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Provision of effective taxi cruising recommendation strategy is vital to drivers for improving their profit and reducing taxi exhaust emissions. This paper focuses on the problem of mining environmental benefits from the taxi cruising recommendation strategy while maximizing the profit of drivers. With abundant global position system (GPS) trajectories of taxis in Beijing, China, passenger hotspots are identified by density-based spatial clustering of application with noise (DBSCAN) algorithm, including weekdays and weekends. Then, spatio-temporal patterns of passenger hotspots as well as idleness emissions are analyzed and visualized based on the geographic information system (GIS) techniques. Based on spatio-temporal patterns of passenger hotspots and emissions under the idleness state, a profitable taxi cruising recommendation strategy is proposed to quantify and analyze the environmental benefits in terms of empty emissions. The results show that the proposed strategy significantly outperforms the current method by reducing idleness emissions 19.6% and 31.7% on the weekday and weekend, respectively. The results also appear to demonstrate that the proposed strategy is an effective approach in energy conservation and emission reduction. • A taxi cruising recommendation strategy is proposed to mine environmental benefits. • CO, VOC, and NOx are estimated using GPS trajectory of taxis in Beijing, China. • The spatio-temporal patterns of hotspots and idleness emissions are visualized. • The strategy reduces idleness emissions 19.6% and 31.7% on the weekday and weekend. • The strategy is an effective approach in energy conservation and emission reduction. [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]

Abstract: This paper is to investigate the behavior of residents towards electrical and electronic waste (e-waste) recycling in Beijing. For this purpose a large sample questionnaire survey was performed to explore the residents’ characteristics of recycling behavior and preference of e-waste recycling pattern. Besides, the willingness of residents to participate in e-waste recycling was also assessed in our study. For this a logistic regression model was developed to estimate and explain residents’ willingness in e-waste recycling. The model showed that Convenience of recycling facilities and service, Residential conditions, Recycling habit and Economic benefits are four determinants of Beijing residents’ willingness and behavior in e-waste recycling. And centralized recycling pattern by professional recovery spots would have a broad prospect if various kinds of channels can be provided to make the residents feel more convenient in e-waste recycling. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Since the open door policy in 1978 China has undergone enormous economic and social changes making China to be one of the largest economies and consumers of resources in the world. The pronounced differences in income and lifestyles especially between urban and rural China were also part of China''s economic rebirth. This paper explores current trajectories and scenarios for urbanization and lifestyle changes and other important socio-economic trends in China. The implications of these changes are analysed for Beijing in particular and then compared to China for the year 2020. These changes by 2020 are modelled using input–output analysis in combination with the Ecological Footprint and Water Footprint. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: This paper presents an economic evaluation of three typical recycling processes for the five main types of waste electronic home appliances (EHA) (TV set, refrigerator, washing machine, air conditioner and personal computer) in Beijing, the capital of China. The main purpose is to identify the formal management framework with economic feasibility for the waste EHA generated in large municipalities of China. It is found that the advanced technologies, which have mechanical processing units, should be introduced to recover more valuable materials from the waste appliances. Net revenues with a range of 90–240RMB (Chinese currency unit, 1.0USD≈8.0RMB) per unit, depend on the type of appliance, could be expected in case of using the most complicated procedures which can separate both metals and plastics from the shredded mixtures. However, the recycling of waste refrigerator and waste washing machine will, respectively, spend about 100 and 6RMB per unit if solely by simple manual dismantling. Revenues from recycling of the other three types of appliances are positive but quite low in this case. Although positive revenues could be achieved from the isolated evaluation of recycling, the entire management system, which also covers the phases of collection and transportation, is economically infeasible if the waste appliances are bought from the households still at current prices. Based on a survey of the householder''s attitude to the cost for waste EHA management, which was conducted earlier, the practical way to construct a formal management system for waste EHA in Beijing is to reduce the citizen''s traditional expectation to the values of waste appliances and encourage their transfer to the formal collection system at lower prices. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Retrofitting energy-inefficient external walls would improve the energy performance of building envelope by utilizing new insulation materials to decrease heat transfer. However, previous researches mainly based on environmental and economic considerations are still partial and could hardly provide a holistic perspective for the optimal selection of external walls retrofit techniques. To address this problem, this paper proposes a novel heterogeneous multi-criteria group decision-making (MCGDM) framework in which the ratings of schemes are described with real numbers and linguistic variables and the weights of criteria are unknown. Firstly, an evaluation index system is established covering criteria of thermal insulation property, technique, durability, and economic efficiency. Secondly, building information modeling (BIM) is utilized to determine multiple retrofit schemes and derive the heat transfer coefficient. Thirdly, after heterogeneous evaluation values are unified, a combined weighting approach is developed based on best worst method (BWM) and the similarity method before fuzzy VlseKriterijumska Optimizacija I Kompromisno Resenje (VIKOR) method is applied to rank the alternatives. Fourthly, the applicability of the proposed framework is demonstrated by a case study of the external wall retrofit scheme selection in Beijing, which reveals that extruded polystyrene (XPS) and expanded polystyrene (EPS) insulation schemes are the compromise choices with aggregating index Q k of 0.0032 and 0.0967 respectively, while rock wool insulation scheme is the last option with Q k of 0.7182. The stability of ranking results is proved with the changing weight of maximum group utility, and the effectiveness of the proposed framework is verified by a comparative analysis. This study can facilitate the implementation of building envelope retrofit by providing useful guidance for selection of external wall retrofit schemes. • A heterogeneous MCGDM framework is proposed to assess retrofit schemes. • BIM is integrated with MCDM method for a comprehensive evaluation. • XPS and EPS schemes are the compromise choices for the case study. • A novel method is proposed to convert two data forms to a unified form. • The extended application of proposed framework facilitates urban green retrofit. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the rapid growth of urbanisation and associated vehicle numbers in China, urban transportation has become responsible for a large increase in the country's energy consumption and, consequently, its air pollution levels. Beijing has been making significant efforts to reduce transportation sector energy consumption and pollution. However, owing to the existence of a large number of private cars, the implementation of effective energy consumption and emission reduction measures has been difficult to achieve. This paper reviews the policies and regulations that have so far been developed to tackle Beijing's transportation sector issues. Perspective and analysis are given on the specific policies and regulations that have been employed, focusing on the overarching regulation mechanism, public transportation infrastructure, vehicle technology-related measures, vehicle activity-related measures and eco-driving -related measures, relevant experiences and lessons are summarised. A key finding concludes that the implementation of driving restriction policy can restrain pollutants emissions significantly, it shows energy consumption and emission reduction should not only be applied to public transportation, but the effective control of emissions from private cars should also attract more attention. To better control energy consumption of urban transport, various measures and solutions are proposed and discussed, including the further popularizing of eco-driving and the widespread application of e-mobility. Specific proposals for developing urban transportation policy are also discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents the optimal dynamic investment allocation on intelligent transportation infrastructure construction and road maintenance with considering environmental costs. We propose a stochastic optimal control problem with uncertain traffic volume, aiming to minimize the expected system total cost, which consists of the fixed travel cost, the congestion delay cost, the congestion environmental cost and the road maintenance environmental cost. By adopting Hamilton-Jacobi-Bellman equation, we propose the optimal dynamic strategy for investment allocation, which is a feedback control and determined by two observable variables, i.e., traffic volume and road network capacity. We also conduct a case study of Beijing, China, for the proposed dynamic strategy. The numerical results demonstrate that our strategy can lower the congestion delay and related environmental cost significantly, which is enough to remedy the possible increase in the road maintenance environmental cost. Comparing with traditional strategies, the new dynamic strategy provides closely 100% of the benefit cases. • An optimal strategy for investment allocation on intelligent transportation infrastructure construction and road maintenance is provided. • The proposed strategy can lower the congestion delay and related environmental cost significantly. • The validity and performance of the proposed investment strategy are illustrated through a case study of Beijing, China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we analyzed the similarities and differences between spatially explicit 8- and 18-node models of an urban carbon metabolic network. The results reveal the influence of different divisions of a system on heterogeneity in carbon flows along metabolic pathways within the network. Paths of 18-node network were between 3 and 5 times than those of the 8-node network with 4% or less differences in carbon flows. The 8-node model provided a good overview of the system and revealed the key paths. However, it also concealed some important flows. In contrast, the 18-node model revealed the details of the flows and clarified the amplification effect of the socioeconomic components and the masking of the effect of natural components that occurred in the 8-node model. However, it was too complex to clearly reveal the key interactions. Therefore, we can choose the optimal division of a network model based on the specific problems we are trying to solve and the specific context. The application of 18-node network is suitable for moderately mature cities which are under the pressure of consolidation and urban adjustment. The 8-node model can be used to provide an overview that will reveal where to focus on using the 18-node model, which provides more details and better support for the formulation of concrete measures. Image 1 • Carbon flows of 8- and 18-node networks of urban metabolism were compared. • The division always increase the contribution of natural components. • Contributions of artificial components changes variously after division. • The application of 18-node network is suitable for moderately mature cities. • The 8-node network could present the key activity of fast urbanization cities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates whether the China ETS policy has achieved carbon emission reduction at the expense of economic development. Moreover, we are interested in unmasking the role of the institutional factors adopted by the ETS pilots in their ETS effects. Using the province-level panel data during the 2008–2016 period. we employ the DID model to compare carbon emissions and economic development between the ETS and non-ETS regions and between the pre- and post-ETS periods. Some novel empirical findings emerge. First, compared with the non-ETS areas, the ETS policy has significantly reduced carbon emission in the ETS areas. This emission reduction has not come at the cost of economic development. Second, the ETS policy leads to a decline in carbon intensity and fossil fuel energy consumption relative to all energy types. Lastly, some heterogeneity across markets arise. The Beijing carbon market performs the best among all pilots in terms of achieving targets of carbon reductions, followed by the Hubei carbon market. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

High-speed rail (HSR) is considered a safe, fast, comfortable and ecological mode of transportation, which has profoundly changed the way passengers travel. However, how green it is and how it affects county air quality remains to be investigated. Based on panel data of 51 counties in southern Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei (Jing-Jin-Ji) from 2014 to 2018, Fixed Effect Model (FEM) and Propensity-Score-Matching and Difference-in-Difference (PSM-DID) methods are used to study the impact of HSR on air quality in counties. FEM is used as the preliminary regression and PSM-DID model is used to avoid the endogenous problem and selection bias. Research shows that HSR has direct and indirect effects on air quality in counties. HSR directly affects it by changing the way of long-distance travel. Furthermore, HSR indirectly affects it by promoting the regional economy, which affects air quality through scale effects, innovation effects and structural effects caused by regional economy development. The results show that the operation of the HSR reduces the air quality index (AQI) by 11.2% and the concentrations of the three major pollutants index, including PM2.5 by 10.1%, PM10 by 14.8% and O 3 by 11%. We also find that HSR brings at least 4% more environmental benefits on the side closer to Beijing and Tianjin in southern Jing-Jin-Ji than the farther side. Among the two sides, the closer side has more government concern and economic activities. In addition, we conducted further robustness tests and concluded that HSR improves air quality in counties. This paper provides some policy implications for improving county environmental quality and planning of HSR stations. • The direct and indirect impacts of HSR on air quality are considered. • Two models are used to improve the robustness of empirical analysis results. • The results indicate that HSR has positive impacts on air quality of counties. • The impact of HSR on air quality in counties shows regional heterogeneity. [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]

In order to explore the establishment method of high-resolution vehicle emission inventory and analyze the temporal and spatial variation law of vehicle greenhouse gases (GHG) emissions. This paper proposes a bottom-up method based on road network information and the real-time average interval speed of road segments. A traffic speed-flow model is proposed to predict the hourly traffic flow and the localized Motor Vehicle Emission Simulator (MOVES) is used to simulate the CO 2 , N 2 O and CH 4 emission factors. A high temporal (1 h × 1 h) and spatial (1 km × 1 km) resolution GHG emission inventory of motor vehicles in Beijing in 2018 is developed by this means. The actual emissions of CO 2 , N 2 O and CH 4 are 19,864,590, 82 and 511 t, respectively. And the total GHG emission is 19,901,933 tCO 2e combined with global warming potential (GWP). The daily GHG emissions on weekday and weekend are 55206.30 and 52817.64 tCO 2e , respectively. There are three obvious peak emission periods on the weekday, namely, the morning peak (8:00–9:00), the noon peak (11:00–12:00) and the evening peak (18:00–19:00), which contribute 11.76%, 11.84% and 12.92% of the daily emission, respectively. The 1 h × 1 h emission grid shows the spatial distribution characteristics of emissions. The areas within the Fifth Ring Road (973 km2) are only 5.93% of the total area of the city (16,410 km2) but contribute 41.53% of the total vehicle GHG emissions. This study provides detailed data support for implementing vehicle GHG emission mitigation measures. • A 1 km × 1 km vehicle greenhouse gas emission inventory in Beijing was developed. • A bottom-up method based on road network and vehicle travel speed was proposed. • A modified speed-flow model was used to predict the hourly traffic flow on road. • The temporal and spatial variation laws of vehicle GHG emissions were analyzed. • The vehicle CO 2 emission in 2018 estimated in this study was 19,901,933 tCO 2e. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To our knowledge, the previous studies did not answer the following questions: how much does window analysis differ from the original Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) approaches and how to develop DEA window analysis? To address these questions, we propose three intermediate approaches (cross-sectional approach, window efficiency analysis and window index approach) and statistically compare their performances. The underlying concern is that we need to examine whether a metrological bias exists in our study. The concern is important in guiding policy issues such as energy policy and climate change. Empirically, the proposed approaches are applied to measure the unified efficiency of fossil fuel power plants at a provincial level in China from 2007 to 2017, since these plants are important energy consumers and CO 2 emitters. We obtain two important implications. First, considerable differences were confirmed among the three approaches, thus implying an existence of the methodological bias. Second, Beijing (the capital of China) outperformed the other provinces in terms of their measures, since the government has paid serious attention to air pollution emitted from fossil fuel power plants. The governmental regulation in Beijing is a good example of pollution prevention in China. It is expected that the success on Beijing will be disseminated to the other provinces. This paper proposed three approach, i.e. one conventional approach (cross-sectional approach) and two new approaches (window efficiency analysis and window index approach). The two new approaches were capable of measuring efficiency shifts or technology shifts over time. Empirically, these approaches were adopted to evaluate the performance of Chinese fossil fuel power plants. Image 1 • We evaluate the performance of China's fossil fuel power plants from 2007 to 2017. • Three formulations are utilized for DEA intermediate approach. • The first policy effort was put on Beijing and gradually on other provinces. • China made a progress on economic and environmental measures during this period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Waste sorting is the most crucial step in the success of waste management. Recently in Beijing, a series of regulations have been introduced to promote the household's adoption of waste sorting. While these regulations matter, it is necessary for policymakers to better understand why and why not people intend to adopt waste sorting. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the influence of residents' awareness of benefits and difficulties on the waste sorting intention and how policy plays a role in determining residents' intention to adopt waste sorting. Drawing upon the Theory of Reasoned Action, a conceptual framework is tested on a sample of Chinese residents in Beijing (n = 267) using hierarchical multiple regression analysis. Results reveal that there is a positive relationship between resident's awareness of benefits and their waste sorting intention. However, there is a negative relationship between resident's perceived difficulties and their intention to engage in waste sorting. These findings are found to be contingent upon the extent of perceived policy effectiveness. The findings of this study provide environmental policymakers with not only insights into reasons behinds residential waste sorting intention but also several recommendations in promoting waste sorting among the residents. This study also suggests policymakers to carefully design effective waste sorting policies by highlighting the benefits and lessening the difficulties. • Waste sorting intention in Beijing is explained using Theory of Reasoned Action. • Residents in Beijing aware that waste sorting has benefits to the environment. • Residents in Beijing perceive that waste sorting is difficult and hard to do. • Effective waste sorting policies and regulations should be carefully designed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the concerns of environment protection, electric vehicle (EV) is regarded as a promising transportation tool for green cities project. Since the amount of EV is rising shapely, the EV charging demands is also rapidly generated. However, seeking suitable charging facilities is not easy for EV users, new energy companies run charging station separately for self-interests, and charging pile information is not transparent for drivers. This dilemma is not solved until the merging of blockchain technology. In this paper, a novel EV charging system is proposed for the cooperation of new energy companies and providing convenient charging services for users. In this system, charging information is managed and recorded by the company alliance based on consortium blockchain, which is tamper-resistant and multi-centralized. Meanwhile, a new smart contract is designed to balance the allocation of company' charging users, so that the profits of different new energy companies could be fairer. To equilibrate the interest of companies and EV users, a Bio-Objective Mixed-Integer Programming model (BOMILP) is proposed as the mathematical logic of smart contracts. Furthermore, we proposed a new algorithm named Limited Neighborhood Search with Memory (LNSM) to support the implementation of smart contracts, which could make the smart contract running faster and has a better performance. At last, the proposed EV charging system and the smart contract are validated through a real case study with the EV charging data in Beijing, China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Along with rapid urbanization and economic development, urban household consumption has experienced a remarkable change, leading to a corresponding increase in direct and indirect carbon emissions. A systematic accounting of household carbon footprints (HCFs) in Beijing during 2002, 2007, and 2012 using a nested input-output model is presented in this paper. The results indicate that the per capita carbon footprint from urban household consumption in Beijing increased from 3054.05 kg in 2002–4611.12 kg in 2012, of which the indirect emissions were the majority. In terms of consumption structure, food, housing, transportation and communication, and education and entertainment were the four dominant sources contributing to the indirect urban HCFs in Beijing. With respect to the source, local Beijing was the largest contributor for itself materials and service provisions in 2002 and 2007, while the domestic source became the largest contributor in 2012, accounting for 55.08% of the total indirect household carbon emissions. Moreover, we also discovered that families with high income level had much higher HCFs compared to those with low income level. Given these considerations, transitions towards low-carbon household consumption are needed so as to provide equality and sustainability. • Nested input-output model is adopted to calculate household carbon footprints (HCFs). • Per capita HCFs in Beijing increased from 3054.05 kg in 2002–4611.12 kg in 2012. • Indirect emission constituted the majority of HCFs, accounting for 63.69% in 2012. • Income level has great impacts on HCFs due to energy intensive consumption pattern. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The knowledge of soil environmental quality and its changing trends is important for safe and sustainable land utilization. However, comprehensive information on soil environment carrying capacity, involving environmental, economic and social pressures, is relatively rare. In this study, a modified dynamic capacity model is developed to estimate soil environment carrying capacity in terms of a combined consideration of soil environment capacity, cumulative input/output rate and risk characteristics. Based on the method proposed, this paper demonstrates the current pollution status and remaining soil capacity of the Beijing urban area, and establishes a conceptual "early warning" model for soil environmental quality, to predict time-dependent changing patterns of soil pollutants under different accumulation scenarios. The results showed that for Beijing soil environmental carrying capacity varied with land use type and pollutant. Compared with Cu, Zn and Pb, Cd posed the greatest threat to soil environmental carrying capacity in both residential areas and green parks. Heavy metal carrying capacity in soils in built-up areas in Beijing was not overloaded currently, and will not deteriorate significantly over the short-to medium-term in a hypothetical "decreased input" scenario. The method proposed provides a simple, cost-effective, and quantitative tool for mapping soil quality level, and assessing the need for risk management measures, in China and elsewhere. • Natural attenuation capacity provides basis for soil environment carrying capacity. • Cumulative rate and risk characteristics are other dominant factors in model input. • An early warning system is necessary for effective risk management measures. • Soil environmental carrying capacity varied with land use type and pollutant. • The framework and model are transferable in other international urban settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The main purpose of this paper is to build an objective and effective environmental performance evaluation model of air pollution control. Based on the severe air polluted region in China, that is Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, this evaluation model consists of four parts, including economic benefits, public service, government management and development potential, and uses the balanced scorecard theory. The weights of the indexes are measured by comprehensive evaluation method, which combined entropy weight method and analytic hierarchy process (AHP). To test the applicability of the evaluation method to different stages, back propagation (BP) neural network is introduced to simulate air pollution control in the future. The results reveal that the environmental performance of air pollution control in Beijing had an upward trend during 2010–2016, and the trend would continue in the next five years. The environmental performance of Tianjin continuously increased, especially from 2014 to 2016. Tianjin has great potential of air pollution control in the future. The environmental performance of air pollution control in Hebei fluctuated from 2010 to 2016 and it dropped to the lowest level in 2015, which mainly due to the large increase in number of days with air quality levelⅡor above compared with 2014 and the nonsignificant growth in the amount of expenditure on atmospheric prevention and control, the amount of investment in the control of industrial pollution sources and the number of law enforcement personnel. Moreover, the environmental performance of air pollution control closely related with industrial structure, especially with the proportion of the tertiary industry. The upgrading of urban industrial structure and the coordinated development of green industry should be implemented to restructure the environmental transformation in air-polluted region. Image 1000 • The traditional Balanced Scorecard is revised and applied into the environmental performance evaluation. • The effective control of vehicle emission directly determines the air quality of Beijing. • A fundamental improvement in air quality in Hebei requires a large amount of environmental investment. • The environmental law enforcement is an important guarantee for air quality improvement of Tianjin. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abandoned coal mine reutilization plays a critical role in the sustainable development of the mining industry. Scientific decisions on reuse modes are a prerequisite and crucial issue to efficiently explore the idle resources of abandoned mines. This paper classified the reuse modes into 6 types with 19 sub-patterns and generalized the influence conditions into 3 categories with 17 sub-indexes, including mine conditions, natural and geological conditions, and supplementary conditions based on literature review and data sources. A logical deduction method named "condition-mode" was proposed from the constraint conditions and their degree of constraint to select the preliminary reutilization patterns of abandoned mines. Finally, a practical example of the Beijing west mining area was introduced to demonstrate the applicability and feasibility of the proposed method. The results indicate that this method can be employed to select some potential reuse patterns for abandoned underground coal mines. The most important implications are that the significance of more detailed analyses and techno-economic appraisals on multiple schemes from these decision results, which suggests a stepwise integration approach to generate a more promising subset of inference results. The research can provide a reference for the reuse of underground coal mines that have been closed or will be closed. • The reuse ways of abandoned coal mine are grouped into 6 modes with 19 sub-patterns. • The constraints of each pattern are analyzed and summarized into 3 categories. • Abandoned coal mines reutilization is an integration of solid, space, and wasteland. • A logical inference method from constraints to reuse modes is proposed. • The preliminarily screened reuse modes narrow the scope for further discussion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cost-related factors (e.g., subsides) play a vital role in the diffusion of Electric Vehicle (EV). However, it remains unclear how these factors would influence the diffusion and further the associated urban elements (e.g., infrastructures) at the micro scale. In response, this paper tried to quantify the influence of two types of cost-related factors on the adoption of Electric Vehicle (EV), namely upfront cost and usage-related cost, using purchase subsides and fuel prices as examples, respectively. An agent-based integrated micro-simulation model (SelfSim-EV) was used here to simulate how the EV market in Beijing might evolve from 2016 to 2020, within several "what-if" scenarios considering different Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicle (PHEV) subsides, petrol prices and electricity prices. The results suggested that 1) doubling the PHEV subsidy would make PHEV price competitive and thus increase the PHEV sale from around zero to 2500 in 2019. The PHEV sale price increases by around 3500 RMB (from around 261,000 to 264,500 RMB) due to the increase in the PHEV penetrate rate. This further gives rise to the changes in those urban elements connected with the EV market, including the urban environment, electricity and infrastructure systems, especially at the disaggregate level; 2) both electricity and petrol prices have little influence on the adoption of EVs at the macro level (i.e. the city level), but they do influence the spatial distributions of both CV and EV owners (based on the analyses of their residential locations) and further geographical distributions of vehicular emissions, EV-related facilities (e.g., charging posts) and electricity demand of EV at multiple resolutions, ranging from the facility level to district level. • Exploring influence of cost-related factors on the uptake of electric vehicle (EV). • An agent-based spatial integrated urban model, SelfSim-EV, is used. • Doubling the subsidy would increase the plug-in hybrid EV sale. • Energy price has little influence on the adoption of EVs at the macro level. • Varying cost-related factors could influence spatial distribution of EV elements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Heatwaves have considerable socioeconomic impact. Because of the urban heat island effect, risks associated with heatwaves are exacerbated in urban areas compared with surrounding regions. This study investigated the behaviors of local-scale urban heat island during a heatwave in Beijing using in situ observations and kilometer-scale simulations based on the Weather Research and Forecasting model. Results showed the observed urban heat island was enhanced by 0.78 °C during the heatwave episode, with greater increase at night than during daytime. The model with gridded urban canopy parameters was able to capture the spatiotemporal variation of surface air temperature, although it overestimated the magnitude. Spatial variation of urban canopy parameters could improve simulation of the spatiotemporal variations of near-surface air temperature in urban areas. Using a biophysical factorization method, urbanization-induced temperature changes were attributed to different driving factors. Results suggested that heatwave-related enhancement of urban heat island during daytime is primarily because of increased urban–rural contrast in surface evapotranspiration, whereas such enhancement at night is associated mainly with greater anthropogenic heat and enhanced warm advection. Since climate change make heatwaves more frequent, intense and persistent, targeted implementation of adaptation measures are needed to reduce the negative effects of urban heat island and to minimize their related risks to public health, power grids, and infrastructure. • This paper demonstrates the enhancement of urban heat island (UHI) due to heat wave using observations and numerical model. • Observed UHI in Beijing was enhanced by 0.78 °C during a heatwave episode, more profoundly during night than during daytime. • Enhanced UHI is due to increased urban–rural contrasts in surface evapotranspiration, anthropogenic heat and warm advection. • Synergistic interactions between UHI and heatwave present further heat-related risks for urban society and residents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Carbon emissions and energy consumption have serious impacts on humans and ecosystems. This paper investigates the effects of industrial reconstructuring on energy conservation and emission reduction. A multi-objective optimization model was established. The model classifies industrial sectors into four groups according to their carbon emission levels and contributions to economic growth, then non dominated sorting genetic algorithm is applied to solve the model and the Pareto frontier is obtained. The best solution is selected from the Pareto frontier by using a super data envelopment analysis model which measures the degree of coordination between economy and environment. The model is used to analyze the effects of industrial reconstructuring in Beijing during 2018–2020. The results show that industrial reconstructuring enabled economic growth to reach the government's planned rate while the carbon intensity and energy intensity surpassed the goal of the 13th Five-Year Plan. This case can provide decision-making basis for the sustainable development of ecology and economy in other regions. Fig. 6. Pareto front in Beijing region in 2020 The optimal Pareto solution for carbon emissions, energy consumptions and GDP targets after industrial structure reconstructuring. Image 1 • Classifying industrial sectors into four groups according to carbon emission levels and economic growth contributions. • A multi-objective optimization model was established and solved by the genetic algorithm. • A super DEA model evaluates the final plan which reflects the coordination of the economy and environment. • The analysis of each group can help achieving maximum benefits of economic and environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei (BTH) in China is a key metropolitan area with high development imbalance and serious environment pollution spillovers. While foreign direct investment (FDI) only accounts for 5% of local GDP in this region, Beijing direct investment (BDI) to its two neighbors starts to play an important role in promoting integrated development and tackling regional environmental problems ever since 2014. In this paper, we construct a unique dataset on 157 county-level administrative units in the BTH area as a host of BDI, and test if BDI has resulted in a pollution haven effect or a pollution halo effect in the industrial sector. Results show that BDI has been conducive to reducing industrial pollution emissions in the host administrative units, a pollution halo effect and win-win situation for both Beijing and its neighbors. However, FDI is estimated to have a pollution haven effect for certain industrial pollutants or insignificant. Our results stand with several robustness checks, heterogeneity analysis and a further test on reverse causality, and point to a new avenue for regional environment improvement via environmental friendly and sustainable industrial relocation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The full-fledging of Chinese national emissions trading system (ETS) still depends on the experiences of its pilot projects. This paper accesses the interdependence between ETSs from a complexity perspective in order to identify which one is with the most important relevance in terms of the entropy-based correlation. Firstly, the complexity of pilots is measured with multi-scale fuzzy entropy. Entropy-based correlations, the correlations of entropy series, are then used to describe dynamic behavior of the pilots. Finally, the role of pilots is studied by norms and eigenvalue variations. Multi-scale fuzzy entropy analysis finds that all pilots have small entropy values, thus indicating a low complexity. Entropy-based correlations show a dominant positive and centered correlations between the pilots. However, the correlations are strong (the absolute value > 0.5) within a week while weak (the absolute value < 0.5) for time scales larger than one month. Beijing pilot presents the greatest norm in general and has the biggest variations of the eigenvalues. It is thus regarded as the one that is most relevant to others among China's regional carbon markets. The research suggests that more importance should be paid to the core pilot when constructing the national carbon market. • Study complexity of carbon pilots from a multi-scale time dependent point of view. • Correlations of fuzzy entropy are used to describe dynamic behavior of carbon pilots. • China's carbon pilots present more complexity on time scale shorter than one month. • Entropy are strongly correlated at weekly scales but are weakly at monthly scales. • Beijing pilot is reorganized as the core of China's regional carbon markets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Air pollution has become an emerging environmental issue in developing countries like China in the last two decades. Sulphur dioxide (SO 2 ) is one of the major air pollutants that poses significant risks in many areas undergoing a process of industrialization such as Beijing. Realizing the main factor causing environmental quality changes is the key to solving this problem. By using an extended version of IPAT model, this paper aims to identify the main contributors of air pollution in Beijing from 1989 to 2012. The result shows that the most influential factors affecting air pollution in Beijing are affluence and emission intensity. From analyzing the historical background, we conclude that the air pollution change in Beijing is heavily policy-driven. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]