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Abstract Papermaking enterprises are currently under both environmental pressure and economic pressure for sustainable development in China. Thus, the efficiency, effectiveness, and benefits of resource utilization need to be improved. High-consumption and high-pollution companies should manufacture paper using sustainable methods. This study highlights a resource value flow analysis from the circular economy perspective, developing an extension of material flow cost accounting and modifying it by accounting for environmental damage as well as economic benefits. With reference to the Plan-Do-Check-Act cycle, this specific case study was conducted to verify the comprehensive utility of resource value flow analysis by establishing decision-making prioritization according to the dualistic diagnosis of "internal resource loss–external environmental damage costs." In general, applying a resource value flow analysis can both reduce resource consumption and minimize environmental damage, enhancing the sustainable development of a process industry with limited resources. Highlights • Material flows and value flows form an interactive unit in the resource value flow analysis model. • The resource value flow analysis model extends the environmental dimension of material flow cost accounting. • A dualistic diagnosis of "internal resource loss and external environmental damage costs" can achieve both economic profits and environmental benefits. • The Plan-Do-Check-Act cycle was introduced to strengthen the practical application of the resource value flow analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Guiding industries to produce in an effective and environmentally sustainable manner has become a key issue for governments around the world. Over the past 15 years, series of regional and industrial development policies have been introduced by the Chinese government. This has influenced the geographical distribution and energy efficiency performance of China’s industries. This paper quantifies the influence of enterprises geographical distribution on energy efficiency improvement in the paper industry and aims at providing some helpful suggestions on industrial development to policy makers. The main results show that, firstly, the paper industry in eastern China shows obvious characteristic of agglomeration. The average location quotient is 1.2278. However, following the industrial and regional development policies, the characteristic of agglomeration is weakening. Secondly, only when agglomeration reaches a certain level (location quotient is above 0.5447) will industrial agglomeration positively impact on industrial energy efficiency improvement (a 1% increase in agglomeration will increase dynamic energy efficiency by at least 0.23%). Thirdly, the regional development policies carried out by the government slow the pace of energy efficiency improvement in China’s paper industry. The empirical results indicate that the government needs to consider regional characteristics and consciously guide industrial enterprises to concentrate in the dominant area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Blockchain technology, with its peer-to-peer trading feature, influences the management of energy consumption by offering the potential to transform transparency, efficiency, and sustainability within the energy sector. Nonetheless, there is a need to develop analytical decision-making models tailored for managing peer-to-peer energy transactions to improve energy resilience. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to address the research question: How can energy distribution systems be protected via blockchain technology to enhance energy resilience and mitigate vulnerabilities to disruptions ? This paper employs a conceptual research model design and a mathematical decision-making model to address the research question by capturing the peer-to-peer trading capability of blockchain technology. The theory of planned behavior provides theoretical explanations for the proposed model. The sample includes longitudinal energy consumption data from 2015 to 2023 in Texas. The findings indicate a significant improvement in energy efficiency along with a considerable decrease in total electricity consumption. Post hoc analysis results reveal that the seasonal autoregressive integrated moving average algorithm is effective as a reliable input for the proposed mathematical model. The significant implications are to implement blockchain-based smart grids in which energy systems become more resilient to disruptions, as the peer-to-peer capability enables users to trade energy. The proposed model suggests that energy will be used more efficiently and effectively. This paper contributes to prior works by introducing a mathematical model that captures the trading behavior of energy consumers. Moreover, this paper proposes the SARIMA algorithm to predict energy demand. • A mathematical peer-to-peer trading model is presented to improve resilience. • A blockchain-based smart grid is presented for consumer energy consumption. • Five machine learning algorithms are presented in energy demand management. • Longitudinal energy consumption data of Texas is used in the model. • Theoretical support is provided using the theory of planned behavior. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • Microwave-assisted pyrolysis is a promising method for biomass/waste valorisation. • Life cycle analysis shows reduced energy consumption, low global warming potential. • Innovations in reactor design and operation parameters aids in cost reduction. Microwave-assisted pyrolysis (MAP) has been perceived as a promising technology for biomass and waste conversion due to its distinctive features, including fast, even, and precise heating. This results in higher energy efficiency when compared to conventional pyrolysis via thermal heating. However, the scaling up of MAP of biomass and waste poses challenges, with investigations ongoing to uncover not only the technological aspect, but also both the environmental impacts and economic feasibility associated with this process/technology. The possible environmental impacts associated with MAP processes can be analyzed through systematic life-cycle assessment (LCA), while the economic feasibility can be evaluated via techno-economic analysis (TEA). This paper presents an overview of the current research trend in MAP and the products produced, as well as the LCA and TEA of the pyrolysis technologies. The LCA study reported a 2.5 folds reduction in energy consumption and up to 62% reduction in global warming potential. TEA study revealed that conventional pyrolysis has a greater profit for long-term assessment due to a higher maturity and less complexity technology; however, MAP may be more economically feasible in the future owing to the increased maturity and more established technology. Finally, the challenges and future perspectives for LCA and TEA in MAP are elucidated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) defined by the United Nations represent a blueprint for the adoption of global practices and policies to foster sustainability in societies and increase efficiencies in resources uses. The Italian National Trust, FAI, has embraced these goals, developing a holistic and transdisciplinary methodology to promote a more sustainable approach to preserve its natural and built heritage. This methodology combines heritage protection with the SDGs in various macro-areas of interventions, including energy, water, biosphere, responsible consumption, and sustainable communities. The aim is to increase access to affordable and clean energy, reduce water, waste, and soil footprints, promote responsible consumption, and develop human capital. The paper proposes a set of strategies to achieve the SDGs in heritage, involving the collaboration of several stakeholders, ranging from institutions to citizens. The methodology is applied to a specific Italian case study, Casa Macchi in Morazzone, to highlight the challenges in achieving the dual objective of preserving the historic building and promoting sustainability in the built environment. [Display omitted] • We propose a trans-disciplinary methodology for sustainable heritage preservation. • The heritage preservation project is analyzed in five macro-areas of intervention. • Assessment of effects on energy, water, biosphere, resources, and sustainability. • Casa Macchi preservation project to apply methodology and prove effectiveness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As the path of industrial eco-efficiency (IEE) needs to be re-examined from a multi-dimensional perspective, this research opens the internal "black box" of China's industrial eco-economic system driven by sustainable development goals (SDGs) and decomposes IEE into industrial production and sustainable development stages. It further divides the industrial production stage into two parallel subsystems of water use efficiency (WUE) and energy efficiency (EE) and derives SDG6 efficiency (SDG 6 E) and SDG7 efficiency (SDG 7 E) in the sustainable development stage respectively. The paper proposes a meta two-stage parallel entropy dynamic DDF-DEA model to re-measure IEE of 30 provinces in China from 2015 to 2021, discusses the relationship between overall efficiency and stage efficiency, and by using the Tobit model explores various types of influencing factors by subregion. The results show that the modified DDF-DEA model can explore China's IEE more accurately under SDGs. China's IEE is more stable from 2015 to 2021, with the efficiency value always fluctuating between 0.59 and 0.64, the overall level is low, and there is more room for improvement. There are significant inter-provincial differences in IEE and efficiency inertia. In more than 75% of the provinces SDG 7 E constrains IEE improvement, while the dynamic evolution of IEE and its subsystem efficiency varies across regions. Environmental regulation is a common factor affecting IEE across the country and in the east, central, and west regions, whereas the level of economic development, openness to the outside world, and urbanization rate are differential factors affecting IEE across the country and in the three major regions. This study offers new perspectives for exploring the path of IEE enhancement and providing empirical references for the collaborative construction of industrial ecological civilization. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Renewable energy assessment methods used in 12 GBRSs are analysed and compared. • Methods used in green neighbourhood rating system are also introduced. • Evaluation way, renewable energy types, building characteristics, etc. are analyzed. • The effects by using different methods in one building are analysed. • Suggestions are provided to improve the renewable energy assessment. Green buildings and neighborhoods can help mitigate impacts of buildings on the environment, society and economy. Many rating systems or tools have been developed worldwide to assess and certificate green buildings or green neighborhoods. Renewable energy plays an important role in achieving green buildings/neighborhoods or zero energy buildings/neighborhoods by reducing fuel consumption and pollution emissions. However, substantial differences exist in assessing or quantifying the renewable energy in green building/neighborhood rating systems. This paper therefore provides a comprehensive review on renewable energy assessment methods adopted in green building/neighborhood rating systems, which would be very helpful to understand and then improve the rating systems. These methods are analyzed and discussed regarding to the calculation way, involved renewable energy types, building characteristics and energy conversion. Then a case study is conducted to quantitatively illustrate the difference of typical renewable energy assessment. Suggestions are summarized to improve the assessment methods. This paper will help investors, users and policy makers understand the rating systems more thoroughly and promote the development of green buildings and green neighborhoods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Environmental issues and cleaner production are getting increasing attentions currently, making the clean production and sustainable consumption with low emissions significant. Traditional energy vehicles are increasingly unsuitable for the development of current society. It's a trend in the current vehicle market to accelerate the substitution of new energy vehicles for traditional energy vehicles. This paper makes a theoretical study on the development of new energy vehicle market supported by the government. First, this paper establishes a Cournot duopoly model which includes domestic and imported new energy vehicle manufacturers. Through the analysis of this model, this paper argues that government support policies such as subsidies and tariffs can effectively expand the market share of domestic new energy vehicles with less technology. Yet this approach is unsustainable, because domestic new energy vehicles with less technology can only survive in the market by shortening the gap with imported brands. Secondly, this paper establishes a Stackelberg model with product price as the decision variable and find that when there is a technical gap, the first mover advantage in the market will no longer exist. Finally, this paper compares two kinds of subsidies for domestic new energy vehicles and shows that the two subsidies are not different from subsidizing consumers or enterprises in expanding market share, and the consumer can obtain higher social welfare level as the subsidy object. Highlights • New energy vehicles boom with obvious substitution effect on traditional ones. • Both subsidies and tariffs can expand the production of domestic new-energy cars. • First move of domestic brands into the market can narrow the price difference. • First mover advantage no longer exists in the Stackelberg game. • Consumer subsidy is superior to enterprise subsidy in new energy auto industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract The governance of industrial energy use in recent times has been driven by the quest for greater energy security and sustainable industrial growth. Sustainable use of energy necessitates a rethink in the production, use and governance of energy resources that stimulates and supports transition to a more effective and efficient energy system. However, how do we ensure an effective transition in industrial energy use in the midst of gross energy poverty within a developing country context? This paper explores the motives and drivers of changes in energy use within the industrial sector. Statistical data from published reports, as well as informal interviews of stakeholders in Nigeria's industrial sector were used. Following analysis of data, four important salient phases (eras) of industrial energy transition in Nigeria's manufacturing sector was established. These distinct eras are: (1) Grid-dependent era; (2) Self-generation era; (3) Industrial energy outsourcing era; (4) Industrial energy conservation era. The study reveals that: outsourcing of industrial services; cost reduction; and business realignment motives are key drivers of transitions in Nigeria's industrial sector. This paper concludes by highlighting the implications of these changes for the future of energy and sustainable industrial growth in Nigeria. Highlights • Industrial energy transitions in Nigeria is happening but rather slow. • There is high dependence on biofuels and wastes for certain industrial processes. • Cost reduction and business realignment motives are key drivers of transitions. • Outsourcing industrial energy services is viewed as one way to drive transitions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper chooses 98 mining cities in China from 2007 to 2021 as research samples. It investigates the policy practice of green development in mining cities according to the point of view of policy combination. We establish a super-efficiency model considering undesirable output to measure the green development level of mining cities and further construct a dynamic panel model based on the Gaussian mixture model (GMM) to test the transmission mechanism and heterogeneous effect of different types of environmental regulation to promote the green development of mining cities. The findings demonstrate that environmental regulations about command control, market incentives, and public participation can all help mining cities develop more sustainably. Additionally, there is a nonlinear relationship of an inverted "U" shape between the degree of green development in mining cities and environmental regulations related to command control. Combining policies can encourage the green development of mining cities, but there are crowding-out and substitution effects when environmental regulations are combined with market forces. Environmental regulation promotes urban green development by improving the energy consumption structure of mining cities. In this process, the level of digital development positively regulates the impact of environmental regulation on urban green development. Therefore, the government should choose environmental regulation tools and combinations according to local needs to achieve a multi-pronged effect of energy structure improvement and urban green development and use digital technology to support the green development of mining cities. • Command-controlled, market-motivated, and public-participating environmental regulations can significantly promote urban green development by promoting the improvement of energy structure. • There is an inverted' U' -shaped nonlinear relationship between the intensity of command and control environmental regulation and the green level of mining cities. • The level of digitization can positively regulate the relationship between environmental regulation and urban green development. • The combination of environmental regulations have a significant positive impact on urban green development. • The combination of environmental regulations has heterogeneity in urban green development due to factors such as regional resource endowment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The concept of NZEB (Nearly Zero Energy Building) has a promising share to fulfill the future of sustainable development goals. However, exploiting renewable-based THESs (Trigeneration Hybrid Energy Systems) for providing the energetic demands of the building sector needs further attention. In this regard, the present paper proposes a sustainable THES driven by a biogas-fueled gas engine. The bottoming systems comprise absorption/electrical chillers (AC and EC), organic Rankine cycle (ORC), solar collector (PTC), and an auxiliary boiler. A detailed sustainability evaluation framework (technical and eco-environment) is derived to approve the performance of the THES. Within this procedure, the best working fluid of the ORC is firstly selected and then the sensitivity of the system performance to the design variables is assessed by a comprehensive parametric study. To make the derived framework more applicable, a case study building is considered and the proposed THES is sized to meet its electricity, heating, and cooling energies. The analyses proved that R123 shows the best techno-economic performance among six investigated ORC working fluids. The parametric study illustrated that the highest and lowest sensitivity of the THES's performance is related to the outlet temperatures of EC condenser and AC evaporator. Furthermore, the energy, exergy, and economic efficiencies of the THES for the case study building are 61.78%, 25.24%, and 44.77%. In this condition, discounted payback period is 7 years, demonstrating the feasibility of this proposal. The maximum CO 2 emission is released in November, with a total electricity generation of 320 MWh. [Display omitted] • Renewable-based hybrid system is introduced to produce cold, heat, and power. • Comprehensive sensitivity analysis is done to assess impact of some decision variables. • A case study building is considered to boost NZEB concept based on the proposed system. • Energy efficiency and payback period is 61.78% and 7 years for the case study building. • Using renewables in energy systems to reduce fossil fuel share has great significance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Carbon emissions from energy consumption of 282 prefecture-level cities in China were calculated. • A new method for calculating carbon emission factors for electricity is proposed. • Extending the Atkinson Index to the application of Carbon Fairness. • Measured the inequality and fairness indicators of carbon emissions from energy consumption at the prefecture-level city level in China. This paper focuses on the conceptualization and quantification of carbon emission inequality and fairness from energy consumption. In order to more accurately measure the carbon emissions generated by electricity consumption in each city, we firstly propose a new method for calculating the carbon emission factor for electricity, and calculates the carbon emissions from energy consumption in 282 prefecture-level cities in China from 2003 to 2019. Through the application of the Theil-Kaya decomposition mechanism and the improved Atkinson index, we conducted an in-depth study of the carbon emission inequality and fairness indicators from energy consumption. The results show that (1) Although China's overall inequality has declined, it remains significant in the western region, with its inequality indicator fluctuating from 0.548 in 2003 to 0.683 in 2019.(2) The decomposition of the drivers of inequality indicators shows that the contribution of GDP per capita to inequality is increasingly being replaced by energy intensity and the energy carbon emission factor, with energy intensity emerging as the main driver, contributing more than 40% to inequality in 2019, both overall and in the three regions.(3) The results for the fairness indicator, on the other hand, show a certain degree of divergence. Further Dynamic Time Warping fitting analysis shows that regardless of how the public's sensitivity to carbon emissions varies, the change trends of the fairness and inequality indicators for carbon emissions in the eastern region show a high degree of convergence, even in the two most extreme cases. The fit is poorest in the western region, but improves significantly if public's sensitivity to carbon emissions increases. (4)To sum up, some policies that are consistent with the context of the times, such as the East-West regional counterparts and the construction of a new type of power system, are worthy of priority consideration by the Government. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the 21st century, urbanization has caused rapid growth in the global construction area, resulting in high building resource consumption and long-term environmental impacts. Analyzing the resource consumption of public buildings and identifying the key factors that affect the consumption of building resources is important for developing of targeted policies. In this paper, we analyzed each branch of the People's Bank of China based on energy, water, and land resource consumption as well as the structure of energy consumption. Based on resource-consumption indicators, we divided 31 provincial-level administrative regions into four resource consumption levels; 65% were in the low-to-medium resource consumption levels. Medium-sized buildings had the highest energy consumption level and a more balanced energy consumption structure. The energy consumption per capita, water consumption, and utilization rate of small-sized buildings were low. To reduce resource consumption by public buildings, the construction of large-sized buildings should be limited. • The comprehensive evaluation method is used to calculate the resource consumption of the People's Bank of China. • Regression equations were established for energy consumption and resource consumption. • Medium-sized institutions had the highest energy consumption level and a more balanced energy consumption structure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Transport is one of the sectors of the energy consumption where the presence of renewable energies is lower and its increase is hard to achieve especially in countries that import all the fuels that they consume. This paper addresses the progress that Portugal is making toward a more sustainable transport sector. A near- and medium- term scenario analysis is performed, based on the energy consumption in the past and on a detailed evaluation of the trends for renewable energy in the transport sector. The near-term scenarios aim at portraying the conditions that allow the country to fulfill the target of 10% renewable share in transportation established by the European Union. The medium-term scenarios highlight the implications, in terms of emission reduction and of energy independence, deriving from the use of electric vehicles and natural gas, synthetic and fossil, as alternatives to liquid fuels. The results show that electric vehicles would substantially reduce the total energy consumption and the greenhouse gas emissions, while the promotion of routes for synthetic natural gas would contribute to taking advantage of local resources. The paper also provides some insights about the design of future policies to build a more sustainable transport sector. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Whether industrial agglomeration can promote an increase in energy efficiency is of great importance to not only China’s energy conservation and emissions reduction plans, but also China’s future sustainable development. This paper uses statistical data from 285 cities, from 2004 to 2013, to analyze the effect of industrial agglomeration on energy efficiency. The spatial autocorrelation tests show that there is significant spatial autocorrelation and spatial heterogeneity in urban energy efficiency. Although dynamic spatial econometric results show that industrial agglomeration can promote an increase in energy efficiency from a country level, there are significant differences at a regional level. In the east, the effect of industrial agglomeration on energy efficiency has a threshold effect, but in central and western areas, industrial agglomeration can promote the increase of energy efficiency, with the positive effect in western areas greater than that in central areas. Finally, based on the research, this paper puts forward concrete suggestions to enhance energy efficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• This paper systematically reviews the research progress of RS technology applied to various stages of PV system development. • We conclude that RS plays a significant role in PV potential assessment, large-scale data analysis and PV health monitoring. • We discuss future challenges and opportunities for RS technology in PV applications for advancing the research in this area. Developing solar photovoltaic (PV) systems is an effective way to address the problems of limited fossil fuel reserves, soaring world energy demand and global climate change. The earth observation information provides a promising perspective for estimating the PV energy potential and understanding the status of the PV system development, which is critical for making scientifically sound and cost-optimal sustainable planning strategies. Remote sensing (RS), a versatile technology that captures surface information at various temporal and spatial scales, is now widely applied in different fields of the PV development. However, despite the rapid growth of related research, there is still a lack of comprehensive review on the application of RS to different stages (i.e., planning, site selection, installation, maintenance, etc.) of the PV system development. This paper systematically reviews the research progress of RS technology applied throughout various stages of the PV system development. The reviewed literatures are organized as four major parts: i) PV potential estimation, ii) PV array detection, iii) PV fault monitoring and diagnosis, and iv) other cross-cutting areas where RS can facilitate PV development. We conclude that RS technology can bridge the gap caused by the traditional methods in effective assessment of resource potential, large-scale data analysis and PV health monitoring, which can provide strong support in assisting the planning, management, and decision-making of PV systems. Finally, we discuss future challenges and opportunities for RS technology in PV applications for advancing the research in this area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Even though renewable energy development has gained momentum in China, thermal power generation still accounts for approximately 70% of the county's total power generation serving as the major source of carbon dioxide (CO 2) emissions in China. Facing the challenges of meeting 2030 peak target of CO 2 emission and realizing the coordinated development of thermal power generation in Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, this paper applies generalized Divisia Index Method (GDIM) to decompose the dynamics in the relevant CO 2 emission. The effects of five factors including electricity demand, energy consumption, technology, energy efficiency and energy-mix are considered. The decomposition suggests that electricity demand is the primary factor driving the CO 2 emission up, whereas technology effect decreases CO 2 emission the most. Given the significant roles of technology, energy-mix and energy efficiency in CO 2 emissions reduction, seven scenarios are designed to identify the optimal coordinated development pathway for thermal power generation in Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region. Through upgrading energy structure and/or enhancing energy efficiency, the thermal power generation in Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region can achieve coordinated development and realize the 2030 peak target under four scenarios. The detailed development pathways for CO 2 emissions and specific policy implications for Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei are provided to further govern CO 2 emissions and maintain sustainable development. • Proposed a five-factor Generalized Divisia Index Model (GDIM) for CO 2 emission analysis. • Analyzed the CO 2 from thermal power generation in China's Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region. • Electricity demand and technology contributed the most to the positive and negative changes of CO 2 , respectively. • Designed seven thermal generation development scenarios to study the CO 2 change until 2030. • The 2030 CO 2 peak target can be achieved under four scenarios. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Access to modern energy services in households is central to achieving decent living standards and well-being. Almost 3 billion people in Sub-Saharan Africa and developing Asia still lack access to modern energy services and endure energy consumption rates equivalent to a fraction of that in developed countries. While critical for the successful achievement of several internationally agreed Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), closing this energy divide may pose an additional pressure on the already daunting challenge of securing climate stabilization. The ways in which this divide is closed will significantly affect the development of buildings-related emissions. This paper revisits previous work on the potential conflict between efforts towards closing the energy divide and enabling the achievement of higher levels of human well-being, and those associated with climate stabilization. It estimates the additional energy needed to achieve the former in terms of final energy consumption levels in key regions, and the associated emission pathways under different climate action scenarios. It then analyses the impact that such pathways could have on estimated carbon budgets associated with fulfilling the Paris Agreement, and provides some suggestions on how this impact could be minimized in the buildings sector. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Excessive energy-related carbon emission intensity will lead to deterioration of environmental quality and hinder green economic growth. This paper proposes a novel self-adaptive fractional order grey generalized Verhulst model (SAFGGVM) to predict energy-related carbon emission intensity in China, America, India, Russia, and Japan with nonlinear and complex characteristics effectively. Firstly, self-adaptive fractional order and dynamic background value coefficient are introduced to capture the nonlinear evolutionary trends. Subsequently, the optimal nonlinear parameters are determined using Grey Wolf Optimization algorithm through comprehensive comparison. Furthermore, the flexibility of SAFGGVM is verified by presenting its relevance to existing models. Finally, the validity, applicability, and robustness of SAFGGVM are confirmed by comparing with two machine learning models and four grey prediction models. The empirical results exhibit that the overall precision of SAFGGVM model significantly prevails over the others in five cases, with MAPE values less than 6% in both the simulation and prediction intervals. The out-of-sample forecast results indicate that the energy-related carbon emission intensity of five countries will fall into 5.7024, 1.6030, 7.3668, 8.1633, 2.0399 tons/10,000 USD by 2025, and the decreasing rate of developing countries tends to catch up with, or even exceed, developed countries. Projection results can serve as a reference point for countries to achieve green and sustainable development. • A novel self-adaptive grey generalized Verhulst model is proposed. • Energy-related carbon emission intensity (ECEI) of five countries is predicted. • Optimal nonlinear parameters are determined by Grey Wolf Optimization algorithm. • The novel model is superior to other competing models in accuracy and roubutness. • Decline rate of ECEI in developing countries will catch up with developed countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Efficient control of energy-intensive systems is essential for reducing energy consumption and realizing sustainable development. However, considering the complex inter-dependent energy-consumption devices, numerous control parameters, and dynamic environments, the energy-efficient control of energy-intensive system is always challenging. To address such problems, this paper proposes a data-driven learning-based Model Predictive Control (MPC) method for the integrated control of various devices in energy-intensive systems. Specifically, a hybrid prediction model based on two variants of RNN is integrated with the MPC scheme to learn and predict the system dynamics based on massive time-series sensing data. Then an efficient tree-based prioritized group control model for heterogeneous devices is developed with a rolling optimization and feedback correction mode. A real-life case study is provided to evaluate the performance of the proposed method, which demonstrates its superiority over existing methods on saving the energy consumption. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The high-quality development index is introduced into STIRPAT model. • The average yield of ecological footprint is updated. • High-quality development can effectively reduce the increase of ecological footprint. • The improvement of population quality helps ease pressure on the environment. • Lower energy consumption intensity helps improve ecological quality. It is urgent to coordinate the development of economy and environment under the "dual carbon" goal. As China's new development stage and mode, high-quality development takes into account both the speed and quality of economic, providing the possibility of achieving a "win-win" situation for the economy and the environment. In order to test the practical impact of high-quality development on ecological, based on the STIRPAT model, this paper introduces high-quality development index instead of per capita GDP, so as to measure the current economic situation in China, and explore the relationship between high-quality development and ecological footprint, and demonstrates the feasibility from theory and practice. At the same time, it pays attention to the complex effects of population and technology on environmental quality. The results show that the contradiction between economy and ecology still exists in China. The ecological footprint index of 30 provinces in the past 21 years has increased as a whole, and the fworst ecological footprint has concentrated in the Yellow River basin. But since 2012, the growth of the footprint has slowed. The slow down time and low value region of ecological footprint were observed, and it was found that they overlapped with the proposed time and the high value area of high-quality development. The level of high-quality development in China has also continued to rise, with regional differences but gradually narrowing. Among them, green development and shared development contribute more to the improvement of high-quality development level. Compared with the traditional economic development mode, high-quality development can reduce the increase of ecological footprint, and the longer the time, the smaller the increase, more conducive to long-term sustainable development. In addition, population and technology factors are also profoundly affecting China's ecological pattern. The increase in population size and population density, as well as the increase in the proportion of coal-based energy consumption structure, will lead to increased environmental pressure. The improvement of population quality and the reduction of energy consumption intensity will help alleviate ecological pressure. The research is helpful to provide policy guidance and path combination reference for China's sustainable development, and also provide new ideas for the global coordination of the relationship between economy and environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The construction industry is one of the most energy-intensive industries in China, which contributes to high carbon emissions and hinders efforts to reduce the emissions. The high energy consumption and emission have seriously constrained the growth of low carbon economy in China's construction industry. And reducing the carbon emission from construction industry (CECI) has become the key to sustainable development and the achievement of "double carbon target". The paper firstly decomposes the main influencing factors and calculates their effects by LMDI model. Then, the Tapio decoupling index is used to explore the decoupling relationship between carbon emissions and economic output. Finally, the spatial-temporal evolution of carbon emissions is analyzed through spatial autocorrelation theory. The results show that the carbon emissions from construction industry are highly increased by the construction employment rate (EM), and may be reduced by the energy intensity (EI) and carbon emission efficiency (CI). And the regions with better decoupling status are the eastern and central regions, which have relatively developed construction industry. Moreover, the spatial-temporal characteristic of carbon emissions is "high in the east and low in the west, high in the south and low in the north," showing obviously regional differences. [Display omitted] • Factors about production technology are taken into account, reflecting the characteristics of the construction industry. • Developed regions have better decoupling potential and more responsibility for CO 2. • The spatial distribution is "high in the east and low in the west, high in the south and low in the north". • The provinces in a region have similar decoupling status and carbon emission distribution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Governments around the world have enacted many policies to reduce environmental pollution and carbon dioxide (CO2) emission. This study aimed to determine and understand the relationship between innovation, renewable energy consumption, foreign direct investment inflows, economic growth and CO2 emission in Vietnam. Information was collected annually based on the annual data of the General Statistics Office of Vietnam and World Bank from 2000 to 2022. The authors use the unrestricted fixed effects to resolve the study problems and using panel data method. The results indicate that innovation positively affects environmental pollution in Vietnam. However, renewable energy consumption has a negative effect on environmental pollution in Vietnam. In addition, FDI inflows and economic growth have strongly positive effects on environmental pollution. This paper also provides some recommendations that can assist Vietnam in developing a green and sustainable economy in the technology revolution 5.0 to achieve the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) over a long-term period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sustainable consumption (SC) is key for sustainable development, but only limited studies have examined how to motivate SC among consumers in developing countries. Younger consumers tend to more sustainable consumption while whether they really understand the SC concept is not clear. To explore the role of SC understanding for motivating SC behaviors, this paper develops a concept model with hypotheses to propose that SC understanding mediates relationships between influencing factors and SC behaviors. Based on 623 usable questionnaires collected from junior high schools and senior high schools in three eastern cities of China, five influencing factors for SC behaviors are identified, they are, education, awareness & attitude, social influence, effectiveness of energy saving and emission reduction for sustainable products, and differentiation of sustainable products from regular products. Statistic results through hierarchical regression analysis demonstrate that SC understanding is necessary to motivate SC behaviors with certain influencing factors. Chinese adolescents can understand the SC concept through education and then purchase sustainable products. Only if sustainable products can show benefits of energy saving and emission reduction, Chinese adolescent would like to use these products. Environmental awareness and attitude can bring environmental treatment and disposal of products, but SC understanding is necessary. This paper contributes to extend the TPB to develop a conceptual model including education as one influencing factor for SC behaviors. It also develops three factors for SC behaviors from the product life cycle perspective. Besides, it also contributes to extend the previous studies about motivation of SC consumption to adolescents in an emergent economy of China to examine the role of SC understanding. Statistic results reveal the low implementation level of SC behaviors, and the government should highlight sustainable education to improve sustainable awareness and SC understanding. It is also shown that adolescents would like to purchase sustainable products if environmental performance of such products can be demonstrated, which also provide insights for enterprises to achieve win-win opportunities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper argues that many past studies have only been concerned with efficiency and not with the efficiency achievement ratio, whereas information on Baltic Sea countries' energy or environmental efficiency has always been based on studies that focus on different research objectives, but do not include all the Baltic Sea countries. Hence, the main aim of this paper is to analyze the impact of the achievement ratios for energy consumption and carbon dioxide emissions on both energy consumption and carbon dioxide emissions by including all Baltic Sea countries as a case study and constructing new static and dynamic efficiency indices. The study's results show that the 2008 Global Financial Crisis resulted in low achievement ratios for energy consumption and carbon dioxide emissions, and the conclusion is that since a lot of attention has been paid to staving off an economic downturn, the Global Financial Crisis may in fact have stalled actions to combat carbon dioxide emissions and energy over-consumption. In addition, the Baltic Sea countries should strengthen energy management on the demand side. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The coherency of research, development, and innovation processes are vital in promoting a more resource efficient society. Sustainability-oriented innovation systems define specific kinds of innovation systems, i.e. those that are directed to the aims of sustainable development. This paper develops an integrated method with four layers of analysis to evaluate the priorities and performances of such systems. The method is applied to a sample of emerging and innovation based economies, namely Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, Turkey, and Singapore. The analyses consider the 6 main activities or functional dynamics of innovation systems and a set of 19 keywords. The keywords relate to the thematic clusters of renewable energy technologies, energy efficiency, and environmental management. The priorities of the countries in each main interaction of the system are classified accordingly. The priorities are compared to the existing level of specialization in the keywords based on the intermediate outputs of the system. The analyses cover 153,838 papers and 15,138 patents between the years 2003 and 2014. A Sustainable Innovation Index is developed to aggregate the normalized values of country performance across all keywords. Singapore receives the highest value (21.17) and the average of Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa is 14.91. The results determine the ability of countries to align priorities and performance towards more mature innovation systems for sustainable development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The concept of eco-industrial park (EIP) has recently become the subject of a great deal of attention from industry and academic research groups. This paper proposes a series of systematic approaches for multi-level modelling and optimisation in EIPs. The novelties of this work include, (1) building a four-level modelling framework (from unit level to process level, plant level and industrial network level) for EIP research, (2) applying advanced mathematical modelling methods to describe each level operation, (3) developing efficient methodologies for solving optimisation problems at different EIP levels, (4) considering symbiotic relations amongst the three networks (material, water and energy networks) at the top EIP level with the boundary conditions of economic, social and legal requirements. For methodology demonstration, two cases at process level and industrial network level respectively are tested and solved with the developed modelling and optimisation strategies. Finally, the challenges and applications in future EIP research are also discussed, including data collection, the extension of the current networks to EIPs, and the feasibility of the proposed methodologies for complex EIP problems. The extended EIPs include the combination of material exchanges, energy systems and waste-water treatment networks. The aspects considered for future industrial ecology are carbon emission, by-product reuse, water consumption, and energy consumption. The main object of this paper is to explain the detailed model construction process and the development of optimisation approaches for a complex EIP system. In future work, this system is expected to share services, utility, and product resources amongst industrial plants to add value, reduce costs, improve environment, and consequently achieve sustainable development in a symbiosis community. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights • We estimate the energy rebound effect caused by technological progress in Shanghai. • We use the state space model with time-varying parameter based on the IPAT identity. • Shanghai has a high partial rebound effect on average at the overall-economy level. • Mitigating the energy rebound effect can significantly reduce carbon emissions. • Energy efficiency improvement should not be the only way to conserve energy. Abstract The energy rebound effect is regarded as an obstacle of achieving the expected target of energy-saving policies, especially under a rapid urbanization background in developing counties, such as China. This has become a substantial drag of sustainable development in some cities. Shanghai is the economic center of China, and it is also a typical energy import-dependent mega-city. Investigating the evolution of Shanghai's energy-saving performance and the energy rebound effect is significant for the implementation of energy-saving policies in other similar cities of China and other developing countries. Using the state space model with time-varying parameters and based on the IPAT identity and the Solow residual approach, this paper is the first study to present a specific estimation on Shanghai's energy rebound effect caused by technological progress. The results show that, during the period of 1991–2016, the average energy rebound effect of overall economy and secondary industry in Shanghai was 93.96% and 73.10%, respectively, indicating a high partial rebound effect. Most of expected energy saving caused by improved energy efficiency is offset by extra energy consumption caused by technological progress. Regarding tertiary industry, the average rebound effect was 146.61%, indicating a backfire effect. However, the average energy rebound amount of tertiary industry is less than that of secondary industry. In particular, there is an increasingly negative impact of the rebound effect of tertiary industry on energy conservation in recent years, with the sector's rapid expansion and corresponding increase in energy demand. Furthermore, we estimate the carbon rebound amount (i.e., carbon emissions caused by the energy rebound effect) and find that, on average, the energy rebound effect caused 13.1% and 0.41% increases in carbon emissions in Shanghai and China, respectively. Therefore, mitigating the energy rebound effect can significantly reduce carbon emissions. Due to the substantial impact of the rebound effect, technological progress and energy efficiency improvement should not be the only way to achieve energy-saving target, especially in energy import-dependent mega-cities like Shanghai. Some supporting policies should be implemented to ensure that the expected outcome of energy-saving effort can be realized as far as possible. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract The paper offers a review of selected topics in the empirical literature on structural change and sustainability. We focus on aspects of structural change that directly affect emissions and energy intensity: changes of the sectoral composition of economies, trade and international fragmentation of production, technological change and innovation, and demand. We identify several empirical facts. First, only a few countries have experienced a decoupling between growth and emissions, due to proportionately faster growth rather than greater energy efficiency. Second, the long-term shift from manufacturing to services has not led, in all cases, to the de-materialisation of economies and a lower environmental burden. Exploitation of energy efficiency increases depends on the ability of the service sectors to incorporate technical changes to reduce energy intensity. Third, global trade and energy and emissions intensity trends support the 'pollution haven' hypothesis, which predicts displacement of the environmental burden from developed to emerging countries. The pursuit by developing countries of a long-term strategy of 'trading jobs for emissions' is likely to exacerbate the asymmetry related to emissions intensities between developed and less developed economies. The review should inform debate on environmental policy within the broader context of innovation and development policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Graphical abstract Abstract Fabrication of smart fabrics using a simple and scalable method is a big challenge, and this paper is aimed at developing a facile approach for the preparation of smart fabric coatings. The coating was formed on the fabric using pH-responsive polyurethane (pH-PU) and fluorated octavinyl polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane (F-OV-POSS) by UV curing. These obtained fabric coatings exhibited durable superhydrophobicity and self-cleaning ability even under some harsh environments, such as mechanically damaged, seawater and UV-irradiation. Due to the protonation and deprotonation of the pH-PU along with the changing of pH value, the wettability of fabric coating could be changed between the superhydrophobicity and underwater superoleophobicity by regulating pH value, and oil or water is able to be separated from an oil/water mixture. In addition, the damaged fabric coatings could restore their special wettability through simply heating, because fluorocarbon chains of F-OV-POSS in the coatings easily migrated to the outer surface of coatings. It is expected that this smart self-healing fabric coating with durable self-cleaning and oil/water separating performance would be a good case for practical applications in energy saving and sustainable development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Electric vehicles (EVs) are currently the most promising technology with the potential to transform transportation and energy landscapes to make industry and society more sustainable. Although their adoption has been much faster than anticipated a few years ago, resulting in a significant increase from 400,000 EVs sold in 2013 to more than 3 million in 2017, the coming years will be crucial for determining whether EVs are to become a new transportation industry "standard", the role of which has been held by internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles over the last hundred years. Not only will innovation in EV batteries determine a "win" or "fail" for EVs, but a significant role in its acceptance will be successful development of a comprehensive EV eco-system, establishing an efficient network of EV chargers as well as attractive and affordable charging tariffs. Furthermore, having insight as to how much money EV users are willing to pay for the charging service (i.e. , willingness to pay) in various circumstances is one of the essential factors in building a successful EV eco-system. That being said, this paper utilizes a gamified survey for exploring a person's willingness to pay for EV charging. The experimental setup includes both the classic (text-only) questionnaire, as well as the game-based questionnaire. Therefore, not only have interesting insights on the willingness to pay for EV charging been identified, but analysis of user experience analysis from the questionnaires suggests that use of gamification is a good approach to performing a survey as it exhibits superior hedonic quality in comparison to classic methods (i.e. , text-only questionnaire). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Cleaner production is the continuous application of an integrated preventive environmental strategy which stressed the importance of environment and human beings. Although the application of cleaner production is becoming more and more mature in different industries, since the complexity of the mining operation itself and its extensive and complex impacts on the ecological environment, the application of cleaner production in the mining industry encounters great challenges. For this purpose, the paper presents some developments and new insights of environmental problems and deep mining strategy for cleaner production in mines. Firstly, the general impacts on the ecological environment of mining industry and the current corresponding solutions as well as future prospects are presented. Secondly, the ecological environment pollution induced by tailings dam and its elimination approaches are reviewed. For the accelerating volume of tailings dam waiting to be processed, the exploration and research of the comprehensive utilization and treatment of tailings is expected to be more effective with larger consumption and wider range of application. The development direction is the establishment of mine without tailings. With the development of modern technology, some intelligent monitoring and warning technologies have helped the mining engineers to keep a vigilant eye on tailings dam continually. Finally, to convert the "harm" of four highs and one disturbance induced by the complex mechanical environment in deep mines into "benefit", various specific measures with relatively high novelty and sustainability are recommended. Moreover, the conception map of safer and more efficient exploitation of resources in deep mines is depicted for industrial best practice and future research directions to enhance cleaner production work in mining. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Stabilized Emulsions (SE) is a Warm Mix Asphalt (WMA) technique that reduces mixing temperatures to approximately 100 °C, the range of WMA with the greatest reduction in temperature compared to Hot Mix Asphalt (HMA). The term 'stabilized' refers to the good storage stability of the stabilized emulsion compared to that of common emulsions. Another technique that reduces the environmental impact of asphalt mixtures is the addition of reclaimed asphalt pavement (RAP). This paper presents the research results in which the performance of SE-WMA with different amounts of added RAP were evaluated. SE-WMA was produced at 100 °C, and could be prepared with high RAP contents, reducing the consumption of virgin materials and lowering energy needs. The laboratory study and a pavement trial section were used to evaluate the performance of SE-WMA in comparison with HMA. The experimental results indicated that the physical and mechanical properties of SE-WMA, without RAP, are similar to conventional HMA, showing that the effect of reducing mixing temperature does not significantly affect the quality or performance of these asphalt mixtures. The performance of SE-WMA with 25% and 44% RAP, was slightly lower than that obtained from conventional HMA. However, the quality of the SE-WMA complied with the requirements of conventional HMA, indicating that SSE-WMA with up to 44% RAP content is suitable for pavement construction. Deflections measured in the HMA and SE-WMA trial sections without RAP and with 25% RAP showed similar results, although the SE-WMA with 44% RAP showed 8% higher deflection. The energy consumption to produce one ton of asphalt mixture calculated using a thermodynamic model showed that SE-WMA is effective for the reduction of energy consumption in asphalt plants. Overall, the study concludes that SE-WMA with RAP is a sustainable material for pavement construction that could save energy and consume less virgin material than conventional HMA pavements. Highlights • Stabilized Emulsion (SE) is a new Warm Mix Asphalt (WMA) pavement technique. • The performance of SE-WMA without RAP was equivalent to conventional HMA. • The quality of SE-WMA with 44% RAP complied with the requirements of conventional HMA. • A model showed that SE-WMA is effective for the reduction of energy consumption. • SE-WMA with RAP is a sustainable material for pavement construction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Cities, the core of the global climate change mitigation and strategic low-carbon development, are shelters to more than half of the world population and responsible for three quarters of global energy consumption and greenhouse gas (GHG). This special volume (SV) provides a platform that promotes multi- and inter- disciplinary analyses and discussions on the climate change mitigation for cities. All papers are divided into four themes, including GHG emission inventory and accounting, climate change and urban sectors, climate change and sustainable development, and strategies and mitigation action plans. First, this SV provides methods for constructing emission inventory from both production and consumption perspectives. These methods are useful to improve the comprehensiveness and accuracy of carbon accounting for international cities. Second, the climate change affects urban sectors from various aspects; simultaneously, GHG emissions caused by activities in urban sectors affect the climate system. This SV focuses on mitigation policies and assessment of energy, transport, construction, and service sectors. Third, climate change mitigation of cities is closely connected to urban sustainable development. This SV explores the relationships between climate change mitigation with urbanization, ecosystems, air pollution, and extreme events. Fourth, climate change mitigation policies can be divided into two categories: quantity-based mechanism (e.g., carbon emission trading) and price-based mechanism (e.g., carbon tax). This SV provides experiences of local climate change mitigation all over the world and proposes the city-to-city cooperation on climate change mitigation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract The sustainability of the water-energy-food (WEF) nexus is a significant challenge faced by developing countries, especially China. Evaluating the sustainability status of China's water-energy-food, and improving its sustainable use, may provide good physical conditions to support China's future development. This paper applied the Pressure, State, and Response (PSR) model to select evaluation indexes. A combination weighting method was used to combine two objective weighting methods to determine index weights. The study constructed the classical field, the limited field, and the matter-element to be evaluated. This allowed the establishment of an improved matter-element extension model to evaluate the sustainability of the water-energy-food nexus; the model was then used to quantitatively evaluate the sustainability of China's water-energy-food nexus. The simulation results indicated that in 2005, the sustainability of China's water-energy-food was at a relatively low efficiency rank. By 2015, the sustainability of China's water-energy-food had reached a general efficiency rank. The results suggested that the sustainability of China's water-energy-food system significantly improved between 2005 and 2015; however, the improved sustainability remained at a general status (The general status means that the sustainability of water-energy-food nexus in China can meet the basic development needs, but it is far from the optimal state and needs further adjustment and improvement). Thus, China should improve its current utilization patterns for the three resources and consider them as a whole. This would help realize synergistic resource use and enhance their sustainability. Highlights • The sustainability of WEF nexus is a severe challenge faced by developing country. • An improved matter-element extension model to evaluate sustainability of WEF nexus. • The sustainability of China's WEF system significantly improved from 2005 to 2015. • China should improve its utilization patterns for the WEF and consider it as whole. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Current attempts for sustainable-focused smart community evaluation have failed to make significant advancements, and quantitative analysis for sustainable development is still a major challenge in China. In recent years, smart community evaluation (SCE) for sustainable development has attracted considerable attentions. Government decision-makers can make it easier to stimulate household sustainable consumption by conducting SCE. This paper develops a combined analytical framework that will assist in the process of multi-source data integration and uncertain reasoning of SCE. This framework is used to combine quantitative metrics and subjective judgment with evidential reasoning approach, and this frarmework can also take decision makers’ risk preferences into consideration using prospect theory. Four urban communities are evaluated by the proposed framework to demonstrate its applicability and effectiveness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The automobile sector is rapidly increasing its market share worldwide in recent years. It is because of various business strategies by automobile manufacturer such as more focus on small cars and fuel-efficient cars having a low market price that are targeted to capture the maximum market. But due to increasing market share of the automobile sector there are several environmental issues are also arising such as carbon emission, global warming, etc. In such a scenario, automobile manufacturers are facing dual pressure one, to save the environment and another is to maintain the performance of the firm in the long run. The performance of the firm can be judged on the basis of financial, operational and marketing capability of the firm. This paper develops an approach towards the adoption of the green initiatives at the firm, and also tries to build a relationship between the performance of the firm and sustainable development through the adoption of green initiatives. The paper would discuss various green initiatives such as green marketing, green supply chain management, green innovation, etc. which firms are adopting. The study would focus on the facts and opportunities of green initiatives for the success of the firm as well as sustainable development. The paper is based on the exploratory research, and extensive literature survey has been done to bring the findings of the study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Exploring the sustainability of urban ecosystem is becoming a key area in global sustainable development. Urban metabolism is an effective analysis tool for the study of urban ecosystem. In this regard, how to evaluate the level of urban sustainable development and identify the key factors that affect urban metabolism is critical. Many studies on urban metabolism have been explored during the past half century, but few concerns about the key factors that affect urban metabolism. Therefore, this paper fills such a gap by combining emergy and Logarithmic Mean Divisia Index (LMDI) methods in order to analyze the sustainable development level and identify the driving forces of emergy utilization, respectively. A typical industrial city, Shenyang in northeast China, was chosen as a case study city in this paper. Results show that renewable resource utilization in Shenyang was very limited from 2000 to 2010, while nonrenewable resources and the imported resources increased rapidly. During this period, total emergy utilization of Shenyang increased from 8.52 × 10 22 sej to 21.53 × 10 22 sej, and emergy density increased with annual increasing rate of 10.34%, demonstrating a fast development of the economy and high level of resident's consumption. LMDI method was employed to analyze the driving forces of emergy consumption from the aspects of scale, structure and intensity. Results show that the rapid increase of emergy utilization in Shenyang was mainly caused by the expansion of economic scale, while emergy intensity greatly contributed to offset total consumption, and industry structure played a marginal role, with a minor value for its growth. Based upon these results, several policy recommendations were raised, including the use of more renewable and clean energy sources, a regenerative and preventative eco-industrial development approach, and capacity-building efforts, so that the overall environment pressure on urban development can be reduced. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is often difficult to determine the effects of policies at a sectoral level in the overlapping domains of pollution control and energy conservation, making it difficult to consider co-benefits of energy conservation and air pollution reduction and tensions. In China, the industry sector contributes much more carbon and pollution emissions than other sectors. In this paper, Baoshan District (BSD), one of the most important industrial zones in the Shanghai metropolis, is used as a case study to illustrate the situation and to provide information to assess the effectiveness of environmental sustainable development policies in industries. The policies resulting from China's Eleventh Five-year Plan (FYP) are considered at the level of BSD. In particular, the result of implementing local policies of air pollution control and energy are analysed at BSD. Three indicator systems are adopted for quantitatively and qualitatively evaluating energy saving and air pollution reduction achieved by technical, structural and management measures in industrial enterprises of BSD. Analysis made in the paper shows that the co-benefits of pollution cutting and energy conservation have been achieved at certain scopes and degrees in the industry sector in BSD, e.g. SO 2 and Particulate Matter (PM) were reduced by 35.1% and 7.7% respectively, and the energy density was cut by 26.7%. Due to existing barriers of the lack of co-planning and co-operations in the process of designing and implementing the policies, and the overlooking the leakage of emissions in the whole project area, the overall co-benefits cannot be achieved effectively in BSD. Recommendations are made for future detailed studies of this or similar districts to develop an indicator system of co-benefits to help demonstrate the advantages of joint planning and policies for co-benefits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In light of various environmental problems and challenges concerning resource allocation, the utilisation of renewable resources is increasingly important for the efficient use of raw materials. Therefore, cascading utilisation (i.e., the multiple material utilisations of renewable resources prior to their conversion into energy) and approaches that aim to further increase resource efficiency (e.g., the utilisation of by-products) can be considered guiding principles. This paper therefore introduces the Special Volume "Improved Resource Efficiency and Cascading Utilisation of Renewable Materials". Because both research aspects, resource efficiency and cascading utilisation, belong to several disciplines, the Special Volume adopts an interdisciplinary perspective and presents 16 articles, which can be divided into four subjects: Innovative Materials based on Renewable Resources and their Impact on Sustainability and Resource Efficiency, Quantitative Models for the Integrated Optimisation of Production and Distribution in Networks for Renewable Resources, Information Technology-based Collaboration in Value Generating Networks for Renewable Resources, and Consumer Behaviour towards Eco-friendly Products. The interdisciplinary perspective allows a comprehensive overview of current research on resource efficiency, which is supplemented with 15 book reviews showing the extent to which textbooks of selected disciplines already refer to resource efficiency. This introductory article highlights the relevance of the four subjects, presents summaries of all papers, and discusses future research directions. The overall contribution of the Special Volume is that it bridges the resource efficiency research of selected disciplines and that it presents several approaches for more environmentally sound production and consumption. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The statement that in the full world, increasing the ultimate efficiency, expressed as service / throughput , is the necessary condition for humanity to achieve high levels of well-being within ecological limits is honoured as Daly's Proposition in this paper. The purpose of this paper is to make Daly's Proposition effective guidance for policymaking related to sustainable development. For this aim, this paper puts forward the indicator Ecological Well-being Performance, which is composed of the Human Development Index and the Ecological Footprint, to measure the ultimate efficiency. Furthermore, by means of matrix analysis and factor decomposition analysis, the respective pathways for countries at different stages of development to make the sustainable development transition were discussed. The G20 countries were taken as the cases to conduct the research. The empirical results show that improvements in well-being and increases in throughput level are not necessarily positively related. The relationship between the two depends on how countries control throughput levels and improve the Ecological Well-being Performance, which also explains different performances on the sustainable development transition. In a simple way, this contribution provides new methods and criteria to track and evaluate national performance on sustainable development by referring to Daly's original theories. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The world is experiencing an unprecedented transition towards a low-carbon and renewable-based energy system, driven by the imperatives of mitigating climate changes, building climate resilience and ensuring sustainable development. Recently, polygeneration systems based on renewable energies have emerged as a viable solution to support the energy transition since they can improve resource utilization and energy efficiency, thus reducing the dependency on fossil fuels and the environmental impacts on ecosystems. Renewable polygeneration systems can play a significant role in the decarbonization of the food processing industry due to its high thermal energy demand at low and medium temperature levels. This paper presents a detailed analysis of a renewable polygeneration system integrating solar, geothermal and biomass energies and able to produce electricity, heat and cold water. The novelty of this study is the analysis of polygeneration system configurations relying solely on renewable energies and the optimization of the strategy to control the energy exchange between power systems, storage facilities and utilities. Two system configurations based on different power technologies and control strategies are investigated and compared, considering as end-user a milk production process with hot and cold water requirements at different temperature levels and load profiles. To this end, a dynamic model in Matlab/Simulink has been developed to simulate the behaviour of the polygeneration system over time and evaluate its overall energy performance parameters. For each system configuration, the optimal operating strategy has been identified by maximizing the energy conversion efficiency and minimizing the unmet thermal and cooling loads. Simulation results highlighted that, compared to polygeneration systems relying only on fluctuating renewable energies, those including a backup heat source (i.e., a biomass boiler) were able to meet the thermal energy needs of larger and more complex milk production processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• BIM-DB can effectively simulate building performance parameters. • The PSO-RF-NSGA-III hybrid method can be used to predict and optimize building performance. • NSGA can simultaneously optimize energy consumption, carbon emissions and thermal comfort. • The optimal building parameters are different in different regions. Near-zero-energy-consumption buildings (NZEBs) are of great significance for sustainable development, and their design and research have attracted increasing academic attention. To drive and realize the energy saving design and achieve carbon emission and thermal comfort optimization of NZEBs, in this paper, an intelligent optimization method integrating the BIM-DB and PSO-RF-NSGA-III method is established. Multiobjective optimization problems involving NZEBs in four typical climate regions in China are explored. With a typical office building as an example, first, simulation calculations regarding the energy consumption, carbon emissions and indoor thermal comfort in the four climatic regions are performed based on orthogonal tests and BIM-DB. Second, the nonlinear mapping relationships between building design parameters and prediction targets are constructed with the PSO-RF model, which is trained with sample data. The obtained nonlinear mapping relations are used to establish the objective function of NSGA-III, and the multiobjective Pareto-optimal solution set is obtained with the developed PSO-RF-NSGA-III algorithm. Finally, the only optimal solution is determined by using the ideal point method, and reference near-zero-energy-consumption office building parameters are calculated for different climate regions. The conclusions are as follows. (1) The PSO-RF algorithm can efficiently predict building energy consumption, carbon emissions and thermal comfort. In the four regions, the goodness of fit of the three targets is greater than 0.94. (2) Multiobjective optimization can be performed with the proposed RF-NSGA-III intelligent optimization method. After optimizing multiple groups of optimization schemes and adopting energy saving measures, the energy consumption levels in the four climate regions are reduced by 39.72 %, 32.22 %, 26.94 % and 35.37 %, and the other goals are optimized. (3) Index calculations indicate that the optimized building design parameters meet the specified standards for NZEBs, and the main influencing factors and corresponding measures vary from region to region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Emergent smart energy distribution systems offer new approaches in the sustainable management of energy consumption, even at household level. The smart grid and smart house paradigms provide the necessary infrastructure to improve the efficiency of the distribution system and at the same time offer benefits for the consumers, too. In this paper the control of an intelligent household refrigerator is introduced, which can autonomously react to hourly energy tariffs by shifting its operating periods to less expensive time slots, thus it greedily minimizes the energy bill of the consumer. As a “side effect”, the energy consumption is decreased during peak periods, which is the primary purpose of the utility provider, and also decreases the CO 2 emission. The proposed controller adaptively learns the dynamic behavioral model of the appliance, and utilizes this model in a predictive control scheme. The proposed method is evaluated utilizing a realistic household refrigerator model and real pricing data. The operation is also validated by a real hardware implementation, which confirms that the control algorithm can be implemented using inexpensive embedded hardware devices. According to experiments using real pricing data, the proposed model predictive control can save 9% of the energy bill and can decrease the peak energy consumption by as much as 76%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For the past three decades, the notion of sustainable cities has become central in planning and managing urban areas in the world and the large-scale city formation has been formed in big cities. As a result of economic growth and urban transformation, Shanghai, a major Chinese international metropolis, faces ongoing issues with resource waste and low energy utilization. Therefore, this paper aims to consider the availability of water for energy production from a consumption-based perspective and estimate the water footprint of the energy supply using a regional input-output analysis approach for Shanghai. As a result, we conclude that the water footprint of the energy supply of Shanghai is about 1.28 billion m 3 in 2007, with 46.1% of water used for electricity and heat supply. The total water withdrawal by the energy sector is about 2.35 billion m 3 and additional water withdrawal needed is about 35% of the total water withdrawals by the energy sector in Shanghai. Furthermore, an energy self-sufficiency scenario was developed, and the scenario analysis reveals that 55% more water would be required to ensure a self-sufficient energy sector. To guarantee future regional energy security, it is important to manage water resources effectively by allocating water resources among sectors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Renewable energy resources are currently being deployed on a large scale to meet the requirements of increased energy demand, mitigate the environmental pollutants, and achieve socio-economic benefits for sustainable development. The integration of such distributed energy sources into utility grid paves the way for microgrids. The microgrid concept is introduced to have a self-sustained system consisting of distributed energy resources that can operate in an islanded mode during grid failures. In microgrid, an energy management system is essential for optimal use of these distributed energy resources in intelligent, secure, reliable, and coordinated ways. Therefore, this review paper presents a comparative and critical analysis on decision making strategies and their solution methods for microgrid energy management systems. To manage the volatility and intermittency of renewable energy resources and load demand, various uncertainty quantification methods are summarized. A comparative analysis on communication technologies is also discussed for cost-effective implementation of microgrid energy management systems. Finally, insights into future directions and real world applications are provided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To achieve green development, ample environmental subsidies have been invested into many energy-intensive firms (such as thermal power firms) in China. Investigations of the effects of this kind of subsidy can help to provide specific and important implications for ongoing regulations. Unlike previous studies on the national, regional or sectoral level, this paper measures green efficiency and its compositions of thermal power firms and studies the impact of environmental subsidies on green efficiency by using the classical Slacks-based Measure and Tobit model. The results show that the average green efficiency ranges from 0.509 to 0.663 during 2010–2015, which is much lower than the general efficiency. The green scale efficiency is the main reason for the low green efficiency, thus indicating large room for improvement. Environmental subsidies negatively affect green efficiency and its decompositions from 2010 to 2013. The negative effect becomes weak and insignificant in 2014, and the environmental subsidies start to significantly promote green efficiency and its decompositions in 2015. According to our findings, some implications relating to improving green scale efficiency, increasing the intensity of environmental subsidies to firms and strengthening their supervision are proposed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to its abundance, wood is the pre-eminent lignocellulosic raw material for a sustainable bioeconomy based society. Wood is widely used as fuel, construction material, and raw material in cellulose and lignocellulose based products. Besides the established uses of wood powder, like co-firing with coal and biofuel production, there are also novel uses and process applications, e.g., advanced wood-plastic composites and biochemical production are emerging for which the pulverization or fine grinding of wood is an essential pre-treatment step. Due to the tenacious nature of the wood matrix, size reduction is an energy intensive process and thermal or chemical pre-treatment may be needed to improve economy. This paper provides a broad overview of the fine grinding of wood. First, wood breakage mechanisms and the mechanisms of size reduction are presented, followed by fine grinding techniques and wood pre-treatment methods. A comparison of the specific energy consumption of wood fine grinding in both a gaseous and liquid environment is illustrated. Additionally, examples are given of the role played by pre-treatment methods in decreasing energy consumption. The particle aspect ratio is discussed briefly. Finally, the use and requirements of wood powders in various applications are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Developing sustainable business models for high energy-consuming equipment (HECE) has attracted increasing attention. Product Service System (PSS) is one eminent candidate, in which assessing economic and environmental performance of PSS during the entire lifecycle of the equipment is of utmost importance. All the stakeholders should conclude their own benefits in advance. Yet, there is only few decision-making support tools for developing PSS of HECE, and the stakeholders can hardly apply them because of a lack of expertise. This paper articulates an evaluation tool which combines life cycle assessment (LCA) and life cycle costing (LCC) to support the development of PSS for HECE. A framework is proposed to guide the evaluation procedure which consists of seven steps including goal and scope definition, system boundary determination, methods selection, scenarios construction, data collection, quantitative analysis and results interpretation. Air separation equipment (ASE), a typical HECE, is selected as a case study. The results show that extra economic benefits for both manufacturer and client are associated with increased investment, more environmental burdens and higher risk. Developing PSS might not always be a sustainable practice, e.g., gas supply service would lead to extra economic and environmental burdens due to frequent transportation. The suitable conditions for implementing different PSS modes are analysed and discussed. The case study demonstrates that the stakeholders can carry out LCA and LCC in a more efficient, convenient and comprehensive manner using our proposed evaluation tool. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The sustainable management of aluminium has become crucial due to the exponential growth in global demand. The transition to a sustainable society with lightweight electric vehicles has led to the increasing use of aluminium in the transportation sector. This has consequently led to the importance of aluminium recycling to prevent the valuable material stream going to landfill. In addition, the extraction of primary aluminium has high environmental impact due to the high energy consumption and waste generation in comparison to secondary aluminium processing. Despite being one of the most recycled metals, ongoing trends of multi-material designs and the associated joining choices have caused increasing difficulty of separating aluminium with high purity. This paper evaluates the types of joining techniques causing impurities in the aluminium streams, and the relationship between particle size reduction and the presence of impurities due to joints particularly for end-of-life vehicles. An empirical experiment in a leading European recycling facility was conducted and demonstrated that mechanical fasteners, such as machine screws, socket screws, bolt screws and rivets, are the major types of joining technique causing impurities. Based on the observations from this case study, the characteristics of imperfectly liberated joints are examined. A Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is also performed to evaluate the environmental impact of recycling different aluminium scrap qualities with varying impurity levels. The outcomes are then used to provide ecodesign guidelines aimed at improving the quality and increase the quantity of recycled aluminium. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]