Search

Summary: The growing field of macro-energy systems (MES) brings together the interdisciplinary community of researchers studying the equitable and low-carbon future of humanity’s energy systems. As MES matures as a community of scholars, a coherent consensus about the key challenges and future directions of the field can be lacking. This paper is a response to this need. In this paper, we first discuss the primary critiques of model-based MES research that have emerged because MES was proposed as a way to unify related interdisciplinary research. We discuss these critiques and current efforts to address them by the coalescing MES community. We then outline future directions for growth motivated by these critiques. These research priorities include both best practices for the community and methodological improvements.

Environmental problems, associated with climate change and air pollution, have become increasingly serious for China in recent years, which have aroused great domestic and international concerns. To mitigate these problems with great efforts, the Chinese government has implemented the Environmental Protection Tax Law in the whole country since the beginning of 2018. Although the new tax law is perceived as an aggressive policy that tends to establish a taxation system for promoting air pollution control, evaluations of its effectiveness are insufficient and urgently needed for China. Using a multiregion multisector Computable General Equilibrium model, we, for the first time, quantify the impacts of this ‘pollution tax’ policy on modulating air pollutants emissions. Our analysis shows that current tax policy is generally able to reduce many short-lived air pollutants emissions (e.g. SO _2 , NO _X , TSP, PM _10 , PM _2.5 , CO, VOCs, OC, NH _3 and BC), but the significant effects only happen in regions with large economic scale (i.e. Guangdong, Shandong and Zhejiang provinces) and in sectors with high emission intensity (i.e. the electric power and nonmetal manufacturing sectors). However, at the national level, the overall effect of the current policy on air pollution mitigation is relatively small, less than 2% compared to a business-as-usual scenario. Large emission reduction potentials exist if the tax increases. Therefore, a more ambitious tax policy is urgently needed in order to achieve China’s air pollution mitigation target of 2020. We also find that in China for implementing any pollution tax policies, the rate of decline in CO _2 emissions is much larger than those of short-lived pollutants, which indicates a huge co-benefit on global climate change mitigation.

Background Electroacupuncture (EA) may offer an effective alternative approach for the treatment of obesity. EA mobilizes energy stores, but its effect on hepatic lipid metabolism is unknown, and the underlying mechanisms remain unclear. Objective To examine the effect of EA on hepatic lipid accumulation in diet-induced obese (DIO) rats, and to explore potential underlying mechanisms. Methods Male Sprague-Dawley rats were fed a normal diet (control group, n=10) or a high-fat diet (HFD) for 12 weeks to induce obesity. Those exhibiting diet-induced obesity were subdivided into two groups, one receiving EA (DIO+EA group, n=10) and one left untreated (DIO group, n=10) and observed for a further 4 weeks. Body, liver and fat pad weight were measured, and liver injury was assessed histologically as well as by measuring serum values of alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and aspartate aminotransferase (AST). Hepatic triglyceride (TG) and total cholesterol were quantified by enzymatic colorimetric methods. Expression of liver AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK), acetyl-coenzyme A carboxylase (ACC), and carnitine palmitoyltransferase (CPT-1) was measured by Western blotting. Results EA treatment led to a reduction in body, liver and fat pad weight in DIO rats. This was accompanied by decreases in hepatic TG and total cholesterol values, fatty droplet accumulation, and serum concentrations of ALT and AST. Furthermore, EA treatment restored phosphorylation levels of AMPK (Thr172) and ACC (Ser79) inhibited by HFD, and increased CPT-1 expression. Conclusions EA reduces HFD-induced hepatic lipid accumulation, an effect that appears to be mediated through AMPK signalling pathways. Our results shed new light on the mechanisms by which EA may reduce obesity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]