Search

• A distribution dynamics approach is employed to examine the converge of TFEE across Chinese PAA level cities. • The findings show a clear convergence in TFEE. • Convergence comes more from efficiency drops in high TFEE cities than from efficiency gains in low TFEE cities. • The environmental protection polices in key cities improved energy efficiency. • Large-sized cities show better performance in energy efficiency than small- and medium-sized cities. Improving energy efficiency is considered the most direct route to reducing carbon emissions on a massive scale. To examine the long-run trend of China's energy efficiency, this paper employs a distribution dynamics approach to analyze the convergence of total-factor energy efficiency (TFEE) across 286 Chinese cities between 2002 and 2014. The result suggests the existence of convergence, which comes more from the efficiency declines in the high TFEE cities rather than the efficiency gains in the low TFEE cities. Despite the fact that a few cities have performed well in energy efficiency, the majority of cities have converged to a low-efficiency point. Further analyses show that the inefficiency was attributed to inefficient energy use in small- and medium-sized cities. Our analysis provides strong scientific support for China's ongoing energy conservation and environmental protection policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Chinese government has systematically developed and implemented a wide-ranging set of policies for sustainable development. The Fiscal Policy for Energy Conservation and Emission Reduction (FPECER) is a pivotal component within this integrated policy framework. Nevertheless, there is currently an absence of literature assessing its' impact on the carbon emission performances of manufacturing enterprises and discussing the potential impact channels. To this end, by applying the difference-in-difference method to a unique micro-level panel dataset, this study empirically investigates the impact of FPECER on manufacturing enterprises' carbon emissions and proposes some explanations for the impact channels between the two. This research substantiates that the FPESER has played a pivotal role in diminishing both the levels and intensity of carbon emissions for manufacturing enterprises located in pilot cities. Moreover, this has been achieved through an augmentation of financial subsidies granted to enterprises, a vigorous promotion of research and development activities, and a significant reduction in both the level and intensity of energy consumption. Furthermore, this research also discerns that the negative impact of FPECER on carbon emission performance is more pronounced for manufacturing enterprises in regions experiencing heightened local fiscal pressure and higher economic policy uncertainty, those classified within high-emission and capital-intensive industries, as well as non-export-oriented and state-owned manufacturing entities. Finally, FPECER does not significantly impact the output and value-added of enterprises, yet it does reduce the emission levels of a range of pollutants. • Investigating the impact of green fiscal policy on CO 2 emission performance. • FPECER reduced the manufacturing firms' CO 2 emissions level and intensity. • Subsidies, R&D, and energy usage are identified as channels for FPECER's impact. • FPECER's effects display heterogeneity across regions, industries, and firms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The impact of energy conservation and emission reduction (ECER) policies on domestic waste control has not been determined. Previous papers have focused predominantly on industrial pollution rather than domestic waste control. To fill this gap, this paper evaluates the impact of the ECER demonstration city policy on domestic waste control based on Chinese city-level data from 2010 to 2020 using a staggered difference-in-differences model. This paper finds that the implementation of the policy has significantly increased the amount of urban domestic waste removed and the capacity for harmless disposal. A comprehensive examination of possible mechanisms reveals that ECER demonstration cities have achieved improved domestic waste control through channels such as increased government inputs in waste control, the promotion of green lifestyles among residents, and the promotion of technological advances in waste control. Detailed heterogeneity analyses reveal that the positive impact of the policy on domestic waste control is greater in cities at a high level in the administrative hierarchy, in eastern cities, and in large cities. This study has strong practical significance, as it provides insights supporting differentiated efforts to promote the construction of ECER demonstration cities and guidance for improving domestic waste control capacity by exploiting ECER policies. • ECER demonstration cities contribute to the improvement of the domestic waste control capacity. • This policy works by increasing government inputs. • This policy works by promoting the transformation of residents' lifestyles. • This policy works promoting the advancement of waste disposal technology. • The effects of ECER demonstration cities vary with the rank, location and size of the city. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Even before China's commitment to carbon neutrality and peak in September 2020, many programs had been implemented to save energy. One such program was the "Action Plan for Energy Conservation and Low-Carbon for Ten Thousand Enterprises" (hereafter Top-10,000 Enterprises Energy-Saving Program, or Top-10,000 Program, or Program) launched in 2011, which targets high energy users. The official assessment of this program, which began during China's 12th Five Year Plan period (2011–2015), claimed that it had achieved its goals. However, there has been no precise measurement of how much it has contributed to China's total energy conservation achievements and how enterprises responded to it. Employing the regression discontinuity design approach and Chinese taxation survey data, this study represents a pioneering attempt to assess the energy savings resulting from this program. Our study estimates that this program accounted for an average of 5.8% of nationwide energy savings. The primary methods employed by enterprises to save energy were enhancing energy efficiency and dynamically adjusting production scale. The results of our study suggest that regulatory environmental policies should not be hindered by short-term scale effects. Instead, further innovations are required to minimize the cost of energy savings. • The energy saving effect of China's Top-10,000 program is quantified • Utilization of a vast firm-level dataset employing regression discontinuity design • A pioneering assessment of the energy savings achieved through the Top-10,000 Program • Firms reduce production scale in the short-term responding to energy-saving policies • Firms expand production scale in the long-run reacting to energy-saving policies [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tackling fuel poverty has become an increasingly important issue on many European countries’ political agendas. Consequently, national governments, local authorities and NGOs have established policies and programmes to reduce the fuel poverty vulnerability of households. However, evaluations of such policies and programmes show that they barely reach those who are most in need. The reasons for this failure are diverse and include fuel poverty measurement metrics, local scale data availability and policy design. This raises the question of how fuel poor homes can be more effectively identified and targeted to ensure that limited local and national budgets are used to benefit those who most need help. Area-based approaches, which pinpoint spatial units highly affected by fuel poverty due to their specific characteristics, offer an opportunity for creating more tailored policies and programmes. In this study, the author developed a GIS-MCDA (Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis), using an AHP (Analytical Hierarchy Process) and applied the approach to the German city of Oberhausen. The overall issue of fuel poverty was broken down into three vulnerability dimensions (heating burden, socio-economic and building vulnerability), the relative importance of fuel poverty criteria and the dimensions were evaluated by experts, and an overall Fuel Poverty Index was created to assess the relative fuel poverty vulnerability of 168 urban neighbourhoods. The analysis offers insights into the spatial pattern of fuel poverty within a city and thus provides an opportunity to channel efforts towards households in those neighbourhoods most in need. It also demonstrates that a trade-off between ecological and social targets should be considered in the development of future policies for tackling fuel poverty. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The conventional HVAC industry control method has relied on the Predicted Mean Vote (PMV) model [1]. However, the PMV model has frequently met a technical drawback in satisfying a building occupant’s thermal comfort requirements since there are several limitations and assumptions inherent in the PMV model. That model cannot be considered because of differences in individual occupant’s non-linear features, such as age, gender, and race, as well as the Body Mass Index (BMI), that adversely impact the thermal comfort in PMV model-based control. Artificial intelligence algorithm was applied to the thermal comfort control, which captured each individual occupant’s thermal preference. Human thermal comfort experiments were conducted to collect thermal comfort preference data on each occupant, and validation experiments tested the performance of the artificial intelligence algorithm. The study results indicated that the artificial intelligent algorithm based model had up to 45% more energy savings and 44.3% better thermal comfort performance than the PMV based model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the United States, the food industry alone accounts for approximately 19% of the total energy consumed. The objective of this study is to forecast the food-related energy consumption and evaluate policy alternatives for reducing food related energy consumption in the medium and long term. Influential factors of energy consumption in the food industry include population growth rate, GDP, agriculture's share of GDP, food waste, technologies, and agricultural investment. Based on the life cycle of the food industry, five life stages were considered: agricultural production, industrial processing and packaging, transportation, wholesale and retail, and household. In this study, based on the causal relationships and feedback loops between these factors and the energy consumed for each life stage, a system dynamics (SD) model was designed to simulate the situation for the US food industry. Policy options of reducing waste percentage and improving industrial energy productivity are incorporated for building the energy use mitigation scenarios. By implementing the integrated mitigation scenarios, a 9.43% reduction in total food system energy consumption can be attained in 2030. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Global urbanisation will put considerable stress on both water and energy resources. While there is much research at the national and regional levels on the energy implications of water supply (the urban water-energy ‘nexus’), there is relatively little at the city scale. This literature is further diminished when attempting to account for the climate impact of urban water systems. A study of the urban water-energy-climate nexus is presented for México City. It is shown that 50% of México City water comes from a local aquifer with a further 30% deriving from energy-intensive surface sources which are pumped over considerable topography. The water supply system consumes 90% of the water system energy demand, and is responsible for the majority (90%) of the CO 2 e emissions. In the wastewater sector, 80–90% is discharged with no or little treatment, with correspondingly low energy demand. The small fraction that is treated accounts for the majority of energy use in the wastewater sector. This study shows the uncertainty in energy demand and CO 2 e emissions when reliant on secondary data which considerably over/under-estimate energy use compared with primary data. This has implications when assessing energy and carbon budgets. Three water savings options are assessed for their impact on energy and CO 2 e emissions reductions. Considerable reductions in water supply volumes and concomitant energy consumption and CO 2 e emissions are possible. However the extent of implementation, and the effectiveness of any implemented solutions depend on financing, institutional backing and public support. An additional measure to reduce the climate impact is to switch from traditional to renewable fuels. This work adds city-level quantification of the urban water-energy-climate nexus, allowing policy makers to discern which water-system elements are responsible for the greatest energy use and climate impact, and are better equipped to make targeted operational decisions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The innovation effect is an important component when measuring the performance of environmental policy instruments. Based on a questionnaire survey, this research has examined corporate energy conservation and emission reduction efforts in energy intensive industries in China under the pressure of different climate policies, and in particular looked into their adoption of those technological innovation and diffusion activities. The results show a large variety of corporate adoption of energy-saving practical activities. In general, climate policies have played a greater role in promoting the adoption of managerial energy-saving activities in respondent companies, while comparatively their influences on the adoption of technology upgrading activities are relatively weak. Regulatory measures have exerted greater pressure and influence on corporate short-term behavioural change, as stated by the respondent companies. However, market based instruments show greater incentive effect in promoting adoption of energy conservation and emission reduction activities that refer to corporate long-term oriented strategic planning or adjustment. For instance they exert a significant incentive effect on increasing long-term research and development investment for technological innovation, and also play an important role in optimising corporate organisational structure. The econometric analysis further proves the influences of market-based instruments in promoting corporate adoption of technological innovation and diffusion activities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study estimates the effect of carbon pricing for CO 2 mitigation in China’s cement industry. The statistics and prediction show that cement production initially experienced accelerated growth and is now expected to plateau out over the next few years. The energy saving and carbon mitigation technologies considered in this estimation are at different adoption stages. Full technology diffusion is expected within 10–20 years, and the remaining technology mitigation potential stands at about 8.8% by 2025 and 10.2% by 2030. Nevertheless, attaching a price to carbon would have a limited effect. Reductions of 9.9 and 12.9 Mt-CO 2 might have been realised in 2015 under respective prices of 60 and 100 Yuan/t-CO 2 , compared to a non-pricing scenario. The reduction attributed to carbon pricing would be around 4.9 Mt-CO 2 in 2020 at both price levels, and around 70% of the mitigation may be at a marginal cost of 50 Yuan/t-CO 2 by 2020. The marginal cost for nearly 90% of the policy mitigation would be below 100 Yuan/t-CO 2 by 2030. This paper confirms the effectiveness of a command-and-control approach so far for energy saving in China’s cement industry and advises early introduction of a carbon pricing regime with consideration of policy interactions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the 1970s energy crises, and increasingly in recent years, ground source heat pumps have attracted large interest as an instrument for energy conservation. Rapid growth of the industry has raised questions about the environmental benefits and costs of heat pumps. Governments have designed policies to both promote and regulate the industry. This study concentrates on the development of the ground source heat pump industry in Finland, and on national policies and regulations concerning the industry. The focus is on practitioners' responses to heat pump legislation, a topic so far overlooked by researchers, but also the users’ perspective is considered. The study is based on interviews and questionnaire responses from heat pump professionals, heat pump statistics, and literature. Six sectors of legislation and environmental policy are considered: the regulation of ozone depleting substances and greenhouse gases in refrigerants, qualification requirements imposed on the ground source heat pump industry, the permission procedure for ground loop heat exchangers, legislation on groundwater protection, requirements and incentives for heat pump efficiency and labelling, and public funding and subsidies for the industry. The results show that policies have an important role in the development of the industry, and that quality aspects deserve more attention in policies regarding e.g. GSHP training and planning permissions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Natural ventilation (NV) is a key sustainable solution for reducing the energy use in buildings, improving thermal comfort, and maintaining a healthy indoor environment. However, the energy savings and environmental benefits are affected greatly by ambient air pollution in China. Here we estimate the NV potential of all major Chinese cities based on weather, ambient air quality, building configuration, and newly constructed square footage of office buildings in the year of 2015. In general, little NV potential is observed in northern China during the winter and southern China during the summer. Kunming located in the Southwest China is the most weather-favorable city for natural ventilation, and reveals almost no loss due to air pollution. Building Energy Simulation (BES) is conducted to estimate the energy savings of natural ventilation in which ambient air pollution and total square footage at each city must be taken into account. Beijing, the capital city, displays limited per-square-meter saving potential due to the unfavorable weather and air quality for natural ventilation, but its largest total square footage of office buildings makes it become the city with the greatest energy saving opportunity in China. Our analysis shows that the aggregated energy savings potential of office buildings at 35 major Chinese cities is 112 GWh in 2015, even after allowing for a 43 GWh loss due to China’s serious air pollution issue especially in North China. 8–78% of the cooling energy consumption can be potentially reduced by natural ventilation depending on local weather and air quality. The findings here provide guidelines for improving current energy and environmental policies in China, and a direction for reforming building codes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Transport is the lifeblood of a nation’s economy. Because fossil fuels are being gradually depleted and global warming phenomena are becoming more and more serious, the aim of this article is to study a low-carbon transport infrastructure based on existing energy efficiency indices and green transport policy formulated by Taiwanese Department of Transportation. First, via data collection and analysis, we observed that small passenger cars and large trucks are the largest energy users in the transport sector due to their high energy intensities and large transport volumes. Therefore, the energy-conserving potentials of these vehicles are the focus of this study. According to “Top-Down” methodology, the most effective and economical energy-saving strategies for Taiwan׳s transport sector are the significant adoption of rail transport and electrification mode. With a maximum energy-saving scenario, including the adoption of Best Available Technologies (BAT) and the comprehensive expansion of public transport infrastructure, the energy savings potential in the land transport sector of Taiwan is 2931 million liters of oil equivalent (MLOEs). This savings is equivalent to a greenhouse gas emissions reduction of approximately 5.91 Mt CO 2e with a scale of 16.73% or crediting 2.40% reduction in national greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Finally, we suggest that the green transport infrastructure of Taiwan should primarily include railway, mass rapid transit (MRT), and hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

When new energy efficient products are struggling with their commercialisation and diffusion into widespread applications you would typically expect policy-makers and green lead-users to guide the way. This paper examines the case of the hot water circulator pump industry in Europe, where parts of the industry envisioned and worked for a voluntary energy label, bringing technological innovation, new business and energy savings of approx. 85% for each new circulator pump. The case study explores the complexities of innovation processes where technology, market, actors and policy co-evolve over time to transform an existing socio-technical regime. The paper highlights the importance of policies to reduce barriers towards innovation and energy efficiency and shows that it is not always policy-makers that establish the crucial policies that change the innovation dynamics for the benefit of the environment and the industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Partial shading is a condition where, the panels in a photovoltaic (PV) array do not receive uniform irradiation. Shading causes mismatch in the electrical characteristics of the panels composing the PV array and results in significant reduction in the energy yield. The reduction in output is not proportional to the shaded area but depends on the extent of mismatch that in turn depends on other factors like array size, type of configuration chosen, position of the panels in the array and shading pattern. To reduce the severity of this issue and to improve the energy yield under shaded conditions, it is therefore necessary to analyze the role played by each one of the contributing factors in greater detail. This paper presents a detailed analysis focusing mainly on the role played by the array size, array configuration (interconnections among the panels) and the shading pattern on the energy yield under partial shading conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent decades, China has witnessed substantial progress in urbanization and industrialization and has become the manufacturing center of the world, but has suffered from severe environmental deterioration, especially air pollution. National and provincial governments have adopted a series of policy tools aiming at energy conservation and emission reduction, varying from energy saving regulations to cleaner production policies. This paper investigates provincial energy saving and emission reduction policies by evaluating their effectiveness on local air pollution control. Relying on a panel data regression analysis on a sample of 26 provinces and four centrally-controlled municipalities over a ten-year period from 2002 to 2011, we find empirical support for the positive impacts of provincial energy saving regulations and two environmental standards on the improvement of local air quality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the last few years concerns have increased about the energy mix in many countries. These concerns have been of greater magnitude for countries with a common energy regulation such as European Union (EU) member states. An important aspect to take into account when choosing a given energy mix is the efficiency involved in its generation. In this context, the present study analyzes the efficiency with which electricity and derived heat was produced in 25 EU member states over the last decade. This analysis considers not only the inputs and outputs involved but, more importantly, which undesirable by-products were generated during the production process, a relevant issue for EU climate policy. To this end, two nonparametric frontier models are applied: first, a Directional Distance Function (DDF), based on Briec’s (1997) [16] proposal and, second, a modified version of Tone’s (2001) [51] Slacks-Based Measure (SBM) model, both of which are especially appropriate in this particular context due to their treatment of undesirable outputs. Results are partly innovative since, with few exceptions, applications on this issue are relatively scarce. From a policy implications’ point of view, our achievements are also interesting because they reveal remarkable efficiency differences among EU countries: those countries from the latest EU enlargements account for the lowest efficiencies, with large opportunities for improvement in CO 2 abatement and primary energy saving. Results also show stable efficiencies along the evaluated period and, therefore, highlighting the need to further intensify the initiatives designed to harmonize environmental policies and identifying drivers for efficiency improvement turn out to be still key objectives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is considerable ambiguity around the importance of demographic and socio-economic characteristics that catalyze pro-environmental behaviours. These factors are typically deemed responsible for environmental skepticism, such as the degree of trust in social institutions, fundamental views of the individuals (e.g., religiosity and political ideology), and competing priorities. In this context, the present study analyzed a comprehensive dataset of survey responses to discern the most reliable predictors of environmental attitudes of Canadians related to activism, lifestyle, household practices on air quality, waste disposal, energy and water conservation. To achieve this objective, we capitalize upon the wealth of publicly available data from surveys conducted by Statistics Canada's Households and the Environment Survey. Our analysis suggests that individuals with university-level education and higher income or families with children generally display pro-environmental behaviours. Political conservatism, as expressed by the percentage vote for the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada in a given area, appears to covary with some facets of the documented reluctance to embrace environmentally aligned behaviours (i.e., climate change issues), although we did not find a major "conservative-versus-liberal" divide about the broader spectrum of environmental issues. Our assessment of environmental attitudes in different Canadian provinces suggests an aptitude for more sustainable living in Ontario and British Columbia. Our analysis also provides evidence that the intent to support efforts that reduce emissions from burning fossil fuels or promote clean energy and technology – which has been overwhelmingly communicated in recent national polls – is not necessarily actualized. This established trend of Canadians failing to "walk the talk" and materialize their stated commitment with tangible participation into environmentally supportive behaviours could stem from barriers imposed at the household and societal levels. Notwithstanding the uncertainty regarding the importance of different socio-demographic factors in shaping our predisposition and behaviour towards environmental issues, the findings of our study offer a working model that could allow addressing the roots of environmental skepticism, promote societal trust, and revisit the role of ecopolitics in the social agenda. • We examine critical socioeconomic covariates of environmental attitudes in Canada. • Education, household income, family size covary with pro-environmental behaviours. • Ontario and British Columbia display a greater aptitude for sustainable living. • No major conservative-vs-liberal divide exists in Canada about the environment. • We offer a framework that could augment the role of ecopolitics in the social agenda. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the late 1990s, much scholarly work has been done in the field of energy economics on the nexus between economic growth and energy consumption. Over the last decade, however, the literature has been recompiled through examining the relationship between energy consumption and a set of variables by referring to the implicit role of economic growth. Based upon finance-energy nexus, this paper attempts to investigate the linkage between the banking development and energy consumption for a panel of seven Middle Eastern countries using panel cointegration and causality techniques over the period 1980-2011. Panel cointegration results show a long-run relationship between energy consumption, income, energy prices and banking sector development indicators. FMOLS (Fully Modified OLS) results reveal that all banking sector indicators affect energy demand positively in the long-run and the impact range falls between 0.169 and 0.396. In terms of causality, there is evidence of a one way short-run relationship from banking expansion to energy consumption while long-run dynamics indicate a bi-directional feedback relationship. These results have some implications for energy and environmental policy. One main implication is that energy conservation policies may be implemented with little or no adverse impact on financial development in the short-run whereas they might become detrimental in the long-run. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This paper examines the development of policy instruments that support the low-carbon governance in China. The instruments are analysed in five aspects in relation to the key policies in low-carbon governance in China, including: energy conservation, developing new energy, reforestry, developing circular economy, and industry restructuring. Each aspect is discussed in three instrument groups which are (1) law and regulations, (2) industry standard and (3) finance and taxation. This research suggests that law enforcement for the new established laws should be further strengthened and stricter supervision systems should be in place to safeguard effective implementation of low carbon policies, measures and standards, especially for those energy condensed sectors. More rigorous industry standards regarding energy efficiency should be considered to help eliminate outdated equipments in industries and promote the introduction of more climate-friendly technologies. The industrial standards should be given strong legal support in accountability, in order to enforce their complete application once in operation. New policies and instruments need to be introduced in order to reduce carbon print by landfill. The backward law and industrial standards in China should be upgraded more regularly, therefore to support the low carbon development strategy. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: This paper measures the company''s awareness and acceptability of market-based instruments (MBIs) for energy saving, and identifies their relationships with pre-classified determinants. The data were collected from 121 respondents in Taicang, China, with almost all of them being small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The surveyed companies indicate moderate awareness of MBIs at present. Market competition is confirmed to function as a driver for the companies to collect strategic information and thus enhance their policy awareness. The samples with higher education level of employees indicate higher awareness of MBIs. In contrast to the regulative polices, MBIs and voluntary approaches are more appreciated by the companies. The companies in the survey area prefer to make internal efforts in response to energy cost increases due to the implementation of carbon pricing policies and are reluctant to simply transfer the policy burden to their customers. Empirical evidences on the conditions for policy success from this study are meaningful for supporting further progress of industrial energy saving policies in China. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: To some extent, there are some uncertainties factors in forecasting energy demand of road transportation. Scientific forecasting China''s energy demand of road transportation is a key for make long-term development plans of the nation''s road transportation, and relevant policies of environmental protection and energy-saving. Basing on the energy demand of China''s road transportation, considering the factors average fuel consumption of singleautomobile and the workload of road transportation, the paper does a comprehensive forecasting for China''s energy demand of transportation in the future. The result is that in 2030, the energy demand of road transportation will amount to 250 million tons, which is 1.4 times that of 2020, and 2.3 times that of 2010. The significant increase of energy demand will inevitably bring great pressure to resources of energy and environmental protection, so the implementation of scientific development concept, saving resources and protecting the environment and adopting sustainable development policy will be the objective requirements for highway transportation development of China in the future. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The article establishes the analytical framework of incentive mechanism and the rank order tournaments model that based on the relative performance for developing energy-saving and emission reduction by using the theory of principle-agent and the Malcomson model. We systematically analyzes the model, and proposes the corresponding policy suggestions. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Greenhouse gas emission from residential sector is difficult to control since emission regulation cannot be implemented to individual household. Government should induce each household to have energy saving lifestyle in order to abate increasing CO2 emissions from household activities. The program to promote the spread of green home appliances by utilizing eco-points has been conducted in Japan since May 2009. Those who have purchased eco-friendly home appliances can apply for the issuance of eco-points and the exchange of issued points for various goods. It is necessary to know consumer preferences for home appliances, so as to verify the effect of CO2 emission reduction of eco-point program. We statistically estimated consumer''s utility functions for choosing refrigerators, televisions and air conditioners based on the sales data of them. The utility functions have explanatory valuables such as price, electricity cost, issued eco-points, etc. of individual home appliance. The utility functions enable the simulation of expected effect of CO2 emission reduction under the changing rate of eco-points. While the direct effect of eco-point program was evaluated in this way, we considered the indirect and negative effect on CO2 emissions that derive from the exchange of issued points for goods. Questionnaire survey was conducted for those who have been issued eco-points after purchasing home appliances. As a result, total CO2 emission reduction was estimated as 170 million ton per year by the purchase of green home appliances. In addition, the emission reduction can be expected to increase by approximately 2.4 percent under the revised eco-point program that issues eco-points only to the top 20 percent of efficient home appliances. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The effort to reduce the dependence on imported crude oil in Greece, after the oil crises in the ''70s, has resulted, among others, in a total installed area of 3.57millionm2 solar collectors in 2007, making Greece one of the pioneers in the use of domestic solar hot water system (DSHWS) worldwide. In the present work, the contribution of DSHWS to the reduction of conventional energy and greenhouse gases and other air pollutant emissions in Greece from its early years in mid ''70s up to now is assessed. DSHWS market penetration, solar system technological changes and development and demographic changes in association with the climatic conditions in all regions of the country have been taken into account in order to calculate energy conservation and emissions reduction. The results show that the conserved energy ranges from 21.27GWhel (0.1% of the domestic sector energy use) in 1978 to 1513GWhel (2.4%) in 2007, resulting in an abatement of CO2 emissions, which for the year 2000 was 1.67Mt, exceeding by 76% the objectives of the Greek Program of “Climatic Change”, which indicated savings of 0.95Mt CO2 for 2000. Moreover DSHWS maximum technical potential is assessed to be about three times the current installed area, showing that they can play an important role in energy end environmental policy of the country. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Great pressure to curb carbon emission and increased need for energy have forced China to develop an “energy saving and emission reduction” (ESER) plan. ESER has become China''s basic national policy, and a guideline for China''s energy and environmental issues during the 11th Five-Years Plan (2006–2010). ESER represents a recalibration of China''s economic model, moving away from growth-at-all-cost in favor of a more “balanced and sustainable” output. In 2007, China''s GDP grew by 11.4%, but emission of COD and SO2 decreased by 3.14% and 4.66% respectively compared to 2006, energy consumption for each unit of GDP declined by 3.27% also compared to 2006. ESER is also the engine behind reform of China''s traditional administrative system which has always favored economic growth over environmental protection. The ESER accountability system sets green efforts as a decisive factor in determining the career prospects of local leaders. Also, China''s State Environmental Protection Agency has been upgraded to the Ministry of Environmental Protection, gaining cabinet status for the first time. A greener future relative to the previous three decades can be anticipated with confidence for China provided that the best practices enunciated by ESER are taken to heart by policymakers. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: To reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions through thermal energy conservation, air-conditioned offices in the subtropics are recommended to operate within specified ranges of indoor temperature, relative humidity and air velocity. As thermal discomfort leads to productivity loss, some indoor environmental policies for air-conditioned offices in Hong Kong are investigated in this study with relation to thermal energy consumption, CO2 emissions from electricity use, and productivity loss due to thermal discomfort. Occupant thermal response is specifically considered as an adaptive factor in evaluating the energy consumption and productivity loss. The energy efficiency of an office is determined by the productivity which corresponds to the CO2 generated. The results found that a policy with little impact on occupant thermal comfort and worker productivity would improve the office efficiency while the one with excessive energy consumption reduction would result in a substantial productivity loss. This study is a useful reference source for evaluating an indoor thermal environmental policy regarding the energy consumption, CO2 emissions reduction, thermal comfort and productivity loss in air-conditioned offices in subtropical areas. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

In this study I analyzed the role of environmental policies and energy cost savings on the pattern of switching to natural gas by stationary sources in Chile. According to the data most of the switching was induced by the lower cost of natural gas, although environmental policies played a small role and showed that sources were more sensitive to the cost of energy than to the environmental regulation. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Paper industry is one of major material and energy users in Finland, material costs being far bigger than energy costs. Energy saving is promoted in Finland by an energy service centre, subsidies and energy service companies (ESCOs). Material savings in production processes are typically used to reduce costs while life cycle material efficiency rather would require focusing, e.g. on product design. This could be promoted by total producer responsibility, economic instruments and environmental permits. For industrial sites with limited resources, MASCOs’ (Material Saving Companies) services could manage material savings, e.g. by funding the investments, planning and running the project. Authorities should put more emphasis on material auditing and information on material saving technologies and logistics. Material savings should also be included into the environmental permitting procedures. Materials saving services are developing and the projected Finnish material efficiency service centre could support new businesses. This article is based on a literature review and interviews of persons in paper producing companies and environmental authorities. We also analyse experiences of the first MASCO project in Finland. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: During last century, worldwide environment degradation gets more and more serious, and achieving environmental sustainable development is desirable. As many environmental issues are directly or indirectly energy related, energy sustainable development is one of the most important prerequisites for environmental sustainable development. Renewable energy technologies and energy conservation are two solutions for energy sustainable development. At present, energy-saving technology is a feasible and an effective way to achieve energy and environmental sustainable development, although renewable energy may be final solution to environmental issues. Building cooling, heating, and power (BCHP) technology, which usually use natural gas as primary energy, has high efficiency of energy utilization due to the utilization of distributed power generation and heat recovery, and thus is a promising energy conservation technology. BCHP can reduce pollutants emission and thus protects the environment besides improving IAQ and increasing reliability of building energy supply. As the largest developing country, China is just in the process of adjusting energy structure and improving energy efficiency. Because of its significant role in energy and environmental sustainable development, developing BCHP in China will help the country in optimizing energy proportion, increasing energy efficiency, and protecting environment. Therefore, BCHP technology will have broad prospects in China and it will promote the country''s energy and environmental sustainable development. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: This study was designed to investigate the general nature of environmental protection, waste management, purchasing, energy use, and conservation practices of hotels in Ankara, Turkey. It explored the extent of environmental protection practices so the hotel industry could evaluate its position on environmental issues and so that other interested parties, including academics, can obtain fresh information for a distinctive part of the world. The data were collected by means of questionnaires and interviews. The study found that the policies and practices of Ankara hotels generally lack attributes relevant to environmental protection and conservation, and that hotel managers mostly lack the necessary environmental knowledge and interest to meet the basic objectives of social and environmental responsibility. It is thus necessary to develop an integrated system of policy and practice that involves not only the hotel management and staff, but also all parties concerned with environmental protection and sustainability, and to re-evaluate and reconsider national, local, and hotel policies and training activities. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Greenhouse gases (GHGs) emissions are becoming significant energy and environmental issues relating to energy consumption in Taiwan. The nation, although not a party to the Montreal Protocol and Kyoto Protocol, has diligently strived to mitigate the emissions and phase out use of the responsible materials. Hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), which are now mostly used in refrigeration and air conditioning systems, are the main GHGs associated with strong global warming potential. The objective of this paper is to present an overview of the industrial/commercial uses of HFCs in Taiwan. Because of their high impacts on climate change, the description is then centered on estimating the potential emissions of HFCs according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) method and the governmental organizations responses to the United Nations’ Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). The regulatory systems relating to HFCs mitigation and energy conservation and energy policies and promotion measures for providing technological assistances and financial incentives in the energy management, resource recovery and HFCs reduction/recycling technologies are also addressed in the paper. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

In the "Action Plan for 10,000 Firms to Save Energy and Lower Carbon Emissions," China assigns responsibility for achieving the overall goal of achieving energy conservation and emissions reduction (ECER) to firms, which strengthens monitoring of ECER and pollution control. Based on the data on Chinese industrial firms and customs during 2010 and 2013, this paper analyzes the effect of ECER policy on employment adjustment with a difference-in-difference (DID) model and a mediating effect model. The results indicate that ECER policy significantly promotes net job growth by increasing firms' job creation effect and weakening the job destruction effect. For every 1% increase in ECER policy intensity, net job growth increases by 8.04%. The heterogeneity analysis shows that ECER policy weakens net job growth at firms with high export intensity, high market concentration, and high pollution and increases net job growth at firms in regions that are highly market based. ECER policy promotes job growth through the mediating mechanism of the productivity effect and adjustment in the scope of exports. Our results are helpful for assessing the shock to employment from Chinese environmental policy and provides feasible policy suggestions for adjusting existing laws and regulations to achieve higher social welfare. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is important to estimate the energy-conservation and emission-reduction potentials accurately and design practicable paths to ensure the achievement of the emission reduction target set at the "Paris Climate Conference". Selecting the petroleum and gas extraction industry, the construction industry, and the transportation industry, which are the greatest energy consumers and carbon emitters in China, this study estimates their energy-conservation and emission-reduction potentials of 2018–2025 and designs the implementation paths. The results show that: (1) under the short-term energy rebound effect, the cumulative energy-conservations of 2018–2025 of the three industriesare17.55%, 18.29%, and 13.46%, respectively; the cumulative emission-reductions are 18.21%, 14.85%, and 16.98%, respectively. Under the long-term rebound effect, the cumulative energy-conservations are 21.3%, 22.39%, and 18.54%, respectively; the cumulative emission-reductions are 19.76%, 18.1%, and 23.75%, respectively. Moreover, the effect of the short-term energy rebound effect is greater than the long-term rebound effect. (2) There are three paths for energy-conservation and emission-reduction: the "unilateral breakthrough", the "promotion of advantages and compensate for disadvantages", and the "leap forward" paths. (3) When formulating the energy-conservation and emission-reduction policies, for industries of resource-intensive, factor market distortion, governments' administrative orders and intensive production should be focused on; for industries of labor-intensive, energy efficiency, energy structure, carbon tax and the upgrade of industry structure should be focused on; for industries of capital-intensive, regional investment bias, the construction of carbon trading system and clean production should be focused on. Our results can provide guidance for the formulation of energy-conservation and emissions-reduction objectives and policies for China's industry. • Energy-conservation and emissions-reduction estimated for 3 sectors in China. • Proposed 3 implementation paths for energy-conservation and emissions-reduction. • Investment bias and factor market distortion important policy development. • Results support energy-conservation and emissions-reduction objectives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]