Huanan Li

Regional efforts to mitigate climate change in China: a multi-criteria assessment approach

The task of mitigating climate change is usually allocated through administrative regions in China. In order to put pressure on regions that perform poorly in mitigating climate changes and highlight regions with best-practice climate policies, this study explored a method to assess regional efforts on climate change mitigation at the sub-national level. A climate change mitigation index (CCMI) was developed with 15 objective indicators, which were divided into four categories, namely, emissions, efficiency, non-fossil energy, and climate policy. The indicators’ current level and recent development were measured for the first three categories. The index was applied to assess China’s provincial performance in climate protection based on the Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS) method. Empirical results show that the middle Yangtze River area and southern coastal area perform better than other areas in mitigating climate change. The average performance of the northwest area in China is the worst. In addition, climate change mitigation performance has a negative linear correlation with energy self-sufficiency ratio but does not have a significant linear correlation with social development level. Therefore, regional resource endowments had better be paid much more attention in terms of mitigating climate change because regions with good resource endowments in China tend to perform poorly.

Research on comprehensive carrying capacity of Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region based on state-space method

Based on state-space method and component analysis, this paper builds a comprehensive evaluation system of carrying capacity for the Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei region from four aspects, namely economy, environment, ecology and energy. The results show that the comprehensive carrying capacity in this region gradually rises in recent years and the economic carrying capacity plays an important role in this situation. Ecological and environmental carrying capacity are gradually enhanced but still affected by water shortages. The energy carrying capacity of this region is low, which is the major factor restricting its sustainable development. Based on the empirical results, following policy suggestions should be adopted: Firstly, local government should accelerate technological progress, promoting the optimization and upgrading of industrial structure; Secondly, the contradiction between supply and demand of water resource should be solved gradually; thirdly, government should develop recycling economy, realizing the coordinated development of economy and environment; last but not least, saving energy and improving energy efficiency.

Decomposition of Energy-Related CO2 Emission over 2001 and 2011 in Manufacturing Industry of China

Manufacturing industry is developing fast in China, leading to a large amount of energy consumption and CO2 emission. This paper presents a decomposition analysis of energy-related CO2 emission in manufacturing industry in China for the period of 2001-2011. The complete decomposition method developed by Sun is used to analyze the effect of four factors: CO2 intensity, energy intensity, structure change and economy development. The results show that economy development has the largest positive effect and energy intensity has the most negative impact on CO2 emission of Chinas manufacture industry. While the structure change of manufacturing industrial decreases its CO2 emission to a certain extent and the CO2 intensity increases its CO2 emission slightly, but both of them have large potentials in CO2 reduction.

Optimal selection of different CCS technologies under CO2 reduction targets

In China, carbon capture and storage (CCS) is recognized as one of the most promising technologies through which to achieve a large reduction in CO2 emissions in future. The choice among different CCS technologies is critical for large-scale applications. With the aim of developing instructive policy suggestions for CCS development, this study proposed an interval programming model to select the optimal CCS technology among the different CCS technologies available in China. The analysis results indicate that the selection of CO2 capture technologies should be based on the actual situation of the project and industry being targeted. If the government implements mandatory CO2 emission reductions, storage in deep saline aquifers is the optimal choice for CO2 sequestration when oil prices are low and the number of available CO2 emission permits is large. In contrast, enhanced oil recovery is the optimal choice when oil prices increase and the availability of CO2 emission permits decreases. It is critical that the government reduce the operating cost and the cost of CO2 capture in particular.

Dynamic game analysis on China’s public and private oil stockpiles

As the economic growth and industrialization, China’s demand for oil rapidly increased. The oil supply security is becoming a key consideration for China’s policy-makers. In this paper, an empirical analysis on optimal operating strategies of China’s public and private oil stockpiles in different market states, including normal oil supply and oil supply interruption, was made by developing a simple dynamic game model. Optimal operating strategies and inventory levels for public and private oil stockpile were derived. Influences on oil prices by stockpiles’ behaviours were derived. The construction processes of the public oil stockpiles were also taken into account.

The Carbon Footprint Analysis of Thermal Power Plants

Thermal power plant is the main CO2 emission source in China. This paper discusses the carbon footprint of a thermal power plant in Liaoning province of China based on LCA (Life Cycle Assessment. The reviewed thermal power plants total carbon footprint is about 6.52 million tons, of which 90.23% are from fuel combustion. The onsite emission is 5.91 million tons which depends on the power plants technology level and energy efficiency. In order to alleviate carbon emissions at the power enterprise level, an integrated effort should be taken, including the optimization of energy structures, improvement of energy efficiency and technology level. Recommendations for thermal power plant management are that companies should make full use of geographical advantages and adopt high-quality fuels actively.

A Decomposition Analysis of Developing Low-Carbon Economy in Dalian Industry Sector

In this paper, we utilize Logarithmic Mean Divisia Index (LMDI) techniques to decompose different components —CO2 emission factor, industrial energy mix, industrial energy intensity, industrial-scale structure, industrial structure, economic activity, family size and family households—which contribute to the changes in CO2 emissions in Dalian industry sector based on industry economy and CO2 emissions data in Dalian from 2000 to 2009. The results show that the economic activity was the main component for CO2 emissions increase, and energy intensity was the most favorable component in developing low-carbon economy in Dalian industry sector, and optimize energy mix could contribute to a significant reduction in CO2 emissions.