China’s Transition to a Low-Carbon Economy:2006-2010

China achieved major progress in low-carbon development during the period of the 11th Five Year Plan (2006-2010). The increasing trend of energy intensity and carbon intensity of the economy as seen prior to 2005 was reversed to a sharp decreasing trend, leading to a 19% decrease in energy intensity and 21% decrease in carbon intensity in five years. The enhanced energy efficiency, mostly due to efficiency improvement in power and manufacturing sector, is the major driver of the decrease in carbon intensity of the economy. The development of renewable energy, despite its impressive growth rate, played a minor role because of its small share in the energy mix of the country. Energy con-sumption and energy-related carbon emissions per unit of area in building continued to grow at a lesser rate, which, combined with the fast growth of total building volume, led to fast growth in total energy consumption and carbon emissions in the sector. Similar trend is observed in the transportation sector whose total energy use and carbon emissions continued to grow fast despite slight improvement in energy efficiency. Agricultural energy use experienced a slight change and forestry made a major contribution to carbon sinks. Policy and institutional innovations helped build a solid system of rules for low-carbon development. Improving cost effectiveness of the system remains a major challenge for the next five year plan period.     

Climate capacity:the measurement for adaptation to climate change

This article proposed the concept of"climate capacity"as a way of measuring human’s adaptiveness to climate change.This article also focused on the related concepts like ecological carrying capacity,water resources carrying capacity,land carrying capacity as well as population carrying capacity.The concept of climate capacity was articulated against a background of global climate and environmental change.Essentially,China’s efforts to adapt to climate change was a matter of improving climate capacity,which is the ecosystem as well as the frequency,the intensity and the scale of human’s social activities that the climatic resources of a particular geographic area were supposed to support.The climate capacity has two components.One is the natural climate capacity,which includes temperature,sunlight,precipitation,extreme climatic events,etc.The other is the derived climate capacity,which includes water resources,land resources,ecological systems,climatic risks,etc.The climate capacity can be developed or be transferred between regions by taking engineering,technology or regime-based adaptive measures.However,these adaptive measures must be implemented under the principle of economic rationalism,ecological integrity,climate protection,and social justice.It is expected that by combining the climate capacity and its threshold value with the assessment of climate change risks,we are able to predict the optimal population carrying capacity and the scale of socioeconomic development,and furthermore,provide policy support for the socioeconomic development strategy and adaptive planning.In the regions with high climate capacity,there is a symbiotic relationship between adaptation and socioeconomic development.But,in the regions with limited climate capacity,irrational development may further damage the environment.Taking the Yangtze River delta,a region with high climate capacity,and a region of Ningxia,a region with limited climate capacity,as illustrative examples,the authors of this article analyzed the policy implications of climate capacity and further made suggestions on the problems of capacitylimited adaptation and development-driven adaptation.This article argued that the concept of climate capacity can not only be used as an analytical instrument of climate change economics,but also it can provide research support for planning regional adaptation and development with climate change impact and risk assessments.     

低碳旅游概念辨识及其实现途径

随着节能减排、应对气候变化等概念的实践和推广,低碳旅游也越来越多的被提及和实践。低碳旅游由于其新,无国际经验可循,在概念、内涵以及实现途径等方面认识还不够深入,甚至形成了一些认识的误区,实践中可能因为认识的偏误,阻碍旅游业的发展,而忽略了"低碳发展"所特有的协同发展与控制温室气体排放的积极意义。本文认为,低碳发展是异于传统旅游业发展模式的一种转型发展方式,具有明确的保护气候环境的目的。同时,旅游业是主张消费和体验的行业,低碳旅游不应该以刻意减少或约束消费和体验为手段来实现,低碳旅游的实现途径是多样的,不仅仅有节能减排,还可以根据不同地区的资源条件,选择以成本最低的方式实现低碳发展。我国正处于经济和旅游业的快速发展期,实践低碳旅游发展必然会面临更多挑战,但尽早实现低碳旅游发展转型,不仅对发展低碳经济、保障气候安全做出贡献,也能为改善生态环境,保障能源安全,实现可持续发展做出贡献。     

Energy Communication: Theory and Praxis Towards a Sustainable Energy Future

This essay comments and expands upon an emerging area of research, energy communication, that shares with environmental communication the fraught commitment to simultaneously study communication as an ordinary yet potentially transformative practice, and a strategic endeavour to catalyse change. We begin by defining and situating energy communication within ongoing work on the discursive dimensions of energy extraction, production, distribution, and consumption. We then offer three generative directions for future research related to energy transitions as communicative processes: analysing campaigns’ strategic efforts, critically theorizing energy’s transnational power dynamics, and theorizing the energy democracy movement.     

Geopolitics of global climate change and energy security

Currently,the problem of climate change is already far beyond the category of scientific research,and it affects the economic operation mode,interests pattern,and geographical relationships and becomes the focus of global governance.During the transition period of the international economic and social development and the critical transformation period of the world geopolitical pattern reorganization,China’s industrialization is still at the intermediate stage,and tackling with climate change is also China’s internal demand under this development stage.With more influence of climate change on national competitiveness,climate change and geopolitics present complex multiple relations,and climate change in the era of geopolitical landscape gradually affected the national strategy and diplomacy.This article offered some relevant suggestions based on evaluating the new geopolitical characteristics of climate change:(1)weighing of interests and properly handling the complex relations among major powers during international climate negotiations;(2)strengthening risk judgments and actively cooperating with the United States and the European Union on energy and climate change;(3)relying on the"One Belt(Silk Road Economic Belt)and One Road(twenty-first century Maritime Silk Road)"to ensure China’s energy security and actively participating in the global energy governance;(4)strengthening the"south-south cooperation"mechanism innovation and increasing the investment.     

The win-win pathway of economic growth and CO2 emission reduction: a case study for China

ABSTRACT

Continuously reducing the CO₂ intensity of GDP is the core strategy for developing countries to realize the dual targets of economic growth and CO₂ emissions reduction. The measures are twofold: one is to strengthen energy saving and decrease energy intensity of GDP and the other is to promote energy structural decarbonization and reduce CO₂ intensity of energy consumption. In order to control global temperature rise no more than 2°C, the decrease in CO₂ intensity of GDP needs surpass 4% before 2030, but it could be merely about 2% based on the current trend. Therefore, all countries ought to speed up the low-carbon transition in energy and economy. As for China, keeping a continuous decline in CO₂ intensity of GDP of 4%–5% will ensure the realization of the NDC objectives, and also promotes the early peaking of CO₂ emissions before 2030. China will play a positive leading role in realizing a win-win low-carbon development coordinating sustainable development and climate change mitigation.     

An in-depth view of climate change:addressing climate change while making a transition on the development mode

While fossil fuels greatly contribute to human society,they pose great challenges to natural resources,the environment,and climate change.Developed countries,like the United States,formulated strategic measures to ensure their sustainable development and leading positions in the world.These measures include new green policies,development of shale gas,revitalization of nuclear power,energy independence,reindustrialization,and new low-carbon development based on a combination of Internet technology and renewable energy.Developing countries are also trying to introduce balanced strategies of poverty alleviation and sustainable development.Globally,industrial civilization is being transformed to ecological civilization and green,low-carbon development is a global trend.Addressing climate change provides new strategic factors to further this development.China should take substantial actions to realize sustainable development in a new road:China is in the critical stage of changing its development mode,so it is vital to choose an appropriate development path.This extensive development comes at the high price of consuming too much resources and scarring the environment.Mitigation and adaptation strategies for addressing climate change can help the transition of development.Based on the analysis of the development data of developed countries,the author introduces the concept of"two-type developed countries"with an understanding that not all developed countries must take the same development mode.He also holds the view that China should achieve modernization in a more energy-saving and more carbon-efficient manner compared with that of two-type developed countries.An analysis of"two competitions"that China is facing shows that changing the developing mode is urgent and China should grasp this opportunity in the next five to ten years,which is a key period for this transition.This paper discusses the low-carbon development goals and the three-step process.Low-carbon development does not necessarily restrict economic development.It,however,can expedite the transition of the development mode and this is a low-carbon and green development path.Transition of the development mode includes implementation of China’s green and low-carbon energy strategies,low-carbon society construction,development of agriculture and forestry,garbage sorting and utilization,innovation of urbanization,etc.Improvement of national infrastructure construction includes water safety,environment and climate monitoring system,intelligent energy web,basic database,etc.Addressing climate change can significantly improve the nation’s basic research level.In summary,it mitigates backward production capability,extensive development,and environmental damage while promoting technological advancement,scientific development,and ecological civilization.     

中国的能源发展与应对气候变化

我国当前经济社会发展既受到资源环境的瓶颈性制约,也受到全球应对气候变化、减缓碳排放的严峻挑战.我国大力推进节能和减缓CO2排放,GDP的CO2强度下降速度为世界瞩目,但由于工业化阶段GDP快速增长,CO2排放仍呈增长快、总量大的趋势.我国把国内可持续发展与全球应对气候变化相协调,实现绿色、低碳发展.加强产业结构的战略性调整,进行产业升级,促进结构节能;大力推广节能技术,淘汰落后产能,提高能源效率;积极发展新能源和可再生能源,优化能源结构,降低能源结构的含碳率,中近期以大幅度降低GDP的能源强度和CO2强度为主要目标,到2030年前后要努力使CO2排放达到峰值,到2050年再有较大幅度的下降,以适应全球控制温升不超过2℃长期减排目标下国际合作应对气候变化的进程和形势.“十二五”期间将进一步强化措施,进行能源消费总量控制,建立CO2排放统计、核算和考核体系,积极推进碳交易市场机制,这也将成为加快转变经济发展方式的重要着力点.     

CDM Project Activities in China＇s Iron and Steel Industry：Current Status,Barriers and Development Strategies

China is now facing huge pressure from both the domestic concern of energy security and the global community's call for emission reduction commitment. As one of the major energy consumers and greenhouse gas emitters, China's iron and steel industry has a huge clean development mechanism (CDM) potential. This article both quantitatively and qualitatively analyzes the current status of CDM project activities in the iron and steel industry in China, including characteristics of approved project types, applicable methodologies, and potential technology fields. From the perspective of project implementation, the article summarizes development barriers such as high investment risk, difficulty in project identification, strict requirements on PPDs, long registration waiting time, and etc. Policy suggestions are also put forwarded to help better promote the development of CDM projects in the iron and steel industry.     

应对气候变化关键技术创新差异的时空格局——以“一带一路”沿线国家为例

技术是应对气候变化的重要手段,关键技术创新差异的扩大将不利于各国应对气候变化的协同发展。以技术产出的专利为数据源,运用大数据挖掘工具、泰尔熵指数及空间计量学的方法和理论,分析了"一带一路"沿线国家应对气候变化关键技术创新差异的时空格局演变情况。研究结果表明:(1)沿线国家应对气候变化关键技术创新差异整体上呈现下降态势,并以初期震荡向后期平稳有升过度。(2)按地理位置划分的区域技术创新差异呈现高的空间集聚效应,且强强集聚与弱弱集聚具有一定时期内的稳定性,部分地区面临陷入技术贫困陷阱风险。(3)沿线各国应对气候变化技术创新差异存在趋同俱乐部现象,个别国家随时间推移可能经历不同俱乐部过度。针对这种趋同特征及各国技术需求特点可划分为4种类别:技术转出区、技术转入区、技术扩散区和技术承接区。技术转出区多集中在东欧某些经济发达、能源依存度高的国家。为此,本文提出如下建议:(1)各国根据自身情况制定减排政策的同时,需要国际社会制定与其相适应的差异化且有侧重的援助方案。(2)技术创新强国在涉及应对气候变化技术转移知识产权等事项上应该给予技术需求国让步。同时,技术转移应考虑区域协同及地理邻近的扩散。(3)中国应发挥好南南合作援助基金的作用,加强特定区域内共性技术的帮扶力度,建立与适宜国家间关键技术联合研发与示范机制,树立大国形象。(4)中国应加快沿线战略布局,根据不同区域各国应对气候变化的现状及其技术能力制定差异化的产业和技术转移的政策,加强与沿线国家的技术合作与贸易往来,形成优势互补的产业链。     

适应转化:新生代流动人口定居意愿的实证研究及其政策意涵

本文基于南开大学"2013年流动人口管理和服务对策研究问卷调查"的数据,对新生代流动人口定居意愿及其影响因素展开分析,并与老生代流动人口的情况进行比较。发现经济因素对老生代流动人口定居意愿具有显著影响。然而,与之不同的是,职业类型、家庭人均月收入、住房公积金等代表经济因素的指标对新生代流动人口定居意愿的影响不显著。而且,信用卡消费、人均居住面积、居住质量、对城市生活水平的满意度、流入地亲人数、朋友中的本地人数量、日常生活中与本地人的交往频繁程度等代表社会适应因素的指标对新生代流动人口定居意愿具有显著影响;但是,这些社会适应因素对老生代流动人口定居意愿的影响则较为有限。由此可见,流动人口定居意愿影响因素存在显著的代际差异。相对于老生代流动人口而言,新生代流动人口定居意愿的影响因素由经济吸引向社会适应转化。具体而言,新生代流动人口定居意愿的社会适应因素体现在消费方式、居住环境、情感纽带、社会融入、城市评价等五个方面。因此,可以通过增进新生代流动人口的社会适应从而提高其定居意愿。     

Analysis of availability and accessibility of hydrogen production: An approach to a sustainable energy system using methane hydrate resources

It is considered that use of hydrogen as an energy source may contribute to environmental improvement and provide an alternative energy system. Moreover, it is anticipated that hydrogen will be in great demand in the near future for use in such vehicles as fuel cell-based cars. Research and development of a number of advanced methods of hydrogen production (OTEC, water photolysis using a semiconductor, a municipal waste gasification—smelting system, etc.) is currently under way.A comparison of different hydrogen-rich fuels in this paper shows that methane is advantageous for hydrogen production from the viewpoint of energy efficiency as measured by thermodynamic analysis. This paper therefore proposes combining existing technology for hydrogen production with an unconventional methane source in order to facilitate the realization of a hydrogen energy system: i.e., this paper proposes combining the process of steam reforming, which is commercialized worldwide, with use of untouched natural gas hydrate (NGH) resources. Gas hydrate deposits, which are distributed worldwide, hold great amounts of methane gas and have hardly been touched. This paper presents the economic parameters of NGH development and discusses the concept of devising useful applications of NGHs, with consideration given to (1) independence from current fossil fuels; (2) energy transport using the hydrate system; (3) CO₂ sequestration — replacement of methane hydrate with CO₂ hydrate in the submarine layer and (4) improvement of current steam reforming of methane by CO₂ reuse and zeolite application. This paper thus proposes a new solution that will make a key contribution to the systematic development of a new sustainable energy structure.Readers should send their comments on this paper to: BhaskarNath@aol.com within 3 months of publication of this issue.     

Theoretical and exploratory research on sustainability mental model of the public in China: based on a typical survey in Guangdong province

This article aims to investigate the public’s sustainability mental model (SMM), which can reveal the sustainability dilemma from the public respective, other than enterprise or government. In this article, SMM is defined as one’s cognitive structure, thinking mode, and behavior tendency when someone deals with sustainability issues. After theoretical analysis, the authors developed reliable and valid measures systematically and conducted a typical survey with 581 participants from college students’ families in Guangdong province in China. Based on those samples, the author used the exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis to construct a measurement model of SMM, which includes three dimensions, i.e. sustainable cognition, sustainable thinking, and sustainable behavior intention. According to SMM survey and clustering analysis, the results indicate that SMM of those participants is inactive. Even though those samples do not represent the whole country comprehensively, but this survey was sampled typically and they came from around China. So, the authors consider the SMM scores can reflect Chinese people to some extent, leading to the assumption that SMM of Chinese people is not active presently.