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Renewable energy is regarded as an effective method to alleviate environmental pollution and accelerate the green transition in China. This paper systematically investigates the impact of financial inclusion on renewable energy demand by using S-GMM model based on provincial data in the green finance era. This paper also analyzes the asymmetry, heterogeneity, and mediating mechanism in the nexus between financial inclusion and renewable energy demand, and highlights the following findings: (1) Improved financial inclusion can promote renewable energy development in China and present the characteristics of green finance; (2) the impact of financial inclusion on renewable energy demand is asymmetric and heterogeneous; specifically, this impact is much higher in northern China and the regions with higher renewable energy development; and (3) wind and photovoltaic power generation are effective mediators between financial inclusion and renewable energy industry, while the mediation effects of hydropower and nuclear power are not significant. New evidence in this study is presented for the achievement of green transition in China, as well as practical policy implications for improving financial inclusion and increasing renewable energy consumption. For instance, fiscal and tax incentives and green investment subsidies in the renewable energy sector need to be further improved. • This study explores the impact of financial inclusion (FI) on renewable energy demand (RED) in China. • Asymmetry, heterogeneity, and the mediating mechanism are further discussed. • Increased FI can promote RED , which presents the characteristics of green finance. • The impact of FI on RED is asymmetric and heterogeneous. • Wind and photovoltaic power are effective mediators between FI and RED. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The fundamental way for China to achieve carbon peak and carbon neutrality is to continuously improve the penetration of renewable energy (RE) in the power system and establish an electricity mix dominated by RE power. According to China's 14th Five-Year Plan, the proportion of non-fossil energy power generation should reach about 39% by 2025. However, the impact of the increase in share of RE power on carbon emissions of the electricity sector remains to be estimated. To this end, the purpose of this paper is to capture the nonlinear characteristics of RE on electricity-related carbon emissions by using panel smooth transition regression (PSTR) model and provincial panel data covering the period 1991–2020 under the background of provincial RE quota system. The estimation results indicate that, (i) in the four transition variables of PSTR model such as the installed capacity of power generation, substation equipment capacity, total electricity consumption and total power generation, the nexus between RE deployment and electricity-related carbon emissions was detected as nonlinear. (ii) The heterogeneous RE carbon abatement effect is reflected in its increasing penetration in provincial power systems. (iii) Carbon abatement performance of RE generation decreases in the negative range with the increase of transition variables. (iv) The estimation coefficient of RE is positive at the higher value of the transition variable in the PSTR model of carbon emissions per capita. As a result, the RE quota with the best emission abatement performance should be designed based on the provincial power resource endowment and the medium and long-term expected electricity consumption. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the growing share of the climate-sensitive renewable energy market supply in China, estimating future energy drought risk (ED) is essential. In this paper, based on CMIP6, energy demand and power generation are estimated from 2023 to 2100 under SSP2-4.5 and SSP5-8.5 climate scenarios, and ED is defined from high demand (HD), low wind-solar generation (LWS), and residual load (RL). The results show that the ED exacerbation is relatively high under the SSP5-8.5. Between 2023 and 2100, the duration and severity of HD and RL notably increase, while LWS changes are relatively weak. We find that HD and RL exhibit high summer risks in the south and high winter risk in the north. The return periods vary significantly and extends over time in most regions. Moreover, there are few ED when the installed power generation capacity (IPGC) is increased. When the IPGC increases by 2%–5%, the LWS will decrease at least 20%–72%. With a 10% increase, the LWS will be mitigated by at least 80%, whereas the mitigation for RL is limited, approximately 3–17% at different rates. This work performs the first evaluation of future ED and provides the useful references for risk mitigation in China based on CMIP6. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Corporate environmental information disclosure systems are important for controlling pollution caused by corporate activities. However, different motives associated with environmental information disclosure have different influences on the financing of companies. This paper adopts renewable energy companies instead of high pollution industries as a research object. The study analyzes the resource-dependent disclosure motivation of renewable energy companies, and the impact of environmental information disclosure on the scale and cost of direct and indirect financing. The results show the following. First, renewable energy companies in China have a resource-dependent motivation to disclose environmental information, with a gap between the level of environmental information disclosure and their actual environmental performance. Second, renewable energy companies may obtain more direct financing amount and lower indirect financing costs, but cannot obtain lower direct financing costs and more indirect financing amount by improving the level of environmental information disclosure with the resource-dependent motivation. Third, there are differences in the specific incentives for environmental information disclosure among the Eastern, Middle, and Western regions of China. The government needs to standardize the detailed rules and standards of the corporate environmental information disclosure system, and improve the environmental protection awareness and the implementation of green credit in the Western region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The China Certified Emission Reduction scheme (CCER) and the Cap-and-Trade (CaT) mechanisms jointly constitute the Emission Trading Scheme (ETS), which is expected to have a profound impact on China's social and economic decarbonization. However, previous studies have primarily focused on the impact of the CaT mechanism, neglecting the fact that CCERs serve as a carbon offset trading mechanism. This paper focuses on the impact of the CCER mechanism on China's energy economy and environment by constructing a recursive dynamic computable general equilibrium model that couples CaT and CCER mechanisms. Introducing the CCER mechanism based on the CAT mechanism leads to increased output and reduced prices in renewable energy sectors, cascading positive effects across various energy-utilizing sectors to counter the decline in Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and residential welfare. The finding suggests that China's unique CCER mechanism is poised to play a more important role in promoting renewable energy to mitigate global warming, given its potential to transform the structure of energy production and consumption. Finally, targeted policy recommendations are proposed for implementing the CCER mechanism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The China Certified Emission Reduction scheme (CCER) and the Cap-and-Trade (CaT) mechanisms jointly constitute the Emission Trading Scheme (ETS), which is expected to have a profound impact on China's social and economic decarbonization. However, previous studies have primarily focused on the impact of the CaT mechanism, neglecting the fact that CCERs serve as a carbon offset trading mechanism. This paper focuses on the impact of the CCER mechanism on China's energy economy and environment by constructing a recursive dynamic computable general equilibrium model that couples CaT and CCER mechanisms. Introducing the CCER mechanism based on the CAT mechanism leads to increased output and reduced prices in renewable energy sectors, cascading positive effects across various energy-utilizing sectors to counter the decline in Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and residential welfare. The finding suggests that China's unique CCER mechanism is poised to play a more important role in promoting renewable energy to mitigate global warming, given its potential to transform the structure of energy production and consumption. Finally, targeted policy recommendations are proposed for implementing the CCER mechanism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Improving the deployment and penetration of renewable energy is considered to be the fundamental way to solve environmental problems, but whether higher penetration of renewable energy means higher energy efficiency remains to be empirically tested. To reveal the relationship between cleanliness and efficiency in the energy sector, this paper first uses the three-stage data envelopment analysis (DEA)method to measure the total factor energy efficiency (TFEE) of 30 provinces in China, and then applies static and dynamic panel threshold regression (PTR)models to estimate the nonlinear effect of renewable energy share on TFEE. The results show that renewable energy is usually beneficial for improving TFEE, but there are prominent heterogeneity and nonlinear characteristics in net electricity exporting and net electricity importing provinces. Renewable energy in low rather than high regimes can significantly improve energy efficiency, indicating that provinces with lower levels of economic development and energy consumption receive higher marginal energy efficiency and are more likely to achieve sustainable development goals. More renewable energy quotas should be given to economically developed and high energy consuming provinces, and comprehensive energy efficiency guarantees and improvement measures must be provided to achieve optimal emission mitigation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract China's power sector has become the largest contributor to China's carbon emissions because of its coal-dominated power structure. Replacing fossil fuels with renewable energy is an effective way to reduce carbon emissions and, therefore, a series of targets for renewable electricity generation have been put forward in national plans. However, how these targets will be reached is unclear. This paper uses a Long-range Energy Alternative Planning system (LEAP) model to explore the optimum development path of China's power sector from 2015 to 2050, taking into consideration the impacts of the renewable energy targets. Three scenarios are designed to examine the costs and benefits of developing renewable energy and improving the technologies for renewable power generation, comprising a base scenario, a renewable energy policy scenario and a technological progress scenario. The results show that the power generation cost would increase by at least 2.31 trillion RMB and that CO 2 emissions would be reduced by 35.8 billion tonnes during 2015–2050 if power generation follows current planning. Furthermore, every 1% increase in the capacity factors of renewable electricity would on average result in the cumulative CO 2 emissions decreased by 979 million tonnes and average CO 2 abatement cost decreased by 5.56 RMB/tCO 2 during 2015–2050. Based on this study, several policy implications are proposed for the development of power sector in China. Firstly, government may reconsider the current planning for gas-fired power and nuclear power to reach low-carbon electricity generation. Secondly, adjusting the carbon price can offset the additional cost of renewable electricity generation. Thirdly, promoting advanced technologies to match renewable electricity generation can obtain greater economic and environmental benefits. Finally, from the perspective of development potential, reducing the costs of solar power would be the emphasis at this stage. Highlights • Effects of renewable energy development plan in power sector are evaluated for China. • The optimal development path with minimum cost for the power sector are given. • National plans for renewable electricity can reduce 35.8 billion tonnes of CO 2 until 2050. • Average CO 2 abatement cost for promoting renewable power is 64.53 RMB/tCO 2 during 2015–2050. • Every 1% increase of the capacity factors of renewable power would decrease the average CO 2 abatement cost by 5.56 RMB. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: With the critical worldwide energy shortage and global environment concern, lignocellulosic biomass is regarded as one of the potential renewable energy resources to substitute conventional fossil fuels. Among various thermo-chemical conversion technologies, gasification is now regarded as an advanced and efficient method. Based on the mechanism of biomass gasification, this paper outlines different types of gasifiers that have been developed in China. Air gasification technology has been employed in the rural areas or forestry/agricultural processing entities. Obviously, the product gas for cooking and heating can significantly upgrade the living standard of rural residents. The product gas for heating boiler and generating electricity benefits the forest or agricultural processing enterprises. For China’s sustainable development of energy and environment, multi-cogeneration of heat, electricity and liquid fuels together with chemical feedstock will be a potential direction for efficiently utilizing product gas from lignocellulosic biomass. This means oxygen (including oxygen-enriched air) gasification and steam gasification should be taken into more consideration. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]