Carbon Dioxide Emissions In China Research Articles

Determinants and regional contributions of industrial CO2 emissions inequality: A consumption-based perspective

The assessment of industrial consumption-based carbon dioxide emissions could explain interregional differences in carbon dioxide emissions resulting from economic activity. This study aims to assess per capita industrial consumption-based carbon dioxide emissions inequality across provinces, municipalities, and autonomous regions in China from 2002 to 2017. The status and main determinants of per capita industrial consumption-based carbon dioxide emissions inequality are calculated using environmentally multi-regional input–output models and the Theil index, respectively. Comparisons with accounting results from the production side are then analyzed. The main conclusions are as follows: (1) From 2002 to 2012, both per capita industrial consumption-based carbon dioxide emissions and per capita industrial production-based carbon dioxide emissions in China show an obvious upward trend, and gradually stabilize in 2015 and beyond. (2) Economic trade leads to obvious carbon leakage among Chinese provinces and industrial sectors: the consumption-based carbon dioxide emissions of the downstream sector of the industrial supply chain is less than its production-based carbon dioxide emissions, while the carbon dioxide emissions of upstream industrial sectors is on the contrary. (3) China's per capita industrial production-based carbon dioxide emissions inequality is significantly greater than consumption-based inequality, and this gap is gradually widening. Among them, between-group inequality is the key component, but the contribution of within-group inequality is gradually increasing, which tends to exceed between-group inequality. (4) Among the eight economic groups in China, per capita consumption is the main driving factor of consumption-based carbon dioxide emissions inequality, but the industrial production carbon dioxide emissions intensity is the main contributor to production-based inequality. The above findings would provide certain theoretical support and policy references for policymakers when formulating industrial carbon emissions reduction policies.

The Impact of Economic Growth, Industrial Transition, and Energy Intensity on Carbon Dioxide Emissions in China

Carbon emission reduction has become a worldwide concern on account of global sustainability issues. Many existing studies have focused on the various socioeconomic influencing factors of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions and the corresponding transmission mechanisms, while very few models have unified the scale effect, structure effect, and technique effect in the context of China. This paper attempted to analyze the impact of economic growth, industrial transition, and energy intensity on CO2 emissions in China by constructing an autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) model. The results showed that there are long-term cointegration relationships between the three factors mentioned above and CO2 emissions. There is an inverted U-shaped relationship between economic growth and CO2 emissions, which not only verifies the environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) hypothesis, but also upholds the scale effect. In addition, the proportion of added value of secondary industry and energy intensity has significant positive impacts on CO2 emissions. On one hand, this confirms the structure effect and technique effect; on the other hand, it implies that the reduction effect is the dominant effect in the case of China, instead of the rebound effect. This paper is expected to make a valuable contribution to research in the field of sustainable development by providing both theoretical support and implementation of path choice for CO2 reduction in China.

Nonlinear analysis of technological innovation and electricity generation on carbon dioxide emissions in China

By using Stochastic Impacts by Regression on Population, Affluence, and Technology (STIRPAT) model, this paper explores the influence of electricity generation and technological innovation on CO2 emissions, as well as that of population and economic growth, in China during the period of 1985–2019. Econometric methods of smooth transition regression (STR) are used to calculate the threshold effects of the linkage among the selected variables. The conversion function of LSTR(1) (logistic STR with one regime switch) is selected by F-statistics based on third-order Taylor approximation. The results of the diagnostic test indicate that when the growth rate of electricity generation exceeds 8.914%, the relationships become nonlinear. Moreover, 1% increases of electricity generation and technological innovation may lead to increases of 2.91664% and 0.31016% in China's CO2 emissions, respectively, while a 1% increase in economic growth can decrease China's CO2 emissions by 1.16441%. Finally, some implications are suggested, such as strengthening the publicity surrounding environmental protection to reduce the footprint of CO2 emissions, extending the green GDP even further, and building a more diversified power supply structure.

The nexus between digital economy and carbon dioxide emissions in China: The moderating role of investments in research and development

Since the signing of the Paris Agreement, it is necessary for the signatories to report their nationally determined contributions regarding the adoption of domestic strategies that are to be adopted to achieve emission-reduction commitments. Accordingly, the Chinese government has also declared the target of turning carbon-neutral by 2060. In this regard, the digitalization of the Chinese economy can be hypothesized to attain the carbon-neutrality agenda since an emerging digital economy has immense potential in ensuring environmentally-sustainable economic growth. Besides, it is also argued that investments in research and development can also facilitate this cause by developing the latest technologies that can limit emissions of carbon dioxide in China. Against this backdrop, this study aimed to check whether digitalization and research and development investments can help China achieve low carbon growth. In this regard, this study utilized annual data of 30 Chinese provinces between 2006 and 2017. The findings revealed long-run cointegrating relationships between carbon dioxide emissions, digitalization, research and development investments, and other major macroeconomic variables. Besides, digitalization is found to curb the provincial emission figures. Moreover, research and development investments are evidenced to not only curb the emission levels but also perform the role of a moderator between digitalization and carbon dioxide emissions. Similar direct and moderating effects of technological innovation are also discovered. Furthermore, economic growth, financial development, and energy use boost higher carbon dioxide emissions in China. In light of these findings, this study recommends the Chinese government integrate the digitalization and environmental development policies by enhancing investments in research and development. In addition, China should also look forward to green its economic growth, financial development, and energy transition policies.

Difference and Cluster Analysis on the Carbon Dioxide Emissions in China During COVID-19 Lockdown via a Complex Network Model.

The continuous increase of carbon emissions is a serious challenge all over the world, and many countries are striving to solve this problem. Since 2020, a widespread lockdown in the country to prevent the spread of COVID-19 escalated, severely restricting the movement of people and unnecessary economic activities, which unexpectedly reduced carbon emissions. This paper aims to analyze the carbon emissions data of 30 provinces in the 2020 and provide references for reducing emissions with epidemic lockdown measures. Based on the method of time series visualization, we transform the time series data into complex networks to find out the hidden information in these data. We found that the lockdown would bring about a short-term decrease in carbon emissions, and most provinces have a short time point of impact, which is closely related to the level of economic development and industrial structure. The current results provide some insights into the evolution of carbon emissions under COVID-19 blockade measures and valuable insights into energy conservation and response to the energy crisis in the post-epidemic era.

Hydropower Consumption, Economic Growth and Carbon Dioxide Emissions in China

Hydropower Consumption, Economic Growth and Carbon Dioxide Emissions in China

Investigating the Impact of Transportation Infrastructure and Tourism on Carbon Dioxide Emissions in China.

In order to effectively address or eliminate the impact of CO2 emissions, it is essential to investigate the analysis of CO2 emissions under transport infrastructure and tourism. Transportation infrastructure helps to achieve carbon dioxide emission limitation, which is crucial for resource distribution, effectively summarizing the regularity and innovation in the process of carbon dioxide emission limitation. In the case of fully grasping the principles of low-carbon tourism development and related policy protection, a suitable low-carbon tourism development model is found. By constructing a data analysis model, this paper analyzes the impact of transportation infrastructure and ecotourism on carbon dioxide emission limitation. In terms of methods and systems, effective measures are given to the role of Chinese traffic settings in tourism, and the carbon emission system of the entire life cycle of traffic settings is analyzed, and the boundary of the impact of traffic carbon emissions on tourism is determined. In response to this problem, it is necessary to reform and optimize the transportation facility of the carbon emission accounting method, which has a positive effect on the green development and low-carbon development of the Chinese economy for ecotourism and transportation infrastructure.

The prospect of natural gas hydrate (NGH) under the vision of Peak Carbon Dioxide Emissions in China

To achieve the goals of Peak Carbon Dioxide Emissions and Carbon Neutrality, China's energy system will continue to accelerate the transition to a clean and low-carbon one. As the cleanest fossil fuel, natural gas is regarded as an inevitable choice for China to build a clean, safe, efficient, and low-carbon energy system and fulfill the goal of “double carbon”. However, the domestic conventional natural gas supply remains rigid while the stimulation of unconventional natural gas is still limited. If we have a firm grip on the principal line of “understanding the ocean -- developing resources -- ensuring security” to realize the large-scale development of 85 trillion square meters of NGH in the South China Sea, then we could not only greatly reduce China ‘s foreign dependence on natural gas, but also guarantee the safety of China ‘s natural gas multi-path supply and safeguard the sovereignty of the South China Sea. Thus, the goal of Peak Carbon Dioxide Emissions and Carbon Neutrality can be achieved in no time.

Critical provincial transmission sectors for carbon dioxide emissions in China

The identification of critical sectors at the provincial level is important for achieving China's CO2 mitigation target. Previous studies have mainly adopted production-based or consumption-based methods to identify critical sectors on two sides of the supply chain. Some sectors located in the intermediate parts of the supply chains are commonly ignored but are critical transmission centers for CO2 emissions. In this study, we use a betweenness-based method based on multi-regional input-output tables to identify critical provincial transmission sectors for CO2 emissions in China in 2007, 2010, 2012, and 2015. The results show that some critical provincial transmission sectors are overlooked by production-based or consumption-based methods but transmit vast amounts of CO2 emissions in the intermediate supply chains, such as the Metal products in Hebei, and the Smelting and pressing of ferrous and nonferrous metals in Gansu. Moreover, critical provincial transmission sectors vary among different provinces and exhibit different patterns in different years. Most critical provincial transmission sectors were located in the northern, central and eastern coastal regions in 2007 and 2010, then shifted to the western region in 2012. In 2015, these sectors were mainly located in the central and eastern coastal regions. Analyzing the spatiotemporal variations in critical provincial transmission sectors can contribute to region-specific policy formulation for CO2 emission mitigation. Improving the intermediate input efficiency may also contribute to CO2 emission mitigation, such as tax breaks or subsidies in critical provincial transmission sectors. It is important to consider betweenness-based results as a complement to policy decisions.

An Examination of Green Credit Promoting Carbon Dioxide Emissions Reduction: A Provincial Panel Analysis of China

The implementation of green finance is a powerful measure to promote global carbon emissions reduction that has been highly valued by academic circles in recent years. However, the role of green credit in carbon emissions reduction in China is still lacking testing. Using a set of panel data including 30 provinces and cities, this study focused on the impact of green credit on carbon dioxide emissions in China from 2006 to 2016. The empirical results indicated that green credit has a significantly negative effect on carbon dioxide emissions intensity. Furthermore, after the mechanism examination, we found that the promotion impacts of green credit on industrial structure upgrading and technological innovation are two effective channels to help reduce carbon dioxide emissions. Heterogeneity analysis found that there are regional differences in the effect of green credit. In the western and northeastern regions, the effect of green credit is invalid. Quantile regression results implied that the greater the carbon emissions intensity, the better the effect of green credit. Finally, a further discussion revealed there exists a nonlinear correlation between green credit and carbon dioxide emissions intensity. These findings suggest that the core measures to promote carbon emission reduction in China are to continue to expand the scale of green credit, increase the technology R&D investment of enterprises, and to vigorously develop the tertiary industry.

Carbonization and atmospheric pollution in China: The asymmetric impacts of forests, livestock production, and economic progress on CO2 emissions

The accumulation of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere has surged over the years as a consequence of diverse humans activities such as deforestation and farming, in particular. The rapidly growing agriculture and farm mechanization have contributed to substantial increases in energy use and carbon dioxide emissions across the globe. It is hypothesized that agriculture significantly contributes to a country's economy to which China is no exception. Hence, the main intention of the current study was to explore the asymmetrical influences of cereal crop production, forestry production, and economic progress on CO2 emissions in China between 1970 and 2017. The non-linear ARDL (Autoregressive Distributed Lag) bounds testing method was used to determine the short- and long-run dynamics linked with positive and negative shocks to the explanatory variables. The findings indicate that positive shocks to cereal crop production deteriorate the atmospheric quality by intensifying carbon dioxide emissions only in the long run, while the impacts of negative shocks in this regard are statistically insignificant. Ironically, shocks to forestry do not exhibit any significant impact on China's carbon dioxide emission levels. Moreover, carbon dioxide emissions demonstrate a strong progressive association with the positive shocks to energy resources utilized within the Chinese economy. Additionally, positive and negative shocks to economic progress are evidenced to boost and reduce the carbon dioxide emission figures in the long run. Lastly, negative shocks to livestock production are witnessed to increase carbon dioxide emissions only in the short run. Hence, for achieving the Chinese carbon-neutrality agenda, it is recommended to prioritize the use of renewable energy resources, particularly for producing cereal crops, in order to curb carbon dioxide emissions in China. Simultaneously, the Chinese economic growth policies should integrate environmentally-friendly schemes to counter the adversative environmental influences related to the economic progress in China.

3-D fracture evolution and water migration in fractured coal under variable stresses induced by fluidized mining: In situ triaxial loading and CT imaging analysis

To reduce environmental impacts caused by traditional coal recovery, an in situ fluidized mining method based on the earthworm-like intelligent unmanned automatic mining machine (IUAMM) has been proposed, which achieves safe, efficient, and low-carbon exploitation of coal resources. The recovery of abundant thick-seam coal as a clean energy source is important for achieving net zero carbon dioxide emissions in China before 2060. In this study, we discuss the applicability of IUAMM-based fluidized mining technology to thick-seam coal recovery, and its potential impacts on geological formations and the environment, by evaluating mining-induced stress effects on coal fracture and water migration. A promising approach combining high-resolution X-ray computed tomography and in situ triaxial loading techniques is developed to explore three-dimensional (3-D) fracture evolution and water migration in fractured coal subjected to variable geostresses induced by fluidized mining. We characterize the morphologies and connectivity of 3-D fractures at various geostress stages and quantify the effects of fracture network evolution on the water permeability of fractured coal. Simultaneous fracture growth and closure caused by stress variations is also analyzed. The results indicate that the increase in water permeability induced by the fluidized mining method is smaller than that induced by traditional mining methods. Therefore, the in situ fluidized mining method can help reduce damage to rock formations and achieve green coal recovery.

Impact of COVID-19 pandemic on energy consumption and carbon dioxide emissions in China's transportation sector

The COVID-19 pandemic has put the whole world in a great lockdown and greatly changed our lives. The lockdown caused by the COVID-19 pandemic has greatly affected the transportation industry in China. In this paper, energy consumption and carbon dioxide emissions of fuel vehicles and battery electric vehicles in China during the COVID-19 pandemic was estimated and analyzed. The impact of COVID-19 pandemic was analyzed. The study period is taken from September 2019 to April 2020, and the period from September 2018 to August 2019 is taken for comparison. Moreover, energy consumption and CO2 emissions of fuel vehicles during SARS epidemic was also analyzed. The related study period is taken from January 2003 to August 2003. The results show COVID-19 has a much larger impact on transportation energy consumption and CO2 emissions than SARS. After the COVID-19 pandemic, energy conservation and emission reduction still have a long way to go. Determining the energy consumption and emissions in transportation sector during the COVID-19 pandemic will provide the government with a reference for future energy conservation and emission reduction in transportation sector and the further promotion of battery electric vehicles.

Achieving sustainability and energy efficiency goals: Assessing the impact of hydroelectric and renewable electricity generation on carbon dioxide emission in China

This study examines the relationship between total renewable electricity generation, total hydroelectric generation, and carbon dioxide emissions (CO2e) for China. The autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) model showed that renewable electricity generation, hydroelectric generation, and green innovation decreased CO2e in China from 1990 to 2018, whereas gross domestic product per capita and foreign direct investment increased CO2e. Moreover, the Granger-causality test results are as follows. First, a two-way causal flow from CO2e to foreign direct investment and CO2e to gross domestic product per capita confirmed the feedback hypothesis. Second, a one-way causal flow from hydroelectric and renewable electricity generation to gross domestic product per capita supported the energy-led growth hypothesis. Third, the causality test reflected a one-way causal flow from renewable electricity generation to foreign direct investment and hydroelectric generation to foreign direct investment and renewable electricity generation. This study asserts the need for government to introduce taxes and other incentives for solar, wind, and hydropower-related projects. The paper also calls for designing policies to improve the market attractiveness of hydroelectric generation projects through special investment programs.

A quantitative roadmap for China towards carbon neutrality in 2060 using methanol and ammonia as energy carriers

SummaryCarbon neutrality by 2060 is the recent expression of China's international commitment to reduce its carbon dioxide emissions. Energy and chemical sectors, the two main contributors for carbon dioxide emissions in China, are the biggest bottlenecks for reaching the objective of carbon neutrality. Moreover, coal-to-ammonia production and coal-to-methanol production are the major CO2 emission process contributors in China's coal chemical sector. Herein, a possible route to the carbon neutral target based on energy-chemical nexus for electricity generation as well as methanol and ammonia production is proposed in this study. The most cost-effective solution for meeting the commitment is identified by considering regional variations in renewable and non-renewable resources and adopting an optimized regional cooperation. According to the roadmap presented in this study, an optimized combination of fossil fuels and renewable energies forming “blue energy economy” is feasible and promising.

Forecasting Chinese carbon emissions using a novel grey rolling prediction model

Carbon dioxide is the crucial factor leading to global warming, which has brought great negative effects on economic development and human life. Accurate prediction of carbon dioxide emissions is of great significance for the evaluation of China's current low-carbon environmental protection policy. However, the traditional forecasting models only consider the regularity of historical data, and seldom consider the addition of new information on the development trend. Then, this paper proposes a novel grey rolling mechanism based on new information priority principle. An average weakening buffer operator is used to process the original sequence and the new information is mined before modeling. The modeling mechanism and steps of the new model are described in detail. Finally, the proposed model is used to predict and analyze the trend of carbon dioxide emissions in China. Compared with other two types of classical prediction models without considering new information priority, the experimental results show that the proposed model demonstrates better simulation and prediction performance and a high stability. The research results provide important reference value for China's relevant environmental sectors to make decisions on energy conservation and emission reduction policies, and also help to enrich and expand the development of grey system theory.

Can market-oriented reform inhibit carbon dioxide emissions in China? A new perspective from factor market distortion

Abstract To explore whether market-oriented reform can help reduce CO2 emissions, by adopting the spatial panel data model based on the provincial panel data of China during 2001-2017, this article empirically tests the impact of labor market distortion and capital market distortion on CO2 emissions. The main findings are yielded as follows. (1) The labor market distortion and capital market distortion are widespread in China. The high wages caused by the insufficient supply of labor and the low marginal output of labor due to the shortage of human capital stock are the main reason for the positive labor market distortion. The capital market distortion can be put down to the excessive interventions of the government on the allocation of capital. (2) The labor market distortion can enhance CO2 emissions, that is, promoting market-oriented reform in the labor market can curb CO2 emissions. (3) The connection between capital market distortion and CO2 emissions can be described as a U-shaped curve. The complete marketization of the capital market and excessive government intervention in the allocation of capital can both cause an increase in CO2 emissions. (4) Improving the marketization of the labor market is effective for reducing CO2 emissions in almost all provinces. In the central region, the capital market distortion can exacerbate CO2 emissions. However, in the western region, the governmental intervention on the allocation of capital can enable limited funds to more effectively move to environmentally friendly enterprises, and avoid these provinces becoming a pollution refuge. Based on these findings, this article goes into more detail on the policy implications.

A novel Grey Verhulst model and its application in forecasting CO2 emissions.

Carbon dioxide emission is an important environmental issue, and it has also become an important reference factor for governments to formulate social and economic policies. The objective and accurate prediction of carbon dioxide emissions can provide reference and early warning for the implementation of the government's environmental strategy. The change of the original data of carbon dioxide emissions is S-type, but not saturated S-type. The grey Verhulst model is mainly used to describe the process with saturation state, which is suitable for modeling S-type data series. However, it is found that there are inherent errors and limitations in this model. In this paper, the grey action of the grey Verhulst model is improved, a new action Verhulst model is obtained, and its properties are studied. Finally, the new model is used to predict the carbon dioxide emissions of China and Russia, and ARIMA model is added for comparison. The results show that compared with the original Verhulst model, the simulation and prediction accuracy of the optimized Verhulst model are improved by more than 10%, and the ARIMA model underestimates the carbon dioxide emissions. From the result analysis, China and Russia need to formulate strong energy conservation and emission reduction policies, vigorously develop clean energy industry, and promote green production and lifestyle.

Research on the Relationship between Economic Growth, Environmental Governance Investment and Carbon Emission--Based on the Time Series Data from 2000 to 2019

The study on the relationship between investment in environmental governance, carbon emission and economic growth is helpful for the relevant government departments to coordinate the influence among them when formulating the policies of reducing emission and conserving energy, so as to take the comparative advantages of various factors and promote the benign interaction between economic development and environmental governance. In this paper, the data of Per capita GDP, per capita investment in environmental governance and per capita CARBON dioxide emissions in China from 2000 to 2019 are selected as the research basis, and variables are studied by means of Granger causality and impulse response function. As shown in the results, there is a single Granger relationship between investment in environmental governance and carbon emissions, that is, the increase of investment in environmental governance leads to the reduction of carbon emissions. The influence of economic growth on environmental governance investment is small, but in the long term, it can restrain the growth of carbon emissions. Investment in environmental governance can promote economic growth and stimulate a reduction in the emissions in the short term; Economic growth was hindered by the emissions in the long term and fail to stimulate increased investment in environmental governance. Based on these findings, this paper proposes policy Suggestions for optimizing the structure of environmental governance investment, improving the carbon emission monitoring and response mechanism, and strengthening the technological level of energy conservation and emission reduction.

Driving forces of carbon dioxide emissions in China’s cities: An empirical analysis based on the geodetector method

Reducing carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions is an important strategy used to curb global warming. Notably, urban areas contribute to the majority of global CO2 emissions. The exploration of spatial differences and their impacts on CO2 emissions in cities serves an essential role in formulating regional carbon emission reduction strategies. Therefore, combining spatial autocorrelation analysis with a geographical detector model could help understanding how CO2 emissions are spatially distributed in cities and the mechanisms responsible for their distribution. By analyzing China’s prefecture-level cities as spatial unit, the spatial distribution features of CO2 emissions were investigated, and their main drivers in 2005 and 2012 were identified. The results indicates that CO2 emissions increased by 60.35% from 2005 to 2012. The higher CO2 emissions in cities were mainly located in the east and north regions of China. CO2 emissions had a significant positive spatial autocorrelation and an obvious phenomenon of stratification appeared in 2005 and 2012. The degree of spatial agglomeration among cities with low and high CO2 emissions both increased. Gross domestic product (GDP), research and development (R&D), foreign direct investment (FDI), and urban built-up area were major factors affecting CO2 emissions. Increased population density was associated with decreased CO2 emissions, while the effect of climate types increased from 2005 to 2012. The interactions of GDP with share_ industry (the share of labour in the secondary industry), population density, and urbanization had a stronger influence on CO2 emissions in 2005, while the interactions of GDP with FDI, climate types, and share_ industry were stronger in 2012. However, the influence of share_ industry and climate types on CO2 emissions were only important when certain economic levels were met. The findings provide a reference for decision-makers to develop more accurate and detailed policies to reduce CO2 emissions in Chinese cities.