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Abstract China's power sector has become the largest contributor to China's carbon emissions because of its coal-dominated power structure. Replacing fossil fuels with renewable energy is an effective way to reduce carbon emissions and, therefore, a series of targets for renewable electricity generation have been put forward in national plans. However, how these targets will be reached is unclear. This paper uses a Long-range Energy Alternative Planning system (LEAP) model to explore the optimum development path of China's power sector from 2015 to 2050, taking into consideration the impacts of the renewable energy targets. Three scenarios are designed to examine the costs and benefits of developing renewable energy and improving the technologies for renewable power generation, comprising a base scenario, a renewable energy policy scenario and a technological progress scenario. The results show that the power generation cost would increase by at least 2.31 trillion RMB and that CO 2 emissions would be reduced by 35.8 billion tonnes during 2015–2050 if power generation follows current planning. Furthermore, every 1% increase in the capacity factors of renewable electricity would on average result in the cumulative CO 2 emissions decreased by 979 million tonnes and average CO 2 abatement cost decreased by 5.56 RMB/tCO 2 during 2015–2050. Based on this study, several policy implications are proposed for the development of power sector in China. Firstly, government may reconsider the current planning for gas-fired power and nuclear power to reach low-carbon electricity generation. Secondly, adjusting the carbon price can offset the additional cost of renewable electricity generation. Thirdly, promoting advanced technologies to match renewable electricity generation can obtain greater economic and environmental benefits. Finally, from the perspective of development potential, reducing the costs of solar power would be the emphasis at this stage. Highlights • Effects of renewable energy development plan in power sector are evaluated for China. • The optimal development path with minimum cost for the power sector are given. • National plans for renewable electricity can reduce 35.8 billion tonnes of CO 2 until 2050. • Average CO 2 abatement cost for promoting renewable power is 64.53 RMB/tCO 2 during 2015–2050. • Every 1% increase of the capacity factors of renewable power would decrease the average CO 2 abatement cost by 5.56 RMB. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Develop a cost-optimal model towards carbon neutrality in the iron and steel industry. • Explore the cost-effective carbon neutral pathway in the iron and steel industry. • Promoting energy-saving technologies is the most effective strategy to reduce CO 2. • Stable scrap supply would assist carbon neutrality in the iron and steel industry. The iron and steel industry is a critical sector for achieving China's carbon neutrality goal. However, existing studies lack considering the multiple constraints including limited resources, technology diffusion and carbon emissions reduction on design of carbon neutral pathway for iron and steel industry. A broader analysis that can integrate resources-technologies-emissions in to a united framework is necessary. To further explore the feasible paths and challenges faced by the iron and steel industry, this study developed the C3IAM/NET-IS (China's Climate Change Integrated Assessment Model/National Energy Technology-Iron and Steel) model to select the optimal technology portfolios. By incorporating 11 measures such as technological innovation, structure adjustment of raw material, clean energy, etc., the integrated impact on CO 2 emissions, energy consumption, raw materials, and costs is analyzed, while the carbon neutral pathway for the iron and steel industry is further investigated. The results show that CO 2 emissions of China's iron and steel industry would peak at about 1514.14–1530.86 million tonnes before 2023. And there would be more than 72.78 million tonnes of CO 2 in 2060, requiring carbon sinks to absorb to achieve carbon neutrality. During 2020–2060, the most effective measure would be the promotion of energy-saving technologies, which would contribute about 22.07% of CO 2 emission reduction. Compared to the EAF (Electric Arc Furnace) with 50% scrap, promoting EAF with 100% scrap would result in cumulative total costs savings of about 4361.04 billion CNY while consuming 15.14 billion tonnes of scrap. To coordinate the goals of carbon neutrality and raw material security, it is necessary to support domestic iron ore enterprises through tax relief and to accelerate the large-scale construction of the scrap recycling industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Promoting electric vehicles (EVs) is an important measure to ensure energy security, improve air quality, and mitigate global climate change. However, the emission reduction impacts of EVs in China have been widely debated and the conclusions of existing studies are still controversial. In this study, we adopted the life cycle assessment (LCA) method to evaluate the carbon dioxide (CO 2) and air pollutant emissions from the stage of vehicle production, vehicle use and vehicle end-of-life. We further compared the emissions of three types of passenger vehicles in China, including internal combustion engine vehicle (ICEV), plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV), and battery electric vehicle (BEV). Compared with ICEV, BEV and PHEV were found to reduce the emissions of CO 2 , VOCs, and NO X , but increase the emissions of PM 2.5 and SO 2. These differences were primarily caused by EV's high fuel efficiency and high fuel consumption of ICEV. Additional findings indicate that the emissions of PM 2.5 and SO 2 of BEV were 2.6 and 2.1 times that of ICEV, respectively; and the emissions of PM 2.5 and SO 2 of PHEV were 1.8 and 1.5 times that of ICEV, respectively. Moreover, we found the emissions of PM 2.5 and SO 2 of EV will be higher than that of ICEV in high renewable energy scenario with higher biomass share if keeping the emission factor of electricity constant. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

App-based ride-hailing is a newly emergent mode of travel that is expected to influence passengers' travel behavior significantly. In this study, we define app-based ride-hailing services to include hailing of taxis through smartphone apps and sharing of private vehicles (car sharing is not included). This paper is one of the first quantitative studies to examine how app-based ride hailing would impact passengers' choice of travel mode and change car-purchasing behaviors. China is taken as the empirical context, and the data are from a large-scale app-based survey conducted via the largest app-based ride-hailing platform in the world. Drawing on these rich survey data, the investigation covers both the short-term travel mode choices and long-term car-purchasing behaviors of app-based ride-hailing users. The research findings are helpful in understanding changes in urban residents' travel behaviors under in context of app-based ride hailing, and provide valuable in-depth insights for both governments and app-based ride-hailing service providers (i.e., enterprises) for the management and regulation of ride hailing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China's power sector consumes large amounts of water for its cooling every year, which has increased water stress in many regions and caused the vulnerability in electricity generation. Current plans for power sector mainly focus on the clean and low-carbon development, while it is unclear how to reconcile CO 2 -reduction target with water-saving target. In this paper, an optimization model named NET-Power (National Energy Technology-Power) is developed to simulate the deployment of power generation technologies, and to further answer whether there is a conflict or not between water-saving target and CO 2 -reduction target in the power sector. The result shows that peaking carbon emissions before 2030 in the power sector may increase the water consumption by 34.85Gt. In addition, to further meeting the water constraint on the basis of peaking carbon emissions would lead to a higher carbon intensity of thermal power. These findings indicate that low-carbon transition will cause significant water-carbon contradiction, which mainly lies in nuclear power technology and dry-cooling technology. Finally, the optimal technology layout path that can meet the dual constraints of water and carbon for the power sector in China is proposed. Unlabelled Image • The water-carbon nexus of China's power sector is analyzed. • Low-carbon development of power sector will consume more water. • Nuclear power and Dry-cooling system cause the main contradiction. • Optimal power technology layout under water-carbon dual constraints is identified. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• A National Energy Technology model for transport sector is established. • China's intercity passenger transport demand and structure is projected up to 2050. • The impacts of low carbon policy on each intercity mode of transport is evaluated. • Intercity passenger transport could peak its CO 2 emissions at 448.7 MtCO 2 in 2030. • A sustainable development path for intercity passenger transport is proposed. The transportation sector is responsible for a major share of energy-related greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions worldwide. There is already great concern about the fast-growing energy demand and carbon emissions from China's transportation sector. This study focuses on intercity passenger transport and aims to simulate its future energy demand and carbon emissions pathway by optimizing its technology portfolio based on a developed C3IAM/NET-Transport model. The energy-saving and carbon emission-reduction potential of countermeasures, such as optimizing the transportation structure, improving energy efficiency and promoting alternative fuels were investigated thoroughly and a sustainable development pathway for vehicle technologies and fuels in China's intercity passenger transport was identified. The model results show that by taking joint countermeasures, intercity passenger transport could save 2515.5 Mtce energy consumption and lead to a cumulative reduction of 8447.4 MtCO 2 between 2015 and 2050. China's intercity passenger transport would peak at the total CO 2 emissions of 448.7 MtCO 2 in 2030. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]