Energy Resource Endowment Research Articles

How does the value of ecological restoration techniques affect ecosystem carbon density: A resource endowment-based perspective

In the context of carbon neutrality and carbon peaks, innovations in ecological restoration technology play a key role in carbon adsorption and maintaining ecological balance. Regional governments, tasked with formulating differentiated and rational ecologically sustainable development plans and carbon-neutral strategies tailored to various resource endowment conditions, require timely identification of the mechanisms by which ecological restoration technologies affect the carbon density of ecosystems. Based on data from 31 provinces in China from 2006 to 2021, this study employed the Spatial Durbin Model with both time and space fixed effects to examine the impact of the value of ecological restoration technologies on ecosystem carbon density under varying resource endowments. The empirical results indicate that (1) the value of ecological restoration technology has a significantly positive effect on ecosystem carbon density, particularly in neighbouring areas; (2) energy resource endowment exhibits a significantly inverted U-shaped boundary effect, whereby regions with moderate energy endowment can optimise the positive impact of ecological restoration technology; (3) the heterogeneity analysis, based on levels of regional environmental governance and forest cover, shows that in regions with less investment in environmental infrastructure and lower forest cover, ecosystem carbon density is more sensitive to the value of ecological restoration techniques, making their carbon sink effect more pronounced. This study elucidates the key role of ecological restoration techniques in enhancing carbon storage, promoting the goal of carbon neutrality, and identifying optimal pathways for increasing ecosystem carbon stocks across various regions with differing resource endowments. Moreover, it provides a reference for accelerating the achievement of carbon neutrality targets.

The dark side of climate policy uncertainty: Hindering energy transition by shaping environmental taxes effectiveness

Climate policy uncertainty (CPU) may have an adverse impact on the environment by interfering with the effectiveness of environmental policies, but there is currently little evidence to support this indirect effect. By incorporating CPU into the transition function, this paper utilizes the panel smooth transition regression (PSTR) to dynamically analyze how CPU affects the relationship between environmental taxes (ETR) and energy transition. When CPU exceeds the threshold, the promoting effect of ETR on energy transition weakens or reverses. The robustness of the main conclusions is demonstrated by establishing a PSTR estimator with the instrumental variable. This paper also constructs a counterfactual scenario, showing that CPU reduces the positive impact of ETR on renewable energy consumption and generation by 7.6% and 3.5%, respectively. Further analysis indicates that this negative effect arises because CPU likely increases investment risk, particularly for long-term green projects, thereby inhibiting the clean energy market and energy-related green technological innovation. Heterogeneity analysis find that the weakening effect of CPU on the effectiveness of ETR is stronger in countries with low energy resource endowment, high energy intensity, and lower economic development levels, underscoring the need for tailored policy approaches. This research emphasizes that for countries with ambitious energy transition goals, climate policy stability is crucial for ensuring the healthy development of environmental taxes policy and renewable energy markets.

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.

Analyzing the impact of energy synergy and renewable energy generation on energy security: Empirical evidence from China's Yangtze River Delta region

As a representative region with poor energy resource endowment in China, the Yangtze River Delta (YRD) region poses a pressing and vital issue for research on energy security. This study offers a comprehensive assessment of energy security levels (ESL) in the YRD region of China from 2000 to 2019, emphasizing the pivotal role of electricity indicators in energy transition using a combination optimization model of the entropy method and CRITIC method. Subsequently, we employed a coupling synergy degree model to further quantify the energy synergy among different YRD provinces and to verify the effects of energy synergy and renewable energy generation (REG) on the ESL of the YRD region. The findings highlight supply security as the central concern for safeguarding energy security. The YRD region's ESL ranking is as follows: Zhejiang, Jiangsu, Anhui, and Shanghai. There is a significant linear correlation between energy synergy and ESL, with Zhejiang and Jiangsu experiencing a notably greater effect of energy synergy on ESL than Anhui. A pronounced U-shaped relationship between REG and ESL is evident in the Jiangsu and Anhui provinces. The impact of REG on ESL is significant in Zhejiang province but negligible in Shanghai.

Modelling System Generation: Towards the New Model in Albania and SEE Countries

The electricity utility industry is undergoing rapid and irreversible changes resulting from volatile fuel costs, transmission access, less predictable load growth and a more complex regulatory environment. Due to the rising importance of renewable (and variable) energy sources, power systems are now more vulnerable to uncertainties and intermittent in supply. Hydropower plays an important role in the energy mix and power market, helping in providing base and peak load power as well as being the ‘fuel’ (water) not subject to fluctuations in the market; these paving the way toward a clean energy by 2030 and net-zero emissions by 2050 as part of de-carbonization agenda. All production and conversion processes in the energy sector require Water for nearly including fuel extraction and processing (fossil and nuclear fuels as well as biofuels) and electricity generation (thermoelectric, hydropower, and renewable technologies). This paper’s objective is to analyze cross-border trade in SEE through economic electricity exchange, while also exploring reasons for promoting Hydroelectricity. This is achieved through the following objectives: first, an overview is made of the available energy and economic data in the region; second, a model is developed for regional least cost expansion planning when allowing for cross-border trade. These aim to assess electricity supply and demand in the region with the purpose of making a comparative analysis regarding energy resource endowments.

Resource endowments effects on thermal-economic efficiency of ORC-based hybrid solar-geothermal system

Implementing a high-efficiency hybrid energy generation system requires to comprehensively analyze the influences of multiple factors on the overall performance, including system layout, design parameters, energy resource endowments. For this purpose, this study developed a thermal-economic model for a 300 kW ORC-based hybrid solar-geothermal power generation system at four sites in China, which represents different solar and geothermal energy resources. The optimal configurations of the hybrid system have been obtained for the minimal levelized cost of energy (LCOE) under a certain annual electricity generation (E). The results show that the solar resources continue to play a dominant role in the proposed hybrid system, especially in optimizing the configuration of the system design parameters for the minimum LCOE. Comparing to the individual solar system, the hybrid power generation system significantly enhances its thermal-economic efficiency across the four selected sites, with a maximum increase of 25.34% in E and a maximum decrease of 16.28% in LCOE. Especially in regions with abundant shallow hydrothermal geothermal reservoirs but average solar resources, utilizing shallow geothermal water to preheat Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC) working fluids is a relatively simple yet efficient application of geothermal energy for power generation, worthy of further promotion and implementation.

Corruption induced energy inefficiencies: Evidence from China's energy investment projects

China is currently having a lot of conversations about energy and corruption. This research explores how corruption and energy investment affect energy efficiency by employing statistical methodologies and analyzing data spanning from 2000 to 2017. The research findings indicate that corruption has a detrimental effect on energy efficiency. Further analysis reveals that energy investment acts as a mediator in this relationship. The influence of corruption on energy efficiency varies depending on the endowment of energy resources and the level of performance pressure. Regions with lower endowments of energy resources experience a greater detrimental impact of corruption on energy efficiency. However, in regions with higher endowments of energy resources, energy investment has a complete mediating effect. In regions with lower performance pressure, corruption significantly reduces energy efficiency, whereas, in regions with higher performance pressure, the mediating role of energy investment is more prominent. The approval system reform in the energy investment sector since 2013 has reduced the adverse impact of corruption on energy investment and, consequently, on energy efficiency. These research findings offer valuable insights for the Chinese government to address shortcomings, combat corruption in the energy sector, optimize energy investment, and enhance energy efficiency further.

Supply chain coordination mechanisms of coal power enterprises under renewable energy quota system: A perspective of game analysis

The renewable energy quota system has become an important policy tool for countries around the world to solve the differences in renewable energy resource endowments between regions and promote the transformation of energy structure. How to coordinate the supply chain of power generation enterprises from the micro level of enterprises has become a key issue to ensure the implementation of renewable energy quota system. By constructing a game analysis model, this research studied the coordination game problem between the supply chain of coal power enterprises and renewable energy enterprises, and compared and analyzed the differences in decision-making between centralized and decentralized situations. The results illustrate that in the case of centralized decision-making, although renewable energy enterprises and coal power enterprises can guarantee profits and carbon emission reduction effects. However, in the real situation of independent rational economic man, it is difficult to ensure the real realization of centralized decision-making. Further, the research proposed that in the case of decentralized decision-making, the negotiation mechanisms of revenue sharing, cost allocation, and revenue sharing + cost allocation were used to solve the supply chain coordination problem of renewable energy enterprises and coal power enterprises. The equilibrium solution of the game model under different negotiation mechanisms is obtained. Finally, the results of theoretical analysis were verified by practical examples and the corresponding sensitivity analysis is carried out. The conclusion has decision-making reference value for solving the coordination problem between coal power enterprises and renewable energy enterprises, improving the overall income of supply chain and carbon emission reduction, and effectively promoting the implementation of renewable energy quota system.

Synergistic effect of energy and industrial structures on carbon emissions in China

Energy structure and industrial structure are two crucial economic factors affecting carbon emissions. However, current research often examines them separately, neglecting the potential additional synergistic effect between them. Leveraging the coupling concept from physics, we objectively quantify these synergistic effect and investigate influencing factors on CO2 intensity from a novel perspective of the synergy by combining a coupling coordination model with econometric model of generalized method of moments (GMM) with a panel dataset from China spanning 2007 to 2019. Our estimates indicate that (1) synergy of energy and industrial structures significantly reduces carbon intensity, which is stable after a series of robust check. (2) the reduced effect of synergy can be enlarged by enhancing environmental regulation and green innovation. (3) the inhibiting effect of synergy is significant, mainly occurs in regions with abundant energy resource endowments. Correspondingly, we recommend several policy implications for China and other developing countries.

Assessment of sustainable agricultural development based on the water-energy-food nexus framework in the middle and upper reaches of the Yellow River, China.

Water, energy and food are inextricably linked in agricultural system. Social and environmental issues arising from socio-economic development pose new challenges for sustainable agricultural development. Achieving sustainable agriculture from the perspective of water, energy and food resource conservation is of critical importance to the national strategy for high-quality development of the Yellow River Basin in China. In this study, the mass productivity and economic productivity of water and energy in agricultural system were considered, and an integrated assessment index system for agricultural system based on the Water-Energy-Food Nexus (WEFN) was proposed in three dimensions: reliability, coordination and resilience. Based on these indicators, the agricultural water-energy-food nexus index (AWEFNI) and integrated risk index (IRI) were performed to assess the current status of agricultural development in the middle and upper reaches of the Yellow River. Results indicate that the AWEFNI in the middle and upper reaches of the Yellow River is increasing year by year, and the level of sustainable agricultural development is improving, but the overall level is lower. The AWEFNI values vary widely among provinces. The reliability of single subsystem in the study area accounts for more than 1/3 of the AWEFNI, with poor water endowment， rich food and energy resource endowments, the coordination of the AWEFN is weakening. The resilience of the third subsystem is gradually declining. The contradiction in water and energy supply and demand in Ningxia is the most prominent among the five provinces, and the level of AWEFN development is the lowest, so the regulation policies should be implemented as soon as possible to promote the synergistic development of AWEFN around the region.

The role of renewable energy investment and energy resource endowment in the evolution of carbon emission efficiency: spatial effect and the mediating effect.

With climate change caused by massive greenhouse gas emissions emerging as an issue of global concern, it is urgent to improve carbon emission efficiency (CEE) for countries along the Belt and Road (BRI). Considering the resource endowment characteristics of green development in BRI countries, the super-efficiency slacks-based measure (SBM) model is adopted to evaluate the current status and tendency of CEE in 60 BRI countries, while the Global Malmquist-Luenberger (GML) index to quantify the spatial and temporal variation and dynamic evolution of CEE. Subsequently, from the perspective of energy development and utilization, the spatial Durbin model (SDM) and the mediating effect model are employed to empirically examine the spillover effects and driving mechanisms of renewable energy investment and energy resource endowment on CEE. Empirical results reveal that (1) from a static perspective, the CEE of BRI countries is generally poor and unevenly distributed in terms of temporal and spatial dimensions, with significant room for enhancement. (2) Referring to the dynamic level, the GML index featured a U-shaped fluctuation, with technological progress contributing to the improvement of CEE. (3) There is a significant positive effect of renewable energy investment on CEE in the home country and neighboring countries, while energy resource endowment presents a remarkable adverse correlation. Consequently, it is suggested that inter-regional cooperation among BRI countries should be strengthened to reinforce renewable energy investment, exert the technology and knowledge spillover effect sufficiently, and break the resource curse in the environmental field. (4) The mediating effect model confirms the significant mediating mechanism of technological innovation. Renewable energy investment can enhance the CEE of BRI members by promoting the positive mediating effect of technological innovation, while energy resource endowment can inhibit the local level of technological innovation and indirectly inhibit the CEE of BRI members. The findings provide new ideas on the green development and ecological sustainability of the energy industry in BRI members and other economies.

The diversity of energy consumption structure, energy efficiency and carbon emissions: Evidence from Shaanxi, China.

As a major energy sources province in China, Shaanxi Province ranks top three in terms of raw coal production in China and undertakes the important task of ensuring national energy supply and security. Affected by the endowment of energy resources, fossil energy accounts for a large proportion of the energy consumption structure in Shaanxi Province, and it will face huge challenges under the severe carbon emission situation in future. In order to analyze the relationship between energy consumption structure, energy efficiency and carbon emissions, the paper introduces the concept of biodiversity into the energy industry. Taking Shaanxi Province as an example, the paper calculates the energy consumption structure diversity index and analyzes the impact of energy consumption structure diversity on energy efficiency and carbon emissions in Shaanxi Province. The results shows that the diversity index and equilibrium index of energy consumption structure in Shaanxi exhibits a slow upward trend in general. In most years, energy consumption structure diversity index in Shaanxi is higher than 0.8, and the equilibrium index is higher than 0.6. The carbon emissions of energy consumption in Shaanxi generally show increasing trend, and the carbon emissions have increased from 5,064.6 tons to 21899.67 tons from 2000 to 2020. The paper also shows that Shaanxi H index is negatively correlated with total factor energy utilization efficiency in Shaanxi, and positively correlated with carbon emissions in Shaanxi. The main reason is the internal substitution of fossil energy, and the proportion of primary electricity and other energy sources is still relatively low, which leads to a higher level of carbon emissions.

Air Pollution and Enterprise Energy Efficiency: Evidence from Energy-Intensive Manufacturing Industries in China

This study aims to investigate the causal effect of air pollution on enterprise-level energy efficiency in the energy-intensive manufacturing industries of China. To address the potential endogenous problem, it employs thermal inversions as the instrumental variable. The study finds that air pollution would significantly decrease enterprise-level energy efficiency. It shows heterogeneous influences of air pollution on enterprise-level energy efficiency, varying with enterprise ownership, enterprise age, enterprise location, and regional energy resource endowment. This study further reveals that air pollution exerts a negative influence on enterprise-level energy efficiency through the mechanisms of decreasing enterprise productivity (both total factor productivity and labor productivity), increasing enterprise total energy consumption, and lowering enterprise exports. The findings of this study provide an economic rationale for enterprises to motivate themselves to reduce air pollution and have important implications for policymaking in China and other developing countries.

Measurement of Embodied Carbon Emission of Trade and Responsibility Sharing Mechanism design: A case of Six Central Provinces of China

In the face of the “ 3 0- 6 0” target, the task of carbon emission reduction in China is particularly arduous. Due to factors such as energy resource endowment and economic and industrial structure, there are large spatial differences in carbon emission levels among regions in China. As a representative region of t h e traditional energy industrial structure, the huge energy consumption of the industrial sector in the central region has caused a large amount of carbon emissions. Based on the MRIO model, this paper measures the embodied carbon emissions of trade and the amount of carbon emissions that the regions should bear in 2012 and 2017 for the eight major regions in China. We found that there is large difference in carbon emissions among the eight regions in China, with the central region ranking first in the country, and this difference is also manifested in the provinces of the central region. In addition, under the producer responsibility principle, the problem of carbon leakage between developed and less developed regions is becoming more prominent, with the central and western regions acting as a “ pollution haven” . Further, to rationalize the carbon emission responsibilities of each region, this paper proposes a shared responsibility scheme and compares it with the producer and consumer responsibility systems. This paper is of practical and theoretical reference significance for the scientific delineation of carbon emission reduction responsibilities and the effective promotion of the overall carbon peaking goal.

A Multilateral Transactive Energy Framework of Hybrid Charging Stations for Low-Carbon Energy-Transport Nexus

This article proposes a multilateral multienergy trading framework for synergetic hydrogen (H <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">2</sub> ) and electricity transactions among renewable-dominated hybrid charging stations (HCSs). In this framework, each autonomous HCS with various renewable energy resource (RES) endowment can harvest local renewables for internal green H <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">2</sub> and electricity generation to simultaneously meet demands of electric vehicles (EVs) and hydrogen-powered vehicles (HVs) from the transportation network. The surplus electricity/H <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">2</sub> production of the HCS is accommodated by external multilateral transactions to increase the additional profit. Besides, each HCS is modeled as a sustainable energy hub, and multiple hubs with multienergy transactions contribute toward a low-carbon energy-transport nexus. A partial differential equation model based on fluid dynamic theory is formed to capture the temporal and spatial dynamics of traffic flows for estimating the EV/HV loads at HCSs. Furthermore, a distributed multilateral pricing algorithm is developed to iteratively derive the optimal prices and quantities for transactive electricity and H <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">2</sub> . Comparative studies corroborate the superiority of the proposed methodology on economic merits and RES accommodation.

The development of renewable energy industry under renewable portfolio standards: From the perspective of provincial resource differences

A low-carbon energy policy is an effective measure for promoting the development of renewable energy(RE). China has introduced renewable portfolio standards(RPS) and voluntary subscription for tradable green certificates(TGCs), but the market response is not significant. China's electricity trading functions at provincial-level regions, and there are differences in resources between the provinces. New policies need to consider the characteristics of each province to reduce market implementation risk for introduction and implementation. Therefore, based on the provincial characteristics of energy resource endowment in China, we construct a system dynamics(SD) model of the coupling of the RE market, consumption above quota(CAQ), and TGC market based on the structure of the sending-end grid(SG) and receiving-end grid(RG). Three types of TGC models were designed based on the scope of the TGC market. Finally, the impact of policy parameters such as the RPS target, inter-provincial transmission capacity, TGC validity period, and technology cost on the development of RE industries in both SG and RG was analyzed. The results show that the TGC market to be developed independently in various provinces in the initial stage and later expanded into a unified market. Increased RPS requirements, increased inter-provincial transmission capacity, and lower RE costs can enhance policy implementation.

Unpacking Canada’s oil and gas dilemma: international leadership challenges on the road to net-zero

ABSTRACT Despite significant policy and regulation efforts by Canada’s federal government since its signature of the Paris Agreement, the specific question of whether Canada can retain its role as an energy production powerhouse while gaining some political capital as an international leader with regard to climate change has continued to plague its GHG reduction ambitions. In this article, I argue that despite an exceptional clean energy resource endowment, options to demonstrate the country’s serious intentions to meet its international climate commitments while keeping a sizeable oil and natural gas production sector come with complex implications well beyond the simplistic economic challenge linked to replacing the sector’s exports and employment levels. I explore three such options to keep oil and gas production high by using techno-economic modeling: compensating with more reductions elsewhere, using CCS in the oil and gas sector to avoid the sector’s emissions, and using negative emission technologies to compensate them. Compared with reducing emissions through large cuts in oil and gas production levels, each of these options comes with both significantly higher costs for society and a much higher risk of not delivering the expected emissions reductions.

Research on Energy Structure Optimization and Carbon Emission Reduction Path in Beijing under the Dual Carbon Target

In the context of China’s dual carbon target, Beijing, as the capital of China, should play an exemplary role in carbon emission reduction. On the premise of optimizing high-emission sectors such as coal and industry, Beijing is still a certain distance from the goal of carbon neutrality. Therefore, on the basis of Beijing’s energy resource endowment, considering Beijing’s economic development and carbon neutrality goals and scientifically and reasonably planning Beijing’s carbon emission reduction path are important tasks. We construct an energy structure optimization model to achieve the goal of carbon neutrality by 2050. The model analysis concludes that the residents and transportation sectors will account for a large proportion of Beijing’s total carbon emissions in the future. To achieve the goal of carbon neutrality, the electricity substitution of fossil energy and the high proportion of external power are two necessary measures, and the optimal path of carbon emission reduction is proposed.

Energy-pollutant nexus for wastewater treatment in China based on multi-regional input-output analysis

The heterogeneity of water and energy resource endowments and increasingly closer trade links among regions make it challenging to attain synergy in energy conservation and main pollutant reduction . This paper quantified the provincial energy intensity of COD removal in wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs), tracked the sectoral and regional water pollutant (COD) transfers beneath the provincial economic transactions based on the multi-regional input-output analysis, and evaluated the energy saving and loss in different provinces based on an energy-pollutant nexus assessment framework. We found that economic trade could transfer local pollutant reduction pressure to distant regions through the national economic system. The critical VCOD importers (Beijing and Zhejiang) and exporters (Jiangxi and Heilongjiang) highlighted the necessity of emission reduction responsibility assignment from both the demand and the supply side. The VCOD was transferred from higher energy intensity provinces to lower energy intensity provinces, which contributed to a 1.42 × 10 8 kWh energy loss of COD removal nationally. Our results showed that from the energy-pollutant nexus perspective, some of the energy conservation and pollutant reduction goals were not always consistent. This study may help optimize the spatial regulation of national energy conservation and pollution reduction in a more integrated and systematic way.

The Impacts of Resource Endowment, and Environmental Regulations on Sustainability—Empirical Evidence Based on Data from Renewable Energy Enterprises

In today’s socio-economic context where environmental protection and sustainable development are equally important, how renewable energy enterprises can achieve sustainable development has become a topic of academic interest in recent years. This paper investigates the link between sustainable growth (SG) of renewable energy firms, resource endowment (RE), and environmental regulatory (ERs) issues through a fixed-effects model and a GMM model. Through empirical analysis, it was found that economical environmental regulations have the greatest positive impact on sustainable growth, followed by legal environmental regulations and supervised environmental regulations. Resource endowment is positively related to sustainable growth for non-state-owned renewable energy enterprises, but the negative impact on sustainable growth reflects the effect the of “resource curse”. In addition, resource endowment has a negative moderating effect on environmental regulations and sustainable growth. Thus, the most significant effect is on the relationship between economical environmental regulations and sustainable growth, followed by legal environmental regulations and supervised environmental regulations. Therefore, the flexible and concurrent application of multiple environmental policies is an important way to ensure effective regulations and promote sustainable business growth.