency in China. This study also performed correlation analysis for PV module type, PV mounting mode, and ownership based on a Tobit regression model. The results show that the efficiencies of China's aquavoltaics have improved significantly between 2014 and 2022, with the emergence and popularity of high-power PV modules playing a pivotal role. Furthermore, the regional study discovered provincial efficiency varies substantially. This paper also gives two reference indicators for new aquavoltaics in the future. • The global aquavoltaic technologies and cases were summarized. • The history and status quo of aquavoltaics in China were reviewed. • Aquavoltaics' energy efficiency has increased significantly in China. • The high-power PV modules have a positive impact on efficiency growth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Under the goal of "carbon peaking" and "carbon neutrality" in China, it is significant to explore whether green finance contributes to carbon emission reduction. Therefore, based on the panel data of 30 provinces in China from 2005 to 2020, this paper empirically examines the impact of green finance on carbon emissions and its mechanism using the FE model, GMM model, DID, and the mediating effect model. Results find that green finance can significantly promote carbon emissions reduction, and this promotion remains still after robustness tests. The heterogeneity analysis shows that green finance's carbon emission reduction effect is more significant in developed and western regions. Moreover, the results of policy intervention effects confirm that green finance reform and innovation pilot zones (GFRIs) for carbon emission reduction are more pronounced than in other regions. Finally, the mediating effects reveal that industrial structure and green innovation are the core transmission channels through which green finance influences carbon emission reduction. These findings offer meaningful implications for formulating reasonable carbon emission reduction plans and determining the future development direction of green finance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Intermittent renewable energy sources have been transformed from supplementary energy to dominant incremental alternative energy sources in the context of carbon neutrality target worldwide. For coastal countries, it is urgent to integrate abundant offshore energy into regional onshore renewable power sources economically and reliably considering the scarcity of land resources and negative environmental impacts. However, limited knowledge on the complex spatiotemporally synergy relationships between energy potential (onshore and offshore) is a barrier in making reasonable policies to promote collaborative development of onshore and offshore energies. This study presents a spatiotemporally explicit modelling framework for assessing the synergy potential characteristics of onshore and offshore renewable energy sources. The framework firstly estimates the technical potential of solar PV and wind energy across the country by using 40 years of hourly meteorological reanalysis data (1980–2020), and then investigates the long-term changes trend, stability, and complementarity of solar-wind energy potential spatiotemporally at both onshore and offshore sub-regions. We find that a considerable amount of solar PV and wind energy sources could be harnessed in China, and onshore potential across the country (178 PWh/yr) is approximate 20 times higher than offshore energy potential (8.9 PWh/yr). Overall, onshore solar-wind energy potentials exhibit statistically insignificant but slightly increasing trend over the past 40 years, while offshore wind potentials observe an opposite change trend for solar PV and wind energy production. Complementarity assessment showed the northeast and offshore parts of China present high complementarity effects for hourly and daily power production of solar-wind systems. Furthermore, inter-regional combination between offshore and onshore northwest regions also exhibits promising synergy effect for renewable energy power output. The results on resources dynamic and complementarity highlight the advantage of interregional resources cooperative configuration and electric power grid interconnections. The analysis performed in this paper could provide a global picture for the integration planning and collaborative development strategies formulation of on-/offshore renewable energy across the country. • Synergy potential of onshore and offshore renewable energy was evaluated. • Trend, stability, and complementarity of solar and wind potential were examined. • Onshore energy potential in China is 20 times higher than offshore potential. • Synergy development strategies of onshore and offshore energy were proposed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As a non-Arctic country and a major energy consumer, China is increasingly interested in participating in Arctic energy development. This study aims to investigate potential strategies to promote China's participation in Arctic energy development. Accordingly, this study analyzes the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT) of China's participation in Arctic energy development based on a discussion of the current status of Arctic energy development and the Arctic policies of major countries. In addition, this work develops strategies in accordance with the above analysis. The results show that China has strengths in terms of capital, energy demand, policy support, and international cooperation when participating in Arctic energy development, while its weaknesses include the lack of core technology and equipment, high carbon intensity of energy development, and geographical disadvantage. China faces opportunities stemming from conflicts among Arctic states, the advancement of global carbon neutrality, and the development of Arctic waterway while facing threats such as increased competition, international public opinion pressure, high development costs, environmental risks, and pandemic instability. Under an integrated framework, this work offers four strategies: Strength-Opportunity (SO), Strength-Threat (ST), Weakness-Opportunity (WO), and Weakness-Threat (WT). Finally, this study proposes specific measures in four areas, including strengthening policy support, promoting technical research and development, enhancing international cooperation, and improving enterprise competitiveness. [Display omitted] • This study examines China's participation in Arctic energy development. • This paper reviews the status of fossil and non-fossil energy in the Arctic. • This study compares the Arctic energy development strategies of major countries. • This study proposes four strategies, namely SO, ST, WO, and WT. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • This paper summaries the present regulations and policies concerning M−TES (Mobilized thermal energy storage) in China. • The policies are analyzed based on the aspects including facility manufacture and operation, road transportation, and financial guidance. • The results can provide references for the government or policy makers to promote the development and safe operation of M−TES in China. Mobilized thermal energy storage (M−TES) is a promising technology to transport heat without the limitation of pipelines, therefore suitable for collecting distributed renewable or recovered resources. In particular, the M−TES can be flexibly used for the emergency heating in the COVID-19 era. Though the M−TES has been commercializing in China, there is not any specific regulation or standard for M−TES systems. Therefore, this paper summarizes and discusses the existing regulations and policies concerning M−TES in the aspects of facility manufacture and operation, road transportation, and financial support and guidance. Furthermore, the suggestions were presented including necessary consensus on the development of M−TES among different departments, consideration of local conditions when drafting or revising regulations and policies, sufficient investment, or subsidy on the R&D of M−TES, and qualification recognition of M−TES companies and staffs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on the tightening regulation of carbon emissions, China has launched the pilot carbon emission trading scheme (CETS) since 2013. There is growing empirical evidence of the actual effect of CETS to promote enterprises' productivity which is characterized by total factor productivity (TFP). However, most studies ignored the further analysis of influence mechanisms. This paper aims to explore the impact of CETS on the TFP of enterprises and discuss the mediating role of government participation and carbon trading market efficiency. Using data from A-share listed enterprises from CETS-covered enterprises, this paper employed a combination of the propensity score matching (PSM) and difference-in-differences (DID) strategies and found that the CETS has a statistically significant positive impact on the TFP of enterprises, and the positive effect has been maintained for six years since its inception. The moderation analysis indicated that: (1) two dimensions of government participation in terms of the market incentive and government supervision significantly moderate the positive impact of CETS on TFP of enterprises; (2) two dimensions of carbon trading market efficiency in terms of the market scale and liquidity significantly moderates the positive impact of CETS on TFP of enterprises. In light of Chinese pilots CETS policy, the study highlights the important moderating roles of government participation and high carbon trading market efficiency on enterprise's TFP. [Display omitted] • Chinese pilots CETS significantly improved the TFP of enterprises by 9.48%. • The government participation moderates the positive impact of CETS on enterprises' TFP. • The higher carbon trading market efficiency is, the greater the moderating effect of CETS on TFP is. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Environmental regulation (ER) directly promotes China's GTFP growth. • Both Industrial structure rationalization and advancement have mediating effects. • Green and production technological innovation mediate between ER and GTFP growth. Green total factor productivity (GTFP) growth is an essential route to realize the target of carbon peak and carbon neutrality. Chinese government has implemented several environmental regulations (ER) to accelerate GTFP growth. However, the influencing path of ER on China's GTFP growth is still puzzled. This paper based on Porter's and the Compliant Hypotheses, employs super-efficiency Epsilon-based measure (EBM) model and Malmquist-Lunberger (ML) index under meta -frontier to estimate the provincial GTFP growth from 1998 to 2018. A Systematic Generalized Method of Moments (SYS-GMM) model was applied to probe the nexus between ER and GTFP growth from the perspective of industrial structure upgrading and technological innovation. The results reveal that the average ML index is 0.955, while efficiency change (EC) and technology change (TC) index are 1.003 and 0.953. The Porter's hypothesis was confirmed refuting the Compliance Cost Hypothesis. Environmental regulation directly promotes China's GTFP growth. ER can also facilitate industrial structure rationalization (ISR) and industrial structure advancement (ISA), which further promote China's GTFP growth. Green technological innovation (GTI) and production technological innovation (PTI) mediates between ER and GTFP growth in China. Hence, the Chinese government should strengthen the ER for industrial structure upgrading, technological innovation, and GTFP growth in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Green credit policy (GCP) can achieve economic growth and environmental conservation, notably by lowering air pollutants (PM2.5). Green credit is a significant component of China's green financing for environmental regulation and achieving carbon neutrality. In this paper, to understand the causal relationship between GCP and PM2.5, we apply a bootstrap full-sample Granger causality test, parameter stability test, and quantile-on-quantile test for the period between 2003:M01 to 2019:M12. The result shows a bidirectional relationship and reveals that GCP has varied environmental implications in its early and mature stages because of a low percentage of green credit and a lack of motivation for financial institutions. In the long run, GCP and PM2.5 interaction confirm the favorable effects of GCP on PM2.5 as the green credit system improves. For robustness, we used quantile-based granger causality to evaluate the causative link between GCP and PM2.5. In light of the findings, this research advises legislative reforms and stresses the relevance of green credit in improving air quality. This study adds additional evidence that air pollution affects green credit policies. Air quality being a leading indicator helps firms anticipate changes in bank credit preferences and alter financing techniques. • The study explores the causal relationship between GCP and PM2.5 • The study used advanced econometrics methods for the period 2003:M01 to 2019:M12. • The result shows a bidirectional relationship between GCP and PM2.5. • GCP has a positive influence on PM2.5 as the green credit system improves. • This study adds further evidence that air pollution affects green credit policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Smart cities have the potential to achieve the goal of carbon neutrality, but empirical evidence regarding the effect of smart city policies on carbon emissions is limited. In this novel study, we investigate the effect of China's smart city policy on household daily consumption and carbon emissions. The empirical analysis is based on a difference-in-differences regression, in which the dependent variable is the household indirect carbon emissions estimated based on the consumer lifestyle approach and a dataset of 201 Chinese cities between 2010 and 2018. The main findings are as follows. First, the smart city policy significantly reduces household indirect carbon emissions, and the reduction is greater when the policy pilot region includes the whole city rather than only certain subareas. Second, the mechanisms through which the smart city influences household indirect carbon emissions are mainly the reductions in transportation- and education-related emissions resulting from developments in smart technology. Third, the above effects last for years, and they are regionally heterogeneous and more significant in the cities of eastern China. The findings in this paper suggest that smart cities can potentially achieve city sustainability by promoting greener consumption behavior. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the risk spillover effect between the carbon market and the stock market in China and the role of corporate social responsibility (CSR) on this effect. Employing Beijing, Hubei, and Guangdong carbon markets, we apply time-domain and frequency-domain spillover approaches and find that during the Chinese stock market crisis in 2015, risk spillovers from the stock market to the carbon market were more pronounced. Additionally, CSR firms are more dominant as information transmitters than those non-CSR (NCSR) firms in the carbon market. However, plausibly, due to the infancy of carbon trading, our results show that the level of connectedness between the carbon market and the stock market in China is relatively low. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we identify the causal effects of the industrial transfer policy (ITP) on carbon emissions. Specifically, we treat the demonstration zones of undertaking industrial transfer in China as a quasi-natural experiment and evaluation its carbon mitigation effects using the difference-in-differences (DID) and matching DID strategies. Our findings suggest that the ITP exerts a significant negative impact on carbon emissions. In particular, both the DID and matching DID estimates indicate that the ITP leads to mitigate carbon emissions by approximately 4.9 and 4.7 million tons, respectively. We also investigate the heterogeneous carbon mitigation effects of the ITP. Moreover, various checks and falsification tests are also presented to confirm the causal effects, including the placebo test, concurrent events test, alternative measures of the ITP and carbon emissions, alternative estimation method and matching technique. The results indicate that our key conclusion, the carbon mitigation effect of the ITP is robust. These results indicate that policymakers should seize the carbon mitigation dividend of the ITP to achieve the goal of carbon neutrality. Policymakers should also reduce the regional development differences, improve the level of opening to the outside world, strengthen the construction of green demonstration zones for industrial transfer to mitigate carbon emissions. • The carbon mitigation effects of the demonstration zones of undertaking industrial transfer in China are investigated. • The industrial transfer policy leads to mitigate carbon emissions by approximately 4.7 million tons. • The heterogeneous carbon mitigation effects of the industrial transfer policy are examined. • The results are supported by robustness and falsification checks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Emissions trading system (ETS) is a cost-effective way towards achieving the carbon neutrality goal. Based on the gaps in the research on carbon allowance allocation vis-à-vis the carbon neutrality target, this study examines how to allocate carbon allowances equitably and effectively among Chinese provinces. Different from the previous research that mainly considers responsibility, ability, and potential of equity dimensions, this paper proposes a composite indicator allocation approach based on the equity of history, demand, contribution, and guarantee, and it also employs the entropy method and expert survey method to obtain the indicator weight values in different scenarios. Results show that the carbon allowances of some provinces, such as the forest-rich province of Yunnan, vary significantly in five scenarios, but little differences are observed for some provinces, such as the high historical emissions province of Shanxi. More provinces achieve data envelopment analysis efficiency in the preferred scenario. Compared with the objective scenario, the required emission reduction in the preferred gross domestic product (GDP) scenario is 231 million tonnes less, and the emission reduction cost is 190 billion yuan less. It is suggested that the Chinese government should adopt the allocation scheme in preference for the GDP scenario. [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]

There is a global move toward being "carbon neutral". Reducing the use of coal to generate power has become an inevitable choice for many countries when transforming their energy structures. Many countries have proposed phasing out coal. China is a major energy producing and consuming country and intends to reach a carbon peak by 2030 and become carbon neutral by 2060. China has repeatedly emphasized coal reduction, but has not explicitly proposed phasing out coal, due to the influence of local governments, coal-related enterprises, and the public. This paper explores whether China could declare a "coal phase-out", and the possible reasons for doing so, by constructing an evolutionary game model with two correlations. MATLAB was used to simulate the model results to determine the effectiveness of the fractal results of the model, and the entropy method was used to calculate the development level of "coal phase-out" related indicators in China and Germany. The results show that: (1) The government can phase out coal only when coal-related enterprises and the public can benefit from reducing coal production and consumption. In addition, these benefits are needed to ensure stable economic and social development without affecting people's daily lives; (2) The development level of relevant indicators of "coal retreat" in China is lower than that in Germany. Based on these results, it is concluded that it is difficult for China to announce a "coal phase-out" at present. Faced with this reality, China should improve the efficiency of coal use, install carbon capture and storage facilities, vigorously develop renewable energy and reduce the share of coal in the energy system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • China's agricultural carbon emission performance (ACEP) has greatly improved. • Technological progress promotes ACEP, but efficiency changes does little. • China's ACEP has an aggregation effect, provinces with lower ACEP are catching up. • China's ACEP is converging and growing at the same time. • China's ACEP will increase further in terms of spatial scope and temporal trends. The spatial characteristics of carbon emissions form the basis for exploring carbon neutrality measures for different regions. As the second largest carbon emission source globally, agricultural carbon emissions should not be ignored. This paper used panel data from 2009 to 2019 to calculate the agricultural carbon emissions of 30 provinces in China, and used the ML index, spatial Morans'I index and three convergence indices to analyze the dynamic changes and spatial pattern of China's agricultural carbon emission performance (ACEP). The results showed that: (i), China's ACEP has increased by 1.5% from 2009 to 2019, following a spatial pattern of eastern (1.041) > western (1.020) > central (0.974);(ii) the contribution of technological progress to China's ACEP was 1.035, exceeding 1, and thus indicating that technological progress can improve ACEP, while the contribution of efficiency changes was only 0.991; (iii) China's ACEP has exhibited a spatial aggregation effect over the last 10 years (P < 0.05), but the value of Moran's I index dropped from 0.265 in 2009 to 0.202 in 2019, which indicates that the spatial aggregation of ACEP is weakening; and (iv) the ML index for 30 provinces in China showed σ convergence, which indicates that the ACEP is improving, while there is absolute β convergence and conditional β convergence, which indicates a "catch-up effect" among regions. The results indicate that China's ACEP is likely to increase further in terms of spatial scope and temporal trends. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• 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]

Smog pollution is a severe social and environmental concern for the space-heating regions in China due to fossil-intensive space heating. To reduce polluting emissions and improve social and environmental performance, local government agencies should choose adequate cleaner space-heating technologies based on diverse local conditions. This implies that all cleaner heating solutions should be considered, including low-emissions fossil fuel district heating and low-emissions fossil fuel decentralized heating as transitional technologies, as well as biomass and electricity-driven heat pumps as long-term solutions. However, stakeholders such as policy makers, equipment manufacturers, and house owners, often lack necessary information to assess the feasibility for installing adequate heating solutions at the local level. It is therefore necessary to establish a systematic method to evaluate each heating solution in various geolocations of China. This paper reviews the current heating situation in China and proposes a spatial system analysis method as a tool for heating-solution feasibility evaluation. By applying the spatial system analysis method, a qualitative investigation on the choice of heating solution in different regions of China is provided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nowadays, coal consumption is still dominated in China's energy structure, while China aggressively wants to achieve the goal of carbon neutrality in 2060. The substitution of coal consumption will be the first step to the goal. This paper simulates the scenarios of coal resource tax and investment in renewables by applying China Energy-Environment-Economy Analysis (CEEEA/CGE) model. The simulation results show the different mechanisms between the tax and the investment. In general, the impact of coal resource tax comes relatively early and is an effective way to reduce coal consumption in the short term. Renewable energy investment is a long-term, slow, and fundamental way to substitute coal consumption. However, for a long time, renewable energy should be the main driving force of carbon emission reduction. Consequently, we suggest that the process of coal substitution can be carried out through the way of "tax priority in the early stage and investment in the later stage". • Two kinds of policies are simulated: resource tax and renewable investment. • The impact mechanism of resource tax and renewable investment is different. • Tax is a quick re-act way for coal substitution, but lack of long-term capacity. • China should applies multiply ways to substitute coal consumption effectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]