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The 2015 Paris climate change negotiations represents the most ambitious worldwide effort to date to combat climate change. As the largest energy consumer and carbon emitter, China pledges 60–65% cut in carbon intensity below 2005 levels by 2030. To accelerate China's climate efforts, China has also committed to cap its primary energy use at 4.8 billion tons of coal equivalent in 2020. This paper proposes an equitable and efficient scheme to disaggregate this national goal among provinces. A three-step disaggregation procedure is proposed which takes into account the initial allocation, national redistribution and inter-provincial adjustment. First, this study allocates the incremental energy quota, taking 2010 as the base year. Second, part of the energy quota is set aside by the central government for redistribution purposes, while an incremental energy quota index comprising equity and efficiency criteria is used for initial allocation among provinces. Finally, historical efforts and inter-provincial energy flows are considered for inter-provincial adjustment. This disaggregation scheme is flexible and can be easily extended to allocation and management of other resource and environmental targets. The empirical findings can assist decision-makers in identifying which provinces are likely to over-consume the energy quota relative to the proposed allocation and which provinces are likely to perform better in energy conservation. Moreover, the results show that the energy cap set for 2020 is unachievable without further action. Market-based instruments, such as an energy allowance trading market, are strongly recommended to achieve the energy use target in an equitable and cost-effective manner. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With rapid urbanization and the requirements for new buildings and infrastructure, cement production is expected to increase in China. Meanwhile, China's energy consumption and carbon emissions associated with cement industry are expected to increase, as cement production is one of the most energy intensive industries. Introducing new and more pertinent technologies with better management, as indicated by government goals and measures, can improve energy efficiency and reduce carbon emission. However, many challenges and uncertainties in the cement industry have been addressed without considering several interconnected processes among sectors including industry, energy, construction, and services, which lead to little improvements in the industry. Nexus approaches are recognized as effective methods to simultaneously examine interactions among multiple sectors with various elements. This research intends to provide insights for future energy-cement-carbon emission nexus, through integrated assessment capabilities, related to China's new urbanization planning toward 2050. Several challenges and uncertainties, including different trends in population growth, structural transformation of economic driving forces, and new but stricter policy targets for resource use efficiency and environment production, are put into multiple scenarios. The results of our analysis provide perspectives on future direction to underscore the growing interconnection among energy, cement and carbon emission with clear and more specific roadmap for promoting integrated planning, management and governance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]