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Currently, the reform of electricity cross-subsidies on the sales side is a crucial task in the market-oriented process. The resulting electricity prices, which reflect the true value, can not only enhance resource allocation efficiency but also contribute to increased carbon emissions. Consequently, it is imperative to actively pursue carbon trading policies to address this issue. In this study, we examined the reformed electricity prices for industrial and residential users by applying the Ramsey pricing model. Moreover, a recursive dynamic computable general equilibrium model is employed to analyze the carbon emissions and economic performance of the cross-subsidy reform under different settings of the quota decline scheme, quota allocation mode, and penalty mechanism within the carbon emissions trading scheme. The results demonstrate the following findings: (1) The calculated Ramsey prices for industrial and residential users are 0.541 and 0.792 yuan/kWh, respectively. (2) Implementation of the electricity cross-subsidy reform can lead to a significant increment in CO2 emission. However, it effectively improves national economic and social development and promotes the growth of gross domestic product, industrial output, and changes in residential consumption expenditure structure. (3) Carbon trading proves to be an effective means to achieve carbon emission reduction at a lower economic cost after the reform. Notably, the degree of impact is more sensitive to the carbon decline factor. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A renewable portfolio standard is implemented to promote the development of renewable energy at a minimum cost through tradable green certificate market mechanism. Formulating a scientific and feasible renewable energy quota allocation scheme helps RPS function smoothly and optimize resource allocation. This paper proposed a bi-level programming model combined with entropy weight method to allocate renewable portfolio standard quotas with provincial heterogeneity and stakeholders' behavior, and an optimized quota allocation scheme among China's 30 provinces in 2020 was obtained. By comparing with the government's issued scheme, the following were the results under the optimized scheme: (1) Quotas in most provinces have increased, and the responsibility for renewable electricity generation is shared with the provinces with developed economy and well-constructed transmission facilities, where electricity producers can meet the quotas by purchasing tradable green certificate. (2) Quota allocation has positive effects on energy, economy, and environment. Specifically, the non-hydro renewable electricity generation increased by 43.8%, the non-hydro renewable electricity producers' profit increased by 18.4%, and the environmental pollution cost reduced by 27.9%. (3) Quota allocation equity measured by the environmental Gini coefficient increased by 14.3%. Based on these findings, some policy implications related to quota allocation and renewable portfolio standard's institutional arrangement have been put forward. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the process of economic transformation and structural adjustment, low-carbon development has become an intrinsic and realistic demand for China's national economic and social development. This paper builds a system dynamic (SD) model of China's low-carbon development based on the internal influencing mechanisms of carbon sources, carbon flows, and carbon sinks, and then explores the impact of carbon sources, carbon flows, and carbon sinks system on carbon emissions under different scenarios. The model in our study is effective and practical, and it can not only clearly demonstrate the interaction mechanism between various systems but also provide effective policy recommendations for policymakers. The results show that (1) with the steady growth of the economy, China's total energy consumption and carbon emissions have increased significantly. By 2025, the total energy consumption will reach 628 798 ten thousand tons, and the carbon emissions will reach 689 257 ten thousand tons; (2) as for energy and industrial structure, on the one hand, energy restructuring is more effective in reducing carbon emissions than is industrial restructuring; (3) carbon sinks also play an important role in reducing greenhouse gas emissions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]