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The increasingly serious energy crisis and environmental pollution caused by the excessive use of fossil fuels have been prompting China to aggressively seek a clean and self-sufficient energy source in the future. In the past decades, hydrogen has emerged as a promising alternative due to its advantages of cleanliness, abundance, high energy density, and high conversion efficiency. However, several challenges have to be overcome for China's successful transition to hydrogen economy. In this paper, the hydrogen supply chain is firstly described to help the readers to clearly understand the hydrogen economy. Subsequently, the feasibility of hydrogen economy is discussed by reviewing viewpoints from the literature. Finally, the challenges of China's transition to hydrogen economy are detailed summarized and discussed, and the strategies for China to develop hydrogen economy were compared with that of Japan and Australia. • Hydrogen economy is feasible with many challenges. • Hydrogen and electricity should clearly have the same strategic position in China. • Geographic differences in resources and demands should be addressed. • It is necessary to diversify the application of hydrogen. • CCS technology is significance to the medium-term development of China's hydrogen economy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: In this study, a novel framework was proposed by incorporating fuzzy MCDM (multi-criteria decision-making) methods into the SWOT (strength-weakness-opportunity-threat) analysis for diagnosing China's modern CTC (coal-to-chemical) industry. In the framework, the SWOT analysis was employed to systematically identify the critical factors and then formulate the strategies for promoting the development of this industry. Subsequently, the weights of the factors were accurately determined by using the fuzzy DANP method (decision-making trial and evaluation laboratory-based analytic network process), which tackles the uncertainty in the subjective judgments and the interrelationships among the affecting factors, while the sequence of the strategies was rigorously determined by developing a fusion approach, which reconciles the conflicting rankings derived from four fuzzy MCDM methods for offering a compromised decision. The obtained results were confirmed by performing the sensitivity analysis, which provides two key explanations for the China's CTC industry. First, two factors from the opportunity perspective, i.e., "clean utilization of coal" and "energy transformation," and a threat factor of "policy uncertainty" were identified as the most critical factors among the twelve candidates, demonstrating that the external factors (opportunities and threats) play more important roles than the internal drivers (strengths and weaknesses) in affecting the current status of China's CTC industry. Second, two competitive strategies including drafting national development plan and preferential development of demonstration projects are more favored than the other six strategies, implying that the measures by taking advantage of the strengths to avoid the threats could be effective to promote the development of CTC in China.Graphical Abstract: [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights: [•] A model for life cycle energy efficiency analysis of biofuel is developed. [•] DEA is used to identify the wasteful use energy in biofuel production. [•] Recommendations are proposed for improving energy efficiency. [•] Life cycle perspective is incorporated in the analysis process. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This study investigates China׳s biofuel industry—the third largest in the world—by combining a strength, weakness, opportunity and threats (SWOT) analysis with a method known as fuzzy analytic hierarchy process (FAHP). More specifically, the study employs SWOT analysis to identify the influential factors affecting the development of the biofuel industry in China. It then prioritizes their importance using the FAHP method. The study finds that high production costs, competition with other renewable energy resources, inconsistent policy and legislation support, and poor technical standards are impeding the growth of the biofuel industry of China. The study concludes by proposing strategic recommendations for how the industry can be made both leaner, more efficient and effective, and greener, more socially and environmentally sustainable. Some of these options focuses on improving technical perform, adhering to a “supply push” mentality. Others focus on improving affordability and consumer awareness, adhering to a “demand pull” mentality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Shale gas, as an emerging unconventional resource in China, has been regarded as a promising option for diversifying away from traditional fossil fuels and enhancing national security of energy supply. This study analyzed the barriers affecting the sustainable shale gas revolution in China and prioritized the feasible strategic measures by employing the methods of fuzzy Analytic Network Process and Interpretative Structural Modeling. The aim is to help the stakeholders and administrators to better comprehend the relative importance of the barriers and adopt suitable measures. The results demonstrated that the lack of governmental support and guidelines, lack of regulations and standards, and lack of core technologies are the most important barriers hindering the energy transition to shale gas in China. The refinement of subsidies, advanced research, and harmonized standards could in large overcome many of these barriers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of this paper is to analyze the internal and external environment of hydrogen economy in China using strengths–weaknesses–opportunities–threats (SWOT) analytical method, and then to prioritize the strategies for promoting the development of hydrogen economy in China. After the key strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of the hydrogen economy in China were identified and nine effective strategies were proposed, a multi-criteria decision-making method by integrating goal programming and fuzzy theory has been developed for prioritizing these strategies, which can help the stakeholders/decision-makers to implement these strategies appropriately, The proposed method is not limited to China, and it is a generic method that can also be used to study the hydrogen economy of other regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hydrogen production technologies play an important role in the hydrogen economy of China. However, the roles of different technologies played in promoting the development of hydrogen economy are different. The role prioritization of various hydrogen production technologies is of vital importance for the stakeholders/decision-makers to plan the development of hydrogen economy in China and to allocate the finite R&D budget reasonably. In this study, DPSIR framework was firstly used to identify the key factors concerning the priorities of various hydrogen production technologies; then, a fuzzy group decision-making method by incorporating fuzzy AHP and fuzzy TOPSIS was proposed to prioritize the roles of different technologies. The proposed method is capable of allowing multiple groups of stakeholders/decision-makers to participate in the decision-making and addressing problems with uncertainty and imprecise information. The prioritization results by using the proposed method demonstrated that the technologies of coal gasification with CO 2 capture and storage and hydropower-based water electrolysis were regarded as the two most important hydrogen production pathways for promoting the development of hydrogen economy in China among the five assessed technologies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this paper is to develop a model for designing the most sustainable bioethanol supply chain. Taking into consideration of the possibility of multiple-feedstock, multiple transportation modes, multiple alternative technologies, multiple transport patterns and multiple waste disposal manners in bioethanol systems, this study developed a model for designing the most sustainable bioethanol supply chain by minimizing the total ecological footprint under some prerequisite constraints including satisfying the goal of the stakeholders', the limitation of resources and energy, the capacity of warehouses, the market demand and some technological constraints. And an illustrative case of multiple-feedstock bioethanol system has been studied by the proposed method, and a global best solution by which the total ecological footprint is the minimal has been obtained., (Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)