Article
Engineering, Environmental
Arunima Malik, Michael Padget, Sarah Carter, Takako Wakiyama, Isis Maitland-Scott, Aditya Vyas, Sinead Boylan, Georgina Mulcahy, Mengyu Li, Manfred Lenzen, Kate Charlesworth, Arne Geschke
Summary: Climate change is causing various impacts on communities, while the health system in New South Wales is found to have significant environmental impacts, responsible for a considerable portion of greenhouse gas emissions, water use, and waste production in the state's economy. Targeted policies are needed to reduce not only the direct impacts of health systems, but also those from their supply chains connecting with other economic sectors.
RESOURCES CONSERVATION AND RECYCLING
(2021)
Article
Green & Sustainable Science & Technology
Yongqing Li, Jie Xiong, Wanqing Ma, Huimin Ma, Zhe Yuan
Summary: This paper evaluates the eco-efficiency of 44 sectors in China using a DEA model and explores the impact of improving efficiency in inefficient sectors on the optimization of the industrial network. The results suggest that increasing efficiency can lead to greater economic benefits and environmental sustainability.
JOURNAL OF CLEANER PRODUCTION
(2022)
Article
Engineering, Environmental
Quanliang Ye, Edgar G. Hertwich, Maarten S. Krol, David Font Vivanco, Amanda W. Lounsbury, Xinzhu Zheng, Arjen Y. Hoekstra, Yutao Wang, Ranran Wang
Summary: This study quantifies the linkages between China's capital formation, environmental pressures, and consumption, showing that a significant portion of capital assets acquired by China from 1995 to 2015 have not yet been depreciated and will serve future production and consumption. Outsourcing of capital services also leads to considerable environmental pressures, ranging from 14% to 25% depending on the indicators. Without considering the linkages between capital and final consumption, calculations of China's environmental footprints related to the six environmental pressures could be significantly underestimated or overestimated.
ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Business, Finance
Junmin Wan, Qiqi Qiu
Summary: Explosive housing prices in major cities have led to an oversupply of vacant new houses. Using an input-output table, we identified 13 out of 36 Chinese industrial sectors as housing-related. We estimated the Marginal q values by sector and analyzed sectoral investment based on Marginal q theory. The Marginal q investment elasticities for the housing-related industries, the remaining industries, and all industries were 0.2412, 0.8539, and 0.6956 respectively. The housing price and producer price index (PPI) had a causal relationship, and the PPI influenced the Marginal q values of all 36 industrial sectors. The housing-related industries, such as metal and cement, exhibited overcapacity through over-investment during the period of high housing prices.
INTERNATIONAL REVIEW OF ECONOMICS & FINANCE
(2023)
Article
Green & Sustainable Science & Technology
Angelica Errigo, Jun-Ki Choi, Kelly Kissock
Summary: This article highlights the importance of energy assessments and improving the energy efficiency of industrial motor systems to save energy costs and reduce emissions. Case studies demonstrate the significant economic and environmental benefits of implementing sustainable motor systems.
SUSTAINABLE ENERGY TECHNOLOGIES AND ASSESSMENTS
(2022)
Article
Green & Sustainable Science & Technology
Ichiro Sato, Daiju Narita
Summary: This study investigated the relationship between the economic dependence of Japanese prefectures on imports and the environmental footprints of their households. The results showed that prefectures with a low import ratio had lower greenhouse gas emissions and resource footprints. Furthermore, food consumption was found to be a major contributor to these footprints.
JOURNAL OF CLEANER PRODUCTION
(2022)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Nanfei Jia, Xiangyun Gao, Donghui Liu, Jingjian Si, Meihui Jiang
Summary: Traditional methods of calculating CO2 emissions from the perspectives of production and consumption have limitations in assessing sectoral contributions to overall emissions reductions. This paper proposes new environmental indicators to guide sector-level environmental pressure mitigation strategies for a more holistic approach.
ECOLOGICAL INDICATORS
(2021)
Article
Thermodynamics
Weiming Chen, Zhenjun Zhang, Kaiyuan Chen
Summary: The power sector plays a crucial role in China's rapid economic growth, but it also has significant carbon emissions and water consumption. The green transformation of this sector has become a priority in provincial economic and environmental policies, yet the complex inter-provincial power sector linkage hinders policy coordination and complementarity. To address this issue, we quantify the economic and environmental impacts of inter-provincial power sector linkage in China and propose differentiated provincial and sectoral policies for a green transformation. Our findings show that industrial provinces face higher economic costs in low-carbon transformation, while emission reduction policies in East and North China can lead to greater water conservation.
Article
Forestry
Shiva Zargar, Bidhan Bhuson Roy, Qiuping Li, Jinlu Gan, Jinming Ke, Xiaoyu Liu, Qingshi Tu
Summary: Industrial ecology methods have been widely used in studying the sustainability of forest product industries. This review summarizes the applications of various methods, including life cycle assessment, input-output analysis, system dynamic modeling, and material flow analysis. The study highlights the major findings, advantages, limitations, and research gaps of these methods, and emphasizes their importance in understanding the implications of forest product industries on sustainability.
CURRENT FORESTRY REPORTS
(2022)
Article
Green & Sustainable Science & Technology
Wenjie Zou, Liqin Zhang, Jieying Xu, Yufeng Xie, Huangxin Chen
Summary: The green transformation and development of industry are crucial for the sustainable development of a country's society, economy, and environment. This research evaluates the efficiency of industrial pollution control and identifies the factors influencing it in China, providing recommendations for further improvement.
Article
Green & Sustainable Science & Technology
Jingru Liu, Haotong Wu, Xin Tian, Heming Wang, Yinglei Wu
Summary: This study reveals that China has undergone profound changes in consumption behaviors, with a significant impact on resources and the environment. The study highlights the importance of food consumption in contributing to the household material footprint and the potential for growth in housing and transportation consumption in China.
JOURNAL OF INDUSTRIAL ECOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Green & Sustainable Science & Technology
Xueqin Lin, Xiao Zhou, Pengfei Wang
Summary: China's rapid industrialization has had negative consequences on resources and the environment. This study analyzes the spatial differentiation characteristics and main influencing factors of industrial resource and environmental pressures in China, providing important theoretical and practical support for promoting a green transformation in the industrial sector.
ENVIRONMENT DEVELOPMENT AND SUSTAINABILITY
(2023)
Article
Green & Sustainable Science & Technology
Gilang Hardadi, Alexander Buchholz, Stefan Pauliuk
Summary: The distribution of German household environmental footprints across income groups shows different consumption patterns, with the lowest-income group having a higher share of electricity and utilities consumption and the highest-income group having a higher share of transportation consumption. The distribution of household carbon footprints in Germany is less equal, and implementing a uniform carbon tax would be regressive, requiring a revenue recycling scheme to alleviate the burden on low-income households.
JOURNAL OF INDUSTRIAL ECOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Green & Sustainable Science & Technology
Jian Xue, Di Zhu, Laijun Zhao, Lei Li
Summary: The study focuses on improving China's environmental tax to reduce pollutant emissions. By developing a tax rate adjustment model and a production-and consumption-based tax model, new levy scenarios and environmental tax reform paths are proposed. The results provide theoretical support for gradual reform of environmental taxes and a scientific basis for promoting sustainable development and rational planning of emission reduction plans.
JOURNAL OF CLEANER PRODUCTION
(2022)
Article
Green & Sustainable Science & Technology
Qing Xia, Guiliang Tian, Zheng Wu
Summary: This paper develops a network of carbon emission flow relationships among industrial sectors, using social network analysis to determine the roles and functions of each sector in the network, and the evolution characteristics of the carbon emission flow relationships.
SUSTAINABLE PRODUCTION AND CONSUMPTION
(2022)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Xi Tian, Ziqian Xia, Jinliang Xie, Chao Zhang, Yaobin Liu, Ming Xu
Summary: This article presents a meta-analysis of 58 studies conducted between 2011 and 2021, involving 26,533 participants, to assess the effectiveness of behavioral interventions in reducing food waste. It confirms that behavioral interventions have a moderate effect on food waste reduction, with education programs having the most significant impact. The analysis also reveals that interventions in elementary and middle school settings marginally improve the overall effect size, and controlled experiments show a higher effect size compared to pre-post experiments in education interventions.
ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH LETTERS
(2022)
Article
Engineering, Environmental
Zijian Ren, Meng Jiang, Dingjiang Chen, Yadong Yu, Fei Li, Ming Xu, Stefan Bringezu, Bing Zhu
Summary: Aggregates, as the most extracted material resources, are facing shortages and negative impacts. Recent investigations on sand and gravel issues are often ambiguous in definition or use over-simplified accounting methodology. This study conducted a detailed literature investigation and established a systematic accounting framework to understand the social metabolism of aggregate resources in China. The results show a relative decoupling of aggregate inflows and stocks from economic growth, with a shift towards manufactured aggregates as the dominant supply. The study highlights the importance of establishing a well-functioned circular system for the sustainable development of the aggregate industry.
RESOURCES CONSERVATION AND RECYCLING
(2022)
Article
Engineering, Environmental
Shen Qu, Ke Yu, Yuchen Hu, Changchang Zhou, Ming Xu
Summary: Through our study on Chinese cities, we found that there are certain patterns in the relationship between urban economic, energy, water, and waste flows and urban population, but there are still differences in per capita environmental impacts between larger and smaller cities. Despite the presence of a superlinear relationship between urban scale and GDP, resource consumption and infrastructure provision show a linear relationship. An increase in population density tends to decrease per capita resource consumption and infrastructure provision, while intensified socioeconomic activities have the opposite effect.
ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Green & Sustainable Science & Technology
Xiaoling Wang, Baoju Chu, Hui Ding, Anthony S. F. Chiu
Summary: This study comprehensively observes the influencing mechanisms of heterogeneous environmental regulations on industrial green transformation and proposes a new measure for evaluating green transformation performance. It also constructs a dynamic panel threshold model to analyze the non-linear and interactive effects of different regulations. The empirical results demonstrate that regulations have positive effects on green transformation and the interaction between regulations also plays a significant role. Based on the findings, suggestions are provided to further promote environmental governance.
JOURNAL OF CLEANER PRODUCTION
(2023)
Article
Engineering, Environmental
Mingyue Yang, Sai Liang, Haifeng Zhou, Yumeng Li, Qiumeng Zhong, Zhifeng Yang
Summary: Forage-livestock conflict (FLC) is a major cause of rangeland degradation in China, posing significant threats to the environment. This study reveals that domestic final demand is responsible for the majority of FLCs in China, with non-pastoral regions driving about three-quarters of the total conflicts. Rangeland-based livestock raising, agricultural and sideline product processing, and catering sectors play a crucial role in driving FLCs. These findings highlight the importance of targeted demand-side strategies and interregional cooperation in mitigating rangeland degradation in China.
ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Engineering, Environmental
Jixuan Li, Kai Huang, Yajuan Yu, Shen Qu, Ming Xu
Summary: Trade leads to geospatial separation of production and consumption, resulting in telecoupling between resource utilization and distant consumption. Our study investigates the telecoupled water withdrawal (TWW) in China, which refers to local water withdrawal driven remotely by consumption in other regions. We find that a significant portion of TWW in China is associated with foreign consumption, particularly from the United States. Our findings highlight the telecoupling of pressure on local water resources in China and emphasize the need for collaborative efforts to ensure the sustainable development of water resources and trade.
ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Engineering, Environmental
Guoling Han, Long Chen, Wendong Wei, Pengfei Zhang, Zeng Xu, Sai Liang, Yi Yang
Summary: Trans-provincial thermal power transmission is an important measure in China to optimize power allocation and address regional discrepancies in power production and consumption. However, it also leads to the redistribution of air pollution between regions. This study found that while thermal power transmission improved air quality and health outcomes in eastern China, it had detrimental effects in the western regions. Overall, trans-provincial thermal power transmission contributed to a significant improvement in air quality and reduced premature deaths in China.
ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Green & Sustainable Science & Technology
Chunyan Wang, Hanying Jiang, Hao Wu, Yi Liu, Siyue Guo, Ming Xu
Summary: This study examines the scaling relationships between energy consumption and building size at the building level in 16 urban regions in the United States from 2011 to 2019. The findings indicate that the scaling exponents are evolving towards linear scaling, with some fluctuations observed in certain cities. These scaling exponents are negatively correlated with regional climate. Additionally, the study highlights the importance of building types and energy structures in influencing building energy consumption.
JOURNAL OF INDUSTRIAL ECOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Engineering, Environmental
Dingfan Zhang, Bin Chen, Klaus Hubacek, Jing Meng, Mingxing Sun, Jiafu Mao, Mingzhou Jin, Cecilia Maria Villas Boas de Almeida, Anthony S. F. Chiu, Lan Yang, Linxiu Zhang, Chun Ding, Yutao Wang
Summary: Seafood plays a critical role in promoting a nutritious and climate-friendly food system but faces challenges from marine contamination. To address these challenges, a Marine Pollution-induced Food System Risk Assessment and Response (MP-FSRAR) model was developed and applied to assess the impact of consumer perceptions of marine pollution risk events. By analyzing the potential consequences of changes in Chinese consumers' willingness to consume seafood under different scenarios, the study revealed nutrient supply gaps and increased GHG emissions. The findings emphasize the importance of developing countermeasures to build a more resilient and low-carbon food system.
RESOURCES CONSERVATION AND RECYCLING
(2023)
Article
Engineering, Environmental
Yuhan Liang, Qiumeng Zhong, Zijun Deng, Hui Li, Zhifeng Jetashree, Zhifeng Yang, Sai Liang
Summary: Decoupling global economic growth from carbon emissions is crucial for mitigating climate change. This study reveals significant differences in decoupling status across regions and highlights the importance of international multilateral cooperation for achieving strong decoupling of economic growth and carbon emissions.
ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Engineering, Environmental
Yao Wang, Fengmei Ma, Asaf Tzachor, Peng Wang, Heming Wang, Jie Lyu, Qiang Yue, Tao Du, Wei-Qiang Chen, Sai Liang
Summary: This study quantifies the inter-sectoral flows of iron commodities and the resulting economic vulnerabilities using an input-output model and complex network analysis methods. The residential building construction sector was found to be the most vulnerable, while certain service sectors showed vulnerability from a consumption-based perspective. Policy recommendations, such as circular economy and material substitutions, are proposed to reduce the vulnerability of critical sectors dependent on iron and steel.
RESOURCES CONSERVATION AND RECYCLING
(2023)
Article
Environmental Studies
Shiyan Jiang, Hong Chen, Shuhan Yang, Yujie Wang, Ming Xu
Summary: Field research limitations hinder the understanding of food waste in China. The study conducted material flow analysis to assess waste in different stages from 2010-2019. Wheat was found to be wasted the most, while milk was wasted the least. Reductions in waste at different stages can have a significant impact, such as a 5% reduction leading to a 7% decrease in soybean import demand. This study provides valuable data and theoretical basis for food waste intervention and food security strategies.
NPJ URBAN SUSTAINABILITY
(2023)
Article
Engineering, Environmental
Kuo-Jui Wu, Hailing Qiu, Caiyan Huang, Anthony S. F. Chiu, Ming-Lang Tseng
Summary: Government resource allocation practices for achieving carbon neutrality should be guided by dynamic system theory to identify potential dynamics. Carbon intensity control dynamics have a significant influence on other dynamics.
RESOURCES CONSERVATION AND RECYCLING
(2024)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Yumeng Li, Qiumeng Zhong, Pan He, Long Chen, Haifeng Zhou, Xiaohui Wu, Sai Liang
Summary: Chinese population is at risk of severe health problems due to dietary methylmercury exposure. However, the temporal changes in this risk and the socioeconomic factors driving it are unknown. This study investigates this issue by compiling a time-series inventory of China's methylmercury-related health risk at the provincial level and identifying critical socioeconomic influencing factors through structural decomposition analysis.
ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTION
(2024)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Sai Liang, Qiumeng Zhong, Haifeng Zhou, Yihan Liao, Jing You, Jing Meng, Cuiyang Feng, Chen Lin
Summary: This study reveals the rebound and mitigation effects of efficiency-related technological progress in global value chains on greenhouse gas emissions. The study shows that different sectors in the value chains have different potentials for emission mitigation, with upstream sectors having stronger rebound effects and trailing end sectors having greater potential for emission reduction.
