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Advanced Analysis of Energy Economics and Sustainable Development in China in the Context of Carbon Neutrality

A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 April 2024) | Viewed by 5124

Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Kai Chang

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
School of Finance and Business, Shanghai Normal University, Shanghai, China
Interests: green productivity; green economics development; energy economics; resource allocation
Dr. Zhangqi Zhong

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
School of Economics and Trade, Guangdong University of Foreign Studies, Guangzhou 510006, China
Interests: environmental regulation; technological innovation; environmental governance; environmental pollution; accounting for greenhouse gas emissions; water resource economics
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

More and more countries and regions have paid much attention to the efficient usage of energy and resources and sustainable development in recent years. Under carbon peak and carbon neutralization targets, promote green productivity growth and sustainable economic development; boost low-carbon energy system transformation and resource allocation optimization; and implement multi-mention policies and sustainable, high-quality economic development are strategies aiming to solve crucial issues for policymakers, market regulators, and firm managers. Related fields include, but are not limited to, the following:

(1) Green total factor productivity (carbon productivity; energy productivity; and environmental productivity);

(2) Green economic development (green economics transformation; sustainable economics development);

(3) Carbon emission peak and energy system;

(4) Carbon emission neutralization and low-carbon energy transformation;

(5) Resource allocation optimization (resource allocation efficiency and resource misallocation);

(6) Energy policy and energy economics;

(7) Environmental policy (regulation) and environmental performance;

(8) Firm sustainable development (firm productivity);

(9) Carbon emissions trading; energy tax; carbon tax; and energy permits trading;

(10) Green (sustainable) high-quality economic development.

Prof. Dr. Kai Chang
Dr. Zhangqi Zhong
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Sustainability is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • low-carbon energy system
  • sustainable economic development
  • dual-carbon target
  • resource allocation
  • policy and green economic growth

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Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

29 pages, 8839 KiB  
Article
Spatial Differences, Dynamic Evolution, and Driving Factors of Carbon Emission Efficiency in National High-Tech Zones
by Chunling Li and Jun Han
Sustainability 2024, 16(15), 6380; https://doi.org/10.3390/su16156380 - 25 Jul 2024
Viewed by 765
Abstract
Faced with substantial climatic problems, industrial parks are crucial to attaining sustainable development objectives and China’s carbon emission pledges. This study develops an output-oriented undesirable output Super-SBM model under non-incremental settings to evaluate the carbon emission efficiency of 169 national high-tech zones from [...] Read more.
Faced with substantial climatic problems, industrial parks are crucial to attaining sustainable development objectives and China’s carbon emission pledges. This study develops an output-oriented undesirable output Super-SBM model under non-incremental settings to evaluate the carbon emission efficiency of 169 national high-tech zones from 2008 to 2021. It utilizes the Dagum Gini coefficient and kernel density estimation approaches to analyze spatial variances and dynamic changes, as well as geographic detectors to assess the variables influencing the spatial development of carbon emission efficiency. This study uncovers a spatial distribution pattern of carbon emission efficiency within the eastern region of the national high-tech zone that is much superior to that in the western region. This tendency is mostly driven by inter-regional disparities. Carbon emission efficiency differences between various high-tech zones are progressively widening, displaying left-tail and polarization phenomena. Economic development gaps emerge as the main intrinsic factor contributing to spatial variations in carbon emission efficiency, with their interaction with land resource utilization being a key driving force. External factors, particularly differences in government interventions, dominate the spatiotemporal evolution of carbon emission efficiency, and their combined effect increases the evolution’s explanatory power. These research findings offer a solid foundation for crafting region-specific carbon reduction policies in national high-tech zones and provide valuable insights for enhancing carbon emission efficiency in a coordinated manner. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advanced Analysis of Energy Economics and Sustainable Development in China in the Context of Carbon Neutrality)
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19 pages, 7734 KiB  
Article
Evaluation and Prediction of Carbon Storage in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau by Coupling the GMMOP and PLUS Models
by Li Yuan, Jing Xu and Binrui Feng
Sustainability 2024, 16(13), 5776; https://doi.org/10.3390/su16135776 - 6 Jul 2024
Viewed by 1143
Abstract
Land-use alterations exert a profound impact on carbon storage within terrestrial ecosystems. Exploring the spatiotemporal dynamics of regional land use and carbon storage is crucial for optimizing national spatial planning and fostering low-carbon development. For this study, we utilized land-use data spanning from [...] Read more.
Land-use alterations exert a profound impact on carbon storage within terrestrial ecosystems. Exploring the spatiotemporal dynamics of regional land use and carbon storage is crucial for optimizing national spatial planning and fostering low-carbon development. For this study, we utilized land-use data spanning from 2000 to 2020 for the Tibetan Plateau and assessed the spatial and temporal variations in carbon storage using the Integrated Valuation of Ecosystem Services and Tradeoffs (InVEST) model. We adjusted the carbon density within the provinces in the study area as a prerequisite. Moreover, we integrated the Grey Multi-objective Decision-making (GMMOP) model with the Patch-generating Land-use Simulation (PLUS) model to forecast carbon storage alterations in 2030 across various scenarios. The findings indicated that between 2000 and 2020, the overall carbon storage witnessed a decrease of 18.94 × 108 t. Carbon storage in grassland decreased by 22.10 × 108 t, and carbon storage in unused land, forest land, cultivated land, construction land, and water increased by 1.56 × 108 t, 0.92 × 108 t, 0.66 × 108 t, 158.50 × 104 t and 26.74 × 104 t, respectively. The soil organic carbon pool exhibited the highest average carbon storage of 195.63 × 108 t, whereas the litterfall organic carbon pool contained the lowest average carbon stock of 15.07 × 108 t. In comparison with the levels observed in 2020, the total carbon storage experienced a reduction of 8.66 × 108 t and 5.29 × 108 t under the inherent progression and economic growth scenarios, respectively. Conversely, it rose by 11.87 × 108 t and 16.21 × 108 t under the environmental preservation and holistic progression scenarios, respectively. Under the holistic progression scenario, the belowground biomass organic carbon pool exhibited the highest carbon storage increase of 5.59%. These findings offer valuable insights for the management and enhancement of carbon sinks in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advanced Analysis of Energy Economics and Sustainable Development in China in the Context of Carbon Neutrality)
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13 pages, 3490 KiB  
Article
A Comprehensive Assessment of the Carbon Footprint of the Coal-to-Methanol Process Coupled with Carbon Capture-, Utilization-, and Storage-Enhanced Oil Recovery Technology
by Xinyue Li, Bin Zhou, Weiling Jin and Huangwei Deng
Sustainability 2024, 16(9), 3573; https://doi.org/10.3390/su16093573 - 24 Apr 2024
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1350
Abstract
The process of coal-to-methanol conversion consumes a large amount of energy, and the use of the co-production method in conjunction with carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS) technology can reduce its carbon footprint. However, little research has been devoted to comprehensively assessing the [...] Read more.
The process of coal-to-methanol conversion consumes a large amount of energy, and the use of the co-production method in conjunction with carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS) technology can reduce its carbon footprint. However, little research has been devoted to comprehensively assessing the carbon footprint of the coal-to-methanol (CTM) co-production system coupled with CCUS-enhanced oil recovery technology (CCUS-EOR), and this hinders the scientific evaluation of its decarbonization-related performance. In this study, we used lifecycle assessment to introduce the coefficient of distribution of methanol and constructed a model to calculate the carbon footprint of the process of CTM co-production of liquefied natural gas (LNG) as well as CTM co-production coupled with CCUS-EOR. We used the proposed model to calculate the carbon footprint of the entire lifecycle of the process by using a case study. The results show that the carbon footprints of CTM co-production and CTM co-production coupled with CCUS-EOR are 2.63 t CO2/tCH3OH and 1.00 t CO2/tCH3OH, respectively, which is lower than that of the traditional CTM process, indicating their ability to achieve environmental sustainability. We also analyzed the composition of the carbon footprint of the coal-to-methanol process to identify the root causes of carbon emissions in it and pathways for reducing them. The work described here provided a reference for decision making and a basis for promoting the development of coal-to-methanol conversion and the CCUS industry in China. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advanced Analysis of Energy Economics and Sustainable Development in China in the Context of Carbon Neutrality)
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22 pages, 2925 KiB  
Article
Research on the Impact of Heterogeneous Environmental Regulation on the Coordinated Development of China’s Water–Energy–Food System from a Spatial Perspective
by Shaohui Zou, Zhe Liao, Yichen Liu and Xiangbo Fan
Sustainability 2024, 16(2), 818; https://doi.org/10.3390/su16020818 - 17 Jan 2024
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 1144
Abstract
Water resources, energy, and food are fundamental resources for ensuring human social development. The coordinated development of these resources contributes to improving the quality of the social environment, promoting harmony between humans and nature, and achieving economic, social, and ecological sustainability. This study [...] Read more.
Water resources, energy, and food are fundamental resources for ensuring human social development. The coordinated development of these resources contributes to improving the quality of the social environment, promoting harmony between humans and nature, and achieving economic, social, and ecological sustainability. This study utilizes panel data from 30 provinces in China from 2003 to 2020. Using a coupled coordination degree model, the coupling coordination degree of the Water–Energy–Food (WEF) system is calculated, and the spatiotemporal evolution and social network connections of WEF coupling coordination are analyzed. The spatial Durbin model is employed to investigate the spatial spillover effects of heterogeneous environmental regulation on the coordinated development of the WEF system. The mechanism model is used to explore the pathways through which heterogeneous environmental regulation influences the coordinated development of the WEF system. The results of this study demonstrate that the coupling coordination index of China’s provincial-level WEF system has shown a steady upward trend, except for a slight decline in a few years. Over the research period, there has been a significant improvement in regional coupling coordination levels. There are large differences in the level of WEF coupling coordination among different regions, with a distribution pattern of south > north and east > west. Both formal and informal environmental regulations have significant positive effects on the coupling coordination development of the WEF system, as well as significant positive spatial spillover effects. Formal environmental regulation has a stronger impact compared to informal environmental regulation. Foreign direct investment and industrial structural upgrading are important pathways for environmental regulation to promote the coordinated development of the WEF system. Both formal and informal environmental regulations can promote the coordinated development of the WEF system by facilitating foreign direct investment and industrial structural upgrading. This study not only provides important scientific evidence and decision-making references for policymakers in formulating environmental regulation policies but also offers new evidence support for the theory of regional development disparities. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advanced Analysis of Energy Economics and Sustainable Development in China in the Context of Carbon Neutrality)
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