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β-glucan is a kind of natural polysaccharide, which can be used as a green additive in many fields such as food and aquaculture, and has sustainability and ecological friendliness. β-glucan has many biological functions, which can inhibit and eliminate excessive free radicals in vivo, activate the antioxidant enzyme system and reduce the degree of oxidative stress. β-glucan can reduce the production of inflammatory factors and alleviate the tissue damage caused by inflammation by regulating the inflammatory pathway. β-glucan can repair intestinal barrier, regulate intestinal microecology, and reduce the penetration of bacteria and toxins. β-glucan can regulate glucose and lipid metabolism, ensure that animals get enough energy supply, and thus maintain the health of the body. In this paper, the characteristics, biological functions and application status of β-glucan in livestock and poultry and aquaculture were reviewed in order to provide a reference for further application of β-glucan in animal breeding. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Strong sustainable development sticks to the irreplaceability and uniqueness of natural capital and maintains that the essential stock of natural capital should be passed on from one generation to another. It achieves environmental equity and intergenerational equity by maximizing the intertemporal utility of environmental benefits. This paper analyzes the dimensions of the strong sustainable development paradigm in identifying ecological space. The ecological space can be divided into two categories: strong sustainable development space and weak sustainable development space. The former refers to the critical ecological space where ecological security is maintained and the priority is to maintain the status quo of the ecosystem, or at least keep it from sinking into degeneration. In contrast, the latter belongs to the non-critical ecological space, where proper development and construction can be carried out within the ecological security threshold. Based on the case study of the Tarim River Basin and the concept of strong sustainable development, this paper keeps to the method of combining ecological service function and ecological sensitivity in assessment and conducts research on the classification of the ecological space and the patterns of strong and weak sustainability. According to the research, the sensitive and extremely sensitive areas of the Tarim River Basin take up the lion ’s share of the total area, or 55.01% and 29.23%, respectively. The strong sustainable development ecological space incorporates the urgent ecological space and the crisis ecological space, which stand at 305 257.84 km² and 573 281.16 km², respectively, accounting for 29.28% and 54.98% of the researched area, respectively. The re‑ search reveals a high degree of conflict over the ecological security of land use in the Tarim River Basin and a desperate adjustment ca‑ pability for the strong sustainable development of ecological space. Ecological space of strong sustainable development is an important ecological functional space. Accurate identification of ecological space can provide a scientific basis for the delineation of ecological protection red lines and the management of ecological space. Ecological space evaluation based on the paradigm of strong sustainable development can provide green development planning ideas under ecological priority for the subsequent development strategies of respective regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Promoting the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is a world consensus and a necessity for China. In the process of achieving a sustainable future, evaluating a country's sustainable development progress, understanding China's position in global sustainable development, and identifying the advantages and challenges of China's sustainable development are of great signif-icance for the world to understand China and for China to optimize its sustainable development system. Based on this, this paper took the Sustainable Development Reports issued by the Sustainable Development Solutions Network from 2015 to 2022 as the main carrier to explore the assessment and progress of global SDGs, and analyzed the effects of China's implementation of SDGs and the gap be-tween China and other countries in the world from the perspective of how China was viewed by the world in order to provide a possible path for improving China's sustainable development and to drive the sustainable development of the world. The results showed that, on a global scale, sustainable development had obvious regional and economic agglomeration characteristics, and the progress in realizing the SDGs was homogeneous to a certain extent. From a global perspective, China's sustainable development progress was relatively sta-ble and ranked at the uppermiddle level of the world. In 2022, China's SDG score was 72.4, ranking 56th among 163 countries. In particular, China made remarkable progress in achieving the ' No Poverty,' ' Quality Education,' and ' Responsible Consumption and Produc-tion' goals, and provided basic experience for the sustainable development of the world. The sustainable development goals of ' Life Be-low Water' and 'Life on Land' were prominent weaknesses in China's sustainable development, and there was a certain gap between China and other countries in the world. Further optimizing the assessment system for sustainable development, clarifying priorities for sustainable development, focusing on key regions and groups, and building global partnerships are inherent requirements for implement-ing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and building a more inclusive and sustainable development pattern. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Post-project evaluation and analysis of a mining construction project is the final step of a complete mining construction project and is also a crucial process. Conducting a scientific and effective post-project evaluation can examine the level of investment decision-making and management, comprehensively understand the implementation process and operational status of the entire project, and provide references for other projects of the same type based on the lessons learned. This paper introduces the post-project evaluation and methods, and for a specific mining construction project, analyzes the post-evaluation from aspects such as overall project summary and evaluation, effectiveness and economic benefits evaluation, environmental and social benefits evaluation, and goal and sustainability evaluation. The main lessons learned are summarized, and countermeasures and recommendations are proposed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Under the leadership of the Chinese presidency, the second part of the 15th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) adopted 62 decisions, in particular Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework(KM-GBF), which is based on the theory of transformative changes. KM-GBF, its achievements, gaps, and lessons learned, and the experience and achievements of other relevant multilateral environmental agreements, sets out an ambitious plan to implement broad-based action to bring about a transformation in our societies' relationship with biodiversity by 2030, and draws a new blueprint for global biodiversity governance. This paper provides an interpretation of the three core targets of the framework — the “3030 target” for protected areas, resource mobilisation, and digital sequence information of genetic resources, a brief introduction to the relevant decisions to ensure the implementation of the framework, and recommendations for future conservation actions in China: (1) To strengthen the mainstreaming of biodiversity conservation. Revision of China's Biodiversity Conservation Strategy and Action Plan(2011-2030) is an opportunity to involve the whole government and society in the process and to take action to promote the goals and targets of the KM-GBF; (2) To further develop detailed conservation plans, clarify the scopes, purposes and management measures of conservation areas, and implement responsible authorities and specific measures for implementing the plans. Researches on the Other Effective area-based Conservation Measures (OECMs) are needed to incorporate into the management system for biodiversity conservation; (3) To develop an operational indicator system and monitoring plan in accordance with the monitoring requirements of the framework targets; (4) To continue to strengthen awareness and education on biodiversity conservation, raise public awareness and attention to biodiversity conservation, and promote sustainable production and sustainable consumption in society as a whole; (5) To promote international cooperation vigorously to explore and promote Nature-based Solutions on a larger scale, and find pathways for economic and social development that have positive and beneficial effects on nature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused significant losses and suffering around the world. Although the SARS-CoV-2 vaccine has largely controlled the spread of the virus, the scientific and sustainable treatment of COVID-19 patients is still necessary to truly end the pandemic. Small-molecule drugs against COVID-19 have attracted the attention of the scientific community and industry owing to their unique advantages such as a simple delivery method, relatively high output, and immune response with lower probability. Fortunately, in the last three years, some potentially effective drugs have been proposed, and have achieved good results in clinical trials. This paper briefly introduces the research progress on small-molecule drugs since 2020 to provide reference for future SARS-CoV-2 research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Eco-agriculture focuses on the green development of agriculture and it is an essential part of agricultural development in China and worldwide. As part of the first batch of national eco-agriculture construction pilot counties and one of the China Nationally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems（China-NIAHS）sites，Deqing County occupies a vital position in the practice of eco-agriculture in China. Thus, this paper traces the basic history of eco-agricultural practices and summarizes the current typical models of eco-agricultural development in Deqing County. In addition, this paper analyses the core connotations and primary values of the typical models of ecoagriculture in this county. The typical models include the“pearl mussel-fish-grain-mulberry-livestock”complex system, rice field ecological planting and breeding models, aquaponics, and agritourism. Additionally, this paper makes targeted suggestions to promote the sustainable development of eco-agriculture in Deqing County based on current problems and challenges. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on the evolutionary cognition of rural historical process, this paper analyzes the concept of rurality and the current academic research status, and tries to tease out the driving factors and phased characteristics of the formation and evolution of rural areas. According to the existing literature research, the fundamental reasons for the continuation and stability of traditional rural society mainly lie in the economic activities supported by nature, the social structure supported by traditional culture, and the ecological environment based on the coexistence of the nature and human beings who are in awe of it. It is precisely the combined effect of these factors that generates rurality which can be retrospectively identified by everyone, and casts the characteristics of the countryside as being the place of residence, the place of origin and the place of life in people's minds. Since humans entered the modern society, the factors of modernity have made a drastic impact on the rural society, changing the original slow evolution process of the countryside and forming 'alternative villages', such as towns or abandoned villages, completely different from the original ones in appearance. From different aspects, this paper analyzes the stability of traditional rural social structure, the stability of economic activities, the sustainability of natural environment, and factors such as capital, technology, scale, efficiency and heteronomy. It is believed that future rural development is not only inseparable from its own rurality, but will also continue to be affected by the factors of modernity, and form a new development path different from the traditional rural evolution model. From the perspective of the existing development history, this paper holds that human beings have gone through three stages: survival, the combination of producing and living, and the separation of producing and living. After the first three stages, rural areas in the future may evolve into a fourth one: the living-oriented dwelling stage. Rural areas of this stage will become the place where human beings yearn for living, which has the following characteristics: livable, harmonious coexistence between man and nature, with rurality having elements of modernity that meet the needs of human nature. In view of this, this paper believes that in order to realize the sustainable development of rural areas, we should not only pay attention to changing the situation of material backwardness, but also the restoration of the long-term rurality of rural areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background--At present, China has made great efforts to promote the development of cultural and creative tourism in forest regions. However, there are few studies on the cultural creativity of forest resources development in academic research. And it is difficult to quantify the traditional evaluation indicators, so there is a lack of reasonable countermeasures for the development of forest regions. (2) Methods--First of all, the analytic hierarchy process and fuzzy comprehensive evaluation method are adopted. The evaluation index system of sustainable development of cultural and creative tourism in forest regions is composed of 5 second-level evaluation indicators of economic sustainability, social sustainability, cultural sustainability, ecological environment sustainability, management sustainability and 4l third-level evaluation indicators. Secondly, 415 valid questionnaires were distributed. Taking Longtan Village as a pilot project, this paper demonstrates the scientificity and rationality of the evaluation index system. Finally, we draw conclusions and put forward some suggestion. (3) Results--Through calculation, the ranking of evaluation indicators is as follows: ecological environment sustainability (0. 348), social sustainability (0. 253), cultural sustainability (0. 241), management sustainability (0. 093), economic sustainability (0. 065). At the same time, it is calculated that the sustainable score of cultural and creative tourism in Longtan village forest regions is 3. 930. Therefore, we believe that the cultural and creative tourism in the forest region is basically sustainable: the ecological environment of the forest region is beautiful, the government supports the development of the forest region greatly, the social governance of new and old residents is harmonious and the innovation of the leadership of the Party Committee is beneficial. However, there are also deficiencies: because it is difficult to meet the psychological demands of novelty, the participation of tourists in cultural and creative activities is not prominent. The connotation of cultural creativity in forest regions is not excavated enough, and cultural creativity and cultural exchanges need to be strengthened. What' s more, the publicity and protection of rural environment are not enough, and public health and waste disposal need to be improved. Last but not least, residents' willingness and ability to participate are not adapted. ⑷ Conclusions and Discussions--In order to improve the sustainability of the development of cultural and creative tourism in forest regions, it is suggested that the relevant departments should formulate special support policies for cultural and creative tourism in forest regions, promote the construction of infrastructure, and increase industrial support. At the same time, we should strengthen the awareness of pluralistic co-governance, smooth the ways of pluralistic co-governance, adhere to the party building to lead cultural creation, innovate the development model of forest regions, increase the publicity of cultural and creative activities in forest regions, integrate culture and science and technology, and develop new business types to enhance tourists" sense of participation and interactive experience. In addition, it is expected that the planning and design of cultural and creative tourism products, in-depth excavation of cultural connotation. And also we should strengthen environmental improvement, improve the governance capacity and effectiveness of forest regions and protect the ecological environment of forest regions. Finally, it is very necessary to attach importance to the construction of human capital, absorb compound talents and strengthen the vocational skills training of residents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Straw bio-fermentation feed is made by fermenting straw with enzyme preparation and live bacteria preparation, which has high nutritional value and high digestibility, can be efficiently utilized by animals. Straw bio-fermented feed can improve animal growth performance, regulate intestinal flora, promote rumen fermentation and improve the quality of animal products such as meat, eggs and milk. The paper reviews the fermentation mechanism and industrial utilization technology of straw bio-fermented feed, and discusses its application in animal production and its impact on the economic benefits of breeding, to provide a reference for the healthy and sustainable development of feed industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

：Landscapes, as perceived by people, are a product of either natural process or human intervention in the natural environment; they are a fundamental element in achieving the goals of Beautiful China, Beautiful Villages, Ecological Civilization, and Rural Revitalization policies. They are also vital in improving human habitats ecologically, functionally, and culturally. Landscape protection, management, and planning are significant for maintaining spatial features, shaping regional characteristics, and enhancing cultural confidence. The enactment of a landscape legislation system is conducive to the scientific delineation of the zoning lines of ecological protection areas, prime farmland preservation areas, and urban areas; significant for the development of agriculture; the restoration and protection of ecological functions; and the integrated development of urban and rural areas. Landscapes are also vital to achieve the goal of ecologically livable and beautiful villages in the rural revitalization strategy. The experiences of developing the rural Landscape Character Assessment（LCA）system and promoting landscape legislation from six countries（economy）are introduced and analyzed in this paper. Suggestions for establishing a rural landscape characteristics database, developing a landscape character legislation and technology system, and determining a suitable work path for China ′ s local practices are listed at the end to promote the sustainable use of rural landscape sustainability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Urbanization becomes the primary source of carbon emissions and energy demand growth in China with industrialization entering the middle-later stages. With the current highconsumption and high-emission urban development model, the resulting resource consumption and carbon emissions become a major environmental issue and a sustainability problem. Based on the panel data of the bay area economic zone of Zhejiang province from 2003 to 2017, this paper analyzed the overall spatial and temporal distribution characteristics of carbon emissions of the economic zone. The main sources of carbon emissions will be studied in detail by incorporating the urbanization level, energy consumption structure, land use, economic development level, industrial structure, population agglomeration, openness, and technological progress into the STIRPAT (the Stochastic Impacts by Regression on Population, Affluence, and Technology) extended model. We further investigated the driving mechanism of carbon emissions and spatial and temporal heterogeneity of carbon emissions from the perspective of urbanization using the geographically and temporally weighted regression (GTWR). The results showed that: (1) The scale of carbon emissions has increased with time, but the growth rate has not been large with a decreasing growth rate. Carbon emissions in different regions are significantly different. The carbon emission is less intense through the years with a spatial distribution pattern of increasing from the southwest to the northeast. (2) The level of economic development and the degree of openness to the outside world are the dominant factors that affect the carbon emission level, followed by energy consumption structure, technological progress, and urbanization. (3) These influencing factors show substantial spatiotemporal heterogeneity that the direction and intensity of the fluctuations of various driving factors vary from time to time and region to region. This paper analyzed the impact of the driving factors of carbon emissions in the economic zone of Zhejiang Bay Area explicitly, providing scientific support for the implementation of regionally differentiated carbon emission reduction strategies. It is necessary to fully examine the actual development of each region to formulate a differentiated carbon emission reduction regulation strategy. In particular, these measures should be taken into consideration for reducing carbon emissions in the area: enhancing the efficiency of comprehensive utilization of resources by accelerating the construction of science and technology innovation corridors, and promoting the transformation and upgrading of traditional industries by fully introducing modern service industries and high-end manufacturing based on information technology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To understand the agricultural production dynamics and sustainability in the hilly areas of southeast China, this paper took Dehua county, a typical mountainous area in Fujian province, as an example to quantitatively analyze the changes of input, output, environmental load and sustainability of farmland-livestock systems from 2007 to 2016, and constructed the indicators of waste emergy ratio and environmental pollution emergy negative output. The results showed that the input of the farmland- livestock system in the study area was mainly based on the purchasing emergy, accounting for 68%-79% of the total emergy input, and the emergy of water resources accounted for 21%-31%. The emergy output of livestock systems accounted for more than 72% of the total output. And the emergy density fluctuated between 2.68×1012 and 3.33×1012 sej·m-2, and emergy per person increased from 1.23×1016 sej to 1.72× 1016 sej. The net emergy yield ratio decreased by 40%, and the environmental load increased significantly, which could have been maintained since 2015. The emergy sustainability index fell rapidly from 1.14 to 0.42 after a brief rise in 2007-2010. From the indicators of construction, the proportion of system waste emergy decreased, and environmental pollution emergy output decreased by about 22%. In terms of comprehensive economic benefits and waste utilization, the sustainable development of Dehua county has gradually improved in recent years. Dehua county is currently adjusting its output structure of farmland- livestock system. It should increase the amount of feedback emergy in the system, control fertilizer and feed input, and improve waste utilization to achieve sustainable development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Maintaining the magnitude and intensity of human activities within the carrying capacity of resources and the environment is the core of the sustainable development theory. Therefore, how to assess the carrying capacity in a scientific way receives top priority among sustainability development strategies. The Planetary Boundaries Framework (PBF) that takes into account the Earth system as a whole provides new insights into assessing the carrying capacity of resources and the environment. The PBF has attracted considerable attentions and discussions within the sustainability science since its first appearance in the literature. However, the opportunities and challenges facing the PBF remain largely unexplored by the scientific community. This paper aims to fill in this gap by elaborating on the theoretical basis of the PBF and its conceptual evolution, revisiting the development and applications of the framework at the national, provincial, urban and organizational scales, identifying the challenges that the framework is facing and the solutions, and comparing the framework with the traditional paradigm for assessing the carrying capacity of resources and the environment. As a combination of historical experiences and scientific studies based on the theory of stable states and catastrophe in complex systems, the PBF serves as a useful supplement to the present assessments of carrying capacity. Primarily the downscaling of PBF to sub-global scales can be achieved through either top- down allocation or bottom- up integration. A systematic understanding of the linkages between these two pathways and their potential synergies would be of crucial significance to the development of the framework. However, we observe that there is a lack of clarity and transparency in the PBF regarding the scaling properties and interactions between various biophysical processes, leading to arguments over variables selection and boundaries setting. Besides, methodological challenges appear when we integrate PBF with tools for environmental impact assessment, such as environmental footprints and life cycle assessment, and extending the framework to socioeconomic dimensions. Therefore, there is a need for a deeper understanding of the PBF with respect to its theoretical basis, technical approaches and practical applications, so as to enhance the policy- guiding value of the framework as an approach to address the world's major public issues such as achieving Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A large number of highly reactive disinfectants will be used in epidemic prevention of Corona Virus Disease- 2019(COVID-19). In this paper, the application of highly reactive disinfectants was introduced, the occupational exposure hazards and mechanism of highly reactive disinfectants were analyzed，the preventive measures for occupational exposure hazards of highly active disinfectants and the use of specific neutralizing agents were proposed in order to prevent additional damage of staff health，equipment and environment caused by chlorine disinfectants，peracetic acid, glutaraldehyde and other highly reactive disinfectants, maintain the sustainability of disinfection operations，so as to play a positive role in epidemic prevention and control. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fast pyrolysis of biomass and upgrading techniques for the high chemical value bio-oil production have been investigated widely in recent decades. A variety of upgrading techniques are applied in industrial manufacture process, while the production efficiency and sustainability of those techniques have their own merits and demerits, which emphasizes the importance of the evaluation systems for those techniques. Several evaluation methods, such as energy analysis, exergy analysis, and emergy analysis, have been developed to evaluate the fast pyrolysis of biomass and upgrading techniques. Based on different emergy flows, the methods chosen for the thermodynamic analysis lead to various outcomes. All the input and output energies in an industrial production system are considered in energy analysis, while exergy analysis takes the additional available energy into account. In emergy analysis, all kinds of emergy flows are taken into consideration, including monetary flow, information flow and energy flow. Emergy analysis is derived from the viewpoint that the sun provides the energy for everything on the earth so it is reasonable to convert all kinds of energy to the solar energy. It is so efficient and comprehensive that it has been applied to evaluate the fast pyrolysis of biomass and upgrading techniques. Based on the input-output framework and emergy indices, with the consideration of environment elements, emergy analysis method was applied to comprehensively evaluate two schemes in this paper, achieving upgraded bio-oil from pinus sylvestris by fast pyrolysis and catalytic hydrogenation (Scheme I) and supercritical ethanol upgrading technique (Scheme II), respectively. Meanwhile, the effects of different schemes were compared from three aspects, including production efficiency, environmental support and sustainability. As the results indicated, Scheme II consumed less solar energy and enjoyed higher efficiency when the same amount of fuel was produced. For the input of economic emergy and total emergy, Scheme I were 4.58×1020 and 4.64×1020 sej/a while Scheme II were 5.82×1020 and 5.88×1020 sej/a respectively, which showed that Scheme I needed less economic emergy input and total emergy input by contrast with Scheme II. For the renewable ratio, Scheme I was 49.57 while Scheme II was 39.12, which showed that renewable emergy input occupied higher percent of the total emergy input in Scheme I. For the environment sustainable index, Scheme I was 0.99 while Scheme II was 0.65, which showed that Scheme I had less stress on the environment and got more support from it. In brief, Scheme I achieves larger renewable ratio, less environment stress, better sustainability and greater environmental support. The optimal direction for both Scheme I and Scheme II is to reduce the emergy input. Scheme I focuses on improving the efficiency of emergy conversion, while Scheme II emphasizes on adjusting the process to reduce the dependency on external support. Compared with the results of energy analysis and exergy analysis, Scheme II needs more total inputs and total energy consumptions, while Scheme I has higher exergy efficiency. Scheme I and Scheme II shared the same emergy yield ratio, which indicated emergy analysis could provide a more comprehensive and deeper evaluation. In sum, theoretical foundations on improving the integrated performance of fast pyrolysis of biomass and upgrading techniques for the bio-oil production are achieved in this paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Assessment of sustainability is an important part of sustainable scientific research. Based on HDI and HSDI, this paper constructed the weak Human Sustainable Development Index (HSDI) and strong HSDI assessment indexes with different emphases on environmental factors. Taking the Bohai Rim region in China as an example, we studied the basic state and change process of the regional sustainability from 2000 to 2015. The results are shown as follows. From the point of basic state, the hierarchy of the sustainability in the Bohai Rim was imbalanced. The level of weak HSDI and strong HSDI were both in a spindle-shaped structure with small proportions at both ends and a large proportion in the middle. The numbers of cities with weak HSDI and strong HSDI at middle level account for 59.09% and 43.18% , respectively. However, the hierarchy of weak HSDI was more imbalanced than that of strong HSDI, and the regional differences of weak and strong HSDI were obvious. In terms of the change process, the paces of the sustainable development in different cities were inconsistent. Although both the weak and strong HSDI presented a significant growth trend, the weak HSDI mainly showed medium-high speed growth, while the strong HSDI mainly showed mediumlow speed growth. The coincidence rate of weak HSDI and strong HSDI growth areas is as high as 71.79% , but there is obvious spatial dislocation in the growth rate. Based on the assessment results, cities can be classified into sustainable development state and process matrix. The cities in the four state matrices (I, II, III and IV) of sustainability were suitable for "incentive", "propelled", "control- oriented" and "supportive" sustainable development strategies successively. And the cities in the four process matrices (1, 2, 3, and 4) were suitable for sustainable development strategies of "stabilizing growth and optimizing environment", "conquering emphasis and promoting coordination", "adjusting structure and preventing risks" and "promoting reform, seeking development" successively. This study can provide decisionmaking reference for promoting regional sustainable development by proposing targeted diversification strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Following the mainline of structural durability, this paper restructured the theoretical framework of life-cycle design (LCD) method, and set up the reliability and sustainability LCD objectives, including safety, serviceability, durability, economic impacts, environmental impacts and social impacts. The modified LCD method was carried out through the dynamic performance-based design concept. It solved the problems of vague concepts and repeated indicators in current LCD methods by setting up the sustainability indicator, and also replenished the contents of life-cycle cost (LCC) at the same time. The modified LCD index system possesses a more complete and reasonable framework, and can be applicable to a wide variety of structural types and service conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Protected agriculture was one of the highest forms of modern agriculture, which had been the focus of world agricultural development in each country. The demand for organic fruit and vegetables accounted for around 30%-40% of the global demand, but the total area for organic vegetable production was only 0.5% of the total area of vegetables grown in the world. Although it was generally considered that the output of organic agriculture was 10%-20% lower than that of conventional agriculture, it exceeded conventional agriculture in terms of economic benefits, environmental impact, and social benefits. It also had a positive performance in providing nutrition, adapting to climate change, promoting soil health, protecting biodiversity, increasing employment and creating new economic model. In the face of rapid population growth, climate change and environmental degradation in the 21st century, new organic greenhouse horticulture was the major force for sustainable agricultural development. The total area for organic greenhouse horticulture was estimated to be over 8302 hm2 (1.8% of total vegetable greenhouse area). There were 5236 hm2 in European Union and 3066 hm2 in Non-European Union. With the rapid development of agriculture in the world, the organic greenhouse horticulture had been shown to be sustainable, productive and profitable in foreign countries, but the standards of organic greenhouse horticulture were still a blank in China. This paper introduced the background, definition, origin, objectives, area of organic certification, yield and profitability, the basic forms of organic greenhouse horticulture and the rules of certification, and analyzed the feasibility and problems on the organic greenhouse horticulture in China: 1) Certification standards of organic greenhouse horticulture were lacked. 2) Greenhouse ecological environment had been deteriorated. 3) Plant varieties for greenhouse were scarce. 4) There were only a few studies on organic greenhouse horticulture. The feasibility of the development of organic greenhouse horticulture in China was further analyzed. It was suggested that organic greenhouse horticulture should be actively developed in China, but organic greenhouse horticulture cannot be simply equivalent to “greenhouse + organic planting”. It should be an integration with sustainable development, which consisted of greenhouse climate control, planting material, soil fertility, water management, disease and pest management, energy conservation and sustainability. However, to promote the development of organic greenhouse horticulture in China, we need to implement it based on national conditions and learn the rules of the foreign organic greenhouse horticulture. Moreover, the basic research of the biological agriculture in our country should be strengthened: 1) Strengthen the formulation of organic farming laws and industry standards in China, and point out the development goals and technical requirements of organic greenhouse horticulture. 2) Strengthen basic research in bio-agriculture to propose novel theories, technologies and equipment for protected agriculture. 3) Strengthen the development of agricultural machinery for organic greenhouse horticulture. The aim was to compensate for the lack of manpower, increase production efficiency and transform people’s bias that organic agriculture has low yield and inefficiency. 4) Strengthen the demonstration and promotion of organic facilities horticultural technology integration. We need to construct a diversified organic facility horticultural extension service system with national public welfare promotion institutions as the main body, scientific research units, colleges and universities, agriculture-related enterprises, professional cooperative organizations and consumers participating in it. The system can provide information and technical services for farmers and consumers, which can ensure the sustainable development of the protected agriculture industry in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Forest parks offer carbon sequestration, scenic services, and ecotourism. Community-based ecotourism can maintain the local economy, protect the natural habitat, and boost tourism developed out of unique local cultural flavors based on the foundation of sustainable development. This study incorporates community-based ecotourism into management strategies for forest parks, and explores the characteristics and features of ecotourism in Taiwan. The conclusions of our paper offer new insights for establishing community-based ecotourism management programs in forest park areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the rapid development of bioenergy, the sustainability issue of bioenergy has aroused more and more attention globally. China is also highly concerned about the sustainable development of bioenergy. But, there are only sustainable principles emphasized by government with no specific criteria and indicators, e.g., avoiding bioenergy competition for food crops and land. Therefore, it is necessary to establish systematic criteria and indicators to provide clear and executable guidelines for the sustainable development of bioenergy in China. Several regions in the world have promulgated regulation framework or certification standard to assure the sustainable production and utilization of bioenergy. Also some international institutions, such as Global Bioenergy Partnership (GBEP) and International Organization for Standardization (ISO), have published voluntary sustainable standard for decision makers. Therefore, to learn the global experience is a good option to promote the establishment of sustainable requirements in China. The typical sustainable bioenergy initiatives in the world are introduced in the paper, including regulation frameworks, certification standards and voluntary standards without threshold. The key criteria and indicators are reviewed. It is found that although the principles of sustainable development are the same for diverse initiatives, their focuses on environmental, social or economic aspects are different due to their different starting points and goals. The importance of involving greenhouse gas (GHG) emission as a key indicator is analyzed, and the challenges on how to quantify GHG emission are also discussed, such as, the allocation of byproduct’s emission and the impact of direct land use change & indirect land use change. The requirements on GHG emission reduction of bioenergy compared to fossil fuel are also reviewed. The supporting role of bioenergy sustainability initiatives for the bioenergy industrial policies is elaborated based on the practices of the EU (European Union) and the United States. And finally, related policy suggestions in China are proposed. The suggestions include: 1) Sustainability requirement (criteria or indicators) of bioenergy should be proposed in Renewable Energy Law and Bioenergy Development Planning in China to guide the direction of industrial development; 2) the criteria and indicators of sustainable bioenergy should be both scientific and implementable with clear goals and focus, and should be selected based on domestic situation; 3) GHG emissions counting methodology of different kinds of bioenergy should be provided by government to facilitate industries to meet the sustainability requirement, and the threshold of life cycle GHG emission reduction of bioenergy needs to be fully discussed with stakeholders and strengthened gradually; 4) priority should be given to aviation biofuels, bioenergy derived from residues and wastes, and systematic sustainability criteria and indictors should be established for other biofuels for transportation use in the near term; and, 5) the industrial policies and research and development funding of bioenergy should be linked with the sustainability requirements, and the policy support should be inclined to the sustainable production and utilization of bioenergy which can meet the requirements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aiming at the current status of coal mining problems in China, this paper put forward the concept and connotation of "scientific coal mining" and "sustainable capacity of coal mining". Scientific coal mining is to maximally obtain natural resources on the premise of the harmonized geology and ecological environment under the guidance of outlook of scientific development, and to achieve sustainable mining with safety, high efficiency, green, economy and social harmony on the premise that hazards posed by complicated geological conditions and engineering circumstances were controlled; sustainable capacity of coal mining refers to the maximal coal mining capacity using safe, high-efficient and environment-friendly method on the premise that the reserves for sustainable mining within certain period were guaranteed, mainly including three requirements; safe mining, green mining and high-efficient mining. Accordingly, innovatively proposed the assessment index system and standards of the sustainable capacity of coal mining which are comprised of mining safety level, green level and mechanization level and makes comparative analysis of the current sustainable capacities of coal mining of the five coal production areas in China, the whole China and the advanced coal mining countries in the world. The results show that the coal mining capacity in 2010 scores 42.58 on average, and the coal output which complies with the standards of the sustainable capacity of coal mining and scores over 70 is about 1.078 billion tons, accounting for only 33.27% of the overall coal output; while the sustainable capacities of coal mining of the advanced coal mining countries like the United States of America, Australia, Britain and Germany score over 90. There is still a big gap between the coal mining in China and that in the advanced coal mining countries in the world, so China should extensively disseminate the idea of scientific coal mining and sustainable capacity of coal mining, insist on scientific coal mining, and raise the scientific level of coal mining in an all-round manner. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]