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With the goal of achieving "carbon peak in 2030 and carbon neutrality in 2060", as clearly proposed by China, the transportation sector will face long–term pressure on carbon emissions, and the application of hydrogen fuel cell vehicles will usher in a rapid growth period. However, true "zero carbon" emissions cannot be separated from "green hydrogen". Therefore, it is of practical significance to explore the feasibility of renewable energy hydrogen production in the context of hydrogen refueling stations, especially photovoltaic hydrogen production, which is applied to hydrogen refueling stations (hereinafter referred to "photovoltaic hydrogen refueling stations"). This paper takes a hydrogen refueling station in Shanghai with a supply capacity of 500 kg/day as the research object. Based on a characteristic analysis of the hydrogen demand of the hydrogen refueling station throughout the day, this paper studies and analyzes the system configuration, operation strategy, environmental effects, and economics of the photovoltaic hydrogen refueling station. It is estimated that when the hydrogen price is no less than 6.23 USD, the photovoltaic hydrogen refueling station has good economic benefits. Additionally, compared with the conventional hydrogen refueling station, it can reduce carbon emissions by approximately 1237.28 tons per year, with good environmental benefits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Solar hydrogen production technology is a key technology for building a clean, low-carbon, safe, and efficient energy system. At present, the intermittency and volatility of renewable energy have caused a lot of "wind and light". By combining renewable energy with electrolytic water technology to produce high-purity hydrogen and oxygen, which can be converted into electricity, the utilization rate of renewable energy can be effectively improved, while helping to improve the solar hydrogen production system. This paper summarizes and analyzes the research status and development direction of solar hydrogen production technology from three aspects. Energy supply mode: the role of solar PV systems and PT systems in this technology is analyzed. System control: the key technology and system structure of different types of electrolytic cells are introduced in detail. System economy: the economy and improvement measures of electrolytic cells are analyzed from the perspectives of cost, consumption, efficiency, and durability. Finally, the development prospects of solar hydrogen production systems in China are summarized and anticipated. This article reviews the current research status of photovoltaic-photothermal coupled electrolysis cell systems, fills the current research gap, and provides theoretical reference for the further development of solar hydrogen production systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The design of thermal insulation in roofs is very important to reduce energy consumption and decrease the environmental impacts of buildings. An integrated economic and environmental assessment-based optimization design method is presented in this paper to find the best candidate insulation design scheme for building roofs, including the determination of roof thermal insulation type and the optimum insulation thickness. In the optimization design method, a zonal method-based double-skin ventilation roof heat transfer model is developed to predict the roof energy consumption. Economic and environmental benefits due to thermal insulation are calculated by using the economic analysis model, the environmental analysis model, and roof energy consumption. Moreover, an integrated dimensionless economic and environmental assessment index is proposed to evaluate different roof thermal insulation design schemes. The optimum insulation thickness is determined by maximizing the sum of economic benefit and environmental benefit due to thermal insulation. The validation results in a real building show that the predicted data for the zonal-based double-skin ventilation roof heat transfer model agreed well with the measured data, with a maximum relative error of 8.2%. The optimum insulation thickness of extruded polystyrene (EPS), mineral wool (MW), and polyurethane (PU) was between 0.082 m and 0.171 m for the single-skin roof in a low-temperature granary in Changsha region in China. The ranking of the integrated assessment indexes of thermal insulation is EPS > MW > PU. A double-skin ventilation roof can reduce the optimum thickness of thermal insulation. The best result is obtained by EPS for the double-skin roof with a grey outer surface color for the low-temperature granary roof in Changsha region in China. The influencing factors of insulation type, roof structure, and roof outer-surface color should be considered in finding the best candidate insulation design solution for building roofs. The integrated economic and environmental assessment-based optimization design method can help designers to efficiently find the best design scheme of thermal insulation to maximize the sum of economic benefit and environmental benefit for building roofs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is few significant attempt to integrate environmental regulation, government financial support, and corporate technological innovation in a methodological framework. Employing the data of the industrial enterprises with an annual turnover of over 20 million yuan from 30 Chinese provinces or municipalities between 2008 and 2016, this paper applies the fixed effect regression model to reveal the relationships between environmental regulation, government financial support, and corporate technological innovation simultaneously. Results show that: (1) there exists a U-shaped relation between environmental regulation intensity and technological innovation of enterprises which declines first and then climbs up, and China is still at the stage of inhibition before the “inflection point”. (2) government financial support does not significantly work on technological innovation directly, but environmental regulation drives this effect to be achieved; when the value of lnER is higher than 3.69, government financial support can significantly facilitate corporate technological innovation. (3) the comparison between regional samples reveals that heterogeneity exists in the influence of environmental regulation intensity and government financial support on corporate technological innovation. The threshold value of enabling effects of environmental regulation in eastern region is higher than that of the central and western region. These results remain consistent after we experiment several robustness checks. Theory and policy implications of our work are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tourist satisfaction has always been a crucial research issue in the tourism economy. This paper utilizes the Spatial Durbin Model (SDM) to analyze the impact of urban tourism satisfaction on urban macroeconomics from a macro perspective, using quarterly data on tourist satisfaction in 35 large and medium-sized cities along with major urban macroeconomic variables. This study is quite distinct from previous research that focused on constructing a tourist satisfaction index and analyzing the influence factors of tourism satisfaction from the perspective of the micro-level internal composition of tourism. The empirical results show: Firstly, in respect of the impact of urban tourists' satisfaction on the GDP income of cities, the SDM and the SDM with a lagged first-order dependent variable (SDM_dlag) show that the short-term and long-term indirect effects of log-tourist satisfaction are significantly positive, indicating that city satisfaction has a significant positive spatial spillover effect on GDP growth in other cities; Secondly, in respect of the influence of urban tourist satisfaction on the cost of urban life in the SDM, the long-term direct and indirect effects of logarithmic satisfaction are significantly positive, implying, in the long run, that tourist satisfaction has a positive intraregional spillover effect and spatial spillover effect on urban living costs; Finally, the SDM_dlag for the regression of urban tourist satisfaction on the cost of urban daily life shows that the short-run direct and indirect effects of city tourist satisfaction are significantly negative, indicating that tourist satisfaction has intra-regional and spatial spillover effects, and its rise will reduce the cost of living expenses in local and other cities in the short term. Overall, we have further elucidated the role of different levels of urban tourist satisfaction in city macroeconomics from the spatial dimension, thereby enriching the existing research on tourist satisfaction to some certain extent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Colorectal Cancer (CRC) is becoming a major threat to people’s life in China. Screening methods adopted by many other countries as effective counter-cancer methods have not been explicitly explored for people there. Thus, we present a Markov model with detailed precancerous adenoma states and then evaluate various screening strategies in this paper. Different from current researches, our model considers the population’s heterogeneous risk of developing adenomas and observation-based screening strategies. Furthermore, we also give a new cost-effectiveness metric. After calibrating, the model is simulated using the Monte Carlo method. Numerical results show that there are threshold values of compliance rates below which strategy with every ten-year colonoscopy becomes the most cost-effective method; otherwise, an observation-based screening strategy is the most cost-effective. We also find that strategy with single colonoscopy for adenoma-free individuals and every three-year colonoscopy for those with adenoma is recommended when the observation-based strategy is not considered. Our findings give an explicit and complete instruction in CRC screening protocol in average-risk Chinese. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The deterioration of water quality has become a primary environmental concern worldwide. Understanding the status of water quality and identifying the influencing factors are important for water resources management. However, reported analyses have mostly been conducted in small and focused areas. It is still unclear if factors driving spatial variation in water quality would be different in extended spatial scales. In this paper, we analyzed spatial pattern of inland surface water quality in China using a dataset with four water quality parameters (i.e., pH, DO, NH4+-N and CODMn) and the water quality level. We tested the effects of anthropogenic (i.e., land use and socio-economic) and natural (i.e., climatic and topographic) factors on spatial variation in water quality. The study concluded that the overall inland surface water quality in China was at level III (fair). Water quality level was strongly correlated with CODMn and NH4+-N concentration. In contrast to reported studies that suggested land use patterns were the determinants of inland surface water quality, this study revealed that both anthropogenic and natural factors played important roles in explaining spatial variation of inland surface water quality in China. Among the tested explanatory variables, mean elevation within watershed appeared as the best predictor for pH, while annual precipitation and mean air temperature were the most important explanatory variables for CODMn and DO, respectively. NH4+-N concentration and water quality level were most strongly correlated with the percent of forest cover in watershed. Compared to studies at smaller spatial scales, this study found different influencing factors of surface water quality, suggesting that factors may play different roles at different spatial scales of consideration. Therefore management policies and measures in water quality control must be established and implemented accordingly. Since currently adopted parameters for monitoring of inland surface water quality in China are largely influenced by natural variables, additional physicochemical and biological indicators are needed for a robust assessment of human impacts on water quality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper combines a Granger causality test and a VAR model to investigate the relationships among oil price shocks, global economic policy uncertainty (GEPU), and China’s industrial economic growth. Based on monthly data from 2000 to 2017, we reveal that GEPU and world oil prices jointly Granger cause China's industrial economic growth; world oil prices have a positive effect on China's industrial economic growth, while GEPU has a negative effect. Further analyses investigate the asymmetry effect of oil prices and find that the negative component shows a more significant impact on China's industrial economic growth. The results are robust to different oil price and EPU proxies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Analysts estimating the costs or cost-effectiveness of health interventions requiring hospitalization often cut corners because they lack data and the costs of undertaking full step-down costing studies are high. They sometimes use the costs taken from a single hospital, sometimes use simple rules of thumb for allocating total hospital costs between general inpatient care and the outpatient department, and sometimes use the average cost of an inpatient bed-day instead of a ward-specific cost. Purpose: In this paper we explore for the first time the extent and the causes of variation in ward-specific costs across hospitals, using data from China. We then use the resulting model to show how ward-specific costs for hospitals outside the data set could be estimated using information on the determinants identified in the paper. Methodology: Ward-specific costs estimated using step-down costing methods from 41 hospitals in 12 provinces of China were used. We used seemingly unrelated regressions to identify the determinants of variability in the ratio of the costs of specific wards to that of the outpatient department, and explain how this can be used to generate ward-specific unit costs. Findings: Ward-specific unit costs varied considerably across hospitals, ranging from 1 to 24 times the unit cost in the outpatient department — average unit costs are not a good proxy for costs at specialty wards in general. The most important sources of variability were the number of staff and the level of capacity utilization. Practice Implications: More careful hospital costing studies are clearly needed. In the meantime, we have shown that in China it is possible to estimate ward-specific unit costs taking into account key determinants of variability in costs across wards. This might well be a better alternative than using simple rules of thumb or using estimates from a single study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Existing shortages on the market of critical and strategic raw materials and problems with the supply chain of selected raw materials, mainly those from China, indicate the need to develop recycling technologies for devices containing the above-mentioned materials. The aim of this work should be to ensure a sustainable supply of raw materials for industry in the EU. One potential source of raw materials may be small-power wind turbine generators equipped with permanent magnets (NdFeB). This research allowed for the development of a methodology for disassembling a generator containing NdFeB magnets in order to determine the shares of individual elements. Due to the significant shares of critical and strategic elements in permanent magnets, a detailed economic analysis was carried out. Based on the research results, economic benefits resulting from the recovery of valuable elements were indicated. The significant market value of critical and strategic raw materials contained in neodymium magnets was demonstrated. The risk of the loss of supplies, the recycling rate and the possibility of replacing the elements in permanent magnets were assessed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Effective and timely quantification of the spatiotemporal pattern of urban expansion in China is important for the assessment of its environmental effects. However, the dynamics of the most recent urban expansions in China since 2012 have not yet been adequately explained due to a lack of current information. In this paper, our objective was to quantify spatiotemporal patterns of urban expansion in China between 1992 and 2015. First, we extracted information on urban expansion in China between 1992 and 2015 by integrating nighttime light data, vegetation index data, and land surface temperature data. Then we analyzed the spatiotemporal patterns of urban expansion at the national and regional scales, as well as at that of urban agglomerations. We found that China experienced a rapid and large-scale process of urban expansion between 1992 and 2015, with urban land increasing from 1.22 × 104 km2 to 7.29 × 104 km2, increasing in size nearly fivefold and with an average annual growth rate of 8.10%, almost 2.5 times as rapid as the global average. We also found that urban land in China expanded mainly by occupying 3.31 × 104 km2 of cropland, which comprised 54.67% of the total area of expanded urban land. Among the three modes of growth—infilling, edge expansion, and leapfrog—edge expansion was the main cause of cropland loss. Cropland loss resulting from edge expansion of urban land totalled 2.51 × 104 km2, accounting for over 75% of total cropland loss. We suggest that effective future management with respect to edge expansion of urban land is needed to protect cropland in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Wind power technology is developing rapidly in China. Especially in the north of China, decentralized wind power (DWP) has developed rapidly. However, wind curtailment exceeds 4% of the gross generation, which has become an important obstacle restricting the development of DWP in 2019. Technical schemes are effective solutions to promote decentralized wind power consumption (DWPC). Moreover, there are few economic analyses of DWP projects with key technologies. This paper summarizes the typical technical schemes and analyzes the economy of a DWP grid-connected project with typical technical schemes by combining methods of the net present value (NPV) and real options (RO). It appears that the DWP project can be profitable with an NPV of about CNY 4.3721 million and an option value of CNY 16.6022 million in the case of a feed-in tariff of 0.34 CNY/kWh. Feed-in tariff and equipment investment costs are the most relevant parameters for economic feasibility according to the sensitivity analysis. Furthermore, 30.73 million kWh connects to the Mengxi grid each year. The project has an annual maximum CO2 emission reduction of about 31 thousand tons and an SO2 of about 0.1 thousand tons. In addition, it also realizes fine social benefits, including the support of local residents and the improvement of local new urbanization levels. Finally, this paper puts forward policy suggestions for the development of DWP mainly from an economic point of view. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, the exergoeconomic analysis was conducted to an existing ultra-supercritical coal-fired power plant in China to understand the cost-formation process, to evaluate the economic performance of each component and to find possible solutions for more cost-effective designs. The total revenue requirement (TRR) and the specific exergy costing (SPECO) methods were applied for economic analysis and exergy costing, respectively. Quantitative balances of exergy and exergetic costs as well as necessary auxiliary equations for both individual component and the overall system were established. The results show that the exergoeconomic factors of the furnace and heat exchangers at low temperature levels, including air preheater and low-pressure feedwater preheaters, are rather small; while those of other components are relatively large. Moving more heat absorption into furnace to use the effective radiation heat transfer, increasing the air preheating temperature and adding more low pressure feedwater preheaters can be promising solutions for future design. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• An energy storage value estimation model in monopoly power markets is put forward. • Ancillary services model in the monopolized electricity market is proposed. • A novel value-drive policy is introduced and compared with two other mechanisms. • Energy storage value under different energy storage configurations is analyzed. Recent trend in increasing the penetration level of renewable energy challenges safety and stability of the power grid. Electrical energy storage (EES) has been deemed as one of the key elements needed to mitigate the fluctuant and intermittent nature of renewables, and is undergoing rapid development nowadays. However, there are still many questions regarding the benefits and drawbacks that EES technologies will present to society, as well as the economic feasibility of EES in monopoly power markets. Given this, this paper presents a grid-scale production cost model for monopoly power markets in which EES generates profits by offering both energy and ancillary services. The production costs of the power system with and without an EES power plant was compared in order to generate a value estimation. Results indicate that the value of EES is related to the unit fuel price and the start-up cost of thermal power units, the penetration level of wind power and size of the EES system. Based on these variables, a value-driven pricing mechanism for EES was put forward and compared with other policies. Economic viability analysis revealed that the pricing mechanism currently used in monopoly power markets are highly inaccurate in capturing the value generated by EES. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The use of economic valuation methods to assess environmental impacts of projects and policies has grown considerably in recent years. However, environmental valuation appears to have developed independently of regulations and practice of environmental impact assessment (EIA), despite its potential benefits to the EIA process. Environmental valuation may be useful in judging significance of impacts, determining mitigation level, comparing alternatives and generally enabling a more objective analysis of tradeoffs. In China, laws and regulations require the use of environmental valuation in EIA, but current practice lags far behind. This paper assesses the problems and prospects of introducing environmental valuation into the EIA process in China. We conduct four case studies of environmental economic impact assessment (EEIA), three of which are based on environmental impact statements of construction projects (a power plant, a wastewater treatment plant and a road construction project) and one for a regional pollution problem (wastewater irrigation). The paper demonstrates the potential usefulness of environmental valuation but also discusses several challenges to the introduction and wider use of EEIA, many of which are likely to be of relevance far beyond the Chinese context. The paper closes with suggesting some initial core elements of an EEIA guideline. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

To solve the frequent urban flood problems, China has put forward a novel city strategy-Sponge City. It is a kind of water resource management strategy and method, which can adapt to the changes of rainwater like a sponge, so as to reduce the occurrence of flood problems. This paper reviewed the initiative and development of sponge city. It analyzed the problems faced by sponge city construction and possible solutions. In addition, pavement material was an important part of sponge city construction. This paper also reviewed the application and development of pavement materials in sponge city. Firstly, the commonly used permeable pavement materials were introduced including permeable asphalt concrete, permeable cement concrete, permeable brick, and novel pavement materials. To meet the requirements of "infiltration, retention, purification, evaporation, and drainage", the pavement materials were designed to be porous. The pore characteristics were studied, including but not limited to porosity and pore size, etc. In addition, environmental assessment and economic analysis were conducted. It was found that the permeable pavements were not necessarily more environmentally friendly than traditional pavement, but they did have some obvious benefits such as water purification, traffic noise reduction, Urban Heat Island (UHI) mitigation, and waste materials recycling. There was a controversy about whether permeable pavements were more economical than traditional pavements. Finally, this paper looked forward to the future development of pavement materials in sponge city, which called for better hydrological performance and wider application range. • The sponge city strategy has good application value and development prospect. • Sponge city uses permeable asphalt concrete, permeable cement concrete, permeable brick, and novel permeable materials. • Pore characteristics have a significant impact on mechanical and hydrological properties of permeable pavements. • Permeable pavement has obvious environmental benefits, including the purification of water and air, noise reduction etc. • The future studies of pavement materials in sponge city are recommended to focus on better hydrological performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Repairing materials are well-known to play an important role in rehabilitating and extending the service life for hydraulic concrete structures. However, current underwater repairing materials possess several problems, including insufficient bond tensile strength, inconsistency with the deformation of the old substrate, and insufficient underwater self-sealing ability. In the present paper, an experimental study was carried out to evaluate the influence of silica nanoparticles (SNs) on the properties of underwater composite-repairing materials. The underwater deformation, impermeability, bond tensile strength, and compressive strength of the SN-modified underwater composite-repairing materials were used as the properties' evaluation indices. The results show that, within a certain range, the performance of the repairing material increase with increased SN percent. The deformability, impermeability grade, underwater bond tensile strength, and compressive strength of the SN-modified composite underwater repairing materials are 2.2%, 8, 2.91 MPa, and 115.87 MPa, respectively, when the mass ratio of the mortar, the curing agent and the SNs is 8:1:0.002. The proposed material is employed to repair the dam for a hydropower station in Guizhou province, China. Results show the seepage discharge is reduced by 8.6% when the dam is repaired. The annual average generating capacity is increased by 1.104 × 105 kWh. Meanwhile, CO2 and NOx emissions are reduced by 1.049 × 105 and 220.8 kg annually, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Building heating energy consumption accounts for about 19.12% of total energy consumption in China in 2014. With the development of building energy-saving technology, renewable energy heating systems, such as GSHP (ground source heat pump), solar energy, air source heat pump, show high energy efficiency and low emissions, which are gradually replacing traditional heating systems. However, due to the restriction of existing productivity and environment conditions, the capital investment of such renewable heating systems is often much higher than traditional ones. As a result, the advantage of renewable heating system is hard to be realized, since its application is highly limited by economic factors. In this paper, traditional thermal-economical evaluation method is modified and improved for feasibility analysis of renewable heating system. Moreover, an illustrative example, which combines solar heating and air-source heat pump together, in Sichuan is given to show the preliminary application of the proposed method. The results indicate that the modified thermal-economical evaluation method can assess the feasibility of renewable heating systems more comprehensively, since it takes the indirect economic effects caused by energy saving and environment protection into consideration, which can balance the huge capital investment of such systems. For the studied case, solar collector combined with air-source heat pump is more preferable than traditional systems. This work is important for feasibility analysis and design optimization of building heating system with renewable energy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since coal will be widely used in the next decades, mainly in the developing countries such as China and India, carbon capture and storage (CCS) technologies will have a key role in the containment of global warming. This paper presents a techno-economic comparison between the most promising power generation technologies for a CO 2 -free power generation in a short-term future. In particular, three different power generation technologies have been considered in their conventional (without CCS) and CO 2 -free configurations: (a) ultra supercritical (USC) pulverized coal combustion, (b) oxy-coal combustion (OCC) and (c) integrated gasification combined cycle (IGCC). Process simulation, based on Aspen Plus and Gate Cycle commercial tools, allows to calculate plant performance, including the energy penalty due to the CCS system (10.9% points for USC and 8.7% points for IGCC). In parallel, a detailed economic assessment shows that, among the commercial-ready technologies, USC could be the most convenient solution for power generation without CCS (presenting a levelized cost of electricity – LCOE – of 38.6 €/MW h, significantly lower than 43.7 €/MW h of IGCC), whereas IGCC becomes competitive for CO 2 -free systems (with a LCOE of 59.6 €/MW h, to be compared with 63.4 €/MW h of USC). Moreover, oxy-coal combustion, which is currently not mature enough for commercial-scale applications, promises to become strongly competitive for CCS applications due to its relatively low levelized cost of electricity (62.8 €/MW h). This kind of analysis typically presents strong uncertainties, due to the variability of several key parameters (e.g. fuel and CCS prices, determined by the fluctuation of the international markets, or an improvement of the technologies). Therefore, a sensitivity analysis has been done to determine the effects of these potential fluctuation or the improvement on the economic performance of the plant. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Elimination of hepatitis B virus (HBV) is a striking challenge for countries with high or moderate disease burden. Therefore, using China as a practical case to share experiences for similar countries may accelerate the achievement of the WHO 2030 target of 90% reduction in HBV-related incidence. We aim to evaluate the impact of national HBV immunization strategies in China; and the feasibility to achieve WHO 2030 targets under different scenarios. Methods: We constructed an expanded Susceptible-Exposed-Infectious-Recovered (SEIR) model and decision tree-Markov model to estimate the epidemic of HBV in China, assess the feasibility of 2030 Elimination Goals through the projections and conduct the economic analysis. Least square method was used to calibrate the expanded SEIR model by yearly data of laboratory-confirmed HBV cases from 1990 to 2018. Two models were separately used to evaluate the impact and cost-effectiveness of HBV vaccine by comparing prevalence of chronic HBV infections, quality-adjusted life-years (QALYs), incremental cost effectiveness ratio and benefit–cost ratio (BCR) under various intervention options, providing a basis for exploring new containment strategies. Results: Between 1990 and 2020, the number of chronic HBV infections decreased by 33.9%. The current status quo would lead to 55.73 million infections (3.95% prevalence) in 2030, compared to 90.63 million (6.42% prevalence) of the "Without the NIP" scenario (NIP: National Immunization Program), 114.78 million (8.13% prevalence) without any interventions. The prevention of mother to child transmission (PMTCT) strategy showed a net benefit as 12,283.50 dollars per person, with BCR as 12.66, which is higher than that of universal vaccination at 9.49. Compared with no screening and no vaccination, the PMTCT strategy could save 7726.03 dollars for each QALY increase. Conclusions: Our findings proved the HBV vaccination has demonstrated a substantial positive impact on controlling the epidemic of HBV in terms of effectiveness and economy after about 30 years of implementation of the national hepatitis B immunization program which also provided containment experience for high or medium burden countries. As for China, the next step should focus on exploring strategies to improve diagnosis and treatment coverage to reduce the burden of HBV-related deaths and ultimately eliminate HBV. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As a kind of zero-carbon and high-efficiency energy, hydrogen has attracted more attention with clean energy technology development. However, large-scale green hydrogen application is difficult to promote because of its high production cost. China is rich in water resources, but the utilization rate is low, which causes serious water abandonment problems. This article studies the optimal operation of combined cascade reservoir and hydrogen system to improve the utilization of water resources and the system's economic benefits. In this article, a multi-objective nonlinear model is established. An expanded progressive optimization algorithm is adopted to solve the problem more efficiently and accurately. The weights of objective functions are discussed with data from the Hongru River Basin in China. The rationality and effectiveness of combining cascade reservoir and hydrogen system are verified through the optimal operation of water resources and the optimal allocation of power and hydrogen. In addition, the overall economic benefits and reservoir operation efficiency are improved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: China''s primary energy consumption structure is primarily dominated by coal, and due to the excessive dependence on coal, China is facing enormous pressure in improving the power generation structure and enhancing clean energy utilization. There is growing recognition that, as the efficient clean energy, the higher proportion of natural gas plays an important role in improving the energy structure and carbon mitigation. This paper briefly introduces the current situation of carbon trade in power sector, and proposes an analytical model of gas power generation projects considering the carbon emission reduction value. For the integrated analysis presented in this article, we used the software of RETScreen to evaluate the economic benefit of the projects’ carbon emission reduction and conduct the cost-benefit analysis in the whole life cycle. The sensitivity analysis and Monte Carlo risk assessment are performed on the net present value (NPV) of the project. Through the algorithm analysis, the economic efficiency of gas powergeneration projects is significantly influenced by the natural gas price and on-grid price. Moreover, the impact of government policy on projects is also demonstrated and some feasible policy suggestions are proposed. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The “low-hanging fruits” (LHF) (or cream-skimming) problem receives some attention in recent years. However, few studies provide formal analysis on the LHF problem and other flaws based on economic theory. This paper investigates the LHF problem of Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) in China. The energy consumption and the Green House Gas (GHG) emission in China are outlined. The details of the CDM projects, including their distribution in China, and the types of projects are summarized. In order to test whether there were LHF problems in China, a simple statistical model is developed. The statistical analysis provides an indirect evidence that the LHF problem exists in China. The results indicate that areas with higher emission of GHG and low level of GDP per capita attract more CDM projects with higher amount of Certified Emission Reductions (CERs). The results are robust after eliminating HFC-23 decomposition projects from the sample. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Residential solar photovoltaic (PV) installations have boomed in China over recent years. However, knowledge about the economic performance of residential PV investments is still limited. Therefore, this study attempts to make a complete economic assessment of residential PV systems at the county-level. After a brief description of China's incentive policies, a model is constructed with economic measures of internal rate of return and payback period based on discounted cash flow. Then, a reference PV system of 5 kW p is investigated in 2181 geographical areas using scenario analysis and sensitivity analysis. There is breakeven for residential PV investments all over China even without incentives. The areas with good performance of residential PV investments are located mostly in Northern China (Shandong and Hebei), Southern China (Guangdong and Hainan), northeast China (Liaoning, Jilin, and Heilongjiang), and southwest China (Sichuan and Tibet). The boom of residential PV installations is likely to recede in 2021 as the population with acceptable profitability declines since the central and local subsidies expire. But some excellent residential PV suppliers have the potential to compensate for the performance decrease in many ways such as increasing annual generation and reducing initial cost. This paper contributes by providing some insights into the economic performance and market of residential PV installations in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The secondary use of recycled lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) from electric vehicles (EVs) can reduce costs and improve energy utilization rate. In this paper, the recycled LIBs are reused to construct a 3 MW∗3 h battery energy storage system (BESS) for power load peak shaving (PLPS). Taking the BESS as an example, a cost-benefit model is established after the systematical analysis of compositions. The cost model is divided into eight components in detail, which can be grouped into three categories: initial investment costs, operation and maintenance costs (O&M costs) and batteries replacement costs. The benefit model comprises seven parts, such as environmental benefit, battery dismantling and recovery benefit and residual value. In the case study, the life model is established by exponential function through the character analysis of the recycled LIBs. The economic analysis of the BESS is carried out in three techno-economic statuses of optimism, business, and research, which is based on two interest-subjects of grid company and non-grid company. Furthermore, both battery purchasing cost (BPC) and government subsidy are performed to sensitivity analysis. The results show that the BESS with recycled LIBs for PLPS, especially those invested by grid company, have a good application prospect in China. Image 1 • A novel cost-benefit model is proposed for battery energy storage system of recycled Li-ion batteries. • The economic benefits with different investment subjects are explored. • The economic analysis in three techno-economic status is pursued. • Both battery purchasing cost and government subsidy are performed to sensitivity analysis. • The economic comparison between recycled batteries and new batteries for battery energy storage system is analyzed in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Biogas power generation systems present significant environmental and social benefits. Various countries have attached great importance to clean energy production, although its direct economic benefits are not significant. Nonetheless, the increasing interest in biogas projects has enhanced the need for accurate economic analysis. In this paper, an economic analysis method combined with LCA is proposed, and the monetary value of environmental benefits are innovatively added to the income of a biogas project. First, LCA-based environmental benefit analysis is carried out. Second, environmental benefits are calculated in monetary terms with a quantitative method. Finally, environmental benefits are added to the project income. Specifically, the external effect is internalized. In addition, economic indicators of the project are calculated and compared, complemented by a sensitivity analysis. A case study of the Jing An biogas power generation project reveals that its environmental impact is lower by 6264.17 person-equivalent standard loads compared with the impact of coal-fired generation of equivalent power. Furthermore, the net present value and the internal rate of return of this project increase to 59.40 million RMB and 19.85%, respectively, after the monetary value of the environmental benefits is incorporated. The results suggest that the proposed analysis method can reflect the economic benefits of biogas power generation projects more accurately and comprehensively than standard economic analyses and is applicable to large-scale farm biogas power generation projects integrating agriculture, livestock, electricity and fertilizer. Image 1 • Economic analysis combined environmental analysis improves the analysis accuracy. • Net present value considering environmental benefits increased 483.68 million RMB. • Case study proves that the effectiveness of the method. • This method could be applied to large-scale farm biogas power generation system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Yitong Basin is located in subfrigid zone, and it has a good prospect to use geothermal clean heating. The evaluation of economic efficiency for heating with enhanced geothermal system (EGS) is indispensable. A simplified single‐fracture hydrothermal coupling model with laboratory test is developed in the EGS project to calculate temperature and pressure based on Yitong Basin data. The effects of four factors (K, q, D, and T) on heat production and reservoir characteristics are discussed. The parameters and results of H‐T coupling were applied to economic analysis for heating with EGS from private and social perspectives considering costs and revenues. The results indicate that the combination of laboratory tests (rock physical properties) makes the numerical simulation results more suitable for the study area. The production temperature and heating power will decrease with continuous injection of cold water, and the injection pressure and flow impedance will increase due to the increase in μ/ρ. Four factors (K, q, D, and T) will affect difficulty of fluid injection and reservoir thermal breakthrough, and the high injection rate q may trigger secondary fracturing of reservoir. Heating with EGS in single‐fracture model was uneconomical due to expensive drilling costs. However, heating with EGS can be considered from social perspective based on environment, which can provide advice for decision‐making of the government and business. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nowhere has the scale and scope of urbanization been larger than in China over the last few decades. We analyze Chinese city development between the years 1996 and 2014 using data for the urbanized components of prefecture-level cities. We show that, despite much variability and fast economic and demographic change, China is undergoing transformations similar to the historical trajectory of other urban systems. We also show that the distinguishing signs of urban economies—superlinear scaling of agglomeration effects in economic productivity and economies of scale in land use—also characterize Chinese cities. We then analyze the structure of economic change in Chinese cities using a variety of metrics, characterizing employment, firms and households. Population size estimates remain a major challenge for Chinese cities, as official numbers are often reported based on the Hukou registration system. We use the information in the residuals to scaling relations for economic quantities to predict actual resident population and show that these estimates agree well with data for a subset of cities for which counts of total resident population exist. We conclude with a list of issues that must be better understood and measured to make sense of present urban development trajectories in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The impact of environmental change on internal migration has received wide attention in recent years. Mass internal migration has been a significant economic and social phenomenon in China, and soil erosion is a major environmental problem that impacts sustainable socioeconomic development. This study aims to identify the impact of soil erosion on internal migration in China at the county level based on gravity model by analyzing related data, such as the sixth national population census data and the soil and water conservation survey data. The results of spatial overlay could not identify an obvious relationship between soil erosion and net outmigration in China. The traditional gravity model of migration is modified to analyze the impact of soil erosion on net outmigration while other variables are controlled. The results indicate that only serious soil erosion increases the possibility of outmigration and that the impact is considerably higher in agricultural counties than in non-agricultural counties. In general, the impact of soil erosion on internal migration is far less than the impact of socioeconomic factors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The energy consumption and economic performance of the solar PV cooling system, the solar absorption cooling system and the conventional vapor compression cooling system located in Hefei, Chengdu and Haikou have been analyzed. The annual cost method is used to compare the economic performance of the three kinds of cooling systems. For the PV cooling system, 'full power to grid' PV grid-connected mode and 'self-generated, left power to grid' PV grid-connected mode are discussed. And for the solar absorption cooling system, the single-effect absorption chiller and the double-effect absorption chiller are both discussed. Meanwhile, the economic performances of three kinds of cooling systems are also analyzed when PV subsidies are ignored and energy prices are variable. The results indicate that the economic performance of the PV cooling system is better than that of the solar absorption cooling system and the conventional vapor compression cooling system. Furthermore, even when PV subsidies are ignored or the energy prices change a lot, the economic performance of PV cooling is better than that of solar absorption cooling and conventional vapor compression cooling. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: The School-based Education Program to Reduce Salt Intake in Children and Their Families study was a cluster randomized control trial among grade five students in 28 primary schools and their families in Changzhi, China. It achieved a significant effect in lowering systolic blood pressure (SBP) in all family adults by 2.3 mmHg and in elderlies (aged > = 60 years) by 9.5 mmHg. The aim of this study was to assess the cost-effectiveness of this salt reduction program. Methods: Costs of the intervention were assessed using an ingredients approach to identify resource use. A trial-based incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER) was estimated based on the observed effectiveness in lowering SBP. A Markov model was used to estimate the long-term cost-effectiveness of the intervention, and then based on population data, extrapolated to a scenario where the program is scaled up nationwide. Findings were presented in terms of an incremental cost per quality-adjusted life year (QALY). The perspective was that of the health sector. Results: The intervention cost Int$19.04 per family and yielded an ICER of Int$2.74 (90% CI: 1.17–12.30) per mmHg reduction of SBP in all participants (combining children and adult participants together) compared with control group. If scaled up nationwide for 10 years and assumed deterioration in treatment effect of 50% over this period, it would reach 165 million families and estimated to avert 42,720 acute myocardial infarction deaths and 107,512 stroke deaths in China. This would represent a gain of 635,816 QALYs over 10-year time frame, translating into Int$1,358 per QALY gained. Conclusion: Based on WHO-CHOICE criteria, our analysis demonstrated that the proposed salt reduction strategy is highly cost-effective, and if scaled up nationwide, the benefits could be substantial. Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: This study assessed the long-term cost-effectiveness of saxagliptin+metformin (SAXA+MET) versus acarbose+metformin (ACAR+MET) in Chinese patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) inadequately controlled on MET alone. Methods: Systematic literature reviews were performed to identify studies directly comparing SAXA+MET versus ACAR+MET, and to obtain diabetes-related events costs which were modified by hospital surveys. A Cardiff Diabetes Model was used to estimate the long-term economic and health treatment consequences in patients with T2DM. Costs (2014 Chinese yuan) were calculated from the payer’s perspective and estimated over a patient’s lifetime. Results: SAXA+MET predicted lower incidences of most cardiovascular events, hypoglycemia events and fatal events, and decreased total costs compared with ACAR+MET. For an individual patient, the quality-adjusted life-years (QALYs) gained with SAXA+MET was 0.48 more than ACAR+MET at a cost saving of ¥18,736, which resulted in a cost saving of ¥38,640 per QALY gained for SAXA+MET versus ACAR+MET. Results were robust across various univariate and probabilistic sensitivity analyses. Conclusion: SAXA+MET is a cost-effective treatment alternative compared with ACAR+MET for patients with T2DM in China, with a little QALYs gain and lower costs. SAXA is an effective, well-tolerated drug with a low incidence of adverse events and ease of administration; it is anticipated to be an effective second-line therapy for T2DM treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To estimate the long-term cost-effectiveness of dapagliflozin versus acarbose as monotherapy in treatment-naïve patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) in China. Methods: The Cardiff Diabetes Model, an economic model designed to evaluate the cost-effectiveness of comparator therapies in diabetes was used to simulate disease progression and estimate the long-term effect of treatments on patients. Systematic literature reviews, hospital surveys, meta-analysis and indirect treatment comparison were conducted to obtain model-required patient profiles, clinical data and costs. Health insurance costs (2015¥) were estimated over 40 years from a healthcare payer perspective. Univariate and probabilistic sensitivity analyses were performed. Results: The model predicted that dapagliflozin had lower incidences of cardiovascular events, hypoglycemia and mortality events, was associated with a mean incremental benefit of 0.25 quality-adjusted life-years (QALYs) and with a lower cost of ¥8,439 compared with acarbose. This resulted in a cost saving of ¥33,786 per QALY gained with dapagliflozin. Sensitivity analyses determined that the results are robust. Conclusion: Dapagliflozin is dominant compared with acarbose as monotherapy for Chinese T2DM patients, with a little QALY gain and lower costs. Dapagliflozin offers a well-tolerated and cost-effective alternative medication for treatment-naive patients in China, and may have a direct impact in reducing the disease burden of T2DM. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Both pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB) and intestinal helminth infection (IHI) affect millions of individuals every year in China. However, the national-scale estimation of prevalence predictors and prevalence maps for these diseases, as well as co-endemic relative risk (RR) maps of both diseases’ prevalence are not well developed. There are co-endemic, high prevalence areas of both diseases, whose delimitation is essential for devising effective control strategies. Bayesian geostatistical logistic regression models including socio-economic, climatic, geographical and environmental predictors were fitted separately for active PTB and IHI based on data from the national surveys for PTB and major human parasitic diseases that were completed in 2010 and 2004, respectively. Prevalence maps and co-endemic RR maps were constructed for both diseases by means of Bayesian Kriging model and Bayesian shared component model capable of appraising the fraction of variance of spatial RRs shared by both diseases, and those specific for each one, under an assumption that there are unobserved covariates common to both diseases. Our results indicate that gross domestic product (GDP) per capita had a negative association, while rural regions, the arid and polar zones and elevation had positive association with active PTB prevalence; for the IHI prevalence, GDP per capita and distance to water bodies had a negative association, the equatorial and warm zones and the normalized difference vegetation index had a positive association. Moderate to high prevalence of active PTB and low prevalence of IHI were predicted in western regions, low to moderate prevalence of active PTB and low prevalence of IHI were predicted in north-central regions and the southeast coastal regions, and moderate to high prevalence of active PTB and high prevalence of IHI were predicted in the south-western regions. Thus, co-endemic areas of active PTB and IHI were located in the south-western regions of China, which might be determined by socio-economic factors, such as GDP per capita. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: China accounted for 87% (9.8 million/11.3 million) of all hand, foot, and mouth disease (HFMD) cases reported to WHO during 2010-2014. Enterovirus 71 (EV71) is responsible for most of the severe HFMD cases. Three EV71 vaccines recently demonstrated good efficacy in children aged 6-71 mo. Here we assessed the cost-effectiveness of routine pediatric EV71 vaccination in China.Methods and Findings: We characterized the economic and health burden of EV71-associated HFMD (EV71-HFMD) in China using (i) the national surveillance database, (ii) virological surveillance records from all provinces, and (iii) a caregiver survey on the household costs and health utility loss for 1,787 laboratory-confirmed pediatric cases. Using a static model parameterized with these data, we estimated the effective vaccine cost (EVC, defined as cost/efficacy or simply the cost of a 100% efficacious vaccine) below which routine pediatric vaccination would be considered cost-effective. We performed the base-case analysis from the societal perspective with a willingness-to-pay threshold of one times the gross domestic product per capita (GDPpc) and an annual discount rate of 3%. We performed uncertainty analysis by (i) accounting for the uncertainty in the risk of EV71-HFMD due to missing laboratory data in the national database, (ii) excluding productivity loss of parents and caregivers, (iii) increasing the willingness-to-pay threshold to three times GDPpc, (iv) increasing the discount rate to 6%, and (v) accounting for the proportion of EV71-HFMD cases not registered by national surveillance. In each of these scenarios, we performed probabilistic sensitivity analysis to account for parametric uncertainty in our estimates of the risk of EV71-HFMD and the expected costs and health utility loss due to EV71-HFMD. Routine pediatric EV71 vaccination would be cost-saving if the all-inclusive EVC is below US$10.6 (95% CI US$9.7-US$11.5) and would remain cost-effective if EVC is below US$17.9 (95% CI US$16.9-US$18.8) in the base case, but these ceilings could be up to 66% higher if all the test-negative cases with missing laboratory data are EV71-HFMD. The EVC ceiling is (i) 10%-14% lower if productivity loss of parents/caregivers is excluded, (ii) 58%-84% higher if the willingness-to-pay threshold is increased to three times GDPpc, (iii) 14%-19% lower if the discount rate is increased to 6%, and (iv) 36% (95% CI 23%-50%) higher if the proportion of EV71-HFMD registered by national surveillance is the same as that observed in the three EV71 vaccine phase III trials. The validity of our results relies on the following assumptions: (i) self-reported hospital charges are a good proxy for the opportunity cost of care, (ii) the cost and health utility loss estimates based on laboratory-confirmed EV71-HFMD cases are representative of all EV71-HFMD cases, and (iii) the long-term average risk of EV71-HFMD in the future is similar to that registered by national surveillance during 2010-2013.Conclusions: Compared to no vaccination, routine pediatric EV71 vaccination would be very cost-effective in China if the cost of immunization (including all logistical, procurement, and administration costs needed to confer 5 y of vaccine protection) is below US$12.0-US$18.3, depending on the choice of vaccine among the three candidates. Given that the annual number of births in China has been around 16 million in recent years, the annual costs for routine pediatric EV71 vaccination at this cost range should not exceed US$192-US$293 million. Our results can be used to determine the optimal vaccine when the prices of the three vaccines are known. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aiming at problems of traditional household buildings in north China, such as poor thermal comfort in winter, high energy consumption, high emission and high pollution, a 30m2 newly-developed household green building was constructed. With widely available solar energy and biomass energy as energy input, it was combined with farmers' living habits in winter, highly integrated solar collector, low-temperature radiant bed, thermostatic digester temperature-controlled by solar energy and insulated rural building. At the same time, it could meet multiple level and angle energy demands of farmers. The economic analysis of the newly-developed household green building was studied. Results show that, theory construction cost of the newlydeveloped household green building is RMB¥ 42000, the benefit-cost ratio of the green building system is above 1, net present value is above 0 and the internal rate of return is above the investment opportunity cost. Compared with the traditional household building, the newly-developed household green building saves energy costs of RMB¥ 6373, and the payback period is 3.88 years, it saves 4.0 tons standard coal every year and reduces 14.69 tons carbon emission. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

By addressing several key features overlooked in previous studies, i.e. human disturbance, integration of ecosystem- and species-level conservation features, and principles of complementarity and representativeness, we present the first national-scale systematic conservation planning for China to determine the optimized spatial priorities for biodiversity conservation. We compiled a spatial database on the distributions of ecosystem- and species-level conservation features, and modeled a human disturbance index (HDI) by aggregating information using several socioeconomic proxies. We ran Marxan with two scenarios (HDI-ignored and HDI-considered) to investigate the effects of human disturbance, and explored the geographic patterns of the optimized spatial conservation priorities. Compared to when HDI was ignored, the HDI-considered scenario resulted in (1) a marked reduction (∼9%) in the total HDI score and a slight increase (∼7%) in the total area of the portfolio of priority units, (2) a significant increase (∼43%) in the total irreplaceable area and (3) more irreplaceable units being identified in almost all environmental zones and highly-disturbed provinces. Thus the inclusion of human disturbance is essential for cost-effective priority-setting. Attention should be targeted to the areas that are characterized as moderately-disturbed, <2,000 m in altitude, and/or intermediately- to extremely-rugged in terrain to identify potentially important regions for implementing cost-effective conservation. We delineated 23 primary large-scale priority areas that are significant for conserving China's biodiversity, but those isolated priority units in disturbed regions are in more urgent need of conservation actions so as to prevent immediate and severe biodiversity loss. This study presents a spatially optimized national-scale portfolio of conservation priorities – effectively representing the overall biodiversity of China while minimizing conflicts with economic development. Our results offer critical insights for current conservation and strategic land-use planning in China. The approach is transferable and easy to implement by end-users, and applicable for national- and local-scale systematic conservation prioritization practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The strike is an extreme form of labor dispute. We analyze the nature, causes and characteristics of current strikes in China on the basis of theories of strikes and then analyze the effects of striking on the improvement of workers' living conditions. We make use of a labor-capital bargaining model to compare the strikers' cost when there is legislation protecting workers' right to strike with the cost when there is no legislation and come to the conclusion that we should promote legislation to protect workers' right to strike according to the current labor-capital relationship in China to construct harmonious socialist society, and this is a Pareto improvement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]