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China is the worlds largest emitter of anthropogenic air pollutants, and measurable amounts of Chinese pollution are transported via the atmosphere to other countries, including the United States. However, a large fraction of Chinese emissions is due to manufacture of goods for foreign consumption. Here, we analyze the impacts of trade-related Chinese air pollutant emissions on the global atmospheric environment, linking an economic-emission analysis and atmospheric chemical transport modeling. We find that in 2006, 36% of anthropogenic sulfur dioxide, 27% of nitrogen oxides, 22% of carbon monoxide, and 17% of black carbon emitted in China were associated with production of goods for export. For each of these pollutants, about 21% of export-related Chinese emissions were attributed to China-to-US export. Atmospheric modeling shows that transport of the export-related Chinese pollution contributed 3-10% of annual mean surface sulfate concentrations and 0.5-1.5% of ozone over the western United States in 2006. This Chinese pollution also resulted in one extra day or more of noncompliance with the US ozone standard in 2006 over the Los Angeles area and many regions in the eastern United States. On a daily basis, the export-related Chinese pollution contributed, at a maximum, 12-24% of sulfate concentrations over the western United States. As the United States outsourced manufacturing to China, sulfate pollution in 2006 increased in the western United States but decreased in the eastern United States, reflecting the competing effect between enhanced transport of Chinese pollution and reduced US emissions. Our findings are relevant to international efforts to reduce transboundary air pollution.

In the 2009 Copenhagen Accord, China agreed to slash its carbon intensity (carbon dioxide emissions/GDP) by 40% to 45% from the 2005 level by 2020. We assess whether China can achieve the target under the business-as-usual scenario by forecasting its emissions from energy consumption. Our preferred model shows that China's carbon intensity is projected to decline by only 33%. The results imply that China needs additional mitigation effort to comply with the Copenhagen commitment. In addition, China's baseline emissions are projected to increase by 56% in the next decade (2011-2020). The emission growth is more than triple the emission reductions that the European Union and the United States have committed to in the same period.

Climate policies could improve air quality, thereby generating health benefits and thus increasing labour input for economic growth. Nevertheless, health benefits are usually overlooked in evaluation frameworks of climate policies. In this paper, a dynamic recursive computable general equilibrium (CGE) model is adopted to define how climate policies are related to air pollution, namely PM 2.5 concentrations. Health benefits of climate policies are divided into reduction of PM 2.5 -related morbidity and mortality. The CGE model results show that both carbon tax and emission trading scheme (ETS) decrease morbidity and mortality; therefore, under climate policies, PM 2.5 -related labour loss decreases, and thus increasing labour input triggers an economic boom. Carbon tax generates more health benefits in short term, while health benefits of ETS policy will gradually increase in long term. Hence, we conclude that regarding health benefits, a long-term ETS policy is preferable to a long-term carbon tax. This finding implies that the recently established nationwide ETS market in China is meaningful, as it will generate more health benefits in future. Nevertheless, the quantified health benefits in this paper still cannot compensate GDP loss induced by climate policy implementations, implying that it is a challenging task to unbiasedly model health benefits of climate policies. Hence, we have recommended that the scopes and contents of health benefits should be expanded in evaluations of climate policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: In the context of rapid aging, "empty nest syndrome" is becoming a major public health concern. The causal effects of empty nest on depressive symptoms have been studied in developed countries, but the mediating mechanism of depressive symptoms in the association between empty nest and cognitive impairments has not been studied. This study estimated the causal association of empty nest with depressive symptoms and cognitive impairments in China, and then estimated how depression mediates the association between empty nest and cognitive impairments.Methods: Using data of 23,614 urban older adults (65+) obtained from the Shandong Province Aging and Mental Health Survey in 2020, a weighted linear regression model combined with instrumental variable was applied to explore the causal effects of empty nest, and a four-step mediation model was run to test the mediator of depressive symptoms. The Ascertain Dementia 8-item Questionnaire and Patient Health Questionnaire-9 were used to measure cognitive impairments and depressive symptoms.Results: Empty nest was associated with 0.13 (95%CI: 0.04-0.23) and 0.23 (95%CI: 0.14-0.33) increases in the Ascertain Dementia 8-item Questionnaire and the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 scores, respectively. The association between empty nest and the Ascertain Dementia 8-item Questionnaire scores was mediated by the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 scores.Conclusions: Empty nest affected depression in adulthood with cognitive impairments. A focus on integrative intervention for empty nesters is recommended, taking depression and cognition into account.Limitations: It is a cross-sectional study and the data is not nationally representative. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Emissions trading systems (ETS) have been a widely-adopted policy instrument for global climate mitigation and a key choice in China's pledge for peaking emissions and carbon neutrality. Broader adoption and linkage of ETS programmes require a better understanding of whether, to what extent, and how existing regional programmes address carbon emissions at an aggregate level. Combining a synthetic control method and event studies, we adopt a comprehensive evaluation framework to investigate regional mitigation effects, pathways, and ancillary impacts in three Chinese regions with four independent pilot ETS programmes. The findings show economy-wide responses to pilot announcement even in non-ETS sectors, but enduring mitigation only within ETS sectors. Mitigation was achieved via improvement in energy efficiency and fuel switch, without impairing industrial activities. There were local air-pollution reduction co-benefits but no leakage or spillover. Bounded extrapolation from the pilots suggests 18%–20% reductions can be achieved in non-pilot regions by a national market, which could learn from pilots' experiences to broaden sector coverage and ensure policy consistency and transparency. Regional ETS were able to stabilize emissions with little cost, providing rationale for rapidly developing economies to adopt such systems. Key policy insights Despite being unlinked, regional ETS pilots delivered substantial climate mitigation and local air pollution reduction in China. Policy effects were initially driven by economy-wide mitigation due to policy expectations, followed by ETS-sector mitigation due to carbon pricing. Industries reduced CO2 emissions from energy efficiency improvements and fuel switch. Mitigation was accompanied by little emission leakage or impairment to the economy. Extrapolating mitigation rates in a national market suggests 18%–20% reduction of CO2. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rapid global expansion of built-up areas and industrialization has led to significant environmental challenges, particularly in terms of anthropogenic carbon emissions. Consequently, it has become crucial to comprehensively understand the spatial dynamics of urban built-up areas and the associated socioeconomic transitions. This understanding serves as a critical foundation for formulating effective land use and industrial policies that not only promote economic sustainability but also contribute to the pursuit of environment related- sustainable development goals (SDGs). However, our knowledge about the dynamic relationship between urban industrial structure and built-up area patterns is limited. To address this gap, we use partial redundancy analysis (PRDA) to quantify the relative impact of key industrial employment sectors. The results indicate that the transformation of industrial structure has a significant influence on the spatial dynamics and morphologies of urban built-up areas. In addition, we found that the decline in agricultural population is associated with an increase in spatial isolation, while the growth of the manufacturing population affects changes in spatial extent and regularity. Furthermore, the combined impact of industrial and economic drivers accounts for up to 24.4% of the dynamics of urban built-up areas, with industrial transformation having a 3.82% greater impact than economic growth. These findings provide a valuable understanding of the interconnectedness between the spatial evolution of built-up areas and socioeconomic transitions, not only in China but also in other city clusters worldwide. Moreover, they might contribute to the knowledge of carbon neutrality pathways, further promoting sustainable development efforts. • Socioeconomic structure changes of BTH, YRD, and PRD cities were analyzed. • Urban morphological differentiation of BTH, YRD, PRD cities were analyzed. • PRDA effectively delineates the separate and joint effects of socioeconomic features. • Urban sprawl is associated with manufacturing and construction population growths. • Spatiotemporal heterogeneity exits in the socioeconomic effects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bioenergy will play an intimate and critical role in energy supply and carbon mitigation in the future. In recent years, "customizing the development of bioenergy to local conditions" and "prioritizing distributed utilization" have been the two key principles that have been released by the Chinese government to promote the national‐ and provincial‐level development of bioenergy. While many recognize the importance of bioenergy in achieving low‐carbon transition, little is known about the high‐resolution distribution of usable biomass feedstock and technical bioenergy potential in China, which brings about uncertainties and additional challenges for creating localized utilization plans. We propose a new assessment framework that integrates crop growth models, a land suitability assessment, and the geographic information systems to address these knowledge gaps. Distributions of 11 types of usable biomass feedstock and three kinds of technical bioenergy potential are mapped out through specific transformation technologies at 1 km resolution. At the national level, the final technical biogas potential is 1.91 EJ. The technical bioethanol potential (0.04–0.96 EJ) from the energy crop can supply 0.13–3.12 times the bioethanol demand for the consumption of E10 gasoline in 2015. The technical heat potential (1.06 EJ) can meet 20% of the demand for heating in all provinces (5.38 EJ). Most of the 2020 bioenergy goals can be achieved, excluding that for bioethanol, which will need to require more cellulosic ethanol from residues. At the provincial level, Henan and Inner Mongolia have the potential to develop clean heating alternatives via the substitution of agroforestry residues for coal. The results can provide a systematic analysis of the distribution of biomass feedstocks and technical bioenergy potential in China. With economic factors taken into consideration in further research, it can also support national and provincial governments in making bioenergy development plans in an effective and timely manner. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study presents new archaeobotanical evidence for agricultural production in the middle Yellow River region during the Yangshao culture period. Phytolith analyses, together with radiocarbon dating of samples from 10 sites in Zhengzhou, showed that common millet and foxtail millet were cultivated with rice in the region around 4000–3000 cal BC. The ratio of crop remains revealed that common millet was dominant in the crop structure. Rice cultivation was no longer confined to large sites situated in the lowlands and began to spread into the hilly lands and small sites. Furthermore, both dryland and wetland systems may have been used for rice cultivation. This pattern of crop production may have been mainly influenced by social background and artificial selection, which overcame the limitation of environmental factors. Such development of Yangshao agriculture facilitated the establishment of an agricultural society during the fourth millennium BC. It also has implications for understanding the reason why the middle Yellow River region (Central Plain) became known as 'the cradle of Chinese civilization'. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract The international discussion on the design of international market mechanism proposed in Paris agreement is still pending and it is important to add our views to the discussion in the negotiation. It is important to understand companies' preferences in designing and planning market-based instruments. This paper uses the conjoint analysis to evaluate companies' preferences for policy alternatives of this mechanism. Data were collected from 81 companies in Shanxi province, China. The results show that companies are most concerned about four policy attributes, policies at the national level, transition of CDM projects, compliance period and flexible mechanism. The ideal policy alternative should distribute directly the tradable units to companies, co-exist with the clean developing mechanism, have longer compliance period and allow companies to bank or borrow the tradable units. The sectors with lower competition level, advanced production technologies and lower energy intensity should be given to priority when taking part in the international market mechanism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study contributes to the existing literature on economic impacts assessment of China's Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDC) by 2030. A dynamic Computable General Equilibrium (CGE) model of China that incorporates the technological details of the electricity sector is used in this study. Two main policy choices, including the renewable quota and the carbon market, are modeled to distinguish different pathways to INDC targets. Results show several important findings. First, the total economic cost required to achieve China's INDC targets ranges from 0.11% to 0.43% of GDP by 2030. Second, energy sectors such as the coal mining and electric power sectors are the most affected by China's INDC in terms of both sectoral production and price. This study further indicates that the implementation of a national carbon market is efficient in reducing the compliance costs of INDC targets, while the deployment of renewable power helps to create employment opportunities and reduce permit prices in the carbon market. In addition, the results of a cost-benefit analysis suggest that the hidden health benefits of China's INDC can offset approximately 42.1–162.3% of the compliance costs, even based on the most conservative estimates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research on carbon cycling has attracted attention from both scientists and policy-makers. Based on material flow analysis, this study systematically budgets the carbon inputs, outputs and balance from 1980 to 2013 for China's agro-ecosystem and its sub-systems, including agricultural land use, livestock breeding and rural life. The results show that from 1980 to 2013, both the carbon input and output were growing gradually, with the carbon input doubling from 1.6 Pg C/year in 1980 to 3.4 Pg C/year in 2013, while carbon output grew from 2.2 Pg C/year in 1980 to 3.8 Pg C/year in 2013. From 1980 to 2013, the crop production system in China has remained a carbon source, and the agricultural land uses were also almost all carbon sources instead of carbon sinks. As soil carbon stock plays a very important role in deciding the function of China's agro-ecosystem as a carbon sink or source, practices that can promote carbon storage and sequestration will be an essential component of low carbon agriculture development in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Understanding corporate preferences for domestic policy instruments is crucial to designing and planning the sectoral market mechanism in China. Based on a detailed overview of nine domestic policy instruments under the sectoral market mechanism, this paper evaluates corporate preferences and identifies their relationship with potential determinants through an ordinal logistics model. The data was collected from 113 respondents in all 11 prefecture-level cities of Shanxi province, China. The results show that providing economic incentives is the most preferable policy for companies. The policy instrument in which installations with voluntary targets receive tradable units is not recommended unless the inequity in the distribution of responsibility could be reduced or alleviated effectively. If the government applies a mandatory policy, it is more effective to give companies mandatory targets and to allocate tradable units to them in order to offer more flexibility. This paper discusses policy implications in designing domestic policy instruments based on the determinants that impact corporate preferences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper summarizes an analysis of choice preferences of Chinese companies to the design options of carbon tax policy. The data were collected from 201 companies, with around half of them based in the western Shanxi Province and the other half from the eastern Jiangsu Province. Modeling analysis of the discrete choice dataset confirms the statistically significant relationships between the company's preferences to carbon tax policy with the policy attributes, including tax rate, tax relief measures and the revenue utilization. From the viewpoint of Chinese businesses, the option of carbon tax policy with tax rate at 10–30 Yuan/t-CO 2 , allowing tax relief to energy-intensive sectors, using the revenues specific for climate change and starting as early as the 13th five-year plan period (2016–2020) would be preferable and realistic. The results of this research may be referred for the discussions and development of carbon tax policy in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Impact period of COVID-19 on air quality was January 24th to March. • PM 2.5 in 89.5% of cities was sensitive to the pandemic. • Spatial heterogeneity of the impact corresponded to the "Hu Line". • Potential baseline was provided for setting air quality improvement target for next five years. Previous studies have evaluated the impact of lockdown measures on air quality during the COVID-19 pandemic in China, but few have focused on the temporal characteristics and spatial heterogeneity of the impact across all 337 prefecture cities. In this study, we estimated the impact of the lockdown measures on air quality in each of 337 cities using the Regression Discontinuity in Time method. There was a short-term influence from January 24th to March 31th in 2020. The 337 cities could be divided into six categories showing different response and resilience patterns to the epidemic. Fine particulate matter (PM 2.5) in 89.5% of the cities was sensitive to the lockdown measures. The change of air pollutants showed high spatial heterogeneity. The provinces with a greater than 20% reduction in PM 2.5 and PM 10 and greater than 40% reduction in NO 2 during the impact period were mainly concentrated southeast of the "Hu Line". Compared to the no-pandemic scenario, the national annual average concentration of PM 2.5 , NO 2 , PM 10 , SO 2 , and CO in 2020 were decreased by 6.3%, 10.6%, 7.4%, 9.0%, and 12.5%, respectively, while that of O 3 increased by 1.1%.This result indicates that 2020 can still be used as a baseline for setting and allocating air improvement targets for the next five years. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Globally as well as in China, cities have contributed to most of economic output and have accordingly given rise to most of CO2 emissions. In particular, given unprecedented urbanization, cities will play an even greater role in shaping energy demand and CO2 emissions. Therefore, cities are the key to meeting its proposed carbon intensity target in 2020 and whatever climate commitments beyond 2020 that China may take. Given the paramount importance of cities, China is practicing low carbon city (LCC) development. Against this background, this paper first summarizes the general situation and main characteristics of China's LCC development. The paper then indentifies eight problems and challenges for China's LCC development including the absence of sound carbon accounting systems, lack of low-carbon specific evaluation system, rare use of market-based instruments, insufficient government-enterprise interactions, excessive budget dependence on land concession, increasing difficulty in further carbon mitigation, inevitable emissions growth due to rising living standards, and coal-dominant energy structure in the foreseeable future. Since these challenges are not applied to one or few cities, but are to all cities across the country, finally, the paper discusses how governments, in particular the central government, should address these problems and challenges. Given that China has faced great difficulty ensuring that local governments act in accordance with centrally-directed policies, the paper in particular discusses ways to incentivize local governments not to focus on economic growth alone and to move away from a heavy reliance on land concession. The paper ends with emphasizing on putting a price on carbon a crucial step for China's endeavor of harnessing the market forces to reduce its energy consumption and carbon emissions and genuinely transiting into a low-carbon economy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Large-scale development of bioenergy is indispensable in dealing with the climate change challenge. The biomass resource may become a limiting factor for the utilization of bioenergy in mitigating carbon emissions in the future. For supporting formulating a feasible long-term strategy for bioenergy development, it is crucial to conduct an ex-ante estimation of the biomass resource potential and accurately capture its variability at fine resolution. Although many previous studies have been carried out to estimate biomass resource potential, there is still a lack of a systematic assessment of the long-term spatio-temporal distribution of resource potential of multiple domestic biomasses in the context of future changes of human and natural factors. To address this research gap, this study proposed a comprehensive framework coupled with the crop growth models, RS-GIS methods, statistical downscaling, and multi-source dataset to evaluate the biomass resource potential and its variability across China at 1-km resolution from 2020 to 2100. This study identified the suitable areas for bioenergy development in the future, and analyzed the impact of climate change and land use change on biomass resource potential. This study also explored the role of bioenergy potential playing in China's energy supply under the temperature rise control target. Results indicate that the bioenergy potential of residues and energy crops in China will reach 5.11–11.01 EJ in China in 2100, only accounting for 5.3%-12.2% of the national primary energy supply demand in 2100. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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 170 respondents mainly from iron & steel, cement and chemical sectors in China. The surveyed companies indicate moderate awareness but good acceptability of MBIs in overall. In contrast to the regulative polices, MBIs and voluntary approaches are more appreciated by the samples. There exist significant and positive relationships between a company's size and its awareness and acceptability of MBIs. This analysis suggests that a company's policy acceptability would be largely determined by the company's perceived policy influences on its comparative competition. The companies would make internal efforts to offset energy cost increases due to the possible introduction of economic pressure policies while being reluctant to simply transfer the policy burden to their clients. Empirical evidences on the conditions for the success of MBIs from this study are meaningful for supporting the future progress of industrial energy saving policies in China. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: China has set ambitious goals to increase the use of renewable energy. Developing renewables in rural areas is also one of the most important energy strategies. This paper examines rural social acceptance of renewable energy deployment taking Shandong as a case study via a field questionnaire survey. Theory of planned behavior is adopted to establish an analytical framework, and a logit model is used to examine possible determinants of local social acceptance. The results show that rural residents are generally supportive renewable energy development given its positive impacts on environment. A stated willingness to pay more for renewable electricity is taken as a variable representing an individual’s behavioral intention. The probability of occurrence of positive intention is found to increase with household income, individual knowledge level and belief about costs of renewable energy use but decrease with individual age. Residents with higher level of income are more likely to be willing to pay more for green electricity, so are the younger people. Enhancive knowledge and understanding about renewable energy (for instance, the cost) would be conducive to win public acceptance of renewable energy deployment. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

ABSTRACT Green purchasing (GP) is an important part of sustainable consumption, which reduces the impact of society on the environment. As few studies of people's GP behaviours exist for China, this paper tries to close the gap by exploring GP behaviours of urban residents in Suzhou city, Jiangsu Province. A total of 336 valid samples in a questionnaire survey are used for the analysis. Nearly half of the respondents have seldom bought green products, confirming a low level of residential GP practices. The path analysis clarifies the cause and effect linkages between the predicting variables and GP behaviours. Environmental attitudes, especially perception of self-responsibility, greatly influence intention of GP behaviours. The available information of green products significantly determines people's actual GP behaviours. This study addresses the importance of environmental education in enhancing the public's environmental responsibility in China. More information on green products should be distributed to assist in GP practices of consumers. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This paper investigates the relationship between the green economy and green jobs in China through the following question: Can the current GHG mitigation policies in China’s power generation sector bring more jobs to China? Using both analytical and input–output models this paper analyzes the direct and indirect employment impacts of two main mitigation policies in the power generation sector. This paper proves that the above-mentioned question is not simple. Mitigation policies in China’s power generation sector from 2006 to 2009 caused a total of 44 thousand net jobs losses. However, as the share of renewable energy that has an indirect employment impacts increased in 2010, the policies from 2006 to 2010 actually resulted in 472 thousand net job gains. This paper asserts that to ensure the co-existence of green economy and green jobs in China’s power generation sector, policy makers should further promote solar PV, biomass and wind technologies. In 2010, for every one percent increase in the share of solar PV generation there could be a 0.68% increase in total employment in China, larger than any other power generation technology. Finally, this paper argues that a matching educational system and personnel structure is also needed. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: This paper develops an analytical framework based on the reasoned action theory and discusses the environmental activism (EA) of residents living close to the polluting companies. The data was collected by a questionnaire survey conducted in August of 2009 in Suzhou city of Jiangsu Province, China, which successfully obtained a total of 343 valid responses. The survey suggests that the residents are reluctant to act against their neighboring polluters. Nearly 10% respondents have never taken any action against the polluters, and the occasional EA participators account for 66.2% of the total. The items of EA, which require the residents to directly communicate with the governments or polluters, achieve very low ratios of participations (with a range of 5–25%). The path analysis confirms that there are large influences of certain attitudinal components on EA involvement. Understanding of corporate environmental information significantly determines the resident’s intention of EA practices. The residents have an obvious tendency to act collectively against the polluters. An essential message of this study is that the strategy of corporate environmental information disclosure may effectively increase the resident’s readiness of EA participation. The government shall responsively support the residents’ EA efforts since successful environmental protests will greatly convince them to jointly act against their neighboring polluters. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The appropriate design of the emission trading scheme (ETS) plays a crucial role in promoting companies to conduct low-carbon technological innovations. Based on a questionnaire survey, this paper examines how the design of the ETS and identified determinants have impacted corporate low-carbon technological investment decisions. The data was collected from 99 companies in the eight areas that are implementing the ETS in China. The results indicate that five attributes significantly influence the possibility of corporate investments in low-carbon technologies and thus need more attention in designing the national ETS, including allowance allocation for existing installations, compliance period, allowance allocation for new entrants, allowance banking and policy stability. From the viewpoint of the surveyed companies, the ETS that allocates allowances for existing installations based on the benchmark, has a long compliance period, allocates allowances for new entrants based on a uniform benchmark and allows companies to bank allowances could effectively encourage companies to conduct the low-carbon technological investment. The results of this study are important in light of ongoing discussions and developments of the national ETS in China. [Display omitted] • This paper examines the innovation influencing mechanism of ETS design features and other determinants. • Data were collected from 99 companies in the eight areas that are implementing ETS in China. • The policy attributes significantly associated with corporate low-carbon technology investment decisions are identified. • We also identify the determinants that are closely related with low-carbon technology investment decisions. • Policy implications for designing the national ETS are provided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The rapid population growth in China has increased the demand for limited water, energy and food resources. Because the resource supply is constrained by future uncertainties such as climate change, it is necessary to examine the connections among water, energy and food resources from the perspective of the relevant final demands. Based on an input-output model and structural path analysis, this study aims to explore the hidden connections among water, energy and food resources by identifying important final demands and examine how these resources are embodied in upstream production and downstream consumption processes along the supply chain. The water-energy-food nexus approach in this research identifies where and how these resources intersect in economic sectors. By simultaneously considering the water, energy and food footprints, synergistic effects can be maximized among these resource systems. The results reveal that urban household consumption and fixed capital formation have large impacts on water-energy-food resources. Besides, agriculture, construction and service sectors have the largest water-energy-food footprints. For each resource, we rank the top-20 supply chain paths from the final demands to the upstream production sectors, and six critical supply chain paths are identified as important contributors to the consumption of all these resources. Compared with independent approach to manage water, energy and food resources, the nexus approach identifies the critical linkages of the water, energy and food systems and helps to formulate integrated policies to effectively manage these resources across sectors and actors. Synergistic strategies for conserving water, energy, and food resources can be achieved through avoiding unnecessary waste in end uses and improving resource use efficiency along critical supply chains. This research can help consumers, industries and the government make responsible consumption and production decisions to conserve water, energy and food resources. Unlabelled Image • The hidden connections among water, energy and food consumptions are examined. • Maximizing the synergy of the water-energy-food nexus management. • Urban household consumption and fixed capital formation have large resource impacts. • Agriculture, construction and service sectors have the largest resource footprints. • Six key supply chains that consume these resources simultaneously are recognized. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aimed to examine the association among physical activity and smartphone use with sleep quality and perceived stress, after controlling for potential confounding factors. The sample population was taken from three public universities in China and consisted of 3,864 college sophomores. The study was performed in April 2019. Sociodemographic and anthropometry characteristics and lifestyle behaviors such as physical activity, smartphone use, sleep quality and perceived stress were assessed using questionnaires. Participants were respectively divided into three categories according to the tertile of smartphone use and perceived stress scores. The results showed that a combination of insufficient physical activity and heavy smartphone use was positively associated with high levels of perceived stress and poor sleep quality. Furthermore, students with both insufficient physical activity and heavy smartphone use behaviors tended to have significantly higher odds of reporting high levels of perceived stress and poor sleep quality than students with only one behavior or neither of them, even after controlling for the effects of gender, age, nationality, BMI, tobacco and alcohol use, and mother's educational level. We conclude that interventions meant to improve sleep quality and decrease perceived stress of college students should aim to increase physical activity and reduce smartphone use. • Physical inactivity increases the odds of high stress. • Heavy smartphone use is related to high perceived stress and poor sleep quality. • Combination of both increases the odds of high stress and poor sleep quality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• CO 2 emissions in 2015 from China's 70 airports are calculated. • Geographically weighted regression model is used to investigate key influencing factors. • Night-time light is used to measure urbanization. • The impacts of urbanization in western region are higher than that in the eastern and the central region. Regional disparities in carbon dioxide (CO 2) emissions from airports at the city level are of increasing importance for low-carbon development of the civil aviation sector. However, CO 2 emissions from airport operations have rarely been estimated and discussed. We investigate the main driving forces of airport CO 2 emissions by using Ordinary Least Square (OLS) and Geographically Weighted Regression (GWR) models, separately, to investigate whether urbanization drives airport CO 2 emissions and to investigate spatial heterogeneity at the city level. Nighttime light (NTL) data from satellite observations are adopted as a proxy for urbanization. We obtained energy consumption data by end-use purpose for 70 airports in China and calculated the CO 2 emissions from on-ground airport operations. The median CO 2 emissions of the 70 sample airports are estimated to be 15.9 million tonnes for 2015. Results from the GWR model indicate that airport CO 2 emissions are affected by five main factors: urbanization, foreign direct investment, the share of tertiary industry in gross domestic output, passenger turnover of civil aviation and passenger turnover of railways. The elasticity of urbanization shows an increasing trend from the east of China to the west. The spatial heterogeneity of the CO 2 emissions of the five airport clusters that are located in five urban agglomerations is discussed. In order to achieve effective reductions of CO 2 emissions from airports, policy-makers should consider the spatial heterogeneity of the major driving factors of carbon emissions in different regions to avoid carbon lock-in. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Although the 2000s observed enormous changes in China, little is known about the variation in the prevalence of mental disorders. The study compared the prevalence in a Chinese population between 2004 and 2015.Methods: Multistage stratified random sampling methods were used to identify primary sampling sites for cross-sectional surveys in 2004 and 2015 in Shandong, China. In 2004 and 2015, 22,718 and 28,194 adults, respectively, completed an expanded version of the General Health Questionnaire, then 5,402 and 9,420 adults, respectively, were administered a Chinese version of the Structured Clinical Interview for Diagnostic and Statistical Manual-IV axis I disorders.Results: The adjusted 1-month prevalence of any mental disorders was 18•7% (95% CI: 16•7-20•8) and 17•1% (95% CI:15•9-18•4) in 2004 and 2015, respectively. However, the prevalence of major depressive disorders increased from 1•5% (95% CI: 1•2 -1•8) in 2004 to 2•3% (95% CI: 1•9-2•8) in 2015; meanwhile the prevalence of alcohol abuse disorders were becoming more common among men and urban residents. Although mood and anxiety disorders were more prevalent in women, a much more prevalent alcohol abuse disorders for men contributed to a higher overall prevalence among men than among women. Compared to that in urban residents, the overall prevalence in rural residents declined more, and it was lower in 2015 than in 2004.Limitations: The results may not apply to the population from other regions.Conclusions: Despite of the stable overall prevalence, mental disorders beyond psychotic disorders should be focused on, especially alcohol abuse and major depressive disorders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights • This study investigates the importance of sectoral coverage in designing an ETS in China. • The study uses a dynamic CGE model with disaggregated electricity technologies. • The cost of INDC targets through the proposed eight-sector ETS is 10.5% GDP in 2030. • GDP losses can be reduced to 3.3% by covering another 24.8% of emissions in ETS by 2030. • Air pollution co-benefits of China’s INDC can be as large as 136.7 billion USD in 2030. Abstract This study contributes to the existing literature on optimal carbon mitigation policy by quantifying the impacts of various sectoral coverage options for the emissions trading systems (ETS) used to achieve China’s Intended Nationally Determined Contribution (INDC) targets for the Paris Agreement on climate change. The CHEER model, a computable general equilibrium (CGE) model of China with detailed representation of electricity and other energy intensive sectors, as well as a complete CO 2 emissions accounting module and carbon market, is used in this study. Results show several important findings. First, China’s INDC targets can be achieved through an economy-wide ETS at an economic cost of 2.1% of real GDP by 2030. Second, including only the eight sectors proposed for initial implementation of the ETS in China is likely to result in a much larger mitigation cost than the economy-wide approach, estimated to be as high as 10.5% of 2030 real GDP. Thirdly, this study further indicates that the mitigation costs can be reduced to 3.3% of real GDP in 2030 if other energy-intensive sectors, accounting for additional 24.8% of total emissions, are included in the ETS. As a result, not all sectors are required to get close to the first-best mitigation option so long as critical sectors are not excluded. In addition, the temporal dimension of mitigation costs and air pollution co-benefits under different sectoral schemes of China’s ETS gives policy-makers a degree of short-run flexibility in terms of phasing in additional industries over time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article reviews China's energy and climate strategies in the electric power, industrial, building, and transport sectors. These four sectors account for about three-quarters of China's total energy consumption and energy-related carbon emissions. We identify major gaps in China's energy and climate polices based on the status quo: first, command-and-control policies not only are costly, but also cannot accommodate the transition of energy consumption from production sectors to consumption sectors; second, unsmooth deployment of renewable energy poses challenges for decarbonizing China's electricity system. To close these gaps, we suggest two policy priorities: a carbon market to achieve cost-effective emission reduction, and a Renewable Quota System to promote the utilization of renewable energy. Challenges associated with these policies are discussed. Furthermore, we suggest that a sectoral approach can serve as a first step for China to make meaningful commitments under a prospective international climate treaty. In particular, the cement, steel, and aluminium sectors can be among the first groups to join this sectoral approach. Policy relevance We argue that China's sectoral climate policies should prioritize both the development of a carbon market to achieve cost-effective carbon mitigation and the improvement of renewable supporting polices to foster long-term renewable technology investment. However, to fully explore the advantages of a carbon market, we suggest that more stringent emission caps should be set at the national level. In addition, the carbon market and existing energy and climate policies should be carefully harmonized. In particular, the overlaps between existing command-and-control mitigation polices and the carbon market should be reduced to improve cost-effectiveness. In parallel with a carbon market, we suggest a second-best policy, the Renewable Quota System, as a supplement to the carbon market to foster green technology development and to create preconditions for a more stringent cap. At the international level, a sectoral approach can serve as a first step for China to make meaningful commitments under a prospective international climate treaty. In particular, the cement, steel, and aluminium sectors can be among the first group to join this sectoral approach. [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]

It is crucial to understand corporate preferences in designing and planning new market-based instruments. Using the method of conjoint analysis, this paper evaluates corporate preferences for policy alternatives of the sectoral crediting mechanism aiming at supporting its discussions and development. Data were collected from 94 companies in all 11 prefecture-level cities of Shanxi province, China. The results confirm that companies are most concerned about three policy attributes; domestic policy instruments, the relationship with the clean developing mechanism, and the principle of Common but Differentiated Responsibilities. From the viewpoint of the Chinese businesses surveyed, the ideal policy alternative has a domestic policy instrument in which installations with voluntary targets receive tradable units, while co-existing with the clean developing mechanism, and providing opportunities to get financial and technical assistance from developed countries. Meanwhile, the coverage of the sectoral crediting mechanism could be expanded to small companies that are the most inefficient and thus have the lowest abatement costs in some sectors. The results of this study are important in light of ongoing discussions and developments of the sectoral crediting mechanism in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The main goal of this paper is to argue for the necessity and significance of studying the distributional employment impacts of renewable and new energy development (RNE). Based on the comprehensive review of the methodology and conclusions of existing literatures, this paper builds up an extended input–output model to study RNE’s distributional employment impacts on gender and personnel structure. The case study of China׳s power sector in this paper affirmed earlier doubts that RNE development will indeed aggravate the gender inequality problem and add to the level of mismatch between the structure of labor demand and supply, causing structural unemployment problems. The quantitative analysis in this paper outlined here implies that from 2011 to 2020 the development of RNE will bring about 7 million employment gains, but only 81.8% of which can be realized due to the mismatch problem. The study of China may alert other countries to be less-optimistic about RNE’s employment impacts and reaffirm the need to carry out the distributional employment impacts analysis. This paper concludes with policy suggestions such as providing suitable training and equal promotion opportunities for women, offering courses and vocational trainings to RNE-related majors, in order to reduce the structural unemployment problem and further speed up the development of RNE. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China's 2060 carbon neutrality goal has significant implications for energy, water, and land systems. However, the multi-sector dynamics among China's energy-water-land system have rarely been examined explicitly. This study adopts an integrated assessment framework to simulate China's energy-water-land system co-evolution under alternative carbon neutrality scenarios and climate impacts. Results show that although the net zero emission target provides the incentive for the energy system to move away from fossil fuels, total water withdrawal will increase due to the deployment of nuclear, bioenergy, and coal power plants with carbon capture and storage. Diversifying the negative emission technologies, by leveraging direct air capture technology, can alleviate the potential water stress and land use conflicts, which would otherwise be exacerbated by large-scale deployment of afforestation and bioenergy with carbon capture and storage. Northwest and northeast regions of China are the hotspots experiencing water withdrawal increases, while Bohai Rim and coastal regions are identified to experience fierce land competition. This study demonstrates the potential for general applicability to carry out resource planning and policy evaluation from the multi-sector coordination perspective. • Water-intensive electricity generation technologies drive up water withdrawal. • Diversifying negative emission technologies can reduce the impacts on water system. • Climate policy imposes more significant impacts than climate change. • Water withdrawal increases concentrate in Northwestern and Northeastern China. • Land competition mostly occurs in China's population-dense area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It has been recognized that wastewater reuse or reclamation serves as an efficient and valuable way to cope with the scarcity of water resources and severity of water pollution. This paper presents the systematic framework of wastewater reuse potential estimation. Based on the regional disparities in China, a linear programming optimization model is developed to explore the potential wastewater reuse quantities, under physical and economic constraints. Sensitivity analysis and Robust Counterpart (RC) optimization are performed to discuss the influences of key parameters and the reuse quantity''s decision making under uncertainty. Based on the model, effectiveness of different policy scenarios of water price changes are simulated and evaluated, providing information regarding China''s water and wastewater management. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Backgrounds: Little is known about the variation in sleep quality and its association with coping style and mental health in 21st century China, despite of enormous socioeconomic changes. This study aims to document the variation in sleep quality and its contribution to the association between coping style and mental health in China.Methods: Pooled cross-sectional data of 46,561 adults was obtained from the 2004 and 2015 mental health surveys conducted in Shandong Province, China. A Simplified Coping Style Questionnaire and the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index were assessed, with mental health measured by the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ). A mediation regression model was run to test the mediating effect of sleep quality.Results: Above 10% reported poor sleep quality or median-to-high risk of mental disorders according to GHQ results in year 2015, and a significant but small improvement for sleep quality and mental health came during the studied decade, with the exception of poor sleep quality increasing among males. In 2015, a one-point increase in sleep quality score was associated with an increase of 0.17 (95% CI, 0.16-0.18) and 0.16 (95% CI, 0.14-0.17) points on the GHQ for males and females, respectively. Sleep quality mediated the relationship between negative tendency of coping style and elevated GHQ scores, and the mediating effects grew stronger in 2015 than those in 2004.Limitation: The study is a cross-sectional study, and the sample is not nationally representative.Conclusion: An integrative intervention of mental health promotion is recommended to account for sleep quality and coping strategies.. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Future climate change is likely to alter cold spell-related disease burden. Few projection studies have considered the potential impact of the aging population with changing population size on cold spell-related disease burdens. We derived the association between cold spells and daily mortality for 272 main cities in mainland China. We combined these associations with modeled daily temperatures from three different climate models under two climate change scenarios and three population scenarios to project excess deaths related to cold spells. Furthermore, we used the factor separation method to calculate the independent contribution of future population size, age structure, and climate change on projected deaths attributable to cold spells. Compared to the baseline period, future excess deaths related to cold spells are expected to increase over most of the decades under RCP 2.6 (81.5% in 2050 s and 37% in 2090 s) and RCP 4.5 (55.5% in 2050 s and −19% in 2090 s). The factor analysis indicated that the rise of the aged population (≥65) substantially would amplify the excess deaths related to cold spells (increase by 101.1% in the 2050 s and 146.2% in the 2090 s). For the near future (2021–2040), population aging could fully offset the influence of decreased cold-spell days. In the middle of this century (2051–2070), the total excess deaths will exhibit significant variation across three scenarios. By the end of 21 century (2081–2100), the population shrinking would reduce the total excess deaths. Excess deaths related to cold spells may still increase in a warming climate and future demographic shifts would produce considerable influences in this increase for different periods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Graphical abstract Based on a computable general equilibrium (CGE) model augmented with an explicit land allocation module (a), land use changes induced by China's bioethanol expansion are quantified. The simulation results of different land conversion scenarios (b) indicate that planting non-grain feedstocks on newly reclaimed marginal land could increase non-grain feedstocks by 10% and save 0.217% of croplands with no deforestation by 2020 (c). Highlights • Built a general equilibrium model incorporating an explicit land use module. • Different patterns of land use management were considered. • Quantified land use changes among alternatives induced by bioethanol expansion. • Planting energy crops on marginal land could alleviate cropland occupation. Abstract Biofuel plays an important role in the transition to low-carbon energy systems. However, the large-scale expansion of biofuels may cause drastic land use change (LUC) due to feedstock cultivation and further result in other sustainability impacts (e.g., food supply), which are the key concerns for policy makers when designing bioenergy policies. However, biophysical models omit the indirect LUC from interactions of economic agents, whereas economic models lack the depiction of heterogeneous land use types. Thus, through either technique, it has formidable challenges to simulate land conversions among alternative uses driven by socioeconomic activities, especially policy mandates. To bridge the gap between these models by simultaneously considering land heterogeneity and market mechanisms and to gain better insights into specific national/regional cases to supplement previous global biofuel and LUC analyses, in this study, we develop a national computable general equilibrium (CGE) model augmented with an explicit land allocation module and design a scenario approach to simulate different patterns of land use management. Food grains and dedicated energy crops are considered feedstock sources and marginal land is incorporated as a potential land supply. Using this model, the case study of China quantifies the direct and indirect LUC driven by the bioethanol (one of the main biofuels) expansion of the new nationwide E10 mandate (gasoline containing 10% ethanol) in 2020, as well as the further impacts on food security. The results show that a slight land reallocation occurs with decreases in the land supply for rice (−0.016%), other non-feedstock grains and crops, as well as forest and grassland (−0.023%). The land competition among existing croplands would be intense in the non-deforestation scenario. If marginal land is reclaimed for feedstock cultivation, the cropland competition could be softened. The results of sensitivity analysis indicate that the total LUC scale would be 4.0–5.9% with no corn stockpile serving as feedstock. Additionally, the bioethanol expansion would trigger higher food prices (around +0.1%). To alleviate the negative impacts on land resources and food security, planting energy crops on marginal land could increase non-grain feedstocks by 10% and save 0.217% of croplands; therefore, it may be one of the promising pathways for sustainable biofuel development in China. This study can lay a common foundation for further integrated impact assessments of biofuel expansion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Biogas is one of the important renewable energy sources, which is expected to significantly contribute not only for the successful achievement of a low carbon transition but also to achieve global climate change policy targets. Private investment is identified as a critical factor for biogas sector to fulfill its expected role. Hence, this paper emphasizes on identifying private stakeholder’s investment criteria in order to increase its active involvement for biogas in China. This study focused on banks, insurance companies, pension funds, private equity funds and high network individuals as the primary stakeholders. It applies an SWOT-AHP-TOWS analysis, in which the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats (SWOT) of stakeholders are identified and then prioritized by using the analytical hierarchy process (AHP). Finally, the TOWS matrix supports the development of private investment strategies, which serve as a foundation for Chinese policy makers to promote private investments in the biogas sector. The following strategies have been identified as the most important ones: (1) Promoting financial tailored biogas products in terms of volume, interest rate and duration for banks; (2) Permitting insurance companies and pension funds directly investing into biogas equity; (3) Encouraging public-private partnerships and (4) Improving project cooperation by introducing professional guidance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Residential solid fuel combustion makes a major contribution to black carbon (BC) emissions in China. A new estimation of BC emissions from rural solid biomass and coal consumption has been derived from field survey data. The following new contributions are made: (1) emission factors are collected and reviewed; (2) household energy data are collected from field survey data and from the literature; (3) a new extrapolation method is developed to extend the field survey data to other locations; (4) the ownership and usage of two stove types are estimated and considered in the emission calculations; and (5) uncertainties associated with the estimation results are quantified. It is shown that rural households with higher income will consume less biomass but more coal. Agricultural acreage and temperature also significantly influence the amount of solid fuel consumed in rural areas. It is estimated that 640 ± 245 Gg BC/y were emitted to the atmosphere due to residential solid fuel consumption in rural China in 2014. Emissions of BC from straw, wood, and coal contributed 42 ± 13%, 36 ± 15%, and 22 ± 10% of the total, respectively. We show that effective BC mitigation (a reduction of 47%) could be obtained through widespread introduction of improved stoves in rural households. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Employment impacts are one of the most important social impacts associated with the development of renewable energy, and are also one of the key concerns for policy makers designing renewable energy policies. Current studies tend to focus on the direct job changes in renewable sectors per se and on the indirect job changes along value chains of renewable energy, therefore depicting a picture of prosperity with large amounts of “green jobs”. However, the induced job changes in other sectors that are not directly in the value chains but are still influenced by electricity price changes and related financial resource transfers have usually been neglected, resulting in an incomplete and potentially biased understanding of this specific category of social impact. By using a computable general equilibrium (CGE) model of China that incorporates detailed renewable power generation technologies and considers labor market imperfections, our study tries to fill this gap and quantifies the full scope of job changes (direct, indirect and induced) brought by renewable energy development in China. Results show that per 1 TW h expansion of solar PV and wind power would create up to 45.1 thousand and 15.8 thousand, respectively, direct and indirect jobs in China. However, the scale of induced job changes is quite significant and may even lead to net job losses in the whole economy in some cases. We have further revealed the sectoral contributors to total job changes. In all, there are no assured conclusions on the occurrence of green jobs when developing renewable energy. The impacts are highly dependent on the species of renewable energy, the financing mechanisms for renewable subsidies, and the scopes of employment impacts. We suggest that full-scope employment impacts should be carefully considered and the detailed supporting policies should be carefully designed by decision makers when promoting renewable energy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Households may imperfectly implement energy saving measures. This study identifies two factors resulting in imperfect use of energy-saving technology by households. Households often continue to use old technologies alongside new ones, and the energy-saving technologies have shorter actual lifetimes than their designed lifetimes. These two factors are considered when computing marginal energy conservation cost and marginal CO 2 abatement cost using data collected from a survey of rural households in three provinces in China. The results show that there are cost reduction for most space heating technologies, and their marginal abatement cost under full implementation ranges from −60 to 15 USD/t-CO 2 , while the marginal abatement cost of cooking technologies ranges from 12 to 85 USD/t-CO 2 . The marginal abatement costs of the majority of technologies increased after accounting for the two implementation factors. The marginal abatement cost in the imperfect implementation scenario is higher, with a range of −1 to 15 USD/t-CO 2 for space heating, and 18 to 165 USD/t-CO 2 for cooking. Assuming implementation factors are constant until 2035, annually achievable CO 2 abatement by 2035 is estimated to be 57, 11, and 10 Mt-CO 2 /y in Hebei, Guizhou, and Guangxi Provinces. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Coal-to-biomass retrofitting costs US$18.3–73.0 for each ton of carbon reduced. • Coal-to-biomass retrofit costs US$21.6–806.5 for each kg of SO 2 reduced. • The unit's size, age, and transportation distance are main influencing factors. • Carbon or SO 2 reductions mainly depends on cost or benefit preference, respectively. To avoid the irreversible impact of global climate change on human society, many countries have recently put forward ambitious goals to accelerate the low-carbon transition of energy systems. Among low-carbon measures, retrofitting existing coal power plants with biomass co-firing is regarded as a promising cost-efficient option to mitigate greenhouse gas and air pollutant emissions. However, the life-cycle economic cost or environmental benefit of this coal-to-biomass retrofit is not identical for various types of power plants in different regions. To facilitate a more efficient biomass utilization strategy in an energy system, it is necessary to carry out a large-scale and high-resolution cost-benefit assessment for the co-firing of biomass and coal in retrofitted plants. Taking China as an example, this study utilized a bottom-up approach and geographic information system, combined with the latest available datasets, to develop a unit-level cost-benefit analysis framework for the coal-to-biomass transition. The results indicate that the coal-to-biomass retrofit costs US$18.3–73.0 for each ton of carbon reduction, and US$21.6–806.5 for each kg of SO 2 reduction, at a 25% blending ratio. Installed capacity, operating year, and transportation distance are important influencing factors of cost-benefit heterogeneity. The priority of power unit retrofitting in terms of carbon reductions mainly depends on the cost preference, while that for SO 2 reduction is mainly determined by benefit preference. The analytical framework proposed in this study can be used in other countries to formulate an efficient biomass development strategy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]