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In this study, we investigated the influence of overall financial development and its components on energy consumption using the panel data of 120 countries and the generalized method of moments (GMM). By dividing the sample into developed and developing countries, we further examined the national differences of the impact of financial development on energy consumption. The empirical results indicate that the overall financial development significantly positively impacts energy consumption from a worldwide perspective, and its two components (financial institution and the financial market) have the same effect. The analysis of national differences indicates that the financial development also positively impacts energy consumption in developing countries but with no obvious effect in developed countries. The results also suggest that financial development cannot be used to restrain the increase in energy consumption from the global perspective, and policymakers in developing countries must balance the relationship between the development of the financial sector and energy consumption.

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.

Abstract The Chinese government has taken measures to realize energy-savings and emission reductions, such as promoting innovations, adjusting the industrial structure, balancing regional development, and reforming markets. The aim of this paper is to assess the effects of these measures on China's CO2 emissions by using a newly proposed decomposition approach, which identified eight new factors related to the above realistic measures, i.e., energy saving and production technologies, industrial energy and production efficiencies, regional energy and production efficiencies, and pure energy and production efficiencies. The main findings indicate benefits from considerable technological progress in energy-saving and production during 2000–2016 period, and two technological factors contributed the most to emissions abatement and cumulatively reduced 5372.43 Mt and 1291.72 Mt CO2 emissions. The efforts of industrial restructuring promoted energy and production efficiency improvement, which further facilitated emission reduction. In contrast, the pure energy and production efficiency changes cumulatively led to 1080.26 Mt and 1135.85 Mt CO2 emissions growth during the whole sample period, suggesting that severe resource misallocation problems may exist in both the energy market and output market. Additionally, the Chinese government failed to narrow the technology gap between developed regions and underdeveloped regions, further restricting emission reduction.

Exploring the sensitivity of rural households’ livelihood strategies to livelihood capital is of great significance for improving rural households’ livelihood levels. This paper selects 23 livelihood capital measurement indicators and conducts an in-depth survey of rural households. In addition, the entropy method and a weighted comprehensive model are used to explore the basic characteristics of rural households’ livelihood capital in the upper reaches of the Min River, China, in 2017. Furthermore, econometric models are used to analyze the sensitivity of rural households’ livelihood strategies to livelihood capital. As indicated from the research, the livelihood capital levels of different types of rural households in the study area are not equivalent. The types of rural households with different livelihood strategies can be ordered in terms of quantity as follows: non-agricultural type > non-agricultural dominant type > agricultural dominant type > pure agricultural type. Livelihood strategies have different sensitivities to different livelihood capital measurement indicators. Among these indicators, cash income, the number of relatives and friends available for financial assistance, and the number of civil servants have positive effects on the livelihood strategy selection of non-agricultural dominant rural households and non-agricultural rural households. However, the average age of laborers, area of cultivated land and gardens, number of livestock and poultry, and present value of production tools have negative effects. These evaluation results can provide a scientific decision-making basis for the formulation of poverty alleviation policies by relevant government departments.

Facing the non-point source pollution caused by fertilizer loss, study on the agricultural factors that have an influence on fertilizer reduction could provide a basis for the implementation of policies on fertilizer reduction control. Based on the panel data during 2002-2016 with cumulative contribution model and Log-Mean Divisia Index (LMDI), this paper innovatively comes up with reduction driving functions (including agricultural scale, intensification, fertilizer utilization, and labor productivity), studies the cumulative contribution rate and driving factors of fertilizer reduction in county units of Zhejiang Province. Main conclusions are: (1) 37 of 63 county units (58.73%) showed decreased in fertilizer application; top five county units contributed 50+%; top county units that contribute to fertilizer reduction are in plain area in Northern Zhejiang, coastal area in Eastern and Southern Zhejiang, valley and basin area in Western and Southern Zhejiang where arable land is relatively even. (2) Fertilizer application intensity (fertilizer application per unit area of land cultivation) in Zhejiang Province increased by 18.67%, but there are only 15 county units where fertilizer application intensity is reduced. In general, fertilizer reduction in Zhejiang Province kept developing steadily. (3) Factors (fertilizer efficiency, intensification and agricultural scale) drive fertilizer reduction while labor productivity triggers the growth in application intensity. In Hangzhou, Ningbo and Shaoxing in Northern and Eastern Zhejiang, the above factors all have a prominent driving effect, but labor productivity also promotes fertilizer increment. In the end, this paper proposes policies on fertilizer reduction control in terms of efficiency, inputs and compensations.

Abstract An overview for energy use in Chinese economy is presented in this study by means of a systems cross-scale input-output analysis. To concretely reflect the cross-scale effect between China and the rest of the world, embodied energy intensity of foreign imports is provided on the basis of our recent work on the world economy, in contrast to the conventional assumption of the same intensity for both the foreign and domestic trade. In 2012, the energy embodied in gross fixed capital formation is found to constitute nearly half of the total energy use in China, three-quarters larger than the total household consumption. Approximately 40% of energy resources embodied in final use turn out to be imported from foreign regions, twice the share of the direct energy imports in total energy consumption recorded by traditional direct accounting. The trade imbalance in energy use is illustrated with the support of the law of comparative advantage. In addition to economic benefits, hidden social impacts, including indirect external dependence and health costs associated with non-energy trade, should also be considered by the government in industrial structure adjustment. The present embodiment study is expected to be remarkably supportive for sustainable energy policy making in China.

The study investigates the nexus of CO2 emissions, tourism, fossil fuels, and GDP growth using China’s data from 1970 to 2019. The research applied the upset U-molded EKC and the ARDL -models to calculate the time series stationarity variables. The results showed that in the initial enlargement phases, a sophisticated GDP adversely impacts CO2 emissions, then a higher GDP positively influences CO2 emissions. The development of tourism, use of fossil fuels (coal and oil), and population growth show an important influence on CO2 emissions but the use of gas and electricity has little effect on CO2 emissions. In contrast, foreign direct investment besides population development had little effect on increasing CO2 emissions. Retreating foreign direct investment, strengthening the use of sustainable electricity, and improving transportation for explorers, especially the green tourism business, are excellent ways to reduce environmental degradation in China.

The optimization of the production process of metal mines has been traditionally driven only by economic benefits while ignoring resource efficiency. However, it has become increasingly aware of the importance of resource efficiency since mineral resource reserves continue to decrease while the demand continues to grow. To better utilize the mineral resources for sustainable development, this paper proposes a multi-objective optimization model of the production process of metal mines considering both economic benefits and resource efficiency. Specifically, the goals of the proposed model are to maximize the profit and resource utilization rate. Then, the fast and elitist Non-Dominated Sorting Genetic Algorithm (NSGA-II) is used to optimize the multi-objective optimization model. The proposed model has been applied to the optimization of the production process of a stage in the Huogeqi Copper Mine. The optimization results provide a set of Pareto-optimal solutions that can meet varying needs of decision makers. Moreover, compared with those of the current production indicators, the profit and resource utilization rate of some points in the optimization results can increase respectively by 2.99% and 2.64%. Additionally, the effects of the decision variables (geological cut-off grade, minimum industrial grade and loss ratio) on objective functions (profit and resource utilization rate) were discussed using variance analysis. The sensitivities of the Pareto-optimal solutions to the unit copper concentrate price were studied. The results show that the Pareto-optimal solutions at higher profits (with lower resource utilization rates) are more sensitive to the unit copper concentrate prices than those obtained in regions with lower profits.