Forages for the Red Soils Area of China - Proceedings of an International Workshop, Jianyang, Fujian Province, P. R. China, 6–9 October 1997

Crop Production/Industries,

Equity and Emissions Trading in China

China has embarked on an ambitious pathway for establishing a national carbon market in the next five to ten years. In this study, we analyze the distributional aspects of a Chinese emissions-trading scheme from ethical, economic, and stated-preference perspectives. We focus on the role of emissions permit allocation and first show how specific equity principles can be incorporated into the design of potential allocation schemes. We then assess the economic and distributional impacts of those allocation schemes using a computable general equilibrium model with regional detail for the Chinese economy. Finally, we conduct a survey among Chinese climate-policy experts on the basis of the simulated model impacts. The survey participants indicate a relative preference for allocation schemes that put less emissions-reduction burden on the western provinces, a medium burden on the central provinces, and a high burden on the eastern provinces. Most participants show strong support for allocating emissions permits based on consumption-based emissions responsibilities

Spatial heterogeneity and driving forces of environmental productivity growth in China: Would it help to switch pollutant discharge fees to environmental taxes?

© 2019 Elsevier Ltd Emission charge policy has recently switched from pollutant discharge fees to environmental taxes in China. Considering spatial heterogeneity, the effects of changes in emission charge policy may subject to different Chinese regions. In this study, environmental efficiencies of Chinese regions are evaluated through provincial environmentally extended input-output tables and a frontier-based optimization model. Driving factors of environmental productivity growth are identified through global Luenberger productivity decomposition approach. Moreover, spatial heterogeneity on the effects of change in emission charge policy on environment and economy are assessed. Results show that all regions experienced environmental productivity growth. Technology progress is the major driving factor in most regions with an average contribution of 90%, while technical efficiency regress slows environmental productivity growth in Southwest region. Switching from pollutant discharge fees to environmental taxes would decreases emission intensities by 1.42% on average, but it would have different negative impact on economic growth (−1.13%∼-4.90% of regional GDP) due to spatially heterogeneous trade-offs between environmental protection and economic development. Addressing such spatial heterogeneity provide not only a basis for diversified tax rate determination but also a framework for other environmental policy assessment

Analyzing the Regional Impact of a Fossil Energy Cap in China

Decoupling fossil energy demand from economic growth is crucial to China’s sustainable development. In addition to energy and carbon intensity targets enacted under the Twelfth Five-Year Plan (2011–2015), a coal or fossil energy cap is under discussion as a way to constrain the absolute quantity of energy used. Importantly, implementation of such a cap may be compatible with existing policies and institutions. We evaluate the efficiency and distributional implications of alternative energy cap designs using a numerical general equilibrium model of China’s economy, built on the 2007 regional input-output tables for China and the Global Trade Analysis Project global data set. We find that a national cap on fossil energy implemented through a tax on final energy products and an energy saving allowance trading market is the most costeffective design, while a regional coal-only cap is the least cost-effective design. We further find that a regional coal cap results in large welfare losses in some provinces. Capping fossil energy use at the national level is found to be nearly as cost effective as a national CO2 emissions target that penalizes energy use based on carbon content.We acknowledge the support of the Ministry of Science and Technology of China through the Institute for Energy, Environment, and Economy at Tsinghua University, and the support of the Graduate School at Tsinghua University, which are supporting Zhang Da’s doctoral research as a visiting scholar at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. We further thank Eni S.p.A., ICF International, Shell International Limited, and the French Development Agency (AFD), founding sponsors of the China Energy and Climate Project. We also grateful for support provided by the Social Science Key Research Program from National Social Science Foundation, China of Grant No. 09&ZD029 and by Rio Tinto China. We would further like to thank John Reilly, Sergey Paltsev, Kyung-min Nam, Henry Chen, Paul Kishimoto and Audrey Resutek for helpful comments, discussion and edits

Economic growth pattern in restricted areas: the case study of Kangding City in Sichuan Province

The construction of regional development patterns based on the main functional areas is a major strategic innovation which not only conforms to the national regional policy but also incorporates regional features. On June 8, 2011, the state council issued the National Main Function Area Planning to readjust guiding thoughts of regional development of our country. In 2013, Sichuan province formulated and published the Main Function Area Planning which divided the restricted areas into main producing areas of agricultural products and key ecological functional areas. And among them, the key ecological functional areas are the important research subject of this thesis. In light of the strategic pattern of main functional areas, the structure of regional interests has undergone a major adjustment, which means that economic devolopment pattern in restricted areas need a foundamental transformation. Such areas need to build up economic system rooted in main functions and enhance their self-sustainability. It also poses a new challenge for policymakers in these areas. Research on economic growth pattern of restricted areas has become an important topic in the study of China’s regional economic theory.A definição de padrões de desenvolvimento regionais baseados em áreas funcionais principais constitui uma inovação estratégica, que não só está de acordo com as políticas regionais, mas também permite a inclusão das características específicas de cada região. A 8 de junho de 2011as autoridades nacionais Chinesas publicaram o documento intitulado National Main Function Area Planning para reajustar, a nível nacional, as linhas estratégicas de desenvolvimento regional. Em 2013 a província de Sichuan editou e publicou o Main Function Area Planning que dividia as áreas de desenvolvimento restrito em dois tipos: áreas de produção maioritariamente agrícola e áreas funcionais ecológicas chave. O principal objeto de investigação desta tese é a segunda destas áreas. Tendo em consideração os padrões estratégicos das áreas funcionais principais, a estrutura dos interesses regionais tem sido sujeita a ajustamentos importantes, o que significa a necessidade de transformações fundamentais nos padrões de desenvolvimento económico das áreas de desenvolvimento restrito. Estas áreas necessitam de construir um sistema económico baseado nas funções principais e que seja autossustentado, o que constitui um novo desafio para as políticas públicas. Os padrões de crescimento económico em áreas de desenvolvimento restrito tornou-se um importante tópico de investigação na teoria económica regional da China

Energy and Environmental Efficiency of China’s Transportation Sector: A Multidirectional Analysis Approach

With the rapid economic development, the transportation sector becomes one of the high-energy-consumption and high-CO2-emissions sectors in China. In order to ensure efficient use of energy and to reduce CO2 pollution, it is important to gain the best performance standards in China’s transportation sector. Data envelopment analysis (DEA) has been accepted as a popular tool of efficiency measurement. However, previous studies based on DEA are mainly restricted to the radial expansions of outputs or radial contractions of inputs. In this paper, we present a nonradial DEA model with multidirectional efficiency analysis (MEA) involving undesirable outputs for the measurement of regional energy and environmental efficiency of China’s transportation sector during the period 2006–2010. We not only evaluate the energy and environmental efficiency level and trend of China’s transportation sector but also investigate the efficiency patterns of 30 regions and three major areas of China. Additionally, we identify the energy saving potential and CO2 emissions reduction potential for each province and area in China in this study

The governance-production nexus of eco-efficiency in Chinese resource-based cities:A two-stage network DEA approach

For decades, resource-based cities in China have significantly contributed to China's socio-economic development. The heavy resource dependence of resource-based cities inevitably leads to a series of environmental problems. Mitigating environmental impacts in an unthinking manner might be disruptive for economic development. Improving eco-efficiency has been a crucial solution for protecting the environment while mitigating its negative economic impact. However, the method commonly used to evaluate the eco-efficiency – that is, the black-box data envelopment analysis (DEA) – cannot examine the inefficiencies of the internal structure, and as a result, the underlying management defects are unclear. To open the black box, this study presents a two-stage network DEA framework incorporating government and industrial sectors and measures the eco-efficiency of 84 resource-based cities during the post-financial crisis period (2007–2015). The results indicate that the average eco-efficiency of China's resource-based cities shows a promising increase, and there is a positive relationship between governance efficiency and production efficiency. The decreasing trend of governance efficiency in the Central, Western, and Northeast regions after 2014 shows the low quality of the government sector in the usage of fiscal income. Proactive disclosure of how the government sector conducts public business and spends taxpayers' money should be made to increase transparency, attract more entrepreneurial resources to carry out production activities, and further improve sustainability. The two-stage network DEA framework helps obtain more insights into the internal management defects of the government and industrial sectors and enhance their cooperation to improve the eco-efficiency precisely

CAN CHINA USE ALTERNATIVE ENERGIES INSTEAD OF COAL TO PROVIDE MORE ELECTRICITY BY 2030?

Following the rapid growth of China\u27s economy, energy consumption, especially electricity consumption of China, has made a huge increase in the past 30 years. Since China has been using coal as the major energy source to produce electricity during these years, environmental problems have become more and more serious. The research question for this paper is: Can China use alternative energies instead of coal to produce more electricity in 2030? Hydro power, nuclear power, natural gas, wind power and solar power are considered as the possible and most popular alternative energies for the current situation of China. To answer the research question above, there are two things to know: How much is the total electricity consumption in China by 2030? And how much electricity can the alternative energies provide in China by 2030? For a more reliable forecast, an econometric model using the Ordinary Least Squares Method is established on this paper to predict the total electricity consumption by 2030. The predicted electricity coming from alternative energy sources by 2030 in China can be calculated from the existing literature. The research results of this paper are analyzed under a reference scenario and a max tech scenario. In the reference scenario, the combination of the alternative energies can provide 47.71% of the total electricity consumption by 2030. In the max tech scenario, it provides 57.96% of the total electricity consumption by 2030. These results are important not only because they indicate the government\u27s long term goal is reachable, but also implies that the natural environment of China could have an inspiring future

Doctor of Philosophy

dissertationThis dissertation is to theoretically and empirically explore how development impacts the environment in the largest developing country in the world from the perspective of sociology of development, and environmental and urban sociology. This dissertation focuses on the context of China, reviews the development trajectories adopted during the past more than six decades, and presents the spatial and temporal pattern of environmental degradation across regions and over time. Then, this dissertation empirically examines the relationship between development and environmental degradation answering the following questions: (1) whether economic development level is positively or negatively associated with air and water pollution; (2) whether industrialization, urbanization and globalization (international trade and Foreign Direct Investment inflows) are positively or negatively associated with air and water pollution; (3) how the impact has changed across regions and over time; and (4) how the sources of foreign capital have differentially affected environmental pollution across cities and over time. The dissertation presents how economic development level (GDP per capita as the indicator), globalization, industrialization and urbanization have impact on air and water pollution respectively across regions and over time, and examines whether globalization, industrialization and urbanization serves as the pathways in the association between development and environmental pollution in such a rapid economy with the most population in the world. Multilevel modeling is used to analyze the longitudinal data at the city level from 2004 to2013. The findings confirm that there is inverted-U shape only between economic development and SO2 emission (not for dust emission or water pollution), indicating whether Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) holds depending on the specific indicators of environmental degradation analyzed. More importantly, the results show that industrialization and urbanization are more likely to positively impact air pollution, while there is no strong evidence supporting that globalization has impact on air pollution. Meanwhile, industrialization and globalization are more likely to positively impact water pollution, while population density is negatively associated with water pollution