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China has committed to peak carbon emissions by 2030 and become carbon neutral by 2060. Hebei, as a major energy province in China, has more challenging carbon peaking and carbon neutrality targets. Based on the extended STIRPAT model, this paper evaluates the time to peak carbon and post-peak carbon trend changes in Hebei province under different scenarios from 2020 to 2060. Based on the support vector machine model with particle swarm optimization, this paper evaluates the carbon neutral pathways under different scenarios in Hebei province from 2020 to 2060 in terms of forests, croplands, wetlands, grasslands and Carbon Capture, Utilization and Storage (CCUS). The results show that a monotonically flat trend without inflection point, a single-inflection-point plateau-period trend and a multi-inflection-point inverted U-wave trend occur after carbon peaks. Hebei Province can achieve carbon neutrality by 2060 under the policy scenario and the enhanced scenario, and the enhanced scenario is better. Comparing with existing studies, the innovation of this paper is to design different trends of changes after carbon peak, combining carbon absorption and carbon emission, and providing more diversified development paths for carbon neutral strategies through a more integrated perspective and multi-scenario comprehensive analysis. Therefore, In the future, Hebei Province should establish a platform for carbon emissions monitoring and carbon footprint assessment, and set up an early warning and assessment mechanism for carbon peaking, so as to prevent a rebound trend in carbon emissions after peaking. At the same time, it should introduce and develop carbon capture and conversion technologies and promote the low-carbon transformation of the industrial and energy sectors, thereby forcing the early realization of peak carbon. Pay attention to the role of forestry resources in carbon neutrality, increase carbon sink resources such as forests and wetlands, promote the development of CCUS, and enhance the implementation of the policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract This paper builds an environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) multiple logistic regression model to analyze how socio-economic development impacts mainland China's coastal waters environment. China's coastal provinces have significantly different seawater quality at different stages of the seawater's EKC. Jiangsu and Hebei are still at the early stage of the seawater's EKC because of the large quantity of pollution-intensive industry, whereas the coastal provinces at the late stage of the seawater's EKC have presented obviously improved seawater quality based on adjustments in the industrial structure since 2001. Urbanization has a severe impact on the seawater quality of Shanghai and Zhejiang at the middle stage of the seawater's EKC. Furthermore, this paper proposes an overall strategy and several "tailored" strategies to address coastal waters environment improvement for current poorly targeted policies at different stages of the seawater's EKC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • Fluid overpressure plays a key important role in the formation of skarn iron deposit. Skarn iron deposits are important resources for iron-rich ores and their genesis has been a topic of debate. The Nanminghe iron deposit is a typical skarn iron deposit in Wu'an, Hebei Province, China which provides a good example to investigate the metallogenic mechanism. In this paper, we present a detailed study of the geology, petrography, and geochemical characteristics of magnetite in the Nanminghe iron deposit. Two types of magnetite can be identified in the massive ores: Mag1 is euhedral with radial cracks developed in the margin. It is a low-Si magnetite, with SiO 2 content ranging from 0.07% to 0.92%, with an average value of 0.49%. The SiO 2 content of Mag2 is from 0.90% to 3.29%, and an average value of 2.03%. The Mag2 is associated with quartz, goethite, and apatite. Geochemical characteristics of Mag1, together with the ore textures suggest its crystallization from an iron magma. There are significant differences in the geochemical characteristics between Mag1 and Mag2. Mag2 is rich in Nb, Ta, high field strength elements, large ion lithophile elements and has higher silica content. The Nb/Ta of Mag2 is higher than that of the original mantle. These characteristics as well as La/Ta vs Th/La, Th/U vs Sm/Nd and Nb/Ta vs Nb features show that Mag2 is formed in the environment of supercritical fluids. The δ56Fe of Mag1 is 0.157‰-0.172‰, with an average value of 0.166‰, and the δ56Fe of Mag2 is 0.119‰-0.160‰, with an average value of 0.139‰. The Fe isotope of Mag2 is lighter than Mag1. There is a negative correlation between δ56Fe and SiO 2 of Mag1 and Mag2, suggesting that the lighter δ56Fe of Mag2 was caused by injection of Si-rich fluids. We propose a genetic model where we envisage that the iron-rich melt formed in the deep magma chamber by reaction of dioritic rocks and carbonates. Mag1 formed by cooling of the iron-rich magma, following which Si-rich supercritical fluid were injected into the deep chamber resulting in fluid overpressure. The iron-bearing melt-fluid migrated upward along the magmatic conduit, when Mag2 formed. Our study provides insights into the formation mechanism of skarn iron deposits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • In the case of a small number of known deposits and mineral occurrences, the prospecting prediction model based on the Siamese network can extract effective features without relying on prior knowledge to realize supervised prospecting prediction. • On the basis of sliding window data enhancement, this paper generates paired sample data sets by randomly combining deposit samples and non-deposit samples, which can further enhance the data and improve the generalization ability and prediction accuracy of the model to a certain extent. • Compared with the prediction results of the weight of evidence method and the convolutional neural network, the prediction results of the Siamese network are better, and 7 new gold prospecting areas have been discovered in Zhangjiakou, Hebei Province, China. Supervised neural networks constitute an important research area for the intelligent prediction of locations for prospecting mineral deposits. Accurate training of a supervised neural network requires many training samples, something that is often difficult to obtain. This paper reports the use of geological, geochemical, and geophysical data by a Siamese network to overcome the problem of insufficient training samples, and implements a supervised deep learning prospecting prediction method based on the Siamese network. Intelligent prediction for gold deposits prospecting is carried out for the Chongli mineral concentrate area in Zhangjiakou, Hebei Province, China, and compared with the weight of evidence method and convolutional neural network model. The results show that:(a) the performance of the Siamese network model is no less than that of the convolutional neural network (CNN) model and better than that of the weight of evidence (WOE) method; (b) the gold prospective areas differentiated by the established models are strongly consistent with geological and metallogenic characteristics in the study area. This study suggests Siamese network model as an effective mineral prospectivity modeling tool. This method is also suitable for prospecting prediction using geoscience data in other areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• We calculated carbon sequestration/emissions in agroecosystems in Hebei, China. • We measured agricultural production efficiency considering an undesirable output. • The annual average low-carbon agriculture production efficiency increased by 3.03%. • There were disparities of efficiency among cities owing to increased carbon emission. • Climate change had complex effects on low-carbon agricultural production. With the increase of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the atmosphere, global greenhouse effects have intensified, thereby contributing to climate change. Agriculture contributes to climate change by increasing GHG emissions, and climate change in turn affects agricultural production. In this paper, we calculated carbon emissions and sequestration of agriculture in the 142 counties of Hebei Province, China, and analyzed their spatiotemporal distributions during 2000–2010. Considering net carbon emissions as an undesirable output, we then measured low-carbon agricultural production efficiency using a stochastic directional distance function. We further explored the impacts of climate change on low-carbon agricultural production. We found that carbon emissions in agriculture increased by 15.85% (650 million tons) during 2000–2010, while carbon sequestration in agroecosystems increased by 33.82% (13.8 million tons). The annual average low-carbon agricultural production efficiency increased by 3.03%. There were distinct disparities of efficiency among cities, with the highest efficiency in Chengde and Shijiazhuang. The efficiency in southeastern areas was lower than that in the northwest, owing to the increased carbon emissions. Temperature and precipitation had a positive effect on efficiency in Hebei, whereas extreme weather events caused lower efficiency. The results provide valuable references for developing sustainable, climate-resilient and adaptive agriculture under changing climatic conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

From 1990 to 2017, the number of vehicles in China increased sharply from 5 million to 310 million, and vehicle emissions became one of the major sources of air pollution. Among the main sources of PM 2.5 in Beijing, the contributions from vehicle sources increased from 5.6% (2000) to 31.1% (2012) to 45% (2017). In 2010, the CO, hydrocarbon (HC), NO x , and particulate matter (PM) emissions of yellow-label vehicles (YLVs) accounted for 46.1%, 47.9%, 63.1% and 86.1% of the total emissions from on-road vehicles. In recent years, China has been implementing a YLV scrappage subsidy policy to control air pollution, and this policy has cost several hundred billion yuan nationwide. However, China has not evaluated the costs and benefits of the policy. Many people question whether the YLV scrappage subsidy policy is worthwhile, but all the stakeholders involved complicate the process of accurately evaluating the true value of the policy. In this study, we evaluated and compared the costs and benefits of the policy in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei (BTH) region based on 1.362 million YLVs from 2008 to 2015. Because of the implementation of the policy, the PM 2.5 , PM 10 , NO x , CO and HC emissions in the BTH region decreased by 16.46, 18.12, 174.44, 669.11, and 91.64 kt, respectively, in 2008–2015. The results show that the policy played an important role in reducing pollutant emissions and improving environmental quality in the BTH region. The costs, benefits, and net benefits of the policy were 13.69, 34.03, and 20.34 billion yuan , respectively. The cost-benefit ratio in the BTH region was 1:2.49; at the city scale, Beijing ranked first (1:7.27), and the cost-benefit ratios of Tianjin and Hebei Province were 1:2.06 and 1:1.14, respectively. Of the 13 cities in the BTH region, Beijing had the highest net benefits, amounting to 16.43 billion yuan , while Handan City has the lowest net benefits, amounting to −0.58 billion yuan. The results may provide scientific support for the promotion of older vehicle and diesel vehicle scrappage subsidy policies, the development of cost-benefit analysis (CBA), and effective environmental decision-making in China. • Based on net number of scrappage YLVs, net benefits of the policy are calculated. • This paper estimates costs and benefits of the policy based on 1.27 million YLVs. • The costs, benefits, and net benefits are 13.69, 34.03, and 20.34 billion yuan. • The results help China promote vehicle scrappage subsidy policy on a large scale. • The results promote the development of the cost-benefit analysis in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Regional specification of PM 2.5 pollution characteristics is crucial for pollution control and policymaking. Spatiotemporal variations of six criteria air pollutants and influencing factors in China were studied using hourly concentrations of PM 2.5 , PM 10 , SO 2 , NO 2 , CO, and O 3 from 2015 to 2016. China was categorized into eight regions: north-east, northern coastland, eastern coastland, southern coastland, Yellow River middle reaches, Yangtze River middle reaches, south-west, and north-west. The 29 exemplary cities in China were also researched. It was found that the PM 2.5 concentration in the northern coastland (Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei–Shandong) was the highest (72.28 μg.m−3) among the eight regions, particularly in the city of Baoding, Hebei, which had an annual average PM 2.5 concentration of 98.53 μg.m−3. Average PM 2.5 concentrations in 2015 and 2016 of China were 50.16 μg.m−3 and 46.61 μg.m−3, respectively. Compared with 2015, the PM 2.5 concentration decreased by 8.41% in 2016, the decline of PM 2.5 in summer was the largest, followed by autumn, spring and winter. The average mean PM 2.5 concentrations of the 29 exemplary cities in 2015 and 2016 were 54.66 μg.m−3 and 48.37 μg.m−3, respectively, exceeding the limit for grade 2 of the national standards (35 μg.m−3). National air pollution distribution has exploded geographically with influence of regional economic factors. Gaseous pollutant as well as geographical and socio-economic conditions influenced PM 2.5 emissions. Effects of these factors on PM 2.5 emissions varied across regions and decreased continuously from the northern region to the south-west and eastern coastland regions. This paper clearly identifies the regional characteristics and distribution of PM 2.5 , focusing on the effects of gaseous pollutant, geography and socio-economic development. Secondary transformation and vehicle exhaust across regions should be further studied. Image 1 • The results show that average PM 2.5 concentrations in 2015 and 2016 were 50.16 and 46.61 μg/m3, respectively. • Compared to 2015, the concentration decreased by 8.41% in 2016. • Considering regional differences, the northern coastland, Yellow River middle reaches and Yangtze River middle reaches had higher PM 2.5 concentrations relative to other areas. • Gaseous pollutant, socio-economic and geographic influence PM 2.5 emissions. • It was found that the influence factors on PM 2.5 emissions vary by region and decrease continuously from the central to western and eastern regions. • Results reveal heavy air pollution at lower elevations and in basins. • Secondary transformation and vehicle exhaust in different regions need further study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • Carbon emissions are explored in China's building operations from provincial perspective. • GDIM is employed to factorize ten affecting factors of CO 2 emissions in building sub-sectors. • CO 2 emissions of building sub-sectors are predicted with dynamic simulation. • The contribution of provinces to the change and peak of national emissions are discussed. Carbon emissions from building operations have a critical impact on achieving carbon peaking goal in China. However, the provincial emission performance in building operations are quite different and it is still unidentified how they affect the national emission change and peaking target, making national emission reduction target hard to implement at the provincial level. This paper explores the driving factors leading to emission changes and examines the prospective emission peaks in China and China's provinces by adopting generalized Divisia index method (GDIM) and the combination of scenario analysis and Monte Carlo simulation. Furthermore, the regional emission heterogeneity and the contribution of provinces to the change and peak of national emissions are discussed to identify regions and provinces that should be focused on emission monitoring. Results show that in China and most Chinese provinces, energy consumption of commercial buildings, energy consumption and floor space of urban residential buildings besides income improvement, and the per capita CO 2 emissions of rural residential buildings contributed greatly to emission growth. Under current policies, commercial and urban residential buildings in most provinces would fail to reach their emission peaks ahead of schedule. The urban residential buildings in the northern region, commercial and rural residential buildings in the eastern region caused higher CO 2 emissions. At the provincial level, Shandong, Shanxi and Hebei made the top contribution to total emissions of commercial, urban residential and rural residential buildings, respectively. Shandong and the provinces in north China of urban residential buildings and four provinces including Shandong, Guangdong, Hebei and Zhejiang of commercial and rural residential buildings had the significant impact on the uncertainty of the peaking time of CO 2 emissions. These findings provide a strong decision-making reference for Chinese government to formulate targeted regional emission reduction policies in building operations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • The genesis of the Fenghuangshan gold deposit is considered to be magmatic-hydrothermal. • The Fenghuangshan gold deposit is related to the Paleo-Pacific plate subduction. • The study area is highly prospective for deep-seated gold mineralization. The Jidong area is a vital gold province in North China, including plenty of metamorphic rock-hosted gold deposits. Whether ore-forming fluids are magmatic or metamorphic remains controversial. The genesis for gold mineralization in this gold province is ambiguous. The Fenghuangshan gold deposit lies on the eastern fragment of the Jidong gold province. In this paper, we present a detailed study on ore geology, fluid inclusions, and stable isotopes for the deposit to illustrate the characteristics of ore-forming fluids and ore genesis. The deposit occurs as gold-bearing quartz vein and disseminated- and veinlet-type mineralization. The main orebody named 7# is hosted in migmatitic granite, controlled by NE trending secondary fracture system. Four hydrothermal mineralization stages were identified, including: (Ⅰ) white quartz, (II) pyrite-quartz, (III) quartz-polymetallic sulfide, and (IV) calcite-chlorite-quartz. The Stage II and III belong to main gold mineralization stage. Fluid inclusions from different stages show that a lowering trend of fluid inclusion homogenization temperature was observed. They ranged from 222 °C to 407 °C (early-stage), 144 °C to 375 °C (main-stage), and 86 °C to 174 °C (late-stage), respectively. The salinities of the ore-forming fluids were typically low, ranging from 0.83 to 15.47 wt% NaCl equivalent. On the basis of Laser Raman analysis and fluid inclusion microthermometry, the ore-forming fluids belonged to a low- to moderate-temperature, low-salinity H 2 O-NaCl-CO 2 system. Fluid immiscibility gave rise to rapid gold deposition. The early-stage δD and δ18O H2O values from quartzs ranged from –96.4‰ to –92.5‰ and from 1.74‰ to 2.44‰, whereas main-stage fluids had δ18O H2O values of –4.10‰ to –3.50‰ and δD values of –91.5‰ to –89.5‰. The early- and main-stage sulfide δ34S values varied from –2.0‰ to + 2.2‰, with average values of + 0.4‰. H-O-S-isotope data indicated that the primary ore-forming fluids were magmatic water mixing meteoric water during mineralization, and ore-forming materials were derived from a homogeneous magmatic source. Ore geology, fluid inclusions, and stable isotopes illustrate that the Fenghuangshan gold deposit is a low- to moderate-temperature magmatic-hydrothermal gold deposit. Future deep-seated and surrounding gold exploration should center on this area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Analyzed residents' thermal demand characteristics under the global climate change. • A new thermal comfort evaluation model of traditional dwellings was established. • The new thermal neutral temperature and comfort range of residents were proposed. • Different measures to improve the old and new types of dwellings were put forward. Global climate change has led to increased differences in the indoor thermal environment of traditional dwellings and residents' thermal adaptability, but quantitative research in this area needs to be updated and improved. In this paper, taking the old and new types of traditional dwellings of Guangfu Ancient City in Hebei province, China as the example, we first investigated the current situation of indoor thermal environment and thermal comfort characteristics of residents by means of subjective questionnaire survey and objective data measurement. The measured data showed that the average indoor temperature of old-type traditional dwellings in winter was far lower than the thermal comfort range of human body, and it was also higher than the relevant standard in summer. Secondly, we established a new thermal comfort evaluation model of traditional dwellings and proposed a new thermal neutral temperature of residents: old-type traditional dwellings (18.1 °C in winter and 27.1 °C in summer), new-type traditional dwellings (19.8 °C in winter and 25.7 °C in summer). Although the measured data showed that the thermal environment quality of the old-type traditional dwellings was poor, the residents had strong thermal adaptability. Finally, we put forward the different living performance improvement strategies of old and new types of traditional dwellings: The old-type traditional dwellings should focus on strengthening the thermal performance of the envelope structure, while the new-type traditional dwellings should solve the problem of low indoor humidity in winter. This research improves the evaluation system of human thermal comfort of dwellings in cold region of China, and provides a good case reference. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

By means of the three-scale input-output analysis, this study, taking Hebei Province in China as a case work, analyzes the water use in the provincial district and compares that between regional and urban economies. To the best of our knowledge, this paper pioneers providing a multi-scale perspective in a spectrum from global, national and regional scale, into regional water use allocation and water-saving policy making in Hebei province. The embodied water intensities for Hebei are revealed to be higher than that of the global average, but relatively approximate to that of the national average. The fact that water embodied in Hebei’s final demand is much lower than the direct water withdrawal is unveiled, with large amounts of foreign embodied water exports and domestic imports flowing through the primary and secondary industries. The network outlines detailed supply and demand chains of water resources in Hebei province from global, national, and regional scales, laying a solid foundation for reasonable allocation of water resources in regional economies in context of regional development and urban integration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the relationship between landscape diversity and crop production using big data techniques. In the case study area of Hebei Province, China, there is a positive ecological effect of landscape diversity on crop production (coefficient of H (Shannon's index) and H 2 on crop production are 7.9665 and −2.2388 respectively), and a negative effect via operating cultivated land change (coefficient of H and H 2 on cultivated land change are −5.4253 and 1.5520 respectively). This negative effect is measured with big data techniques and is explained by variables such as the ratio of cultivated land and other basic local conditions. The net effect of landscape diversity on crop production is negative, all else the same, reflecting the strength of the impact through cultivated land change. Thus, it is important to adhere to a certain level of landscape diversity if crop production is to be sustained. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, heavy metals (i.e., V, Cr, Co, Cu, Zn, Cd, Pb, and Sb) in soils from a tannery waste lagoon, Hebei, north China were investigated. Element concentrates were determined by a portable X-ray fluorescence in situ and an inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry in the lab. Two sets of indexes, including geological accumulation index, contamination factor, and pollution load index, and hazard quotient and total carcinogenic risk were adopted to evaluate the pollution and health-risk of heavy metals. A scanning electron microscopy in conjunction with an energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy and an X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy was used to observe chromium occurrence and speciation. With an average of 6493.11 mg/kg, chromium contents in the lagoon soils reached up to 12971.19 mg/kg, 211-times higher than the threshold of Chinese soils (61.00 mg/kg). Elevated Cr contents resulted in significantly high pollution and noncarcinogenic and carcinogenic risks in the studied area. Chromium in most soils occurred predominately as Cr3+ (60–74%), and to a lesser extent, Cr6+. The mechanism responsible for decreasing Cr6+ percentages in soils with increasing depth was summarized: Cr6+ favors aqueous environment; soil moisture decreased with increasing depth; in soils especially in the lower portion, Cr6+ was reduced by Fe0 and Fe2, transforming into Cr3+ and Fe3+. In addition, the alkaline condition promoted Cr3+ to precipitate, resulting more Cr3+ absorbing in soils. The intimate association of Cr and Fe in soils (i.e., Cr mainly occurred in Fe oxides and dolomite) further confirmed our assumptions. A combined application of microorganism (e.g., Aeromonas hydrophila) and biochar (prepared from maize stalk or peanut shells) were recommended to alleviate Cr pollution in the soils. [Display omitted] • Chromium contents in lagoon soils are much higher than those of soils from the leather tanning districts worldwide. • The average I geo of Cr from studied soils is 7.59, higher than the threshold (>5) for significant pollution. • The Cr3+ percentages ranged from 60 to 74% in most soils, except for 42% in soils kb2 1–10 and kb3 1–10. • Chromium contents and Cr3+ percentages increased with the increasing depth. • Chromium occurs mainly in dolomite and Fe oxides; while no Cr was found in calcite. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Balancing socioeconomic development with water resources among cities is critical for the sustainable development of urban agglomerations. Despite this urgent need to analyse balanced development, a recognized method to measure and improve the balanced degree in urban agglomerations impacted by water resource constraints is still lacking. This study proposes a framework to evaluate the balanced development degree and simulate the impacts of interactions and management policies of economy-society-water on balanced development in urban agglomerations. This paper establishes a balanced development degree index using the coupling coordinated degree (CCD) model; constructs a system dynamic (SD) model to simulate economy-society-water interactions; and designs future scenarios to evaluate the impacts of industry, population, water, and comprehensive regulation policies on balanced development. The integrated framework that couples the above three methods was validated in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei (BTH) region in China. The results showed that (a) industrial and population regulations slightly increase the level of balanced development by 0.0025 and 0.0024 in the BTH region but will increase water scarcity in Hebei; (b) improving water use efficiency is an effective way to relieve water stress; and (c) the balanced degree increases by 15% under comprehensive regulatory policies. Integrated water-economy-society management makes it possible to achieve co-development without increasing the water crisis in the BTH region. This study provides support for policy-makers and promotes sustainable development of the water-economy-society in urban agglomerations. [Display omitted] • A framework for balancing urban agglomerations under water constraints is developed. • An index of urban agglomerations balanced development is established. • Efficiency of the proposed approach is examined in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region. • The water system is key to balanced development in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Proponents of distributive justice with regard to energy hold that every household has the right to affordable access to energy. However, when passively participating in clean energy reform policies, households, and especially low-income households, are often forced to use energy beyond the scope of affordability, resulting in distributive injustice. However, research on the quantitative estimation of injustice in energy distribution is still rare. In this paper, an evaluation model of energy vulnerability and distributive justice is established through the "reverse deduction method," and the change value of energy vulnerability before and after energy reform is used to calculate the loss value of distributive justice, which is used as the basis for energy policy evaluation. Taking the policy of replacing coal with natural gas for rural heating in Gaocheng District, Hebei Province, China as a case study, the value of lost distributive justice is calculated. The results show that 34.51% of households experienced distributive injustice after the energy reform, while 19.34% of households improved their energy vulnerability and achieved energy justice through energy subsidy policies. However, 46.15% of households were able to adapt to the energy reform independently without subsidies, which indicates a waste of resources in the energy subsidy policy. The policy implication of these results is that differentiated energy subsidy policies should be implemented according to household energy vulnerability, so as to maximize the policy benefits on the premise of ensuring justice in household energy distribution and minimizing injustice. The empirical study proves that the method of assessing injustice in energy distribution based on the "reverse deduction method" of energy vulnerability is feasible and a new attempt. • The passive participation of low-income households in clean energy reform policies results in distributive injustice. • Apply the vulnerability framework to calculate energy distribution injustice. • The implementation of differentiated subsidies can effectively improve the vulnerability of rural households energy poverty. • It is feasible and a new attempt to measure energy distributive injustice by using the "reverse deduction method". [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In China, rural chemical SMEs are often believed to still largely operate below the sustainability radar. This paper investigates to what extent and how chemical SMEs are already experiencing pressure to improve their environmental performance, using an in-depth case study in Jasmine County, Hebei province. The results show that local residents had rather low trust in the environmental improvement promises made by the enterprises and the local government, and disagreed with the proposed improvement plans. Although the power of local residents to influence decision making remained limited, the chemical SMEs started to feel increasing pressures to clean up their business, from governments, local communities and civil society, and international value chain stakeholders. Notwithstanding these mounting pressures chemical SME's environmental behavior and performance has not changed radically for the better. The strong economic ties between local county governments and chemical SMEs continue to be a major barrier for stringent environmental regulation. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

With the advantages of avoiding land-use competition, biomass from agricultural residues is a promising solution to alleviate the energy crisis and environmental problems. In the traditional biomass utilization management problem, few studies have considered that land and water are key resources for the sustainable development of biomass from a life cycle view. Concerning the complex food-water-energy nexus, this paper focuses on the synergetic management of crop planting structure and biomass utilization as a whole system. An integrated framework is proposed for the co-optimization of cropland distribution and biomass utilization pathway under multiple uncertainties. Base on interval programming and fuzzy set theory, a type-2 fuzzy interval linear programming model is developed to handle multiple uncertainties with various characteristics and provide the optimum strategies for decision makers with different risk preferences. The proposed framework is verified by a case study of Hebei Province, China. Moreover, the impacts of water shortage and the implementation of the carbon price on the optimized strategies, economic and environmental benefits are investigated to provide deeper management insights when facing complex external factors. The obtained results suggest that corn and wheat will still be the primary crops, and bioethanol production will gain priority in the biomass utilization pathways for economic purposes. Water resources availability will greatly affect the crop planting allocation as well as total benefits but barely influence the biomass utilization pathways. Furthermore, with the implementation of the carbon trade market, a higher carbon price will stimulate biomass pellets production to replace fossil fuel consumption and improve the economic benefits directly. • Synergetic management of crop planting and biomass utilization is proposed. • A novel hybrid inexact programming approach is developed to address uncertainties. • The impacts of water resources availability are analyzed from a nexus perspective. • The influences of carbon price on the biomass utilization pathway are explored. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This paper aims to study the vehicular emissions trends in the Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei (BTH) region, located in northern China. The multiyear emission inventories of NO X , CO, VOC and PM10 from road vehicles in the period 1999–2010 were developed by the COPERT IV model. Results show that vehicular emissions of CO and VOC have decreased by annual average change rates (AACR) of −3.1% to −5.2% and −4.4% to −6.9% in the study area, respectively. However, due to the rapid development of freight traffic, emissions of NO X and PM10 have kept increasing in Tianjin and Hebei. Based on the vehicular emission inventories, trends of emission levels for vehicles with different standards, as well as the overall effects of implementing vehicular emission mitigation strategies were assessed. It is suggested that passenger cars (PC) with Euro 0 and Euro I standards, which were at higher emission level in the PC fleet, should be gradually eliminated. Although the increasing rates (IR) of emissions from PC were lower than those of the PC population, the sharp growth of PC population in recent years contributed to a remarkable increase of emissions, weakening the overall mitigation effect. Total vehicle population capacity and other mitigation measures should be studied in China in order to develop new and more effective vehicular emission control strategies. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: With the formation of the tripartite-confronting coal logistics competitive situation among the ports around the Bohai bay in China, each port is confronted with intensive challenges. This paper firstly identifies a group of factors and some considerations that are required for evaluating the port coal logistics competency. The coal logistics competency of the main ports in the Tianjin and Hebei regions around the Bohai Bay in China are then investigated in detail using the qualitative method by analyzing their comparative advantages and disadvantages in this competitive environment. Competitive strategies are thus proposed for these ports respectively, which may be useful for relative practitioners. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Hebei Plain is located in the north of Huabei Plain and it is one of the regions where the demand of water resource exceeds the supply of that greatly in current China. Because the region is short of surface water, the groundwater becomes the main supply resources. With the developing of social economy and the increasing of the population, the demand of water resource is increasing continuously. The exploitation of the groundwater exceeds the limitation of that. This paper studies the sustainable utilization of the groundwater resources in Hebei Plain by the methods such as Grey System, time series and NN. The results showed that the groundwater resources would decrease in future, and the depth of the groundwater would deepen more. The groundwater table in Shijiazhuang and Cangzhou city would decrease below sea level 30 meters by 2020. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Based on the summarization of research status quo of water resources carrying capacity, the paper establishes the model for calculating water resources carrying capacity and takes the “carrying population” as its integration index. The model is tested and calculated by taking Baoding as practical example. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: This paper, based on clustering methodology, analyzes the administrative measures taken by Hebei Province to complete the mission of energy conservation in industry since the Eleventh Five-Year Plan. Such measures include three aspects: a series of regulations and projects related to industrial energy conservation implemented by relevant government departments; province-wide conferences specifically about industrial energy conservation held many times; but joint between the provincial government and the key enterprises built to supervise their fulfillment of the objective of industrial energy conservation. This analysis exposes that the remarkable effects of industrial energy conservation of Hebei Province are paid off by vast cost of administrative decision cost, executive cost and organizing cost. To lower the administrative cost of industrial energy conservation, long-term mechanism concerning policies in industry, tax, finance and science & technology should be established. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Energy is the essential material for human survival, and it is the important resource for economic development and social progress. Making a reasonable and reliable development plan by forecasting the energy consumption scientifically and effectively can ensure economic healthily and orderly developing. The combination forecast method based on inducted ordered weighted average operator is used widely in these years. The difference between this model and the traditional combination forecast method is that the empowerment coefficient of the combination forecast has nothing to do with the monomial prediction model, but it is closely related to forecast precision''s size of the monomial prediction model at each time-point, it is an invariable empowerment method. In this paper we adopt the time series tendency forecast model and the gray system GM (1, 1) forecast model in order to analysis the energy consumption of the Hebei Province; then, it introduces the energy consumption combination forecast model based on the IOWA operator. Empirical analysis indicates that this model can enhance the forecast precision of the combination and it is an effective combination forecast method. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The pharmaceutical industry is the focus of State Environmental Protection Plan among the 12 industries, the execution of ecological engineering and furthering of cleaner production is a key way to sustainable development with enhancing production vitality of pharmaceutical companies. With the consideration of the pollution from pharmaceutical companies, this paper examines the implementation of cleaner production for the pharmaceutical companies in Shijiazhuang City through the empirical analysis, its conclusion will guide the decision-making of the government and corporations. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Agricultural ecosystem protection is the current strategic focus of China''s environmental protection. Based on the analysis of the current situation of agricultural ecosystem protection in Hebei Province, the paper first points out that it is mainly exposed to the problems like severe widespread pollution from the overuse of pesticides and fertilizers in rural areas and inadequate protection of agricultural production resources, and then proposes some countermeasures and suggestions to promote the ecosystem construction adapted to local conditions and to enhance the protection measures. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: This article evaluated the energy effeciency in Hebei Province using some indicators such as comprehensive energy consumption, efficiency of energy transformation. Then it makes a comparative analysis about the HeBei Province''s status in the country''s energy conservation. The final part of the paper predicts energy consumption indicators in HeBei province from 2009 to 2013. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: This paper uses the methods of co-integration analysis and Granger Causality test, analyses the relationship between energy consumption and economic growth of Hebei Province from 1980 to 2008. The empirical results show that there is a stable causal relation between TEC and GDP in the long run. Hebei''s economic growth contributes to energy consumption growth. To change economic development mode and save energy, reduction of pollutant emission will not only impact the economic growth, but also achieve energy-saving, emission reduction and sustainable development. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: In order to reveal agricultural non-point source(NPS) pollution in Yongding river in Hebei province, the resource, loading and distribution of agricultural NPS pollution is analyzed in the paper based on remoting sense and geographic information system by export coefficient model. The result indicates that, temporal distribution of agricultural NPS pollution is concentrates on high flow seasos/years. As far as the spaceial distribution of agricultural NPS pollution load is concerned, it concentrates on infield (sloping land especially), economic crop plantations, high fertilizer distribution area and villages. In the conclusion, it is suggested that the methods of agricultural land use, crop plantation should be improved and the treatment efficiency of waster water and solid waste should be increased. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The role of precursors' concentrations and meteorological conditions on the emerging ozone pollution problem in China has received wide attention, especially after the releasing of the Air Pollution Prevention Control and Action Plan (APPC) since 2013. With the decreasing trend of PM 2.5 nationwide, the effect of the strict control measures on increasing ozone variation has less been studied due to the challenge of complexity of nonlinear relationship among a number of factors on ozone formation. This paper evaluated the influence of both ozone precursors and meteorology on maximum daily average 8 h (MDA8) ozone at two urban sites and one rural site in Hebei province, China, from 2013 to 2017, by using a combined application of Kolmogorov-Zurbenko (KZ) filter and artificial neural network (ANN) model. Results showed that R2 was 0.80 between the measured and the simulated MDA8 ozone concentration when using meteorological factors and precursors' concentrations as input variables for ANN model. However, ANN model has limitation in estimating O 3 concentration peaks. The values of threat score (TS), probability of detection (POD) and false alarm rate (FAR) for MDA8 ozone concentration were 39%, 44% and 21%, respectively, throughout three studied sites in Hebei province. The annual average percentage change of precursor-related ozone was 0.67% from 2014 to 2017. Temperature, atmospheric pressure and boundary layer height were shown to account for 64% of the variability in long-term ozone levels. Ozone variation in Hebei province was reproduced mainly by meteorological parameters, and the contribution from precursors' concentration was smaller during the years when the APPC was implemented. [Display omitted] • Ozone level was estimated based on precursors' level and meteorological factors. • The ambient ozone concentration estimated by ANN model was acceptable. • Meteorology dominates the ozone variation in 2013–2017 in Hebei province. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]