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Given the devastating effects of global warming, the problem of human-induced climate change, and in particular carbon dioxide emissions, has been high on the global policy agenda. In this study, we examine the relationship between national culture, carbon dioxide emissions, and economic growth in the framework of the Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC). Applying system GMM panel estimator across 69 developed and developing countries, we confirm the existence of EKC and show that culture significantly affects the income-emission relationship. Moreover, the effects of the six cultural dimensions on EKC can be collapsed into two: (i) masculinity, power distance and indulgence move the EKC upward and shift the income turning point to the left; and (ii) individualism, uncertainty, and long-term orientation move the EKC downward while shifting the income turning point to the right. The impact of culture on EKC remains also robust for alternative specifications. Future policy and global initiatives in sustainable development should incorporate the multidimensional impact of culture on national behavior towards environment and economic growth, a relationship that has been largely ignored in economic decision-making models.

Abstract In China, vehicle electrification is developed as a way to decouple people's increasing demand for on-road transport and concerns for adverse environmental impacts. Replacing conventional fuel with electricity not only yields impacts on air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions, but also on water resources. This study addresses such impacts for the first time. Based on China's existing plans, we expect China's future electric vehicles will grow from 5 million in 2020 to 80 million in 2030, requiring 47 to 335 TWh of electricity supplies respectively. In order to produce such amount of electricity, under a baseline scenario, 42.60 million m³ and 1.09 billion m³ of water is projected to be consumed and withdrawn in 2020, respectively, which are expected to grow to 324.45 million and 8.56 billion m³ in 2030. Deploying renewable energies offers considerable potentials cutting electric vehicles' indirect impacts on water resources by more than 20% as their productions require less water inputs than coal-fired power plants. Changing cooling technologies' impacts differ by regions, increasing water consumption in southern regions while reducing water consumption in the north. However, if water consumption avoided from avoiding conventional fuel productions is taken into account, compared to the counterfactual scenario where the same number of traditional vehicles will be deployed, future electric vehicles in China will lead to net decreases of 19.3, 64.3 and 89.7 million m³ of scarce water consumption nationally under baseline, high renewable and cooling technology change scenarios in the electric power sector respectively.

This paper examines the experience of existing alternative fuel vehicle (AFV) programs in the US and China to provide insights into appropriate strategies for developing hydrogen vehicles and infrastructure in China. Although an increasing number of AFVs have been deployed in recent years, various factors have limited this progress, such as large sunk investments in conventional technologies, limited networks of refueling stations, the typically higher cost of AFVs, and the relatively low price of oil. Given these barriers, and additional barriers specific to hydrogen, a transition to hydrogen will be a slow process, and must be supported by both near- and long-term policies that have clear and measurable goals that take hydrogen beyond fleet applications into broader vehicle markets. Because a transition to hydrogen vehicles will not occur quickly, it is necessary for the government to have consistent and integrated transportation policies combining short- and long-term goals. These policies should draw upon resources from both governments and multinational companies to provide incentives for vehicle purchases, promote investment in infrastructure, and disseminate information to raise public awareness. Multinationals may find China to be an ideal testing ground for innovative hydrogen vehicles with appropriate incentive policies and programs.

Abstract Despite a series of transport decarbonisation initiatives, transport carbon emissions have been growing in both absolute and relative terms since 1990, and this is contributing to climate change. This study scrutinises the decoupling experiences of transport carbon emissions in 16 selected countries, including both developed and developing countries, over a 29-year timeframe (1990–2018). Resting upon the concept of socio-ecological resilience, collaborative planning and policy-implementation gap, a new conceptual framework is proposed to understand transport decarbonisation policies. In doing so, data of transport carbon emissions and Real Gross National Income in Purchasing Power Parity (based 2017) are first analysed. Progress of decoupling is then categorized for each country in every five-year period (a total of 96 data points). We then select consecutive periods when a country moves towards absolute decoupling (i.e. improvement) or deviates from it (i.e. worsening) and identify relevant policy instruments implemented based on a nine-component strategic framework that addresses the policy-implementation gap. Results indicate that defining clear sectoral objectives in action plans and integrating a holistic policy package to reinforce sustainable transport is pivotal. While there are no magic bullets to achieve transport decarbonisation, the strategic framework can help enhance policy effectiveness by formulating context-specific strategies.

In this paper we investigate household electricity use, electric vehicle (EV) home-charging and distributed photovoltaic (PV) power production in a case study for the city of Westminster, London. Since it is economically beneficial to maximize PV power self-consumption in the UK context the power consumption/production patterns with/without introducing EV home-charging on the household level is investigated. Additionally, since this might have an effect on the electricity use on an aggregate of households a large-scale introduction of EV charging and PV power production in the entire city of Westminster is also investigated. Household electricity consumption and EV home-charging are modeled with a Markov-chain model. PV power production is estimated from solar irradiation data from Meteonorm for the location of Westminster combined with a model for photovoltaic power production on tilted planes. The available rooftop area is estimated from the UK map geographic information database. EV home-charging increases the household electricity use mainly during evening with a maximum during winter whereas PV produces power during daytime with maximum during summer. On the household level this mismatch introduces variability in power consumption/production, which is shown to be less prominent for the large-scale scenario of the entire city of Westminster.

Abstract This paper concentrates on ‘middles’ and ‘middle actors’ in energy systems and introduces a “middle-out” framework for examining and supporting systemic change to a lower carbon society. We propose this “middle-out” approach as a complement to “top-down” and “bottom-up” strategies. Our approach suggests that two essential elements for successful systemic change are actors’ agency and capacity, where ‘agency’ refers to actors’ abilities to make their own free choices, and ‘capacity’ refers to actors’ abilities to perform the choices they made. We argue that due to their position between top and bottom actors and between technology and implementation, middle actors play crucial functions in the transition process. Their abilities are based to their own agency and capacity which they can exercise to influence the agency and/or capacity of other actors. The paper discusses middle actors vis-a-vis ‘intermediaries’ and demonstrates the value of the middle-out approach. Through elaborated examples of three middle actors – congregations, building professionals, and commercial building communities – it shows how middles exert influence upstream (to top actors), downstream (to bottom actors) and sideways (to other middle actors) through mediating, enabling and aggregating both themselves and others. A few weaknesses of this approach are discussed as well.

Fossil energy consumption (FEC) and greenhouse gas (GHG) emission intensities of major alternative vehicle fuels (AVFs) in China are calculated and compared with conventional fuels by means of full life-cycle analysis. Currently most of the AVFs have not relatively obvious GHG emission reduction when compared to the gasoline pathway: (1) coal-based AVF has higher intensities in terms of both the FEC and GHG emissions; (2) electricity from the average Chinese grid has the GHG emission intensity similar to that of gasoline pathway although relatively lower FEC intensity; and (3) first generation technology bio-fuel has relatively lower GHG emission intensity and substantially lower FEC intensity. It is forecasted that by 2020 when still comparing to the gasoline pathway: (1) coal-based AVF will still have FEC and GHG emission intensities that are 1.5–1.8 and 1.8–2.5 time those of gasoline pathway, and the application of carbon capture and storage technology can reduce the GHG emission intensity of coal-based AVF; (2) electricity will have significantly lower GHG intensity; and (3) second generation technology bio-fuel will have near zero FEC and GHG intensities.

This study models the CO2 emissions from electric (EV) and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEV), and compares the results to published values for the CO2 emissions from conventional vehicles based on internal combustion engines (ICE). PHEVs require fewer batteries than EVs which can make them lighter and more efficient than EVs. PHEVs can also operate their onboard ICEs more efficiently than can conventional vehicles. From this, it was theorized that PHEVs may be able to emit less CO2 than both conventional vehicles and EVs given certain power generation mixes of varying CO2 intensities. Amongst the results it was shown that with a highly CO2 intensive power generation mix, such as in China, PHEVs had the potential to be responsible for fewer tank to wheel CO2 emissions over their entire range than both a similar electric and conventional vehicle. The results also showed that unless highly CO2 intensive countries pursue a major decarbonization of their power generation, they will not be able to fully take advantage of the ability of EVs and PHEVs to reduce the CO2 emissions from automotive transport.

Peak oil theory predicts that oil production will soon start a terminal decline. Most authors imply that no adequate alternate resource and technology will be available to replace oil as the backbone resource of industrial society. This article uses historical cases from countries that have gone through a similar experience as the best available analytical strategy to understand what will happen if the predictions of peak oil theorists are right. The author is not committed to a particular version of peak oil theory, but deems the issue important enough to explore how various parts of the world should be expected to react. From the historical record he is able to identify predatory militarism, totalitarian retrenchment, and socioeconomic adaptation as three possible trajectories.