• Energy Research
• 11. Sustainability close
• Energies close
• Chinese Academy of Sciences close

In China, environmental pollution responsibilities are divided according to administrative regions. However, because of the strong externality of environmental pollution, the movement of environmental pollution undoubtedly increases the complexity of pollution governance. To divide the responsibility of environmental pollution governance in each province, we effectively quantify the unequal relationship between environmental pollution costs and economic benefits in each province to understand the mechanism and characteristics of inter-provincial environmental pollution movement. Based on the regional input–output model and an inventory we compiled of sulfur dioxide(SO2) emissions of air pollutants in 2012, we calculate the implied inter-provincial environmental pollution emissions and economic benefits from trade, based on production and consumption (supply-side and demand-side). In addition, the movement relationship is explored, and the cost and economic value-added indexes of air pollution control are further constructed to provide effective evidence for a reasonable division of responsibility for environmental pollution control. The results show that there are obvious environmental inequities in the regional trade process in each province, indicating that environmental pollution has been moved. Developed provinces have more economic benefits but pay less in the process of trading goods with less-developed provinces due to the advantages of their industrial structure, while the opposite is true for less-developed provinces. Finally, we propose corresponding policy recommendations to change this condition.

The emissions of greenhouse gases, especially CO2, have been identified as the main contributor for global warming and climate change. Carbon capture and storage (CCS) is considered to be the most promising strategy to mitigate the anthropogenic CO2 emissions. This review aims to provide the latest developments of CO2 storage from the perspective of improving safety and economics. The mechanisms and strategies of CO2 storage, focusing on their characteristics and current status, are discussed firstly. In the second section, the strategies for assessing and ensuring the security of CO2 storage operations, including the risks assessment approach and monitoring technology associated with CO2 storage, are outlined. In addition, the engineering methods to accelerate CO2 dissolution and mineral carbonation for fixing the mobile CO2 are also compared within the second section. The third part focuses on the strategies for improving economics of CO2 storage operations, namely enhanced industrial production with CO2 storage to generate additional profit, and co-injection of CO2 with impurities to reduce the cost. Moreover, the role of multiple CCS technologies and their distribution on the mitigation of CO2 emissions in the future are summarized. This review demonstrates that CO2 storage in depleted oil and gas reservoirs could play an important role in reducing CO2 emission in the near future and CO2 storage in saline aquifers may make the biggest contribution due to its huge storage capacity. Comparing the various available strategies, CO2-enhanced oil recovery (CO2-EOR) operations are supposed to play the most important role for CO2 mitigation in the next few years, followed by CO2-enhanced gas recovery (CO2-EGR). The direct mineralization of flue gas by coal fly ash and the pH swing mineralization would be the most promising technology for the mineral sequestration of CO2. Furthermore, by accelerating the deployment of CCS projects on large scale, the government can also play its role in reducing the CO2 emissions.

Rapid economic growth in Northwest China has been accompanied by a dramatic increase in carbon emissions. Based on the two-level Logarithmic Mean Divisia Index (LMDI) method, this study decomposes changes in energy-related carbon emissions in Northwest China during 1995–2012 from the regional and provincial perspectives. Further, by constructing an expanded decomposition model of the decoupling index, this paper quantitatively analyzes delinking indicators of economic activity and environmental pressure in Northwest China. The results indicate that: (1) at both regional and provincial levels, economic activity effects play a crucial role in increasing carbon emissions, whereas improvements of energy efficiency appear as the main factor in curbing carbon missions; (2) the significance of influencing factors of CO2 emissions varies across provinces. The role of economic activity in Shannxi is more pronounced compared to that of the other four provinces, as well as the role of population in Xinjiang; (3) when the decoupling relationship is considered, “relative decoupling” and “no decoupling” are the main characteristics under investigation during the examined period. Whereas “strong decoupling” was only identified in 2007 and 2009; (4) the current extensive pattern of economic growth in Northwest China poses a serious threat to the decoupling process. Furthermore, the coal-based energy structure also hinders the decoupling process. According to these results, some policy recommendations are proposed.

This study focuses on the potential impacts of large-scale land use and land cover changes (LUCC) on surface temperature from a global perspective. As important types of LUCC, urbanization, deforestation, cultivated land reclamation, and grassland degradation have effects on the climate, the potential changes of the surface temperature caused by these four types of large-scale LUCC from 2010 to 2050 are downscaled, and this issue analyzed worldwide along with Representative Concentration Pathways (RCPs) of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). The first case study presents some evidence of the effects of future urbanization on surface temperature in the Northeast megalopolis of the United States of America (USA). In order to understand the potential climatological variability caused by future forest deforestation and vulnerability, we chose Brazilian Amazon region as the second case study. The third selected region in India as a typical region of cultivated land reclamation where the possible climatic impacts are explored. In the fourth case study, we simulate the surface temperature changes caused by future grassland degradation in Mongolia. Results show that the temperature in built-up area would increase obviously throughout the four land types. In addition, the effects of all four large-scale LUCC on monthly average temperature change would vary from month to month with obviously spatial heterogeneity.

Microalgal biofuel research in China has made noticeable progress, and algae cultivation for biofuel production is considered to be an important contribution to Greenhouse Gas (GHG) mitigation and energy security. In this paper, the algal biofuel potentiality in China was reviewed from the points of view of algal biodiversity, algal culture collection, GHGs (especially CO2) mitigation, and the availability of the required sunlight, wastewater and land resources. The cultivation of microalgae utilizing power plants gas with large amounts of CO2 and wastewaters from urban households, industry and animal husbandry are suitable for large scale production in China. Land is hardly a limitation for algae cultivation.

China—the largest developing country in the world—is experiencing both rapid economic maturation and large-scale urbanization. These situations have led to waste disposal problems, and the need to identify alternative energy sources. Waste-to-energy (WTE) conversion processes, a source of renewable energy, are expected to play an increasingly important role in China’s sustainable management of municipal solid waste (MSW). The purpose of this research is to investigate the key problems and opportunities associated with WTE, to provide recommendations for the government. This paper begins by describing China’s current MSW management situation and analyzing its waste disposal problems. The major challenges associated with China’s WTE incineration are then discussed from economic, environmental and social points of view. These include the high costs associated with constructing necessary facilities, the susceptibility of facilities to corrosion, the lower heating value of China’s MSW, air pollutant emissions and especially public opposition to WTE incineration. Since discarded waste can be used to produce energy for electricity and heat—thus reducing its volume and the production of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions—with government policies and financial incentives, the use of WTE incineration as a renewable energy source and part of a sustainable waste management strategy will be of increasing importance in the future. The paper concludes by summarizing the management, economic and social benefits that could be derived from developing the country’s domestic capacity for producing the needed incineration equipment, improving source separation capabilities, standardizing regulatory and legal responsibilities and undertaking more effective public consultation processes.

Solid fuel cooking stoves have been used as primary energy sources for residential cooking and heating activities throughout human history. It has been estimated that domestic combustion of solid fuels makes a considerable contribution to global greenhouse gas (GHG) and pollutant emissions. The majority of data collected from simulated tests in laboratories does not accurately reflect the performance of stoves in actual use. This study characterizes in-field emissions of fine particulate matter (PM2.5), carbon dioxide (CO2), carbon monoxide (CO), methane (CH4), and total non-methane hydrocarbons (TNMHC) from residential cooking events with various fuel and stove types from villages in two provinces in China (Tibet and Yunnan) in the Himalayan area. Emissions of PM2.5 and gas-phase pollutant concentrations were measured directly and corresponding emission factors calculated using the carbon balance approach. Real-time monitoring of indoor PM2.5, CO2, and CO concentrations was conducted simultaneously. Major factors responsible for emission variance among and between cooking stoves are discussed.