Energy Structure Adjustment Research Articles

Exploring the complex relationship between industrial upgrading and energy eco-efficiency in river basin cities: A case study of the Yellow River Basin in China

The synergistic advancement of industrial upgrading and energy eco-efficiency is crucial for the attainment of the Sustainable Development Goals. This study explored the coupling coordination relationship and its spatial-temporal evolution characteristics between industrial structure advancement and energy eco-efficiency, industrial structure rationalization and energy eco-efficiency in Yellow River Basin cities from 2010 to 2020. The super-SBM model and coupling coordination degree model were used to calculate the energy eco-efficiency and coupling coordination degree. Moran's I and Tobit model were used to analyze the spatial autocorrelation and the factors of coupling coordination degree. The coupling coordination degree of industrial structure advancement and energy eco-efficiency decreased from 0.535 to 0.489, with a growth rate of −8.60 %, showing a fluctuating downward trend. The coupling coordination degree of industrial structure rationalization and energy eco-efficiency decreased from 0.296 to 0.246, with a growth rate of −16.88 %, showing an "M" -shaped downward trend. The coupling coordination degree had a significant spatial correlation, and the global Moran's I value was stable around 0.2. Additionally, public transport and degree of opening-up can significantly promote the coordination relationship between industrial upgrading and energy eco-efficiency. These consequences can supply evidence for industrial and energy structure adjustment in river basin cities.

Thermodynamic and exergo-economic evaluation of biomass-to-X system combined the chemical looping gasification and proton exchange membrane fuel cell

The resource utilization of biomass is of great significance to the adjustment of energy structure. The syngas produced by biomass gasification can be used for power generation and production of green chemical raw materials. In this paper, a biomass-to-X (BtX) system based on the chemical looping gasification and high temperature proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) is proposed to produce methanol, electricity, heating and cooling. The heat produced by the BtX system is harnessed for the regeneration of the carbon capture solution, as well as to drive both the organic Rankine cycle and the double-effect absorption chiller, enabling cascade utilization of the energy. The thermodynamic and exergo-economic models are carried out to evaluate system performance. The relationship between the material, energy and cost flow from biomass to products is analyzed. Finally, the influence of key parameters on system performance is studied. The results show that the energy efficiency of the BtX system is 54.0 % and the exergy efficiency is 35.4 %. The yield rate of methanol with 99.2 wt% purity is 6.48 tons/h. The cost of equipment, propanol and biomass accounts for 34.9 %, 28.9 % and 28.1 % of the total investment cost, respectively, while the cost of the PEMFC stack represents 50.4 % of the equipment costs. The unit exergy cost of the electricity and methanol are 0.068 $/kWh and 0.049 $/kWh, respectively. The methanol, carbon capture and cooling costs are most sensitive to the change in the propanol cost, followed by the biomass cost. For every 0.05 increase in the hydrogen fraction to methanol production, the electricity decreases by 3.1 MW and the methanol yield increases by 0.23 kg/s.

Assessment of carbon emissions and reduction potential in China's copper smelting industry

AbstractAs the largest producer and consumer of copper, China is facing enormous challenges from carbon peaking and neutrality. This article adopts “bottom‐up” and “top‐down” methods to construct a more accurate model, to predict the CO2 emissions of China's copper smelting industry, and explores its potential for carbon reduction in the future from three scenarios as the baseline scenario (BAU), the general low‐carbon (NLC), and the enhanced low‐carbon (ELC). The results show that the CO2 emissions can achieve a peak in 2028 either in NLC or ELC scenarios, with a peak range of 14.9–16.88 million tonnes. Prior to reaching the peak, the contributions of energy adjustment, material substitution, and process selection to carbon reduction have significantly improved, and the contribution rates increased from 30.91%, 4.11%, and 1.46% to 42.7%, 32.07%, and 15.63% in ELC scenario. After the peak, the contribution of energy adjustment gradually slows down, while the material substitution continues to increase, and the contribution rates increased from 21.25% and 32.07% to 29.38% and 40.01% in NLC and ELC scenarios. In the future, concentrate oxygen‐enriched bottom‐blowing smelting and direct refining from waste copper anode furnaces show ideal potential for carbon reduction before 2025, increasing the proportion of recycled copper production, and adjusting energy structure will be more effective from 2025 to 2035. The conclusions of this study can provide a scientific basis for formulating policy recommendations for green and low‐carbon development of the copper industry in China and all over the world in the future.

Construction Path of "Zero Carbon" Power Plant Based on the LEAP Model

As the power industry is the primary carbon emission industry, the research on the construction path of "zero-carbon" power plants against the background of the "dual-carbon" goal must be strengthened. Considering a state-owned power generation enterprise as an example, based on the carbon emissions of the power plant in recent years, the LEAP model was constructed by combining its energy structure and geographical and climatic conditions and the baseline, energy structure adjustment, technological progress, and comprehensive scenarios were set up. The energy consumption demand under each scenario was analyzed and the future carbon emissions under each scenario were predicted. The results showed that in 2060, the total carbon emissions from the power generation sector under the technological progress and energy structure adjustment scenarios decrease by 54.55% and 75.97% compared with those in the baseline scenario, respectively, which demonstrated the large potential for carbon emission reduction from clean energy substitution and that the flexibility transformation of thermal power units and the upgrading and replacement of ultra-supercritical generating units could reduce coal consumption and decrease carbon emissions, whereas the development of CCUS technology was significant, and the construction of CCUS projects was a necessary condition for realizing carbon neutrality of power plants while retaining a certain scale of thermal power generation. Under a comprehensive scenario, "zero carbon" emissions from power plants could be realized around 2056. The results of the study provide ideas for the construction of "zero carbon" power plants.

The Impacts on Regional Development and “Resource Curse” by Energy Substitution Policy: Verification from China

With the increasing “resource curse” phenomena relating to energy resources in China, research concerning energy substitution policies has become more meaningful. In this paper, a dynamic CGE model was built to evaluate the impacts of energy substitution policies on regional growth and the “resource curse”. The results show the following: (1) Compared to other regions, an energy substitution policy exerts a more considerable influence on economic growth in regions with high “resource curse”. (2) The changes in carbon emissions in regions with no or low “resource curse” are modest. The primary factor contributing to the rapid decline might be energy structure adjustments. As the intensity of substitution varies, the regional disparities in marginal emission reduction costs are expected to increase. (3) Energy substitution policies reduce the severity of high “resource curse” regions. As the intensity of energy substitution increases, the extent of “resource curse” regions decreases accordingly. Some suggestions are given as follows: (1) Further promote energy substitution and speed up the transformation of energy production and consumption modes in China. (2) Accelerate the energy transformation in “resource curse” regions to promote regional sustainable development. (3) Improve energy substitution policies in transportation, industry and other fields.

End of rope or phoenix nirvana? Exploring the evolutionary paths of coal resource-based cities in China

Coal resource-based cities (CRBCs) face a complex transformation of the urban system due to the adjustment of the global energy structure and the need for sustainable development worldwide. Considering the urban system as the combination of urban carriers and urban loads, this study proposed a framework to illustrate the evolution of CRBCs using resources and environmental carrying capacity (RECC). Taking 30 CRBCs in China as research objects, the EWM-TOPSIS method and the Geographically and Temporally Weighted Regression (GTWR) model were introduced to assess the comprehensive performance and identify the influencing factors from 2011 to 2020. With most CRBCs becoming more sustainable in the past decade, the results showed two evolutionary paths: urban carrier expansion and urban load reduction. Furthermore, urban conditions and evolutions were spatially agglomerated, and the natural resources sustainability in urban carriers and the environmental pollution in urban loads were the main factors affecting the two paths mentioned above, while the declining population was the major challenge for the shrinking CRBCs. These findings offered valuable insights to guide the sustainable transformation of CRBCs in different situations.

Uncertainty analysis of photovoltaic power generation system and intelligent coupling prediction

Accurate prediction of photovoltaic power generation is essential to promoting the active consumption and low-carbon protection. The complex uncertainty of the photovoltaic system itself leads to the deviation in the photovoltaic power prediction. Therefore, we propose a new prediction model for coupled intelligence optimization. First, the photovoltaic power is decomposed into effective mode components using VMD optimized by GWO. Statistical techniques were used to analyze multidimensional uncertainty and extract features, then, optimize the performance of the coupled model. Second, the Zebra optimization (ZOA) establishes an appropriate balance between exploration and utilization to achieve the optimization of the model parameters. In addition, the CNN is used to extract complex features and enhance the correlation between input values and output values. Finally, the power was predicted using the BiLSTM. The results show that applying the statistical technique to the coupled prediction model not only reveals the uncertainty of photovoltaic systems but reduces the prediction error. Among them, the R2 increased by 0.42 %, the values of MAPE, MSE, RMSE, and MAE were reduced to different degrees. It can better optimize the allocation and reasonable consumption of renewable energy, which provides the decision basis for the adjustment of renewable energy structure.

Organic solar cells: Exploring the future and sustainability of clean energy

As a critical technology in renewable energy, organic solar cells play an important role in energy transition and sustainable development. This paper examines the development and significance of organic solar cells in terms of energy demand, environmental requirements, and industrial growth. With the development of China's energy structure adjustment and carbon peak carbon neutral targets, interest in novel energy technologies is growing. The paper then describes the interaction between photons and materials and the electron-hole separation and charge transport mechanism of organic solar cells. In addition, the characteristics and potential applications of organic solar cells with various structures, such as bilayer heterojunction devices, intrinsic heterojunction devices, molecular DA junction devices, and stacked devices, are described in depth. In the outlook section, the paper emphasizes the future potential of organic solar cells, including efficiency enhancements, cost reductions, and integration with energy storage technologies. In conclusion, organic solar cells have tremendous potential in the field of renewable energy, and they are anticipated to lead the energy transition and contribute to sustainable development.

Problems and prospects of rural energy transformation in China

In recent years, Chinas rural energy supply security capacity has been enhanced, and the adjustment of energy structure has achieved remarkable results, but there are still some problems: The low utilization rate of waste energy in rural areas restricts the comprehensive utilization of resources and environmental protection, the level of rural energy consumption is always in the stage of development, and the lagging construction of rural energy socialized service system restricts the development of rural energy. In view of the problems and challenges faced by Chinas rural energy development, focus on rural energy consumption. This paper analyzes the basic situation of energy development in Chinas rural areas (taking Lantian County of Shaanxi Province as an example). Under the special premise of Chinas national conditions, the specific characteristics of different development in different regions are integrated, and the traditional fossil energy is gradually replaced by the storage and utilization of rural waste and new energy. The key issues such as the construction of rural energy service system and policy guidance are studied, and the measures and suggestions for promoting the scientific development of rural energy in China are put forward.

Can carbon emission trading policy enhance the synergistic emission reduction of carbon dioxide and air pollutants? A comparative study considering different pollutants

Exploring the synergistic control of carbon dioxide and pollutants is significant to the dual carbon target. This study first evaluates the effect of CET on the synergistic emission reduction of carbon dioxide and different pollutants. Moreover, this study investigates the mechanisms of synergistic emission reduction through the pathways of technology progress and structure adjustment. Technology progress is categorized into technology research and development, technology introduction, reverse technology spillover and technology purchase. Structure adjustment contains industrial structure and energy structure. Finally, the impact of CET on the synergistic emission reduction in the surrounding regions is analyzed. The results indicate that the CET could promote the synergistic emission reduction of carbon dioxide and pollutants, including air pollutants (SO2, PM2.5), wastewater and solid waste. The synergistic emission reduction of CO2 and SO2 could be enhanced through reverse technology spillover, technology purchase and industrial structure adjustment. The synergistic emission reduction of CO2 and PM2.5 could be enhanced through R&D and reverse technology spillover. The synergistic emission reduction of carbon dioxide and ammonia nitrogen could be enhanced by increasing R&D, technology purchase and energy structure adjustment. The CET could improve the synergistic emission reduction effect of carbon dioxide and air pollutants in the surrounding regions.

Emission reduction effect of low-carbon power generation and heating systems in industrial areas based on collaborative benefit evaluation

To predict the future emission trends of various pollutants, a greenhouse gas calculation system is studied and the emissions of various pollutants are calculated. Then, an energy-saving supply curve is used to evaluate the economic feasibility of a certain technology. In addition, this study also utilises a synergistic effect analysis strategy and designs emission reduction target scenarios for 2030 based on spatial regression. These scenarios include energy structure adjustment, energy efficiency improvement, waste heat recovery, and end-of-life governance. The results showed that in the next decade, the emissions of CO2, NOx, CO, SO2, PM10, PM2.5, VOCs, and NH3 in industrial parks would continue to increase. The emission of CO2 was expected to reach 289,866,000 tons. Under the four emission reduction goals, the ‘energy efficiency improvement’ scenario had the most significant reduction effect on greenhouse gases and atmospheric pollutants, with CO2 emissions reduced by 103,251,000 tons and atmospheric pollutants reduced by 16,900 tons. This study suggests that industrial parks choose the most suitable emission reduction strategy based on the advantages of each emission reduction target scenario, in order to achieve better environmental effects.

Position Correction Control of Permanent-Magnet Brushless Motor Based on Commutation-Interval Current Symmetry

With the needs of environmental protection and the adjustment of energy structure, new energy vehicles are playing an increasingly important role in the field of transportation today. The permanent-magnet brushless direct-current motor has the characteristics of high efficiency, and can be used in the drive system of new energy vehicles or other auxiliary equipment. In the control process of the permanent-magnet brushless direct-current motor, based on a three-Hall position sensor, due to various factors, there are some errors in the Hall position signal, which must be corrected by appropriate measures. In this paper, the relationship between the position deviation in the commutation interval and the non-commutation-phase current is analyzed, and the current expressions in three different states are given. A new closed-loop compensation strategy for correcting the inaccurate commutation caused by the Hall signal error is proposed. Taking the position of a 30° electrical angle before and after the phase-change point as the H point, realizing the current symmetry within the 30° interval around the H point as the target and the sum of the slopes of the tangent lines at the two points symmetrical within the β (0 < β < 30) electrical angle around the H point as the deviation, a proportional-integral regulator is designed to correct the phase error of the phase-change signal. Finally, it is verified by experiments that the closed-loop compensation strategy proposed in this paper can effectively compensate the phase deviation of the commutation signal at a speed of about 2000 r/min, which improves the working efficiency of the motor to a certain extent.

Exploring the green and low-carbon development pathway for an energy-intensive industrial park in China

Energy-intensive industrial parks (IPs) with the distinct characteristics of high energy consumption, substantial greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, and huge pollution, are facing enormous pressure to realize the synergistic mitigation of GHG and air pollutants. Exploring the green and low-carbon transformation of energy-intensive IPs is urgently required to achieve the dual strategies of “carbon peaking and carbon neutrality” and “Beautiful China”. Taking a typical energy-intensive industrial park (IP) in Henan Province—the Red Flag Cannel Industrial Park (RFCP) as the research object, an integrated evaluation framework including multi-objective optimization model alongside the synergistic mitigation potential of carbon and air pollutant emissions, was established in the energy-intensive IPs. Five scenarios were designed to quantify the GHG and air pollutant mitigation potential, while synergistic emission reduction control effects were evaluated under four measures of industrial structure adjustment, energy structure adjustment, energy efficiency improvement, and industrial symbiosis. The scenario analysis indicates that the integrated scenario (S4) shows the most significant emission reduction potential by 2030. Compared to the baseline scenario (S0), the GHG emission reduction is 11.66 Mt CO2eq (53% reduction rate), and the emission reduction rate of air pollutants ranges from 38% to 69% in S4. The findings indicate that industrial structure adjustment and energy structure adjustment are the primary measures for reducing GHG and air pollutants of IPs. Additionally, the evaluation of synergistic effect demonstrates that industrial structure adjustment shows the most significant synergistic effect on GHG and air pollutant by 2030. Finally, some policy recommendations regarding the transformation direction of energy-intensive IPs were proposed. This study will provide valuable references for the green and low-carbon development of energy-intensive IPs.

Pathway for China's provincial carbon emission peak: A case study of the Jiangsu Province

This study establishes the LEAP-Jiangsu model and uses the improved multilevel logarithmic mean Divisia index, Tapio decoupling, and synergistic effect models to explore the carbon reduction paths. The improved multilevel logarithmic mean Divisia index model analyzed the influencing factors of the historical and future carbon emissions. A provincial LEAP model was established to predict the time and value of carbon emission peaks. The Tapio decoupling and synergistic effect models were used to clarify the relationship between carbon emissions and economic development, the synergistic effect of carbon and pollutant reduction, and the terminal sector's carbon reduction potential. The results show that Jiangsu Province will most likely achieve carbon peaking in 2025∼2030, and the peak carbon emission is about 792∼853.9 Mt. Terminal energy intensity, power production structure, and terminal energy consumption structure are the main influencing factors of carbon reduction, with a cumulative contribution rate of about 74.4 %–83.5 %. The power production structure is critical in promoting the decoupling of economic development and carbon emissions. The contribution rates of energy intensity reduction, industrial structure optimization, improving terminal electrification level, and energy structure adjustment are 30.3 %, 26.2 %, 20.9 %, and 17 %, respectively. Coordinating carbon reduction measures will have better synergistic carbon and pollutant reduction effects.

Assessment of the Carbon Footprint of Large Yellow Croaker Farming on the Aquaculture Vessel in Deep Sea in China

The present study conducted a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) to evaluate the carbon emissions associated with large yellow croaker farming on Aquaculture Vessel “Conson No. 1”. The functional unit considered was 1 kg of fresh large yellow croakers delivered to a wholesaler. The life cycle of large yellow croaker farming on the aquaculture vessel was divided into five processes: feed production (FP), ship construction (SC), fingerling breeding (FB), adult fish farming (AF), and fish distribution (FD). Results showed that the carbon footprint (CF, kgCO2e/kg LW) for the complete life cycle amounted to 6.2170 kgCO2e/kg LW, while the CF per unit economic value of “Conson No. 1” large yellow croaker was estimated at 31 gCO2e/CNY. Among all processes, AF and FP had the highest CF contribution rates at 69.30% and 24.86%, respectively. Notably, energy consumption by aquaculture equipment on board emerged as the primary contributor across all sources of CF comparative analysis demonstrated that the CF of marine fish farming on the aquaculture vessel was lower than that of closed aquaculture systems’ average level and it was a viable option for implementing low-carbon aquaculture in the deep sea. In order to reduce energy consumption and promote a low-carbon economy in aquaculture vessels, several suggestions were proposed, including adjusting energy structure, enhancing energy efficiency, improving feed ratio, and optimizing feeding methods.

Experimental characterization of damage during geothermal production of hot dry rocks: Comprehensive effects of the damage-elastic deformation on conductivity evolution

The development of hot dry rocks (HDRs) is of great significance to adjusting energy structure, alleviating energy shortage, reducing pollution, etc. Low-permeability granite is the predominant rock type in deep HDRs, making fractures the primary pathways for fluid circulation and heat extraction. The production of HDRs is significantly influenced by variable fracture conductivity, but current conductivity characterization primarily relies on the elastic deformation of the matrix, neglecting the impact of damage. Accordingly, we propose an experimental method and a supporting apparatus, which is used to unveil the conductivity evolution characteristics resulting from the comprehensive effects of damage and elastic deformation. The experimental results demonstrate that when subjected to confining force squeezing inward, the fracture conductivity experiences varying degrees of decrease compared to its initial state before the experiment. By utilizing the conductivity evolution rate as the evaluation criterion and conducting grey correlation analysis, it has been determined that temperature exerts the most significant influence on the conductivity evolution, followed by injection flow, and lastly, confining pressure. Moreover, rock particle types and production cycles also have different degrees of effect. After considering the comprehensive effects of damage-elastic deformation at the field-scale, the damage has a positive effect on conductivity enhancement. Our study provides a new approach for the characterization of fracture conductivity evolution for deep geothermal projects.

Numerical Simulation of Hydrogen–Coal Blending Combustion in a 660 MW Tangential Boiler

With the adjustment of energy structure, the utilization of hydrogen energy has been widely attended. China’s carbon neutrality targets make it urgent to change traditional coal-fired power generation. The paper investigates the combustion of pulverized coal blended with hydrogen to reduce carbon emissions. In terms of calorific value, the pulverized coal combustion with hydrogen at 1%, 5%, and 10% blending ratios is investigated. The results show that there is a significant reduction in CO2 concentration after hydrogen blending. The CO2 concentration (mole fraction) decreased from 15.6% to 13.6% for the 10% hydrogen blending condition compared to the non-hydrogen blending condition. The rapid combustion of hydrogen produces large amounts of heat in a short period, which helps the ignition of pulverized coal. However, as the proportion of hydrogen blending increases, the production of large amounts of H2O gives an overall lower temperature. On the other hand, the temperature distribution is more uniform. The concentrations of O2 and CO in the upper part of the furnace increased. The current air distribution pattern cannot satisfy the adequate combustion of the fuel after hydrogen blending.

How does the opening of high-speed rail drive energy restructuring? New micro evidence from China

Against the dual backdrop of China vigorously promoting high-speed railways (HSR) construction and establishing an ecological civilization system, HSR as urban transportation infrastructure, is currently gaining growing attention from the academic community due to its environmental benefits as well as its effects in energy conservation and emission reduction. In this context, this research treats the initiation of HSR as a quasi-natural experiment, meanwhile empirically examining the effect of HSR on energy structure restructuring and exploring the micro-level channels through which it operates. The empirical results validate the reduction effect of HSR opening on fuel energy consumption of industrial enterprises, especially the usage of fuel coal. This highlight remains valid across a series of robustness tests. Moreover, it is evident that the “driving effect” of enterprise technological innovation capability and the “industrial upgrading effect” of enterprise relocation are effective transmission pathways in the process of HSR opening influencing the adjustment of energy consumption structure. Moreover, the unique characteristics of enterprise, industry, and region introduce a certain degree of heterogeneity. The low-energy-consumption effect of HSR is more pronounced in high-carbon industry enterprises, technology-intensive enterprises, firms engaged in innovation pilot cities, small to the medium-sized city and resource-based city. This paper provides a new perspective on energy structure adjustment, contributing to offering solid experiences and references for environmental governance in China and other emerging economies.

Characteristics of Tight Gas Reservoirs in the Xujiahe Formation in the Western Sichuan Depression: A Systematic Review

In current energy structure adjustments, the prominence of unconventional oil and gas resources continues to grow, with increasing attention being paid to tight gas, a major component of natural gas production. The Xujiahe Formation gas reservoir in the Western Sichuan Depression represents a typical tight gas reservoir and the study of its reservoir characteristics is a key focus for current and future exploration and development efforts. This review employs the PRISMA method to screen and integrate the primary findings of 26 documents spanning the period from 2008 to 2023, with the aim of providing a comprehensive overview of the progress and outcomes of research on the tight gas reservoir characteristics of the Xujiahe Formation in the Western Sichuan Depression. The selected research documents summarize the characteristics of the Xujiahe Formation tight gas reservoir in the Western Sichuan Depression from four perspectives: lithology, physical properties, reservoir space, and the main factors influencing reservoir quality. Through a review of these previous studies, it is evident that existing research has predominantly focused on the relationship between diagenesis and reservoir densification, indicating certain limitations. We also delve into the characteristics of tight gas sandstone reservoirs in the study area, considering their depositional systems, fracture development, cementation, and impact on the exploration and development of tight gas reservoirs. Additionally, we propose measures to stabilize and enhance tight gas production in the Xujiahe Formation in the Western Sichuan Depression. Moreover, we outline the next steps for further research and exploration.

Does the green finance reform and innovation experimental zone policy reduce carbon emission intensity? Evidence from Chinese cities

The reduction of carbon emission intensity cannot be achieved without policy support, of which green financial policy is a major component. The main aim of this study is to discuss the causality between the green finance reform and innovation (GFRI) experimental zone policy and the intensity of carbon emissions in China. Using data from 265 Chinese cities from 2005 to 2021, this study applies a time-varying difference-in-differences (DID) model to assess the effect of the GFRI experimental zone policy on the intensity of carbon emissions. The heterogeneity of impacts and the parallel-serial mediation effect of this experimental zone policy are discussed further. The following main findings are obtained. (1) The GFRI experimental zone policy dramatically reduces carbon emission intensity, and this effect is more prominent in cities with large sizes of credit and bond finance. (2) After considering the heterogeneity of government environmental concerns and fiscal pressures, this study reveals that the effect of the GFRI experimental zone policy on reducing carbon emission intensity is weaker in cities with high numbers of environmental protection penalties and fiscal pressures. As the number of environmental penalties and fiscal pressures increases, the effect of the GFRI experimental zone policy on reducing carbon emission intensity decreases; that is, the phenomenon of environmental protection paradoxes and policy conflicts has emerged. (3) Increasing financing for green projects and decreasing the energy intensity of the industry are the primary mediating channels for GFRI experimental zone policy to reduce carbon emission intensity, but the mediating channels for boosting green innovation and promoting energy structure adjustment are not prominent. Moreover, the total effect of the GFRI experimental zone policy on reducing carbon emission intensity is 72% direct and more than 20% indirect. This study concludes that in regions with high fiscal pressure, governments should rely more on green finance to decrease carbon emission intensity. Meanwhile, a green finance policy must be more supportive of zero-carbon energy production and reduce direct environmental penalties to decrease carbon emission intensity in the future.