Abstract
The implementation of the carbon trading (CT) mechanism is important for the transformation of China’s renewable energy industry, thereby affecting the structure of energy, economy, and the environment, and determining the sustainable development of China’s economic-energy-environment (3E) system in the future. This paper constructs a 3E system simulation model under the CT mechanism based on the theory of system dynamics and taking the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region as an example. We study the internal operation mechanism of the carbon emissions trading system and its impact on 3E by combing the related mechanisms of the CT market, CO2 emissions, energy consumption, and gross domestic product (GDP), thereby helping to provide references for policy-making institutions. The results show that the implementation of CT can effectively reduce energy consumption growth and carbon emissions in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, and the negative impact of CT implementation on GDP is significantly lower than its positive impact on reducing carbon emissions and energy consumption. Thus, the CT mechanism is conducive to the sustainable development of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region’s 3E system. In addition, reducing the total amount of quota, reducing free quota, and increasing CT price can effectively promote carbon emission reduction, thus promoting the sustainable development of the 3E system.
Highlights
In recent years, the problem of the greenhouse effect and climate warming has had a great influence on production and the life of human beings with the rapid development of the economy
We use real data to simulate the development of the 3E system under the carbon trading (CT) mechanism of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region
Due to the annual increase of the impact of gross domestic product (GDP) on energy intensity, the energy intensity of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region gradually increases because the effect of energy conservation saving is weaker than that of GDP on energy intensity according to Formulas (5) and (6)
Summary
The problem of the greenhouse effect and climate warming has had a great influence on production and the life of human beings with the rapid development of the economy. In this context, China is actively undertaking the task of carbon emission reduction and the implementation of a low-carbon economy. In October 2011, China formally designated seven provinces and cities for the first batch of carbon emission trading pilot projects, which are Beijing, Tianjin, Chongqing, Shanghai, Hubei, Guangdong, and Shenzhen, and the Chinese government will set up a nationwide CT market by 2018 [1]. The establishment of the CT market will inevitably affect the economy, energy, and the environment of China, and affect the coordinated development of the economic-energy-environment (3E) system
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