Energy Restructuring Research Articles

The Mechanism and Effects of the Digital Economy on Urban Resilience: An Empirical Test Based on 110 Cities in the Yangtze River Economic Belt

Cities encounter increasing risks and challenges under new development patterns, and digital economy (DE) can drive cities’ improved resilience to natural and social uncertainties. Based on data collected on the Yangtze River Economic Belt from 2011 to 2021, the development situation of the regional DE and urban resilience (UR) was measured, and the impact mechanisms of the DE on UR were analysed theoretically and empirically using a benchmark regression model. The findings are as follows: The benchmark test revealed that the DE development contributed significantly to UR in the region. The mediating effect test revealed that the DE improved UR through two pathways: industrial structure upgradation and energy restructuring. The moderating effect test suggested that environmental pollutant emissions had a negative moderating effect between the impact mechanisms of the DE, industrial structure, and energy structure and between the effects of industrial structure, energy structure, and UR, whereas CO2 emissions had a positive moderating effect between the impact mechanisms of DE and industrial structure. Heterogeneity analysis indicated that the DE contributed positively to the UR except in the upstream region, where the coefficient of the DE was insignificant. Overall, this study highlights the crucial role of the DE in improving UR and elucidates the theoretical impact mechanisms of environmental pollution control and carbon reduction measures on UR.

Identifying Critical Paths and Drivers of Carbon Emissions From Tourism: An Integrated Analysis Toward Sustainable Tourism

ABSTRACTGiven the highly fragmented structure and strong industrial linkages of the tourism industry, exploring the flow and drivers of carbon transfer is critical for sustainable tourism. This study combines the environmentally extended input–output (EEIO) model with structural decomposition analysis (SDA) and structural path analysis (SPA) to identify the key sectors, paths, and drivers of carbon emissions from tourism. Taking China as a case, the results show that: (1) China's tourism carbon emissions grew from 34.68 Mt. in 2002 to 137.87 Mt. in 2019, with road transport (22.58%), food and beverage services (21.10%), shopping (20.52%), and air transport (14.91%) constituting the primary emitters. (2) Critical supply chain path “source sector → tourism‐related sectors → final demand” spurring carbon growth of tourism primarily centers on the tourism‐related sectors associated with road transport, air transport, food and beverage services, and shopping, where the source sectors mainly come from energy and food supply, manufacturing, transportation, and logistics sectors. (3) Despite considerable sectoral and path‐level heterogeneity, the key driver for inhibiting tourism carbon emissions is direct energy intensity, while final demand remains the main obstacle to low‐carbon tourism. In addition to the limited effect of energy restructuring, the promising role of optimizing the supply of intermediate goods in cubing tourism carbon emissions is revealed. Finally, relevant theoretical and policy implications are discussed.

Decomposition analysis of renewable energy demand and coupling effect between renewable energy and energy demand: Evidence from China

Driving up demand for renewable energy is key to China's response to the energy crisis and to controlling carbon emissions. Several studies have been conducted to explore the factors affecting renewable energy demand. However, the literature on the importance of technological innovation in fossil energy production in affecting renewable energy demand is scant. Therefore, it is essential to explore the impact of technological innovations in fossil energy production on renewable energy demand, as well as to reveal the dynamic penetration mechanism of renewable energy in the field of energy demand, to provide policy guidelines for China to promote its energy revolution. This study decomposes renewable energy demand into 10 drivers with the extended IDA-PDA (Index Decomposition Analysis and Production-theory Decomposition Analysis) model. Then the dynamic penetration mechanism of renewable energy on the energy demand side is revealed by combining the coupled model and the decomposition results. The results show that the investment intensity effects and energy restructuring contributed the most to renewable energy demand growth, contributing 60.73 % and 79.97 % respectively. Conversely, technological advances in fossil energy combustion made the largest negative cumulative contribution to renewable energy demand growth, with a cumulative negative contribution of −39.57 %. The drivers of renewable energy demand vary considerably across types, regions and resource endowment levels, which means that regions should develop differentiated development strategies based on their own characteristics. In addition, the coupling effect between renewable energy demand and total energy demand is weakening, with market and policy effects becoming the drivers for augmenting the response of renewable energy to total energy demand. The findings of this study provide clear pathways for expanding renewable energy demand, offering important insights for the government to balance between promoting capital-driven interests and policy-driven development.

The Path Driving China’s Energy Structure Transformation from the Perspective of Policy Tools

Combing through Chinese energy-related policy texts and exploring the development path of energy restructuring are significant steps towards a better understanding of the history of energy restructuring in the process of building a moderately prosperous society in all aspects. To explore the various paths driving the transformation of China’s energy structure, the energy policies promulgated at the national level from 2001 to 2020 in China were systematically compiled. Based on the policy tool perspective, a theoretical framework for influencing China’s energy structure transition was proposed in three dimensions: objectives, tools, and intensity. A total of 39 national energy policy texts were analyzed using a fuzzy set qualitative comparative analysis method. The results show that (1) the consistency levels of individual preconditions were all below 0.9, which does not constitute a necessary condition for the transformation of China’s energy structure; (2) the sufficiency analysis identified three paths of China’s energy structure transformation, which can be described as models driven by “multiple objectives + information”, “single objective + information”, and “single objective”; (3) energy restructuring is a goal-oriented process; the clarity and certainty of the efficient and green objectives of energy policies have a facilitating effect on energy restructuring, and the support of information technology provides an important guarantee for energy restructuring; (4) compared with European and American countries, it was found that China’s energy policy tools were characterized by an emphasis on macro-planning, insufficient connectivity, and marked tendencies in practice.

Retraction Note: Public–private partnerships for energy transition: studying role of economic change and energy restructuring over the time

Retraction Note: Public–private partnerships for energy transition: studying role of economic change and energy restructuring over the time

Analysis of Synergistic Drivers of CO2 and NOX Emissions from Thermal Power Generating Units in Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei Region, 2010–2020

Synergistic control of the emissions of air pollutants and CO2 is critical to the dual challenges of air quality improvement and climate change in China. Based on the emission inventories of thermal power units in Beijing, Tianjin, and Hebei, this study analyzes the CO2 and NOX emission characteristics of these units, and identifies and quantifies the synergistic drivers affecting these emission trends. The inventory data show that, between 2010 and 2020, NOX emissions were reduced by 86.1%, while CO2 emissions were reduced by only 29.8%. Although significant progress has been made in reducing NOX emissions through measures such as end-of-pipe treatment, controlling CO2 emissions remains a difficult task. The index decomposition analysis reveals that economic growth is the main driver of CO2 and NOX emission growth, energy intensity reduction is the main driver of CO2 emission reduction, and end-of-pipe treatment is the main driver of NOX emission reduction. Currently, coal occupies about 87% of the energy consumption of thermal power units in the Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei region, and remains the main type of energy for synergistic emissions, and the potential for emission reduction in the energy structure remains huge. For NOX emissions, it is expected that 90% of the reduction potential can be achieved through energy restructuring and end-of-pipe treatment. In conclusion, this high-precision unit-by-unit emission study confirms the effectiveness of the control policy for thermal power units in the region and provides some scientific reference for future policy formulation.

INDIA AND THE CENTRAL ASIAN FACTOR OF EURASIA’S ENERGY AND TRANSPORT SECTOR RESTRUCTURING

The article analyzes the prerequisites and main directions of India’s possible actions to expand its influence in the Central Asian region. The author assesses the importance of transport and energy projects in Central Eurasia for India, as one of the key consumers of energy resources from Russia and Central Asian states. Another spotlight of this research is the strategy for expansion of Indian-Uzbek cooperation as the most promising support base for the implementation of India’s geopolitical and geo-economic interests in the region.The ongoing and deepening global geoeconomic and geopolitical transformations are creating a wide field of opportunities for restructuring of the continental energy and transport systems. In these conditions, the Indian leadership is required to take active steps in implementing its foreign policy so as not to remain on the sidelines of large-scale projects for the development of key areas of the continent, including the resource and transit potential of Russia and Central Asia.

Policy-making optimization based on generative adversarial networks: A case study of mapping energy transition pathways to China's carbon neutrality

Mapping energy transition pathways is pivotal for achieving carbon neutrality. However, potential pathways delineated by rule-based models differ significantly due to model characteristics, posing a grand challenge in subsequent policy-making. Inspired by the ability of deep convolutional generative adversarial networks (DCGAN) to extract features and generate images, we integrate model outputs concerning 16 energies’ transition pathways to carbon neutrality through DCGAN, assimilating the uncertainties among these outputs. Since DCGAN absorbs the patterns of published data, it offers new insights into policy-making of energy transitions. DCGAN indicates that natural gas and its application with carbon capture and storage play more crucial roles than these currently suggested levels. Additionally, hydrogen and nuclear energies require further development over 2020−2060, serving as a cushion during the substantial energy restructuring. Our study not only provides novel insights into methods mapping the trajectories of critical variables to carbon neutrality but extends DCGAN's application into policy-making optimization.

(Invited) CdS/Ti-Si-O Composite Photoanode for Photoelectrochemical Hydrogen Generation

Advancements in clean energy drive socio-economic development and foster a sustainable future by restructuring energy systems and promoting low-carbon development. In this paper, we presented a comprehensive investigation on the design and performance characterization of CdS/Ti-Si-O composite photoanodes for photoelectrochemical (PEC) hydrogen generation. Silicon-doped TiO2 nanotube arrays were fabricated through anodization of Ti-5Si alloy, followed by the deposition of CdS using the SILAR (successive ionic layer adsorption and reaction) process, resulting in nanostructured Ti-Si-O photoanodes modified with CdS. The composite photoanodes were characterized in terms of their composition, microstructure, optical properties and photoelectrochemical hydrogen production performance. The composite photoanodes revealed a notable enhancement in PEC hydrogen generation properties with a photocurrent density of 7.86 mA/cm2，which was 19.15 times and 9.59 times to those of the undoped TiO2 photoanode and Ti-Si-O photoanode, respectively. The Si-doping mechanism of the photoanodes was elucidated through Density Functional Theory (DFT) calculations. The synergistic combination of Si-doping and CdS modification represents a novel and promising approach for the design of efficient nanostructured photoanodes.

Surface Oxygen Defect Engineering of A2B2O7 Pyrochlore Semiconductors Boosts the Electrocatalytic Reduction of CO2-to-HCOOH.

The electrocatalytic conversion of inert CO2 to value-added chemical fuels powered by renewable energy is one of the benchmark approaches to address excessive carbon emissions and achieve carbon-neutral energy restructuring. However, the adsorption/activation of supersymmetric CO2 is facing insurmountable challenges that constrain its industrial-scale applications. Here, this theory-guided study confronts these challenges by leveraging the synergies of bimetallic sites and defect engineering, where pyrochlore-type semiconductor A2B2O7 is employed as research platform and the conversion of CO2-to-HCOOH as the model reaction. Specifically, defect engineering intensified greatly the chemisorption-induced CO2 polarization via the bimetallic coordination, thermodynamically beneficial to the HCOOH production via the *HCO2 intermediate. The optimal V-BSO-430 electrocatalyst with abundant surface oxygen vacancies achieved a superior HCOOH yield of 116.7mmol h-1 cm-2 at -1.2 VRHE, rivalling the incumbent similar reaction systems. Furthermore, the unique catalytic unit featured with a Bi1-Sn-Bi2 triangular structure, which is reconstructed by defect engineering, and altered the pathway of CO2 adsorption and activation to allow the preferential affinity of the suspended O atom in *HCO2 to H. As a result, V-BSO-430 gave an impressive FEHCOOH of 93% at -1.0 VRHE. This study held promises for inspiring the exploration of bimetallic materials from the massive semiconductor database.

The Development of China's New Energy Battery and Automotive Industry

This paper provides an in-depth analysis of the development of China's new energy battery and automotive industry, focusing on the transition from traditional vehicles to new energy vehicles (NEVs) due to global energy restructuring and environmental concerns. The Chinese government's significant policy support for NEVs and related power battery sectors is highlighted, emphasizing their role in reducing carbon emissions and promoting environmental conservation. The paper traces the evolution of China's new energy battery and automobile industry, characterized by rapid technological progress and strategic national support. It examines various battery technologies, including lead-acid, nickel-based, and lithium-ion batteries, each with unique benefits and challenges. Lithium-ion batteries, despite their high cost and safety concerns, are preferred for their superior energy density and cycle life. The current development status of the industry is discussed, addressing rapid growth, technological innovations, and challenges such as battery inconsistency, safety, and recycling. The paper emphasizes the significance of technological advancements in power batteries, drive motors, and NEV system configurations. Looking to the future, the paper anticipates continued growth in China's NEV and power battery sector, driven by technological innovations, policy support, and alignment with China's dual-carbon strategy. Challenges such as cost control, safety, and battery recycling are recognized as critical areas for future development. In conclusion, the paper asserts that while China's new energy battery and automobile industry is poised for significant growth, it faces multifaceted challenges that require collaborative efforts from the government, industry, and research bodies to ensure sustainable and safe advancement.

Does the "Belt and Road Initiative" benefit the environment? Insight from analysis of intra-industry trade in environment goods.

The expansion of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) has raised a wide range of concerns about its environmental impact. Therefore, from the perspective of environmental impacts, this study used the two-way fixed effect staggered differences in differences (TWFE Staggered DID) method to examine the impact of the BRI on the Environment Goods (EGs) intra-industry trade (IIT) between China and other Belt and Road (B&R) countries, including a sample of 191 countries, covering the period from 2010 to 2019 for eliminating the impact of COVID-19 and the financial crisis in 2008 and 2009. Because only 135 countries signed a Memorandum of Understanding between 2010 and 2019, this study treated these B&R countries as the study group, and the other 73 countries (non-B&R countries) as the control group. This study described EGs using the 54 6-digit code Environment Goods in Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System listed in the "APEC LIST OF ENVIRONMENT GOODS" published by the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation in 2012, and used the intra-industry trade index proposed by Grubel and Lloyd in 1971 to measuring dependent variable. The research results indicated that the BRI has significantly promoted bilateral EGs IIT. The mechanism test implied that, in addition to direct impacts, the BRI also has indirect impacts by boosting the energy restructuring of B&R countries. These results prove that the BRI has positive impacts on the environment. The heterogeneity test showed that there is a heterogeneous impact depending on the type of IIT, product categorization, B&R countries' income levels, and geographic environment. This study not only gives theoretical and empirical evidence of the positive environmental impacts of the BRI, but also provides practical guidance for the development of EGS IIT between China and B&R countries, thereby contributing to global carbon emissions reduction and environmental governance to some degree.

Coal consumption and carbon emission reductions in BRICS countries.

The primary energy consumption structure of BRICS countries is dominated by fossil energy, particularly coal. Coal consumption in BRICS countries is a major driver underlying increased carbon emissions. Therefore, this study developed a spatiotemporal decoupling mode and incorporated factors related to coal consumption-induced carbon emissions into a spatiotemporal decoupling analysis method to provide differentiated and targeted policies for energy restructuring and emission reduction targets in BRICS countries. Moreover, a temporal-spatial decomposition logarithmic mean Divisia index model was developed using the spatiotemporal decoupling index method. The model is based on CO2 emissions generated by coal consumption in BRICS countries, with a primary focus on data from Brazil, Russia, South Africa, India, and China. The findings reveal distinct spatiotemporal distributions and driving effects of coal consumption and carbon dioxide emissions across various countries. Factors such as CO2 emission intensity, coal consumption intensity, economic output per capita, and population structure exerted either positive or negative effects on the distributional effect of the carbon emission-economic output per capita association in BRICS countries. Additionally, country-level heterogeneity in the influence of the distributional effects of CO2 emissions was observed within each BRICS country. Thus, different policies are needed to achieve carbon emission reduction targets in different countries.

RETRACTED ARTICLE: Public–private partnerships for energy transition: studying role of economic change and energy restructuring over the time

RETRACTED ARTICLE: Public–private partnerships for energy transition: studying role of economic change and energy restructuring over the time

The effect of the 2022 energy crisis on electricity markets ashore the North Sea

The European internal energy market has undergone institutional redesign during the last 30 years. It has the objective to deliver secure, affordable and increasingly decarbonized energy supply. Europe experienced its first inherent energy crisis after the global oil price crisis half a decade ago. With skyrocketing energy prices during 2022, electricity generation in Europe was under extreme stress. In this paper we analyse flows and prices of electricity in six distinctive (with respect to generation portfolios) European countries from 2018 to 2022 and investigate if market signals (prices) contributed to security of supply. For a long time, sceptics have argued that liberalized markets would not be able to provide security of supply, and this has not been challenged by real world events thus far. Our empirical results suggest that electricity did indeed move along cross-border transmission lines as the theory suggests, and that cross-border transmission lines were utilized as during normal periods. This is relevant for the current debate on restructuring energy market design and protecting consumers from volatile prices.

Bifunctional electrocatalytic reduction performance of nitrogen containing biomass based nanoreactors loaded with Ni nanoparticles for oxygen and carbon dioxide

In the face of increasing energy demand, the approach of transformation that combines energy restructuring and environmental governance has become a popular research direction. As an important part of electrocatalytic reactions for gas molecules, reduction reactions of oxygen (ORR) and carbon dioxide (CO2RR) are very indispensable in the field of energy conversion and storage. However, the non-interchangeability and irreversibility of electrode materials have always been a challenge in electrocatalysis. Hereon, nickel and nitrogen decorated biomass carbon-based materials (Ni/N-BC) has been prepared by high temperature pyrolysis using agricultural waste straw as raw material. Surprisingly, it possesses abundant active sites and specific surface area as a bifunctional electrocatalyst for ORR and CO2RR. The three-dimensional porous cavity structure for the framework of biomass could not only provide a strong anchoring foundation for the active site, but also facilitate the transport and enrichment of reactants around the site. In addition, temperature modulation during the preparation process also optimizes the composition and structure of biomass carbon and nitrogen. Benefit from above structure and morphology advantages, Ni/N-BC-800 exhibits the superior electrocatalytic activity for both ORR and CO2RR simultaneously. More specifically, Ni/N-BC-800 exhibits satisfactory ORR activity in terms of initial potential and half wave potential, while also enables the production of CO under high selective. The research results provide ideas for the development and design of electrode materials and green electrocatalysts, and also expand new applications of agricultural waste in fields such as energy conversion, environmental protection, and resource utilization.

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

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

Sizing with Technical Indicators of Microgrids with Battery Energy Storage Systems: A Systematic Review

Worldwide, governmental organizations are restructuring energy policies, making them cleaner, encouraging transformation and energy transition by integrating renewable sources, engaging in environmental preservation, and, notably, meeting the growing demand for sustainable energy models, such as solar and wind energy. In the electricity sector, reducing carbon emissions is crucial to facilitating the integration of microgrids (MGs) with renewable sources and Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESSs). This work constitutes a systematic review that thoroughly analyzes the sizing of MGs with BESSs. The unpredictability and variability of renewable sources justify the complexity of this analysis and the loads connected to the system. Additionally, the sizing of a BESS depends primarily on the application, battery technology, and the system’s energy demand. This review mapped and identified existing computational and optimization methodologies for structured sizing in technical indicators of an MG with a BESS based on articles published between 2017 and 2021. A protocol was defined in which articles were filtered in multiple stages, undergoing strategic refinements to arrive at the final articles to address the Research Questions (RQs). The final number of articles was 44, and within these, technical indicators related to the RQs were addressed, covering the most relevant works and comparing them technically, including how each explains the objective and result of their work. The rejected articles did not meet the criteria established by the defined protocol, such as exclusion criteria, quality criteria, and RQs. In conclusion, studies employing the integration of machine learning coupled with optimization techniques exhibit a significant contribution to results, as historical data can aid machine learning for data prediction.

Research on Energy Restructuring in China in the Context of Global Warming

Considering global warming, the development of countries and the normal life of people around the world have been affected. In addition, other derivative issues arising from global warming have impacted the entire planet's ecology. One of the primary causes of the rise in global temperatures is energy burning. China is a major coal energy-consuming country. Therefore, it has been searching for a cleaner and lower carbon energy mix in recent years. This paper investigates the current status of China's energy mix upgrade using literature research and case studies and finds that China currently suffers from a lack of clean energy technologies, uncertainty about the direction of alternative energy choices, and narrow social coverage of energy optimization plans. To address these problems, this study argues that China's energy mix upgrade should f develop traditional energy clean technologies, seek new alternative energy sources and include more social elements to help transform the energy mix toward cleanliness and low carbonization. New energy development has a key role in this paper, and therefore, the findings of this paper are beneficial to the further development of China's new energy sector. In addition, this paper further calls for more social elements to participate in the process of energy mix optimization, which helps to transform the public's awareness, reduce global CO2 emissions, and prevent further global temperature rise.

European green energy transition formation and its modern implementation adjustments

Purpose: this article is to conceptualize the reasons of European green energy transition sustainability on the basis of its historic dynamics of its political and economic drivers and its possible developments taking into account adjustments of this process caused by current energy market situation.Methods: system analysis in the context of economics and politics, case-study, statistical method, information analysis and synthesis, data visualization method are applied.Results: the process of formation of modern economic and political drivers of green energy transition from the moment of the origin of this process to the present time has been investigated. The scale of the restructuring of European energy in the first quarter of the 21st century is shown based on the analysis of the dynamics of energy production by different types of generation. The substantiation of the sustainability of the process of greening energy in European countries is formulated, consisting in a combination of political and economic factors. The possible options for the development of the European green transition process in the medium term are evaluated, taking into account the adjustments of market conditions that are caused by the current unstable state of the energy markets.Conclusions and Relevance: green energy transition is caused from a political point of view, firstly, by the popularity of the concept among voters, and secondly, by the fact that it is the only option to ensure energy independence for Europe. From an economic point of view, the green transition acts as a tool for the development of industry, support for innovation and a factor in reducing negative externalities associated with the negative consequences of the use of hydrocarbon energy. The combination of these factors ensures the sustainability of the greening of energy, therefore, the most likely option for its medium-term development will be the resumption of the process after finding temporary solutions for energy supply.