• Energy Research
• 8. Economic growth close
• Energy Research close
• Tsinghua University close

As a relatively mature technology, biomass molded fuel (BMF) is widely used in distributed and centralized heating in China and has received considerable government attention. Although many BFM incentive policies have been developed, decreased domestic traditional fuel prices in China have caused BMF to lose its economic viability and new policy recommendations are needed to stimulate this industry. The present study built a regionalized net present value (NPV) model based on real production process simulation to test the impacts of each policy factor. The calculations showed that BMF production costs vary remarkably between regions, with the cost of agricultural briquette fuel (ABF) ranging from 86 US dollar per metric ton (USD/t) to 110 (USD/t), while that of woody pellet fuel (WPF) varies from 122 USD/t to 154 USD/t. The largest part of BMF’s cost composition is feedstock, which accounts for up 50%–60% of the total; accordingly a feedstock subsidy is the most effective policy factor, but in consideration of policy implementation, it would be better to use a production subsidy. For ABF, the optimal product subsidy varies from 26 USD/t to 57 USD/t among different regions of China, while for WPF, the range is 36 USD/t to 75 USD/t. Based on the data, a regional BMF development strategy is also proposed in this study.

This study aims to explore the application of fractional order chaotic system (FOCS), based on the T-S fuzzy model, in the design of secure communication (SC) and this SC system’s role in the construction of efficiency evaluation system for dispatching operation of energy saving and power generation under a low carbon economy (LCE). First, the definition of fractional order differential equations and the stability theory of FOCS are discussed. T-S fuzzy control is introduced to analyse the stability of FOCS. Then, based on the adaptive synchronisation theory, the combined FOCS is designed for SC, and the performance of the system constructed here is analysed in a MATLAB environment. Next, an evaluation index system of the dispatching operation effect of energy saving and power generation under LCE is constructed. The confidential communication system constructed here is used to transmit the index data. The particle swarm optimisation (PSO) algorithm is then used to optimise the back propagation neural network (BPNN) model. The BPNN algorithm based on PSO (PSO-BPNN) is obtained, and the evaluation model is constructed. After training this model, it is applied to the evaluation of the dispatching operation effect for energy saving and power generation in 10 provinces in China. The simulation results show that the FOCS based on the T-S fuzzy model can acquire the criterion of system stability. Furthermore, the constructed SC system can effectively undertake the secure transmission of square and sine waves. The performance of the PSO-BPNN model seems to be better than other algorithms. After analysing the data on energy saving and power generation from 10 provinces in China using this model, the comprehensive evaluation value of province 5 is found to be the highest and good (0.802), while that of province 4 is the lowest and general (0.600). Summarising, the FOCS based on T-S fuzzy model constructed here is applied to the design of SC. This can improve the confidentiality of data transmission and reduce the transmission error. Moreover, the BPNN evaluation model based on PSO can effectively achieve the evaluation of the dispatching operation effect of energy saving and power generation under LCE.

There are substantial differences in carbon footprints across households. This study applied an environmentally extended multiregional input–output approach to estimate household carbon footprints for 12 different income groups of China’s 30 regions. Subsequently, carbon footprint Gini coefficients were calculated to measure carbon inequality for households across provinces. We found that the top 5% of income earners were responsible for 17% of the national household carbon footprint in 2012, while the bottom half of income earners caused only 25%. Carbon inequality declined with economic growth in China across space and time in two ways: first, carbon footprints showed greater convergence in the wealthier coastal regions than in the poorer inland regions; second, China’s national carbon footprint Gini coefficients declined from 0.44 in 2007 to 0.37 in 2012. We argue that economic growth not only increases income levels but also contributes to an overall reduction in carbon inequality in China.

Abstract China as a whole is undergoing rapid industrial structure change, but this process is proceeding in a particularly unequal manner across regions. Understanding these changes and their associated impacts on CO2 emissions in these regions is a vital step toward appropriately targeted policy making. In this paper, we conduct both regional analysis throughout the nation and case studies focused on nine typical regions in order to identify regional patterns of industrial structure change and CO2 emissions. Results indicate that structural change in primary, secondary, and tertiary sectors was highly correlated, but structural change by industrial sector did not correspond well, with the stage of economic development. The disparity in regional industrial structure impacts regional CO2 emissions substantially. First, industrial structure changes involving a shift from agriculture, mining, and light manufacturing to resource-related heavy manufacturing in many regions led to a rapid increase in CO2 emissions at the national level. Second, production structure change, especially in construction and services sectors, is an important source of CO2 emission growth in regions. Some developed regions with vastly improved input efficiency in resource-related heavy manufacturing demonstrate the immense potential for reducing CO2 emissions in regions lagging in input efficiency. Third, regions with a more developed industrial structure avoided local CO2 emissions by importing carbon-intensive products while exporting less carbon-intensive but higher-value-added products in the machinery and equipment and service sectors. Several policy implications are also discussed based on the main findings of this study.

International economic cooperation accelerates the flow of capital, technology, labor, and other factors between different countries, which promotes global sustainable development. Building infrastructure construction is an important way to strengthen social development, and absorbing foreign capital is an effective way for developing countries to improve their infrastructure and to promote economic development. This study puts forward the factors that have influenced China’s investment in international engineering projects, and it constructs a panel data regression model for empirical testing. The study shows that, first, international infrastructure investment tends to select countries or regions with good condition of highway infrastructure. Second, international infrastructure investment tends to choose countries or regions with low development level of port and power infrastructure. Third, bilateral diplomatic visits play a significant role in promoting international infrastructure investment. Fourth, international infrastructure investment tends to choose countries or regions with good resource endowment. This study reveals the influencing factors and the mechanisms for the choices of location for China’s investment in international engineering projects, providing a theoretical framework for investors to optimize international infrastructure investment and management, as well as providing the policy references for developing countries to attract international infrastructure investment.

Abstract Threats posed by global climate change have heightened the urgency for economies to transition to sustainability. However, quantitative metrics that measure sustainability status remain under development, hampered in part by the difficulty of identifying clear relationships between economic growth and sustainability. The Environmental Kuznets Curve hypothesis provides a framework for describing sustainability status relative to socioeconomic development. In this study, the Environmental Kuznets Curve hypothesis was adopted to investigate statistical relationships between the carbon intensity of human well-being (as an indicator of sustainability) and economic development in eight economic zones of China during 1997–2015. The results provide new evidence that seven of eight Chinese economic zones began advances to sustainability (defined here as downward turning points marked by inverted “N” shapes in the Environmental Kuznets Curve) between 2012 and 2015. The lone exception was the Northwestern economic zone, in which an approach to sustainability had not yet occurred by 2015. This study thus supports the contention that environmental policies and technologies have contributed to improving sustainability in terms of carbon intensity. The results suggest two strategic options for further increasing sustainability in China: 1) “first help the weakest”; and 2) “first help the latest to sustainability”.

Abstract Many developing countries rely on hydropower to improve energy access and to meet their growing demands for energy. However, the social justice concerns accompanying hydropower development are in danger of being overlooked. This study focuses on arguably the most pressing social problem associated with hydropower development, namely, the displacement and resettlement of communities. Employing a case study based approach, this study investigates the extent to which hydropower development-induced resettlement process and its impacts on the resettled households respond to three different tenets of energy justice, i.e., distributional, recognition, and procedural justice. Based on fieldwork conducted at the Hongjiang and Wanmipo Hydropower Stations in Hunan Province, China for two months in 2008, this paper demonstrates that although hydropower development generated significant economic and developmental benefits by alleviating power shortages, improving grid stability, and increasing local tax revenues, these benefits came at the cost of the social exclusion of more than 20,000 resettlers. Specifically, the resettled communities experienced 1) distributional injustice from hydropower due to the low affordability of electricity and water, reduced access to land and food, and an unbalanced distribution of costs and benefits from hydropower development; 2) recognition injustice due to the lack of fairness, transparency, and accountability on the part of the hydropower developer and at all levels of government in energy decision-making; and 3) procedural injustice due to the very limited participatory rights in the decision-making process before, during, and after resettlement and the lack of viable channels through which to seek redress and remedies.

Despite many years of substantial government research funding, advanced bio-energy technologies in China have seen limited commercial application. Chinese policy makers are increasingly critical of academic organizations for neglecting their role in the transfer of scientific results into industrial applications. We interviewed a selection of Chinese research groups working on bio-energy technologies, and asked them to describe their efforts at commercialization. We found that they focus their research on technological pathways with commercial potential, they patent and attempt to license their technologies, they are highly involved in large scale demonstration plants, and have created a number of new firms. Industry and government may have unrealistic expectations on the maturity and scale of technologies that academia can develop, however. These findings contrast with many earlier analyses of early commercialization stages of novel technologies, which have commonly identified lacking academic entrepreneurship as a root cause in stalling development