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Small hydropower is a green and renewable energy resource. China has very rich small hydropower resources with a total technically utilizable installed capacity of 128 gigawatts (GW). Developing small hydropower is of great importance to speed up the economic growth of rural areas and alleviate the environmental pollution in China in the 21st century. This paper provides a survey of small hydropower exploitation in China. Over the last six decades, China’s small hydropower has developed rapidly. The installed capacity of small hydropower exceeds 59.24 GW at the present time. Fifteen large-scale small hydropower bases have been completed, and more bases are still under construction. The small hydropower for fuel project has been in operation. It not only provides cooking fuel for peasants, but also protects the eco-logical environment. The rural electrification construction based on small hydropower has lasted for 25 years, and 412 counties had realized rural electrification by 2010. The reasonable exploitation of small hydropower will accelerate the harmonic development of resources and the environment in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The UN's Sustainable Development Goals for 2030 aim on one hand at inclusive growth and eradicating poverty, and on the other at preserving environments. The relation between development and the environment has been studied extensively since the 1990s, documenting inverted U -shaped relations between per capita income and indicators of environmental degradation. This paper revisits the issue with machine learning techniques and novel disaggregate data to model these relationships heterogeneously across economic indicators. Results suggest that development gradually improves the efficiency of consuming the earth's nonrenewable resources, but increased efficiency alone is not sufficient to offset growth in scale. Development shifts reliance on one nonrenewable source to another, and on average we find successive inverted U -shapes in deforestation, air pollution and carbon intensities, followed by a J -shape in per capita carbon output. Local economic circumstances further determine the shape, amplitude, and location of tipping points in environmental output. The general implications of the estimated dynamics are explored by extrapolating environmental output to 2030 under simplistic scenario's. The results are a reminder that immediate, and sustained global efforts are required to preserve our environment. • Development gradually improves efficiency of consuming natural resources. • Increased efficiency alone is not sufficient to offset growth in scale. • Results show inverted U -shapes for deforestation, air pollution and carbon intensity. • But a J -shape is found in per capita carbon output. • Local economic circumstances further determine shape, amplitude, and location of tipping points. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]