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The iron and steel industry plays an important role in mitigating global climate change. As the largest steel producer and consumer, China bears the primary responsibility for energy savings and CO 2 emission reduction in the iron and steel industry. In this study, taking China as the empirical context, we analyze the effectiveness of the following four strategies on the potential of energy savings and emission reduction: phasing out backward production capacity in accordance with the current major policies, adjusting the production structure to increase electric arc furnace steelmaking, promoting low-carbon technologies, and switching to clean fuels. Under the principle of cost minimization, the mitigation potential of different strategies until 2030 and the technological development paths for reducing energy and CO 2 emissions in China’s iron and steel industry are identified via an established National Energy Technology model. The results show that promoting low-carbon technologies is the most effective strategy for energy savings and emission reduction alongside cost minimization. Compared with existing policies, these strategies could lead to a cumulative reduction of 818.3 MtCO 2 (4.1%) during the period 2015–2030. Therefore, policy makers should provide financial or administrative support to promote the development of specific production and low-carbon technologies such as non-blast furnace iron-making and endless strip production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study explores the direct rebound effect, which indicates the degree of increase in travel demand caused by the increasing vehicle efficiency in the private passenger transport sector. Different from the usual effect, here the direct rebound effect is not assumed to be the same for the entire population. To determine when rebound occurs and who is suffering, two types of triggers, which may lead to different rebound effects among the population, are investigated: vehicle efficiency and travel demand. The quantile regression method is adopted to measure the rebound effect and differentiate it with respect to vehicle efficiency and travel demand. Considering that the rebound effect might have diverse performance in different cities, a comparative analysis between Beijing and Tokyo is conducted. Drawing on the data collected in a household energy consumption survey in Beijing and Tokyo in 2009, the models are estimated and the results reveal significant heterogeneity of the direct rebound effect both in Beijing and Tokyo, but with a much more complicated form in Beijing. For travelers in Beijing, rebound only occurs to those people whose cars are less efficient than 15–18 km/L, and the magnitude of the rebound effect is between 31.8% and 60.2%, varying across travelers with different travel demands. In comparison, in Tokyo, only travelers with low and medium kilometers traveled have the rebound effect, and the effect is inversely related to their travel demand, ranging between 17.1% and 92.3%. The above-identified inter-city and intra-city difference in the rebound effect could contribute to the population and a spatially specific policy scheme in practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Household decisions on the energy consumption behavior are with regard to the situations that multiple end-uses (e.g., domestic appliances and vehicles) are simultaneously hold and consumed. To deal with this issue, the multiple discrete–continuous models are the best choices from the behavioral perspective. This study compared two types of utility theory-based multiple discrete–continuous models, which are widely applied in the literature: multiple discrete–continuous extreme value (MDCEV) model and the improved resource allocation model based on the multi-linear function (RAM-MLF). A household energy consumption survey was carried out in Beijing in 2010, and the comparative analysis on the performance of these two models is carried out based on the survey data. Results show that the overall performance of RAM-MLF is slightly superior to the MDCEV model due to the incorporation of the inter-end-use interaction and the relative importance of end uses. Moreover, the utility structure by using the satiation parameters to represent the diminishing marginal utility with the increasing consumption shows better fitness than the structure only using the logarithmic function. These findings can be contributed to understand the household energy consumption behavior, while suggest the potential improvement of the model structure, which is mainly focused on the utility form and the decision making mechanism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights: [•] Direct and indirect rebound effects for private vehicle in Japan are investigated. [•] SP-off-RP method is used to identify the existence and distribution of rebounds. [•] 34% of respondents have the reallocation choices which cause rebound effect. [•] Rebound effects from vehicles are more possible to occur in domestic sector. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Paris Agreement calls for countries to pursue efforts to limit global-mean temperature rise to 2 °C compared to the pre-industrial level. To achieve this, it is essential to accelerate the low-carbon transition of energy system. China is the largest carbon emitter and plays a decisive role in mitigating global climate change. The transition pathways for China to contribute to meeting the global 2 °C target, however, have not been extensively explored. Here we develop a bottom-up national energy technology model (C3IAM/NET), a linear optimization model, to reveal the energy consumption, carbon emissions and technology pathway at the national and sectoral levels in line with the 2 °C climate target. Results show that China's carbon emissions need to peak at the year 2023 and reduce to 3.56 GtCO 2 by mid-century. During the 2020–2050 planning horizon, the remaining carbon budget is estimated to be controlled within 234 GtCO 2 , with a cumulative emission reduction of 165.3 GtCO 2 , of which the power sector bearing the largest share of responsibility, followed by the industry, transportation and building sectors. We project that China's primary energy consumption needs to peak before 2040 and the proportion of non-fossil energy in energy structure needs to reach 76% by 2050, and about 88.4% of electricity production comes from renewables and nuclear energy. [Display omitted] • The economically low-carbon transition pathway of China's energy system is discovered. • The optimal carbon emissions pathway at national and industrial levels is analyzed. • China's CO 2 emissions need to peak at the year 2023 to achieve 2 °C target. • The power sector bearing the largest share of CO 2 emission reduction responsibility. • The proportion of non-fossil energy in total energy needs to reach 76% by 2050. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Energy is essentially consumed to support residents' productive and consumptive activities arranged in their timeline. Hence, analyzing residential energy consumption from the perspective of how people use their time for participating different activities would provide more underlying insights. However, the relationship between time-use behavior and energy consumption has not been comprehensively and accurately quantified. Here, we go beyond pervious literature to investigate the causal effect from the initial generation of activity to the final energy consumption and explore the potential energy changes in the residential sector by shedding light on residents' time-use behavior. To fulfill this research, we improve the time-use survey framework used worldwide by including the equipment dimension. The results show that the average residential energy consumption in a Chinese household was approximately 1570.5 kgce in 2015, among which cooking consumed most of the energy. Through promoting energy-efficient equipment and eliminating the equipment usage during non-primary activities would lead to 3.5–13.2% energy reductions; however, the increasing popularity of online activities and services (E -life) might increase the residential energy consumption by approximately 18.1% even after avoiding the energy consumption of related travel. • Investigate the causal effect of time-use behavior on residential energy consumption. • Explore the potential energy changes in the residential sector from the view of time use. • Average residential energy consumption in a Chinese household was 1570.5 kgce. • Energy-intensive activities, time periods, groups and equipment are identified. • E -life is likely to increase the residential energy consumption by 18.1% in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Currently, more than 70% of the heated floor area in northern China is heated by coal, which severely burdens energy consumption and the environment. Hence, heating in this area is in urgent need of a shift to cleaner approaches. However, current progress is mainly attributed to the generous and unsustainable subsidies of the government, which have become a considerable financial burden. This paper develops a linear recursive dynamic model to identify economical, clean heating pathways in northern China. Different heating demands and clean technology promoting advances are considered. The results show that rapid promotion of clean heating technologies would save 1161–3026 Mtce (million tons of standard coal equivalent) of energy and avoid 7692–8843 Mt CO 2 , 12–13 Mt CH 4 , 8–9 Mt SO 2 and 7–8 Mt BC emissions cumulatively from 2020 to 2050. For rural residential buildings, biomass pellet furnaces, air source heat pumps and air conditioning should each contribute to about 30% of the heating demands in 2050 to achieve clean heating. However, coal-fired cogeneration should be the major method of coal heating, and mainly serve urban residential buildings and commercial buildings. The consequent energy cost savings of a faster clean heating transition would exceed the increase in investment costs and operational costs. Therefore, promoting clean heating as early as possible is the economical and environmentally friendly choice for northern China in the long run. [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]