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Abstract China is currently the world's largest emitter of carbon dioxide (CO2). Vigorously developing new energy sources has become an important way to reduce CO2 emissions. Therefore, more and more scholars have studied effective ways to promote the development of new energy industry. However, most of the existing research use single-equation linear models or static models to study the driving forces of the new energy industry. This not only ignores the large number of dynamic relationships between economic variables, but also produces endogeneity problems. In order to overcome the shortcomings of existing research, this paper uses vector autoregressive model to study the new energy industry. The results show that energy consumption structure has a positive effect on the new energy industry in the short run, but the effect is limited in the long run. The impact of the agriculture industry is gradually narrowing over time due to the gradual reduction of crop acreage. However, the influence of economic growth is positive both in the short and long run. This is due to the gradual optimization of industrial structure. Technological progress produces a similar impact, owing to continued investment in research and development funding as well as research and development personnel.

Abstract Microgrids can provide an avenue for increasing the amount of distributed generation (DG) and delivery of electricity, where control is more dispersed and quality of service is locally tailored to end-use requirements, with applications from military bases to campuses to commercial office buildings. Many studies have been done to date on microgrid technology and operations, but fewer studies exist on demonstration programs and commercial microgrid development. As China prepares to launch the largest microgrid demonstration program in the world, we review progress made by demonstration programs across Europe, Asia, and the Americas as well as microgrid benefits and barriers. Through case studies, we highlight the difference in experience for microgrids developed under the auspices of a government-sponsored demonstration program versus those that were commercially developed. Lastly, we provide recommendations oriented towards creating a successful microgrid demonstration program.

Abstract In order to identify the kinds of impacts that Japanese regulatory reforms in the electric power industry have had on the efficiency levels of the electrical distribution sector, the present study assembles a dataset which spans both pre- and post-regulation periods. Further, to make the estimated efficiency scores from the two sub-periods comparable, the study applies metafrontier frameworks proposed by O’Donnell et al. (2008) and Huang et al. (2014) to the cost function in the longitudinal setting. Estimates from both methods show that the average efficiency score of the electrical distribution sector during the whole sample period is relatively low. Further, findings also demonstrate that the efficiency levels after the regulatory reforms are lower than those before the regulatory reforms. To this surprising and unexpected phenomenon, we argue that cross-subsidization may be one reason for this kind of changing pattern in efficiency levels. In order to deal with the relatively low efficiency problem, we also suggest that Japanese regulators should introduce more incentive-based regulatory tools to replace the current rate-of-return regulation.

Climate change related environmental problems are pushing a constantly growing number of countries to set carbon neutrality goals. Increasing reliance on ecologically friendly technologies is widely considered to be a crucial means of achieving this objective. Many existing studies measure environmental performance using carbon dioxide emissions, or carbon sources, but do not consider the amount of carbon offset through sequestration in carbon sinks. We define carbon neutrality performance as the difference between the carbon sinks and carbon sources and quantify its relationship with green technological innovation, approximated using the notion of environmental productivity. We rely on the Chinese province-level data from 2001 to 2019 and demonstrate that green innovation can significantly facilitate the attainment of carbon neutrality objectives. Our mediation model suggests that low-carbon innovation can help reach carbon neutrality by decreasing net emissions directly, but also by inhibiting the urbanization rate and promoting renewable energy generation. Our analysis helps shed light on the possible strategies that policymakers in China and other developing countries can follow to realize their carbon neutrality aspirations.

Abstract Green electricity is an effective approach to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions without damaging economic development. One effective measure to boost its development is to increase the awareness of residents about sustainable development and to increase their willingness to pay (WTP). This study applies a contingent valuation method to investigate the WTP of residents in Tianjin, China for green electricity. It uses a logit model to test whether the respondents have WTP. In addition to the factors affecting the respondents’ viewpoints frequently discussed in previous studies, this paper has also considered the influence of high prevalence of respiratory disease. Furthermore, it employs a multiple regression model to identify the factors that significantly affected the WTP. According to a sample of 468 respondents, most residents have positive WTP with an average value of CNY 32.63 per month. The main driving factors for a positive WTP are knowledge of renewable energy, belief towards the government, behavior, education, history of respiratory disease and others. The factors affecting the value of WTP include income, belief, disease, gender and age, and the first three factors often have positive influences while the last one has negative impact. Furthermore, males tend to have a higher WTP than females.

Abstract Wind power generation and its impacts on electricity prices has strongly increased in the EU. Therefore, appropriate mark-to-market evaluation of new investments in wind power and energy storage plants should consider the fluctuant generation of wind power and uncertain electricity prices, which are affected by wind power feed-in (WPF). To gain the input data for WPF and electricity prices, simulation models, such as econometric models, can serve as a data basis. This paper describes a combined modeling approach for the simulation of WPF series and electricity prices considering the impacts of WPF on prices based on an autoregressive approach. Thereby WPF series are firstly simulated for each hour of the year and integrated in the electricity price model to generate an hourly resolved price series for a year. The model results demonstrate that the WPF model delivers satisfying WPF series and that the extended electricity price model considering WPF leads to a significant improvement of the electricity price simulation compared to a model version without WPF effects. As the simulated series of WPF and electricity prices also contain the correlation between both series, market evaluation of wind power technologies can be accurately done based on these series.

Abstract Because of its energy-saving and pollutant emission reduction potentials, combined cooling, heating and power (CCHP) system has been widely used in different kinds of buildings to solve building-related energetic problems and environmental issues. As various kinds of clean energy and renewable energy have been focused and applied to CCHP systems, it is urgent to find a practical decision making methodology for CCHP systems driven by different energy sources. In this paper, an evaluation model which integrates fuzzy theory with multi-criteria decision making process is proposed to assess the comprehensive benefits of CCHP systems from technology, economic, society and environment criterions. Grey relation analysis and combination weighting method are also employed to compare the integrated performances of CCHP systems driven by natural gas, fuel cell, biomass energy and combined gas-steam cycle respectively with a separation production system. Finally, a baseline residential building in Beijing, China is selected as a case to obtain the optimal CCHP system alternative. The results indicate that gas–steam combined cycle CCHP system is the optimum scheme among the five options.