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Climate change has a profound impact on human survival and development. Climate change is an energy and economic issue, which should be driven by technology. Total factor energy efficiency (TFEE) improvement is undoubtedly a breakthrough in solving energy problems. In this paper, the fixed effect model, impulse response function, and threshold regression model are used to test the complex relationship between export sophistication and TFEE. The results reveal that export sophistication improvement leads to higher TFEE. The impulse response results verify the existence of a phased and positive correlation between export sophistication and TFEE. Finally, the relationship between export sophistication and TFEE significantly varied across different threshold levels of regional corruption score, economic development, and openness. This article led the foundation for supporting China's export sophistication promotion strategy and also provides a reference for energy efficiency improvement and energy crisis response in the post-pandemic era. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this paper is to strengthen research concerning the impact of climate change on China's water resources, in order to avoid extreme weather events such as regional rainstorms and floods affecting the stable supply of energy and electricity. The goal is to reorganize energy industry allocation to make China's energy the most efficient, which would thus help achieve sustainable development goals. The biggest contribution and of this paper is not only to enlarge the scale and take into account the sustainable aspects, but also to consider climate change factors that have been ignored in the past as exogenous variables. For the first time, we take stock of the optimal allocation of new and tradition energy sources and carbon dioxide. This study uses the Dynamic ZSG-DDF model with exogenous variables and undesirable outputs to find a way to redistribute carbon dioxide, new energy, and tradition energy from different provinces on the premise of maximizing efficiency, thus achieving the goal of reducing carbon and saving the earth. The research results show that the energy efficiency of tradition energy is higher than that of new energy in various provinces. At the same time, the China government must comprehensively review the quota targets of new energy, tradition energy, and carbon dioxide (CO2) in each province as quickly as possible. Currently, the quotas of various provinces are seriously misplaced, and 26 provinces in total have great room for improvement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate change is directly linked to a broad array of changes because of disorganized activities within the economic system and human intervention. Climate change affects the well-being status of both non-living and living things. Relevant policies to mitigate and adapt to climate change conditions concentrate on solutions that intend to use renewable energy instead of fossil fuels or other conventional energy sources. This study aims to process a review focused on how renewables advance environmental quality and create relevant benefits within severe economic activities. This study elaborates on the case of China for two main reasons. First, China has a pivotal role in the economic system worldwide. Second, China is making serious attempts to transition into a low-carbon economy. An integrative review was processed to receive selected publications. The advantage of this process is that it considers empirical and non-empirical studies, policy papers, and conceptual frameworks. Inclusion and exclusion criteria were applied to retrieve the final number of publications. Review results from 39 well-acknowledged Journals provided 180 selected publications categorized into seven study groups: data analyses, model optimization studies, market issues, renewable energy technology publications, nuclear energy publications, ocean energy publications, and policy-related studies. Policy implications concern China's efforts to accelerate the integration of renewables in the energy mix. Hence, the country should increase energy efficiency in consumption and process investment plans based on robust research and development efforts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The excessive carbon emissions not only intensify the global climate change, but also seriously restrict the sustainable development of social economy. However, improving industrial carbon emissions efficiency is the most directly effective way to reduce emissions. Therefore, accurate measurement and analysis of carbon emissions efficiency and evolution characteristics of China's industrial system is the basis for China to improve carbon emissions efficiency. Based on this, we adopted energy consumption method and input-output method to calculate and analyze the industrial carbon emissions efficiency and evolution characteristics of China from 2002 to 2015. The results show that (1) If carbon emissions from cement production are ignored and only energy-related carbon emissions are considered, the calculation results of carbon emissions efficiency of heavy industry will be overestimated about 30%. (2) Compared with 2002, China's industrial carbon emissions efficiency increased by about twice in 2015. Specifically, the optimization of carbon emissions efficiency in agriculture, construction, light industry and service industry is very obvious, which has increased by 5.65, 5.00, 4.69 and 4.68 times respectively; The optimization of carbon emissions efficiency in power sector, heavy industry, transportation and chemical industry was obvious, which increased by 2.55, 2.01, 1.86 and 1.47 times respectively; The carbon emissions efficiency of the fossil energy sector has decreased by 0.36 times. (3) The carbon emissions efficiency of various industries has significant differences. Among them, agriculture, service industry, light industry and construction industry are generally industries with higher carbon emissions efficiency, while power sector, fossil energy sector, transportation industry, chemical industry and heavy industry are generally industries with lower carbon emissions efficiency, especially power and fossil energy sectors. Based on these, this paper provides policy implications and scientific evidence for accurately improving carbon emissions efficiency from the perspective of carbon emissions efficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Global climate change has caused governments worldwide to take actions to improve their energy efficiency. This paper investigates how China's Top-1000 program, a command-and-control type of energy-saving mandate, has affected the operational choices of firms, and in turn, their profitability. We apply the propensity score matching method to find "identical twins" for the participants in the Top- 1000 program, then conduct a difference-in-differences analysis on the matched sample. Our findings suggest that the profitability of the enterprises targeted for energy savings decreased by one-third, mainly due to increased production costs. The targeted enterprises tended to increase their fixed assets per capita, which was associated with improvements in energy efficiency. Furthermore, compared to similar untargeted enterprises, there was a significant slowdown in the production growths of the targeted enterprises, raising concerns about carbon leakage due to increased production by less efficient producers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Energy efficiency policies can help to reduce energy use and mitigate the effects of climate change. This paper examines the U.S. and Chinese economies by applying HEM to both. Key sectors absorbing more energy from other sectors by purchasing intermediate products from them and, simultaneously, transferring more energy by selling products to the rest of the sectors are identified. This provides insights for decision-making on appropriate energy efficiency policies. It appears that the U.S. economy should focus on the service sector, and the Chinese should focus on the industrial sector. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Carbon neutrality is an important policy in the current global response to climate change and has been widely recognized by various industries. In the process of promoting carbon neutrality, new energy plays a pivotal role. In this study, the definition and connotation of new energy and its role and specific operation in the energy transition of carbon neutrality are firstly explained. Promoting new energy development requires significant green and low-carbon investments. Taking China as an example, this paper analyzes the opportunities brought by the carbon neutral process to the field of green finance and analyzes the main features and development trends of green finance in China at present. Then this paper proposes policy recommendations to strengthen the development of green finance in China in terms of improving the green financial policy system, enhancing the supply capacity of green financial services, and optimizing the supporting environment for green financial development. Finally, this paper analyzes the measures and experiences of the United States in promoting low-carbon development and proposes countermeasures for China's low-carbon development on the basis of the five major relationships that need attention in China's carbon-neutral process. That is, strengthen the top-level design and improve the regulatory policy system; optimize the energy structure and increase the proportion of clean energy; optimize the industrial structure and reduce energy consumption in key industries; build a complete low-carbon technology system and promote low-carbon technology research and development and demonstration applications, and encourage local conditions to explore low-carbon development paths. The development of green finance can contribute to the advancement of new energy technologies, thus contributing to the achievement of carbon neutrality goals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the context of low-carbon economic development, carbon productivity has effectively integrated the two major objectives of carbon reduction and economic growth, and increasing carbon productivity has become the main approach to address global climate change. Using data from China's input–output table for 2002–2017, this study measures the evolutionary characteristics and influencing factors of carbon productivity from the perspective of embodied carbon emission in China's industrial sector. The results indicate that, first, China's industrial sectors' carbon productivity shows an increasing trend from 25.22 to 65.3 million yuan/10,000 tons of CO2 in 2002–2017, but the overall level is low. The energy efficiency factor is a major element affecting improvement in carbon productivity. Second, the carbon productivity of the 28 industrial sectors shows an increasing trend. There is a significant gap in the carbon productivity between different industrial sectors. The energy efficiency factor in all industrial sectors is positive, indicating that energy efficiency is a positive factor in increasing carbon productivity. Third, from largest to smallest in the carbon productivity are the primary, tertiary, and secondary industries. Finally, this paper recommends several approaches to improve carbon productivity from the perspectives of technology, differentiated policies of carbon emission reduction, and industrial structure adjustment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Carbon footprint (CF) research has attained tremendous popularity for improving the climate environment purposes. In particular, current energy use has been identified as the main cause of climate change. CF plays an irreplaceable role in managing energy use, reducing gas emissions, and improving climate change. The objective of this study was to review studies that have developed CF and to perform a bibliometric analysis using two key terms: "climate change" and "energy use". From bibliometric analysis using CiteSpace and VOSviewer, it was possible to establish a knowledge map of cooperative network structure and research evolution. We are aiming to reveal the main logical chain of CF research leading to climate change, to make up for the lack of current literature, and provide research inspiration for researchers. The research findings mainly focus on four aspects. First, the relevant research began in 2008 and is in a state of continuous rise. Second, due to the law of research development and the prominence of practical problems, related research has experienced a stage from conceptual methods to specific problems. Third, China and the USA assume an important role in which international cooperation is the overall trend. Fourth, related research can be divided into CF algorithm research, ecological environment management research, and specific cross-industry fields. In addition, possible opportunities for change in related research are explored. It is also suggested that the integration of CF with other footprints, when energy use and environmental change are fully considered, may become an important future research trend by providing a more comprehensive environmental impact. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To achieve the goal of 'Net-zero Europe' by 2050, the European Union (EU) has set up detailed policies in the fields of energy and climate. This paper summarizes the main characteristics of relevant policies in the EU and UK and their implications for China by reviewing these policies in the achievement of the carbon neutrality goal and other goals in the energy and climate fields. The characteristics of these energy and climate policies include: ① Top-down and bottom-up approaches are adopted to distribute the EU' s overall emission reduction targets to member states in accordance with the principle of fairness, and each member state formulates and adjusts its own goals to ensure the realization of the overall goals. ② Detailed transition plans are formulated for the power, industry, transportation, and building sectors; importance is attached to the application of new and renewable energy technologies such as solar, wind, and hydrogen energy; specific goals are set concerning coal power transition, nuclear energy development, energy efficiency improvement, carbon capture and storage, electrification, and building renovations; and the importance of energy security in transition planning is stressed. ③ A sound and mature emissions trading system and a fair transition mechanism are established to support the realization of the transition goals, and developing countries are helped to reduce emissions through technical dialogues and climate financing. To reach peak carbon emissions and achieve carbon neutrality, China should develop relevant roadmaps at national, sectoral, and provincial levels and strengthen R&D of key decarbonization technologies. At the same time, China should enhance its regulatory regime, and improve the carbon emissions trading system, the green financial system, and the just transition mechanism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• This paper analyzes China's challenges toward carbon neutrality (CN) by 2060. • Currently, up to 85% of China's energy consumption relies on fossil fuels. • China's zero-carbon technologies and economy are not yet sufficient for CN. • Thus, we propose a three-stage/four-step strategy for China to achieve CN. • This paper also presents seven suggestions to foster China's green transition. In response to climate change, the Chinese government has set a clear goal to reach its carbon peak by 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality by 2060, endeavoring to gradually realize net-zero carbon dioxide (CO 2) emissions. This paper explores the concept of carbon neutrality and makes a comparative analysis of the gap between China, the European Union, and the United States vis-à-vis carbon neutrality based on international data. The main challenges China faces in its progress toward carbon neutrality are the following: first, China's energy consumption and CO 2 emissions continue to increase, while its carbon peak has not yet been reached; second, carbon emission reduction in China is an arduous process, as the transition period allowed for the country to transition from its carbon peak to carbon neutrality is shorter than that of developed countries; third, China remains reliant on high-carbon fossil energy, with high energy consumption and low energy utilization efficiency; fourth, China's low level of economic development, compared with those of the EU, the US, or other developed countries, makes it relatively weak to withstand economic risks; and fifth, China's low-carbon and zero-carbon technologies are not mature. Therefore, this paper posits a three-stage/four-step strategy as well as seven specific suggestions that could benefit China's progress toward carbon neutrality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The nations participating in the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) are particularly vulnerable to the challenges posed by climate change due to their extensive trading activities. The need to protect the environment and mitigate the adverse impacts of climate change in these countries is of utmost importance. Therefore, this study contributes to the scientific understanding of this issue by examining the relationship between trade openness and environmental sustainability in 89 BRI countries from 1990 to 2020. Additionally, control variables, including economic growth, energy consumption, urbanization, industrialization, and foreign direct investment, are considered to address omitted variable bias issues. The study utilizes the Augmented Mean Group (AMG) and Common Correlated Effects Mean Group (CCEMG) regression estimators, and the findings reveal that trade openness improves environmental sustainability. However, economic growth, energy consumption, urbanization, and industrialization degrade environmental sustainability. Interestingly, the results affirm foreign direct investment as a trivial determinant of environmental sustainability. Regarding causal relationships, reciprocal causalities are observed between trade openness and carbon emissions, energy consumption and carbon emissions, and urbanization and carbon emissions. Furthermore, one-way causalities exist from economic growth to carbon emissions and from carbon emissions to foreign direct investment. Nevertheless, no causal relationship is identified between industrialization and carbon emissions. Based on these significant findings, it is recommended that China, as a prominent player in the BRI, takes further steps to enhance and promote energy-efficient practices in BRI countries. One practical approach is the establishment of energy efficiency standards for the goods and services traded with these countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • A method for spatiotemporal coordination of multienergy systems is proposed. • Virtual energy storage gain is calculated based on spectral analysis. • The hydropower regulation ability affects the virtual energy storage gain. • The optimal coordination range between multiple energy sources is obtained. Utilizing the spatial heterogeneity and climate periodicity of various available renewable energy sources can enhance the multienergy complementarity, which will further reduce the energy storage demand and contributes to the "virtual energy storage gain." In this paper, we propose a spatiotemporal coordination method based on spectral analysis for a wind-PV-hydropower system that targets the maximum virtual energy storage gain. The complementary effect of hydropower on wind and PV power can be seen as changes in the regulation ability resulting from the hydropower construction development as well as a decreased variance in the total system production output. This method is used to determine the optimal coordination distance of multiple energy sources that are matched over different periods representing typical climate variation. A case study in the Yalong River basin in China obtains the best range of hydropower bundling surrounding wind power and PV power stations under different hydropower construction planning scenarios, and it reveals that increased regulation capacity of hydropower will reduce the optimal coordination distance but can achieve more energy balance if both actual storage and virtual storage is accounted for. This approach can realize energy delivery with the optimal coordination distance to meet intensive and efficient development needs, which can provide guidance and support for the planning and construction of wind-PV-hydropower storage systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Carbon dioxide has a significant impact on global climate change due to its natural greenhouse effect. The objective and credible forecast of carbon emissions is very important for the government to formulate and implement the corresponding emission reduction targets. For controlling the growth of carbon emissions, Chinese government has put forward the low-carbon pilot policy and carbon trading policy. However, the existing grey models cannot measure the impact of policies and their interactions. In order to remedy the defect, a novel grey multivariable model based on dummy variables and their interactions is established. Two kinds of grey multivariable models and back propagation neural network model are chosen as comparison models to highlight that the introduction of dummy variables and their interactions plays an important part in improving the model performance. To verify the effectiveness, these four models are selected to simulate and predict the carbon emissions generated from primary energy consumption in Guangdong Province of China. The empirical results indicate that the mean absolute percentage errors of the novel model are 2.87% and 0.86%, respectively, which is significantly better than these three competing models. Finally, based on the outstanding performance of the novel model, it is chosen to forecast the fluctuating tendency of carbon emissions in the next 5 years. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The population has a significant influence on economic growth, energy consumption, and climate change. Many scholars and organizations have published projections for China's future population due to its substantial population amounts. However, these projections have not been evaluated or analyzed, which may lead confusion to extensional studies based on these datasets. This manuscript compares several China's projection datasets at multiscale and analyzes the impacting factors affecting projection accuracy. The results indicate that the slow of actual population growth rates from 2017 is earlier than most datasets projected. Therefore, the turning point of population decline probably comes rapidly before these datasets expected during 2024 and 2034. Furthermore, the projections do not reveal the population decline from 2010 in the Northeast provinces such as Jilin and Heilongjiang, and underrate the population increase in the southern provinces such as Guangdong and Chongqing. According to the results of regression models, the rate of population changes and the number of migrations people play a significant role in projection accuracy. These findings provide meaningful guidance for scholars to understand the uncertainty of those projection datasets. Moreover, for researchers performing population projections, our discoveries provide insights to increase the projection accuracy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The future development of the world is threatened due to global warming and climate change mainly driven by carbon emissions. Conducting an extensive study on the influencing factors of regional energy consumption and prediction through scenario simulation is of great significance for China in order to meet its aim of achieving carbon peak by 2030. The affected areas of the lower Yellow River are one of the main grain-producing areas in China, and it is facing a strong demand for urbanization and rapid economic development. Based on the night light data, this study demonstrates that the carbon emissions from energy consumption in the study area showed an upward trend from 2000 to 2018 with obvious spatial distribution differences. Economic development had a significant positive effect on the increase in carbon emissions from energy consumption; energy consumption intensity showed a significant negative effect. The study area achieves the carbon peak target in 2027 only under the low-carbon scenario. This study is helpful to realize ecological protection and high-quality development in the Yellow River Basin and also has reference significance for other developing countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]