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Increasing concern about carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) emission reduction demands knowledge about the production structure of an economy. Information on productive linkages yields insight about forward and backward emission effects associated with sectoral inputs and outputs and serves as an essential starting point to identify the optimised industrial structure under the constraint of CO 2 emission. This paper proposes a combined linkage analysis and multi-objective programming approach to identify the key CO 2 emission sectors and the optimised production structure with respect to emission reduction target. As a demonstration, the proposed approach is applied to data from China in 2007. The result shows that to reduce CO 2 emissions from 5707.16 to 5452.12 million tonnes, China needs to change its industrial structure by focussing on industrial groups as defined by linkage characteristics, which would lead to a subsequent GDP decrease of 82.59 billion Yuan. From a policy standpoint, the analytical techniques described in this paper can provide valuable information for planners and decision makers to formulate feasible and practical industrial polices with implications for CO 2 emissions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China has adopted cancellation of export tax rebate policies on many occasions to push ahead energy conservation and emission reduction since 2007. By applying a CEEPA (China Energy & Environmental Policy Analysis system) model, this paper simulates the impacts of the cancellation of export rebates on CO 2 emissions and socio-economic consequences in different scenarios so as to figure out whether it works. This paper covers three export rebate scenarios and makes comparisons between the impacts of export rebates on emission reduction effects and that of carbon tax policies. The conclusions are: 1) the current policy which cancels export rebates for key sectors can cut emissions at huge economic cost, yet it is unsustainable; 2) the policy which cancels export rebates for key sectors and meanwhile subsidizes sectoral outputs yields double dividends in the short term, thus can facilitate emission reduction yet the boost is limited; 3) the policy which cancels export rebates and boosts domestic demand helps improving residents' welfare in the short term while it may inflict pronounced social and economic impacts in the long run. So policy of this kind should be adopted with great caution; 4) export rebates generate far more economic costs than carbon tax policies in the long term, and don't contribute to optimizing the energy mix as well as the latter. In summary, canceling export rebates should not be regarded as a priority to encourage emission reduction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Alleviating global climate change requires the development and adoption of green innovation. This study compares the impact of cooperative and independent green innovation on carbon reduction based on the panel data covering 252 cities in China from 2003 to 2019. We examine the heterogeneous impacts of cooperative green innovation across units, and explain the transmission mechanism. The two-way fixed effects model and interaction model are adopted. Results show that: (1) Cooperative green innovation can reduce carbon emissions more effectively than independent green innovation. A 1% increase in cooperative green patents (inventions) will reduce carbon emissions by 0.023% (0.037%), while independent green patents or inventions play a weak role. (2) For research and development (R&D) partners, firms' cooperative green innovation has a stronger positive effect on carbon reduction than research organizations. The carbon reduction effect of cooperative green innovation is better for listed firms and universities. (3) Mechanism analysis shows cooperative green innovation can reduce carbon emissions by improving the industrial structure and decreasing energy intensity. These effects are stronger when cities have more talent, funds and higher marketability. (4) We also find that listed firms' cooperative green inventions with a ten-year lag can still reduce carbon emissions effectively. Cooperative green innovation is conducive to carbon reduction among eastern and central cities of China. [Display omitted] • This paper explores the impact of green innovation on carbon reduction from the new perspective of cooperation. • Cooperative green innovation is more effective than independent green innovation in carbon reduction. • Cooperative green innovation of listed firms and universities is more conducive to carbon reduction. • Cooperative green innovation can optimize the industrial structure and decrease energy intensity for better carbon reduction. • Cooperative green innovation with more talent, funds and market has better carbon reduction effect. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pollution emissions have become a matter of public concern in recent years. However, the vast majority of existing researches on PM 2.5 pollution are from the natural science perspective, and few studies have been conducted from an economic point of view. This paper adopts provincial panel data from 2001 to 2012 and panel data models to analyze the key driving forces of PM 2.5 emissions at the regional level in China. The results show that economic growth is a decisive factor of PM 2.5 emissions. The impacts of urbanization on PM 2.5 emissions vary across regions and decrease continuously from the central region to the western and eastern regions. The effects of private cars and coal consumption on PM 2.5 emissions in the eastern region are greater than that in the central and western regions because of significant differences in R&D investment, private car ownership and total coal consumption. Energy efficiency improvement has greater potential to mitigate PM 2.5 emissions in the central and western regions than that in the eastern region due to its low level of technology. Hence, in order to effectively reduce emissions, the Chinese government should consider all these factors as well as regional heterogeneity in developing appropriate mitigation policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reviews the features of bauxite resources and fuels utilized in China's primary aluminum industry, which was not adequately discussed in previous studies with the existing general CO 2 assessment approach. Targeted at this matter, this article develops a bottom-up calculation and scenario analysis model to estimate CO 2 emissions and reduction potentials for China's primary aluminum industry. In this model, the complex structures of feedstock, technology and electric power are completely considered. CO 2 emissions from alumina and aluminum production in the selected year are calculated using this model, and emissions associated with five distinct refining technologies and smelters in the six regional power grids are examined in detail. Results show that CO 2 emissions of primary aluminum production in China could decrease at various extents through implementing alternative countermeasures for ore quality changes and policies adjustment in the future. It's expected that wide adoption of SBSP and IBP as well as further elimination of LSSP and SPCP have a reduction potential of 6%, which is almost equivalent to the cutting effect of SBP domination. For smelting stage, the maximum reduction potential of 20% is projected for 2020, as the current international best available value of power consumption is achieved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) has been viewed as an emission abatement option with great potential in China as coal has dominated China's energy consumption. China has already started to pay attention to CCS, as well as to the proposed the concept of ‘CCUS’ (which adds CO 2 Utilization into the chain of capture, transportation and storage). However, CCS is still in the early stages of its technological development, and the high cost, with several internal and external uncertainties make the role that CCS can play in China's future emission reduction unclear. From the perspective of general equilibrium analysis, this paper introduces CCS into a regional energy–economy–environment integrated assessment model, and makes a comprehensive evaluation of CCS's potential for future development and contribution to emission abatement in China. At climate policy level, the potential contribution of CCS in emission abatement has been evaluated against different future emission constraint scenarios in China. At technological level, the effects of endogenous learning and policy incentives on CCS have been investigated, and the substitution capacities of CCS and Non-hydro renewables to fossil energy have been discussed, as well as their technology penetration rates. Furthermore, the impact of CO 2 utilization on the development of CCS has also been discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presented a coupled decomposition analysis of CO 2 emissions due to energy consumption in China. The logarithmic mean divisia index (LMDI) approach was adopted to decompose the driving factors of CO 2 emissions in eight sub-periods over 1995 to 2011. Decomposition and heterogeneity analyses of CO 2 emission over multiple spatial series were also conducted for the 29 provinces in China. Twelve driving factors in view of four categories of effects were decomposed. The results indicated that (a) driving directions of the factors were highly consistent. All the factors exhibited consistently positive and negative effects both spatially and temporally. Among these factors, the average labor productivity ( ALP ) was the dominant positive driving factor and energy intensity of production sector ( EIP ) was the dominant negative driving factor, (b) over multiple temporal scales, China experienced the largest energy-related CO 2 emission growth in the sub-periods during 2001–2003 and 2003 to 2005. Additionally, the change in the CO 2 emissions from 1997 to 1999 was negative, unlike the other 7 sub-periods, and (c) over multiple spatial scales, contribution values of the factors in different provinces varied significantly, where in general the positive driving effects outweighed the negative inhibiting effects. In total, CO 2 emissions in eastern provinces increased to the largest degrees, followed by central and western ones. It is suggested that China should coordinate and balance the relationships between economic development and CO 2 emission reduction, further decrease energy intensity of many production sectors, gradually adjust the economic and energy structures, and formulate CO 2 emission reduction policies to accommodate regional disparities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]