Resource Endowments Research Articles

Dynamic optimisation of carbon allowance considering inter-provincial energy resources trade for emissions reduction: Case of China southern power grid

As the main carrier of natural resources into energy, the power industry is the world's largest carbon emitter, and its sustainable development will have far-reaching impacts on the utilization of natural resources and economic growth. Carbon trading market is a widely used tool to promote proactive emissions reductions in the electricity industry in different regions. On this basis, inter-provincial trading in the power industry creates a hidden carbon transfer between producers and consumers of energy resources. Therefore, it is necessary to construct systematic multi-period emission reduction measures to deal with the conflict and coordination of the operation of the two systems. In this study, to promote orderly emission reductions in the power industry in areas with different natural resource endowments, a two-tier decision-making model for carbon allowances allocation based on interactive model predictive control technique is constructed. The model readjustss the overall allowances by tracking the implied carbon transfer flows between regions and implementing a production-oriented allowance compensation mechanism, forming an optimisation strategy for carbon compliance cost and emission intensity in the power sector. The experimental results show that adjusting the regional allowance distribution in inter-provincial transmission can alleviate the impact of high emission reduction pressure on the overall carbon compliance cost, while the rolling horizon optimisation of the carbon baseline value can approach the expected emission reduction target in stages. Taking the Southern Power Grid as an example, this study ultimately provides policy recommendations for sustainable emission reductions under multi-period inter-provincial trade in energy resources.

The factors driving industrial integration: A fuzzy set qualitative comparative analysis

The integration of modern service and advanced manufacturing industries represents deep industrial reform and profound change in quality concepts, mechanisms, and practices. Integrating these two industries is important for achieving high-quality development and is an area of interest for policymakers and academia. This study analyzes the data of 11 regions in 2021 in the Guangdong–Hong Kong–Macao Greater Bay Area using the fuzzy set qualitative comparative analysis method from the configuration perspective. This study explores the effects of multiple factors, such as economic efficiency, technological innovation, and the policy environment, on improving the coupling coordination level of the modern service and advanced manufacturing industries, and analyzes the path selection of industrial integration development. Overall, economic efficiency, technological innovation, and policy environment factors are not necessary conditions for the integration development of the modern service and advanced manufacturing industries. The multiple impacts of economic efficiency, technological innovation, and policy environment form a multi-restructuring path that drives the integration of the two industries. Owing to the economic development level and resource endowment of different regions, the path dictating the degree of integration between the two industries varies by region. From a holistic perspective, all regions should strive to coordinate the multiple conditions of economic efficiency, technological innovation, and policy environment to break through objective constraints such as the government's conditions and external environment based on their own organizational conditions and resource endowments. Additionally, all regions should strengthen exchanges, cooperation, and integration mechanisms and implement complementary development and distinctive development in core cities in the Greater Bay Area. The results clarify the factors affecting industrial convergence in the Greater Bay Area, enriching existing research methods and laying a foundation for a decision-making theory of industrial integration development.

Carbon decoupling effects of energy consumption permit trading schemes: Evidence from China

As a fundamental policy instrument for facilitating the profound transformation of China's energy sector, the carbon decoupling effect of the energy consumption permit trading scheme (ECPTS) is a crucial issue to be evaluated. This paper aimed to explore the carbon decoupling effect and mechanisms of China's ECPTS by utilizing the difference-in-differences (DID) estimator. The findings indicated that the ECPTS significantly enhanced the degree of carbon decoupling, and the dynamic effect tended to gradually expand this decoupling effect. This conclusion holds even after conducting several robustness tests. Moreover, heterogeneity is observed in the carbon decoupling effect of the ECPTS, with regions characterized by higher levels of economic development, lower carbon emissions, and higher resource endowments exhibiting more pronounced decoupling effects. Furthermore, the mechanism analysis revealed that the ECPTS primarily improves carbon decoupling through the optimization of the energy mix and the reduction of the energy use scale. Conversely, the role of industrial structure and technological innovation has yet to fully manifest. Consequently, it is imperative to continue promoting and refining the construction of the ECPTS market. Additionally, stimulating investment in optimizing industrial structures and fostering technological innovation, along with the formulation of regionally tailored policy measures, may propel the carbon decoupling effect of ECPTSs.

Deciphering how promoting land consolidation for village revitalization in rural China: A comparison study

As an efficient toolkit to relieve and resolve rural issues, land consolidation (LC) has been suggested as a promising policy instrument for sustainable rural development. Villages are the most basic units of rural planning and development. However, few studies have examined and compared the relationships between LC and rural revitalization at the village level. Given the sophisticated experience of Eastern China in LC practices, this study, based on theoretical analysis of the relationship between land use and village revitalization, compared two Chinese villages in this region with distinct spatial locations from neighboring cities to analyze and reveal the mechanisms of LC in promoting local revitalization. The results show that under the combined effect of internal and external factors, LC programs have been successfully implemented in the two case villages, during which the interactive mechanism between various aspects, mainly involving industry, habitat, and governance, has been created to promote local revitalization. In the absence of changes in resource endowments, policy support and the efforts of local elites are the key factors for the success of LC in the two villages. However, due to different economic and socio-cultural conditions between the two villages, there are also differences in their revitalization mechanisms. Parts of the lessons learned from the case villages can be useful for villages with similar situations in plain areas. These findings can advance the understanding of how to promote LC for village development and serve as a reference point for other developing countries and regions with similar socio-cultural backgrounds eradicating poverty and revitalizing localities through LC.

Cyclicality of public debt in developing countries: Does dependence on natural resources matter?

We revisit the resource curse theory, producing empirical evidence of the importance of natural resources on the cyclical orientation of public debt. Using the Driscoll-Kraay fixed-effects method and panel data from 51 developing countries for the period 1986 to 2020, we show that natural resource rents accentuate the procyclicality of public debt. However, our results suggest that the impact of natural resource endowment in procyclicality does not have the same magnitude when taking into account (i) the disaggregation of public debt, (ii) alternative measures of natural resource rent and (iii) the division of the sample into African and non-African countries. More specifically, natural resource rents amplify the procyclicality of external public debt more than domestic public debt. In addition, we find that while coal and forest rents have no effect on the cyclical orientation of public debt, mineral and especially oil rents do amplify the procyclical nature of public debt. Finally, our results show that the accentuation of the procyclical nature of public debt generated by the interaction between the economic cycle and natural resource endowment is more pronounced in African developing countries than in non-African developing countries. Our results shed new light on the Dutch disease hypothesis, and have relevant policy implications for governments in resource-rich countries wishing to move towards counter-cyclical fiscal interventions.

Paddling Against the Tide: The Micro-Level Strategies Entrepreneurs Employ to Resist Endemic Corruption in Tanzania

This paper explores when and how entrepreneurs who operate new organizations in environments where corruption is endemic can resist it. Despite the continued scholarly interest in corruption, anticorruption efforts by micro, small, and medium enterprises have been largely overlooked. Instead, studies have focused on the intraorganizational actions of larger established organizations (local and multinational) without sufficiently considering their interdependence with other actors in their external environments. Given the social exchange nature of corruption, we collected and analyzed data from interviews with Tanzanian entrepreneurs, and theorized about when and how they circumvent or resist corruption. Our findings illuminate the complex relationship between entrepreneurs’ motivations and capability, and highlight the strategies entrepreneurs use when they seek to resist corruption without compromising their resource needs. Subject to their leverage (i.e., resource endowments and available alternatives), entrepreneurs resist corruption by avoiding powerful focal firms, restructuring their resource dependence in a firm-focused manner, and managing risks. Considering social-relational dynamics, entrepreneurs also find ways to avoid interactions with corrupt agents and to use power strategically (through political tactics, such as co-opting and challenging) that influence agents to act in the entrepreneurs’ best interests and against corruption.

Assessment of Rural Industry Integration Development, Spatiotemporal Evolution Characteristics, and Regional Disparities in Ethnic Regions: A Case Study of Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region Counties

Ethnic regions in China primarily focus on the development of agricultural and animal husbandry economies, which are relatively underdeveloped. Rural industry integration development (RIID) is considered the foundation and guarantee for ethnic regions to achieve high-quality modernization of agriculture. The purpose of this article is to measure the level of rural industrial integration in ethnic minority areas, analyze the spatial evolution and regional differences, and explore the actual situation of RIID in these regions. The aim is to provide a decision-making basis for local governments to effectively promote the development of rural industrial integration. Based on the improvement of the evaluation index system for rural industrial integration development, this paper takes the counties of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region as the research area. Utilizing panel data from the statistical yearbooks of 68 banners and counties in Inner Mongolia from 2011 to 2020, the panel entropy weight TOPSIS method is employed to assess the average level of rural industrial integration in the research area. The ArcGIS natural breakpoint method is employed to classify the level of RIID in county areas. Exploratory Spatial Data Analysis (ESDA) and GeoDa are utilized to analyze the spatial distribution characteristics of RIID. Finally, the Theil index is employed to analyze the regional differences in the level of RIID. The results show the following: (1) The overall level of RIID in ethnic regions is relatively low, with the contributions of the four dimensions in the evaluation index system as follows: integration path > integration foundation > integration sustainability > integration effect. The level of RIID in the study area is as follows: western region > eastern region > central region. (2) Spatially, there are positive correlations and significant spatial clustering in the level of RIID, with the spatial clustering effect of RIID weakening. (3) There are regional differences in the level of RIID, which are expanding. The inter-regional differences are decreasing, while the intra-regional differences are increasing. (4) The construction of agricultural processing facilities, financial investment, financial support, and talent policies are important influencing factors for the current stage of RIID in ethnic regions. Therefore, in the low-level development stage of RIID in ethnic regions, it is necessary to fully utilize the advantages of resource endowment, increase investment in rural infrastructure, and strengthen the guidance of talent flow into rural revitalization construction.

Measurement of Tourism Ecological Efficiency and Analysis of Influencing Factors under the Background of Climate Change: A Case Study of Three Provinces in China’s Cryosphere

Against the backdrop of climate change and the “dual carbon” goals, enhancing the ecological efficiency of cryospheric tourism is crucial not only for the high-quality development of the tourism industry itself but also for the protection of the ecological environment and the promotion of green sustainable development in the cryospheric region. In light of this, this study, taking climate change as its background and based on the perspective of carbon emission constraints, integrates multidimensional factors such as “climate change, carbon emission constraints, and cryospheric resources” into a unified measurement framework to construct a model for evaluating the ecological efficiency of tourism in the cryosphere. Specifically, the model considers inputs, expected outputs, and unexpected outputs. Subsequently, employing the super-efficiency slack-based measure (SBM) model, this study measures the tourism ecological efficiency (TEE) of three provinces (Xinjiang, Qinghai, Tibet) in the cryosphere from 2013 to 2021 and utilizes the Malmquist–Luenberger index and gray correlation model to reveal their dynamic changes, efficiency decomposition, and influencing factors. The results indicate that: (1) The overall mean of TEE in the cryosphere is between 0.2428 and 1.2142, Over the study period, the average annual growth rate and corresponding confidence interval were 14.74%, (−8.61%, 64.23%), showing a significant fluctuating growth trend. Among them, Xinjiang stands out, with its mean scores ranging from 0.2418 to 1.6229, surpassing the overall average level of the cryosphere. (2) During the study period, the overall dynamic efficiency of tourism ecology in the cryosphere increased by 21.54%, driven by the synergy of technological progress (TC), pure technical efficiency (PET), and scale efficiency (SE). For each province, the dynamic efficiency of tourism ecology has improved, but to varying degrees. (3) Regarding the driving factors of TEE in the cryosphere, each driving factor is closely related to TEE, ranked from large to small as follows: carbon emission structure, level of economic development, infrastructure, intensity of technological input, industrial structure, resource endowment, and environmental regulation. This article holds theoretical and practical significance for promoting the high-quality development of polar tourism and achieving synergistic progress between the economy and environment.

Coupling coordination and interactive relationship between population urbanization and land urbanization from the perspective of shrinking cities: a case study of Jiangsu province, China

Introduction: Urban contraction brings about certain impacts on the advancement of urbanization.Methods: This paper explores the coupling coordination (CCD) and geographical distribution of land urbanization (LU) and population urbanization (PU) in Jiangsu Province through a CCD model and a spatial autocorrelation model from the perspective of shrinking cities. The Panel Vector Autoregression (PVAR) model is constructed to deeply investigate the complex interaction between the PU-LU in 13 cities, 2007-2020.Results: The study found that the PU-LU CCD in each of the above-mentioned cities shows a synergistic incremental evolution during the study period in terms of time series. In addition, in terms of spatial characteristics, the CCD of PU and LU shows significant positive global spatial autocorrelation, and the CCD of cities with high population size growth is much larger than that of cities with continuous population size. Last, there is an interactive response relationship between PU and LU. PU influences LU, however, PU itself is influenced by its own system’s internal structure. The impact of PU on LU shows a positive cumulative effect of the “inverted U shape.”Discussion: Furthermore, this paper proposes that policies be created to ensure the coordinated growth of PU-LU based on the differences in resource endowments of cities with 3 types of urban shrinkage. The link between floating population and construction land for cities should be established through enhancing the extent of intensive land use and reforming household registration.

Evaluation of regional comprehensive development efficiency under low-carbon policy: based on optimized DDF-GML combined with unsupervised clustering method

In the study of urban development, it is very important to evaluate the influence of production factors reasonably and efficiently for the region to achieve efficient development. The principal aim of this investigation is to amalgamate the conventional measurement model characterized by robust interpretability with the non-parametric model characterized by limited interpretability, thereby enhancing the precision of research outcomes. Towards this objective, the study employs an optimized directional distance function integrated with a global Malmquist–Luenberger index to formulate a comprehensive total factor productivity measurement framework. In elucidating the homogeneous attributes of regions, departing from prior methodologies reliant on manual or direct algorithmic partitioning, this paper employs the K-means clustering algorithm for index discernment, abstracting the concept of K-means clustering centroids to encapsulate regional homogeneity, thereby delineating results through the visualization of regional development potential maps and the evolution of centroid-based clustering trend maps. The findings of the investigation illuminate common patterns of change across disparate regions, proposing a strategy for leveraging regional resource endowments towards a cohesive framework, thereby transcending constraints imposed by production efficiency limitations. Amidst the backdrop of the COVID-19 pandemic, this study draws upon provincial-level data spanning from 2000 to 2018 in China. The conclusive analytical outcomes underscore the pivotal role of energy factors in regional development efficiency, particularly within high-potential development regions, followed by the capital and labor factors. Concurrently, the study discerns a discernible hierarchical pattern among areas of development potential, which exhibits correlation with factor mobility dynamics.

Minimum wage standards and corporate short-term and long-term investment preferences

This paper examines the impact of minimum wage levels in the regions where companies are located on their short-term and long-term investment preferences, using listed companies in China as the research subjects and combining micro corporate data with regional level data. The results show that higher minimum wage levels in the regions where companies are located have a significant inhibitory effect on their short-term investments, but not on their long-term investments. Further analysis shows that inhibitory effect of minimum wage levels on short-term investment by enterprises is mainly evident in non-state-owned enterprises and enterprises in regions with lower resource endowments.

How can firms get benefits from the innovation ecosystem? Empirical evidence from Pakistan

PurposeThis research intends to analyze the innovation ecosystem factors that play a vital role in firm performance. As a result, large-scale empirical studies on the innovation ecosystem are rare, and fewer efforts have been made to determine if and how different factors affect the ecosystem models of firms. There has yet to be a substantial empirical study on the innovation ecosystem.Design/methodology/approachData were acquired from Pakistani IT companies. The results show that factors of the innovation ecosystem significantly contribute to business performance. The essential assumption is that resource endowment, organizational culture, knowledge and competence, and technology capability are allied to the innovation ecosystem.FindingsThe findings are crucial from a managerial view because firms must focus on changing their innovation ecosystem factors model to achieve greater performance. Radical changes in the firms will only be worthwhile if they value their resource endowments. To attain superior firm performance via influential factors of the innovation ecosystem, IT administrators need to build organizational cultural capacities to adapt to changes brought on by digitization quickly and effectively. However, this must be supplemented by improving organizational knowledge, competencies and technological capabilities to enable organizations to modify their ecosystems.Originality/valueEventually, firms can better respond to changes in their settings if they combine these variables by implementing an effective innovation ecosystem model, which leads to greater sector and superior financial performance.

Assessment of Climate Adaptability in the Late-Maturing Citrus Industry in Sichuan Province

Sichuan Province is the largest inland area for late-maturing citrus fruit production in China, and its climate conditions are a primary consideration for the cultivation of late-maturing citrus fruits. Based on meteorological data from 2010 to 2020 for the 18 prefecture-level cities and autonomous prefectures in Sichuan Province that cultivate late-maturing citrus fruits, along with the traditional method of dividing the advantages of citrus and the calculation of comparative advantage using factor endowment coefficients, we identified the annual average temperature, annual accumulated temperature ≥ 10 °C, average temperatures in July and January, annual precipitation, and annual sunshine hours as input indicators. We selected the resource endowment coefficient as the output indicator and used the DEA–Malmquist index model to evaluate the climate adaptability of Sichuan’s late-maturing citrus fruit industry. The analysis results indicate that the overall climate conditions in Sichuan are suitable for the growth of late-maturing citrus fruits. However, extensive cultivation of similar varieties has led to a decline in resource endowment across different regions. The use of arable land for cultivating late-maturing citrus fruits has also reduced climate adaptability. Policies that contradict climate adaptability do not support sustainable development within Sichuan’s late-maturing citrus fruit industry.

The Sustainable Development Model of China’s Tourism-Based Poverty Alleviation Industry: Analysis of the Configuration of an Active Government, an Efficient Market and a Caring Society

Tourism-based poverty alleviation strategies have played an important role in China’s efforts to eliminate poverty. In the post-poverty-alleviation era, the mechanism by which the government, market and society jointly promote the sustainable development of the tourism-based poverty alleviation industry requires further research. Based on data from 33 tourism-based poverty alleviation demonstration counties in China, this paper uses the fsQCA method to explore the role positioning and function of the three major entities of government, market and society. The results show that no single condition can promote the long-term development of tourism-based poverty alleviation. Four modes are proposed: government financial support, resource endowment, ecosystem tourism and multisubject coordination. The government provides a diverse and sustainable “haematopoietic” mechanism by focusing on different elements in each path. In addition, public tourism services are crucial to the long-term mechanism of tourism-based poverty alleviation.

Nigeria’s Foreign Policy and the Major Geographical Drivers

The thinking in the literature is that states develop different foreign policy interests and priorities depending on their geographical endowments. That is, the foreign policy of a state is sensitive to its geography. This article examines the defining role that geographical descriptors have played in the conduct of Nigeria’s foreign policy. Relying on data generated from major ranking bodies/platforms and other secondary sources, this paper contends that geographical factors have always shaped Nigeria’s foreign policy towards the coterminous or contiguous countries, Gulf of Guinea, ECOWAS region, and African continent. While Nigeria has leveraged its size, location, natural and human endowments to launch itself into global relevance, there are major constraints. These include the ineffective governance of Nigeria’s land and borders and occasional border disputes with the adjoining states, poor demographics in terms of nutrition, health, education and work, and the mismanagement of the proceeds from the country’s natural resource endowments. These problems must be addressed if Nigeria is to harness the full benefits of its geography.

Comparing net zero pathways across the Atlantic A model inter-comparison exercise between the Energy Modeling Forum 37 and the European Climate and Energy Modeling Forum

Europe and North America account for 32 % of current carbon emissions. Due to distinct legacy systems, energy infrastructure, socioeconomic development, and energy resource endowment, both regions have different policy and technological pathways to reach net zero by the mid-century. Against this background, our paper examines the results from the net zero emission scenarios for Europe and North America that emerged from the collaboration of the European and American Energy Modeling Forums. In our analysis, we perform an inter-comparison of various integrated assessments and bottom-up energy system models. A clear qualitative consensus emerges on five main points. First, Europe and the United States reach net zero targets with electrification, demand-side reductions, and carbon capture and sequestration technologies. Second, the use of carbon capture and sequestration is more predominant in the United States due to a steeper decarbonization schedule. Third, the buildings sector is the easiest to electrify in both regions. Fourth, the industrial sector is the hardest to electrify in the United States and transportation in Europe.Fifth, in both regions, the transition in the energy mix is driven by the substitution of coal and natural gas with solar and wind, but to a different extent.

Decoupling Characteristics between Coupling Coordination Degree of Production-Living-Ecological Function and Carbon Emissions in the Urban Agglomeration of the Shandong Peninsula

Under the dual carbon goals, the relationship between land production-living-ecological function and carbon emissions points to a new direction for land spatial planning. This study compiles and analyzes carbon emissions and the production-living-ecological function coupling coordination degree of 16 cities in the Shandong Peninsula urban agglomeration for the years 2001, 2006, 2011, 2016, and 2021. Furthermore, it introduces the Tapio decoupling model to calculate the decoupling index between carbon emissions and the coupling coordination degree. The spatiotemporal evolution characteristics of production-living-ecological function coupling coordination, carbon emissions, and the decoupling index were analyzed. The results indicate that (1) from 2001 to 2021, the production-living-ecological function coupling coordination degree in Shandong Peninsula urban agglomeration increased overall, with an obvious “high in the east and low in the west” feature in the spatial pattern. That is caused by the difference in resource endowment between the east and the west and the gap in the process of urbanization, industrial structure transformation, and ecological governance. (2) During the study period, overall carbon emissions increased, with a significantly reduced growth rate. A polarization phenomenon of increase and decrease trends within the urban agglomeration was observed. The spatial distribution characteristics of land use carbon emissions showed significant production-living-ecological coupling coordination degree heterotropism. (3) From 2001 to 2021, the decoupling relationship between production-living-ecological coupling coordination degree and carbon emissions mainly exhibited three patterns: strong negative decoupling, expansion negative decoupling, and strong decoupling, maintaining a good decoupling trend overall. These results indicate that the coordinated development level of production, living, and ecological functions in the study area has improved during the research period, and its decoupling relationship with carbon emissions has also shown a positive trend. However, there is still a problem of uneven regional development. In the future, the production-living-ecological development of Shandong Peninsula urban agglomeration should adhere to the development pattern of “two circles and four regions”, which aims to promote resource sharing and complementary advantages through specific regional divisions, and achieve coordinated development within the region. This involves optimizing land use structure and function, encouraging innovation and development of green industries, and deepening ecological environment restoration and protection to realize the coordinated development of the production-living-ecological function of land use under the dual carbon goal.

Development of a method to assess synergy and competition for water use among water-energy-food nexus in the Yellow River basin: Water quantity-quality dimensions

Water, as an indispensable component of the water-energy-food (WEF) nexus, plays a pivotal role in shaping its stability and safety. The competition for water between the food and energy systems is accentuated in the concept of the nexus. However, existing quantitative frameworks and assessment mechanisms have limitations as they often neglect to consider water quality in water competition within the WEF nexus. Therefore, a WEF nexus synergy and competition assessment method was proposed by coupling water footprint theory and the Lotka-Volterra model in this paper. This method establishes two scenarios based on the water footprint perspective, namely, water quantity and water quality-quantity. It effectively addresses the deficiencies in quantitative analysis of WEF system trade-offs and synergies. To illustrate the application of the method, this study conducted a case study in the Yellow River Basin (YRB) of China, evaluating the complex competitive and synergistic mechanisms of water use in the energy and food industries. Compared to the water quantity scenario, the results reveals that the inclusion of gray water footprint intensifies the competition for water in the food and energy industries in the YRB from 2000 to 2020, particularly in resource-based and economically developed cities. The spatial distribution characteristics of water resource competition and synergy in the YRB’s WEF system align with WEF endowment and economic technology levels. To address water conflicts in the WEF nexus and enhance nexus security, this study proposes a regulatory pathway for WEF system synergistic security based on two aspects (water competition and synergy characteristics and resource endowment). It contributes to a more comprehensive understanding of water competition and synergy in the WEF nexus and provides valuable insights for resource management.

Collective action in the pastural area of Inner Mongolia, China: Evidence from a lab-in-the-field experiment

The degradation of grasslands is a pressing global issue. Extensive research has explored the implementation of collective action as a means to ensure the sustainable use of grassland resources. However, empirical analysis of its impact in the field is lacking. Therefore, we conducted a lab-in-the-field experiment to evaluate the intensity of herders’ participation in collective action and estimated its impact on grassland conservation and livestock production at herder household level. As a robustness check, we performed a principal component analysis to measure herders’ willingness to participate in collective action. The empirical results show that collective action has significant positive effects on grassland quality and livestock number. A mechanism analysis indicates that herders who are more actively engaged in collective action are more likely to adopt rotational grazing management practices, leading to better grassland quality and a higher number of livestock. A heterogeneity analysis reveals that the benefits of collective action on grassland conservation vary based on resource endowments and individual characteristics, including grassland area and social network. This study makes a significant contribution to the study of sustainable grassland management that promotes the coupling development of grassland protection and livestock production.

Cooperative operation optimization for rural multi-microgrid and county-integrated energy operators considering typical energy scenarios

Despite being rich in renewable energy, China's rural areas are backwards in terms of energy use. Rural multi-microgrid cooperative operation optimization can effectively promote renewable energy use in rural areas. Many different microgrid energy scenarios have been developed for rural areas of China, and they have different resource endowments and unit compositions. Moreover, frequent power-related interactions occur between counties and villages. This study analyzes four typical microgrid energy scenarios in rural areas of China and optimizes their synergistic operation based on county-integrated energy operators. First, a mathematical model of rural microgrids for four energy scenarios and a trading mechanism between rural multi-microgrid and county-integrated energy operators were constructed. Subsequently, an upper-level optimization model that minimizes operating costs was developed for the county-integrated energy operator. A low-level optimization model was developed for rural multi-microgrid usage, and it minimized the operating costs. Finally, Stackelberg game theory was utilized to resolve the optimization issue. The results showed that the cooperative optimization of rural multi-microgrid and county-integrated energy operations can reduce the operating costs of both parties compared to that when each subject is operating alone. This optimization reduced the rural multi-microgrid cost from 12 773.64 yuan to 11 508.67 yuan and county-integrated energy operator cost from 3898.37 yuan to 1581.79 yuan. Moreover, it reduced both parties' dependence on external power grids; increased the self-balancing capacity of the rural multi-microgrid and county-integrated energy operator from 0.424 to 0.715 and 0.694 to 0.852, respectively; substantially increased the capacity of renewable energy consumption through power interaction; and reduced the risk of fluctuations in system operating costs.