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With the growing global energy demand and limited production of conventional crude oil, the extraction of unconventional heavy and extra-heavy oil is receiving unprecedented attention. China is the fourth largest producer of heavy oil. High viscosity and complex formation environments increase the difficulty of exploiting heavy oil. To alleviate the economic cost and environmental pollution pressure brought by heavy oil production, China has achieved significant advancement in the innovation of heavy oil recovery, including accelerating the transformation of thermal technology to non-thermal technology and the use of new energy technology to achieve the goal of low-carbon economy and green environmental protection. Based on the background of heavy oil in China, this paper recharacterizes the high-viscosity mechanism of heavy oil. From different aspects, including basic principles, main characteristics, applicability, limitations, and challenges, this paper comprehensively reviews existing heavy oil recovery technologies, including thermal recovery, in-situ upgrading, cold recovery, and new energy technologies. Currently, in China, the main target of heavy oil recovery is achieving the "carbon peaking and carbon neutrality" goals, which can be described as low energy consumption, low emission, and low pollution. To facilitate the low-carbon transition in the extraction of heavy/extra-heavy oil and attain environmental sustainability goals, it is essential to increase the proportion of non-thermal factors in thermal recovery technologies, develop efficient in-situ catalysts, adopt clean cold extraction techniques, and advance the development of new energy technologies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The mitigation of climate change requires that agricultural development would proceed in accordance with green and sustainable practices. This implies that economic performance should be improved while minimizing the impact on the environment. One way to assess the underlying costs of sustainable agricultural development, and to model the relationship between the environment and the economy in general, is to use the carbon shadow price (CSP). In this paper, we utilize a by-production model within a non-parametric framework to estimate the agricultural CSP from 1997 to 2020 in 31 provinces of China. The patterns of the agricultural CSP are unveiled through kernel density analysis and convergence tests. Additionally, this paper constructs a comprehensive agricultural informatization indicator using the entropy method. We then empirically investigate its influence on agricultural CSP. The results reveal that China's agricultural CSP has demonstrated consistent growth over the past two decades which suggests serious improvement in environmental performance. Furthermore, the CSP show cross-province variation, albeit with conditional β convergence. Our empirical findings indicate that agricultural information technology contributes to an increase in CSP, thereby indicating its positive role on the green growth of agriculture in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While existing literature acknowledges the development of digital capabilities as essential for enterprises to achieve digital transformation, it falls short in offering comprehensive theoretical insights into the dynamic evolution of these capabilities, especially in the field of environmental and sustainability issues. This paper addresses this gap by employing an exploratory single-case study methodology to investigate the intricate process through which an ecological restoration enterprise in China updates its digital strategy, facilitating the dynamic evolution of its digital capabilities from a resource orchestration theory perspective. Our findings reveal a sequential evolution from digital strategy renewal to resource orchestration and, ultimately, the advancement of digital capabilities. Specifically, the enterprise engages in a co-adjustment and co-creation process, aligning its resources with a digital strategy refresh and fostering the emergence of digital integration and innovation capabilities through effective resource management. This includes the accumulation and divesting of resources as part of the construction process, alongside the enrichment and bundling of resources. This research bridges the gap in the current literature by providing a nuanced understanding of the mechanisms that drive the evolution of digital capabilities, and it offers a theoretical framework that integrates strategic renewal with resource orchestration for environmental and socio-economic sustainable development. Furthermore, the insights gained provide vital managerial implications for the governance, corporate social responsibility and policy of industrial digitalization towards global environmental practice and sustainable development goals (SDGs). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rational assessment of the regional sustainable development level is an important prerequisite for formulating development strategies and achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Currently, little literature provides nuanced understanding for national sustainable development from the perspective of county sustainability. Such studies can provide more accurate regional heterogeneity characteristics and policy decision support. Thus, this paper applies the entropy weight method and Chinese county data from 2000 to 2017 to reassess the sustainability of Chinese counties. The results show that China's county sustainability (Sustainable Development Index, SDI) is slowly improving. County sustainability performance is poorer in ethnic minority agglomerations, poor counties, old revolutionary counties, and central and western regions, better in county-level cities and eastern regions. The decomposition results show that economic sustainability and environmental sustainability are the main supporters of SDI growth, and livelihood sustainability is in urgent need of improvement. The regional inequality of SDI in Chinese counties gradually decreases, and inter-group differences are the main contributors to regional inequality in SDI. This paper provides support for China to develop county-level sustainable development measures and practice the SDGs. The findings could be useful for policymakers. [Display omitted] • Based on the entropy weight method and the Chinese county data, the sustainable development levels of 1533 counties in China from 2000 to 2017 are estimated. • Analyses of spatial-temporal dynamic heterogeneity, Linear decomposition, and Dagum decomposition are conducted to study the features of sustainable development in Chinese counties. •The influence of natural features and national concern preferences on county sustainable development are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Innovative emission reduction technologies combined with optimized processes can effectively reduce the environmental pressure in the iron and steel industry (ISI). Identifying and comparatively analyzing the carbon emissions (CE) from steel productions is conducive to achieving China's ambitious carbon reduction targets. In this paper, we investigated two innovative routes: the shaft furnace-induction furnace-basic oxygen furnace route (SF-IF-BOF) and shaft furnace-electric smelting furnace-basic oxygen furnace route (SF-ESF-BOF), alongside two traditional routes: the blast furnace-BOF route (BF-BOF) and SF-electric arc furnace route (SF-ESF). The analysis was based on a functional unit of 1000 kg of crude steel (CS). By establishing the mass and energy balance models and decision criteria, 12 typical smelting scenarios for these routes were analyzed and compared in terms of materials consumption and CE. The results showed that increasing the proportion of scrap was beneficial for reducing CE. Under the condition of a 50% scrap ratio, the CE of the SF-IF-BOF, SF-ESF-BOF, BF-BOF, and SF-EAF routes were 768, 823, 946, and 870 kg, respectively. The SF-IF-BOF route displayed the most significant advantage of CE reduction. In addition, by using 100% zero-carbon electricity substitution, the SF-EAF route exhibited the greatest CE reduction effect of 41% (from 870 to 510 kg/t). While deploying 100% biomass fuels to replace coal, the CE of the BF-BOF route reduced by 80%. Finally, after introducing biomass fuels and zero-carbon electricity, the CE of the SF-IF-BOF route was minimized to a significantly low 13 kg/t (from 768), nearing zero CE. This research is expected to provide a novel solution for further CE reduction in the future of ISI, contributing to environmental sustainability and carbon reduction goals. • Suggestions for solutions to reduce CO2 emissions in the steel industry are provided. • Emissions of the SF-IF-BOF and SF-ESF-BOF compared to the BF-BOF and DRI-EAF routes. • DRI is considered to be generated using COG zero reforming process. • Using zero-C electricity and biomass can reduce CO2 emissions for the steel industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As one of the most swiftly industrializing countries in the world, China is struggling with significant challenges facing its environment, in particular in its marine ecosystems. Hence, economic activities increasingly are influencing these ecosystems, requiring their study crucial for sustainable development. Therefore, it is paramount perceiving the potential implications of economic growth and foreign direct investment (FDI) for marine health. The study aims to explore the impact of economic growth and FDI on China's marine ecosystem during 1980–2019, examining the probable intersections of economic advancement, FDI, and marine sustainability, the study used a novel nonlinear Fourier Autoregressive Distributed Lags (FARDL) approach. Notably, the paper confirms the Fishing Grounds Load Capacity Curve (FGLCC) hypothesis, demonstrating a nonlinear affiliation among income levels and maritime conditions. Moreover, the results point out that FDI initially worsens marine conditions until a certain threshold is reached, marking a pivotal change in the influence of FDI from environmental degradation to improvement. In addition, the study underscores the critical need for policies that balance economic development with Chines' marine environmental sustainability, emphasizing the importance of intended regulatory and strategic interventions. These insights are vital for enhancing marine requirements and ensuring well-being and health of future generations, providing significant implications maritime policymakers in addressing marine environmental challenges amid economic development. [Display omitted] • Analyzes China's marine sustainability from 1980 to 2019 using the Fishing Grounds Load Capacity Factor. • Proposes and tests the Fishing Grounds Load Capacity Curve hypothesis. • Evaluates marine Pollution Haven and marine Pollution Halo hypotheses. • Provides evidence for FGLCC and marine Pollution Haven based on Fourier ARDL modelling. • Offers insights into balancing economic growth and marine ecosystem preservation in China through key policy levers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on 196 prefecture-level cities in China from 2006 to 2021, this paper constructs a weight matrix of urban economic geography and uses the spatial differential model to verify the impact of smart city policies on urban green energy efficiency. The results show that the efficiency value of green energy fluctuates in Chinese cities. Different test results show that smart city policies can effectively improve urban green energy efficiency, but mainly from the time effect rather than the individual effect. It means the improvement in urban green energy efficiency comes more from the fast-growing of the Chinese economy and urban construction in this period than from the country's smart city pilot policy. In addition, from the spatial spillover effect result, China needs to design a better urban spatial development plan to improve the capacity of smart city energy services and vigorously develop intelligent technology represented by information and communication science. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Achieving urbanization sustainability is considered to be both an important component of the Sustainable Development Goals and a key way to address the conflict between limited resource constraints and urban continued growth. Regarding the urbanization sustainability, the impact of ecological environment and resource consumption has been widely discussed, while the holistic effect of urban land expansion and urban population dynamics is under-researched. This paper evaluated the urbanization sustainability of 15 urban agglomerations in China from 2000 to 2020, and applied the Geodetector model to investigate its impact mechanism. The results show that at the national level, the level of urbanization sustainability exhibited a trend of first increasing and then decreasing, accompanied by significant spatial differentiation. Spatially, the level of urbanization sustainability in urban agglomerations located in the northeast regions had strong variability during the study period. In contrast, urban agglomerations located in the central region had a lower level of urbanization sustainability due to the unrestricted expansion of urban land. In addition, urbanization sustainability varied according to the development stage of urban agglomerations. Specifically, urbanization sustainability showed a downward trend in the initial development stage, early growth stage and later growth stage of urban agglomeration, and upward trend in mature stage. Economic development level, foreign direct investment, industrial structure and urbanization level were the primary determinants of differences in urbanization sustainability at both national and regional levels. These findings may help to formulate the urban sustainable development planning and differentiated land use policies. • A new evaluation framework for urbanization sustainability was proposed. • The sustainability of urbanization varies at different stages of development. • Economic factors are the primary determinants of urbanization sustainability. • The interaction effect of factors affect sustainability of urbanization. [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]

In the dynamic landscape of rapid change and the pervasive influence of the digital revolution, the discussion surrounding the impact of digital transformation on the innovation performance of firms has become a focal point of intense debate. This paper aims to contribute to the evolution and advancement of traditional organizations toward high-quality development by addressing this issue through the integration of technology into the framework, leveraging the resource-based theory. The study seeks to explore the influence of digital transformation on innovation performance, specifically examining the role of supplier concentration in this relationship. Additionally, we investigate the moderating effect of CEO financial experience on the association between digital transformation and innovation performance. Utilizing multiple regression methodologies and analyzing data from Chinese listed firms spanning the period from 2007 to 2022, our empirical findings reveal a direct positive relationship between digital transformation and innovation performance. Furthermore, the study uncovers an indirect pathway through which digital transformation enhances innovation performance by mitigating supplier concentration. Notably, the positive impact of digital transformation is amplified by a CEO's background in finance. Finally, the effect of digital transformation on innovation performance is particularly pronounced in sectors such as state-owned entities, advanced technology companies, large-scale businesses, and those in their maturity phase. These insights provide valuable contributions to addressing concerns related to digital transformation, particularly in emerging economies like China. The findings offer essential lessons for navigating the transition to Industry 4.0 and fostering sustainable innovative practices. By emphasizing the role of supplier concentration and the moderating influence of CEO financial experience, this research contributes to a nuanced understanding of how digital transformation can positively impact innovation performance across diverse sectors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the rising awareness of green and sustainable development, corporate environmental, social, and governance (ESG) performance has become an essential topic in academia. Existing studies have focused on the driving role of formal institutions on corporate ESG performance while ignoring the motivational role of informal institutions such as culture. Based on the data of Chinese A-share listed companies from 2009 to 2021, this study adopts textual analysis to quantify corporate culture and discusses the impact of corporate culture on ESG performance and its internal mechanism. We find that corporate culture significantly enhances ESG performance. Mechanism test indicates that corporate culture can promote green innovation and improve information transparency through resource and information effect, enhancing ESG performance. We further demonstrate differences in the impact of corporate culture dimensions on ESG performance, with innovation culture and quality culture being the most prominent. In addition, there is heterogeneity in the impact of corporate culture on ESG performance. In the context of non-state-owned property rights, low market attention, and high economic policy uncertainty, the impact of corporate culture on ESG performance is more significant. This paper enriches the related research on ESG performance drivers from the informal system perspective and provides decision-making references for enterprises to promote ESG practices and achieve sustainable development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research examines the influence of political system changes, particularly official turnover, on pollution reduction in Chinese industrial firms—a response to the environmental challenges posed by China's economic growth. Utilizing micro-panel data from 2000 to 2014 and an official turnover database, this study assesses how these turnovers affect firm-level pollution. The analysis confirms that official turnovers significantly reduce emissions, with the effect more pronounced in non-state-owned enterprises, under officials who are male, hold PhDs, and are older. This impact is also stronger in areas with a larger tertiary sectors and higher economic growth. A detailed comparison reveals that mayoral turnovers have a greater abatement effect than those of municipal secretaries, especially in cases of abnormal turnovers. Crucially, this study demonstrates that mayoral turnovers lead to pollution reduction by promoting corporate exports and innovation. The baseline regression results, confirmed as robust after extensive robustness checks, underscore the significance of these findings. This paper sheds light on the political dynamics of environmental governance in China, advocating bureaucratic reforms to reduce emissions and providing strategic recommendations to improve national environmental sustainability. • Political turnover in China leads to significant pollution reduction in industrial firms. • The effect of official turnovers on reducing emissions is more pronounced in non-state-owned enterprises. • Turnover effects are stronger under older, male officials with PhDs. • Mayoral changes have a greater impact on pollution reduction than municipal secretaries, particularly in abnormal turnovers. • Mayor turnovers contribute to pollution reduction by promoting exports and innovation in firms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The utilization of renewable energy sources to produce electricity is capable of relieving the pressure of limited natural resources and achieving the sustainability of future energy. This paper addresses a multi-period multi-feedstock multi-technology biomass-based power generation supply chain planning problem with parameter uncertainty, balancing economic, environmental, and social objectives simultaneously. However, the main challenges in optimizing this problem are correlated with multiple conflicting objectives and uncertain parameters. This study proposes a novel globalized robust goal programming model with goal constraints to balance three conflicting objectives using priority levels and characterize the uncertainty of unit emissions and social scores by inner–outer uncertainty sets. After transforming globalized robust environmental and social goal constraints into their equivalent forms, the tractable counterpart of the proposed model is obtained, which is mixed-integer linear programming (MILP). Finally, the effectiveness of the proposed model is demonstrated through a case study about the design of a sustainable biomass-based power generation supply chain (SBPSC) network in Hubei Province, China. Computational results reveal that by adjusting several parameters, environmental and social aspired goals consistently can achieve, whereas the economic objective is vulnerable to being influenced. Comparative studies with nominal goal programming model and robust goal programming model indicate that the proposed model is uncertainty-immunized and less conservative. Under investigated circumstances, the realized economic profit by the proposed model is approximately 42.5% higher than that of the robust goal programming model on average. • A pair of uncertainty sets is presented to characterize the parameter uncertainty. • Globalized robust environmental and social goal constraints are established. • Established goal constraints are transformed into their computationally tractable forms. • A novel globalized robust goal optimization method is proposed to balance three conflicting objectives using priority structure. • A case study shows the feasibility and effectiveness of the proposed method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Constructing an eco-civilization is crucial in achieving green, low-carbon development, and thus bridging the gap between theory and practice is imperative to better promote urban ecological transformation. At present, there are inconsistencies and imbalances between theoretical research and practical efforts to achieve an eco-civilization. This paper uses bibliometric analysis and Latent Dirichlet Allocation to analyze China's progress towards an eco-civilization at the theoretical and practical levels. The 'theory' is analyzed using 632 articles, while the 'practice' is analyzed using 100 eco-civilization pilot zone reports. The two are compared, with results showing: from 2015 onwards, the theory is moving in an interdisciplinary direction, with seven themes focusing on macro topics. eco-civilization construction projects have multiple overlapping themes, and the growing connection between energy consumption, economic growth and environmental impacts driven by significant projects is the key to improving the level of regional ecological development. the theory and practice are similar in that both are concerned with environmental protection, ecological education, and ecotourism. However, eco-civilization construction projects lack forward-looking and dynamic development tracking of low-carbon research. the paper proposes that dynamic evaluation and project tracking methods should be applied to monitor critical indicators to achieve a solid link between the theory and practice during eco-construction projects. This paper also proposes academia should do more research on townships and other micro level phenomena to promote climate change and energy revolution in the construction of a Chinese eco-civilization. • Analysis of the similarities and differences between theoretical research and practical measures of eco-civilization. • Academic research focuses on sustainability, while practical activities lack attention to climate change. • Optimizing the energy-economy-environment integration project is the key to improving China's ecology. • Environmental protection, eco-civilization education, and eco-tourism are common concerns in the theory and practice. • Suggestions include focusing on crucial indicators and micro-level activities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates consumer upcycling behavior, a consumer-determined Circular Economy (CE) practice. Consumer upcycling involves transforming or repurposing unwanted object(s) to an object which has equal or higher value than the current value of its component(s). Although it is one of the most beneficial practices for environmental sustainability, more so than other practices such as recycling, and it constitutes a concrete exemplar of how consumers can participate in the Circular Economy, literature on consumer upcycling is rather underdeveloped. Performing inductive content analysis on in-depth interviews of 34 consumers mainly from China, this paper develops a holistic framework representing the internal motivations and consequences of consumer upcycling. Specifically, three distinct dimensions of internal motivations for consumer upcycling are identified: core-self oriented, social-self oriented, and object-self oriented motivations. Further, consequences of consumer upcycling at three levels (social, environmental, and economic) are identified. We find that consumer upcycling may spur other consumer-focused pro-environmental behaviors (i.e., spillover effect) and engender positive attitude and behavior toward purchasing of upcycled products (i.e., switchover effect). All in all, this research contributes to the CE literature by providing insight on how consumers could take initiative to enable the Circular Economy. • Internal motivations and consequences of consumer upcycling behavior are explored qualitatively. • Communication appeals based on internal motivations promote consumer upcycling behavior and purchase. • Consumer upcycling engenders other pro-environmental behaviors and support for upcycling business. • Consumer upcycling behavior advances the Circular Economy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the global practice of sustainable agricultural development, China has put forward a plan for agricultural green development, with strict control from the production side to ensure the safety and health of green products "from farming land to dinner table" through strict control from the production side, and green planting is one of the key technologies. Green planting technology (GPT) is an important initiative in China to achieve sustainable agriculture under the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Farmers' acceptance of this technology not only requires national publicity and promotion, but also the adoption of agricultural entities across the country. In this study, we widely distributed questionnaires to farmers in 26 provinces and cities, and received 970 valid responses. This paper uses structural equation model (SEM), a multivariate statistical analysis method, to analyze the influencing factors of farmers' intention to adopt GPT. These results demonstrated that the farmers first consider their own behavioral competences and personal gains and losses before deciding to adopt GPT, followed by the impact of people closely related to farming, while environmental concerns and environmental values rank last. Agricultural technology extension plays an intermediary role in farmers' behavioral intention, and government support acts as a safeguard. The findings will not only help to grasp the reasons behind ineffective promotion of GPT to improve the dissemination and adoption of GPT, but also enable government agencies and authorities to better understand the views of farmers, and subsequently formulate feasible policies and plans. [Display omitted] • Influencing factors of farmers' intention to adopt GPT in China were studied. • Extending TPB theory by introducing internal variable of perceived risk and external variables of agricultural technology extension and government support. • Farmers first consider personal gains and losses before deciding to adopt GPT. • Agricultural technology extension is an important mediating factor influencing behavioral intention of farmer's GPT adoption. • Government support is an important moderating variable of behavioral intention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mineral resource extraction is often accompanied by severe environmental pollution and ecological damage, hindering mining economies from achieving sustainable development. This paper aims to promote the goal of cleaner production in extractive industries from the perspective of environmental management through a more accurate understanding of how human activities affect the extractive industries. This requires more granular data for environmental damage in mining. The article proposes an ecological threat assessment framework for mining to support sustainable processes in the extractive industry. It integrates biophysical variables, technical indicators, and human activity data. The study is based on data at the mine level with 17 indicators used to evaluate the ecological impact of 13960 mines in Guangxi, China, from 2008-to 2018 in four dimensions: economic and technical indicators of mines themselves, surrounding economic activity, geological and environmental vulnerability, and ecological status of mining sites. Data from multiple sources were used to assess, map, and monitor ecological impacts in mining areas, such as high-resolution satellite images, interview data, environmental assessment reports, and mining rights data. We evaluated the ecological impact level of each mine and the extent to which spatial heterogeneity of regional economic and environmental preferences affected the degree of ecological impact. The results show that growth in population income has changed environmental preferences and driven down environmental disturbances in mines. Reduced dependence of regional economies on the industrial sector has also contributed to environmental improvements. In addition, increasing environmental regulation has limited the ecological impacts of mining, but these environmental regulation impacts are regionally heterogeneous. The effect of laws and rules is lower in cities and regions dependent on mineral resources, where resource extraction companies have more bargaining power. The results of this study will inform environmental management in the mining sector and support sustainable development in the region. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The increasing pressures of global warming, population growth and epidemic occurrence are causing challenges in meeting the growing requirements for water, energy and food. In particular, the contradiction between the supply and demand for water, food, and energy is exacerbated by inefficient resource utilization and carbon emission increase. Incorporation of the interlinked aspects of water, energy, food and carbon emissions from agricultural systems into one water-food-energy-carbon nexus facilitates integrated resource management. Biochar application to farmland is a potential strategy for carbon management and agricultural productivity improvement. The integration of biochar systems and the water-food-energy-carbon nexus is an efficient and coordinated alternative method for sustainable agricultural management and a crucial strategy for addressing water, energy and food security issues. Accordingly, this paper proposes an approach for the synergistic regulation of water, land, energy, and carbon emissions in a circular agricultural system by balancing water supply and demand, land allocation, electricity consumption, and economic upgrading principles. A two-stage circular agriculture framework is constructed, with biochar and electricity generated from agricultural residues at the first stage and employed at the second stage. Economic-environmental-energy harmonization is considered in the methodology, and the agrotechnical potential of biochar is quantified via crop yield increase and greenhouse gas emission reduction functions. This approach can assist decision makers in providing the best policy options given certain agricultural resources to achieve the maximum economic performance of the system while minimizing environmental side effects. In this paper, the model framework is applied to the Sanjiang Plain in northeastern China to verify the feasibility of the approach. The results indicate that the external electricity demand is reduced by 87.8% due to the generation of biofuels. Cropland greenhouse gas emissions are reduced by 34.09%–67.06% via the application of biochar. This study proposes an optimization method with important implications for the improvement of regional cropland management techniques and development of sustainable circular agriculture. This methodology can be extended to other agriculture-centered regions with limited resources and environmental problems. • Carbon cycle is integrated in agricultural water-food-energy-carbon (AWFEC) nexus. • An AWFEC nexus based model is developed for agricultural resources recycling. • Biochar and electricity are optimized sustainably for circular agriculture. • Analysis of resources recycling on economic-environmental balance is performed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As numerous industrial regeneration projects are planned and implemented, it is essential to ensure that these projects will contribute to a more sustainable future, especially for those industrial sites that maintain primary industrial use. This paper suggests that implementing industrial ecology in the regeneration of industrial sites (i.e. sustainable industrial regeneration) is a critical pathway for the ecological transformation of China's local-regional industrial systems. Through the lens of Actor Network Theory (ANT), this paper develops a conceptual framework to re-conceptualize sustainable industrial regeneration as a reassembling process of social-material configuration towards sustainability and to reveal the mechanisms of ecological transformation of industrial networks in China. The detailed case study of Hengding Industrial Park in Shunde District shows that the reassembled industrial network has transformed the poor initial conditions through the implementation of industrial ecology initiatives (e.g. utility sharing and cascade recycling). However, in view of the network convergence and driving forces behind actor enrollment, the actor-networking performance faces a challenge in effectively transforming the sites towards regional industrial ecology. Three conditions strongly influencing the implementation of the eco-transformation pathway in Chinese industrial areas are the highly concentrated power and responsibility of administrative actors, initial industrial site conditions, and cluster-based relationships. • A conceptual framework linking industrial ecology and industrial regeneration is developed using Actor-network theory (ANT). • An industrial regeneration project elucidates the local implementation of China's eco-civilization construction strategy. • The combination of ANT and social network analysis uncovers the details of eco-transformation of industrial networks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sustainability has been a global consensus for the governments worldwide to address serious environmental issues. However, there is a lack of data envelopment analysis (DEA) studies evaluating the performance of government in promoting various sustainability sub-systems. To do this evaluation work, our study proposes new parallel-series network DEA models with alternative network structures of incorporating intermediate products. Particularly, this study develops a new methodological framework to evaluate various inefficiency sources. The framework contains an extended method of network meta/group frontier approach and a new concept of efficiency Foster-Greer-Thorbecke indicator. Empirically, this study considers the case of Chinese government-sustainability system from 2010 to 2017. Such work cannot be found in the existing studies. The main findings are summarized as follows. First, China has succeeded in realizing an overall improved efficiency during the examined periods. The importance of various divisions changes over time. Second, the occurrence of method heterogeneity and significant linkage inefficiency implies that the modelers should incorporate intermediate products in a well-suited way. Finally, inland provinces show higher technology gap inefficiency as for economy division. To improve the performance, inland provinces should promote their human capital and adopt advanced technology. This paper proposes new parallel-series network DEA models with alternative network structures of incorporating intermediate products. Particularly, this study proposes a unified framework to analyze the relationship between network structures and inefficiency sources through the use of meta/group-frontier approach. To identify the main technology diffusion that maybe further cause the inefficiency value, this study applies the FGT indicators to the productivity and efficiency field for the first time. The FGT indicators can be used to explore the structure of technology inequality and identify barriers to technology diffusion. [Display omitted] • We propose a new approach for modelling the parallel-series network structure. • This study applies new frontier framework to identify sources of inefficiency. • There has been growing trends in Chinese government-sustainability system. • Managerial inefficiency had a negative annual growth rate of −6.01%. • Inland provinces showed higher technology gap inefficiency for economy division. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fresh food cold supply chains (CSCs) feature high fresh food quality and safety, high energy consumption, and poor economic and environmental sustainability. Sustainable management of fresh food CSCs is critical. However, limited research has addressed the implementation of systematic good practices in sustainable fresh food CSCs in developing countries. Consequently, decision-makers lack empirical evidence to help them understand how companies successfully implement systematic good practices and how those good practices affect sustainability performance. This paper formulates a hybrid analytic hierarchy process-fuzzy technique for order preference by similarity to ideal solution (AHP-Fuzzy TOPSIS) decision framework to systematically explore the impact of good practices on the sustainability performance of fresh food CSCs in the context of a developing country such as China. The results of the integrated methodology show that China's CSC industry pays more attention to economic sustainability and that employee training is the most impactful good practice for improving the sustainability performance of fresh food CSCs. • A systematic study of good practice and sustainability performance indicators. • A fresh food CSC sustainability performance assessment framework applied in China. • Order of importance of sustainability performance assessment indicators. • Ranking of good practices to improve fresh food CSC sustainability performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rural decay is changing rural landscapes worldwide, but its impacts on agricultural production, especially on large-scale farming, are still being debated in the scientific literature. Certain researchers see it as a threat to large-scale farming, whereas others view it as an opportunity for modern agriculture. Here, this paper presented an integrated framework and used a case study to exemplify this issue. A model selection approach (OLS, SEM, and SLM) was performed to assess the impacts of rural decay on large-scale farming based on a comparative analysis of farming systems for peri-urban agriculture (efficient agriculture, semi-subsistence agriculture, and leisure agriculture) in China. The assessment showed that there was a positive spatial autocorrelation between rural decay and large-scale farming in the region. The results of the comparative analysis indicated that contrasting impacts were recorded in three farming systems: their relationship in rural communities practicing efficient agriculture and semi-subsistence agriculture tended to be more consistent by reason of the rural exodus, farmland abandonment, and residential vacancy providing crucial preconditions for large-scale farming. However, contrasting patterns were observed in leisure agriculture, and their conflicting relationship due to low dwelling density and population aging trapped large-scale farming in a disadvantaged position. In general, rural decay could partially and temporally accelerate large-scale farming, but it does not seem to be a favorable phenomenon to promote large-scale farming in the long term. Therefore, some effective strategies, such as providing more off-farm employment opportunities, improving land consolidation and machinery for agricultural production, and adapting various farming systems, may contribute to the feasible implementation of policies aiming to reverse rural decay and even accelerate large-scale farming. [Display omitted] • Rural decay can be interpreted as depopulation, land degradation, and industrial decline. • Decaying rural communities can be considered a crucial precondition for large-scale farming. • Contrasting impacts are observed in rural communities with different farming systems. • Rural decay could temporally accelerate large-scale farming, but not a favorable phenomenon. • Various farming systems could coexist to achieve large-scale farming and environmental sustainability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Digital infrastructure construction and low-carbon development are two-wheeled engines for sustainable growth; however, the causal identification of the two is not yet well known. This paper addresses this research gap by comprehensively analyzing the relationship between them. Taking China as an example, this study empirically examined the role of digital infrastructure construction in low-carbon development using threshold, quantile, and spatial model regression. Study results disclose that (i) digital infrastructure construction actively encouraged low-carbon growth. (ii) Low-carbon development had a favorable spatial spillover impact. (iii) The threshold regression results show a non-linear trend of increasing marginal effect. (iv) In addition, industrial structure upgrading can play a reinforcing role. (v) Finally, the quantile regression results showed that digital infrastructure construction could solely provide a low-carbon boost to cities with inherently high low-carbon endowments and harm cities with lower low-carbon endowments. These findings indicate that while enjoying the "low-carbon dividend" brought by digital infrastructure construction, developing countries' governments and firms should exploit the power of industrial upgrading and regional cooperation in environmental sustainability while avoiding the negative impact of non-linear and heterogeneous endowment characteristics. Our findings offer novel strategies for digital infrastructure construction and low-carbon development in developing economies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) play a very important role in national production, and provide more than 60% of the employment opportunities for the society. The benign development of small and medium-sized enterprises determines the sustainability of economic operation. In recent years, small and medium-sized enterprises have faced increasing operational pressure. Due to scale limitations, insufficient funds and weak bargaining power, small and medium-sized enterprises are often at a disadvantage when dealing with suppliers. One the one hand, large suppliers rely on the imbalance of bargaining power to increase the transaction costs of small and medium-sized enterprises; On the other hand, small and medium-sized suppliers with poor reputation may use legal loopholes to commit fraud, which may even threaten the survival of small and medium-sized enterprises in severe cases. However, the existing literature focuses more on the situation of large organizations facing complex and diverse suppliers. Therefore, this paper constructed a supplier selection evaluation framework for small and medium-sized enterprises, and proposed an extended PROMETHEE Ⅱ method to achieve sustainable supplier selection process. First, establish a sustainable supplier selection evaluation framework from the three dimensions of product and service capability, cooperation degree and risk factors; Second, combine the PROMETHEE Ⅱ approach with subjective preference parameters and probability language term set (PLTS) to obtain an extended PROMETHEE Ⅱ approach; Last, use the methodology of this paper to implement sustainable supplier selection for a small and medium-sized enterprise (M company) in China. The practical case and sensitivity analysis showed that the evaluation framework and method proposed in this paper were applicable and effective. Actual cases and sensitivity analysis showed that cost, credit and corporate irregularities were the three most important aspects for small and medium-sized enterprises to evaluate supplier performance. [Display omitted] • Small and medium-sized enterprises face complex and diverse suppliers. • Establish a sustainable supplier selection criteria framework. • Improve the PROMETHEE Ⅱ method by combining probabilistic language term sets. • The study provides decision support for the supplier selection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Green institutional environment reflects the government's effort to promote sustainability and thus becomes an important research focus worldwide. To the best of our knowledge, no study has adopted the Benefit-of-the-Doubt (BoD) models to evaluate the performance of green institutional environment. It is noteworthy that the previous BoD studies receive great criticism, due to the possible occurrence of improper or extreme weights. To deal with the issue, this paper proposes two new types of cross-efficiency BoD models and provides methodological contributions to the BoD literature. To make empirical contributions to the studies on green institutional environment, this study proposes a new methodological framework to perform efficiency analysis. Our new framework has five types of academic effort: (a) five BoD models (for efficiency analysis); (b) Malmquist index (for sources of dynamic efficiency changes); (c) K-means clustering method (for group classification); (d) Mann-Whitney U test (to examine group heterogeneity); and (e) Gini coefficient (for inequality analysis) and group-based decomposition analysis (for identifying technology diffusion barriers). Such work cannot be found in the existing empirical studies. Empirically, this study focuses on green institutional environment of Chinese provinces from 2010 to 2019. The main conclusions are summarized as follows. First, China has succeeded in achieving an overall growth of green institutional environment during the examined periods. Second, there exists certain method heterogeneity, where our new models perform better than conventional BoD models. Finally, there is a growing trend in overall efficiency Gini coefficient, implying that an increasing technological disparity is confirmed in green institutional environment. • We propose two new Benefit-of-the-Doubt (BoD) models. • We first use BoD models to evaluate performance of green institutional environment. • We first consider technology inequality in green institutional environment. • Empirically, China shows progress in green institutional environment efficiency. • Significant heterogeneity is confirmed across groups and Chinese provinces. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Green institutional environment reflects the government's effort to promote sustainability and thus becomes an important research focus worldwide. To the best of our knowledge, no study has adopted the Benefit-of-the-Doubt (BoD) models to evaluate the performance of green institutional environment. It is noteworthy that the previous BoD studies receive great criticism, due to the possible occurrence of improper or extreme weights. To deal with the issue, this paper proposes two new types of cross-efficiency BoD models and provides methodological contributions to the BoD literature. To make empirical contributions to the studies on green institutional environment, this study proposes a new methodological framework to perform efficiency analysis. Our new framework has five types of academic effort: (a) five BoD models (for efficiency analysis); (b) Malmquist index (for sources of dynamic efficiency changes); (c) K-means clustering method (for group classification); (d) Mann-Whitney U test (to examine group heterogeneity); and (e) Gini coefficient (for inequality analysis) and group-based decomposition analysis (for identifying technology diffusion barriers). Such work cannot be found in the existing empirical studies. Empirically, this study focuses on green institutional environment of Chinese provinces from 2010 to 2019. The main conclusions are summarized as follows. First, China has succeeded in achieving an overall growth of green institutional environment during the examined periods. Second, there exists certain method heterogeneity, where our new models perform better than conventional BoD models. Finally, there is a growing trend in overall efficiency Gini coefficient, implying that an increasing technological disparity is confirmed in green institutional environment. • We propose two new Benefit-of-the-Doubt (BoD) models. • We first use BoD models to evaluate performance of green institutional environment. • We first consider technology inequality in green institutional environment. • Empirically, China shows progress in green institutional environment efficiency. • Significant heterogeneity is confirmed across groups and Chinese provinces. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Given the urgency of achieving net-zero emissions for climate stabilization, a deeper holistic knowledge of the key factors driving green industry, an emerging industrial strategy to build net-zero economies through sustainable production and consumption, is of growing relevance. The existing literature is fragmented into heterogeneous factors of green industry and a systematic review on the topic is lacking. This study aims to fill this gap by synthesizing the growing multidisciplinary literature on the driving factors of green industry by addressing a set of research questions. It has reviewed 211 peer-reviewed articles and 16 grey literatures published from 2009 to July 2022. A systematic review methodology is employed by defining research questions, a search strategy, search terms, databases, inclusion and exclusion criteria, and a synthesis strategy. A holistic factors framework has been constructed to discuss the results that can be used in evaluating green industrial growth strategies for net-zero economy. The study finds six key literature gaps that have theoretical and practical implications for future research. Firstly, potential threats (delayed decoupling, inequality, green extractivism, and stranded assets) identified in this review demand extensive studies that might contribute to a successful green transition toward net-zero emissions. Secondly, primary factors underpinning green industry are heterogeneous, fragmented, and less considered under the rubric of 'green industry', which require holistic frameworks and systems thinking to study. Thirdly, the literature focuses on the growth-environmental dilemma, overlooking social structures where green industry is embedded in, and the social implications must be considered with a focus on industrial inclusion. Fourthly, theoretical underpinnings of green industry evolve around green growth and degrowth that take distinct stands in challenging economic growth model to achieve net-zero emissions, but their theoretical claims and practical methods are highly contested, and their relationship and implications within different contexts of economies demand further research. Fifthly, the literature evolved globally, but primarily concentrated on China, and regional, provincial, and local perspectives are scant. Finally, the reviewed papers typically employ quantitative methods and few qualitative and mixed methods involving fieldwork. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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

Rapid population growth and urban sprawl create pressure on environmental resources along with a growing demand for physical resources in cities. The concept of a smart sustainable city proposes a framework to ensure citizens a better life and protect the environment to maintain sustainability through information and communication technologies. This paper constructed a sustainable smart city development indicator system using the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) maturity model and assessed the maturity level of 35 cities in China. Spectral clustering was adopted to recognize development patterns on three dimensions and 53 indicators. The results indicated four development patterns. Completing developing elements converged in comprehensive-development cities. Environmental-friendly cities enhanced environmental quality under government guidance supported by information and communications technology. Welfare cities showed good social welfare via the government's highly focused strategy but lacked economic support. Innovation, trade, capital investment, mental poverty, and poor living conditions characterized undeveloped cities. Practical implications are recommended for each type according to development differences to build a better smart sustainable city. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Resilient transportation provides a new perspective for constructing sustainable cities. Although current studies have analyzed transportation resilience from different perspectives, accurately assessing the resilience of urban transport systems remains a significant challenge. This paper proposes a framework to evaluate the static and dynamic resilience of urban transportation systems. Based on systemic thinking and sustainability perspectives, we establish a Bayesian network model that comprehensively considers social, economic, organizational, and technological dimensions to assess the static resilience of urban transportation systems. We adopt percolation theory to determine the minimum required performance (MRP) of road network and explore the spatial distribution of dynamic resilience based on traffic performance under traffic congestion. Results show that the transportation resilience of Xi'an showed a continuous growth trend between 2010 and 2020, from 0.37 to 0.64. In addition, the primary task of enhancing resilience is to improve the system's restorative capacity, adaptive capacity, and resourcefulness. The MRP of the road network is 0.37. The areas with larger resilience loss and percolation time are concentrated along the Second and Third Ring Expressway and in the south and southwest areas. The resilience of the urban center area is more potent. The time of the response process is twice that of the recovery process. The above results could help managers and decision-makers have a comprehensive and clear understanding of the transportation resilience and have practical significance for constructing a sustainable urban transportation system. • Proposing the static and dynamic resilience assessment framework for the urban transportation systems. • The static resilience of Xi'an showed a continuous growth trend between 2010 and 2020, from 0.37 to 0.64. • The primary task of enhancing resilience is to improve the restorative capacity, adaptive capacity, and resourcefulness. • The MRP of the road network is 0.37 and would be regarded as a new sustainable city index. • The dynamic resilience of the urban road network shows prominent local characteristics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

City sustainability evaluation has a positive effect on guiding urban economy toward efficiency, stability and innovation with minimal resource consumption. This paper evaluated the sustainability level of Urban Agglomeration on the West Side of the Straits (WSS) in China from three dimensions: economy, society, and environment. We proposed a weighting method based on the hybrid GRA (HGRW) to calculate indicator weights, which considers the interaction between indicators through the similarity of curves, especially the annual increment curves. Evaluation results showed the sustainability level of WSS was not high with regional polarization and imbalance. Five core cities ranked in the top five, of which Xiamen performed best with an evaluation value over 0.65. The development of three sustainability dimensions was uncoordinated. Most cities were in the status of near coordination or primary coordination. The factors that drive and hinder city sustainability were related to economic and social aspects, such as investment in fixed assets, worker's wages, and education investment. Based on these findings, we made targeted suggestions for the local development planning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aero-engine manufacturing industry is booming in China, while sustainability is neglected. For example, the grinding superalloy part uses a high-volume low-velocity flood delivery strategy for grinding cooling, which is harmful to health and the environment, consumes more resources and energy, emits more CO 2 and increases production costs. To achieve sustainability in the aero-engine manufacturing industry, it is worth considering eliminating coolant from the grinding to reduce the environmental impact and production cost. In this study, a novel oscillating heat pipe grinding wheel (OHP grinding wheel) is introduced to enhance the heat transfer in the eco-benign grinding process. The core concept is to design, fabricate particular oscillating heat pipes and position them in the grinding wheel so that the inside oscillating heat pipes transfer out the heat directly through the grinding wheel to avoid heat gathering, lower the grinding temperature, and suppress the thermal damages. Moreover, the use of harmful coolant can be diminished or even avoided, and an eco-benign grinding technology can therefore be achieved. Holistic sustainability analysis is then conducted in this paper. Compared with grinding by Non-OHP grinding wheel, the water-based coolant is avoided, the energy consumption is reduced by 26%–42%, and the carbon emission is reduced by 45%–56%. The OHP grinding wheel shows a great advantage in eco-benign grinding. • A novel oscillating heat pipe grinding wheel for eco-benign grinding is designed. • Carbon emission reduces 45%, production cost drops 41% by the proposed technology. • Energy consumption reduces 26%–42% by the proposed grinding wheel. • The proposed grinding wheel improves the material removal rate by 2.4 times. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sustainability is the core concept of modern agricultural planning. Existing studies lack quantitative research on the dynamic effects of the optimal use of agricultural water and land resources (AWLR) on agricultural sustainability. This paper constructs a simulation-optimization-assessment-based modeling framework for the dynamic correlation between agricultural sustainability and the water-land nexus under uncertainty. The framework includes uncertainty simulation of the water supply and demand, development of an optimization model for synergistic regulation of AWLR, and construction of a two-layer dynamic response relationship function between integrated water and land resource use and agricultural sustainability. This framework provides the following advantages: (1) the synergistic allocation of AWLR can be optimized to achieve synergistic development of the five dimensions of resources, economy, society, ecology and environment; (2) the dynamic probability distribution of AWLR and the corresponding response to each dimensional objective and agricultural sustainability can be generated; and (3) the response of agricultural sustainability and AWLR use to changing environments can be obtained. The framework was quantified and analyzed via stochastic simulation, multi-objective nonlinear optimization and fuzzy C-means clustering and applied to the Heilongjiang area of the Songhua River Basin in China. The results indicate that when the irrigation water volume is reduced by 10% and the planted area is increased by 5% in the study area, the economic efficiency increases by 10.49%, the social and ecological effects increase by 10%, and the agricultural sustainability increases by 10.07%. The initial surface water and groundwater irrigation amounts should be regulated within the ranges of [600,800] 107 m3 and [400,600] 107 m3, respectively, and the total amount should not exceed 1150,107 m3. The proposed framework can help reveal the intrinsic linkages between agricultural sustainability and AWLR allocation considering different environmental change scenarios, which can provide authorities with AWLR management decisions in response to changing environments. [Display omitted] • A simulation-optimization-evaluation modeling framework for AWLR is developed. • Probability distributions of AWLR are optimized under changing environment. • Balance conflicts between resource, economy, society, ecology, and environment. • Bilayer dynamic correlations for sustainable use of AWLR are built. • The performance of the framework is evaluated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The relationship between social norms and pro-environmental consumer behavior is well established, but what moderates this norm-sustainability relationship is much less clear. Previous studies reported inconclusive results regarding the effects of culture. This paper aims to shed light on the reported discrepancies by conducting an in-depth investigation on the effect of two central cultural dimensions, individualism, and collectivism, both on a macro (national culture) and a micro (individual self-construal) level. Specifically, the normative influence on pro-environmental behavioral intentions is analyzed for two different countries, the US and China, and insights are provided into the importance of descriptive and injunctive normative appeals in relation to the activated self-construal level. The quantitative results confirm that injunctive and descriptive normative appeals are stronger motivators of pro-environmental behavioral intentions in collectivistic (e.g., China) than in individualistic (e.g., the US) cultures. To clarify the discrepancies in previous research on norm-sustainability, how the effect of injunctive and descriptive normative appeals changes depending on the activated selfconstrual level in different cultures is demonstrated. The findings from this study are important from a theoretical perspective in that they improve the understanding of the effects of social norms on pro-environmental behavior. From a managerial perspective, it is demonstrated how individualism and collectivism on the one hand, and selfconstrual on the other hand, separately and in combination, can strengthen the effect of normative appeals on pro-environmental behavioral intentions. In conclusion, the study also identifies some promising new research avenues. • The effect of normative appeals is stronger in collectivistic cultures. • Self-construal is more important in individualistic cultures. • Emphasizing self-construal level mitigates the effect of normative appeals in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The coal industry is an essential energy industry in China. From 2008 to 2020, the global economic crisis, the policy of de-capacity, and the decline of the coal industry all profoundly affected the development of coal mining areas. This paper combined emergy synthesis and super-efficiency Slacks-Based Measure-Data Envelopment Analysis (SBM-DEA) considering undesirable output to evaluate the eco-efficiency in the Longkou coal mining area's circular economy industrial chain from 2008 to 2020. This research finds that the eco-efficiency in the coal mining area was 0.73 in 2008 and then showed an upward trend from 2008 to 2020. The eco-efficiency was relatively effective in 2011, 2013–2016, 2018–2020. Due to the progress in mining technology and the decline in waste emission, the eco-efficiency showed an upward trend, and the peak eco-efficiency value was 1.26 in 2019. The circular industrial chain contributed a lot to the high eco-efficiency in general. The eco-efficiency in 2012, 2017 was low owing to the recession of the coal industry and the overcapacity of coal. According to the analysis results, the coal mining areas should develop circular economy, cleaner production, and extend the circular economy industrial chain. In addition, the coal mining areas ought to expand enterprise-scale, develop new energy industries (e.g., biomass energy, wind energy, photovoltaic power generation). • Evaluated eco-efficiency in the coal mining area's circular economy industrial chain. • Emergy synthesis combines undesirable super-efficiency SBM-DEA is verified. • Eco-efficiency showed an upward trend from 2008 to 2020. • The recession of coal industry and overcapacity of coal affected eco-efficiency. • Coal mining area should develop circular economy, cleaner production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Water, energy, and food (WEF) are pivotal resources for the sustainable development of human society. Integrated assessment of the sustainable WEF nexus is essential to enhance resource efficiency and security, but there is a crucial gap to be filled in assessing the coupling relationship among sustainable WEF subsystems and improving multi-sectoral synergy. In this paper, a comprehensive indicator system for sustainable WEF nexus assessment was constructed based on theme-based frameworks and nexus thinking, and the combination weighting method based on game theory (GT-CW), the improved TOPSIS method based on gray relation degree (GRD-ITOPSIS), and the coupling coordination model were proposed for integrated assessment. The sustainability of WEF nexus in 30 regions of China from 2010 to 2019 was assessed and the spatiotemporal differences of the coupling coordination degree of sustainable WEF nexus were analyzed. The results revealed that the sustainability of WEF subsystems evidently affected the overall sustainability of regional WEF nexus. The change range of sustainable WEF nexus in different years was slightly lower than that of a single subsystem. The sustainability of WEF subsystems were highly coupled, and the WEF nexus in each region was within the coordinated development range. However, most eastern regions were at the intermediate coordinated development stage, and some western regions maintained at primary coordinated development stage for a long time. According to the results analysis, specific policy recommendations were proposed. The findings of this study can provide a useful reference for developing countries to improve resource management and promote sustainable development. [Display omitted] (1) Sustainable water-energy-food nexus in 30 regions of China was assessed. (2) Combination weighting method was optimized by game theory. (3) TOPSIS method was optimized by gray relation degree. (4) The synergy among WEF nexus were analyzed by coupling coordination degree. (5) The WEF nexus in each region was within the coordinated development range. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Resource-based cities, which account for 43.6% of China's cities, have the industrial problem of heavy pollution, low efficiency, and irrational structure. Therefore, how to improve the sustainability of the industries in resource-based cites has become an important issue. First, from the perspective of ecology, this paper uses Lotka-Volterra model to reveal three basic sustainability promotion mechanisms of industries: the construction of circular economy system, the refinement of resource-based industries, and the cultivation of non-resource-based industries. Then, in order to explore how to use the three mechanisms to achieve better performance, a system dynamics model is established and the situation simulation is carried out. The results show that simply combining the three mechanisms has the worst performance, while the phased mode of "resource-based industry → circular economy → tertiary industry" can improve the performance by 164.82%. In addition, the advantages and disadvantages of the above three mechanisms are also found. Construction of a circular economy can improve the environment and its economic output grows quickly while it excessively relies on the second industry. Refinement of resource-based industries can greatly promote economic output while crowding out non-resource-based industries and destroying the environment. Cultivation of non-resource-based industries requires a lot of resources. • The ecological explanation of typical mechanism is put forward. • Considering the effect of mechanisms under the restriction of policy capacity. • The characteristics and effects of typical mechanisms are simulated. • A comprehensively phased mechanism is proposed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]