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Plastic pollution is currently one of the environmental pollution issues of global concern, and microplastics (plastics with a size ≤ 5 mm) have also attracted much attention due to their large specific area, higher pollutant adsorption capacity, and higher migration performance. As the population increases and more chemical products are manufactured, the level of microplastic pollution continues to increase. Microplastics discharged from sewage treatment systems will enter the ocean and rivers, so estuary ecosystems are vital to controlling marine microplastics. As the estuary of China's most significant river entering the East China Sea, the Changjiang River Estuary has become one of the typical areas for microplastic research in estuaries. This paper systematically reviews the sources, hazards, and impacts of microplastics in the Changjiang Estuary. Firstly, the research on microplastics in the Changjiang Estuary was analyzed, and we found that the bioaccumulation, removal, and interaction with microorganisms of microplastics have become a new research hotspot. At the same time, the current abundance of microplastics in the surface water of the Changjiang River Estuary is 1.71 ± 3.12 MP/L, which is lower than that of the Changjiang River area and the river farmland in Shanghai, but still higher than the 0.22 ± 0.27 MP/L in the area adjacent to the East China Sea. Microplastics smaller than 1000 μm accounted for 68% of the total, while transparent, white, blue, and black were the primary colors of microplastics in the Changjiang Estuary. In addition, polyethylene and polypropylene are the primary materials of microplastics in the central Changjiang River Estuary and related water bodies, and fibers are the main shape of microplastics. Industry, agriculture, domestic sewage, and air deposition may be the primary sources of microplastics in the Changjiang Estuary. The numerous lakes and water conservancy facilities in the Changjiang River Basin can reduce the number of microplastics reaching the Changjiang Estuary to a certain extent. At the same time, seasonal rainfall and ocean currents will affect the abundance of microplastics in the surface waters of the Changjiang River Estuary. Finally, this paper puts forward relevant suggestions based on the actual situation of the Changjiang River Estuary and the developed microplastic treatment technologies. This article will provide a structured reference for future research on microplastics in the Changjiang Estuary and assist in assessing microplastics' impact on the ecological environment. The Fate of Microplastic Pollution in the Changjiang River Estuary. [Display omitted] • Microplastics' sources, hazards, and impacts in the Yangtze Estuary were reviewed. • Bioaccumulation, removal, and interaction with microorganisms are the hotspots. • The microplastics in the water of the Changjiang mainly exists in the form of fibers. • Source control and establishment of MPs barriers will help to solve MPs pollution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract This paper builds an environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) multiple logistic regression model to analyze how socio-economic development impacts mainland China's coastal waters environment. China's coastal provinces have significantly different seawater quality at different stages of the seawater's EKC. Jiangsu and Hebei are still at the early stage of the seawater's EKC because of the large quantity of pollution-intensive industry, whereas the coastal provinces at the late stage of the seawater's EKC have presented obviously improved seawater quality based on adjustments in the industrial structure since 2001. Urbanization has a severe impact on the seawater quality of Shanghai and Zhejiang at the middle stage of the seawater's EKC. Furthermore, this paper proposes an overall strategy and several "tailored" strategies to address coastal waters environment improvement for current poorly targeted policies at different stages of the seawater's EKC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract In this paper, we adopt a non-radial directional distance function to analyze the efficiency and shadow price of CO 2 emissions of coal-fired power plants. Using a sample of Shanghai's 20 coal-fired power plants, we find that the efficiency performance of power plants remained steady during the period 2007–2010. On average, the carbon abatement costs of Shanghai's power plants increased from 20.58 yuan/ton to 39.67 yuan/ton during 2007–2010. Although the average shadow price of the power plants increased during the period, the price was still well below shadow prices for the energy consumption of the industries, and a little lower than the trading price in the ETS markets. In addition, the paper discusses the implications of the findings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Corporate innovation legitimacy is the key guarantee for listed companies to obtain returns from innovation activities. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effect of analyst coverage on corporate innovation legitimacy based on effective supervision hypothesis and market pressure hypothesis. Moreover, it examines the moderating effect of analyst coverage characteristics, individual corporate behavior, external governance mechanism on the relationship between analyst coverage and corporate innovation legitimacy. The hypotheses are tested using a data set of Shanghai and Shenzhen A-share listed companies from China Research Data Service Platform (CNRDS) database, Hexun.com and CSMAR database. To overcome sample selection bias and reverse causality, this paper conduct robustness test using propensity score matching, lag variable, substitution variable and sample reduction to ensure the reliability of the research conclusions. Findings show that analyst coverage can effectively improve the innovation legitimacy of listed companies. In addition, based on the heterogeneity of the above relationship in different contexts, further research finds that the depth of analyst tracking, and the assessment of analyst optimism strengthen the positive impact of analyst coverage on innovation legitimacy. The implementation of green social responsibility brings a good reputation for the company, thereby helping analysts to focus on improving the legitimacy of innovation; In the market environment with relatively perfect external governance mechanism, the stronger the effect of analyst coverage on corporate innovation legitimacy. Prior studies mostly considered the R&D investment and other factors to overlook how other dimensions influence companies from the perspective of quantity. The research conclusion confirms the significance of analyst coverage as an external corporate governance mechanism, further enriches the theoretical research framework of innovation legitimacy, and has certain reference value for the improvement of innovation quality of listed companies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Air pollutions from transportation sector have become a serious urban environmental problem, especially in developing countries with expending urbanization. Cleaner technologies advancement and optimal regulation on the transporting behaviors and related design in infrastructures is critical to address above issue. To understand the spatial and temporal emissions pattern within transportation lays the foundation for design on better infrastructures and guidance on low-carbon transportation behaviors. The feasibility of Global Positioning System (GPS) and emerging big data analysis technique enable the in-depth analysis on this topic, while to date, applications had been rather few. With this circumstance, this paper analyzed the taxi's energy consumption and emissions and their spatial-temporal distribution in Shanghai, one of the most famous mega cities in China, applying big data analysis on GPS data of taxies. Spatial and temporal features of energy consumptions and pollutants emissions were further mapped with geographical information system (GIS). Results highlighted that, spatially, the energy consumption and emission presented a distribution of dual-core cyclic structure, in which, two hubs were identified. One was the city center, the other was Hongqiao transport hub, the activities and emission was more concentrated in the west par of Huangpu River. Temporally, the highest activity and emission moment was 9–10AM, the second peak occurred in 7–8PM, which were both the traffic rush period. The lowest activity/emission moment was 3–4AM. Causal mechanism for such distribution was further investigated, so as to improve the driving behaviors. Through the exploration of spatial and temporal emissions distribution of taxis via big dada technique, this paper provided enlightening insights to policy makers for better understanding on the travel patterns and related environmental implications in Shanghai metropolis, so as to support better planning on infrastructures system, demand side management and the promotion on low-carbon life styles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ports can be considered as nodes in a (global) network and the accessibility of ports is an important indicator of economic performance. In addition, ports are important in modern societies and make a substantial contribution to the GDP of a city, a region or a country. To connect with the hinterland, ports make use of different modalities, such as trucks, trains, ships, and pipelines. But, at the same time, these modalities generate negative effects, such as emissions and noise, which need to be addressed. We call this the need for a more sustainable ports and hinterland connection. In this article we present a conceptual framework and simulation of sustainability measures and their effectiveness. The starting point of this framework is the identification of four different options, which can be considered as part of a dynamic (transport) system. These options can contribute to a (more) sustainable transport system, but the dynamics are the determining factor to assess its success. This paper combines the outcomes of both a qualitative and a quantitative study, and is structured in three parts. In the first part, on the basis of a literature study we discuss the dynamic relationships in the triangle: GDP, port-related transport, and sustainability. The second part, based on both a literature study and interviews, describes four options to improve sustainable port-hinterland transport performance. These options are presented in the context of a detailed analysis of feedback loops generated by the system dynamics (SD) model and a simulation study in the Port of Shanghai case. Finally, we consider the opportunities and limitations of these four options as an integrated part of the policy framework for the Port of Shanghai. One of the most important conclusions of this paper is that sustainable port related hinterland transport should be considered an organizational issue. The biggest challenge for the transition to a sustainable port related hinterland transport system is not to develop new technology (hardware or tech-ware), but to develop new governance arrangements (org-ware). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Accurate assessment of the sustainable development level is crucial to providing reasonable and effective management recommendations. However, analysis with a single scale can only reflect the sustainable status at a specific level. In this study, a multi-scale analysis of sustainability was conducted via the three-dimensional Ecological Footprint (EF) model in the Yangtze River Delta (YRD). Moreover, driving factors of sustainability were analyzed using the Multi-scale Geographically Weighted Regression model (MGWR). The conclusions include: (1) the development of YRD showed an unsustainable trend from 2014 to 2021, with per capita EF decreasing from 5.769 ha/cap to 5.283 ha/cap. The provincial sustainability is ranked as follows, from being the most sustainable to the least: Anhui Province > Jiangsu Province > Zhejiang Province > Shanghai City. (2) Based on dual indicators of EF depth and size, 41 cities were categorized into nine groups. The dominant type is always Medium size-Low depth (ML) and High size-Low depth (HL) type cities from 2014 to 2021. From the perspective of city scale, the sustainability of five cities weakened, while seven cities showed improvements. (3) Output value of primary industry (OVPI) and population (POP) were always the dominant factors affecting EF, but showed positive and negative correlations respectively. OVPI changes from north-south symmetric type to central symmetric type, while POP changes from central symmetric type to north-south symmetric type. This paper aims to comprehensively assess the sustainable development status from agglomeration-province-city perspectives, and its findings can provide a reference for similar regions with unbalanced development status between ecology and production. • The sustainability of the world-class urban agglomeration was assessed via the three-dimensional ecological footprint model. • More comprehensive and accurate analysis results based on multi-scale analysis. • The four patterns of influencing mechanism are revealed based on the MGWR model. • The combination analysis of dual indicators was adopted to classify the sustainability of 41 cities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Urban lakes are often disconnected to the surrounding rivers, and they are affected by rainfall runoff pollution. This study focused on an artificial lake-river system in Shanghai featuring a spiderweb-structure, it is expected to detect whether the tributaries in such a system made a protective and buffering effect on the lake under the impact of rainfall runoff. A hydrodynamic model was established using MIKE 21, one of the most widely used software which can conduct two-dimensional modeling of water quality changes in surface water, to simulate the changes of total nitrogen (TN) and total phosphorus (TP), the key indicators causing lake eutrophication, under different rainfall events. The results showed that, under various conditions, storm events almost have no first or final effect on the central lake, TN and TP in the lake were improved by 5%–18% and 1%–12% among monitoring stations. However, Obvious negative effects were displayed in the water quality of radial – circular tributaries, and the first effects in circular tributaries were more serious than those on the radial because their difference in hydrological condition. With the increase of rainfall intensity, the peak value of the pollutant concentration in circular rivers increased 63%–185% as compared with the initial. As to final effects, some circular rivers were significantly impacted, and the pollutant concentration increased by approximately 40% in the seventh day as rainfall started. It was deduced that tributaries played as protective buffer against pollutants in this spiderweb water system, in that pollutants would be degraded in such dense spiderweb-structured river systems before entering the central lake, and rainfall runoff would also accelerate the flow in rivers and lakes. Therefore, the paper hold that, the central lake could not be separated from the radial – circular tributaries, and the officially planned pumps and sluices in the river estuaries would not be recommended. This study would provide technical support for the planning, construction and ecological protection of artificial urban lake-river system in similar areas. [Display omitted] • Effect of rainfall runoff on a spiderweb-structured water system was assessed. • The circular tributaries were more impacted than the radial ones. • The tributaries play a protective role by buffering pollutants from the lake. • Sluices were not suggested to be constructed at the estuaries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The implementation of an Environmental Management System (EMS) ISO 14001 is an instrument for achieving a corporate's sustainable development and therefore is an important tool for environmental management. Due to rapid economic development, the coating industry is increasing rapidly, resulting in several environmental problems. Many coating firms have adopted EMS; however, quantitative and qualitative evaluations of the environmental performance of EMS have rarely been examined in the literature. This paper proposed an environmental performance evaluation system that enables quantitatively assess the effects of EMS in the coating industry. A four-level framework was structured with 74 indicators and sub-indicators according to the context and characteristics of the coating industry. Divided into two aspects, the legislative system and environmental management performance system, these indicators and sub-indicators covered almost every element of ISO 14001. And the evaluation criteria were closely referred to Chinese coating industry standards and cleaner production regulations. Using analytical hierarchy process and fuzzy membership degree analysis, the weight of each indicator was determined, and evaluation results were achieved. Moreover, using a coating firm in Shanghai as a case study, this paper investigated the impacts of EMS implementation in two successive years after the firm was granted an ISO14001 certificate in 2007. The results indicated that the environmental performance of EMS in the coating firm was satisfactory in 2008, and there was an obvious improvement in 2009, which strongly demonstrated that the evaluation model was scientific and practical. Finally, further improvements are proposed from four aspects, including thoroughly identifying environmental factors, encouraging the development of advanced pollution control technologies, sustaining the improvement process of EMS after the initial adoption, and supporting the involvement of software applications. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Nationwide unification of carbon emission right market in China has long been proposed yet not achieved. Launching of the nationwide trading center at Shanghai was a recent great step towards this target but the regional pilots covering respective zones are still in operation. With all trading data in those markets from their inceptions, this paper investigates the development status and trend of each submarket, based on which, it is revealed that sudden replacement of regional markets by the unified nationwide trading center is infeasible at the present stage, furthermore, feasibility of market merging is analyzed and optimized route for essential unification is designed. This paper contributes to deconstruct the value of carbon emission right and interprets its properties of option value, the equivalence of which value from the perspective of financial investment and enterprise operations is explored and formally established. Applying the geometric Brownian motion and optimal stopping time to model the carbon asset operation, option value of carbon emission right is estimated and marginal return-ability of its consumption is calculated for each region. Based on the analysis regionally, market merging is simulated and optimized route for nationwide market unification is proposed with policy suggestions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rapid urban expansion and economic development has led to severe demands of energy and water resources, which poses serious challenges to sustainability and environment. Previous studies have taken more consideration of one resource flow ignoring the interconnectedness between energy and water. In this paper, an urban energy-water nexus framework is constructed considering both domestic and international trade, based on the environmentally extended multi-scale input-output (EE-MSIO) model. This method allows us to trace energy and water flows in a multi-scale economic system from production and consumption perspectives. In basis of that, the nexus strengthen indicator is constructed to evaluate the energy-water nexus of the trading regions with Shanghai city in the domestic and international trade to present the integrated environmental pressure externalized in Shanghai's rapid economic development. Findings indicate that Shanghai is a net importer of energy and water flow. This result is compatible with the fact that Shanghai is a consumer city. Additionally, the seven domestic regions in China are net exporters toward Shanghai, supporting around 55.10% of energy and 70.56% of water import flows driven by city's final demand. Shanghai largely imports flows of energy and water from Mainland China and developing regions across the globe, whereas export little to developed nations. Nexus results indicate that from consumption perspective, Hebei and Shandong are of the highest nexus strength embodied in domestic trade with Shanghai, with nearly equal contribution for both energy and water. While USA is the largest energy-water nexus node embodied in international trade with Shanghai, around 60% energy and 40% water contributed to the nexus. During these tradeoffs, Shanghai is the major beneficiary, being able to externalize environmental pressures by consumption of domestic and international exported goods and services. The study outcomes suggest that a higher coordination, together with a rearrangement of the regional trade structure, should be the key leverages for an effective management of resources and environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: China is currently facing the threat of serious air pollution and has adopted a series of governance policies. However, the fact that PM 2.5 indicator in some regions often reached far higher than the official threshold since 2015 has reflected that China's current Air Quality Index system for measuring and evaluating air quality is still not perfect. Therefore, this paper extended the current air quality indicator system officially used by China. Using improved Entropy-weighted Factor Method and Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS) Method, we calculated the air quality scores of 26 cities in China's most economically developed region - the Yangtze River Delta region based on their daily average concentration numbers of main air pollutants from February 2015 to January 2018. Based on the air quality calculation result, we further studied the effectiveness of air pollution control policies of this region by using the Box-Jenkins Model with fuzzy strategy parameter adjustment. Our findings are: the pollution control policy is more effective to Shanghai, Jiangsu and Zhejiang. The air quality score of Shanghai has improved by 51.07% compared with its level before the policy. Meanwhile, the air quality improvement in Zhejiang province has shown the characteristics of "Campaign-style Governance" right before the G20 Summit, especially that in Hangzhou, the host city of the Summit. On the other hand, maybe due to late start of air pollution control programs, the cities of Anhui province haven't shown obvious improvements in air quality, and some cities have even seen deterioration in air quality scores during our study period. Graphical abstract Image 1 Highlights • We extended the current air quality indicator system officially used by China. • We used the Entropy-weighted Factor Method and TOPSIS Method for assessing. • We studied the control policies by Box-Jenkins Model with fuzzy strategy parameter. • Results and corresponding reasons were analyzed according to provinces and cities. • Policy recommendations for air pollution control in YRD were proposed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To achieve its carbon peak and neutrality targets, China is in need of balancing environmental and economic sustainability; In addition, whether environmental regulations can gain economic dividends while protecting the environment is particularly important. Based on the data of A-share listed companies in Shanghai and Shenzhen from 2012 to 2021, this study takes China's environmental fee-to-tax as a quasi-natural experiment, and adopts the difference-in-difference-in-differences model to evaluate the impact of environmental tax on enterprises' total factor productivity (ETFP). The results show that the environmental fee-to-tax significantly hinders the growth of ETFP. Further, this negative impact mainly stems from the fact that the reform prompts enterprises to choose strategic innovation and conduct greenwashing behavior. Furthermore, when considering enterprises' heterogeneity, we find that enterprises with large scale, high investment efficiency, state ownership, high market competitiveness and located in western regions are more resistant to policy shocks. This paper provides reliable empirical evidence and useful policy implications for further formulating environmental tax policies to accomplish the "win-win" goal for both the environment and the economy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Stimulating enterprises to implement environmental management system certification (EMSC, that is to say ISO14001 certification) to the greatest extent and resolving their obstacles in time are the basis for promoting green development of enterprises. Using the full samples of Shanghai and Shenzhen A-share listed industrial enterprises from 2010 to 2019, and employing the Logit model and Propensity Score Matching method (PSM), this paper empirically analyzes the motivations and obstacles for Chinese enterprises to implement EMSC certification, further explores the transformation between advantages and disadvantages under certain conditions, and the differentiation characteristics among enterprises under different social responsibility, property rights and enterprise size. The results show that: ① There is a "U"-shaped relationship between corporate social responsibility and EMSC, and the social responsibility of non-state-owned enterprises could realize the transformation from obstacle to motivation earlier than that of state-owned enterprises. ② There is an inverted "U"-shaped relationship between environmental regulation and EMSC, precisely speaking, this inverted "U"-shaped relationship only exists in non-state-owned enterprises, large-scale enterprises and enterprises with high social responsibility. ③ The public environmental awareness could promote enterprises to implement EMSC, and would strengthen the impact of environmental regulations on enterprises' implementation of EMSC. ④ Based on Propensity Score Matching method, it is concluded that Chinese enterprises indeed improve their environmental performance rather than their financial performance by EMSC. The conclusions provide helpful practical guidance for comprehensively revealing the motivations and obstacles for China's enterprises to implement EMSC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Green technology innovation is the principal approach to cleaner production and achieving sustainable development. This paper focuses on the impact of the synergy effect between external government subsidies and internal slack on green technology innovation, as well as the moderating role of ownership concentration in this process. Using China's data of the high-tech enterprises listed in Shanghai and Shenzhen from 2011 to 2016, the hypotheses are tested based on the fixed effect model of negative binomial distribution. The results suggest that: a) the synergy of government subsidies and unabsorbed slack effectively improves the enterprises' green technical innovation, while the synergy of government subsidies and absorbed slack negatively affect the enterprises' green technical innovation; and b) ownership concentration positively moderates the relation between green technology innovation and the synergy of government subsidies and unabsorbed slack with a inverted U-shaped curve, while there is no significance in their absorbed slack counterparts. Moreover, the baseline conclusions are applicable to non-state-owned enterprises, while they differ in state-owned enterprises regarding the property heterogeneity: the synergistic effect between government subsidies and absorbed slack has no significance on the green technology innovation of these state-owned enterprises; and the ownership concentration positively moderates the relation between green technology innovation and the synergy of government subsidies and unabsorbed slack with a U-shaped curve. Thus, an integrated framework of public supported resources, internal resources and the ownership concentration is built to optimize the allocation of external and internal resources for enterprises to develop green new technologies and ultimately promote the sustainability of the environment. This paper focuses on the impact of synergy effect between external government subsidies and internal slack on green technology innovation, as well as the moderating role of ownership concentration in this process. Image 1 • Systematically integrates external subsidies, internal slack resources, ownership concentration and green technology innovation. • The synergy between subsidies and slack resources on green technology innovation is moderated by ownership concentration. • Both absorbed slack and unabsorbed slack are readily recombined with subsidies to promote green technology innovation. • The relationship among subsidies, slack resources, equity and green technology innovation is heterogeneous in property. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dockless bicycle sharing (DBS) has become a popular form of public transport worldwide over recent years, which contributes mightily to solving the increasingly frequent traffic congestion and parking issues in urban areas. However, its spatiotemporal usage patterns and determinants have not been fully investigated. In particular, the existing studies have not provided clear insight into the effect of traffic status on DBS trips. To address this shortcoming, this study proposes a model framework to understand DBS from multiple aspects. Within this framework, descriptive statistics and visualisation methods are employed to explore the spatiotemporal travel patterns of DBS in the downtown area of Shanghai. By adopting spatial panel models, the impacts of the built environment, weather, and traffic status on DBS in different regions are examined, and the heterogeneity analysis of traffic status factors is further conducted. The results have shown that DBS in Shanghai has obvious tidal distribution characteristics. The supply of DBS exceeds the demand in the peripheral areas of the city, while the opposite is true in the city centre. In addition, the traffic state index, bus stop density, residential and commercial land area have a positive contribution to DBS usage and have obvious positive spatial spillover effects. The results from the heterogeneity analysis have revealed that the influencing mechanism of DBS usage varies by location and riding duration. These findings of the present paper can provide an effective basis for DBS demand distribution forecasting, regional rebalancing, and connecting traffic planning, thereby facilitating the usage of DBS, promoting intermodal transport, and reducing carbon emissions. • Analysed the spatiotemporal characteristics of dockless bicycle-sharing (DBS) usage. • Explored the impact of traffic status on DBS trips. • The spatial distribution of DBS has a strong tidal distribution phenomenon. • Traffic state index, bus stop density, residential and commercial land area were discovered to promote DBS usage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to deal with the increasing environmental challenges, the high carbon-emitting transport system keeps transitioning to achieve carbon peaking and carbon neutrality goals. This paper addresses the calculation of carbon emission estimation and identifying carbon reduction driving factors for the hinterland-based container intermodal network. Firstly, an analysis of the carbon emissions composition of the hinterland-based container intermodal networks is conducted. Furthermore, a carbon emission estimation model for the hinterland-based container intermodal network is developed. Subsequently, taking the Shanghai port and the Yangtze River Delta (YRD) hinterland as a case, we estimate the carbon emission of the hinterland-based container intermodal network under the Well-to-Wheel (WTW) and the Tank-to-Wheel (TTW) modes in the past ten years. Finally, the critical driving factors are identified by sensitivity analysis, and the variation of carbon emissions under different scenarios with carbon reduction policies are analyzed. The results indicate that the transportation structure and the fuel choices affect network emissions reductions significantly. In the current policy-based scenario, the WTW mode achieves the carbon peaking between 2030 and 2035, while the TTW mode peaks earlier. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Human time and land use are important elements in terms of one mega city's urban metabolism, thus, it is critical to find an integrated approach to evaluate their contributions. In this paper a dual-fund analytical framework has been developed by employing the Multi-Scale Integrated Analysis of Societal and Ecosystem Metabolism (MuSIASEM) approach to analyze the metabolic pattern of one mega city from economic, social and ecological dimensions. A case study of Shanghai was undertaken to study its historical pattern changes and evaluate the possible results with the implementation of the 13th Five Year Plan. Research results show that shanghai relied on the extraneous labor force to fulfill the need of working hours and economic transition in Shanghai occurred with the booming development of tertiary sector. Shanghai's land resource is very scarce to meet its need of development, leading to a need of adopting integrated efforts to. In order to achieve the proposed targets, economic labor productivity and land use performance should be improved through the application of various measures, including industrial and energy structure optimization, energy saving, capacity building and circular economy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Electric vehicles (EV) are expected to see a rapid growth in next decades as a substantial measure to achieve global climate goal. This course will be an unprecedented event in the industry history, and it will inevitably influence and change the power grid and the transportation network. The projection of EV population is the basis to coordinate the development of EV and urban systems. This paper proposes a modified Bass diffusion model to fulfill this task. Firstly, advantages of Bass diffusion model are analyzed, while car scrappage and technology competition with internal combust engine vehicle (ICEV) are involved to improve the model. Secondly, performance of the proposed model is evaluated with actual data during 2006–2020, and the EV stock up to 2050 is projected with the assessment of uncertainties. Thirdly, the policy on license plate quota and the ban on ICEV sales are discussed through experiment simulation. In a standard growing mode, EV is expected to dominant the new sales market by 2030 in Shanghai, and to completely replace ICEV before 2050. This research can provide a reference for urban power-transportation integrated system planning, renewable energy consumption, and carbon reduction path design. • The Bass diffusion model is modified with car scrappage and technology competition. • Effects of the license plate quota and the fuel vehicle sales ban are discussed. • Data of a pilot city for electric vehicle applications are collected for modeling. • The EV population growth up to 2050 is described with discussion of uncertainties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In a shopping mall, it's a common phenomenon that brands enter and exit. Studying the brand's entry and connection in the mall's ecological chain is an important factor in judging whether the brand can develop sustainably in the mall. Based on the analysis of 724,685 consumers' consumption data from one International Shopping Center in Shanghai, China, this paper conducts the social network analysis, builds a brand network map, and examines brand connection through visual analysis and cohesion subgroup analysis. Empirical results indicate that brand awareness, product category, brand positioning, and consumer characteristics are the major factors that influence brand connection. The sensitivity analysis is further conducted based on the singular value decomposition (SVD). Furthermore, these four factors have a positive impact on the sustainable development of the brand after entering and a mathematical model is established to determine whether a brand should be settled in a certain shopping mall. This research is the first to study the factors affecting the sustainable development of brands in the shopping mall ecological chain. Using big data technology to provide brand selection guidance for shopping malls from a micro perspective. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Household and municipal solid waste (MSW) are difficult problems worldwide, but nowhere more than in the rapidly growing cities and super-cities where over half of the world's population now lives. An important mitigation is the diversion of reusable materials through sorting “at source” in the household, and in countries where most meal preparations occur at home, this includes sorting out food waste. In this paper we examine results from an early pilot scheme for food waste recycling in 100 communities in the metropolis of Shanghai, China, that has had limited success (28% diversion rates on average) and is ready for reflective changes. We consider different approaches in the literature designed to support sorting and reduction of MSW, such as law enforcement, top-down policies, community involvement and financial investment, and then explore which of these are present and missing in Shanghai. We find that there is considerable government support and willingness to make financial investment – about 1.37 million yuan per distract – but this is not as effective as it could be, apparently because of a traditional lack of rigorous use of data, of clarification of roles, and of supporting enforcement legislation. Even though financial investment is important and significant for the household waste sorting and reduction, it cannot produce results on its own. It should be targeted to appropriate stakeholders in the context of wider considerations to produce an overall environment for food waste recycling to become mainstream. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Pavement integrated photovoltaic thermal (PIPVT) technology can utilize vast roads and pavements for electrical and thermal energy generation simultaneously. In this paper, a two-dimensional transient numerical model is developed for demonstrating the performance of a PIPVT system with two PIPVT modules and a 50 L water tank. With the mathematical model, the system performance is examined using simulations under three typical weather conditions, namely sunny, semi-cloudy, and cloudy. Besides, a long-term simulation is conducted in five climatic regions represented by five cities in China, including Lhasa, Harbin, Haikou, Shanghai, and Yinchuan, to study the seasonal and annual performance of PIPVT systems in different areas. From the viewpoint of both the first and second laws of thermodynamics, both energy and exergy analyses are performed for all the cases in different weathers and climatic regions. The overall energy efficiencies of sunny, semi-cloudy, and cloudy days are 33.10%, 34.74%, and 18.60%, respectively, revealing that the PIPVT system performs well on sunny days and semi-cloudy days, while the overall performance is unsatisfactory on cloudy days with extremely low solar radiation that rarely appears. Particularly, among the five climatic regions, the highland climatic region is ideal for PIPVT application with both the highest annual overall energy and exergy efficiencies of 37.89% and 14.17%, respectively. The icing phenomenon of the water in tubes arises in winter and late autumn in both the temperate monsoon climatic region and the temperate continental climatic region. The overall performance of PIPVT systems is best in western and southern China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Agricultural sector is the basic industry supporting the construction and development of national economy. With the continuous deterioration of agricultural pollution, measuring and understanding agricultural total factor productivity (AGTFP) is the important premise to achieve agricultural green development and clean production. Regarding carbon emissions and agricultural non-point source pollution (ANSP) as undesired outputs, this paper applies a three-stage Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) method combined with the Slack-Based Measure (SBM) model to eliminate the influences of environmental factors and random errors and explore the real AGTFP of 30 provinces in China from 2000 to 2017.On this basis, the spatial distribution and dynamic changes of AGTFP before and after adjustment are further discussed to seek the underlying reasons. The empirical results demonstrate that AGTFP is lower when carbon emissions and ANSP are both considered, and it decreases from east to west in StageⅠbut the Northeast region surpasses the East to achieve the highest productivity after removing the interferences. Moreover, China's AGTFP has been restricted by the external environment, and superior external environment disguises the poor management efficiency of Beijing and Shanghai. Therefore, some policy implications to balance agricultural environment and economic development are proposed. [Display omitted] • Non-point source pollution and CO 2 are integrated to measure agricultural green efficiency. • A three-stage SBM-DEA approach is employed to calculate the real agricultural green total factor productivity. • Different environmental factors have different effects on the slack of agricultural inputs. • China's agricultural green total factor productivity is restricted by the external environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the sustainable development of cities, green transportation is regarded as a critical approach to mitigate air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions. Driven by this, Electric vehicles (EV) have been strongly advocated by the government for their zero-emission merit. However, the promotion of EV is not smoothly caused by inconvenient charging issues. For the high construction cost and land scarcity, current public charging stations could not meet the booming charging demands and worry the potential EV users. To address the problem, this paper proposed a peer-to-peer (P2P) private charging pile sharing system supported by blockchain technology. In this system, the charging records of EV users could be packaged and uploaded into the blockchain, which is immutable and tamper-resistant. The detailed blockchain hierarchy is also designed to make this system more practical. Meanwhile, the Multi-Agent-Based (MAB) model is adopted to evaluate the performance of this sharing system. In this model, different participants' behaviors are fully considered and calculated. Furthermore, several numerical experiments are conducted to unveil the inner business relationships between charing demanders and pile suppliers. Lastly, the proposed private pile sharing system is validated by the realistic data of the Lujiazui business circle in Shanghai, China. [Display omitted] • We proposed a novel P2P EV pile sharing system supported by blockchain. • Multi-agent modeling is adopted to evaluate this decentralized sharing system. • The practical architecture and hierarchy are well designed for this system. • The proposed framework is validated by the real data set of Shanghai, China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper proposes a new prediction method incorporating a set of measuring models applicable to the financing efficiency of China's carbon market to quantify such market's maturity, trading risk coefficient, and financing income. Our theoretical analysis indicates that the price of carbon emission quota essentially affects the financing efficiency of carbon market. While a robust safeguard measure to obtain a respectable income from carbon market financing is the long-term average quota price exceeding the initial quota price. Empirical findings derived from China's emissions trading scheme pilots reveal that these pilots can be divided into the growth-oriented market (i.e. Guangdong whose financing capacity is always significant), the balance-oriented market (i.e. Shanghai and Hubei whose quota pricing mechanisms and the financing level of carbon markets both maturely develop), and the risk-oriented market (i.e. Beijing whose quota price runs at a high-level with an intense financing income volatility). It is therefore achieved that carbon market's maturity level and quota price volatility are both robustly explicable for different financing effects among these pilots. Our key findings show that expanding the coverage of quota trading parties, stabilizing carbon price, and promoting carbon asset management help to improve the financing efficiency of carbon market. • The financing mechanism is analyzed with clarifying its main influence factors. • A stochastic process is used to build a price simulation equation that meets the operation law of China's carbon market. • An income model is built and thus evaluate market financing effect based on price expression and financing mechanism. • The financing effect of China's 8 pilot markets is measured, and thus 3 kinds of development modes are proposed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the potential indicators influencing CO 2 emission in Shanghai during 1995–2017 by a combined method of logarithmic mean Divisia index method (LMDI) and Granger causality test for the purpose of strengthening the sustainability in dynamic perspectives. Firstly, we quantify the contributions of potentially influential factors of CO 2 emission, and then a further analysis of different relationships between CO 2 emission and the mainly potential factors are identified. The results show that the motor vehicle amount, the disposable personal income, the carbon intensity, and the urbanization rate are the top four driving forces of CO 2 emission. The result of Granger causality test indicates that the motor vehicle amount has a bidirectional Granger causality relationship with CO 2 emission in different lags, while the urbanization rate, per motor vehicle secondary industry, per secondary industry population, per residents' income GDP support coefficient and the carbon intensity have a one-way Granger causality relationship with CO 2 emission. Interestingly, it is found that the policy implementation or main events are closely related to the influential factors of CO 2 emission. Thus, policy makers should not only continue to implement current related policies of reducing CO 2 emission but also pay attention to the effect of great events of urban development. • The motor vehicle amount effect is the top driving forces of CO 2 emission. • CO 2 emission may have a closed relationship with urban policy. • Causality between factors by Granger causality test were investigated. • Motor vehicle amount has bidirectional Granger causality relationships with CO 2 emission. • Policy implication of carbon emission reduction were discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The maintenance of tunnel infrastructure is fundamental to the reliability, safety, and efficiency of tunnel operations. However, environmental deterioration has dramatically changed maintenance scheduling of tunnel infrastructure. Therefore, the trade-off between maintenance cost and environmental impact is crucial when formulating maintenance schedules. This paper extends the preventive maintenance scheduling problem (PMSP) from three perspectives: social impact, environmental impact, and unexpected maintenance over the entire planning horizon. We then propose a stochastic bi-objective integer programming model to minimize the total cost and CO 2 emissions of tunnel maintenance over the entire planning horizon. The model is applied to a case study developed for the Dalian Road Tunnel in Shanghai. A scenario-based method is adopted to account for uncertain failures. A hybrid algorithm using particle swarm optimization (PSO) and genetic algorithm (GA) is proposed to solve the model in realistic large-scale environments. Extensive numerical experiments are performed to verify the effectiveness of the proposed model and the efficiency of the proposed algorithm. Some meaningful management implications are revealed based on the experimental results. • A bi-objective model is proposed by considering social and environmental factors. • The trade-off between total cost and CO2 emissions has been examined in the tunnel maintenance activities planning. • The preventive maintenance scheduling problem (PMSP) is extended by considering uncertain failures. • A hybrid PSO-GA algorithm is developed to solve the model efficiently. • Managerial insights are revealed for planning tunnel maintenance activities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As a promising sustainable mode of transportation, electric carsharing can relieve the urban traffic pressure and environmental pollution problems, which has been promoted all over the world to reduce or replace fossil-fueled private cars. However, the operation of electric carsharing is faced with difficulties in profitability and management. Vehicle relocation can alleviate the imbalance between supply and demand, and compared with operator-based relocation, user-based relocation is more sustainable and cost-efficient. In this paper, we develop a user-based relocation model with the optimization objectives of profit maximization and using failure rate minimization. Two station pricing schemes of pure preferential and preferential combined with fine are proposed as the constraints. For the input of the relocation model, the back propagation neural network of the quantity demand and the distribution fitting model of the energy demand are constructed to predict user demand. The demand prediction model and relocation model are validated through the operation data of EVCARD in Shanghai. The results demonstrate that the user-based relocation can effectively reduce the using failure rate and has the potential to increase the net profit. Compared with the situation without vehicle relocation, the user-based relocation strategy can reduce using failure rate by 13.6% and increase net profit by 76.9% in the best situation. Through sensitivity analysis of key parameters, it is found that the station pricing of pure preferential can reduce the using failure rate, but the profitability of the electric carsharing system is weakened. The introduction of fine can effectively slow down the erosion of user incentive on the system profit and increase the profit. [Display omitted] • A three-layer BP network model is constructed for micro demand prediction. • Concepts of endogenous demand and derived demand are introduced. • Take profit maximum and using failure rate minimum as optimization objectives. • User-based relocation can improve the imbalance of vehicles and the profitability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nowadays, air pollution caused by traffic congestion has progressively drawn more and more attention. This paper proposes a traffic management and control platform from the perspective of sustainable development to reduce both vehicle emission and delay along arterial with contraflow left-turn lane (CLL). Unlike the traditional intersection layout and the control strategy, the existence of the contraflow left-turn lanes at intersections brings difficulties in setting phase sequences due to the complex interactions among upstream and downstream lanes. Furthermore, the queueing conditions are totally different from traditional intersections due to the complex queueing phenomenon between pre-signals and main signals. A macroscopic traffic model is proposed to model the intersection along arterial with CLL and is established on the basis of finite capacity queueing models. The optimization framework derives fixed-time traffic signal control plans, in which the green splits of the main signal and the pre-signal are explicitly considered. The nondominated sorting genetic algorithm II (NSGA-II) is employed to solve problem. A case study based on the field data of four intersections along the West Yan'an Road in the city of Shanghai is carried out to investigate the performance of the proposed framework. The microscopic simulator AIMSUN is used to evaluate and compare the travel delay and vehicle emissions obtained by the newly proposed signal plans and the signal plans derived by using traditional traffic control method. The simulation results indicate that the proposed framework successfully reduce travel delay and vehicle emission at intersections along arterial road with CLL. • A sustainable multi-objective traffic management and control platform for arterials with contraflow left-turn lanes (CLL) is proposed to minimize vehicle emission and delay. • A macroscopic traffic model is proposed to model the intersection along arterial with CLL and is established on the basis of finite capacity queueing models. • The nondominated sorting genetic algorithm II is employed to solve the fixed-time traffic control problem. • A case study based on the field data of four intersections along an arterial in the city of Shanghai is carried out to investigate the performance of the proposed framework. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Carbon prices are low and fluctuate greatly since Chinese carbon emissions trading scheme pilots were operated. This paper discusses the price drivers in the pilots, using structural breaks test and autoregressive distributed lag model. The results indicate that oversupply of allowances, low auction prices and use of China certified emission reductions will cause remarkable decline on carbon prices; the expansion of carbon market and centralized trading will rise carbon prices. Oil prices are positively correlated with carbon prices, and coal prices are negatively related with carbon prices. Carbon-intensive product prices also affect carbon prices. Chemical prices are positively linked with carbon prices in Shenzhen, while negatively related with those in Beijing and Shanghai, for differences in sectoral coverage. Nonferrous prices have positive impacts on carbon prices in Beijing but negative impacts on those in Shenzhen, for differences in industrial structure. Financial markets and weather have limited impacts on carbon prices. Our results provide policy implications for the development of pilots and the national carbon market. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Improving the robustness of a reverse logistics network for construction and demolition waste (C&DW) can increase the ability of the network to mitigate supply uncertainty. However, a very conservative network may entail a higher price for its increased robustness. Thus, to maximize the robustness decision utility, decision-makers need to make a trade-off between relative robustness against uncertain situations and the price of such robustness. In this paper, we argue that facility capacity acquisition can improve the robustness of the network. We use a robust optimization method to establish the decision-making model for this problem, and propose a way to prove the model's effectiveness in providing a lower bound of network robustness. Then the study takes on a real case in the Chongming district of Shanghai, China, and conducts a Monte Carlo simulation to investigate the trade-off performance. The results show that based on the decision-maker's conservative attitude toward uncertain situations, the proposed model can adjust the robustness of the reverse logistics network. They also show that accepting a lower degree of robustness will result in substantial savings, due to the high "price" of robustness. This study provides a decision tool to help design a robust reverse logistics network under uncertain situations. • A very conservative regional C&DW reverse logistics network may entail a higher price for its increased robustness. • Facility capacity acquisition can improve the robustness of the Regional C&DW reverse logistics network. • A lower bound of the robustness of the network was proofed. • Based on the decision-maker's conservative attitude , the proposed model can adjust the robustness of thenetwork. • Accepting a lower degree of robustness will result in substantial savings, due to the high "price" of robustness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Green roofs and cool roofs are commonly used to improve indoor thermal environment, reduce air-conditioning load and mitigate the Urban Heat Island (UHI) effect. This study aimed to quantify the differences in thermal and energy performance between the two different roof types under the climate of Shanghai. Firstly, field experiment was conducted in the Shanghai area. Thermal performance of green roof, cool roof and common roof in summer and winter were measured. Results showed that, compared to common roof, the cool roof had an average cooling effect of 3.3 °C on the outer roof deck surface in summer, while the green roof only had a cooling effect of 2.9 °C. In winter, the green roof provided good insulation, and could improve outer surface temperature of the roof deck by an average of 3.3 °C compared to the cool roof. A hygrothermal transfer model for green roof was coupled with a dynamic building thermal performance simulation software (THERB) and validated using measured data. The coupled model was used to predict the effect of both roof types on energy performance of a public building. Simulation results showed that green roof could reduce the cooling and heating loads of the top floor by 3.6% and 6.2%, respectively. The cool roof could reduce cooling load by 3.6% and increase heating load by 10.4%. Finally, a parametric analysis was implemented. The functional mechanism of the main parameters of green and cool roof as well as their impacts on thermal and energy performance of public buildings were analyzed in detail. Conclusions drawn from this paper could provide guidance for the design optimization and application of green roof and cool roof in Shanghai area. • Thermal performance of green roof and cool roof was monitored in Shanghai area. • A green roof heat transfer model was coupled with BES model (THERB) and validated. • Thermal and Energy effect of green and cool roof on public building was predicted. • Parametric analysis on thermal and energy performance of green roof was conducted. • Parametric analysis on thermal and energy performance of cool roof was conducted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Coupled human and natural system research is an urgent issue in the Anthropocene. However, this has not yet been conducted from the perspective of multiplex networks, which are a powerful tool to elucidate the interactions in human-natural systems. This paper establishes a framework of human-water multiplex networks (HWMNs) to explain the combined effects of human-water interactions in the Yangtze River basin. The spatial linkages and the status of each province in the Yangtze River basin can be characterized through the index of network flow and topology. Research demonstrated that the highest import flow of the virtual water environment capacity flow in the Yangtze River Basin is to Jiangsu Province, at 16.2 thousand t. The highest export flow in the Yangtze River Basin is from Shanghai city, at 33.2 thousand t. The control power of Shanghai city over Sichuan Province accounts for 56.59% of the water resources, which is the highest value and can be recognized as one type of telecoupling of water resources. The provinces in the delta of the Yangtze River basin, including Shanghai city, Jiangsu Province and Zhejiang Province, benefit the most from economic trade. The community structure of the virtual water environment capacity flow is highly consistent with the geographical distribution of the Yangtze River basin. Comprehensive research methods combined with network flow analysis and network topology analysis provide more general results. The microenvironmental effect of indirect pollutant discharge is uncovered through HWMNs. This research can provide a more connected view of integrated water management. Image 1 • A framework of HWMN is established to reveal the combined environmental effects. • The key provinces are revealed through the network flow analysis and topology analysis. • The provinces in the Yangtze river delta obtains most of the water environment benefits. • The environmental effect of the indirect pollutant discharge through HWMN is revealed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The challenge of food waste in the foodservice sector of China is under-examined. This paper advances knowledge by exploring the food waste management practices adopted in a sample of Shanghai full-service restaurants. Through 22 in-depth semi-structured interviews with senior managers it establishes the significance of the food waste challenge and identifies Chinese food consumption habits as a major cause. Despite the pronounced role of consumers in food waste generation, restaurateurs largely fail to engage them in mitigation. To mitigate food waste occurring on customer plates, changes to the Chinese dining culture should be facilitated via nation-wide campaigns aiming to raise public awareness of food waste when eating out. The government of China should lead on the design of such campaigns, ideally involving celebrities for better consumer appeal and academics for the assessment of their effectiveness. The national government should also provide free-to-attend specialist training to restaurant managers and staff on how to mitigate food waste occurring in kitchens. • Explores food waste management in a sample of full-service restaurants in Shanghai. • Establishes the significant magnitude of food waste generation. • Pinpoints the Chinese dining culture as a major cause. • Highlights the mostly passive nature of existing mitigation approaches. • Elaborates on the interventions required for more effective mitigation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper proposes a novel hybrid fuel cell power generation system with high efficiency. The thermo-economic modeling of the MWe-scale systems using different fuels is conducted to evaluate the economic feasibility under the subsidy policy of Eastern China. This work aims to develop the technology roadmap for this kind of clean power system. It is found that the energy efficiency of the natural gas and biogas fed systems could reach up to 64% and 63.5% respectively, thus they are efficient and cost-optimal for the hybrid system while liquefied petroleum gas and water gas yield low efficiency and high electricity cost. Moreover, under the subsidy policy, the biogas-fed hybrid system is more suitable for a small-scale power system, while the natural gas-fed system is preferable for the large-scale case. The specific electricity cost of small-scale biogas hybrid fuel cell power plant is 0.365 CNY/kWh, lower than the present feed-in-tariff price 0.475–0.704 CNY/kWh of other biogas plants in China. Also, the cost of 0.345–0.347 CNY/kWh of large-scale natural gas-fed hybrid system is much lower than the on-grid electricity price 0.7655 CNY/kWh in Shanghai. These results reveal that the proposed hybrid fuel cell power system is efficient and economically feasible. The payback period and annual return on investment are 0.8–1.2 year and 11–12%, respectively. Image 1 • We propose MWe-scale SOFC-WGS-TSA-PEMFC hybrid power system and evaluate economics. • The electrical efficiency is up to 64%, 20–25% higher than single PEMFC or SOFC system. • Electricity cost of NG-fueled system is 0.345 CNY/kW h, 56% lower than on-gird cost. • Biogas-fueled system has 44% lower electricity cost than present FIT price. • Development roadmap of the hybrid fuel cell technology as power plant is achieved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China is the world's largest developing country and a carbon dioxide emitter. A functional carbon market can effectively reduce carbon emissions. This paper uses the Markov chain Monte Carlo-stochastic volatility model and the wavelet multi-resolution model to analyze the volatility of price returns and the dynamic characteristics of price fluctuations in the carbon pilot markets in Hubei, Shanghai, and Shenzhen. The price movements in these markets are compared to the emissions trading system of the European Union (EU-ETS). The results show that there is a volatility clustering in the price of carbon trading in Hubei, Shanghai, Shenzhen and the EU-ETS. China's carbon pilot markets have a deficiency in terms of volatility stability, as does the EU-ETS. From a long-term perspective, China's carbon market lacks a detailed development plan, which is vital because the construction of the market system is not yet optimal. From a short-term view, China's carbon market is not active and the participants' attitude toward risk is extremely sensitive. • MCMC-SV and wavelet multi-resolution model applied to carbon price volatility. • Three major Chinese markets are compared to the EU-ETS. • All markets evidence volatility clustering. • China's carbon market lacks a detailed development plan for the long term. • Short-term, China's carbon market must become more active and offer more products. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the economy development and rapid urbanization, the residential usage of energy has been increasing in China, leading to more CO 2 emissions in resident sector. To predict the trend of residential energy-related CO 2 emissions accurately, it is significant to analyze the influential factors. In this paper, 18 preliminary indicators are identified by grey relational analysis to prove their correlation with CO 2 emissions firstly. To reduce the redundancy of data, 4 main components are extracted by principal component analysis as predicting input data of support vector machine (SVM). By adding chaotic mutation and nonlinear weight index, the improved chicken swarm optimization (ICSO) algorithm is proposed to optimize the parameters of SVM, hereafter referred as ICSO-SVM. Finally, the new hybrid model is applied to predict residential energy-related CO 2 emissions in Shanghai, China. The simulation results in the forecasting accuracy demonstrate that the ICSO-SVM model outperforms the compared original chicken swarm optimization model (CSO-SVM), particle swarm optimization model (PSO-SVM), genetic algorithm optimization model (GA-SVM) and basic SVM. The rigorous influencing factors analysis and the outstanding performance in predicting CO 2 emissions of ICSO-SVM model can offer relevant scholars and policy makers more breakthrough points of residential CO 2 emissions abatement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As an economic means to cope with climate change, carbon trading has become an important measure to reduce carbon emissions in China. It has been over seven years since the initiation of seven pilot carbon markets, but has the implementation achieved the goal of controlling carbon emissions in the region? Are the effects really resulted from the carbon market other than other energy-saving and emission reduction policies? Based on the provincial panel data of China from 2005 to 2016 this paper conducts an empirical study on the emission reduction effects of pilot projects using the Difference-in-differences model (DID). The results show that: (1) The implementation of carbon markets in Beijing, Shanghai and Hubei exhibited a significant inhibitory effect on local carbon emissions, but a promoting effect in Guangdong, and no significant effect was found in Tianjin; (2) In terms of time lag effect, no significant inhibiting effect on the local carbon emissions is found during the first year of opening of Shanghai carbon market but the effect grew significantly from 2015 to 2016; while for Hubei and Beijing, significant effect was shown from the first year of running. Being an experimental program to see whether the carbon trading policy would work in China or not and if it does, under what conditions and settings the policy becomes effective, the 7 pilot markets provide important experiences and lessons to the upcoming nationwide market in China. Based on the empirical result that the carbon trading system in Beijing, Shanghai and Hubei effectively reduced carbon emissions, it is suggested that the national carbon market should actively learn from the experiences of these three pilot markets particularly. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Carbon trading is one of the important mechanisms used to reduce carbon dioxide emissions. The increasing interest in the carbon trading market has heightened the need to decrease the prediction error of the carbon price. In this paper, a new hybrid model for carbon price forecasting is proposed, and the secondary decomposition algorithm is innovatively introduced into carbon price forecasting. First, time series data were decomposed into several intrinsic modal functions by empirical mode decomposition (EMD). Second, the first intrinsic mode function (IMF1) was further decomposed by variational mode decomposition (VMD). Then, the model input was determined by partial autocorrelation analysis (PACF). Finally, the back propagation (BP) neural network model optimized by genetic algorithm (GA) was utilized for prediction. In the empirical analysis of the Hubei market, the proposed model outperforms other comparative models. The mean absolute percentage error (MAPE), goodness of fit (R2) and root mean square error (RMSE) of the model are 1.7577%, 0.9929 and 0.5441, respectively. In the complementary cases of the Beijing and Shanghai carbon markets, the model also performs best. The results suggest that the proposed model is effective and robust and could predict carbon prices more accurately. Image 1 • The secondary decomposition algorithm is suitable for carbon price prediction. • The decomposition algorithm significantly improves the prediction accuracy. • Combination of empirical and variational mode decomposition is effective. • This method could be applied to different carbon markets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Air source heat pump (ASHP) and heating tower heat pump (HTHP) systems are both environmentally sustainable space heating systems. HTHP system can effectively avoid the frosting issue of ASHP systems, but requires higher initial investment. In order to explore the applicability of the two systems, this paper presents a comparative study between HTHP and ASHP systems in different climatic regions. Mathematical models were developed for HTHP and ASHP systems and validated by field experiments. Case studies were carried out in four different climatic regions using the numerical model to analyze the energy consumption, system efficiency and economic efficiency of the two systems. The results showed that the ASHP system was superior in electrical power input in the four regions. The EER of the HTHP system was higher than that of the ASHP system by 3% and 2% in Regions III and II (Xi'an and Shanghai) while lower by 7% and 6% in Regions I and IV (Shenyang and Chongqing). The annual cost of the HTHP system was higher than that of ASHP system by 9% and 11% in Regions I and IV, while lower by 5% and 4% in Regions II and III. Based on these comparisons, recommendations about how to choose HTHP and ASHP systems for different climatic regions were presented, to instruct future optimization and utilization of HTHP and ASHP systems. Image 10212 • Theoretical models for HTHP and ASHP systems are built and validated experimentally. • ASHP system is superior in power input especially in Region IV. • The EERs of HTHP are 3% and 2% higher than that of ASHP in Regions III and II. • The annual costs of ASHP are 9% and 11% lower than that of HTHP in Regions I and IV. • Suggestions for system selection in different climatic regions worldwide are given. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]