Energy Flow Paths Research Articles

Riparian forests shape trophic interactions in detrital stream food webs

Abstract Freshwater and terrestrial biodiversity are linked through spatial resource flows. Key examples are detrital subsidies from the riparian vegetation that form the base of food webs in small streams. Despite the central role of detritivores in these food webs, the consequences of altered riparian vegetation type and resource availability on their trophic strategies are less known. Therefore, we experimentally tested direct and indirect effects of riparian vegetation type (i.e. riparian forests present vs. absent) on trophic interactions and dietary imbalances of aquatic detritivores. To characterise trophic strategies, we used stoichiometric and isotopic differences between consumers and resources as functional measures of trophic link strength in leaf litter bags naturally colonised by stream decomposers and detritivores. Our results show that an absence of riparian forests affected stoichiometric and isotopic properties in stream detrital food webs. Where local riparian forests were absent, leaf litter showed lower C:N ratios, which only trichopteran detritivores mirrored, whereas plecopteran and crustacean detritivores showed differences in their isotopic signatures. Diverging patterns between resources and consumers could lead to a rewiring of energy flow paths and weaken the coupling between aquatic detritivores and terrestrial detritus. Consequently, our findings demonstrate that riparian forests are essential for aquatic food webs by not only influencing organisms themselves but also their trophic interactions and energy flow paths. Aquatic detritivores depending on terrestrial subsidies can be highly sensitive to local changes in their resource environment. Therefore, functionally divergent patterns between resources and consumers in recipient systems highlight how habitat properties of the donor system can affect food webs connected across ecosystem boundaries. Read the free Plain Language Summary for this article on the Journal blog.

A novel high-efficient lithium-ion battery serial formation system scheme based on partial power conversion

The formation of the battery is a crucial step in its manufacturing process. The existing battery formation system suffers from low efficiency and high energy consumption costs due to long energy flow paths, high DC bus line losses, and additional balancing circuit applications. Therefore, a novel high-efficient battery series formation system (BSFS) that combines partial power processing architecture (PPPA) with the modular converter is proposed to address this problem in this article. The PPPA-BSFS includes two-stage isolated sub-modules consisting of Buck-Boost converter and LLC converter with input-serial and output-parallel connection. The isolated converter only processes the serial compensation power, about 1/3 of the full power. Consequently, the converter capacity can be shrunk in the PPPA-BSFS, which can reduce the system's cost and power loss. Furthermore, the paper establishes the steady-state mathematical model and energy efficiency model of PPPA-BSFS based on analyzing the power compensation principle, and the key factors affecting the operational efficiency of PPPA-BSFS are studied. Finally, we construct the simulation models with 10 cells and 120 cells to compare and analyze energy efficiency between PPPA-BSFS and existing battery formation topology under various operating conditions. Our simulation results show that the highest operating efficiency of the PPPA-BSFS proposed is 99.37 % when 120 cells are formed normally, where there is an increment of 5.95 %, 2.36 %, and 0.85 % compared with others, respectively. The high efficiency of the PPPA-BSFS is verified, and the PPPA-BSFS shows great potential for application in battery formation scenarios.

Interaction energy flow paths analysis of PMSG-based wind power integrated systems during LVRT and its parameter adjustment strategy

To solve the problem of oscillation instability in permanent magnetic synchronous generator (PMSG)-based wind power connected systems during low-voltage ride through (LVRT) process, a parameter adjustment strategy based on interaction energy path optimization is proposed in this paper. Firstly, a modular state-space model of PMSG under fault transient conditions is constructed, and the system is divided into five subsystems. Then, the dynamic energy function of subsystems reflecting the oscillation stability of the system is derived. Based on that, the dynamic energy flow path is described considering the introduction of LVRT control. On this basis, the interaction energy between LVRT control links and subsystems is analyzed, and the coupling mechanism of voltage support and damping characteristics in the LVRT process is explained. Further, aiming at the optimal change rate of the total interaction energy in the LVRT process, the adjustment strategy of LVRT control parameters is constructed to meet voltage and damping requirements. Finally, a PMSG-connected system model is built on the MATLAB/Simulink platform to verify the effectiveness of the adjustment strategy. The results show that the proposed method can effectively improve the damping level under the fault transient condition, as well as supporting system voltage.

Analysis of the impact of edge diffraction on the manipulation of photonic nanojets and photonic hooks using an energy-based model in diffraction-based structures

Photonic nanojets (PNJs) and photonic hooks (PHs) are two significant effects in Mesotronics. However, it is difficult to analyze and control the two phenomena generated by diffraction-based structures, such as rectangles and right-angled trapezoids, using diffraction theory. This work focuses on the modulation of incident fields by edge diffraction and the reconstruction of energy distribution, and proposes a model based on energy flows and energy reconstruction, called the ‘energy-based model’, to analyze the formation of PNJs and PHs through such structures. This model reveals that the morphology of PNJ and PH originates from the contributions of different regions of the incident energy, especially the crucial influence of edge diffraction, and successfully clarifies the modulation mechanism of the near-field and far-field regions of PNJ, as well as the tailoring mechanism of the two arms of PH. On the one hand, the model provides reasonable and intuitive explanations for the control of energy flow paths resulting from edge diffraction in rectangles and their variants with different parameters on the generation of PNJs and PHs. On the other hand, it also serves as a basis for reverse design. By adjusting energy flow and energy reconstruction through alterations in incident conditions or structural shapes, PHJs and PHs can be tailored easily and flexibly. The model is also been validated to be applicable in explaining many reported works. The results indicate that the ‘energy-based model’, which describes the energy flow paths resulting from edge diffraction, offers intuitive, convenient, and predictive advantages in analyzing the morphological variations of PNJs and PHs generated by diffraction-based structures, such as rectangles, trapezoids, and their variants. This provides a valuable reference for relevant research on Mesotronics.

A dynamic assessment method for risk evolution in chemical processes based on MFM-HAZOP-FDBN

At present, chemical accidents have occurred frequently with disastrous consequences. In order to effectively prevent chemical accidents and their secondary disasters, it is urgent to develop detailed risk assessment for chemical processes. However, traditional methods tend to ignore the dynamic correlation coupling of chemical processes and devices; this results in the assessment results having poor accuracy. Therefore, a dynamic assessment method for risk evolution in chemical processes based on MFM-HAZOP-FDBN is proposed in this study. First, multilevel flow model (MFM) is established according to the transfer paths of material flow and energy flow in a chemical process, and further combined with hazard and operability analysis (HAZOP) to form the functional HAZOP technology. Second, risk identification results from the MFM-HAZOP are applied as the input of a fuzzy dynamic Bayesian network (FDBN); the device states and process errors are used as dynamic and static nodes of FDBN to present the risk propagation and evolution mechanism in the chemical process, respectively. Finally, the dynamic risk evolutionary trend throughout the chemical process is assessed quantitatively by determining the occurrence likelihood and consequence severity based on the risk matrix. The BP America (Texas City) refinery explosion is taken as a case study. Results show that the proposed method can provide a detailed characterization and dynamic assessment of risk evolution in the chemical process and the assessment results are more reasonable and effective.

A method to investigate mid and high-frequency vibration energy transfer paths using the irrotational intensity

Structural intensity fields provide a clear understanding of the noise, vibration and harshness (NVH) behavior of complex structures by showing the vibration energy flow between zones of excitation and dissipation. The use of models with fine meshes for automotive structures has allowed structural intensity calculations to be performed at high frequencies. However, fields are difficult to understand at medium and high frequencies: the intensity field has a vortical character that hides the vibration energy flow in these frequency ranges. In this work, a methodology is presented to filter out vortices in the structural intensity field. The approach uses the Hodge–Helmholtz decomposition: the structural intensity field is decomposed into rotational, irrotational, and harmonic components. Among them, only the irrotational component is needed to describe the path of energy flow from sources to sinks. The proposed methodology involves calculating the dynamic response and solving a diffusion equation similar to the thermal conduction equation to obtain the irrotational field of interest. Plate examples are used to illustrate the efficiency of the method, which provides a better understanding of the mid- and high-frequency energy transmission paths.

Study on nonlinear dynamics characteristics of dual speed dual clutch transmission system based on bond graph

The variable speed transmission system employs compound planetary gear trains and clutches. Compared to traditional aviation transmission systems, the added control parts in the variable transmission system result in a stronger coupling between components and more complex dynamic response characteristics. Modeling using the central mass method is complex and abstract. This study proposes a bond graph-based method for modeling and analyzing the dynamic behavior of the variable transmission system. The transmission system is divided into multiple component-level real-time dynamic models, and obtain a nonlinear multi-energy domain shift dynamic models based on energy flow paths coupling. The mathematical model is numerically solved using the Runge-Kutta method. Simulation results show that there is a delay in the speed response during the shifting process. Further analysis reveals that this “give and take” phenomenon is related to the mechanical structure and passive working principle of the one-way clutch. Subsequently, the time-domain response of the output speed under the hydraulic loading characteristic curves of linear, exponential, S-shaped, and composite functions, as well as the clutch torque, were studied. The impact of different hydraulic loading durations based on the exponential curve on component speed and torque was also analyzed. The simulation results provide a theoretical basis for designing low-shift impact, high-reliability, and high-performance variable transmission systems.

Stability analysis for sub‐synchronous oscillations in multi‐DFIGs connected system considering the interaction between generators

AbstractIn order to reveal the multi‐DFIGs interaction mechanism in DFIG wind farms (DFIG‐WFs), this paper proposes a method based on dynamic energy flow path for stability analysis of sub‐synchronous oscillations in multi‐DFIGs connected system. First, the detailed dynamic energy model of DFIG‐WFs is established considering the inter‐DFIGs coupling effect, and the energy flow paths among multi‐DFIGs are revealed. From this, the interaction energy coefficient is defined to describe the effect of multi‐DFIGs interaction on the system stability, which can be divided into two items: the inter‐DFIGs induction coefficient and the inter‐DFIGs circulation coefficient. On this basis, how the differences in the parameters affect these coefficients are analysed. In this way, the effects of multi‐DFIGs interaction on the oscillation are clarified. Finally, a wind farm model is built in RT‐LAB for simulation verification. The results show that, the changes in DFIG parameters may have mutually exclusive effects on the two coefficients. When the parameters of DFIGs differ greatly, the circulation effect is dominant, which is mainly determined by the difference between DFIGs. If the parameters of DFIGs are similar to each other, the induction effect is dominant and the influence law of parameters is consistent with that of single equivalent model.

A Locally Disordered Metamaterial for Directing and Trapping Water Waves

Manipulating the flow of water wave energy is crucial for ocean wave energy extraction or coastal protection, and the emergence of metamaterials paves a potential way for controlling water waves. In this work, by introducing a local disorder in a cavity-type metamaterial constructed by split-tube resonators, we show that water waves can be guided in an open channel with multiple energy flow paths formed merely by surrounded disconnected concurrent resonators that can serve as invisible walls without the requirement of a whole array system such as general periodic structures or waveguides. Specifically, we numerically and experimentally validate that a T-shaped metamaterial can achieve free guiding of water waves in a narrow band and a band-edge state along a distinct path. This open-space water waveguiding is found to be dominated by Fano-type interference and Fabry–Pérot resonance. Two distinct propagating modes, a low-frequency “trapping mode” and a high-frequency “following mode”, are identified. By simply rotating two configuration-dependent unit cells at the intersection of the metamaterial, we achieve a variety of water waveguiding paths tuning along rectilinear or bending (splitting or turning) directions, which rely on the two different propagating modes.

Zooplankton studies in Colombian fresh and brackish water ecosystems: A review and future perspectives

Colombia is a global biodiversity hotspot, yet its zooplankton fauna remains poorly explored. In Colombian inland waters, 253 species of rotifers, 119 cladocerans and 82 copepods (not included benthic species) have been reported, in contrast with only 14 genera of protozoa. Most publications report on the Magdalena-Cauca basin, with the highest number of records for lowland areas (< 1000 m.a.s.l.). The least explored regions are the Chocó, Orinoco and Amazon basins. Colombian zooplankton checklists often include several taxa recognized as groups of cryptic species or ones described as cosmopolitan. Integrative taxonomic approaches are scarce, and diversity data need to be validated by molecular analyses and detailed morphological descriptions using optical and scanning electron microscopy. Historical, regional, and local environmental factors that explain the richness, distribution, and the abundance of zooplankton include: water bodies size, hydrological connectivity, trophic status; physical stability and, hydro-climatic patterns of variation. The analysis of ecosystem processes related to patterns in zooplankton communities highlights the importance of detritus as an alternative energy flow path in aquatic ecosystems at all altitude ranges. We propose to strengthen regional studies on functional groups, ecological redundancy, and adaptive traits to evaluate zooplankton responses to climatic, global and local stressors. Due to the great diversity of aquatic ecosystems in the extensive altitudinal gradient of Colombia, it is necessary to expand the coverage of ecological and taxonomic studies to understand zooplankton biodiversity and its role in ecosystem functioning.

Fresh perspectives on the River Continuum Concept require trophic ecology approaches focussed on food web structure and energy mobilisation routes.

Stream-dwelling communities are expected to show a gradual replacement of the dominant feeding types following the type of resources found along the river continuum. Yet, the underlying longitudinal gradients in food web structure and energy flow-paths remain poorly understood. Here, I synthesise novel research on the River Continuum Concept (RCC) and identify promising areas for future research linked to longitudinal changes in food-chain length and energy mobilisation routes. For example, feeding links and connectance should reach maximum values in mid-order rivers and then decrease to river mouths following uncovered longitudinal diversity patterns. Regarding energy mobilisation routes, a gradual replacement in the food web fuelling between allochthonous (leaf litter) and autochthonous (periphyton) resources should be expected. Beyond longitudinal changes in primary basal resource to consumer paths, other allochthonous (e.g. riparian arthropod inputs) and autochthonous (e.g. fish prey) inputs subsidising higher level consumers may show longitudinal changes, that is, terrestrial invertebrates decreasing but piscivory increasing downstream. However, the role of these inputs, that can alter predator niche variation and have indirect community-based effects, on both food web structure and energy flow-paths along the river continuum is not clear yet. Incorporating energy mobilisation and food web structure into RCC principles is necessary for a broad understanding of ecosystem functioning and trophic diversity in riverine systems, driving the emergence of novel insights. How function and structure of riverine food webs adapt to longitudinal changes in physical and biological environments represent a challenge for next generation of stream ecologists.

The role of small molecular cations in the chemical flow of the interstellar environments.

Molecular ions have been ubiquitous in a variety of environments in the interstellar medium, from Circumstellar Envelopes to Dark Molecular Clouds and to Diffuse Clouds. Their role in the multitude of molecular processes which have been found to occur in those environments has been the subject of many studies over the years, so that we have acquired by now a complex body of data on their chemical structures, their possible function within chemical reactions and their most likely paths to formation. In the present work we review a broad range of such molecular ions, focusing exclusively on positive ions involving the smallest and simplest cations which have been either detected or conjectured as present in the interstellar medium (ISM). We therefore consider mainly molecular cations formed with components like H, H+, He and He+, atomic species which are by far the most abundant baryons in the ISM in general. Their likely structures and their roles in a variety of chemical energy flow paths are discussed and presented within the context of their interstellar environments.

Modeling and Simulation of Hydrogen Energy Storage System for Power-to-gas and Gas-to-power Systems

By collecting and organizing historical data and typical model characteristics, hydrogen energy storage system (HESS)-based power-to-gas (P2G) and gas-to-power systems are developed using Simulink. The energy transfer mechanisms and numerical modeling methods of the proposed systems are studied in detail. The proposed integrated HESS model covers the following system components: alkaline electrolyzer (AE), high-pressure hydrogen storage tank with compressor (CM & H2 tank), and proton-exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) stack. The unit models in the HESS are established based on typical U-I curves and equivalent circuit models, which are used to analyze the operating characteristics and charging/discharging behaviors of a typical AE, an ideal CM & H2 tank, and a PEMFC stack. The validities of these models are simulated and verified in the MicroGrid system, which is equipped with a wind power generation system, a photovoltaic power generation system, and an auxiliary battery energy storage system (BESS) unit. Simulation results in MATLAB/Simulink show that electrolyzer stack, fuel cell stack and system integration model can operate in different cases. By testing the simulation results of the HESS under different working conditions, the hydrogen production flow, stack voltage, state of charge (SOC) of the BESS, state of hydrogen pressure (SOHP) of the HESS, and HESS energy flow paths are analyzed. The simulation results are consistent with expectations, showing that the integrated HESS model can effectively absorb wind and photovoltaic power. As the wind and photovoltaic power generations increase, the HESS current increases, thereby increasing the amount of hydrogen production to absorb the surplus power. The results show that the HESS responds faster than the traditional BESS in the microgrid, providing a solid theoretical foundation for later wind-photovoltaic-HESS-BESS integration.

Bidirectional Constant Current String-to-Cell Battery Equalizer Based on L2C3 Resonant Topology

In battery equalization systems, equalization speed, control complexity, and length of energy flow path are the important figures of merits. This article presents a novel bidirectional L2C3 resonant converter in a unique equalizer architecture with constant balancing current and fixed frequency control. The constant balancing current can be customized to achieve a stable balancing speed. The common equalizer unit transfers power bidirectionally between the entire string and any single cell. Design considerations of L2C3-based bidirectional equalizer are analyzed in detail, which ensures zero-voltage switching among all <sc xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">mosfets</small> during the equalization process. The circuit is designed with synchronous rectification using the first harmonics approximation. The key contributions of this article include: a new bidirectional resonant topology for battery equalization; bidirectional constant current balancing with open-loop control; simplified synchronous rectification. An equalizer prototype with four lithium-ion battery cells at a balancing current of 500 mA is built and tested. The L2C3 circuit operates at 200 kHz with a peak efficiency of 89.4% and 90.1% under two balancing modes. Experimental results show the proposed scheme exhibits outstanding balancing performance.

Energy Recovery and Utilization Efficiency Improvement for Motor-Driven System Using Dynamic Energy Distribution Method

The hybrid energy storage system with the battery as the main energy source and the supercapacitor as the auxiliary energy source has been widely applied in the motor-driven system. However, the uncoordinated distribution of energy between energy storage units would cause unnecessary energy loss in the system. The energy recovery and utilization efficiency of the system needs to be further improved. In this paper, a power tracking control strategy considering total energy loss is proposed. The energy flow path of the motoring or generating process is investigated. The energy loss prediction models of the battery, the supercapacitor and the bidirectional DC/DC converter are established, respectively. Afterward, the objective optimization control function is deduced from the perspective of the minimum comprehensive energy loss. Dynamic power distribution ratios are obtained under the constraints. The superiorities of the supercapacitor are fully utilized and the dynamic supply-demand power balance is maintained. The results of simulations and experiments verify that energy recovery and utilization efficiency of the system is increased by 26.4% using the proposed control strategy in one running cycle.

Response of meiobenthos to migrating ripples in sandy lowland streams

Stream sediments move at low flow forming migrating ripples. These ripples can cover substantial areas where benthic communities experience erosion-resting cycles of sand grains. Sediment surface and interstitial space is colonized by meiobenthos, an assemblage of microscopic invertebrates. Here we describe how sediment migration influences the structure of the meiobenthic community. We sampled migrating and stationary sediment patches in five streams. Sediments in migrating ripple patches were characterized by coarser grain size and higher oxygen concentration, but less organic matter and chlorophyll than stationary patches. Meiobenthos was more abundant in the superficial layer of stationary sediment compared to the underlying layer, whereas comparable abundances were observed in both layers of migrating patches. This suggests that ripple migration enhances the vertical mixing of interstitial communities. Among the environmental drivers measured, meiobenthos community structure was most related to sediment transport regime: Rotatoria were more abundant in migrating patches, whereas Chironomidae, Ceratopogonidae, Copepoda and Hydrachnidia were more abundant in stationary patches. Body-size structure was affected by sediment migration, with fewer larger organisms in migrating ripples. By modifying the distribution of benthic resources and of meiobenthic consumers, ripple migration likely affects energy flow paths through benthic food webs.

SCIENTIFIC EXPLORATION OF CHAKRAS AND THEIR THERAPEUTIC POTENTIAL IN CANCER IN PURVIEW OF BIOENERGETIC MEDICINE: A REVIEW

Cancer is one of the most outrageous diseases of the present century.According to WHO, 9.6 million deaths in 2018 were due to Cancer which accounts for 1 out of 6 worldwide deaths. Out of these, 30-50% is preventable. Despite the modern scientific evolution, this enormous burden has not been reduced. The integrated approach of Cancer therapy is highly productive to improve quality of life and survival rate. Ayurvedic treatment with a healthy diet, lifestyle modification, and mind-body medicine are beneficial. Chakras are the “switches” in the path of energy flow in an individual, representing Pranayama kosha and are subtle. These Chakras in the body create a human energy field around each human being. Chakra’s healing is a highly established system of energy-based curative techniques that utilize “PRANA” to steadiness, harmonize and renovate the body’s vital energy. The foremost factor, i.e. chakra is discussed in detail based on modern scientific knowledge. There is a massive impact of chakra healing in carcinoma as it is highly effective to improve quality of life.

Single‐phase small capacitor motor drive system with high‐efficiency buck active power decoupling converter

This paper proposes a novel active power decoupling circuit (APDC) based on modified Buck converter to reduce the DC-link voltage ripple of small capacitor motor drive systems. The APDC is placed between the Boost PFC circuit and the DC-link, and has two energy flow paths, and the sum of the power decoupling capacitor and the DC-link capacitor voltage equals to the output voltage of the Boost converter. With these configurations, the voltage of the decoupling capacitor can be precisely controlled to be the same as the AC component of the output voltage of the Boost converter, thereby effectively reducing the DC-link voltage ripple. Another unique feature of the proposed APDC is that the inductor works in discontinuous current mode and only work for half of the time, which not only reduces the current stress of power switches, but also further improves the efficiency of the proposed APDC. Then, an instantaneous voltage control method is investigated to reduce the DC-link voltage drop, which significantly improve the dynamic performance of the motor. The design guideline of key components is given in detail. The feasibility of the small capacitor motor drive system based on the proposed APDC is verified by experimental results.

Research on the Application of Typical Biological Chain for Algal Control in Lake Ecological Restoration—A Case Study of Lianshi Lake in Yongding River

Maintaining the health of lake ecosystems is an urgent issue. However, eutrophication seriously affects lakes’ ecological functions. Eutrophication is also the main target of lake ecological restoration. It is vital to carry out research on lake eutrophication control and energy flow evaluation in ecosystems scientifically. Based on in situ survey results for the aquatic life data for Lianshi Lake from 2018 to 2019, the Ecopath model was used to establish an evaluation index system for the typical biological chain to screen out the key species in the water ecosystem, and the fuzzy comprehensive evaluation (FCE) method was used to screen all the biological chains controlling algae. A combination of the FCE coupled with the Ecopath screening method for typical biological chains for algal control was applied to the Lianshi Lake area; the results show that the typical biological chain for algal control is phytoplankton (Phyt)–zooplankton (Zoop)–macrocrustaceans (Macc)–other piscivorous (OthP). Upon adjusting the biomass of Zoop and Macc in the typical biological chain for algal control to three times that of the current status, the ecological nutrition efficiency of Phyt was increased from 0.308 to 0.906. The material flow into the second trophic level from primary producers increased from 3043 to 8283 t/km2/year. The amount of detritus flowing into primary producers for sedimentation decreased from 7618 to 2378 t/km2/year. Finally, the total primary production/total respiratory volume (TPP/TR) decreased from 9.224 to 3.403, the Finn’s cycle index (FCI) increased from 13.6% to 17.5%, and the Finn’s average energy flow path length (FCL) increased from 2.854 to 3.410. The results suggest that the problem of eutrophication can be solved by introducing Zoop (an algal predator) and Macc to a large extent, resulting in improved ecosystem maturity. The research results can facilitate decision making for the restoration of urban lake water ecosystems.

Factors influencing embodied energy trade between the Belt and Road countries: a gravity approach.

Against the backdrop of current global collaboration on mitigating carbon emissions, how to reduce the energy uses in the Belt and Road Initiative area becomes an urgent and big challenge facing the global community. Using the Eora input-output database, this paper accounts the embodied energy trade between Belt and Road countries in 2015, followed by an investigation of the factors influencing the embodied energy trade through a panel gravity model. Global value chain participation and position are two newly considered factors in analyzing the determinants of embodied energy flow. We find that the main bilateral embodied flow paths are from South Korea to China, China to South Korea, Singapore to China, Ukraine to Russia, and Malaysia to Singapore. Five percent embodied energy flow paths account for 80% of the total bilateral embodied energy flow volume between Belt and Road countries. The gravity model results indicate that gross domestic product (GDP) per capita, population, global value chain participation are the key drivers of bilateral embodied energy trade, while the industrial share of GDP and global value chain position are negatively related to the trade. Energy intensity plays a crucial role in reducing the bilateral embodied energy flow. These results are useful in the policymaking of sustainable development for the Belt and Road Initiative.